Hmm..that file roxfan uploaded was a video or just the audio? >_<
i dont know...maybe im having some problems w/ my player kyaaaa
AX Show
[quote="Grey Archangel"]WOW. Thanks for the link, roxfan.
I love how she's clapping for herself. XD[/quote]
I think she's actually clasping her hands together in surprise at the audience reaction. Listening to my recording, you can hear just how long and how loud we clapped for her after that unexpected little treat. ^_^
I love how she's clapping for herself. XD[/quote]
I think she's actually clasping her hands together in surprise at the audience reaction. Listening to my recording, you can hear just how long and how loud we clapped for her after that unexpected little treat. ^_^
Maaya's AX concert
Disclaimer: I love Maaya, am a tremendous Maaya fan, and any comments I make here which sound disparaging are simply impartial. I was sitting third row center so I had a clear view and reasonable acoustics. I have sung professionally before.
Coming off the high that was the kotoko concert, I found that this long awaited Maaya concert left me rather cold. She was charming but in a completely amateur way. She was very very nervous and flubbed several lines, transposing some, forgetting others. Maaya could not sing on pitch many times. She had zero showmanship which I suppose might be a selling point in some situations but it meant that whenever she wasn't singing, she just sort of flopped around.
It was very much as if a reasonably good karaoke singer had done a suite of Maaya Sakamoto songs. A friend of mine who also went noted that he saw a girl in the Karaoke contest sing Yubiwa the other night better than Maaya.
I recognize that the big audience was daunting (I've been there!) but I have the distinct impression that Maaya has never been classically (i.e. professionally) trained as a singer and that the studio does wonders for her raw talent. She's basically a very talented V.A. with a pleasant voice, but she's not a performer at all.
(Please don't flame me--someone is bound to have a negative opinion of this concert.)
Coming off the high that was the kotoko concert, I found that this long awaited Maaya concert left me rather cold. She was charming but in a completely amateur way. She was very very nervous and flubbed several lines, transposing some, forgetting others. Maaya could not sing on pitch many times. She had zero showmanship which I suppose might be a selling point in some situations but it meant that whenever she wasn't singing, she just sort of flopped around.
It was very much as if a reasonably good karaoke singer had done a suite of Maaya Sakamoto songs. A friend of mine who also went noted that he saw a girl in the Karaoke contest sing Yubiwa the other night better than Maaya.
I recognize that the big audience was daunting (I've been there!) but I have the distinct impression that Maaya has never been classically (i.e. professionally) trained as a singer and that the studio does wonders for her raw talent. She's basically a very talented V.A. with a pleasant voice, but she's not a performer at all.
(Please don't flame me--someone is bound to have a negative opinion of this concert.)
Re: Maaya's AX concert
[quote="neopeius"] but I have the distinct impression that Maaya has never been classically (i.e. professionally) trained as a singer and that the studio does wonders for her raw talent. She's basically a very talented V.A. with a pleasant voice, but she's not a performer at all.[/quote]
I'm sure of that, I will not flame you :roll:
She was outside her country, and she is very very shy... If someone had seen her in a Japan concert, maybe he will say that she is professional ??
(I want to believe :evil: )
I'm sure of that, I will not flame you :roll:
She was outside her country, and she is very very shy... If someone had seen her in a Japan concert, maybe he will say that she is professional ??
(I want to believe :evil: )
-
chibiNekomancer
- Senior Member
- Posts: 351
- Joined: 2004-04-02 03:33
- Location: México
Ah! interesting points! :o
The truth i could not tell if Maaya was singing like a pro or not; i do not have your singing experience, but i do agree that she had problems in some lines, but i found it just cute! *^-^*
For my part, i liked her singing, but its good to have different opinions!. For Maaya to be better each time, we must also know her mistakes! ^^
I appreciate your opinoin; its not everybody that can be a Maaya fan, and still tell it was not good. Welcome to the forum!, i hope you visit often! :3
As a last note, I am very curious as to how will she sing in the next concert. Maybe she will be better, now that she knows how big a crowd it will be! o.o
See you next post! n_n
The truth i could not tell if Maaya was singing like a pro or not; i do not have your singing experience, but i do agree that she had problems in some lines, but i found it just cute! *^-^*
For my part, i liked her singing, but its good to have different opinions!. For Maaya to be better each time, we must also know her mistakes! ^^
I appreciate your opinoin; its not everybody that can be a Maaya fan, and still tell it was not good. Welcome to the forum!, i hope you visit often! :3
As a last note, I am very curious as to how will she sing in the next concert. Maybe she will be better, now that she knows how big a crowd it will be! o.o
See you next post! n_n
Neko ga Suki na Anata to
Inu ga Suki na Watashi
-- Neko to Inu, Maaya Sakamoto
Inu ga Suki na Watashi
-- Neko to Inu, Maaya Sakamoto
[quote="neopeius"]Disclaimer: I love Maaya, am a tremendous Maaya fan, and any comments I make here which sound disparaging are simply impartial. I was sitting third row center so I had a clear view and reasonable acoustics. I have sung professionally before.
Coming off the high that was the kotoko concert, I found that this long awaited Maaya concert left me rather cold. She was charming but in a completely amateur way. She was very very nervous and flubbed several lines, transposing some, forgetting others. Maaya could not sing on pitch many times. She had zero showmanship which I suppose might be a selling point in some situations but it meant that whenever she wasn't singing, she just sort of flopped around.
It was very much as if a reasonably good karaoke singer had done a suite of Maaya Sakamoto songs. A friend of mine who also went noted that he saw a girl in the Karaoke contest sing Yubiwa the other night better than Maaya.
I recognize that the big audience was daunting (I've been there!) but I have the distinct impression that Maaya has never been classically (i.e. professionally) trained as a singer and that the studio does wonders for her raw talent. She's basically a very talented V.A. with a pleasant voice, but she's not a performer at all.
(Please don't flame me--someone is bound to have a negative opinion of this concert.)[/quote]
Wow, what a first post... o_o
Well, everybody is free here to express her / his own opinion... but you should also expect some people to disagree with you, especially with that kind of posts... and those people are free to express their disagreement too...
So, here is my answer :
You're a big Maaya fan, so you surely heard all her CDs, ne ? How can you state after this that she has never been professionally trained as a singer..? o_O Listen to "Grapefruit" (April 1997) and then to "23 Ji no Ongaku" (May 2002) or "Shounen Alice" (December 2003) ; you can't improve so much without doing anything but voice acting ; try yourself to reach the high notes of "SORA WO MIRO" or the low ones of "here" without training ; except if you're one of those rare 5 octaves voice persons who did nothing for it, all you will do is hurting your voice very badly or wake up the neighbours.
And please don't see Maaya as another one voice actress trying to make it in music ; her greatest dream as a child has always been to become an actress (not a seiyuu) ; as she said herself, "Voice acting was something that just came up, it was chance encounter." Maaya is NOT only a seiyuu, she is also a singer (who can write her own lyrics, unlike many other singers...), a radio personality and an actress, she IS an artist ; she's been playing Eponine in the Japanese version of "Les Mis
Coming off the high that was the kotoko concert, I found that this long awaited Maaya concert left me rather cold. She was charming but in a completely amateur way. She was very very nervous and flubbed several lines, transposing some, forgetting others. Maaya could not sing on pitch many times. She had zero showmanship which I suppose might be a selling point in some situations but it meant that whenever she wasn't singing, she just sort of flopped around.
It was very much as if a reasonably good karaoke singer had done a suite of Maaya Sakamoto songs. A friend of mine who also went noted that he saw a girl in the Karaoke contest sing Yubiwa the other night better than Maaya.
I recognize that the big audience was daunting (I've been there!) but I have the distinct impression that Maaya has never been classically (i.e. professionally) trained as a singer and that the studio does wonders for her raw talent. She's basically a very talented V.A. with a pleasant voice, but she's not a performer at all.
(Please don't flame me--someone is bound to have a negative opinion of this concert.)[/quote]
Wow, what a first post... o_o
Well, everybody is free here to express her / his own opinion... but you should also expect some people to disagree with you, especially with that kind of posts... and those people are free to express their disagreement too...
So, here is my answer :
You're a big Maaya fan, so you surely heard all her CDs, ne ? How can you state after this that she has never been professionally trained as a singer..? o_O Listen to "Grapefruit" (April 1997) and then to "23 Ji no Ongaku" (May 2002) or "Shounen Alice" (December 2003) ; you can't improve so much without doing anything but voice acting ; try yourself to reach the high notes of "SORA WO MIRO" or the low ones of "here" without training ; except if you're one of those rare 5 octaves voice persons who did nothing for it, all you will do is hurting your voice very badly or wake up the neighbours.
And please don't see Maaya as another one voice actress trying to make it in music ; her greatest dream as a child has always been to become an actress (not a seiyuu) ; as she said herself, "Voice acting was something that just came up, it was chance encounter." Maaya is NOT only a seiyuu, she is also a singer (who can write her own lyrics, unlike many other singers...), a radio personality and an actress, she IS an artist ; she's been playing Eponine in the Japanese version of "Les Mis
☆NIKOPACHI☆ Love and... Peace !! \(^O^)/
Maaya
Thanks everyone for being civil. As I stated before, despite the lackluster concert, I'm still quite the fan. Maaya's Lucy poster still adorns the wall next to my computer as does a program flier from the concert.
That said, while this is the only concert I've seen live, I've seen others on video. While this is admittedly not as good as the real thing (if anything, video tends to improve a performance unless the mics are really badly balanced), what I've seen tends to confirm the opinion I've formed rather than contradicts it. Her voice can be so beautiful and expressive, but she doesn't do anything with her body.
I can understand this problem--I've got it too. I can go out and do a spot on performance, technically perfect, but I'm really not very good at whipping up the crowd. It's a very "studio" mentality.
Sora, I recognize each and every one of your points and they are all valid. I also respect you for coming from my favorite country ^_^ Maaya was tired, very nervous, quite shielded from everyone basically holed up in her room by Geneon (though my sister got to talk to her, briefly, since she was a translator for AX), and all those helped to make a lousy concert.
I would love to see her in Les Miserables. I had the chance this last April when I went to Tokyo, but I was too busy doing other stuff (isn't that always the way?!)
Thanks for the warm response, ChibiNekomancer! While this is my first post here, I actually have had several conversations with Merri on IRC in the Maaya forum though I haven't been there in a while.
Sorry if my review ruffled feathers, everyone. Please take it in the spirit in which it was offered.
That said, while this is the only concert I've seen live, I've seen others on video. While this is admittedly not as good as the real thing (if anything, video tends to improve a performance unless the mics are really badly balanced), what I've seen tends to confirm the opinion I've formed rather than contradicts it. Her voice can be so beautiful and expressive, but she doesn't do anything with her body.
I can understand this problem--I've got it too. I can go out and do a spot on performance, technically perfect, but I'm really not very good at whipping up the crowd. It's a very "studio" mentality.
Sora, I recognize each and every one of your points and they are all valid. I also respect you for coming from my favorite country ^_^ Maaya was tired, very nervous, quite shielded from everyone basically holed up in her room by Geneon (though my sister got to talk to her, briefly, since she was a translator for AX), and all those helped to make a lousy concert.
I would love to see her in Les Miserables. I had the chance this last April when I went to Tokyo, but I was too busy doing other stuff (isn't that always the way?!)
Thanks for the warm response, ChibiNekomancer! While this is my first post here, I actually have had several conversations with Merri on IRC in the Maaya forum though I haven't been there in a while.
Sorry if my review ruffled feathers, everyone. Please take it in the spirit in which it was offered.
I thought Kotoko's concert was, objectively speaking, better. But that goes without saying because she was fronting a pretty cracking J-rock outfit and did a little Visual Kei-ish cosplay to rivet the audience. I would LOVE Maaya to discover her inner Malice Mizer, but given the circumstances, she didn't have the same advantages of a backing band and stage reference points. I used to go see a lot of bands and generally the female frontmen were strongest when the band could assert their personality.
I'm actually not sure whether Maaya has done a lot of touring as a pop singer, proper. (Musical theatre and pop singing are mutually exclusive performance arts.) In that regard, the karaoke-style presentation seemed about right. As Neopeoius pointed out, Maaya tended to kinda flop about, or stand around, and just wave to the audience. Of course, I thought it was ADORABLE and apropos to the convention hall situation. It's a bit like slam dancing to Naruto; yes, you could (maybe) do it, but it just isn't the same.
As for the vocals herself, I guess my impression was the polar opposite of Neo's. Maaya sounded better to me live than on record (or even the video I saw of her from awhile back.) I'm not sure how much proper training Maaya has gotten as a singer. To me, I can hear formal imperfections in her studio work (she kinda seems to me still singing from her throat than her chest, which gives a slight straining), but that's on par with pop singers in general. And it's her own imperfections which help give her her quality.
I guess, for me, her voice live is just so much better than the CDs. I couldn't tell how many words she flubbed, but I felt she really let go through the 2nd half of the show.
Friend of mine preferred the Kotoko. My brother preferred the Maaya. I was really happy to see two memorable concerts over otherwise the worst Anime Expo I've been to.
I'm actually not sure whether Maaya has done a lot of touring as a pop singer, proper. (Musical theatre and pop singing are mutually exclusive performance arts.) In that regard, the karaoke-style presentation seemed about right. As Neopeoius pointed out, Maaya tended to kinda flop about, or stand around, and just wave to the audience. Of course, I thought it was ADORABLE and apropos to the convention hall situation. It's a bit like slam dancing to Naruto; yes, you could (maybe) do it, but it just isn't the same.
As for the vocals herself, I guess my impression was the polar opposite of Neo's. Maaya sounded better to me live than on record (or even the video I saw of her from awhile back.) I'm not sure how much proper training Maaya has gotten as a singer. To me, I can hear formal imperfections in her studio work (she kinda seems to me still singing from her throat than her chest, which gives a slight straining), but that's on par with pop singers in general. And it's her own imperfections which help give her her quality.
I guess, for me, her voice live is just so much better than the CDs. I couldn't tell how many words she flubbed, but I felt she really let go through the 2nd half of the show.
Friend of mine preferred the Kotoko. My brother preferred the Maaya. I was really happy to see two memorable concerts over otherwise the worst Anime Expo I've been to.