I hope everything is fine with you. I would like to know something about Kalafina's artistic performance, if you can. How was the music scene in Japan during the period in which they were active (2008/2019) and the receptivity of their music? Was the group very successful, selling a lot of records? Were the girls part of a Top5 or Top10 of the best japanese singers/bands? Were they successful outside Japan? (to be continued...)
(continuation) And how were the criticisms in general about Kalafina's music with each album released? Sorry if the content is extensive, but as a great fan of Kalafina, I think it’s interesting to know how they were as artists in the music market, especially here, where there is no such information. If you can add anything else, I appreciate it very much. Thanks from your fan.
I am so sorry, I have no excuses. I have been procrastinating for a very long time because I wasn’t sure I could do justice to your question. As a matter of fact, I still don’t know but I thought I would give it a try. Don’t want to make you wait any longer.
Please note that I am by no means an expert when it comes to the Japanese music market. Kalafina are literally the only Japanese group I have ever followed so I am having a hard time comparing their success to the success of other artists.
Overall I would say that Kalafina were moderately successful (but definitely underrated) during their 10 years of being active. Like so many Japanese artists, they gained popularity through their anime-tie-ins and were mostly defined by that. Many of the animes they have sung for have been extremely successful both in Japan as well as overseas so otakus around the globe have an idea of who Kalafina are and their work is generally well-received I would say. Kalafina’s continuous participation at various big anime conventions/anime events in Japan and other countries throughout their entire career is proof of that. (Although it still shocks me that many otakus apparently used Kalafina’s acts at anime events for bathroom breaks ¬_¬ Blasphemy!!)
Unfortunately due to their “niche” image/vocals they were forever stuck singing ending themes (which are typically not as popular among the masses as opening themes) so they were never able to reach a super high level of popularity. It is no coincidence that the three OP they have done in their career (Hikari no Senritsu, to the beginning, heavenly blue) are among their most popular and most frequently performed songs. They were sung at almost every live and event to please the crowd.
Let’s take a look at Kalafina’s Oricon Chart Ranking, shall we? They have never reached #1 of the Oricon Charts with a single or an album. Their highest single ranking was #4 with “Kimi no Gin no Niwa”, their highest album ranking was #3 with THE BEST “Blue”. On a side note, the BEST albums as well as “heavenly blue” were arguably a turning point for them since those came with a notable surge in popularity. Things really changed for them starting in mid 2014, their fanbase grew considerably, so much more PR, their first Budokan live being announced, bigger tours, more elaborate stage productions, more generic anime-tie-ins, etc..
Anyways, let’s get back to the rankings. A majority of their singles (14 to be precise) did at least reach the Top10 and all of their studio albums hit the Top10 as well (with “far on the water” being the most popular among them). However, unlike other artists of the anisong genre, they never managed to stay in the charts for a very long time. Sony also never really bothered to make Kalafina’s music easily accessible to international audiences which was probably not very beneficial either.
Kalafina’s numbers pale in comparison to let’s say, LiSA’s. They were active at roughly the same time, are more or less the same age and have done songs for similar projects so it’s not like we are comparing apples with pears. Lots of similarities can be found in their career paths and yet, LiSA has been far more successful, both in Japan as well as worldwide. This could have many reasons of course but it’s certainly not for lack of trying on Kalafina’s part. They have worked very hard throughout the years. We also know that Kalafina have amazing talent and an outstanding discography so that can’t be the reason either. I think it’s mainly due to the fact LiSA has done more popular OPs and has a more generic sound/voice that appeals to a wider audience. But that’s just an assumption...
That’s really all I can say about this topic. Feel free to click yourself through Oricon rankings of other artists to get a feel for their popularity as far as sales are concerned. I have never really cared much about other people’s opinions so I am not really sure how fans thought of Kalafina throughout the years. But based on the brief glimpses I got of old CPM threads I guess there have always been fans who talked trash about Kalafina and then there have always been those who worshipped the ground they walked on. And a bunch of casual fans thrown into the mix for good measure. Once again, I can only recommend to check out those threads for yourself in order to get a general idea of how the individual releases were received.
Everyone, feel free to elaborate, this is not the end-all-be-all summary of Kalafina’s career XD