Remembering Maki
October 19th, 2008
I still don’t believe it.
I have “Remember” clutched in my arms, and I still don’t believe it.
It’s not like I’m ignorant about it.
I know she’s leaving.
But,
I can’t process the thought that she is leaving the band.
Questions rummage through my head.
Questions I asked myself and Pengie in the middle of the year when it was announced.
Questions which I already know the answer to, questions where I still look for answers.
Answers to the questions only fill half the pieces of the puzzle.
The other half belongs to uncertainty and confusion.
I told myself, after I saw the PV earlier few weeks ago, that I will not play it again until I got my CD.
I was only delaying the inevitable.
Waiting for my CD only delayed the inevitable flood of emotion.
This hits my heart harder than ‘Kurage, Nagareboshi’ ever will.
They debuted with an electrifying song and they finish in a similar manner. Would I have been disappointed if they finished with a slow ballad? No, since I would have been happy no matter what they would have released. Hmmm… Actually I should take that back as if they released a Yuusuke solo or just an instrumental, I would have been pretty confused and frustrated.
But in a sense, they also have finished with a ballad. While ‘Remember’ is exhilarating, stimulating, powerful…their b-side ‘Hana Fubuki’ is a sweet but sad ballad, melancholic even, but it definitely ticks all the boxes for a typical farewell song. Not to mention ‘PRIDE LIVE MIX 2008’, but I’ll be divulging in those later.
From where they started, they have come a long, long way.
Would the story be told exactly the same if Yuusuke and the boys debuted without Maki?
No.
Maki has been the forefront in driving the band into fame. Her face represents the band. Her voice is what has distinguished Haikara from all the other bands. She represents the balance; the balance between hard rocking metallica-inspired music and contemporary female vocals. This balance between the two has made them successful. Without this fusion of two extremes, Yuusuke and the boys would be just an ordinary metallica-inspired band while Maki would be a struggling solo vocalist. Maki couldn’t last as a solo vocalist, her voice isn’t as powerful as ayaka or ayu’s, nor is she as creative as Kawase Tomoko. She belongs in a band.
Yes, Maki is only the vocals but also remember that she also has a role in writing the lyrics. There is also the rest of the gang, Yuusuke, Sassy, Kazuto, Meg and mACKAz. They all have a role in moulding and shaping what Haikara are now. But without Maki they would have gone nowhere in my opinion. They were a metal band, when compared to their fellow sister group ORANGE RANGE who actually had a nice distinctive flavour to their music, wouldn’t have been even able explode so viciously into the industry without Maki, or even make it into the industry perhaps. Maki was the driver of change.
Maki and the band have put the band on the pedestal they stand on now. They have set a platform or a foundation for the next vocalist to stand on, and it is up to the next vocalist to fulfil the duty of not only standing on the pedestal but to build a ladder in which the band will climb step by step to the heights of the industry. Am I asking too much? Of course, I have had high expectations of the band when they first started and even though they have tripped and faltered, I still had faith, right until the end. I have high expectations of the new vocalist, not just musically wise, but to exceed what Maki has done. I have faith, enormous amounts of faith in the new vocalist because I know the boys will pick a splendid vocalist since they know themselves they can’t settle for anything less than someone like Maki. The new vocalist knows/will now that he/she a lot of weight on their shoulders not just to be as mighty as Maki but to excel on what she has accomplished.
While we may shed tears for Maki’s departure, we must not forget her. Her playful and enthusiastic personality complimented with exceptional vocals for her age was what distinguished her from the other bands I’ve listened to. Maki’s appearance in the band has sparked adaptation for change with the boys. She debuted with such an explosive debut single requiring strong, powerful vocals and has continued to sing explosive material such as Ichirin no Hana, but at the same time she can sing a sweet and smooth song such as WITH YOU or Dreams.
Their metal-inspired days have shifted to more tasteful rock and just the arrival of Maki has changed all this. Not just this shift is apparent, slower rock and ballads have started to surface from her arrival. I can remember the day I first listened to “WITH YOU”, god that was emotional. I’ve been hearing songs such as PRIDE, Naked and OVER which brought out the best in Maki when she was incorporated with heavier rock. But fuck me, I bought GOOVER and played it…then “WITH YOU” came on and just blew me away. It’s different from Days, since Days was bordering on pop, but WITH YOU is just an astounding ballad. Such emotion and vocal maturity for an 18 year old is surprising yet absolutely sensational.
‘Remember’ is special, not just as Maki’s ‘going away’ single, but it symbolises the end of an era. Yuusuke and the boys have said that they will look for a new vocalist after Maki leaves, so the story hasn’t necessary finished; it’s basically a start of a new chapter. The band seems to have spent a lot of time to get the single perfect. The structure of the single itself is intelligent, with a rock A-side to showcase the style which the band started with, a soothing melancholic ballad as the B-side and to finish, Maki’s first single remade for 2008. The single itself is amazing; they’ve ditched the ballads and have gone back to their roots, which is brilliant powerful rock music.
But what I found most interesting and inevitably, an amazing send-off is the “PRIDE “LIVE MIX 2008””. The inclusion of PRIDE in her last single just clicks and whoever thought of this is fucking ingenious. The debut single which propelled them into the charts would be remade for the last single in which Maki participates. The song itself hasn’t changed, but when you compare and contrast the original to 2008’s version, there are differences much given to the fact because of the title, “LIVE MIX”. The first thing I noticed was that the guitars are more distinct to the ears and the riffs sound much more powerful. But after continuously listening to it is the feeling that the 2008 version of PRIDE wasn’t mastered to studio level, but made to sound more authentic as in more natural. Maki in the original sounds more cohesive and fluent, while in 2008 she sounds like she is reducing the lengths of certain notes and she seems to be breathing a lot more…must be the baby. Another thing I’ve noticed is that the pitch difference between Maki’s and Yuusuke’s voice which creates a sense of distance between the two of them, possibly signalling the distance between herself and the band.
Not only is the single structure created superbly and intelligently, but also the direction in the PV and the photography. The PV ends all doubt concerning Maki’s departure, by images of the band leaving, one by one and Maki is left all by herself and she walks along her own path which inevitably creates a sense of distance between her and the band. The back cover of the single reinforces this, as Yuusuke and the boys are looking towards in one direction as Maki is seen to be looking at a totally different direction.
It’s Maki’s choice for leaving the band. We may disagree with her choices, but at the end of the day, who are we to say what she does or not. She’s getting married; sure, I’d be a bit pissed that she is leaving, but who am I to say, “NUU MAKI DUN MARRY HIMMMM!” I’m not her father, a relative or anyone close, I’m just a fan and as a fan, I should be happy for her and to support her on as well as the band. I could whine and moan about Maki being irresponsible by leaving the band and that she’d be breaking such a cohesive vocal relationship with Yuusuke…I could, but I won’t because we’re here to remember Maki, not to flame her.
We’re here to remember her achievements, to appreciate her time with the band, to praise her successes, to laugh at the blunders, to love her personality, to ogle at her beauty, even though she looks like a gypsy in ‘Remember’) but just to remember who Maki was and what she has done.
The questions remain unanswered, the full explanation of her departure remains a mystery (eg: is it just for the marriage or is there something more to it?), the questions why she couldn’t carry on remain unanswered; thoughts of her possibly rejoining in the later future linger in my head.
But one thing is for sure. She is leaving for happiness, heading towards a new direction.
As a result, I don’t need the answers to the questions as by knowing that is enough.
Humans strive to be happy, so why should I deprive her of happiness for my enjoyment?
As the chapter slowly concludes, a new chapter is waiting to be opened.
A perfect sendoff.
Except for her gypsy outfit.
Tags: HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR
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