In Memory of Kanon Wakeshima’s EGL Era

who have still listened to still doll and suna no oshiro these days?

It is not uncommon for an artist who has rebranding of new personality after they released some songs in a certain style. For me, Kanon Wakeshima is a special case for me. Since 2008, she was an icon, she was a legend, and she was a moment of elegant gothic lolita (EGL) fashion. I listened her since around 2011; that is the time when she collaborated with kanon of An Cafe and actually it was the time when she was already transitioning from her old style. Well, I always had a bad habit of stanning the artists who already dead, hiatus, disbanded, or change to new style even though I still like their old style.

Kanon released her first song in 2008, “still doll”. It is a tie-in for the anime ending of the Twilight of Japanese pop culture (but with better aesthetics and worse story), Vampire Knight. The music, the lyrics, and the whole aesthetics of the song are perfectly suited for the anime. Around that year, the lolita fashion was thriving. She was produced by Mana, a visual-kei guitarist, a brand owner, and an icon of EGL. That is why her early coming to the music industry is already niche and iconic. Oh, I almost forget that she is not only a singer but cellist. She often incorporates her cello performance in her songs. She had three celli.

To this day, I still listen to “still doll”. It is a perfect EGL song for me: the right balance of light and dark vibes, simple but classy arrangement, the innocence in Kanon’s voice with haunting instrumentals; I love it. The lyrics are simple but on point with the anime story, comparing Yuki Kurosu (she was not revealed as Kuran in this arc)’s indecisiveness as a doll.

In the next year, Kanon released another single, “Suna no Oshiro”. It is also a tie-in of Vampire Knight (Guilty). This time, Kanon showed more prowess in her cello skill. The cello melodies in the background and her breathier vocals makes the song even darker than “still doll”. At some point, I preferred “Suna no Oshiro” than “still doll”. But later, I like “still doll” more than this song because I prefer the more contrasting light and dark vibes and it has richer instrumentation than “Suna no Oshiro” for me.

She released another album, Shinsoku Dolce (I forget if it was released before or after “Suna no Oshiro”) and Shoujo Jikake no Libretto (written in English as Lolitawork Libretto). I like the Lolitawork Libretto song, but somehow the songs in these albums are less interesting for me. I still stan for her two early singles. I looked for the answer, and I assume that the reason of is the influence of Mana as her producer.

In “still doll” and “Suna no Oshiro”, Mana is credited as the songwriter. However, both of them had the vibes you don’t expect from Mana’s usual songs. They are still dark, but less rock and metal-inspired, more focused on the orchestral and electronic instruments, and somewhat “more feminine”. You may never think that she was produced by Mana unless you dig deeper.

But in later songs, you start to listen more and more of things you familiar from Malice Mizer’s songs. You can check their lighter songs like “Madrigal”, “Je te Veux”, and “Brise”; or more orchestral like “Gekka no Yasoukyoku” and “Bois de Merveilles”. Well, those songs are mostly composed by Kozi rather than Mana, but that is the style Mana may be familiar of. So, if he had to produce an artist who is female and far from visual kei scene, maybe this “Malice Mizer-like” could be suitable for her.

It is even more prominent if you ever saw Kanon’s early live performance, whether as a live audience or from video. While performing either “still doll” or “Suna no Oshiro”, Kanon posed and moved like a living doll. She walked daintily and her move is slightly stiff but want to be elegant as possible, even when she had to walk and grab her cello to play. This is a captivating performance in the first time you watch her, but when you watch more of this EGL era performances, they kinda remind you to Malice Mizer’s dramatic performance.

This is a big assumption, so please not make it into a tea, but because Mana had a really strong personal branding, it seems that people who worked with him should had Mana’s personal touch in their final work. For example, every time you listen to Kanon’s songs, you should immediately get that she worked with Mana even though it is not verbally stated. You get it?

In this situation, some people may be okay with it. But for some, this is tiring because you feel that you are still someone’s shadow. So, it is perfectly normal if Kanon would want to be herself more by collaborating with other artists, move to a new label, and get a new personal branding. It is understandable if she may not be interested in EGL anymore. Again, please keep in mind that this is only my assumption on the reason why she moved on EGL, so take it with grain of salt.

But the reality is: we lose another EGL music icon. Some queens are still standing until this day, like Arika Takarano (ALI Project), Nana Kitade and Moon Kana. But they are in different spectrum than Kanon. Nana and MoonKana are more leaned towards punk and rock. ALI Project is in same style as Kanon, but they are more mature and musically complex; and aesthetically speaking, they are more to Aristocrat style than lolita fashion even though Arika often featured in Gothic and Lolita Bible. Kanon Wakeshima is right in the middle, not as rough as Nana and Moon Kana but not as sophisticated as ALI Project.

At the end, I don’t expect anything from Kanon anymore. Sometimes I still wishing on her making music like her EGL era, but when we check out her newer releases, it seems that she doesn’t want to return. I also like her “transitional” songs like “Calendula Requiem” and “Foul Play ni Kurari” which still had some orchestral touch but much lighter than her early releases. Her personal choice on music is something we need to appreciate rather than force her to return to EGL scene. I conclude by reminding that no matter Kanon aspire to be, she is always remembered as one of EGL music ever exist for me.

If you are looking for alternative artists in the same style as her, I suggest Die Milch and Iruma Rioka. Bonjour Suzuki works, but her voice is too cutesy for me. Write in the comments if you have any favourite EGL music artist!