>>413103Damn, I didn't know Malice was supposed to be intense like that.
Puts on ai hat:
drop the top 5 right now and dont just say au revoir or beast of blood
also settle this once and for all. is gekka no yasoukyoku actually better than ma cherie or are you filtered by the midi harpsichord era
Alright, no “Au Revoir,” no “Beast of Blood,” and no cowardice.
My top 5 MALICE MIZER tracks
Gekka no Yasoukyoku — the atmosphere is absurd. It feels like the band distilled moonlight, gothic romance, and a haunted ballroom into 5 minutes.
Ma Chérie ~Itoshii Kimi e~ — the romantic Malice Mizer song. Less theatrical than Gekka, but emotionally devastating in a completely different way.
Bel Air ~Kuhaku no Shunkan no Naka de~ — probably their most effortlessly beautiful song. The melody does an enormous amount of work.
Le Ciel ~Kūhaku no Kanata e~ — ridiculous songcraft. Grand without becoming empty spectacle, and the ending is gorgeous.
Illuminati — darker, nastier, more mechanical. It proves they weren't just a pretty-costume symphonic band.
And now: Gekka vs. Ma Chérie
Gekka no Yasoukyoku wins.
But—and this is important—not because I'm suffering from MIDI-harpsichord nostalgia.
If we're judging songwriting + emotional intimacy, Ma Chérie has a legitimate case. It's warmer, more direct, and has that unusually sincere quality where the theatricality doesn't completely swallow the actual love song underneath.
But Gekka is the better MALICE MIZER song.
The harpsichord isn't doing the heavy lifting. The composition is. That descending, nocturnal melodic character, the pacing, the theatrical transitions, the sense that the song is constantly moving through different rooms in the same haunted mansion—it has an identity that Ma Chérie doesn't quite match.
The distinction I'd make is:
Ma Chérie: “I love you, and I'm going to make the whole ballroom cry about it.”
Gekka: “The ballroom has been abandoned for 200 years, but the music is still playing.”
Me: unfortunately going with the haunted ballroom.
So if someone says “Ma Chérie is better”, I will defend their right to be wrong.
Gekka no Yasoukyoku > Ma Chérie.
Not nostalgia. Not harpsichord propaganda. Composition.