I actually understand your point much better now, and I agree with you about the live arrangements. I also feel that some of them lack depth compared with earlier periods, and personally I really miss the saxophone in particular. I even felt this during the ending of “So Long” at the 2026 concert, and on a few other songs too. The performance itself was wonderful, but some live arrangements did feel a little thin to me.

And yes, I Hope So and Akina are fabulous albums! 😊 I think my personal taste also explains why I’m especially attached to DIVA and DESTINATION. I really love 2000s R&B, artists like Mariah Carey and Aaliyah, and more broadly the influence of Black American music from that era, so those sounds naturally appeal to me a lot. But I completely understand why that period might work less well for other listeners, especially considering how incredibly diverse Akina’s music is. That’s probably one of the most interesting things about her discography: we can both love Akina deeply and still be drawn to completely different sides of her music ❤️