j1m0ne's blog

I was only planning to post up brief thoughts and points about the show, since I’m sure danie will give more comprehensive coverage (arena seats and all!) for both days…. but I think I ended up rambling as usual.

So yeah, first AniSama, first arena live in Japan etc. My seat was alright for the price I paid - level 200, row 2 to the left of the huge monitor. It was good in that I could gauge the crowd reaction to the artists and songs from where I was standing though there was a problem in that the immediate 2-3 rows I was surrounded by were mostly casual, non-anison crazy people. Which meant there was very little atmosphere - maybe I shouldn’t expect everyone to be jumping around like wotas? Luck of the draw I guess.

Anyways, reporting while the event is still fresh in my memory.

Warning: text-heavy (no real official pics available as yet)

Running through the show
Hirano Aya + Mizuki Nana
And so many people’s worst fears came true It was like, YAAAAAAYYY when Churu~~ started playing and then just ….. when Aya appeared. Oh nooo DISCOTHEQUE got ruined.. well OK not really, but I can’t say I was very happy. On the plus side, MonStAR wasn’t a bad choice for a duet, it’s an Aya song I actually like - the only other plausible song they could do is Unnamed World I suppose. Thank the lord they didn’t sing Riot Girl.

Hirano Aya
Aya didn’t talk at all during her set. No MC or self-intro…instead there was a dancing segment. I just kinda tuned out and sat down during Super Driver and Set me free.

Yonekura Chihiro
Eh because I was yawning away during Aya’s set I was totally unprepared for Chihhi appearing so early on, when she burst out with the first line of Yakusoku no Basho e (from Kaleidostar) I shot out of my seat like a rocket. Thankfully she didn’t sing Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite or WILL this time - her other choice was 10 YEARS AFTER (Gundam 8th MS Team), a song I loved and played to death about 7-8 years ago. Still remember all the lyrics! Very nostalgic set for me…

Sakakibara Yui
A couple of rows behind me sat some hardcore Yui-nyan fans in their pink shirts, they were really enthusiastic And hey, Yui-nyan isn’t that bad live after all! Amusing MC as always, touching on her hilariously idiotic comment on the artist intro video on NicoDouga of promising to ‘ダンスしながら踊る’ (dance while dancing) for her AniSama set. She meant to say ‘dance while singing’ obviously. In the end I wasn’t too hot on either of her choices, Prism Ark’s Soshite Boku wa… or Kanokon’s Koi no Honoo (I was hoping for Katayoku no Icarus or some of her eroge stuff) but she was still very fun, definitely loved her.

Yousei Teikoku
OK I really had no idea that the first song was Tamakui. Which is like… total fail on my part cos I do own & have listened to the Ga-Rei image songs album back to front. Another odd song choice in last moment had me scratching my head (all I remembered of the song was that it said Jesus a lot) - where’s my Weiβ Flügel, Valkyrja or Schwarzer Sarg? Oh well, but Fairy Yui had arguably the longest and most interesting MC of the night. She started out by declaring that she had two things to tell the crowd:
1.Yousei Teikoku-related stuff like release news, live etc. Yui managed to mess up the dates for the release of their upcoming album, lol.
2.“I have been researching this… thing in the human world called the internet and discover that there are a lot of people who have said that this ‘fairy empire’ setting is annoying…..let me say this just once, IT IS NOT A SETTING”.
If you’re familiar with Yousei Teikoku you might know that their ultimate goal is to bring enlightenment to the human world and revive the Fairy Empire. Yeah. Then Yui asked people who had heard of the Fairy Empire to raise their hands. I think maybe 60% of the crowd did, but Yui was really quick to point out someone in the arena area - ‘You with the orange glowstick! You seem to be raising your hand purely out of courtesy… but you’re (still) a good human’. Even during the encore she was amusing, tripping over her srsbzns fairy world declarations (more on that later). I wish their music (a lighter version of Ali Project) was as engaging.

Ohtsuki Kenji & Zetsubo Girls

Definitely one of the highlights, the eccentric Ohtsuki brings a lot of energy to his live shows and gets people going. His MC was a follow-on from Fairy Yui’s, having two things to tell the crowd:
1.Can I take a picture of you guys?
2.Can I put it up on my blog?
Lol at him trying to take a picture of the crowd with his phone & going ‘Hang on, how the hell does this thing work’. He also claimed that the AniSama experience was better than Fuji Rock Fes, but I don’t really know if he meant that. Hopefully I’ll make it to both events next year and I can see for myself, hah. This was the only time I dug out my binoculars, cos I just needed to see Kobayashi Yu thrashing around like a maniac up close. Vocal-wise, Yu and Shintani Ryoko were the best, I think they took over most of Marina’s lines - though Yu did scream half of hers out incoherently. Hito toshite Jiku ga Bureteiru was mostly Ohtsuki, Kuso Rumba was just as awesome as I hoped it’d be (but Aipon’s singing really kills my ears) and surprisingly, I liked Ringo Mogire Beam! live a lot more. Probably cos Miyukichi looked like she was busting her lungs screaming the refrain trying to keep up with Yu-tan, the poor girl ^^;

Kageyama Hironobu
The guy was excellent as always, but I got terrible cramp in my right foot after being a little too enthusiastic during Ohtsuki Kenji’s set. Had to sit down for his acoustic take on CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA, which was excellent… Saint Seiya was really fun too ^_^

FictionJunction
From the first few notes of the intro music I knew FJ were coming up next and I knew they’d start off with Parallel Hearts. I didn’t like the song when I first heard it in Pandora Hearts, but it’s grown on me a lot more now. Their performance was great too… but of course, what I was most happy about was that what I had been hoping would happen did in fact happen. I dunno how many people know that Yuuka’s appearance was supposed to have been kept a secret but their stupid agency Space Craft (same as Hirano Aya) accidentally put out, and pulled the info a few weeks before AniSama. But once the opening strains of Akatsuki no Kuruma started playing I knew Yuuka was here - she was perfect as always, doing the first part of the song virtually a capella. Once FJ as a whole launched into Nowhere I was brought back to the WTF moment of it being sung on Day 1 of AniSama 2008 haha. It’s a dream come true for me to see any of Kajiura Yuki’s acts live, but having Yuuka there was just ;_; Erm, Kalafina next year please?

Ohmi Tomoe
This was probably the quietest moment of the evening, or what I call ‘Toilet Time’. Hardly anyone recognised Ohmi’s ballad Return to Love - I didn’t either, in fact I was like ‘who the hell is this again’ when she first came out. Everyone in my area sat down during the song.

Ohmi Tomoe + savage genius

Things got a lotttt hotter when Aa-chan turned up. I was excited, Maze was coming! It was really, really good. I was probably still in a daze from FJ though, so I can’t remember if they danced like they did in the PV…

savage genius
Aa-chan’s MC was pretty good too, getting everyone to scream Aa-chan back at her (ELISA did the same thing on Day 1?). And then she started sobbing…. She sang the Pandora Hearts ending Watashi o Mitsukete. which I’m not familiar with, and still didn’t like after hearing it live…. I sat down again. Oh well.

Faylan

After savage genius there was a little break - then the intro music segued into Dark Side of the Light. Not a lot of people knew the song (guess Ga-Rei’s not that popular?) but I really enjoyed it. Faylan was one of the major factors I chose Sunday over Saturday - I’ve been a big fan since she appeared on the scene with her songs for eroge like Reconquista and Never Slash!! Her MC was LOL, apologising for being a newcomer & rushing through thanking all sorts of people like Lantis staff plus repeatedly calling out to her ’shachou’ (the singer Sato Hiromi btw) to ‘WATCH ME!’ and bursting into tears halfway through. I think Faylan needn’t have worried about the reception she’d get, mind as Judgment was one of the most explosive moments of the night and the countdown parts really, really got the crowd going. I think a lot of people were impressed by her & she’s probably gained a few more fans, I read her blog and normally she gets maybe 20 comments for each post but after her performance it went up to nearly 100 ^^;

Faylan + Okui Masami
When Faylan didn’t say Bye-bye after mind as Judgment I was all ‘Eh?? Is she gonna sing another song???’ and indeed she did, with the goddess Makkun on Tamashii no Refrain. Maybe I’m a little bummed out not to have heard angela + Ishikawa Chiaki’s Cruel Angel’s Thesis on Day 1, but this was awesome too. They both have very strong vocals which made for an intense duelling duet - you wanna sing with Makkun you gotta keep in step, and Faylan certainly managed to hold her own. Wow, they’re pushing her like mad…. but I certainly am not complaining.

Okui Masami
GAHHHHH LOVE SHIELD. I was praying for Starting Over but oh well, pfffft.

Suara
Maiochiru Yuki no Youni wouldn’t have been my first choice if Suara really was gonna sing a ballad (I prefer Wasurenaide) but it was still good. But Free and Dream ^_^ I’m glad the first time I saw her live she didn’t just stand still like a tree and actually attempted to move around a bit. Still looked kinda stiff, but it’s one of my fave Suara songs so it was all good. And her hair style for the night made me laugh (she swept the middle part of her hair up), I nearly didn’t recognise her when she walked out.

Tamura Yukari + Shintani Ryoko

OK I was totally like WTF during this. It was sung at such a random point in the night with such a random song and random pairing that everyone around me had the same reaction.. HUUUHHHHHH O_O But DANZEN! Futari wa Precure was awesomely fun and got plenty of love from the crowd… man, it’s pretty hard to dislodge the song from your brain once it’s wormed its way in aaarrrghh. I wish they’d sung something from Galaxy Angel too, that would’ve been amazing….

Psychic Lover
Not really into their music, but I did feel sorry for them for only getting 5 minutes to sing LOST IN SPACE. I thought they’d get to do Shinkenger too.

Nakamura Eriko. Imai Asami. Nigo Mayako from THE IDOLM@STER
Probably I’m one of the few people on the planet who can’t name a single iM@S song, but hey I was too busy screaming MINGOSSSUUUUU to care (and I think Eririn’s singing is still dreadful). THE IDOL M@ASTER was OK for me, Kiramekirari was tinny and squeaky and mostly off-key, and my song was only good when Mingosu was singing. They’re not for me, but I didn’t think it was that bad anyhow - the crowd was really into it.

m.o.v.e.
LOL NO GAMBLE RUMBLE, WHAAAATTTTT. Instead we get a DogFight & Blazin’ Beat medley and….. Gravity? Huh? motsu & Yuri were plugging their anison cover album but didn’t sing anything from it…. WHHHYYY. But motsu always gives you your money’s worth (silly gymnastics and all), and Yuri in a yukata……………..

Tamura Yukari
HAPPY! HAPPY! HA….. Actually, I’m not a fan of Yukarin’s music but well… she doesn’t need me as a fan, there’s thousands of them already ^^; She definitely attracted some of the loudest cheers of the night, all those pink lights! I love her talking more, and her MC was dumb as always, trying to pick out the correct sections of the arena & asking people to raise their hands by their age group (10s?20s?30s?Senior citizens?God?). Sadly, Yukarin disappointed a lot of fans by refusing to sing Mero~n or ‘metal songs’ (ie Meta Usa Hime) but I was OK with her set, at least I know all three of the songs - Chelsea Girl, Tomorrow and Little Wish~Lyrical Step~. I wasn’t too close to Yukarin fans, but even from a few blocks away I could feel the vibrations from the Yukarin! chants during the bridge to Little Wish ^^

GACKT
Lights dimmed……. and then all the girls started screaming. Yeap, it was GACKT time! His setlist was actually pretty predictable - Ai Senshi, The Next Decade and REDEMPTION, though he was well….kinda out of place at AniSama. I loved The Next Decade though, the audience was definitely up and ourt of their seats for that. I remember his MC being pretty lively too, though my memory is now a little hazy and can’t quite recall what exactly he said.

Mizuki Nana (+ Suara)

First time seeing Nana and I was just a teeny bit disappointed with her song choices - wish she’d chosen to sing something older - the theme is Re:Bridge/Returning to Oneself right? I hoped that after Yukarin sang Little Wish that Nana would sing innocent starter but it wasn’t to be. Still, Gimmick Game with motsu was very good and Shinai with Suara was even more bloody awesome (thank God it wasn’t chosen as a duet with Aya xD). Hearing Etsuraku Camellia live was a great moment for me too but uhhhh Orchestral Fantasia yeah. Not my favourite Nana song by any stretch of the imagination.

Group Song
No I can’t sing along to RE:BRIDGE no matter how hard I try, the lyrics and melody line are too cumbersome. I’m glad they did ONENESS though, it’s my favourite of all the AniSama themes so far. Fairy Yui’s mic wasn’t working during the group song, in fact there were mic problems throughout Day 2 (and Day 1 as well I think) - I remember Shintani and Nana having on-off sound at various points through the night.

Encore/Message
All the participants got to say a few words but at this point my brain was shot and I barely remember what any of them said. Stuff that I do recall:

Summing it up:
Best MC: Fairy Yui (Yousei Teikoku)
Best individual performance: Faylan - Mind as Judgment
Best overall set: FictionJunction (I think I may be biased)
Second best overall set: Ohtsuki Kenji
The best of the rest: The collaborations were all great, especially Nana + Suara, Faylan + Makkun and Yukarin + Ryoko.
Best outfit: Yuri in yukata… I think after seeing that, I forgot what the rest of the performers were wearing.

Honestly I remember very little details of the performances cos I was in a daze a lot of the time (still am) - the MCs were the parts that stuck in my mind the most, probably because I was actually focused and paying attention… and not like, wailing along to my favourite songs completely out-of-tune.

Full Setlist:
01. DISCOTHEQUE~MonStAR / Mizuki Nana + Hirano Aya
02. Super Driver / Hirano Aya
03. Set me free / Hirano Aya
04. Yakusoku no Basho e / Yonekura Chihiro
05. 10 YEARS AFTER / Yonekura Chihiro
06. Soshite Boku wa… / Sakakibara Yui
07. Koi no Honoo / Sakakibara Yui
08. Tamakui / Yousei Teikoku
09. last Moment / Yousei Teikoku
10. Hito toshite Jiku ga Bureteiru / Ohtsuki Kenji & Zetsubo Girls
11. Kuso Rumba / Ohtsuki Kenji & Zetsubo Girls
12. Ringo Mogire Beam! / Ohtsuki Kenji & Zetsubo Girls
13. CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA (acoustic) / Kageyama Hironobu
14. Saint Seiya-SOLDIER DREAM / Kageyama Hironobu
15. Parallel Hearts / FictionJunction
16. Akatsuki no Kuruma / FictionJunction (with YUUKA)
17. nowhere / FictionJunction (with YUUKA)
18. Return to Love / Ohmi Tomoe
19. Maze / savage genius feat. Ohmi Tomoe
20. Watashi o Mitsukete. / savage genius
21. Dark Side of the Light / Faylan
22. mind as Judgment / Faylan
23. Tamashii no Refrain / Faylan + Okui Masami
24. LOVE SHIELD / Okui Masami
25. Maiochiru Yuki no youni / Suara
26. Free and Dream / Suara
27. DANZEN! Futari wa Precure (ver. Max Heart) / Tamura Yukari + Shintani Ryoko
28. LOST IN SPACE / Psychic Lover
29. THE IDOLM@STER / Nakamura Eriko.Imai Asami.Nigo Mayako from THE IDOLM@STER
30. Kiramekirari / Nakamura Eriko.Imai Asami.Nigo Mayako from THE IDOLM@STER
31. my song / Nakamura Eriko.Imai Asami.Nigo Mayako from THE IDOLM@STER
32. DOGFIGHT~Blazin’ Beat (medley)/ m.o.v.e
33. Gravity / m.o.v.e
34. Chelsea Girl / Tamura Yukari
35. Tomorrow / Tamura Yukari
36. Little Wish ~first step~ / Tamura Yukari
37. Ai Senshi / GACKT
38. The Next Decade / GACKT
39. REDEMPTION / GACKT
40. Gimmick Game / Mizuki Nana (+ motsu)
41. Shinai / Mizuki Nana + Suara
42. Etsuraku Camellia / Mizuki Nana
43. Orchestral Fantasia / Mizuki Nana
44. RE:BRIDGE~Return to oneself~ / AniSama 09 Theme Song

Encore
01. ONENESS / AniSama 06 Theme Song
02. RE:BRIDGE~Return to oneself~ / AniSama 09 Theme Song

Needless to say, I enjoyed my virgin anison event a lot. See you at AniSama 2010?