THE IDOLM@STER 5th ANNIVERSARY live: The world is all one !!

Yup another concert. Almost didn’t go coz my head was pinging like mad 3 hours before the live. Note to self: never go clubbing until 6 am on a heavy duty concert day (otagei-wise) ever again. Big mistake. I also hesitated because my concert ticket was half price from auction, and it takes 1 hour to get there by train.

I went anyway, arrived in Makuhari Messe 30 mins before the live starts. My seat is still in arena, but way on the back. I could see the stage pretty okay, and could recognize the girls… well the 3 big screens helped a lot.

One thing very noticeable.. the fangirl and fanboy ratio is a joke. Nana’s live seems like a Johnny boyband concert compared to this. There was only 1 other girl in my block, so safe to say there was.. er, 1 girl for every hundred boys?

Performers’ List

You think Eternal Blaze has impressive otagei? IM@S fans has it on a totally different level. I could catch up fairly well with the tempo, but felt SOOO noob because I didn’t bring enough penlights. The official ones were sold out, and didn’t have time to buy from normal shop. Each idol has her own image color, though some share the same penlight color. Here’s the confirmed guest list.

* Makoto’s image color is black, so it depends on the song.

I fail because I only prepared half (ultra orange, Nana’s blue, Yukarin’s pink, Minorin’s red) .. and just waved my hands during the other colors orz.

Setlist.

PROLOG.
The concert started with a special message from 765 Production’s Company President, telling us about the concert rules.. no heavy otagei that may disturb other people, and he will burn our cameras if we dare to take photos. xD

1. THE IDOLM@STER. Everyone.
Obvious start.

New costume! I prefer last year’s costume more, but anything that shows legs. :3

2. キラメキラリ (Kiramekirari). ~ Maya (Yayoi), Asapon (Ami/Mami), Harami (Takane).
I forgot my hangover already and jumped higher than the guy next to me. One of my fave genki song, even better with Asapon there. Harami isn’t squeaky enough lol so couldn’t really hear her.

3. 乙女よ大志を抱け (Otome yo taishi wo idake). Eririn (Haruka).
Still squeaky and unstable, but hits most of the notes. She improved.

4. 迷走Mind (Meisou Mind). Hirorin (Makoto)
Is a really fine singer with strong voice, or maybe because she sang right after Eririn? xD

5. 空 (Sora). Jurikichi (Kotori)
Gentle, soft voice with a nice feeling to it.

6. L・O・B・M.
~ Eririn (Haruka), Hirorin (Makoto), Mayachan (Yayoi), Asapon (Ami/Mami), Jurikichi (Kotori), Harami (Takane)

MC 1.
First batch done~! Each idol introduced themselves in character, led by Eririn. Fans waved penlight according to the idol’s color XD

7. いっぱいいっぱい (Ippai Ippai). Naomiti (Ritsuko).
Her Ritsuko cosplay never fails to amuse me lol hair.

8. 目が逢う瞬間 (Me ga Au Toki). ~ Chihaya (Mingos), Azusa (Chiaking)
ZOMG$@#!$!@# This song is the culprit that got me into the money-sucking franchise that is Idolm@ster. And A DUET VERSION WITH CHIAKING, and she used her deep voice to match Mingos. What did I do to deserve this goodness! XD

9. フタリの記憶 (Futari no Kioku). ~ Kugyu (Iori), Akki (Miki)

10. Next Life. Nunu (Hibiki)
Definitely not photogenic since she’s MUCH prettier in real life. xD Voice is deeper than CD too, so it was a lot better.

11. キミはメロディ (Kimi wa Melody)
~ Naomiti (Ritsuko), Chiaking (Azusa), Mingos (Chihaya), Kugyuu (Iori), Akki (Miki), Nunu (Hibiki)

MC 2
Second batch done! Another introduction led by Mingos.

From here on, they wear the old costumes depending on the song. Damn OFFICIAL HI-RES PICS WHERE!!!

PV: Arcade game
It’s not resting time because sadly the people there are in love with the game characters too. Even louder cheers and plenty of Ultra Orange lights.

12. エージェント夜を往く (Agent Yoru wo Yuku). Ami/Mami (Asapon)
My favorite in-game song! Asapon used her real (deeper) voice to sing, obviously it’s easier and better than trying to be as squeaky as possible lol.

13. 魔法をかけて！ (Mahou wo Kakete). ~ Naomiti (Ritsuko), Hirorin (Makoto)
Interesting combination for the song, turns out great too!

14. ポジティブ！ (Positive!). ~ Eririn (Haruka), Kugyu (Iori)

15. 蒼い鳥 (Aoi Tori). Mingos (Chihaya)
Beautiful. Perfection. I don’t know how else to describe it. Though it was still early to judge, I was sure this is the single best performance for the night. I listened to this once in Anisama 2 years ago, but the full song floored me.

PV: XBOX game

16. 私はアイドル (Watashi wa idol). ~ Hirorin (Takane), Asapon (Ami/Mami)

17. relations. Akki (Miki)
Eee.. surprised that Miki sings this. Used to love this song a lot.

18. 思い出をありがとう (Omoide wo arigatou). Chiaking (Azusa)

PV: Live 4 U
The best everrrrrr. L4U is a rhythm game (pressing buttons) and each button represent a cheer.. They showed the gameplay bit, we cheered as if we’re in game haha.

19. shiny smile. ~ Naomiti (Ritsuko), Jurikichi (Kotori), Nunu (Hibiki)

20. Do-Dai. ~ Mingos (Chihaya), Maya (Yayoi), Harami (Takane)
I miss this song since Anisama 2008. Yappari much better with Maya on it~!

21. my song. Kugyu (Iori)
I know that Kugyu is a decent singer, but didn’t know she’s very good live too! She nailed the Iori pitch and the lower one…. omg I’m totally floored.

MC.
Kugyu expressed her happiness to perform in front of us, finally she has time in between voicing loli. Then she started crying OMG THAT’S THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!!#!@# The other idols appeared on stage to pat and cheer her up. I can’t believe this, I have a Kugimiya disease, and because of her real life cuteness…. well still in character though, so I am now Type I positive? ;A;

MC continued, asking each idol which in-game-only song they’d like to cover on a CD.. naturally I didn’t know any of the songs they were talking about, since I only bought IM@S CD and PSP game lol.

22. メリー (Merry).
~ Eririn (Haruka), Chiaking (Azusa), Hirorin (Takane), Jurikichi (Kotori)

23. バレンタイン (Valentine). ~ Maya (Yayoi), Asapon (Ami/Mami)
Super squeaky loli fun!!

24. サニー (Sunny). ~ Naomiti (Ritsuko), Kugyu (Iori), Harami (Takane)

25. inferno. ~ Mingos (Chihaya), Nunu (Hibiki)
Finally Chihaya/Hibiki duet in real life!! Fans got super excited.

26. 花 (Hana). Jurikichi (Kotori)
Rose displayed on the middle screen. Damn I start liking Kotori too THIS IS BAD.

27. シャララ (Shalala).
~ Naomiti (Ritsuko), Chiaking (Azusa)

28. Shooting!!!. Akki (Miki)

29. Melted Snow. Harami (Takane)

PV: IDOLM@STER SP

30. オーバーマスター (Overmaster). ~ Akki (Miki), Harami (Takane), Nunu (Hibiki)
Of course after the SP introduction, 961 Pro idols!!! DAMN COOL!!!

31. Colorful Days. ~ Haruka (Eririn), Chihaya (Mingos), Ami/Mami (Asapon)
Awesome cheers. Shouting seiyuu names in between songs lol. ERIRIN! MINGOS! ASAPON! Loved loved loved it!

32. 隣に… (Tonari ni…). Chiaking (Azusa)
This is not the first time I heard Tonari ni… The normal version was great too, this girl doesn’t need gravure yo. Juicy poly yay~~~~ ♪

33. またね (Mata ne).
~ Hirorin, Kugyu (Iori), Maya (Yayoi), Jurikichi (Kotori), Nunu (Hibiki)

PV: IDOLM@STER 2

This PV in a big screen, BUT with the idol + seiyuu names… except Yukiho. By the end of the song, we get very big announcement…… Introducing new seiyuu for Hagiwara Yukiho, a cute young lady named Asakura Azumi!! Crowd roared.

IM@S SEIYUU LEGS APPROVED.

Had no idea who she is but her voice is very cute, totally different from Yurishii’s image of Yukiho before. She broke into tears because she’s happy she can participate from this important 5th anniversary.

Here’s Azumin’s ANN and official blog.

34. The world is all one!!. Everyone + Azumin
Still can’t really tell how Azumin sings.. need charasong asap!! I like the new song though, too bad the event-limited CD run out… it’s 10,000 yen in auctions orz. I’ll just wait for the general release..

MC.
Each seiyuu gave the last talk. I personally loved Jurikichi (Kotori) since she broke into tears while saying “eventhough I’m not an idol…..” awwwww that’s so cute >_< Well she’s officially only a clerk in 765 Pro.

ENCORE. FINALLY I CAN SIT DOWN.

35. GO MY WAY!!. Everyone
Glad I rested my feet because GO MY WAY! (HEY!!) GO MAE HE! (HEYYY!!!!) times infinity kills.

36. THE IDOLM@STER. Everyone
As usual, opened and closed with the title song. Most people were busy collecting the encore ribbons tho lol, there were way too few to collect.. not even 1 went to my area T__T

After the concert ends, the fans spent some time cheering for the BGM instead of going home. Yes, after 4 hours and 36 songs they’re still so energetic. All I was thinking about was food and Kugyu. Wait that sounds so wrong…

Overall the concert was very nicely arranged. Balanced proportion for each idol, interesting in-character MC, and I’m definitely impressed with the girls’ performance quality. Much better than I had expected.

Goods.

Obviously I had no hopes on goods. Everything was sold out when I arrived. Even the bonus in CD section was gone! It was uchiwa (paper fan) with THE IDOLM@STER SPECIAL CD covers, one girl on one side. You can choose which one you want.. Chihaya/Hibiki (SP 3) and Haruka/Yayoi (SP 1) were gone.

From all goods listed here, I only managed to get pamphlet and white normal T-shirt. I could still get the nicer blue, but only XL left… and this size S is still too big orz.

Pamphlet listing all participating seiyuu and short interview. Yummy Eririn and Mingos.

Plenty of flowers, but this one is nice. From Mingos’ SSG blog.

2ch people sent 1 bouquet for EACH seiyuu… well not as impressive as those personal ones sent by fans ^^;

Next time I’ll come back as a better producer, fully prepared with all penlight colors, no hangover, and hopefully better seat where I can actually see their face haha.

…..

THE WORLD IS ALL ONE !!

…. damn I’m sinking deeper into this, yeah?