seiyuu3

Well they finally announced it - one of the hottest anisong events Animelo Summer is on this year and the official site is now open. A preliminary list of artists attending are already on the site - with familiar names such as ALI Project, Kuribayashi Minami, Mizuki Nana, Chihara Minori, Ishikawa Chiaki, JAM Project, Momoi Halko, Hirano Aya, and two new players GRANRODEO and angela.

This year’s key word is “Challenge” - and with that they are definitely taking some new organizational challenges by not only upping the venue scale from Budoukan to Saitama Super Arena (the capacity depending on layout can be up to double the size), but also splitting the concert into two days, with what appears to be different artists performing on different days. I’m a bit torn on this move - as much as I like the prospects of two days worth of awesome live performances of anisongs, I don’t like them leaving me no choices but to go to both days to see all the artists I want to see.

On a related note, one of JAM Project’s long time female member Matsumoto Rika broke news shortly after the closing of JAM Project’s domestic concert tour that she will no longer take part in JAM Project and JAM Project related events. While hopeful fans were praying that it’s a late April’s Fool, but the profile picture of JAM Project at Animelo reflected this change. It’s a big blow to JAM Project, especially that JAM Project is supposedly doing a world tour this year (and what’s up with that anyway? Hardly any news is out regarding the schedule). Otakon still has her listed as guest, but I guess it’s up in the air.

Hyakka Seiran is a project started by Seiyuu Grandprix sometime last year. The premise is simple enough - grab some famous seiyuu, male and female, and get them to cover famous anime songs, then sell some CDs and voice ringtones. Sounds like a winning (money-making) formula, no? So what could possibly go wrong?

The volume I purchased, volume 2 of the female side, contained more than enough names that I’m very familiar with to pique my interest - Inoue Marina, Nazuka Kaori, Pak Romi, Kaneda Tomoko, Hirohashi Ryo and Yamamoto Maria. Throw in some interesting covers - like Inoue Marina covering Gurren Lagann’s “Sorairo Days” and Gundam SEED’s “Annani issyodatta no ni”, Pak Romi’s Fullmetal Alchemist’s “READY STEADY GO”, Mobile Suit Gundam’s “Ai senshi”, Aura Battler Dunbine’s “Dunbine Tobu”, Kaneda Tomoko’s “Combattler V” (yep I’m quite an old school mecha head) it was enough to get me to do a one-click purchase.

However, like everything too good to be true, there’s a catch. You see, they don’t actually get to sing the whole song, rather just snippets of it. “Hyakka” in the title - literally “one hundred songs”, means that the aim was to collect 100 songs on each CD, and how they did it was to have 10 seiyuu each singing 10 snippets to make it 100, so in reality you only get about 7 minutes for each seiyuu. This wasn’t a big issue, as I’ve already read a review which highlighted this fact, so although still rather disappointing, I was ready for it. Production, on the other hand, is clearly on the cheap side. It sounds like they gave the seiyuu no practice at all and just shove them in front of the mic and tell them to sing, karaoke style. Some songs even had clipping in the recording. Painful.

So why am I still talking about it? Not to discourage potential buyers nor going into a rant actually, because even with all the negatives, it still manage to turn out to be somewhat of a neat purchase.

While the karaoke-ness of the recordings was initially a huge turn off, after listening to a few of them singing it dawned on me that it can also be viewed as to how well some of these seiyuu can sing without mixing aids and after touches. While a majority of them sounds more or less like people singing in a karaoke, a few of them performed well enough that it was close to recording level of quality. The ones that managed to do that were Kitamura Eri, Pak Romi and Nakamura Chie.

Working backwards from the list, let’s start with Nakamura Chie. I’m not terribly familiar with Nakamura Chie (I don’t watch Naruto lolz), but she had that old-school style of singing that made her cover of 80’s classic “Pajama no mamade” (Creamy Mami) and “Natsu no Mirage” (Kimagure Orange Road) instantly triggering the nostalgia in me.

Pak Romi’s line up was a trip down the mecha memory lane. Her cover for Turn A Gundam’s “Tsuki no Mayu”, Brain Powerd’s “Ai no Rinkaku (Field)” was just pure love. Also her ability to deliver a sound that almost matches that to MIO’s (now known as MIQ) original powerful vocal performance in “Dunbine Tobu” commands lots of respect.

Finally, Kitamura Eri. Another one full of classics like Rinbu revolution, You Get to Burning, Give a reason, Alone, Pure Snow etc. and possiblly the best cover of Yuzurenai Negai I’ve heard, seconded only to Momoi Halko’s version last year. In fact it did so much for my opinion of Kitamura Eri’s singing ability that if she was to announce a CD right now, I would buy it in a whim with no questions asked.

Some of the other decent ones came from Yamamoto Maria and Inoue Marina. And to top it off Kaneda Tomoko’s track is just off the chart crazy since there is just no way for me, and I assume a lot of others, to take her voice and singing seriously - which is all good and well for comedic effect though.

The CD is clearly for the seiyuu otaku only, and even for those interested, the best way to sum up this CD will be that it’s like a box of chocolate samplers - some are tasty, some are not terribly good, and some makes you crave for more of the same flavour, but in the end there’s just not enough of it. I’ve made clips of what I think were the two best performers on this disk - Kitamura Eri and Pak Romi - and embed them below. Have a listen yourself.

Kitamura Eri’s



Pak Romi’s

Let’s get the bad bits out of the way first:

The video is bad, as in “zomg I see pixels”. Packaging leaves much to be desired as well for the full price. But get over it.

The sound is still linear PCM Stereo. OK, not 5.1, but the mixing is good and consequently the awesome songs are still awesome.

Rewatching all the songs, the awesome feeling is still there.

Multi-angle for the duets and last encore is epic win. They’ve finally discovered the DVD spec.

Must see acts: Suara, Jyukai, Nana (of course), all the duets, JAM Project, move, Takahashi Youko, Okui Masami. (Actually it’s really hard to leave people out of this list.)

Skippable: Bouken Desho Desho ~ Punk Desho version.

Major disappointment: They took out Dekaranger.

Verdict: Buy (Better with discount)

Link: Amazon.jp / CD Japan

Ah you’ve all been waiting for this, including me. Yes, the Animelo Summer Live 2007 DVD will be released this November. It’s a bit pricey at 8,900 yen but you do get three discs and there’s a good chance they’ll get it right this time. It’s still cheaper that last year’s debacle that’s for sure.

Anipara happened to do a quick recap of the event which I’ve embedded below. Enjoy!

Getting tickets to Animelo 2007 proved to be a much more difficult task than last year. With none of the fan clubs getting any allocation and the tickets in general moving to a tiered pricing system, competition was hot at the ticket box and internet sales. So auctions it was, but I must say it was a great score bettering the great tickets we got for the first Animelo.

This was the second time at Budokan and I hope the last. While Budokan has a cozy atmosphere almost akin to a live house, Animelo really demands a bigger venue. As usual the place was packed by the time we got there and the goods this year looked pretty enticing. I ended up getting a t-shirt since I didn’t have enough cash for the suede hat they had.

Things were looking up after getting inside. This year’s stage setup had a centre extension out into the arena. They also retained most of the side stages although there were not as long as last years. The arena people would definitely get a good show. Sure, we weren’t able to see what was going on from in front, but I think we were in for a much better treat. Now on with the show!

After a short introduction where all the artists were plugged accompanied by some dazzling lights and graphics, Okui Masami burst on to the stage with 「輪舞-revolution」 (Rinbu revolution). And wait she’s singing duet with someone, who is it? It’s Mizuki Nana! Rinbu was already a great song and in duet form with Makkun and Nana-chan live, it was a phenomenal opening number.

A short MC followed with Makkun and Nana talking about how great it was to be doing Animelo again, stuff about the duet… to be honest I don’t remember much of it clearly since I was still reeling from the how fantastic the opening was. Nana then made to leave the stage and as we hoped started heading in our direction. We called out to her but she headed straight down the stairs and our attention turned back to Okui Masami at centre stage.

Makkun then performed her set, 「-w-」 and 「空にかける橋」 (Sora ni kakeru Hashi) from Tales of Eternia. Okui Masami has really come a long way, establishing her own independent label and becoming just an excellent live artist. She definitely seemed at ease and in her own element at Animelo.

Next up was Momoi Halko with her set, 「Romantic Summer」and 「WONDER MOMO-i」. I’ll admit I’m not a Momoi fan but as a live artist she is pretty damn good and the crowd really ate it all up. She was singing with her famous dempa style and doing a great job. Recently at houkoholic’s suggestion, I’ve listened to her cover album, which is actually pretty good. Her cover of 「ゆずれない願い」 and 「God knows…」 is damn good and I kind of wished she would sing like that more often. Unfortunately Momoi left the stage on the other side so we didn’t get to wave at her.

Some violinists had been gathering at the stairs during Momoi’s performance and there had been some speculation who would be appearing next. As we’d hoped Chihara Minori entered the stage from the centre lift to perform 「 純白サンクチュアリィ」(Junpaku Sanctuary) and 「君がくれたあの日」(Kimi ga Kureta Ano Hi). Her performance on 「Junpaku Century」 seemed a bit weak but Minorin picked it up for an excellent 「Kimi ga Kureta Ano Hi」. We had been expecting to hear this one live and it was a complete thrill to hear it performed flawlessly.

Minorin then introduced the next act, Cy-Rim rev. The lead singer ,miru, came out with this lightsaber of a microphone stand. There was a short bit of banter with Minorin who pointed out that miru’s glasses didn’t have lenses in them. Cy-Rim rev. then performed 「恋のDice☆教えて」(Koi no Dice Oshiete). I had never heard this song before but they did a pretty good job of it.

After that, the stage stayed dark as the long intro for the next song was played. It was Takarano Arika of ALI PROJECT and Nana(!) singing the Rozen Maiden Träumend opening theme 「聖少女領域」 (Seishoujou Ryouiki). It was an awesome duet topped off with complementing goth outfits, Arika in white and Nana in black.

Another short MC followed with Nana-chan saying it was a great experience singing one of ALI PROJECT’s song in a duet, and Arika said that she would like to sing one of Nana-chan’s songs and perhaps next time they can sing one together, and the crowd errupted into an enourmous cheer. Nana-chan followed the crowd’s reaction turning it into something of a promise. So maybe we will get to hear them singing together at the next Animelo.

Next up was Takahashi Naozumi. While I’m not particularly interested in his songs, there’s no denying he’s a great performer. He did his set of 「てのひら」(Tenohira) and 「君に会えてよかった」 (Kimi ni Aete Yokatta) with a great gusto, though to be honest I think his selection last year was more interesting, at least for me.

Kuribayashi Minami came out next with 「Yell！」 the ending theme Super Robot Wars OG and 「翼はPleasure Line」 (Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line) the opening for Chrno Crusade. The crowd loved this and made me regret for the second time that I hadn’t gotten around to watching it.

Suara then took the stage as we waved excitedly at Minami as she went passed us. While I had heard 「夢想歌」 (Musouka) a few times, it left a fairly ordinary impression. However, live, was another story as Suara earned plenty of respect, especially when she sang 「キミガタメ」 (Kimigatame) and really nailed the performance. It was something to behold.

Following Suara was Oumi Tomoe. Tomoe made her first appearance at the first Animelo back in 2005. She’s actually signed on to Makkun’s label and Makkun produced her first single. She performed 「Float～空の彼方で～」 (Float ~ Sora no Kanate e ~) the ending theme for SoltyRei which incidentally she was cast as a seiyuu. Tomoe then sang a cover of 「ロックリバーへ」 (Rock river e) which was cute. She seemed to have quite a few fans in the crowd judging by the reaction she got and overall she’s not bad.

Next up was the duet with Kuribayashi Minami and Momoi Halko. Momoi was dressed in her famous school uniform brandishing her keytar. Minami also wore a school uniform as they sang 「うしろゆびさされ組」(Ushiro Yubi Sasaregumi) which is actually by a unit of the same name made up of two Onyanko Club members, Takai Mamiko and Iwai Yukiko (Yuuyu). I didn’t really know the song but it was cute and prompt some back stage antics from m.o.v.e rapper, motsu.

While Minami and Momoi were on stage, I noticed the m.o.v.e guys had come out to check out the stage as they were coming up next. motsu was already getting in the mood pumping his hand in the hard, then he started mimicking the girls dancing on stage while t-kimura checked over his 6 keyboard setup. It looked like they were getting pretty hyper and they didn’t disappoint!

The m.o.v.e set was one of the high points of the concert. I hadn’t seen them live before but, damn, they were good. yuri is just as good live as in the studio and motsu is just crazy hyper. Whatever’s he’s on, I want it. How t-kimura could keep playing without missing a beat while motsu destroyed his keyboard stands is still amazing. They performed their new single 「Systematic Fantasy」 and then rocked the house with 「Gamble Rumble」 from Initial D: Third Stage. Awesome? You betcha.

The first of the special guests, Yabeno Hikomaru (Denchu) & Kotohime (MOMOEIKA), were up next with 「レッツゴー！陰陽師」 (Let’s Go! Onmyouji). You might have seen the video clip before on niconico douga or youtube and it’s just as funny live. The audience really got into too, singing along with the chorus.

Then it was Psychic Lover with the Dekaranger theme song 「特捜戦隊デカレンジャー」(Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger) and 「XTC」 the Witchblade opening. They guys had great energy and worked the crowd really well. Everyone was singing along with the Dekaranger theme song.

Jyukai then took the stage with a change of pace that was just perfect. Manami’s live rendition of the Fate/stay night ending 「あなたがいた森」(Anata ga ita Mori) was something to behold. But she was not done yet as she then topped that with an awesome performance of 「咲かせてはいけない花」 (Sakasete wa Ikenai Hana) which I hadn’t heard before but I really want now.

With a smoke filled entrance and men dancing in drag, ALI PROJECT returned with one of the songs we’d been waiting to hear all night. The Code Geass ending theme 「勇侠青春謳」 (Yuukyou Seishunka). At this point I’m starting to run out of synonyms for “awesome” but it was simply that. 「暗黒天国」 (Ankoku Tengoku) and 「跪いて足をお嘗め」 (Hizamazuite Ashi o Oname) were great as well but Yuukyou Seishunka took the cake.

Then something unexpected happened. A familiar opening started playing. It was 「魂のルフラン」 (Tamashii no Refrain) and Takahashi Youko appeared. The crowd too hadn’t expected this but immediately started cheering. Takahashi Youko went on to complete what turned out to be a medley with 「残酷な天使のテーゼ」 (Zankoku na Tenshi no These). I knew I always thought she was an awesome vocalist and to finally hear her live is just mind-blowing. I was a little surprised that she immediately and quickly left the stage as soon as she finished. I guess her duties for the Eva hype machine were done.

Next was the last of the special guests. There were some technical difficulties with her guitarist unable to get sound and she’d been standing there in the dark for a while. I was tempted to call out to her but I wasn’t sure. But no one else is that thin, so it had to be, and it was Hirano Aya. I’ll be honest, it took me a good 30 seconds and houkoholic yelling the song name at me before I realised it was a heavily mangled grunge remix of 「冒険でしょでしょ？」 (Bouken Desho Desho?). Unfortunately, this was not a good mix. The new electric guitar heavy version doesn’t suit what is now a famous anime-pop theme at all. Aya was practically shouting most of the song and the crowd didn’t know what was going on at the time. No one could really get into since this version hasn’t had the exposure of the original and definitely not as catchy. Poor Aya-chan, between bad remixes and technical difficulties, nothing seems to put her in a good light for live performances and this doesn’t come close to living up to Episode 11 「God knows…」and 「Lost my music」 awesomeness even though that was faux live.

But not to be derailed, JAM Project stormed on stage next with three crowd-busting songs in the form of 「Break Out」 (the SRWOG anime opening theme), 「VICTORY」(SRWMX PS2 opening theme) and, of course, 「SKILL」. JAM Project is truly one of the best live acts. There’s just so much energy when they take the stage. 「SKILL」 is pretty much something they have to sing every time as the audience is completely swept up in it. This time is was super long extended with the “I can fly” chorus with the audience joining in lasting for a good 3 minutes on its own. Their set was fantastic, especially since houkoholic called out to Fukuyama-san while he was waiting to go on stage. He kept coming back over to our section of the stage because our entire section was going crazy. With the crowd all pumped again, it was time for our favourite act of the night.

Nana-chan returned to the stage with 「Justice to Believe」and 「Secret Ambition」and the energy just hit the roof. 「Secret Ambition」 was totally expected as it’s the Nanoha StrikerS opening and hearing it live for the second time raises it’s enjoyment immensely. There was a short MC next where Nana-chan announced she was going to sing something live for the first time. When she mentioned it was from a PS2 game, we were already cheering. And then she revealed it was Shining Wind and we knew it was the song we’d been hoping to hear her sing live, 「Heart-shaped chant」. I pretty much lost it at this point. 「Heart shaped-chant」 is already an awesome song that really shows off Nana’s vocal ability. Hearing it performed live, well, it’s beyond words. Everything melted together at that point and I was transported to a sea of swaying lights as Animelo reached it’s climax.

Makkun joined Nana on stage and called out the artists for the final song, Animelo Summer Live 2007’s theme song, 「Generation-A」. On it’s own 「Generation-A」 is fairly plain and I’m thinking last year’s theme song, 「OUTRIDE」, is still a better song. But what made it on the night was when motsu from m.o.v.e started rapping in the middle of the song and suddenly it leapt from being ordinary to something I really wanted. It’s too bad that I’ll have to wait for the DVD to get it since I don’t think they’ll be clued in enough to re-release the single with the live version on it.

After that they waved to everyone and started leaving the stage with all of them heading towards our stage exit. Of course, we didn’t let this opportunity slip by and called out to everyone who we could remember the names of. And this time, Nana-chan finally turned and acknowledged us with a wave.

Of course, it wasn’t over yet. With the lights still dimmed, the requisite 「An-ko-re」 (encore) chanting started. It was probably a good 5 minutes before everyone returned to the stage for last year’s theme 「OUTRIDE」. The rest of the band members were then called out and everyone was introduced. Then each artist got to say their thank yous and a short comment to the audience before they finished with 「Generation-A」 one more time. motsu once again rapping to the beat and getting the crowd involved this time with “Everybody say Ho~oh!”. A grand finale with a shower of silver streamers and ticker tape. All the artists took a tour of the stage to wave to all sections of the audience and for the second time everyone left using our stage exit and so we called and waved to everyone again picking a few more names missed the first time around. And then it was over.

This year’s Animelo was such a rush. An unforgettable experience, with many, many awesome moments. Last year’s DVD was a bit of a mess but there’s no doubt that I want this year’s on DVD. Here’s hoping for a 5.1 soundtrack. There were certainly enough mics setup for it! Maybe even HD! (OK, I’m getting carried away.)

For more pics go to seiyunews.com. I’d steal his pics but hey.

Yeah, I’m almost done. Here’s the set list first. It’s a long one.

• ～Opening～
• 01　Rinbu-revolution / Okui Masami, Mizuki Nana
• ～MC～
• 02　-w- / Okui Masami
• 03　Sora ni kakeru hashi / Okui Masami
• 04　Romantic summer / Momoi Halko
• 05　WONDER MOMO-i / Momoi Halko
• 06　Junpaku Sanctuary / Chihara Minori
• 07　Kimi ga Kureta Ano Hi / Chihara Minori
• 08　Koi no Dice Oshiete / Cy-Rim rev.
• 09　Seishoujou Ryouiki / Takarano Arika, Mizuki Nana
• ～MC～
• 10　Tenohira / Takahashi Naozumi
• 11　Kimi ni Aete Yokatta / Takahashi Naozumi
• 12　Yell！ / Kuribayashi Minami
• 13　Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line / Kuribayashi Minami
• 14　Musouka / Suara
• 15　Kimigatame / Suara
• 16　Float～Sora no Kanata e～/ Oumi Tomoe
• 17　Rock River e / Oumi Tomoe
• 18　Ushiroyubisasaregumi / Kuribayashi Minami, Momoi Halko
• ～MC～
• 19　Systematic Fantasy / m.o.v.e
• 20　Gamble Rumble / m.o.v.e
• 21　Let’s Go! Onmyouji / Yabeno Hikomaru (Denchu) & Kotohime (MOMOEIKA) with Bouzu Dancers
• 22　Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger / PSYCHIC LOVER
• 23　XTC / PSYCHIC LOVER
• 24　Anata ga ita Mori / Jyukai
• 25　Sakasete wa Ikenai Hana / Jyukai
• 26　Yuukyou Seishunka / ALI PROJECT
• 27　Ankoku Tengoku / ALI PROJECT
• 28　Hizamazuite Ashi o Oname / ALI PROJECT
• 29　Tamashii no Refrain, Zankoku na Tenshi no These / Takahashi Youko
• 30　Bouken Desho Desho? / Hirano Aya
• 31　Break Out / JAM Project
• 32　VICTORY / JAM Project
• 33　SKILL / JAM Project
• 34　Justice to Believe / Mizuki Nana
• 35　SECRET AMBITION / Mizuki Nana
• ～MC～
• 36　Heart-shaped chant / Mizuki Nana
• 37　Generation-A
• ～Encore～
• EN-1　OUTRIDE
• EN-2　Generation-A / All artists and band members

sent: This has got to be the best concert I’ve been to ever.

houkoholic: usually you don’t see us here at seiyuu3 fanboying much, but allow me to do it just this once - this concert is f-ing beyond awesome, and easily the best Animelo thus far.

For me personally, the “zomg that is freaking AWESOME!!!!” highlights were:

• Makkun and Nana-chan kicks off the concert with a “Rinbu - Revolution” duet
• Minorin’s flawless performance of “Kimi ga Kureta Anohi”
• Ali Project and Nana-chan, in full matching black and white goth costume, singing Rozen Maiden Traumend’s “Seishoujo Ryouiki”
• Suara’s beyond CD quality performance of the two Utawarerumo songs
• Jyukai’s also beyond CD quality performance of the Fate/Stay Night ending theme
• Super-special-secret guest - Takahashi Yoko’s EVA medley!
• JAM Project’s “Skill” never fails to get everyone on our feet and yell till we all lose our voice
• Nana-chan sang “Heart-shaped Chant” and floored the entire audience

sent: Well that pretty much covers it. XD

Rather than repeating all that, I’ll only add that m.o.v.e. were surprisingly awesome and kicking with “Gamble Rumble” and I crave to hear any of the Fourth Stage songs live.

Check out the freaking awesome seats we got. That, my friends, is the stage entrance/exit staircase. That’s right we had front row seats next to the entrance/exit and you betcha we were in shouting distance of all the artists entering and exiting the stage. I can tell you we got more than our fair share of waves from Minorin, Nana-chan, Makkun, Kuribayashi Minami and many others.

houkoholic: We got waves from everyone when we called their name as they exit, and that is not a lie. >:) I called out to Fukuyama and Endo from JAM Project as they entered stage and went crazy with calls, they loved our enthusiasm and kept coming back to wave at us even during their performance.

sent: Yayz Nana-chan, Minorin, JAM Project Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ イエイ！！ Freaking awesome.

We had full view on all the backstage antics including m.o.v.e’s motsu getting down with the dancers when Kuribayashi Minami and Momoi Haruko were singing a moe song on stage. XD

Anyway, full report to come later once the set list is in order. We’ll give you guys a song by song breakdown.

Must. buy. DVD.

Official page is now up.

The date is 7th July, again in Budoukan.

Artists list is not finalised yet but the usual suspects like Makkun, JAM Project, Nana-chan, Kuribayashi Minami and Takahashi Naozomi will all be back.  Halko (Momoi Haruko) is going to make her first Animelo appearance this year.

Ok first let’s get the ugly bits out of the way - the first episode of Lovely Idol is terrible.  In brief, Lovely Idol is apparently a long running franchise where they had various “generations” of idols, and the anime is going to focus on the newest groups - the third generation, detailing on how these young talents are going to make themselves worthy of the Lovely Idol name.  The alarms went off as soon as I noticed that they reused an entire 10 second of animation sequence in the opening animation, and here I thought that opening animations were supposed to make people want to watch the show.  Pulling a Gundam Seed Destiny on us in less than 90 seconds has to be a record.  The show itself is uninspiring and it screams of a low budget bishoujo anime trying to capitalise on the diehard fanbase, and I don’t even want to get into the obligatory little sister character who has too much affection towards her older brother. 

While the first episode was cringe-inducing except for the impressive acapella performance by the character (of whom I’ve forgotten the name) played by Nogawa Sakura 野川さくら, the remaining of the event was entirely entertaining.   Besides the aforementioned Nogawa Sakura, the other seiyuu guests consisted of Nakahara Mai 中原麻衣, Momoi Haruko　桃井はるこ, Goto Yuko　後藤邑子, Chihara Minori 茅原実里 and Sakai Kanako 酒井香奈子. 

During the two talk sessions, as Nogawa Sakura, Nakahara Mai and Momoi Haruko were no strangers to events, thus they were all capable of handling what were thrown at them.  Chihara Minori seems to be settling more comfortably now and was able to stir up the atmosphere and get some reactions from the audience.  She also make some fairly interesting and non-stock answers to questions.   

The surprise for the day definitely goes to Goto Yuko.  Her witty comments and numerous good comebacks on comments made by the MC shows an entirely different image to her many on-screen avatars. 

On the other hand, Sakai Kanako’s lack of experience and her young age really showed through.  Stumbling on a few conversation topics and made a real blunder when she failed to properly read one of the ward names in Tokyo during the prize draw.  

Besides the usual talks, there were also live performances.  Nogawa Sakura skillfully handles the opening theme song by herself, and the very idolish ending theme, complete with equally idol-style dance moves, were performed by the entire cast.  Chihara Minori’s gunshot hand gesture was particularly cute, overloading the many, and very loud, Minorin fans with her moe-ness.

* Warning - the following are purely personal opinions based on what I saw on the day, so take it with a big grain of salt.

While during the talks the cast themselves insisted in their bondings during the recordings and puts up as much of a joyful mood in the event as possible, at the end of the event sent pointed out that somehow they didn’t seem to fit together.  I made the observation that it was more like a 2:1:3 formation.  The 2 being Nogawa Sakura and Nakahara Mai, 1 being Momoi Haruko, and 3 being Goto Yuko, Chihara Minori and Sakai Kanako.  Momoi Haruko didn’t seem to fit in at all and she did not once chat with the other seiyuu on stage nor follow up on any conversations.  Nogawa Sakura and Nakahara Mai were quite comfortable following up to each other, most probably thanks to them having worked together before.  The remaining trio seems to have Minorin in the centre, with her having worked closely with Goto Yuko in Haruhi, and that she’s co-hosting a Lovely Idol radio program with Sakai Kanako.  On top of that, Sakai Kanako also co-host a radio program with Nogawa Sakura and they seem to have a kohai/sempai relationship going on there.  Remember that Kanako blunder I mentioned?  While everyone else gave Kanako a little teasing laughter for her lack of knowledge, Nogawa Sakura was the only one who had her face all straight disapproving.  Also I can’t help but think that Nogawa Sakura wasn’t particularly happy that day with Minorin’s fans making up the majority of the attendees and Minorin having the loudest cheers.  It’s probably just me imagining things, but it sure made good conversation topic on the way home.

In a 50/50 split on veterans (Nogawa Sakura, Nakahara Mai, Momoi Haruko) and up-rising stars (Goto Yuko, Chihara Minori, Sakai Kanako), watching them in this event it strikes me as almost ironic to have such a cast in a show where it’s about uprising idols wanting to walk out from the shadows of their predecessors in the idol industry, as the cast seems to be themselves a reflection of the story they’re playing.  If it’s up to me, I would just forgo the anime altogether and let the seiyuus themselves play it out. 

THAT, I would pay to watch.