hello everyone, don't know how many of you all are still active, but I've been thinking of being active on tumblr again, maybe a new account?
I miss this place and the awesome memories, along with the genuine kindness.
I've taken quite the turn with my art, I've made a lot of progress since then, but I'm still drawing women and will always want to provide more representation!! I've also been accepted in animation school, and I'm super emotional thinking of my art journey on here.
I'm developing a project about a lesbian coming to terms with her identity, in the meantime, here are some doodles of my oc Lucie :)
Aqours 4th Live - Aida Rikako’s Post-Live Thoughts
I performed the 4th Live Original CD, “Thank you, FRIENDS!! SOLO CONCERT” with all my heart, keeping everyone important to me in mind. Please listen to it over and over again😊. For those who couldn’t pick up a copy at the venue, apparently it’s going to be sold online too so do look out for that!
It’s been some time since our performance at Tokyo Dome, but time really flies, so much so that I sometimes wonder if those two days were nothing but a dream (lol).
Like our 3rd Live, I really gave it my all this time. Truthfully, I already did convey everything that I wanted everyone to know, right then and there. But, I somehow have a feeling that everyone is waiting for this, so I’ll write just a little about what I thought.
My first time on the stage of Tokyo Dome. When we were on standby for our first song, Kimikoko, my hands and feet were trembling so badly, much worse than usual. I felt almost afraid of going on stage back then.
Even I’m not really sure why I felt that way.
We’ve worked so hard together to come all the way to Tokyo Dome, so we can’t fail. It’s a special place, and I definitely wouldn’t want to betray everyone’s expectations. I’m sure I held all kinds of emotions in my heart. But, one thing that has not changed since 1st is that I believe I only managed to stand proudly on stage because of the members of Aqours and the team, who will definitely lend me a helping hand should the need arise.
In the end, I even felt that I didn’t want to leave the stage. I felt really lonely leaving everyone behind.
It’s because everyone was calling for us. When I heard the chants for “Aqours”, that was the first time I felt that my efforts up till now have been rewarded.
Thank you so, so much for calling out our name. At that moment, I finally felt I possessed “self-confidence”, just a little, as Aqours.
And there was “Omoi yo Hitotsu ni Nare”, which we haven’t performed since 1st.
I was really afraid of whether everyone would accept it.
As someone who has gone through so many lives and knows full well what it feels to stand in front of an audience, amazingly, I managed to feel even more cowardly than I had back then.
It’s originally a song from the anime, so I really was afraid of destroying the form of the song that could only exist because of the synchronization.
After 1st, I kept thinking about what would happen to this song, over and over again. I even avoided it for some time, out of fear. Even though I loved the song, which made me feel very conflicted.
That’s why, I’m really really glad that I was able to face it once again this time.
I’m sure this dream only managed to come true because of the team that supported me, as well as everyone who cheered me on. Thank you so, so much.
I’m certain that after I left the piano, Riko-chan was there to continue playing, watching over me. It felt as if she were there to support me as I sang, which was really reassuring.
Riko-chan is so much stronger and more amazing than anything I could ever become. She’s a really amazing girl, always lending me her courage and strength. I once again felt how endearing of a presence she is.
It’s never enough, no matter how many times I say “thank you”. And… the members of Aqours, who motivated me the words “it was originally supposed to be a song for all 9 of us!”, made me so, so glad.
I was once again thankful that Aqours consists of the 9 of us.
After concluding our live and reaching our goal at Tokyo Dome, we really don’t know what’s in store for us. But, there are so many things that need to be done, still so many stages that have been prepared for us. Things like “Oh, because we’ve already been to Tokyo Dome…”, none of that matters. I’m sure that we’ll continue doing our best, like we always have.
I almost have the urge to think that we can just charge ahead without a goal, as long as everyone is there waiting for us 😊. Love Live! has always been my target, giving me all sorts of challenges to overcome, making me feel that I need to continue working even harder.
And, with that, tomorrow is Guilty Kiss’ fan meeting in Fukuoka!
I’m sure you’re all lonely after our performance in Tokyo Dome, right? That goes for me too!!
I’ll receive those feelings from each and every one of you tomorrow 💓.
The three of us will go on a rampage and do our best, so be prepared!!! I just wrote down my true feelings, so there might be some typos here and there, and I’m sorry for that 😢.
Once again,
thank you very much for coming to
Aqours 4th LoveLive! ~Sailing to the Sunshine~
in Tokyo Dome!
It was the stage of my dreams,
but the smiles I saw on all of your faces these last two days
definitely weren’t a dream!
Our past selves would have never thought we’d be here.
Expectations, uncertainty, pressure, Tokyo Dome…
But
we threw ourselves into it,
pushed it all aside, and ran forward.
And before we know it,
Aqours turned that zero into a one
and that one into something greater…
When I look back on those days,
when we worked so hard and supported each other,
I feel like we’ve grown so fast.
Thank you, FRIENDS!!
I’m glad we worked so hard to get here.
I’m glad we weren’t defeated.
I’m glad it was the 9 of us.
And I’m glad I was able to meet our tenth member in all of you.
It’s because you all supported us
that we were able to stand on this stage.
Thank you so much!
Tokyo Dome is the important place where our dreams started
and where our dreams came true.
It was a place overflowing with love
And without a doubt, it was because of everyone
To us, it’s a place of new beginnings
And our new dream to come back to Tokyo Dome has been born.
We were able to make a ton of happy announcements to you all, too
Now we have the 4th single to look forward to
I want to give Yohane a present
as one of her little demons.
I’ll do my best, too!
Everyone will be great rivals
because we’re the greatest partners.
Now!
Let’s go forward, towards a new place!
Forever and ever! We’ll go forward together!
Aikyan_ 😈😈
This was our blog’s 100th post. Thank you, friends, for always following our work and giving us kind words of support. We’ll do our best to bring you even more of Aikyan in the years to come.
I was most nervous for the first song out of our setlist.
Q: First, what are your thoughts looking back on the 3rd live tour.
A: First of all, above everything else, I was really happy to be able to experience things through Chika’s perspective. Continuing the 2nd tour, I was very happy to be able to go to various places and perform. Personally, I was really nervous since we started rehearsing. But after we successful performance at the Metlife Dome, I was relieved. I was able to relieve all the tension and I was able to enjoy the remaining performances.
Q: What do you mean you were nervous during rehearsal?
A: These concerts followed along with season 2 of the anime, so the songs from season 2 were the focus of the concert. One one hand “I’m happy to be able to perform these songs with everyone” on the other hand, there was pressure from not being used to the songs. I couldn’t really calm down until the end of the first performance at the Metlife Dome.
Q: I see, do you remember the MC portion on the first day?
A: I said, “I’m back!”, didn’t I? It was the same place as the final day of the 2nd tour. It’s like a dream come true to be able to perform at such a big venue again. I think being able to say “I’m back” somewhere other than Numazu is pretty blessed. Also, the feeling that everyone was waiting got through to us, so I ended up yelling that out (lol).
Q: What was your state of mind the moment “Mirai wo Bokura ha Shitteiru yo” started?
A: Honestly speaking, I was at MAX nervousness during that opening (lol). We’d performed the song a few times before, but this was the first time we did it in full and there’s also my solo, so I just got more and more nervous. I also had the feeling that we needed to give everyone a feeling that the concert started and we wanted to do it with a bang. I also worried, “What happens if I get too into it and my voice betrays me?” (lol).
Q: Well, once the song was over were you able to calm down a bit?
A: I guess (lol). Since the falling hook [song term, idk] is Chika’s solo, I wasn’t able to relax till the very end, with that, after I finished singing, I thought “yes! We made it through the first song!” and it felt like a burden off my shoulders (lol).
Q: Chika’s “One More Sunshine Story” was the top batter on the first day of the 2 day concert.
A: Yep. With that I had a strong feeling that “I’m passing the baton to everyone!”. On the other hand, after my turn I was able to simply enjoy everyone’s solos. “Hanamaru’s cute!” “Yohane’s here!” “Riko-chan’s so pretty!” (lol).
Q: A complete fan’s POV (lol).
A: For real! (lol). But viewing them objectively like that, my thoughts and loves for Aqours grows stronger. Everyone’s outfit and performance differs, it gives you a sense of Aqours’ individual personalities. Given that, it makes me feel that all these personalities gathering to become really gives birth to something amazing.
Q: Chika’s costume was cute.
A: Thank you! A lot of thought went into it. “Should we make this solid mikan-colored?” (lol). There are a lot of cute Chika-like elements incorporated into the costume. Chika wears a BIG ribbon in “Mirai Ticket” and “Yume de Yozora wo Terashitai” right? I love that Chika-chan. So I had them include a hair ribbon for my solo costume!
Q: Were there other costumes you liked?
A: “Miracle Wave”. While I love shocking pink, I liked big heart with Aqours written in it across the chest, despite it being so basic. I was happy because we hadn’t had a costume like this one before.
Q: Speaking of “Miracle Wave”, you showed us all a backflip. I think those acrobatics were a highlight of the concert.
A: Of course I was happy from all the applause from the fans at the venue, but on the first day when I landed the backflip and seeing everyone in the members crying and being happy for me made me very happy. Truth is, I wasn’t able to tell everyone I was going to challenge this up until the very end of rehearsals. I didn’t want to worry everyone, until I got it down perfectly, I thought I would persist by myself. Truthfully, there were times it felt like I was going to break. But in the end I safely did it and hearing “I’m glad” from all the fans and the members made me glad I went for it.
Q: After you jumped you said, “Chika flew! This is the power of Aqours!” didn’t you?
A: I said it (lol). If I succeeded, I decided I’d definitely say “Chika flew!” I wanted to convey the happiness from Chika’s success and I also wanted to express some of the dialogue that I have with Chika within me. So that line was spoken both to Chika-chan and to myself. And “This is the power of Aqours!” was something for the members. In the first place, attempting a backflip all came from Chika doing it in the anime. If she did it, there was no way that I wouldn’t. But if I were to do it, I definitely didn’t want to worry or sadden the members. Despite myself, I’m the leader after all (lol). On the other hand, I did want to see everyone happy so I stepped up to the challenge. Even with that reason, success was a result of the feelings of our 9 members, without a doubt it was due to the power of Aqours.
Q: The sense of unity of all 9 of you was expressed clearly throughout the entire show.
A: I’m happy to hear that. Throughout the tour, from what we showed at all the different venues, I got the impression that “Wow, Aqours can really do all these different things”. At the same time, it was a tour wher I felt everyone’s warmth and sense of unity strongly. When Saint Snow came on to all the cheering. When those two were worried with, “I wasn’t sure if you’d welcome us”, I thought, “There’s no way they wouldn’t get excited with such a cool unit coming on stage” (lol), and the fans cheered for them beyond my imagination. Seeing that, it even made me happy. Really, through this tour, I’ve come to like everyone more and more!
It’s only been a short time since the Aqours 3rd LoveLive! Tour ~WONDERFUL STORIES~ ended.
The tour has ended, and I have so much gratitude to everyone. It’s been so hot every day too~~ ☀️😳
Is everyone doing well? I had so many thoughts that I wanted to just hurry up and put them all into words, but I had already expressed everything that I wanted to during the live tour, so I have no idea how to put my closing thoughts into writing (laughs).
I kept on thinking about it, and before I knew it, today had already arrived! I said that to myself while writing a bit regarding my feelings for this tour. (laughs)
This always happens, so I tasked myself with writing whenever I’m in this position of looking forward to an upcoming stage. And so, this time, I will highlight my weak points, then overcome them without running away.
I don’t have very much stamina, and I’m not very good at singing… and even worse, I felt a lot of pressure this time due to my solo song debut… I was horribly stressed during rehearsals.
The fear of failure that I had regarding my solo performance was further amplified because everyone had been supporting me all his time.
I really am more of a coward than what you guys think… (´-ω-｀) Because of that, when I saw all the other members trying their hardest with their chests puffed out, I thought to myself, “I have to do my best too!” I was really encouraged by that, and I also ended up thinking that everyone looked really grand and cool too (laughs).
“Pianoforte Monologue” is a wonderful song that really shows off Riko-chan’s kindness, as well as the strength that’s packed deep within the depths of her heart. It’s an important song that I wanted to perform with a smile together with Riko-chan.
I wanted to let everyone meet Riko-chan.
I will never forget the sight that I saw with Riko-chan on that day.
I am extremely grateful for the beautiful Sakura-colored arena that everyone showed me.
Because of everyone’s presence and support, I was able to convey my feelings until the very end.
I didn’t realize it until the actual performance, but seeing the spotlights with the colors of the other 8 members that were shining onto the stage made me tear up… I really felt the love from the staff.
Together with the stage staff and my dance teacher, we trial and errored so much for this. I’m really grateful that they helped me with it all the way to the end.
I felt rather downcast when I realized that I probably won’t have a chance to sing this song again… but even so, it will continue to remain in my heart from now on 😊🌸
I hope that everyone won’t forget about it either.
Next up, let’s talk about the second song, Kimi no Hitomi o Meguru Bouken.
I was so, so, so nervous!
It’s another really cool song that I love very much.
Everyone says that I’m the center of the song, but I have never felt like that was the case.
It’s a song by all 9 members of Aqours, and all 9 of us are involved in the performance, so if everyone else wasn’t there I wouldn’t be able to perform it.
But even so, I was overjoyed that I got to perform as Riko-chan in the center of such a cool song! This tour really came with lots of challenges from the start to the end.
It feels a little lonely now that it’s all ended, but now’s the time to face my feelings forward!
There were a lot of challenging things too…
I know everyone has their own happenings, but to those who came to see us, thank you very much!
It was all because of everyone that I could do my best until the very end! I used to be someone who lived through attending lives and showing my support, but now I really feel like standing on stage is what I’m living for.
I will continue to stand on stage from now on, no matter what kind.
I still haven’t gotten over the fact that we’re performing at Tokyo Dome next.
Even so, no matter what wall there is, let’s all overcome it together!
I’m really looking forward to it! Let’s all have a great time together 😊😊
REPORT: Aqours 2nd Live HAPPY PARTY TRAIN TOUR in NAGOYA - Day 1
(Disclaimer: this report will not be a serious and professional one because I just can’t contain the fangirling; also I may and probably will be biased towards Aikyan and Shuka I’m sorry-
Also I’m sorry but I can’t really understand Japanese so I don’t know a lot of the things they said and what the Intermission PV was about, but maybe I will be able to update it later
Last, there will probably be a lot of mistakes since I’m writing this on my phone (since I’m going back home to Italy only after Comiket next week)
Sorry this took me a lot of time! So, on Saturday I’ve been to the first day of Aqours 2nd Live Tour in Nagoya and I wanted to write a report of it for curious people and also for me to remember it better :)
My seat was on the last floor, but we were really close to the stage and the arena is rather small compared to Yokohama Arena (to which I’ve also been) so it was a really good seat.
The stage was on two floors, connected with two stairs at the sides and the usual three monitors behind. Above there was the lit-up Aqours logo that changed with the singer’s colour and had all of them flashing when they were singing together. All around the stage there were neon lines that resembled railways; altogether the scenography was amazing. There was also a squared stage in the rear part of the arena, but with no aisle to connect it with the main stage.
The live started perfectly in time, as always with the introduction video. This time it didn’t really have any new animation of the girls, it was just the Happy Party Train from the PV soaring though the sky at an incredible speed and passing through Nagoya Station, and it also had the introductions of the characters.
Just after that the music from HPT started and the upper stage literally split in two and A WHOLE TRAIN CAME FORWARD. THE TRAIN FROM THE PV. WTF. And all of them were in front of it in their HPT outfits! I loved them, they were really accurate and had a central vertical area in sparkling blue fabric (you probably already saw them at this point from the seiyuu’s twitter), and altogether they were really beautiful. I have to say I like the design more than before now that I’ve seen the live version.
At this point, even if this wasn’t the first time I attended a live, I’ve started crying for just how happy I was to see them in person again.
The performance of HPT was amazing, Suwawa has improved a lot since First Live, her solos were really good and her high notes were amazing. All of the other girls solos where super good too, I am so impressed by their huge improvement. During the closing MC Rikyako said that she sang Yoshiko’s lyrics instead of hers and I’m so ashamed to say I didn’t noticed lol how did I missed it?? (I was probably still crying lol) Then in the last part, as everyone expected, the costumes lit up like in the PV! They were amazing. At this point they were only yellow and static, but in Shoujo Ijou later they also changed colour.
After HPT they went on right away with Pops Heart. Nothing to say here, since it’s a song that’s already been performed.
Then they did their introductions. Unfortunately I can’t tell you a lot of what they said because I can’t understand a lot of Japanese, but basically it was all the same as always. One particular thing that happened was that during Suwawa’s introduction, the lateral monitors showed the second years and Anchan and Shukashuu talking and laughing by themselves (anshuka cough—) and then at the Hagu shiyo part Suwawa LITERALLY RAN TOWARDS AINYA TO HUG HER and then Shuka made a face like “ah she didn’t hug me today” BUT THEN BOTH ANCHAN AND ARISHA HUGGED HER IT WAS SO CUTE- Also Suwawa admitted that her voice is not good and she isn’t the best at singing but then Anchan encouraged her by saying that the HPTT wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for her and Kanan-chan and everyone cheered for her. Then after the introductions they made a little skit to remember people to drink, basically Arisha faked a collapse saying that she was thirsty and was sweating so she needed to drink and then something like offering us to drink her sweat (this may be wrong I’m sorry). They also showed their outfits by turning around, this time guided by Suwawa who brought out a whistle and made them turn by whistling it.
After this skit they went on with the next song, Shoujo Ijou no Koi ga Shitai! As I said before this time the costumes lit up but each one in their respective image colour, and they were also flashing from time to time, it was amazing! The performance was really good (yeah I will be repetitive about this, I won’t stress it enough they were incredibly good I can’t even believe they improved so much in such a short time) and the choreograpy was really cute, I remember Aikyan and Shuka turning around arm in arm for their duet. This song also had CG on the main screen, with hearts floating at the sides.
During the final chorus the second years disappeared from the stage, and in fact right after Shoujo Ijou there was Sora mo Kokoro mo Hareru Kara. The girls were sitting on a bench on the higher floor of the stage, and had cute white outfits with details in blue and their image color (this fanart by Nanotsuki catches them perfectly). The monitor right behind them showed a sky in different moments of the day (morning, sunset, night). Their singing in this song was really amazing, probably their best performance in the live, all of them shined a lot in their respective solos PLUS SHUKA MADE ONE OF HER GLORIOUS SOLO DANCE DURING THE INSTRUMENTAL PART AND IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL I CRIED HOW CAN SHE BE REAL
When the song ended the first years arrived right away in the stage for Waku Waku Week. Their outfits were… well… a patchwork of colours and patterns… I can’t say I liked them a lot. But their performance was super cute and funny! I’ve always thought that Waku Waku was a perfect song for the comedians of Aqours (the first years seiyuu) and I wasn’t wrong, they seemed like they were having a lot of fun just singing and dancing together! Something that bothered me, at the end of the song I expected people to do the “giran”, “zura” and “pigi” instead of the usual “uh-uh” (the words even appeared on the monitors) but everyone just did that again, I was a bit surprised. (Well I’m still a bit disappointed that no one does the yousoroad during KoiAqua but whatever lol)
After them it was the third years’ turn and OH MY GOD THE OUTFITS. THE OUTFITS. I was wondering if they would actually have ballroom gowns and I wasn’t disappointed (this fanart is one of the most faithful), the dresses were absolutely gorgeous, in fine fabrics like beautiful organza, satin, tulle… I was speechless. I think that with all of those gorgeous fabrics they were probably the most expensive outfits of the live, they went all out with them. Also, the dresses were sleeveless… can you imagine Arisha in a sleeveless red gown? I can tell you, no you can’t. It’s beyond imagination. I can’t believe I witnessed a beauty like that. And it wasn’t all! Toward the end of the song the other six girls came back with black dresses with short tulle skirts, they were all amazing! And they danced (waltz?) in turn together with the third years, first Aiai with Arisha, Shuka with Ainya and Aikyan with Suwawa, then Anchan with Arisha and… I’m really sorry I didn’t see who King and Rikyako danced with. The other girls also gave a kiss on the hand of the third years while dancing, like they were the “men” of the dancing couple. It was a really nice touch that I didn’t expected (also those black dresses were asdfghjkl. Yeah.)
After a short MC when they talked about the dresses and the songs, they went away and an intermission PV started. No clue what it was about, sorry, looked like they were talking about Nagoya history.
And after that my favorite part of the live started.
First of all was KoiAqua and WITH THE ORIGINAL OUTFITS!! I WAS SO HAPPY!!! I was super sad that during First Live they didn’t have them, and I expected that this time they either left the song out completely or do it with the original outfits and I wasn’t disappointed!! They were gorgeous too, really faithful and the colours were amazing, like when they were all lined up the beautiful colours of their outifts really stood up. Also, I was absolutely shocked by the fact that the outfit was actually split in two parts (top and bottom) and YES IT SHOWED THEIR MIDRIFFS. Like. Wow. Just a little bit, not like in the anime, but at one point Shuka was waving while she was on the monitors and I literally saw half of her midriff I died omfgsdfghjkl ANYWAY— I was so happy to be able to listen to KoiAqua live again! Shuka improved a lot too and her solo was really good, I loved it.
Then they did an MC right away, talking about the song and the outfit. This time to do the turnaround, Aikyan said something like “daten!” with her datenshi pose and at first only Shuka turned and they were like “eh? Why did only me turn? www” then Aikyan did it again and everyone did their turning and the little demon pose lol- they also showed the rear part of their outfits, which were very decorated and if I understood that corrected they said that Anchan’s, Suwawa’s, Rikyako’s and King’s rear part looked like from samba dancers lol
After this, well, I almost cried when they announced Daydream Warrior, one of my absolutely favourite songs. I have no words to describe how awesome this whole performance was. Their singing was super good, their low voices were amazing; the one that hit me the most was incredibly Furirin’s solo, you can’t even imagine how good her voice was. The best part was probably the choreography: it was absolutely intense and really really difficult, at one point I started wondering how the hell they were still singing like that, they really built up an incredible amount of stamina. There was this part in which just Aikyan, Shuka and Anchan were dancing (an instrumental part) which was super intense, I was really impressed… I am absolutely sure no other Love Live choreo has anything at this level. Even their expressions were so intense, they added a whole level to the performance. The only thing that “”“ruined”“” it a bit was that they had those super colourful outfits while singing about war and impossible love, it was a bit out of place. But overall it was a really intense and powerful performance.
And! We didn’t even have time to catch a breath because after that was fucking Thrilling One Way!!! I can say that this was absolutely the most hype song, the arena was LITERALLY ON FIRE: their background monitors showed images of flames, there were jets of smoke (like the flames in Saitama Super Arena, but with just smoke) from the front part of the stage, I saw really a lot of UOs and the overall volume of the audience’s calls was absolutely higher than before. Like I said, literally on fire. And much to my amazement this song choreo was as intense as the Daydream Warrior one HOW DO THEY DO IT THEY ARE NOT REAL. I am amazed I love them so much they work so hard……. After this medley of kakkoi songs I was basically drenching in sweat. Me. And they were there singing and dancing. h o w.
Anyway, after another Intermission PV (which was about uirou, a Japanese sweet typical in Nagoya) it was subunit time! Of course CYaRon arrived first singing Kin Mirai Happy End. They had their pirate outfits from the CD jacket and they were suuuper cute in them! The monitors this time showed the deck of a pirate ship with a CYaRon flag, making it seem like they were dancing on the ship. They also had flags with a new CYR logo, which they said during the MC was designed by Furirin. During the MC they said the usual things like talking about the song and the outfits. Then, before singing Kaigan Doori, they showed us a move to do during the chorus, like the CYaRon sign (the number three with one hand) with your left hand and a salute with the right.
When they finished Kaigan Doori it was AZALEA time! For Galaxy HidE and SeeK, Arisha started singing while being alone on the center stage, which was elevated, and on the monitors there were astronomic photos of galaxies. Her singing was really amazing! Then the other two members suddenly appeared from hidden carts, then joined Arisha in the central stage and then back to the main one. Their performance was really wonderful, they all improved a lot in their singing. Oh, they were dressed in their CD jacket outfits too, white and pink, and they also had angel wings. They also took out some magic candy (?) similar to the magic wands they had for First Live. And as in First Live, during the MC they did the torikoriko spell to change the audience’s penlight colours, this time by also making us change to their respective image colour. Then they sang INNOCENT BIRD, another favorite of mine, which was really good. They had these fake microphones in their hand and they were dancing and using their cables like a lazo. Unfortunately as much as I love this song at this point my mind was already on the next song…
Guilty Kiss appeared on the central stage, in their CD jacket outfits too (they were a bit different though, if I remember correctly- but still good, I love them more than the Strawberry Trapper one, they were so hot in those pants oh my god I’m gay). I’m sorry but all of my biased will come out here because Aikyan in Kowareyasuki was simply the best. I wanted to cry at all of her solo parts. Her scream during the instrumental gave me so many chills. She was so so so so so so good. Absolutely gets the award for best singer in Aqours, hands down. So good. I died and resurrected. I love her too much. Anyway, of course all of them were super good and the whole song was LIT AF exactly as I imagined it. After the usual MC with the usual things and a bit of cnrk (Aikyan put an arm around Rikyako’s shoulders to apologize to her because she involuntary interrupted her), they started with Shadow Gate of Love. The monitors had CG for this but I wasn’t really looking at them since the seiyuus were on the carts and I was looking at them, but once I saw Aikyan on the monitor making a heart with her hands and the CG followed her hands. The choreo of this song was really sensual, I loved it. At the end they made a final pose with their backs to the audience and making a heart with their hands behind them, it was such a cute touch.
Then another intermission started and surprise surprise! BACKSTAGE FOOTAGE!!! I was so happy, I LOVE seeing them during their training! It really shows how hard they work. They always wear their characters T-shirts during their training, it was so cute to see them with all of the different T-shirts that came out (I remember Aikyan wearing the COSPA “emotional series” T-shirt, and Ainya with the one with Mari in swimsuit) Unfortunately they were just really short clips of training, one for each of them, together with some messages from them to the audience. One thing I clearly remember is Furirin’s clip, because they showed her practising the chorus of Thrilling One Way and she looked so cool.
After this intermission they came on the stage again with KimiKoko outfits and sang the ONLY anime song of the whole 2nd live, Aozora Jumping Heart. Nothing to say, this has been performed countless time.
Right after that it came another one of my favs, a song that I didn’t expected them to perform at this point (so many new songs already, and they also already did the kakkoi songs together) so I was surprised again: SKY JOURNEY. I will be repetitive again they were so good so good soooo good I don’t know what else to say they are so good I love them. The monitors were showing beautiful images of stars behind them, that really added emphasis to the whole performance.
After that it was another old song, KimiKoko. At the end of it they started waving and going behind the stage, but of course the lights didn’t turn off which was our cue to start calling the encore.
After some minutes an animated PV started, showing the girls with the yellow live T-shirts on the HPT. Suddenly the train stopped because it didn’t have any more energy (?). They said (sorry I can’t remember who said what) that they needed everyone’s power to make it start again, but that their power as only nine girls wasn’t enough. Then I think Kanan said that “we’re not just nine” and asked us to call “Aqours! Aqours!”, at which the train filled with energy and started again, bringing us to the encore.
When the PV finished the stage split in two again and the HPT came out, this time with Uchicchi in front of it!! The audience went wild, he is clearly everyone’s best girl. He had a big red fan with the kanji 祭 (“matsuri”, festival) written on it, bringing us into the atmosphere for the next song, Sunshine Pikka Pika Ondo! When the music started the girls appeared on the center stage, wearing the yellow Nagoya shirts and the happis above them, with Anchan in the central elevated part of the stage, with a big taiko and lanterns all around her stage, and the other girls all around her in the lower stage holding big and small red fans. It really felt like being at a natsu matsuri, the scenography was amazing! Also I love so much this song, I was so happy that they went all out with it, it was so funny! (I won’t say that of course their singing was so good you already know it at this point.) During the final part they went on the carts and back to the main stage, where they did a MC thanking us for the encore. I can’t remember anything special about this except what I already said about Rikyako (that she admitted her error during HPT) and that Aikyan was a bit teary-eyed (as always, my precious child).
After which they removed their happis announcing the very last song… everyone at some point in the live expected Mirai Ticket since Nippon Gaishi Hall is the arena in which they sing it in the anime, but much to everyone’s surprise it wasn’t even the last, which was instead Taiyou o Oikakerou. Not that I’m complaining, I like the song and the performance was so cute! They went back and forth on the stage while marching and waving at us all. The cutest moment was when Suwawa went to hug Shuka (to make up for before, uh), and then Arisha went to hug Suwawa from behind and then Ainya hugged Arisha! A Happy Party Train of hugs lol ♡ At the end they just waved at us saying thank you and went behind the stage, to which the lights on the arena went on again, marking the end of the concert.
Final considerations:
All of this live was so unexpected to me. I expected a live with S1 songs, PV songs and a bit of new songs, I hoped for the BD bonus songs but I didn’t have a lot of hope… instead we got a live with no anime songs and SO MANY NEW SONGS. ALL IN DAY1. This is better than anything I could have ever imagined I am so. So. Impressed. They are so good.
My feeling of attending a live has kinda changed, the first time (Aqours First Live) seemed unreal to be there and I was so shocked the whole live, this time I was able to be more present, I guess I needed to get used to the sudden and unusual burst of emotions.
A thing that I really liked about this live more than any other are the coreographies, and since I already talked about the girls’ awesome performance and no one ever talks about her I’m making a special mention to Yumi Ichikawa, the coreographer of Love Live. Her coreos improved so much, they are not only the typical idol moves anymore, they… well, when you’ll see Daydream Warrior you’ll understand what I mean. It’s so good.
Before every live I think to all of the money I spent to arrive here and obtain a ticket and I say this will be the last for some time, I have to save up for my future and more serious things but then when I’m there I can’t help to say HOW CAN I MISS THIS MY PRECIOUS GIRLS I WANT TO SEE THEM ALWAYS
Don’t start going to lives kids it will ruin your life
Two days in Numazu (Love Live Sunshine real life setting): a report
Heya! I know I haven’t used my Tumblr in ages, but I didn’t know where else to put this so here I am.
So, I’ve been to Japan for two weeks in late February and I managed to spent two days (Sun 19th and Mon 20th) in Numazu and Uchiura, the places where all of Love Live Sunshine is set. It was an incredible experience, so I’ve wanted to write a report both for me to remember it but also to show other people the place. I can’t believe I procrastinated two months in this
From Kyoto (where we were before this) we arrived at Numazu on Sunday morning at around 8am, by night bus. This is Numazu Station, featured a lot of times in the anime. We’ve been really lucky and had a wonderful weather! at least for one day
After going to check-in to our hotel (if you’re interested in going, I really recommend you Sanco Inn Numazu Ekimae, it’s super close to the station and the staff knows English pretty well), we came back to catch the bus for Uchiura.
Right in front of the station there’s a collaboration cafè, Yudai Festa Sun! Sun! Sunshine Cafè. We went there later for dinner.
This is the bus stop to Uchiura. You’ll see Love Live is literally everywhere here. Unfortunately I already knew we had no chance to catch the LLSS collaboration bus if we didn’t want to waste time (the first was at around 11am iirc)
While we were waiting there for the bus, another bus arrived and a girl next to us asked us “Where are you going?” so I said “Izu Mito Sea Paradise” (since it’s the most known attraction from Uchiura and it was actually our first stop), and she said that that other bus that arrived was going there too. So we took that bus.
Random photo of the scenery from the bus.
Comes out, that bus wasn’t going to Izu Mito. I don’t know what happened, if she didn’t understood what I said or she was just wrong, but at some point on the road to Uchiura the bus changed direction. I kept looking where the f- we were going on my phone, and comes out we were going to the near city of Izu-Nagaoka. I tried asking to the driver if the bus was going to Izu Mito Sea Paradise (maybe taking a longer route) but he said “No, *something else I didn’t caught* Sea Paradise”. IDK. In the end I found with Google Maps that there was another bus going to Izu Mito from that area, so we dropped off the bus and waited for the other bus.
The funny thing to all of this is that at that bus station in the middle of nowhere and far away from every LLSS location there was this:
No matter where you go, Love Live is there.
An old woman also asked us (in Japanese this time) where we were going and she confirmed that this bus was actually for Izu Mito and she was right this time. I got pleasantly surprised that people are so friendly there, even with weird gaijins like us.
This detour unfortunately cost us a lot of time, but in the end we managed to arrive to Izu Mito Sea Paradise! If you don’t know, this aquarium is the setting for the Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM PV.
I forgot to take a photo outside This is the Show Stadium of the Aquarium, where most of the scenes in the KoiAQUA PV happen.
I loved this tank with sakura flowers inside.
I haven’t took a photo of the whole coloured jellyfish pool (where You is being emo in the PV) but I had a bit of fun photographing the single jellyfishes.
Shukas Otteeeeers so cute. I went to see them hundreds of time.
A dolphin came to say hi to us! o/
A nice view of Awashima Island and... Fuji-san being shy and hiding behind clouds.
Aqours images signed by the seiyuus. In front of this place is where you can see half of the aquarium’s audience are Love Livers, a lot of people came here to take photos of the posters. I loved the guy that posed next to Mari doing her “Lock on!” pose lol
Best grills and best seiyuus signatures
The aquarium shop has a literal aquarium with Aqours acrylic standees inside
YouChika under the sea and a fish staring at me
Aqours standees inside the aquarium shop.
The visit to the aquarium took us until midday, since we also saw the shows. After lunch, we went out and headed to our next stops.
First of all we stopped at the close Sannoura Tourist Center, aka the tourist center of the town. I tried periscoping inside of it so here’s a video: https://streamable.com/d5n33 (I can’t find a way to embed it sorry)
As you can see the place is FILLED with Love Live, it really is the main attraction there.
If I recall correctly this page in their signature book was signed by the seiyuus when they first came here in February 2016. I witnessed one of Rikyako’s best masterpieces with my own eyes I feel blessed.
After we looked around a bit the two staff members showed us a map of Japan where people put a round sticker for the place where they were from, and they also had spaces of overseas. For Europe iirc they had a space for UK, Germany and then “Other Europe” lel, so we put our sticker there. There were only 2 sticker on “Other Europe”, and I wondered who they were... comes out it was my friend and her boyfriend who come here in December :’D Not a lot of people are as crazy as us uh better for them
After this the staff girl asked us if the wanted to write a post-it with cheers for the seiyuus for their First Live. After I wrote mine, she took it, looked at it and asked “Yousoro?” (since I wrote it in blue and added an anchor), I said yes and then she disappeared for a bit and came back with two You keychains as a present for me WTF I was almost crying as I thanked her, so kind!! They also gave some Chika goods to my friend, I was speechless. As if it wasn’t enough, while we were going out the staff guy stopped us and gave us one of their big posters??
Like seriously WTF. Are they really so happy to see tourists?
I feel sorry that they also tried to make some conversation with me but unfortunately I’m still a beginner in Japanese and they didn’t know a lot of English ;; They managed to ask me if we were going to see some locations and I said that in fact we’ve already been to Izu Mito. They were so happy ;;
Another nice thing I didn’t expected is that outside of the Tourist Center we found a few itashas. Not comparable to the one you can see in UDX in Akiba but they were nice!
This one was very well made, except for the fact that one side was wrongly mirrored lol
This guy has good tastes.
We left the Tourist Center in the direction of the school. This is the place where Mari falls while running, in fact, to the school to meet Kanan.
A bit ahead we found this groceries shop called “Oh! Mos” that sells mikans and specifically the Jyutaro x LLSS mikans, and also has this big Aqours shrine. I told ya LL there is really everywhere.
Fun fact: Suwawa, Rikyako and Anchan went in this shop a few weeks later, when they were there for their DIVER photoshoot, and left a signature (that’s the shop twitter account).
We took a bag of mikans and when we went to the counter to pay, the old woman pointed at Chika’s image in the bag and said “anime?” to us, lol. When we said yes (?) she showed us that they even have the cardboard box of mikan, the megaphone and the sign that Chika uses in episode 1 to gather people for her school idol club, lol. SUKURU AIDORU BU DEEESU. My friend took a pic with them
Btw, mikans are really good.
Moving on, we went to the place where the girls (try to) shoot a PV in episode 6. The place is called “Nagahama Castle Ruins” but there really isn’t much except for a really nice view.
Actually, I had printed a lot of these postcards with anime screenshots to take this kind of photos, but unfortunately I realized taking a good shot takes a lot of time and effort, plus the wind was not helping me. In the end I gave up and took really a few of these. I still have all of them so maybe I’ll try again if I manage to go back in August.
If you turn back you can already see the school!
My friend took a panorama of the bay.
Moving on to the next stop: the little shrine where Kanan ends her morning run and dances under the stalkers other girls’ eyes.
I saw a lot of people thinking that the shrine where Kanan dances is the same as the one in episode 4 to where Ruby and the seconds year run, but it’s not: that one is in Awashima Island and it would have required Kanan to take the boat from where she starts her run. In fact it’s this one, a bit before the school. There were two other Love Livers there taking photos.
After this we finally got to the school bus stop! Featured in the ending, as well as in episode 1 when You joins the school idol club.
I failed this photo on so many levels.
Going up the hill to the school, such a nice scenery.
And here it is! Uranohoshi Girls Highschool is in real life a middle school called Nagaisaki. It was Sunday afternoon so no one was around, except for the gym where we could hear some people inside.
After this we walked all the way back to Izu Mito and beyond to see the other locations, like...
Yasudaya ryokan, aka Chika’s house!
And right in front of it, the beach featured in the very first LLSS image, as well as the scene in episode 1 where Chika and Riko talk. Someone already wrote Aqours on the sand.
And the pier when Riko tries to kill herself jump in the water.
Early blooming sakura.
Last one I tried to take. Kimi no kokoro wa kagayaiterukai?
Shougetsu Cafè! aka the place were a CYaRon radio drama is set, and also were the 2nd years seiyuus went during their Teku Teku. Of course we went to grab some mikan dorayaki! They are super good. I even bought mikan jam, but I still have to open it.
Photos and signatures of the seiyuus.
We were so lucky we even found the LLSS kitchen car! I bought the You Noppo keychain.
Unfortunately, at this point my organization failed me. We wanted to go to Awashima Island, but I got wrong the place where the boat docks. I thought it was in front of Shougetsu, where there actually is some kind of port, but it wasn’t. We lost time looking around and on the web (how come that the Awashima Marine Park website doesn’t say where the boat docks?!), then tried to ask to the girls in the kitchen car who managed to explain to me it was 20 minutes by feet to get there. Unfortunately it was already kinda late, and since we didn’t want to rush it we decided to go back to Numazu. While riding the bus I saw the bus stop “Awashima” and the docks. If only we had take the right bus in the morning I would’ve know. Too bad.
Even if we didn’t rode the LLSS collaboration bus there was still some Love Live on board. Someone likes OmoiNare ships here.
At Numazu station we finally grabbed some Noppo Pan! I bought the LLSS (caramel) flavoured one this time, and later I tried the strawberry chocolate too. In the same shop in the station I also bought some really good mikan cookies.
Going around Numazu by night. This shopping district appears in episode 6, and it also contains Maru-san (Maru’s favorite bookstore) and the cafè used as a background for Guilty Kiss first illustration
Obligatory visit to Numazu Gamers, or Numazu’s Little Demon shop.
Inside the shop.
Going to the collabo cafè for dinner! They have this fake UraGirls bus stop sign which actually resembles the real one (including the timetable)
I got the full You menu: Youkisoba (I even got the appropriate coaster), You’s drink and You’s Magic Tea (it’s a butterfly pea tea, it’s blue but when you put lemon in it it becomes purple). I really liked it tbh to be just a collabo cafè (not famous for the quality of their meals...)
And this concludes our first day in Numazu.
The next day we decided to do just a short visit to Numazu, since going back to Uchiura just to go to Awashima Island was too expensive.
Nakamise again.
We went to see Yoshiko’s house, a building called Natty Numazu. At the first floor of the building, on the other side, there’s a watch shop that even has some LLSS merch, and when the shopkeeper saw us looking at it they made us enter and sign their Yoshiko signature book lol
This tiny temple is right next to the alley where Yoshiko is seen in the last scene of episode 5 (before starting running away from the others).
Of course since You is best grill I couldn’t miss this place: You’s house! Which is not a house but a Western-style cafè called Orandakan.
Just from outside you can’t be wrong this is the place.
Their You shrine from inside.
When we entered an old lady came to us and made us seat. She tried failed a bit to talk in English and brought us their signature book (I swear every single place has signature books there). My friends told me she also said “Welcome to You’s house” but unfortunately I didn’t catch it.
Their menu is only in Japanese but luckily since the teas are all in katakana and the cakes had pictures we managed to order something.
Not bad but tbh kinda pricey, I paid 1010 yen for a tea and a piece of cake... but it was at You’s house! So it’s ok.
Our message in the signature book, I did the writing and my friend did the drawing.
Moving along Yoshiko’s escape route, we passed next to Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium (where the first years go in their KoiAQUA radio drama, aka the shiirakansu aquarium) and Numazu Hamburger & Cafè, where the first years also came for their Teku Teku.
I took a photo of this sign and not of the place, how fail I am.
We finally arrived at Byou (which I discovered actually means View-O), the water gate/observatory where Yoshiko finally stops running and also where You and Mari go talk in episode 11. Going up only costs 100 yen but due to some circumstances we decided not to go. The weather got bad in any case so we wouldn’t have seen anything anyway.
And this concludes our trip around Numazu, and is also where we suddenly started having incredible bad luck.
The weather was getting worse and worse, with strong wind and rain. On our travel back to Tokyo we wanted to make some stops: at Atami to visit the Plum Garden since the plums were in full blooms, at Nebukawa station (the station of feels in the anime), and Kozu station (the beach of feels- yes, they’re in different places). After riding the train we already decided that we would miss Atami, the weather was too bad to enjoy a garden. We could still stop at Nebukawa and Kozu, I mean, we just have to stop and take some photos, it can’t be that bad, right?
Wrong. The wind was so strong we were basically flying away, I’ve never seen something like this. We run inside the station and I only managed to take these photos.
Being the wind so strong we decided not to stop in Kozu, since it would’ve been a pain with our luggages and everything. But, after arriving at that exact station, the train stopped. We heard a lot of messages but we couldn’t understand them. We checked online and discovered that all trains in the Tokaido line were suppressed due to strong winds. And we were in Kozu. But we couldn’t go down. I couldn’t believe our bad luck, lol. The train stayed there for three (THREE) hours before leaving, and even then it was going slow and occasionally stopping, making our travel from Numazu to Tokyo 6 hours long instead of 2. But in the end we managed to arrive in Tokyo safe and sound.
Anyway, except for this last part, I really loved going to Numazu. It’s a bit of a struggle if you don’t know Japanese and it’s kinda expensive, but if you’re a Love Live fan it’s really really worthy. It’s not just “seeing” those places in real life, you can do that from photos... but being there, living like them, taking the same bus they take to school, eating mikans and Noppo pan... it’s an incredible experience. It makes it feels like everything is more real, even if it’s just an anime. I really hope I’ll be able to go back in August!
I want to give many many thanks to LuciaHunter for the LLSS Locations Google Map (link: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.3623197,139.0468361,10z/data=!4m2!6m1!1s1cL4tMTO0iVaz69hqK88wyetWkR8 )
and also u/MasterMirage and u/FliryVorru for their reddit posts, they all were a huge help in planning this!
This concludes my report of these two days in Numazu. If you really read this till the end thank you, hope you like it! And if anyone has any question feel free to ask!
So Ainya posted a tweet of her drinking coffee and eating omurice. This resulted in a thread of replies between Rikyako, Aikyan, and Suwawa. What exactly was going on?
A saga which spanned approximately 5 hours.The tweets are quoted in chronological order, though some replies were mere minutes apart and probably posted/composed concurrently, so it’s still kind of a mess when viewed like this.I saw a crack about “Kobayashi-san chi no Aqours” and haven’t stopped laughing since.
AAAAAAAAHH it’s the return of my time to be hottttttttttt!!!! Eh, is this really fine? Are you staking your claim over me? I’m gonna be taken. Oh no, I’m so excited right now. I love Aikyan. I love Rikyako. Basically GilKiss is the strongest(tl;dr
(* Suzuki is so worked up here that, aside from not being able to fit into the Twitter character limit, she slips into Hokkaido dialect.** モテ期 has no immediate English equivalent, it refers to the supposed period(s) in one’s lifetime where others will find you attractive. See also: “Eh, hold up. Am I popular now? Something that never once happened all my life has finally arrived? Eh, is this where I say ‘Don’t fight over me! Don’t quarrel!’ Eh, what am I to do, I adore you all, I love everybody. So for me to pick one person(tl;dr”)
Thanks to shukamod, Chezz on the /r/LoveLive Discord and a few people on the Japanese-English Language Exchange Discord for helping transcribe and figure out Pile’s handwriting.
Page 1:
Writing a letter like this really makes me feel like, “it has been a while, huh.” FINAL LOVE LIVE! ended one year ago today. It feels like it went by really fast. For some reason, ever since the performance at Saitama Super Arena I haven’t been able to write, before I knew it, it had already been 2 years.
There was still a lot of coverage after FINAL LOVE LIVE! Ended, I think I’ve had a chance to tell my story at various places.
It was 6 years where I was busy every day. I really was able to receive so many experiences. Right now those days are already a little nostalgic.
In the beginning I had no experience as a voice actress so I was really anxious. Having to be someone else on top of being shy, so I wasn’t able to do it well. But, now no matter where or who I meet, I have truly fun and relieving people called members. Looking at how energetic and outgoing they were, I couldn’t help but think: that’s amazing, this is really fun, I can’t lose!
For the members who I’ve caused plenty of trouble for… I have nothing but gratitude.
Truth is, one time, if I really think about it now, I don’t really know why I turned out like this but, we had rehearsals daily as the concert approached, our time spent rehearsing became very long. After the performance at Saitama Super Arena, I went from feeling fired up to feeling empty. After the latter half our rehearsals, Maki-chan didn’t have anyone other than me. It’s something to be grateful for, but it became a heavy responsibility, I ended up forgetting my tenacity, it was like my feelings became cut off. At that time, despite it all, I have nothing but gratitude for the members who accepted me. For someone who lives at their own pace, it might have been impossible for my heart to keep up with those bewilderingly wonderful days. The year after that passed by in a flash. The Tokyo Dome performance came up in a flash. Two days where we scrambled around. That’s the summary of that dream-like year. In an instant, really, the concert was mixed with so many different feelings that it became difficult to recall.
Because it has been a year now, I can finally reflect like this again.
Anyways, it was a wonderful view. It was a wonderful period. It was a wonderful space.
When we finally lined up, shoulder to shoulder, without a doubt, my 6 year-old feelings and the member’s different feelings were there. For me “no way!’s” have piled up over these 6 years (lol) for all of you who have supported me over these 6 years, I’m truly grateful. [Note: “No way” as in unbelievable i.e. “A: Maki just confessed to Nico. B: No way!]
Page 2:
And I’m really glad that I met Maki-chan.
From meeting her, I’ve been given a lot of experiences. I’ve been brought along to various performances. I’ve been shown various scenery.
To me, that Maki-chan is a precious, precious existence.
If she didn’t exist, I don’t think I would have been able to continue with music till now.
Because she was pushing me from behind, I’ve been able to endure till now.
Frankly, her presence might’ve been too great…I’ve thought that before, despite that because she was here Pile could be here.
I’ve earnestly thought, from here on, in order to not lose to the one who was pushing me along, in order to let everyone know about Pile, I want to give it my all.
“From here on, please take care of me even more, after all there’s no way we could be separated!”
That’s right, huh? Seriously, please take care of me from now on. This time I want to show her the scenery, like she showed me when we met.
I wonder if I’ve been preparing for the past year up till today. It’s a passing of the baton. This time, I’m going try my hardest so I can show you all.
I’m grateful to all of you who were able to make me feel this way.
Just like many of the other Aqours seiyuu, Anchan was a big fan of Love Live! before she actually joined to work on it. But there’s far more to it than just her being a normal fan; she’s revealed quite a bit of information on what she actually did as a fan back then!
Translation of Cast Interview for Aqours (Group) in Seiyuu Bible 2017, the other Cast Interviews were for the Sub-Units (CyAron!, AZALEA and Guilty Kiss)
Translated from CN by: @kuuxkat
QC and Translated from KR by: @yujachachacha
Original TL in CN: Here
Original TL in KR: Here
Disclaimer: As this isn’t a direct JP - EN TL, the accuracy of the TL isn’t 100% guaranteed. We did our best to ensure that the context and the TL is as accurate as possible.
