Atarashii Prelude

The iDOLM@STER 7th ANNIVERSARY Minna to Issho – Part 2

てってっててってってって~

So let's just jump right in and pick up from where we left off last time shall we?

14. Yokohama Arena Special Medley／765PRO ALLSTARS

They actually had everyone in the audience sing for some songs during this part, and those are the ones marked with an [E]. Most of the songs are done in duets with the other girls doing the backup vocal or running around and cheering the crowd.

1. Furu Furu Future☆／Akki & Mingos [E]

Starting up the medley session was a Mingos/Akki combination singing one of Miki's most fun song!

2. Mahou wo Kakete／Naomicchi & Hirorin

Naomicchi & Hirorin picked up the next part, and they did Mahou wo Kakete. This song, at least the Haruka/Yukiho/Ritsuko version was actually my first exposure to iDOLM@STER, so it felt kinda sentimental hearing it live on stage.

3. Kimi wa Melody/Kugyuuuuuuuu & Maya-chan

The best, and I mean THE BESTEST idol combination doing a really fun song. Even though Kugyu didn't really get shown a lot, I was honestly a bit too busy fanboying over her to pay attention to Maya-chan. Her voice is pretty audible, but Kugyu's vocal is better suited for this type of song.

4. Brand new day!／Harami & Nu

Nu didn't really get to show any dance moves during this part sadly, and it also sucks that Hibiki's new song gets relegated to be a medley song only instead of getting a full treatment like the other girls'.

5. Watashi wa Idol／Chiaking & Asapon [E]

I really really really really like Asapon, I mean really. Chiaking on the other hand is a bit too old sexy for me.

6. Do-Dai／Eririn & Azumin [E]

Everyone, and I mean everyone shouted during the "Ikinari!" part. It was really something else!

7. MEGARE!／Everyone [E]

Chiaking had too much fun during the "dokkiri and sexy~" part of the song.

8. TOWN (てってっててってってって～)／Everyone [E]

For a BGM, TOWN is really fun when its done with a few thousand dudes (and several hundred girls). This song, well, BGM marked the halfway mark of the medley. President Takagi then went on again, had us do another wave before introducing Sakagami, the actual iDOLM@STER Producer (cue the "HENTAAAAAAAAAAAAI!" scream from everyone in the audience) who showed us the trailer for Shiny Festa.

After introducing the game, Hentai P left, and the idols went back on stage. Cue the best song ever.

9. my song／Kugyu & Maya-chan

If Mahou wo Kakete was my first exposure to iM@S, then this is the song that made me fall in love with it. And getting to hear it live on stage, albeit a short version made tears fall again. There I was, standing, waving around my pink and orange lightstick in an arena where Kugyu (and Maya-chan) was singing my favourite song. It was a bit annoying to not be able to get a full version, but it was better than nothing!

10. Flower Girl／Harami & Nu

Since they did Hibikin's song in the first half, they went and did Flower Girl in the second part. Not a lot of dancing either sadly. They gotta let Nu dance some more dammit!

11. Little Match Girl／Eririn & Azumin

As the beginning part of the song begins to play, the stage turned white and red. Azumin was pretty damn adorable performing this song on stage.

12. relations／Chiaking & Asapon

It was kinda weird seeing them perform this song. I expected Asapon to do Agent instead.

13. arcadia／Mingos & Akki

Akki is a really good singer, and she really helped Mingos with this song. I kept expecting them to show Kisaragi on the screen, but that didn't happen either.

14. Agent Yoru wo Yuku／Hirorin & Naomicchi [E]

Another super short version, but at least we got to sing the "tokachi tsukuchite~" part.

15. GO MY WAY!!／Everyone [E]

I kept on expecting them to end the medley with the World is All One, but they went with go mae~ instead. It was honestly the perfect way to end the medley, so I'm not too sad that they decided to put this song here instead of as an encore song.

 

15. Kiramekirari／Maya-chan

It was like Yayoi was actually on the stage! Maya-chan was really adorable while performing this song.

16. Sta→rtStar→／Asapon

It's not my favourite AmiMami song (Positive), but its a fun performance nonetheless. Asapon being all kinds of adorable on stage was fun to watch.

17. Jitensha／Hirorin

Oh god yes. Hirorin was the first one to get two solos, and of course she went with Jitensha since Agent was already a part of the medley. Everyone sang together during the "SUKI DA YO!" and "KIRAI DA YO!" part! That was super fun.

18. Kami SUMMER!!／Nu & Naomicchi

The combination is a little random to be honest, but they actually worked well. Naomicchi isn't particularly sexy though, and having her perform a sexier song with Nu makes me feel a little bad.

19. Hare Iro／Chiaking

The insert song from Episode 7 is quite fun. I expected them to use Lovely as Chiaking's solo, but this was a better choice.

20. Nanairo Button／Kugyuuuuu, Naomicchi & Chiaking

When Nanairo Button started, I didn't realise that Asapon wasn't on stage, and ended up waving the yellow stick too for quite some time. I think this was actually the M@STER Version as it went on for quite sometime.

21. Hikari／Jurikichi

Kotori's other awesome song was done really well. Jurikichi is no Mingos, but she is an awesome singer in her own right. Nothing much to add really.

22. Marionette no Kokoro／Akki

Oh god yes. That AWESOME Miki song from Episode 13. Done live by Akki who can also dance pretty well. The backup dancers actually danced Hibiki and Makoto's part from the show, and that was really cool. Seeing the whole arena go green at the same time was amazing. Also noticed that Akki has a green hair extension that made her look a bit like a certain Rider.

23. DIAMOND／Kugyuuuu

I am annoyed at Kugyu's management for not letting people shoot her closely, I mean she isn't exactly the cutest seiyuu, but dammit this was her solo, at least give her some closeups and not just full body shots! The song itself was really fun though, and the crowd definitely enjoyed it as everything turned pink!

24. Yakusoku／Mingos

ARUKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!  Yes, it's the other song the crowd was waiting for, and it was AMAZING! The set, the lighting, everything supported Mingos' heartfelt performance. They actually showed silhouettes of the other 12 idols on the stage during the middle of the performance, and that really adds that extra oomph to the performance. Hearing Mingos perform what might be the best Chihaya song was just- I don't know. It cannot be put into words. Everyone clapped when the song was almost finished. She kinda started crying during the middle too, and that just showed how much feelings she put into singing the song..

25. Mitsumete／Harami & Azumin

The vocal version of the ED song that played when Broducer Died In Lava gets injured. It's a nice ballad, and the Harami and Azumin pair put a lot of effort into the song, but after Yakusoku it just felt lacking. They should really have put Yakusoku right before the group songs.

26. Sayonara wo Arigatou／Eririn

It's a really good ballad song, but Eririn actually messed up a few times during her performance. It was kinda obvious, but it didn't really devalue the song or anything. She tried her best! But again, they had this after Yakusoku.

27. Watashi-tachi wa zutto... deshou？／765 PRO ALLSTARS

The new song from the penultimate episode and it was done pretty well! I'd complain about how its not Yakusoku for the nth time, but to be fair, Mingos is in the song, and everyone looked like they had fun while performing it.

28. Issho／765PRO ALLSTARS

"Since this year's theme is Minna to Issho, there is only one song to finish this live with!" and of course they went with Issho, the ending song from episode 25. And this was that version because they actually did the top idol speech from the end of the song. It was the perfect choice to end the live with.

Encore:

EN01. THE IDOLM@STER／765PRO ALLSTARS
EN02. READY!!／765PRO ALLSTARS

Except you know, the encore is there, and of course they went with the basics. Instead of using 2nd Mix like the past two years, they went with the plain old version, and honestly I prefer this one to the 2nd mix. Ending the live with a bang was another helping of READY!! By the time READY!! started again, around 3.5 hours has passed, and you'd expect people to be tired, but nope! Everyone went and otagei'd the shit out of the song. Everyone on stage helped with the cues, and it was seriously an awesome choice to end the show with.

As the song ended, everyone gave their thanks to the audience, and introduced us to the dancer who were really awesome at backing up the main performers. And of course, since its iM@S, Eririn had us shout the usual.

Producer-san, iM@S desu yo! iM@S!

Ending Thoughts

Well, more personal thoughts anyways.

The lack of World is All One and Colorful Days, not using GO MY WAY!! as an encore song and in addition to not doing a full version of my song was a little disappointing. On the other hand, READY isn't exactly a bad encore song. And the concert was already super long as  including the encore, it was almost 4 hours long! We started at around 18:00, and by the time its over it was almost 22:00 or so.

I've been to several other anime or anime-related concerts like the May'n concert in KL a few years back, the AFA with JAM and Aniki and Super Robot Tamashii earlier this April, but this one has got to be the best one so far. The reason behind has got to be the combination of the crowd and the performers. The crowd's love for iM@S was flowing out everywhere and it was shown through their (our) cheers and calls while otagei-ing. The performers react to the crowd's love for iM@S by doing their best on stage, and by the time the Encore starts, I can notice both Asapon and Nu tearing up a little.

Dammit Scamco, for a franchise designed to drain people's wallets, the iDOLM@STER actually ended up becoming something else. The love it gets from the fans, the performers and the producers is definitely real.

To all you Broducers out there, I hope that all of you will have a chance to go see a live iM@S performance sometime, somewhere. It might not be exactly like in the games or anime, but it is definitely an amazing experience. And if you do get a chance to see one, go research the otagei steps before you actually watch the live. And prepare lightsticks! If you want to see more pictures, go check out my imgur. I've used up most of the pictures here, and with my phone's battery dying, I couldn't get more, but if you still wanna see more, go ahead and do so.

With that, I shall take my leave and figure out how the hell I'm gonna survive until the second Nanoha movie comes out next month.