There’s something to look at from so many of my favourite seiyuu this week, so we might as well start with the biggest. The D4Fes last weekend.
I’ll be honest: I was worried about this one. I was expecting it to invoke the reaction that sums up the series at large of late: ‘mid’. And the first day did nothing to ease those fears. Hapiara was, of course, always going to be pretty tragic given the absence of Non-chan, who seems to be under the impression that the stuff Rei does is not what she signed up for. No matter how much the rest of them, like Chinharu, tried to save it.
Still, at least things then got worse. Photon Maiden shoulda been the real start of things, except their set was pretty scuffed, speaking to the lack of rehearsal time you’d expect from a group that rarely gets together. And then, in typical fashion, they started breaking the equipment. That forced a long delay before Lyrical Lily, whose setlist was another hotchpotch, setting the tone for a lot of the mixes that were set throughout. Frankly, the most interesting thing they’ve done since actually came this weekend, when they cropped up on a different show and just happened to be alongside some huge names.
Yuka Iguchi, Haruka bloody Tomatsu…Rikako Aida, even. Oh, and a certain Ayaka Ohashi, as well. Fair play to them there.
Thankfully, the rest of them picked it up afterwards, probably helped by Kotori Koiwai coming along as Michiru and bringing the hype. Rondo was their usual solid self, and then came Merm4id, the group that has, by and large, been carrying the series of late. Can’t wonder why…
…Must be the music.
That’s not really a joke, though. Their heavy beats are easy listening and classic rave material. Thank goodness they are more than available enough to keep giving us good content. And Peaky P-key gave us the glorious return of Aimi on a live stage, after her extended period of time out. They went down a storm as well, as they tend to do. The finale began with LynxEyes, which gave us a chance to take in EZ DO DANCE, Raychell’s gloriously overblown voice, and the undeniable prettiness of Hinako Umemura. I enjoyed it while it lasted, whether others did is another matter entirely. And that left us with the rest of Call of Artemis. Except it didn’t, because they simply cut the stream before they came on. It’s more than likely this had something to do with Nana Mizuki, a person obviously too high-profile and upper-class for mere streams. That was probably in the contract when they signed her up, except it also denied us the sight of Arisa Komiya as well. In the event, though, they were just rehashing other hits LynxEyes had done, so we weren’t missing much. That’s the problem with trying to incorporate the biggest name imaginable. As Bushiroad should know to Bandori’s cost. You can’t give them new content to save their life.
Luckily, day 2 was much better. That’s thanks to it having all the usual day 2 perks: more polished, more presentable, tighter, better. People getting much more into the groove and all that. It helped most of all that they moved Photon Maiden down the order, rejigged their set and turned it into something far worthier of their inherent greatness. They wheeled out all the best hits, and there was even time for me to realise how good a cover of theirs was, in Getcha!. Mind you, the version in Groovy Mix doesn’t give any indication how good the full cover is at all. On that note, I’d love to see it on a Cover Tracks album soon.
Oh, and Amita was, of course, stunning, as always.
She hasn’t given me much to take in all year, but now… I’m satisfied with this.
All in all, a good effort, at least on day 2. But it certainly didn’t feel as special as this time last year and the series still feels like it needs a proper kick up the arse. But it’s hard to see where that’s gonna come from with what they’ve left themselves with. Truthfully, Bushi might be fighting a losing battle with this. It’s tried to ride the success they earnt with Bandori, but that may prove to be more of a one-off than they realised. (I suppose Revue Starlight should be chucked in there as well, that’s played its part here as well.) D4DJ has the potential to go further, but it’s possible that, while keeping its close ties with Bandori may have given it a degree of comfort in the short term, it’s left it with little room for expansion in the long term. There’s new talent in there that’s interested, but it’s the old talent that’s the concern. There’s not much more ground for them to tread, and you wonder if they should have gone for a full iM@s/Love Live-spec refresh. You didn’t see Shinymas sharing seiyuu with anyone from CG or ML, after all. But it’s too late to go back on that now. They’ve got to stick with what they’ve got. And they’ve got to push harder with it, and try and get more of its cast to commit. And shake up some of the music they’ve got a bit. Else they’re gonna be stuck doing a hundred Roselia and RAS lives every year, and nothing else.
Iris are continuing their tour, and this weekend was a big one as they’re in Tokyo. So I’ve had more reason than usual to pay attention to them, especially as they actually streamed this live. I watched it on archive, as to watch it live would have meant 6 hours straight of action for me, which would have been a little much given it started from 8am. And I’ve had a four-day weekend thanks to Her Majesty, The Queen, and used all three days prior especially well.
Anyhow, the big news from this was in fact the news of their future plans. Not least their big 10th anniversary live.
That’s gonna be a big one on the list, and much like I did with their last anniversary I will be streaming this one, 100%.
They’ve also moved to announce their next single.
Man, they look fierce in these shots. Moving away from the colour theme they carried with their former bandmate Azuki Shibuya has really seen the group turn on the style of late.
Maybe that’s reflecting in how the individual members have been vibing of late. They really have been enjoying their week back in Tokyo, it seems.
I do like how they show themselves with makeup-down from time to time, like Seriko does there. Himi’s not afraid to do that either.
Mind you, it’s not like anyone cares about that with Miyutan.
It’s always good to see her in action with Iris, though. Given she’s the most elusive member of the group now. And it’s always good to remember what the group’s all about at heart.
Now, what about the next person down on my list, Suzuko Mimori? Well, her news this week was the biggest of the lot.
It’s at this point I’d like to bring your attention to a little something I slipped in way back when I first did some musing.
This has led to some speculation on just what might be up with her life and whether something’s given her a genuine excuse to take the plunge. But let’s save the gossip for Hello! Magazine. Or, as the Japanese call it, Bunshun.
Those speculators knew what they spoke of. She’s pregnant. The most celebrated couple in the business – Mimo and Kazuchika Okada – is bringing a child upon us. It is due in August. The genes are going to be absolutely insane. I give my hearty congratulations to both of them, as indeed has everyone else. All the best to her for the next couple of months.
I thought that, thanks to Her Majesty, The Queen, my Liyuu PB wouldn’t be here until next week. Imagine my surprise then, to find it turning up on Friday.
And it is a magnificent work indeed. It’s everything I hoped it would be and more. I love so much about it.
There’s nothing too overdone here, just a lot conveying the essence of Liyuu. A soft, sweet self with a feel of vulnerability about her. The sort that makes you want to protect her, absolutely and utterly. She’s just a wonderful person.
That shoot of her in that outfit on the front cover is especially magnificent.
Funnily enough, one of Nagi’s best shoots came in a very similar outfit. Although it looks like they’ve used the same size shirt for Liyuu here. That’s why it doesn’t fit, evidently.
That isn’t the best outfit she has, though. That lies with the one she’s wearing on the back cover.
That shot of her in the hoodie is my absolute ideal of her. Just give me that in person and I’m set for life.
But she’s not just an adorable angel. We know from her back catalogue that she’s not afraid to go a little more risque. I wasn’t sure this PB would have much of that, though. This belief proved unfounded.
That first picture might be my favourite of the lot. It had me hooked for a good minute on first viewing.
It was the announcement for this PB that really got me hooked on Liyuu in the first place, and I’m so happy my passion has been vindicated in this way. She’s proven herself to be a great seiyuu, she is a natural-born in front of a camera – both in stills and on recordings – she is genuinely one of the best solo singers I’ve heard, and the way she fights through her little stumbles here and there in Japanese is so admirable. She is such a precious being, and I’ll always love her wholeheartedly for that. For as long as she goes on.
Liyuu’s not the only seiyuu who’s released a PB of late. Though the two who’ve got in on the act this week were not two I’d have expected.
It’s Haruka Yamazaki and Azusa Tadokoro, of all people. And the photos they’ve taken were done by…each other. (Nagi did something similar with one of her buddies for her last PB, as well.) Both fine and beautiful seiyuu, but photoshoots of the two have pretty open-ended expectations. So what have we gotten here?
Well, Pyon’s is a rather conservative affair, as can be expected from the best mate of someone as relentlessly traditional as Aimi. Her highlight might be the cover on that double package, to be honest. It looks like she’s just been woken from a slumber and correspondingly looks pissed off.
Koro, though? Hers is a revelation. And not just because that cover shows more shoulder and back than you’d expect.
First of all, a fleeting return to ‘long hair’ Koro, courtesy of a wig from the (incredibly well-versed in that sort of thing) Pyon. It’s been so long since she had anything like this that it’s like a look into an alternate universe at this point. It certainly is for me, as she went to short hair not long before I first discovered her. So I’ve only really known her with that gorgeous short bob of hers.
This is nothing compared to the second half, though. She’s donning a wholesome Minnie Mouse-esque outfit – another nod to Pyon’s interests – but it’s got a kinda flirtatious feel to it, for Koro. And no wonder, when you see where the photo ventures…
If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it. Of all the seiyuu to give these kinds of flashes, Koro is pretty far towards the bottom of the list. Yet here she is, throwing away all I thought I knew about her. Remarkable.
When this dropped, I saw people coming out to sing all kinds of praises for her, from her previous work to her genuinely brilliant solo work, including some of the best songs from her album. She’s made more than a few waves with this, here. But then we knew she was a Waver all along.
And so I shall happily slot this into my growing Kindle collection.
One day, it won’t have Arisha and Rikyako outnumbering the rest, I swear. Though I don’t mind if they do. Not at all, while they remain the riskiest of the lot.
I’m violating my clause to talk about Liella again, but there’s a good reason for it here as well. This weekend is the last we’ll ever see of the group in their original five-girl incarnation – at least, in a full-on live. (They’re part of a couple summer festivals, and who knows if the new four will be there too.) And I decided to see it through to the bitter end. Yep. I streamed it for myself.
Even if they hadn’t developed that much new material in between their first and second live tours – there was only 2 months between them, after all – there was still stuff in here that was genuinely compelling. The solo section for each of the five band members wound on the emotion, and showcased the five members’ individual brilliance. Liyuu was simply sensational doing Mizuiro no Sunday, including the incredible oshicam umbrella. Nakonako was vibing all the way in her solo. Sayurin brought her powerful voice to the party, and she definitely feels like she’s improved since the 1st live, toning her voice down at the cost of a little accuracy in places. Then came a simply perfect acoustic version of Tiny Stars, which was the most emotional of all. Nagi-chan broke out the ballet for two straight songs, always an absolute treat. And then Pay-chan reminded us all of her sheer brilliance with the most energetic performance of them all. She’s definitely one who relishes the limelight. That led into perhaps the group’s biggest banger of them all, Nonfiction, which coupled with the outfits and lighting to make something spectacular. That would eventually build up to them running through all sorts of their more classic, conventional songs. These are as clear a sign as any of the improvement that’s been made with Love Live’s music over the years – they’re all good to take in.
All this was done in the midst of standard talks and laments to their characters, their experience, Liella itself and in the end to the fans watching in Osaka and those on the live stream around the world. Some of these were more emotional than most. Sayurin was getting rushed off her feet from the start. Liyuu got emotional talking about her dreams being realised, as is her wont. She was tearing up at the very end as well as they left to go off stage too, but before that Pay-chan had been feeling it as well and even Nakonako was crying her eyes about in thanking the fans. God knows how Nagi manages to steel herself up so often. She’s a little miracle. I can’t even envisage her like that, frankly.
This is a very heartfelt group, without a doubt. The colour and the emotion pouring out of them is intoxicating. To get even a couple of members in a group with this quality would be more than enough. To get an entire fivesome of them is nothing short of remarkable. Some more emotion may have been on offer, given this was the end of the 2nd live tour. Some of it may have been down to them knowing this was the end of an era, no matter how short it was. And it’s here that, once again, you have to ask: why change a formula that doesn’t need fixing? The chemistry and feeling between this group is tangible beyond belief. In their heart of hearts, do they feel the same way about having four new members to take on board? Somehow, I think that might not be impossible.
Obviously, we’ll get flashes of Liella’s original self throughout. After all, in the series of fan meets which will see the new wave introduced, there’ll still be songs but not from the newbies. But this feels like the last real chance we’ll have to witness the lovable original group in full flow. The next season of the anime is due next month, and that’ll get the new members integrated for real. So, unless I have reason to otherwise (which I probably will…ooh, next week), to Liella, for now, it’s goodbye from me. And thanks for all the joy and pleasure dished out from the very start.
This isn’t something I’d normally chuck in, but there’s a few people I know who’d be thankful for it, so I might as well.
It’s about the idol group Dialogue+, who’ve been hooking more than their fair share of people in of late. That’s because they’re offering good, value for money lives, with quality J-pop and 8 members to enjoy. They’ve already landed their entirety in a series, Cue!. Think Iris and you’re along the right lines. Sadly for them, my interests are already filled to the gunwales, and their music, and indeed all the members – with the notable exception of the genuinely interesting Satsuki Miyahara – feel too generic to get me intrigued.
They have got an interesting idea for their recent series of lives, though. That’s because they’ve invited numerous other groups to them as support acts. And the most recent one this weekend included one I happen to have heard of, and really enjoy.
That’s #Babababambi, and they have as good a range of members from a pure idol group I’ve seen yet. Among them is Miyu Kishi, who is both tiny and an impeccable gravure idol, Saeko Kondo, definitely one of the cutest idols I’ve seen, and its most popular member Mio Minato, who’s been good enough to earn her own PB. But my favourite is perhaps the most unsung member of the group, Ikeda Meruda.
A half-Japanese, half-Indonesian, she’s straight up beautiful and at least as good as the others when it comes to gravure. She was my idol oshi fleetingly, but that was kinda half-hearted until I found my actual idol oshi. So now she’s very much my idol side chick. And I’m happy to keep her there. Even if you’re very much not supposed to do that with idols. But then I’m a man with a top tier of seiyuu that theoretically stretches 31-deep. (Though in actuality, it’s more like five or six. And even then, none can compare to the top one.) So Ikeda’s very much here to stay for me.
I’ve got to chuck something in gaming-wise. Specifically, some of it’s to do with Overwatch, which is getting a so-called ‘sequel’ at some point, except it seems weirdly integrated with the current incarnation which is leading us all to believe it’s merely an actual upgrade on the original, spun as something different to get some life back into it. I mention this as it’s about the only thing I’ve really been able to play this week – as you can see above, time has been horrendously tight this entire week. So having some life back into it, even fleetingly, might be something to relish for a time. But then weeks like this make you realise you sometimes don’t really need games to carry you over the line. And hopefully the rest of this month should be easier for me. Especially as I have an entire two-week period off work coming up. Apart from the bits I’ve already planned to do outside there, I can work on whatever I want in the meantime. So we’ll see if something captures me over that time, but until then, finding a game to really interest me has stalled, big time.
There’s something else I’ve been inclined to do gaming-wise as well. You won’t believe this, but I’ve been obliged to actually play some Starlight Stage.
This is the card that’s prompted my brief return. It’s an event Kanade SR, and it obviously looks great. But I have to get it because she remains the one character I love who I maintain a 100% record on having cards of. I came back to try a couple of rolls for Mika6, and didn’t get her, so knowing me now I let her go. Then I did much the same when Minami6 predictably didn’t come home either. So my perfection has gone for both of them. Even D4DJ’s Ibuki Niijima (who, apropos of nothing has a card to roll for in Groovy Mix right now herself – it really is that sort of week for me…) let her recent birthday card slip from my fingers. That leaves just Kanade, after her sixth SSR gave me no such troubles, as the last girl standing in this regard. I suppose that was inevitable. If there was one girl who I was always going to maintain a complete collection of, it was going to be the best of the best. I love her, she loves me back.
The good news is this event is Live Parade, a format I’m more than familiar with and which hasn’t changed since I last had to touch it. The bad news is that it takes forever to play the game and get an actual event card. And even worse is that a lot of the early missions here can’t be autoed away. That means I have to actually play the game, which means changing offsets, turning off voices (not as big a problem as it used to be after playing D4DJ for so long, but still) and rediscovering the ability to play, say, a 26. Or I could play the game soundless. I’ve been resorting to the latter a lot as most of the songs being boosted over the course of the event have not exactly been corkers to me. Therefore, I haven’t been doing much playing of this at all. I know exactly what it’ll come down to. I’ll be forced to grind the hell out of it Tuesday night (the last point at which I’ll be able to play it), barely scrape getting this Kanade and I’ll be reminded of why I got the hell out of there with this game in the first place. The time investment required when you’ve got so much on your plate to worry about is just humongous. That element of the game will not be missed when I’m done with this. But at least I’ll be happy to say I still have a full collection of my favourite character of all time. That was my ultimate goal with this game in the first place, and for as long as that goal remains complete, I can sleep easy with Starlight Stage.
Finally, you can expect a seiyuu sorter update in the coming week or so. But how that will manifest itself is as yet unknown. The bare minimum will be an additional four seiyuu (you know who they are), but there’s a new feature or two I’d like to incorporate for everyone to use and explore. All I have to do is find out how to add them in… If such a thing is even possible. I’ll be gathering advice from others on my plans, needless to say. And if it comes up trumps, well… You’ll be getting more than four seiyuu added, that’s for sure. In fact, I may never need to add another seiyuu again. But let’s not say too much while I don’t know if my ideas will be possible or not.
As a preview of what might, or might not, be coming, try and imagine what your result for this bracket would be. And since my taste will never account for 100% of yours, chuck in your own oshi at the end of this one.
Seiyuu are all in alphabetical order here because that’s how it decided to stick them in. Oh, well, you just have to go with it. Like it’s the FA Cup draw. No room for seedings round here, you’ve gotta beat the best to be the best.
mariblog 
You were right. Kanon Shizaki just stepped down from the D4DJ franchise
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