KAWAii MATSURi highlights the Japanese kawaii culture music fashion x x x anime idol, pop culture Harajuku, Shibuya and Akihabara. This is a totally fun and revendicated cocktail! Today was the first day of this matsuri week-end, with spotlighs on Shôko Nakagawa, May’n and T.M.Revolution. What a pleasure to see them again, that was so great ^o^
Day 1 – Matsuri da Tokyo
Shôko Nakagawa
Shokotan arrived on stage, with a surprisingly very simple hairstyle, but still kawaii dress. Her 30-minutes long concert began naturally « Sorairo days », opening song of Gurren Lagann, and immediately ignited the atmosphere, immediately great! What I liked the most: « Pegasus Fantasy Version Ω », theme of Saint Seiya Ω, it was the epic moment of her performance. « Saint Seiya! Heyyyyy « everyone with his glowstick forward!
May’n
If I got interested in Kawaii matsuri, it was of course because of the presence of my dear May’n! Just by seeing that she was taking part in this event, I was willing to be there ^o^ And she did not come alone: her dancers accompanied her to start strongly with « Universal Bunny » from Macross Frontier (but if you are frequent readers of my blog, you already known it ^^). Nothing could make me happier! And to continue this performance at hectic pace, « Giant Step » Kamen Rider Fourze!
Then came a quick MC during which May’n explained she had just finished her world tour. She felt that Japanese culture was really appreciated by everyone all over the world, whatever the form: idol, video games or anime, and – of course – anisongs, which are all part of Japan’s culture! Ah ~ I really agree with this point!
Back to the concert with the legendary « Diamond crevasse. » Acceleration with « Scarlet Ballet » and « Brain diver », to finish on the new single to be released on May 5th: « Run Real Run. » May’n finished by asking the question: she was invited to Kawaii matsuri, but is she kawaii? What a question! This is so obvious ^o^
T.M.Revolution
The grand finale is Takanori, who comes with his band! He also asked whether he is kawaii, but he has not even to wait for the answer from the audience. For his part, he speaks about J-pop, J-rock, rock… all are part of him, they are also part of Japanese culture, yeaaah heyyyyyy!
The fire started immediately with « FLAGS », then « LEVEL 4 ». Obviously, I loved the songs of legendary Gundam seed, we enjoyed both « INVOKE » and « ingnited! » But what I liked the most was to hear again the first song that made me discover T.M.Revolution in 1998: « The party must go on. » And to finish with a big slap, « HIGH PRESSURE! »
Whenever I just see Ayumi Hamasaki, with the feeling of having seen the best concert of my life, T.M.Revolution succeeds in giving me an extra slap *___*
Tôkyô Metropolitan Gymnasium
Writing only about the performance of my favorite singers would not be a good summary of the matsuri. I need to talk a bit about the venue: this is not a good one for concerts. There is a resonance in the gym, plus a bad sound, and soundtracks of Shokotan and May’n sounded so strange. On the other hand, this was strange to put booths at the rear half of the arena and blocking at the same time a large part of alleys and seats, which resulted in a general feeling of emptiness, emphasizing the real vacuum. I do not understand why this event has no sold out, probably because he has just born… Still, the event is really cozy and offers a chance to attend the performance of very good artists ^o^ The opportunity to see them all is very beautiful!
Day 2 – Harajuku kawaii
Tomorrow is the last day of the weekend matsuri, under the sign of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. My new favorite, SEKAI NO Owari, will be embedded in a lot of fashion shows. I do not think anything will top the evening Anisong yesterday for me, but you never know, there are also SCANDAL and Passepied!
EDIT of the 21th april: Aaaaah this last day was epic with:
SEKAI NO OWARI
This is the first time I see them live, so I did not have too many expectations: after the announcement of the group’s arrival, everyone stood up excitedly and strident girls voice arose. They were the real stars of KAWAii Matsuri! With their unique sound, which rings like both rock and electronic music, with the sweet melody of the piano and the pop singer’s voice, SEKAI NO OWARI made everyone happy result « Starlight Parade ». There’s something in their music that instantly transmits a smile! And the attendees participate a lot, with great enthusiasm. The beat of the music changes at every verse, which has the effect of changing the gestures of spectators – clapping, arms all forward – everything is obvious and totally fun! Finally, even superior than Ayu’s and T.M. Revolution’s, the collective experience of SEKAI NO OWARI live is my big BIG favorite!
They executed the main titles of their first album « Entertainment » at a major, including « Fantasy » and « Tenshi to Akuma » that I love soooooo much, to conclude the performance with songs from their previous albums. There were also se special spotlight on their new title « RPG », the theme for the Crayon Shin-chan movie that comes out in theaters in April. Shin-chan also made an appearance in the audience and danced throughout the song, it was so cute!
Finally, note the emphasis on the song « Love the warz », with texts in the preamble reminding the horrors of the 2nd World War and most of its victims. A truly unique group, so nice and more committed… THE success of this matsuri, for me, it is SEKAI NO OWARI at 1000%!
Rosalys 