Love Live! Fest

This is it, the biggest concert for the entire franchise has finally happened at the Saitama Super Arena on January 18 and 19, 2020. This is Love Live! Fest where it featured 4 school idol groups such as μ’s, Aqours, Saint Snow, and Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. Of course, this post will talk about the delayed viewing which held at SM Megamall on February 22 and 23, 2020 and I’m not gonna rant about the quality of ODEX’s subs as there’s no need for it in my opinion.

Big thanks to Natalie.mu for the official pictures, and shout-outs to both the Love Live! subreddit page and Anime PH Project for news leading up to the concert.

Anyways, let’s start things off with Aqours as they performed their latest single “Mitaiken Horizon”. Yeah, it’s surprising to see Aqours take the opening act and not only that, but I’m happy that Kanako Takatsuki takes center stage as Hanamaru Kunikida.

Of course, I’ll talk about Aqours later because there’s more to come on this special concert…

After Aqours’ opening act, Nijigasaki High School Idol Club takes the stage and they improved quite a bit after their 1st concert. Sadly, Akari Kito will only appear in Day 1 as she has other commitments, meaning that Nijigasaki only has 8 members.

Let’s start with the Day 1 lineup which consists of Aguri Onishi as Ayumu Uehara, Chiemi Tanaka as Rina Tennouji, Akari Kito as Kanata Konoe, and Miyu Kubota as Karin Asaka. While Aguri Onishi and Chiemi Tanaka did well on their respective performance, I gotta love Akari Kito’s soothing voice when she performs “Nemureru Mori ni Ikitai na” in which everyone at the front lie down and pretend that they’re sleeping. Oh, and let’s not forget about “Starlight” in which Miyu Kubota’s sexy dancing makes you want to ask her to step on you.

Meanwhile, Day 2 consists of Kaori Maeda as Shizuku Osaka, Maria Sashide as Emma Verde, Mayu Sagara as Kasumi Nakasu, Natsumi Murakami as Ai Miyashita, and Tomori Kusunoki as Setsuna Yuki. Gotta say that the rest are great like Kaori Maeda for example where she sings like an angel, as well as Natsumi Murakami and Tomori Kusunoki where they really pump up the crowd (especially when balloons are released during “Meccha Going!!”). On the other hand, I wish that there would be children accompanying Maria Sashide during “Evergreen”, but on the flip side though it seems that the rest of Nijigasaki cheered both Chiemi Tanaka and Mayu Sagara during their respective performance.

Moving onto Saint Snow where it’s nice that the Seira and Ria Kazuno, which comprised of Asami Tano and Hinata Sato, are there to perform at the Saitama Super Arena. Then again, I really wish that they perform “CRASH MIND” and “DROPOUT!?” as the Kazuno sisters perform “SELF CONTROL!!” and “Believe again” in both days.

Still, it was a blast seeing them perform together with the other groups and I’m hoping that Saint Snow will get a new song in the future. Also, shout-outs to A-RISE as Asami Tano mentioned it in the closing MC in Day 2, and I’m sure that the members are happy upon hearing it.

Let’s return to Aqours where they have much in store for the 2nd generation of school idols. From sub-units’ performance of their popular songs (although the majority is still hyped towards Guilty Kiss), to bringing the giant ship where Aqours performed unforgettable songs like “MIRAI TICKET”, “WATER BLUE NEW WORLD”, “HAPPY PARTY TRAIN” in which the audience ran in circles inside the cinema, and “Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?” where it’s nice that they performed their debut song for this special concert.

While I’ll never know what the future holds for Aqours now that their story in the anime has ended, they’re still here to bring lots of joy to the entire audience. After all, they’re not gonna disband just yet!

And finally, it’s time to briefly talk about µ’s where they returned to perform at the Saitama Super Arena, the same venue where Emi Nitta and the rest hold the 4th and 5th live concerts a few years ago. Oh by the way, they’re wearing a new set of uniforms for this occasion.

Now, while they’re a bit rusty since they last hold their concert back in April 1, 2016 and not to mention that there are concerns that Yoshino Nanjou might injure her knees again, µ’s are still alive and kicking where they performed “Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE”, followed by a medley of songs from the TV series, and close it out with “Snow Halation” where the entire crowd filled Saitama Super Arena with bright orange despite the ban of Ultra Orange light sticks. Of course, that doesn’t stop fans who will bring UOs in various delayed viewing venues around the world and crack it open during the final part of the song.

In any case, I’m glad that µ’s has returned for Love Live! Fest and I’m pretty much enjoyed their performance even if their time is limited.

After the delayed viewing of the concert, things are kinda chaotic inside the cinema where various fans gathered at the tarpaulin and sign their names there.

Then again, it’s too dark to write it down and the staff warned them to leave the premise so they continued signing it outside.

But anyways, that’s the end of Love Live! Fest and I’d enjoyed watching the concert on both days. Even though some disgruntled fans wanted Yoshino Nanjou, Pile, and Suzuko Mimori perform “Soldier Game”, as well as the 29-member version of “SUNNY DAY SONG”, I don’t give a damn on their demands as long as µ’s is back and perform together with Aqours, Saint Snow, and Nijigasaki High School Idol Club.

Of course, I would like to have this kind of concert in the near future if various members are available. Then again, the Love Live! franchise is focused on promoting Nijigasaki High School Idol Club now that they have their own TV anime series in the works.

On and one last thing, here are the freebies and please ignore the paper bag from Data Blitz as it’s not included in the package.

Not only I got a postcard and a poster (Well, I got 2 posters on both days), but I got this commemorative glass diamond where it doesn’t worth much as the real thing. It’s one hell of a collector’s item and I’ll treasure it!

Image courtesy via Pixiv

Anyways, let’s end this post with this lovely fanart of 29 school idols. I hope that there’s more to come for the Love Live! franchise as it’ll celebrate 10 years of making dreams come true!