seiyuu3

Dengeki Online had posted an indepth report of the The IDOLM@STER 3rd Anniversary Live.  The report can be accessed here.

The report is full of photos, all the thumbnails are clickable for access to some pretty decent size pictures (VGA resolution)  - except the ones that has Kugimiya Rie in it.

Now this may seem strange to some of you, but Japan has a concept of “Portrait Rights” (I seem to recall that some other countries such as Hong Kong has it too, but don’t quote me on that) - I won’t go into details, there’s a much better article about the concept here, but basically it boils down to that you are not allowed to use any pictures of any person without their consent because it is a violation of personal rights as well as property rights, this is one of the reason why if you visit Japanese blogs, especially those similiar to the Akiba blog varity, you would find the webmasters painstakingly mosaic out all the faces on the photos.

While I won’t go into the debate of whether this is a stupid law or not, what this law means is that in the Japanese entertainment industry it is actually possible for celebrities and their management to control exactly how, when and where their faces appears in most forms of media and publications, such as magazines, videos and websites.  The fact that this report is missing pictures of Kugimiya Rie had caused all sorts of negative speculations amongst the diehard iM@S fans - because thus far, it’s only ever been anything related to iM@S that has received the block-out treatment, while everyone knows that Kugimiya Rie had no real issues posing for her other works.   No one knows for sure what the true reason for this is - whether it is because Kugimiya Rie personally objects to it, that her management refuses to have her being associated with the iM@S franchise, or simply a failure of contractial negotiation, but the implication is that the chances of getting a non-butchered (considering the amount of performances she was in), let alone uncut, version of the concert on DVD is slim when even something as simple as a coverage report gets the big NG, which of course greatly disappoints all iM@S fans.

Count me in as one of those that is disappointed. :(

News had gotten out that famous Japanese online video website Nico Nico Douga will be streaming, live, selected sections of the Sunday session (August 31st) of this year’s Animelo in their Nico Nico Live section.  The live-cast is to start at 4pm Tokyo time (UTC + 9) and is limited to the first 10,000 users.  Don’t know why they aren’t doing the Saturday session as well, but besides the usual rights problem, I’d wager that it might have something to do with how the Sunday session currently looks awfully like they took a artist roll-call from the songs used in the Nico Douga Kyumikyoku.  Afterall, the people behind Nico Nico Douga, dwango, is also the major sponser to Animelo, seems like a perfect opportunity to cash in on some cross-promotion.

Either way, this maybe a great opportunity for those overseas who can’t make it to get a glimps of what it is like - provided they don’t put in IP blocking that is.

Opps, I sort of left this one on the side and forgotten about it, but here it is anyway, the PV to Minorin’s new song. Apparently the official English title is “Let the Flower Bloom After the Rain” - since they’re accepting T-shirt orders with the title printed on it from the fanclub.

For the song itself, I like this one a lot better than Melty Tale Storage.  The music’s got a bit of punch to it in a similiar way to Shijin no Tab, which is one of my favourite Minorin songs, so anything like that is welcomed. It’s also a more hopeful and happier song than most of the songs by her of recent, which I think suits Minorin’s bubbly personality a lot better thus she had a much better grasp of it and was able to channel her feelings through her performance a lot more easier.

As for the PV, is it wrong for me to say that I’m slightly turned on by a wet Minorin?

Fellow seiyuu3 reader dodgethis has a spare Sunday Animelo ticket and asked me to lend some shouting space. So here it is:

Hi guys.

Currently I have a spare ticket for the second from Yahoo Auctions. If you’re interested in it, please e-mail me at mobiledeath underscore sg at hotmail dot com. We’ll sort out the details through that.

Thanks

dodgethis

Anyone interested should contact him directly while he still has it!

Track List (it was a hefty 3 hour concert):

1. shiny smile [Short Ver.] (Hasegawa Akiko, Wakabayashi Naomi, Kugimiya Rie)
2. Agent Yoru wo Yuku [Short Ver.] (Takahashi Chiaki, Imai Asami, Shimoda Asami)
3. GO MY WAY!! [Short Ver.] (Nakamura Eriko, Nigo Mayako, Hirata Hiromi -> All members)
<MC>
4. Do-Dai (Nigo Mayako, Imai Asami, Shimoda Asami)
5. Watashi wa Idol (Wakabayashi Naomi, Takahashi Chiaki)
6. Here we go!! [REM@STER-A] (Hasegawa Akiko)
7. My Best Friend [REM@STER-B] (Hirata Hiromi, Kugimiya Rie)
8. relations + [Normal->REM@STER-A] (Nakamura Eriko, Wakabayashi Naomi)
9. 9:02pm [REM@STER-B] (Hirata Hiromi, Hasegawa Akiko)
10. Taiyo no Jealousy [REM@STER-A] (Imai Asami, Shimoda Asami)
<Ochiai Yurika Video message>
<MC Drama>
11. Kiramekirari [Short Ver.] (Nigo Mayako)
12. Furu Furu Future [Short Ver.] (Hasegawa Akiko)
13. Futari no Kioku [Short Ver.] (Kugimiya Rie)
14. Start Star [Short Ver.] (Shimoda Asami)
15. I WANT [Short Ver.] (Nakamura Eriko)
<MC Drama>
16. Positive! [REM@STER-A] (Takahashi Chiaki, Nigo Mayako, Takita Juri)
17. Ohayou!! Asagohan [REM@STER-A] (Hirata Hiromi, Shimoda Asami, Kushida Akira as Yakiniku Man)
18. Ippai Ippai [Short Ver.] (Wakabayashi Naomi)
19. Me ga Au Toki [Short Ver.] (Imai Asami)
20. Meisou Mind [Short Ver.] (Hirata Hiromi)
21. Tonari ni… [Short Ver.] (Takahashi Chiaki)
22. Merry (Nigo Mayako, Kugimiya Rie, Nakamura Eriko)
23. ID：[OL]  (Takita Juri)
24. THE IDOLM@STER [Short Ver.] (All members)
25. Mahou wo Kakete! (Imai Asami, Wakabayashi Naomi)
26. Valentine (Hasegawa Akiko, Shimoda Asami)
27. YES♪ (Hirata Hiromi, Nakamura Eriko)
28. inferno (Imai Asami, Takahashi Chiaki)
29. shiny smile (Kugimiya Rie, Wakabayashi Naomi, Hasegawa Akiko)
30. Omoide wo Arigatou (Nigo Mayako, Shimoda Asami)
31. Sora (Takita Juri)
32. my song (Takahashi Chiaki, Hirata Hiromi, Nakamura Eriko)
33. Aoi Tori (Imai Asami)
<PSP game announcement, new characters introduction>
34. Over Master (new song) (Hasegawa Akiko, Hara Yumi, Numakura Emi)
MC
35. Massugu (Nakamura Eriko, Kugimiya Rie, Nigo Mayako, Takahashi Chiaki, Wakabayashi Naomi)
<Encore>
36. THE IDOLM@STER (everyone)

Just a reminder of who plays who:

Nakamura Eriko - Amami Haruka
Imai Asami - Kisaragi Chihaya
Ochiai Yurika - Hagiwara Yukiho
Nigo Mayako - Takatsuki Yayoi
Wakabayashi Naomi - Akizuki Ritsuko
Takahashi Chiaki - Miura Azusa
Kugimiya Rie - Minase Iori
Hirata Hiromi - Kikuchi Makoto
Shimoda Asami - Futami Ami, Mami
Hasegawa Akiko - Hoshii Miki
Takita Juri - Otonashi Kotori
Hara Yumi - Shijyo Takane (new character for the upcoming PSP game)
Numakura Emi - Ganaha Hibiki (new character for the upcoming PSP game)

Some random thoughts and trivias:

*  The character Takita Juri plays - Otonashi Kotori - is actually not an idol in the game but one of the workers of 765 Production (the name of the production house in the IDOLM@STER games, it’s a pun since 765 can be read as Namco). Kotori had become a really popular character ever since her appearance in CD dramas and such, as well as having her own songs.

* In the beginning, they used the newly released 3D model of Otonashi Kotori to tell people not to do otagei as Kotori was doing it on the screen.  It was hilarious.  For why the fuss and info on what otagei is, go here for j1m0ne’s coverage on the story [Sakakibara Yui Bans Otagei at Her Live Shows?].

* Leading on from above, the crowd was actually very withheld.  Even the normal jumping and cheering was well beneath normal accepted levels.  Maybe something to do with the gaming crowd being a little less scary?

* Special guest Kushida Akira for number 16 is a veteran anime/tokusatsu song singer. You can find his English homepage here.  As for why he’s there as Yakiniku Man, well, you’ll just have to listen to the song which can be found on one of the CDs.

*  Takita Juri is a great performer - both for her singing and her narration during the MC dramas.  Even though her character Kotori is not officially an idol in the game her singing is very high quality.  A quick look at her profile reveals that she used to be a member of the Minami Aoyama Shoujo Geikidan.  If that doesn’t ring a bell, Chiba Saeko and Nanri Yuuka (AKA Fiction Juction YUUKA) are both graduates of this musical group.

*  There were a few instances where Kugimiya Rie slipped out of her high pitch voice when singing, it sounds surprisingly pleasant.

*  Shimoda Asami is really really crazy.  I still can’t believe she actually did the stupid hand-poking-into-the-air dance move from Do-Dai and her mic didn’t flew out from her hands.

*   Hirata Hiromi sounds much better live than on the CD.  I think it has something to do with her deep voice which seems to fill a concert hall better than being delivered via recording.

*  Imai Asami finally managed to sing Aoi Tori when she is in her best shape - and boy it was awesome.  Last time she sang that she was not well so much so that she collapsed backstage after the performance.

*  Chiaking +  Asamingosu’s version of “inferno” was great.  Too bad for Ochiai Yurika (the original song was a duet by Imai Asami and Ochiai Yurika)

*  Nakamura Eriko’s performance is still abit shaky if she moves too much, otherwise she’s definitely getting better.  Hopefully she can improve more before Animelo since she’s by far the weakest link out of the 4 iM@S seiyuu that are attending.  It’s not really her being terrible though, it’s just that the other 3 being Takahashi Chiaki, Imai Asami and Shimoda Asami are just more skillful.

*  The owner of the rival production house of the PSP game - 961 Production (read Kuroi Production, again a pun on the number reading, also “kuroi” means black) seems to be voiced by Koyasu Takehito.

*  Just for the record, there were a few girls there.  We were particularly traumatized by two really dedicated stealth fangirls in front of us.  “Stealth” as in you can’t tell they were the crazy type since they look absolutely normal (they were pretty too) until they decide to whip out 10 different glow sticks each and wave and cheer like what normal teenage girls would for their favourite boy band, except of course in this case, the performers are all female….

EDIT:  Nearly everyone’s blog has some photos of sorts, but the blog for Chiaking (Takahashi Chiaki) and Asapon (Shimoda Asami) has the most photo spam, so much so that I’d rather not try to steal them.  Go visit Chiaking’s blog here and Asapon’s blog here for photo goodness.

This is what happens when you don’t teach history properly and watch too much animu (especially too much of the pro-Zeon Gundam works) - you think Nazi uniform makes perfect concert dress material. Hey as long as it looks cool right? And Japan wonders why it has issues with its neighbouring countries.

Just for the record, this was one of the costume she wore for her recent Live Fighter concert, sent and I facepalmed when we saw this on stage. I was going to write about it earlier, but pictures are better (or worse, in this case) than my words alone. I’m gonna dread watching this again on Blu-ray that’s for sure.

In our hunt to actually get some tickets to the Animelo 2008 Saturday session, which has turned out to be a lot harder this year, we’ve ended up with some spares. So if any of you who are making the trip over still need any, now is your chance.

We have two pairs of tickets for the Saturday session only. For those who want/need them, same deal as last time. Send us an email to seiyuu3 (at) gmail (dot) com and make sure you include the following:

Full name
Email address
Date of arrival in Japan
Country you’re coming from

We’ll sort out where to meet, payment, etc in the emails.

The Sunday session is turning out to be pretty awesome too but we don’t have any spares for that.

Cue expressions of lament!

Complete with the signiture “キラッ☆” pose that is now an internet meme.

The key sounds just a tad lower than the CD/anime version to my ears but it’s definitely not bad at all, especially towards the second half where she seems to have gotten into the groove. She managed to deliver a stable performance, which is more than could be said of some others.

We really may have a new Ijima Mari in the making here.

Okui Masami is going solo on the Saturday session (please have another duet with Nana-chan! prettyprettyplease), and her fellow JAM Project bandmate Fukuyama Yoshiki is also detaching himself to get his own solo act on Sunday (oh man please can we now have a Basara + Sheryl duet?! But even Maka no Chikai will be AWESOME YELLING TIME anyway). LIA is also going to Animelo Sunday (Tori no Uta! Tori no Uta!), and with ave;new feat. Sakura Saori (True My Heart! Kiss My Lips!), MOSAIC.WAV (gacha gacha kyu!), miko (kirai, kirai, lovin’!), iM@S etc Sunday is turning out to be a day that would make any nico douga fanboy (especially of the nico nico douga kumikyoku type) weak at the knees just at the though of all these artists on stage at the same time.

Only a little more than one month left!

Announced today at the concert. Now we can watch Nana-chan’s awesome legs concert in glorious HD and (hopefully) awesome PCM 5.1 surround sound. moyism with his new screens is probably drooling already. :P

P.S. No crazy psychotic stabbers today, but the incident did make the news. 33 wannabe copycats since the Akiba stabbing, man people are more screwed up than I imagined.