“AniRAVE FEVER!!!!!”, the latest entertainment event “Anime Rave Festival” (commonly known as AniRev), where people enjoy anime songs in clubs, was held at GARDEN Shinkiba FACTORY in Tokyo, with a total of 17 artists, DJs, and other groups performing live.
Approximately 1,000 spectators gathered at the venue, creating a huge atmosphere.
AniRev is a cutting-edge event that combines anime songs and club culture. The first event was held in 2018, and this year marks its 6th year as a much-anticipated event in the anime song world.
This event has been a hot topic due to the appearance of many impressive artists, including the organizer MOTSU, DJ KOO, SKY-HI, and others, and was held in Japan for the first time in two years in March this year. On the 1st of this month, the largest anime song DJ event in Korea, “KIMICHIKURA” and “AniRAVE”, held a collaboration event called “KIMCHIKURA×AniRAVE×OMOTENASHI BEATS” and it has been gaining support from anime fans as a new type of anime song event.
In this article, we will report on “AniRAVE FEVER!!!!!”, which created the most amazing atmosphere.
Tokyo had just entered the rainy season and was experiencing summer days with temperatures approaching 30 degrees. In this climate that seemed to be a blessing for the event, the venue was filled with excitement even before the start of the show.
The opening act that got the crowd excited was Akihabara-based REAL AKIBA JUNIORZ.
With theme songs from some of Japan’s most renowned anime playing in the background, such as Ado’s “I Am the Strongest (Uta from ONE PIECE FILM RED)” and Ryokuoushoku Shakai’s “Hana ni Natte – Be a flower,” the otaku performance group captivated with a street dance that incorporated plenty of street elements.
After the opening act came DJ Caesar.
They played laid-back remixes such as “MY STAR (feat. KURANTORION & toyo hiroshi)” and “IAM (feat. Shogo & Tsubasa)” and gradually warmed up the floor. During “Kokoro Odoru”, Caesar called out a call and response from the floor, and at the end, a medley familiar from festivals around the country started, and the excitement in the floor boiled over. During “Hamtaro Tottokouta”, a chorus of “Haise no!” broke out, and people were seen dancing to “Ojamajo Carnival”. During the last song, “Kawaire! Setsugekka”, the audience put their arms around each other’s shoulders to form a big circle and moved left and right, creating a performance that created a sense of unity on the floor.
OKINI☆PARTY’S from the Shinsaibashi area and Divermy from the Diver area, from the music-based character project Den’onbu, drew the audience into their unique worldview.
They played the fresh tune of Divermy’s debut single “Dive Out.” Leader RARA expressed her gratitude by saying, “I’m happy to meet you all!” and continued, “Today is actually my first performance in front of you all, but I’ll do my best.”
They performed “Bloomy,” just released on the 10th of this month, and the completely unreleased new song “Lightning,” with sharp dance moves and a smooth, powerful singing voice, and they put on a confident performance that made it hard to believe it was their first performance.
The three members of OKINI☆PARTY’S smoothly took to the stage and performed “West Side Phenomenon,” “OMATSURI SOUL,” and “Aho Chaumon” in succession.
When member Mone said, “For the last song we’d like to collaborate with Divermy!”, the five members of Divermy joined in and the venue was filled with excitement as they performed their popular song “Shinsaibashi Alien” released last year.
Next up was DJ Meguchee, who is also active as a voice actor.
After appearing with “Let’s have fun” along with “Megumegu☆Fire Endless Night”, they performed one fast-paced song after another. “I hit my elbow on the live stand and it felt like lightning struck me”, he said, excited by the enthusiasm of the floor.
As the summer song medley started, the audience was encouraged to clap, and the crowd responded by clapping and jumping too.
Continuing the excitement, they shouted “We’re going to the end!” and then they went through “Netsuiro Starmine” in one go, with the crowd waving their penlights and calling out in unison.
Next up is EGOEGG, a group born from the DJ-themed media mix project “D4DJ.”
Having only just made their pre-debut in March of this year, there is still much about their characters that is mysterious, but the outstanding playing skills of guitarist Kanda Hare (Yoshida Sakura) and bassist Tanimachi Jiu (Aoi Mion), along with the innocent singing voices of Shiodome Raika (Udagawa Momoka) and Ichinose Mikumo (Koshiba Miu), have the audience in a state of euphoria.
Ichinose said, “I’ve prepared a lot of songs for everyone to enjoy today!” and DJ Laika showed off his impressive turntable skills, starting with “Let’s do the ‘Big-Bang!'”
Their original song, the powerful rock number “Remember what you lost,” captured the hearts of many in the audience, many of whom were seeing the band for the first time.
With a smooth transition, the memorable AniRAVE FEVER!!!!! continues to move forward.
Appearing will be Wasuta, an idol group of the digital native generation who are active around the world, having held live shows in 12 countries.
First, they performed the nostalgic songs “KIRA KIRA Hologram” and “Rock Paper Scissors Pants Masayoshi-san.” Mishima said, “I could hear everyone’s cheers from the dressing room,” and the excitement was already there before they even appeared. Matsuda continued, “Today’s setlist includes nostalgic songs and anime songs,” and the floor erupted. They performed the new songs “Natsukoi Dilemma” and “SHINING FLOWER,” refreshing idol songs, and for the last song, “Saikyoukyuu Paradox,” the audience on the floor danced along with the members, creating a worldview that felt like a Wasuta solo concert.
The DJ unit ALLINNS, consisting of Clammbon Mito and REAL AKIBA BOYZ member Keitan, who are also well-known in the anime song world, appeared on stage to liven up the middle part of the event.
They will continue to play famous anime songs, both old and new, such as “Shusei!! Loli God Requiem☆,” “IV,” “Cutie Panther,” and “Gimme! Revolution.”
Keitan called out, “Everyone, you get the groove, right? Anyone who wants to go wild, go to the back!” and the audience responded with their whole bodies.
Next up was REAL AKIBA BOYZ, a nine-member anime song dance performer group representing Akihabara.
He appeared in a checked shirt and started off with a power-packed performance of “Ojamajo Carnival,” including breakdancing.
During the MC, Suzumiya mentioned that he wanted to film a YouTube video, and after filming with the audience on stage, he said, “From today, you’re all YouTubers,” closing the gap with the audience.
They then performed a medley of anime songs like “Namaramenkoi Gal” and “Aozora Rhapsody,” sometimes comical and sometimes cool, and ended with a performance of YOASOBI’s “Idol,” which they also helped produce, incorporating breakdancing.Their unique performance, which was created by these guys who are otaku but have some of the best skills in Japan, was overwhelming.
As the show reached the middle, Takatsuki Kanako, a member of the group “Aqours,” which was derived from “Love Live!” and gained popularity for her role as Kunikida Hanamaru in the show, appeared.
Although this was Takatsuki’s first time participating in AniRev, his singing voice, which is both delicate and powerful, was still in good shape, and the audience, who had been eagerly waiting for Takatsuki to perform, were thrilled.
They performed their representative songs “Anti world” and “Subversive” with stunning quality.
Takatsuki said with a ponderous tone, “Everyone, I’m familiar with anime song clubs, but today we’ll be performing songs for the first time!” and then performed “Flutter Bond” and “Usotsuki Daddy”, creating a disco-like atmosphere.
Nanami Urara is a parallel singer who travels between the real and virtual worlds.
The audience erupted in applause and cheers as she sang a variety of songs, including “Kiwamete Kawaii,” “Trigger,” and “Love and Hate.”
She said that the songs she will be performing this time are from her first mini album, released in January this year, and said with enthusiasm, “I want to come back with lots of anime songs the next time I appear on AniRev.” She also announced that she will be singing on TV for the first time on the 7/14 All-Star Choir Battle, which caused a big stir.
Continuing with “Parallel☆Showtime,” the floor was filled with blue penlights, and the last song was “Seventh Heaven.” The audience raised their hands in call-and-response as they sang the fast-paced rhythm and heart-tugging lyrics with force.
MIX JUICE from Amubo ch is a spin-off unit consisting of Karin Isobe, Yurie Funato, and Moeka Koizumi.
Dressed in costumes of three different colours – pineapple, peach, and orange – they performed “Rain or Shine”, released last November, and their self-introduction song “Guruguru Mix Juice”.
Koizumi called out with a confident look on her face, “If you want to support MIX JUICE, now is the time!” and the audience cheered loudly, shining and waving their three-colored penlights.
Popular voice actress “Komiya Arisa” is also active as an actress and a member of the school idol group “Aqours” familiar from “Love Live! Sunshine!!”. This time, she appeared as DJ Komiya Arisa in a light purple kimono with a red hair accessory, and immediately performed Denonbu’s “MUSIC IS MAGIC”, warming up the atmosphere on the floor. After that, the audience was excited and jumped with their hands raised during PANDORA’s “Be the one”. Next, TRF’s “EZ DO DANCE” was played, and the excitement in the venue reached its peak, and when the chorus began, all the audience members waved their hands, becoming one.
After that, when “On your mark” started playing, the crowd began to do otagei, which got the crowd even more excited, and for the last song, “Azabu Autobahn,” Komiya appeared at the front of the stage and encouraged the crowd by saying, “We can get even more excited, right?”, which led to an uproar of applause and calls, creating a frenzied atmosphere.
Komiya performed a total of 14 songs in one go, creating an atmosphere that could only be created on the AniRev stage.
As AniLive was heading towards the final stages, the long-awaited appearance of Nakamura Eriko, who is known as a legend in the voice acting world for her roles as Amami Haruka in “The Idolmaster” and Kiryu Mikage in “Space Battleship Yamato 2199”, made her appearance.
Nakamura smiled and said, “I can hear everyone’s voices really well! I’ll do my best as a DJ despite my poor skills. You all have to fill in the gaps!” He then shouted, “I missed you all!” and started the set with the 765PRO ALLSTARS classic “READY!!” and then mixed in songs that Nakamura himself had participated in, such as “Jibun REST,” before putting on a heart-warming set list for anime fans.
The audience’s synchronized calls and applause became even more intense.
As soon as Tokui Sora appeared, the excitement in the floor reached its peak as she performed Milky Holmes’ “There’s Not One Answer!”. She said there was one more song she wanted them to sing, and shouted “OH! YEAH!”, and “NO brand girls” began to play. In the middle of the song, she encouraged the audience to sing more, which drew a response of “OH! YEAH!”. After that, Tokui seemed to be fired up by the atmosphere in the venue, saying “It got really heated all at once.” She continued, “There’s someone who’s going to sing with me,” and MOTSU, the organizer of AniRev, appeared in a wheelchair, saying in a worried voice, “Slowly, slowly,” and asking, “Is everyone okay?” It seems he had pulled a muscle just before the event started.
When MOTSU said, “I want to sing with everyone,” Tokui continued, “Is that the song?” and said that they would perform a special version, and when they performed “You & Me,” the excitement in the venue reached its peak.
As the event drew to a close, it finally reached the main stage of the organizer, MOTSU.
Appearing to be unaffected by his leg injury, MOTSU opened the show with “Raise up” by move, the unit he is in, and shouted “I won’t lose!”
MOTSU encouraged the audience by saying, “Aren’t you all getting tired?”, but when he asked, “Who can keep up?” they responded with an angry, “Yooo!!”
From “Gamble Rumble,” also known as the theme song for Initial D, to “3/1 no Junjo na Kanjou,” “Butter-Fly,” “Go!!!,” and other classic songs representing each era will be played in MOTSU Select.
The whole audience joined in singing together. They gathered at AniLive, creating a space where they could feel the bond of sharing the same time.
After more than six hours of excitement, “AniRAVE FEVER!!!!!” finally came to a close.
Yu Serizawa, a member of i☆Ris, a hybrid voice actress and idol unit, appeared in a bright red dress. Fans at the venue responded by waving their penlights.
In the first song, “Even on the worst days, I still love you,” the audience responded to the part in the chorus that said “I love you,” saying “Me too!” In the next song, “High High High High Tension,” the audience also did the dance moves and got excited together.
She performed her own songs one after the other, and when she performed i☆Ris’s song “Arien Hodo Fever,” the audience seemed to have fallen in love with her, with comments like “So cute!” and “I love it!”
When it was announced that the next song would be the last, she said, “We have to convey our cuteness,” and performed “Devil Kyu.” Befitting a voice actress idol, she created a cute and sweet stage by mixing solo songs and character songs.
Then, Serizawa said, “We can’t go home today unless we sing this song!”, and the audience shouted, “MOTSU-san!”, and MOTSU reappeared. They went on to sing “JUNGLE FIRE”.
The crowd was cheering on with loud calls and red penlights waving.
“AniRev is the best! Everyone!” MOTSU and Serizawa said with a smile.
“There’s one more song left to perform, right?” MOTSU called out to the audience again.
As the event was coming to a close, DJ KOO appeared as a surprise guest.
“AniRev looks like so much fun! Let me join in!” said DJ KOO.
When DJ KOO took his position at the DJ booth and shouted, “Don’t you guys think you’ll get home safely!”, the excitement in the venue reached its peak.
The event ended with a fitting final performance of “EVERYBODY! EVERYBODY!” by Serizawa Yu with DJ KOO & MOTSU, bringing the event to a close amidst great excitement and a sad finale.
“Thank you so much for the long day today!” said MOTSU. It was the biggest and most exciting AniRev ever.
It has also been announced that the next AniRev Circuit!!!!! will be held at Shinjuku WARP on November 4th, and there are high expectations for what kind of space AniRev will become in the future.
＜AniRAVE CIRCUS!!!!! Performance Information＞
・Title: AniLev Circuit!!!!!
・Date and time: Monday, November 4, 2024 (National Holiday)
・Venue: Shinjuku WARP ( https://warp-shinjuku.jp/ )
・AniLev Official Website:https://animeravefestival.com/
・Official social media:https://twitter.com/AnimeRaveFest
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