[Report]The stage greeting on the opening day of “WEST. 10th Anniversary Live “W” -Film edition-” was a great success! "I'm really happy with these seven people."

■Members announce WEST.’s 10 years in kanji. Kiriyama “Bone”, Shigeoka “Base Right Shoulder Up”, Hamada “Love”, Kotaki “Seishun!”, Fujii “Seven”, Kamiyama “Music”, Intermediate “Seven Samurai Wandering Chronicles!!!!!!!!”

The opening day stage greeting for “WEST. 10th Anniversary Live “W” -Film edition-” was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills in Tokyo on November 22nd.

This work is the theatrical version of WEST. 10th Anniversary Live “W”, an original live performance by WEST., which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2024, with an unprecedented concept. In addition to the colorful and energetic performances that have fascinated people since their debut, the seven members stoically express their own “strength,” “wildness,” “sex appeal,” and “bewitching” with the backing of a band and strings. . It is a premium content with a total of 21 songs, including representative songs from the past 10 years, songs performed for the first time live, and full-length performance songs.

On this day, to commemorate the theatrical release, all members of WEST. and director Shuichi Tan took to the stage. The members talked about their thoughts on this film, the music video for the new song “Go.” that was surprisingly released in the movie, and each member answered the question “If you could describe the past 10 years in kanji,” they would do it in flip.

[Event report]
This day was greeted with a full house. Members of WEST. energetically appeared, waving to the live viewing camera and saying, “Thank you!”, “I’m watching you!”, and “Thank you for coming!” – Daiki Shigeoka, Terushi Kiriyama, Junta Nakama. , Tomohiro Kamiyama, Ryusei Fujii, Takahiro Hamada (Hama is officially spelled with a variant character), Nozomu Kotaki, and director Tan.

Looking back on the live performance captured in this film, Kiriyama said, “Director Tan directed it, so we sang songs that we wouldn’t normally sing at our live shows,” and Fujii said, “It’s true that the way it started… It’s quiet and the three ballads are innovative. ”, Nakama also reminisced, “We usually have a lot of songs in our live shows, so singing the full chorus was unusual and refreshing,” Shigeoka said, “It was also refreshing and fun to be able to continue with the passionate flow from the arena tour.” “It was a great experience,” he said of his response.

It seems that neither of them were conscious of the camera during the live performance, and Kotaki said with embarrassment, “I was embarrassed because I was more outspoken than I thought.” Kamiyama was the one who was singled out by the members for having “bright eyes,” and seemed to be quite fired up, saying, “Because if you didn’t know which camera was picking you up…”

Kamiyama also thanked director Tan, saying, “I was grateful that he explained the scenes accurately and in an easy-to-understand way,” and Shigeoka added, “The plot I received from Mr. Tan included reference photos and words from Mr. Tan. We met and felt the passion. He came to our live show before filming, and he believed in us.” Director Tan also researched WEST. in advance, saying, “It’s rare to find a group with so many different characters,” and was surprised at how distinct their individuality was, “We grouped them into blocks in order to express each individual’s personality in one work.” “I wanted to express each individual character in a rich way,” he said.

Meanwhile, a shocking statement was made. When Hamada revealed, “But…the drawings in Tan-san’s storyboard were really bad… Who is this here? Me? I thought it was a thin candle.” All the members burst into laughter as if they had an idea. The director in question, Tan, panicked and said, “You said that!?” Kiriyama seemed completely at ease, saying, “That was my first laugh with Tan! It was fun from there.”

It was also announced that the music video for WEST.’s new song “Go.” will be inserted at the end of the main story. Hamada explained the process by saying, “I wanted to make a theme song for this movie, so I asked Director Tan,” and the members also liked the song, saying “It’s a very beautiful image,” “Mature-like,” and “emotional.” Director Tan said, “The theme is that I want everyone to realize the strength and courage that lies in their hearts.I wanted everyone from WEST. to sing as the leaders, and to stand out dignifiedly in the majesty of the song.” He revealed the direction he put into the MV.

And to commemorate the 10th anniversary, we announced the past 10 years as WEST. in kanji.

Kiriyama said, “The 10th anniversary so far has been the skeleton. From here, the 20th and 30th anniversary will come. This is the 10 years that will become my foundation, my core.” Shigeoka, who wrote, “Arise,” shrewdly jumped on the bandwagon by saying, “It’s the same! It’s written as “base” and read as “bone.” “I think these 10 years have been a place where I can rely on myself no matter what happens in the future,” he said of his feelings.

Hamada spoke of “love” and said, “Among all the joys, anger, and sorrows of the past 10 years, love has been the strongest for me.I was loved, and I showered my love on my fans.They made me happy just by standing on stage. When I go to the outside of a concert and make eye contact with someone and shake their hand, there are people who just fall apart. No, I’m not that big of a person. But at times like that, I feel the support of the fans. I was grateful.

Kotaki said, “Youth!” and “I had a lot of experiences and laughed so much that I cried. It was a sparkling 10 years in which I dedicated my youth.”

Fujii said of “Seven”, “I’m glad we can be together as a group of seven people. It’s good that we’re laughing together. Even behind the scenes, we’re laughing together, and our relationship has become even better.” “I’m so glad you’re such a good friend!” While exuding this, Kotaki also said, “I’ve felt that strongly over the past year.These seven people were interesting people and I was saved.If it wasn’t for that, there would have been a moment when my heart would have collapsed.I’m really glad that these seven people were there.” The bond between them was palpable.

Kamiyama says, “Music.” “It’s been 10 years so far, and this year has been the year we’ve found our own style and enjoyed the sound.I feel like 10 years have been dedicated to that end.We’ll continue to enjoy the music.” I want to show my true self and reach even higher heights,” he said, declaring a further leap forward.

On the other hand, Nakama was inspired by the lyrics of WEST.’s song “Eejanaika” and called it “Seven Samurai Wandering Chronicles!!!!!!!!”. As for the reason for this, he said, “We’ve had a lot of fun over the past 10 years, and the group’s name has changed.I guess the various experiences we’ve had are part of Wandering Chronicles.” He added, “Seven Samurai Wandering Chronicles!!! “It’s a bone!”, and all the members commented at once, “That’s impossible!” and “There are too many characters!”.

At the end, the WEST. members and director Tan gathered together and exchanged words that came to mind. In the end, everyone said what they liked and although no one was able to join, everyone had a great time laughing out loud. “Thank you for today!” he called out to the audience, and it was a lively stage greeting typical of WEST. until the very end.