The music video for “Zettai Idol Quit” (Don’t Quit Being an Idol), the title track of =LOVE’s long-awaited 17th single, which will be released on Wednesday, July 31st, was recently released and surpassed 1 million views in 24 hours, the fastest in their history (ranking first on YouTube’s “Trending Videos” and fourth in Japan’s “Rapidly Rising Music”), and has been viewed a total of 5 million times in just 11 days since its release. The momentum of =LOVE, the idol group produced by Rino Sashihara, is unstoppable.
While the topic is still going strong, with “Zettai Idol Ni Naide” taking the top spot on the daily song TOP100 on the music distribution service “LINE MUSIC” and the number of daily song plays on TikTok reaching a record high of 10 million (according to our research), a special live concert was held yesterday at Theater H (Tokyo) in collaboration with Sanrio to commemorate the release of the 16th single “Norotte Norotte”. (The 16th single “Norotte Norotte” was released in March, and since the debut single, they have achieved the feat of having 16 consecutive releases in the TOP10 of the Oricon weekly single rankings.)
This event was open to those who purchased their 16th single “Noroi, Noroi”, and only lucky users selected by lottery were able to participate. It was a very premium event where they could experience =LOVE’s performance up close, and a total of 7 shows were held at 4 venues, including the Nagoya show at Design Hall on Sunday, April 21st, the Tokyo show at Yamano Hall on Saturday, May 11th, and the Osaka show at Panasonic IMP Hall on Sunday, May 26th.
Yesterday’s Sanrio Special Live was held for lucky fans who won the lottery. They performed a total of 10 songs, including three from their 16th single, “Noroshitte Noroshitte,” “Without Anyone Knowing,” and “Kimi no Daisan Button.” Cinnamoroll appeared during “I Thought Our Eyes Wouldn’t Meet During Club Activities,” and performed a collaboration with “Want you! Want you!” for a total of two songs. The cute and premium performance with =LOVE members and Cinnamoroll got the crowd really excited.
During the MC talk, they talked about the memories of the special event to celebrate the release of their 16th single “Norotte Norotte”, their impressions of the collaboration performance with Cinnamoroll, their enthusiasm for the 7th anniversary concert to be held in September, and other topics that can only be found at a special live event. Why not apply for the next opportunity to participate in this precious special live event?
=LOVE is set to release their long-awaited 17th single “Zettai Idol Yumenai de” on Wednesday, July 31st, but it was recently announced that they will be holding a special release event for a total of three days prior to the release. (Wednesday, July 17th @ Yodobashi Camera Multimedia Umeda store / Thursday, July 18th @ Nagoya City Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion Center Fukiage Hall 1st Fashion Exhibition Hall / Friday, July 26th @ Tower Records Shibuya store) For details on the participating members, please see their website (https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8625) and meet the members in person, so be sure to come along to this rare event.
In addition, in September, the ＝LOVE 7th Anniversary Concert “＝LOVE 7th ANNIVERSARY PREMIUM CONCERT” will be held at K Arena Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, the largest concert in their history, and a joint concert “Ikonoi Joy 2024” by =LOVE, ≠ME, and ≒JOY will also be held at Fuji-Q Highland Conifer Forest in Yamanashi Prefecture. As they run through the summer and energetically expand the scope of their activities, keep an eye on =LOVE.
★LOVE 16th single “Norotte Norotte” release commemorative Sanrio special live @ Theater H
(SET LIST)
1. Curse, Curse ※16th single title song released on Wednesday, March 6th
2. “I thought our eyes wouldn’t meet during club activities.”
3. Want you! Want you!
MC
4. Without Anyone Knowing ※B-side of the 16th single released on Wednesday, March 6th
5. Kimi no Daisan Button (Your Third Button) *B-side song from the 16th single to be released on Wednesday, March 6th
6. Heroines
MC
7. Be Selfish
8. Natsumatope
9. Find the Diamond Lily
MC
10. =LOVE
★”Curse, Curse” Music Video
“Curse me, curse me”
Lyricist: Rino Sashihara
Composer: Kazunari Shirane
Arrangement: APAZZI
Sound Director: Takayuki Yayama (Sony Music)
Recorded by Sony Music Studios Tokyo
(MUSIC VIDEO)
Director: HAN SAMIN (DEXTOR-LAB)
Choreographer: Shoji (s**t kingz)
★Released on 7/31 (Wed) =LOVE 17th single “Never Quit Being an Idol” Product Information
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8589
Online individual talk session
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8613
Online Signing Session
Individual talk session and photo session
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8614
★A special release event has been decided for =LOVE’s 17th single “Never Quit Being an Idol”, to be released on Wednesday July 31st!
Please check the details below and come along and participate.
[Event Date and Location]
■ Wednesday, July 17th @ Yodobashi Camera Multimedia Umeda store
Participants: Kana Ooba, Risa Otoshima, Iori Noguchi
■July 18th (Thursday) @ Nagoya City Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion Center, Fukiage Hall, 1st Fashion Exhibition Hall
Participants: Saito Kirara / Takamatsu Hitomi / Morohashi Sana
■July 26th (Friday) @Tower Records Shibuya store
Participants: Emiri Otani / Maika Sasaki / Shoko Takiwaki / Anna Yamamoto
[Event Details]
Group Farewell Party
Click here for details
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8625
★New song “Never Quit Being an Idol” now available for pre-order
https://equallove.lnk.to/Zettaiidolyamenaide
★New song “Never Quit Being an Idol” Music Video
“Don’t ever quit being an idol”
Lyricist: Rino Sashihara
Composition and Arrangement: Ryuuki Koike, Hiroto Kikuchi
Sound Director: Takayuki Yayama (Sony Music)
Recorded by Sony Music Studios Tokyo
(MUSIC VIDEO)
Director: Ryohei Shingu (BABEL LABEL)
Choreographer: Takeda Maika
★Video product of =LOVE, ≠ME, and ≒JOY joint concert “Ikonoi Joy 2023” will be released on Wednesday, September 18th!
https://nearly-equal-joy.jp/news/detail/1664
*For details on the online individual autograph session, click here
https://nearly-equal-joy.jp/news/detail/1661
★The largest-ever concert to celebrate the 7th anniversary of =LOVE, “=LOVE 7th ANNIVERSARY PREMIUM CONCERT” will be held
[Dates]Saturday, September 7th and Sunday, September 8th, 2024
[Venue]K Arena Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
Doors open 14:00 / Show starts 16:00 (both days)
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8619
★=LOVE, ≠ME, and ≒JOY will hold a joint concert “Ikonoi Joy 2024”
[Date]Saturday, September 28, 2024
[Venue]Conifer Forest, Fuji-Q Highland, Yamanashi Prefecture
★Profile
An idol group produced by Rino Sashihara. They made their major debut on September 6, 2017 with their first single “=LOVE” from Sony Music. They have released 16 singles so far, all of which have made it into the top 10 of the Oricon weekly single rankings. (Their 6th single “Zuruiyo Zuruine”, 8th single “Seishun Subliminal”, 12th single “Be Selfish”, 14th single “Natsumatope”, and 15th single “Last Note Shika Shiranai” debuted at No. 1. Their first album “Zenbu, Himo.”, released in May 2021, also debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly album rankings.) In October 2023, they will hold the “=LOVE 6th ANNIVERSARY PREMIUM CONCERT” for two days at Saitama Super Arena.
From February to April 2024, they will hold their first arena tour, “=LOVE Arena Tour 2024 “Tell me what’s more than “LOVE”” (8 performances at 4 venues in total), which will be a huge success, attracting approximately 50,000 people. On September 7th and 8th, they will hold the “=LOVE 7th ANNIVERSARY PREMIUM CONCERT”, the largest concert in =LOVE’s history, at K Arena Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture. On July 31st (Wednesday), they will release their 17th single, “Zettai Idol Ni Naide”. The name “=LOVE” is filled with Rino Sashihara’s thoughts that “idols must be loved by their fans, and they must love their job as idols.”
[Official website]https://equal-love.jp/
[Official X]https://x.com/Equal_LOVE_12
[Official YouTube Channel]https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv7VutirxDn3RWIJXI68n_A
