On Wednesday, July 31st, they released their 17th single, “Zettai Idol Yumenai de,” which marked the 17th consecutive time they had made it into the top 10 of the Oricon weekly single rankings since their debut single. As soon as the music video for the title track was released, it reached 1 million views in 24 hours, the fastest time for them (ranking #1 on YouTube’s “Trending Videos” and #4 on Japan’s “Rapidly Rising Music”), and has now surpassed 7.35 million views. The idol group =LOVE, produced by Rino Sashihara, is unstoppable, with their total streaming views exceeding 10 million, and their songs being played over 100 million times on TikTok.
To celebrate the release of their much-talked-about 17th single “Zettai Idol Yamenai de”, they held a special live concert at Matsushita IMP Hall (Osaka). This event was open to lucky users who purchased the single “Zettai Idol Yamenai de” and only those lucky users who were selected by lottery could participate. It was a very premium event where you could experience =LOVE’s performance up close, and it is a premium event with a total of 7 performances at 3 venues, including the Nagoya performance to be held at Design Hall on Wednesday, August 28th, the “Sanrio Special Live” to be held at Galaxy Theater on Friday, November 1st, and the Tokyo performance to be held at the same theater on Sunday, November 3rd.
The special live performance at Matsushita IMP Hall today was divided into two parts (Part 1 from 14:30 / Part 2 from 17:00), and the lucky fans who won the lottery were invited to the event. They performed a total of 10 songs, including their latest song “Zettai Idol Yumenai de” (Don’t Quit Being an Idol), as well as songs from their 17th single “Nakamawari Shoo Cream” and “Umi to Lemon Tea”, popular summer tunes “Natsumatope” and “Natsumatsuri Koimou”, and =LOVE’s signature songs “Seishun “Subliminal”” and “=LOVE”.
During the MC talk, they talked about the recommended points and choreography of the songs included in the 17th single “Zettai Idol Yumenai de”, the MV shooting behind-the-scenes stories, and other special live talks. By all means, why not apply for this precious special live next time?
In September, =LOVE will hold their 7th anniversary concert “=LOVE 7th ANNIVERSARY PREMIUM CONCERT” at K Arena Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, their largest concert to date, and in addition, =LOVE, ≠ME, and ≒JOY will hold a joint concert “Ikonoi Joy 2024” (Fuji-Q Highland Conifer Forest, Yamanashi Prefecture). As they run through the summer and energetically expand the scope of their activities, =LOVE will continue to be a hot topic.
★8/25 (Sun) 17th single “Never Quit Being an Idol” Release Commemoration Special Live @ Matsushita IMP Hall
(SETLIST)
1. Never Quit Being an Idol ※17th single title song released on 7/31 (Wed)
2. “Drive Date in Tokyo”
3. Nakanaori Shoo Cream ※B-side of the 17th single released on 7/31 (Wed)
MC
4. Umi to Lemon Tea ※B-side of the 17th single released on 7/31 (Wed)
5. Start!
6. Heroines
MC
7. Natsumatope
8. Summer Festival Love
9. Youth “Subliminal”
MC
10. =LOVE
(=LOVE information)
★Product information
Release date: Wednesday, July 31, 2024
17th single “Never Quit Being an Idol”
★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: Maika Takeda
★”Music Video for ‘Makeup Cream Puffs’
“Reconciliation Cream Puffs”
Lyricist: Rino Sashihara
Composer: Furuppe (Kerakera), Takayuki Yoshimura
Arrangement: Takayuki Yoshimura
Sound Director: Takayuki Yayama (Sony Music)
Recorded by Sony Music Studios Tokyo
(MUSIC VIDEO)
Director: Shunji Ohno
Choreographer: Saeko Makita
★”Sea and Lemon Tea” Music Video
“The Sea and Lemon Tea”
Lyricist: Rino Sashihara
Composition and Arrangement: Tetsuya Iwasaki
Sound Director: Takayuki Yayama (Sony Music)
Recorded by Sony Music Studios Tokyo
(MUSIC VIDEO)
Director: Nakajima Seito (superbly inc.)
Choreographer: CRE8BOY
★”Never Quit Being an Idol” now available
https://equallove.lnk.to/Zettaiidolyamenaide
★17th single “Never Quit Being an Idol” release commemorative event held
Online individual talk session, two-shot photo session, individual talk session
★Video product of =LOVE, ≠ME, and ≒JOY joint concert “Ikonoi Joy 2023” will be released on Wednesday, September 18th!
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8596
★The largest-ever concert to celebrate the 7th anniversary of =LOVE, “=LOVE 7th ANNIVERSARY PREMIUM CONCERT” will be held
[Date]September 7th (Saturday) and September 8th (Sunday), 2024
[Venue]K Arena Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
Doors open 14:00 / Show starts 16:00 (both days)
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8800
★=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
https://nearly-equal-joy.jp/feature/specialsite_ikonoijoy2024
★”Iconojoy Thanksgiving Festival 2024″ to be held
[Date]October 22nd (Tuesday) Appearance: ≠ME October 23rd (Wednesday) Appearance: =LOVE October 24th (Thursday) Appearance: ≒JOY
[Location]Tokyo: TOKYO DOME CITY HALL
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8822
★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 17 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 to celebrate their 6th anniversary.
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 was a huge success, attracting approximately 50,000 people. On Wednesday, July 31st, they will release their 17th single, “Zettai Idol Yumenai de,” which broke their own personal record for first-week sales in both the Oricon Weekly Single Ranking and Billboard JAPAN Top Singles Sales. 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. 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 Instagram] https://www.instagram.com/equal_love.official/
[Official TikTok] https://www.tiktok.com/@equal_love_12
[Official YouTube Channel]https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv7VutirxDn3RWIJXI68n_A
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