On July 31st (Wednesday), the 17th single “Zettai Idol Quit Naide” was released, achieving the feat of being the 17th consecutive single to enter the top 10 of the Oricon weekly single ranking 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 the group (ranking 1st on YouTube’s “Trending Videos” and 4th on Japan’s “Rapidly Rising Music”), and has now exceeded 7.8 million views. The song has been a long-running hit, with a total of over 13 million streams and over 130 million views on TikTok. The idol group =LOVE, produced by Rino Sashihara, is unstoppable, and recently appeared on the 471st episode of the YouTube channel “THE FIRST TAKE” on August 28th (Wednesday) with all the members performing a special arrangement of “Zettai Idol Quit Naide.”
To celebrate the seventh anniversary of their major debut in September 2017, the girls held the “=LOVE 7th ANNIVERSARY PREMIUM CONCERT” at K Arena Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture over two days, September 7th (Sat) and 8th (Sun). This article reports on the second day’s performance.
After the familiar opening song “Overture” rang out, the giant screen on the stage, modeled after a pumpkin carriage, split vertically, and =LOVE appeared in bright costumes reminiscent of magical girls. The girls performed their first song, “Zettai Idol Ni Naide,” a song about the strong love of fans who wish their idols happiness while also wanting them to stay idols forever. “Zettai Idol Ni Naide” has an impactful title and lyrics that have attracted attention from fans of various idol groups and artists, and has been played a total of 13 million times on music streaming services and over 130 million times on TikTok. As the audience’s excitement soared, the members then walked down the runway that stretched into the arena, and then to the center stage, which was set up beyond it. They delivered their songs and dances with smiles that bounced from a position closer to the audience.
Furthermore, all the members of =LOVE sang their unit song “Watashi, Mahou Tsukai (Watashi, Magician)”. While they were singing with heart-shaped penlights in their hands that matched the worldview of their costumes and the song, colorful silver streamers were shot out from the front of the stage, vividly lighting up the venue. After an intermission video, the popular fan song “Shukipi” began, and =LOVE appeared on stage dressed as cats, with ears and tails. Their cute appearance drew particularly loud cheers from the audience. At the end of “Want you! Want you!”, a large-scale production was performed in which a large number of pink balloons rained down on the audience. The venue was instantly transformed into a fairy-tale and fantastical space.
One of the highlights of the concert was the second half of the live performance, which included live music. Maika Sasaki, Iori Noguchi, and Sana Morohashi sang the heartbreak song “Zuruiyo Zuruine” with a string quartet in the background. The three singers’ free-flowing and emotional voices were carried over the magnificent sound of the strings that shook the air in the venue, further enhancing the sad mood of the song. After that, the performance took the form of a luxurious big band, with the addition of guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, and even wind instruments. In the jazzy number “Norotte Norotte,” Noguchi, who plays the center in this song, performed on bass for the first time, surprising the audience and riveting the attention of the entire venue with her dignified standing posture.
The spectacular performance continued without a moment to catch their breath, and the excitement in the venue rose without limit. During the song “Natsumatsuri Koibou”, a spectacular fireworks were launched in the image on the screen. And at the end of the main performance, they performed the much-anticipated song “Zettai Idol Yamerunaide” again. After creating a great excitement, they left the stage amid sparkling confetti.
During the encore, =LOVE appeared in the audience and sang the summer tune “Natsumatope,” further strengthening their unity with the fans. In the MC that followed, a surprise announcement was made about an arena tour that would start in February 2025 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama Prefecture and end in May at the National Yoyogi Stadium First Gymnasium in Tokyo, and the members cheered with joy and excitement along with the fans in the venue. Then, after Takamatsu Hitomi’s words, “I feel like =LOVE has become a part of our fans’ lives, and I want to continue to build =LOVE together with everyone. I believe that all our encounters are not coincidences but fate, so we will never be apart from each other!” and “Please absolutely, absolutely love =LOVE forever!”, the girls performed the group’s original song, “=LOVE.”
Just when you thought the concert would end there, =LOVE appeared on stage again in response to a double encore and sang “Want you! Want you!”. Filled with a great sense of happiness, the =LOVE 7th Anniversary Concert “=LOVE 7th ANNIVERSARY PREMIUM CONCERT” came to a close.
=LOVE recently announced that they will be releasing their 18th single (title undecided) on December 4th.
In addition, =LOVE, ≠ME, and ≒JOY will hold a joint concert “Ikonoi Joy 2024” (Fuji-Q Highland Conifer Forest, Yamanashi Prefecture) on Saturday, September 28th, and “Ikonoi Joy Thanksgiving Festival 2024” (TOKYO DOME CITY HALL, Tokyo) is also scheduled to be held on Wednesday, October 23rd. As they celebrate their 7th anniversary, =LOVE is gaining even more momentum, so keep an eye on them in the future.
[Setlist for Sunday, September 8th]
-Overture-
M1. Don’t ever quit being an idol
M2. Aikatsu Happy Ending
M3. Heroines
M4. I am a magician
M5. Make me a princess!
-MC-
M6. I don’t know (Maika Sasaki, Iori Noguchi, Sana Morohashi)
M7. Cenobee in Love (Emiri Otani, Kana Oba, Risa Otoshima, Juara Saito, Hitomi Takamatsu, Shoko Takiwaki, Anna Yamamoto)
M8. I love you
M9. “Drive Date in Tokyo”
M10. Reconciliation cream puff
M11. Want you! Want you!
M12. It’s not fair, it’s not fair (Maika Sasaki, Iori Noguchi, Sana Morohashi)
M13. The 5th
-MC-
M14. Search for the Diamond Lily
M15. Welcome to the Equal Love Swamp!
M16. Curse, Curse
M17. “Song of You and Me”
M18. Oh! Darling
M19. Sea and Lemon Tea
M20. Summer Festival Love
M21. This sky is the trigger
M22. Youth “Subliminal”
-MC-
M23. Don’t ever quit being an idol
【ENCORE】
EN1. Natsumatope
EN2. Our Uniform Christmas
EN3. Recipe for a smile
-MC-
EN4. =LOVE
[DOUBLE ENCORE]
EN1. Want you! Want you!
★=LOVE Arena Tour 2025 confirmed!!
【schedule】
Sunday, February 2, 2025 Saitama Super Arena, Saitama Prefecture
February 22nd (Sat) and 23rd (Sun/Holiday), 2025, LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY, Chiba Prefecture
March 8, 2025 (Sat) Aichi Prefecture, Dolphins Arena
Saturday, April 12, 2025 Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall B, Fukuoka Prefecture
May 5th (Monday, national holiday) and 6th (Tuesday, holiday), 2025 Yoyogi National Stadium, Tokyo
Further details and ticket information will be announced at a later date.
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8919
(=LOVE information)
★”=LOVE – Never Quit Being an Idol / THE FIRST TAKE” is now available
★Product information
Release date: Wednesday, July 31, 2024
17th single “Never Quit Being an Idol”
https://equal-love.jp/feature/specialsite_17thsingle
★”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
Online individual talk session
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8900
Two-shot photo session and individual talk session
★September 18th (Wednesday) =LOVE, ≠ME, ≒JOY joint concert “Ikonoi Joy 2023” video product release
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8596
★18th single “Title TBD” will be released on Wednesday December 4th!
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/8913
★=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://equal-love.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, she will hold her 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, she will release her 17th single, “Zettai Idol Yumenai de,” which broke her 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, she will hold the “=LOVE 7th ANNIVERSARY PREMIUM CONCERT,” the largest concert in the history of =LOVE, 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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