User blog:LuciaHunter/Aqours First Love Live! ~Step! ZERO to ONE~ Day 2 Report

Please note that this post is meant to be read in conjunction with Day 1's Report here.

Well. There wasn't much change in the setlist which is both a good and bad thing but it certainly saves me on reporting time. I'll just write down anything extra I noticed today. If I didn't add anything then it just largely went the same as the previous day.

Set-list

 * 1) Aozora Jumping Heart
 * 2) Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM
 * 3) MC - 1
 * 4) Humming Friend
 * 5) Kimeta yo Hand in Hand
 * 6) Daisuki dattara Daijoubu!
 * 7) MC - 2
 * 8) Yume de Yozora o Terashitai
 * 9) Genki Zenkai DAY! DAY! DAY!
 * 10) MC - 3
 * 11) Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteru no?
 * 12) Torikoriko PLEASE!!
 * 13) MC - 4
 * 14) Tokimeki Bunruigaku
 * 15) Strawberry Trapper
 * 16) MC - 5
 * 17) Guilty Night, Guilty Kiss!
 * 18) Mijuku DREAMER
 * 19) Omoi yo Hitotsu ni Nare
 * 20) MC - 6
 * 21) Mattete Ai no Uta
 * 22) MC - 7
 * 23) MIRAI TICKET
 * 24) Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?
 * 25) ENCORE: Pops heart de Odorun damon!
 * 26) Yume Kataru yori Yume Utaou
 * 27) MC - 8
 * 28) Step! ZERO to ONE

Detailed Review
1. Aozora Jumping Heart

2. Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM

3. MC - 1 There was some talk at the start, and it seems like both Aikyan and Ainya had shed a few tears during Aozora Jumping Heart. Probably too happy? The first years also forgot to mention the LV audiences in their introductions until Rikyako did in her own, and the rest remembered to do so after that. And during Suwawa's intro, she didn't hug Shukashuu like she did yesterday, but went to Ainya and hugged her, driving the crowd wild. Since she had to walk past Arisha in the middle to get there, Arisha had this left out look on her face, and Ainya hugged her after Suwawa went back and hugged Shukashuu as she usually does.

4. Humming Friend An unexpected change to the setlist up front, this was one of my personal favourites. It's a pretty good song to get hyped to since there's a lot of places you can shout. They moved to the front center stage from the main stage for this song, and the seiyuus were walking down the path in pairs. Suwawa and Ainya were joined at the hands as usual (making the crowd go wild again). Pretty fun shouting oh yeah and jumping with everyone else.

5. Intermission 1

6. Kimeta yo Hand in Hand Didn't mention this yesterday but there's this fun part where the three of them link hands in a circle and begin running

7. Daisuki dattara Daijoubu! Something I didn't really point out yesterday but.. Shukashuu is kind of unfortunate with the DDD outfits, especially when they've been modified to hide another one beneath. While the anime original was sleek and had close fitting lines, this one was puffy and large. And Shukashuu has always been short and with a pretty round face so she looks the most bloated out of the three while the other two could pull it off rather well... Though Shukashuu does make up for it with pure energy.

8. MC - 2

9. Yume de Yozora o Terashitai CG didn't go as smoothly today as yesterday. Unfortunate.

10. Intermission 2

'''11. Genki Zenkai DAY! DAY! DAY!''' Shukashuu headchopped Anchan yesterday during Aiai's sleepy line. Today she changed it to an outright punch. There's also a lot of hype as they walk down the path to the center stage just like yesterday, the "We are CYaRon!" calls were really fun too.

12. MC - 3

13. Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteru no? The CG messed up, both times they drew the star on screen in this song were misaligned.

14. Torikoriko PLEASE!! I do like the Torikoriko choreography. It's simple, and kind of old fashioned, but it's great. Can't really describe it.

15. MC - 4

16. Tokimeki Bunruigaku I forgot to mention the choreography for this yesterday, but at the point where it goes A-Z-A-L-E-A, the three of them were lined up in the center and took step by step forward and it looked so great and elegant.

17. Strawberry Trapper I didn't really describe their outfits in detail but Aikyan's outfits have bare shoulders and it was really nice. Rikyako's one was taken even further with her sleeves slit along the top and held together by ribbons. Also there's actually a lot of running in this song's choreography- they start in the upper center stage, but move downwards, and there's one point where Aikyan and Rikyako run to the flanks of the stage while Ainya dashes out along the center... it's a very high energy song.

18. MC - 5 MC starts off with Rikyako suddenly being embarrassed by just what she has done, acting in character. They discuss the fake mics, their outfits (Aikyan has a nice pair of demon wings on one of her shoes)... I can't really remember much of this MC. The girls do practice some Guilty Kiss Guilty Night calls with the audience though.

19. Guilty Night, Guilty Kiss! True to its name... a lot of flying kisses sent to the audience. This song took place mostly on carts moving around the stadium, so there wasn't really a lot to say for choreography. Just deadly to any audience which received a flying kiss. A lot of camera close-ups on this song too, with the screen CG overlays once again as they draw hearts. The ending was also extended as well for the carts to make it back to near the stage safely, but the song ended and the arena went dark with them still on the carts.

20. Intermission 3

21. Mijuku DREAMER

22. Omoi yo Hitotsu ni Nare If you ask anyone who was there, this was the absolute defining moment of the concert. To me, I would say it was further than that: it was the absolute defining moment of Aqours itself. I've followed this series since the start and I've never seen a more powerful, more visceral moment that connected so deeply with everyone.

The performance started as it was supposed to. Just like yesterday, Rikyako steps up to the piano, looks down at Anchan and nods, the camera cuts to Shukashuu who also nods (though I'm not sure if at Anchan or at Rikyako), and the girls get into position.

The song starts. Anchan begins singing, and there is a jarring note- the piano cuts off and there is something very, very noticeably missing from the background instrumental. At this point I was still thinking that oh yeah, Rikyako definitely messed up there, but no biggie.

The girls try to move on to cover it up. King and Aiai still do the note-hitting hand gestures, but since there's no other instrumental except piano at this point, it gets painfully obvious that there is no piano. Everything just pauses, and hangs in that moment as the girls, the staff, the audience, literally everyone is trying to figure out what's going on.

And Rikyako suddenly just falls apart, crumpling in on herself and begins to sob wreckedly. Everyone begins moving all of a sudden- they cut off her mic, and Anchan is right next to her in a flash despite being kneeling down on the stage in the middle of everyone else just a moment before. Ainya and Suwawa follow right after. Anchan hugs her and comforts her, and something that really struck me then was just how- how kind and accepting and warm Anchan's smile was. How she held Rikyako and got her to calm down, telling her that everything was alright even while Rikyako continued apologising profusely. Then she let Ainya and Suwawa take over for a bit and dashes down the steps, grabs a water bottle and a towel, and returns to help wipe Rikyako's tears away.

At this time the rest of the members were downstairs looking up, watching over the few of them. Aikyan was crying as well, and the rest looked really sad. But they held their positions professionally, and let the few of them handle it. The entire audience in the arena and every theatre had also changed their lights to sakura pink, and were chanting Rikako's name to cheer her on.

And what was amazing was how fast Rikyako calmed herself down. It felt like less than a minute with the others before she stopped crying hysterically, and they restarted way, way too soon. The song contained less camera closeups on Rikyako than before, but there was enough to see just how bad her condition was. Her hands were shaky, her face was still a wreck, there was a point where she bit her lip hard. Her notes were still slightly off.

But she kept going. And she sang as she played, in a wavering and rough voice that didn't sound like her usual polished tone. And when the camera focused on her for the closing notes, the very final note has a pause before it, and you could see just how much her hand was quivering. And how relieved she was when it ended, yet also just how much it still weighed on her.

I said yesterday that her playing the piano for this song showcased how Aqours was always the nine of them, no matter when. But this incident was powerfully moving in an entirely different way. It showed just how much the seiyuus had struggled, and not only that- but also just how tightly bonded they were. How professional they were and also just how human they were underneath that. How Anchan was really the greatest leader of the group. There was just so many different things we could take away from this moment, this unintentional slip-up that brought out so much from the group in the space of a couple of minutes.

It is my deepest hope that they do not remove this moment from the Blu-Ray Disc, because this was absolutely one of the defining moments for Aqours' career. If I had to recommend a series of moments to understand Aqours, this would be one of them. And more than just them, this was also the first song where the entire audience had their penlights up in the same colour.

And for those who don't understand why this happened- I just want to note that Rikyako was new to the piano and she had 6 months to pick this up. And Omoi yo is by no means an easy song to play on the piano. This was her first performance on the piano in front of an entire arena, not to mention many more times that audience in live-viewings. She had an amazing performance on the previous day, and there was that much more pressure on her to repeat the same performance as before.

It's a real mess but essentially this really just showed how amazing all of them are and how human they are. I'm not happy it happened because she'll definitely feel guilty over this for years to come, but I still loved it regardless.

23. MC - 6 Rikyako disappeared for a few minutes after the song ended, most likely heading backstage to fix herself up. The others then kept the MC going for quite a while with ad-lib until she returned. Rikyako apologised for her slip-up but they moved on from there with the rest of the same MC as yesterday.

24. Mattete Ai no Uta When they moved into position I already knew this song was coming before Anchan announced it. It was just as great as it had been during the Christmas Mini Live, though Rikyako still looked quite sad. I always did like this song, though there was nothing new... Most of the audience still had their lights in sakura pink, continuing to support Rikyako.

25. Intermission 4

26. MC - 7 A lot of people comment that Anchan was full-out in her acting today, and I did notice her comic jumps a lot better. I thought Rikyako was back to normal by this point already, though some might disagree.

27. MIRAI TICKET

28. Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?



29. Encore Animation

30. Pops heart de Odorun damon!

31. Yume Kataru yori Yume Utaou

32. MC - 8 Closing MC segment. But just before it really got into the main bits, there was the loud tone of a school bell cutting in, and that was a clear sign that we were about to get announcements.

In case you have missed out all the epic hype so far, it's all up on Twitter here. And with the discussion of the announcements out of the way, we went onto the closing MCs.

Once again I was really struggling to TL this live and it didn't really work out... there were bits I missed either due to my low Japanese skill and also because there were people yelling while the seiyuus were talking, so... welp. Anyway, I did leave out the generic lines as usual.


 * Aikyan broke down during her closing MC, but she did manage to stay that she was glad so many people now know about Aqours, and could experience them now. She's really glad that Season 2 is coming and that their story will continue, and hopes that everyone will look forward to it and continue supporting them.
 * Ainya said all her overflowing feelings were blown away by everyone's cheers, and is really glad to stand here today, in the arena she has always aspired towards. Being able to meet Aqours, Mari, and her beloved fans made her really happy, and she began crying at that point. There was a lot of amazing news coming out, and she wants to continue working hard and wishes for everyone's support.
 * Aiai spends some time talking about how she almost couldn't sync with Ruby but is really glad she could meet her. She loves everyone and thanks everyone for their support. Cutely enough, she was wearing a Dia badge on her shirt.
 * Arisha says she was really nervous yesterday, but seeing everyone having fun as well as the news, Aqours is taking a new step forward and she's really excited. She was also wearing a Ruby badge on her shirt.
 * King said she was talking to herself a lot yesterday (because she broke down and was almost unable to speak, so she did mutter a lot), so she wanted to do this MC properly today. Today she felt like she was here with Maru 100%, and she would be counting on everyone's support in the future.
 * Suwawa had a lot of fun today and is really happy, not to mention all the news, which makes her glad she'll stand on a stage with the 9 of them again. She wants to perform in larger places, wants more places across the world to see them. She almost started crying earlier, thought she was going to break down as well once Aikyan started crying.
 * Rikyako apologises for her miss earlier, and that they're really reliant on the audience support. She wants to work harder to perform more. These two days were really fun and she'll definitely never forget them, she hopes everyone doesn't either.
 * Shukashuu had a ton of fun these two days, so much that her cheeks hurt from smiling too much yesterday and today. She says she'll see everyone at the Second live tour. Her thoughts are all over the place, but the only important thing she has to say is thank you for these two days.
 * Once again, Anchan was the first to mention the live viewings aside from the audience in the arena in this closing MC, thanking everyone for watching them. She had a lot of fun, and everyone's cheers are amazing. Being able to see all sort of sceneries and smiles is really a happy thing for her. They're just starting out and she wants to meet all sort of people and have them know more about them and their beginning.

'''33. Step! ZERO to ONE''' The same closer as yesterday, though feeling more final. But nothing much different. The seiyuus exit by descending on the stage trap door after going around giving their thanks to everyone one last time.

Overall Thoughts
Day 2 lost the element of surprise that Day 1 had. And without a song list that changed enough, it was pretty much the small things that would make or break this day. Unfortunately, I felt that this was, for some reason, the more unpolished day out of the two. Putting Rikyako's breakdown aside, there were more slip-ups with the CG, more microphones cutting out during solos, just a lot messier in general. Not a good thing.

Most of my points are largely the same as yesterday, aside from them playing a couple of songs that they missed out. But most of us had been hyped for potential BD songs that it wasn't enough of a change.

All in all it was a really great live for their First Live. With them just starting out, it was a really great two days filled with fun songs, great dancing and singing, it was an excellent step forward for a group that was barely two years old and with only one anime season behind them so far.

Even so, I was slightly dissatisfied. Irrational, I know, but it just felt lacking. The past few lives I've been to have been too great. It's an absolutely unfair, illogical comparison to make but it's still there. Unlike past years, this wasn't the kind of live where I would be recapping in my head all week. The girls still have a long way to go. And I'm glad that yes, they do have a long way to go ahead of them. They obviously would never be at the level of their predecessors this early, but I am happy that they're on their way. I'll have to keep an eye on their future lives as well from here on. They have truly shown us this weekend that they are changing the old rules of this franchise (a live tour, of all things!), and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next. We might even be on track to a global tour someday.

And as for what I said yesterday about not feeling the seiyuus' struggles, I'm glad that was changed today. I don't want to keep harping on it when I talked so much about it earlier, but I'm just glad we got to see their real faces there, in that moment. Unpolished, and authentic. Absolutely human, just like us.

I guess I'll have to keep supporting them from here on, too. ^^"