Popular voice actress Aya Uchida held a free live event to celebrate the release of her first full album in two years, "ICECREAM GIRL," on September 13, 2017 (Wednesday), the day of its release, at Sunshine City Fountain Plaza in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.
Aya Uchida played her first starring role in a TV anime in "Kiddy Garland" in 2009, followed by the roles of Kotori Minami and Kemono in "Love Live! She has also played the role of "Minami Kotori" in "Love Live! In addition to her voice acting activities, she has performed in many live shows as a member of "μ's," and in 2014 began her solo career, successfully performing at the Nippon Budokan for the first time in August 2016.
As such, many fans gathered at the Ikebukuro Sunshine City Fountain Plaza, where the event was held.
Before the event started, a "welcome handover event" was held for the fans who won the "ICECREAM GIRL lottery ticket" from among those who purchased the album at the venue, and it was impressive to see her carefully exchanging words with each fan off stage.
Finally, the event started. First, a talk session was held, where the audience was asked about their impressions of their second event at the Fountain Plaza, after a three-year absence since the release of their solo album "Apple Mint" in November 2015.
At that time, she was not used to interacting with fans as an individual rather than as a character, so when the event was held in a venue where fans could see her from 360 degrees in all directions and even from above, she said she felt like "not staring too much," but now that mental barrier has opened up a bit, said Uchida. Looking around the venue, he looks back on the three years that have passed since then up to the release of their third full-length album.
Last year's Nippon Budokan concert was a high hurdle for Uchida, as he had to sing all of his own songs, but he says he was surprised at how much fun and energy he had performing on stage. He says that the stage made him realize that singing is fun and that he loves to perform live. She also said that she is happy to be able to speak and sing normally, as she had surgery on her vocal nodules at the end of last year.
When asked about her new album "ICECREAM GIRL," she said that she felt it would be "boring to be ordinary" for her fans, who are probably excited to see what she has in store for them.
He wanted to make sure that not only first-time listeners but also "people who have been watching and supporting my solo activities since I stood here three years ago" would be moved by the songs that he could sing because of his past experience. He said that the album was filled with songs that he had never tried before and songs that he can sing now that he is 31 years old.
As a voice actor, she has played a variety of roles over the past three years, and as her roles have expanded, she has been able to "offer a variety of flavors, like ice cream flavors," which is how she came up with the title of this album.
Many of the artists who contributed songs to the album, such as Tsuyoshi Sakabe, Natsumi Tadano, and hisakuni, have worked together on past songs, and he said that the album was made possible by working with the production team he has worked with.
He also talked about the lead song "Yellow Sweet" from the album.
The words "Yellow Sweet Rain" mean "weather rain," and while the word "rain" has a dark image, "weather rain" has a different atmosphere and a different flavor to the same rain," Uchida said. She also said that this song is an expression of her new self after turning 30.
With the release of this album, Uchida now has 47 original songs, and she will be performing live in Makuhari, Chiba on October 14 and 15.
He is currently in the middle of discussing the live concert, and says that he is looking forward to showing a new aspect of his live performance with the new songs. He said that he hopes that the new songs will bring a new aspect to the live performance, and that he hopes to create a new kind of chemistry.
On September 12, the day before the event, "Live Live! and on the 13th, the CD will be released and the event will be held. On the weekend of September 16th, a live performance of "Kemono Friends" was held, and on the 18th, an appearance on the music program "Music Station" was made.
First, they performed the lead song "Yellow Sweet," expressing their current selves as they had talked about earlier in the talk in the yellow penlight-drenched venue. The audience was excited to hear "Say Goodbye, Say Hello" from the album for the first time. When Uchida raised his hand, the audience responded by raising their fists high in the air.
Mr. Uchida seemed moved by the audience's reaction. The next song she performed was "Close to you," which she also sang at the "SUMMER STATION Music Live" held on August 12 (Saturday), enveloping the audience in a moist atmosphere.
The rest of the songs will be saved for the live performance in October. At this point, a grand drawing was held for 10 winners each to receive a signed poster and postcard, and the smiling faces of the winners were impressive as they shared their joy with each other.
The final song was "SUMILE SMILE," a single released on November 30 last year, which was performed after the Budokan concert last year. The audience responded to this song, which expressed their gratitude for having come this far thanks to their fans, by raising their fists and echoing their calls, cheering for Ms. Uchida with all their might.
In closing, he said, "I think I have peeled off one or two layers of skin since I stood here three years ago, and now I am standing here with an honest smile on my face. I was so nervous at first, but then I started to enjoy myself. As I sang, little by little, the time we shared and the smiles everyone showed me freed my heart, and that is why I am always able to perform live. As long as I have the opportunity to continue to share my voice as a voice actor, I hope to enjoy my work as much as I can, so I would be very happy if my voice could make you cry, laugh, and feel various emotions. I was really happy to meet you all today on the day of the album release! She thanked everyone and left the stage waving her hands to the entire crowd.
Ms. Uchida's throat is in perfect condition, and expectations are high for her live performance in Makuhari in October.