Nana Mizuki's official report on her 7DAYS live "NANA MIZUKI LIVE GATE 2018" at Nippon Budokan!

An official report from voice actress/artist Nana Mizuki's Nippon Budokan 7DAYS live "NANA MIZUKI LIVE GATE 2018" has arrived.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of her voice acting career in 2017, voice actress/artist Nana Mizuki is showing even more activity, including taking on her first musical.

Here is the official report from her 7DAYS live "NANA MIZUKI LIVE GATE 2018" held at Nippon Budokan on January 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 21, 2018.

<Official report of "NANA MIZUKI LIVE GATE 2018"> (*Honorific titles omitted)

Voice actress Nana Mizuki held a 7DAYS live "NANA MIZUKI LIVE GATE 2018" at Nippon Budokan on January 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 21, The total attendance for all shows was approximately 60,000 people. On January 21, the final day of the event, live viewing was held at 66 movie theaters nationwide. The report focuses on the final day of the seven-day event, which included daily secret guests and a surprise celebration at the January 21 performance, which was his birthday.

The event started with an opening video of Mizuki, dressed as a female detective in a black trench coat, dashing out on a motorcycle. Mizuki appeared on stage with her motorcycle as if linked to the video. The song "Vitalization" started with the intro sounding like an engine and was followed by "I'm going to Budokan! After a shout of "Let's go, Budokan! This song is the opening theme song for the TV anime "Senki Zesshou Symphogear G". The character "Tsubasa Kazenari," voiced by Mizuki, rides a motorcycle when he rushes to the scene, so she painted a real Harley-Davidson blue, her theme color.

The second song was a daily song zone, with a different song for each day. The third song, "Sacred Force," was followed by a loud shout from the audience in response to Mizuki's encouragement, and the temperature of the venue rose dramatically.

During the MC for the first day, she said, "It's finally here. I thought it was still a long way off, but here it is, the Budokan!　It's the first Budokan in about 9 years!　And it's for 7 days! But when the announcement of the Budokan was made, the search word "Nana Mizuki 7DAYS Monster" appeared in the search engine. Since today is the last day, let's have a festive time together!" She was as energetic as ever.


Following the up-tempo rock tunes "Poison Lily" and "WAKE UP THE SOULS," they performed a new song "HOT BLOOD," which is included in the best album "THE MUSEUM III" that was just released on January 10. The song was sung in a glamorous manner as the venue was colored red by penlights.

After the introduction of the backing band, Cherry Boys, they changed into red-checked costumes and performed the seventh song, "RUSH & DASH! During the MC corner after the song, the audience immediately started calling for the band to "turn around. The audience cheered loudly as they responded in their cute local Ehime dialect, "E-yo.

Depending on the day of the performance, the audience sometimes asked for a pun not once, but twice, which drew laughter each time.
The stage set for the show was inspired by the "Golden Gate" Bridge in the U.S., which is named after the word "GATE. The set was a perfect fit for the title of the concert, with a gate under the bridge.

On the 21st, the next song "Phantasm" was performed!　But just as I was about to start the song, I heard "Happy birthday to you". A cake was brought in front of Mizuki, who was surprised by the sudden event.
Mizuki chanted, "May this year be another great year! and when Mizuki blew out the candles, a special effect like a cracker went out to the audience in celebration.


Following "Phantasm," Mizuki performed "TRY AGAIN," "End of Aoki Hikari - ULTIMATE MODE," and "Hikari," songs requested by fans in the "Set List Hunter" corner of fan club events held in 2017, changing each day. Fans who attended several days must have enjoyed the atmosphere of the venue, which changed with each performance.

After the introduction of the back-up dancers, team YO-DA, they performed "GLORIA," a challenging dance piece for which they had practiced hard. Then they performed "GUILTY," one of the most popular dance songs, and "Koi no Deterrence -type EXCITER-," which was requested by the set list hunters and also changed each day, and their transparent and sexy outfits made us feel glued to their figures.

Following the single "Destiny's Prelude" released in 2017, the ballad "Iki Koi" was emotionally sung amidst dancing petals and is the ending theme for the TV anime "Basilisk: Sakurabana Ninpocho" currently being broadcast. The audience was immediately drawn into the world of the song, which depicts a sad but pure and single-minded love. After Mizuki left the stage, the beautiful sound of the guitar echoed in the outro, and as the audience was still basking in the afterglow of the song, the lights went out and the audience was taken to the interlude video corner.


In Mizuki's recent live performances, the interval video was followed by a large vehicle and a flying stage, but this time it was different.
The "GATE," the pathway of "sound," was suddenly blocked off, and the world became a soundless place. The audience was told that they needed to play together to collect the seven keys to open it. After the video, Mizuki and, to our surprise, seven secret guests, different for each performance, appeared on stage.

On the first day, the 11th performance, Sugashikao appeared and performed "Ambivalence.

The two met when Ryuta Sakamoto, bass player of Cherry Boys, played as Suga's backing band. When they first met, Suga was holding a guitar in the backstage of the rehearsal studio, which he usually does not have in his hand in the dressing room. The audience laughed loudly when Suga said, "I was told that I was going to be introduced to you, so I put on an unusual performance.


On the second day, the 13th, KOHSHI&KEIGO from FLOW appeared on stage and performed "Young Alive!

FLOW is known as a cheering song, so this song was selected for the audience to call and respond to the song. KOHSHI had attended Mizuki's birthday live at the Budokan in 2006, where she gave a passionate message to Mizuki saying, "I got courage from you. The fact that the Budokan was the same venue this time reminded him of that message and led him to make the offer.


On the 3rd day, the 14th, Noriaki Taniyama appeared on stage and performed "VIRGIN CODE". The audience cheered loudly as he sang the song powerfully in the original key.

However, Taniyama said, "Why did I accept the song in the original key? I hate practicing, but I thought it was a bad idea. I tried to get my throat used to various female songs, but this one was the hardest.


Chris Hart appeared on the fourth day, the 16th, and performed the winter song "Eden.

The two of them sang in beautiful harmony on the chorus of the song, and the audience was entranced by their performance. The guitar sound of this song was distinctive, to which he replied, "I used to sing rock songs in the past. I was very happy to sing a rock song after a long time," she said. "This stage is like the Golden Gate Bridge in my hometown, San Francisco," she added, thinking back to her hometown.


On the 5th day, the 18th, Shinji Takeda appeared on stage and participated in "Orchestral Fantasia" on SAX.

The two had performed together on the stage "Beautiful," in which Mizuki appeared in 2017. When Mizuki was shown a surprise video of Takeda greeting the staff in tears during rehearsals and after the first day of the performance, Mizuki said, "This is no good! and Mizuki was seen running around the stage in an adorable manner.


Shota Aoi appeared on the 6th and 20th performance and performed "Synchrogazer".

Although he is a man, he sang with the same high tone voice as Mizuki, surprising the audience. Aoi, who had his nails done to GATE specifications and was very enthusiastic about the challenge, said he had been watching Mizuki, his labelmate and senior voice actor artist, live on a monitor in his dressing room until his turn to perform. He was watching Mizuki's live performance on the backstage monitor until she came on stage. I wondered how much he was running. I thought I must learn from him.


On the 7th and final day, the 21st, Takumi Yoshida of phatmans after school appeared on stage and performed "Lazy Syndrome".

This song, for which Yoshida wrote the lyrics, is a live favorite with its wordplay-like lyrics and pop chorus melody. Yosida has also contributed many other songs to the band, and "they are all good songs that make you cry! Mizuki says. Lazy Syndrome" was also covered by phatmans after school, and the collaboration was a long-awaited one that best embodied the setting of the two musicians.


The seven keys finally came together in the seventh performance.

The video of the previous guests was shown in digest form, and when the initials of the songs were sorted alphabetically, the words "SAY LOVE" was there. The power to open the door was "love.

Then came the introduction of the single "Shinai (deep love)" released on January 21, 2009. Mizuki, who had been wearing a blue mini-skirt up to that point, spun around as the audience cheered loudly. Then, in an instant, she changed into a long, flower-patterned skirt. Some fans were moved to tears when they saw Mizuki singing, her eyes welling up with emotion.

Mizuki again sang to her fans, "With all my love, thank you! Mizuki sent a message of gratitude to the fans for the 7th day of the show.


The live started the second half of the show. The song "TESTAMENT" was a fast and furious song with a countdown call, "Rock Ride Riot" had the audience running around the stage waving their towels, and "STARTING NOW! The voltage of the venue was at its highest. Then they performed "COSMIC LOVE" requested by the set list hunters, and "DISCOTHEQUE" with cute dancing and loud calls of "CHU-LU CHU-LU CHU-LU CHU-LU PA-YA-PA" as the daily program.

I'm sure I will continue to say reckless or outlandish things, but I hope you will follow me. But will you follow me?　Will you open the heavy door with me?　Let's change the times together! The last song of the show was "POWER GATE", which reminded the audience of the lyrics of the song. The song was characterized by the call of "WOW WOW WOW POWER GATE." During each performance, Mizuki asked the audience to answer various questions such as "people with smart phones," "people who live alone," "people whose blood type is O like me," etc. The fans were enjoying the song and calling out "Power Gate" in high spirits.

The first encore song was "ETERNAL BLAZE", which was performed in response to the audience's calls for "Nana". The audience's excitement grew even higher as if fueled by the special effect of the flames. Next, "Forbidden Resistance," a single song also included in "THE MUSEUM III," "BRAVE PHOENIX" and "Canary in the Sky," chosen by the set list hunters, were performed on different days.


For the final performance, a two-way live broadcast with the live viewing venue was held here.

The connection was made to TOHO CINEMAS Niihama in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, Mizuki's hometown. Then, a banner reading "Happy Birthday, Nana-chan" was displayed in the theater seats. I'm so happy!" she said with a smile at the surprise from her hometown. Let's be excited to the end of the show with one heart! Let's unite our hearts and get excited until the end!

Then came more exciting news. The tour will start on June 23 at the Sekisui Super Arena in Miyagi Prefecture and end on September 1 at the MetLife Dome in Saitama Prefecture.


I want to sing with all my heart and voice together with everyone at the end," she said!　The last song I will sing is the song I first performed here 12 years ago, the song that opened the big door for me to compose music," she said, and performed "SUPER GENERATION.

Thank you so much for these seven special days! He then sang "POWER GATE," which was played as background music, and the audience could still hear him humming the song. He thanked the audience again and again and said, "See you all again! and left the stage.

However, the 7th day of the show, which was also his birthday, was not supposed to end like this. Mizuki came back on stage to answer the audience's incessant calls for "one more time. I hadn't decided what I was going to do," she told the audience, "but I told them that this was an unexpected situation. The audience cheered loudly.

The audience cheered loudly. "I really want to sing that song one more time," she said, and the last song of the day was "POWER GATE". I will never forget this day! Mizuki kept smiling and giving her all until the very last moment, which naturally brought smiles to the audience's faces.

I'm going to run as far as I can in 2018. I'm going to run as far as I can in 2018. With these words, the day came to a close.

The 2018 summer tour will include live shows in regions where she has not yet performed, as well as her 177th solo live show, so it looks like she will continue to open new doors.


<SET LIST> 1.
1. vitalization
ROMANCERS' NEO (11th, 14th, 18th, 21st)
UNCHAIN∞WORLD（13th, 16th, 20th)
Sacred Force
4. Poison Lily
WAKE UP THE SOULS
HOT BLOOD
RUSH&DASH!
8. phantasm
TRY AGAIN (11th, 16th)
The End of Blue Light-ULTIMATE MODE- (13th, 18th, 21st)
Light (14th, 20th)
10. GLORIA
11. GUILTY (11th, 13th, 18th, 21st)
Koi no Deterrent -type EXCITER- (14th, 16th, 20th) 12.
12. Destiny's Prelude
13. iki koi
14. "Special Guest Corner
　　Ambivalence ／ Sugashicao & Nana Mizuki (11th)
　　Young Alive! ／ KOHSHI&KEIGO(FLOW) & Nana Mizuki (13th)
　　VIRGIN CODE ／ Noriaki Taniyama×Nana Mizuki (14th)
　　Eden / Chris Hart & Nana Mizuki (16th)
　　Orchestral Fantasia / Shinji Takeda & Nana Mizuki (18th)
　　Synchrogazer / Shota Aoi & Nana Mizuki (20th)
　　Lazy Syndrome / Takumi Yoshida(phatmans after school) & Nana Mizuki
15. deep love (21st only)
16. testament
17. Rock Ride Riot
18. starting now!
19. cosmic love (11th, 14th, 20th)
DISCOTHEQUE（13th, 16th, 18th, 21st)
20. power gate

ENCORE]
EN1. eternal blaze
EN2. BRAVE PHOENIX (11th, 20th)
　　　Forbidden Resistance (13th, 14th, 16th, 18th)
　　　CANARIA IN THE SKY (21st)
EN3. SUPER GENERATION
WEN. POWER GATE (21st only)

Event Information
The summer live tour will start with a performance at Sekisui Heim Super Arena in Miyagi Prefecture and travel throughout Japan!
Dates: June 23 (Sat), 2018 [Miyagi] Sekisui Heim Super Arena - September 1 (Sat), 2018 [Saitama] MetLife Dome
*Further details will be announced on the official website ( # ) as needed.


Photo: hajime kamiiisaka