From "Mobile Battleship Nadeshiko" and "Saint Seiya" to the latest "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" song - a look back at 20 years of songs and talk! Yumi Matsuzawa 20th anniversary album "Eien no SEED" release party report!

Yumi Matsuzawa, a singer-songwriter who sings various anime songs such as "Mobile Battleship Nadesico" and "Saint Seiya: Hades the Twelve Palaces of the Dark King", released her 20th anniversary album "Eien no SEED" on May 30, 2018. A release party was held at Akihabara ZEST on the same day to commemorate the release.

Eien no SEED" is a memorial album commemorating the 20th anniversary of Ms. Yumi Matsuzawa's debut, and includes songs that are very dear to her heart, songs that are recorded for the first time on CD, and her latest tie-up songs. The album is rich in variety, including songs that are deeply meaningful to Ms. Matsuzawa, songs that were recorded for the first time on CD, her latest tie-up songs, and the title track, which was created especially for this album. This event was a talk and live event where the audience could enjoy the songs included in the album.
⇒[ Present] Commemorating the release of the 20th anniversary album "Eternal SEED! Yumi Matsuzawa autographed poster will be given away to two winners by lottery!

The set was so good that it brought back the famous scenes from the anime in your mind!

Tickets were already sold out for this event. The floor was filled with fans who wanted to enjoy Matsuzawa's songs and talk!

Mr. Matsuzawa appeared in such an enthusiastic audience. The live started with "Chikyugi" (OP of "Saint Seiya: Pluto Hades Twelve Palaces Arc"). Not only Mr. Matsuzawa, but also Urala Takai, who co-wrote the song, appeared on stage. The delicate chorus work of Ms. Takai accompanied Ms. Matsuzawa's elongated singing.

Ms. Matsuzawa's beautiful falsetto voice was heard in the audience's hearts. Her voice grabbed the hearts of the audience at once. A fragile yet powerful ballad song graced the opening of the show.

After singing the opening song, Ms. Matsuzawa began to share her memories about the production of this album, saying, "I was not sure which songs to put on the album. Since this was a talk and live event, the audience could enjoy both singing and talking like this. After entertaining the audience with his unadorned talk even from the stage, he resumed the live performance.

From this point on, the audience entered the cover song zone. They performed songs from "Mobile Battleship Nadesico," including "In My Own Way" and "I Want to Be Your Number One. The original songs were sung by Ms. Noriko Kuwashima, who played the role of Mismal Yurika, and Ms. Naomi Minami, who played the role of Hoshino Ruri, and Ms. Matsuzawa sang "I want to be your number one" in a fresh and different voice.

Listening to each song, one is reminded of famous scenes from each film. The song "Chikyugi" reminds me of the serious mood of the opening movie, and "Watashi ni Bashiribi" reminds me of Yurika's appearance in the ending movie. Listening to "I want to be your number one" reminded me of Ruri singing in the contest (......). I am sure I was not the only one who was reminded of Matsuzawa's 20-year career as well as the works she has been involved with. I was already getting excited at the beginning of the first three songs.

Incidentally, during these two songs, Ms. Matsuzawa took off her high heels and sang barefoot. She, too, was very free.

Now it was time for the talk corner with MC Saori Fukuyama. The theme of the talk was "Looking back on your past activities as an artist.

The talk was about the audition process and debut, and included episodes that could only be told now, such as how they finally made it to the stage after two or three changes, as well as rare stories that could only be told in a closed setting! The audience kept saying "huh? and "What?

He sang passionately with an acoustic guitar! Songs not included in the album

Next was the acoustic guitar corner.

Guitarist Shuichi Kikuchi was invited to play a song not included on the album. He performed "For Tomorrow's Smile", the OP theme of the anime "Gatekeepers", and "Daremo Shiranai Chizu de", the OP theme of the anime "Jibaku-kun", both nostalgic anime songs released around the year 2000. Both of these songs were released at a time when the band was undergoing a label change or was no longer affiliated with any labels, so the audience was sure to feel a strong emotional attachment to these songs. When these songs were performed, the audience went "wow". Although it may be difficult to reproduce these songs with a single acoustic guitar (......), the exquisite arrangements and Matsuzawa's clear vocals made the stage a rewarding place to listen to them.

She also sang "To the One I Trust - My Dear" ("Saint Seiya: Hades of the Underworld" ED), a song from the album, in an acoustic arrangement. Ms. Matsuzawa's emotional voice brought the acoustic corner to a close.

Ms. Ulala Takai appeared again in the chorus, this time singing "Kimi to Iouto Aozora" ("Saint Seiya: Pluto King Hades Twelve Palace Arc" ED). Here, the audience joined Matsuzawa in raising their hands and swinging them from side to side in unison. A warm and peaceful mood enveloped the live venue.

The long-awaited new song was performed toward the end of the live.

The live performance had already reached the halfway point. The theme of the talk was "About the new album.

The theme of the talk was "about the new album," and Mr. Fukuyama asked, "What is the score of this CD? Mr. Fukuyama asked, "How many points does this CD have? Matsuzawa said, "147 points! Matsuzawa found Tosh Masuda, the sound producer of the new CD, in the audience and asked him the same question, to which Masuda replied, "Maybe it's not the hundredth place. Mr. Masuda commented, "It's not the hundredth number, is it? He expressed his confidence in the completeness of the album.

From here on, it was time for the last spurt!

First up was the new song "Eien no SEED. The song is an answer to their debut song "YOU GET TO BURNING," and is laced with lyrics and sounds that remind the audience of the connection between the two songs. The audience's voltage soared as they listened to this nostalgic yet new song! It was impressive to see many audience members pumping their fists in the air and shouting along to the song.

The new tie-in song, "Bokutachi ha Moukodate Shiru" (OP of the Nintendo Switch game "Higurashi When They Cry"), is a rock number that represents a new frontier for Ms. Matsuzawa. Her vocals echoed through the hard-hitting sound.

The final song was, of course, "YOU GET TO BURNING. This song is the reason I have been able to sing for 20 years," Matsuzawa said as he sang the song of his origin with his fans. The finale of the live performance was the most exciting of the day.

The live show ended with a great success, but the excitement in the audience remained unabated. Matsuzawa appeared on stage again to answer the endless calls for an encore, and continued the live performance until the very end of the venue's usage time!

However, since there was no encore planned, he decided to play a song he could do on acoustic guitar at ......, so he sang "For Tomorrow's Smile" once again, followed by "Chikyugi," although it was only one chorus.

Finally, "YOU GET TO BURNING" was performed once again with Saori Fukuyama! It was impressive to see everyone smiling at the service-minded Ms. Matsuzawa.

The event ended with a lot of excitement, exceeding the scheduled time. Although the event was in the form of a karaoke live performance, it seemed to be a very satisfying live performance, thanks in part to Matsuzawa's unwavering singing voice.

The band is scheduled to perform a solo concert with a full band on October 13, which is also very much looked forward to.

After 20 years since their debut, one wonders what kind of singing voice they will be able to show us in the future. The event raised our expectations even more.

Set List

1. "Chikyugi

2. in my own way

I want to be your number one

4. for tomorrow's smile

5. de Daremo Shiranai Chizu de

6. to whom I entrust ~My Dear~ 7.

7. the same blue sky as you

8. eternal SEED

9. we already know

10. you get to burning

En1. for tomorrow's smile