The first audience live concert after the anime broadcast was a great success! Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club Shuffle Festival" DAY2 report!

Shuffling songs decided by "your" votes from the first solo songs, "Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club Shuffle Festival" was held at Pia Arena MM on March 20 (Sat., holiday) and 21 (Sun.).

The performers were Akuri Onishi (Ayumu Uehara), Mayu Sagara (Kasumi Nakasu), Kaori Maeda (Shizuku Sakurazaka), Mimu Kubota (Karin Asaka), Natsumi Murakami (Ai Miyashita), Akari Kito (Kanata Omi), Tomori Kusunoki (Setsuna Yuki), and Maria Sashiide (Emma Verde), Chiemi Tanaka (Rina Tennoji) and Moeka Koizumi (Shioriko Mifune).

I would like to take a look back at the brilliant DAY.2 performance by the 10 members, based on the songs chosen by the fans, known as "you".

The seats in the hall were filled with the audience waving penlights, although one seat was left empty at a time. This was the first time in a while that Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club (Nijigaku) had performed to an audience. Moreover, this was Nijigaku's first performance since the TV anime had finished airing, which had been followed by a flood of excitement, so the excitement must have been uncontrollable. As the lights went out and the opening attack video was playing, the fans kept changing the color of their penlights and sending their cheers. Even if they could not speak, they could still feel the growing enthusiasm of the audience.

First, the nine members of the group came out on stage to perform "Nijiiro Passions! Everyone's smiles were sparkling, and it was the first time in a long time that they had performed to an audience! I could feel the joy and excitement of the members as they said, "It's the first time in a long time that we have had a live concert with an audience!

The next song was "Future Harmony. The yellow and green costumes worn by the members were for this song. They sang strongly in unison, ending with a pose that matched the picture.

Then they sang the ED theme "NEO SKY, NEO MAP!" with open umbrellas reminiscent of the ending of the anime. The song is also known for its emo lyrics by Aki Hata, but with the colorful umbrellas and costumes, the performance was extremely refreshing and brought smiles to the faces of everyone watching.

After the "TV anime song corner," the audience dispersed and the logo of the live title "School Shuffle Festival" was displayed on the screen. The purpose of this live performance was to have the other members shuffle and sing their solo songs. The main part of the live performance was about to begin.

The first performer was Moeka Koizumi (playing the role of Shioriko Mifune). She sang "Starlight" by Karin Asaka, showing off her crisp and powerful singing voice of Shioriko, which was different from Karin's sexy voice.

I could feel the coolness from the performance, which made me listen to the song with a fresh feeling again, and made me understand at once that this is the fun of this live performance.

Natsumi Murakami (played by Ai Miyashita) appeared next and performed "Diamond" by Kasumi Nakasu. It was interesting and fun to see Ai doing Kasumi's call and response to Kasumi's full swing to cute.

She was powerful and energetic as she ran around the stage, and as she said later in the MC, we could see Ms. Murakami was very moved by the live performance in front of the audience.

Akuri Onishi (Ayumu Uehara) sang "Your Ideal Heroine" by Shizuku Sakurazaka. Shizuku gets into the story and sings as if she were acting, but when Ayumu sings, she becomes a very cute idol-like heroine, which completely changes the impression.

I could feel the pure sadness of the song, and her final non-sounding one word (which sounded like "I love you" to me) made my heart sing.

Chiemi Tanaka (who plays Rina Tennoji) covered "I Wish I Could Go to the Sleeping Forest" by Omi Kanata. The stage was set up with beds and pillows, essential items for this song.

There was no sense of Kanata about to fall asleep, but the performance, just a cute Rina-like performance, put my mind at ease.

Tomori Kusunoki (played by Setsuna Yuuki) sang "Kesshin no Hikari" by Shioriko Mifune, which begins with a Japanese intro. The former student council president sang a song about Mifune, the new student council president, but he would not give up his rock position in Nijigaku, and his performance, full of Setsuna's feeling, made me want to pump my fist in the air.

Incidentally, DAY.1's performance respected Shioriko, and I am sure that both were fascinating on stage.

Akari Kito (played by Kanata Omi) sang Emma Verde's exotic "Evergreen. Her soothing vocals, full of negative ions while inheriting Emma's character, made the audience happy.

The performance was also impressive in that it was filled with his colors, such as when he fell asleep at the end.

The song that drew loud claps was "CHASE!" by Setsuna Yuuki, sung by Maayu Sagara (playing Kasumi Nakasu). It was fun to shuffle them around and sing about how cute and cool they are, in a way, just two opposites of each other.

The two were unwavering in their belief in each other, and the cute moments in the middle of the dance were very Kasumi-like, and the drama between the two was palpable.

Miyu Kubota (playing Karin Asaka) sang Ai Miyashita's "Mecha Going! by Ai Miyashita. The atmosphere was completely different just by saying the introductory lines in Karin's voice!

The puns she made in the middle of the song were as sexy as they were humorous, and the sense of discomfort was almost addictive. It was one of the songs that made me feel that this is the fun of shuffle live.

Ballia Sashiide (played by Emma Verde) sang Ayumu Uehara's "One Step to Dream." The fact that the song is about dreams overlaps with Emma, who studied abroad to become a school idol, and I felt she really got into the song.

The two singers, Ayumu with her straightforwardness and Emma with her core strength, were of course in different moods, but the stage was very moving and touching.

Kaori Maeda (played by Shizuku Sakurazaka) was "Dokipipo☆Emotion" by Rina Tennoji. Since she is an actress, I am sure she was singing as Rina? I guess so, but it is interesting only because it is a number that Shizuku seems to have never sung before.

It was also very cute that she was singing on a Shizuku-chan board, not a Rina-chan board with her face painted on it, and was so excited to be singing on it.

After the 10 members finished singing, everyone took the stage for a lengthy MC. The call and response was based on the style from last year, which was completed among the members, but since all the fans were certainly present in the venue, I enjoyed having them respond with penlights, applause, and waves, and the feeling that the choruses had progressed another level from there.

At the end of the main event, the 10 members performed "TOKIMEKI Runners" with smiles on their faces. It is Nijigaku's unique style to have the members wear solo outfits that are not identical to each other, and to have their voices overlap, but it was very moving to see it amidst the stories that have been accumulated through the anime and video games.

The 10 members of Nijigaku jumped out onto the stage to the loud applause of the encore. This time they were dressed in the same T-shirts and skirts, each with a badge of their character on the T-shirts. They sang "Love U my friends" while making hearts with their fingers, and on the D melody, they sang "A-ZU-NA," "DiverDiva," and "QU4RTZ" as a unit, which was very hot! It was so hot!

The group then announced that DiverDiva, A・ZU・NA, and QU4RTZ would release unit singles in three consecutive months in May, June, and July, respectively, and that unit live performances and fan meetings would be held in September and October, much to the delight of the fans.

In their closing remarks, the members spoke of how shuffling and singing together had heightened their respect for each other, and how listening to other members singing their own songs had stimulated them to make new discoveries. Each of them expressed their strong desire to improve the characters they play, which made us want to support them all the more.

The last song of the festival was "Just Believe! The last song of the festival was "Just Believe! Each member delivered his or her solo part powerfully, and Nijigaku conveyed the feeling that they are still going full throttle toward the future, believing in the future and pushing forward with their engines. There are many more views we want to show you. ...... It was the kind of performance that made me want to believe in a future where we will all be able to truly enjoy it again.

(Reporting and writing by Junichi Tsukagoshi)