Legendary Yamada roars into Makuhari Messe! A glimpse of what's to come! Zombieland Saga LIVE: Frans Chou-Chou Saga yo Kyo Woitaite Dekiru" report on the 2nd day!

On October 16 and 17, 2021, a 2-day live concert "Zombieland Saga LIVE ~Franchouche, Saga yo Kyou niwaitekurete~" was held at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Halls 7 and 8.

The zombie idol group "Franchouche" had planned to perform at the Makuhari Messe Event Hall in March last year, but had to cancel it just before the event due to the Corona disaster. This was because Kotono Mitsuishi, who played the role of Tae Yamada, was not able to perform at last year's Makuhari concert in Fuchu.

In order to get revenge, Ms. Mitsuishi finally made a surprise appearance at this year's concert, and the eight members of Franchouche were able to perform. The following is a report on the second day of this historic live performance.

The performers were Kaede Motowatari (playing Sakura Minamoto), Asami Tano (playing Saki Nikaido), Risa Taneda (playing Ai Mizuno), Maki Kawase (playing Junko Konno), Rika Korikawa (playing Yugiri), Mimi Tanaka (playing Lily Hoshikawa), a special appearance by Kana Hanazawa (playing Maiyuzuriha) and a surprise appearance by Kotono Mitsuishi (playing Tae Yamada), Mitsuaki Kanuka (playing Death Uncle A), and Setsuji Sato (playing Death Uncle B).

The set included famous scenes from the second season of "Revenge"!

The curtain rose on the second day of the "Zombieland Saga Live: Frans Chou-Chou Saga yo Kyou ni Watarueteete" (Let Saga Come Together), 2-DAYS at Makuhari Messe.

The hall was filled with the shadowy narration by No. 6 (= Lily), No. 5 (= Yugiri), and No. 3 (= Ai). I hope everyone has a smile on their face today. After Lily's twinkling words, "I hope everyone is ready and waiting for Franschouche to become even more ethereal," the main part of the live performance finally started.

First, an OP movie began to play, looking back on Franschouche's real live performances to date. Here, the same BGM was used as in the live OP movie of the TV anime "Zombieland Saga Revenge" episode 12, and it was wonderful that the direction was kept as similar as possible.

Then, the six members appeared on stage and performed the opening number, "REVENGE," of course!　The performance was just like the live scene in the anime, with everyone turning to the side and pumping their fists in the air, and it was truly the climax of the show from the very beginning. Every time I see Franchouche perform live, I am always impressed by how well they all sing, even though they are voice actors by profession!

I am sure they have practiced their dance moves quite a bit, but watching them perform with their voices unwavering as they danced, I realized once again that this high quality stage presence is what makes Frans Chouche so appealing and amazing.

After the powerful singing voices filled the spacious venue of Makuhari Messe, the audience was further enlivened by the OP theme song of the TV anime "Zombieland Saga: Revenge", "Ookawa yo Shiawase wo Nijite kudasake (Cry with me, Ookawa!)"!　The "Aah" shouts by Hondo-san and Kawase-san were also powerful, and it was clear that each of them was raising their voices with full adrenaline. On the other hand, Ms. Tano and Mr. Hondo sang the chorus of "Aah" with a lot of emotion and richness in their expression.

After the self-introduction, they sang Saki's main song "Do you hate windy days? FranChouChou cover". With orange penlights brightly illuminating the venue, the singers sang a rock-inspired arrangement of the song, which was most moving for its outro lines. Saki, who has taken over the regular radio duties from White Ryu (cv. White Ryu), sang a very cool line in the song: "Don't worry, I'll always be here for you.

And at the very end of the song, she says, "Don't forget," a phrase she inherited from White Dragon, along with the radio. The answer you are looking for is always in the saga! The last part of the song was very emo. This part of the song was included in the anime's ED, but not in the CD, so it must have been a very clever move on Mr. Tano's part. Asami Tano was now Saki.

During the MC during the costume change, Mitsuaki Kanuka, who played Death Oji A, and Setsuji Sato, who played Death Oji B, appeared on stage!　During the introduction of goods, they explained how to use the penlights with the voices of the two Death Ojis in them; although the volume of each penlight was low, when combined they became a voice of their own, and it was surreal to hear their voices echoing around the venue.

The next song was "Saga Jihen. This song was announced after the first season had finished airing, and was released in the second season "Zombieland Saga Revenge" episodes 8 "Saga Incident #1" & 9 "Saga Incident #2".

Ms. Kinugawa's singing is so sexy and her singing itself is so good that it gives me goosebumps. In addition to Frans Chouche's well-matched dance performance, many people were moved by the smiling and dancing guest characters Shojiro Ito and Kiichi Momosaki, who were extremely popular in this episode, as well as the ED image from episode 9.

Kawase then sang Junko's solo song "50 and Four Forgotten Things" with all her heart. The performance was brilliant as she breathed with the live acoustic guitar by the composer, Yosuke Yamashita.

The next song was "Life" by Kanon Abe, the singer of Ozora Light, from the 5th episode "Little Parappo Saga" The second day was much more relaxed than the first day, and her clear high notes resonated in every corner of the venue better than the day before. After that, Mimi Tanaka jumped on stage and performed "Little Parappo" in scat.

In exactly the same manner as in the anime, Tanaka demonstrated the art of dancing and scatting on stage, and the high degree of perfection of her performance made everyone think that she, like Lily, was a genius.

Next, Risa Taneda performed "Awakening Returner (No.3 Solo Ver.)" solo. The lyrics were a little different from those of all the Franchouche members, and in fact, this solo version also had an addictive quality to it.

Junko's main song, "Gekko Survive," is no longer an idol song but more of a mixture of rock and roll. The members' rapping was cool, and Kawase's vocals as Junko, the Showa-era idol turned rock band frontman, were tremendously powerful.

Mai Mai, and the legendary Yamada joined the band! Then a shocking announcement was made at ......!

After performing six new songs from the second season in a row, the six members of Franchouche appeared in red costumes from the first season. When Ms. Tanaka showed the members how to practice "Little Palappo," Ms. Kinugawa was filming it with her smartphone, but she forgot to press the record button, so she was just watching Ms. Tanaka through the screen. ...... After the friendly conversation about the episodes, they performed a medley of songs from the first season at once. After a friendly talk about the interesting episodes during the lessons, they performed a medley of songs from the first season all at once! / Yomigaere / Atsukunare / Tokkou DANCE ~DAWN OF THE BAD~", moving slowly on a trolley to deliver the songs to the audience seated in the back. This was a performance only possible at Makuhari Messe, a flat venue.

The six returned to the stage for the final song, "Tokko-DANCE ~DAWN OF THE BAD~," and performed with stand-up microphones. This was another exciting moment.

After the VTR performance by Aozora Tokui as Shiori of Iron Frill, Kana Hanazawa as Mai YUZURIHA, aka Franchouche No. 7, who had long been announced to make a guest appearance, appeared on stage!

Ms. Hanazawa recreated the live performance of Maira's debut at the school festival in episode 7 "My My Revolution Saga," and she was so enthusiastic that her costume and choreography were the same as in the anime. The audience's penlights were all green, a perfect response to the show. Just as in the anime, the members joined the group and immediately announced their graduation to sing "Hikari he (with No.7 ver.)". The beautiful harmonies filled the venue with a sense of tranquility.

After the two Death Oji members gave a lecture on how to swing the penlights for the next song, the live scene from episode 12 of the anime was reenacted again.

The six members appeared in white dresses reminiscent of the costumes worn by Franchouche in the anime. The performance started with Ms. Hondo singing one phrase of the song "Shine" a cappella. Her elongated voice gave me goosebumps, as if Sakura herself had taken over the song. The members' voices overlapping with hers were also very pleasant.

The final song "Tailwind Travelers" was also a perfect replica of the choreography from the anime. The intro of the song began with the members posing as if they were passing the baton one by one, and once again, I thought that the opening line, "Nothing will ever change, nothing will ever give up, surely there is still hope. I enjoyed the choreography of "Totto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto utto" with the fans, and finally, Mr. Hondo's fake "(yea yea yea)" exploded. It was too perfect and exhilarating. In the anime, Sakura cries at the end, but in the live performance, there seemed to be a fresh emotion lying underneath. It was a wonderful stage in terms of another performance that could have been.

During the encore, a video of Tae's call-and-response in episode 12 of "Revenge" was shown, which, now that I think about it, was a foreshadowing of the event. As the audience was excited by the first season's OP theme, "Tochika Necromancy," Kotono Mitsuishi, who plays Tae, appeared from behind the members' backs at the end of the show. Franchouche has always been a six-member group at Real Live, but originally it was a seven-member unit. The full seven members of the group were finally present at the event. It was a rare opportunity to see the first public performance of the seven-member Franschouche.

At this point, Mr. Mitsuishi suggested that the audience send a shout out to Franchouche with their body language. The audience clapped and stomped their feet to the sound of "Franschouche" as they sent their feelings of love to the stage, which was received with tears in their eyes.

Finally, as he was leaving the stage, Mitsuishi pointed at the screen with a smile and said, "Look at this. Then a mysterious image titled "Zombies Without Battles: Revenge of Saga" appeared on the screen. This PV, featuring Saga-born actors Mr. Hakuryu & Kunio Murai, was a short movie with the theme of "Beyond Revenge," but in essence, what they wanted to say was "Zombieland Saga: The Movie Adaptation Decision".

In the end, Mr. Murai, who had turned into a zombie, left the audience with the meaningful words, "Revenge is not over, it will begin again." The movie was so seriously made by the staff that even Franchouche and his staff seemed more confused by the amount of information than happy about the decision to make a movie. After the movie was over, they were finally able to rejoice, which is typical of this content that loves to be mischievous.

After things calmed down a bit, the cast finally said, "Yay! the cast members were all saying, "We did it! The day before, Mr. Tano had said, "We haven't decided on a third season or a movie adaptation, but please support us! so the cast really must not have known this information. Therefore, it must have been a very big surprise and present not only for the fans but also for the cast.

In the closing remarks that followed, everyone was happy to see how much they love each other's members and that "Zombieland Saga" still has a long way to go. As Mr. Kinugawa said, there is a movie, which means there should be new songs and live performances. Mr. Tano also said that it is thanks to everyone that there is a future, and he reiterated his wish to go to the Nippon Budokan, which he said at the first live performance.

Mr. Hondo also said that he was able to practice hard because of the fans. He also mentioned that he had shouted "I want to do the second and third seasons and the movie version" in a prayer for a hit when he participated in the Balloon Festa held in Saga in 2018. He was very moved by the miraculous development of the project and the path it has taken to this point.

This was the last song. They performed the ED theme of "Revenge," "Yume wo tekite, naki nakareta naki hibi wo hibi wo" ("With dreams in our hands, days with no place to return to"). The six members got on the trolley again and went around the venue to greet the fans, and the last chorus was performed on stage. The final chorus was sung on stage, with Mitsuishi and Hanazawa joining the eight members as they waved their hands in the air. In closing, Mr. Hondo said, "I believe we will definitely meet again. Thank you" and expressed her gratitude.

The eight members then used selfie sticks to take pictures of their memories, and finally closed the concert by shouting "This is where we are, this is the saga! and closed the concert.

This was not the end of the night, but the best part of the night, as it gave the audience new hope that there is still more to come.

(Reporting by Junichi Tsukagoshi)