[Detailed report & solo photos! Solo songs and call & response were performed for the first time! Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club In-school Matching Festival" Report

On Saturday, March 30, 2019, at the Shinagawa Stellar Ball, the talk and live event "Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club In-school Matching Festival" was held at Shinagawa Stellar Ball on Saturday, March 30, 2019.

Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club" is a new app game "Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS", which will be released in 2019. This event was held to celebrate the release of their debut album "TOKIMEKI Runners".

The performers were Akuri Onishi (Ayumu Uehara), Mayu Sagara (Kasumi Nakasu), Kaori Maeda (Shizuku Sakurazaka), Miyu Kubota (Karin Asaka), Natsumi Murakami (Ai Miyashita), Akari Kito (Kanata Omi), and Tomori Kusunoki (Setsuna Yuuki) from "Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club", (played by Setsuna Yuuki), Mariya Sashiide (played by Emma Verde), and Chiemi Tanaka (played by Rina Tennoji). The following is a report on the daytime performance at the event, where solo songs from the album were performed for the first time.

The official report has already been published, but this is Akiba Research Institute's original report. Please enjoy the different report from the official report and the photos of the cast.

The first call and response of the members!

The time for the show to start rang and the chimes rang out in the hall. The event started with the appearance of the nine cast members in their Nijigasaki Gakuen uniforms in front of the gathered students (audience).

After a lively discussion on current topics, they performed for the first time the Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club's version of call and response, which they do when they introduce themselves. The audience was so excited that it was hard to believe it was their first time to perform it. They will continue to perform at events and on TV programs in the future.

Incidentally, Ms. Tanaka actually wore a specially made "Rina-chan board. The board even has a function to change facial expressions, allowing the audience to see what is in front of them.

The next topic was the "Unit Matching Vote," which has been held since the other day to determine the composition of the "Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club" members into "2-piece," "3-piece," and "4-piece" units. On March 30, the day of the event, the voting for the finals by the top 9 qualifying teams has started, and the voting period will end at 17:00 on April 15 (Mon.). For details, please check the official website.

On stage, the contents of the project were explained, and messages of support sent in advance to the hashtag "#Nigasaki Matching Fest" were also introduced. The messages were not only about supporting their idols, but also about passing exams, questions and expectations for what they want to do in the future, and so on.

The solo song stage was full of individuality with the first public PV in the game in the background!

After the cute interludes by the members of "Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club", the second half of the event was the live corner. The highlight of the event was the first performance of each member's solo song included in the album. Moreover, during each member's live, "Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS" game PV was also shown for the first time during each member's live.

The first performer was Ms. Sagara. She performed "Diamond" by Kasumi Nakasu with great energy, and said it was her first time to sing and dance by herself. I could sense her nervousness, but her hard work, cuteness, and full-body performance were even more impressive than that. The interlude "L-O-V-E Kasumi! to the call of "L-O-V-E Kasumin! and a smile on her face.

The second performer was Ms. Tanaka, playing the role of Rina Tennoji, who performed "Doki Pipo☆Emotion. Her dance, characterized by her darting movements, was just like Rina herself. Ms. Tanaka also performed a fun stage performance, using a "Rina-chan board" made of paper to call out to the audience, and it was hard to believe that this was her first time performing alone.

In a turn of events, Ms. Maeda beautifully and quietly sang "Your Ideal Heroine" by Shizuku Sakurazaka. Her emotional gestures were graceful, as if Shizuku, a member of the drama club, were performing on stage. The scene where she grabs the lace part of her skirt and bows was also wonderful, and her singing voice was elongated and core.

Sashide, who plays Emma Verde, a foreign exchange student from Switzerland, performed "Evergreen" with a Swiss pastoral atmosphere in both costume and music. Combined with the green penlights, the song was full of healing aura and negative ions. The beauty of the high notes was also heartwarming as the audience clapped their hands to the light steps.

A bed appeared on stage during "I wish I could go to the Sleeping Forest," a solo song by Omi Kanata. A little sleepy looking Kito-san, who looked just like him, enveloped the audience with a soft air. He sang while sitting on the bed or lying down with a fluffy pillow, creating a great sleeping effect in a good way.

It was Ms. Kubota who performed "Starlight" with a sexy and passionate performance, knowingly doing the call and response of self-introduction. Her sighs, her strong gaze, and the three moles she drew on her chest were full of Asaka Karin's character. Kubota sublimated them into a highly accomplished dance performance.

Kusunoki led the audience from blue to red to the hot rock world of the stage, and sang "CHASE! The part of the chorus where the dancers pumped their feet with a bang was particularly impressive, and the action during the interlude was also full-blown cool. After pumping her fist in the air to get the audience even more fired up, she ended her performance with a soulful voice that brought a lot of excitement to the audience.

Murakami-san performed Ai Miyashita's solo song "Meccha Going! with a smile. She said that she was actually not very good at dancing and even became negative about it. However, she showed the results of her practice and dynamic choreography, and the audience responded to her with unified calls.

Ms. Onishi performed the last solo song. Dressed in a pink costume with a big ribbon, she cutely sang "One Step to Dream" by Ayumu Uehara. Her heartfelt performance expressed her emotions through her hand movements and facial expressions. The stage showed both sides of Ayumu: cute and hardworking.

After singing their solo songs, all the members came on stage again to give their impressions one by one. Many of the cast members were new to the stage, and some of them were in tears of relief and warm cheers. At the same time, their love for the work and the members could be felt in every word they said, and it was a moment that made me look forward to their future progress even more.

The final song was "TOKIMEKI Runners" performed by all the members, and the performance synchronized with the music video was a perfect example of the charm of "Love Live! The solo parts, the parts for each grade, and the winners' parts were all very well done. The song was filled with solo parts, parts for each grade, winks, and other highlights, and the event ended with everyone using their hands to sprinkle the rainbow over the venue.

The Blu-ray of this event and other events to commemorate the release of the new album "Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen - Lunchtime Broadcast Room - Drama CD: Houkago Fantasia" released on May 22.

(Reporting and writing by Kenichi Chiba)

<Setlist> M01.

M01. diamond / Kasumi Nakasu (CV. Maayu Sagara)

M02. dokipipipo☆emotion / Rina Tennoji (CV. Chiemi Tanaka)

M03. your ideal heroine / Sakurazaka Shizuku (CV. Kaori Maeda)

M04. Evergreen / Emma Verde (CV. Maria Sashiide)

M05. "I wish I could go to the Sleeping Beauty Forest" / Omi Kanata (CV. Akari Kito)

M06. starlight / karin asaka (cv. mimu kubota)

M07. CHASE!／Setsuna Yuuki（CV.Tomori Kusunoki)

M08. Meccha Going! / Ai Miyashita (CV. Natsumi Murakami)

M09. yume e no ippo / Ayumu Uehara (CV. Akuri Onishi)

M10. TOKIMEKI Runners / Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club