Legendary voice actors sang ani-songs & character songs! Report on "Seiyu Kohaku Utagassen 2019," the last big event in the Heisei era!

The Seiyu Kohaku Utagassen 2019 was held at the Maihama Amphitheater on April 14, 2019.

Seiyu Kohaku Uta Gassen" is a music event initiated by voice actor Joji Nakata and featuring only voice actors, as we reported in our recent coverage.

⇒As reported in a recent report, the presentation was attended by Junko Iwao and Shunsuke Takeuchi! Report on the first announcement of the performers for "Seiyu Kohaku Utagassen," the first ever music festival for voice actor fans!

Many performers were announced before the day of the event, and in the end, a total of 18 popular voice actors, both male and female, were chosen to perform. On the day of the event, they performed their beautiful voices mainly on songs to which they are related to each other. Let us report on the premium stage performance.

Singing While Acting as Characters - What is the Meaning of Singing as a Voice Actor?

The amphitheater, which is a familiar sight at this event, is a circular stage surrounded by audience seats, but by the time the show started, the seats were full. Perhaps due to the variety of performers, a wide range of voice actor fans, young and old, male and female, had come to see the show.

The "Heisei no Kohaku Uta Gassen" (the last Kohaku Uta Gassen in the Heisei era) finally got underway. First, a video was shown looking back on the relationship between voice actors and singing, asking "When did voice actors start singing? The film shows the transition from the 1970s, when voice actors began to sing as artists, to the 1980s, the era of character songs, to the 1990s, when female voice actors were at the height of their popularity, and to the 2000s and beyond, when various elements such as artist appeal and live performances were demanded of them. After Tomokazu Sugita's narration introduced the relationship between voice actors and singing, the promoter, Joji Nakata, and hosts Junichi Suwabe and Kana Ueda made their appearance.

Next were Kikuko Inoue, Honoka Inoue, Junko Iwao, Hiroko Kasahara, Shoko Nakagawa, Noriko Hidaka, Aya Hirano, and Tomosa Yokoyama of the red group. Kazuhiko Inoue, Naoya Uchida, Akio Otsuka, Takaya Kuroda, Tomokazu Seki, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Daisuke Hirakawa, and Masao Horiuchi from the white team appeared (Mikako Komatsu did not appear at the opening due to a scheduling conflict). The audience was already excited to see the gorgeous lineup.

After Nakata's opening speech, Aya Hirano of the red group opened the show with "God knows...," a character song from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya," one of the most popular anime of the 2000s. Ms. Hirano, who has appeared in many musicals in recent years, has an overwhelmingly well-trained singing ability! While singing, she walked around the stage, shaking her fist in the air and stirring up the audience.

In contrast, the white group consisted of Shunsuke Takeuchi, a young singer with an appealing, low-pitched voice. He sang a dandy rendition of "Galaxy Express 999," a song he learned from his mother, a fan of Leiji Matsumoto's works. It was hard to imagine that he was in his early 20s, given his calm demeanor and singing voice!

The audience cheered with a gasp when she sang the song.

Next up was Akio Otsuka. Since it is rare for Mr. Otsuka to sing in front of an audience, the audience cheered from the moment he appeared on stage. He sang "Showa Blues," a song Snake sang on the "Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker" drama and character song CD. Sitting on a chair and singing with a melancholy guitar in the background, Otsuka-san was cool without question! He sang with occasional facial expressions and small gestures, and I could sense the will of the actors when they sing character songs! I could sense the will of the actors when they sang the character songs.

On the other hand, Junko Iwao from the red group performed "Te no Pala no Uchu," the theme song for the final episode of the OVA "KEY THE METAL IDOL" released in the 1990s. Ms. Iwao came to the center of the stage wearing a long crimson dress. The audience was thrilled by her gorgeous appearance. Since "KEY THE METAL IDOL" was the first film in which Ms. Iwao played the leading role, she had actually wanted to sing "The Universe in the Palm of Your Hand" from the very beginning when she received the offer. With all her heart, she brought her beautiful soprano voice to the audience.

The happy relationship between voice actors and anime characters was demonstrated by the next two speakers, Mr. Keno Horiuchi and Ms. Kikuko Inoue.

Mr. Horiuchi sang "Ai to shikanai" (I can only call you love), a character song for "Oscar," a character from the "Angelique" game series in which he plays. Ms. Inoue performed "Shooting Star," the opening theme song for the anime "Onegai☆Teacher.

Ms. Inoue sang while twirling and dancing like a girl, and also sang a key line from Mizuho Kazami's character, "It's my top priority. I am sure that many of the male fans, who were charmed by Ms. Mizuho 17 years ago, were also touched by this performance.

Daisuke Hirakawa, who appeared next on stage, sang "Underwater Flight Theory: Multi-Angle Approach," a character song for Rei Ryugasaki, the character he played in "Free! Mr. Hirakawa, wearing glasses and impersonating the character, excited the audience during the interlude by jumping into the water and performing a butterfly gesture. The female fans cheered in yellow for her performance full of love for the character.

The last performer of the first half was Honoka Inoue. She is the biological daughter of Kikuko Inoue and is one of the youngest voice actors and singers active in the industry. She covered "Bluebird," the opening theme song of the anime "Naruto Shippuden. Her elongated voice enlivened the audience. Kikuko Inoue also made a surprise appearance in the middle of the show. The final song was a duet between father and son, which marked the climax of the first half of the Kohaku Uta Gassen.

Incidentally, Kikuko gently criticized Honoka's use of language in her comments during the talk part after the song. The audience was unintentionally touched by the father and son Inoue, who are as close as sisters.

A collaboration of voice actors full of individuality!

In the middle of the show, a special corner called "J'sBar" hosted by Joji Nakata took place.

Nakata-san, who plays the role of the master, compared the voice actors to cocktails that create unexpected flavors by mixing various tastes, and introduced the special units that were only available on this day.

First up was "Champion" (a cover of Alice) by Akio Otsuka and Takaya Kuroda. The combination of Mr. Otsuka's powerful bass voice, which was almost as powerful as Shinji Tanimura's, and Mr. Kuroda's vocals, which had a sexy flavor, was too happy for the ears, and the entire audience was intoxicated by this combination. It was also impressive to see the two of them start sparring while singing on stage.

Noriko Hidaka and Shoko Nakagawa next appeared on stage and sang a song from the OVA "Aim for the Top! OVA "Aim for the Top! ～Fly High", an insert song of the OVA "Aim for the Top! This song was played at the climax of the 5th episode of the anime and is one of the most famous burning songs in the history of anime (composed by Kohei Tanaka in his younger days)! ) It was a great honor to hear the song sung by Mr. Hidaka himself! (Mr. Hidaka sang the song in "Aim for the Top! (Mr. Hidaka played the main character, Takaya Noriko)

) During the performance, Mr. Hidaka stood with his arms crossed and shouted "Super Inazuma Kick! The stage was filled with small jokes that made the fans cry, such as "Super Inazuma Kick! The stage was filled with small jokes that made the fans cry.

The stage was followed by "Genesis of AQUARION" by Aya Hirano and Junko Iwao, and Rikiya Koyama's heart-rending video message of support. Then came "Sakura" (a cover of Kobukuro's "Cherry Blossoms") performed by Keno Horiuchi, Kazuhiko Inoue, and Naoya Uchida, and other performances that were unique to the day.

The deep harmonies of the veteran male voice actors were especially impressive in "Sakura.

The performance was full of material that brought tears to the eyes of fans!

The second half of "Seiyu Kohaku Utagassen 2019" began with Hiroko Kasahara's "Condition Green - Emergency Launch" (opening theme of the anime "Mobile Police Patlabor"). Ms. Kasahara, dressed in kimono, ran across the stage energetically and sang passionately in the green lights.

Mr. Takaya Kuroda sang the song "Motto Kaikyo ha Changenasu" from his band "Takaya Kuroda & Goodfellas". It was the only original song performed by Kuroda, but it was a symbolic performance of the current relationship between voice actors and music, with voice actors singing their own songs as artists.

Next up was a showdown that is sure to appeal to those of us who followed anime and video games in the 1990s. Tomosa Yokoyama sang her signature song "Gekitei (Proclamation! Teikoku Kagekidan)," which brought the floor to its feet. The performance, honed over many years with the musical "Sakura Taisen," was still going strong on this day. Backing dancers were Noriko Hidaka and Kikuko Inoue! Many people were excited by the unexpected collaboration between the Teikoku Kagekidan and the Tomari Kagekidan.

Even more shocking was the stage performance by Tomokazu Seki. Seki performed his character song "Battle Boys: Train to Win," a song about Domon Kash, the main character he portrayed in "Mobile Mutant G Gundam. The appearance of Mr. Seki, wearing a crimson cape like Domon, was hot, but during the dialogue part between songs, Yosuke Akimoto, dressed as his master, Master Asia, appeared on stage as well! However, the audience laughed at the fact that he left the stage immediately after uttering a single word!

Toward the end of the song, Seki shouted out Domon's special moves. The stage was heated and dizzying.

Next up was a cutting-edge voice-over song competition. Mikako Komatsu, who had rushed to the venue, sang "Maybe the next waltz," the ending theme of "Welcome to the Ballroom," while Toshiyuki Toyonaga sang "Day you laugh," the opening theme of "Durarara! ×Toshiyuki Toyonaga sang "Day you laugh," the opening theme of "Durarara! All of the songs were very satisfying to listen to and showed the "artist-like nature of voice actors".

Then Shoko Nakagawa performed "Sorairo days" (opening theme song of "Gurren Lagann"), which has been a staple of anime song events since the 2000's. Naoya Uchida performed "Oh Denshi Sentai Denji man", the opening theme of "Denshi Sentai Denji man" in which he used to act as Denji Green/Tatsuya Midorikawa. Naoya Uchida sang "Ah Denshi Sentai Denziman," the opening theme song for "Denshi Sentai Denziman," in which he once appeared as Denzi-Green/Tatsuya Midorikawa. This song belonged to singer Ken Narita, who passed away last November, and the stage was filled with respect for the late singer. After finishing the song, Mr. Uchida said he would continue to sing this song in the future.

The "Seiyu Kohaku Utagassen 2019" was already in its final stages. The last performers were Noriko Hidaka (red group) and Kazuhiko Inoue (white group).

Ms. Hidaka performed the character song "Heart Naiyou/2" for Akane Tendou, the character she played in "Ranma 1/2". Ms. Hidaka's cute voice matched perfectly with the royal idol song. Kikuko Inoue, who played the role of the older sister, Kasumi Tendou, and Honoka also appeared during the performance, and the three sang together with the audience, making for a fun time.

Kazuhiko Inoue covered the opening theme song of "Cyborg 009 (the second film)," "Who's For You? Since Kazuhiko Inoue used to play the main character, Joe Shimamura, he strongly read out Joe's lines during the interlude, which was applauded by the old anime fans.

Incidentally, "For Whom It May Concern" was also sung by the late Ken Narita. Mr. Inoue talked about his memories of that time in memory of his ally who ran through the same era.

When all the performers had finished singing, it was the audience's turn to raise the red and white cards above their heads. The Wild Bird Society of Japan started counting at once, with the color of the group they thought was more impressive being raised. As a result, the white group won. At the end, all the performers sang the opening theme song of "NARUTO" "GO! the opening theme of "NARUTO! The memorable first "Seiyu Kohaku Uta Gassen" ended with a great success.

After the event, the announcement of the "Seiyu Kohaku Utagassen 2020" was made on the monitor on the stage, and the audience was filled with joy.

The "Seiyu Kohaku Utagassen," in which a wide range of voice actors, from legendary to young, gather together to "sing as voice actors," is an event that did not seem possible until now. I am sure that I was not the only one who felt that this event had the potential to grow into a new music event, especially since it featured "live" performances of character songs that are rarely performed live or revisited later in life.

I can't help but hope that ...... will continue to be a standard event that sings character songs, rare anime songs, and legendary songs that cannot be heard anywhere else.

The event will be broadcast on July 14 (Sun.) from 9:00 p.m. on CS Family Theater.

⇒ Seiyu Kohaku Utagassen 2019" will be broadcast for the first time on July 14 (Sun.) at 21:00 on CS Broadcasting Family Theater!

We hope you will take the time to experience this event once again.

<Setlist> 1.

1. God knows... (Aya Hirano)

Galaxy Express 999 (Shunsuke Takeuchi)

Showa Blues (Akio Otsuka)

4. universe in the palm of your hand（Junko Iwao)

5. all I can call you is love（Keno Horiuchi） 6.

Shooting Star（Kikuko Inoue)

7. Multifaceted Approach in Underwater Flight Theory

8. Bluebird（Honoka Inoue)