Fill your stomach with the singing voices of popular voice actors and the band sound! Live report of the first live performance of "Bang Meshi♪", "White Rabbit Band Headquarters Meeting - Blanc Bunny Bandit 1st LIVE"!

The first live performance of Konami Digital Entertainment's character music content "Banmeshi♪", "White Rabbit Group Headquarters Meeting - Blanc Bunny Bandit 1st LIVE", was held on July 14, 2019. This is a report on the live performance (evening session) that filled the all-standing Shinjuku ReNY to capacity!

Blanc Bunny Meji♪" ("It's hard to eat meji with a band.") (Planning: TOMOSUKE, Character design: CUTEG) is a story about girls living in a local city who form a secret club called "Shiro Usagi-dan" (White Rabbit Club) and engage in various activities centered on transmitting music with their band. Bored with their daily lives, and each character has a predetermined future, they strum their rock music to free themselves from such constraints!

Banmeshi♪" is a story in the same world as "Hinavita♪," a character band content with the theme of "regional revitalization" that started in 2012, and features composers such as Kana Yaginuma (ex. Crow is pure white), who continues to deliver high-sense rock tunes. The band continues to deliver high-sense rock tunes. Many of their fans may identify with their sharp music.

The standing-room-only Shinjuku ReNY was packed to capacity for the long-awaited first live performance of "Banmeshi♪. Taking the stage were Blanc Bunny Bandit [Kurihana Ochiyakaze (CV: Tomori Kusunoki), Chiyo Yoshimawari (CV: Minami Takahashi), Arisa Kurokawa (CV: Sakiki Yasui), Monaka Hyakutake (CV: Takako Tanaka)] and supporting members [Gt./Cho. Yaginumakana (ex Crow is pure white) Gt. qurosawa Ba.Osawa Nobuhiro Key.Iijima Kaiyuki Dr.Watanabe Takashi]. The supporting members played rock music with all their might, and the four vocalists sang rock songs with all their might.

The members appeared on stage wearing costumes inspired by the main visual. They opened with a new song, "Kyosei Shirozome Jiyuushugi" (Resonant White Dye Liberalism)!　It was a challenging and thrilling start to the show, as the band suddenly launched into a new song. It was the first time I had heard this song, but I had no idea how to groove to the odd time signature, so in a way I felt like I was being tested, but it was definitely a cool song.

The White Rabbit Club headquarters meeting is about to begin. Live your own life. I want you to find something unique about yourself at today's meeting," Yakaze quietly told the audience, and Chiyo, Arisa, and Monaka each gave a self-introduction full of their own personality. Then, the live show moved on to the solo corner.

Yakaze Kurihanari (CV: Tomori Kusunoki)

Chiyo Yoshimawari (CV: Minami Takahashi)

Yakaze coolly sang "Synchro Fish," followed by "Hakoniwa no Etude" with Chiyo's vocals that were both graceful and sexy. Bumpmaster Kanaga Yaginuma led the way with "Alisha! call, and Arisa appeared on stage. And then, "Praise the absolute supremacy of the Alisha Empire! Absolute supremacy Alisha Teikoku" with call and response. Finally, Monaka sang the super cute "Onigiri Disco" while clapping her tambourine. Once again, the four members were so full of individuality that it showed the breadth of the content songs. Yaginuma's ability to write not only sharp rock tunes but also cute songs in the opposite direction, such as "Onigiri Disco," once again amazed me with their talent.

Arisa Kurokawa (CV: Sakiki Yasui)

Monaka Hyakutake (CV: Takako Tanaka)

After a cool band instrumental and introduction of the band members, the four members quietly performed "Okumino-Hachimanuta," a song full of elegance. This song makes you feel like going back home on a country road, but it is said to be a song about a ryokan in Chiyo. The reason for singing this song was "I wanted to sing this song because it was the reason why I was performing live as Blanc Bunny Bandit as Hakuto-dan. As a runaway girl's decision to move on!" said Chiyo passionately, which was also impressive.

Yaginumakana

But the live had only just begun, and the four sang in turn "Bitter Escape (Medley Ver.)," the main theme of the piece. Each of them had their own solo version of this song with a completely different taste of arrangement, but as Chiyo, Monaka, Arisa, and Yakaze appeared and sang one chorus at a time in turn, the different arrangements were also reproduced by the live band. The band sang the song four times at once, and there was even a scene where Kanaga Yaginuma joined in with the chorus, which added to the tension (since there is also a version of this song sung by Kanaga Yaginuma).

The duets "Bleaching Rabbit" (Yakaze & Chiyo) and "Zenryoku Dramatic" (Arisa & Monaka) followed. The latter song in particular overflows with the two singers' close friendship, and ends with them looking at each other and singing "yubikiri genman," which is a heart-warming performance.

The "Avant-garde Band Girls" (Yakaze & Arisa) sang while box-stepping and rapping, and the audience shouted in unison, too. The final duet, "Hifumi de yu~topia♨" (Chiyo & Monaka), was sung softly and swayingly with a stand microphone.

After all the songs from "Bang Meshi♪" were sung, Yakaze remained alone on stage and said, "I'm going to sing a song that is not a BBB song but one of my personal favorites. I wonder if any of you have heard of a band called "Hyugami Bitter Sweets♪"?　The band is known as a band that has successfully revitalized a town through music, and many of their songs are positive, but the songs written by Rin Shimotsuki, a member of the band, are a bit strange. Far from being a town revitalization project, there is a negative aspect to the town and the band. However, there is a passionate part in such nihilism. I felt sympathy there," he said, and when he announced the title of the song, "Emptiness and Lightness of Disker," the audience cheered loudly.

Up to this point, they had been singing with a coolness as Night Breeze, but when they reached the chorus of this song, they exploded at once. The band's depth was tremendous, but the intensity of the vocals was emotionally moving. The applause after the song was over was proof that the audience was moved by the song. The live ended with the four singing "Rin to Saku Hana no Yoku" from "Hinavita♪".

For encore, the four main cast members appeared on stage again. Since they were in character in the main show, I have dared to report them by their character names, but the encore brought out the real people inside, and the atmosphere was more relaxed. In their closing remarks, each of them talked about how much fun they had at the live and how sad they were that the show was coming to an end. Finally, Tomori Kusunoki said, "I think we will meet again next time. Don't be satisfied with today!" and the live ended with the song "Bitter Escape (4 singers ver.)," which was the song that started the live.

Not many contents with voice actors singing as characters have such a strong rock sound. It was quite a challenge for the audience to see a standing live performance without penlights and with fists in the air. The four vocalists are well separated, and their characters stand out more than their realism. A good example of this is Arisa Kurokawa, who, despite being in elementary school, has everyone call her Lady Alisha. The combination of the two, with their authentic rock music and unique character voices, is a chemical transformation that is addictive once you get into it. During the live performance, I could feel that the four members were thinking carefully about how to bring the character's personality to their songs.

In the course of their performance, some of the songs, such as "Kuukaku to Koumei no Disker" (Emptiness and Lightness of the Sky and Lightness of Disker), had expressions that went beyond the characters, and the emo nature of the live performance also came out.

(Reporting by Junichi Tsukagoshi, Photography by Mai Okamoto)

Set List] 1.

1. resonance shirozome jiyuu-shugi shugi

2. synchro fish

Hakoniwa no etude

4. praise! Absolute Hegemony Alisha Empire

5. onigiri disco

6. okumino hachiman uta

7. bitter escape (medley ver.)

8. drifting away rabbit

9. all-out dramatic

10. avant-garde band girls