Anime Anime Global

The memorial live for the 7th anniversary of the debut of Voice Actress/Idol hybrid unit i☆Ris, “i☆Ris 7th Anniversary live – Seven Fortune Cookies” was held on Nov. 24th at Kanagawa’s Pacifico Yokohama National Hall.
In the sold out arena, their long-awaited 4th album was announced and will be released on Mar. 4, 2020. Also, the announcement of their live tour “i☆Ris 6th Live Tour 2020 (Temp name)”, touring 8 arenas throughout Japan will start in Apr. 2020.

As the title “Seven Fortune Cookies” conveys, the concert’s theme was “To bring lots of good luck”. The arena was decorated with “good luck” elements on a Chinese-style set. Accompanied by BGM, the show started with each of the members wearing China dresses appearing one by one on a big screen monitor. Amidst the loud cheering of the crowd, each member appeared on stage in the China style clothing as if they jumped our from the screen.

The opening song “Ready Smile!!” was followed by the first live performance of the newest single “FANTASTIC ILLUSION” and “Gensokyoku WONDERLAND”, a trio of uptempo tracks, after which the first MC part began. Kubota excited the crowd even more by saying, "It’s a shame that this cute set and costume will only be used once! Burn them into your memory, everybody!”

During the next song, “DIVE TO LIVE”, the members’ dance performance using fans and interaction with the crowd raised the arena’s tension even higher. The following numbers all had a happy & powerful vibe: “Dream Parade”, “Itazura Taiyo”, performed live for the first time in a long while, and “§Rainbow”.

Yamakita’s declaration, “You are going to see a very different i☆Ris now…the next song is just like “soup stock”!” was followed by blue lights enveloping the whole arena, completely changing the atmosphere. The song was “Changing Point”, opening theme of animation series “Magical Girl Site”, which Akaneya and Serizawa were a cast in. The atmosphere changing performance engaged the crowd.

The next song was “Utakata no Hikari”, recently chosen as the main theme for the mystery adventure video game “Root Film”, a new song performed live for the first time. After its harmony entranced the crowd, "Endless Notes",the ending theme of animation series “Grim Notes The Animation” and “Defy the fate” were performed for the first time after the Budokan live and this ballad had expressed the members’ singing prowess.

The atmosphere then changed once again, as the sound of rain played on the monitor and the members appeared on stage holding umbrellas. After the cute performance with umbrellas of “YuRuYuRu Happy Days”, in “Tetsuwan Girl” Serizawa put a new spin on a part of the lyrics, saying “Look at Seriko, at least tonight”.

In the blink of an eye, the concert reached its last part together with Wakai’s “Give me your loudest cheer!!” call.
Following the “Seven Fortune Cookies” theme, 2 pandas appeared on stage, increasing the crowd’s enthusiasm even more when the opening theme of animated series “Wise Man’s Grandchild”, “Ultimate☆MAGIC” started playing. The two songs that followed “Make it!!” and “Miracle☆Paradise”, guaranteed crowd pleasers, were performed with energetic dance moves of incredible quality, despite the concert being in its last spurt. With a clear showing of the unit’s high level of performance, curtains came to a close.

After the end of the main part, a special movie created by Shibuya played, followed by members asking “We haven’t sung any nostalgic pieces, have we?”, “What about our 1st single?”, to which the crowd answered unanimously. The fans’ call for “Color” thus started the encore.
The next song, introduced by Yamakita as “A song we wish to send to everyone here”, was “Thank you forever!" and Yamakita and Shibuya cried when singing the emotional lyric, “I will hold the miracle of meeting you deep into my heart”.

In such an emotional atmosphere, important announcements were revealed: the release of a new album, after about 2 years and a half, and a national tour starting Apr. 2020, “i☆Ris 6th Live Tour 2020 (Temp name)”, which will span 8 arenas and 15 concerts.
The live tour will also feature a concert in China, spurring further excitement from the crowd.
Not only the fans, the member also seemed very excited for the long-awaited album, wondering how it will turn out. As another surprise, it was announced that a variety show where i☆Ris members go “all out”, “Gachi! i☆Ris”, will air in Nico Nico Chanel as an exclusive broadcast, provoking surprise and delight among fans.

In the last MC part, Shibuya commented, “It’s amazing that we were able to continue for 7 years without any member changing. I’m really glad to be together with these members”. Kubota too expressed her gratitude to the other members, “I’m sure that everyone here loves i☆Ris too, but I’m sure that my love for i☆Ris doesn’t lose to anyone else!”, words to which Wakai could not help but shed tears.

The same Wakai then expressed her feelings, saying “The power of us 6 brought everyone to this arena. I want to show them an even more beautiful scenery” and Akaneya made a promise to the fans: “Still just 7 years. We want to continue much longer. Make sure you follow us!”
Serizawa then talked about the members’ bonds: “Because these 6 members came together, we can entertain everyone who comes to see us with confidence. These 6 members are who we can trust!”. Lastly, the leader Yamakita sent a strong message: “We 6 wish to see this view forever and ever”, bringing the arena to the climax of excitement, then closing the concert with “Happy New World☆”

Photographs Kamiyama Yosuke and Kimura Yasuyuki