Touyama Nao appears dressed in "Woof Woof Woof"! Report from 2nd Live Event "Nijikai!!"
The 2nd event of the official fan club exclusive live "Nijikai!!" by the voice actor and singer Touyama Nao was held at Zepp Tokyo on Jan. 11, 2020.
On that day, the "Wakka Mates", the members of the official club "Niji no Wakka", gathered together holding the first all-standing performance as Touyama's Live.
When the live started in the evening, BGM composed by traditional Japanese musical instruments began to flow into the venue, with all band members joining the stage dressed in Japanese clothes. In a New Year's atmosphere suitable for the first live performance of a new year, Touyama makes her appearance wearing dog-like ears and tail, due to the event date January 11, or rather "One One One" (the sound of a dog barking in Japan is pronounced in the same way, but different spelling "Wan")
In addition, Touyama who came out with a dog taste based on her label "Flying Dog", after singing "Gunsei Infinity" and "Kimi to Boku no Symphony", greeted the audience saying, "Good evening Wan!". It was such a dog-covered opening that it was hard to imagine it is the Year of the Rat (2020).
Accompanied by the MC saying, "In the same way as I said during the summer tour (2019), driving away typhoons and rain, I wish you all a happy 2020", the group starts singing "Goodbye Umbrella" with the presence of two female dancers.
After that, they choose "Mode Style", a cool dance number. In the super special song "Sayonara Moratorium", which was particularly exciting during the live tour, the sight of almost everyone in the audience putting their arms around each other's shoulders singing the impressive phrase "Naanana, Nanana"whileswinging their body left and right at the same time was quite the view.
The challenge corner during the song, which is already a usual part of the tour, the first test was to have Touyama battle face to face with the audience. It comprised of a guessing game where the audience try to guess which was the real dog, hearing both a real dog bark and Touyama's bark. It ended with many of the audience guessing the right answer, the real dog, and Touyama losing.
Touyama, who lost the challenge which hurt her pride as a voice actor, showed a regrettable expression at the MC, saying "I can't believe it!", and then "If there is an opportunity, I'd like to show you my best dog's bark one more time. I will do my best!", regaining her determination.
The title of the live, "Nijikai!!", includes both the meaning of "Nijikai" from the club name "Niji no Wakka", and the meaning of "afterparty" (Nijikai) of the live.
Most recently, Touyama performed the 1st live tour from Aug. to Sep. 2019. This time, despite following the same list of the previous tour, she chose "I WILL" from a bunch of songs as the sixth song, since she couldn't do so in the tour. She showed a memorable number in front of the audience for the first time, thinking "It may become the title of our debut single."
Here, once Touyama gets off the stage for a costume change, the secret guest Asano Sho, a shamisen musician, makes his appearance in the center of the stage.
During the session where the audience was distracted by the stunning shamisen solo of Asano and of the powerful band , Touyama rejoins the stage wearing a mini-length kimono. Asano and the group collaborated and performed the breathtaking song, "Tomoshibi no Tanimani" with a traditional japanese taste.
While everyone at the venue including Touyama is overwhelmed by the sound of the shamisen that you don't usually hear at ordinary live performances, the collaboration with Asano continues on for the songs "Fukukajin", "Chain the world", and "Otomeiro".
In particular, "Fukukajin" is a song recorded only on the "Anime Edition" of the debut single "True Destiny / Chain the world", so this becomes officially the first time it was performed during a live.
With the MC, Touyama gave an interview asking simple questions about the structure of the tsugaru-jamisen used that day, and how the sound of the shamisen was produced by speakers.
In addition, along with the audience and the band members, there was a homely time of laugh when they try to take on the tongue twister challenge of saying "shamisen sousha no asano sho-san" ("Asano Sho the shamisen musician") without biting their tongues.
In the final stage, they started from the new single released on Feb. 5 to the full chorus of the OP theme "Aruite Ikou!" from TV anime "Asteroid in Love".
After that, during the song "Mirai YELL!" which the topic is freedom, in the part "Eh-i Oh-u!" a call-and-response went on between the band saying, "People of the rat year?" and the audience answering, "Chuu Chuu" (rat sound). Before the live's end, there were some other calls from the band such as "People who like doggy?", "People who take the exam?", and "People who want to make this year the best year?".
For the encore, the dancers and band members worked together in the choreography of "Kimi no egao ni koishiteru"with their hearts united as one.
They also announced that Touyama will become the "Nipper Ambassador", forming publicity events and campaigns with Victor Entertainment's mascot dog Nipper-kun, who had long stated that he liked Touyama. Finally, all members including Nipper-kun who rushed to the venue, performed "Nebagiba Ondo" bringing the event to its end after 2 hours.
Before leaving, Touyama said the closing line, "After finally reaching the 10th anniversary of my voice actor's debut on February, I will keep doing my best as a voice actor, as a singer, and as a human being, so that we may enjoy great moments together! Thank you very much for today! "
Furthermore, the inauguration of Touyama as Nipper Ambassador is scheduled to be broadcast on "LINE LIVE" from Feb. 2 at 9 pm.
