Anime Festival Asia ’11 Coverage – Part II
My body is ready! Is yours too?!
Ever since 2009, the concerts of AFA has been its main attraction, where fans get to see and experience their favourite ani-song artists perform live without having to go to Japan personally. This year boasts an impressive artist line-up (Kalafina, FLOW, LiSA), and let’s not forget about the stage showcases too (Chiwa Saito). I’ll be posting highlights in this coverage and as photography was prohibited during these showcases, I won’t be able to post as many pictures as I would’ve liked (sorry for that guys). Anyways, following is my account of Day 1.
First up is the showcase of Culture Japan and I’m sure mostly everyone has heard of it (if you have not, shame on you). Danny gave us an hour long digest version of season two with interesting bits and pieces spread out. He later came on stage to talk about his personal experience on producing a series as well.
Irisviel can stare at me all day long
Next is the highly anticipated Fate/Zero segment with producer Atsuhiro Iwakami (Kara no Kyoukai, Madoka Magica) and performance of the opening theme song Oath Sign by LiSA. Though, you should give me props on finding this performance on NND.
Y U DO DIS?
You need a NND account to view this
Producer Atsuhiro Iwakami-san confirms that the team animating Fate/Zero is the same team responsible for the Kara no Kyoukai movies so rest assured everyone, it is in good hands! (If 7 episodes haven’t convinced you already.) He further clarified that the Blu-ray box set will include the entire first-cour so people who dislike collecting volumes should be happy about this news. He also stated that the major incentive for the free airing on Nico Nico Douga Channel is an attempt to prevent anime piracy and to make it more convenient for us fans to enjoy the series. LiSA’s performance of Oath Sign was great as well (more on that in the concert).
Time for the artist appearance!
Chiwa Saito graced the stage next, live dubbing 3 scenes from Madoka Magica, which was followed by a Q&A session. One of them asked whether is she a tsundere, to which she answered that, she’s more dere than tsun (xD). Producer Atsuhiro Iwakami reappeared again to give juicy details on the Madoka Magica movie: It will be a trilogy. First two movies will be rehashes of the series, while the third movie will have a completely new ending to the series.
Here’s to make up for the lack of relevant pictures
Put your hands up!
The stage closed after showing Gundam UC 4 and after 2 hours of queuing and squeezing it’s finally time for the concert!
Sea*A: Singaporean Idol Group kicks off the concert with their single “Dream Shooter”, not much I can say about the group.
Ichirou Mizuki: Then its ANIKI’s turn, starting off with a heartwarming message about the March 11th Tohoku earthquake, followed by his latest song “Hero Spirit”. The rest of ANIKI’s songs consisted of countless medleys from classics and most from Kamen Rider/Super Robot Taisen series.
LiSA: Boy was she amazing! She started with a song from her new album (Letters to U) followed by another round of “Oath Sign”. It was fan-service galore once “Ichiban no Takaramono” came on (I think she cried the most this time out of all the times she sang this song). Then, lifting up the mood again with “Crow Song”, “Day Game” and then closing her performance with crowd chants of L.i.S.A.
FLOW: Literally stole the show for me. Their fan-service triumphed even that of LiSA’s with “1/3 Junjou no Kanjou”, “Sign”, “Fighting Dreamers”, “World’s End”, “COLORS” and more. The band member introduction was so spirited that it hyped everyone up despite the growing weariness of how late the concert dragged on. (They started at 10:40pm.) It was a phenomenal performance by the band.
I managed to ninja these when everyone was high
It was a night to remember and every artist gave a solid performance. Some were surprised at the fan reaction, most of them were ecstatic and overall, everyone enjoyed what they were doing. I daresay it was well worth it! Now, Day 2 stage events, concerts and the cosplay alley coverage next; so stay tuned!
About the Guest Writer: TKTakeru |
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I’m a Type-Moon and KEY works fan, known as an avid procrastinator and a self-proclaimed audiophile. Currently learning Japanese and has a love for horror mystery anime. | Link |
About Guest Writer
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POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Thanks for covering the concerts part, TK, for Metanorn! ^^
Seems like it was filled with lots of fan-service and the artists at least played up to the crowd’s strength. Good stuff. ^^
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
Yeah, they made an already memorable day one that is pretty much embedded into your life. It was amazing! XD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Awesome post covering the concerts, TK. Looks like crowd could possibly get enough of the singers. I loved the videos about Culture Japan. If I had the chance, I’d definitely be learning Japanese right now so I could understand the songs better.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
The crowd probably got more than they expected, FLOW gave everyone 2 encore songs and went out with a bang.
About Culture Japan, thanks for reminding me! I forgot to mention that VividBlaze performed both the OP and ED songs during the showcase. Guess I’m pretty beat from the event. ^^;
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
[…] boasts an impressive artist line-up (Kalafina, FLOW, LiSA), and let’s not forget about the […] METANORN Tags: Anime, Asia, Coverage, Festival, part, ’11 [+] Share & Bookmark • Twitter […]
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Wow, those are some awesome concerts. You’re seriously lucky to have attended them! I’ve only been able to see one Japanese band live before…you’re out of luck unless your local con has them or if you live in Japan. D:
Thanks for covering the event for Metanorn! I feel like we should be shipping thank-you cupcakes to your house or something.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
Live bands are probably my favourite live performances now. Me and my friends were still running on adrenaline after the concert ended. XD
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
Thanks guys, I’m happy that I was able to spread the joy. It’s the least I could do. XD
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Wow!! So many cool concerts! I am jellllly hahah thanks for doing this! TK 🙂
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
No problem, glad that I can share the fun. XD
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 207 comments
FLOW, LiSA, and Chiwa Saito?!?!?!?! AFA must of been a blast!!! Live bands are so awesome, especially at Conventions. Love the feeling~ >w<
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
Yes it was amazing. LiSA later turned up at the event grounds for Nico Nico Douga’s live streaming. Seeing her close and upfront was quite an experience.
POWUH: 400-499 with 406 comments
So jealous! Concerts *A*
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
Hopefully you can attend them next year. XD
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
Heh heh, sounds like AFA was crazy! I’ve never seen a Japanese band before (though I’ve found my way to over fun shows). Also, Madoka will be a trilogy?
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
Yes, the Madoka movies will be a trilogy, with the first 2 summarizing the series then the 3rd movie picking up where the series/movies left off.
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
[…] awesome release. If you have been following us, you must know that LiSA live performed this song this AFA and let me tell you the full version is awesome. I actually had a hard time deciding which I like […]