On Friday, July 6, Anime Expo hosted the second of this year's Anisong World Matsuri concerts at Microsoft Theater. This one would be the Japan Super Live and composed of the lineup of Aimer, Yuki Kajiura, May'n, and Senketsu Girl Sayuri. We at t-ono.net had a few of our staff attending the concert and decided to hold a round table discussion with our thoughts.
Charles To, Roger Lee, and Brian Lee contributed to this article
BRIAN: I'm Brian and I'm one of our writers and photographers.
ROGER: I'm Roger and one of our photographers.
CHARLIE: I'm Charlie and one of our writers.
WHAT WERE YOUR GENERAL THOUGHTS ON SUPER LIVE?
C: I thought it was a very solid lineup with a lot of variety for everyone. Super Live was a highlight of Anime Expo since I'm not into all the idol stuff. I especially enjoyed Aimer.
R: I liked that they changed it up with Anisong Matsuri: Japan Super Live this year. They've done a lot of idol stuff in previous years and while I used to be heavily into idols like AKB I have since got out of it. I saw both Super Live and Kawaii Live and enjoyed Super Live more.
B: As a Love Live fan I have to say that I enjoyed that concert the most but Super Live was a close contender. It was a great lineup with two artists I am very familiar with (May'n and Yuki Kajiura) and two that I was not (Aimer and Sayuri).
HOW WERE YOUR SEATS?
R: I was in row PP, right around the sound booth. It was right in the middle and had a decent view but when everyone stood up you couldn't see much.
C: I was in the pit and had a great location. When I got my ticket I didn't realize there was only two rows in front of me. I was also close to the aisle and that gave me some extra room. I did have a couple of problems in that everyone stood up and was waving penlights around. I had expected it to some degree since it is the pit but I couldn't see while sitting except for a small crack.
B: I was a little behind Charlie in VIP row D which I managed to snag during general sales. I got lucky and the people in front of me weren't really standing. One sat in his seat a lot. My view was a little left of center. I believe all three of us didn't have lights but for me at least it let me focus more on the music and the performance than on trying to keep up with the wotagei. I forgot mine in the car but that ended up being a blessing.
R: From my seat I had a pretty good view of the room as a whole. Super Live was very full including the mezzanine behind me. In comparison Kawaii Live had a lot more empty spaces especially on the left and right.
MAY'N
May'n has been active ever since she was scouted by HoriPro at the age of 13. She is the singing voice for Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier and her songs have since been featured in a multitude of anime series. Her most recent work was for The Ancient Magus Bride
R: May'n had a good lineup. She opened Super Live strong, very upbeat. Between me and you (Brian) we've been to all of her concerts in California. You'd think I'd be tired of listening to her music but it sounded really good and was a great starter. It got everyone pumped up and on the edge of their seats and made people want to wave their glowsticks.
B: If you think about it it's partly her fault that everyone started standing.
C: This is actually my first time seeing May'n but I think she was a really good choice to kick things off. She was energetic and has an explosive stage presence that made it really lightstick friendly unfortunately (for me).
B: I'd say she's the most J-poppy of the four if that makes any sense. Most of her songs are very upbeat and have punch. It's been nine years since we first saw her at the 2010 Anime Expo and the last time we saw her was less than a year ago at last year's J-Pop Summit. Basically the reason I went to my first Anime Expo was because of Macross Frontier and May'n and Megumi Nakajima.
R: I wasn't planning on going that year until they announced Macross people and AKB48 and then I had to go. She's most well known for Macross Frontier where she was the singing voice of Sheryl (Nome).
B: I would have liked more Macross but they only have six songs to work with. She did sing two Macross songs and it was a given that the last one would be "Diamond Crevasse." She always sings that one.
R: That was one I expected her to sing. I also expected her to sing "Lion" too because she's sang that a lot but she did sing "Northern Cross" which is another popular one. I enjoyed "One in a Billion" because I've been watching Isekai Shokudou. I was surprised to hear it.
B: I would have liked to hear "Universal Bunny." I really like that song. Even got it signed by her back in 2010.
C: How did it sound for you guys? It was kind of loud in the front and I didn't have earplugs.
R: I was fine in the middle and everything was equal. I think I still would have liked earplugs though.
B: PSA for you kids at home, always bring earplugs. I always bring mine to shows.
R: Oh I have to ask, where did people get glowsticks from? Did you have to buy them or did they give them away?
B: The fancy ones with color changing lights some people get online. King Blade is the name. A lot bought them at previous shows so some have them from last year or bought them this year. I have a couple of Love Live ones that thankfully I didn't have to wait in line for. The lines were crazy this year.
R: You have to manually change the colors right?
B: Most of the time. I think with the Kill la Kill glowsticks they were remote controlled
R: I was under the impression that someone had a control they could use on everyone's lights. Who decides which color to use? Does someone just go first and everyone else have to follow them?
B: There's theme colors, especially with idols. I'm not sure where it starts but some people in Japan decide "ok for this song it's red and this song it's blue." The Love Live concert had something cool where everyone in the crowd helped make a rainbow, actually.
R: I saw some guys on the side with some really bright orange ones. What are those?
B: There's a thing called the "ultra orange" (UO) and it's a super bright glowstick that only lasts a few minutes and you're supposed to use them at really hype points in a song. Some guys are at the level where they literally buy boxes and use them throughout the show though.
C: I had a guy next to me with UOs put away his lights, pull out the UOs from a back pocket, and slam them on the chair in front of him.
B: It's kind of fun to do it that way instead of the normal cracking with your hands as long as no one is in front of you
C: Oh there was a girl in front of him and he could have cracked her upside the head. Scared the hell out of her. Anyway, that's our segue into lightsticks
SAYURI
Sanketsu-girl Sayuri began her career playing guerilla street shows and in tiny venues across Japan before forming the duo LONGTAL. She was eventually noticed by some bigger names in the industry and made her major debut at the age of 18
R: Before the concert I honestly thought she was a filler. I looked at the guest books and saw she was a singer and looked up what she did. She's very new and hasn't done too much compared to the others.
B: Sayuri is the one I knew the least about but she's a rags to riches story. Dropped out of high school so she could do street performing and somehow ends up doing anisongs. I saw a video the other day where she was doing a street performance but now there was hundreds of people surrounding her.
C: I wasn't familiar with her but I liked her visual style. Her songs were very good. I think she did a song for fate, "Tsuki no Hanataba," for Fate/Extra Last Encore. She also did a song for Erased (Boku Dake ga Inai Machi) that was popular last year. I figure people know her the most for that and Fate. I enjoyed her more than May'n. I thought she seemed down to earth. Kind of a similar air of mysteriousness like Aimer.
R: She was a down to earth mellow singer. Different from May'n who is super upbeat and draws people to her.
B: I could envision her in her old days sitting on the side of a road just singing away like that. If you think about it she's the one who's changed the least, or maybe the least produced. Like you're seeing Sayuri as Sayuri.
C: She wasn't wearing shoes, don't know if you noticed.
B: I was actually going to ask about that because I couldn't really see people's feet because the stage is only so high and the crowd was standing. When she came out at the end I was wondering if she had anything on. So thanks for that answer.
R: My view was really different from you guys'. I spent a lot of time looking at the TV monitors. It was hard to see the stage from my perspective because of all the glowsticks and people standing.
C: I thought her visuals were interesting. I liked how she had one of those lyric videos like you see on YouTube so I could see the words. It felt like an AMV.
B: One of the things during MC she said "I want to come back again so please stay healthy." I thought that was cute compared to your usual "I'll come back again" thing. She said it was her first time in America so we got to see a world first here.
C: I would see her again. I would like to see more when she does more theme songs. I'm sure we'll hear more of her.
AIMER
Aimer is well-known for her sweet ballads and unique, husky voice. She has contributed to many anime series including Fate, Bleach, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn and more. This marks her second appearance at Anime Expo after first attending in support of Fate: Unlimited Blade Works.
C: I have a lot to say.
R: We'll let you kick it off as our resident expert.
C: I think she's recently become really popular to the point she should be considered the headliner of the event.
R: Let me jump in here, is this your first time seeing her in person?
C: No, the fourth.
R: How would you compare her to the other times you've seen her?
C: Compared to her first AX visit in 2015 I think she's improved a lot with being on the bigger stage and felt much more confident. I was really impressed. I've see her multiple times in Japan and she just improves year after year. As a long time fan of Aimer I really feel as if she's renewed herself as a performer and artist. She has a distinct style down to her choice of clothing and look and for this concert she picked something simple yet elegant.
R: It was a white dress, right? Kind of like a summer dress, no?
C: It was sleeveless and long. I think she was very mature and I think it was apparent from her speaking style.
B: You'll have to expound on that as most of us could not see because of the whole backlight thing and the camera blur.
C: A lot of people have noticed that she does not reveal her face very often in her public appearances and she's stated the main reason is because she wants her audience to focus on her voice and music but it just makes people more curious.
B: I swear I've seen her face before in official concert videos.
C: In Japan you can see her face more so she's not really hiding it anymore. Just hiding it from us. I think maybe if she gets more comfortable with her American audience she'll show her face. From the pit I could see her face though.
C: As far as her set list goes I think it was very appropriate for AX. Obviously well known for her Fate music like "Brave Shine." More than half of the songs were Fate. One big surprise for me was "ref:rain" from Koi wa Ameagari no You ni. I think it's really good along with "Last Stardust" to show her skill as a performer. Her specialty is ballads and ref:rain is one of the first ones she's done in a while.
R: I wasn't too surprised because artists like to have at least one song they've done recently. I enjoyed listening to it because I've been listening to that album a lot lately. She has a very nice voice.
C: I tell everyone this but no one ever listens to me...
R: I've been listening to her a lot while driving. From what I hear on my car speakers and onstage is pretty much the same. Like it's legit voice. It was really pleasant to hear without autotune; just simple vocals and piano. Really enjoyable for me.
B: I guess when you're singing a lot of ballad kind of songs you have to be good because your voice is the main thing. With a rock band you have all the other music behind you and it's a whole experience. Aimer can just sing without an accompaniment at all and you'd get just as good a show.
C: As a long time listener her song style has changed a lot to something more upbeat. When she started out she used to be very polarising because on one hand a song would be really depressing but at the same time it'd be sort of wholeful with a very dramatic tone.
B: What would you have liked to hear? What do you think was missing?
C: It would have been nice to hear her non-anime songs but I mean it is Anisong Matsuri after all.
R: I enjoyed the ones she did sing. "Brave Shine," "ref:rain," I enjoyed those. Maybe a slower, moodier song like "ninelie" would have been nice to hear. Overall I had no complaints about her performance. It was very satisfying. Since it's my first time seeing her live I wasn't sure what to expect. With May'n and Yuki Kajiura I knew what to expect but for only seeing her once she's at the top of my list for artists who performed that night.
C: I don't think a lot of people noticed but "Brave Shine" is a song she sings every single time at every live I've been to. It is because that song is very important to her as she went through a very difficult time shortly after it was released. I believe it was when she temporarily lost her voice before a tour.
R: Everyone has a song that means a lot to them that they'll never get tired of singing like May'n with "Diamond Crevasse."
B: One thing I will say is that I've been mispronouncing her name for quite a while. When she first said "Ehmer" I thought "whoops." Just imagine if we were in an interview and we kept saying "Eyemer"
R: That would have been a good question actually; the origin for her name and pronunciation. Maybe next time. I think it'd be nice if she did a US tour. Both May'n and Yuki Kajiura had tours and Aimer is really popular so I don't see why not.
YUKI KAJIURA
Yuki Kajiura is best known for her composer work on a variety of anime and video games such as the .hack// series, Kara no Kyoukai, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, and Sword Art Online. She is the lead element of her solo project, FictionJunction
B: Yuki Kajiura has been around quite a while, probably even longer than I've been into anime.
R: I first listened to her during .hack. .hack is from a while back but songs are still popular.
B: When Key of the Twilight came on I got pumped. Her .hack songs have a specific sound to them and the moment you hear it you can recognize them immediately. It's old, we're all getting there, but it was nice to hear a throwback like that.
R: I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard Kajiura was going to be there because it didn't list any of her vocalists at first. I was halfway expecting her video game songs or something like that. Once I saw her vocalists I was like "Oh, I know where this is going." I didn't recognize two of her vocalists though. I knew Kaori, and then there was Yuriko and Joelle? I don't really know about them.
B: They worked with her under FictionJunction
R: When I think of FictionJunction I think more Kaori and Wakana but they weren't her regulars and I think it's because of the whole Kalafina thing.
B: For those who don't know Kajiura just left her previous label, Space Craft Produce and opened up her own solo label. She definitely can, she's been around for long enough that she doesn't need a label. Does get a bit tricky for Kalafina because they also lost one of their members, Keiko, on top of losing Kajiura. They're still technically around but they haven't done much this year. They might have to take a new direction because Kalafina's music was Kajiura's.
R: Kind of like Nobuo Uematsu leaving Square
B: So Kajiura had some Fate, some Sword Art, .hack. Was happy about that last one. I know it's kind of tricky because of the whole Kalafina situation but I would have liked some Madoka Magica and Kara no Kyoukai. I mean a few years ago Madoka was huge. It was everywhere that year. Tons of people were cosplaying it at AX.
R: Will we ever hear those songs again?
B: That's the rub. Could have had some older stuff too but I'm not sure if people would have recognized Xenosaga or Mai Hime.
R: I would have liked to hear "Akatsuki no Kuruma" from Gundam. Gundam was one of the turning points for anime in America so I think people would have known it.
C: Overall I think it was really good to help mellow out the crowd. Where I was positioned in the pit I could see her face and she was really into the music. I was impressed. She was always smiling.
B: Probably just happy to be back in front of a huge crowd here. The last time we saw her was Anime Expo 2012, right? That time she had a concert all to her own. She brought FictionJunction with her.
R: You can chalk up all her recent work to Fate and Sword Art Online. Will they ever make another .hack?
B: Only if it sells. It's gotten to the point where Sword Art has taken over things and a lot of people don't even know .hack exists. It was one of the first isekai, stuck in a game things.
R: Sword Art wasn't even supposed to be popular. When we interviewed the author he said he put a lot more effort into Accel World's story and everything and Sword Art was just something he put together. Everyone liked it more so he ran with it. I enjoyed Accel World but I don't think they'll bring it back. It definitely got overshadowed.
HANA NO UTA / FINAL COMMENTS
For the final song Yuki Kajiura called Aimer back onstage and they performed "Hana no Uta" from Heaven's Feel: Presage Flower
C: It was a collaboration destined for perfection. Very appropriate for the Fate series which has become a centerpoint of Anime Expo over the years. It would have been a waste not to sing this song together. I think this was also the first time they've performed it on stage together.
B: That's what Aimer said, that it's the first time they've done it live. That's another world first we were lucky to see. Were you wondering where it was?
C: I was very much wondering and was disappointed it wasn't part of Aimer's set earlier. It made sense to keep it til the end though. I was very happy. There's still two more movies in the Heaven's Feel trilogy so hopefully we'll get to see those songs live too.
R: It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that many people will never get to see live. Even in Japan it'd be a rarity. If anything the competition for tickets is way higher over there to something like this with lotteries and all.
C: That's one of the good things about Anime Expo. It's a good opportunity for people in the US to experience and it doesn't happen too often in Japan.
B: It's only been three or four years that Anisong has been going on. In the past AX would bring one or two artists and they'd do a full concert which was nice but you didn't get the variety. That's both good and bad because while you get variety they also only have six or seven songs worth of time available.
C: Honestly I only came to AX this year because Aimer was involved. I was about to go to Disneyland and when they announced Aimer I was like "Nope, we're going to AX."
B: For this AX I saw three concerts and if it had just been those three concerts I think I would have been totally happy. If the con hadn't happened at all but the concerts still did I would have still said I had a great time.
R: I wouldn't mind it if they brought Aimer again next year. Maybe Perfume. Exile?
C: I'd like to see J Soul Brothers but they're not anime
B: That's one bad thing. They're trying to stick to just anisongs. I mean it is Anime Expo but we've had non-anime bands in the past like Porno Graffiti. Last year we had Asian Kung Fu Generation's first US shows and they played a lot of their non-anime songs alongside others like "Haruka Kanata" from Naruto. That was not AX sponsored but still held at the same time. I'd really like to see more rock/metal at AX.
I'd like to see Hiroyuki Sawano, nZk. We had Kajiura and Sawano is kind of the same thing. He's a composer who does a lot of collabs.
C: He did some work with Aimer as well. I'd like to see ChouCho too. She did a lot of Vocaloid covers and got popular. She did some Fate work for Prisma Illya.
R: Will they bring Love Live again?
B: That's a good question. They started like a ladder. The first year didn't even have the whole group or a performance; they just had a free talk and showed some anime. I still paid $40 because it was Love Live, you know? Then last year they had the combo concert with im@s, Walkure (Macross Delta), and Wake Up Girls, who also just disbanded. Awkward, going from performing overseas to nonexistant in the span of a year. The concert was great though. This year they had the one man concert which blew the doors off everything and I'm not sure what they can do to top that next year.
C: Hopefully they'll not have two sales on at the same time next year (Super Live Premiere sales and Love Live general sales). I went through hell to buy these tickets.
R: I remember the days when AX didn't charge to go to the concerts but that's what happens when you grow too big.
B: Can you imagine the lines if they were still free? I still enjoy Anisong Matsuri and it's one of the best parts of Anime Expo year after year. We'll see you next year and hopefully the lineup will somehow top this one.
SETLIST FOR JAPAN SUPER LIVE 2018
May’n
1. Chase the world (Accel World)
2. One In A Billion -May’n Ver.- (Restaurant to Another World)
3. Northern Cross (Macross Frontier)
4. You (The Ancient Magus’ Bride)
5. Belief (Taboo Tattoo)
6. Diamond Crevasse (Macross Frontier)
Sayuri
1. Heikousen (Scum’s Wish)
2. Sore wa Chiisana Hikari no youna (Erased)
3. Tsuki to Hanataba (Fate/Extra: Last Encore)
4. Furaregai Girl
5. Mikazuki (Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace)
Aimer
1. StarRingChild (Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn)
2. Brave Shine (Fate/ Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works)
3. Ref:rain (Koi Wa Ameagari no You ni)
4. broKen NIGHT (Fate/hollow ataraxia)
5. LAST STARDUST (Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works)
Yuki Kajiura
1. the beginning of the end (Fate/Zero)
2. Lancer and Assassin (Fate/Stay Night [Heaven’s Feel] I. Presage Flower)
3. Longing (Sword Art Online -Ordinal Scale-)
4. Key of the Twilight (.hack//SIGN)
5. Yasashii Yoake (.hack//SIGN)
6. Luminous Sword (Sword Art Online -Ordinal Scale-)
Aimer x Yuki Kajiura special collaboration
1. Hana No Uta (Fate/Stay Night [Heaven’s Feel] I. Presage Flower)