#rokkyuu

Chanty 1st Anniversary Oneman, Chanty no Sekai

To begin the encore, the members took turns at brief emcees, starting with drummer Naruto. “Thank you for coming today. This scenery is more than I could have imagined and I am just out of words. Thank you very much.” The other members spoke similar words until Akuta took the honors to introduce the songs to be played in the encore. “We have no songs of our own left so we are going to do a song about love and courage and a song of happy thoughts, instead. Last ‘Anpanman Taisou!’” The venue lit up once again with “Anpanman Taisou” (an anime theme song) as the stage and floor went crazy with heavy moshing towards the front while pillows flew everywhere. Everyone moved freely to the final number, “Neko no Kyoku” which was cutely outfitted with a chorus of cats meowing—courtesy of the other members while Akuta sang. The whole crowd enjoyed the show to their fullest, the night ending with satisfied smiles on the members’ faces in response to the crowd’s endless cheers.

Wearing their tour t-shirts, the band reappeared after a longer interval for one last encore. “We don’t wear t-shirts usually because the image of our costumes will be destroyed—but we are wearing them now, and you know the meaning of that, right? Are you ready? Let’s open the doors to chaos!” Hitomi shouted. He left the mic to Sizna who screeched out in introduction of “Maybe Lucy in the Sky.” The headbanging and moshing intensified as chaos reigned divine. Soan beat his drums, smiling despite the heavy pounding of “Esther.” The melody in the chorus was drawn out, making the best use of Hitomi’s vocals. A hose on the stage began to spew out smoke and, starting with the vocalist, the members swung about this in turn throughout the bridge. The one who controlled it, controlled the movement of the fans.

Kouki’s Solo Tour Final in Kobe

The unique performance ended with a favorite in “Hana Saka Beauty.” Insisting that all attendees’ voices be heard had everyone singing along heartily. Kouki turned the extra microphone to the audience as he sang to further their involvement. The guitar was brought out for the last verse, rounding out the night with rounds of energetic strums and claps before the vocalist expressed his heartfelt gratitude once more, departing the stage with a grin after commemorative group photos were taken.

As an additional show of thanks, members of the fan club were invited to stay for a special live section during which they were able to record audio using their phones to take away as additional memorabilia. In the more casual and intimate setting, Kouki performed two specially written songs accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, sharing a few stories in between for good measure. As the session finished, the crowd gave a wholehearted round of applause before filing out with excited grins in anticipation for whatever else Kouki and the rest of D=OUT might have in store for them in the coming months.

The songs that were included in the final encore were well chosen and staples of MUCC’s live repertoire. The standing section came alive with circle pits for “MAD YACK” and the entire arena sat down on cue for “Ranchuu” before jumping to their feet in unison. The final song, MUCC’s latest release “Yue ni Matenrou,” was a fitting end and saw the National Gymnasium transformed into a snow globe full of confetti so deep that at times it was impossible to see the stage. Hidden amongst the regular confetti were multi-colored butterflies and the staging of the song was meant to represent that after the end of the world, life would begin again.

Chanty 1st Anniversary Oneman, Chanty no Sekai

The lights dimmed and Chitose took the mic. “We are able to stand on this stage which has been our goal for this year thanks to all of you here today. Thank you,” he said. Applause arose as Akuta took the mic to say, “Thank you for coming today. We’ve been doing—not something that is different but—something that we think is good and I am happy to see that so many people have followed us all this way. It is more than we expected and I feel thankful. Looking back at our first year, we were able to experience many things. Though there is always an end to every band, until then, I hope we can continue to bring all of you to a better place… Last song! Are you ready?”

“All of these things have deep meaning. They have weight that I cannot hold. What good is it if we cannot feel our own identities the while time we are on the stage? If we are about to lose ourselves and become lighter, we will get back the weight of our identities by taking an anchor. We will do so without exception, so it will be okay. Just believe us.” As Hitomi spoke of his feelings, “Fuyuubyou,” the last song of the main set, began. Countless stars were created by blue lights shining on a mirrorball. It had the effect of turning the dark hall into a planetarium. The crowd listened closely to the music that expressed both gentleness and heaviness; a show of all that is Moran. Soan’s drumming gradually increased in intensity, giving power to the song until the last cry from Hitomi in the outro; “I cannot accept that there is a thing as losing something, even if it is only one thing. This can’t happen. Of course, this means each of you, as well. It is here, but only here, that we can feel each other here. I can tell you through our music—and only that is our identity. We will be okay because there is wonderful music here! At this moment, I can think that I don’t want it to end, ever! Thank you very much!” It was with those words that the band departed.

DaizyStripper’s TRAGUS TOUR final at Akasaka BLITZ

The well-known “decade” became the final song of the night and it made for a perfect ending. The crowd was once again dancing and holding hands as they moshed back and forth in the cutest manner. Yugiri was dancing again while both Nao and Rei went to the back to play with Kazami who sang along with the brightest smile on his face. The feeling of happiness that spilled from the stage and into the audience as the band finally collapsed in a heap of limbs on the floor stayed with everyone, even after the members all said their goodbyes and left the stage together.