Shoumetsu Toshi LIVE EXPERIENCE Vol.1

Ever since this past summer, I’ve been extremely slow with reporting on events, but rather than just let the memories fade to nothing, it’s better to be late than never, right?

Anyway, this is my brief recap of the Shoumetsu Toshi LIVE EXPERIENCE Vol.1 held on Sunday, November 25. On the way to the event, my train was STOPPED for a long while. I left quite early so I didn’t need to rush, but that saved me from being late. I got to the venue about five minutes before the scheduled start time. I was so entirely thankful! My little music angel must have helped me out!

The event was a live music concert with several continuing recitation dramas (朗読). Performers included:

DJ: Lost Boys (Kato Hiroyoshi & Kawagoe Yasuhiro)
Vocal: SAK., Emi Evans
Violin: Matsubara Mari
Souma’s Voice Actor: Asai Ayaka

Coming into the hall, I very briefly spoke with someone from noisycroak whom I’m met and seen many times before…but I’m horrible with names. He was very nice and seemed just as relieved that I was able to make it in time!

The concert itself was SO MUCH FUN! You could say the style of music from Shoumetsu Toshi is a kind of EDM, which Kato Hiroyoshi, one of the composers for the game, is a major fan. The majority of the tunes had all of us jumping and pumping our arms; we were all pretty sweaty after just a little while.

Throughout the show, the music segments would give way to acting segments where Asai Ayaka, the seiyuu for Souma, the main protagonist Yuki’s little brother. I was never able to get very far into the game because of all the massive grinding and leveling up of your characters you need to do, so I never really knew how the story ended, but I knew enough to not be entirely confused with these segments.

All four of the walls were entirely decked out with LED lights that displayed character illustrations from the game, scenic shots, and more. There were several moments during the recitation segments where the entire room was filled with a flash of bright, red lights. It really helped you to emote with the character and feel his pain and anguish.

There was one particular sketch that moved me so emotionally that I couldn’t help but sob through the whole thing, and I wasn’t the only one. Everyone around me, on either side, in front and behind me–even the tall dude to my right–we were all pretty well sobbing. The segment ended with the audience singing “Stay with me forever…” to give Souma the courage and strength to continue on… and SAK-san ripping the script book from Asai and chucking it to the ground.

This concert was also Emi’s last performance before going on maternity leave with her second child. <3

I had a premium ticket, so we were given some really nice goodies which included a wristband, acrylic stand, and mini 2019 calendar. At the show, I also purchased the official staff book and concert T-shirt and was able to meet and briefly talk with Asai-san. I was glad to let her know how much I enjoyed and was moved by her performance.

I also talked briefly with Kawagoe-san beforehand on Twitter; he was also part of our group at GameTakt last year. At some point during the concert, I waved at him and he seemed to remember me. xD Such an awesome guy– they all are. It’s been a while now since the concert, but I want to say that just about everyone was in tears by the end– I seem to recall both Kato and Kawagoe a bit emotional.

It was such a great show, I was really upset that I only got a ticket for the evening show. The two girls behind me mentioned that they had gone to the afternoon show and still cried just the same in the evening show. haha But, this concert was subtitled “Vol.1”, so hopefully there will be a similar show again sometime in the future! I really liked the smaller, live house sort of feel. This sort of music begs to be danced to, so it was perfect!

As for the game, the newest update “Ver 0.” was released that night! Each new version still allows you to play all chapters in the story, but adds a lot more aspects to the overall game– new chapters, characters, items, etc.

Shoumetsu Toshi is also getting an anime version, which will be released later this April. More information can be found on the official site for the anime here.