The Bonkurasu Brigade

After the pedo high that were the Karen Girls, what came next came from nowhere.

YAMANI YAMANI YAMANI. I haven’t found exactly what the exact spelling is but yes, the opening of fictionjunction YUUKA’s nowhere, an insert from Madlax written by the brilliant Yuji Kajira, started playing, with the lights still out. HOLY SHIT THEY ACTUALLY GOT YUUKA TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE AT ANIMELO! Then the hopes were sort of dashed when the lights went up againto reveal Minorin, Aa-chan of Savage Genius and Yozuca*. They pulled off the song very well though the chant was not done by them but a recording. As with most of the hit songs, the crowd got into the chant as well. Quite a shock to a song of an artiste who was not presentDuring the MC period, the three of them called themselves the Yamani Girls and struck a Charlie Angels’-esque pose.

Minorin then handed off the stage to Aa-chan who then proceeded to belt out two of her songs. What was interesting for me was not the two songs but during the MC in between. Aa-chan was so overcome by emotion that she started crying on stage. I didn’t manage to catch what she said. For what reason I could not fathom but the crowded started shouting encouragement at her. Sure, it was not very professional but then again, for most of the artistes in the line-up, Animelo 2008 in Saitama Super Arena would be the biggest stage that most of them would be performing on for the very first time. She did, however, pull herself together for her second song which she did flawlessly.

Following savage genius came an interesting dance intro, not bad I would have to say. When they formed up at the middle elevator, I was wondering who would be up next. ALL THIS TIME THESE TWELVE THOUSAND YEARS, I KNOW AISHITERUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. AKINO’S GENESIS OF AQUARION! This is one of the artistes whom I was really looking forward to perform. I really enjoyed Sousei no Aquarion but after a friend introduced to me this version, I instantly hooked by it. And yes, to hear them open with it brought tears to my eyes. I think in the whole arena, I was the only one who was shouting along to the english lyrics.

A pity that they did only the first verse but it did transition into Sousei, one of the best OPs in recent times. I had always wondered how a Japanese group could have done Genesis in such perfect English since the first time I heard it and my question answered in the MC session. Akino spoke in perfect English with a hint of an American accent and her Japanese had a heavy Western accent. This held true for the rest of Bless 4, who proved their talent when they did a short accappella introducing themselves, including a beat boxer. Their second song, without a surprise, was Go Tight, the second OP from the same show. Not as great a song as the first but a great performance nonetheless.

Next up was the duo of Gran Rodeo with two songs. Their sounds were more rock than I remember and it was sort of fitting that I was reminded of the Rolling Stones by their performance.For those who don’t know, GR is fronted by Kisho Taniyama, who is known for voicing roles such as Takayuki Narumi in Kimi ga Nozomu Eien and Kittan in Gurren Lagaan. This guy can really rock it out and those gold pants give him the street cred to do so.

And speaking of KimiNozo, Minami Kuriyabashi was the next performer. Every year, she never fails to astound us with a her outfits at Animelo. 2006 had this purple number that exposed her ample bosoms down the middle and a white dress for her female medley performance. 2007 was slightly more conservative with the only stand out being hotpants. This year, it was a gold dress that showed off a lot of leg and some furry material hiding her lower modesty, topped off with a goth loli-esque hat. She did Love Jump from Kurenai, Next Season from the current KimiNozo OVA and Shining Days from Mai Hime. Somehow, I was hoping Taniyama would pop out during Next Season and Chiaki Takahashi would interrupt the proceedings, something the crowd would have loved to see.

Then came suara who belted out two ballads, which are her forte, rather than fast paced songs like most of the line-up.

MINORIN! MINORIN! MINORIN! MINORIN! MINORIN! MINORIN! MINORIN! MINORIN! Her first two songs were no surprise, from her album. But the next one was quite interesting. Normally, there is an embargo on character songs at Animelo but this year, an expection was made for her. When Minorin announced that she was doing one complete with in character voicing, I was hoping that she would do Chiaki’s Kado na Kitai ni go Youjin, from Minami-Ke. The reason being that there is one version of the song that has Touma in the background giving comments and Nana Mizuki voices Touma. AND I WANT TO HEAR KONO BAKAYAROOOOOOO! LIVE! So I was a bit disappointed when it turned out to be Yuki Nagato’s song from Haruhi. Not that I don’t mind the song. She kept true to her promise by doing the dialogue portions of the song. And yes, the crowd went wild at the last phrase.

Most of the artistes up to this point did only three or two songs but all this thrown out of the window when Rinbu Revolution started playing. Minorin covered this song on the Buddy Masumi Okui tribute album. And we all know what’s coming up. SURPRISE SURPRISE! A DUET WITH MAKKUN!

After the duet, Makkun continued off with Insanity, the theme from the new Muv Luv: Alternative game, Total Eclipse. The song was a lot more rock sounding than her usual sounds. You would never know that she was not feeling well. More on that in the day two’s post.