Sakamoto Maaya 15th Anniversary Live in Budokan – Gift
Finally got the time to sit down and write something about Maaya’s 31st March Budokan live. Billed as a one-night only event to commemorate her 15th anniversary in the business as well as her 30th birthday, it was an event that had long been pencilled into my calendar as ‘must attend’, the prospect of hearing her play all her hits was way too tempting. I’m sure it was the same for loads of others since all the tickets were sold out even before the general sales opened…til they actually put up extra standing tickets for sale the day before the event.
Now declaring myself as a hardcore Maaya fan would be a bald-faced lie, but I can safely say she’s the seiyuu-singer I’ve been following for the longest amount of time. At least 10 years anyway, since I first got intro-ed to her music through Card Captor Sakura. Unlike others who went off her music once the Kanno collaboration ended, I’ve always kept up a keen interest in Maaya’s musical activities in addition to her anime/game voice work, which has definitely ramped up in recent times compared to the earlier part of her career – I’m sure that she’s been getting a lot more fangirls after Kuroshitsuji and Ouran!
What I can say is that it’s definitely been an interesting ride watching her progress over the years and like the 8,000+ other people who came for the live, I feel blessed to have celebrated this remarkable milestone with her. (Not so) brief, jumbled thoughts about the Budokan live follow.
The crowd
Maaya’s fans are definitely much more mainstream than your average seiyuu idol. Ratio was pretty close to 50:50 gender-wise – yes, that means there were loads and loads of girls. Just before the doors opened, I was queuing in front of a group of girls my age who were listing down the things they liked about Maaya and it went something like ‘I love her style, her hair and her make-up. I think she’s so elegant, the way she carries herself‘…yeap, definitely not your typical otaku crowd.
Most of the people queuing early for goods were in their mid-20s to mid-30s, there certainly weren’t that many students or high-schoolers (think people reading novels & auto magazines instead of manga & Newtype). Wota were almost non-existent and I estimate there were at best, 50-100 lightsticks throughout the whole arena. I spotted 1 pink light and 1 dude with UO, haha. You know that otagei is NOT going to be on the menu what with lightsticks not being amongst the goods on offer and besides, Maaya’s material hardly lends itself to frantic jumping. Synchronised clapping was a constant feature of the night though, and I seriously clapped my hands sore (and somehow developed blisters on my feet 0_o).
Seiyuu + other anisong people who attended the show (sourced from blogs + Twitter): Namikawa Daisuke, Miki Shinichiro, Miyano Mamoru, Horie Yui, Asano Masumi, Washizaki Takeshi, Okiayu Ryotaro, May’n, Noto Mamiko, Hino Satoshi, Kiyoura Natsumi, Aa (savage genius), Nanri Yuuka & ROUND TABLE. I also spotted amongst the flower arrangements on display in front of the Budokan, flowers from CLAMP, May’n, Kawamori Shoji, h-wonder and Iwasato Yuho. Didn’t get a decent shot of them cos I’m too short and there were just too many people there…
Goods
Got in the line around 10:30am (booth opens at 12pm) and there was a sizeable queue already. By the time I’d gotten everything from the three different goods areas it was past 1pm…the CD queue was much longer than I thought it’d be, with Maaya’s entire back catalogue for sale – closer to the live, I noticed they had sold out 2 of the CDs (one was the Gift single, the other one I can’t quite recall).
As for the special goods it was fairly low-key, the only novelty item on offer was the box of 12 Tirol chocolates which were limited to one per person (and they sold out). I pretty much grabbed everything bar that crazily expensive and totally-not-worth-it towel (5000yen, and it’s not even that big) and the phone strap, which is something I have zero use for. Also grabbed the everywhere CD with the special slip case and plonked down 500yen for a go at the Maaya Gacha-gacha corner which netted me…2 more chocolates and a magnet/bookmarker thing. Uhhh not worth it, methinks. Oh and of course, they were selling overpriced opera glasses inside the arena. You don’t really need them unless you’ve got tunnel vision, the thing about the Budokan is that you’ll definitely be able to see the stage no matter how nose-bleedingly high your seat is.
So just quickly listing down what I got:
3x t-shirt (1 design A – black, design B – 1 light blue & 1 pink)
1x pamphlet
1x charity postcard set
1x Tirol chocolate box
1x hand towel
1x shopping bag
1x everywhere CD (comes with special slip case, clear file + postcard)
A close-up shot of the chocolate box. Covers for her albums. I quite dislike Tirol chocolates, so I’m not sure what to do with them…maybe send it to Minorin or something.
The Live
The whole event was slick – everything from the lighting to the band to Maaya’s singing was like a well-oiled machine…well, except for some sound issues with the mic screeching, which was actually quite off-putting.
Thankfully I knew almost all the songs she performed, even the more recent ones most people aren’t too familiar with. I think Feel Myself and Koucha were the only ones where I was kinda scratching my head thinking ‘Where have I heard that one before?’ but otherwise, it was great song after great song after great song. I don’t have much to say about the costumes, except that I’ve seen worse. This guy’s post has nice little sketches of the outfits Maaya wore throughout the night.
Anyway, quick play-by-play of the songs.
1.Gift
A little after 6:30pm, the lights were dimmed and off we went. From the center of the stage, the hexagonal structure (actually a bunch of monitors) lifted to reveal Maaya in what is best described as a gift-box outfit, singing the opening lines of Gift. I really didn’t expect her to open the show with this, I kind of thought it would be in the encore.
2.Feel Myself
I think it wasn’t until the end of the song that I was realised what it was, thanks to the Feel myself, motto tsuyoku lyrics.
3.Purachina (プラチナ)
The first song that got a huge cheer from the crowd and invited loads of clapping (rather badly too). Maaya worked the stage a bit on this, but there were some parts that she either didn’t sing into the mic too well, or forgot the words to. I’m guessing it’s the former.
4.blind summer fish
Wooooh, something I had been keeping my fingers crossed Maaya would sing. Probably not one of her more well-known songs and in the end, the only song from Easy Listening to get played. Which is better than Yuunagi Loop of course, which got zero songs played ^^;
5.Hemisphere (ヘミソフィア)
This was exhilaratingly good. The lighting matched the pulsating urgency of the song and Maaya didn’t miss a beat at all. Other performers would have stumbled through that mouthful of a chorus.
6.Yukka (ユッカ)
Very, very pleased to hear this one live. It’s from her Dive album (1998).
7.30minutes night flight
One of my favourite Maaya songs on record, but I didn’t think it worked extremely well live thanks to its heavy electronic backing. Music kind of drowned her out at times.
8.Remedy
A more recent song from Kazeyomi. I was happy that Maaya picked this for everywhere ahead of Ame ga Furu. Pretty on record, pretty live.
9.Koucha (紅茶)
Honestly had no idea what this was when Maaya was singing it LOL. Passed me by fairly quickly.
10.SONIC BOOM
I swear I nearly fell over the railing when the string section started off the song. Totally did not expect Maaya to sing this since it is not on the hits album, neither was it on the We Are Kazeyomi! DVD (don’t know if she sang it on the tour at all or not). Did I ever mention that I love this to bits? It’s the The Indigo fan in me (Ichikawa wrote the song) that was screaming.
11.Drum & percussion solo + Kiseki no Umi (奇跡の海)
While Maaya dashed off for a costume change, her drummer Sano Yasuo and percussionist Misawa Izumi got to do their thing for a bit and I got the nagging feeling that Kiseki no Umi was coming up next and indeed it was, with Maaya rising up to center stage in a white dress to give a near flawless performance of one of her most famous songs. The back-up vocals on this were sublime.
12.gravity
As always Maaya’s English is a bit off but there was nothing off about her singing. Beautiful.
13.Kazamidori (カザミドリ)
Not one of my favourite Maaya songs, but I do think she chose it for the lyrics (being born in spring, new encounters and all that).
14.Daniel (ダニエル)
I reallllly like this when it’s done acoustically (like on the Shonen Alice unplugged live) and I got my wish, with Maaya standing right at stagefront accompanied by just Ishinari Masato on guitar. Her voice rang pure and true, and it was breathtaking.
15.Kanno Yoko medley (Special guest: Kanno Yoko)
The medley was in one word, awesome. Starting off with Yakusoku wa Iranai on piano which segued into Yubiwa, Maaya kept throwing in random lines from random songs that you just didn’t know what would come next. Hearing the opening strains of Tell Me What the Rain Knows (final ending from Wolf’s Rain) was a jawdropping moment for me, though I was amused that Triangler was reduced to just the opening line and rather aggrieved that the same happened to tune the rainbow, one of my personal favourites. Another nice bit was during Yoake no Octave, where Maaya switched the lyrics up a bit to go ‘Tirol chocolates on Valentine’s day, Budokan live on (my) birthday’. Woot. Other songs in the medley – Active Heart, Alkaloid and Choco to Yuuki. Oh, and the segment ended with a bit of a Happy Birthday song for Maaya by Yoko.
16.Get No Satisfaction!
Hahahahahahahaha. Okay, I do like this song a lot and Maaya really got the crowd going but her (electric) guitar-playing is just no good. And she only had like…1 or 2 chords to play. The crowd predictably lapped it up and gave her efforts a huge round of applause.
17.Mameshiba (マメシバ)
I think I spaced out a bit on Mameshiba. It’s never really been one of my favourites…
18.Private Sky
…but then neither has Private Sky (c/w to Magic Number) and it was a total blast live. The You’ll be my boyfriend, I’ll be your girlfriend refrain had everyone up on their feet.
19.Hikari Are (光あれ)
Aaaaahhhh this was great to hear live, definitely one of her best ‘not a single’ tracks.. Maaya ran to the front of the stage and got raised on a platform during the song.
20.I.D.
A rather downtempo ‘end’ to the evening.
Encore:
There was an extra drum set on stage and Maaya started to introduce another special guest (Suzuki Shoko) when they wheeled out a birthday cake (chocolate). She was a little bit miffed since she’d already told her staff NO SURPRISES PLEASE but oh well. The crowd sang her Happy Birthday and she blew out the candles… and missed one. After taking a small piece of the cake and eating it, Maaya launched straight into…
21.Kazemachi Jet (風待ちジェット)
…eh? Kazemachi isn’t on everywhere so I just kinda assumed it wouldn’t be sung tonight either, but it was. Maaya and her backing singers got everyone to follow the hand movements during the chorus parts (手を手を・・・). It was really fun!
22.Magic Number (マジックナンバー)
Gosh, I waited so long to hear this I was almost convinced it had been left off the setlist. Maaya’s most recent single (Kobato. OP) and another one of my faves, the audience was totally up for this.
23.everywhere
Maaya’s first self-composed and self-written song. She spent the better part of 10 minutes talking about how she came around to writing it (on a piano in some remote hut in a mountain in Italy) during her month-long ’self-discovery’ trip around Europe last year. The first part of the song had just Maaya singing and playing the piano before the band launched in for the latter half, and it was pretty emotional. I’m still not overly keen on the tune itself though.
24.Pocket o Kara ni Shite (ポケットを空にして)
I was trying to count off the songs that didn’t get performed in my head (Loop, Pilot, Uchuu Hikoushi no Uta, Saigo no Kajitsu) but totally forgot about Poketto. How could I, right? Maaya does this every live! She got Yoko (on accordion) and Shoko back on stage and together with her backing singers, walked all the way across every part of the stage while getting the crowd to sing along to the chorus. As fun as you see it on DVDs, and a perfect end to a perfect evening.
MCs
Maaya was definitely angling for the crowd to shout Kawaii!!! at her at every opportunity while she showed off her costumes by…shaking her butt. Maaya shaking her butt. Doesn’t really compute, but it did happen a couple of times. The crowd interaction was good – with the North stands (where I was seated) being opened up for the live Maaya had to work the stage a bit to cater for all 360 degrees. Most of the time we got to stare at her backside but she did try to reach out to us poor souls by waving a lot.
Stuff I remember from the MCs:
-There was a point (probably during I.D) where Maaya was reflecting on her teenage years and someone in the crowd screamed ‘YOU WERE CUTE THEN’ and Maaya replied with ‘I still am, now’.
-Maaya went to take a sip of water and a guy shouted ‘OISHIII’ and she replied ‘Futsuu’ (it tastes normal). ‘Water is water, right? This is gonna get made into a DVD so it’s kinda funny to have someone shouting Oishiii! in the background’, or words to that effect.
-So many girls shouting Maaaaaya during the MCs. I heard one particularly loud ‘Aishiteru yo, Maaya!‘ (I love you, Maaya). From a girl, yes.
-She was so busy with preparations for the live that she forgot it was her birthday and ended up going to bed early (around 11:30pm) on the final night of her 20s. She apologised to the dozens of people who mailed her with birthday wishes, because she was already asleep.
-Her white dress is a bit like a wedding dress, and she commented that she was wearing one ‘before I become a bride’. No truth to those Suzumura Kenichi rumours then?
-Maaya apologised for the steep price of the pamphlet (3500yen 高いよね？), although she did kind of plug it by talking about the ’semi-nude’ (no not really, more like the top half of her back 
) photos taken by Kanno Yoko for the book. She also urged people to buy the charity postcards, one of which has her own designs on it. She didn’t apologise for that 5000yen towel though >_>
Oh, and damn the people in arena seats for getting the Gift balloons that started flowing out from up top at the end.
Had a great time, definitely would pay up to see more Maaya lives in the future. Maybe a 25th anniversary Tokyo Dome concert? A big shout out to Moy and HY who I spent most of the day with, it was fantastic fun even if we did get kicked out of McDonalds
Themocracy
OMG SONIC BOOM!!!!
Sadly I’m not as much of a Maaya music follower but I do love the few tracks of hers I listen to. Glad you had a blast though!
(Maaya shaking her butt = completely does not compute XD)
Awww thank you for this. I really hope the dvd will come soon
You guys got kicked out of McDonalds? How’d ya manage that?
But dear lord I’m looking forward to the DVD of this. I think the song that got me into Maaya was definitely…Yubiwa.
Lol not really kicked out, more like ‘asked nicely to leave’ cos people wanted our seats
I love on that blog you linked the sketches look like Shiki.
Sounds like a blast all around. I really want to see pictures of what she looked like now.
Heh I’m sure live reports will start to filter in pretty soon.
Bah, no loop ?
(I think thats the title from the tsubasa song). Is 8k people like… a full budokan?
The live was sold out the day general ticket sales open… and errr I think Budokan is probably around 14k max. Depends on how many stands they open up.
Thanks so much for the write up. Your blog made many of us who could never attend – catch a glimpse of the night.
Although a lifelong fan of Sakamoto, I still feel her greatest talent lies in her voice acting (which she mostly does). And NOT as Lightning or the new Evangelion girl or Shiki, her voicework there appear amateurish to me. Its Ouran Host Club or Chrona from Soul Eater.
Fantastic stuff. Keep writing
Thanks for the comments!
Actually Maaya does more dubbing work than anime voice acting, but guess I can’t comment about stuff I’ve never heard.
I actually like all the songs you don’t like… but then again I might be a bigger maaya fan in some ways~
I’m pretty sure that’s because we have different tastes in music rather than who’s a bigger fan
yeah, that’s what I mean. her music overlaps with my tastes more :p
[...] Read j1m0ne’s full report here. [...]
[...] more west coast cons these days. But that’s also because I decided to not go to Japan to see this thing, so I figured I ought to cut back even more [...]
Thanks for the report. I first got to know her with Tsubasa Chronicle.
Hi there! I’m from Malaysia too (I was a bit shocked and happy after reading that you’re a Malaysian!), just in the peninsula ^_~
Wow, live performances are always great! Especially the ones that has a special commemoration to it
Would look forward to the days I will be a part of these kind of events 
[...] el SONIC BOOM y el Kazemachi Jet ^^ Podéis leer una review extensa del concierto en inglés en el blog de j1m0ne (quien también escaneó la imagen de arriba), mientras que el libreto recopilatorio sobre la vida [...]