The Bandai Namco Music Live Festival at Anime Friends 2024 took the stage for the first time at Anime Friends 2024, which took place in São Paulo, Brazil, from July 18th to the 21st. 140,000 guests came to the 21st iteration of the anime convention, making it one of the largest fan gatherings in South America.
Bandai Namco Music Live, which participated in the event, manages several music labels, including Lantis, Kiramune, and MoooD Records, representing a wide range of artists. Shuhei Kita, Sayaka Sasaki, ZAQ, nano.RIPE, and MindaRyn filled out the Bandai Namco Music Live Festival lineup, performing on Thursday, July 18th.
Popular Anime Music on Parade!
The curtain opened on the Bandai Namco Music Live Festival at Anime Friends 2024 at 6:00 p.m., starting with a video introducing the artists. The lights then came up on MindaRyn, who launched the live performances to resounding cheers.
The first song of the evening was “Survive”, the opening song for Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion. The rock music kicked things into high gear, getting the crowd fired up in an instant. It was followed by “Daylight” (the opening song for the second season of Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest), another high-energy performance. Switching to an acoustic guitar strung over her back, she shifted the mood and sang “Fireworks” (the ending song for the sixth episode of Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion), as well as her newest release, “Miracle Soup” (the second ending song for the third season of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime). Her voice spread through the space, mingling with the whimsical bubble effect and captivating the entire audience. MindaRyn rounded out her set with a rousing rendition of “BLACK STAR” (the first ending song for the tokusatsu drama series, Ultraman Blazar) and “Like Flames” (the second ending song for the second season of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime).
The stage lights dimmed, and Shuhei Kita’s name appeared on the screen. Starting with “Breakin’ through” (the opening song for the first season of Persona: Trinity Soul), a Brazilian fan favorite, he led straight into “Soul Phrase”, with the MC jumping in to announce the third song in the set: “Sekai no Hate ni Kimi ga Itemo”, from the anime series Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi 2. An interpreter was called up amid cheers to help facilitate a choreography tutorial for the next song, “Issei no Sei” (the opening song for Natsume’s Book of Friends), creating a real sense of unity among the crowd as they raised their hands in time with the mention of the song’s title. Shuhei Kita finished his set by singing “Sekai de Ichiban Koishiteru” (the opening song for the Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi series).
Sayaka Sasaki was the third artist to take to the stage, starting with the TV-sized version of “Zzz” (the ending song for Nichijou). Each song of Sayaka’s that the MC announced only got the crowd even more fired up, as she sang “Hitotsuboshi” (the ending song for Ultraman Taiga), “-Shirushi-” (the ending song for Kemono Jihen), “Break your world” (the opening song for the Senmon Kagura animated series), and “CHIASTOLITE” (the first season ending for Garo: The Carved Seal of Flames) in succession. She followed that with a cover near and dear to her heart: “The Biggest Dreamer” (from her SAYAKAVER. album; the opening song for Digimon Tamers). The Digimon series still has a strong cosplay and karaoke showing at this event, which earned this song plenty of cheers and applause. Her last song was “Atlantico Blue”, which was written after a Brazilian tour nine years ago, to “connect anime music fans on the other side of the world.”
ZAQ was the next to take to the stage, to calls in Portuguese that sounded closer to “Zakky”. She sang “Caste Room” and “Dance In The Game” from the Classroom of the Elite series. She followed that with a cover of her own song: “Guitar, Loneliness and Blue Planet” from Bocchi the Rock!, which made the audience go wild. After some words to the crowd, she sang “Seven Doors” (the opening song for Trinity Seven), and “BRAVER” (the opening song for Food Wars! Shougeki no Soma: The Third Plate). Riding on the crowd’s energy, she bumped it up another notch with her dazzling debut song, “Sparkling Daydream” (the opening song for Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions!), tying it perfectly to the next artist.
The last individual act was nano.RIPE. With the energy still going strong, the band took the stage and launched into their performance. Opening with “Hanano iro” (the opening song for Hanasaku Iroha), they moved into “Nanairo Biyori” (the opening song for Non Non Biyori), “Kyokyo Jitsujitsu” (the ending song for Food Wars! Shougeki no Soma: The Third Plate), then into the fan-favorite (as established by the earlier meet-and-greet) “Azalea” (the opening song for citrus). Everyone cheered along with the chorus, as smoke filled the stage. They fittingly finished their set with “Last Chapter” (the ending song for Food Wars! Shougeki no Soma: The Fifth Plate). While the audience was sad to see them go, that disappointment was quickly replaced by elation over the announcement of a special collaboration set.
Rare Collaborations You Can’t Even See in Japan!
The collaboration portion of the concert kicked off with Sayaka Sasaki and MindaRyn performing “Snow halation” (from the Love Live! TV series). After charming everyone with their powerful rock songs, they sent the audience into a daze with their adorable singing. And, just like in Japan, the space lit up with a sea of orange light ticks on the last chorus.
The artists didn’t even stop to soak in the atmosphere, with Sayaka Sasaki and Shuhei Kita launching straight into a high-voltage version of “THE HERO!!”, the opening song from One Punch Man. Wildly popular around the world, the audience was clearly thrilled to hear it.
MindaRyn changed up the vibe again with her debut song, “BLUE ROSE knows” (the ending song from By the Grace of the Gods), performing the piece with ZAQ. While the pair has performed this one plenty of times in the past, this was the first time they have done the full version.
Not to be outdone, ZAQ and Kimiko (the vocalist from nano.RIPE) teamed up to perform an energetic performance of the iconic anime song “God knows…” (featured in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya). Their powerful voices overlapped in perfect harmony, getting the crowd even more fired up. Kimiko and Shuhei Kita kept that energy going with “Omokage Warp” (the new opening song for Hanasaku Iroha). The set ended with all of the artists performing “Hana no Iro” (the opening song for Hanasaku Iroha). They took a picture with the entire audience from the stage, drawing the first Bandai Namco Music Live Festival at Anime Friends 2024 event to a fabulous close, filled with roaring cheers and applause.
“It Might Be Winter in Brazil, but It’s Hotter Here Than in Japan!”
Even after the concert ended on the first day, there was still plenty to do for the Anime Friends convention. All the performers had meet and greets on the 18th and 19th, while Shuhei Kita, Sayaka Sasaki, and nano.RIPE also held a Q&A session to answer questions from Brazilian fans.
In addition to the Bandai Namco Music Live Festival at Anime Friends 2024 event, nano.RIPE had their own concert on the 20th, while ZAQ and MindaRyn performed a two-header on the 21st. Of course, neither event was any less vibrant than the first day’s concert. The constant, passionate calls of the performers’ names had MindaRyn saying that “It’s my first time in Brazil, but this country’s the best!” ZAQ also mentioned that “It might be winter in Brazil, but it’s hotter here than in Japan!”
Anime music fever is only picking up, so next year’s convention is bound to be even wilder!
Photo by Guilherme Missumi
■Event Details
Performance:
Bandai Namco Music Live Festival at Anime Friends 2024
Date:
Thursday, July 18, 2024 *Local time
Location:
Pavilhão de Exposições do Distrito Anhembi (São Paulo, Brazil)
Event Website:
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