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Late last month May’n announced a concert in Los Angeles at the Musician’s Institute as part of her Dots and Lines 10th Anniversary World Tour.  Set for July 17, it marks her first return to the mainland United States since 2012 (concert report here).  I have to say I was a little bummed because the 17th happens to be a Thursday.  Considering that I’ve already taken a bunch of time off that month I would probably have to fly down day-of and take an early morning flight back in time for work.

Luckily for me that isn’t a problem because she later announced a second concert in San Francisco.  This one is set for July 20, a Sunday.  The venue of choice is Slim’s and it’s one I’m very well acquainted with.  We covered Stereopony’s concert there and I’ve seen many a metal show within those walls.  It’s a small venue but that just means you’ll be closer to May’n.  Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m in the press of the crowd that makes it feel small.

She’ll also be popping up at J-Pop Summit for a quick hello.  I’m a big fan of J-Pop Summit and have been going for the last four or so years.  They’ve had many a musical act ranging from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Kylee, the Akabane Vulgars, and LovendoR.  Best of all it’s free so head on over to Japantown for both Saturday and Sunday (July 19 and 20).

May’n’s first major debut was in 2008 as the singing voice of Macross Frontier’s Sheryl Nome  and she has continued to grow since then.  It’s almost hard to believe that six years have passed since then.  She’s most recently done songs for the anime series Blood Lad and Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha and she shows no signs of stopping.  Her 10th anniversary tour has been running since February and has dates through November.

Tickets are $45 in advance (buy it from the box office to avoid a fee), $50 at the door, and $100 for a meet and greet VIP ticket.  An autograph is included.

I’ll see you there.

A list of the global tour’s future stops is as follows:

May 25 - Ibaraki, JP - Mito VOICE
June 1 - Taipei, TW - Neo Studio
June 2 - Taipei, TW - Neo Studio
June 5 - Kyoto, JP - Kyoto FANJ
June 7 - Fukui, JP -  Fukui Hibiki no Hall
June 8 - Toyama, JP - Toyama MAIRO
June 21 - Chiba, JP - Kashiwa PALLOZA
July 5 - Iwate, JP - Morioka Club CHANGE WAVE
July 6 - Akita, JP - Akita Club SWINDLE
July 12 - Yamanashi, JP - Kofu CONVINCTION
July 17 - Los Angeles, US - Musician’s Institute
July 20 - San Francisco, US - Slim’s
August 24 - Tokyo, JP - Zepp Tokyo
October 4 - Seoul, KR - V-HALL
October 31 - Shanghai, CN - Shanghai Center Theater
November 2 - Guangzhou, CN - Guangzhou Bud Theater

Later this April Yoshiki will embark on his Yoshiki Classical World Tour.  For many Yoshiki needs no more introduction than the following: X-Japan.  He is the leader and drummer for the Japanese rock megagroup.  He has become much more than just a metal musician over the years and his fingerprints can be seen on many other industries including comic books, headphones, and even Hello Kitty (the aptly named Yoshikitty).

As the name might suggest it is a tour orchestral in nature.  Yoshiki’s album “Yoshiki Classical” was released last summer and quickly shot up the charts around the world.  It includes covers of X Japan songs as well as others.  As for the actual contents of the tour it’s anyone’s guess; the mini-concert in February had a few things we’ve heard in this format and others we haven’t.  Consider the album a preview of what you might here.  What we do know is that it’ll be Yoshiki on piano with a string quartet accompaniment.

He has labeled it “part one” which hints at more shows to come.  If none are near enough to you right now there’s still hope.

The tour kicks off in Costa Mesa, California on April 25th and stops by my neck of the woods on the 28th.  It later heads to Mexico, Europe, and finally Asia.

Tickets, at least for San Francisco, range between $30 for the highest seats and $100 for the closest.  Not too shabby.

Check out yoshiki.net for more info.
Here’s a rundown of the dates:

April 25 (F), USA - Costa Mesa - Segerstrom Center of the Arts
April 28 (M), USA - San Francisco - Davies Symphony Hall
May 3 (Sa), MX - Mexico City - Blackberry Auditorium
May 10 (Sa), CA - Toronto - Queen Elizabeth Theater (CANCELLED)
May 21 (W), RU - Moscow - Crocus City Hall
May 23 (F), DE - Berlin - Tempodrom
May 26 (M), FR - Paris - Le Trianon
May 29 (Th), UK - London - Royal Festival Hall
June 6 (F), CH - Beijing - Beijing Exhibition Center
June 8 (Su), CH - Shanghai - Oriental Arts
June 10 (Tu), TH - Bangkok - Royal Jubilee Hall
June 13 (F), CH - Taipei - NK101 Taipei
June 16 (M), JP - Tokyo - Metropolitan Theater
June 17 (Tu), JP - Osaka - The Symphony Hall

A couple of musical tidbits today.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu visited San Francisco as part of her KPP NANDA WORLD TOUR. I’ve got the report and some photos over here.

Rock legend Yoshiki just announced the Yoshiki Classical World Tour.  He’ll be on piano with a string section accompaniment.  Read up here.

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga, graphic novels and anime in North America, has announced a partnership with leading online anime retailer and video publisher Right Stuf, Inc. Right Stuf will offer annual subscriptions to the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP digital manga magazine, bundled with their Got Anime membership, offering exclusive product discounts and other offers. Read the rest of this entry »

VIZ Media announces a special digital manga discount on the hit supernatural action adventure series.BLUE EXORCIST. For a limited time only from February 22nd until March 3rd, fans can check out the inspiration for the anime debuting this weekend on Adult Swim’s Toonami block with $1.00 off the digital MSRP (regularly $6.99) on Volumes 1-10 of the hit series, making all volumes available for only $5.99 (U.S. / CAN) each. The sale price will be available through the VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga app for iOS and Android, and special pricing may be available through the digital partners storefronts for Nook, Kindle, GooglePlay, iBooks and Kobo. Read the rest of this entry »

February 15th.  A nice night for a concert.  San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom played host to the second stop of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s “KPP NANDA COLLECTION 2014 WORLD TOUR.”

Kyary, at the ripe old age of 21, is a pop force to be reckoned with.  Her trademark song is PONPONPON and it has made the rounds on Youtube and Nico Nico garnering tens of millions of views around the world.  She wasn’t always a singer but she’s definitely made a place for herself.  Kyary started as a fashion model and blogger and her eclectic style has entered both her music and the videos that spring from them.

The show started right on the dot at 8pm.  No sound check, no setup, just Kyary and her dancers ready to go.  We saw this group at the J-Pop Summit last year and they’re as much a part of the show as Kyary is.  They were dressed in a toy motif that matched the background props.  The crowd erupted in cheers when they hit the stage and the night just went from there.

Kyary’s music is infectious to say the least.  Electronic beats provided by CAPSULE’s Yasutaka Nakata filled the air and your head.  Even if this isn’t your thing you unconsciously start bobbing your head and moving your feet.  Staring the night was a few favorites like Invader Invader, Ninja Re Bang Bang, and Furisodeshon.  About halfway through Kyary introduced her newest single, Yume no Hajima Ring Ring.  It’s about graduation, the goodbyes to your friends and teachers, and the dreams and road ahead.  It’s only been performed live a handful of times and this is the second time for both America and anywhere outside of Japan.

Rounding out the set list were PONPONPON and Fashion Monster.  When Kyary says jump, you jump, and damn, the floor moved.  I’m not sure what it’s rated for but all those bodies created enough kinetic energy to make it bounce.  After Fashion Monster ended and Kyary exited with the stage going dark the chants began: “Kyary, Kyary, Kyary!”  I was tempted to yell “on-ko-re!” in Japanese fashion but knew it wasn’t needed.    The final two songs were Candy Candy and Chan Chaka Chan Chan and they had the message of “goodbye, farewell, may we meet again.”  A great way to end things.

Overall it was a fast set composed of 20 songs spanning roughly 90 minutes.  The posted schedule had the show slated for 8-930pm and they did not veer from it.  The meet and greet was to start at 10pm which gave fans 30 minutes to buy from the very slammed merch table.  This seems like the perfect time to mention Sidestep, a relatively new app for both iphone and Android which allows fans to pre-pay for merch and pick it up at show.  Fans can even have items shipped directly to your house which can come in handy if a certain size sells out at the show or you are unable to attend.  I picked up one of the white tour shirts as my “proof of existence.”

Not too many of the shows I see at the Regency Ballroom sell out but Kyary managed to do it.  It definitely felt that way too; way more packed than what I’ve seen in the past and that’s not even taking into consideration that a good number of them were upstairs.  Fans were dancing and having a great time.

There was a light rain that continued throughout the night.  Even the rain knows not to mess with Kyary til after her concert.

The next stop on the tour is in Los Angeles at Club Nokia on Sunday.  This is followed a short break til the next trio of North American performances in Chicago, Toronto, and New York.  After that is another break followed by a jaunt to Australia and Hong Kong, Europe, and then back to Asia to finish things off.

Kyary, please come back to San Francisco.  I’m going to need another fix.

Costume #2

Costume #3 for the Encore

The full list of performances is as follows:

February 13 (Th), USA - Seattle - The Showbox
February 15 (Sa), USA - San Francisco - The Regency Ballroom
February 16 (Su), USA - Los Angeles - LA Live (Club Nokia)
March 5 (W), USA - Chicago - House of Blues
March 7 (F), CA - Toronto - Sound Academy
March 8 (Sa), USA - New York - Best Buy Theater
March 23 (Su), AU - Sydney - The Metro Theater
April 5 (Sa), CN - Hong Kong - ROTUNDA 3
April 25 (F), FR - Paris - Bataclan
April 27 (Su), DE - Cologne - Gloria Theater
April 29 (Tu), UK - London - Shepherd’s Bush Empire
May 17 (Sa), JP - Tokyo - Zepp Tokyo
May 18 (Su), JP - Tokyo - Zepp Tokyo
May 30 (F), TW - Taipei - Taipei International Convention Center
June 21 (Sa), SG - Singapore - Japan Music Festival
June 28 (Sa), TH - Bangkok - Bangkok Convention Center

Please check with each venue for time and ticketing information.

Kyary’s official English Facebook fan club is located here:

http://www.facebook.com/KPP.FC

Her twitter is at:

https://twitter.com/pamyurin

The full setlist:

OP - VTR
1. Nanda Collection
2. Invader Invader
3. Mi
4. Ninja Re Bang Bangbang
5. Kyary An-An
6. Furisodeshon

Inter Mission

7. Pamyu Pamyu Revolution
8. Mottai Night Land
9. Sungoi Aura
10. Kura Kura
11. Super Scooter Happy (Capsule cover)
12. Yume no Hajima Ring Ring
13. Saigo no Ice Cream
14. Tsukematsukeru

Inter Mission

15. Kyary no March
16. Cherry Bonbon
17. PONPONPON
18. Fashion Monster

Encore
19. Candy Candy
20. Chan Chaka Chan Chan

Album/single statistics:

Moshi Moshi Harajuku: 3 songs
Pamyu Pamyu Revolution:5
Nanda Collection: 9
Mottai Night Land: 2
Yume no Hajima Ring Ring: 1

Posted in Articles, Features, Convention / Event Reports | 1 Comment »

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu World Tour 2014 - “KPP NANDA COLLECTION”

February 6th, 2014

In about a week Kyary Pamyu Pamyu will begin her global concert tour titled the “KPP NANDA COLLECTION.” About six months ago Kyary stopped by San Francisco for the annual J-Pop Summit and participated in a four-act concert alongside LoVendoЯ (led by ex-Morning Musume’s Reina Tanaka), local Japanese-American singer Kylee, and beatbox master Daichi. Kyary made it a point to announce that there would be another tour and that San Francisco would be included. Her previous tour came as close as Los Angeles but for a lot of us that’s a bit too far.

For those of you unfamiliar with her, Kyary started out as a fashion blogger and model. In mid 2011 she added musician to her repertoire and released the single “Ponponpon” which exploded across the internet and currently has over 60 million views on YouTube. Her musical style can be described as electronica-pop and her three studio albums have become more and more popular throughout the world. During 2013 she began to spread globally with features in the French magazine Elle and the Wall Street Journal among other things. Her most recent album, 2013’s “Nanda Collection,” debuted at number two on the Billboard Top World Albums chart and at number one in Japan. A quick way of describing her is “Japanese Lady Gaga” and Kyary has even mentioned Lady Gaga and Katy Perry as a couple of her inspirations for both music and fashion. Her music is produced by Yasutaka Nakata, driving force behind CAPSULE and producer of the group Perfume.

The KPP NANDA COLLECTION begins in America at Seattle’s Showbox on February 13. A quick jaunt south to San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom on the 15th is followed by Los Angeles’ LA Live (Club Nokia) on the 16th. After a two week break it then heads east to Chicago, north to Toronto, and finally New York City. If you’re even remotely near any of those locations I suggest you come and see her. Future concert dates are in Australia, Hong Kong, Europe, and finally returning to Asia. The final tour date is on June 28th in Bangkok, Thailand.

We can expect mainstay songs like Ponponpon, Fashion Monster, and Invader Invader. There is a possibility that Kyary’s new single, “Yume no Hajimarinrin,” will be part of the show. It officially drops on February 26th but was performed last month at her KPP Magical Wonder Castle shows.  Kyary’s trademark dancers should also be on deck and they’re always fun to watch.

As of now tickets are available for all the US dates minus the Seattle show which is sold out. From experience I can say that The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco has a good sized capacity and will probably have tickets available even on the night of the show. If you want to be sure go and buy your tickets ahead of time either through AXS or in person at The Warfield to avoid a service charge. Tickets are reasonably priced in the mid-$20s and for the truly dedicated there are VIP tickets for the San Francisco ($100) and Los Angeles ($150) shows. The VIP package includes both entry with a balcony seat as well as a post-show meet and greet. At the meet and greet staff will help take your photo. Sadly, no autographs. All other tickets should be assumed to be standing room only.

The full list of dates is as follows:

February 13, USA - Seattle - The Showbox
February 15, USA - San Francisco - The Regency Ballroom
February 16, USA - Los Angeles - LA Live (Club Nokia)
March 5, USA - Chicago - House of Blues
March 7, CA - Toronto - Sound Academy
March 8, USA - New York - Best Buy Theater
March 23, AU - Sydney - The Metro Theater
April 5, CN - Hong Kong - ROTUNDA 3
April 25, FR - Paris - Bataclan
April 27, DE - Cologne - Gloria Theater
April 29, UK - London - Shepherd’s Bush Empire
May 17, JP - Tokyo - Zepp Tokyo
May 18, JP - Tokyo - Zepp Tokyo
May 30, TW - Taipei - Taipei International Convention Center
June 21, SG - Singapore - Japan Music Festival
June 28, TH - Bangkok - Bangkok Convention Center

Posted in Articles, Features, Convention / Event Reports | No Comments »

Happy New Year!

January 1st, 2014

The staff at Animesou would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Posted in News, Site | No Comments »

Site Update: Accel World Blu-Ray Set 1 Review.

December 22nd, 2013

Today I review Viz Media’s Accel World Blu-Ray Set 1. 3 more days to Christmas!

Posted in News, Site | No Comments »

Accel World (Blu-Ray) Set 1

December 22nd, 2013

Synopsis:
In the year 2046, people use portable devices called Neuro-linkers to manage their daily lives in virtual reality networks. But advances in technology haven’t managed to do away with bullies, and 13-year old Haruyuki Arita finds himself a frequent target. Haruyuki escapes his miserable life in virtual games-until the day Kuroyukihime, the most popular girl in school, introduces him to a mysterious program called Brain Burst and virtual reality called the Accel World.

Review:
Haruyuki Arita is your typical bully target. He is short and chubby with a low self-esteem. Based in the year 2046, neuro-technology has advanced so much that everyone uses a device over their neck called the neuro-link. The neuro-link allows users to access information on demand and allows the user to experience a virtual environment; think Google glasses, but even more advanced. Haru hates himself for being weak, and his only escape is to log into the school’s virtual network and attain the highest scores in the game. With his high scores, he catches the attention of the school’s student council vice president, Kuroyukihime (Black Snow Princess). After some commotion, the vice president introduces a game called Brain Burst to Haru.

In Brain Burst, the world feels like it is in a stand still. But in actuality, it only appears that way for the users, because their senses are being accelerated in the real world. At the end of Kuro-hime and Haru’s meeting, she warns him to turn off his neuro-link from the global net when he is out of school, but of course things happen and he eventually forgets about it. At the end of the first episode, Haru is thrust into the accelerated world as Silver Crow and will have to fight in order to stay in the game!

The result is obvious, as a newbie, Haru is defeated with ease and left wondering what the heck did he just got himself into. What is the point of the Accel World and why was it created in the first place? As the story progresses we discover that Kuro-hime’s goal is to reach the maximum level ten, whereas, the other leaders are content on staying at level nine so that they can rule the accelerated world and continue to use brain bust in their daily lives. The penalty for losing while attempting to reach level ten is severe; the brain burst program will be wiped off clean. So we can understand why some people would happily prefer to stay idle on quest for level ten.

The Breakdown:
Accel World is a good anime, with nice characters, music and an attractive story. The interactions between the characters are great as well. The show has a bit of everything. The romance comedy of Kurohime, Haru and Chiyo. The action of the Accel World battles and the drama of how all this connects and plays out. It is definitely one of the best anime presents you can gift out this holiday season!

Posted in Reviews, Genre, Type, Company, Action, TV Series, Fantasy, Comedy, Viz Media | 1 Comment »

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