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21 Jul 2019

Tokyo 7th Sisters 5th Anniversary Live Report

by Shino, bbb, fc

fc: July. Possibly the worst month to be in Japan: humid and rainy, yet hot. Thankfully it wasn’t that hot like last year, but the on-and-off rain and stifling humidity weren’t pleasant. Still, there we were, for Tokyo 7th Sisters 5th Anniversary Live -SEASON OF LOVE- in Makuhari Messe. T7S has been at Makuhari Messe for many lives (specifically 3rd and 4th), but this was the first time in the International Exhibition Halls.

As with previous anniversary lives, we once again sent a flowerstand to represent the global community of T7S fans from around the world.

Thanks to everyone who donated!

Day 1

Shino: The flowerstands were placed in the building and free to view very early in the day, but closer to the live they closed off the portion near the entrance to check tickets. Unfortunately, our worldwide flowerstand was behind the barrier, and showing up later I could only get a good look for a few seconds before entering the venue proper.

fc: After getting some quick last minute buppan requests, I entered the hall. My seats were in D1, which were on the very left about halfway down. They weren’t particularly good seats by any means, but at least the stage was visible (partially thanks to the fact that I’m on the tall side).

bbb: I was very fortunate to have gotten A7 block for Day 1, was very excited to be so close to the main stage but turned out to be not as good as I expected (more on this later).

Shino: The seating chart was leaked on Twitter before the live, and there was some speculation there would be a moving stage. Not that that would have made my seat in block F3 any better, but either way it didn’t happen. Given that we finally got carts last year, graduating to such tech might have been a bit too soon.

Opening Video

fc: Before the live started, the voice of Memoru informed the crowd of the rules for the concert, continuing the pre-live Seventh Sisters trend. Then the lights dimmed, and the now standard date count up video began from the current date to 2034… but then it went one more, to 2035! (If you don’t understand why this is, please read EPISODE 4.0 AXiS.)

Shino: Come on, you have to do the required reading before class. After that they went through the characters performing at the live, showing every character including Susu which I thought was cheating but was actually spoils. I suppose I should have known! They showed every seiyuu in the pamphlet but also had a page for Susu.

1. FUNBARE☆RUNNER / 777☆SISTERS

fc: Because Saorin wasn’t able to make it this time (again), all the baton passes were one beat off, with a slight delay between the last pass and the crowd cheering…

2. MELODY IN THE POCKET / 777☆SISTERS

fc: I didn’t have the chance to watch the 4th Live BD before the live so I had forgotten the dance but it’s really nice (also got some flashbacks to the last episode of EPISODE 4.0 again).

Shino: I love Melody in the Pocket(以下、mitp)but I really do wish they wouldn’t keep doing it at the beginning of the live, it would be a lot better at the end. The third chorus would kill me.

3.夏のビードロ ☆ シンフォニー / 777☆SISTERS

fc: Our first new song! This song really embodies the summer motif that T7S loves. For this song, they got on carts in groups of three (one group of two) to visit the crowd.

bbb: Really love this song, forgot what move they did during the bridge but definitely sent chills down my spine.

MC / 777☆SISTERS

fc: They ended on the carts distributed surrounding the audience, and they did self-introductions cart by cart. Of course, Shizuka had a new Makuhari Messe pun ready, which I unfortunately don’t remember (they’ve been here so many times the puns are getting more and more convoluted) but she still ended with the classic 幕張メッセで頑張りマッセ! Thankfully one of the carts stopped close to where I was sitting, with Yukkii and Shiitamu in it, and of course when their turn came around we all wished Musubi happy birthday!

bbb: This part, I actually had to use the screens on the main stage to see the performers’ intros. The carts were pretty far away and at a weird angle. It was pretty funny seeing the surrounding people turned every which way, though. Definitely one of those moments where A block wasn’t as good.

Shino: Happy birthday Musubi! This was the first live in which I tried bringing binoculars, and it worked…okay. I could certainly see more than usual during this part, which was nice.

4. TRICK / Ci+LUS

fc: Wow Ci+LUS’s new outfits… I mean it’s just the CD cover art but damn. Before I thought bunny girl outfits were pretty boring but I’ve seen the light. Also the dance during the chorus has the pretty funny part where they take turns swinging both their arms above then below their head.

bbb: Didn’t see the fishnets tbh, maybe I need new glasses. These outfits though…. Erii is dangerous.

Shino: This song has calls but I didn’t really listen to it ahead of time so I did not know them that well, oops.

5. 空色スキップ / Ci+LUS

fc: Sadly this isn’t even the first time this song as been sung live, as QoP stole that honor by doing an acoustic cover of it during the first session of their solo live at Zepp Tokyo last month. The skyblue theme however matches well with T7S, though the audience was a bit hesitant whether or not to change their penlights to light blue or not and most people didn’t switch.

MC / Ci+LUS

July 13. I saw two wild bunny girls.

6. シトラスは片想い / Ci+LUS

fc: It wouldn’t be Ci+LUS without this song, and even better they got on carts to meet the audience. Though I was kinda sad that we didn’t get Aikotoba this time (papapayapapa etc).

7. YELLOW / Le☆S☆Ca

bbb: Can’t believe they dropped Yellow right off the bat. To be honest during Day 1 I was very unsure how to feel about the new Le☆S☆Ca. You could tell this rendition of YELLOW was different, despite being the same song. The outfits were really good, which I am glad is an ongoing trend during this live.

8. ひまわりのストーリー / Le☆S☆Ca

MC / Le☆S☆Ca

fc: This was the first MC for the new Le☆S☆Ca, and you could tell how nervous they were. As Kyouko’s new seiyuu, Inoue Honoka was supposed to lead the MC, but she wasn’t able to say her lines, and she became overwhelmed with emotion, resulting in a few awkward pauses. Hikarun had to come in and said:

「いつも通りだなぁっ、て」

bbb: I just died at this part. When Honoka (cv) suddenly repeated her Kyoko intro, I realized she forgot her line and Hikarun’s save so smooth and miraculous. Thank you, Hikarun, we need you more than ever now.

Shino: New Le☆S☆Ca has always been met with skepticism since their reveal, but when you hear Hikarun ask you to lend your support to the same Le☆S☆Ca you’ve always known and loved, how can you deny her?

😭😭😭

9. ひよこのうた / Le☆S☆Ca

fc: Motegi why Singlish la?

bbb: Thought I misheard the lyrics when the single came out but nope, there is Singlish. The screen can’t lie.

10. ミツバチ / Le☆S☆Ca

fc: I cried. All I can say is, please read the lyrics…

bbb: I didn’t read the lyrics. IMO it was for the better, since I was already breaking down every their voices choked up during the song.

11. ラバ × ラバ / WITCH NUMBER 4

fc: WITCH NUMBER 4 might have the best songs for calls in T7S, and this song is definitely up there. They’re amazingly fun to do live.

bbb: Oh yes, witch magic! Love to see my favourite digital witch unit up close, but Damina was facing away the whole time. This became an unfortunate trend for the weekend. The outfits were amazing, again.

12. 星屑 ☆ シーカー / WITCH NUMBER 4

fc: After wrapping up ラバ × ラバ, Haru said:

みんなのところに…いくよっ ❤️

which actually killed me, what a perfect segue into Hoshikuzu on carts.

13. さよならレイニーレイディ / SiSH

👰👰👰

fc: SiSH was up next, and I immediately gasped when I saw their outfits, which where June bride themed. Also, furicopying this is great fun.

Shino: I yelled that they were June brides to Shizu, the outfits are 10/10. June brides in July. Also after seeing it so many times I finally almost know the furicopy to this song.

bbb: Is furicopy yakkai…? I had an aisle seat, gonna take full advantage. Who knew it would be so fun.

14. プレシャス・セトラ / SiSH

fc: For this song SiSH boarded carts to meet the crowd. I clapped so hard during the chorus I hurt my left hand…

bbb: This song sounded different from the album recording, being a live band and the recording had a lot of electronic instruments. It was really refreshing.

MC / WITCH NUMBER 4, SiSH

fc: WITCH NUMBER 4 came back up to join SiSH for a short MC segment.

Shino: Their outfits were based off magicians this time, and Kumachan showed off a little of that “witch magic.” It was a magic fingers song where she ended up counting 11 fingers rather than 10, incredible. I was really hoping she’d do this the second day as well so I’d figure out the trick but alas, she did not.

fc: I was laughing at how excited she seemed to do her magic trick.

bbb: Kumachan messing up on her first try killed me.

15. 花咲キオトメ / 七花少女

fc: Congrats Nanabana on their debut live! Hana☆Saka☆Saka isn’t a real call but I did it anyway.

Shino: This live (well more accurately, seeing Shizu’s notes after the live) have ruined how I see pictures of Marinka now.

bbb: Hnnngh shihainin I’m trying to do my Nanabana intro but

MC / 七花少女

Shino: So I didn’t pay that much attention during this MC because in the block adjacent to ours, a man passed out, presumably of heat stroke. They had to get a wheelchair over and everything…after they finally got him out, I noticed the AC got ever so slightly stronger.

bbb: I commented to my renban the outfits had that maiden from the Austria highlands feel. Like that girl from The Sound of Music.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

16. スノードロップ / 七花少女

fc: Somehow I really like this song, it’s nice……

bbb: Live footage of fc liking a ballad.

17. SHAKE!!~フリフリしちゃえ~ / はる ☆ ジカ(ちいさな)

fc: Flails arms up and down like an idiot (accidentally hitting my neighbor a few times, sorry)

bbb: Unf…damina…. (due to carts, watched entire song on the screen) I used to like Haneru more but Shake’s dance is much better.

Shino: This is where I was thankful that the Makuhari Exhibition Hall setup had plenty of space in front of and behind each person (just not that much to either side), so I could also do the SHAKE dance.

MC / はる ☆ ジカ(ちいさな)

🍓🍰

fc: They showed off their really cute new outfits, which was based off a fruit cake, complete with tiny hat.

Shino: はる ☆ ジカ(ケーキ)

18. ハネ ☆ る!! / はる ☆ ジカ(ちいさな)

fc: This song is also great fun, with all the jumps and that shoulder thing at the end. (Though not as good as SHAKE!! in my humble opinion).

19. Winning Day / KARAKURI

Shino: Akina absolutely steals the show during her performances. This is probably what k-pop is actually like. They angled two spotlights on her such that it cast two shadows, like KARAKURI, because they are twins, but Akina is but one person.

bbb: The effect with the 2 spotlights is interesting, but it was really hard to tell from my angle since one of the spotlights was blinding me…

fc: The lighting was on point, as well as the phenomenal guitar solo during the bridge. Even though T7S has quite a few more electronic songs, they’re always able to pull off the live band instrumental versions perfectly.

MC / KARAKURI

fc: KARAKURI began the MC by reminding everybody that KARAKURI MCs are, just like KARAKURI, perfect. But then she stopped acting as KARAKURI and became Akina again. Akina is so bad at MCs it’s honestly amazing… in a cute way though, the gap is part of the appeal. She shuttered, jumped from topic to topic with little transitions, and looked adorable drinking water. At the start she mentioned she asked for MC help from 4U, but they weren’t willing to help…

Shino: Half of her MC was just stammering but that is why we love her. After that she segued into talking about the sun, which could only mean…

☀️

20. AMATERRAS / KARAKURI

fc: Honestly from an idol song perspective is a bit weird (are there calls? what am I even supposed to do with this penlight I’ve got in my hand?) but as a song it’s lit. Akina was definitely able to get revenge on her performance at 4th, where she had some earbud difficulties, and nailed it.

21. CHECK’MATE / NI+CORA feat. 玉坂マコト

fc: KARAKURI ended by saying that there was a surprise coming up from Nanasta, then the opening notes to CHECK’MATE started playing. After a bit, two people appeared on the stage: Yukkii and… Yamazaki Erii!? At that point I lost my shit.

bbb: I love when t7s does extended intros for their songs, and this one was no exception. 20 seconds of pure hype and yelling “WHAT??”

Shino: After seeing that Saorin wasn’t in the cast list, I’d given up hope of seeing NI+CORA — after all, there were so many units to go through anyway. But then they talked about a surprise, and oh boy, what a surprise it was. I screamed at the opening bars of CHECK’MATE and went real hard, I love Erii now…honestly a better surprise than AXiS showing up could have been, as some had hoped for.

♛♕

22. You Can’t Win / NI+CORA feat. 玉坂マコト

Shino: This would be my favorite NI+CORA song if it weren’t so short, it’s true.

23. Clover×Clover / サンボンリボン

fc: Sanbon came out afterwards and started to sing Clover×Clover, a song that always reminds me of the first time I heard it at 1st. Also, thankfully, the outfits were not clowns this time, a huge improvement over 4th.

Shino: Don’t really know how to describe the outfits, but they felt very appropriate to the image of summer soda? Like, the image of summer traveling I guess.

fc: It’s the long skirts with straw hats, outfits once again brought to you by McDonald’s.

bbb: Straw hats tied the summer feel together. Also Kuwachan’s shoulders, actually I love summer.

🐟🐟🐟

24. 14 歳のサマーソーダ / サンボンリボン

🍔🤡

MC / NI+CORA feat. 玉坂マコト, サンボンリボン

fc: They introduced their outfits like normal, and NI+CORA’s outfits were especially good, with Makoto sporting Susu’s purple in her stead. One really cute thing were the capes, which Erii kept on using to cover her mouth whenever she got embarrassed.

i have something i want to say

25. TREAT OR TREAT? / 4U

fc: Hina came out with her drum set and started us off with a drum hype sequence, then Ume and Emoko came out for additional hype. At the end Hina gave us a はなまる 💮 for our cheering, then they started playing TREAT OR TREAT?

bbb: Hina’s drum sequence really hit home how much she (and 4U overall) have improved in their theatrics (i.e. making it seem like they’re playing their instruments).

fc: Though Ume did do the thing where she plays her guitar with her teeth, which was hilarious.

26. Crazy Girl’s Beat / 4U

fc: After that, they pulled out their sunglasses and started playing Crazy Girl’s Beat. I love how funny sunglasses are now A Thing for this song, best one this time was definitely Emoko’s cyborg sunglass (singular).

bbb: Interesting song choice, tbh I’m not really that big on 4U’s mini album tracks. It’s hype live though with the call & response.

I yelled “nice robocop” maybe a bit too loudly at Mayushi’s sunglasses.

Shino: Sunglasses might actually be a good pickup for next time — the spotlights were pretty blinding at times.

MC / 4U

fc: During the MC Ume tried to hype up the crowd, getting a large cheer, then Emoko tried as well, getting a larger cheer, which made Hina want to try as well, getting the largest cheer.

bbb: Ume whispering to Emoko “wait, didn’t Hina just get the most cheers” cracked me up.

fc: They also showed off their new outfits. Of particular importance, Mayushii pointed out how she has 5 crocodiles now, because 5th Live (duh). I got excited and took out my phone to write down the new one’s name but she didn’t say it…

Shino: The fifth croc was riding on another croc! It’s truly a new age.

🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊

27. 青空 Emotion / 4U

28. プレゼント・フォー・ユー / 4U

fc: This was 4U’s cart song, and while Ume and Emoko ran to the carts, because Hina was further back at her drum set, they pulled out an actual pink 4U-themed bike so she could bike down to center stage to board the cart.

Shino: Thank god they also gave her a (upgraded) tiny drum when she went onto the cart. This is also 4U’s sing-along song, where they put the lyrics up on the screen. For the first time, the lyrics weren’t blocked by speakers, the stage, or other things, so I could actually do the sing-along…

bbb: Re-confirmation this is 4U’s best song. When the lyrics showed up though nobody in my block did the sing along though… to be fair it did come without much of a warning.

29. Majesty / The QUEEN of PURPLE

fc: After 4U was QoP. You could immediately tell who went to the one-man because they put down their penlights and started head banging while making 🤟 with their hands.

30. THUNDERBOLT / The QUEEN of PURPLE

fc: Tap on the top! Top of the rock! What a fun song.

bbb: Heyyyyyyy yo!

MC / The QUEEN of PURPLE

fc: The gap between Murasaki and Maiko is Very Good. Also, their outfits had Tap on the top! Top of the rock! written on them.

👑👑👑👑

31. Purple Raze / The QUEEN of PURPLE

bbb: Was pleasantly surprised at QoP pulling out the chara solo songs. And Ferb’s song slaps. It’s no R.B.E. though.

32. DAYS / The QUEEN of PURPLE

fc: This song is amazing with a live crowd but it’s hard to keep up with the chants, they’re really high…

Shino: The choir bit lasts a lot longer than I remembered, it gets tiring.

bbb: My throat couldn’t take hitting the high notes, but tried anyway.

fc: She also pulled out the deeplore™ lines but I don’t remember exactly what she said.

33. I AM / The QUEEN of PURPLE

fc: I honestly wasn’t expecting QoP to get 5 whole songs less than a month after their one-man. Not that I’m complaining, they’re hype as hell.

bbb: QoP songs are lit live, just they were on center stage the whole time and I couldn’t see due to the spotlights (again).

Shino: At this point I was super tired and trying to save energy as hour four of the live ticked by. Wanted to save something for 777 at the end, but it’s hard when QoP commands so much energy.

34. 僕らは青空になる / 777☆SISTERS

fc: After QoP, 777☆SISTERS came back out to wrap things up. I was amazed that I didn’t hear any tigers for once.

Shino: Me neither but I never hear tigers because I am deaf.

bbb: Same, didn’t even know you could tiger to this song until a week before.

35. NATSUKAGE-夏陰- / 777☆SISTERS

fc: On the screens they played a video with the album cover, but unlike the original cover/PV, Coney’s desk was empty with just the Harukaze picture, just like at the end of EPISODE 4.0…

Dialogue

fc: At this point each member had a line basically saying much Coney meant to them (sorry I don’t remember the exact lines).

36. ハルカゼ~ You were here ~ / 777☆SISTERS

fc: After hearing Harukaze used as BGM during EPISODE 4.0 and the picture tieback they did at the end of the episode, it seemed pretty likely they would sing it this time, and they did.

bbb: My first time hearing Harukaze live…the way they all crouched and stood up as their part came was amazing.

Announcement Video

  1. New CASQUETTE’S x 七花少女 split single
  2. New 4U x KARAKURI split single

fc: They didn’t prep a preannouncement video animation this time, was just clips from the live. This was also the first and only prolonged break, right at the end…

Shino: The live mini digest was kind of weird, also ended in black and white…

fc: RIP T7S, 2034–2035

bbb: They took a cue from Shino with the black and white thing, clearly.

37. STAY☆GOLD / ALL CAST

fc: In the end everybody came out wearing the live T-shirt to sing STAY☆GOLD and bring this 4.5 hour live to a close.

bbb: Forgotten how many times i lost it by now. Highlights of the day: good 4U and qop song choice, Karakuri is 🔥 live. Really broke down during the「ねえ…奇跡」part.

Day 2

fc: For Day 2 I was in E1 with Shino, so similar position but slightly worse than Day 1. I also had a pair of binoculars (thanks Shizu), which did help a bit.

bbb: E9, I was actually the last 2 seats on the same row of E9 as fc was in E1, making us direct opposite sides of the venue. Compared to Day 1 seats, these were much further away from the main stage but I soon realized in many ways these seats were better.

Opening Video

1. FUNBARE☆RUNNER / 777☆SISTERS

2. MELODY IN THE POCKET / 777☆SISTERS

3.夏のビードロ ☆ シンフォニー / 777☆SISTERS

MC / 777☆SISTERS

fc: Shizuka pulled out a new original pun! It was even more convoluted than Day 1’s pun…

Shino: Yuinyan introduced herself as “やる気と元気” which is kind of Yukki’s catchphrase. We were super close to Yukki’s cart and I saw her glaring daggers before triumphantly saying it herself when it came time for her intro.

bbb: During someone else’s MC Maika pointed at us and waved…the cart with her, Kumachan and Michii was so close. I never realized till now how tall Kumachan was….

4. TRICK / Ci+LUS

5. 空色スキップ / Ci+LUS

MC / Ci+LUS

👯‍♀️

6. シトラスは片想い / Ci+LUS

fc: I was hoping they’d do Aikotoba today at least but they didn’t, sad.

7. YELLOW / Le☆S☆Ca

bbb: Really happy to see them pull this off with more confidence, even after just 1 day. It was probably the nerves of appearing as Le☆S☆Ca for the first time on Day 1, but they did it with many more smiles on this day. I’ll take nothing else as Le☆S☆Ca’s theme song.

8. ひまわりのストーリー / Le☆S☆Ca

bbb: Didn’t see about half the song, at some point the guy directly in front of me just started sobbing into his towel and so did I.

MC / Le☆S☆Ca

🐝🐝🐝
🐝🐝🐝

fc: They didn’t cry this time.

Shino: Hikarun is braver than our troops.

bbb: It seems like Hikarun has to step up as the leader of the trio now. She really tied MC together. She did an amazing job and I am very thankful for that, but it feels so different. It was during this MC I realized this is the new Le☆S☆Ca now.

9. ひよこのうた / Le☆S☆Ca

bbb: Nope, Singlish still there. Going to have to look into the deeplore™ behind this song.

fc: Well, according to some this song is actually the so-called “dark Le☆S☆Ca”, an-

bbb: At the end of this song they gave the “please continue to support us, in our new beginning” speech. It really was too much to handle all at once…

10. ミツバチ / Le☆S☆Ca

bbb: E9 block group sobbing resumes. I read the lyrics for today, it really fits with the small speech they gave again before this song. Again, they were much more confident on this day. Thank you, Le☆S☆Ca.

11. SAKURA / WITCH NUMBER 4

Shino: Oh man when they told everyone to use pink lights before this everyone got really excited.

bbb: Right on the tails of Le☆S☆Ca block, too… Glad I got to see this song live again.

12. 星屑 ☆ シーカー / WITCH NUMBER 4

fc: I swear Shiitamu drew a heart directly at me as her cart passed by during the chorus.

bbb: The carts passed right in front of us but the trend of only seeing Damina’s back continued. Kumachan is cute though…

13. お願い ☆My Boy / SiSH

14. プレシャス・セトラ / SiSH

MC / WITCH NUMBER 4, SiSH

fc: One thing I found funny is that most of WITCH NUMBER 4 are pretty short, except Kuma-chan, who is more around the average height of SiSH, so when they stood together it looked like SiSH + 1 with WITCH NUMBER 3.

15. 花咲キオトメ / 七花少女

MC / 七花少女

Shino: Nanabana Otome wanted to do some call and responses, which culminated in saying “乙女” but also making a retching sound when they said “七花.” Nanabana fans are weird.

bbb: I kept repeatedly asking my renban “is vomiting a charm point now…?”

16. スノードロップ / 七花少女

17. SHOW TIME / CASQUETTE’S

fc: Um this is a strict downgrad-

Shino: It is a downgrade, I’m afraid to say. the outfits were better, though — it seems for every new unit’s inaugural appearance, the outfits match the key visual art, but have more room for expression by the second stage.

bbb: Give my Damina screentime back.

18. マスカレード・ナイト / CASQUETTE’S

fc: I don’t actually hate CASQUETTE’S, and in fact I do like most of the characters in it, but I’m not really into the unit’s aesthetic… Their songs aren’t bad either, but I don’t feel they’re as good as most other T7S songs… Hopefully I’ll like their new song more though!

MC / CASQUETTE’S

19. -Zero / KARAKURI

MC / KARAKURI

fc: The mantle on her outfit got disconnected from her back and was loose enough to catch on the bottom of her skirt a few times during the MC so I got worried that something would happen once she started singing but thankfully she fixed it before singing. Also she mentioned something about an “えいえいおー!” call for a 4U song, which nobody understood.

Shino: Come to think of it, I don’t think anyone ever actually knew what to yell during that part in TREAT OR TREAT, just that they had to yell something. First time I’ve heard this particular call though, I’m a “ねぇねぇねぇ” guy myself.

20. AMATERRAS / KARAKURI

21. CHECK’MATE / NI+CORA feat. 玉坂マコト

🔥🔥
🔥🔥

22. Girl’s Talk!! / NI+CORA feat. 玉坂マコト

fc: They went on carts this time, unlike yesterday, but unfortunately not to where we were sitting.

Shino: That was honestly the greatest betrayal, that the carts didn’t go in a symmetric path between the two sides of the venue and so avoided the aisle closest to us. Probably for some dumb reason like “being a fire hazard” or “safety” ugh.

bbb: So I found that only the carts originating from main stage left came close to our block, which wasn’t the case for many of the other units. We got to see them pretty up close for this song. Yukki…

23. セカイのヒミツ / サンボンリボン

24. 14 歳のサマーソーダ / サンボンリボン

MC / NI+CORA feat. 玉坂マコト, サンボンリボン

どっちもかわいいけどね

Shino: Very important during this, they specified how the CHECK’MATE poses are different between Ci+LUS and NI+CORA (different angle on the finger gun thing).

25. TREAT OR TREAT? / 4U

fc: This time Hina said 合格 instead of はなまる.

26. Crazy Girl’s Beat / 4U

MC / 4U

fc: 4U had no idea what Akina meant during her MC.

チャリで来た。

27. ワタシ・愛・forU!! / 4U

28. Lucky☆Lucky / 4U

29. Majesty / The QUEEN of PURPLE

30. THUNDERBOLT / The QUEEN of PURPLE

MC / The QUEEN of PURPLE

fc: Because QoP has their band equipment (and, unlike 4U, they take it a bit more seriously?), QoP never has the chance to go on carts. During the MC Maiko talked about how she wanted to ride a cart sometime, and they all pretended to ride a cart, though it really just looked like a train: they stood in a line with each person having their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them.

Shino: Let QoP do a conga line in the next live.

31. KID BLUE ~裸の王様~ / The QUEEN of PURPLE

bbb: It’s a good song, but where did R.B.E. go….

32. DAYS / The QUEEN of PURPLE

33. I AM / The QUEEN of PURPLE

34. 僕らは青空になる / 777☆SISTERS

35. NATSUKAGE-夏陰- / 777☆SISTERS

Dialogue

36. ハルカゼ~ You were here ~ / 777☆SISTERS

Announcement Video

  1. New 3-part episode “EPISODE 0.7”
  2. New T7S OST “Original Soundtrack 2.0” with 17 tracks from EPISODE 4.0 AXiS

Shino: It is the T7S overseas experience to breathe a sigh of relief when the announcement videos don’t say when the next live is going to be, because the alternative is having it in 3 months.

37. STAY☆GOLD / ALL CAST

Shino: I was smart this time and only drank my energy drink after getting into the venue, so I had a lot more energy by the end. I had fun with this song and also probably injured my knee.

お疲れ様でした!

Thoughts

fc: 4.5 hours with no breaks is so damn long. They sung 37 songs each day, which for reference is almost half of the 80 songs T7S has released up to this point (and 8 of those 80 are Seventh/AXiS, who weren’t there). I can’t complain about getting more content though, and I thankfully had enough liquids to last me. I was a bit sad that they didn’t do any Longing for summer songs, but I guess they are pretty old at this point…

Shino: The live was way too long to have no breaks. This is pushing Anisama levels, but at least you could go to the bathroom occasionally. Well, every time there was an MC there was a crowd of people who dashed to the restroom…as for the live itself, well, the setlist is about what you’d expect. No huge curveballs save NI+CORA, and even that one could have reasonably assumed from the pamphlet not cutting out Susu.

bbb: I was actually surprised leaving on my way to the afterparty on Day 1 to hear that the live was 4.5 hours long, it certainly didn’t feel that way. I suppose with that many units doing 2–3 songs each (and QoP getting 5) it does add up. So yeah it would have been good to have an intermission, I did see a lot of people rushing to the washroom during MCs, unfortunately…

fc: The venue, on the other hand, was as bad as it was rumored to be: expansive yet completely flat, with stage-blocking pillars, and poor acoustics. To be fair, this was partially by design — it’s an exhibition hall, not a concert venue. Anything beyond E block (so F, G, H), and the stage is far enough away that you’re just looking at the screen the whole time. Additionally, they didn’t use the carts very well: typically the carts didn’t go past D, and as mentioned before they didn’t move symmetrically, so the right side (where I happened to be sitting both days) didn’t get as much cart love as the left side.

Shino: The venue is so bad but I’m glad I’m tall enough to see over people’s heads and also didn’t get pillared. I guess I feel a little bad for the people behind me, but tall American has bad manners, what else is new. I’ll definitely bring binocs again next time. On the bright side, the Olympics are occupying Makuhari in 2020 so Motegi can’t use this awful venue anymore.

bbb: I was pretty fortunate with seats this time round, my Day 2 E9 block seats actually were better than Day 1’s A in retrospect. It got evened out by the fact adjacent to us on Day 2 we got a couple…overenthusiastic 4U fans….

Just being lucky with seats doesn’t make this venue less awful though. Apparently they didn’t crank up the A/C much on Day 1 and some people got heat stroke. 1/10 venue, feel bad for everyone behind F block.

Shino: I guess they learned their lesson from Day 1 because the first thing I noticed walking in on Day 2 was how much cooler it was.

In the end, I don’t know how I feel about this live. From a technical standpoint it’s a strict upgrade from 4th, but I still didn’t like it that much, entirely because my seats this time were a lot worse. I suppose that’s a selfish reason, but, well, nothing will ever top Memorial it seems…

fc: Not to discount the specifics though, I thought that everything was executed very well, especially the new outfits, which were much better than 4th IMO (something something clowns).

bbb: Agreed, I think the outfits in this live were the best (or almost the best, 4th 777 was pretty good) in any t7s live up to now.

fc: While they didn’t announce a next live, Haru/Damina said “Let’s meet next year” during her ending MC — so I’ll see you all in 2020!

harumusu is canon

Official reports

1: Both pictures (Day 2 Le☆S☆Ca, NI+CORA) embedded above are from these official reports.

Tweets from performers/related peoples