I’m so relieved that it is over without a hitch. I was actually feeling a little sick right before the show, so I was a bit worried. I’m just relieved that I was able to complete it without any major issues.

Since it was my first solo live performance, I was wondering what I should do. But H, the producer, proposed a lot of amazing ideas, so I think I just responded to their ideas by saying “I think that’s great! I think that’s great!” (laughs).

We planned the setlist and staging while prioritizing the request Nene had made during our first meeting: “I want to stay energetic right up until the end.” It seemed to me that she struggled until the last moment to decide where to insert a ballad, which naturally brings the energy down, and a song guaranteed to get the audience excited, such as “Giraffa” (“Nenechi’s Giragira Fan Meeting”).

Yes, I did. Since I didn’t even know if I’d ever get another chance, I wanted to face this live performance as if it were my first and last time. Thinking that way, I just wanted to shake up the emotions of all the Nekkos watching the concert and make them feel like it was over before they knew it.

I think the typical setlist for a live performance starts with a song that gets the crowd fired up followed by an emotional ballad. But I really struggled with whether that approach was right for my concert. So I asked the staff several times to change the setlist from their initial proposal.

When I saw the final setlist, I was actually concerned about whether Nene would have the stamina for it. I thought we should probably add some breaks.

Oh, really?

Yes. But I remember that I was impressed by Nene’s incredible stamina when I watched her performance at “hololive 5th Generation Live ‘Twinkle 4 You’” in 2023, so I thought she would be fine this time as well and finalized the setlist.

Regarding “Karakara!” in the early part of the show and “Ring-A-Linger,” I found it hard to recall the choreography during the rehearsals since I hadn’t performed them in a while. I was also a little worried about whether my stamina would hold up. I actually performed “Karakara!” at “hololive 7th fes. Ridin’ on Dreams” in March, but at all-cast live performances, we can take a break after finishing a song, right? This time, I had to perform it right after “NENENENENENENENE!DAIBAKUSOU” back-to-back, so I was nervous and worried that I might trip on the stage or might forget the choreography and freeze.

The idea for those medleys came from when I said, “I’d like to wear all my past outfits at the concert.” Then the staff suggested, “How about turning all-cast songs into medleys and changing your outfit to match each period while you sing them?”

I also remember that Nene expressed her desire to show everyone herself singing all-cast songs alone.

That’s right. I said that, too. For all-cast songs, so many talents are singing together that I thought the audience might not know which parts I was singing. I also had a desire to try performing them alone. I was very happy that all the Nekkos got into it more than I expected.

”Giraffa” was actually near the middle of the setlist at first, but since it is the song that gets everyone most excited among all my original tracks, I wanted to save it for the closing part. When I went backstage after the main performance and heard the Nekkos shouting, “You haven’t performed Giraffa, yet!,” I was thinking to myself, “Hold on just a second. I’m about to sing it!” (laughs).

But ”Giraffa” is also a song with a super intense choreography involving a lot of knee movements, jumps, and arm swings. In fact, during the two minutes or so between the end of the main part and the start of the encore, my dance instructor iced my legs with all her strength and cheered me on, saying, “You can do it!”

I heard that the company proposed creating a new song for her during the production process of her first album, “Peachful Story”, as it wanted to do something that would make her fans happy. Since deciding who to ask to produce the song was really difficult, it was finally completed at the very last minute…

That’s right. At first, the choreography teacher actually suggested simple moves. But without thinking about the consequences, I requested, “If I’m doing this, I want to dance more.” As a result, the choreography turned out to be super cute, but with a huge number of moves. While I was practicing, part of me thought that I shouldn’t have said that (laughs). But it was so adorable that I’m really glad that I went through with it. Since it was a surprise performance, I was worried that people might not know how to react and that the energy might drop. But that wasn’t the case at all. Many of them even picked up on the lyrics, so I’m really happy that we made this song.

Of course! I felt incredible when I realized that the audience at my solo concert was 100% made up of people who love me. No matter how much I hyped them up, they always responded. The fans in the front rows were so close that I could clearly see their faces from the stage. Seeing people in the audience not only helped me boost my energy but also gave me a sense of security and calm in a good way.

We announced the “official glowstick colors” for each song the day before the concert. But it was hard to memorize all the matching colors in just one day, the setlist wasn’t revealed in advance, and no one knew what song was coming next until the concert started. For all these reasons, I honestly thought the color change might not go that smoothly. But everyone memorized them so well, and I was really moved every time the colors in the crowd changed with the song.

Yes. I was able to not only see their faces but also hear their voices even through the in-ear monitors. I wanted to hear their voices directly, so whenever I had a moment, I took off the in-ears to listen to them.

I had absolutely no idea, but they prepared a floral stand for me. I was surprised to see it when I arrived at the venue that day. It was a floral stand with a stag beetle right in the middle of the orange flowers. I was very happy, except that the stag beetle’s legs were a little too realistic. All three of them said, “It isn’t what we expected. It was supposed to be a lot cuter.” (laughs).

Since the four of us have had our own concert together before, all those memories came flooding back. After my concert was over, we even talked about how absolutely amazing it was to perform as the four of us. It made me realize once again that I’d like to do another NePoLaBo live performance someday.

The high-kick choreography in “Gokigen Drink Bar” was really tough. I couldn’t lift my leg high enough even during rehearsals. But I thought it would be uncool if my kick was the lowest as the main performer while all the other Nepolabo members were standing next to me. Because of them, I was able to push through with the mindset that I didn’t care if my leg fell off.

The opening performance, “Nene Delivery,” and the idea of having Tomokazu Sugita voice Nekko God were proposed by H. When he explained it to me, saying “A motorcycle shows up in the opening, it fires a cannon at the stage, and then Nene appears,” I couldn’t really picture it at all (laughs). But when we tried it during rehearsals, I became certain that it would get the audience super excited.

When I considered what makes Nene who she is, I thought it might be fun to try something like this. So we incorporated elements that bridge the real and virtual worlds in a fun way.

Yes. That was also H’s idea. I first worked with him at NePoLaBo’s live performance in 2023 (hololive 5th Generation Live “Twinkle 4 You”). Since he took great care of us back then, I remember feeling so relieved when I heard he’d be handling the direction of this solo concert, too. I believed that any ideas from H would be a success, so I just agreed to all their proposals, saying, “Yes! Yes! That sounds great!”

On the contrary, I was actually a little worried because all my proposals were getting approved so easily (laughs). But I was glad to hear that. Since I’ve always believed Nene is capable of putting on a live performance that surprises the audience rather than just following a template, I took this opportunity to pack in all sorts of ideas I came up with.

That was something I said I wanted to do. I’ve thrown autographed balls on stream before, and since it was really well-received, I wanted to try it in person this time. I was really happy to see that people loved it as I expected.

I believe you autographed about 60 balls, right?

With help from the guest performers, I was able to throw a lot of balls.

If I can bring him in…!

We already have the model, so I think there’s a possibility. Mr. Sugita even told us, “If you invite me again, I’ll be there anytime.” (laughs)

I’m glad to hear that! I was also thrilled to get to say hello to Mr. Sugita. I brought a shikishi board and got his autograph on it. There was also a mini-event called “Find Nekkos” running in the venue lobby, which was planned by K from the staff team.

We posted illustrations of Nekkos all over the lobby, and had visitors search for them. We even secretly put up illustrations of Nekko God, too. Furthermore, we set up banner flags with Nene’s name on them and snuck a tiny illustration of Nekko God into only one of them (laughs). A life-sized cutout was displayed as well. Since I’ve always thought that many Nekkos are fashionable, I came up with various event ideas that would look great on social media.

When creating a new outfit, I wanted a design that was a slight upgrade from my regular one. I normally wear mildly revealing idol outfits, but this time, I chose one that was less revealing but still stunning with plenty of elements.

When YAGOO came over to say hello to me after the concert, he told me, “So your outfit is for all ages now.” I felt the company’s compliance there (laughs).

Personally, I’ve always thought that Minato Aqua is the legendary idol of hololive. So when I was told that I could get another hairstyle, I requested, “I want curly hair like hers.” When I received the hairstyle design, it was way more bouncy than I expected, but I thought it was actually very “Nene,” too. I think we created a well-balanced new look, without being too similar to Aqua and still showing my respect for her.

When I checked the photos later, the silhouette looked really big because of the volume of the hair, and I thought it was great.

Before the show, my dance instructor gave me a tip: “Even if you make a mistake, move confidently and boldly. By doing so, it should look like part of the performance.” I made sure to keep that in mind. Also, since the stage floor was slipperier than I expected, I focused on putting strength into my feet to avoid slipping.

I was a bit anxious before the concert, especially about some songs where I made mistakes during the rehearsals, but thanks to all the Nekkos, my spirits were lifted high during the show. I think I was able to perform well by fully expressing what my body had memorized rather than overthinking each move.

Being able to carry through the performance on my own and getting to hear the Nekkos’ voices directly in person, when I can only interact with them through text, gave me confidence. My profile describes me as “a girl who came to hololive aspiring to be an idol,” but I thought I could probably change it to “a girl who has become an idol” now.

I relied entirely on the staff for staging and effects this time. But if I ever get the chance to hold another solo concert, I would like to do research and take notes on what the Nekkos like and what makes them happy during my regular streams so that I can bring up more of my own ideas.

Since I love idols myself, I understand how idol fans feel. Through my day-to-day activities, I come up with a lot of ideas like, “The fans would be happy if I did this.” At this concert, I was able to handle the MC segments between songs and crowd interactions smoothly by taking the idols I watch all the time as a reference.

A lot of people overseas watch my streams on a daily basis, and many fans even traveled all the way to Japan for this concert. To show my appreciation to them— and because I’d like to dream big—I’ll say that I want to hold a world tour. I’d like to become an idol who can perform in various places around the world.

I tend to goof around on my regular streams, but whenever I stand on stage, I’m determined to be a true idol. I think everyone enjoyed the gap between these two sides of me at the concert. If you are not familiar with me yet, I’d be happy if you check out the archive.

I believe that both my VTuber and idol activities are only possible because of the listeners. If you are a first-time listener, please leave a comment like “Nice to meet you.” I promise I won’t miss it. I’d be thrilled if you have the courage to show up online!