I definitely feel a great sense of accomplishment, but at the same time, there is also a feeling of ‘oh, it’s already over.’ Today felt so much like a dream that I wish it could’ve lasted forever, and I personally feel that I gave it my absolute best. I made fewer mistakes than in rehearsal and was able to create a show I’m satisfied with. I also received very positive responses from people around me, which made it well worth the effort.

When it was confirmed that I was going to perform a solo concert, the staff first asked what kind of concert I wanted, to which I said I wanted the theme to be “A Magical Night of Miracles.” Based on my request, H, who was in charge of the direction, put everything together beautifully. They also created outfits that made me look like a magical girl/magician to match the theme.

Regarding the setlist, since I wanted to sing so many songs, I asked H how many I could do, and H said it was usually around 18 to 21 songs. So I planned to narrow it down to around that many songs, but before I knew it, I ended up with about 32 songs. In the end, we had to pack some into medleys (laughs).

 For the setlist order, I first figured out where to place the Eurobeat tracks. Drawing on the fact that IRyS is a nephilim—half-demon and half-angel—I divided the setlist into two sections: a chaos part (demon) and a hope part (angel). I then sorted the songs into two types: more demonic and more angelic. The setlist draft I first created had the hope part at the end, concluding the show with slow, mellow songs, but when I showed it to her, I remember her giving us feedback, saying, “I want to finish the concert with upbeat Eurobeat tracks instead of softer ones.”

 That’s right. Eurobeat gets the crowd hyped up the most, so I thought it would be a waste to start with those tracks because I wanted to build up the energy toward the end. I think we struck a great balance by finishing the main show on a high note with “My car is in danger,” saving more mellow and emotional songs for the encore.

After our initial discussions, IRyS kept contacting me saying, “I’d also like to sing this song; I might want to include this one too” (laughs). I started worrying the show would run for more than three hours if I didn’t do something about it. So I decided to turn some of the songs into medleys.

Since IRyS is such a cheerful person, I really enjoyed working with her.

I’m so glad to hear that. Thank you very much.

If I recall correctly, “ENJOY! JOY!! JOYFUL!!!” was added near the very end. When we were trying to figure out where to place it, we realized we could include it in a medley with “Ai no Jikkai,” since they’re on the same EP. Since “Ai no Jikkai” is a sad song, I worried that singing “ENJOY! JOY!! JOYFUL!!!” right after it might change the atmosphere on the stage too abruptly, but we decided to use that contrast on purpose. I also wanted to include all the songs from the new album if possible, but since we’d already added so many, we talked about removing “Run to You.” Although it seemed difficult, I really wanted to sing it, so we decided to put it into a medley.

It all started with the idea of making a medley out of the tracks from “YaBAI.” Later on, we decided to create a rock medley because we wanted to include all the rock songs, and to create a “Quarter Bravery” medley because we wanted to include “ENJOY! JOY!! JOYFUL!!!” That’s how we eventually ended up with three medleys.

Of course I did. But getting the chance to do a solo concert simply made me extremely happy. Since I didn’t know when I would be able to do another one, I asked them to pack all those songs into the setlist because I wanted to do as much as I could right now.

Dancing with a flag during the Eurobeat section was really tough. Since I was going to wear a race queen-style outfit in that section, I asked the staff to create a flag because I thought a race queen would hold one. They also adapted the original dance choreography to use the flag, but I struggled to adjust to the new version. Also, since the flag turned out much bigger than I’d imagined, I really struggled to use it. I’d used a smaller flag during practices, so when I held the flag for the actual performance, I thought, “Whoa, this is way bigger than I expected!” (laughs). They made it as light as possible so that it would be easier for me to use.

That’s right. It was also hard to make the folding fan look beautiful. They made the mic stands look like magical wands, too. Overall, I felt super happy and had a lot of fun using props I wouldn’t usually get to use in my regular streams.

Singing “Caesura of Despair” at the end of the concert was something I had decided on from the very beginning, but changing my outfit in the middle of the song was H’s idea. You may have noticed the symbol right after “HOPE” in the title of this concert. That’s a musical symbol meaning “the start of a repeat.” By singing my debut song “” at the end, it represents a symbol of “this is where everything began” while conveying a message of “let’s start anew from here.”

 During the song, we played a quick montage of IRyS’s past videos on the monitors. That staging was inspired by a movie both IRyS and I love—“Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms.” The ending of this movie is extremely touching. After I watched it again, I wanted to incorporate the same kind of visual effects to look back on her journey. Since we placed numerous small CRT monitors on the stage for this concert, I put together a stage design that utilized them.

You managed to gather that many CRT monitors really well.

We had a tough time getting them and finally did at the very last minute (laughs). Since CRT monitors are fragile, finding ones that worked reliably was quite difficult.

The idea for the stage design with CRT monitors was included in the initial proposal, but I think when I first read it, I said, “These monitors are so small, people sitting far away may not be able to see anything, right?” But when I watched the concert archive, I could see them clearly. I was impressed by how much impact they had!

We used CRT monitors because, in the first place, we wanted to incorporate elements from the 80s or 90s related to the Eurobeat songs. We expanded that concept and came up with the CRT monitors.

I really wanted to perform “Stay Blue” with Fu-tan (Flare’s nickname) as Flare & IRyS. We did it once during her 3D live performance last year, but I wanted to do it at a live concert with an audience if we had the chance. When I asked her if she could perform it with me, she said yes right away, which was great. After that, we thought we should probably do one more song as she was going to appear as a guest, so we decided on “angel’s ladder,” a music video I had briefly appeared in. Fu-tan sang and danced so beautifully, and I’m more than pleased that we could deliver such a emotional performance together.

MOTSU produced “DIAMOND GIRLFRIEND” for my 3D birthday live performance. Back then, we were actually talking about inviting him to that performance as a guest, but due to time and technical constraints, it was difficult to have him and me on stage together at that time. So he made an appearance on that show via a monitor, but I’ve always wanted to share the stage with him someday.

In the original staging plan, MOTSU and I were positioned side by side, but it eventually became possible to position MOTSU in front of me, and we decided on that stage design. Since MOTSU is a hyped-up person with so much energy, I was worried when practicing alone because I didn’t know what level of energy I should bring. But when I performed with MOTSU during the rehearsal, I felt he elevated my energy levels, which was a great help.

Normally, it’s rare to have a guest positioned in front of the main performer. But since I thought it was a shame to limit his energetic movements, I created an ideal position by lifting IRyS and moving MOTSU forward.

I’m glad we could make it!

I debuted as a hololive EN member, and since then, I’ve engaged in activities hoping to serve as a bridge between Japan and the rest of the world. At this show, I felt I could finally fulfill my wish. I was extremely grateful and deeply touched that so many IRyStocrats flew all the way to Japan to watch me.

Whenever any EN member holds a live performance, the rest of the members—whoever is available—gather to watch it live. I was so glad they all tuned in to see me perform. Right before the show began, I received LINE messages from them, saying things like, “You’re gonna be fine. You can totally do this,” because every time I saw them before the show, I told them that I was anxious about whether I could pull off the concert. Their messages really encouraged me. After the concert, they also told me what they thought of the show: “It was absolutely awesome” and “I cried,” which was a huge relief.

I had about six minutes to speak, but I got everything I planned to say out in about three minutes. I thought, “Oh no, what am I going to talk about for another three more minutes?” So I talked about my debut, and halfway through, I got so emotional I started crying. I wasn’t following a script and switched back and forth between English and Japanese, so I’m not sure if the audience understood what I was trying to say… I hope they did.

After I finished singing “Caesura of Despair” for the encore, I was going to say a few words of gratitude while the band members played the big rock ending, but I was crying so much that I couldn’t even get the words out. Though we had rehearsed that ending, I lost track of when it would end and messed up, and I accidentally said, “I’m sorry that I messed up!” while the mic was still on (laughs). I try to think positively and tell myself those kinds of things are what make a live concert special.

It was good to see her charming, playful side, which is typical IRyS (laughs).

I’d say it’s building up my stamina. Since I’ve never had the chance to perform this many songs in a row before, I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough stamina to make it to the end. So I started working with a personal trainer to build it up. Actually, I’ve never been very athletic, so after my first personal training session, I was sore for five days…but I think it really helped me build up my endurance. During the last month before the show, I was so busy with dance lessons and other things that I couldn’t go to training, but I’m planning to go back.

I realized I was able to project my voice. I hadn’t noticed it before, but I was unconsciously holding back when singing high notes. So I told myself, “You have to sing out because you are in a big venue,” which helped me project much more clearly even in parts where my voice usually wobbles. My throat wasn’t in the best condition on the day of the show, but thanks to my vocal coach, who taught me how to project my voice, I discovered I could still sing like that.

While preparing for the concert, I felt like I’d grown. Two or three weeks before the concert, we had a run-through rehearsal in front of a large group of people, and I was so nervous that I kept making mistakes. But on the day of the show, I kept my errors to a minimum, which I think showed a lot of personal growth. Also, a little before the concert, there was a hololive Dreams (a hololive official smartphone game) tournament, and although it wasn’t intense—more like a fun event—I was so nervous my hands were trembling that I couldn’t pull off a full combo like usual. This made me fear, “If I’m this nervous at a casual hololive Dreams event, what am I going to be like during my show?” (laughs). Fortunately, I managed my nerves well on the day of the concert.

I’m not sure if it’s possible, but now I want to do another one. When I first heard how big the venue would be, I started to worry, thinking, “Can we fill such a big venue?!” But after the ticket lottery, I saw that many people couldn’t get tickets, and I was super grateful that so many people applied. Next time, I want to hold a concert at a bigger venue so that all those who couldn’t get tickets can come.

Thanks to my fans’ support and the staff’s help, I was able to pull off such a great concert. I truly appreciate everyone, and it reminded me that I have to keep working hard. I’ve received so much love from my fans, from the cheers at the venue to all the flower stands. I’d like to repay all the love they’ve shown me, even in any small way I can. I hope you are looking forward to my future activities!