Smiles, Tears, and Dreams! iDOL Street Carnival 2016 6th Anniversary ～RE：Я｜LOAD～!

| Idol | Posted by Kai Okudara on Jul.15.2016

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It was a day of powerful performances, new beginnings, and emotional farewells at Tokyo Dome City Hall on June 25th for iDOL Street Carnival 2016 6th Anniversary ～RE：Я｜LOAD～. It was the graduations of Rino Katsuta and Arai Reira from SUPER☆GiRLS as well as the final performances in Japan of Marin Yamamoto and Mariya Suzuki from Cheeky Parade and Maaya Takeda of GEM before they left to study abroad in Los Angeles for 2 years. It was also the introduction to the sparkling new members of GEM and SUPER☆GiRLS.

SUPER☆GiRLS opened the show, Ami Maeshima standing at the center of the upper level of that stage to deliver her pledge to start off “Hanamichi!! Ambitious”. The audience immediately came alive, calling out and dancing along to the music as the members walked down the stairs. Rina Miyazaki was sandwiched between Rino Katsuta and Reira Arai as they shook hands and gave her a quick kiss on the cheeks.

Cheeky Parade was next, turning up the heat with the full extent of their “Cheeky Power” as they exploded across the stage with “BUNBUN NINE9’”, the voices of 2,100 fans calling out enthusiastically. While it has already been claimed that their performance during their 4th anniversary live at Shinjuku BLAZE was their best yet, Cheeky Parade seemed to rise even higher that day.

Maaya Takeda showed off the early results of her English studies as she switched out her opening “Fine!” in favor of “Are you ready?” as she and GEM moved precisely around the stage while performing “Fine! ~fly for the future~”.

Appearing in a flash of pink and white lights, Wasuta unleashed their “Ultra Mirakurukuru Ultimate Choco Beam”, pumping their fists and high-stepping as the glow of penlights was joined those of smartphones and cameras. If you search for #tws_live or #わーすた on Twitter, you should be able to find a lot more pictures and videos taken by fans from any of the times that Wasuta was on stage for iDOL Street Carnival or just about any event that they do.

The biggest response up until that point came as the Street-sei rushed onto the stage to perform “Zettai! Love Magic”, a song beloved by all iDOL Street fans. The air was practically electric as the audience called out and pumped their firsts/penlights along to the cheerful music.

With all of the groups assembling on the stage, Rika Shimura leader of SUPER☆GiRLS greeted the audience and asked each of the group leaders to share their enthusiasm for the event. Cheeky Parade’s leader Yuna Sekine proclaimed that she wanted to enjoy their final performance in Japan as a 9-member group to their fullest extent. GEM’s leader Yuki Kanazawa echoed the sentiment, calling for the GEMily and iDOL Street family to get excited. Wasuta leader asked for everyone to enjoy the event regardless of regardless of who they were a fan of. TOKYO Yume Piyo-gumi’s Sakurako Kido drew attention to the fact that all of the Street-sei from across Japan were on stage, compared to their smaller senbatsu lineups. The previous exhilaration paled in comparison to the response as all of iDOL Street blasted through “Koi Shite YES! ~Kore ga Watashi no Idol-do!~”, Cheeky Parade imparting some humor as their introduction talked up their sexiness.

Clapping their hands high above their heads and spinning, w-Street (OSAKA Lapilars, FUKUOKA Hakata Minyon sweet★, NAGOYA Chubu) kicked off a medley with “Kokoro no Bi-Dama”, swinging and jabbing their way through “Seishun Idenshi”, closing out with “Namida no Ren’ai Navigation”.

The music box intro of “Gotsugou Onna no Ko” ushered in e-Street (TOKYO Yume Piyo-gumi, Sapporo Snow Loveits, SENDAI Twinkle☆moon) and they scampered around the stage, firing up the audience as they blew kisses. Swaying and twirling through “Zenryoku! Leader”, the medley bounced to an end with the hand clapping light rock of “Iwayuru Idol” with its wota-gei-like choreography and w-Street joining them for the big finale.

Wasuta added a harder EDM edge to their ever growing palette of musical genres with “Pawawawawan!!! Power Puff Girls”. Skipping their way through “Wonderful World”, their performance closed on a high note with the ever popular “Inu-Neko. Seishun Massakari”.

Tokyo Dome City Hall glowed Star Ruby red for Maaya Takeda as GEM started off with “We’re GEM!”, the energy matching that of a double encore performance. Even while hyping up the audience as usual Maho Iyama could be seen sniffling back tears and Sara Hirano shared a look with Maaya before the picked up their microphones to sing their lines in “FLY NOW!!”. The emotions and heat boiled over with the final song “Do You Believe?”, Rana Murakami belting out some extra power during her high note before the festive fist swinging anthem drew to a close and GEM took their final bow as 10 members.

With the members pointing to the skies and a single spotlight shining on Marin Yamamoto as she sang the opening lines to “M.O.N.ST@R”, Cheeky Parade began their emotionally charged final Japanese performance as 9 members. Penlights flashed white and yellow as the fans raised their hands as if sending their power towards the stage.

Yuria Suzuki scolded the fans for not being excited enough and her sister Mariya unleashed a fearsome scream as the performance rolled on with “C.P.U !?”, destroying everything in its path (figuratively of course). Mariya proclaimed her everlasting love for Cheeky Parade before they left their final statement with “WE ARE THE GREATEST NINE9′”. Yuriya and Hina Nagai reached out to symbolically push Marin forward as she sang her solo. Bowing for the final time as 9 members, Cheeky Parade left the stage and moved towards the promise of their bright future ahead.

Precious Navy and Lavender Purple lights shined brightly for Rino Katsuta and Reira Arai in their final appearance with SUPER☆GiRLS. Jumping up and cycling through the series of classic dance moves of “Karei Naru V!CTORY”, SUPER☆GiRLS reaffirmed their position as iDOL Street’s most electrifying group. Rino shook hands with Rika Shimamura before ducking out of the way for Hikaru Watanabe to jump start the funky dance break.

Swinging into a medley beginning with “Gira Gira Revolution” at the behest of Hikaru, the energy kept building as SUPER☆GiRLS and fans alike jumped their way through “Ganbatte Seishun”. Rino pulled out a whistle to awaken summer spirits and Rina Miyazaki called for the audience to shake their butts along with them to “Puri Puri♥SUMMER Kiss”. Turning the clock back with “MAX! Otome Gokoro”, SUPER☆GiRLS huddled together in a group hug, they took their final bows as 11 members.

Rika called for Marin Yamamoto and Mariya Suzuki from Cheeky Parade and Maaya Takeda from GEM to come out to the stage to join Rino and Reira for a farewell ceremony. Leader Yuki Kanazawa tried her best to hold back tears as she vowed to Maaya that she and the others would do their best to become stronger and asked her to call as much as possible. Yuriya expressed her worries about Mariya going to Los Angeles for 2 years but the sisters shared a laugh about how annoying it will be when Mariya’s English ability improves since she has been known to say random words. Marin was as stoic as always, even wiping away a tear that rolled down Yuna’s cheek as she conveyed her hopes for the future. Rika felt it would be strange to not see Reira next to her on stage after having been together for 6 years but wished her well on her new career before they shared a hug. Ami Maeshima expressed her gratitude for always cheering her on and that the members would all be cheering her on in the future.

Clutching their bouquets, Rino, Reira, Marin, Mariya, and Maaya sharing their feelings about their new paths in life, showing gratitude for the fans’ support and their hopes for the future.

A video began playing on the screen flashing through Cheeky Parade’s MVs. Speculations were put to rest as it was revealed that there would be no new members added and they would be continuing at a 7-member group, causing the fans to cheer. A brief vamp of “Hands up!”, their 7th single (and their first as a 7-member group) played as the new outfits and logo flashed by on the screen.

Plumes of fog shot toward the ceiling as the pajama clad members marched onto the stage to debut “Hands up!”, an aggressive dance rock song which is possibly their hardest yet (not counting the Heavy Metal version of “Check It Out”). The contrast of their soft-looking sleepwear with the frantic sound of the music gave off the feel of a slumber party out of control.

Trading in their salutes for akanbe, the new Cheeky Parade greeted their fans for the first time. Yuna announced that Yuriya was the new leader of the group.

Up next was GEM, a video showing Maaya opening a jewel box and putting her star ruby inside it.

Nana, Kako, Rana, Maho, and Sara in their “Fine! ~fly for the future~” outfits and their faces veiled by gossamer white cloths appeared on the stage, spinning and leaping gracefully to the tense rhythms of “one”.

With the other gems rotating around Maaya’s, a review of GEM’s past MVs flashed by until a never before seen gem, a milky quartz, appeared and took its place in the ring, introducing Hirari Nishida. Yuu took to the stage first before she was joined by Hirari, Rana, and Maho to debut “fRiEnDs”, a downtempo ballad which emphasized the vocal abilities of the members.

The video continued, introducing another new member Monami Noguchi as her imperial topaz descended into the ring of gems. All 11 members on the stage, they performed “Spotlight”, a cool dance track. Any fears about the new members were put to rest as they were given a generous amount of solo lines which they handled while keeping up with one of Japan’s most skilled vocal and dance groups.

SUPER☆GiRLS were the most straightforward in announcing their changes as their video simply introduced the current members as they ran onto the stage to take their bows. Cheers rang out when was shown that Ami was named the new leader, growing louder as the 5 new members were introduced: Luna Ozawa (ex-NAGOYA Chubu), Shiori Nagao (ex-NAGOYA Chubu), Yumeri Abe (ex-TOKYO Yume Piyo-gumi), Sakurako Kidoguchi (ex-Sapporo Snow Loveits, ex-TOKYO Yume Piyo-gumi), and Hotaru Ishibashi.

With all 14 members standing at the top of the stage, they descended down the stairs to debut “Love Summer!!!”, the first song of SUPER☆GiRLS’ third chapter. Known for their upbeat summer songs, with its carefree choreography and nautical outfits, any lingering doubts about the group’s future quickly disappeared as the fans were wrapped up in the performance.

With pink lights shining for SUPER☆GiRLS’s new leader Ami, she promised to do her best before calling all of the groups to the stage to formally introduce the fresh new members and new leaders. Announcements for the groups appeared on the screen: SUPER☆GiRLS new single “Love Summer” (release date: August 31) and December 22nd one-man live at Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall, Cheeky Parade’s new single “Hands up” (release date: September 7), GEM’s new single “Spotlight” (release date: July 20), and Wasuta’s appearances at Taiwan Comic Exhibition (August 15), SUMMER SONIC (August 20), 5 city tour planned for October – November, and first single (release date: September 28). With all iDOL Street members assembled, it was time for the big finish, Ami calling out Reira, Rino, Marin, Mariya, and Maaya to join in for “Happy Circle Street”. It was all smiles, waving hands, and hugs as all 63 members shared the stage for the last time.

Reira announced the last song of the night, “Miracle ga Tomannai!”, streamers exploding from the ceiling and fog shooting from the stage. In reverse order of seniority, the groups took their bows and thanked the fans for coming out to support iDOL Street before leaving the stage. Reira and Rino lingered behind, thanking the fans for the past 6 years before taking their final bows.

While 2016 began with some uncertainty when Marin Yamamoto, Mariya Suzuki, and Maaya Takeda announced their plans to study abroad in Los Angeles for 2 years at January’s iDOL Street Carnival at Nakano Sun Plaza, it definitely looks like iDOL Street has really “reloaded” and is primed to once again do big things in the future.

Photos by Kenji Harada and David Chang (Doki Press)

Set List

01 Hanamichi!! Ambitious (SUPER☆GiRLS)
02 BUNBUN NINE9’ (Cheeky Parade)
03 Fine! ~fly for the future~ (GEM)
04 Ultra Mirakurukuru Ultimate Choco Beam (Wasuta)
05 Zettai! Love Magic (Street-sei)
06 Koi Shite YES! ~Kore ga Watashi no Idol-do!~ (All)
07 2015 Medley (w-Street/e-Street)
08 Pawawawawan!!! Power Puff Girls (Wasuta)
09 Wonderful World (Wasuta)
10 Inu-Neko. Seishun Massakari (Wasuta)
11 We’re GEM! (GEM)
12 FLY NOW!! (GEM)
13 Do You Believe? (GEM)
14 M.O.N.ST@R (Cheeky Parade)
15 C.P.U !? (Cheeky Parade)
16 WE ARE THE GREATEST NINE9′ (Cheeky Parade)
17 Karei Naru V!CTORY (SUPER☆GiRLS)
18 Medley (SUPER☆GiRLS)
– Gira Gira Revolution
– Ganbatte Seishun
– Puri Puri♥SUMMER Kiss
– MAX! Otome Gokoro
19 Hands Up! (Cheeky Parade)
20 one (GEM)
21 fRiEnDs (GEM)
22 Spotlight (GEM)
23 Love Summer!!!
24 Happy Circle Street
25 Miracle ga Tomannai!