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An Explosion of Personality! Live Report on Graphic girl ×2.5D event “GIRLS DON’T CRY”

個性が爆発!「GIRLS DON’T CRY」特別レポート
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An Explosion of Personality! Live Report on Graphic girl ×2.5D event “GIRLS DON’T CRY”

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In order to rebuild the pop culture of the 2010s and promote a new sense of fashion gravure via live streaming, in collaboration with Graphic Girl, the live event Graphic Girl x 2.5D presents GIRLS DON’T CRY was held at Shibuya WWW on July 22nd.

This event featured female artists expected get bigger in 2015, with Ai Shinozaki now-turned solo after AeLL.’s hiatus, Akasick, who just made their major debut under WARNER MUSIC JAPAN’s unBORDE label, ORESAMA, active around Shibuya, and DAOKO, who received much praise after her re-arrangement of tofubeats’ “Suisei” (“Mercury”), with DJs Aris Mukaide, DJ Gizmo (Kokoro Shinozaki from petit pas!), Monico, and Kanasahi (Kindan no Tasuketsu). GraphersRock, who worked on the artwork for denpagumi.inc, Maltine Records, and others, appeared as VJ.

As soon as the doors to the venue opened, Aris Mukaide began DJing at the center of the audience. Just like the event’s concept, what she played centered around female vocalists, and remixes of YUKI, Sheena Ringo, and other up tempo tracks soon took over and shook the floor. She also played rock-ish numbers by Psysalia psysalis psyche and the like to warm-up the venue. Aris Mukaide seemed indifferent while DJing, but really got the floor going with a good flow leading up to DAOKO, who was up next.

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When the curtain opened another thin hologram screen was there in its place, we could see the outline of DAOKO and her band set behind it. The event was already overflowing with people, turning out to be a great success, and the venue was tinged with heat. But the atmosphere of the floor, warmed-up by Aris Mukaide, changed in an instant. With DAOKO’s MVs projected onto the thin curtain and her poetry reading/rap/chorus, it gave off the feeling of being completely lost inside some gap between the second and third dimensions.

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Moving towards the sub-stage, two members of Kasanahi were DJing. Kasanahi is a DJ unit by Kanako and Mizu Hasudera J Sahiro from Kindan no Tasuketsu. Dressed in sailor-style schoolgirl uniforms, with the two of them DJing near the bar, their presence was different in a good way. They played the spazzkid remix of Seiho’s “I FEEL RAVE”, carving out the same kind of sanctuary it created on the internet.

Next Ai Shinozaki, turned solo singer after idol group AeLL.’s hiatus, appeared on the main floor. Already famous as a gravure idol, once she took hold of the mic she completely transformed, delivering a singing ability that went beyond expectations. The first half of her act contained slower numbers, but from “A-G-A-I-N” during the second half she got everyone on the floor into it with her up tempo songs and her use of call and response in time with the music.

Heading over to the sub-stage, Monico was DJing, attracting a crowd of people holding blue and light blue glow sticks. Playing anime songs just like she said she would, she moved from μ’s “Natsuiro Egao de 1, 2, Jump!” to Haruhi Suzumiya starring Aya Hirano’s “God knows…”, May’n/Ai Nakajima’s “Lion”, and other well-known crowd pleasers, getting everybody on the floor moving.

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Feeling pleasantly fatigued after the energy from all those anime songs, I returned to the main stage area and ORESAMA came on. Their electronic music with a strong, black music-style baseline got the audience dancing. With GraphersRock’s VJing, lasers, and two dancers, they radiated a huge presence. With her costume, there was no mistake that vocalist Pon♀was an icon of cuteness, but with respect to their overwhelming musicmanship and their appealing technique to it, as well as their gimmick, they were truly outstanding.

Moving closer to the sub-stage, DJ Gizmo (Kokoro Shinozaki from petit pas!) was playing, in a white Chinese-style outfit. With her set initially revolving around rock, she got things going by introducing her fans to mixes of Seiko Oomori, BELLRING Shoujo Heart, and others from the idol world, and really made it feel like summer by playing season favorites like ORANGE RANGE’s “Locomotion” and Whiteberry’s “Natsumatsuri”. She didn’t mind fans taking pictures of her while she DJed, and the mood was very peaceful.

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The last act on the main stage was Akasick, a five member band led by vocal Rihime. With they performed one upbeat, catchy, hit tune after another, and really livened up the floor. During their MC, Rihime talked about how she was impressed by the production of “Laserbeam”. Commenting, “Aren’t we cool like Perfume?” she made the venue fill with laughter. Peppered with Rihime’s free-without-flattery MC, the concert came to a close. Adding, “It’s hot so make sure you rush home and have a few drinks,” they wrapped up with “Shuuden”.

All during the concert, there was an open studio show by Graphic Girl President KASICO going on in the venue’s lounge area. Borrowing the words of KASICO, Graphic Girl is a “new sense of fashion gravure” expressed in GIF animation form. Producing work with models Haruka Shimokawa, Monico, and Aris Mukaide in a hurry, it was also very popular. Thinking people should be shown more carefree, KASICO told us in a previous interview with TGU that he wanted to make things that have the same feel as junk food. Because GIF animation is a limited form of expression due to its capacity, I felt like it was able to capture its simplicity with a pop feel.

With many artists of the same age, like Seira Kariya, visiting this event, it makes me wonder if it held just as much meaning for people of the same age. Just as expected from their activeness in 2015, it was a worthwhile live event with the kind of unique momentum that seemed like it could blow up at any moment. Please look forward to what the artists of this performance have in store for us yet, as well as the next event featuring 2.5D and Graphic Girl.

Photo by Yosuke Mochizuki
Translated by Jamie K

See this article in Japanese at 2.5D official:http://2-5-d.jp/feature/girls-dont-cry/

Related Links:
Ai Shinozaki Twitter:https://twitter.com/shinozakiai_226
Akasick Official:http://www.akasick.info
ORESAMA Official:http://2-5-d.jp/oresama/
Arisu Mukaide Twitter:https://twitter.com/arismukaide
petit pas! Official (Kokoro Shinozaki):http://petitpas.mave-ricks.com
Monico Twitter:https://twitter.com/monico_pc
Kindan no Tasuketsu Official (Kasanahi):http://kindan.tumblr.com
GraphersRock Official:http://www.graphersrock.com
Graphic Girl Official:http://g-girl.org
2.5D Official:http://2-5-d.jp
GIRLS DON’T CRY Official:http://2-5-d.jp/graphic_girl/

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Related Artists : Ai Shinozaki
Author
ykmk

Growing up in Akihabara culture, ykmk became an otaku covering idol, anime, and pop music.

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