“SideM and T.M. Revolution together on stage?! What a dream come true!!”

Intro: An Explosion of Excitement topped with Immaculate Performances

What a time to be alive...A time in which some of Japan’s most talented share the stage and come together to celebrate not only a culture, but a lifestyle that many of us otaku love. Many esteemed artists such as T.M. Revolution and Bonnie Pink took to the stage to perform some of their most iconic tracks, while fan favorites like THE IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls along with IDOLM@STER SideM kept the crowd on their feet with elation. Bandai Namco Entertainment Festival 2019 wasn’t just a concert to celebrate some of the best anime and gaming music in their illustrious history, it was a coming together of many gifted individuals who helped to set the tone, and paved the way for new artists to bring us wonderful content. Whether you’re a loyal fan or are taking your first baby steps into the world of seiyuu and idol music, Bandai Namco Entertainment Festival 2019 allowed everyone to align themselves and unite as one under one enormous roof.

Before all of the action took place on the stage, both MCs took to the center and gave fans a little pinch of what to expect, along with details of upcoming events. Shortly after, IDOLM@STER SideM came to the stage to greet fans and thank them for attending the event. Once all of that was out of the way it was time to perform, and these guys went above and beyond to please their fans. The first song they performed was ‘Beyond the Dream’, a very catchy and upbeat melody that brought everyone to their feet and had neon lights being waved in the air from every direction. The entire arena exploded with excitement as the wave of lights created a beautiful orange and red illumination, which really helped to emphasize just how full of energy everybody was.

With no breaks in between it was SideM’s time to shine and give everyone what they wanted, as they brought on another part of the cast, THE IDOLM@STER SideM WORLD TRE@SURE to perform their single, ‘Treasure Party’. For every song that was played the neon light sticks change and that really helped to exemplify the emotion conveyed from each track, especially when the song ‘Baile Apasionado’ came on, which featured elements of Salsa to really get fans fired up. The main stage lit up with a cornucopia of colors while the team danced their hearts out, and their animated counterparts synchronized with them on the back screen. It was truly something to marvel and could only be experienced to its best potential live !‘MEET THE WORLD’ was the final track from SideM WORLD TRE@SURE before the next big performance came up, one which we were highly anticipating...

Growing up in the 90’s era is something we totally take pride in because it was the era that helped pave the way for some of the greatest anime and games of our time. It was the birth of a new generation of material that fans could dive into and really feel a sense of joy, and that’s precisely what we felt when iconic artist FLOW made their way to the stage. The Tales of series has been around for a very long time and still continues to remain relevant in a time where the constant influx of new titles creates a gaming landslide that not many can keep up with. FLOW kicked things off with ‘BURN’ a fiery track from Tales of Berseria, one of the more recent titles from the series that had everyone screaming with passion, and singing along to the lyrics. The next performance was from Tales of Zesteria the Cross, which featured both the OP (風ノ唄) and ED (INNOSENSE) and once again was an electrifying performance that was unforgettable.

Before the next segment began, both FLOW and the MCs came to the stage to discuss their upcoming live tour in 2020 (2/24/2020) and that had our eyeballs popping far out of our heads in surprise, but also hype since it’ll be an event we must attend. However, that wasn’t what we were most hype about with FLOW since they have an enormous catalog of blazing hits, with two of them coming from the iconic Code Geass series (Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2). The first song they sang was the unforgettable and heart pumping OP (COLORS), which had us jumping up and screaming “JIBUN WO, saemo kaete shimaesouna..” singing along to every part with a jovial feeling. The entire arena filled up with a wave of red lights as the song pierced through our hearts and the vocals left everyone mesmerized. Their next song was another classic hit which was the opening titled, (WORLD END), a more emotional track than COLORS but still produced enough venom to really dig deep into your soul and captivate you with its powerful lyrics, along with the OP on back screen to bring that emotion to the surface even more. The performance was nothing short of spectacular and was hands down one of the best performances of the entire day 1 lineup.

Next up in the music catalog was none other than the illustrious duo, Do as Infinity, who are known for their contribution to the Tales of series. The arena at this point really needed to settle down from all of the thrills that FLOW provided, and Do as Infinity gave us some truly emotional tracks that put our hearts at ease. Their first song was from Tales of Legendia titled, ‘TAO’, while their second title, ‘believe in you’ came from popular smartphone game Tales of Asteria.

FLOW really blew me away with their incredible performance on stage! I loved it!

There's still soooo much more!

MORE Performances: Non-Stop Energy from Here on Out!

Just when you thought things would eventually slow down and allow fans to at least readjust themselves, another talented artist hits the stage with passion and flare. Gundam is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary and so what better way to juice things up than to bring Nami Tamaki (玉置成実) to the main stage and have her sing some of the greatest Gundam opening and endings of all time. Her first song was ‘Believe’, which was the OP for Gundam SEED DESTINY then followed up with ‘Reason’, the ED for the same series. Tamaki-san not only brought her astonishing voice to the table, but her captivating dance choreography that had fans screaming beyond comprehension. It was a sight to see and one that fans of the Gundam series would definitely enjoy. BONNIE PINK was up next to the plate and if you remember, we did a pretty big write up about her in our coverage of the Tales of Festival, which took place earlier this year.

BONNIE PINK is known for her youthful charm and brilliant use of her vocal range, which can be clearly heard in the iconic opening theme song for Tales of Vesperia, (鐘を鳴らして) or ‘Ring a Bell’ in English. This song is a nostalgic one and comes from a game that took not only Japan by storm, but ended up becoming an instant hit in the overseas market. BONNIE PINK wrapped up with ‘We Belong’, one of her more notable tracks which really showcases her powerful vocal capabilities and came from the game Tales of Asteria.

Absolutely stellar performance BONNIE PINK!!

You could tell BONNIE PINK was really into her performance! I was in heaven the entire time!

T.M. Revolution!?! Cinderella Girls?! GIVE US MORE!

As if our vocal chords couldn’t take enough from the elation, the evening was just getting started at the Bandai Namco Entertainment Festival. Next up was IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls who came out to sing (できたてEvo! Revo! Generation!) as well as (ドレミファクトリー！). IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls U149 was up next and brought us hits like (クレイジークレイジー) along with (美に入り彩を穿つ). This segment was perhaps the most explosive because so many fans at the event were actually IDOLM@STER enthusiasts, so the screaming sounded a lot louder this time around. THE IDOLM@STER Million Live! 765 Million Stars arrived and roused fans with songs ‘Eternal Harmony’, ‘HOME, SWEET FRIENDSHIP’, (深層マーメイド), and ‘Beat the World!!!’. THE IDOLM@STER: Million Live! Theater Days then came out and performed ‘Flyers!!!’, another popular hit that brought idol fans to tears of joy.

Tamaki-san returned back to the stage after the impactful performances and did a quick little talk portion before doing introducing the next performer, Every Little Thing, to the stage to sing ‘good night’ from the series Tales of Reverse. Then came the moment we were waiting for...the artist that we had dreamed of seeing live for so long and finally had the opportunity to do so, and that was none other than T.M. Revolution. Whenever this man comes to the stage he controls it, the entire arena erupted with orange neon lights as T.M. Revolution jumped straight into the action with (INVOKE -インヴォーク-), (ignited -イグナイテッド-), and (vestige -ヴェスティージ-), all of which came from Gundam SEED DESTINY. At this point our voice was destroyed from singing along with T.M. Revolution but it was absolutely worth it because it’s not often you get to see him perform these classics at the Tokyo Dome of all places! T.M. Revolution didn’t stop there though as he gave us another taste of Gundam SEED and its powerful track titled (Meteor -ミーティア-), which once again only helped to totally eradicate our vocal chords for pretty much the remainder of the evening.

After a bit of settling down both the MC and SideM returned to the stage to discuss the groups plans for the future as well as bless us with one of their most prestigious titles, (PRIDE STAR), which is now currently celebrating its 5th anniversary. What was truly shocking however was when unit DRAMATIC STARS came on stage to sing (DRAMATIC NONFICTION), then suddenly out of the blue, T.M. Revolution ascended from the heavens to lace his vocals on the track. Our souls ascended into nirvana at this point and we totally lost all control of our senses once the performance was over. Not only was it a total surprise to the entire audience but it was the very first time anyone has heard DRAMATIC NONFICTION with T.M. Revolution on it, which was truly historical.

For the remainder of the night, THE IDOLM@STER SideM group took over with their respective side groups FRAME, S.E.M, and Jupiter, which once again was a testament to just how incredible day 1 of Bandai Namco Entertainment Festival 2019 was. There’s no topping this at all. We had a blast and can only thank Bandai Namco for giving us this incredible opportunity to share with all of you! Until next time!

My heart is still fluttering with elation after watching T.M. Revolution perform! An experience I will never ever forget!

SideM also put on an amazing show! Otsukaresama to everyone!

Editor/Writer

Author: Rob "NualphaJPN" B.

A passionate fan of gaming, writing, journalism, anime, and philosophy. I've lived in Japan for many years and consider this place to be my permanent home. I love to travel around Japan and learn about the history and culture! Leave a comment if you enjoy my articles and watch me play on twitch.tv/honeysgaming ! Take care!

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