The IKONOIJOY 2023 Shuffle Party Was Fun (Review/Thoughts)
Another =LOVE related post???
As I said at the end of my previous write-up about one of =LOVE's newest song releases, I published it on the very day that Ikorabu would perform at the annual joint live concert they do with their sister groups ≠ME and ≒JOY. And interestingly enough, a few weeks prior, it was announced that overseas fans would be able to watch said event via live streaming, which then prompted me to immediately plan on seeing this weekend-long concert. I honestly don't get many opportunities to (legally) watch full-length idol lives so when the chance does come, I usually go for it, especially when it involves groups I'm actually interested in.
Well, I did watch it last weekend and I'd like to share my thoughts on it! There were a lot of great moments, as well as an overarching theme that was an interesting one, so that is what we will be talking about today. This also made me realize that I've done a bad job at doing live concert reviews (was planning on discussing the BanG Dream concert that I watched eight months ago but never did) so I'd like to redeem myself.
That being said, let's jump right in!
IKOJOYNOI 2023 was a two-day concert event that was held on July 29th & 30th at the Fujikyu Highland Conifer Forest in Yamanashi, Japan. This was the second joint live between all three of Sashihara Rino's produced idol groups in =LOVE (pronounced "Equal Love"; nicknamed "Ikorabu"), ≠ME ("Not Equal Me"; "Noimii"), and ≒JOY ("Nearly Equal Joy"; "Niajoy"), as an annual celebration of the units and the music releases they've put out in the past year.
Each day of the event had its own separate theme, with Day 1 being titled the "Water & Bubbles Party" and Day 2 as the "Shuffle Party".
The Experience
Alright first off, I wanted to touch on some of the things that I noticed, kind of, as the live began and went on. As I mentioned earlier, this was made available through an online livestream, which was run by a company called Beyond LIVE. Now I have never heard of or used their site before but they seem to frequently stream events from Korean artists like TWICE and Stray Kids, as well as ones from Japan such as NiziU, HKT48 and even YOASOBI. And for the most part, everything seemed to be handled pretty well. Was easy to sign up and access the stream, video quality was actually really good, and there was even an included chat where you can talk to other fans who are also watching (even though I didn't use it, it could be a nice feature for others). There was one major issue during Day 1 where the audio was genuinely horrendous for the first hour, but they eventually fixed it and it was smooth sailing from then on (including the entirety of Day 2). So other than that one technical difficulty, Beyond LIVE seems to be a cool service and I'm grateful that they decided to stream an event like this. I would definitely use their service again if they end up distributing another live from an artist I like.
Another interesting thing I saw from Beyond LIVE was the inclusion of live translation in various languages such as English, Spanish, Korean, French, Tagalog and a few others. I've seen live translation being done before, more specifically through speech, and usually the outcomes are pretty bad (lol). I understand these translators are just doing their best to relay the information in real-time, whether that be through text or speech, so whenever it does come up, I don't really make a huge deal about it. In regards to the IKONOIJOY live, the translations were solely through text and for the most part... it was actually decent. Obviously the timing wasn't gonna be exact and some speaking parts just weren't translated but for what it's worth, I was able to get a general gist of what these girls were saying with their MCs or short comments (songs weren't translated). Neat feature.
All that being said, let's talk about the actual show now.
Not only was this the first time I've seen these three groups perform live, but if I'm being honest, this also might've been the first time I've watched a concert from a 'traditional' idol group. One that isn't a part of some multimedia fictional franchise (e.g. Love Live, BanG Dream), or has a bunch of voice actors/seiyuu I know. Sure, you could technically consider =LOVE, ≠ME and ≒JOY as 'voice actor idol units', given that all of them are, I believe to be, trained seiyuu from the Yoyogi Animation Academy. But... since most of them haven't actually been in any anime or other types of 2D media, it's more likely that someone will see these three as any other mainstream idol squad, rather than affiliating them with the likes of TrySail, i☆Ris, DIALOGUE+ and such.
But despite the fact, the IKONOIJOY event didn't really feel all that different from what I'm used to. I think Love Live, the franchise I've seen the majority of Japanese live concerts from, has done a great job replicating and/or just setting the tone of how idol concerts usually go or feel like, especially for foreigners like myself who became more interested in the idol phenomena through that series. The whole thing with performing on a meticulously decorated stage, the fun energy/hype, the constant running around from one part of the venue from another, the moving carts, and the fan interaction... not trying to imply that I wanted anything different from this IKONOIJOY live or that it didn't impress me, but I do find it fascinating that there's a particular 'routine' and set of things that all major idol concerts have, no matter the group in question.
There were certain 'themes' that were implemented into this event such as Day 1 revolving around 'water and bubbles', where those two things were both constantly being sprayed onto the stage and audience, which made sense since the concert was held on a hot summer day. It was honestly pretty interesting to see this for myself since I've previously seen photos from past =LOVE/≠ME concerts and wondered why the idols looked absolutely soaked WHILE they were performing songs. But to finally realize that they're purposefully being drenched in water and not because they're forced to sing and dance in the pouring rain... glad I could get some clarification on that (lol) and it's impressive to see that they can perform in those conditions, especially when they needed to quickly change outfits afterwards.
And as mentioned earlier, Day 2 was the 'Shuffle Party', essentially meaning that all three groups swapped songs with each other and 'covered' them (e.g. ≒JOY singing a =LOVE song, =LOVE performing a ≠ME song, and so on and so on). And it was neat!
The Songs
One event that was done in a similar fashion and immediately comes to mind is when the Love Live franchise's Nijigasaki High School Idol Club did their Shuffle Festival concert back in 2021. Long story short, it was the first time I've ever seen something like that and it was executed really well, as seeing those seiyuu branch out and perform in much different tones than what we were all used to made for a fun experience. That said, I think the same sentiments definitely apply to what I saw in the IKONOIJOY live.
There were a lot of really good song choices for covers, as well as member combinations for said covers, so I'll just give my brief thoughts on some of my favorites:
(also, since the live album for this concert won't be released until a couple months from now, the best I can do is to include the original songs that were covered. I know that completely ruins the points I'm trying to convey lol but you'll have to take my word for these, and cover or original, they're still some really enjoyable songs to listen to!)
Watashi, Mahoutsukai (performed by Suzuki Hitomi & Tanizaki Saya; original by Otani Emiri & Saito Nagisa) — when this song came up, it did feel a bit bittersweet, given that one of the original performers of the track, Saito Nagisa, graduated from =LOVE earlier this year; although, Otoshima Risa filling in during its Day 1 performance was nice to see. That said, ≠ME's Hitomi and Saya did a great job covering this song on Day 2, and it definitely is a song that fits both of their sweet and cutesy personalities
Summer Chocolate (performed by Otani Emiri & Saito Kiara; original by Suzuki Hitomi & Tanizaki Saya) — Otani and Suzuki/Tanizaki essentially swapped duets lol, and similar to the previous mentioned track, the pure and cute vibes were perfect for a pair like Emiri and Kiara
Nijihan Rock'n'Roll (performed by Amano Konoa & Yamato Arisa; original by Nagata Shiori & Honda Miyuki) — honestly not a huge fan of this old-school rockabilly-type song but I think these two ≒JOY members excelled at emulating the fun energy that Shirorin and Miruten originally showed in that track
Peonies (performed by Sasaki Maika & Noguchi Iori; original by Tomita Nanaka & Kanisawa Moeko) — this song made me notice that they seem to really like pairing Maika and Iori together in anything :P and with a more cool and dramatic song like "Peonies", you can't deny that those two were perfect for a cover like that
Anoko Complex (performed by ≒JOY; original by =LOVE) — honestly didn't know anything about ≒JOY prior to watching this concert but they killed it with their performance of an iconic Ikorabu song. Plus I have to give them credit for performing while they were being sprayed with a bunch of water
Tenshi wa Doko e (performed by =LOVE; original by ≠ME) — no disrespect to the other two units but HANDS DOWN the best cover of the night, at least in my opinion. "Tenshi wa Doko e" is an awesome song in its own right but seeing these ten senpai sing and do the sick choreography for this ≠ME track... I was so hyped when I watched that
It was also neat to see that they went above and beyond with these covers, to the point of the girls even wearing the individual outfits from their original tracks. Many of them looked great but =LOVE wearing the "Tenshi wa Doko e" outfits and ≠ME with the "Poison Girl" costumes were probably my favorites, they looked fire.
In addition to the covers, it was my first time seeing a lot of group songs being performed in a live setting such as the IKONOIJOY joint track "Triple Date", "Kono Sora ga Trigger", "Oh! Darling", "Omowase Burikko", as well as all the group's debut singles. Thought it was also cool that some tracks had everyone performing at the same time, which made me super impressed with the fact that pretty much ALL 34 idols know the choreography for these songs. Doesn't matter if it was a =LOVE or ≠ME or ≒JOY group track, everyone was in sync and I was just astounded when I realized that. Sure, a lot of the time they were just waving their arms around to pump the crowd up, but it's still pretty dang admirable that everyone had to memorize and practice the specific dances for ALL these songs.
The Idols
Which brings me to discussing the idols themselves. This is a very minor complaint that I'm about to talk about but it's one that I couldn't help but notice. Yes, having all 34 idols on stage during many of the group songs, even if they're just accompanying whichever's the main unit performing... it made sense. This is supposed to be a celebration of all three groups and it was fitting to have them be up there and also have fun during =LOVE's performance of "Heroines" and such.
But it was interesting to note that, because I have certain members that I like and am an oshi of, it tended to be a bit difficult to actually see them on screen most of the time. And again, I fully understand that BECAUSE there are 34 people involved at the same time, the staff needed to show every single one of them someway and somehow, even if it's for like two seconds a pop, so I get that. =LOVE's Takiwaki Shoko and ≠ME's Ochiai Kirari are a couple members I like more than others, but I honestly couldn't remember seeing them a ton during the two-and-a-half hour event (same could probably be said by fans of some of the other idols). It's not really anyone's fault, it's just something that fans seem to have to deal with when it comes to a large event like this. And it definitely made me sympathize with fans who follow the MUCH bigger idol groups like the AKB48 and Nogizaka46 family of units. I really can't imagine being an oshi of one single member out of the 46/48+ total girls, and having to go through the possibility of not seeing them a ton during lives (at least, in an online setting), so I certainly feel for them.
Obviously I can easily and separately indulge in the content from those specific idols, whether that be through social media or clips of their individual SHOWROOM streams. But given that this was the very first time I've seen these groups perform live, it was just a bit of an expectation that I had prior to coming into this. And I feel like that stems from my experiences with Love Live and how I'm used to the smaller sized groups (most has been 12 members, with Nijigasaki) so... that's something I noticed and wanted to comment on.
On the other hand, I think this was also an ideal opportunity to become a bit more familiar with a few of the idols I haven't followed all too much. I definitely came to like and notice the talents of certain ladies such as Tomita Nanaka (≠ME) having a really deep and unique voice, and Suzuki Hitomi, thanks to ≠ME debuting a brand new song which featured her as the center. And like I said earlier with how I didn't know anything about ≒JOY before watching this live, it did help me get a glimpse of who they are and made me realize that they themselves are pretty dang talented. Feels like my hands are currently full with being a fan of both =LOVE and ≠ME, but I'm sure I'll take the time to learn more about ≒JOY, eventually.
This post is getting pretty long, so I'll wrap it up now.
To quickly bring up the same sentiments I had when I talked about TrySail and the shuffle album they released last year, I feel like it would've been preferred that viewers be familiar with, at least, some of the more well-known =LOVE or ≠ME or ≒JOY songs in order to get the full experience of this 'shuffle party'. I mean, one obvious reason why these idol groups do these shuffle type of events is to see how another person or duo or unit would sound when singing a song that isn't theirs. Comparing the two and just appreciating their abilities to emulate said songs is certainly a main appeal, especially when song covers are incredibly popular within Japan. But I used the word "preferred" rather than "required" since to be honest, you can still have fun watching these groups perform these songs, period. They all did a great job and it's not THAT important to listen to the original versions beforehand, as you can easily go check those out later and appreciate the differences then (which is what I did with some tracks).
But that said, I 1000% enjoyed this concert. It was a new experience for me, watching these groups that I've admired for the past year or so and just being able to see some of these great songs be performed made for a great time, despite me having to stay awake until 4:30 in the morning... it was worth it. And not only did I also get to discover some tracks that I haven't gotten the chance to come across (such as =LOVE's "Poison Girl" or "Sweet Sixteen" from ≒JOY), but I certainly became more interested in a few idols that I haven't taken note of before.
So all in all, I had a fantastic time and if the Sashihara Rino-led groups decide to distribute another live to overseas fans in the future, I would absolutely be down to pay for it.
Aaaand that's all I got for you today!
I think it's also nice to mention that Naatan/Saito Nagisa was in attendance during Day 1, and when they surprised both the viewers and performers, my eyes lit up immediately (lol). It was great seeing her support her good friends!
Other than that, definitely go listen to ≠ME's new song, it's a pretty adorable one that's been on repeat for the past few days.
Lastly, if you watched the IKONOIJOY 2023 live or any of their concerts before, definitely let me know your thoughts in the comments! Would be glad to read them.
Thanks for reading!! :D
-al