NKDS

Thanks to all the fans from Japan, Malaysia and Singapore for gattai-ing our powers together to make this event a memorable one, both for us and Minorin.

Before I start, I would first like to thank our dear fans from Japan.  For actually making those nice fan-made flags for everyone at the concert. To the joint effort of fans from Malaysia and Singapore for distributing the blue and red light-sticks. And of course, the sporting attitude by the other fans out there to join us in the light-stick calls throughout the whole concert.

I shall do a write-up of the songs that I liked from what Minorin sang today, while Julius will give his impressions of the concert and Minorin as a whole. But before we begin, we have a message for our Japanese friends:

お疲れ様、みんな！実里んのライブは最強！！！　DaiConに参加しているみなさんはありがとう！

Here’s the list of songs that were performed today:

1. Contact
2. Shinji no Tabi
3. Fragment – Shooting Star of the Origin
4. Yuki, Muon, Madoe ni te
5. Junpaku Sanctuary
6. Kimi ga Kureta Ano Hi
7. Aoi Kotou
8. Paradise Lost
9. Tomorrow’s Chance
10. Prism in the Name of Hope
11. everlasting…

Encore:

1. voyager train
2. Ameagari no Hana yo Sake
3. Contact 13

Contact & Shinji no Tabi

As expected for the opening song, everyone’s mood was built up slowly but strongly by Contact and when Shinji no Tabi kicked in, it was time to have fun. The fans around me, attending the concert for the first time and having no idea what a light-stick call was all about, soon go up to their feets, jumping, getting in sync with one another and singing along with Minorin. It’s still one of my favourite songs as I recall the first time when I came across the PV.

Fragment – Shooting Star of the Origin

I was very surprised to hear this song actually. It’s the OP from an old PS2 game titled 「水夏 A.S+」 or “Suika A.S+” during 2007. The origin of the game actually dates back to 2001, titled 「水夏」 or “Suika”.

Yuki, Muon, Madoe ni te

One of the more popular songs in terms of character album.  From her Nagato Yuki Character Album.  Snow, Silence, By the Window. Another of my favourite songs, and she did an awesome job. Why? Let’s just say, she replaced 「信じて」 (Shinjite) to 「大好き」 (Daisuki). =D

Junpaku Sanctuary

The only part of the concert wher e the white light-sticks came into play. The overall look of the crowd with their white light-sticks was  just beautiful. It’s something one has to be there to see it to fully appreciate it.

Kimi ga Kureta Ano Hi

The last song from the Contact album and it concluded very well before she started off when the remaining songs that are from the Parade album.

Paradise Lost

Of course, one of the more popular songs from the Parade album and it where the red light-sticks really came into play and it was terrific.

Tomorrow’s Chance

It’s actually her very first time performing live for this particular song and yes, those right there at Daicon 2009 was able to enjoy this performance of hers, with style~ The fan interaction with her and the fans was great.

Contact 13

The very last song that she sang for her encore and still one of my favourite song for an encore. =D

Overall the event was just terrific, with some slight problems with the sound system for the music and lighting. But that aside, Minorin’s performance was just perfect. Too perfect.

Next up will be Julius, let us see what he has to say.

~~~~~

Julius_Firefocht
If the truth had to be told, I was never much of a Chihara Minori fan. Nana-chan’s songs dominated my playlists ever since I first heard Innocent Starter, JAM Project’s new songs tend to get stuck in my head and MP3 player for a while, and recently I found myself listening to K-On songs by Mio. Minorin’s songs would only appear on my speakers on random shuffling. For the longest time, I have thought of Minorin as “Nagato Yuki’s seiyuu” and nothing else, never giving myself a true chance to recognize Minorin’s musical talents.

Looking back, I believe I have made a bad mistake. Fast-forward back to the present…

My initial purpose for visiting Daicon was for the sake of being present at the first event where a seiyuu-singer visited the South-East Asia region, as well as listening to Minorin’s live performance for the first time. I have to admit that at times during the event, I would wonder if it was worth travelling to Malaysia for Minorin, especially since I considered myself a mere appreciator rather than a true fan. I am happy to report that my concerns were misplaced, as Minorin put up an absolutely brilliant performance that impressed me with her presence, charisma and beautiful singing voice. No longer is she “Nagato Yuki’s seiyuu”; now I know her as Chihara Minori, the seiyuu-singer who carved out her own musical career from the shadows of Suzumiya Haruhi.

At this point of time, I must make another admission. I only received a single night of crash course in Minorin’s songs from Bj0rn and Sentinel011 in our hotel room before attending the concert, which meant that I could only personally relate to “Yuki, Muon, Madoe ni te” since that was the only Yuki song that Minorin sang. I was basically going into the concert blind, so to say. And yet I too was swept up in the moment and waving my lightstick to her songs before I knew it. That is the mark of a great performer, the ability to carry a crowd and inspire a person into enjoying the music that he or she is singing or creating. Minorin certainly has that quality… something about her must be right for her Japanese fans to travel all the way to Malaysia just for her performance, yes?

To sum up this short write-up, I will simply state this. Once I get home, I will start putting more of Minorin’s songs into my playlists, load more of Minorin’s songs into my MP3 player, and watch more of her live performance DVDs. I will do these things, for I am no longer an appreciator, but a newly created fan. Minorin’s voice and music has made me so, but the final deciding factor has to be the “Daisuki” that she said at the end of  “Yuki, Muon, Madoe ni te”. I tell you, that single word uttered by her was no joke, as her fans would attest. Nor did I know it felt so satisfying to have Minami Chiaki call me a “baka-yarou”. XD

It’s a good thing, I suppose. Now I can get more enjoyment out of any duet that Nana and Minorin might have in the future.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

~~~~~

And that’s about it for the coverage of Minorin’s concert. All that’s left now would be an image post compiling all the good pictures that we have taken. We will settle that once we get back to Singapore since we need to categorize and sort through the pictures. Please look forward to it!