NANA MIZUKI LIVE PARK 2016

Koshien iku yooo!

So once again, as has become my habit, here is my LIVE PARK report months after it actually happened. Maybe next year I can do better? One can only keep hoping! On the bright side, I am proud to still be done with this a couple of months before the BD/DVD release... so from that perspective I at least didn't do as bad a job as I did with LIVE GALAXY! That has to be progress... right, RIGHT??? (T^T)

Goods

We got to the venue pretty early, but there were already a lot of people queuing. Still, it ended up not being too bad. It was kinda fun circling the stadium, since it was really pretty.

And the one thing I really enjoyed was the messages that people had left during baseball games that they had attended in Koshien along the years. There were a bunch of ones in English too, a lot more than I would have imagined actually!

The amazingly bad rain storm the forecasts had been threatening for the day didn't seem to be anywhere in sight either. There were some light drizzles while we queued but nothing worth getting anxious about.

When we were nearing the end of our queuing time we were treated to a nice surprise.  You might remember the [International Fan Project] I was running earlier this year, through which I met a lot of new lovely people. Two of which happened to be at LIVE PARK and spotted me and my friend in the queue! Thank you so much for coming to say hi!! And sorry it took us quite a moment to realize it was you! I hope next time we can take a picture together, as I regret not having the opportunity to do so this time. :3

By the time it was our turn to buy stuff the hachimaki (head band) had sold out. Didn't expect that to be so popular! :o

Inside Koshien Stadium 

I had thought our seats would be kinda far, but turns out we were quite in the middle of the arena and close to the middle stage, which was not bad at all! It felt somehow really exciting to be in there considering how much it meant for Nana herself. When we were entering the staff gave us one of those long balloons (like the ones they were selling in the goods) with a set of instructions on what was expected of us. The kanji were unfamiliar to us, but luckily the Japanese fans sitting beside us were happy to explain "the plan" to us.

The concert

Then it was time for the opening movie! ... which I really don't remember anything of. Eep! This is not a good start to the report, but I assure you the only reason for this is that my brain was too occupied with all the stuff that came after to remember this. I kinda feel that while LIVE PARK was amazing in so many ways, the little movies were a little lacking. Though now that I am writing this I have a vague recollection of Nana changing clothes and going out in the movie?? So I think I actually blocked it from my mind since I don't appreciate it when they try to sensualize her like that. Anyways, onward!

SET LIST:

01. Aoi Iro

02. POWER GATE

03. It's Only Brave

MC1

04. Naked Soldier

05. SCARLET KNIGHT

06. Antiphona

Cherry Boys Showcase

07. POP MASTER

08. 76th Star

MC2

09. Summer Sweet

10. Koi Uta

Team Yo-Da Showcase

11. The NEW STAR

12. FAITH

MC3

13. TRANSMIGRATION

14. Netsujou no Maria

Bottle Rex - movie

15. STARTING NOW!

16. Lazy Syndrome

17. 7COLORS

MC4

18. STAND UP! 

19. MASSIVE WONDERS

20. ETERNAL BLAZE

21. Appassionato

MC5

22. BRAVE PHOENIX

Encore:

23. Fun Fun★People

MC6

24. Rokko Oroshi 

25. You have a dream

26. Miracle☆Flight

MC7

27. Rensou Hanabi

Encore II:

28. Jet Park

Even though I just assured in the previous section that I remember the later things that happened, a couple of little things remain that I can't place (sorry xD). I asked my friend for help too, but we couldn't agree on what the correct timing for these things were so I will just briefly mention them here. If anyone reading this recalls what MC these belong to please let me know!

• Nana called today as being "Nana Mizuki vs Typhoon 2016" and pretty much that she won this fight (which ended up not being completely true due to the sudden downpour in the end).
• Nana was thanking us her fans at one point and also said a thank you to her fans all over the world! This stood out for me as I don't recall her doing so before (apart from the lives that were outside of Japan and available for live viewing in other countries, which prompted her to acknowledge all the countries participating in those cases). I might be biased and too optimistic, but I like to think that she mentioned this today because of our [Super☆Blossom] and everyone's love for her.

Now with these out of the way, let's begin the actual breakdown of the concert!

Outfit #1 - Day at the Park

Dat ominous sky D:

01. Aoi Iro
As much as I love Aoi Iro, it wasn't the most powerful choice as an opening song. It almost feels like it started and almost right after everyone was on stage. No build up of suspense. During the song, a bunch of balloons were released from the jungle gym structure (took me a while to realize that's what it was supposed to be xD) and I couldn't help but wonder where they would end up when I watched them being carried far, far away by the wind.

All dem balloons!

02. POWER GATE
Holy shit, PawaGe so soon, this is like the worst starting combination for me since my throat has been acting up for weeks now (couldn't even really speak the week before). So much singing along from the get go, haaaalp. xD

03. It's Only Brave

I don't know why, but I had thought that this song would just appear once in a live and then fall into the abyss like some other Nana songs, but nope! Here it is! It felt a little underwhelming after the high tension of POWER GATE though.

MC1

Welcome to LIVE PARK! Nana tells us she is so happy to be in Koshien, though everyone had been very worried about the rain. She thought she was going to cry from the beginning, because of how much being here means to her and she still couldn't believe this was actually happening during the rehearsals.

Outfit #1 - Revamped

Except wait.... isn't this a completely different outfit??

04. Naked Soldier

Before my  brain caught onto what song just started, my body beat it to the punch with the shivers. Naked Soldier had left such a strong impression on me in LIVE CIRCUS. It made me feel that with this the concert tonight had shifted gears into epic mode. I wondered how the tension would be kept up, but my question was promptly answered with the next song which was...

05. SCARLET KNIGHT

So, so, so happy to hear this song!! I have always loved SCARLET KNIGHT a lot, and even more after hearing that incredible acoustic version of it, but I realized tonight that I might not have yet understood how special this song is to me. I mean, it's the first song from Nana I ever heard live. It's the song I heard when I saw her before my eyes for the first time ever. It is a moment I will never forget, because it was so important and magical. It is strange looking back at that moment all those years ago. It feels like it has been an eternity since then, and also feels it happened only yesterday. Sometimes I forget how magical Nana's concerts can make me feel and tonight made me remember without a doubt. Thank you for singing SCARLET KNIGHT Nana, it was important to me.

06. Antiphona

First new song of the night! This falls into the "unmemorable game song" category for me, which is a shame because I really like many parts of the song... I just always forget how the song goes after I hear it. orz Still it was a treat to hear it tonight and I really enjoyed it listening to it in the moment!

Cherry Boys Showcase
Have to say I don't really remember anything from the Cherry Boy introductions this time (apart from them chilling at a park), as my brain capacity was hijacked by what came right  after.. which was balloons.

Since the Cherry Boys were talking about getting our balloons ready, I wondered if it had all been organized as a surprise Nana didn't know about... but nope. She came on stage herself to instruct us on what to do... wearing a yukata! She says she really wanted to do this when at Koshien for the 7th song of the night. I really have no clue about baseball in general so I couldn't see the relevance, but my friend reckoned it had something to do with what's done on the 7th inning in a baseball game.

And indeed, turns out it's part of the "7th inning stretch" tradition in Japan, where instead of stretching, you [release these balloons].

Outfit #2 - Yukata

So pretty! I so prefer this over any more "revealing" outfits. :3

Man, all of these balloons going up at the same time was magical!

07. POP MASTER
Such an appropriate choice for this whole balloon thing and 7th song!! It was so incredible seeing that crowd of balloons flying up during the intro that I think this has been the most excited I have been in a concert for quite some time now (think last time was probably LIVE THEATER).

08. 76th Star

Ooh, what a fun surprise! This gave me a nice warm fuzzy LIVE UNION feeling. It's been too long! I somehow really have a lot of fun doing those claps for the chorus. Such a nice follow up after the special POP MASTER.

MC4

Nana talks about her yukata and how since there was no summer live she wanted to wear something summery for LIVE PARK.... So yukata! This of course triggers the usual mawatte! -calls and we also get a mou ikkai with Yuta-pon. This results with Nana coming up with the perfect slip up (be it by accident or on purpose) and calling Yuta-pon "yukata" instead of his actual name, "Yutaka". She then proceeds to tell about her Mount Fuji climb with some of the Cherry Boys and Team Mizuki. She also asks if we watched her on TV this summer, like in FNS and talks a bit more about that too. She also tells us that she went to a lot of concerts and when she was in the Kis-My-Ft2 one, they actually mentioned her being there. Well then, the next song still be fitting for this summer theme...

09. Summer Sweet
I had hoped for Rensou Hanabi (yukata nano ni), but this works! I haven't listened to this song much I admit, but now after hearing it tonight I think I really like it. Hearing current Nana sing it is probably pretty different though, so I am kinda worried taking a listen to the version from the single years ago after this experience. :3

10. Koi Uta

Somehow I am not really a big fan of this song, it stood out the least for me from SMASHING ANTHEMS. It kinda reminds me of some other songs by other people and I am not really used to feeling that way about Nana songs. Hearing it live didn't for once change my feelings either.

Team Yoda Showcase

So... I really don't remember much from this either. Guess it didn't leave much of an impression? I still can only clearly remember the LIVE GALAXY one. xD Though I think Itaruvich showed up during this section and hadn't been here before now.

Outfit #3 - Tora Stripes

Tarzan... inspired? Maybe?

11. The NEW STAR
Finally the song started and I was bursting with excitement as I have really been wanting to hear Nana sing all dis English live. After the first English bit, Nana came surfing down to the middle stage on a board covered in greenery. It made me think of Tarzan, but not sure if that's what she was going for. xD When she was off the board the song continued and I have to say the choreograph for this was pretty funny. All I remember of it though is her playing an air guitar, but that was already very funny in itself.

Nana... jungle surfing? :D

12. FAITH
I had hoped that this song would be GUILTY, but I guess FAITH raked in the most votes. Which is cool, since it is a song I haven't witnessed live yet. The choreograph is pretty nice too and worked well with the longer dress when she did those twirls.

MC3

Nana starts by apologizing for the wait. There were some technical difficulties. She quickly changes the topic to her outfit though. She wanted to wear something sexy and even more than that wanted to to wear tora stripes to represent Hanshin Tigers. She then mentions that she sang FAITH, because it was the song chosen from the questionnaire on her website regarding the most wanted dance song of the summer. Nana asks us then who voted and lots of hands rise into the air, including mine. She then talks about being on Music Station. I think they had her high school picture (on a day after she had eaten a lot of sweets and thus had a bloated face) there from what I remember and the obasan taking the picture just took her pic before she was ready. I think there was also talk about someone she saw as a mentor and was shocked that he actually knew her and called her Kondou-san. This part about Music Station was a bit of a blur for me.

Next song is.. since you know.. Tigers.. TORANSMIGRATION (thanks Nana for making a simple enough of a pun so even I could understand it xD)!

13. TRANSMIGRATION
A while back this song started leaving a strong impression on me but it really bothers me that I can't remember when exactly that began. Was it when I heard it in LIVE GRACE -Opus II-? Very possible. Oh well. The result is that whenever I do hear it live like this I get really excited.

14. Netsujo no Maria

I was hoping for this tonight. It has become one of my top songs from SMASHING ANTHEMS after I got requests to translate it and realized how much thought went into the lyrics of this song. Yes, I am aware that I haven't posted the translation yet (waiting on my quality checker who's been super busy for a... very long time xD).


Bottle Rex - movie

So we are back to having Nana and Cherry Boys at the park we've already seen earlier tonight (if I remember correctly). Nana gets the idea of doing a good samaritan deed and urges everyone to pick up bottles around the park. They end up constructing a t.rex out of them. Cue in Sumire Uesaka - Sumipe. She has the power to bring the t. rex alive, naturally. Doh.

You can find out about this from [Sumipe's blog] (in Japanese). And then...

Outfit #4 - Stripes and Green

Yep, couldn't really think of anything proper to call this outfit. :3

15. STARTING NOW!
Holy shit that t. rex haha! It was so awesome when it puffed out some smoke. xD As for STARTING NOW, I mentioned in my Rensou Hanabi post that I didn't think too much of it as a song, but I am happy that it falls into the category of songs that are really fun live. It was so much fun singing this together with Nana.

16. Lazy Syndrome
Wasn't expecting this, but I am so happy it popped up! I really love this song and it conveys so well much of the stuff I feel in my nichijou. Nana didn't get to do her crazy dancing this time though, since she was still going around with the t. rex. which now was lit up with a bunch of LEDs like a dinosaur xmas tree. xD Actually I am happy she didn't even really attempt (I think she did attempt a little) to do the dance, because the likelihood of her getting hurt as a result was pretty high on that little moving rex platform.

17. 7COLORS

It took me a while to realize what this song was, since it's been pretty long since it last popped up... was it in LIVE CASTLE actually? Daymn! I didn't even remember it's a towel song! Had to quickly pull out my towel when it hit me.

MC4

Nana had been wondering what she should ride this time, so then she thought park...  hmm... Jurassic Park! Hence the t. rex. Nana named it Onanasaurus, because of course. xD She figured having just a normal one would be boring so she had the skeleton light up in rainbow colors. The idea for the insert movie and this came from her role in [KonoBi] and what they did with cans there. She felt there needed to be a good reason for why it transformed though.. That's why Sumipe! They had worked together on Cross Ange and she was very willing to help as long as she doesn't have to be naked (if you've watched Cross Ange this requset really makes sense). xD Nana let her dress the way she usually does, so as a lolita basically.

Then it's time for new album announcement. Nana's been making new songs since May, but she couldn't talk about it in her blog before this announcement. This time the album will be full of new style and new song writers. She feels it's going to be something exciting so she is taking her time. And as a special surprise,  she will sing one song from the album for us now. \o/

(I think around here Nana removed the striped vest, but can't really remember! It came off at some point in any case xD)

18. STAND UP! 
Usually when I hear a new Nana song in a live that I have never heard before, most of it just passes by and it's hard for me to grasp the structure and especially for the lyrics I don't really have brain capacity. But this time, someone had the idea to show the lyrics on the big screens while Nana was singing. which my brain automatically started reading. And thus, this song really hit me hard. I feel a bit stuck with my life right now and don't really know what I should do next. I kinda know what I wanna do, but I don't know if that's what I should do. Hence, listening to this song about getting back up and giving your best and not giving up and and going for your dreams really smacked me in the face. I wanted to cry. I didn't. It's always so scary how accurately Nana's songs deal with such relevant things to my life (I'm sure you all feel the same too right?). I can't wait till December to hear this again. You can catch a sneak peek of it on [Nana's Youtube].

After finishing the song, Nana mentions that it was written by the same guy, Yoshida Takumi, as Lazy Syndrome and Rensou Hanabi. She then briefly talks about the Nanoha younger generation and how she's not involved this season, so in spirit of Nanoha the next songs will be atsui songs like..

19. MASSIVE WONDERS
Feels like it's been a while since I heard this! I wonder if EtaBure will come after this?

20. ETERNAL BLAZE
This turned out to be quite the Nanoha corner indeed. Really excited to get EtaBure at this point actually, because it leaves open the question of what will be the final song before encore! It also felt much more fulfilling than the previous time at LIVE GALAXY when it was brought out right at the start, though then again, I guess you need to break the norm like that sometime so the next time when it is in a more "appropriate" spot you get more stoked about it.

21. Appassionato
Wohooo! I have a lot of fun and silly memories related to this song so I was super excited it popped up. I was wondering (and kinda worrying) if the signature fire sparks would show up near the end of the song and they did! It was a magnificent sight through the stage setup, but I couldn't help but fret the whole time that something bad would happen and the stage would explode in this weather. xD That didn't happen but.....


..... rain. Intense fucking rain. Holy shit.


MC5

Nana talks about the rain and asks if everyone is still genki and okay to keep going in the downpour. Of course we all are ready to keep going, it was her I was more worried about it. (>- < ;;) Then she goes on to say that it is time for what she doesn't want to say and that is that it's time for the last song. She explains she wanted to choose this song for Koshien finale, since she wanted to convey that she wants to do lots of new things from now on.

22. BRAVE PHOENIX

I can't express with words how bad I felt for the completely soaked Nana who was so determined to still give us the exact live experience she had intended. My heart hurt so much and I wish there was a way for me to tell her how much I appreciated what she is doing. The best I could do was to show her I was fully with her on this, so that's what I did. Screw the heavy rain. Truth be told, this whole rain thing really made BRAVE PHOENIX more powerful than ever and I felt I was receiving it with all of myself. Watching Nana like this, singing about how surely the end is just another beginning in the intense rain, I just couldn't help feeling disappointed in myself. When was the last time I had tried so hard? I can't remember. I just gamansuru. With all the rain pouring down my face I couldn't be sure if there were some tears in there too.

Outfit #4 - Revamped

The vestless version of the outfit. Nana in the rain was
so mesmerizing!

Yes I am spamming pictures this time, because wow!

Encore call!

Nanaaaaaaaaa~! Holy shit. When the rain started, I had put on my new LIVE PARK stadium jacket, which proved to be surprisingly water-proof... until it was not and all the water was sucked into it. I hadn't realized that as a result of this, all the water was still trapped within the jacket, so when I lowered my penlight after BRAVE PHOENIX, a massive waterfall came pouring out from my sleeve.  ∑(ﾟωﾟﾉ)ノ Of course I aimed it right on my shoe.... though, not that it mattered since I already had puddles inside them anyway. After sizing up my own situation my feels for what it must be like for Nana quadrupled. I was really really hoping this wouldn't make her sick or cause any accidents. I was almost on the verge of hoping that the encore would be cancelled when..

Outfit #5 - Encore

Every time I see these pics/vids of her so soaked
and playing the sax I feel so bad... (T^T)

23. Fun Fun★People

OMG YES! I had kind of signed off on hoping to hear this song again for a long time after LIVE FLIGHT, but it is one of the best songs to pick for sax for sure!! I got so super excited. This ultimately  became one of my favorite songs ever to hear live after how happy and cute Nana was about singing it together in LIVE FLIGHT and now it rose even higher on my list after this special treatment. This woman is amazingly talented!! Sadly though she couldn't play the sax too much, because she had to sing too. Still amazing!

MC6

Nana talk about the sax of course. How it's so tiny, but it's hers. She got the idea from the brass band at baseball games. And then she thought that yappari, the song had to be Fun Fun★People. She then let's Fire say a few words, as he was her sensei. Fire was like:

"How many of you play sax? She came to me saying she wants to learn to play in a few months and we sax players know that's impossible. But she did it. And would be so mottainai (a waste) if she just did one song so she should do more right?"

Everyone agreed and apparently this time Nana would play the sax for the whole song and we were expected to sing in her stead. Wow! And considering tonight's venue, it would of course be a tribute to Hanshin Tigers in the form of their song!

24. Rokko Oroshi

I am speechless. I wasn't expecting to hear her play the sax for a whole full song, but I should have known that just Fun Fun★People wouldn't be enough for Nana. I truly respect her love and dedication for the Hanshin Tigers and hope that at least some of the players were there tonight to see this. My heart also hurt even more now than before, because of how greatly the rain falling into the sax was affecting how it sounded. Nana was obviously doing a fantastic job and did her best not to have her spirits dampened by the effect of the rain and I wish we would have had the chance to experience this the way she had envisioned - the fruits of her all her practice at 100%. This really was one of those moments when I truly wished I could tell her thank you and somehow indicate that I am filled with so much appreciation for her efforts.

Here's [Nana's blog entry] about the sax. Go tell her she rocks! :) They are fine with comments in English... except that they will get google translated. xD

After finishing she still explained how we usually cheer her on, but this time she wanted to do it for us like the brass band at baseball games. So cute!! :3 Then her sax was taken away and the next song would be back to the usual.

25. You have a dream
I was relieved to see that Nana seemed to be her usual genki self and hadn't let the rain fiddling with her sax dampen her spirits. For this she went around the arena on a thing.... not sure what I should call it. xD Movable platform in any case!

26. Miracle☆Flight

This song has a special place in my heart after LIVE FLIGHT - it was so nice to get to be a part of that surprise for her in Singapore and I get reminded of that every time I go to karaoke and sing Miracle☆Flight, since they added that as one of the live videos. I didn't even really sing it before, but now I do almost every time. xD So needless to say, I got some fluffy feelings from this tonight.

MC7

Nana had been thinking what should she still sing tonight and how it needed to be something fitting for the end of summer and today. And she thought yappari it should be Rensou Hanabi. You have no idea how happy I was at this moment when I heard that!

27. Rensou Hanabi
I had been literally waiting for this all night. I had hoped to have this pop up during the time Nana was wearing the yukata, but this was better. Rensou Hanabi deserves such a special spot in a live. As much as I had wanted to hear this, my heart still wasn't ready for it and the emotional impact was huge. This song is just so incredibly beautiful and sad. I did the mistake of reflecting the lyrics of this song to my journey of having Nana in my life (going to lives, etc) and received such a gut punch from:

はじめて出会った頃
誰よりも笑う君に見惚れて
優しい人だと思った
笑顔の裏では
ひとりで涙を流している
そんな君が誰より大切なのに
何もできないでいた

(The first time we met
I was charmed by the you who laughed more than anyone
What a kind person, I thought
Behind the smile
you are shedding tears alone
That you was more precious to me than anyone, but still
I could not do anything)

and how she (the "I" of the lyrics) is singing songs live (to "you", to me, to everyone) to bring happiness, but in the end it is just a magical moment that'll be over before you know it and then it's back to the grind. Then suddenly, the fireworks. Holy shit. There were so many more than in previous lives, it just kept going. Fireworks. The rain. The emotions. It all swirled into one big jumble. Man. It's been quite a while since I have felt this way. This moment is going to be imprinted in my brain for a long time to come.

All I can say is.... wow.

Encore call 2
Mou ikkai, mou ikkai!

Nana runs back on stage and thanks for calling her back. She then beckons the Cherry Boys and Team Yo-Da back on stage too. She goes on to say that there is still one song that should be sang in LIVE PARK.. And that's of course...

Outfit #6 - Encore ver 2.0

I'm glad she put more stuff on so she won't
freeze to death. (>- < )

28. JET PARK

I was a little concerned about what song could possibly still outdo Rensou Hanabi at this point, but it didn't have to. JET PARK was an obvious choice for tonight that I had forgotten about and served as a nice light-hearted picker upper in the end. Which is in a way a silly thing to say, as even with these upbeat sounding songs the lyrics are sometimes pretty serious.

After the song and bows, Nana stayed behind to run around like crazy to wave at fans from every possible corner of the stages. She does this every time so her doing it now too was not surprising, but what worried me so damn much was that she was doing this in converse on the soaked stages. I was about to die of anxiety thinking that she's gonna slip and get hurt really bad, but miraculously she didn't look even close to slipping. Not even once. Whoa.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


After Nana had exited the stage and the journey back to our hotel started, the cold from being soaked by the rain started settling in. I was freezing so bad, especially in the full AC of the train, that I was sure I was either going to die before reaching our destination or be super sick the next day... neither of which actually happened thank goodness! Some piping hot cup noodles and a nice bath go a long way.

And with this, I bid everyone a lovely New Year! See you next time for LIVE ZIPANGU! ((((o´ω｀o)ﾉ