Japanese band FLOW celebrated their debut 15 year anniversary on 21^st December, performing 21 anime songs consecutively at a one-night-limited special live called “FLOW THE CARNIVAL 2017〜 Anime only〜” at the Nippon Seinenkan. Ten percent of the FLOW and anime fans at the venue got their hands on a platinum ticket. This was a day that fans united with their shared excitement.

On this day, the stage was occupied by a special bunch. Kishō Taniyama, the vocalist of rock band GRANDRODEO kicked off the live with an announcement. FLOW then followed up with the opening theme songs of the anime Naruto, Eureka Seven, Code Geass and much more. Not only did they play while music videos rolled, but the character voice actors and actresses from each of the series came to take part in the singing too. Afterwards, KEIGO from FLOW made a small speech about committing the anime taboo crime.  This was a dream collaboration for fans – FLOW crossed the line, achieving something never seen before. The fans were stuck in an excited state.

As the silk curtains parted, the band performed their first song “Steppin’ out” and gradually begun to reveal themselves. This caused a giant eruption of cheers among the audience. FLOW then continued with “WORD OF THE VOICE” and “HEY!!!”, during which many audience members chanted “oi” to the melody. The band members showed their faces as the crowd went wild. As the name “Anime only” implies, only anime songs were performed, and these were performed consecutively. No wonder the anticipation for the next song kept the audience on edge. Before long, it was Renton from Eureka Seven’s time to shine along with the show’s special catchphrases – FLOW performed “DAYS”  which was a four-on-the-floor dance tune and then they performed  “Realise” , which has a solid beat. The anguish  in the voices of twin singers KOHSHI and KEIGO shook the hearts of the audience. With “Brave Blue” the audience coloured the venue entirely blue by shining their penlights all at once.

The venue welled up with Wotagei dancing as fans copied the performers who were dancing. They then begun to chant “ai ai ai” and “bai bai bai” along to the long-loved anime song “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA”.  FLOW pulled in the audience with a thrilling performance of the instrumental of “Invasion” which is the anime OST from HEROMAN by TAKE (G), GOT’S (B), IWASAKI (D). The well known quote from Code Geass by Lelouch “The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed!” introduced “COLOURS” and “WORLD END”, causing tension to rise. They continued into the Tales of Berseria series for “BURN”, during which the audience turned their penlights to red to fit with the burn theme. The audience broke out into song, and the live reached its peak when FLOW performed “Kaze no uta” and “INNOSENSE”.

“We would like to pay our respect to these songs and these voice actors and voice actresses” said KOHSHI, as he addressed the audience once again to show his gratitude to all those who have contributed to the making of the anime. “To all the FLOW fans out there – anime is also cool right? And to all the anime fans out there –  the music was also good right? When you came to this live house, you all came with something unique that you love, but here everyone has united”, he explained. The audience showed their agreement with a massive round of applause.

At the final stage of the performance, FLOW were determined to stick to their way of “striving forward with confidence” and did so by echoing in the hearts of all with “Hikari Oikekete”, followed by “Re:member” which shook the venue with the feeling of running desperately. The venue was flooded with smiles when they continued with “SUMMER BREAK” and many other songs. They rocked their way into the NARUTO series – the key anime that got them tied into working with anime. FLOW finally reached their final number – and what’ a more iconic song than the one that first launched them into anime theme song-making? “The audience roared with excitement to “GO!!!” Amidst all the excitement, their streak of 22 anime songs came to a finish and the band wrapped up and left the stage on a high note.

The band left the stage as “GO!!! 〜15^th Anniversary ver.〜” played in the background along with the ending credits on screen. Then, a message about the “anime only” event appeared. This message was shown at the start of the live too. The message explained that there were 10,000 people who wanted to come but only 1/10 of them managed to get a ticket. There were 23 lives held across Japan and it was very clear just how in demand FLOW were – the staff and band members could not hold back their shock and sadness towards the high number of fans who could not get tickets. The band then decided that they want to seriously address this by coming back with another Japan tour in April 2018 entitled “FLOW 15th Anniversary TOUR 2018 (anime only).

In addition, the complete album containing the music and video recording of “FLOW THE BEST 〜 Anime only〜” will be released on Wednesday 7^th March. The band want as many people as possible to enjoy their live experience and the excitement of that night in the Nippon Seinenkan.

All we can do is wait in excitement for more FLOW!