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Dream of a VGM Fan
I can’t say I’m exactly a Mega Man (originally known as “Rockman”) fan or anything like that. I haven’t even played a single game before, but I do have some pretty fond memories (as I’m sure others do, too) of watching my brother play the original on the NES. That time he made it to the end boss only for the electricity to cut out during a tornado warning... I wish no one would ever have to witness such wrath as I saw that day. I’m mostly joking. Mostly.
But yes, even though I don’t have much of a personal connection with Mega Man, I do enjoy the music, and when I heard several of my VGM friends and acquaintances were performing, I dropped everything to go and support them!
I’ve mentioned it before, but I often participate in voluntary-based concerts and have been so lucky to meet some of my favorite composers like Noriyuki Iwadare, Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Yoko Shimomura, among many others. At our GameTakt concerts, we’ve even had the privilege of performing with these amazing people--and let me tell you, if somebody told my 12-year-old self that I would not only meet but also perform on the same stage as the composers from my beloved RPGs, I would never have believed you.
But all that aside, I’m here to talk about the Mega Man Live 2020 concert held at the Shinagawa Intercity Hall in Tokyo on Sunday, January 5.
(See also: Rockman LIVE 2020 Official Site - Japanese)
The Venue - Awesome Goodies on Display
Shinagawa Intercity is an event space and hall that hosts local events from flea markets to various subculture related goodness; events such as an Earthbound Papas concert with legend Nobuo Uematsu and annual anniversary events for AFTERLOST (消滅都市, Shometsu Toshi), a smartphone game with music composed by Hiroyoshi Kato from noisycroak and Yasuhiro Kawagoe with gorgeous vocals by Emi Evans and SAK.
As you enter the main event hall, you’re greeted with all sorts of Mega Man goodies to check out, from original shikishi signboards, to PS4 and Switch collections of the games, posters, and more. There was a photo-op area to get your photo taken with two people in character costumes, a shopping area to purchase exclusive concert merchandise, and a sample box display for the 5-in-1 Mega Man & Mega Man X Special Box set available on PS4 or Switch (9,990yen plus tax).
Original “shikishi” or pencil boards illustrated by various members in the gaming industry as gifts for the 30th Anniversary of Mega Man. | Photo by Terra Dragos
Adorable figures of the blue bomber! | Photo by Terra Dragos
This particular statue was used for the 10th anniversary of the series. | Photo by Terra Dragos
The Concert
© CAPCOM CO., LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The concert was split into several segments with performances from various groups.
Below is the basic flow of the concert:
Rockman Special Band - Part 1
© CAPCOM CO., LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
MOS
The first performance began with the Rockman Special Band and the all-girls brass band MOS, performing to a backdrop of the iconic intro sequence. Mari Matsubara on the violin had several solo moments in the main spotlight. The next piece was a medley of the Woodman, Flashman, and Quickman stages, respectively. These are all such amazingly classic themes, so jam-packed with nostalgia, that it was hard not to get carried away with the music and join the audience in dancing. Kamikura periodically switched between playing the keyboard and guitar, sometimes multiple times in a single piece. Iwadare, in the back on stage right, also alternated instruments between his usual trombone and the tambourine. Specially shaped strobe light effects on the walls closely resembled the oval energy blasts of the characters in the game. Throughout the medley, each member of the band seemed to have a solo part to rock out in the spotlight, but the main focus continually fell to the lead guitarist, Miyazaki.
The next couple of songs featured music from the anime Rockman.EXE, or as it was released in the West: Mega Man Battle Network. As a sort of off-shoot series, this was originally released on the GameBoy Advance in 2001 from which multiple consecutive titles were released. Unlike the original Mega Man series, which is strictly an action-adventure game, Mega Man Battle Network is actually an RPG. This series of games was also released as an anime and manga series, originally named “Rockman.EXE” and localized in the West by VIZ Media as MegaMan NT Warrior.
A couple of the themes they performed in this segment included:
The next segment brought on the two voice actors from the Rockman.EXE anime series.
© CAPCOM CO., LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
CAPTUNE
The next segment featured CAPTUNE, the Capcom Sound Team.
© CAPCOM CO., LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A couple themes they performed included:
TEAM SHACHI
Besides touring around the Nagoya area, TEAM SHACHI is an amusing idol group of sorts that has an 8-bit “Official Music Video Game” designed solely in their image. The video uses graphical assets mostly from Mega Man 2, but new pixel art has been designed especially for the game. They performed the theme song with a famous Japanese rapper who is also known to be a huge fan of Mega Man, MCU from Kick the Can Crew.
You can check out the main theme song “Rocket Queen feat. MCU” below:
You can actually play the original game too! (click here)
TEAM SHACHI is made up of the following members:
Rocket Queen feat. MCU
MC
Pictured Left to Right: Nozomi Yuzuriha, Ucchy, Mega Man Series Producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, MCU, Haruna, Honoka, Nao, Yuzuki | © CAPCOM CO., LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
At the end of the segment with TEAM SHACHI, they introduced a bunch of new merchandise, like T-shirts, small pillow cushions, keychains, and more! The group will also be going on tour to 10 separate locations starting next month!
Announcement by Producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya
As it was originally announced last August, the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection is slated for a release on February 27 on multi-platforms! For more information on this title, check out the official US site here.
Rockman Special Band - Part 2
As the Rockman Special Band came back on stage, the entire concert hall seemed to kick the hype up a notch as the band performed the following awesome songs:
The final MC segment announced the ZX Sound Box Remaster Soundtrack that includes music from 6 titles in the ZX series. This collection is scheduled for release on March 25 for 8,000yen plus tax. Pre-orders will include illustrations by Toru Nakayama and Makoto Yabe.
A couple members of the band gave short comments before leading into the final couple themes. Kamikura mentioned how he wanted to watch the gameplay footage on the screen but wasn’t really able to since he was performing. Still, he’d turn around to glance at the screen from time to time. “I hope we were able to give you a fun concert. It’s my pleasure!” Iwadara added, “I’m so happy. You guys are the best! Let’s burn it up and have fun!!”
ENCORE:
Special Message from Noriyuki Iwadare
At the end of the concert, I was able to talk a bit with Iwadare and he gave me this message for his own fans as well as Mega Man fans around the world:
“More than anything, I want all fans from around the world to hear this performance. We’ve got so much awesomely cool sounds for you to hear!” ーIwadare Noriyuki
In Loving Memory of Yu “masshoi” Yamauchi (山内優)
Long-time drummer for the anime song music festival “Animelo Summer Live” (アニメロサマーライブ・アニサマ・AniSama), Yu Yamauchi suddenly passed away at the age of 37 from acute heart failure on December 4, 2019. Yamauchi participated in the live recordings for angela, Ikimonogakari, Wake Up, Girls! , Maaya Uchida, Aimer, Yoshiyoshi Oishishima, Ayaka Ohashi, Physical Education Okazaki, Masami Okui, °C-ute, Hiroyuki Sawano, SMAP, Sexy Zone, Azusa Tadokoro, Minori Chihara, Do As Infinity, Animal Biscuits x PPP, Takanori Nishikawa (TMRevolution), Ami Numakura, Yoko Hikasa, MYTH & ROID, Nana Mizuki, Inori Minase, May'n, Morning Musume, Pink Clover Z, LiSA, and Roselia. (Source: Oricon News)
Louis took over for the Tokyo concert while Genta Shirakawa will fill in at the Osaka concert.