It was an exciting Friday evening on Oculus’ Venues (September 24, 2021).
The live event application (currently offered as Beta Early Access) for owners of Facebooks popular Oculus VR headsets, allows those to attend live events via virtual reality (VR) from the best seats in the house in the comfort of their own home.
The early evening kicked off with Billy Eilish’s Governors Ball performance in NYC and an hour later, many people gathered to prepare for Kizuna AI’s Virtual Fireworks Concert on Venues.
The timing was perfect because Eilish’s concert gave exposure to Venues but the fact that Kizuna AI’s concert was on the same evening, that was no doubt wonderful planning and timing!
Kizuna AI is a popular VTuber (Virtual YouTuber) as part of Kizuna AI Inc., a subsidiary of digital entertainment company Activ8.
And since 2016, the popularity of VTubers in Japan has exploded and Kizuna AI is one of the most subscribed VTubers with over 4 million subscribers across three YouTube channels (A.I. Channel, A.I. Games and A.I. Channel China).
And Kizuna AI has her own rhythm and dance game on VR for the Oculus titled “Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat!” from Activ8 Inc. and Gemdrops, Inc.
There was no doubt a lot of excitement leading up to this live event as the concert was promoted heavily on Japanese SNS (social media) but also internationally.
I entered the lobby about a half hour before the event and there were many people from all over the world waiting for the event (especially many children who are fans of the VTuber).
Because of the crowd gathering (it’s important to note that Venues sets a limit on how many people are seen in the lobby, as they set a limit on how many people are placed at the balcony for concert viewing), it left many people who were visiting Venues (may it be for the WWE or Steve Aoki event) curious and wanting to see what Kizuna AI as all about.
But once the doors opened and everyone was whisked away to the balcony, we were greeted with a countdown and people got a taste of Kizuna AI’s music briefly.
And for me, part of the excitement is having seen the awesome effort on the 360/180 videos that people can watch of Kizuna AI through the game “Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat!”, I absolutely love the CG and virtual setting and of course, the amazing motion capture of Kizuna AI’s dance choreography.
I have covered Japanese video games which involved dancing from Amuro Namie’s Sega Saturn game and many other dance games from Japan on various consoles and also covered the Hatsune Miku’s concert at Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles which was groundbreaking for its time.
But a lot has changed in a decade and the thought of attending a concert, while in my living room, while wearing an Oculus Quest 2 headset and holding two Oculus Touch Controllers, is something I would never have imagined. But here I was, at a concert on virtual reality with many people from all over the world and I was just enjoying the experience of taking part in a VR live concert event.
With that being said, Kizuna AI has become a popular personality through her YouTube channel that her entrance to the music scene back in 2019 was no surprise for me. What was a surprise was seeing the virtual idol sign with the huge American entertainment agency, United Talent Agency (UTA) and then having her first virtual tour back in April and May.
She’s the most popular VTuber in Japan and while a lot of unveiling to international audiences is done in conjunction with a large anime convention, being a virtual idol, what best than to introduce her to the masses via a free concert on Venues.
Especially now as the user based on VR has increased and continues to increase.
And the live concert didn’t disappoint.
From the gorgeous CG setting of what looked like a futuristic Asakusa with the Temples, torii (gates), with many fireworks and seeing Kizuna Ai perform. The choreography was awesome, the camera work to focus on AI and the environment plus fireworks was awesome!
And to see people via their VR avatars dancing to the music was pretty cool sight to see. I have to admit that I danced throughout the concert, at the comfort of my own living room, while also keeping track on the Oculus workout and danced and met my goal, while being entertained by Kizuna AI’s performance.
As for communication, Kizuna AI spoke in English briefly, but the dialogue was primarily in Japanese. She taught fans to use their Oculus Touch controllers to give out Thumbs Up signs and raise their arms to have confetti drop.
Of course, because this is to be seen as a live concert, there is no English subtitles during the dialogue but for those who were wondering, Kizuna AI talked about her first remix EP “Fireworks Remixes” performed by DJ Tora, the Japanese-made creative group Hanabi and the masked producer MAXFOX and SHADW. This remix album will be released on October 22nd on various music platforms.
I was wondering if this was going to be a short concert but not only did you get an hour concert featuring Kizuna AI performing songs such as “Sky High”, “melty world”, “over the reality (Prod. Avec Avec)”, “Again”, “miracle step” and more.
We also got to see DJ TORA appear in “Hello, Morning (DJ TORA REmix) and then MAXFOX for “Hello, alone (MAXFOX, SHADW Remix) and for “meet you (NEONMAFIA Remix), which will be in her upcoming new album and was performed for the first time.
But what was awesome was to see Tsugaru-Shamisen player Kubota Yuji and Shakuhachi (which is a traditional Japanese flute) performer Nakamura Hitoshi of HANABI standing on stage and performing “the MIRACLE (HANABIX Remix)”.
Kizuna AI would end the concert with a performance of “AIAIAI”.
But that was not it, a video of the Kumano Fireworks display (Kumano is in Mie Prefecture) was then shown to those who never went to a Japanese fireworks show.
And popular cosplayer Enako (who I actually met on Venues with Vtuber Inuyama Tamaki the night before) took part in the viewing the concert as Avatars, while the Omega Sisters, Omega Ray and Omega Rio, Tomari Mari and Nyatasha Nyanners along with Kizuna AI, visited lobbies and interacted with guests with their Venues avatars.
It was a wonderful, entertaining experience and as a guy who has covered many concerts of Japanese music artists, this was no doubt an eye-opener of the potential of VR technology. And I look forward to many more Kizuna AI live concerts on VR in the near future!
For those who missed the live concert, you can watch it delivered on YouTube on October 23rd (Japan Standard Time) – 21:00.
🎆Kizuna AI Fireworks Concert 🎆
さいっっこーーーの時間をありがとう✨
🎀10/22(金) Fireworks Remixes
配信リリース決定！！！！✨✨🎆🎀10/23(土)21時〜
YouTubeにて今日のライブを再配信！今日見れた人も見れなかった人も！
まだまだいけるよね！？！！！！！#KizunaAI_VFC pic.twitter.com/PTO1n1sJcS— Kizuna AI@あなたとつながりたい！ (@aichan_nel) September 25, 2021
SET LIST:
M1. Sky High
M2. melty world
M3. over the reality （Avec Avec VIP Remix）
M4. Again （Moe Shop Remix）
M5. miracle step
M6. FL-AI-YER
M7. Hello, Morning （DJ TORA Remix）
M8. hello,alone （MADFOX,SHADW Remix）
M9. meet you （NEONMAFIA Remix）
M10. the MIRACLE （HANABI Remix）
M11. AIAIAI スペシャルバージョン
