The first day's concert featured Ichiro Mizuki, 7!!, bless4, and LiSA.
September 1st, 2012 can be addressed as a historical day for Japanese pop culture fans. Thousands of visitors, from cosplayers to anime and Japanese music lovers, gathered at the grand event, Anime Festival Asia Indonesia (AFAID). Before, this event experienced success in Singapore and Malaysia, but as it was the first time taking place in Indonesia, the various exhibitions and activities presented were not to be missed.
The main anticipated program for this event, Super Anisong Stage, started around 6:30 p.m.,and was opened by the anime songs legend, Ichiro Mizuki, who performed for more or less 45 minutes. Though most of the songs throughout the show were sung in a medley, Ichiro didn’t miss any legendary songs. This touched the nostalgic side of the fans’ hearts and made them teary. Soundtrack hits from super robot series, like “Mazinger,” “Getter Robo,” “Super Sentai Series,” and “Kamen Rider,” were also performed—not forgetting the ‘Henshin!’ yell. In the middle of the show, Ichiro Mizuki, who used to be called Aniki, told the audience how their passion had given him more spirit. Before, Aniki believed that after Malaysia, AFA would visit the Philippines; however, after he saw the Indonesian audience’s spirit, he was really proud to be able to entertain his fans there.
The second performer of the night was 7!!, pronounced as Seven Oops. This young band successfully attracted thousands of new fans with their stunning performance. After having an autograph session in the afternoon at Sony Music Entertainment Indonesia’s booth, that night, 7!! performed fresh new songs, which, from a quality standpoint, were just as good as the senior musician’s performance earlier. Although Lovers, famous from the “Naruto” anime soundtrack, closed the session impressively as the most familiar and most anticipated song that night, the chance to hear 7!!’s other songs, like the concert opener, Fallin’ Love, and the cheerful Sweet Drive, was an extremely joyful experience.
After a short break between the line ups came the third performer, bless4. Even though the performance was led and opened by Akino and Sousei no Aquarion, from the anime of the same name, the thousands of fans who came and sang along also witnessed that Akino is not the only one who has a wonderful voice. Every member of the siblings vocal group has incredible vocal technique, which was proven in the beautiful duet song between Akino and her sister, Aiki, in a symphonic song from the “Aquarion Evol” soundtrack, titled Gekkou Symphonia. Not wanting to lose the opportunity to show off their vocal ability, the other members sang a classic R&B hit from their debut era, Good Morning! Mr. Sunshine.
Finally, the climax of Anime Festival Indonesia’s first day came with its closing show, the Anison Super Stage Anime Concert event. LiSA’s first performance in Indonesia felt like an individual gig for her first album, LOVER”S”MiLE, which was also released the same day in Indonesia, making the first three artists almost appear as opening acts. Even though majority of the set list in the performance that night were hits from LOVER"S"MiLE, like oath sign from the “Fate/Zero” soundtrack, now and future and WILD CANDY, they were all performed with high energy, successfully rocking the stage with a full band. The newest single, crossing field, was also not forgotten. AFAID 2012’s first day then closed with an autograph session with LiSA, and thousands of visitors went home smiling with her first album, LOVER”S”MiLE.
