Three months after the recording of their Zepp Tokyo concert, the next one was banned on celluloid and found its way to DVD on January 1, 2007. There must be a special occasion for such a short period between releases, and indeed, the group celebrated their anniversary at Nippon Budokan together with thousands of people.
Before the show starts, there are some clips of the nervous members, their preparations and a ritual; there are also some nice momentum shots of the eight members of AAA. Within the venue, fog patches are crawling over the stage, lit by strong laser lights. Then suddenly, a figure appears. Explosions cover the stage as more and more people in silver hooded coats show up on stage; the show launches with the spectacular performances of BLOOD on FIRE and Friday Party.
In the following darkness, the voice of traveler Takahiro echoes through the venue. After a rough landing at the bottom of Budokan, he meets with different cultures. Mitsuhiro plays a drumming Jamaican, Shuta an Indian, Chiaki an elegant Japanese woman and Shinjiro a wizard; Naoya is a Spanish sailor from the Middle Ages, Misako is dressed in a white lacquer coat and Yukari is an Egyptian queen. It is shown after a while that they are all caught in a time loop and that they can only return to their time with the holy power of the Budokan. The way the audience is integrated into the show is really worthwhile. The show continues after approximately twenty minutes of acting with ”Q”, where AAA makes good use of the whole stage. The gathered crowd gets more and more into the performances of the next two songs.
The ballads start with Yume no kakera and create a contemplative, stirring and hypnotic mood. Afterward, Chiaki, Yukari and Misako dance to a traditional melody with fans in their hands while dressed in Chinese suits. The spell breaks in the moment Chiaki separates from the others, walks over to a huge gong and hits it; this marks the beginning of DRAGON FIRE. Subsequently, the dynamic aspect remains; the boys perform a solo dance interlude as well. Via elevator, the girls come back on stage and the fact that they are wearing their colourful short kimonos heralds the upcoming performance of Kimono Jet Girl. The stage offers a lot of space, so the boys play with hand-held fog cannons and skate over the huge stage while the girls sing their song. In the last part before the encore, fun and action are the main themes. During Hurricane Lily, Boston Mary, the obligatory glitter and ribbons find their way into the hands of fans.
After the main concert ended, AAA launches into an encore with the sporty, fiery performance of Hallelujah. Before the start of the impressive Champagne Gold, Naoya says a few words and expresses his gratitude. The pop group spurs on the crowd and delivers a really energetic and emotional show with their last few songs. Of course, the farewell is hard; they thank their fans several times - often through tears - and thank their support band Missile Innovation, and so many other people. After a very last bow, the credits run down the screen.
The limited version comes in an exclusive Digipak, with a nice photo booklet and an additional “Multi Angle 8 Shot Disc.” You can choose between the songs Friday Party, ”Q”” and DRAGON FIRE.
The gigantic, futuristic set at Budokan was well used by AAA; the effects, like lasers, mirror balls and fog, supported the predominant moods almost perfectly. Close up and wide angle shots kept you close to the action at all times. The set lists between the 2nd ATTACK DVD and the 1st Anniversary Live are nearly identical; but the technical conversion and atmosphere of the anniversary live is better and stronger. You can have a lot of fun with this item and you’ll get offered an entertaining, atmospheric show.
