Horie Yui Wo Meguru Bouken
20 February 2007
OK, it's time for the main event! The much coveted (by me at least) Horie Yui live in Tokyo concert DVD! Even though I was ripped off by Royal Mail regarding the VAT of this item it was all worth it in the end. I don't mind funding their caviar parties if it means that I can have this much Horie Yui goodness. Lets start with the packaging as always. As expected of a limited edition DVD the design of the whole thing is sublime. The main theme of the concert seems to be a parody of 'Alice in Wonderland'. As such the two discs come housed in a red hardback book. This is held within a white outer box which has a window revealing the gold Kuroneko Doumei emblem underneath.
The book has 24 black and white (more blue and white actually but, meh) pages containing various snippets of info about Horie Yui and her career, and 8 full colour pages of photos taken from the concert itself. I've tried reading through some of the stuff but my kanji knowledge is too weak! Until I learn some more I'll have to make do with staring at the pretty pictures like some infant /laugh. A nice extra touch they added was to include a bookmark with a pretty picture of Yui on it. The final piece of the delightful jigsaw comes in the form of a small carrying case. I had a pleasant surprise when I opened the box to find this inside. I remembered that ordered the first pressing version (which came with an extra item) but I was expecting a poster or something. It has a large main compartment and a small section at the front which you can see into. I'm not sure what you'd put in it but I don't plan on using it. It's going to stay safely tucked away inside it's plastic wrapping. Well, that's all of it. Time to write about the concert.
After popping the DVD into the player you're greeted by the usual logos of Starchild and King Records. After this comes a nice little intro inspired by 'Alice in Wonderland' which shows Horie Yui running along in a wooded area. She's evidently late for something and is rushing to make it in time. All of a sudden a hole appears in the ground in front of her and she falls into it. Everything goes pitch black for a few seconds. The stage then gets lit in dim pink light and we see about 7-8 girls with white bunny ears on their heads. Soft intro music plays in the background while they go about their business. As the music comes to a crescendo, pyrotechnics fly up from the central staircase and Horie Yui appears in a blaze of white light which floods the stage. With a energetic shout from Yui to stir the crowd, the first song of the night ('Puzzle', a very upbeat from her latest album) begins to play. This is a very nice song to start the concert and certainly gets the audience going. The next few songs are taken from her 4th and 5th albums and are also upbeat and catchy.
There follows a short MC section where she receives a huge crystal ring from a pink bear of some description. The pace has slowed down a bit now and it's a bit more storytelling. During a rather odd MC where Yui was transformed into a blue bear, the ring gets stolen by a man in a black cloak. I found this part very amusing. The person in the bear suit was obviously not Yui but her voice could be heard on the speakers. She told the audience to do various gestures with their arms in order to change her back. This didn't work so the bear leaves the stage and everything goes black. The large screen at the back of the stage then instructs everyone to chant some magic spells /laugh. After some rapturous roars of "Horie Yui" she finally returns to the stage. We then learn that this kingdom is ruled by a King to whom the ring belongs. Yui decides that she must retrieve it from the mysterious man who stole it.
Following a few more songs she comes across a group of 'bad bunny girls' (/laugh) and with her posse of helpers, challenges them to a battle. There's a problem though. She doesn't have a sword! So she rushes off the stage and we see her running out into the main lobby area to buy a glittery sword from the merchandise seller. On the way she stops off for a short sip of beer which she evidently finds bitter. The face she made was so damn cute I almost died /laugh. Anyway, sword in hand she rushes back to the stage to battle the mysterious man. The next section is a well choreographed fight played along in time with the song and the sound effects of clashing swords in the background. Eventually Yui's group comes out victorious and she gets the ring back. She returns to the castle and presents the king with it. Everyone is happy to have the ring back so they all celebrate with a song.
After this there are some uplifting songs before the finale where 'Puzzle' gets played again. When they come back out for the encore Yui speaks to the audience and thanks them for coming out. As she's talking about how great the tour has been she starts to cry and stops to wipe her eyes. The crowd cheers her on and she manages to give a very heart-warming speech to finish. 'Go! Go! Golden Days' and the classic 'Happy Happy Rice Shower' provide an awesome ending to a fantastic night. After the credits have finished we see Yui back in the woods, sitting asleep by a fallen log. She wakes up and looks at her watch before running off saying that she's late.
I enjoyed this concert very, very much. It was all I was expecting and a whole lot more besides. The playtime runs nicely over 2 hours and the song selection is brilliant. So many classics mixed in with the newer songs from the most recent albums. The dancers were excellent in backing up Horie Yui on stage. It just made the whole thing look so much better. Over the course of the night Yui had about 10 costume changes and each time she would come out looking as beautiful as before. The choreography of the dances was also very well done. They complimented their respective songs and were a pleasure to watch. Oh! The extra features, I'd forgotten about those. There are three backstage clips from the concert venues as well as a little interview with Yui about the concert. Most of the extras plus the concert itself has a commentary by Yui, her manager and some other King Record staff. All these features means that it has lots of replay value. This is definitely one of my most prized Horie Yui purchases. I'd give it a 10/10 easily. Horie Yui saikou!
Posted byHocchan at 9:44 pm
Very pretty!
Thank you for your comment! ^^
Although I'm surprised you saw the post in that short time I had the initial version up. I was only testing out some layout options to see how they'd look.
The finished article makes more interesting reading than the 'TEXT TEXT TEXT...' prototype.