MANILA, Philippines – As a kid, I never really told anyone I was into J-pop. Most of my friends gravitated to pop culture icons like Justin Bieber and One Direction — and understandably so. It’s a lot easier to relate to Harry Styles belting his heart out than to faceless, sometimes entirely computer synthesized voices, using words you can’t even understand.
Despite the language barrier, I always found myself drawn to the genre. I was always silently jealous that my friends could watch their favorite artists live in Manila while I had nothing but YouTube videos with unskippable ads on my family’s shared computer. While the lyrics of so many of these artists’ songs felt so close to home, the chance of me seeing them live always felt unreachable.
Over 10 years later, I found myself singing alongside Ado and thousands of die-hard fans in her first visit to Manila. Ado’s second world tour is entitled “Hibana,” the Japanese word for “spark.”
Ado hopes that one day this small spark will kindle an even greater flame, not just for her own music but for Japanese culture as well. “Even if [I] am swallowed by the flames during hard times, I will keep going until the very end to lead everyone towards happiness,” she shared during the concert.
Even before the stage lights dimmed, energy buzzed throughout the arena. Freebies such as fan-made Ado-themed stickers were handed around the venue, and different kinds of merchandise were displayed on ita-bags. Some concert-goers dressed in varying shades of the J-pop star’s signature black and blue, while others showed up in cosplay from the anime series One Piece which Ado has written music for, and Vocaloid characters like Hatsune Miku.
Like many of her contemporaries, Ado started out as a creator on a website called Niconico, where she covered Vocaloid songs and, to this day, remains anonymous behind her stage name.
At the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Ado performed inside a backlit cube, leaving the crowd with just a silhouette of her body to maintain her anonymity. Often, the semi-transparent cube would depict a jail cell. Other times, it would blend in with the stunning visuals on the screen. The prop was more than a way to keep her identity secret. The contrast of Ado’s pitch-black figure to the flashy onscreen projections heightened the drama and mood of her fully-choreographed performances.
Ado opened her concert with a high-energy performance of “Usseewa,” a perfect choice as it was her debut single and the start of her rise to fame. The crowd roared with excitement, and the synchronized movement of the bright blue light sticks was almost hypnotizing. Following this were “Lucky Bruto” and “Gira Gira”, which easily complemented the edgy vibe of her opener.
Suddenly, the bright blue light sticks were replaced with dazzling oranges and yellows to match with the striking visuals of the stage as Ado sang her heart out to “Show.” I was floored by the quick response from the crowd, as the band had only started playing the first few notes of the song. While Ado’s band members encouraged the crowd to clap along to the beat, the on-stage pyrotechnics added another layer of theatrics to the performance.
Besides her own releases, Ado performed music she recorded for different Anime series such as Spy x Family’s “Kura Kura,” BEYBLADE X’s “Stay Gold,” and One Piece’s “Backlight.”
“This tour was the biggest experience of my life so far. It’s a way for the world to get to know me better,” Ado shared in between songs.
As she tried to find the proper words in English, cheers of “Don’t worry!” and “You got this!” in Japanese could be heard across the venue. It touched me how both Ado herself and the crowd were trying so hard to communicate in each other’s native languages.
Later, Ado stunned the crowd with a performance of the Vocaloid classic “Hibana” by DECO*27. The choice is not only a reference to the concert’s title, but also an homage to her roots as an utaite, or amateur singer, who posted covers online of many Vocaloids songs before her mainstream success.
Ado recalls life before her rise to fame. “I was just a lonely girl with a gloomy personality,” she said in Japanese.
She wrote and recorded songs in her closet, and even got scolded by her mother for being too noisy.
“There were people who criticized my voice and the way I sang. There were days I thought about giving up on my dream,” she said. “I was alone the whole time.”
A magnitude of emotions washed over the crowd. Shouts of “No!” in Japanese and cries of disbelief echoed throughout the venue, and some, including myself, shed tears. Whenever Ado sang, it always felt like there was so much more to her voice than just power and technical ability — somehow, she always managed to deliver palpable feelings of pain and grief, evident in her performances of “Charles,” “RuLe.,” and “Aishite Aishite Aishite.”
“Loneliness isn’t something to be afraid of. That’s the message I want to share — beyond language, beyond borders — with the world,” Ado said.
Ado closed her set with a beautiful performance of “Odo” that had the crowd singing along despite the language barrier. Before even a minute passed, chants rang throughout the arena. The majority English and Filipino-speaking crowd chanted “mou ikkai (one more time).” This was followed by cheers of “isa pa (one more),” and a Japanese pronunciation of “encore.”
While the crowd was hoping for Ado and her bandmates’ return, I was in awe of the dedication of my fellow fans. From the synchronized light sticks, thoughtful handmade gifts for complete strangers, cheeky jokes, like fans cheering “Ado-bo” in between songs, and the efforts of the crowd to cheer, shout, and sing along in Japanese — it was clear that Ado’s music had transcended past language barriers.
I wasn’t watching YouTube videos alone in my parents’ room anymore. I was surrounded by the energy and cheers of thousands of people like me who might have felt lonely for a time, but had ultimately been touched by Ado’s music.
After a few minutes, Ado came back on stage one last time with a quick call and response session to the melody of “ROCKSTAR.” The resounding shouts of the crowd alongside Ado’s singing gave me goosebumps, as it felt like both the crowd and artist became one.
In a surprising turn of events, Ado opted to perform “Chandelier” by Sia instead of her usual pick “Unravel.” The choice to pick an English-speaking song to better connect to her audience for this leg of the tour was nothing short of touching, and it served the same purpose as “Unravel” as she showcased pitch-perfect belting.
Before her final song “New Genesis,” Ado takes a pause. She took in the breadth of the arena, the lights, the energy of the crowd. She gave the crowd a deep bow as her loud “arigato gozaimashita” echoed across the venue.
With a final spark from the pyrotechnics, Ado’s contour completely disappeared into the shadows. The concert wasn’t just a showcase of Ado’s ability to perform, but proof of the flames that she had kindled and fanned all those years ago — a passion that transcended both language and borders.
– Rappler.com
Content shared from www.rappler.com.