IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary ‒Super LIVESHOW- Roundup
On Wednesday, January 27, the IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary ‒Super LIVESHOW- streamed live on the IA & ONE Official Virtual Broadcast YouTube channel!
The program was a continuation of 1st Place’s series of annual livestreams celebrating the anniversaries for IA and ONE every January 27! This year, the show was a combination of a reflection on the past year, big announcements for the upcoming year, and even a mini online concert for fans to enjoy!
An archive of the livestream is currently still on YouTube where it will remain until February 10 at 11:59 PM (JST). So if you weren’t able to catch it live, or would like to watch it again, then make sure to watch while you still can!
Read on for a summary of the livestream’s content and announcements!
※All translations are unofficial
Livestream Overview
Title: IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary ‒Super LIVESHOW-
Date & time: Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 8:00 PM (JST)
Stars: IA and ONE in their official 2021 school uniform designs
Host: 事務員G / ZimuinG
This year was a remote livestream with IA and ONE staying in a virtual space instead of meeting ZimuinG in person in the real world where social distancing needs to be practiced. How convenient it must be to be virtual in this day and age!
Lookback on 2020
As for how the sisters feel about 2020, IA says that if she were to sum up her feelings over the past year in one word, that word would be “gratitude.”
While it was a turbulent year with many events and concerts getting cancelled, IA’s fans found new ways to connect with her, and they made some wonderful experiences and memories that she’ll never forget. She’s of course referring to the monthly installments of ARIA STATION! What was once a news announcement platform became a way for IA and ONE to interact remotely with their fans as the sisters got to try out all sorts of new experiences. For that reason, IA feels nothing but gratitude for her fans and the new way that they’ve been able to spend time together!
She’s also grateful to the 1st Place staff for being able to release pray for real, a very special album to her that you can read about here!
As for ONE, if she were to sum up her 2020 in one word, that word would be “challenge.”
As IA mentioned, she and ONE challenged themselves to try all sorts of new activities from arts and crafts to gardening, and even boxercising!
Live Performances
2020 also saw the release of ONE’s first ever digital single, By my side, another new undertaking for her! The song is the results of lots of cooperative work with talented artists like 石風呂 / Ishifuro, Hayao Konishi, ハイスピード藤森 / Highspeed Fujimori, and also IA herself who helped sing the chorus, something which the sisters had a lot of fun doing. You can also read about By my side in our previous article!
ONE even performed the song for us as the livestream’s first song performance! She was feeling really nervous about it, as it was the first time By my side was ever performed live. But she managed to sing and do the choreography as she practiced, resulting in a wonderful spectacle of song and dance!
You can watch ONE’s live performance of By my side by jumping straight to it here!
Then came IA’s turn to talk about a song from this past year that is near and dear to her heart: pray for real! The song is a special one to her, carrying the message of the importance of protecting the environment and natural beauty of our planet. As we went over before in a previous report, IA came to Earth in hopes of solving our troubles and turmoil that she observed from ARIA, one of them being the destruction of the natural environment on our planet.
While she was met with many challenges at first, she found great ways to introduce herself to the denizens of her new home. One way was the through the release of her first VOCALOID software, entitled IA -ARIA ON THE PLANETES-. Its package illustration shows an outer space backdrop, and her initial trailer shows her coming to Earth. Furthermore, glimpses of ARIA were shown at times, such as in the music video for Into Starlight, presenting a very lush and green home planet for the sisters. These little hints dropped here and there gave fans peeks into who IA and ONE are, and what they came to our planet for.
Now IA’s message of environmental protection is delivered in full force through pray for real. MINMI, an ambassador for the Ministry of the Environment, created this song and presented it to IA to sing, which she of course gladly did. The song even has a beautiful music video now for fans to enjoy, which you can find here:
However, the first song that IA would perform in the livestream is DIAMANTE. IA’s first impression of Earth, seeing it from outer space, was how our planet looked like a sparkling diamond, which is what diamante means in Spanish. That’s the impression of Earth that she wants to protect, and the song carries a message of restoring the planet to its once beautiful self.
You can jump to IA’s first ever live performance of DIAMANTE here!
ARIA STATION
After the performances, ONE talked with ZimuinG about ARIA STATION and all the fun and special content they do on the show now. That’s when she also announced that starting next month, not only will ARIA STATION continue, but it will be getting an overhaul! The monthly show will take on a new style going into 2021 that fans can look forward to seeing later!
CeVIO AI
And then finally came the major news announcements of IA’s 9th & ONE’s 6th Anniversary ‒Super LIVESHOW- with ZimuinG!
Prior to the show’s start, keen fans may have noticed this tweet from the official CeVIO Project Twitter account:
That’s right, it was the announcement of CeVIO AI IA and ONE TALK!
We knew since last July that the ARIA sisters would both be getting the CeVIO AI upgrade treatment, and now we’ve been able to finally see details of this come to light. Here are their product overviews with info and images from the official CeVIO Project website:
CeVIO AI IA TALK -ARIA ON THE PLANETES- Talk Voice
Vector PC Shop hub page: https://pcshop.vector.co.jp/promo/catalogue/cevioai_iatalk/
CeVIO AI IA TALK -ARIA ON THE PLANETES- Talk Voice (Standalone bank): ￥8,200 JPY + tax
CeVIO AI IA TALK -ARIA ON THE PLANETES- Talk Voice (Talk Starter Pack with CeVIO AI Editor): ￥15,600 JPY + tax
Pre-order page (only for Standalone bank): https://pcshop.vector.co.jp/service/servlet/Catalogue.Detail.Top?ITEM_NO=SR465061
Pre-ordering will get you:
- IA icons (8 kinds with differing facial expressions; SD)
- PC wallpaper
- CCS file with a sample voice and a message from IA
Release date: March 12, 2021
※Download version only
CeVIO AI ONE TALK -ARIA ON THE PLANETES- Talk Voice
Vector PC Shop hub page: https://pcshop.vector.co.jp//promo/catalogue/cevioai_onetalk/
CeVIO AI ONE TALK -ARIA ON THE PLANETES- Talk Voice (Standalone bank): ￥8,200 JPY + tax
CeVIO AI ONE TALK -ARIA ON THE PLANETES- Talk Voice (Talk Starter Pack): ￥15,600 JPY + tax
Pre-order page (only for Stand-alone bank): https://pcshop.vector.co.jp/service/servlet/Catalogue.Detail.Top?ITEM_NO=SR465182
Pre-ordering will get you:
- ONE icons (8 kinds with differing facial expressions; SD)
- PC wallpaper
- CCS file with a sample voice and a message from ONE
Release date: March 12, 2021
※Download version only
Also, here’s how the advertisement banner from the livestream looks.
However, not announced at the time were the singing CeVIO AI banks for the ARIA sisters. Many assumed that they would not be getting their next generation singing banks yet.
That is, until we were treated to this image during the livestream!
Confirmed for release some time in early May 2021 according to this image are:
- CeVIO AI IA SONG -ARIA ON THE PLANETES-
- CeVIO AI ONE SONG -ARIA ON THE PLANETES-
- CeVIO AI IA SONG ENGLISH- ARIA ON THE PLANETES
These Song banks are currently not available for pre-order, but it is still reassuring to know that they are indeed coming! Stay tuned for info about pre-orders (and probably much more)!
ONE’s 2nd Album Announced
At long last, ONE’s 2nd album is finally scheduled to be released in August 2021!
This will be the first album that fans will be able to enjoy since ONE/01 -BLOOM- back in 2018.
One track that has been confirmed is none other than By my side. After that should come many original songs that will be revealed in due course. ONE fans are encouraged to keep an eye on her official website for news!
Third ARIA Character
And now we come to the major, unexpected announcement of the third ARIA character!
Fans may recall a teaser from long ago about this mysterious third character, someone whom we haven’t heard anything about since… until now! Here is the image revealed during the livestream:
Currently, this third ARIA character does not have a name, although a lot of fans refer to her as “H” from the original teaser. Plus, she even wears a badge that bears said letter on it. We also don’t know what her relationship is to IA or ONE, like whether she is another sister, or not related at all.
Also worth noting from this image are the other two animal-like characters, taking on the appearance of a lion and a deer. For them, we ask the same questions as the third ARIA character: who are they, what are their names, what are their relationships to IA and ONE, and where are they standing?
Needless to say, after all these years of silence, we’re still left with more questions than answers from this image reveal. Still, that means that we have a lot to look forward to in the future! Stay tuned for upcoming announcements, hopefully answering our burning questions sooner rather than later!
Anniversary Goods
Despite the fact that this new image of the mysterious new characters has only just been revealed, there are already goods being made from it! Check them out:
IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary Acrylic Diorama
- Size: 150 (W) x 110 (H) x 50 (D) mm
- Price: ￥3,800 JPY + tax
- Pre-period: January 27 through February 7
- Pre-order page: https://hachimaki-goodsshop.jp/product/detail/HCM670
- Release: expected for mid-March
IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary 3-pm Can Badge Set
- Price: ￥700 JPY + tax
- Pre-order link: https://hachimaki-goodsshop.jp/product/detail/HCM672
- One of the badges bears the new butterfly emblem for 2021
- Release: expected for February
IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary Scarf Towel
- Size: 20c x 106 cm
- Price: ￥3,800 JPY + tax
- Pre-order link: https://hachimaki-goodsshop.jp/product/detail/HCM670
- Release: expected for early March
IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary T-shirt
- Size: M, L, XL
- Price: ￥3,800 JPY + tax
- Pre-period: January 27 through February 7
- Pre-order page: https://hachimaki-goodsshop.jp/product/detail/HCM669
- This also bears the butterfly emblem for 2021
- Release: expected for middle of March
IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary Clear File Folder
- Price: ￥400 JPY + tax
- Pre-period: January 27 through February 7
- Pre-order page: https://hachimaki-goodsshop.jp/product/detail/HCM669
- Release: expected for end of February
Anniversary Campaign
Finally, a special campaign is currently being held on HACHIMAKI.
By spending more than ￥5,000 JPY on IA and ONE goods in a single purchase**, patrons will get a free postcard bearing the illustration of the third ARIA character!
** The goods can be either new or old IA or ONE goods, but they must include at least one of the new 2021 anniversary goods
Hit Song Medley
After all those earth-shattering announcements, the livestream neared its conclusion with a medley of hit IA and ONE songs being performed with no break! Here’s what they were:
※During the show, there were many comments made about how different IA sounds when singing this song, suggesting that we may have been hearing her new CeVIO AI Song voice
Click here to jump straight to it
Click here to jump straight to it
ARIA VR Theater Construction
Then came the final part of the livestream in which ZimuinG made a few more major announcements.
First came word that this year, we will be seeing the next stage of ARIA unfold! If that weren’t exciting enough to hear, we are told that one part of this project is construction of the ARIA VR Theater! In order to make it happen, a crowdfunding campaign will be held starting in February.
Towards the end, we were shown a rough (very rough) sketch of the VR Theater being planned. In order to improve it, ZimuinG invited fans and viewers to share their opinions and ideas with the staff. So don’t be shy and let them know what you think about an ARIA VR Theater and how it should look!
pray for real Present Campaign Prize
Finally, ZimuinG reminded us that the deadline to enter the pray for real present lottery campaign is January 31. One of the prizes in said lottery is the pray for real character fine art style graphic portrait. We were even shown this prize during the livestream, almost as if to entice people to enter!
And thus concludes the IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary ‒Super LIVESHOW- livestream. A lot of exciting performances were put on for fans, and even more surprising announcements made!
The ARIA sisters thank fans once again for tuning in, and for continuing to support them in their future efforts, like ONE’s next album, IA’s 10th (!) anniversary next year, and the ARIA VR Theater construction.
Remember to keep an eye on their official pages and social media for future updates on all the upcoming exciting projects in 2021!
Links
IA 9th & ONE 6th Anniversary -Super LIVESHOW-
Thanks for the roundup! It was a bit verbose (some stuff could definitely be cut), but I bet some people will appreciate the thoroughness.
I hope the other two characters are just for story and aren’t going to be synths. I’m not even sure they need to be adding a third synth character. “Market saturation” comes to mind. We went through this in the V3 era, where all it did was exhaust everyone and cause vocaloid interest to dip. There are so many synthVs and cevios coming out now, I fear the same thing happening. IA and ONE are already kind of floundering popularity-wise. It kind of feels like 1st Place is often just throwing things at the wall and hoping they stick. They don’t have a very clear direction, and I firmly believe adding a new character bank is not going to help.
That said, the VR theatre looks interesting. I’m sad they need to crowdfund it, and I’m worried they won’t get the funds, but that’s a worry I have with any kind of crowdfunding project.
I’m excited for a new full length ONE album! I already own all the other full length albums (IA 1-4, ONE 1), so I’ll need to get the ONE album when it comes out. I’m hesitant to get the singles/maxis because well, I’m not made of money, but I sure would like to get them for completion.