VocaSphere Report: Kikusuiren x A.I.VOICE Collaboration Event
Marumain here! It’s summer now, and what’s summer in Japan without some outdoor festivities? All throughout the country, shopping districts put on events, festivals and shows with their own local flavor and style, each one delivering experiences that are unique to their respective locations. The Koenji Look Shopping District was no different, offering locals and visitors the chance to watch the traditional Koenji Awa Odori dance performed by the Kikusuiren dance troupe.
And this year, Kikusuiren collaborated with A.I.VOICE to bring their characters – Yuzuki Yukari, Kizuna Akari, Kotonoha Akane and Kotonoha Aoi – to Koenji for a daylong shopping and dance performance event! I had the pleasure of attending said event which you can read about here. Continue reading for an overview of my experience there!
Getting Started
On the day before the event, many of the shops that would be taking part in the collab event were posting pictures of their storefronts and products that visitors will be able to purchase. Needless to say, they did their job of hyping visitors up!
Considering how the event was advertised to begin at 12:00 PM JST on August 7, I got up at about 9:00 AM thinking I’d have plenty of time to get ready in the morning and arrive at Koenji by noon. But when I saw other fans posting pictures of the event and its collaboration products on social media as early as 10:00 AM, I realized that some of the shops have already begun their activities! Realizing that I was late instead of early, I hightailed it to Koenji as quickly as I could!
Increase Hair
At about 11:30 AM, I arrived at my first stop of the collab event, Increase Hair, where they were already open and had a sign out advertising their “body jewelry,” meaning glitter tattoos. Being the closest to the Koenji Look entrance, I can see why they were placed first on the official guide map.
Once inside, the sole worker there greeted me with a wave of her arm which already had a Yukari face tattoo on it. Seeing the real thing in front of me, I decided to get a Yukari face tattoo as well, plus a Yukari rabbit mark logo to make it an even ￥2,500 JPY that I spent as the store, just enough for 5 raffle tickets (given out at each collaboration store for every ￥500 JPY that you spend there).
While the tattoo artist was working on my first tattoo, we struck up a conversation about how this was her first time hearing about Yukari and A.I.VOICE, and how she has taken quite a liking to them already. She even showed me her official Instagram account which can be found and followed here! And below, you can see how the first Yukari face tattoo progressed by her hand! She even took a picture of the finished product for herself.
However, when she was just about finished with the first tattoo, there was already a line of several other people forming behind me. Knowing that I still had another tattoo coming, I offered to let the other customers have their turn first, and come back later in the day during a less busy time for my second tattoo, lest they wait for even longer. The parlor worker kindly agreed, and made sure to remember that I have the logo tattoo coming up.
Au ciel
While at Increase Hair, I got a map of Koenji Look with all of the collaborating shops highlighted, making the rest of my trip much easier!
So I headed to shop number 2, Au ciel, which I found thanks for the nice Akane banner outside.
While it’s an accessory and clothing shop, the only collaboration item they had there was a sheet of paper with QR codes that I scanned to access a downloadable cell phone wallpaper of Akane and Aoi. Part of me wondered how many more customers the shop got that day thanks to being part of the collab, or if most visitors just stayed outside to download the wallpaper. Still, I was grateful to the shop for taking part and giving me the cool new wallpaper!
cotobuki
Immediately next to Au ciel was the next stop, cotobuki, easily visible thanks to its attractive Yukari banner!
Although the official VOCALOMAKETS press release said that they would also have a downloadable wallpaper up for visitors to access, I didn’t find such a QR code like at Au ciel. Instead, I saw some of their regular products rebranded with the collaboration character stickers.
I wasn’t in any particular need for the soap products, so I passed on shopping at the store for the time being. While on my way out, it was just past 12:00 noon, and I noticed the store owner moving around the above pictured products to make room for some more. I figured they would have their real collaboration products out later now that the event has officially started, so I made sure to come back later to have a look.
cafe&bar Blue MOON
In the meantime, I walked a short distance to the next collaboration location, cafe&bar Blue MOON. This one was a bit harder to find due to the Akari banner being on the side of the storefront, but hearing a greeter at the door advertising the Akane and Aoi collaboration drinks helped me know that I was at the right place! The piece of paper hanging on the storefront branches with Akane’s name on it also helped!
Once inside, there was another piece of paper advertising Aoi’s collaboration drink. I decided to order both of the drinks, which got me another 2 raffle tickets and even two stickers with the collaboration character art on them!
Both soda drinks (I went with the non-alcoholic varieties) were very sweet with the syrup colored to match the character colors for each. Admittedly, though, once I was finished, I was feeling quite chilled and a little bloated, having just finished two large cold drinks by myself really quickly without even leaving the store!
boulanjerie ECLIN
My next stop was finally someplace where I could get something to eat: the boulanjerie ECLIN bakery! The Akane banner and advertisement sign for the Yukari and Akari bun set made it extra easy to find.
Once inside, I found the basket where the collaboration bread was supposed to be, but it was empty. I thought maybe I was too late and they have already sold out.
Thankfully, upon asking the shop attendee, it turns out that they were still being made, just not quite fast enough to keep up with demand and keep the basket filled. I could hardly blame them! Kudos to the baker for being able to keep it up all day! I was thus able to get my bread bag and another raffle ticket.
Yukari’s bun was soft and filled with cream, a very nice dessert bread! Akari’s bun was a bit harder like bagel bread, and was filled with sweet blueberries. Both were scrumptious! I highly recommend the boulanjerie ECLIN bakery for anyone visiting the Koenji Look Shopping District!
Yo-yo Shop Spin Gear
Following the map, I passed by both Pork Bone Miso Ramen Jagura and Teppan Pub Chiyohachi that were participating in the collab event. However, both had very long lines outside their storefronts, and they were both sit-down-and-dine locations. I decided to return to these places later after their queues shorten a bit, and after I visit the other stores and secure the collaboration items and raffle tickets there (a decision I would later realize was not the best one).
So instead, I went on to Yo-yo Shop Spin Gear, one of the stores that I was looking forward to visiting the most!
Their store was filled with yo-yos and other similar toys, including traditional ones like kendama. They even had a yo-yo master named Taka present and giving tips to customers. What caught my eye was of course the collaboration yo-yos featuring Yukari+Akari, and Akane+Aoi, the latter of which I bought!
Do I know how to yo-yo, though? To be honest, I don’t; last time I used one was probably more than two decades ago. But owning an item like this with some of my favorite characters on it, and something that was only available on this day, was too much of a draw for me to resist. The packaging even has the above-mentioned Taka on it!
Cafe Roost
Next, it was on to Cafe Roost and its collaboration cookies!
Right at the entrance, there was a basket for both sets of cookies (Yukari + Akari, Akane + Aoi), but there weren’t that many left of either. Unsure of whether or not they would be restocked, I got one of each right away, and also selected accompanying stickers and got another raffle ticket.
The cookies were all a bit harder than I expected, but still very delicious and crunchy. The character colored icing was very fine-tasting, too, making me feel a bit guilty to be eating them instead of collecting them, but what else are cookies for? Itadakimasu!
Futonnoyoshino and fechule
While the trip was going pretty swimmingly up to this point, it was here that things got a little tougher, and the old adage of “the early bird gets the worm” proved true once again.
First, by the time I arrived at the next collaborating store, Futonnoyoshino, they were already sold out of their collaboration towel sets. So no Akane and Aoi dish towels for me.
So I then moved on to fechule to have a look at their collaboration dried flower bouquets.
Upon entering the store, I was treated to some wonderful scents, and some lovely dried flower baskets and bouquets everywhere. The collaboration bouquets – which include flowers with colors that match the collaborating characters – while beautiful, weren’t something that I felt that I would have much use for, so I decided to pass on this particular store, feeling that I got enough raffle tickets by now anyway.
With fechule being the last store in the collaboration event, and with it also being close to 3:00 PM when the scheduled awa odori performance by Kikusuiren was going to be held, I decided to quickly walk (or rather run) all the way back through the entire Koenji Look Shopping District back to Increase Hair to finally get the second tattoo that I paid for!
When I returned, the same artist was working with more customers. I could tell that she was having an extremely busy day. What’s more, I bumped into a surprise person there: Sakakibara Yui herself! She was just on her way out, but I still couldn’t believe the timing of my arrival! She noticed and complimented my Yukari tattoo, and I told her that I was back to get another one. Among other stuff mentioned in our short talk together, she said how the collaboration ramen at Jagura was supposedly all out of their colored boiled eggs, something that I was surprised to hear, but couldn’t confirm for myself at the time.
So as Sakakibara-san left the store, the tattoo artist got to work on my Yukari logo tattoo, noticeably more fatigued compared to that morning. She said it was indeed nonstop customers all day, all wanting a collaboration tattoo, and with her being the only worker in that day. Even while she was quickly doing my second tattoo, no less than four other customers walked in and were waiting for their turn! So I thanked her profusely for the second tattoo which she also took pictures of and later posted on her own social media accounts, something that I was glad to be a part of!
Uptown Koenji Gallery
With about 10 minutes to 3:00, I decide to quickly stop by the Uptown Koenji Gallery where I could trade in my many raffle tickets, and get pictures of the life-size cutouts of the collaboration characters that I saw on social media. However, it was there that I got yet another hard “early bird gets the worm” lesson.
While waiting in line to enter – which, by the way, was being monitored by none other than Bumpy Urushi – another familiar face came out: Kurita Keina of A.I.VOICE! But as cool as seeing so many people whom I admire was, they came with some somber news: the raffle was all out of special prizes, so anyone who brought raffle tickets could only exchange them for consolation fans and stickers. That was my big “aw, nuts” moment of the day as I traded my whopping 9 raffle tickets for 9 fans and 9 stickers.
Let this be a lesson to anyone looking to take part in similar raffles: while gathering many raffle tickets increases your chances of getting a special prize, spending too much time gathering tickets means other people could already be getting said prizes! I’ll remember this for next time!
At least once I was inside the gallery, I was treated to the much advertised life-size cutouts of Yukari, Akari, Akane and Aoi that I could take pictures of! The gallery also had awa odori garb and instruments on display, plus even some concept art for the characters’ different designs, and how the collaboration designs came to be!
You can bet that I took my fair share of pictures while waiting in line to also get some souvenirs in the form of Akane’s acrylic stand (the version with her kasa hat, as I was also too late to purchase any non-kasa version of the acrylic stands), and an acrylic keychain of the Kotonoha sisters!
Sakakibara-san was even present, eagerly fanning us customers while we were waiting in line to keep us cool. That was quite nice of her, as was also her noticing me when she saw my second, new tattoo!
Awa Odori Performance
Despite being past 3:00 PM by the time I finished at the gallery, I was able to catch the beginning of the awa odori performance. I even recorded the first few seconds of the march and posted it on VocaSphere’s social media for more to see! It felt great to know that I wasn’t late for this – it was definitely one of the highlights of my whole trip!
If you like what you see, Kikusuiren livestreamed their whole second performance of that day, which you can find archives of below! Be sure to check them out if you’ve become interested in this piece of traditional Japanese culture!
TikTok Live: https://www.tiktok.com/live/event/7128528205669924866
YouTube Live:
Back to cotobuki, Jagura, Chiyohachi
After enjoying the show, I passed by cotobuki again. This time, they had put out a table with plastic cups that had collaboration stickers on them, offering to serve customers drinks for ￥300 JPY each. However, considering how at least two drinks were required to get one raffle ticket, and how said raffle was already over, I thanked them for the offer and went on.
That’s when I finally checked out Pork Bone Miso Ramen Jagura and saw that its long line was gone. But just as Sakakibara-san mentioned earlier, they were indeed out of their character colored boiled eggs for their collaboration ramen. Despite the disappointment, I was still feeling hungry and decided to get said collaboration ramen – which was very good, high quality ramen, by the way – getting 2 raffle tickets instead of the eggs.
Speaking of Sakakibara-san, I actually ran into her and Kurita-san again on the way out of the restaurant! She recognized me as I walked outside, likely because of the tattoos again. I couldn’t believe how I kept running into them! Too bad I didn’t arrive just a bit later to eat, otherwise I could have had dinner with the pair. One can dream!
And for my last shop stop of the day, I revisited Chiyohachi to check out their collaboration drinks. Remembering that I already had two large drinks to myself earlier, and again considering how the raffle was over, I made the same decision that I made at cotobuki, and thanked them for the offer as I walked back down the Koenji Look Shopping District.
Meeting the A.I.VOICE Staff
And thus concluded my Kikusuiren x A.I.VOICE collaboration event with all of its highs and lows… or so I thought!
I decided to stop by the Uptown Koenji Gallery one last time to trade in the last two raffle tickets that I got at Jagura (bringing my total fan and sticker count to 11 each) before leaving, and also enjoyed the second performance of the awa odori that day. But as that all ended, I caught a glimpse of Kurita-san coming outside to clean up.
And on a complete whim, I decided to go greet them. So face-to-face, I spoke with and thanked the lead engineer of AI Inc. for organizing such a fun and amazing event, which they were grateful for. Noticing my accent, of course, I told them about my background of coming from the United States, and how I’ve been admiring A.I.VOICE’s work and products even before I came to Japan, even reporting on their products in English and posting about them on social media.
That last remark got Kurita-san curious, and they asked me what my social media handle is. I answered “VocaSphere,” and that’s when things took an unexpected turn.
Kurita-san immediately asked me to go with them back inside the Gallery, which I was surprised by, but of course followed. Once back inside, Kurita-san introduced me to everyone there as VocaSphere-san, the one whom they noticed translating their livestreams and announcements into English and posting online about them! You can only imagine how surprised and flattered I was to hear that they have been noticing my tweets and blog posts about them!
We shot the breeze for a few minutes, with me talking about how much I am a fan of all the A.I.VOICE characters, and with the A.I.VOICE staff complimenting and thanking me for VocaSphere’s translation work of their products. Even Bumpy Urushi came in later, and I was introduced to him. Telling the creator Yuzuki Yukari himself directly how much I love his character was an absolute joy, and we further chatted about my life in Japan, among other topics. I even took some more pictures of the clothing and character cutouts there now that there were less people around, and then said my goodbyes to the very kind A.I.VOICE staff!
Conclusion
And with that, my Kikusuiren x A.I.VOICE collaboration event trip really came to an end.
As one of A.I.VOICE’s first collaboration events, I am glad to say that it was extremely well run. The shops that collaborated with them were all interesting and let new visitors to Koenji get a taste for what the atmosphere there is like while enjoying their favorite characters. Some aspects of the event proved to be almost too popular, what with some shops running out of their collaboration products, and the raffle running out of prizes so quickly. But that’s all something that A.I.VOICE will likely remember for their next event, after realizing how well-loved their characters are!
And for me personally, it was an unforgettable experience that marked many “firsts” for me:
- It was my first time attending an A.I.VOICE collaboration event (specifically one billed as an A.I.VOICE event, as opposed to a Yukari or Kotonoha sisters event)
- It was my first time experiencing awa odori
- It was my first time meeting face-to-face with the staff behind a company whose products VocaSphere covers, and being thanked firsthand by them
The trip obviously wasn’t without its rough points, but all the high points easily outweighed them, especially with the way that it concluded for me, making me extremely happy that I was a part of it.
A.I.VOICE may not be the most popular vocal synth company in the West (yet), but I hope that this glimpse into one of their events can show readers how great they can be when they organize events, and how serious they are about their products and characters. It’s also my hope that more fans the world over can come to know A.I.VOICE better, and give their products a try, possibly encouraging more internationalization of their software and even events!
I hope you enjoyed reading this staff report about the Kikusuiren x A.I.VOICE collaboration event, and look forward to much more A.I.VOICE coverage on VocaSphere!
-Marumain
Links
A.I.VOICE:
VOCALOMAKETS:
Kikusuiren:
