=LOVE (イコールラブ, イコラブ, ikorabu, eqlove)

IkoNoiJoy Joint Individual Talk Session will be finally held on 4月30日(日) Pacifico Yokohama Hall D

This means they can finally meet and talk to fans directly.

If this carries on, we may finally see the future concerts allow the long lost call & response from the audiences and the cheers !

E.g when Naatan climbed those last steps during the graduation concert, I bet if they had allowed, the fans would had chanted her name.
Those feelings are so precious

 

And I'll be one of those fans!

I'll be in Yokohama that weekend for the AKB48 Spring Concerts and when I first saw the date for the =LOVE talks I sighed as I saw that there would be a clash. However I soon realised that the venues for the two events will be just 500 metres apart from each other and that I could fit in the 1st and 4th talk slots which would be before and between the two Team 8 concerts that day.

I therefore applied for the maximum 5 tickets each for Mirinya and Iori in slot 1 and for Mirinya and Hitomi in slot 4. Out of those 20 applications I won just one ticket - but at least it's for my oshimen Mirinya (in slot 1) and I'm feeling very happy just to know that I'll get to meet her, even if it's only for about 10-15 seconds.

Indeed I'm very lucky just to win that one ticket, I've seen tweets just now from =LOVE fans who won very little including one who won just 4 tickets out of the 150 they applied for. (I wonder if Naatan's fans have 'transferred' to other members?)

Anyway I'm feeling good and I'll see if I can pick up anything in the second round of applications - I like Hana a lot and she doesn't seem to sell out in online talks so fingers crossed!

 

From today, Naatan has transferred to the Asia Cross agency:
https://twitter.com/saito_nagisa/status/1616737709334368256
https://asiacross.jp/models/nagisa-saito-齊藤-なぎさ/



Meanwhile, as far as the online sign-kais are concerned I've been throwing many applications for the top members for each of the recent singles with absolutely no success, not even for Mirinya for whom I've heavily concentrated my attempts. However with the new release I somewhat randomly won one with Iori which she did today (at 7:25-7:50, credit to uploader):


if the video does not show watch the video here



As is normal with each of the sign-kais with popular members it lasted for over 2 hours and I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've ever had one within the first 10 minutes!

 

Comment video from Sana for her appearance in the stage version of the movie 'Shichi-nin no otaku: Cult seven' which will be performed in March in Tokyo and Osaka:


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Maika and Anna introduce recommended products available at COSTCO:


if the video does not show watch the video here

Iori will be on the special version cover of the March edition of BUBKA (on sale 1/31):
https://twitter.com/BUBKA_henshuubu/status/1617463087547953154



Bonus B2-size poster:
https://twitter.com/BUBKA_henshuubu/status/1617463837367898112

 

Q&A with Sana for the stage version of the movie 'Shichi-nin no otaku: Cult seven':


if the video does not show watch the video here

EDIT: The title and MV for the 13th single will be revealed tomorrow (1/27) at 22:00 JST:


if the video does not show watch the video here

Spoiler: Just to add...

...that in the 2nd round of applications I managed to win 'in-person' talk tickets for 4/30 for both Hana and Anna.

 

The 13th single title is 'Kono sora ga torigaa' ('This sky is the trigger') with Maika as center. As usual Sasshi wrote the lyrics.

Spoiler: The MV contains...

...some passionate scenes with Maika and Iori.

EDIT: The CD covers have been released on the official website:
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/6275

Main artist photo:

 

LOVE the PV! OMG haha the twist in the middlehaha
The set is beautifuland love the camerawork!
Hana!!! Beautiful and glad she got a few lines.
Emirimy love
Glad they mix the style of the songs with every single

 

Spoiler

Iori finally got the girl! I went back to watch the Teokure caution MV to compare with the love triangle and back then, Maika ran off with Hitomi. This time, she won

Also, in a way, if I compare this MV with Teokure caution even further, it feels Maika won over Hitomi due to being the new centre, and Mirinya won over Naatan yet again, seeing as Naatan graduated by Mirinya is still part of the group. Both Naatan and Hitomi chose this themselves, so it's not like a malicious thing, but still made me think.

 

We get to see Teokure Caution's Ikaringu in an alternate timeline, after 5 years!
So we have at least 3 MVs with this ship including Niji no Moto? Although we did get something of a hint in the NatsuMatsuri choreo and it always made me question if the MV was originally about them.

I'm still a little confused by the story (like the rain shelter scene) so I need to rewatch it a few more times. Is the guy cheating? On all of them?

 

^ I think the guy is involved in every girls life and they have a crush more or less on him

 

A Tokyo concert in the 'Today is Your Trigger' nationwide tour has been announced for 3/2 at the Nippon Budokan:
https://equal-love.jp/news/detail/6284

 

nice song and MV! =LOVE is back to classical =LOVE! (even though they didn't really stray from it)
Sasshi just can't stop shipping Ikaringu

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director of FNS Music Festival and Music Fair said that he met a lot of students who said they love =LOVE at one of his jobs recently

https://twitter.com/kazu0312/status/1618524626644275201

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=LOVE and =/ME also ranked in the top 10 of "Which artists/idols you'd like to support in 2023" poll taken among gen Z girls.
the only female idols among male groups

https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000029.000021478.html

 

Ok this is amazing, I mean in the TOP 10 is the big rival (only) Johhny's Big congrats!

 

Oguro Yuzuki (Team Shachi) is Iori's fan

2:40-

if the video does not show watch the video here

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Kimi wa =LOVE wo Aiseru ka 230128

great news! with no capacity and chanting restrictions it's going to be epic!

 

Two CMs with Mirinya, Hitomi and Shoko for the National Tax Agency promoting their online 'e-Tax' service (all 10 members appear at the very end of each one):

30 seconds:

if the video does not show watch the video here

15 seconds:

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

In which they're literally the only girl idol groups? Sasshi is going to save idols…

 

13th Single -Dance focus ver.- for Anna and Emiri

if the video does not show watch the video here

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

^ more -Dance Focus Ver.- videos. This time for Hana and Sana

if the video does not show watch the video here

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Man ..... really loving these clips
Leader's clip ... whoooa her lovely smile ....urghh I am about to be blinded ... looking forward to Kiara & Shoko's