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, were recently announced at an independent event by RAB.)
Chosen through a preliminary selection of world-wide online video entries, results for the third national Akiba Street convention, a world-first “Anime Song Dance Battle” project produced by anime song dance pioneers RAB (Real Akiba Boyz), were recently announced at an independent event by RAB.
In this world-first experiment, just under 20 names were chosen out of entries from 9 countries including America, England, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Singapore, Indonesia, and South Africa. Performances varied, featuring break-dancing and rock dancing coordinated to their favorite anime songs. Where there are people who clad themselves in cosplay, there are people willing to put effort into different cuts for videos, so they wouldn’t lose to Japan in their love for anime.
First, let’s look into the “Special Prize,” not originally planned.
[Special Award: Elodie Labique (France)]
This video begins with the wotagei “Narcissus” move, with the chosen song being “The Hero!! ~Okoreru Kobushi ni Hi wo Tsukero~,” the opening of One-Punch Man which aired last season. Dressed in a sailor uniform and sunglasses, the RAB members were struck by this girl and her love for anime and her performance using all of her strength. Everyone thought she would be a legendary seed, but unfortunately she wasn’t victorious…
Praising her love of anime, a special prize was awarded by the members.
[Overall Victory: Marjorie Bui (USA)]
The winner of the splendid ticket to Japan is Marjorie, combining her fascinating dance skills including punking, which features whip-like arm movements as she dances, and rock dancing.
Not only did she have dance skills, but her facial expressions while singing to herself were also impressive. She earned two titles as both the first to pass the world preliminaries, and as Akiba Street’s first female finalist.
In addition to Marjorie’s right to perform in the third Akiba Street finals, her travel and lodging expenses from her home country have also been covered.
Now, the Akiba Street preliminaries will finally open in Japan next month. Beginning on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, the third preliminaries will be held in five cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Hokkaido. The videos for the winner, Marjorie, and the Special Prize recipient, Elodie, can also be seen at the preliminaries in Japan.
Who will be the finalists to take on Marjorie and the early seed, Youkai Dantou Neotan?
The Japanese preliminaries will be very exciting.
Entries are open to all preliminaries!
Click here for the full schedule.
Tickets for viewing can be purchased through E-Plus.
[Japanese Preliminary Schedule]
〜Tokyo Preliminaries〜
2/14 (Sun.) Shibuya R Lounge
Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
〜Osaka Preliminaries〜
2/20 (Sat.) Nihonbashi WKTK Theater
Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
〜Fukuoka Preliminaries〜
2/21 (Sun.) Tenjin Club Selecta
Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
〜Nagoya Preliminaries〜
2/28 (Sun.) Sakae Roxx Sakae
Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
〜Hokkaido Preliminaries〜
3/5 (Sat.) Sapporo Studio Japan
Open 12:00 / Start 13:00
Akiba Street Official Site: http://akiba-street.jp
Akiba Street Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/akibastreet_rab
Akiba Street Inquiries: info@akiba-street.jp
Sponsor: ultraCeep, Inc.
Planning/Production: Abstreem Creations, Inc.
Support/Collaboration: Exit Tunes, Inc., Universal Collection, Inc., e-notion, Inc.
The RAB (Real Akiba Boyz) are popular Akihabara anime song and dance pioneers, known for their videos submitted to sites including Nico Nico Douga in which they dance. Since forming RAB in 2006, they have continued dancing to anime songs and have broken into their ninth year as a unique anime song performance unit.
They made their major debut beginning with frequent performances on Nippon TV’s Star Draft Kaigi. They gained popularity through online videos on sites like Nico Nico Douga and YouTube through performances popular with users as well as fans within the anime industry. Their dance for Masayoshi Ooishi’s “Kimi Jyanakya Dame Mitai” surpassed 1 million views, and they now have 3 videos with a million views. They’re valued highly around the world, being picked up for things like representing Japan in 2014’s YouTube Rewind which gathered YouTube stars across the globe.
The uploaded videos of their performances garner hundreds of thousands of views across the board, and in total they have 50 million views. Recently they have uploaded dance videos as official videos for anime including Mikagura School Suite, Teekyu, and Makura no Danshi, and for the October 2015 season of the anime Ani Tore! EX, they were in charge of choreography for the theme song. Their activities have also been steadily broadening, including work as DJs at anime festivals overseas as well as an increasing number of achievements in the anime industry for dance and music.
RAB (Real Akiba Boyz) Official Site: http://abstreem.co.jp/RAB/
