About a week ago I traveled to Japan and went to VR Idol Enogu‘s two-day event, Beyond the Dimension 2023 (BtD) on October 14 and 15. Not only was it my first “genba” (現場 lit. actual spot) for Enogu’s live performance it was also my first genba for idol lives in general.
Enogu has held Beyond the Dimension yearly for the past 3 years. For this musical event, they invite real idol groups to perform too, attempting to break that invisible wall between virtual and real idol groups and fans. I only first got into Enogu about a year ago, and I only learned about this yearly event a few months ago, but it piqued my interest when I first found out about it. When they announced this year’s BtD, I knew I had to go.
I’m no writer, but I thought I’d share some of my thoughts and impressions of the event as a foreign fan of Enogu. Unfortunately, taking pictures or recording performances wasn’t allowed, but I added some official pictures of BtD and some screenshots from other events.
This post isn’t meant to be an introduction to Enogu, so I’m assuming you already know a little bit about them. But in case you’re not that familiar with Enogu, I’ll try to give a brief overview.
- What is Enogu? (short ver.)
- My First Enogu Genba
- Enogu’s BtD2023 Setlist
- Meeting Other Enogumi
- Tokuten-kai
- My First Idol Genba
- Final Thoughts
What is Enogu? (short ver.)
Source: https://twitter.com/anzu15_225/status/1713560748310647168
Enogu is a three-member VR idol group formed in 2018, currently composed of “leader” Nao Hinata (Hinao), “captain” Tamaki Shirafuji and “center” Anzu Suzuki.
Source: Seishun Katsudou Kiroku vol. 24
Being VR or virtual idols, they obviously look different from real idols, however their activities are essentially the same as with real idols. Their primary focus is doing live musical performances where they sing and dance in real-time (on a big screen, of course). They also regularly release new original music (currently having over 50 songs spanning a wide range of genres), do livestreams playing games or answering questions from fans, guest on radio shows or host their own, and much more.
They’ve been invited to perform at the prestigious Tokyo Idol Festival (TIF) consecutively for the past 5 years, and in this year’s TIF Idol General Election 2023 (a sort of popularity contest), secured 3rd place among about 20 other highly skilled and passionate idol groups, despite being the only virtual idol group. More recently they’ve even been organizing a monthly event called “Virtual Artist Fes VRide!”, a live event exclusively featuring performance-focused virtual artists.
Enogu’s life goals, as preposterous as they may sound, are to make VR idols into an existence everyone knows about and to become the world’s number one VR idol. It sounds silly (I used to think so too), but believe me when I say they’re dead serious about this.
That was quite a lot! But it still doesn’t paint a full picture of Enogu (pun intended). I’ll try to write a blog post properly introducing Enogu soon. But in the meantime I think Enogu’s motto best encapsulates what needs to be known about them:
あなたと同じ場所で。一緒に青春しよう！
This is extremely difficult to translate, but it can be roughly translated to:
Together in the same place, let’s live our youth!
And if you don’t know what youth or seishun (青春) means in Japanese, this Quora thread might help explain it.
By the way, fans of Enogu are called “Enogumi”.
My First Enogu Genba
There was a lot that I thought about Enogu after watching them live for the first time. Here are some of the most significant ones.
Enogu’s performance skills are seriously top-notch
That the Enogu members are highly skilled at singing and dancing is obvious just from watching their streams and videos, but watching them live made me appreciate it even more. Most videos of Enogu’s live performances have camerawork, so you can’t see everything they’re doing all the time, but at the genba you can.
Compared to the streams I’ve watched, Enogu appeared clearer and smoother live. Fine details in their performance, like variations in their movements and facial expressions, were easier to see, adding to my enjoyment of the performance. I could see even how they moved their individual fingers, which on streams tends to get blurred or distorted.
Also, during these 2 days in particular, Enogu seemed to be in tip-top shape. There seemed to be more power than usual in Anzu-chan’s singing, Tamaki-chan’s backup harmonies were perfect, and Hinao’s performance seemed so effortless as she gave more fan service than usual. According to them, they got really fired up and motivated because of how good the other idol groups were.
It was a flawless performance! Okay fine, I’m probably biased since it was the first time I watched them live and I enjoyed it so much. But it really seemed to me like their best performance ever.
Enogu can really see their audience
There is also interactivity in the genba that is not present in the live stream―Enogu can see and interact with the audience in real-time! There was already plenty of evidence that they do this, even from way back (such as the Rinsen Taisei earthquake incident). But I was delighted to finally get to experience it in person.
In Part 2 of Day 2 I was lucky to be on the front row. Throughout the live, there were several instances when I could tell they were reacting to either me or to someone else in the audience, but the most convincing ones were from Hinao during their usual self-introduction MC.
At one point, I copied Hinao’s pose, raising my arms, after which she slightly turned to my direction, smiled and waved her arms slightly as if to acknowledge it. The movement was different from what she did during Day 1 and Day 2 Part 1, and as far as I could tell, I was the only one in the audience who copied her, so it felt convincing that she was reacting to me in real-time.
Source: Virtual Artist Fes VRide! Vol.2
Another instance was near the end of the MC, when I jumped up and down while waving, after which Hinao also copied the movement. However, based on watching their past streams, this was something commonly done by the audience, and at that time I noticed other people doing it too. So just to be sure, I did it again one last time when everyone else had settled down, and Hinao hurriedly responded by jumping up and down again, even though they were about to prepare for the next song already. Thank you, Hinao!
And, sorry for testing you like that, Enogu! It’s not that I doubted that you could really see and interact with us, I just wanted something I could tell other people to convince them that you do it! I swear!
Live Enogu is a wholly different experience
This goes for any live performance, but the sense of presence afforded by the genba just can’t be captured through a camera. For Enogu, I’d say this is doubled, because when watching them via stream you’re essentially watching one screen through another screen. This may get too “meta” so I don’t want to delve in too deeply, but there are technical aspects that simply work better when directly watching them live.
The presence of the audience also made it more enjoyable. One unique thing I’ve long noted about Japan’s idol culture is the fans’ enthusiasm in live performances. Songs have what they call fan “furitsuke” (振付け lit. choreography) and fan “calls” (コール), movements and shouts that are meant to complement and cheer on the performers onstage. From streams of their performances I was able to learn some of the furitsuke and calls for Enogu’s songs (and doing them alone in my room). But doing them live along with other fans was definitely a much more enjoyable experience!
Enogu keeps surprising fans with their setlists
Enogu has done A LOT of live performances, so many that you’d think by now they would’ve exhausted all their ideas on how to surprise their fans. But this time, once again, they made an unpredictable setlist.
One thing that might explain why Enogu is able to keep on surprising fans like this is their huge repertoire of songs―around 40, if you exclude their solo songs. Because of this there are plenty of variations they can do to keep on surprising their fans. And they’re still consistently releasing several new songs a year.
Enogu’s BtD2023 Setlist
Over the 3 lives, Enogu performed a total of 22 songs (18 if you don’t count duplicates). Writing about all of them would run too long so I’ll write about a couple of them here―those which stood out the most to me when I watched them live.
Amplifier (アンプリファー)
The first song on Day 1, and right off the bat, a song probably nobody expected to hear first. One of my favorites due to the catchy tune, fun choreography and Tamaki-chan yelling “Sekai wo kaeru!” near the end. Also, I was actually a bit nervous before Enogu’s set, since I was worried I might not fully enjoy their performance as it was my first genba. But Amplifier blew all that nervousness away! There wasn’t enough space in the venue to do a “circle”. But like a few other audience members, I spun around in place during the intro, which loosened me up.
Virtual Berserker (ヴァーチャルバーサーカー)
One of their newest songs, they performed this high-energy song a total of 3 times, once in each part of BtD. The fan calls for this song are pretty intense, especially the big “Yeah!” in the middle of the chorus, which many Enogumi shout while jumping. I love the rhythm in the last part of the verse, right before the prechorus starts. After that part I couldn’t help letting out a “foo!”. Also, I think Tamaki-chan’s singing really shines in this song.
Shiori (栞), BRAVER
I think these 2 songs best bring out sense of unity with the audience―Shiori with its fan call and BRAVER with its furitsuke and raised-fists ending. It felt great to finally be able to experience it live. Right before the interlude, Anzu-chan singing, “Brave Story!”, with the long sustain while raising her fist to the sky is the best.
Eraser☆Beam (イレイザー☆ビーム)
Another one of my favorites, with a fun furitsuke too! Since their former member, Haru Natsume, retired at the end of last year, the only time they performed this again, as far as I know, was during Daizekkyou Matsuri Summer last August. So I’m really glad I was able to watch them perform it live at BtD.
Armor Break, Brand new stage
Two relatively older songs, but also two of my favorites! I probably have too many favorite Enogu songs…
Personally I love the contrast between Armor Break’s cool electroswing music and the cute onomatopeic words mixed in the lyrics. It was really fun to sing along with. Rooting for Hinao during her solo dance part was also exciting.
Brand new stage, meanwhile, is just in general a great song with fun choreography. I’ve got most of the dance steps memorized by heart.
Hoshi wa Mitabi Matataku (星は三度瞬く)
As Enogu usually introduces it, this song “symbolizes” Enogu as they currently are now. For me listening to the song live brought out memories of their participation at Tokyo Idol Festival. I could probably write a whole post about this song. The title of this blog comes from the lyrics of this song, after all. But suffice to say, I was most immersed in their performance during this song.
In case you’re curious, here are Enogu’s full setlists from BtD2023.
- Amplifier (アンプリファー)
- LIVE IV LIFE
- Virtual Berserker (ヴァーチャルバーサーカー)
- Hoshi wa Mitabi Matataku (星は三度瞬く)
- Tomoshibi (燈し火)
- Esoragoto (絵空事)
- Armor Break
- Dreamin’ World
- Shiori (栞)
- BRAVER
- Frustration Girl (フラストレーションガール)
- Virtual Berserker (ヴァーチャルバーサーカー)
- Hoshi wa Mitabi Matataku (星は三度瞬く)
- YeLL for Dear
- Nantonaku, Ao (なんとなく、青)
- Kyouka Suigetsu (鏡花水月)
- Eraser☆Beam (イレイザー☆ビーム)
- Startline 2022 (スタートライン 2022)
- Virtual Berserker (ヴァーチャルバーサーカー)
- Koi Modoki (恋擬き)
- Brand new stage
- LIVE IV LIFE
Luckily for me, all of the songs just happened to be my favorites.
Meeting Other Enogumi
Enogu’s fans, called Enogumi, have garnered somewhat of a reputation of being very warm and welcoming towards other vtubers, idols and their fans. At BtD, many in the audience were Enogumi and thus came mainly to watch Enogu, but they were very responsive and hospitable to all the idol groups. Some of the idol groups even explicitly thanked them during their MC.
I’ve only followed Enogu thoroughly for about a year, but I know that Enogu has been through a lot, and through it all they’ve upheld their good character and integrity as idols. I’m sure the Enogumi-senpai who’ve supported them through years are the same. Big respect.
Another interesting thing about Enogumi is that when Enogu take their final bow to the audience at the end of their performance, some Enogumi bow to Enogu as well. I had seen this before while watching streams of Enogu’s lives, so it wasn’t that surprising. But what surprised me was that when Enogu bowed I myself also felt compelled to bow, and so I did. When Enogu said thank you and bowed to us, I just deeply felt that it should be me thanking them, not the other way around.
Source: Virtual Artist Fes VRide! Vol.2
Tokuten-kai
In case you aren’t familiar with the term, a tokuten-kai (特典会 lit. special favors meeting) is essentially a special event held after idol lives like BtD where you can buy tickets to take a photo with and talk one-on-one with an idol for a short time. As to be expected, a major portion of my excitement for BtD was to be able to talk with Tamaki-chan, Anzu-chan and Hinao.
During the tokuten-kai, the staff open the “buppan” (物販 lit. goods sales) where you can buy the tickets, which are usually limited per person and per event. You then line up for the idol of your choice, and when your turn comes you can have a cheki (a photo from a “cheki” instant camera) taken with the idol, or, depending on the system, their solo cheki. After this, the idol signs the cheki, during which you can have a short (~1min) talk with her. After that, if you have any tickets left, you can line up again.
Enogu, being VR idols, conduct their tokuten-kai through tablets. For obvious reasons they can’t sign your chekis but you can talk with them as normal like with real idols. This may be hard to believe, but it really felt like they were in front of me. I didn’t notice any lag (like what you’d expect from a video call), and even as I spoke in broken Japanese they always immediately nodded or made sounds to acknowledge that they were listening to me. Looking back now, I feel grateful that they were so welcoming and attentive, since I was fully occupied trying to articulate my thoughts in Japanese.
As for the content of my talks with the Enogu members, I don’t think it would be interesting to readers since it’s quite personal. I introduced myself, told them where I came from and why I came to watch BtD, praised their performance, and told them I would come back again in the future to watch them live. There were a total of 3 tokuten-kais held over the 2 days. Enogu easily remembered those who participated multiple times, so I was able to have sort of a continuous conversation with each of them, spread across the 3 tokuten-kais.
My First Idol Genba
Enogu organized BtD in order to try and break the invisible wall between virtual and real idol groups and their fans. Being originally just a virtual fan myself (vtubers in particular), I wanted to dedicate a portion of this post to my impressions of watching real idols live. For readers only interested in my thoughts about Enogu, you may skip this section (though the last paragraph might still interest you).
So much was new to me that I honestly wasn’t able to absorb it all―my memory of the performances is quite muddled. But the things that stood out the most for me about the live were the powerful energy from the wota and the closeness between the idols and their fans.
It was really impressive how the idols, even whilst singing and dancing, could regularly give fanservice by making eye contact with individual members of the audience, smiling, winking, nodding at them, or interacting with them in other ways to get them more fired up and immersed in the performance. It probably helped that the venue was relatively small and the audience area was quite close to the stage itself.
The wota (idol fans) were also quite formidable with their wotagei. They seemed fully immersed in the performance no matter their number. Seeing wotagei for the first time in real life was quite an extraordinary experience. In particular, the wotagei called mixing was very memorable. Even after researching quite a lot about it, it still feels like a mystery to me.
My only regret was that I didn’t have enough time to properly listen to and study the other groups’ songs, so most of them were only vaguely familiar to me. The energy was contagious, however, so I still had a lot of fun regardless.
Personally, during the first day, I enjoyed Gran⭐︎Ciel, as I like their guitar-driven songs. iSpy was also quite memorable, as their furitsuke was fun and relatively easy to follow. It was also only when Junjou no Afilia (純情のアフィリア) performed it at BtD that I found out they originally sang the Neptune anime ED! I was really glad to hear a song that I knew well.
Meanwhile, both Title Mitei (タイトル未定) and Gunjou no Sekai (群青の世界) from the two-man lives of Day 2 gave amazing performances. Title Mitei’s ballet dancing was both graceful and intense at the same time―I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Gunjou no Sekai’s set was a continuous crescendo as everyone seemed to get more and more fired up with each song.
One last thing―absolutely all of the groups had exceptional singing and dancing abilities. While I’m still new to idol culture, based on what I’ve seen so far, the groups at BtD were relatively high-level performers. Whoever chose the lineup must’ve really wanted to show how skilled performers idols could be. Who in the world was it (or were they) who chose that lineup, I wonder?
Source: https://twitter.com/anzu15_225/status/1715983955248419094
Final Thoughts
If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I suck at writing to promote things I like, but if reading this made you like VR Idol Enogu just a little bit more, my little old otaku heart couldn’t be any happier.
I was fortunate that all the Enogu members recognized my social media username when I introduced myself at the tokuten-kai, even though it was my first time participating. Of course I felt happy about it, no mistake about that. But the main reason I set out to go to BtD was simply to convey to them, as a foreign fan, that despite the distance, their message had reached another person in this world. As long as I could do that, I would’ve already been satisfied.
I really believe that they deserve much greater popularity, to the extent that they shouldn’t be able to recognize me that easily. Surely they will reach that level of fame, someday.
Kimi to Boku no Ittousei 
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