Fire Emblem 25th Anniversary Concert Report

On 24th and 25th July 2015, Nintendo held a Fire Emblem 25th Anniversary concert event, dubbed “25th Anniversary of Love and Courage: Fire Emblem Festival”, at Tokyo Dome City Hall.

fe25event

While I didn’t attend the event myself, many fans and members of the press did and, so, I’ve collected their impressions in this (lengthy) post.

Before beginning, I should mention that it’s prohibited to take pictures (or recordings) within the concert itself, so that’s the reason you won’t find any (or many) here.

But anything beforehand is fair game, it seems. Speaking of which, the entrance itself is rather spectacular, featuring life-size replicas of Marth and Chrom’s Falchion and Fire Emblems.

I already made a post with pictures of those, if you’re interested and missed it. Apparently, the replicas were crafted by Hato Ken, a famous weapon designer.

Queues for the merchandise (Famitsu)

Queues for the merchandise (Image: Famitsu)

Beyond here is the next most exciting thing for fans: the chance to purchase exclusive 25th Anniversary concert memorabilia (which I covered here and here).

For the concert itself, a wide variety of iconic music from across the series were performed (you can refer to the music program here).

“The music was of course spectacular, with fantastic orchestral arrangements from the entire series. It’s hard to get into detail about music, but it was pretty damn moving, especially hearing [Shadow Dragon to The Sacred Stones] on a full orchestra.” MuNought

Of particular interest to fans who couldn’t attend: the entirety of the concert was officially recorded, so fingers crossed for an official CD or DVD further down the line…

The voice actors (Image: Lynn)

The voice actors (Image: Lynn)

During the first break, there was a short mini-drama performed by voice actors from the games–specifically Azura, Hinata, Saizou, Lazward, Odin and Luna.

“The skit was pretty funny. Some of the voice actors flubbed their lines a bit. The [VAs all wore] something to represent them from the game. (Respectively, a white/blue dress, a rod/short sword, a scarf, an arm shield, a circlet, and another arm shield).”MuNought

Renka's performance (Image: OK Music)

Renka’s performance (Image: OK Music)

The second break had a live performance from Renka, the debut singer who provided the singing voice for Fire Emblem Fates‘s Azura and the main theme for the game, “if~ hitori omou”.

“Also loved when Renka came on to perform her song. She came out in a beautiful dress behind the orchestra and her singing was mesmorizing.”ranmafan

After that was a talk show with various staff who worked on the games, hosted by Masahiro Sakurai, the director of Smash Bros and big-time Fire Emblem fan.

Note: Despite what the Internet may have told you, Sakurai was not here to make an announcement about Smash Bros.; that was simply people misconstruing the facts.

Yusuke Kozaki (Image: Himself)

“He started off simple, [asking people about their first game and favourite character].

I recall [Yusuke Kozaki] going with Hinoka, and Sakurai going with Navarre, and I remember hearing Ira, Sakura, and I think Palla were mentioned as well.

Then [he] started asking about supports and the evolution into the marriage system, and then hitting them with questions about the children/My Room feature, which was absolutely hilarious.

(Sakurai, for context, has been with it forever, and has finished all 3 routes of Fates.)”MuNought

Later, male Kamui and Azura’s voice actors joined the show.

“[Kamui’s voice actor] said that he played the game as a kid, but didn’t understand [anything] because he was a kid, so people just ended up dying. Then he picked it up again after Awakening hit.”

“[Azura’s voice actor] talked about how she played as male Kamui and married Azura, because she wanted to see how her voice acting went.”MuNought

To finish off, the voice actors and directors gathered together to give their closing remarks about the series’s 25th anniversary.

Binding Blade's commercial (Image: 1101)

Binding Blade’s commercial (Image: 1101)

Then came the unexpected grand finale: a sing-a-long of the “Fire Emblem Theme (Opera Version)” (original version / lyrics).

This amusing and well-loved piece was created for the TV commercial for the first game, later reused in Binding Blade and then re-imagined with latin lyrics in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

“The ending was the best where they recreated the commercial with even the big screen behind them displaying the lyrics for people to sing. But everyone was listening mainly.” ranmafan

(If that wasn’t enough, you can find MuNought‘s full impressions here.)

About the Author: VincentASM
Fire Emblem fan since 2002 and webmaster of Serenes Forest. Occasionally an online content editor or brand ambassador. Is a sucker for mage girls and has an unhealthy stash of Sylveon plushies.
Author Website: https://serenesforest.net