BODY: Cherry blossoms may have fallen weeks ago in Tokyo, but a different kind of manaki (full bloom) took over Tachikawa Stage Garden on May 16, as fans of the Aipri franchise gathered for the "Himitsu no Aipri: Mankai Buzzrium Live!" Special Event — subtitled, fittingly, "Secret Stage!"
The event celebrated the theatrical release of the latest Himitsu no Aipri film, the current entry in the long-running Pretty Series lineage that traces back through Waccha PriMagi!, Idol Time PriPara, and the original PriPara. Voice actors Mitoku Fujidera (Himari Aozora) and Sai Hiratsuka (Mitsuki Hoshikawa) led the Himitsu cast through the afternoon program, performing live and interacting with a packed house of young fans and dedicated Pretty Series veterans.
The afternoon's biggest surprise was the first public appearance of the cast from Onegai Aipri, the next installment in the franchise. Hanaka Ogawa, voicing Inori Konomi, and Rika Kanaya, as Aoi Yumemiya, joined the stage to formally introduce their characters — a meaningful "passing of the torch" moment that Pretty Series events have long used to bridge generations of fans.
Performances leaned heavily on tracks from the film, with the "Buzzrium Live" framing giving the show a meta-concert feel: in-character idols performing songs that exist both in the movie's world and on the actual stage. For a franchise built on the blur between viewer and idol, it's a structure that lands every time.
The insider take
In Japan, Pretty Series events occupy a specific niche — they're smaller and more intimate than Love Live! or Idolmaster shows, but the audience skews younger and the franchise loyalty is fierce. Tachikawa Stage Garden, opened in 2020, has quietly become the go-to mid-size venue for these family-friendly idol events, large enough for full production but small enough that the cast can actually see the kids in the front rows waving their aipuri (idol print) cards. That intimacy is the whole point.
Originally reported by コミックナタリー - 最新ニュース (Japanese).