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To be honest, nothing about this show really came across as "cheap" to me. It was scaled back and lacked a "wow" factor - but I think it still looked polished, as much as it could be. Her outfits were pretty, the stage was fine, her voice was strong, etc.
I really enjoyed myself, and I'm not going to apologize for that or argue with people who didn't enjoy their respective shows. Would I have loved a CdM-level show? Of course! Was I disappointed in this show? Not at all.
I'll admit that this did not capture the same magic as the original PoM - but that was also a longer tour, and what was eventually released was very different from how she started (I think the first part of the tour was all 1 outfit if I remember correctly). These performances were largely recycled from various recent tours (including the original PoM) and I think that's part of the big disconnect people are feeling. This is a scaled-back show, but it feels scaled-back partly due to lack of inspiration/direction. I honestly think if she had tagged on "~A Best Live~" people would be eating it up, because they'd be expecting something more recycled. But still, I don't find what she has done to be inappropriate for an anniversary tour.
And we're looking at like 10 shows, of which none probably sold out, so I think people need to set expectations for the budget she has. Small tweaks could go a long way - she has been trading in more elaborate stages for projected videos, which is fine - but these videos felt a little bit "stock" to me and could have been more impactful than they were. The MC was almost non-existent, and while I didn't mind that - it probably would have made people feel like it was a longer or more elaborate show. I was surprised that in Fukuoka she didn't at least talk about being home, etc. in some detail.
As for a few other random pieces - I felt the dancers did NOT overwhelm things at all. And with regards to female dancers, it was very easy to miss any of them other than Midori. The other 2 (?) were barely around. The performers were really unnecessary for this tour, but I love Riki so I'm not mad about it.
Also, I've seen her 5 times in 4 different shows and I think I would probably rate them vocally as this:
- TA Tour 2015
- PoM 20th Anniversary
- TA Tour 2016
- CDL 04-05
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