Idol group Sakurazaka46 held their 4th YEAR ANNIVERSARY LIVE at Zozo Marine Stadium (Mihama-ku, Chiba City) on November 23rd and 24th. This was their second performance at Zozo Marine Stadium following last year's 3rd YEAR ANNIVERSARY LIVE, and like last year, they attracted about 72,000 people over the two days (36,000 people each day). With the momentum of having appeared in the New Year's Eve NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen for the second consecutive year, they thrilled fans with a hot live performance that blew away the cold of late autumn.
The set list for the live performance traced the group's history, from debut songs such as "TOKYOSNOW" and "Hitoshitsuna koto" to previous singles such as "BAN", "Sakuratsuki", and "Start over!".
2020 marks four years since the group changed its name from "Keyakizaka46". This year, they held an arena tour in four cities nationwide in the spring, and tickets were so fierce that even the obstructed seats were sold out. In June, they performed at the Tokyo Dome for the second time in two years, attracting about 110,000 people over two days, demonstrating the group's momentum.
At the live on the 24th, MC Yamazaki Ten reflected on their journey over the past four years, saying, "It's our fourth anniversary, so if you think back to the past, when we first changed our name, there was a time when we were full of anxiety about what would happen in the future, but our Buddies (the name of our fans) supported us and had expectations of us more than we thought they would, so I think we've come this far because we wanted to live up to their expectations."
She then cutely appealed to the Buddies, "We want to show you that our fifth year is not just this, and we want to show you lots of things like that, so we hope you will continue to watch over us. We're determined not to let you feel bad for supporting us. So... don't change your favorite from Sakurazaka46."
Captain Matsuda Rina emphasized, "I think Sakurazaka46 has definitely grown compared to last year," and vowed, looking ahead to the fifth year, "We've been hearing a lot of expectations lately. Of course we want to meet everyone's expectations, but we also want to exceed them."
