Two mega franchises in one mega show. In the past, this was one of those things you would think would never happen. Now that it's happening, why did it take so long? 

 

December 9 and 10 is the date and Tokyo Dome is the place. I was last at the Tokyo Dome for Aquors 4th Live in 2018, so this will be a homecoming of sorts.

 

There's an insane number of names on the list of available talent drawing from Aquors, Nijigasaki High School School Idol Club, Liella, and practically every idolm@ster series you can think of.  Absent are the progenitors of both series, but they are unfortunately busy with other things nowadays.  Both u's and 765PRO girls have been essentially retired for many years.  For general information and a full list of performers, please take a look at the main website here.  The Love Live side of the lineup is constant, but for idolm@ster, they'll be switching it up each day.  

 

Each performance will cost you 13000 yen (26000 yen for both days).  Lottery entries begin 7/22 and run through 8/23. Winners are announced on 8/19, and payment is then due by the 23rd. You can apply for up to four tickets.

 

UPDATE 8/31/23: Lottery for single days begins tomorrow on September 1st (well, today technically in Japan) and runs through the 25th.  Again, you can apply on the eplus website here.  It looks like the first round of the lottery was primarily for two-day ticket pairs; singles will be whatever is left for the second round.  

 

Hopefully, you've got an activated eplus account because if you don't, you won't have a shot for a ticket on your name. While you can buy a ticket off of resale websites, the chances of you getting name-checked (as an anti-scalping measure a lot of tickets have the name of the account holder on them) are non-zero.  I have yet to be namechecked yet, and there are ways around it, but we'll leave those out of this article.  If you want to get your own enabled eplus account, you'll have to get a sim card/Japanese cell phone number, then have someone, either you or a friend in Japan, activate your account by calling as directed when registering your eplus account (easiest if in Japan for this part, but I suppose if you had a friend there they could plug in your sim, make the call, and finish the registration).  Keep that sim card handy because you're going to need it for the ticket which will be pushed to your smartphone a couple of days before the show.

UPDATE 9/14/23: Just announced is a separate lottery for overseas fans. Colloquially called the "gaijin (foreigner) lotto," it is specifically targeted for fans not in Japan. You do not need an eplus account for this. I attended Aquors 4th Live at the Tokyo Dome back in 2018 thanks to this lottery, and the seats were great, so if you've got the money, go for it.  Applications begin tomorrow, 9/15/23.

It does cost more than just the tickets on their own, given that it includes a hotel stay for two or three nights (depending on which plan you choose), but if you are not versed in the ways of eplus, this is your best shot. You're also only having to face off with other gaijins who can pay for a trip overseas, so your overall competition is much less in number than the eplus lottery.

A few notes about the gaijin lotto: you do not get to pick what hotel you are assigned. The hotels are more expensive than other hotels you could book for yourself. The hotels are spread around Tokyo so you could have a short trip or it could be on the longer side. You can either apply for yourself and one other person or by yourself.

The seats will probably be pretty good. For 4th Live, you were either on the floor itself or in the stand near where the moving ship stage traveled to. Given the size of the dome, that meant you were very close to the action. I'd expect something similar for Ijigen.

Here's the details:

Plan A - both the 12/9 and 12/10 shows. 102000 yen for one person (approx $690 at press time), 96000 yen per person for two ($653)
Plan B - only 12/9 show. 74000 yen for one person (approx $500 at press time), 70000 yen per person for two ($475)
Plan C - only 12/10 show. 74000 yen for one person (approx $500 at press time), 70000 yen per person for two ($475)

Minimum number of participants
Plan A: 150 participants
Plan B: 100 participants
Plan C: 100 participants

So if they don't hit these numbers, it's a no go.

To apply for the overseas lottery, please go here for information.  The direct link to the application website is here.  The overseas lottery will be open from 9/15/23 to 9/26/23.  The eplus lottery is still open until the 25th in Japan.

 

I'll be heading there in December with my ticket already punched for both days.  Good luck out there.