Singers Haruna Luna, Emi Nitta, and Raychell delivered their first live performances in Spain at the convention Japan Weekend Madrid on February 14-15. During the event, the artists also held signing sessions for the fans’ excitement.
Known for bringing popular Japanese artists to its various events across Spain, Japan Weekend exceeded the expectations by bringing three Japanese singers—each with a different background. Moreover, fans of BanG Dream!, Love Live!, and Sword Art Online shared the front row during the whole weekend.
Driven by this shared sense of community, let’s look at the singers’ highlights during their Madrid performances.
The concerts featured in this report are presented chronologically based on the order in which the writer attended them. Since each artist performed multiple times throughout the convention, this sequence simply reflects the writer’s personal itinerary. The mentioned songs do not reflect the actual setlist order.
Raising the Curtain with Raychell
Our first stop was with singer and voice actress Raychell. She gained worldwide popularity thanks to her involvement in the franchise BanG Dream! (Bandori) as Rei Wakana, the polite vocalist of RAISE A SUILEN. Other voice acting roles include Shano Himegami in D4DJ First Mix and Elena Hanakaze in Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood.
But her musical career extends beyond the anime industry, as she demonstrated with her performance of “MY WAY”, a single released in 2021 under her artistic name Raychell. We followed her energetic performance clapping and chanting with a lot of enthusiasm.
From her anisong repertoire, she hypnotized us with the best of D4DJ: the cover song “WOW WAR TONIGHT ~Toki ni wa Okose yo Movement~.” Originally performed by the Jpop and reggae unit “H Jungle with t,” Raychell brought to life a more upbeat version that fits the relaxed atmosphere of D4DJ.
Of course, the singer enthralled the audience with her songs for RAISE A SUILEN. Raychell built up the energy with “HELL! or HELL?” and “Outsider Rodeo”, two singles that weren’t part of the anime but everyone knew about—that’s how popular Bandori is in Spain.
The cherry on top was “EXPOSE ‘Burn Out!!!'”, a RAISE A SUILEN track featured as an insert song in Bandori’s third season. Headbanging was mandatory for both the fans and Raychell.
If you want to know more about Raychell’s activities, she’s currently on tour with RAISE A SUILEN. The band was confirmed for the AsianWorld-Expo in Hong Kong in August 14-15.
The Smile of Emitsun
On the next day, we traveled to the idol universe with Emi Nitta, the voice behind Honoka Kosaka, the leader of the idol unit “μ’s” from Love Live! The singer also gave voice to Ricca Morizono in Da Capo III and Tokoha Anjo in Cardfight!! Vanguard G.
As with Bandori, Love Live! fans (or LoveLivers) were hyped with Emi Nitta’s appearance, as she was part of the first installment of the anime. Moreover, many Spanish idol units were inspired by Love Live! and idol contests are a main activity during the Japan Weekend events. One of the memorable moments happened before Emi Nitta’s concert, when LoveLivers witnessed her singing and dancing to a Love Live! song close to the idol contest.
When the artist took the stage, the sea of glowsticks danced nonstop. We sang along “Bokura wa Ima no Naka de”, the first opening theme of Love Live! and tears flowed in the audience with “Snow Halation,” one of the iconic singles of the entire franchise.
Her setlist also included anime songs outside Love Live!, such as “Sakura Happy Innovation”, the opening theme of Da Capo III. Emi Nitta’s vibrant smile accompanied each track, making us feel like part of a real Love Live! show.
Emi Nitta continues her musical activities and she confirmed her participation in the Shinshu Summer Festival 2026 in Japan on August 11.
The Gothic Lolita Princess
Singer and fashion model Haruna Luna made her musical debut in 2012 with “Sora wa Takaku Kaze wa Utau,” the ending theme song of Fate/Zero 2nd Season. In addition to her musical career, she works as a lolita model for the fashion magazine KERA. With a big passion for lolita culture, Haruna Luna also started her own brands “LUNAMARIA“, for wedding dresses, and “OSHI TO DATE,” for ita-bags.
For her Sunday’s show, Haruna Luna pumped the audience with “Ai Wo Utae,” the first ending song of Monogatari Series 2nd Season, and later added “snowdrop”, the fourth ending of the same season. As this is my favorite anime of all time, I was excited from the get-go.
However, this wasn’t the only surprise. Fans of the romantic comedy Saekano—myself included—relived endearing memories with “Stella Breeze” and “Kiimiro Signal”, both opening themes featured in the anime.
Other Haruna Luna’s anisongs included were “Ripple Effect” from High School Feet, “Sora wa Takaku Kaze wa Utau” from Fate/Zero 2nd Season, and “Momoiro Typhoon” from Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs. With her sweet voice and her stylish dark blue dress, Haruna Luna dominated the audience during all these performances.
But fans went even more ecstatic with “Overfly” and “Startear”, both ending themes of Sword Art Online. As highly anticipated, there were many SAO cosplayers in the front row of the crowd jumping along with Haruna Luna. A fitting way to wrap up a weekend full of anisongs.
The singer and designer confirmed new dates for her “HARUNA LUNA LIVE TOUR 2026 “Phases of the Moon””, as you can check out in her official site.
We want to extend our thanks to Japan Weekend for reuniting three big artists in one weekend. We met many people from overseas who visited Madrid solely for the shows.
If you want to be part in future concerts, Japan Weekend confirmed their next Madrid event for September 26-27 at a new location: the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
And for the LoveLivers, the organization also confirmed Sayuri Date, Nako Misaki, and Nagisa Aoyama from the idol unit Liella from Love Live! Superstar!!, who will hold a concert on Saturday 26 and meet & greets sessions on both days. The tickets are already on sale!
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