FLOW live in London: Anison veterans bring ANIME SHIBARI to the UK

On September 16th, anison veterans FLOW made their London debut as part of their ongoing ANIME SHIBARI World Tour. Part of their 20th anniversary celebrations, the massive 40-date tour has seen the band travel across multiple continents for the first time. The London show marked the end of the European leg, before they prepare to head onward to Latin America.

Notably, the tour only includes FLOW’s iconic anime songs (plus a few surprises), with a small list of guaranteed tracks on their website. Having provided songs for Naruto, Code Geass, and Dragon Ball Z, amongst others, FLOW have become synonymous with anime in their decades long career. Tonight would bring together droves of anime and J-rock fans for a night filled with nostalgia.

Walking into the venue, we were greeted by a photo-op banner of the band’s tour image, along with the merch stand around the corner selling classic otaku style headbands (hachimaki), hand fans, and special Naruto x FLOW merch, alongside the usual t-shirts and hoodies. The iconic 1500-capacity Electric Ballroom quickly became packed, with fans literally running in to secure their spot. Fans of all types could be seen, from metalheads in battle jackets to cosplayers in full Naruto regalia. Sitting on the balcony, overlooking the floor of the venue, I could see people with lightsticks ready and practicing wotagei.

The pre-show playlist consisted of recent anime favourites, including King Gnu’s ‘One Way’ for Jujutsu Kaisen, YOASOBI’s ‘Idol’ for Oshi no Ko, BURNOUT SYNDROMES’ ‘Hikari Are’ from Haikyu!!, and of course Creepy Nuts’ international breakthrough ‘Bling-Bang-Bang-Born’ from Mashle, which encouraged a mass singalong in the crowd.

A ChatGPT voiceover introduced the band’s merchandise, including a t-shirt designed by vocalist KOHSHI, featuring ‘We’re fighting dreamers’ and mentioning his previous exhibition in Tokyo. As the lights dimmed, phones lit up across the venue as fans prepared for the long-awaited show. The voices of beloved anime characters—Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Lelouch, C.C., Sorey, Mikleo, Renton, and Eureka—introduced the evening, instantly recognised by the crowd. As a huge ‘Tales of’ fan, I felt tears well up as I heard Sorey and Mikleo’s voices.

The band appeared, and headed into the first song of the night, ‘Re:member’, the 8th opening for Naruto. The track instantly got the crowd going, the huge popularity of both Naruto and the song itself on show. Everyone woahed along, penlights bopping along with them.

Immediately they headed into the next song, ‘Kaze no Uta’ from Tales of Zestiria the X. The opening notes hit and I felt goosebumps across my whole body. Reader, please understand I tried my hardest to be professional and not cry, but I couldn’t help it. My JRPG otaku self jumped out and sang, clapped, and cried along, hoping somehow that Sorey and Mikleo would magically appear. But of course the song had to come to an end, my eyes still wet.

Next, singer KEIGO had an MC segment, where he introduced the evening ahead. “Hello London we are FLOW! This is the first time in London, we are very happy to be here, hajimete London!”. He listed some of the anime we would be hearing songs from, before telling us he hopes we enjoy the concert, and introducing the next song. The crowd began clapping along, and KOHSHI yelled to get us all to chant “hey!”.

This led into FLOW’s latest anison offering, ‘LOVE & JUSTICE’ from the latest series of Kinnikuman (Ultimate Muscle)- Kinnikuman Perfect Origin Arc. The show hasn’t quite taken off here yet having been stuck in “Netflix jail”, but the crowd still seemed to enjoy it, many singing along. It features much heavier, metal-like sections, and an upbeat, hopeful feeling chorus, and even a guitar solo.

KOHSHI introduced the next song, ‘Steppin’ Out’, the 3rd op. for Durarara!!x2. With a distinctly bouncy vibe, fists punched the air, and those who bought towels span them in the air along with KEIGO.

Up next was a duo of DBZ songs. First came the classic Dragon Ball Z track ‘Cha-La Head-Cha-La’, originally by Hironobu Kageyama, and covered by FLOW for the movie Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. Of course the crowd sang (screamed) the words back in a mass singalong, childhood nostalgia filling the air. KOHSHI even did a kamehameha at the end! Then came the super catchy and positive feeling ‘HERO ~Kibou no Uta~’. There was opportunity for some call and response here, before KOHSHI introduced brother TAKE for another guitar solo.

KEIGO came onto the mic to ask “Are you having fun? Genki desuka?”, to many cheers. KOHSHI then said “The world tour started in Australia and North America, but tonight we’re here in London! Today is the final [European date]! We sold out tonight! I appreciate it thank you! By the way, sugei thank you, majide thank you (massive thanks, really, thank you).” A chant of “daisuki!” broke out, the band smiling back.

KOHSHI continued “We went to see the stadium to see the football game right? We can see the supporters are really amazing, we were overwhelmed, but F word, oh my gosh a lot of F word, you cannot say it that much!” he laughed, the crowd laughing along. “And then we went to see Tower Bridge, also went to the pub, it was the worst beer! (laughs) Anyway, the sightseeing in London was so nice, I think the tourist parts are so nice. We are happy during the moments when we can communicate with each other through our music, so can you join us in our excitement? Let’s make tonight the best night ever together!”. The crowd screamed and cheered to which he replied “Oh my gosh! So energetic!”.

KEIGO then said “Alright, next anime character voices from Eureka Seven!”, before Renton and Eureka’s voices came over the speakers. This of course led into the first Eureka Seven opening song ‘DAYS’. A track that feels especially nostalgic to me, releasing back in 2005 during my early teen years, I felt tears prick my eyes yet again. The cool, funky vibe of the song had the crowd dancing, with many singing along to the chorus. The band led this right into ‘Bravelue’, from Eureka Seven AO which features a similar structure and funky undertone to ‘DAYS’ reflecting the vibe of the series.

Next up were character voices from C.C. and Lelouch from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. This led us into the fan favourite, and the moment everyone was waiting for- ‘COLORS’. As expected, the crowd went WILD. The opening “Jibun wo” has become somewhat of a meme in the anime community. Those words however, simply mean “myself”; earlier in our chat with the band, they mentioned they were slightly bewildered when they first saw fans holding up signs saying “jibun wo”, but have come to embrace it. It felt as thought the whole venue was singing along. KOHSHI pointed again to TAKE for the guitar solo while the crowd chanted “hey!”. KOHSHI thanked us all, before the band headed into their second Code Geass song of the night ‘WORLD END’.

The audience hey’d and sang along with all their might. KOHSHI gave us all a thumbs up at the end, with KEIGO thanking us; “Are you having fun? We are really happy to be here in London, thank you for loving Japanese anime! Thank you for loving Japanese music! We have so much respect for anime! It’s because of anime we were able to come to London, we are connecting between anime and music, this connection is eternal, thank you so much!”.

Next we got the ballad-like ‘United Sparrows’, the second ending theme of Back Arrow. The crowd swayed their arms along with the motivational and heartfelt track, before KOHSHI and KEIGO took a bow at the end.

Drums then began over the speaker, with voices joining in, this time Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Shikamaru from Naruto. The sea of phones reappeared as the crowd recognised the voices, speaking volumes for just how lasting an impact Naruto has had outside of Japan. We were introduced to the next song as a “special cover song”; ORANGE RANGE’s ‘Viva★Rock’, the third ending of Naruto. KEIGO danced on the stage showing us the moves to dance along with, and the crowd did, swaying and raising their arms in time. Another call and response opportunity was here too, with everyone woahing back at the band.

Following this came a member introduction segment, KEIGO introducing his band mates, starting with an impressive drum solo from IWASAKI, followed by a bass solo from GOT’S. Then introducing TAKE, he was nowhere to be seen. The crowd, unsure if this was a bit, began murmuring. Finally he appeared, donning a light up outfit (including matching glasses) for a dance to ‘Tick Tack’, using lightsticks for some wotagei. After his little dance interlude TAKE took to the mic- “Hello London! Very good, very nice, very good!” continuing on “London is city of many park, very clean… London is city of? ROCK!!!” before yelling “Are you ready? Are you fucking ready?!”.

Here we hit the final 3 songs of the night, starting with another huge fan favourite ‘Sign’, the 6th opening for Naruto Shippuden. A mass singalong broke out, the crowd going wild screaming along with “Can you hear me? So am I”. If you thought the crowd response couldn’t possibly get any bigger, next came the 4th opening of Naruto ‘GO!!!’. The whole venue reverberated with everyone screaming along to every word of the chorus. Then KEIGO and KOHSHI directed us to do a wave, starting at one side of the venue and going right across to the other side. The crowd did several (surprisingly well coordinated) waves going back and forth across the venue. It’s actually been years since I’ve been to a show with a wave, and it felt so nostalgic, much like the rest of the night had been.

Eventually they introduced the final song of the night, ‘GOLD’, the 10th opening theme of BORUTO: -NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS-. The fast paced and energetic track got the whole crowd moving with more jumping and arm flailing than we’d seen all night. KOHSHI even danced so frantically that his iconic hat came off.

The band quietened down for a moment so that KEIGO could ask us all to do a big jump, and asked everyone to sit down. “Alright, on the count of one, two- one two three! And everybody jump…” before many in the crowd began to jump. “Wait wait wait, not yet!” he said, eliciting laughs from the audience. “Are you ready?” he asked, before counting down, the whole crowd this time jumping up as the chorus started. Even those stood on the balcony joined in, actually shaking the structure with the force.

The crowd erupted one last time, and KEIGO introduced the band again. KOHSHI then re-introduced KEIGO, who wrapped up the introductions with “and the sixth member, EVERYBODY!” pointing to all of us. He reassured us in Japanese that they would definitely be back, and then asked everyone for a group photo. We were told to shout “FLOW!” when he says “Anime Shibari!”.

The band all took bows and spent time waving and saying goodbye to the crowd, wrapping up a great night of anime festivities. The voices of the anime characters featured through the night came back across the speakers, with ‘GO!!!’ playing in the background to see the band, and us all off.

FLOW are a band who have fully embraced their identity as an “anime band”, and the love and respect they have for the medium shone through tonight. And not only that, but the fans’ dedication and love for both anime and its music travelled back to FLOW. This connection, this flow, of love for anime felt so strong. Many bands have shunned the “anime band” title, refusing to see its potential, or not wanting to be pigeonholed, but FLOW are proof that wearing your inspirations and loves on your sleeve can connect you with an audience in a way that nothing else can. The western anime community has been waiting a long time for this, and I can assure you that it was well worth it.

FLOW will begin the “4th Stage” of their world tour on November 19th. They will hit 8 dates across Latin America, before heading back to Japan for the (currently) final leg.

Photos by Charles Shepherd

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FLOW WORLD TOUR- ANIME SHIBARI 2024-2025 | London Setlist

VISION (Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Lelouch, C.C., Sorey, Mikleo, Renton, Eureka character voices)

1. Re:member
2. Kaze no Uta
3. LOVE & JUSTICE
4. Steppin’ out
5. CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA (Hironobu Kageyama cover)
6. HERO ~Kibou no Uta~

Eureka Seven (Renton & Eureka voices)

7. DAYS
8. Bravelue

CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion (C.C. & Lelouch voices)

9. COLORS
10. WORLD END
11. United Sparrows

NARUTO (Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru voices)

12. Viva★Rock (ORANGE RANGE cover)

Member introduction: IWASAKI drum solo / GOT’S bass solo / TAKE show [BGM: Tick Tack]

13. Sign
14. GO!!!
15. GOLD
16. GO!!! ~15th Anniversary ver.~ (Recording)

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