On May 9 and 10, the egapark in Erfurt turned into a colourful gathering for anime, manga and pop-culture fans once again — and I got to be part of Comic Park in a role I've grown to love just as much as singing: as a host.
On the Parkbühne beside the Japanese garden — the loveliest possible setting for a little piece of Akihabara — three wonderful idol acts performed across both days: Taberu Gumi, Aizawa Hitomi and DoReMelody. Thanks to Moonflow Entertainment, they were brought to Erfurt together — two of them flown in all the way from Japan. This time, they were the ones on stage — and I had the honor of moderating their panel, "Idol und seine Facetten" (Idol and Its Many Facets), a Q&A.
What made this panel so special to me was how many different paths to the very same dream sat together on one stage. Aizawa Hitomi is a self-produced solo idol from Tokyo. Taberu Gumi is a self-produced kaigai idol who moved to Japan to chase the idol dream. And DoReMelody are a self-produced group from the Netherlands — Loulu, Starlight and Sora. We talked about how each of them first found their way to becoming an idol, and how they grew into who they are today.
This time, I wasn't on stage to sing — I was purely the moderator, though you could always find me at my merch stand between panels! It wasn't my first panel ever, but it was my first time hosting one with guests at an event like this. Guiding that conversation, giving space to each of their stories, gave me the same warmth I feel when I get to lift others up on a stage.
Thank you to Comic Park, to Taberu Gumi, Aizawa Hitomi and DoReMelody, and to everyone who sat in and listened. So many roads, one dream — and I'm so grateful I got to help tell those stories.