26,000 Seats, Zero Empty: Official HIGE DANdism's Seoul Comeback Proves J-Pop Is Here to Stay

About 13,000 fans packed KSPO Dome at Seoul Olympic Park on the evening of August 8, and the words they were singing together weren't Korean or English, they were Japanese. It was that kind of night for Official HIGE DANdism, the four-piece Japanese band who opened their two-night Seoul run to a sold-out crowd and an energy that rattled the rafters of a venue that even major K-pop acts treat as a milestone.

The two shows combined for roughly 26,000 tickets sold, a number that speaks to just how firmly the band, known in Korea simply as Higedan, has planted itself in the local music conversation. Their signature track Pretender once charted on Melon's Top 100, and their anime tie-ins (theme songs for Tokyo Revengers, Spy x Family, and Cells at Work!, among others) gave them a built-in audience well before they stepped onstage.

The set opened with Same Blue before Shukumei and 50% pushed the room to a near-frenzy within the first three songs. Vocalist and keyboardist Fujihara Satoshi moved across the full width of the stage throughout, landing the kind of high-register notes that the band's studio recordings hint at but live performances confirm. The crowd answered with continuous clapping, raised arms, and walls of sound during every familiar chorus.

Several of the night's most affecting moments came from songs that carry the weight of the stories they were written for. Cry Baby brought the Tokyo Revengers crowd to life; I LOVE..., the theme from the drama Love Will Go On Forever, got a tender, full-throated response. Pretender, the closer to the main set, was the one that seemed to mean the most to the longest-standing fans, a song many of them first heard during the COVID-19 pandemic years, when J-pop was quietly finding a new Korean audience through streaming.

FIRE GROUND arrived mid-show with pyrotechnic columns and layered visual effects, prompting an audible "Wow, they're actually doing this!" from somewhere in the stands. Make Me Wonder kept the festival energy rolling before the encore brought Stardust and Stand By You as a warm, unhurried close.

Fujihara addressed the crowd with evident affection. "Thank you sincerely for gathering on such a hot day," he said. "We worked hard on the sound setup, but your singing was so loud that our staff had to rush to readjust the mix. We're genuinely grateful." He also referenced the band's previous Seoul visit: "When we came here two years ago, the heat from the crowd was so intense that we thought, we have to come back as soon as possible. Two years have passed, but being here again and making new memories with you truly makes me happy."

Bassist Narazaki Makoto got one of the biggest crowd pops of the night when he addressed the audience in Korean, "Hey guys, oppa's here", then shouted "Hige, Yahoo!" borrowing a Korean internet phrase that landed with immediate warmth and a full round of applause.

Outside, the Olympic Park grounds hit 35 degrees Celsius through the afternoon, but fans queued in the heat without complaint, many already wearing merchandise T-shirts and towels they had picked up before doors opened. Lee Joon-seok and Lee Gang-min, both 20, had traveled from Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province. "We were in high school during their last concert and couldn't come," Lee Joon-seok said. "This is the first time seeing them live. I became a fan hearing Pretender everywhere during the pandemic. Higedan has a way of creating sounds that stay with you."

Music critic Kim Do-heon offered some context for the band's Korean trajectory. "During the pandemic, listeners sought out a lot of J-pop, and Pretender was one of the songs that crossed over," he said. "K-pop stars emerge through a structured training system and deliver polished stages from the start. J-pop bands like King Gnu or Higedan have a different kind of story, they climb steadily from the ground up, and that journey resonates." He added that while K-pop lyrics in the 2020s have leaned toward self-confidence and empowerment, J-pop has stayed with themes of youth, dreams, and romantic longing. "The lyrics are personal and intimate, and the anime tie-ins give the songs a narrative weight that strengthens the connection listeners feel."

Official HIGE DANdism return to KSPO Dome on August 9 for the second and final night of their Seoul run.