Opening

ELFs and Annies screamed joyfully as Super Junior's dynamic duo Donghae and Eunhyuk entered the stage in sunglasses, sparkly black jackets and matching pants. Four male backup dancers danced to the introductory melody of D&E's new Japanese single, Like That. D&E hyped the crowd up with their vocals, choreography and visuals. They went straight to two more songs: B.A.D. and Here We Are. They signalled the audience to clap their hands while walking to the middle stage. And let me tell you! Their looks were just as dazzling as their outfits! 😍💘

They started their introductory speech by stating that they were at their concert tour's 17th and final stop, so they felt sad and lonely. However, they felt the fans' love to the max tonight. Donghae was about to channel his inner Super Saiyan energy from the anime Dragon Ball, and Eunhyuk quickly reminded him that the catchphrase was "genkidama", not "kindama". 😂😂😂 If you've watched the last episode of the first season of the show "Ryeowook's Life Snapshot" on HeyDay's YouTube channel, you'll probably have seen the part when Donghae mistook the anime catchphrase for testicles in Japanese. 🙊🙈😹When Donghae shouted "kindama" with his arms wide open during one of the DEparture shows, the Japanese staff were shocked and embarrassed. 😂😂 This was why Donghae decided to be careful when he said the catchphrase. Such a funny culture shock! 🤭

They moved on to their next song, Lose It. The male dancers joined them in chasing after two female dancers in an airport backdrop. They used a suitcase to roll Donghae down the stage and rode on stage lifts as elevators. Donghae turned his mischievous mode on; he stepped onto the descending stage lift where the girls were standing. When it was a little too high for Donghae, he immediately put his foot back up. 😁😆 Eunhyuk, of course, watched him in amusement. 😂 They couldn't reach the girls, but they continued singing and dancing energetically anyway.

I've never heard of the song Super Pressure before! Apparently, this song was released years ago? They only sang this song in concerts. Anyway, I like how upbeat it is. I like the sound of the horns that accompany the drums. In the performance, the members and dancers used chairs as props. Donghae and Eunhyuk did a dance duet with the female dancers using the chairs. The male dancers did a lot of air kicks. At the end of the song, the members respectively followed the female dancers up to the top platform and held them intimately, which left the fans screaming! 😮😳🙈🔥

Throwback themes

The boys disappeared for a short outfit change and break. A compilation video of D&E's past concerts in Japan was played on a giant screen. It's surreal how the versatile subunit performed in Japan for many years! 👏👏👏

D&E came back on the stage in grand-looking ringmaster outfits to sing one of my favourite Japanese songs, Circus. It brought me back to their Style tour in 2018. Their powerful moves and the fire effects made the performance dramatic and impressive. Donghae did his valiant trust fall at the bridge verse; this part got my chills! Such heightened adrenaline! D&E had the audience participate in singing the "oh whoa oh oh" ad-libs. Donghae's howl at the end was quite hot, too.

The duo immediately changed jackets. Donghae had a black leather jacket with spikes, and Eunhyuk had a light blue denim jacket with rhinestones. While heading to the second chorus, the boys hopped onto large motorcycles, and a male dancer sat at the back of each vehicle with a smoke gun in hand. The other two male dancers pushed movable platforms (or should I call these stage props human trolleys?), which made the members look like they were riding motorcycles around the arena. The backseat passengers also looked like they had a blast firing the smoke guns.

The idols toned the atmosphere down a notch with their Japanese pop ballad, You Don't Go. They walked to and fro on the front stage, showing off their unique vocals. Eunhyuk showed his bare arms, which peeked out from his sleeveless shirt at one point. It was unnecessary, but I loved it! 🙈😉

In their second speech segment, Eunhyuk confessed that he couldn't jump fully because his injured leg was 95% healed. He jumped on one foot instead. 😆 The duo asked the ELFs and Annies to sing the ad-libs of Circus and Motorcycle without music. They applauded them for doing a great job. They quickly went backstage to change.

Road to sexiness 💦🥵

A chill plane vlog played on the screen. Donghae translated his best friend's Korean message into Japanese. It was so cute and funny! 😂 The next scene was when the boys met the dancers of the DEparture tour. They were interviewed separately. One question stood out the most: "What is Donghae/ Eunhyuk to you?" From my understanding, Donghae thought Eunhyuk was his friend and hoped they would make more music together. Eunhyuk answered that Donghae liked to call him a lot. The camera immediately showed Donghae holding a phone to his ear in the room next door. 😂 But he also said that he couldn't imagine his life without Donghae. 🥺

Donghae appeared in an all-white outfit to sing his solo B-side, Blue Moon. The J-ELFs and Annies knew what to do to accompany his singing: they sang the "oh eh oh" ad-libs near the chorus's end. 😊👍

Eunhyuk joined him in the subsequent D&E B-side, Beautiful Liar. He wore a matching white outfit. Ever since the one-plus-minute choreography video of this song was posted on Eunhyuk's YouTube channel, I grew obsessed with it. And now that I got to see the duo perform it live (Well, it was an online live concert, but it felt like I was there!) I could go on and on about how sexy and hot the choreography was.

Donghae passed the baton to Eunhyuk, who had his turn to perform one of his solo songs, Illusion (Obsessed). I was instantly enamoured by his fluid movements and sultry voice that fitted his alluring, slim figure like a glove. He even replaced the second verse with a dance break, which was a nice surprise. 😮👏👍

After Eunhyuk's solo, Donghae returned to perform Danger with his work partner. I was surprised when all of the dancers came with neon yellow chains wrapped around their bodies. D&E held the end of the chains as if they were controlling the dancers. I admit that the performance overall was hot!

🥵🔥

The two stars took a short break. They complimented how hot the fans' energy was. In addition, they praised their trustworthy Japanese director, Masao-san, for equipping the fire shooters to the stage. I screamed once Eunhyuk removed his jacket and showed off his arms. He drove me crazier when he did some push-ups.🥵🔥👀🤤 Donghae came by and sat on top of his back with his legs hovering off the floor. Eunhyuk rested his body down after one push-up with the extra human weight. 😂😂

I Wanna Love You was the sexiest performance in the whole concert. After the two men sang, Donghae did a hot dance on a chair with one of the female dancers. Eunhyuk did a much more lustful dance with the other woman. He thrust his hips slowly and seductively twice before he sat on the couch like a man hungry to make love. The female dancer, with a silk robe over her black lingerie, walked sensually towards the hypnotizing man and jumped onto his lap with her legs spread open. The 🔞 scene ended when they moved their heads closely as they were pretending to kiss passionately. The venue was taken over by shrieks as the stage lift moved them down, and the lights faded to black.

Back to sentimental

The male backup dancers took over the stage with an original choreography to the extended instrumental of I Wanna Love You. The song finally switched to a sad guitar tune. A single blooming rose stood on a white background on the circular screen. Donghae began singing emotionally once he walked on the top platform. He wore a rose pink and light blue jacket, a black T-shirt, and baggy jeans. He raised his microphone away from his mouth, signalling the audience to sing some lines of the chorus. Euhyuk came in the second verse with his heart-wrenching rap. He wore a velvety pink jacket over a dark red button-up shirt and light-coloured pants. He, too, pointed his microphone towards the audience and listened to their singing. Donghae purposefully paused at his final line until the music faded. That was a refreshing ending! 😃😄👏 Euhyuk added rap-style ad-libs, which was brilliant, too.

They continue with another one of my absolute favourites, Kimi Ga Naitara (If You Cry). My heart instantly melted at Eunhyuk's sweet voice, including his high note. 😍💘💓 At the last chorus, the boys pointed their mics out, and the fans sang beautifully. 🥺🥺

Wings was the following song. The duo switched things up by riding on the movable platforms and waving to the fans from all sides of the first floor. The ELFs and Annies sang along during the chorus, especially the English words "So I can fly." They added an unreleased song to the set list called 24 Lovers. It was a lovely, refreshing pop ballad with some rap parts distributed to both singers. Eunhyuk repeatedly swooned me with his soft, falsetto notes in the song's bridge. 😍💘The way you make me feel things, Lee Hyukjae! The full track will be on their latest Japanese mini album, You and Me. Update on the album released today (July 31, 2024): 24 Lovers is my favourite song from the album! I can't help replaying it! It's too good! 😭😭😭😭👏👏👏👏💗💗💗💗

Of course, the last song before their break was Growing Pains, their subunit debut winner. They sang and danced together with the dancers behind them. The audience chanted along "D...&...E" after each "ooh ooh ooh" part. D&E sang the first verse in Japanese and the rest in Korean. The singers also let the fans say "5,4,3,2,1" near the bridge's end. 🥹

Time for some laughter and fun!

The stars asked the fans to sing the chorus of Growing Pains without any music. As expected, the fans nailed the singing and chanting. They even sang the bridge and the last chorus! 😮👏 Eunhyuk talked while Donghae went away to change outfits. He complimented the audience that they could be singers throughout the concert tonight. Donghae returned in a grey shirt, purple cardigan, and light blue jeans within minutes. He dragged his buddy to the side and took over the next few minutes, praising ELFs and Annies more. Eunhyuk returned in a dark red dress shirt and, presumably, the same white pants. Donghae nearly jumped when his friend appeared. 😆

The duo announced that they were nearing the end of the concert. They joked, "Let's not work! Let's play! Even tomorrow!" 😂 Donghae mentioned they're preparing their Japanese album. He asked the ELFs and Annies, "Did you watch the new music video (You and Me)" The fans answered yes. Eunhyuk asked their opinion, and the majority commented that it was cute. Donghae added, "This time, we won't have a cute concept!" The audience denied it. 😂D&E convinced again that it will be their last time pulling a cute concept because they're turning 40 soon. But of course, I bet they'll never stop being cute. 🤭😁

Minutes later, they went on with some more songs: You and Me, Sunrise, a medley of I Wanna Dance and Oppa Oppa, and もっとぎゅっと (Motto Gyutto). The dancers accompanied them from behind, and the veterans slayed the high keys as always.

Eunhae shippers rejoiced as they fangirled and sang along to the Japanese lyrics of the bright, poppy song Sunrise. Eunhyuk shouted, "Say what?" which had the ELFs and Annies respond with "Never ever!" before they proceeded to the chorus.

The dancers led the boys downstairs to where the fans were seated and started a mini-sports challenge. They were split into two teams. Donghae and two dancers pushed a giant orange ball, while Eunhyuk and two other dancers pushed a white ball. This game was inspired by a typical Japanese school sports day game called Oodama Konogashi (大玉転がし). Each team had to roll the ball down the open pathway, and their goal was to reach the other end as fast as possible. Both teams met in the middle of the walkway, and it took them about ten seconds to squeeze past each other and continue. Eunhyuk's team finished the race a few seconds faster than Donghae's. Right when the music of I Wanna Dance was transitioned straight to Oppa Oppa, the performers climbed back onto the front stage. Eunhyuk was catching his breath and remarked, "めちゃたいへん!" (It's so difficult!) 😂 This sure was a fun way to replace the regular dance routine. Everyone hyped the audience by doing their signature choreography to their debut song. The bridge part was the most fun because three dancers stood with Donghae and Eunhyuk on both sides of the front stage while putting their hands on each other's shoulders. Fans replied, "Oppa!" during the boys' chant relay at the first part of the bridge.

The dance moves for the Japanese song,もっとぎゅっと (Motto Gyutto), was cute and lively. The audience had a blast, bobbing their light sticks up and down while immersing themselves in this song's sweet message of friendship.

It's ELFs and &'s time to shine!

The fans created Pearl Sapphire Blue waves for ten or so minutes. D&E finally returned with stunning outfits from their latest music video, GGB. The dancers matched the stars' denim and white tops look. They nailed the entire performance as expected. It had been over two hours, yet the performers' energy was still as passionate as before. 😯😮 The fans were allowed to record the performance, too. They were glad to be able to store this moment in their digital gallery.

In their last speaking segment, Eunhyuk said, "いてらっしゃい!" (Please come back!) to Donghae as he changed into his final outfit backstage. The handsome jewel boy filled in the talking segment as much as he could by praising the fans' singing. Donghae returned wearing his white jacket from the concert goods and matching pants. He was holding a vlogging camera in front of Eunhyuk. The older man pulled an angry face with eyebrows arching like Angry Bird and asked, "だれですか？" (Who are you?) 🤣 The younger man filmed the audience while Eunhyuk went to change. When Eunhyuk reappeared in his merch outfit, Donghae had asked the audience to sing a bit of the chorus of a work-in-progress song. A lyric video of the chorus was posted on social media for the attendees to practice. The duo let the audience listen to the audio before they practiced once. Eunhyuk acted as the conductor. He moved his hand to the beat of the music and gave a sign to the fans when to start. They sang two times, but Donghae suddenly suggested they should sing one more time. Eunhyuk exclaimed and gave him a what-do-you-mean-one-more-time look. 😂😂😂 The veteran singers wanted to record the audience's vocals the best they could so that they could add their voices to the polished version of the song.

Final performances and a touching surprise!🥺

D&E did a long-time fan favourite, Kiss Kiss Dynamite! Two crew members pushed the singers on the human trolleys. The singers waved to the audience as the pushers moved the trolleys across the arena. They also leave some sweet air kisses. At the last part of the song, D&E returned to the front stage to wrap up the song with the choreography together with their dancers. They dived straight to a must-perform song, Can You Feel It? Everyone held one finger to each side of their heads like antennas and did the simple choreography in unison.

The last song of the night was the Japanese version of Hello. The performers spun their towels like lassos, and the fans mirrored their movements with their lightsticks. While the duo rested on the stairs and Eunhyk sang the first two lines of the bridge, he yanked Donghae's jacket a little too low. ELFishes screamed and laughed as Eunhyuk gave them a peek of Donghae's buffed shoulders. 😂🙈💦🔥 They wrapped up the last song of the concert tour, and a shower of confetti rained down.

They were about to close the show when suddenly the lights shut off for mere seconds, and a piano arrangement with the fans' live singing took over the concert hall. The boys immediately recognized the melody. The audience sang and did a simple hand dance customized by the ELF Japan team without them knowing. This time, the beat was a little slower, making the song romantic. 😍🥺 Eunhyuk wrapped his mouth with his towel while holding back tears, and Donghae gazed at the crowd with teary eyes. 😭😭😭

After the surprise, Donghae shared what was on his mind: He thought there would be a surprise movie, so he didn't expect the fans to sing and dance. He turned his vlogging camera on to film the surprise once more. The piano sounds left enough room for the ELFs and Annies to move their hands in various directions while voicing out the words composed by the talented Donghae. D&E then realized that Masao-san planned the surprise. The artists credited the dancers before gathering behind the fans for photo-taking while posing with the towels.

After that, Donghae and Eunhyuk shared their closing thoughts. Donghae told them they hadn't performed a concert for the past six years, so it had been difficult for them not to do a concert tour in Japan for so long. They were grateful that J-ELFs and J-Annies were still around supporting them. They had many more things to prepare for future D&E activities in the country, so the fans should look forward to it.

They also announced a couple of news. First, there will be a fan meeting in Yokohama this September! Sadly, I won't be able to afford a ticket. 😢 The second news was the last DEparture live stream will air on the Fuji TV broadcast channel in August.

At around 10 PM, the boys waved goodbye and said, "愛いしている!" (I love you!) to everyone watching them that night. They climbed up the stairs to the top platform and promised to visit Japan soon.

Official photos from ODE Entertainment/ FLNK

Final thoughts

I'm so proud of Donghae and Eunhyuk for stepping out of their comfort zone and trying something completely different in their craft and career. Can you believe they released their official YouTube channel, album, video content, messaging service, and concert tour, all under their independent company since last year? They're genuinely booked and busy! 😉😌😭😍👏💖 I can't wait to see what they've planned for us throughout the rest of 2024. 🥰💙

I'm also still determining whether I'll attend another live SJ event in Japan this fall, but if I come back with a new recap, I hope you'll look forward to it. 😉😊💙 If not, I'll most likely be seeing you again next year when I plan to book a trip to South Korea to celebrate Super Junior's 20th anniversary! This is an important occasion for all of us ELFs, so it must be a grand jubilee! Stay tuned!