A whole league of fighting dreamers rose to party the ninja way on October 20 as Japanese rock band FLOW held their first-ever solo concert in the Philippines at the SM North Skydome for NARUTO The Rock World Tour. Presented by PULP Live World, the sold-out concert featured songs that are solely from the soundtrack of the anime Naruto.
Composed of Kohshi and Keigo on vocals, Take on guitar, Got’s on bass, and Iwasaki on drums, FLOW have been together since 1998. Known for their anthemic, high-octane, rap-infused songs, they have steadily built a career in crafting distinctive anime-centric songs, with Naruto as their starting point. Eventually, they had also contributed tracks to popular anime series like Code Geass, Eureka Seven, Durarara!!, Seven Deadly Sins, and even Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
FLOW’s concert here was special in many ways. Firstly, despite being frequent performers in several anime conventions over the years, this was their first time being in the full spotlight on the Philippine concert stage. Secondly, this also marked Got’s return to the Manila stage. (He was absent during the band’s performance at ANISAMA World in June 2025 due to health reasons.) Lastly and most importantly, NARUTO The Rock World Tour is the only one of its kind – the only one that is officially sanctioned by the franchise and the creator, Masashi Kishimoto. It’s most likely the only time that FLOW would ever do a global tour with a purely Naruto setlist.
ENTER: Naruto Uzumaki!
Created by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto made its manga debut in 1999 via Weekly Shounen Jump, its anime adaptation quickly following in 2002. The story follows the life of Naruto Uzumaki, a twelve-year-old orphan, living in Konoha, a hidden ninja village. He had one dream: to become Hokage, the leader and main protector of the land. To achieve that, he had to overcome mountains of hardships and adversaries, while continuously seeking to embrace the good in everyone and everything.
Since this all happened in the pre-streaming era, many counted on their local television to screen each episode. In the Philippines, it made its TV debut in Tagalog-dubbed language in 2004, taking up the late afternoon time slot on weekdays. Filipino millennials back then were easily hooked on the ninja theatrics, the unfettered humor, and the relatable heart-tugging (traumatic) moments. Like an unstoppable force, the same thing was happening in different parts of the world. It didn’t take long for it to be recognized as one of the most popular and influential anime ever.
The Concert: The Fans’ Comeback
FLOW’s NARUTO The Rock felt like a collective return to the world of Naruto through its music, a moment for fans to immerse themselves in the memories they have with watching the show. It’s uncanny how the opening sequence of the concert was precisely that: the opening of Konoha’s gigantic main gates as the “Naruto Main Theme” played. Before the concert, some expressed their love by cosplaying – forehead protectors, jackets, Akatsuki and Kage cloaks, and Tobi’s mask were some of the most visible outfits. When the show started, fans then showed their love by screaming, jumping, and even dancing along to FLOW as they played their favorite Naruto hits.
The setlist is purely composed of songs from Naruto, with FLOW performing their originals, plus their striking covers for the others. When the brooding opening bass lines of “Haruka Kanata”, originally by Asian Kung-fu Generation, played, the entire crowd was immediately in an uproar, with fans singing and screaming along, word for word. This was followed by ORANGE RANGE’s “Viva★Rock”, the FLOW original “Re:member” and “Yura Yura” by Hearts Grow.
Adding great emotional whiplash to the concert were the on-screen visuals: the original anime snippets that matched the key events that each song represented. For “Haruka Kanata”, the preliminary rounds for the Chuunin Exams were playing. During “Hero’s Come Back”, the screen flashed the opening scenes of Naruto Shipuuden, including Team 7’s reunion after 2 years and the introduction of the Akatsuki. “Blue Bird” (by Ikimonogakari) and “CLOSER” (Joe Inoue) showed cuts of Asuma’s team going up against Hidan and Kakuzu. For “Silhouette” (by KANA-BOON), the Great Ninja War was put into focus.
FLOW’s vocalists, brothers Keigo and Kohshi, repeatedly thanked the crowd for their outpouring support. They said they hoped to come back to our country again soon. Guitarist Take had a flashier approach: near the end of the show, he came back as a human Christmas tree with the addition of pixel-style sunglasses. With a penlight in each hand, he induced a synchronized dance session with the audience. When it was done, Take thanked the crowd for the loud and warm welcome they had received.
The atmosphere took a more solemn tone when FLOW took a short break. A few moments later, the piano introduction played and the opening lines “I realize the screaming pain” broke into the Skydome. It was time for “Sign”, the piano ballad version of it, and for Naruto fans, they knew that something heavy was coming. The video highlighted some of the most heartbreaking parts of the series, such as Jiraiya’s battle with Pain, the Uchiha brothers’ final battle, and Pain’s invasion of Konoha. A somber silence took over the Skydome for a bit.
The crowd’s bursting energy returned a hundredfold when it was time for FLOW to perform “GO!!”. Kohshi shared that when they released the song in 2004, they felt uncertain about the future. Releasing “GO!!” as their first anime song opened a lot of opportunities for them, and they are grateful for it. They referred to the crowd as “people who love the same music, the same anime, the same Naruto”. “We are all friends, connected. We are a team,” he declared.
For the finale, FLOW did another round of “Sign”, the original band version, with the addition of the romanized lyrics on screen. As the last hurrah, the crowd gave it the loudest and most passionate sing-along and cheers, until all the members of the band left the stage.
FLOW’s NARUTO The Rock truly felt special for fans of the series. FLOW understood that and made one hell of a show with this tour. Their soundtrack contributions to Naruto, including their originals and their covers, are loved by the fans because they performed with the respect and passion that the longtime fans deserve. These are the same people who waited for new anime episodes and manga chapters, week by week, for years; the same people who started watching the show as kids and grew up as the story progressed. The concert gave them their proper moment to return and rock out with songs that had also grown with them.
Special thanks to PULP Live World!
Words by Sandra Mae Laureano
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