The audience, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s, wave glow sticks and holler as the lights go down for the start of the show. Above the stage, a frame of blue lights throbs and pulses like a circuit board before the curtain draws back.
A 3D hologram of Hatsune Miku, a turquoise-haired virtual idol beloved of Japanese subculture fans, appears on stage and the audience erupts in a wild volley of whoops and screams.
Music pounds around the auditorium. Graphics flash up on the huge projection screen at the back of the stage. Miku dances and the crowd roars, then the lights go down and a solitary bowing figure emerges center stage.