SolidS & QUELL on STAGE

2.5 Dimension Dance Live SQ Stage (2.5次元ダンスライブ「SQ」ステージ 2.5 Jigen Dansu Raibu 「SQ」 Sutēji) SolidS & QUELL on STAGE, or S.Q.S for short, is a 2.5 dimension dance live series featuring SolidS & QUELL that debuted in 2018.

Overview
The stage series was initially announced at the 2017 AGF, all that was revealed was that it would consist of 3 episodes to be released across 2018 and 2019. The series initially saw the release of three episodes, Hajimari no Toki -Thanks for the chance to see you- & Seibou no Kanata -TSUKINO HYAKKIYAKOU Kitan-, & ROMEO - in the darkness -, making up the first season.

Shortly after the conclusion of the final episode's theater run, a second season was announced via Twitter, set to contain another 3 episodes scheduled to occur in 2019/2020 with all major cast members reprising their roles. The first part of season 2, TSUKINO EMPIRE2 BEGINNING OF THE WORLD, ran in late 2019, while episode 5 and 6, Takamura Shiki Shoushitsu Jiken ran in early 2020, with Machine Elements Stage：zwei「Akai Honō」 scheduled for mid 2020. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic it was announced on May 11, 2020, that sixth episode, along with several other stages and performances, would be cancelled. It was later announced on August 19 that the sixth SQS episode would be rescheduled to March 2021.

At the end of the final performance of episode six, it was revealed that SQS would receive a third season to run in 2021/2022, with all main cast reprising their roles. However, despite this prior cast announcement on July 20, 2022, it was unexpectedly revealed that the role of Takamura Shiki had been recast due to his original actor, Higano Sho, suffering from a back injury since the seventh episode.

In addition to the stage plays, which are a combination of song performances and story, there are also lives, wherein the event only features performances and little to no story. The first live, LUNATIC LIVE 2018, was a crossover with TSUKIUTA STAGE (TSUKISTA) that took place in late 2018. A second live, BLAZING & FREEZING occurred in March 2019. The cast of S.Q.S, along with ALIVESTAGE, were also set to feature in the 2020 version of LUNATIC LIVE, LUNATIC LIVE 2020 TAIWAN, in mid 2020 prior to the events cancellation due to COVID-19 related health regulations. Another LUNATIC LIVE for 2021 was also scheduled to feature S.Q.S alongside all of the other TSUKINO stage series, but was subsequently cancelled due to the pandemic.

Along with their own stage plays, the cast of S.Q.S have also featured as guests in TSUKIUTA STAGE. Both appearances have been in plays wherein the story of the TSUKISTA play was directly connected to the plot of one of S.Q.S' own episodes. The first guest appearance was in the eighth TSUKISTA play, TSUKINO EMPIRE UNLEASH YOUR MIND., to which S.Q.S' fourth episode serves as a sequel. Their second appearance is in Ura ZANSHIN -Children are sometimes ruthless and cruel.-; though how this play is connected to the S.Q.S ZANSHIN episode is yet to be determined, as it could be a sequel, prequel, or the stories could run concurrently with one another.

While the members of S.Q.S were initially absent from the TSUKIPRO STAGE series, a formal crossover stage series between IVESTA & TSUKISTA, it was announced that SQ characters would be appearing in the second PROSTA episode, Tsukino Kitan TAIKYOKU DENKI -KINRAN NO KEI-. However, presumably due to the size of the cast and the subsequent difficulties arranging show times, not all unit members were scheduled to appear in the episode. The play was later cancelled due to unspecified reasons, it is currently unknown if the episode will be rescheduled for a later date.

Each S.Q.S episode has two versions, Ver.RED & Ver.Blue, with each version having different setlists focusing predominantly on either Solids or QUELL respectively. Some episodes also feature different story focuses depending on whether it is version RED or BLUE, however other episodes have an identical story with the only version differences being the setlist for the dance live portion.

A variety talk show featuring the S.Q.S cast, known as S.Q.S TV, premiered on TOKYO MX in October, 2018. Similar to the stage plays there is a RED ver., featuring the cast of SolidS, as well as a BLUE ver., featuring QUELL's cast members. There is additionally a crossover version with TSUKISTA. TV, featuring the members who play the four unit leaders. A second season of S.Q.S TV was announced and ran in April, 2020.

In addition to the pamphlets and bromide collections sold as goods during the runs of the various plays two cast visual books have been released for S.Q.S so far. The books contain a variety of photos and comments from the cast of the stage plays, mostly focused on the cast when not in costume for their respective roles.

Cast

 * Higano Sho (Episodes 1-7) & Tsukamoto Ryo (current) as Takamura Shiki
 * Seto Keita as Tsubasa Okui
 * Kaisei Abe as Rikka Sera
 * Ryo Kobayashi as Dai Murase
 * Toshihiko Tanaka as Shu Izumi
 * Kenya Nakao as Eichi Horimiya
 * Kenta Yamanaka as Issei Kuga
 * Shota Yamanaka as Ichiru Kuga