Your NMB48 Experiences

Nov. 5th, 2017 AKB48 Group #Sukinanda Handshake Event @ Yokohama Pacifico

The special gimmick for this day's event was getting signed recipe cards of the different creations the members concocted themselves. These recipes were on display in an art gallery fashion on the far wall near the NMB members (where I was primarily located). Here are a few of the NMB ones I snapped pics of.





The worst atrocity was Moka didn't make a drink called Moka Punch.



-Slot 1-

Ishizuka Akari






I actually got screwed by the staff during the sign. I had 5 tickets for Anchu and I guess they're so used to kicking people out as soon as they get the signs that he pushed me out when I still had tons of time left because she didn't spend much time signing it. So as I leaving the timer staff was saying I still had time so I went back in, but I basically lost at least a ticket's worth of time during the confusion which pissed me off.

Anyway, if you haven't checked out Anchu's YouTube channel, I highly recommend doing so. She's doing Let's Plays of Dragon Quest II and more recently Super Mario Odyssey. She's pretty bad at them which is funny or infuriating, depending on how you feel.

-Slot 2-

Shiroma Miru





It's super funny when Miru has to put her foot in her mouth with stuff. She acts like she knows everything but tries to play it off when busted.

-Slot 3-

Shiroma Miru



The very beginning of this video is the reference I was making

-Slot 5-

Ota Yuuri

I used some of my oshimashi tickets on Yuuri to appease @@zeroshiki but he set her up for failure by telling her that I came to see her because "she speaks English very well" and so she was very flustered and panicking, which was cute.



-Slot 6-

This was going to be my busiest slot as I had Sayanee plus two members at the same time. I was smart and joined the pre-queue fairly early and so I was able to get through her lane pretty quickly.

Yamamoto Sayaka

 

@Matto
Whoa, you're originally from Seattle?!

 

Tri-Cities actually, but since no one outside of the PNW knows where that is, I just say Seattle. It's easier for Japanese people to understand that too lol.

 

Kennewick, went to school at Kamiakin though.

Yeah it was really awkward this one time when there were Japanese exchange students at school and saw the Richland Bombers' mushroom cloud logo.

 

i'm sure they'll counter our bombers hard with their ham fighters

 

I finally got around to writing my Sayaka solo live concert report at NHK Hall.
Do check it out if you're interested. Enjoy! XD

Spoiler: Sayaka Yamamoto Live Tour 2017 ~identity~ NHK Hall 19th November Fan Report

On the 19th of November, I went with a friend to Sayaka’s NHK Hall Live. We were able to secure pretty good seats which were on the first floor, 7th row on the left side.

As I’ve been to theatre before, I have technically seen Sayaka performing from even closer up before, but as this was her solo live and not in a group, the experience was completely different.

I’ve also been to one of Sayaka’s Zepp concerts last year, but my friend Jess had never been to a Sayaka live before, so she seemed completely overwhelmed the whole time. Haha.



Honestly, more than a week has passed since the concert, and I don’t remember a lot of things anymore, so I’ll just share some of the highlights of the whole experience itself.


MAIN HIGHLIGHTS

1. Making/preparing our own uchiwas



As you can see in the photo, that’s me and my friend, Jess, just around the concert venue. For some reason that day, there was some Spanish festival going on, so that’s why you can see tents and festive looking things in the background. We made that uchiwa about a week before the concert, and were very proud about how cute it turned out haha.

Then, on the actual concert day, we worked on the other side of the uchiwa as showing our support for the one and only Team SY, Sayaka’s incredible support band that are really ultimate squad goals as a team haha.

Here’s the photo of the other side of the uchiwa we worked on!



And then to the actual concert itself…

2. The epic beginning



We were able to know that the concert was starting because the lights dimmed, and some funky music started playing. Then as the red curtain started to unveil, the band began playing the intro to JOKER. And when the curtains fully opened, there was Team SY and Sayaka right before everyone’s eyes. Sayaka was dressed beautifully in white clad with her white guitar, and she looked absolutely stunning. I thought JOKER was a perfect start to the concert as the super rapid drum beats really built up the anticipation for the rest of the concert.


3. Sayaka’s beauty and elegance

Now, you may think I’m saying this as a a Sayanee oshi, but when I saw Sayaka perform Wings, my jaw dropped. I did personally want her to dance more in that song since it’s a super dancey track…however, even though she really only danced a little, every gesture and movement she made while singing with her mic stand was so graceful and elegant. In all honesty, words can’t even give it justice, but it was just the way she moved her hands and her expressions - everything was so cool and entrancing. What stage presence! She was still in her white dress then, so I think that added on to the flair of the performance.


4. Sayaka’s most engagingly emotional performance

When I went to Sayaka’s solo concert last year, I don’t know why but her Yukikoi performance then didn’t quite leave an impression on me. However, this time, Yukikoi started with a breathtakingly beautiful violin solo by Ayasa, Team SY’s violinist, and I think that really set the mood. I was able to really feel just how much Sayaka was getting into the song - the heartbreak, the angst etc. Everything just felt so vivid. It has to be one of the most emotional performances I’ve ever seen from her.


5. The performance that I got most hyped up about



Surprisingly, it wasn’t something like Rainbow Rose or Let’s Go Crazy that hyped me up the most, but instead it was Kassai. The whole song I got so hyper! It’s a real head banger!! I was pretty much bouncing and jumping the entire song. I do like the recording, but this song live to me actually felt like a completely different song altogether. It’s not even my favourite song of the album (though I do like it), but it definitely is up there as one of the best concert songs in Identity alongside Let’s Go Crazy.


6. The performance that made me squeal the most

This was of course none other than my favourite song from the Identity album, Yubikiri. Sayaka’s smile, movements, and gestures - everything was so adorable. I kept squealing at how cute Sayaka was haha. I can’t wait to watch it again on DVD!! I guess January is not that long a wait haha. Also, at the part where she sings “Yubikiri genman” (pinky promise), she actually put out her little baby finger. Ughhh it’s sooo cute. I have no more words other than, “IT WAS SO ADORBS!!”


7. The climax of the concert - the towel songs



I think most people can already figure out which songs these are. First, there was Smile which from last year had been a great towel flinging song. But when she performed Let’s Go Crazy, that reached another whole new level. Sayaka had mentioned before she wrote that song to cater especially for lives and that when it was performed, everyone could just leave aside their problems for a while and just enjoy themselves to the max. And I really did experience that at the live. Like while being accompanied by Sayaka’s crisp and energetic vocals, I was surprisingly not even focusing on Sayaka herself that much the whole song, but rather, I was just having fun getting hyped jumping about, and really just living in the moment, and it was GREAT. Haha. Thanks Sayaka, it was perfect stress relief lol.


8. The significance of NHK Hall



NHK Hall is filled with many important moments for Sayaka. First of all, it’s where Kouhaku Uta Gassen is held every year, so it has memories from the first time NMB was on with Kamonegix to various lives to many shows Sayaka has been on like AKB48 Show, Utakon etc. Especially, last year, Sayaka managed to get #1 in the AKB48 Dream Senbatsu at this very venue, so it held many special memories for her. She got really emotional talking about it, and you could feel just how nervous and thankful she was being able to perform there. Really though, Sayaka couldn’t stop thanking everyone during that live. That sincerity was really moving. The fans in the audience (including myself) also spontaneously broke into a Sayaka call, and then she got even more emo. Haha. To be honest, it wasn’t just for her, but even just realising how they hold Japan’s biggest year end music show in that very venue, even I in the audience kept being aware about what a prestigious and special venue it was. Thus, I can really understand why Sayaka got so overwhelmed.


9. Everything went by in a flash



For Sayaka’s encore, she performed 3 songs, but to be honest, at this point, I cannot really remember much because I was just trying to soak in everything but somehow, it all just passed by me in a flash. I did think Yume no Koe was a little tame to start off an encore. It was just very relaxing and chill. The same goes with Haru wa Mousugu which is gentle and touching. Melody is always a good ending song, so I’m glad she chose to end with that. That song really does feel like Sayaka’s promise to fans encapsulated in a song about how she’ll continue singing and doing what she loves up there on stage.



10. There were concert streamers that fell from the ceiling!



The red circle is where my friend and I was. So, I heard that NHK Hall was the only venue they were able to get streamers to fall from the ceiling, so I guess that was pretty cool. Streamers are always a great way to end the concert with a bang. Only the people on the first floor and towards the front half of the hall really were able to get streamers, so that was pretty neat too. Later on, we also saw people coming towards the front after the concert to pick up streamers too haha.



As it was a very long strip, I folded it, but here’s an example of the streamer.

It said:

｢今日は本当にありがとう！ 皆にとってのサードマンになれるよう がんばるぞ★｣

“Thank you so much for today! I’ll do my best so that I can become a third man for everyone.”

What a nice message. Thank you Sayaka


FINAL THOUGHTS & IMPRESSIONS



It was really fun going with my friend Jess as it was her first time ever seeing Sayaka in person and going for a 48-related live! I’m glad she really had a blast at Sayaka’s concert. By the end of the day, she wasn’t just gushing about Sayaka but also Team SY. To be honest, I was the same because I really felt how not just Sayaka, but every band member really levelled up from last year in both their presence and synergy with each other. If they were amazing last year, this year they were out of this world phenomenal.

Just like last year, I also really liked the MC parts Sayaka would dedicate to talking to her band members one-by-one. It was really nice how we could just get to know the team. So much warmth and love; they’re reaaally the best.

As for the goods, I did buy some, but for things like the rave band, I reused the one from last year as it was still fully functioning (once I changed the batteries). It was very handy as the staff would regulate our rave band lights during the concert itself so we didn’t have to do anything. I’m glad last year’s rave band still worked the same because it was actually pretty pricey. Thank God I got to use it more than once haha.



Going for the concert actually got me thinking about a lot of things including my fangirl life haha. I realised when I got busy with work and chasing my own goals and aspirations, Sayaka who has all this time been a big focus in my life was slowly but surely becoming a side thing.

It’s not like I’m quitting from being a Sayaka fan anytime soon, but it’s just I may not be able to spend as much time on her anymore. I am glad Sayaka has been my #1 this past 6 years, and I wouldn’t change that for anyone else. I’ve been inspired and motivated by her so much after all. Also, I’m really proud and happy to have an oshi who truly values and cares for her fans, and of course also the people around her.

She has even mentioned about how this time, she wrote songs this time for the sake of others, hoping people could find strength and courage in them. That’s just the sort of person she is.

Seeing her like that though, I began to feel even stronger about how I want to seriously pursue my goals and move forward in my own life too. I don’t really know how things would change for me as a fan from now on, but rest assured, I’ll keep supporting Sayaka one way or another.

Maybe you’ll still see me at lives once in a while from now on if my schedule permits it XD

I mean come to think of it, my last fan report was actually from a year ago. So, that may be my frequency of going for lives/events after all haha. Anyway, thanks for reading till the end. Hope you enjoyed it!

 

Thanks for the write up. I was hoping someone would write one so I wouldn't have to lol.

There are a few things I do want to share from my own experience.
Just some quick info, I went to 4 out of her 8 shows which included Nagoya, Tokyo and both days in Osaka.
I had all sort of seats in all the different venues, ranging from really good seats to quite undesirable ones.
There were even a show where I watched the whole live performance sitting down as oppose to standing in the others.
I guess what I want to say is that even just by watching the same setlist I was constantly picking up something interesting after each show.

Nagoya:
This was my first show of the tour and I also thought it was a good show for me to set the bar to what I expected the other ones to be. I was a little surprised that on the day they announced there were a few seats left unsold so they were allowing on the day ticket buying. For locations like Hiroshima and Sendai I could totally see why she didn't really sell out but Nagoya? lol.

Tokyo:
Easily the best overall experience. Since the show was being recorded for the DVD release they had a good amount of staffs that would go around and telling people to put away their penlights which created a nicer uniformed look. NHK hall was also the biggest venue in this tour and I also had the best seat in this one. At the end they also shot out streamers which was the ONLY venue that they did.
What was interesting was because this was going on the DVD, occasionally they would want some shots of audience reactions. There were sooo many cameramen going around recording fans BUT they weren't just going around recording anyone lol. There were particular groups/pairs of people they kept going back to record. It was a crazy amount of times, like maybe 20 times throughout the concert lol. They were mostly targeting at female fans but not just anyone female fan. They were constantly going back to the ones that looked "better" lol.


Osaka:
Osaka day 1 was honestly disappointing. The crowd was such a disappointment for me. During the song Kanojo ni Naritai (just like last year) Sayaka would have the fans sing "Wow Wow Wow " in different categories. (Eg. Men, Women, First floor, Second floor, Third Floor) Osaka day 1 was soooooo bad lol. I also had the worst seat this day so you could imagine how bummed I felt overall lol. Sayaka's vocal condition also wasn't very well since just prior to this show she had like 2 days of handshake events and prior to that was another live in Sendai I believe. You could tell she was really stressing her voice.
Regardless though I was glad I came mostly because I was able to invite this female fan to come. She's an Ota Yuuri fan and since she's still quite young so she doesn't really have the spare cash to come and I had an extra ticket so I was like, heck why not. It was her first time watching a Sayaka live so she had a lot of fun and it made her want to watch more Sayaka live in the future.

Osaka day 2, right off from the start was night and day difference from day 1 lol. Everyone was SO READY. I was surprised they didn't have any cameras around to record the final show of the tour. I understood why they had it at Tokyo but it was still surprisingly they also didn't prepare one for Senshuraku.
At the end of the show Sayaka bawled her eyes out and honestly it was an emotional moment, not just for her but as well for the fans especially if you've followed her around this tour. To her, none of this would've been possible without us. To us, none of this would've been possible if it wasn't for her. Fans did a Sayaka name call and then we got our double encore. She was like "How could I possibly leave with you guys calling my name like this! We ain't leaving till we destroy this place! Let's Go Crazy!" We had the most LIT Let's Go Crazy this whole tour. My friend and I jumped so much my friend lost his Ipod Mini lol. We Osakan finally redeemed ourselves!
Just random stuff off the side, I was finally able to see Sayaka's mommy and sister lol. They look soooo much like Sayaka lolll. That Mikadzuki face lolll.



This time around I was able to get some people that never watched Sayaka's live last yr to come give it a try this year. They all seemed to enjoy it a lot despite not being a Sayaka oshi and I honestly thought it was a good thing since that would mean Sayaka really did put up a good show and it wasn't just because we had our oshi goggles on lol.

 

@Sakuraism
Lmao I thought you or Matt would have written one. But more than a week had passed but still nothing haha. I almost gave up on writing one cause I've been so tired recently but I guess I was in a good mood yesterday. Also, I've always been curious to see Sayaka's mum. Hopefully I'll be able to one day too lolol.

Oh yeah I guess the same goes for me as Jess, the friend I went with, is a Milky oshi. But she too really enjoyed herself so ☺ (Well she wasn't too keen about the cameramen coming over and filming her countless number of times. They stayed there filming for a ridiculously long time too. But apart from that lol. I was even joking with Jess that we got good seats cause of her obviously foreign name and they were targetting to film her all along haha)

 

Well, I FINALLY got around to doing my Milky bday party report.


if the video does not show watch the video here

I will add some more pictures onto a new tumblr I made: https://seafoodicecream.tumblr.com/

When I was there, one of the friends I made was a Fuuchan oshi... and this was before she announced her graduation. Really shows you how much I've put this off.

 

Omg that really sounded like so much fun! Thanks so much for sharing in detail. I really want to go for at least one Milky event myself one day, so this gets my hyped for it!! Till then I'll be working hard for it too haha. Girl's fishing as always I see. It was really nice to see that she seemed to enjoy herself as well!

And sounds like you had a blast too!! I'll be checking out your tumblr for more updates! xxx

 

Thanks for the story sharing. Even though I already heard 294802 stories from my friend that went to both the noon and evening one, it was definitely nice to hear it from someone else lol.

Just out of curiosity though, what relli stopped u from going to the noon one? I know my friend was originally turned down by them at first when he tried to purchase both events but then on the day they actually did let him.
I honestly relli considered ditching my family to go, but I guess I still made the right decision to not lol. I just need to forget about how I missed my chance to do kanpai with Milky lol.

 

I probably spoke with your friend at the event. They made everything seem super strict at first (absolutely no photography!) then relaxed everything (go ahead and film everything). The noon event ended up having just 11 people, which is nice if you want a more intimate setting. The lunch they had seemed to be hardcore spicy food though. I don't want to be sweating bullets in front of Milky.

 

I actually just started getting back to checking for Milky updates too. Her instagram lives are fun to watch. Interesting if you want to hear about which NMB(ex-NMB) members she still hangs out with.

 

Haha, well he did appear in your videos a few times lol.

 

Was it him that called out to Milky and got a reaction from her in my "arrival" footage??

 

hrm i dont think so. That sounded like the milky committee head.

 

Only 9 more months!

 

Hey, thanks for sharing. Your report was really interesting to watch.
Wasn't as expensive as I though at first.

 

It was a great deal. Considering how many staff members they hired and how much food was provided, I don't think they made a lot of money from this at all. It was a result of many special circumstances all coming together, and I don't expect to see something like this again any time soon.