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Your AKB48 Experiences

Discussion in 'General AKB48 Discussion' started by cRaZY MiKi, Jun 6, 2007.

  1. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    HKT48 10th Single Individual Event, NGT48 2nd Single National Event, AKB48 49th/50th Single National Event at Makuhari Messe (2018/01/06)

    This was originally supposed to be an easy day. I had seven HKT tickets scheduled from 10am until 2pm or so, and I would be heading home. But then they announced the AKB National Event. HKT was my priority, but I would really like to have a little face time with the 16th Gen Kenkyuusei since I have seen them so much in the theater over the past six months. I resolved that I would get a hold of a few AKB tickets, and head on over after I finish with HKT. Easy enough, or so I thought.

    natl6.jpg

    I was trying to decide how I would write this up, and decided I would do it in one big post, in time order. It would sound more fun that way, and individually each report is kinda short. I headed out to Makuhari pretty early. Early enough to stop for breakfast along the way. It was around the time I arrived that my friends informed me there was an NGT National Event taking place as well. Hmmm? There was also an Idolmaster concert taking place all weekend, so Makuhari was truly "Otaku Central!" Anyway, I got into the HKT event after passing the enormous queue for NGT, and went to get my tickets stamped, forgetting they had already been stamped at the previous event. So I was all good. I went to use my first ticket...

    HKT48 Event (Hall Six)

    Slot 2

    natl7.jpg


    Murakawa Bibian (Lane 9) Always at a loss of what to say to Bibian, I led off by wishing her a happy new year. She was like "Yeah yeah! Happy New Year!" I then noticed she was wearing this interesting necklace, which was kinda "rockin," so I told her it was kakkoi. She said she bought it in Shiga Prefecture. In any case, I made it through other Bibian handshake. At the end of the day, her genkiness always makes for a fun time.


    Special Stages


    Part of HKT's events are the special stages they put on throughout the day. They do not announce who will be on each stage, or what they will be doing. It is usually various games and stuff. After I finished with Bibian I had a lot of time before my next ticket. They were just beginning to form the queue for the first stage. I thought, based on the schedule, that there would be a decent chance that Akiyoshi would be involved in one of the early stages, so I decided to queue up. I was seventh in line, which meant I would be right against the railing. What I didn't know was that it would be over 45 minutes until the event actually started. I almost considered abandoning the mission, but I had a good spot, so I would take the chance.

    The first event finally started, and out walked Bibian. LOL. Okay, at least it is someone I like. Along with Bibian was fairy w!nk, Unjo and Aramaki. Okay, this was going to be a fairy w!nk event. Bibian announced that this would be a "make me laugh" game, where the contestants must make fairy w!nk laugh, or suffer a penalty. Out came the contestants. Murashige...Natsumikan...Komada, and.....AKIYOSHI!!! I guessed right. Yukachan immediately spotted me in the front row and waved to me. It was the first time I had seen her in like a month and a half (I think) It was the typical gag game, with a table of props for the girls to use. Murashige tried her best, and Natsumikan actually got Aramaki to giggle once, but at the end of the day they failed miserably. The penalty was that they had to shove their face into a plate of flour. Oh, and since Bibian's team failed, she also had to pay the penalty. All of them were covered in flour, blowing on to one another's clothes. It was a mess. And that was the show.

    natl2.jpg natl4.jpg

    What I didn't realize is that they started a new feature with the special stages. After the show, if you buy a CD you can get a ticket for a special lane to meet the members from that stage. Damn, I could've had an extra Akiyoshi ticket! Maybe next time. Oh, and I did drop by the special stage a couple other times. One group, hosted by Hokazono Hazuki, did a bento demonstration. I saw quite a few members, but nobody else I wanted to buy a CD to meet. Anyway, onto my next tickets...

    Slots 3/4

    Fuchigami Mai (Lane 8) <2 tickets> For some reason when I purchased tickets for this event I only got tickets for three members. So I had two tickets for Maichan in consecutive slots. I pretty much started everyone off with a Happy New Year. I then told Maichan that I went to California. She asked if I had fun, and I was getting pushed out as I answered. So when I came back to see her in Slot 4, I continued by telling her that I had fun, saw family, and the weather was very warm, so I wore short pants the entire trip. She asked if I went swimming while I was there, which I did, LOL.

    It was around this time that I went upstairs for lunch. I saw the booth selling NGT singles, and there was a very short queue. So I headed over and bought two copies (A and B) This would give me two handshake tickets to use later. Who I would use them on? I had no idea.

    Slots 4/5

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 19) <4 tickets> With four tickets today, and three the next day at the AKB event, I would have to come up with a lot to talk about with Yukachan. Fortunately that special stage gave us a nice starting off point. When I got into the booth she immediately commented on how I was in the first row. I told her that I queued up hoping she would be in that stage, and got lucky. I also checked to make sure she got all of the flour off of her clothes and hair, LOL. Later on I told her a bit about my trip to California, pretty much the same stuff I talked about with Maichan, and I added the part about it being warm enough for me to go swimming. I also mentioned that it was the first time I had seen my father and brother in almost two years, which kinda took her aback. She realized I have loved ones back in the states that I do not get to see. Finally, I told her I would be seeing her tomorrow. Oh, and at some point I mentioned that I loved the dress she was wearing. It was really cute.

    So that was it for HKT. After visiting with BigC and Panda for a few minutes, I headed upstairs to figure out this NGT thing.

    NGT48 Event (Hall 4)

    The mini-live had ended, and they kicked everyone out of the hall while they re-formatted the hall. There was an enormous queue outside waiting to be let back in. Oh well, I guess I better line up. It probably took the better part of 30-45 minutes, but I eventually made it into the hall, dreading how long these queues would be. However, when I got inside none of the queues seemed very long at all, at least the ones I was interested in going to. Where did all those people in the queue disappear to? And who would I go see?

    Let's see, in NGT I know Nakai...and, uhh, Nakai. And...is Kitahara still in the group? Oh, I know that girl who did well at SSK, but I don't care about her at all. And then there was that girl I liked when they were brand new. What was her name? I went to the one lane I was sure I wanted to go...

    Nakai Rika, Yamada Noe (Lane 8) I wouldn't call myself a big fan of Nakai, but I do know who she is, and I do think she is cute, so I thought I would give her a shot. To my surprise, there were a bunch of Wasafans in the queue, and the queue next to us. As I got close to the front, a friend of mine came over and warned me that Noe was especially genki today, and would likely give me a good experience. Anyway, I made it to the front of the queue. First up was Nakai, so I explained to her that this was my first ever NGT event, and I was happy to meet her. But then Yamada came bombing over, like "OMG!!! Hello Hello!!" She basically tore me away from Nakai, LOL. And as I got pushed out, then the "I Love You"'s came. I responded "Whhoooahh" as everyone in the queue, plus the guards were laughing since she was screaming so loud. Safe to say that Noe made an impression on me, although TBH she isn't really the type of idol I go for. So we'll see.

    Nishigata Marina, Takahashi Mau (Lane 9) Since Nishigata was the first NGT member I was ever interested in, I decided I should meet her at least once. So I chose her lane. A couple of my Wasafan friends were queued ahead of me. So when they came out I asked them if Marina was on the left or the right, just in case I was confused when I got into the booth. Marina was up first. I basically told her that this was my first NGT event, but I had liked her for a long time, and I was so happy that I finally got to meet her. She was like "Hontoni?" and gave me a crying face. It was a nice little connection. In fact, I hardly remember Mau at all since I was still sorta talking to Marina while I was in front of her, saying that she is doing a great job. The nice thing was that they seemed to give the fans a little extra time, despite the fact that it was a National Event.

    natl1.jpg

    So ultimately that didn't take very long at all. And now I can say I have met a couple of the NGT members. Too bad I didn't see the mini-live. I had eight AKB tickets, and was hoping I could get a couple of them done before the break...

    AKB48 Event (Halls 9-10)

    My main goal in going to the AKB event was to meet with the 16th Gen Kenkyuusei. Luckily most of them were bunched together into three lanes. However, two of the members very high on my list to meet, Zunchan and Orin, were not participating in the handshake portion of the event. Instead they were participating in a game on the main stage, hosted by Ijiri-san. However, they would be participating in the matome portion of the event, so I would save some tickets to see Zunchan at the end. When I arrived, the place was packed, and it seemed like every queue was enormous. Oh well, I decided to first head into the queue I wanted to go to the most, and I would play the rest by ear...

    Lane 9: Asai Nanami, Suzuki Kurumi, Taguchi Manaka, Yamauchi Mizuki Mind you, there were a lot of members in the 16th Gen lanes, so many of my pass-throughs went by like a blur. However, I did stop in front of Asai long enough to say that I long yelling her nickname at shows. And after quick hello's to Kurumi and Manaka, I got the same awesome reaction from Zukki that I get in "high wave." I told her that I love 16th Gen, and that she is extremely skillful on stage.

    Lane 15: Nagatomo Ayumi, Hari Nanami, Homma Mai, Maeda Ayaka, Michieda Saki, Yasuda Kana I was trying to decide which of the remaining 16th gen lanes to visit first, just in case I ran out of time. Both lane 14 and 15 had relatively short queues, but I decided on this lane since Kana tries to fish me at the theater shows. Nagatomo was up first, and immediately noticed my Akiyoshi ticket holder. "Akiyoshi-san, MIKAN MIKAN!!!!" Yes, Mikan! As I passed through the next four I again thanked them and told them that I enjoyed their show on Friday. Yasuda was last, and immediately recognized me. She was like "It's you!" and I was pointing back to her. "Kana-chan is awesome!" I said. Yes, she is.

    Lane 14: Inagaki Kaori, Umemoto Izumi, Kurosu Haruka, Sato Minami, Shoji Nagisa, Taya Misaki Of the three 16th gen lanes, I considered skipping this one. There really wasn't anyone I was too excited to see. Well, I do like Sato Minami, but she always ignores in in "high wave." Then there's Kurosu, who I kinda like. But I wanted to be complete, so I queued up, hoping to get the ticket in before the break....

    Amazingly, of all the lanes these girls all immediately recognized me from the shows. Even Minami, who turned to give me a huge smile as a came toward her. I quickly told her that I always cheer for her at the theater. Actually, I shouldn't have been that surprised, since both Misaki and Kaori have tried to fish me in the past, but it was a pleasant surprise to get the warmest welcome from the one set of 16th Gen members I was least enthusiastic about visiting.

    Lane 9: Asai Nanami, Suzuki Kurumi, Taguchi Manaka, Yamauchi Mizuki <round two> After the break, I went straight to this lane since I wanted to talk to Zukki a little bit more, and I wanted to get into the queue before it grew too long again. For some unconscious reason I didn't remove my Akiyoshi ticket holder at the other events, and it did not go unnoticed. As I got close to the front of the queue, Shiichan and Myao, who were in the neighboring lane, we like "Wow, HKT! Who is your HKT oshimen?" Chori, who was in the lane with them, also got into the act. So I yelled over that I am a Wasamin fan. They all looked confused. I was like "Yes, Wasamin!" Chori was beckoning me to come over, so I said okay. Chori was mimicking my hand gestures, LOL. In any case, I told the 16th Gen that I had fun at the theater show on Friday, and to Zukki I told her that her unit is my favorite part of the show. And without fail, I got the same "In awe" reaction. It is similar to the reaction Akiko and Serina used to give me at SDN shows back in the day.

    Lane 8: Oya Shizuka, Miyazaki Miho, Nakanishi Chiyori, Shimoguchi Hinana It was around two minutes later that I was in front of the AKB "seniors," and Shiichan was like "Ahh, you are here!" I was addressing both she and Myao, and reminded them that we had the EXACT SAME conversation at the last National Event, that I am a Wasamin fan. And since we are all friends with Wasamin, that means that we are friends too, LOL. Shiichan seemed to remember, while Myao seemed like she was trying to recall the conversation. At that point Chori grabbed on to me and gave me a big "I Love You." I have done individual tickets with Chori many times, but never talked about anything substantial. She is still fun to meet with. Finally, after a quick thank you to Hinana, I was out of the lane. I would save the last of my tickets for matome.

    Lane G: Yamane Suzuha <matome, 3 tickets> I decided to save the rest of my tickets for Zunchan. Actually, I considered using one ticket on Lane 1, which had Yuihan, Juri, and Tomu, but the queue was very long. Plus, I anticipated Zunchan's matome queue to be long, which it was. So I hung around where I thought Zunchan's lane would be, and I guessed right. I ended up being 5th in the queue. Actually, I should have been second or third, but the guy waiting right at the gate was in a wheelchair, and I didn't want to be rude and pass him. Unfortunately, a few people didn't care and literally jumped over him to get in line first. Jerks. Suzuha came out early, which was good since none of my friends were doing matome, and were waiting to go to dinner. When it was my turn, I asked her if she had fun playing with Ijiri-san. She said she had a great time, and asked if I enjoyed it. Now to be honest, I didn't really pay that much attention to the stage, but from what I saw it looked like fun. They were doing some kind of archery competition. So I told her that it looked like it was a lot of fun. I said I would see her tomorrow, and was on my way.

    At the end of the day I got to meet up with every 16th gen. member, with the exception of Orin, which is a bummer since she is another member who really pays a lot of attention to me at shows. I need to make a point of visiting with her one day soon. Ultimately, it was a very long day, and my feet were killing me. I dreaded doing it all over again on Sunday, but I would tough it out and do my best to have fun. And as you can see on my previous post, it was a lot of fun.
     
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  2. jessiejinx

    jessiejinx Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2015
    Location:
    England Coventry
    Oshimen:
    Sakaki Miyu (Cuca)
    i enjoy reading you handshake post and im happy about cuca lane does it look like shes gaining more fans?
     
  3. Sakuraism

    Sakuraism Member Stage48 Donor

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2012
    Twitter:
    andilee1989
    1/7, 2018 AKB48 11 Gatsu no Anklet Kobetsu Handshake @ Makuhari Messe

    Ota Yuuri

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    Yagura Fuuko

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    Kojina Yui

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    Reference: https://twitter.com/andilee1989/status/920685954926383104

    Yamamoto Sayaka

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    Shiroma Miru

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    In case if you're wondering why I blurred out the last bit of it is because I'm trying taking some precautions in case certain groups of fans or antis jump on it lol.
     
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  4. broz0rs

    broz0rs Next Girls

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2015
    Oshimen:
    sashihararino
    Damn dude, that's really awesome that Miru can just be so comfortable around you that she can be completely grumpy about certain stuff in 48g.
     
  5. GATX105

    GATX105 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2011
    ^^
    Wow, that's very revealing. I was thinking doing it live was a bit too much and very risky. I hope management finds a good solution for girls that don't want to take part but portray prominent characters -- or better yet just stop doing this sort of thing.

    And re Cristafari's report - the NGT event seemed pretty interesting. had fun reading about noepii.
     
  6. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Today, I went to Let's Go Kenkyuusei stage at AKB Theater. This was my second time seeing this stage, and I have also met 10 of the 16th gen members at a national handshake event earlier this month. So I'm just going to write my experience briefly since a lot of stuff has already been mentioned in my previous posts :)

    Inagaki Kaori - after the handshake event, this girl became my favorite 16th gen member. She is just too cute and a good performer. What made me really happy was our interaction during the "high wave" at the end of the show. When I saw her, I was like: "Kaori-chan〜" and she recognized me! She told me "ohisashiburi" ("long time no see"). :^O^: I was just so happy that she recognized me.

    Yamauchi Mizuki - as mentioned before, Zukkii is so beautiful, but seems kinda shy on stage to me. This time, her performance in group songs seems to have improved since the last time I saw her though. Also, whenever I saw her before (after show or at handshake event), her reaction wasn't kind of meh, but this time, she seemed really excited to see me. I'm not sure if she recognized me from before or was just in a good mood today, but I'm really glad to see her improving, both in performance and interaction.

    Shoji Nagisa - I've been getting interested in her lately. She's also a really good performer and always gives me a good reaction during "high wave". And although she didn't say it directly, it seemed like she recognized me (probably from handshake event).

    Muto Orin - although I'm not that much into her looks, I do enjoy her performance and interaction every time. She always seems to take the time to talk to fans even during high wave, so that's something I appreciate about her.

    Taguchi Manaka - she seems to be one of the more popular 16th gen members, and although I wasn't that interested in her the first time I saw her, she definitely caught my attention this time and I have enjoyed her performance. During one of the encore songs, our eyes met for at least 10 seconds or something, it felt quite weird cause we were staring at each other so much :lol: Anyway, after the performance was over and the girls were waiting to start the high wave, she and Orin noticed me (not sure which one was first, but they were talking at each other at pointing at me, lol) and then they kept waving to me for a long time. I thought it was kinda funny [hehe]

    All in all, this was a good stage. While I'm hoping to win some other stages eventually too, just for the sake of variety, I definitely enjoyed seeing this stage again as well. And I've really grown to like the 16th gen, particularly Kaori, Zukkii and Zunchan, but really all of them are doing well at their performance and seem very nice during high wave and handshake :)
     
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  7. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    I've been to the handshake event in Yokohama today, so here is my report :)

    Tomonaga Mio
    Originally, I bought a ticket to see Yokoyama Yui, but since my experience with her last time was rather mediocre, I decided to oshi-mashi this ticket. I wasn't really sure who to spend it on since the members I wanted to see I either already had tickets for, were sold out, or were in time slots that weren't convenient for me. Anyways, I decided to go for Mio, whom I haven't really followed much lately, but she was my first oshi in HKT, so I thought it would be nice to see her anyways.
    First of all, as expected, Mio is super cute. Because I didn't plan to see her I wasn't really sure what to tell her, so I started by telling her how cute she is [hehe] Then I told her where I'm from and she seemed really excited. I thought that by the time I tell her all this, my time will be over already, but seems like the security stuff was kinda lenient (probably because there wasn't much of a queue) and I still had some time left. So I told her she's cute again since I didn't know what to say :^^;: Then, I said goodbye to her and that was it. Overall, she seemed really nice. It would probably be better if I came better prepared with something to talk about, but still, I don't regret using my Yuihan ticket on her since she seemed to be more interesting than Yuihan anyways.

    Fujita Nana
    As I have mentioned it in my previous national handshake report, I have been to Naana's lane 6 times at that event, so I was hoping she'd remember me. So I asked her first if she remembers me, and she said she did and even mentioned the national handshake event (so apparently she really does, not just saying it when asked, lol). Then I told her I like her dance and that I really enjoyed Yaban na Kyuuai video and that she and Jurina were really cool in that video, which she seemed really happy about (if you follow Naana, you'll know she really loves Jurina, so I don't feel bad mentioning her to Naana as she'll just get excited if you mention Jurina [hehe]). I kinda ran out of time to say goodbye to her properly as the security guard was already pushing me away :glare: But Naana was really nice, as always.

    Mogi Shinobu
    Mogi was at the same lane as Naana the last national handshake event, so I also visited her 6 times. Again, I asked her if she remembers me, and she replied "of course". Then I told her she was cool and I asked her if she has been doing any danso lately. She replied that she hasn't really, so I told her I'd like to see it, and she said maybe she'll do it again, and then we said goodbye :) Mogi is also super nice every time I meet her, though I feel like she needs you to lead the conversation more rather than saying stuff on her own.

    Matsui Jurina's special stage
    As I didn't manage to get my kami-oshi's handshake tickets for this day, I thought I'd at least go to her special stage. I didn't really know what to expect, but hey, if it's Jurina, I'd be fine with even just looking at her doing absolutely nothing [hehe] I was hoping she might sing something, or at least dance, but that didn't happen. Instead, she said she wanted to watch Oogoe Diamond video with us, so they played the music video on screen and she commented it while watching [hehe] Then, she started drawing stuff that the audience requested. Her drawings ended up: Jurina, dog, Masana, cat, Akimoto-sensei, Mariko, something she wanted (she drew a heart, because she said she wants love), champion belt and Sakura (the person requested Sakura as in Miyawaki Sakura, but Jurina got around this request by drawing a sakura blossom as she hates drawing people :lol:). Then, Jurina did lottery to pick people who got to take the drawings home. Unfortunately, I didn't win any drawing. Overall, it was nice seeing Jurina in person and seeing her interact with fans, but I'd still prefer it if she performed a song or dance (I had my hopes high since the NMB stage that was going on before Jurina's was full of singing, I could hear it while waiting in line). Anyways, I don't regret going to see her :)
     
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  8. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    Wasamin 4th Concert Pre-Game Festivities & A Quick Visit to Pacifico Yokohama For The AKB Event (2018/02/03)

    I had been worried about how this day would unfold ever since I realized the quandary I was in....

    It all started back when the 50th Single Chara-Ani preorder was in its initial stages. It was the third round of applications, and I was trying to decide which days I wanted to attend. I knew I could not go to the February 4th event since it conflicted with Wasamin's big concert. However, Wasamin usually doesn't do an event the day before her big show since she needs to rehearse. So I decided to start putting in applications for the February 3rd event...

    Unfortunately for me, around the day of the third round results, I received a mailer from the Wasamin fan club with a description of the "Ichigo Seat" benefits. (Ichigo Seat is kind of a VIP package, with guaranteed seat in the first few rows and other benefits and events) To my surprise, this time they were holding the "Ichigo" events on the 3rd instead of the day of the show. This meant that I really couldn't go the the AKB handshake event on the 3rd, except I had already won four tickets. Shoot!

    Ultimately I decided to only apply for "Ichigo" for one of Wasamin's two concerts, as this could clear part of my day to go to Yokohama and use my handshake tickets on someone, most likely as "oshi-mashi" tickets as I didn't know the time of my Wasamin events until a week and a half ago. So it was decided...sort of. I wouldn't decide until the morning of the events if I would go to Yokohama before the Wasamin party, or afterwards...

    If I went early, I could use two of my four tickets as scheduled, for Zunchan and Maichan. Among my early oshi-mashi candidates were Hidaka Yuzuki and Mio. If I went late, I could possibly make it in time to use my Akiyoshi ticket, and then oshi-mashi my other three tickets on Kaotan, Lemon, or maybe Chori. Ultimately I decided to go with the later schedule since Akiyoshi and Kaotan are my personal "2-top"

    Off to the Wasa Party!!!!!

    IMG_8332.jpg

    The snacks were kinda picked over at this point

    The Wasamin Pre-Concert Party was set up similarly to the party they held on the third concert, except that it was being held in some random church just a stone's throw from the entrance to Yasukuni Shrine. I arrived shortly before doors opened, there was a smatteringn of Wasafans milling around outside the church. Eventually we were let in, checked in, given a bottle of Wasawater, and led down to a small conference room in the basement of the church. We ate little snacks and listened to Wasa CDs while we waited for the event to begin. Eventually they announced the event was about to start. They had us call out for Wasamin, and we are all staring at the door waiting for her to burst through it......

    But we didn't notice that there was a second, more discreet entrance on the other side of the room. So Wasamin comes bouncing into the room, and we are ALL staring in the opposite direction, LOLOL! She was like "I came in, and nobody is looking at me!" She started off by modeling her outfit for us, which she had sorta previewed on Twitter a few minutes earlier. We did our infamous "water toast," and then there was a 30-minute interview and Q&A session. Most of the questions asked by the interviewer focused on her turning 23 years old. She also spoke quite a bit about the making of the new music video for Sado no Ondeko.

    As for the Q&A, the first thing we wanted to know was what the official lightstick color was for the new single. Wasamin originally decided pink, but the fans didn't think that really matched a song with an Oni in it. So it was ultimately suggested and decided by the fans that the 7th single official color is purple. Fans also asked her about her recent trip to Ueno Zoo, as well as what Lovetan got her for her birthday. But Wasamin explained that she actually hasn't hung out with Aika for a while, so they haven't had the chance to exchange gifts yet.

    After that it was time for our promised 2-shots. This would also be my chance to give Wasamin her birthday present. I asked Ichikawa-san, her manager if it was okay to give her a gift today, and she said no problem. I always have trouble deciding what I want to give her. I settled on a gift box of soaps and bath salts from Lush Cosmetics. I had so much that I wanted to say to her, but since this was a 2-shot, and they seemed to be rushing people through, I didn't really get a chance to say much. Just a quick happy birthday, that I would be giving her a new fan letter soon, and finally that I love the new PV. I also wanted to tell her that I think a Fan Club trip/event at Sado Island, where she filmed the PV, would be awesome. I guess I will save that for next time. She has plenty of events planned in the next 3-4 weeks, so there will be lots of time to chat.

    IMG_8333.jpg

    Anyway, I didn't know if the event was over, and the line for 2-shots was still very long, so I decided to split and head to Yokohama. It was still early enough to make my Slot 6 ticket....

    AKB48-Group 50th Single Handshake Event at Pacifico Yokohama

    I was able to catch a limited-express train out to Yokohama, which got me to the event in record time. I hustled over to Pacifico, and since my tickets were already stamped in January I wouldn't he to deal with that delay. I headed right over to Yuka-chan's lane...

    Slot 6

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 50) <2 tickets> I wouldn't have time to visit any other lane this slot, so I decided to use two of my four tickets right here. The queue was going very slow since it was a signed photo slot. (which I lost) I finally made it to the front. I expected Yuka-chan to notice my Wasamin Ichigo badge, which I was still wearing, but instead she noticed my New England Patriots wool hat. I explained to her that it was an American Football Team, and that they were playing in the Super Bowl. She sounded as if she had heard of the Super Bowl, but not the team. In any case, I wanted to tell her that I saw the photos from her performance at Sasshi's solo concert, and she looked cute and cool.

    With that I went to dinner at Queen's Square. I had almost 90 minutes until I could oshi-mashi my final two tickets in Slot 7. I knew I was using one on Kaotan, but I was still up in the air on the last ticket. Part of me wanted to use it on Lemon or Akiyoshi, but it isn't too often I have oshi-mashi tickets. I like using them on someone I want to meet, or haven't seen in a long time. With that spirit in mind....

    Slot 7

    Mutou Orin (Lane 102) At the last national event I shook hands with EVERY member of the 16th gen with the exception of Orin. Both Orin and Zunchan were excluded from the handshake event since they were on stage all day with Ijiri-san. But I did matome with Zunchan. I decided I would take the time to talk to Orin since she is one of the 16th gen I like, and I wanted to "complete the set," in a matter of speaking...

    I waited for the 30-minute mark so I could queue up, all the while watching my friend, and former Wasamin committee captain Okajiji-san circling her line. At about 6:59 people started jumping into the lane, so I ran in as quickly as I could and checked in. It wasn't a long wait. Ultimately I told Orin that I had been to many 16th gen shows, and she always gives me such a great reaction at "high wave." So I thanked her, just as I got pushed out. In the meantime, she pumped her fist and said "Yeahhh!!!" when I said that, so it was a successful meeting.

    Matsumura Kaori (Lane 8) I had plenty of time to journey to the opposite end of the halls, and Kaotan's queue wasn't too long either, although the three guys in front of me all had 8-12 tickets. While I was standing in line the guy behind my gestured to my Patriots hat and asked if I was from Boston. I told him I had never been to Boston in my life, but I don't really like any of the California teams. It turned out he had spent some time in Boston, and actually spoke pretty good English, so we chatted away about the Patriots, and our histories with AKB while we waited in line. It turned out this was his first time ever meeting Kaotan, and he asked what she was like. I told him how she used to be very feisty, but as she has gotten older she has become very sweet and caring toward her fans. He noted that she has gotten much cuter as she has gotten older. Finally it was my turn...

    Of course I started by wishing her a happy birthday. I told her that I really wanted to apply for her Seitensai, but I had school that evening. Kaotan grabbed on to my Wasamin Ichigo badge, and said "Wasamin's concert is this weekend, right?" She then confirmed that Wasamin is my Kami-oshimen, but asked if she is next in line. LOL, I said she was. In the mean time she made me wish her a big Happy Birthday in English. I said it once, but she wanted it louder. That got the entire queue laughing.

    IMG_7336.JPG
    The front-side of my Ichigo Badge. It caught many eyes as I walked through the venue

    I waited a minute to see how my new friend Shota's handshake went. I saw him gesturing toward me, and Kaotan looking at me, but I don't know what was said. In any case, he said it was an enjoyable experience, and she was really cute. With that I took my leave. I had a long journey home, and I was really thirsty.

    Tomorrow is Wasamin's big concert doubleheader in Ebisu. I don't think the shows are sold out, so if anyone is in town and has a mind to go, by all means. Of course I will have setlists and reports tomorrow.
     
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  9. Nepu

    Nepu Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2017
    Oshimen:
    minegishiminami
    Big thanks for the reports, I always love reading them and honestly, they have a more positive effect on me than probably even I myself realize, giving me motivation in my studies and other things, in the hopes I could also join such events at some point.
     
  10. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Today, I went to ladies-only Team 4 - Yume Wo Shinaseru Wake ni Ikanai performance. 4th theater performance I ever went to, and it was a Team 4 performance! Since Team 4 is one of my favorite AKB teams (the other being Team K), I was super excited about this, despite not knowing the songs on the setlist all that well. So, my opinions on the members this time.

    Okada Nana - damn, this girl is good. I mean really good. Her dance is so energetic and charismatic, I just couldn't take my eyes off of her the whole time she was in my field of view. Her MC was interesting too. Overall, the best performer in the team. I was in the first row of the standing area, and my position was directly opposite Naachan's during some songs, so I'd also swear our eyes met a few times :^^;: Anyways, during the high wave, I told her she was kakkoii, and she replied with "I love you" (in English) :^O^: I was so shocked/happy I nearly tripped over a staff member's foot :^^;:

    Kojima Mako - I met her before at a handshake event and she is just too cute. I really enjoyed her performance and her smile is amazing. I'm not a huge fan of her unit song "Bye bye bye", but she did a really good job.

    Iwatate Saho - another one of my AKB faves. I love her energy on stage and despite being the oldest in Team 4 by far, she is very cute. I really enjoyed her in "Tonari no banana".

    Inagaki Kaori - ah, my favorite kenkyuusei. This was the first time she was performing with Team 4 (which also happens to be the team she was promoted to). You could tell she was really nervous and of course since it was her first time doing this stage, her performance level was lower than when she does the KKS stage. Anyway, she was very cute as usual. When she saw me during high wave, she got super excited (I feel like she gets more excited about me every time she sees me, haha). She literally squealed and jumped up and down from excitement :^O^:

    Kawamoto Saya - I really enjoyed Sayaya's performance. The unit song that she did, "Hajimete no jelly beans", is my least favorite song in this stage, but I did like Sayaya in it. She also had good positions in many songs, which I feel she definitely deserves. But I'm kind of mad at the costume department - one of her costumes was clearly a size too small, so I'm hoping they can get her some properly sized costume (I mean, she's not even an under or something, but one of the regular members in this stage, so the least they can do is get her the right size costumes).

    Komiyama Haruka - Komiharu isn't really my type, but I have to admit she is a good performer. She did a really good job of centering "11 gatsu no anklet".

    Nozawa Rena - I have mixed feelings on Rena. In a way, I really like her, but she also seemed to space out every now and then during the performance, and forget her dance moves. Also, I don't think "Confession" is the best song choice for her, I wish they'd put her in a different unit (I saw videos of her in some other units before and preferred them). I was really surprised by how tall she is. She seemed to be about 10 cm taller than the 2nd tallest member performing today (Omori Miyuu), and some of the shortest girls only came up to her shoulders.

    Sato Kiara - I don't have much to say about her performance since she didn't really stand out in any way (good or bad) but I did notice she's actually quite cute in person, more than she appears on the photos.

    Murayama Yuiri - to be honest, I didn't notice her much during the songs (either I didn't have a good view of her from my position, or I just noticed other members more), but I did enjoy her MC a lot.

    Omori Miyuu - Miyuu is one of those girls who are not the best at either singing or dancing (at least based on today's performance), but somehow still give an enjoyable performance. And I do think she's very cute. I'm always kind of surprised about her deep voice considering her cute appearance though [hehe]

    The other members (Kitazawa Saki, Chiba Erii, Sasaki Yukari, Nishikawa Rei, Yamabe Ayu, Nagatomo Ayami) I don't really have much of an impression of. They all did a decent job, but they didn't really stand out to me that much, so I can't really comment on them.
     
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  11. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    Iwasa Misaki 4th Solo Concert at Ebisu Garden Hall (2018/02/04)
    Plus, Wasamin meets her fans a few days later...


    [​IMG]
    (Cross-posted from Wasamin thread)
    Okay, let's finally do this! I'm sorry this post is coming so late. Usually I try to put up major Wasamin stories within a day or so, but this week I have been crushed with responsibilities, studying, and social stuff, so I barely had time to do the writeup. But alas, today is the beginning of a 4-day weekend...

    The day finally came. It was the event Wasafans had been anticipating since late last year. The great thing about Wasamin's solo concerts is that it's the chance to see her perform on a big stage. We are also treated to the surprise of what pop-songs she will perform during the photo-op portion of the show. Of course there is also the possibility of a major announcement too.

    [​IMG]

    Since this was Wasamin's solo concert, the fan club was offered the exclusive opportunity to purchase "Ichigo Seats," which not only guarantee a seat in the first three rows, but also come with other exclusive benefits. For this show, an Ichigo Seat for the matinee came with the opportunity to go to TBS radio and watch Wasamin record episodes of her weekly radio show. The evening Ichigo Seats came with a special "Wasamin Party," which I talked about in this writeup in the experience thread. That said, this was the first time I didn't purchase the Ichigo Seat for all shows. To make a long story short, 1) I had a mixup with AKB handshake tickets, so I was trying to free up part of the day to use the handshake tickets I had accidentally purchased. 2) Ichigo Seats are quite expensive, so I decided I would be frugal and save myself 10000 yen. As a result, I bailed on the radio recording, and only went to the party. Luckily enough, my "regular" seat for the matinee was in the row right behind the ichigo section. So from a seat standpoint, it didn't really make much difference.

    Ebisu Garden Hall is just across a walking bridge from Ebisu Station, in the same complex as the Yebisu Brewery Museum and many high-priced restaurants, including my favorite restaurant on the planet, Lawry's. For some reason I had forgotten what time the matinee show started, arriving in Ebisu just before 11am. When I got to the hall, and only saw one other fan standing there, I realized I was a bit early. Luckily, there was a sign on the door stating that the goods booth would be open for early bids at 12pm. I passed the time watching people ice skate on the portable rink in the middle of the square. I went back and forth on whether to get all the new goods, despite the fact that the shirt and hoodie they were selling came in XL. Japanese XL is somewhat of a crapshoot for me, as sometimes they fit, and sometimes they don't I considered blowing off the hoodie, but ultimately bought the full set since it also came with a bonus photo of Wasamin modeling all the goods. The irony was that ultimately the hoodie "kinda" fit, but the T-shirt is way too small. XL my ass! It is smaller than the M-size shirts Wasamin had for her first two concerts! Anyway, eventually it was show time.

    [​IMG]
    The "hoodie" kinda fits me

    [​IMG]
    I love the little sanrio Enka character, too bad I really can't wear this shirt.


    [​IMG]
    Wasamin modeling all the new goods. Yes, I got the oshi-towel and the acrylic stand too

    [​IMG]
    Another Wasa-ballpen, yatta! You got that if you pre-ordered a single at the venue.

    My matinee seat was in the 4th row, which had a huge aisle right in front. Could this mean that I will have some "up close and personal" time with Wasamin? Here is the matinee setlist...

    Matinee Show 2pm
    01. Saba Kaido (6th Single)
    02. Tomonoura Bojou (3rd Single)
    MC 1 "Introductory MC"
    03. Hi no Kuni no Onna (Sakamoto Fuyumi, 1991)
    04. Kaze no Bon Koi Uta (Ishikawa Sayuri, 1989)
    MC 2 "Where did people come from?"
    05. Wakasa no Yado (6th Single c/w Memorial Ver.)
    06. Ettou Tsubame (from Request Covers)
    07. Kita no Yado Kara (from Request Covers)
    MC 3 "Q: How many times has she performed Mujineki?"
    08. Mujineki (1st Single)
    (costume change, Wasamin recorded audio message)
    Photoshoot Time!
    09. Tenshi no Wink (Matsuda Seiko, 1985)
    10. Touch (Iwasaki Yoshimi, 1985)
    11. Sentimental Journey (YUKI, 2003)
    12. Watashi ga Obasan ni Natte mo (Moritaka Chisato, 1992)
    13. UFO (Pink Lady, 1977)
    (end photo time)
    MC 4 Goods Table
    (Wasamin guitar section)
    14. Taiyou ga Kureta Kisetsu (Aoi Sankaku Jouji, 1972)
    15. Konayuki (Remio Romen 2006)
    16. Chippokena Ai no Uta (Ohara Sakurako, 2006)
    MC 5 "Talk about her acoustic "Love Live" concerts"
    17. Watashi no Joukamachi (Koyanagi Rumiko, 1971)
    18. Goodbye My Love (Onitsuka Chihiro, 2016)
    MC 6 "Masaaki Hirao mini-tribute"
    19. Kukou (Theresa Teng, 1974)
    20. Moshimo Watashi ga Sora ni Sundeitara (2nd Single)
    (end regular set)
    VTR: Review of Wasamin's first six singles, introducion of her 7th single)
    EN1. Sado no Ondeko (7th Single)
    MC 7 "Noting the debut of the new single"
    EN2. Gomen, ne Tokyo (5th Single)
    EN3. Hatsuzake (4th Single)

    [​IMG]

    THE SONGS
    I have to admit, at the beginning it felt like "just another Wasamin concert." It wasn't until she got to the pop stuff and acoustic guitar stuff that I really started to get into it. A couple of those songs she had performed before, but it was really nice to hear her sing UFO. My favorite part was her performance of Goodbye My Love, which contains an English-spoken verse. I just melt when I hear Wasamin trying to speak English. The other question was whether or not she would perform the new song, Sado no Ondeko. Our question was answered during the Encore VTR, which was a retrospective of Wasamin's past PVs, leading into an introduction of the new song. Her performance was spot on, despite the fact that she later said she was really nervous. Not only that, she is really demonstrative with her body movement while singing it. I am looking forward to seeing her perform it more, as it is quickly becoming my all-time favorite Wasa-single.

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    GUITAR
    Wasamin is still diligently practicing on her guitar work, and ultimately she seems a lot more comfortable playing while singing. However, she completely screwed up on Konayuki to the point where she stopped, sighed, and then picked it back up, LOL.

    [​IMG]

    PHOTO-OP
    That black dress was so cute! I love when she wears stuff that shows off her sexy little legs. The bummer was that during the photo-op portion of the show, Wasamin seemed to forget to come over near where I was sitting. I don't know if it was on oversight, or she just took too long in the other sections, but I was in the perfect spot to get some awesome closeup shots, and she never came by.

    [​IMG]

    Anyway, after a very short break, it was time to enter the venue for the evening show. Wasamin's family was on hand for the finale, although I'm not sure where they sat. They are usually somewhere in the middle-back of the venue. My ticket was in the Ichigo section, on the opposite side of the stage from where I sat in the matinee. Here is the setlist for the evening show...

    Evening Show 6pm
    01. Hatsuzake (4th Single)
    02. Gomen, ne Tokyo (5th Single)
    MC 1 "Introductory MC"
    03. Hi no Kuni no Onna (Sakamoto Fuyumi, 1991)
    04. Kaze no Bon Koi Uta (Ishikawa Sayuri, 1989)
    MC 2 "Wasamin's visit to Ueno Zoo to see the Giant Panda"
    05. Wakasa no Yado (6th Single c/w Memorial Ver.)
    06. Ettou Tsubame (from Request Covers)
    07. Kita no Yado Kara (from Request Covers)
    MC 3 "Where did everyone travel from?"
    08. Mujineki (1st Single)
    (costume change, Wasamin recorded audio message)
    Photoshoot Time!
    09. Kamome ga Tonda Hi (Watanabe Machiko, 1978)
    10. Watashi no Kare wa Hidarikiki (Asaoka Megumi, 1973)
    11. Toshishita no Otokonoko (Candies, 1975)
    12. Fuyu no Inazuma (Alice, 1977)
    13. Pepper Keibu (Pink Lady, 1976)
    (end photo time)
    MC 4 Goods Table
    (Wasamin guitar section)
    14. Kabukichou no Joou (Shiina Ringo, 1998)
    15. Heroine (???)
    16. Kokoro no Tabi (Tulip, 1973)
    MC 5 "Promotion of the bottled water company"
    17. Watashi no Joukamachi (Koyanagi Rumiko, 1971)
    18. Goodbye My Love (Onitsuka Chihiro, 2016)
    MC 6 "Maasaki Hirao tribute"
    19. Kukou (Theresa Teng, 1974)
    20. Moshimo Watashi ga Sora ni Sundeitara (2nd Single)
    (end regular set)
    VTR: Review of Wasamin's first six singles, introducion of her 7th single)
    EN1. Sado no Ondeko (7th Single)
    MC 7 "Story behind her green Kimono"
    EN2. Tomonoura Bojou (3rd Single)
    EN3. Saba Kaido (6th Single)

    [​IMG]

    SETLIST
    The main difference between the setlists were 1) songs 9-16 were completely different for each show (there are some gems in there too!), and 2) Songs 1-2 and encore songs EN2-EN3 were swapped in the later show Between the morning and evening setlists, I liked this one a lot more. "Hidarikiki" and "Otokonoko" are both crowd-pleasing covers she does a lot, and her cover of Pepper Keibu was awesome!

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    STAGE VIEW/PHOTO-OP
    Despite being just one row closer, I had a much better angle to the stage, and a much better view overall. Plus, Wasamin did come over to where I was sitting, so I got a few nice closeup shots. This may have had something to do with why I enjoyed this show more.

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    COSTUMES
    I mentioned the black dress, which you can see in my photos. The other costume of note was the green Kimono she wore at the end of the show. That was a gift from Wasamin's senpai Tagawa Toshimi, I believe it had something to do with the play Wasamin performed in last year in Osaka, which Shimi-san starred in.

    [​IMG]

    FLOWERS: Here ya go...
    [​IMG][​IMG]
    Fan Club flowers, and then the row of flowers, which stretched all the was across the lobby (the pic shows about half of them)

    At the end of the day I don't even other critiquing Wasamin's singing performance, as it is always spot-on. Her setlists have taken on somewhat of a predictable format, however there are enough surprises throughout the show to keep it interesting. It is a nice mix of enka, pop, and a few classic oldies. The 1000 seat venue was for the most part filled, although it wasn't sold out. They were selling tickets at the venue before the show. So this seems like the appropriate size venue for her to perform in at this point. As for the ichigo seats, I like to get them, but the truth is I was fine with my non-ichigo seat as well, so we will see what I will do in future concerts.

    Post-show Event: Iwasa Misaki Handshake Event at Tower-mini, Diver City (2018/02/08)

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    It is always nice to be able to give Wasamin support and feedback after a show. Sometimes we get to do that, like at "Love Live," but other times we have to wait until the next handshake event. Luckily, Wasamin is promoting her new single, and had a non-singing event scheduled in Odaiba. I actually got to Odaiba five hours early, and spent the day shopping, eating, and hanging out while I waited for the event. Diver City, and Odaiba in general, is a great place to pass the time. The Tower Records in the mall is kinda hidden. Luckily, I had been there before for KissBee, so I knew where it was. I was one of the first fans to arrive, and bought two CDs for two tickets. Wasamin eventually came out, sporting a fresh look. Her hair was black again, and cut a bit shorter.

    [​IMG]

    1st Handshake: I had things to say to Wasamin, but of course I was sidetracked by the new hairstyle, so we spent most of the handshake talking about that. I then told her my favorite performances at the concert were Sado no Ondeko, Pepper Keibu, and Goodbye My Love. Wasamin immediately laughed and asked how her English was. I said "Jouzu and Kawaii!"

    2nd Handshake: I told her I read her tweet when she talked about being really nervous when she performed the new song. I then said her performance was excellent. She squeezed my hand really tight; "Hontoni???" I gave her a big thumbs up. I could tell it meant something to her for fans to tell her that. And I really did love the performance!

    Anyway, Wasamin is down in Western Japan this weekend. Next week begins the NagaraPro Enka Festival. She is doing a couple of events in Tokyo later in the week, leading up to the NagaraPro Concert at NHK Hall over the weekend. After that, we gear up for the big push of the new single. I'm not sure how many events I will be able to attend, given some of them conflict with my personal schedule, but I will try to make as many as I can.
     
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  12. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Since STU48 don't have their own "your STU48 experiences" thread, I'm posting it here... Today, I went to STU48's handshake event in Tokyo. I actually didn't plan to go to this event originally, but I ended up getting a ticket from fellow Stage48 member @marioworldakb to see his oshi, Iwata Hina, who just celebrated her 15th birthday.

    The ticket I got was for the 2S slot (unlike with AKB's handshake events, STU's 2S slots actually have a guaranteed 2S photo). Because it was just after Hina's birthday, her queue was 2nd longest at the event (after Yumirin's), but I lined up early so it was my turn pretty fast. The photo part came first, so I decided to go with the classic heart with hands pose, and also ask Hina to wink, since she's apparently known for her winks. Here is the result:

    IMG_6374.JPG

    After we took the photo, I told her it was my first time and told her the country where I come from, and that it's in Europe, but that I live in Saitama now. She asked me how it's going in Japan and I told her I'm having a lot of fun. Then I wished her a happy birthday and that was it. Actually, the staff member kept saying the time was up but turns out that in 2S slots today, we were also getting a message/card thingy from the members onto which the members hand-write our names (copied from the ticket). She was taking a lot of time writing my name, not sure if she is just a slow writer or if it was because my name was in katakana and she was making sure to copy it correctly. Either way, it gave me some extra seconds to talk to her. By the way, here is the message/card:

    image-2.jpg

    I was hoping to go to her seitansai party later but unfortunately, due to some last minute changes in the starting time, I ended up missing it. Either way, the handshake was fun. To be honest, while I think Hina is lovely, she is not one of my top members and I probably wouldn't go see her if I didn't receive the ticket from marioworldakb. But she was very nice and gave good treatment, so I'm glad I went and I do recommend others who like her to go and see her :)
     
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  13. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Today, I went to the big handshake event at Makuhari Messe :) As I've been to a few handshake events by now, I'm getting more used to the whole process but today I was super nervous anyways. The reason was, I'd get to meet my kami-oshi, Jurina, for the first time.

    Matsui Jurina
    I got a ticket for Jurina for the 2nd slot, which was my first one of the day. Unfortunately, I was able to only get 1 ticket for this event. Anyways, I lined up at her lane a few minutes early. Jurina ended up being a few minutes late, but nevertheless I got to her about 30 minutes into the slot.
    At first, after saying hello to each other, I told her I really liked her, which she seemed really happy about. Then, she told me I was very beautiful, which made me almost forgot how to speak any Japanese at all :^^;: I told her I was very nervous about meeting her, and she asked "really?" with a big smile. Then she asked me, in English (we've only been talking in Japanese so far): "Do you love me?" at which I just kinda awkwardly nodded and said yes [hehe] By this time, security staff has started to push me away already, and although Jurina tried to stall for time, I eventually had to go, but I managed to wish her a happy birthday while being pushed away as her birthday is in a few days.
    Overall, this was amazing, and it met all my expectations that I had for meeting my kami-oshi for the first time :^O^: I was surprised at the time because I actually felt I had a lot of time with her, despite only having 1 ticket (obviously I'm not complaining). I do have more tickets for her in upcoming events, so considering how well it went today, I'm really looking forward to them :blush:

    Furuhata Nao
    Originally, I had a ticket for Uchiyama Mikoto, but while I was waiting in line to see Jurina, I noticed the announcement on screen that Mikoto's slot will be cancelled due to illness. So after I finished with Jurina, I checked which lanes were still available for oshi mashi. To my surprise, Nao's 2nd slot was still available, and since I had enough time until my next ticket in 3rd slot, I went for it.
    Immediately after I entered her lane, Nao greeted me in English, though she seemed quite relieved when I spoke to her in Japanese [hehe] It caught me off guard when she touched my face with her hand and called me kawaii (as expected from one of those godly treatment members :^O^:). I told her that I liked her singing and sax playing, and that she was cute, and she seemed very happy. Then she asked me where I was from, so I told her that I'm from Europe but that I live in Japan now. Then the security started to push me away, but she also stalled for time and asked me if I would come to see her again today. I had to tell her that unfortunately I can't (cause I didn't have any more tickets), and she seemed very disappointed :^^;:
    As with Jurina, the time seemed quite long, but then again, Nao was also good at stalling and since there was also not much of a queue, I guess security wasn't that strict and didn't mind it being a second or two longer. Her treatment was amazing, the face touching really surprised me but she was the first member to ever do that to me, so it left an impression on me [hehe] I'm definitely hoping to see her again as she was one of my best handshake experiences so far.

    Sashihara Rino
    Ah, the SSK queen. Sasshi is one of those members that I don't follow super closely but I have some kind of ongoing liking to. So I decided I'd get 1 ticket to see her. I lined up before the 3rd slot started, so I ended up being 4th in line. However, she was super late to her lane, we waited more than 20 minutes for her to appear. Once she was there, I could see her handshakes were going very fast, much faster than Jurina's or Nao's. So my time came really fast once the queue started moving.
    Because of the short time (honestly, it felt about half as short as the previous 2 handshakes of the date, even though I had 1 ticket for each :confused:), there wasn't much time for talking. I told her she was interesting in TV shows and that I really enjoyed Ima Para (one of my fave AKB songs for some reason [hehe]). She thanked me, and that was it. So honestly, compared to other handshakes I've had, this was a pretty mediocre experience. I still think I prefer handshake with her over Yuihan, cause she at least seemed to pay more attention to what I was saying and held on to my hand tightly. I think the problem was a combination of the short time, and that she doesn't seem to lead the conversation much (I prefer members who lead more, as my Japanese is not fluent). I do think she looked pretty good in person though.

    Matsui Jurina's special stage
    My last ticket for the day was for Jurina's special stage. To be honest, I have thought about about using this ticket as oshi mashi, as the last time I went to Jurina's stage a month ago, all she was doing was talk a bit and mostly draw. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing Jurina do whatever, but compared to that another handshake with Nao or some other member would be more fun. But I decided to go with it anyways, especially since it was Jurina's birthday.
    Luckily, this time she decided to sing as well. She decided to go with a cute theme (both her outfits and song choice), so the songs she sang were Wagamama Collection, Matsuilove (Matsumulove) and Sansei Kawaii. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to film the singing, but we could take photos of her near the end of the stage. She also did some shameless promotion of her seitansai T-shirt [hehe] I've added some pics I took (sorry for low quality, the light was making it quite difficult).

    28693484_1560305037421408_1915891222_o.jpg 28695841_1560305257421386_1055432934_o.jpg 28755393_1560304714088107_1292468605_o.jpg 28755054_1560306527421259_334493427_o.jpg
     
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  14. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    AKB48-Group 11-Gatsu no Anklet Individual Handshake Event at Makuhari Messe (2018/03/03)

    It seemed like it had been a while since I had been to a 48-group related handshake event. Since the first weekend of 2018 I had only been to one, and that was kind of a blur since I basically showed up at the end of the night and oshi-mashi'd all of my tickets. So it was nice to spend a proper afternoon meeting with members.

    I had eight tickets in total, spread out between Slots 4 and 7, pretty much all for my regular girls. That meant I could cruise into Makuhari in the early afternoon. I actually tried to get there early and have a leisurely lunch before the event, but there was a delay on the Yurakucho Line that caused me to miss my transfer, and get in a lot later than I had planned. I still managed to shovel in a quick lunch before heading to the halls. I didn't need my tickets stamped, so once I got through security I went to queue up for my first ticket.

    And a reminder, the prizes were in play. The usual 1-shot videos, 2-shot selfies, signed photos, and the trump game. BTW, here's what the back side of the trump game prizes looked like. The other side is the member photo, and signing spot, which you will see below.

    hs5.jpg
    They gave you a plastic slip to put these in, but I couldn't figure out how they fit, until I realized you are supposed to fold them, LOL!

    Slot 4

    Tani Marika (Lane 96) Marika's queue wasn't very long. However, she wasn't in her booth yet, and Slot 4 had already started. I didn't win the signed photo, drats! In the meantime I had a good view into both Goto Rara and Tsuzuki Rika's lanes. Eventually Tani came out, but she was taking a long time signing the photos for people who won the prize. When it came my turn I congratulated her on her 400th theater show. Tani did her usual "Yeah, let me hear it" pose. However, I mentioned that I have never seen her perform in a theater show, and I really want to win one day. She was like "Yeah, you gotta come see me!" LOL.

    Yamane Suzuha (Lane 18) <1st ticket> As expected, Zunchan's queue was really long, and that was just to get to check in. The inner queue was at capacity. Interestingly, she was in the lane right next to Okada Nana, and during Slot 4 actually had a longer queue than Naachan. I didn't win the prize for either ticket, which were 1) 2-shot/1-shot and 2) signed photo. I have actually gotten to know a couple of Zunchan's big fans, so I had people to chat with during the wait. There were also other Wasafans in her queue, as well as the queue to my right, so we were talking as well. Per usual, Zunchan's lane was filled with all the signs and decor. Jeez, I wish I could take a pic, it is all so cute. I already planned what I wanted to say to her for the first ticket, so I didn't pay too much attention to the signs. I essentially told her that I had gotten cancel machi last weekend, but didn't make it into the show, so I was sorry I didn't get to see her.

    Slot 5

    Matsumura Kaori (Lane 95) <1st ticket> I got to her lane just before it opened, and only one person walked in. So I ended up second in line. Finally I had won a prize, the 2-shot/1-shot. I know I'm a glutton for punishment, but I decided to go for the selfie, despite the fact I am horrible at taking them. Kaotan had a really cute skirt on, which unfortunately wasn't going to show up in the pic. I mentioned my lack of photo-taking skills to Kaotan, so she helped me steady the camera, and voila! I had a nice selfie!

    hs1.jpg

    Afterwords she asked how I was, and I told her that I was a little worried. She asked why, and I blurted out "Don't graduate!!!" She started laughing, "That was just a joke" I knew that, and told her that I saw it being talked about online. Anyway, we had a good laugh.

    It was somewhere around this time that they showed the HKT, NGT, STU, and whatever that other PV was. (They must have shown SKE and NMB's before I arrived) To be honest, none of them got me too excited, although STU's seemed quite nice. I was really only paying half attention to them though...

    Yamane Suzuha (Lane 18) <2nd ticket> After heading off to another lane, I came back to find Zunchan's queue only slightly smaller than before. I compared it again to Naachan's lane, and this time Naachan's was somewhat bigger. But I point this out to show that Zunchan's popularity has reached the level of the big members of AKB, and that management should take a look at her potential for being a significant part of the group's future. Anyway, I couldn't think of much more to say to her, but I did notice the big sign behind her. It was something about "Hina Matsuri" and eating Chirashi "something of other" The rest was about looking forward to eating it. So I asked Zunchan what it meant, It was Chirashizushi. Okay, I should know that! She asked me if I had eaten it, which I had. So I told her I have eaten it, and liked it.

    Slot 6

    Matsumura Kaori (Lane 95) <2nd ticket> Again I got there before the slot started, but this time four people jumped in, so I was fifth in the queue. This was important since I had three tickets for Slot 6, and I was trying to fit all the tickets in. Then Kaotan was like ten minutes late to the lane. I passed the time watching Kitagawa Ryoha in the neighboring lane. Eventually it was my turn, and I got to play the Trump card game with Kaotan. It worked somewhat differently than before, and I didn't really understand it. I just picked a card, and she said I won. GREAT! So I got a signed photo.

    hs4.jpg

    While she was signing it, I mentioned that the Trump card game is okay, but Trump the President sucks. She was like "Huh?" I was really surprised that she didn't get it. After explaining it a couple of times, it finally clicked for her who I was talking about. "Oh yeah, people don't like him, ne?" After she finished signing, she asked when she would see me again, and I said the SKE handshake event (forgetting the AKB shamekai is a week earlier) Oh well, by then she will have forgotten what I said.

    Fuchigami Mai (Lane 76) I was actually heading to Akiyoshi's lane, when I saw that Maichan's queue was virtually empty. Really? At the January event her lane was ridiculously long. In fact, I ended up skipping her ticket as a result. In any case, I figured I would take advantage, and I won the prize, which was the 1-shot video. Per usual, Maichan looked adorable. Amazing looking one-piece dress, and the twin tails, WOW! Made me very thankful I won the video...


    if the video does not show watch the video here

    It had been a long time since I had talked to her, and she pointed that out. Probably because she saw me at the last couple events where I didn't go to her. Anyway, I told her I loved the outfit, and that I hope to see her during HKT's Spring Tour. She kinda spun around and did a quick modeling for me. She really knows how to melt a guys heart!

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 71) <1st ticket> Yuka-chan had a decent sized queue, and I was in line right behind the old guy who always tried to be first in her queue. This was later in the slot, while he was looping the queue. He and I were talking about Yuka-chan's trip to Singapore, and how she tried speaking English and Chinese. According to him, she had limited success. So we decided I would give her an English lesson. While I waited I was watching Yamashita Emiri in the next queue, who was wearing a somewhat revealing black top. Finally it was my turn. This was another Trump game, and according to Yuka, I won, GREAT! While she was signing I said to her in English; "Did you Enjoy Singapore?" and then "What was your favorite thing in Singapore?" This time she admitted that she didn't understand the 2nd question, so I repeated it in Japanese. She said that the Singaporean Chicken and Rice was OISHII!!!

    hs3.jpg

    I had to wait an hour before I could use my last Akiyoshi ticket. In the meantime I went out to the food garden, and they have gotten a bunch of new food trucks, including this one!

    hs6.jpg

    Skewers!!! Pork, beef, chicken, shellfish, tons of great stuff! So much better than when our choices were pretty much ramen or gyudon. I had a Pork Kalbi and a Sazae skewer while I waited for Slot 7 to begin...

    Slot 7

    Akiyoshi Yuka (lane 71) <2nd ticket> I pre-queued fairly early, and ended up being 2nd in line, and I won the prize! Again I was tasked with the choice of the 2-shot selfie, or 1-shot video. Since the last selfie I attempted to take with her came out badly, I decided to try and redeem myself. I told her about the last one coming out poorly, so she told me to take my time and make sure the shot looked good.

    hs2.jpg

    Well...at least it isn't blurry. The guard was pretty much pushing me out from the moment I finished taking the pic, but I confirmed with her that she was not going to be performing with HKT at Sendai. She said she would only be at Saitama. I told her I would see her at the upcoming 2-shot events, and was off...

    For those keeping score, I was 5 for 8 on the prizes, which is damn good! I got skunked on Zunchan though which was a bummer, and didn't get any autographed pics. But hey, I was 4 for 4 with my 2-top, Akiyoshi and Kaotan. Yay!

    Before leaving Makuhari, I stopped at the 7-11 by the station and picked up my ticket for Horipro Matsuri, which is in a couple weeks. The show is at Zepp Diver City, which is mainly standing room only. I got a great queue number too, so hopefully I will be very close to the stage.

    hs7.jpg

    I am not attending next week's handshake event, which means that aside from the aforementioned concert, my next 48-group related events won't be until April, where I will be attending AKB and HKT's album shamekai events, plus SKE's single event. So things to look forward to. And tomorrow is the last day of Wasamin's 7th single release week promotion. It should be a crazy day!
     
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  15. Matto

    Matto Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2016
    Location:
    Japan
    Oshimen:
    Hara Karen
    March 11th, 2018 AKB48 Group 11 Gatsu no Anklet Handshake Event @ Makuhari Messe

    -Slot 2-

    Lala Goto

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    For this slot, there was a special ticket drawing game, where you would pull small sakura cards out of a box and it would either be marked as a winner or loser. If you got a winning card, you'd get a sakura-themed sign card booklet. I had 8 tickets and won 4, but she forgot to sign the fourth one or forgot to give it to me. I didn't realize it until I left the lane, but I wasn't going to go back and make a big fuss about because I don't 4 of these cards, let alone more than 1.

    [​IMG]



    -Slot 3 & 6-

    Sayaka Yamamoto

    [​IMG]


    So to confirm, I am in fact going on the AKB48 Group InstaGuam Tour in Guam in April. Sayaka is the primary reason why I'm going. I'm excited.

    -Slot 5-

    Ishizuka Akari
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I actually used 9 oshimashi tickets from various members on Anchu, so I did 3 loops for her. Anchu has quickly become one of my favorite members to meet because of her energy and because of her gaming Youtube channel. That Mario Kart tidbit was the first I've heard of it, so there's a little exclusive scoop. I was renbanning with @Sakuraism and it wasn't until we were about 5th in line when she noticed us and starting screaming during everyone's handshakes like usual.


    That's it for this event. My next one will be the 4/8 2-shot event!
     
    • Winner Winner x 2
  16. Boma Adhi

    Boma Adhi Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2014
    Oshimen:
    松井珠理奈、小田えりな、茂木忍、瀧野由美子、森保まどか
    Hi. I don't usually report my handshakes here. But since today I met Cristafari, so I wrote a short report.
    3/16 I went to 109 Shibuya to met Odaeri, my 2nd oshi, bought some of the Uneednow stuffs. LOL
    3/17 was literally Tokaido Handshakes for me. I went along Tokaido line to 3 different events on a single day. I went to Kyoto for SKE Kobetsu, I have some Jurina's ticket (my kami) in A1 slot. Straight to Nagoya for Odaeri - Yuiyui lane for only 2 loops (since I already promised to Odaeri that I will come) at AKB zenshu and managed to go back to Tokyo for Nogizaka's handshake. Fortunately the chaos at West Hall (Keyaki's kobetsu) which was near the enterance has ended since long ago, so I could make to the lane just barely on time.
    3/18 This morning I went straight to SKE's zenshu. I met Cristafari while I was lining up in Jurina's lane. I left the venue quite early since I got quite some NMB tickets at Pacifico.. Now I'm still in Pacifico.

    Might write a complete report later.
     
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  17. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    Always fun to meet other fans at the events. :) I even met @Puni for dinner and beers this week, Amazingly though, @Riina and I have never crossed paths (as far as I know) Jeez, I was even in her oshimen's lane!

    Anyway, since it is an SKE event I will do my writeup in the SKE experiences thread.
     
  18. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Actually, I think I might have spotted you today! I'm not 100% sure, since I'm really bad at recognizing faces, but I've seen those photos from HS events you post and I saw someone who looked similar in Jurina's lane, so considering how few foreigners come to these events, it was probably you [hehe] If I were closer, I'd strike a conversation but I was way behind. This was during Jurina's first slot of the day, around 13:10 or 13:15 :^^;:

    I'm also going to write a report in the SKE thread.
     
  19. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    Horipro Thursday FES 2018 ~Spring Song Battle~ at Zepp Diver City (2018/03/15)

    hori0.jpg


    A lot of odd events occasionally show up on the AKB-Group Ticket Center. I wasn't sure what this event was, despite the "Hori" at the beginning being a major clue. It wasn't until I checked the details that I got really excited....

    Tomochin?
    Ishida x2?
    Kasai?
    MaiMai?
    RanRan?
    Meetan?

    MEETAN!?!?!?!?!?!?

    hori9.jpg


    My first true oshimen, and I have not seen her since shortly after she graduated from SDN48 when I went to her Gravure DVD release event at Tower Records Shibuya. That was what? Six years ago??? This was the clincher for me. Not to mention Ishida Anna and Tomochin, two former 48-group members who I enjoy visiting would also be there. On the other hand, it had been quite a while since I had actually won a concert via the ticket center. So I was truly surprised when I got the winning email.

    I received a second surprise when I picked up my ticket and saw that I had entry #26. Diver City can fit over 2000 people, although I didn't know how many people were actually coming, especially since the Horipro website said the show wasn't sold out. But needless to say, with that ticket I would be very close to the stage.

    hori13.jpg

    Anyway, I got to DiverCity relatively early, had lunch, and then hung out at Tully's waiting for doors to open. I checked the goods on the website, and frankly nothing appealed to me at all, so I had no interest in the "early bird" goods table. At 5:30 pm, they didn't line us up. Instead everyone was in this mass of people as they called people in one by one. That seemed like quite an ineffective way to handle the queue, but whatever. They also made you buy a drink ticket, which I thought was slightly lame considering the cost of the show ticket. Oh, and the crowd was a sea of orange Ogino Yuka T-shirts. It seems like at least 1/3 of the crowd was there to see her. The only other performer I saw any evidence of a support group for was Yamauchi Suzuran.

    hori7.jpg

    When I got in, they quickly checked my bag. I ran over to the bar, and quickly grabbed a beer (took about 15 seconds) and then jogged in to get a spot. There was a walkway in the middle of the arena, so you could either go to the left side or right. Everyone was going to the right, so I took off for the far side, and got a spot right against the rail. Not really close to the center, but a good spot nonetheless.

    I mentioned a few of the members who were performing. Let me give you the full lineup. The majority of the performers were current and former 48-group members....

    hori15.jpg hori16.jpg

    The hosts were Ijiri-san and Oshima Mai
    Current 48-group members were Myao, Suzuran and Ogino Yuka.
    Graduates (other than MaiMai) were Meetan, Iwata Karen, Kasai, Tomochin, Harukyan, and former Nogi member Nagashima Seira. Ishida Anna was supposed to be there, but ultimately wasn't. I didn't read the reason for her absence, but I was kinda bummed out about it.
    Non-48 Women: Kojima Ruriko, Sasaki Moyoko, Hamaguchi Junko, Yamane Chika, Koso Yoko
    Male Talent: Ueda Kandai, Sadaoka Yuho, Okamoto Tomotaka


    hori12.jpg

    This was a "Spring Song Battle," and the performers were put into two teams, red and blue, captained by Meetan (blue) and Kasai (red). The members chose teams by picking balls out of a box, which was shown via VTR at the beginning of the show. BTW, Anna WAS in the VTR, which made it surprising not to see her performing. Also, Kasai had some sort of throat condition, and was not allowed to speak. Instead she carried a art book with pre-written lines in it. As for their outfits, all Team red members wore some kind of red themed outfit, wile the blue team wore blue or white attire.

    hori5.jpg

    The first half of the show featured members singing various songs in various pairings and groupings. Interestingly, the Horipro members all have varying degrees of skill when it comes to singing. I'm a Meetan fan, but I am painfully aware that she is an awful singer. There's really no one among the 48-girls who is an exceptional singer. Karen probably comes the closest, and Myao is surprisingly decent. Ranran's not bad either. On the other hand, the other talent really carried the show, singing-wise, especially Koso and Uedo. Oh, and Okamoto Tomotaka, well....

    hori6.jpg

    This guy is amazing. He is billed as a classical singer. He's gigantic. He towered over everyone in the group. He's huge, from shoulder to shoulder he looks like a human wall. Couple that with the long and flowing gown he wears, he is quite the site. And, his singing is incredibly powerful, which is even more surprising considering he is a Soprano. He did a duet with Ranran that for me was probably the biggest highlight of the show.

    The second half of the show was the AKB Battle, where they for the most part sang all 48-group related songs, and Tomochin performed her solo song OMG with two backdancers. They sang a lot of short versions of songs, and for the life of me I can't remember all the songs they performed. I do remember Only Today, Korogaru Isshi ni Nare, Sakura no Hanabiratachi (Ranran/Okamoto duet) and Heart Gata Virus. I would have loved to see a performance of Oshi/Meshi, but since Kasai couldn't perform. Speaking of Kasai...

    hori3.jpg

    It was nice to see the graduate members, and most of them looked for the most part the same. Iwata has the short blonde haircut, which is quite cute on her. However, I did not recognize Kasai when she first came on stage. Her entire face looked completely swollen. Now it IS possible that whatever her ailment is might be affecting her face, since I didn't notice this in recent photos. Moreover, the rest of her body looks fine, so it isn't like she is putting on a lot of weight. But yeah, she looked different. Meetan, on the other hand looked really good. I like the short top w/side-ponytail look on her.

    As for the non AkiP-Idols, the one that stuck out the most for me (aside from Okamoto) was Kojima Ruriko. Let's just say she has a slammin' figure. It was fun to watch the non-singing idols trying to perform AKB songs. One of them commented (I think it was Hamaguchi) that after performing these songs, she had a newfound appreciation for the work if idols.

    hori11.jpg

    The end of the show was 1) the vote, and 2) the photo-op portion of the show. We were all given a red and blue glowstick to use during the show, not only as a cheering tool, but to ultimately vote on who won the battle. In the beginning, my glowstick refused to work properly, but after smacking it a few times, I finally got it to light up and stay lit. I was in a quandary, since I wanted to vote for Team Meetan, but I was standing against the Team Red side of the stage, so they would clearly see me voting against them, including Tomochin. Nut what the hell, I voted for Team Blue anyway, and we won. Yatta! It was pretty much a given since Ogino was on the blue team. But it was close, there were a lot of red sticks too.

    hori18.jpg hori19.jpg

    I was looking forward to the photo ops, but ultimately was disappointed in the way they carried it out. In other shows I have been to, when they offer this benefit the performers will move around the audience to meet more people. However, in this show they stayed stationary throughout the song, I ended up with Iwata Karen right in front of me, so I got lots of great closeups of her. But Meetan and Suzuran were far away from me, so I didn't get any photos of them. Bummer.

    k4.jpg

    After the show there was a promised High Touch. A couple of the older non-48 group related performers didn't participate. It was quite a line, and you were pushed through fairly quickly, but I was sure to pause when I got to Meetan. Actually, I saw her eyeing me from when I got about three away from her too. I also got nice reactions from Ranran, Tomochin, Iwata, and the Nogi girl Nagashima, who started speaking to me in English.

    And with that I was out of the hall and ready for dinner. But unfortunately last order at all the Diver City restaurants was 9:30, and I got out at 9:31. So I was out of luck. Ultimately the show was fun, but I was mainly happy that I got to see Meetan again. Who knows when/if I will have another chance to meet with her. But never say never, right? It had been almost six years and here came another opportunity.
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2018
  20. Lt-weetabix

    Lt-weetabix Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2015
    MEETAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:worthy:

    Her segments in the first episodes of Akbingo are legendary!:cute:

    I seriously hope she gets more work and makes a come-back into the industry, especially with AKB collabs.

    Thanks for the write up! :approve:
     

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