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Your AKB48 Experiences

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

  1. hermionepj1

    hermionepj1 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2016
    Oshimen:
    Yamashita Emiri
    WOW! thank you so much for the report!
     
  2. 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
    Cross posted from Unko's (UKN) FB page since that page is not publicly available. I don't usually post my report here, but as I promised, here is the full report.

    Long ass handshake report.

    3/16 - 3/18. I went to 6 different events in 3 days. LOL. Not all parts are translated.

    3/16

    I went to Uneednow event at Sibuya 109. There was a Uneednow direct selling events with 3 Team 8 members, Oda Erina, Okabe Rin and Kuranoo Narumi. I bought several bags. I mainly only talked with Odaeri. Sorry Naru and Berin, but... :(

    On the second round, just before my turn, my phone vibrated. Naturally, I checked my phone. It was a mobame from Mogi. She sent it along with an off-shot mizugi photo of the latest AKB48Shinbun. Whithout realizing, my turn came, I put my phone in my pocket without turning off the screen then I proceeded. Inside, I didn't talk a lot with all those 3 girls, but suddenly I felt like I missed my phone and I searched my pocket. Found my phone, I took it out from my pocket, with the screen still on, showing Mogi mail with her photo in mizugi.. Odaeri Noticed and said: "Ah.. So it's Mogi san.." Then she pestered me: "So, your kami oshi is Jurina, isn't she? Who is second then?"

    I was really shocked. I never told her that I am a Jurina oshi. And also to the fact that now she knew that I also subscribed to Mogi's mobame. LOL
    The rest is not translated.. :v

    3/17

    It was a Tokaido handshake event for me, because I attended 3 different events in 3 different cities along the Tokaido line on a single day. Shinkanshen makes this kind of trip possible, as it is really fast and efficient with a high service frequency and it goes directly to city center (as opposed to airport which tends to be outside the city). In the morning I went straight to Kyoto Pulse Plaza for SKE handshakes. I hate that venue as it is small and get overcrowded easily. But since I got there pretty early, it was pretty quiet.

    I only have Jurina's ticket that day on A1 session. Since I have 8 tickets in A1 session, which is pretty impressive for Jurina's lane, I waited until more tickets in one go was allowed. (you cannot use more than a certain number of tickets when a session was just started, 1 or 3, depending on the queue length)
    J: Hisashiburi..
    B: Hisashiburi..
    J: Thank you as always..
    B: Thank you for being so bright/sparkling..
    J: Eh.. Seriously? Thank you for following me wherever I go. Even if I go abroad.
    B: No I didn't go to Korea. (LOL)
    J: Eh? But you were at Hong-Kong airport, weren't you?
    B: Haha..
    J: Also pro wrestling. Eh, I saw you. But where did you go?
    B: Yeah. Ring side is not good. I see nothing. I move to stand seat.
    J: As expected.. (Before the show was started) I told everyone, that was my fan there and there. But somehow, during my fight, you were gone. (She pouted.. And she was insanely cute.. wanna take her home..)
    <3

    (from previous report at Unko: I didn't get the premium seat so I bought it on auction. But my seat was at the corner so my view was actually blocked by the post at ring corner. And actually I couldn't see the other side of the ring. So I moved to my original stand seat)

    The rest is not translated..

    At least now I know why Odaeri and Nao (see previous report in Unko) knew I was there and Odaeri knew the fact that I am a Jurina oshi (I never told her). LOL
    Then, I took a taxi from the venue to go back to the Kyoto station, and then went to Nagoya by shinkanshen, later switched to Aonami line to reach Port Messe, Nagoya. It was just in time, the mini live was just ended and the handshake event was about to begin. I went straight to Yuiyui-Odaeri lane. It was crowded, but since I didn't go for the mini live, I managed to line up for handshakes early. This was a national handshakes, most members share a line with 1 or 2 other members, and you got about 3-5 secs per member.

    Yuiyui part is not translated. Basically we were just hera hera. LOL

    First round:
    O: Ah.. He came..
    B: I met Jurina this morning and now I am here.
    O: Great.. (Did you also see) Mogi san?
    B: Nah.. Like you..
    O: Like you.. (with a big smile <3 )


    Second round:
    B: Did you get my present?
    O: Aa... you didn't watch my showroom.. did you? (with an evil grin)
    B: Sorry.. I'm going to watch.. Bye..
    O: Bye..


    I don't have much time there, I had to leave early. Next, I rushed to the Kinjofuto station, and hopped on the Aonami line again to go to Nagoya station before taking shinkanshen again to go back to Shinawaga. Then, I transferred to Osaki by Yamanote line and finnaly by the Rinkai line to Kokusai Tenjijo Station. Two and a half hours passed since I left Port Messe Nagoya and finally I arrived at Tokyo Big Sight. I got there a bit earlier than expected.

    Three Sony Music managed groups held their handshake events there, NGT48, Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46. Both NGT48 and Nogi handshakes were in the East Hall, while Keyaki was in the West Hall. According to some twitter reports, Keyakis's was chaotic. I was afraid that the main entrance, which is shared between both hall, would be affected. But seemed that the chaos had subsided long before I got there.

    I went for Ikuchan, my kami in sakamichi. I forgot to record my convo, so I don't really remember what we said. I just introduce my self, as I rarely see her. Also, I praised her as she looks prettier recently. She seemed to remember my face but nothing more. It is really convenient to have non-east-asian face in handshake.

    After more than 1000 km of train ride, 3 events in 3 cities, the day was over.

    3/18

    On Sunday, I went to SKE48's Zenshu (national handshakes) in Yokohama Arena and NMB48 Kobetsu akushukai (Individual Handshakes) in Pacifico Yokohama. Since I have plenty of time in the morning, I spent the whole day in SKE's zenshu. Later in the late afternoon, I left Yokohama Arena, even before most of the matomedashis were started. It was because I had 5th and 6th session of NMB individual handshakes in Pacifico.

    Yokohama Arena is situated near Shin-Yokohama station which is very convenient for SKE fans taking shinkanshen from Nagoya. I arrived in Yokohama Arena quite early. The line was not that long, but I managed to get a pretty good seat in the arena. The live was about 50 minutes long and quite worth to see. If I recalled it properly, the setlist was Muishiki by senbatsu, Mango by D3, the new love crescendo song, Aishiteraburu, 窓際LOVER, Wagamama Nagareboshi by Egochan and Naru, and the last was the staple concert closing song, Nakama no Uta. I had to spend all my Igai ni mango tickets since I wasn't sure that those will still be valid in the future.

    As the handshake area was opened to the public, I managed to line up early in Jurina's lane.

    First round:

    J: Good morning. You are early!
    B: Good morning. I didn't get the SKE SSA Concert Ticket.. :(
    J: Eeeeh.. For real??
    B: Yeah.. See ya..
    J: See ya.. (she hold my hand. winked.. ah.. wanna take her home)


    Then I looped. Suddenly I noticed a familiar face. I never met him but his photos are everywhere. I ran into @Cristafari from stage48. LOL, Also, I thought I saw you @Riina, quite far behind.. I hesitated tho..
    http://stage48.net/forum/index.php?threads/your-ske48-experiences.6990/page-4#post-1442520

    Second round:

    J: Eh, for real? (I wonder why she was the one who was shocked)
    B: Yeah.. But I got one from my friend. (Thanks Hayate Low)
    J: Nice..
    B: I'll go around for now. See you later..
    J: See you..

    Then I went around to see other lanes.

    Banana, Oochan, Honono
    While mostly I have seen them before, but basically I just said hajimemashite and an introduction where I came from, as I don't see them quite often. But Yunana noticed that I've seen her several time and retorted, "it's not hajimemashite.. lol".

    Reona, Yuria's cute little cousin, and bootleg sakura
    First, Reona was cute and dangerous. She gave me a nice view IYKWIM. LOL. Then, Yuka was cute. And the last, Yuzuki recognized me even when I was still in front of Yuka. She shouted "Jurina fan came.."

    The good thing about this zenshu was they have back stage camera connected to several giant screens there. Fans enjoyed it so much, to the point it caused a minor problem in line 12 when the fans was watching the screen instead of going into members booth and the staff got angry as a result. LOL

    Ruuchan, Marika, Lala
    Other than Lala, I'm not really familiar with them. Ruuchan DID say to me "Thank you for coming" in english after I introduced where I came from. Tani was cute as usual. Then Lala:
    L: I remember you (english)
    Then I retorted..
    B: What do you remember about me? (english)
    But my retort back fired..
    L: I saw you yesterday but you didn't see me.. (english, sic, she meant I didn't go to her lane)
    B: Gomenne.. :(


    Renahyu, Ayaha, Arai Yuki
    Similar with the previous line, I just introduced myself to them. Both Renahyu and Ayaha mistook Indonesia as Indo/India. LOL. Yukichan was cute as usual. Seemed like she didn't recall my face. :(

    Satokaho, Donchan, Nao
    I messed up in this lane. I got a bit nervous and I forgot to take my ticket from the holder causing a delay. LOL.

    Satokaho: Hisashiburi.
    B: Hisashiburi. So, today is see through? (Refer to latest team E stage. Dave Han suggest me this. LOL)
    S: Eeh.. It's a secret.. LOL
    B: Bye..

    Don: He came..
    B: Jurina winked to me..
    D: Eeeeeh...

    Nao: Aa..
    B: Hi. I'm from Indonesia.. (she pulled my hand, but seemed that she didn't remember me.. LOL)
    N: Thank you. Will you come here again?
    B: Yes.
    N: Really? Great..


    Nonomiki, Machi Otoha, Ruka
    I introduced myself to Nono. I said to Machi she was cool in the proresu. She looked so sweet lately, to me at least. LOL. Ruka was cool as usual.

    Satokaho, Donchan, Nao (again)
    S: Because today is Uniform. So, misepants/safety pants.
    B: I will wait then.
    S: LOL. Your face is cute.
    B: LOL. Bye..


    with Donchan I never talk anything other than Jurina, so..
    B: Ask Jurina, "please wink for me"..
    D: No.. No.. Impossible.. Impossible.. (her reaction was soo cute here.. LOL)
    B: Bye..
    D: Bye..


    Nao just said thank you for coming again.

    Then I looped for Jurina's lane again for several times. We talked about various things. Including why members often called my face cute (especially Sannan and Satokaho) despite the fact that I AM A MALE. LOL.

    I also tried the badminton slot. I was against Lala. You need 1 ticket for 3 times hitting the shuttle. LOL what a waste of tickets..

    Since it was already pretty late for my NMB handshakes, I hailed a taxi to go to Kikuna station directly. It is much faster than walking to Shin-Yokohama then taking Yokohama line to Kikuna (5 min vs 15 min). From Kikuna, an F liner on Toyoko Line took me trough the Minatomirai Line directly to Minatomirai Station for Pacifico. I arrived at Pacifico barely on time for Kokochan at the 5th session. I got 20 tickets. We talked mostly about her mobame. On the 6th session I went to Uuka's lane with 15 tickets. And I also had 6 Yuuri tickets furikae from when she was sick. Yuuri still didn't look healthy tho. A bit chubbier but her eyes were not as sparkling as usual. I'd like to translate this NMB handshake but I don't have time for now. So prolly I will do it later.

    Tomorrow I will go to STU handshake in Ikebukuro and Keyaki's in Big Sight. I don't think I will write a report since I will be busy the day after.

    Thank you for reading.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2018
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  3. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Today, I went to STU48's handshake event at Sunshine City (Tokyo). I only had 1 ticket, and it was for Okada Nana.

    Compared to the last STU48 handshake event I went to, this one was a lot more crowded and several girls had sold out some of their slots. Of course, Naachan's slots were also all sold out, and this is actually Naachan's only STU48 individual handshake event, so tickets were pretty hard to get (if I could, I would have gotten more). However, the wait wasn't too bad, and I spent my time waiting chatting with the girl lining up before me, who was also the only other female fan I could see in Naachan's lane at that time.

    Anyways, as for the handshake itself...

    Naachan (in English): Beautiful!
    Me (in Japanese): Thank you!
    (from then on, we continued in Japanese)
    Naachan: Ah, your Japanese is good!
    Me: Actually, I want to say something... It seems Naachan has no self-confidence, but to me, Naachan is perfect.
    Naachan: Ahh, so nice! (the security guard pushing me away) Kawaii!

    I really wanted to say something like that to Naachan because I know how much she struggled with her confidence (feeling not good enough for AKB etc.), stress, eating disorders, etc. I don't usually say serious stuff like that during handshake events but I just wanted to tell it to Naachan and maybe make her feel better. My Japanese is only conversational level, not fluent, so I'm sure somebody more fluent could put it into words better, but I think my point came across and I really hope it made her feel even a little bit happier or more confident for a moment.

    Also, as with all STU48's individual handshake events, we all got cards from members. Here was the 1st slot card:
    S__10264583.jpg
    Translation:
    Name: Okada Nana

    HE - HENTAI (pervert)
    Everybody is a pervert.

    HO - HOKURO (mole)
    Actually... I have a mole on my back.

    EDIT: I forgot to add, I saw a cute interaction between Naachan and Yumirin (who is in the lane next to Naachan's). Just before the girl in front of me could shake hands with Naachan, Naachan was called to disabled lane, so we had to wait for her to come back. As she was coming back, she stopped at Yumirin's lane, said a few words to her (that I couldn't really hear) and put her arm around Yumirin for a moment :blush:
     
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  4. 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
    You were also there @Riina? I was also there for the first session, but now I'm in Tochigi for Team8 event. I will return during the 6th session. Are you still there by then?

     
  5. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Unfortunately not, I only had that 1 ticket and I'm leaving for a trip around Japan (not 48G related) in the evening anyways, so I couldn't go there in 6th slot anyways. I arrived there in the middle of the 1st slot, around 10 AM or so, were you there? I didn't see any other obvious foreigners around, but I could have missed you, especially if you are Asian (sorry, I don't know where you are from or what you look like).

    Considering how I always manage to miss any other Stage48 members at HS events, I think we should start a thread (or use an existing thread if there is one) for those Stage48 members who go to HS events, concerts, etc. and want to meet other Stage48 members there [hehe]
     
  6. PetalidiStelle

    PetalidiStelle Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2016
    Location:
    Portugal
    Oshimen:
    okadanana
    Twitter:
    petalidistellee
    Just wanted to say I find this a great idea. I never attended an event, but I want to do it eventually (I love reading this thread), and already thought about a thread like that since it'd be nice to meet other foreigners.
     
  7. SaitoWinterStar

    SaitoWinterStar Upcoming Girls Stage48 Donor

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2017
    Location:
    US
    Oshimen:
    Saito Fuyuka
    I'm a bit in awe of all the nice reports here, but I'll add my poor one anyway. So thanks (again!) to @Riina for tipping me off to this event. On 3/14/18 I attended the AKB CD release event at Tower Records Shibuya, featuring Okada Nana, Kashiwagi Yuki, and Takahashi Juri.

    I was in Tokyo at the time and it didn’t look like I was going to have any opportunity to meet Naachan, which was making me sad. Then this event came up on the day of the AKB48 51st Single release – well they announced it on the 7th, but I didn’t hear about it until @Riina alerted me on the 10th. It appeared that you needed to pre-order copies of the new single at the Tower Records Shibuya store in order to get a ticket, and then at the event you got to have the CD “delivered” to you by one of those three members. This was Saturday night, and the deadline for preorders was Monday. I figured it was probably already too late and surely with an event like this in the middle of Tokyo, all the tickets would be gone. But I really wanted to see Naachan in person, and here was a (remotely possible) chance.

    So I made a special trip two hours into Shibuya on Sunday (running madly from the 22/7 event in Saitama) to drop in on the Tower Records and see if I could still get a ticket. My Japanese is not good, so I figured I might not even be able to communicate to the staff what I wanted to do. After going out the opposite exit of Shibuya station and taking about a 25-mile walking detour through Olympic construction, I somehow made it to the store before closing. I wandered around the J-pop floor for a bit to build up my courage and then went up to the info counter and, creatively putting together my 5 good words of Japanese vocabulary, asked how to make a reservation for the Wednesday AKB event. Miraculously the staffer seemed to understand me and directed me to the “orange desk with clipboards” behind me. I thanked her and headed over, directly past where I was supposed to go. She helpfully then ran over from behind her counter and guided me to the actual reservation desk, where I grabbed a clipboard and… well first problem was there was a lot of kanji to read on the form. After valiantly struggling and failing with that for a couple minutes, the second problem was it wasn’t for AKB48.

    Cleverly replacing that with the correct clipboard, I guessed my way through a couple checkboxes, filled in my name in illegible katakana, and selected one type-A, -D, and -E CD preorder. I figured if each member was giving out one or two versions, this should hopefully get me Naachan (surely she would be A for center or E for Sakamichi, right?). I presented the form to the clerk, who helpfully made some corrections then rang up my order. Of course then their credit card system then immediately went down, but fortunately I found enough cash on me to get my tickets. Once I had the tickets in hand (along with a strong warning to bring my copy of the pre-order form to the event as well), I was actually pretty surprised it was that easy. Where’s the mob, why aren’t these sold out, did I completely misunderstand this event? I shrugged and headed home to find the Tobu line now in complete disarray – I guess I’m fortunate I made it there at all.

    2018-03-11 18.15.11a.jpg

    The next day the tickets were still nagging me – what if it’s a random member each time, won’t I really kick myself if I miss this opportunity to meet Naachan due to a coin toss? ;) So back to Tower Records Shibuya Monday evening, and ordered Type-B and -C as well. Tickets still not sold out?!

    The event is supposed to open at 5pm Wednesday and as usual they warn you not to show up too early, but I get myself to the Tower around 4:30 and start heading up. It is supposed to be on the roofdeck, which is floor 7 or 8 depending on which sign you believe. I stop off on the J-pop floor (3) to find a restroom, and discover a line of people forming down the back stairway. Fortunately, the current end was directly there on the landing, so I verified with the staff member directing people on the stairs that this was for AKB and lined up. Vocabulary learned from watching all of those Nogi and Keya senbatsu announcements also finally paid off when he asked me to help the line form two rows. Soon the line of uncomfortable-looking people stretched down the stairs and out of sight.

    I was a bit concerned about how long we were going to be trapped in this stuffy stairwell considering there were presumably at least five floors of people waiting in front of me. Although as usual my intimidating “completely bewildered and lost Westerner” persona meant no one wanted to stand too close to me, there was at least an interesting mix of people I could see. Some young schoolgirls, 20-30-somethings guys in casual or business suits, and a handful of grey-haired wotas. Fortunately the wait was only about 10 minutes before we slowly started climbing.

    In the end I’m afraid I never discovered if the roofdeck is actually floor 7 or 8 – sorry. But we eventually emerged into a small room with a table where they sort of looked at our bags and presumably determined we weren’t threatening. Then we exited out onto the “Sky Garden”; I’m pretty sure there were no plants up there, but maybe they had brought them in for the winter? There was indeed no roof other than some mechanical equipment on scaffolding, but fortunately the weather was cool and beautiful. A small table was set up here where they collected your copy of the pre-order form (thankfully I had understood the instruction to bring it) and then directed you to line up with a crowd that was forming in front of a very small stage.

    2018-03-14 17.31.47a.jpg

    The crowd slowly filled the space while staff busily moved something around up front, and a little after 6pm Naachan, Kashiwagi, and Takahashi appeared up the back stairwell to rousing applause. They were quite flashy and sparkly wearing their A-side outfits:

    DYP3uu6VQAUzDwA.jpg https://twitter.com/okadanana_1107/status/973894337330212864

    At this point I was already pretty satisfied having gotten to see Naachan in person, and from relatively close. :cute: All three were energetic and in good spirits, which was impressive as, if you followed AKB media, it was obvious they had been running all over Tokyo that day making appearances in stores and on shows for the single release campaign, and had more events that night. They were also beautiful in their outfits - Naachan looking smart and confident in pants, and Kashiwagi the tall sexy model, and Takahashi the cute idol.

    I don’t quite recall what happened at this point – I think they each introduced themselves – Kashiwagi getting the loudest cheers, and Naachan said a few words about the new single before they were all whisked away. The staff then set up a table on the stage, and began forming the crowd into a long line. Everything went along very orderly, and after a bit the members reappeared and took their place on stage in a line behind the table. It finally became (more) clear what was going on – each member had a station: the first one would hand you the CD(s), the second a postcard with the senbatsu on it, and the third a small Tower Records bag to put it all into.

    As I approached the front I realized you had a couple seconds with each member. I had plenty of things I wanted to say to Naachan, and I liked Kashiwagi as well, but I didn’t know much about Takahashi. So I alternated looking up some quick info on Stage48 and stealing long glances at the members going about their distribution. As an aside, maybe she was just excited, but the cute woman behind me kept running into me. :blink: Like every fifteen seconds a little nudge. I adjusted myself in case she thought I was holding up the line, but it continued unless I was glancing back at her, but then she would conspicuously look away. Maybe this is some kind of flirting, but I was really distracted by Naachan being like 10 feet away and terrified of trying to strike up a conversation with a stranger in Japanese. I also was getting nervous about the mechanics of the event, as it wasn’t clear if you got more than one chance at this. A staff member was collecting tickets just before you stepped up on stage and would call out to the members which version of the single to give you. Almost everyone was turning in only one ticket, but occasionally there were two or three at once. Is that because most people knew it didn’t matter how many you ordered so only had one? But finally I caught sight of someone finishing the line and then immediately recycling to the back.

    The final stretch of the line went across the front of the stage where there was a tall table for you to deposit your bag, with a staffer to keep them sorted and deliver it back to you after you left the stage. When my turn finally came, I nervously handed over only my type-A ticket to the staffer, and he directed me to step up on stage. Other than a couple staff next to the members to help feed them supplies, there were two guards milling about – one looked like he was fresh from a bouncer job at a seedy biker bar, and the other in a rumpled trenchcoat looked like he was playing a rough Bronx detective from Law & Order.

    I wish I could remember what I said to each member in turn other than hajimemasite as Kashiwagi handed me the CD, then Naachan the postcard, and Takahashi my bag. I probably told Kashiwagi she was beautiful, and Naachan that she was my oshi, but I was pretty dazzled. Naachan and Takahashi also both said “I love you” in English. It was not at all the dry goods exchange I had expected; it was essentially a single-ticket handshake, minus the touching. Full of smiles, I carefully dropped everything into my bag and walked around back to the end of the line.

    The roof area was fairly full, maybe around 300 people, but it was moving well. I was lost in thought admiring the members across the roof and considering what to say to them when the man in front of me turned around and unexpectedly greeted me with a, “so, where are you from?” in passable English. Maybe a 40-50-something Japanese businessman, he turned out to be a shockingly friendly and outgoing wota. Before long we had exchanged cards and were chatting about the event. He spoke a little bit of English, but I decided it was best to exercise my Japanese. He seemed impressed I had come from the US and this was my first event of this kind. He asked who my oshi was, and I told him it was Naachan. That elicited a broad smile and he said she was his oshi as well. He went on to explain the nicknames Kashiwagi and Naachan had given him over the years. He then reached into a well-worn bag by his side and fished out a crisp Naachan photocard, presenting it to me as a gift. I was a bit shocked and tried to politely refuse, but he insisted so I carefully added it to my CD stash. :^^;:

    While we slowly made our way up he introduced me to various other fans in the line – he is apparently quite the AKB socialite. Other businessmen, younger guys, and a gaggle of middle school girls being led by an older girl he described as their ringleader. They all seemed to know each other well. It was quite remarkable, and I found myself nodding along in a bit of a daze, almost forgetting I was standing near Naachan and was going to talk with her again. But I did at least confirm with him that my plan of using one ticket at a time was correct, and that we had until about 8pm when the staff would warn us we couldn’t recycle any more. Somewhere along the line he asked me what other members I was interested in, and eventually I ended up with three new Matsui Jurina (my SKE48 oshi) and an Ogino Yuka (my NGT48 oshi) photocard.

    Before we made it back up to the members, they unexpectedly got up and left. There was some announcement and no one seemed particularly worried, so I figured they had a call-in radio appearance or went to sign something in the store and would be back soon. After about fifteen or twenty minutes they did return, and the line started moving again.

    [Edit: As someone on the Naachan forum reminded me, she was nervous about the single's sales numbers. I think it was at this point where they came back in that she announced to the crowd that they had sold over 1 million on the first day. Apparently, as center, achieving this milestone this had been making her quite worried, and I didn't appreciate at the time that she was probably much happier after this point.]

    DYP-LG6U0AAl_-O.jpg https://twitter.com/TOWER_Shibuya/status/973901432784003072

    When our turn came he went up first, and before I realized what was happening he was talking casually with Naachan, gesturing back in my direction excitedly. The staff took my type-B ticket and I stepped up to Naachan to get my CD. He had apparently told her where I was from and a little bit about me, and Naachan greeted me even more enthusiastically this time, saying she was happy I had come so far to see her. It turns out he had also introduced me to Kashiwagi on the cards and Takahashi with the bags now, and they similarly thanked me for coming and threw in some more English phrases. I was happy and thanked them, but was even more bewildered now.

    I recycled again with my new friend, noting the crowd had decreased by about a third. I told him I was still quite nervous about talking with the members, and he urged me to calm down and try some breathing exercises. Then he laughed and suggested a game of janken – if I win I get another photo card. It took two tries as we made our way back up, but I won another Naachan photocard, and was maybe a bit calmer, too. We also started opening our CDs to see what photos we got, but he wasn’t interested in any trades. Two of his friends got photos they immediately came by and gave to me, plus one more from him, so I ended up with another two Yukas and a Yabushita Fu (my STU48 oshi). :blink:

    The members rotated spots again as we approached, and this time it was Takahashi giving me my type-C, Naachan with the card, and Kashiwagi with the bags. I’m at a bit of a loss as to what we talked about; there were so many distractions going on simultaneously my notes became quite erratic. We seemed to also be playing some game with the gaggle of schoolgirls in line, with some mutual heckling each time we passed them, but I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. I know I did keep finding more things to talk with the members about, at some point praising Naachan’s and Kashiwagi’s singing voices and telling Naachan that it was the Shoot Sign SakamichiAKB MV where I first saw her and fell for her immediately.

    Part way up this time the members left to take a break in the “relaxation room” so there was more time for chatting, and taking exciting photos of the glowing Tower sign, which actually appears to be fabric on the outside.

    2018-03-14 19.44.36a.jpg

    DYP5vI1VQAEhlCT.jpg https://twitter.com/juri_t_official/status/973896542124781568

    When they returned, Naachan struck a nice pose at the top of the stairs back down onto the roof to cheers from the crowd, now maybe half the original size. Then came Takahashi waving happily, and Kashiwagi bringing up the rear, very engrossed in eating a bag of what appeared to be gummy candy. They reformed on the stage and the process started again. This time I decided to use my type-E ticket and get the SakamichiAKB CD handed to me by Naachan. I congratulated her on becoming the center for both the album and the single. Then I got my card from Kashiwagi and bag from Takahashi. I remember being happy about whatever we talked about, but whatever that was is lost to me now. Edit: I suddenly recall for some reason I got into a thing with Kashiwagi and Takahashi for a couple rounds where my friend had told them I was leaving Japan soon, and they told me they were sad I was leaving and couldn't go to more events, along with some cute pouting/fake crying.

    At this point my friend stepped out of line to buy more CDs, which they were apparently selling at the check-in table. There were also a few people still coming in from outside. It was already after 8, so I figured I would just have time to use my last ticket anyway. I went back through the line one last time, admiring the members and the beautiful Tokyo night from the roof. This time I got the type-D from Kashiwagi, the card from Takahashi, and finished with the bag from Naachan. Remembering from some interview around her photobook that she enjoyed praise about her features, I told her how beautiful her eyes were, which didn’t require any exaggeration. Then I said that I really, truly liked her. With us both holding onto opposite sides of the bag she leaned towards me more and pouted, “what, you just like me? Don’t you love me?” Well I certainly had to agree with her there. :inlove:

    I reluctantly got pulled away from her, and took my time getting my bag. I suddenly decided to buy another CD for one more ticket, but the staff apologized and said they had ended the sales for the night. So I lingered by the exit, watching the members for a bit until my friend made his way back through. I thanked him profusely once again, and left him to get back in line. I headed back inside and down the stairs, which were lined with people loitering, holding open photocard books. I was interested, but not willing to trade what I had and a bit nervous still about engaging random fans, so I continued downstairs. Around the third floor there was a dense crowd of girls lining up in the stairwell for some other event, so I ducked back out into the J-pop floor and down the escalators. There was another small concert going on in the first floor lobby – I guess Tower Shibuya is the place to be on a Wednesday night.

    Thoroughly pleased with the event, I overcame my usual hesitation to go into random restaurants and found a cozy-looking gyoza place on the upper floor of a nearby building.

    2018-03-14 21.20.56a.jpg

    It was delicious and also piping hot; I thoroughly burned every surface in my mouth with this meal. As I headed home, I reflected that this was an amazing experience – probably about a nice as any handshake, and the added benefit of being outside on a nice night so for once I didn’t get sweaty standing around waiting.

    From my notes I have that Kashiwagi spoke mostly in English to me and she was very good at it – I just wish I remember more of what we talked about. Naachan and Takahashi also spoke some English, but we mostly talked in Japanese. But Naachan was the reason I went and was the hands-down highlight. Her pouting voice and beautiful face were a great way to end the evening. :)
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2018
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  8. David61

    David61 Under Girls Stage48 Donor

    Joined:
    May 17, 2015
    Location:
    Reading, England
    Oshimen:
    Komiyama Haruka
    Twitter:
    DavidB13
    @SaitoWinterStar Thank You for your reports here and over on the Keyaki board. Your level of detail is very important to those of us who don't often get to attend such events and who find some of the procedures rather bewildering! Good to know it was very successful for you, as has been said before on this thread the experience of meeting members is like nothing else.
     
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  9. Puni

    Puni Member Stage48 Donor

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2013
    Location:
    Germany
    Oshimen:
    kashiwagiyuki
    Twitter:
    puni_2k
    48Group Individual Handshake 11.03.2018 @ Makuhari Messe

    Flew into Tokyo the day before. As usual I couldn‘t catch any sleep on the plane. So I was already lacking around 7hours of sleep + jetlag I had to wake up extra early to catch the train to Makuhari and be at the venue when the doors open.

    As usual the train was packed with people going to Disneyland, but they get off at Maibara so one can have a seat for a few stations.


    The hall layout was almost identical to the Haru Matsuri Event I visited the previous year. Left half of the hall was mainly dedicated to sister group members while the right half was for AKB members. Adjacent to that was an extra tidbit with the stage.


    For most members I only had one ticket. In general the staffs were really strict about time. You never got the full time, even if there wasn‘t any lane. Prime example was Tani. The guy in front of me barely managed to hold her hands and the staff at the stopwatch already announced 'times almost up'


    Suda Akari:
    Apart from the usual „long time no see“, I told her that 3 years ago she was the very first member I had 2-shots with (and actually ever met) and that now she is the first member I’m gonna have a handshake with (haru matsuri doesn‘t count). She thanked me for that and told me to come and see her again, which I promised I’ll try.


    Tani Marika:
    Actually I was supposed to see Haruppi at this slot but we all know the situation on that. My plans for Tani were to meet her during slot 4, but in order to free that one up (was a bit packed) I decided to use the Tani and Ruppi ticket for the first slot. Quote

    The staff at the lottery tablet was a bit confused with this, since she wasn‘t sure if you could also use a later slot ticket for the same member. She called her supervisor over to get this worked out. It took her a few times to finally understand that I wasn‘t possible. Despite me already knowing this I decided to say nothing, didn‘t even ask if I could play the lottery in the first place. Thought maybe I get lucky. Didn’t apply to the guy behind me since he tried to share his knowledge with the staff. Sorry but I don‘t remember inviting you to this conversation.

    As for Tani. I start out with the usual ‘long time no see’ which she replies with 'Ikemen'. That baffled me a bit since I don‘t fall into this category at all, I fully belong to the nerd category. She then asks me if I think she is cute which I answer yes. Seems to be a mistake since now she demands me to see her again.


    Tashima Meru:

    For the less popular members the lottery works a little bit different. You don‘t use the tablet. Instead there is a box in front of the member from which you pick (in this case) a paper cherry pedal. The front has the name of the member on it while the back says if you have won or not.

    As will happen every so often on this day my luck failed me. So there was the two of us contemplating my bad luck. I also have to mention that all this pedal drawing counts as HS time. *gg, wp*


    Takahashi Juri:
    My interactions with Juri aren‘t something to brag about. I don't have much to talk with her apart the usual obligatory stuff. She also doesn't seem to be a girl who will pick up the initiative. Or it might be that she first has to warm up with a person to have some serious interaction. Doesn't help that I only show up once a year. Despite that I still like to see her and she always puts on a happy face.


    Yamamoto Sayaka (stage):
    So this works a bit different to Haru Matsuri. You first line up in one long row. You then pick one of multiple gates where the staff will check your ticket. You are then given a different ticket with a number and a letter (among the event details) written on it. Nobody cares about the number, only the letter is important. It determines in which block you have to go. There are staffs at each block entrance to check if you are not cheating. I got block J which is the last block in the right corner. Tough luck.

    As usual Sayaka singing is top notch. She started out with karaoke but soon switched to playing on an acoustic guitar.


    Kashiwagi Yuki:
    The usual ‘long time no see’ out of the way I tell her that I wanted to go her live event next Sunday but I had already booked my return flight for that particular day, so I couldn’t come to see it. We both make some crying faces but I add to it that I will come to the stage event later


    Ma Chia-Ling:

    I start out with 'Nice to meet you' and 'I’m from Germany'. She doesn‘t get it at first, so I repeat it. She looked rather puzzled and replied with 'Really? Wow' followed by a quick 'please come again'


    Yamamoto Sayaka:

    For this I lined up with Andi. I tell Sayaka that I really enjoyed her performance, which she thanks me for. As already mentioned, the staffs were really cutting down on time, especially at popular member’s lane. I only had a single ticket for this slot so they are already shoving me of. According to Andis report I missed her asking me about my name. Must have completely overheard that.


    Ogino Yuka:
    Hurray, finally I won something. A signed memorial card. At first she didn‘t remember me because she asked me, if this was our first time meeting while working on the card. I told her 'Actually no, it‘s me, John'. Now the penny dropped and she began shouting 'John, John' while giving me the grimiest look.

    If you don‘t get this joke read my report from last year’s Haru Matsuri.


    Kashiwagi Yuki (stage):

    Keep in mind that this was on 3.11 the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

    When the time of the quake closed in the staff made an announcement asking us to remain silent for a minute. The whole event hall obliged and everybody went silen. Really a moving experience.

    This time I had incredible luck. I was pretty far ahead in the queue and managed to draw a B block ticket. This put me right in front of the stage, 3rd row, dead center. I really like Yukirin singing live. She sounds so much better in person compared to the recordings.

    One of the songs she performed was 'Your Dream is a wish'. At first she only wanted to sing a bit but we forced her to perform the whole song. I have to say that her singing in English has really improved. It was noticeable better compared to the recording. We made her a bit angry since we already started applauding with the song not really being over.


    Komiyama Haruka:
    Yeah, won a signed photo. Together with the Ogiyuka card this would end up to be the only prices I bring home. She asks me if I think that she is cute. I reply with 'of course, I like Komiharus big smile'. She put that one up immediately and thanks me for it. She also insisted that I should see her again.


    Ichikawa Miori:
    Application period for this event was way before her graduation announcement, so I was happy that I got a ticket for her.

    First impression was 'god is she tinny', not just tinny, but tinny tinny. She also had this pick pedals box in front of her, so most of my HS time was already used up with this, but I managed to tell her that I was glad to see her at least once before graduating, which she thanked me for.


    Yamamoto Sayaka (round 2)
    I can‘t recall anymore what I said to her, already been two weeks and my memory is getting crap. Also at this moment I surely was lacking ~12 hours of sleep, so yeah...

    What I can remember is that as I was already getting pushed out of her lane when she asked me for my name (for the how many’th time? Dunno.). My brain was still occupied with processing what she said when Andi (who was in line ahead of me) already shouted 'Tobias'.


    Okada Nana:
    This was my game plan. I was to go in and tell her that I was happy having finally been able to meet her. She has a history of avoiding me and some friends due to her falling sick.

    However no plan survives first contact with the enemy and this one wasn‘t an exception.

    I go in and she immediately comes up with this 'Hey, Yoh' thing. Slightly confused I try to push on with 'Nice to meet you' in Japanese. She replies with 'Oh your Japanese is really good' which I have to deny. Seriously how can you say something like this when you just have exchanged a single word? Put me a bit off. More on this in a later report.


    Kashiwagi Yuki (round 2):

    I tell her that I enjoyed her stage and that I think her singing in English was really good. She said that it wasn‘t good, so I reinforced my opinion. She suddenly noticed that she was actually talking to someone who is capable of speaking English (at least that’s what she thinks ;) ) and that she can understand it as a honest compliment.

    As of now I’m already way over the time they normally allow you to have with just one ticket (feels actually longer than the triple pack I had earlier the day) and I’m getting pushed out. Not done, but out I shout 'Love you' back into her booth while forming a heart with my hands in front of my face. Got a heart in return ^^

    Screw that guy behind me


    Oguri Yui:
    Last slot, last member. Yuis reaction to my 'Hello, nice to meet you, btw I’m not from here' lead to the usual reaction of 'Oh, thank you for coming, come again'. What made it different was that she paid notice to my T-shirt (Jiro designed Halloween Night with Yukirin theme).

    'Oh Yukirin' to which I replied with an 'Oh, yeah' and gave her a thumbs up.
     
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  10. Puni

    Puni Member Stage48 Donor

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2013
    Location:
    Germany
    Oshimen:
    kashiwagiyuki
    Twitter:
    puni_2k
    Jabaja Release Event 14.03.2018 @ Tower Records Shibuya

    So how did this particular event work?
    You preorder your CDs at the store and pay in advance. They give you multiple slips of paper. One small slip for each CD you bought and a bigger yellow paper.
    I had this done by a friend since i was still in Germany at the time sales started and given the lineup it didn‘t want to miss it.

    The Tower Records Event was on the rooftop and getting there is a little challenging. First the escalators only go up to the 7th floor and the rooftop is the 9th. So your next best bet would be the elevator since this makes you think it can got all the way up, but it doesn't. It will only let you go up to 8th.
    So what you do is get the max floor your method of choice offers you and then take the staircase up to the roof.

    Next to the staircase are the lavatories so some of my friends decided to make a small detour. We were just waiting for the last guy to return, when suddenly Yukirin walks by straight to the toilet accompanied by 2 staff. The girls in our group started waving and greeting and she greeted back. One of the staff was waiting on the outside the other on the inside of the lavatories. Since the last guy finished his business we decided that it would be awkward to still be there when they were finished and headed up.
    That said Yukirin IRL is shorter than i would have actually imagined. At Events she‘s usually sitting or standing on a platform so you don‘t notice it that much.

    After the mandatory security check you hand the staff at the entrance the yellow paper slip (two people are allowed entrance per one of these) and then line up.
    Once it is your turn you exchange the other slips for CDs. You can either use up all of them at once or only one at a time. If you have the time I’d recommend the later because you will get a mini handshake with the members of which the duration is not affected by the amount of CDs you get in one go.

    The first member, will give you the CD, the second one the bonus item and the final one a plastic bag. Occasionally they swap positions.

    On my visit the lineup consisted of the already mentioned Yukirn, Naachan and Juri.
    I had three tickets and used them separately.

    Round 1:
    Juri: *hands me the CD*
    Me: today I’m actually meeting you for the fifth time
    Juri: eh, really?

    Naachan: Hey, yoh, Ikemen
    Me: i‘m not an Ikemen at all

    Yukirin: please wait a second *trying to seperate two plastic bags*
    *noticing me* oh you actually came to this event
    Me: yeah

    Round 2 (switched positions)
    Me to Yukirin: Congratulations on center position for the NGT coupling song
    Yukirin: Thank you

    Me to Juri: You‘re as cute as always
    Juri: eh? Thanks

    Me to Naachan: *wait, this time i‘ll get you first* Say Jaba now, at 3-2-1
    Naachan: Say Jaba now *slightly confused*
    Me: *smirking*

    Round 3 (again, switched positions):
    Me to Naachan: By the way I‘m from Germany
    Naachan: eh? Thanks for coming all the way

    Me to Yukirin: This is my last
    Yukirin: *imitating my crying face* but please come again

    Juri: *hands me the bag* here you go
    Me: Thank you very much
    Juri: *really adorable smile*
    Me: bye
    Juri: bye

    To sum things up:
    Yukirin finally recognizes me *yeah*.
    Still not warmed up with Juri, but that doesn‘t hinder me visiting her.
    Naachan still trying to act cool with foreigners. Personally that bothers me a bit. I don‘t think that she is doing it out of malice, rather that she thinks that this makes it easier for foreigners. Maybe others appreciate it this way, but to me it feels generic. I would rather have it no different to the Japanese fans. Should tell her that next time I'm meeting her.
     
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  11. Puni

    Puni Member Stage48 Donor

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2013
    Location:
    Germany
    Oshimen:
    kashiwagiyuki
    Twitter:
    puni_2k
    NGT48 Individual Handshake 17.03.2018 @ Tokyo Big Sight

    First things first, straight to the information booth. Despite me having registered my account using Romanji (full width, all caps) fortune music somehow printed the Furigana field onto the tickets. So my name appeared there in Katakana which for obvious reasons are not in my passport. Some friends from Thailand, that were also at this event, had the same problem.
    So i tried to explain the problem to the staff. They checked with their supervisor and concluded with the usual method of stamping the tickets and telling that if one of the staff at the lane makes trouble to just come back to the info booth again.
    Wasn‘t necessary though.

    NGT HS wasn‘t big at all. There were only 15 members attending, so most of the event hall was just empty space to roam around or find a place to rest.

    I didn't have many tickets for this mainly for 2 reasons. Number one was that i didn't know if this event worked out the same way as AKB HS and i wanted to play it safe.
    #2 was that my trip was coming to an end I was going to leave Japan the next day. Therefore I wanted to be back at the hotel early in order to pack and get some rest.

    Yamada Noe:
    Me: Nice to meet you
    Noe: Nice to meet you
    Me: This is my first NGT HS.
    Noe: Really? Where are you from?
    Me: Germany
    Noe: Wow. You have to visit me again.

    Noepii in person is really cute. During one of the other members 'Happy Birthday' sendoffs she came out as well and put herself in charge of filming and taking photos.
    So she was constantly buzzing around giving directions and had this adorable smile.
    As you would expect Noepii doesn't give shit about megaphones. You could hear her across half of the hall.

    Ogino Yuka:
    Me: Hello
    Yuka: JOHN
    Me: YUKA
    Yuka: Thanks for coming. You also coming later?
    Me: No, I’m sorry. I'm flying back tomorrow.
    Yuka: *sad face* Really? But please come again sometime else
    Me: I will. ByeBye

    For some reason I went back to her lane when the slot was over. There I had a nice talk with some of her Japanese fans. Truly the nicest people you can hope to meet.
    I don't know why but i ended up with a lot of gifts, like an uchiwa and a bracelet of Ogiyukas seitansai and a Yukirin keyring and an omikuji.

    Kitahara Rie:
    Me: Nice to meet you
    Rie: Nice to meet you
    Rie: Where are you from?
    Me: Germany
    Rie: Guten Tag (Good day in German)
    Me: Oh, that was really good (it really was, still wondering where she learned it)
    Me: I'm happy that I could meet you before you graduate
    Rie: Thanks, come again
    Me: Will do, bye

    While i was waiting in line they played the A-Side for the 3rd single. At first i didn't notice it since i was looking in the opposite direction but when i looked around i saw people in Ogiyukas lane waving with their glowsticks.
    What happened was that she came to her lane earlier and started dancing to the song in the open space next to it.

    Takakura Moeka:
    Me: Nice to meet you
    Moeka: Thanks for coming to hang out
    Me: My pleasure. I'm here on a trip from Germany
    Moeka: Wow, that's far.
    Me: yeah, byebye

    Yamaguchi Maho:
    Maho: Long time no see
    Me: *wait that should have been my sentence* You remember me?
    Maho: Jup
    Me: You also remember how you called me the last time?
    Maho: uhm... John
    Me: *she really remembers me* Correct, amazing.
    Maho: Where are you from?
    Me: Germany
    Maho: What's 'Thank you' in German?
    Me: 'Danke'
    Maho: Danke. So please come again
    Me: I will, and btw the next guy is a friend of mine.

    I lined up with a friend from Thailand. He's a big Mahohon fan and he regularly sees her.
    Honestly i was really surprised that she remembered me. I only met her one time and that was a whole year ago.

    NGT HS was way more chill than the groupwide i attended the weekend before. The staffs at the stopwatch won't cut you off early and even will give you some leeway. Also you have way more free space so it's easy to find a place to have a seat between the slots. The only thing this event didn't have was a catering corner. But these are overpriced anyway.
     
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  12. Sakuraism

    Sakuraism Member Stage48 Donor

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2012
    Twitter:
    andilee1989
    wow, it's been ages since I last posted my write up. I did write a few of the handshakes I had with some members in past 2-3 months but there were just some I was too lazy to write so I will just post what I had already wrote.

    2/18 , 2018

    Yagura Fuuko

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    Yamamoto Sayaka

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    3/11 , 2018

    Shiroma Miru

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    Yamamoto Sayaka

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    I actually had a few chit chat with Poochan but on the day she really wasn't feeling very well. The conversation was alright, I just never got to writing it and ended up writing our last handshake before I even got to it and now I'm just not even going to bother doing it lol.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    The highlight was prolli when I told her I probably won't be able to see her graduation concert live because I didn't win any tickets. She seem like she was actually a lil bit upset for me, telling me she really wanted us to see it. I told her I might be able to see her graduation theater show though, and she told me I sound rather confidence in getting in lol. I told her I had an incredible special ticket, and she seemed to knew exactly what I was talking about lol.


    3/18, 2018 (Fuuchan's Last Individual Handshake)

    I usually don't go to this venue anymore in Yokohama mostly because it's a little out of my way these days, but since this was her last I specifically flew a more expensive airline to say farewells.
    I also didn't apply for any Miru tickets also because I wanted to take my time chatting with Poochan.


    Yamamoto Sayaka

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    Yagura Fuuko

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    It was definitely fun while it lasted. I wasn't nearly as sad as when Milky graduated (obviously) but I felt really good coming out of it. I personally thought it was a very satisfying last handshake with her. No regrets!
     
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  13. Arbios

    Arbios Future Girls

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2016
    Oshimen:
    Komiyama Haruka
    Mirurun sounds so much fun,i definitely want to see her in a hs one day
     
  14. MidoriHime

    MidoriHime Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2013
    Location:
    Tokyo
    STU48 Setouchi Meguri 17/3 Aeon Niihama, Ehime

    This is my first 48G event since last year’s album 2shots in Osaka ;;;;

    To start with, while I preordered the CD, I only opened it on Tuesday and realised they had an event in Niihama then ;; I decided I’d head over since Niihama is about an hour from me, but I decided I wouldn’t get sucked in with CDs or merch. …I only bought one CD, so I’m counting it as a victory ;; You get a free limited clear file if you make a purchase. I have a thing for collecting clear files, so I couldn't resist....

    I had planned to arrive at 10 to make sure I could get a good spot, but after drinking till 1am and having to do other things, and then trying to find the correct carpark, I ended up getting there at 11. There were tonnes of people (600? That’s a lot – Niihama isn’t country country, but it’s country enough lol). The women’s lane was not marked at all, so staff were wasting time dragging girls over to that line. Despite that, the men’s line was moving waaaaaaay faster (out of ten iirc security checks, 9 were for dudes, 1 for girls). If girls weren’t promised Block A spots, I would have stayed in the regular lane since it had seven lanes for security checks compared to the girl’s one. After I had been in line for an hour, and the regular lane was practically empty, they opened one more girl’s, despite discussing opening another lane for ladies about thirty minutes earlier…

    The venue wasn’t that great, being a rooftop lol. They had some pictures of the girls up, and a little tent selling cds (why they didn’t bring some other merch is beyond me tbh). The tent was somewhat far from the stage, without any good reason to be. I don’t think they sold as much as they were planning, since they were doing their best to convince people to come over and the staff looked hella bored.

    The good thing about these events is everything except the handshakes is free! You can watch the live from a distance (it was a bad angle but w/e) and inside the mall they had mini events that people could watch. It’s a great idea for promotion. I’m honestly not sure how things are in the bigger cities, but in my city, and in Niihama, there isn’t really any advertising for them. Daiso had an advertisement for products to make fans with and there was some type of table with postcards (the type you send in)? near the food court. I've since been back to Niihama, and they've got Kurayami on loop, plus a board with signatures on it, but that's it. No advertising in the train stations and most people in Aeon were walking past the mini events going “who???”, so having mostly free events is probably really good for them to get their name out more. (The only cd store in the mall also didn’t have any of their cds)

    Just before 1 a mini van sped in. The members were peeking out of the curtains, which was cute. From where I was standing, I could see them in the tents off to the side of the stage. The van sped off and came back with more members. The live started 15 minutes late at 1:15pm. While waiting to get on stage, we could see the members having hair fixed and they were waving at us. They were super energetic and cute.

    Setlist
    Overture, Aitakatta, Heavy Rotation (Kanon centre), STU48, (MC with half doing introductions for 30secs), Flying Get (Chiho centre), 365 Paper Planes (Mitsuki), KFC (Hina), (MC with other half intros), Pedal (Yumiko), Melon Juice (Yumiko/Hina), Omoidaseteyokatta, Kurayami, (MC where the members signed the banner at the back of the stage – it’s going to be taken to all the performances and fans are allowed to sign it after the performance - good luck to whoever gets it last lmao), Setouchino Koe

    Personally I think they balanced centres and stage time relatively well. It would have been nice to maybe do another STU song instead of an AKB song (also slightly odd to do a HKT song and a Sasshi centre when she bailed lmao However, the only light stick I have here in Japan is a HKT one so I felt less awkward haha) Also, Melon Juice is my absolute jam. I was low key hoping for Jaba but hey. I honestly thought we’d get an MC or two and maybe 3-5 songs (STU, Setouchi, Kurayami, Aitakatta/HR/KFC), so I felt like I got my value for money haha

    Everything was either live or live with backing. Sometimes the backing was a bit more obvious, but 365 was completely live and sounded really good. You can tell their new, but they aren’t cringey new. Vocal wise it was a really great concert. Dance wise they need to work on being a bit smoother, but I will blame some of that on the stage (in some cases) since it was a bit too small for the amount of members they had on sometimes.

    MCs were super fun. The intros were meant to be intro + catchphrase + a memory about Ehime/something you want to do in Ehime. We were allowed to film the MCs, so please check them out on twitter. (I’ll be uploading mine to twitter and tumblr later) Some of the girls were super insistent on waving and fishing, which was a little distracting tbh. It was good of them to pay attention to the audience with such dedication tho. They’re also very clingy/chatting with each other, so it’s nice to see they appear to be a good cohesive unit.

    Three of the members forgot how old they were ;;; If Chiho had done this, I would accept it, since it’s her birthday. She didn’t. The other three were absolutely hilarious though. When it came to writing on the banner, one girl goofed writing Setouchi (Setouchi idols are #1 in the world) so she had to be coached in how to write it. Some good natured shade was thrown. Another girl realised she was going to struggle with kanji and just hiragana’d her way through it. Shade was thrown again, she bowed and happily continued without trying lmao

    The whole live was really fun and very high energy. The ladies block was honestly quiet and boring. The fans were more focussed on getting their fave to pay attention to them or copying parts of the dances. I would have preferred to be in with the dudes, who were at least clapping, had light sticks, doing hand movements or doing the chants that going in the songs/member calls.

    For my handshakes, I went to lane 5 and 2. Lane 5 was the Ehime girls. They were very beautiful and nice, but none of them really left a major impression. I stumbled over my words because I’m so tired, but they were kind. I think I was also the only foreigner there? I was three rows from the front, taller than most of the audience and wearing a bright red coat, so it was easy for them to see me in the audience haha I'd made eye contact with a lot of girls during the live, so they kinda went 'oooh she's still here!' haha

    For Lane 2 I was the first in line. The staff was a bit of a dick, but w/e. (I honestly found a lot of the staff either very slow or unorganised. Granted, it was shonichi, so there were going to be some things that weren’t perfect, and trying to do a live, handshakes and mini events was probably a bit too much, but some of it just seemed unprofessional)

    Being first was great because when lanes 5-10 were exiting, we could clearly see each other. One girl almost tripped over a heater ;;; (It wasn’t cold enough for a heater, so maybe it wasn’t a heater, but it certainly looked like one. When the wind was blowing it was pretty chilly admittedly) The girls in lane 5 were having a BLAST and I regret not going to their lane. Their handshakes seemed to last waaaaaaay longer and they were jumping around and screaming (you could hear them outside of the handshake area ;;; It was mostly the middle girl) and just having a great time.

    The reason for Lane 2 was Arisa. She’s so cute???? I’m not into little sister types. I prefer cool/wild types, but she had such a wonderful smile and was a joy to watch on stage. I really want to see how she grows! The girls here were also super nice, but I feel like I had way less time here than Lane 5 (I don’t think the staff were counting properly/had a designated time/were fair in moving people on). I also feel bad because my hands were really cold at this stage, which I didn’t realise until I held their hands ;;; At this stage it was 4pm and not a huge amount of people around, so it was really unnecessary to be moving people on so quick. In Lane 2 when I left there was maybe 20 people in that lane.

    There was nothing of note to say really. Basically enough time to tell each girl you enjoyed the performance or that you'll support them. That was it. I get that fans can't have an unlimited amount of time, but they could have afforded more time, especially since part of this tour is essentially getting their name out there.

    I left to go eat since it’d been 8 hours since I ate ;;; I could hear the mini event from the food court, but when I got there it was the Chiho + someone else doing some type of jumping game. They then allowed the audience to take photos. Unfortunately, the general public was basically going ‘gross’ (yes, multiple people said that). I can’t blame them. You’ve got two young girls in school uniform like outfits letting a bunch of middle age+ men take photos of them. Not a good image. The events were continuing as I left, but apart from being tired and knowing peak hour traffic was starting, I didn’t want to be included in that crowd (there was maybe 5 women in the crowd, with the rest being mostly older dudes). I stick out enough as it is, I simple wasn’t in the mood for being stared at more (earlier in the day I'd been grabbed by a dude who tried to tell me how 'rare' foreigners are in Niihama, so I didn't feel like adding to it).

    I also have to say, this is the only 48G event I’ve had where Japanese fans have completely ignored me. Not complaining, just pointing it out. Osaka had so many nice fans. Another thing I didn’t see was photos being traded, which I thought was odd. People brought them (myself included), but I guess nobody wanted to be the one to start it, or they were trading with friends only. A dude at the Matsuyama HKT concert was shocked when he thought I hadn't bought photos and started up a trade. But, Niihama was... kinda dead in interaction. Even Japanese fans were basically in their own groups of 2-5.

    All in all, it was a fun event and made me remember why I love idols and going to these events. If they did more events like this I’d definitely go, and I hope I can attend more of their stuff in the future. I’ll definitely keep an eye on them from now on~
     
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  15. pacmanamcap

    pacmanamcap Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2013
    Location:
    MZ/Germany
    Oshimen:
    imamuramaria
    I went to Japan in December to get Watanabe Mayu Album on the release day. I went to the release event in ODaiba Venus Fort. Maybe I wrote e report about it?

    Two days ago there was a segment on a japanese TV show called Why did YOU come to Japan?
    These people met me at the airport Narita and asked me.
    We talked maybe 10, 15 minutes.
    Now they cut it and broadcast.

    Video Removed from YouTube

    Always a good memory to be on TV.
    I was told I was in this show by a friend from Japan, now in Indonesia.
    He´s a student, we met 2016 in Fukuoka.
    A japanese friend in Tokyo took my picture to Twitter and wrote: This guy from Germany needs a ticket, please help him. Good otaku!
    So this other one approached me in Fukuoka and said: I don´t have a ticket for you, but I know you from twitter.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 8, 2018
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  16. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    This weekend, I went to two 48G related events, both at Makuhari Messe - STU's handshake event and AKB's 2 shot event. I will write the report for STU's event later, but for now, I'd like to write the report for the 2 shot event, as it is shorter and less overwhelming [hehe]

    I had 2 tickets to see Matsui Jurina today and I had 1 jacket signing ticket. I planned to use the jacket signing ticket for Fujita Nana, whose sign slot was during the 5th slot, same as the first one of my Jurina tickets. So I planned to arrive a bit before the start of 5th slot to line up for Naana early and then proceed to Jurina's lane. However, I ended up missing the train I initially planned to go with and in all that hurry, I forgot to actually bring the CD jacket for signing :fear:

    Luckily, my friend who also went to this event brought an extra with her just in case, so she let me use hers. I lined up for Naana about 20 minutes into the slot, hoping I would be able to get a sign first and then go to Jurina's lane. However, the queue was moving really slowly, and with less than 10 minutes left to get to Jurina's lane and still being far away from reaching Naana, I decided to leave the queue and get it signed by some other member later in the day.

    While waiting in Jurina's queue, there was a group of Japanese girls in front of me. One of the girls before me asked Jurina for a pose suggestion, and Jurina recommended a chuu pose [hehe] I didn't actually see the said chuu pose, just heard the girl mention it to her friends when exiting Jurina's booth.

    Then, it was my turn to see Jurina. Immediately when she saw me, she first called me sexy (damn, that fisher Jurina :^^;:). Then she asked what pose to do. I asked her to do the heart pose with our hands, aka my go-to pose when I have no better ideas [hehe] This is the resulting photo (with some censorship due to my awkward face expression and privacy reasons):
    FullSizeRender-1 copy.jpg
    Then, I could shake hands with her. She said she was happy I came to see her again (this was the 3rd event when I had the chance to meet her) and called me kawaii. Then, the staff started to push me away, but she held on to my forearm for a bit longer while I told her I'll come again later and when she finally had to let go, she kept blowing kisses to me. As always, this girl knows how to fish fans :^^;:

    After that, there were a few minutes left until the start of 6th slot, so I checked who was doing jacket signing in 7th slot. I noticed one of the members was STU's Takino Yumiko, who really left an impression on me the day before, so I decided to line up for her. However, even before the start of her slot, the line was ridiculously long. I waited for a while, but it was barely moving, so in order not to miss my Jurina 2 shot in 6th slot, I had to leave this queue too (seriously, I had no luck with jacket signing today).

    So, Jurina again. I had no idea what kind of pose to ask for this time, but I remembered the chuu pose one of the girls mentioned before, so I decided to ask Jurina to look into my eyes and do the chuu pose [hehe] Which turned out like this:
    FullSizeRender-2.jpg
    Actually, Jurina's chuu face was really funny (like, cute, but funny) so I could hardly control myself not to burst into laughter. But Jurina is clearly a pro and did her pose perfectly and seriously [hehe] After we finished with the photo, she reached out with her hand towards my face, which caught me a bit off guard, but then I realized I shouldn't be moving my face away, and she stroked my face with her hand and called me kawaii again. I told her she's very kakkoii (for some reason, she really likes hearing that from me, even though usually she prefers fans to call her kawaii [hehe]). She finished it off by saying "daisuki". Damn, how Jurina manages to fish me time and time again, and makes me like her more with every single handshake is beyond me. Actually, this time I didn't manage to shake her hand after the photo because she already spent too much time touching my cheek, but I'm not even mad [hehe]

    With that, I was done with my 2 shots for the day and I decided to check which members were doing jacket signing during 7th slot. The ones I was most interested in were Macharin and Kitagawa Ryoha, so I decided to go for Macharin. Her queue was huge, not sure if it's her popularity or just so many people left with their ticket at the end of the day. I think it took me more than 1 hour to get to her. Our conversation went something like this (in Japanese):
    Macharin: Hello!
    Me: Hello! I met you before at the national handshake event in January!
    Macharin: Thank you for coming again!
    Me: Actually, I studied abroad in Taiwan before.
    Macharin: Really?
    Me: In Tainan. Where are you from?
    Macharin: I'm from Taichung!
    Me: Oh, I went to Taichung too!
    Macharin: Oh, that's great! But you're in Japan now?
    Me: I live in Japan now!
    Macharin: How long have you been in Japan?
    Me: About half a year!
    Macharin: Only half a year? I've been in Japan for 2 years and your Japanese is better than mine!
    Me: No, Macharin's Japanese is better!
    Macharin: Can you also speak Chinese?
    Me: Only a little bit.
    Macharin: Amazing!
    Me: Let's do our best learning Japanese!
    The conversation was really long, and she stopped signing the jacket a few times during our conversation to look up at me and talk to me. It was really fun, but the staff didn't seem too amused [hehe] It turned out better than expected, especially since she was my 3rd choice for jacket signing. I think I might go see her again in some upcoming national handshake events, depending on lane assignment :)
     
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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
    AKB48-Group 9th Album Shamekai Event at Makuhari Messe (2018/04/08)

    Today was the first Shamekai event for AKB's latest album. Of course I made the mistake of getting tickets for the first event of the promotion, which is always a total clusterf**k. Many of the queues early in the day seemed to take forever to navigate. I didn't arrive at the venue until 1:35, but it still seemed like an incredibly long day.

    To be honest, I didn't get to talk very much with any of the members since they seemed to be pushing people through quickly. Unless of course you won the opportunity to get something signed. Aside from the signed CD cover, which they did for the most part the same way as last year, you had the opportunity, instead of the normal shamekai, to win either a short 2-shot video, or a signed cheki (with a signed booklet). Unfortunately for me, I went a perfect zero for six on the prize. It was funny, after I lost the 4th one I was kinda routing for the "perfecto" I really wasn't interested in the video, and while the cheki and booklet are nice, and I would like to win one, ultimately I can take it or leave it. So here are my six shamekai, with a few small anecdotes thrown in...

    FYI, chara-ani is still doing the "stamp thing"

    Slot 4

    Yamane Suzuha (Lane 21) I was going to bail on getting my tickets stamped, since it's debatable whether or not I really need it. After all, I do have a Japanese ID card with matching address. However, my name is cut off due to length. When I saw how long Zunchan's queue was, I thought I better get them stamped, just in case. There was no line at the info booth anyway, so it took less than two minutes. Anyway, after 90 minutes in Zunchan's queue, it was finally my turn. You know, Zunchan kinda reminds me of a bunny rabbit...

    sham1.jpg

    BTW, Hiwatashi Yui was next to Zunchan, and she's adorable! Anyway, after the shot I told her that after reading her sign at the last event, I went out and had chirashizushi. She had this semi-confused look as I told her the story, but the moment I said "chirashizushi" it all clicked for her, LOL. Anyway, I entertained the idea of having her sign my CD, but her Slot 4 queue was going to run so late, and the queue for her CD signing was already huge, I abandoned the mission. I really didn't have much of a choice about it anyway, as you will soon read.

    I had all of Slot 5 off. I decided I would queue early for one of my two planned tickets in Slot 6, but I didn't know which one would be best. I first went over to the CD signing lane I wanted to do, but the pre-queue was already huge. So I went over to Maichan's lane, who I had a ticket for, and there were like 4 people waiting. OK, this is cool. They opened the lane, and some a-hole who wasn't even queued jumped in first in front of all of us. Whatever. Then, one of the staff came over and told us the slot would be delayed, and they brought this mass of people from another lane to finish their previous slot. I was so pissed, I literally exclaimed out loud "Oh, f**k you!" This looked like it would take at least half an hour. So I went back to the CD signing lane. It was friggin' huge, but it looked like it was moving. I'll give it a shot. If I miss out on Maichan, so be it...

    Slot 6

    CD Signing Lane Akiyoshi Yuka (w/ Yamada Marina & Ueno Haruka) (Lane 133) The way the three person lane worked is that only one would sign at a time, while the other two just watched and talked. Not too efficient, but I think they counted on the lane to be collectively short. That was the first issue. The second issue with this lane is that Mariri is graduating soon, so there were a ton of people there just to see her. In fact, I would say it was 70% of the line. The third issue was there were multiple guys in the queue with huge stacks of CD covers and tickets. One guy had 20, another had around 40, and the third guy had 12, and they were all in front of me. I kept thinking "there's no way they're gonna let them do this, it'll take an hour just for the three of them. Finally a staff member told them it was "no-go" so thankfully they left the lane (along with a 4th guy I didn't see) Thank god! In the meantime, Yukachan spotted me in the queue and waved, then threw me a "heart" and pointed me out to Harutan. I got another "heart" a couple minutes later. Finally it was my turn...

    sham7.jpg

    This was the one time I got a chance to talk to Yukachan for a while. I asked her how bad her foot still hurts (she said it really hurts) I told her I broke a toe a few years ago, and I know it's really painful. While she was signing, I turned to Mariri and congratulated her on her graduation, and then I told both she and Harutan that I am Yukachan's English teacher, which got a laugh from Yukachan. She finished signing, and said "I really love you Chris-san!" I told her I would see her next slot. In the meantime, I had four minutes left to get to Maichan's queue.

    BTW, there was a girl in line behind me for the CD signing. She was so cute! She looked a lot like Kawaei Rina. In fact I thought it was Kawaei. The funny thing was that she ended up behind me in Maichan's queue too, and kinda gave me a little nod and smile when she noticed she was behind me again.

    Fuchigami Mai (Lane 108) I was happy that I wouldn't have to oshimashi this ticket, since I always seem to bail on Maichan when I am pressed for time, LOL. The line wasn't very long, and I got to the front relatively quickly.

    sham2.jpg

    One of my favorite shamekai is from last year, when Maichan and I did this pose. So I chose it again. Maichan is so cute. I told her I went to the SSA concert and liked her solo.

    Slot 7

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 111) Once again I couldn't decide which queue to get in first, but Yukachan's looked a lot more manageable. (The entire SKE area was slammed with people) At first I thought her prequeue was huge, but then I noticed it was for Mariri. Yukachan's queue was five deep, and in the queue was one of the Socal fan club guys. (I forget his name :(, but he won the cheki ) It took them a few minutes to get her situated, and they had her legs covered with a blanket. I asked her which pose we should do, the "Itai" pose (crying) or Onigiri pose. She chose crying...

    sham3.jpg

    Oh, my poor little Yukachan. So painful. But look at her though. She worked all week, did the HKT National event on Saturday, and worked today for the shamekai event. What a trooper!

    Tani Marika (Lane 50) I quickly changed ticket holders from my new Yukachan holder to my new Tani holder. Her line wasn't very long, which was good as I could get a break between slots 7 and 8. Since I have been well-trained, I immediately greeted her with a "Wow, Kawaii Marika-chan!" She was like "Me, I'm kawaii?" Yes! "Am I beautiful?" "Yes, Marika-chan is beautiful!" "Well then let's do heart pose"

    sham4.jpg

    She asked me if I was cold, since I was wearing shorts and short sleeves, but I told her I have a sweatshirt (paa-ka) in my bag. Anyway, it wasn't cold in the venue. I now had plenty of time until Slot 8...

    I knew I wouldn't have any issues getting my last two tickets done, but I decided to pre-queue for Yukachan again anyway. In the meantime, the Akiyoshi Birthday/Sousenkyo committee came over to me and asked if I wanted to be part of their LINE group. Of course I said yes, so they added me in. I'm not sure how good an idea this was, however, since I have been inundated with LINE messages all evening, LOL. But I am glad I am part of the team now.

    Slot 8

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 109) Yuka-chan was moved to another lane. In the meantime I was third in the queue. While we waited, I had the perfect angle to see "backstage" where the girls come out, and I was really interested to see how bad Yukachan's foot really was. Out she came, on crutches! She also had a hard cast on her foot, going up to about her ankle. They eventually put her crutches backstage, but then she had to get up. She was hopping around. Oh no, my poor Yukachan! I felt so bad, but in a way it was really cute, LOL! I decided we should do the Onigiri pose after all...

    sham5.jpg
    My onigiri seems to be more diamond shaped

    After the 2-shot I told her I saw her on her crutches backstage, and that I felt really bad for her. "Poor Yuka-chan" I told her to keep doing her best, and I would see her next week.

    Matsumura Kaori (Lane 81) What would a 48-group event be without a visit with Kaotan? Kaotan's queue was relatively short. However, it took a painfully long time since it seemed like everyone in the front of the queue had won the signed cheki. She was taking quite a long time to sign each one. What should have taken 10 minutes, ended up taking 35. But finally it was my turn. What pose? I had no idea. Actually......

    sham6.jpg

    Perfect! It's my favorite shamekai of the day! A nice way to end the evening. I was finally heading home.

    However, I made the mistake of stopping by the station for dinner, and by the time I finished eating some concert got out and there was a mass of humanity trying to board the train back toward Tokyo. There are a few shamekai events still to go, most of them around Golden Week. However, I only have tickets to the last event in mid-May. My itinerary is slightly different. I have tickets for Zunchan, Cuca, Mio, Zukki, Kaotan, and one oshimashi (since Akiyoshi won't be there) I have a good idea who I am going to use it on. My CD signing ticket, on the other hand, I have no idea. Those lines are the worst!
     
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  18. GATX105

    GATX105 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2011
    The new yori pics are great. Although imo they make the hiki pics look bad. Seems like there's less people this year. Had 17 tickets but only for 8 members including 5 for sakura. Managed to win one of the draws for stage 48's favorite member and I agree with cristafari that the cheki is better than the video so that's what I chose. Sorry for posting just snippets, I'll work on doing a review when I get back from tokyo.

    Btw, do you guys know what the event was in the main building? There were a LOT of people and it seemed like an all-girl event.

    Just want to quickly add that my lamest 2-shot experience by far was with rika nakai. Not sure why that girl's an idol. She seems really lazy which was aggravated by her lane being sandwiched between ogiyuka and hinatan who were both super active and really attentive to the fans in their queue.

    On another topic, I didn't know that there was a special lane for disabled people. That's really nice and I think it was much easier or guaranteed that they win the special prize.
     
  19. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    I agree

    Whatever the event was, it got out right when I finished dinner and went to the train station. I regretted not getting on an earlier train.

    I agree they seem to do a really good job in the handicapped access lanes. As for their chances of winning the prize, not sure. I always figured they had the same chance as everyone else. I could be wrong though.
     
  20. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Although I haven't tried the hiki ones yet as my 2 tickets for today were both yori, I kinda wish they shot the yori ones vertically, not horizontally (but more close up than hiki photos). My 2 yori photos ended up looking weird composition-wise, so I cropped them into squares [hehe] Might be due to the fact that I used to study photography at university before and have developed the "photographer's eye", though :^^;:
     

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