Your AKB48 Experiences

@Kuura I purchased the LEs at the time the single was released simply because I wanted the covers and I wasn't too bothered about not getting bonus photos as I rarely get those of my favourite members. I wasn't expecting to be able to use the HS tickets but then this event was announced so I decided to have a go!

@dutchie Just to say (in case you're not aware) when you're in the 'waiting room' you need to refresh the screen every so often by pressing '順 番 更新' in the top-right hand corner until the number in the line of text lower down goes to 5 or less, then you can press the green button to go forward to the ID verification process. Good luck for tomorrow!

 

‘Shitsuren, Arigato’ Online HS Events 11/28 & 29

Back in January I bought HS tickets for 3 events (2 in Yokohama and 1 in Osaka) in late April/early May but of course they (along with my trip to Japan) were cancelled. That left me with the choice of taking part in online events or applying for refunds. As the latter is difficult and long-winded (and in any case I don’t think the process has even been advertised yet) I decided to go with the former and transfer my tickets into the WithLIVE app.

One problem for me though was the time difference, however the last four slots each day were after 7.30 am my time and I could stretch out my tickets over several dates to avoid early starts. I decided to schedule tickets for my top AKB oshis (Komi, Zukkii, Yukirin, Megu etc) over the weekend of 1/17 & 18 when they’ll all be doing later slots, so this time for the most part I was online with Eitos and SG members. So let’s start with Saturday’s slots:


Yoshikawa Nanase
I thought Nanase would make a good start to allow me to get used to using the app and so it proved. For me she’s not quite one of my top Eitos but she’s certainly one of the prettiest in that team. When I said she was ‘kawaii’ I had a very nice reaction from her with her crossed fingers making a love sign.

Otani Marina
Next up was my STU oshimen whose shy personality first endeared me to her but now she’s no longer so timid yet still very sweet. I told her that she’s my favourite member in the group and I pointed to the STU calendar on the shelf behind me which was open on her page. She was very happy to see that, she shouted “Daisuke!”.

Sakaguchi Nagisa
Over the past year Nagichan has become one of my top favourite Eitos thanks to her YT videos and today’s chat increased my love for her as she greeted me with my name, one of only a few members who did that this weekend. I told her that I hoped to visit Hokkaido one day and she also made a love sign with her fingers.

Yokono Sumire
I bought 3 tickets for Suuchan as I was hoping to win a 2-shot photo with her at the postponed event in May. Instead there was a lottery at the online event for a signing but I failed to win one. However no matter, I wasn’t sure how a long chat with her would go but it went very well! She was very lovely and genuinely very impressed to have a fan in England! I managed to keep the conversation away from gravure (as I’ve heard she prefers to be known as an idol) and I said how I enjoyed her performances in the recent NMB A-sides as well as the recently released B-side Kokuhaku no Kuuhou. We finished with exchanging ‘Arigato’ and heart signs. I’m very happy to be able to discover her sweet personality and I do hope I can meet her one day at a HS event in Japan.

Homma Mai
Maichan was actually the first 16th Gen member I ever noticed and she’s always been one of my favourites. When I told her I was from England she was also very genuinely impressed! She was very lovely and genki and I hope she can progress in the group.

Kuranoo Narumi
My final chat of the day was with Naru but although it was again very nice it was possibly the least successful of the day. The queue for her in the app progressed very slowly and I was stuck at 5th for about 5 minutes and at 4th for another two. Were there technical problems? Yes I think there were because when I connected to her she didn’t seem to be able to hear me very well but never mind, I still was able to hear her OK. I pointed to the British flag I had pinned up behind me and she said in English “Happy, happy!”


So on to Sunday which happened to be a busy day for me idol-wise as my report will show but first up a chat with an AKB legend:

Minegishi Minami
I had 2 tickets for Miichan. When I met her in 2017 in Japan she was a little subdued but definitely not today! She was very lively and friendly and she greeted me with my name. I told her I was English and that I met her in 2017 at Makuhari Messe but she seemed surprised so she obviously didn’t remember me lol. I said I liked the MV for =LOVE’s ‘Sukipi’ which she’s directed but she put her hands on her head in a ‘love’ sign and said ‘Suki suki suki’ so maybe she didn’t understand me, perhaps I should have said ‘Ikorabu’ instead of ‘=LOVE’! Time was nearly up so I wished her ‘ganbatte’ for the future. I think Miichan has changed a lot in the past year, she seems to be happier and more relaxed, and she was certainly in a very good mood today. Definitely worthwhile me getting up early on a Sunday morning!

Hori Shion
Shion has been one of my NMB favourites for a while with her big smile. She was another member who greeted me with my name. She was very bubbly and we exchanged a few ‘love’ and ‘heart’ signs. I do hope I can get to meet her properly one day.

Shiroma Miru
Sadly my NMB oshimen was unwell today but hopefully I can transfer to another slot on a later occasion.

Ishida Chiho
Chiho seemed to be very happy to have a foreign fan! She pointed to the British flag behind me and said “Hello hello hello thank you thank you thank you!” which was very nice but it didn’t give me time to say much else other than “love you” and to exchange love signs! She really is one of the loveliest members in the whole of 48G (not just STU) and next time I’ll get more tickets for a longer time with her.

Ueno Haruka
Harutan is one of my favourite HKT members for her visuals, I think she’s one of the prettiest in the group. She reacted very nicely when I said “Harutan kawaii desu ne!” but reallly she’s a member I hope to meet one day in Japan for a 2-shot.

(I said that today was a busy day for me idol-wise – now I had a ticket from TWICE’s recent Japanese album for a 30-minute online event with the group. It was just a Japanese-language talk MC’ed by Sana with a seated performance of ‘The Best Thing I Ever Did’ but it neatly filled the gap between HS slots.)

Uno Mizuki
I think Miikki had a little trouble hearing me but she quickly adjusted her earphones and she understood me when I congratulated her on being the center for ‘Kokuhaku no Kuuhou’. I went straight to first place in her queue when I entered the app so I think I was probably the first person she spoke to in this slot. As I’ve said before in her thread I’ve been a fan of hers since I first discovered NMB, for me she leapt out of the back row of a coupling-song senbatsu very early on, but sadly I see so little of her. Hopefully that will change now and she’s definitely someone I’d buy more tickets for next time.

(Next up – an online 2021 calendar signing session with Paruru in SHOWROOM but more about that over in her thread )

Oda Erina
Then in my final slot of weekend it was time for Odaeri. Again she was another member who wanted to confirm that she was really speaking to someone in England so it only left time to exchange love signs and goodbyes.

Even though these online HS are of course not as good as the ‘real thing’ they’re still fun and for me a nice break from the routine of Covid lockdown in winter! However single tickets are definitely not enough and as my (though still limited) Japanese is improving I think in future I’d buy more tickets for fewer members if more events like this take place. In the meantime, next up for me are a few SKE members on 12/19 (including Minarun) and one more Eito (Ayane).

 

‘Shitsuren, Arigato’ Online HS Event 12/19

On to the second weekend of online HS but for me just the one day today with mostly SKE members. An earlier start today with my first slot at 5.30 am UK time so to begin with I was still not quite wide awake lol.

Oba Mina
First up was my SKE48 kami-oshi Minarun who was wearing glasses, the only member so far I’ve seen doing that. She quickly spotted my copy of her PB which I had behind me and she was very happy to see it. I told her that I met her in Japan in 2018 but I don’t think she remembered? Anyway she was very lovely and she said “I love you!” in English as we waved goodbye to each other.

(She later tweeted that she's wearing glasses instead of contacts this weekend):



Kitano Ruka
I must admit I’m mostly a fan of Rukatin because of her body shape lol but she’s also very pretty and lovely. She was definitely very happy and excited to see a foreign fan and we did a lot of waving and exchanging love signs (which was easy for my still sleepy brain!).

Inoue Ruka
Now to my second Ruka! Ruuchan has seemed to me to have a somewhat quieter personality and so it proved although she didn’t seem to be hearing me too well, she tried to repeat back what I was saying and she thought I was Australian even though I had a British flag pinned up behind me! By the time we’d sorted that out the time was up. Not quite the most successful chat but still nice to meet her. Anyway now time for me to grab some coffee before the next slot.

Takahashi Ayane
The first of two AKB members for me today. Akane has become one of my favourite Eitos which I told her. She generally seems to be a rather quiet person, however she was very lovely in chat although just mostly waving and love signs but I’m happy with that!

(From her Twitter today):



Nakamuri Izumi
When the SKE 8th Gen was announced Izumin grabbed my attention very quickly with her cute rather shy smile which I still love but she doesn’t seem to be all that popular in the group. I was curious to meet her but it wasn’t a very thrilling encounter, she just said “Love love love” all the time while making love signs and I couldn’t get a word in!

Sato Kaho
Kaho seems to be a rising star in SKE and indeed her queue was the second longest I encountered after Minarun’s. She was wearing a Christmas hair band with reindeer antlers which I told her was ‘kawaii’. She was very bubbly and lovely and we wished each other a Merry Christmas. Definitely my equal best meeting of the day along with Minarun’s and I’ll certainly start oshi-ing her now!

(She later tweeted a photo):



Sugiyama Aika
My final SKE member of the day. Aiai has always seemed very sweet and lovely which she proved today! When I said (in Japanese) that I was from England she replied in English “England? Cold?” So I said yes and I joined her in putting our hands across our chests and saying “brrrrrr!” (even though it’s not all that cold here at the moment lol). She said “Thank You” and I wished her a Merry Christmas. Actually I think this was my best meeting of the day, it was great that she could speak some English and if I can meet her one day in Japan I’ll definitely buy a few tickets for her.

(From her Twitter today):



Yoshihashi Yuzuka
My final meeting of the day was with Yuzu who I think is probably now my favourite D3 member in AKB since Moeka’s graduation. Initially she seemed to be distracted on her side and she wasn’t looking at the camera but it gave me a couple of seconds to admire her Santa costume! When we started talking I congratulated her on her recent permanent promotion to Team 4 and she gave me a long reply in Japanese which I didn’t understand especially as she was talking quickly! By then time was up so I quickly thanked her and said Goodbye. She does seem very nice and I hope maybe I can speak to her again sometime.

So that was it for today and generally everything went well again. Next up on 1/16 will be my 'big' day with my top favourite members from AKB and HKT which I'm very much looking forward to.

 

Nice to see that you met Aiai! I'm still biting my ass that I forgot to get tickets for the online HS

Her Handshakes are super fun, she is really interactive and has a great memory (which might cause you trouble if she see's you in other lanes or waving another member's penlights )

 

‘Shitsuren, Arigato’ Online HS Event 1/16

This is my main weekend for using up the tickets from my aborted trip to Japan last spring as I could fit in the largest number of members into the later slots (6-10) which are better for my time zone (I'll split my report into separate posts for each of the two days). However a few days ago a little spanner was thrown into the works when it was decided to move members who were in the final slot to earlier times due to Coronavirus measures in Japan restricting evening activities. That was a slight problem for me regarding Seichan who was moved forward to slot 4 starting at 4.30 am my time, however I'd already planned to be awake for slot 3 as this was the only opportunity to use my ticket for Airi in SKE who is only doing a very limited number of slots. Simple solution - I enter at the end of slot 3 for Airi and at the start of slot 4 for Seichan.

Mizuno Airi
Airi IMO is one of the prettiest of the younger members in SKE. By the time I entered the app Airi's queue had gone down to zero so I had almost immediate ID verification and then I went straight into chat with her before my brain had time to get into gear! I could get very little Japanese to come out of my mouth so I just spent the time exchanging hand signs and saying 'daisuke'. She looked as pretty and as sweet as I expected (although a little quiet) but I hope I can meet her properly one day.

Fukuoka Seina
I then immediately 'pre-queued' for Seichan so I got into third in her virtual line. She was very lively in chat but again it was a very simple conversation, I told her I was from England and we exchanged 'love' handsigns. She looked very pretty on my screen and she was wearing a very smart blue outfit which she posted a video of on her Twitter. But time now for me to get a couple of hours sleep!

Otake Hitomi
Now at the better (but still early!) time of 6.30 am and armed with coffee I was ready for better chatting. First up was Toppachan who I think is now definitely one of the prettiest members in AKB. I told her she looked very 'kawaii' and I congratulated her on her top place in AKB48 no Dobbon. She replied with 'Arigato' and 'Thank You' in English. She seems to like wearing hats and today was no exception, she posted a photo of it on her Twitter earlier:



Yamabe Ayu
I told Ayu that I met her sister Miyu in London some years ago when Tokyo Girls' Style performed at Hyper Japan with an HS event afterwards. She understood me and she said she was very happy to know that I'd met her. She posted a photo today on Twitter:



Taniguchi Megu
Megu was another member moved forward from the final slot but this was not so much of a problem for me timewise! Her smile was as beautiful as always although I wish I could have seen what she was wearing in her hair but it was off the top of the screen. I told her that I'd met her three times in Japan, I don't think she remembered but we exchanged heart signs and she said "Have a nice day" in English. (Later she posted a photo on her Twitter so I could see she was in fact wearing cute cow horns on her head!)



Moriyasu Madoka
Now to the first of my two favourite HKT members. I was expecting Madoka to be a somewhat quieter member but not today, she was in a very happy and lively mood. She was very pleased when I complimented her on her piano playing which I said I enjoyed. She looked very pretty with her shorter hairsyle and she was wearing what looked like a white dress. She's definitely still my kami-oshi in HKT!

Tanaka Miku
I wondered if my meeting with Mikurin would be the best one of the day and indeed it was! When I greeted her with her nickname she seemed very excited that I knew it and although I was planning to say I liked her recent magazine photos we just spent the time exchanging lots of handsigns and saying 'daisuke'. I left our chat feeling very happy! (Incidentally the staff member who performed my ID check was the only one I've encountered so far who spoke English, I'm wondering if they were expecting rather more international fans for her?)

Kitagawa Yoshino
Yokonyan has been one of my favourite SKE members ever since I first discovered her three years ago. She always gives good fanservice in her SR and her social media, and today she said my name and held up a heart message board with 'Daisukidayo' on it (as shown in the picture below from her Twitter). She really is one of the loveliest members in SKE and 48G and she was also very pleased that I knew her nickname.



Sato Kiara
I've always enjoyed seeing Kiichan in variety shows which is why I bought a ticket for her but while I was waiting in her line I realised that I had seen her anywhere for a long time and I didn't quite know what to talk about! So I just introduced myself, said she was 'kawaii' (and she did look very pretty with a purple hairband) and we finished by calling 'daisuke' to each other.

Maeda Ayaka
My final chat today was with Ayaka-chan. I told her I was sad that she was graduating and I said "Ganbatte" and "Good Luck" to which she replied "Thank You very much" in English. In the short chat time she seemed to me to be a very intelligent and mature person and I hope she'll have a good future. She posted a photo from today's event on her Twitter:



So that was it for today. It was good to be able to meet so many different members online but as I only had single tickets each time it was always too short. Tomorrow thouggh I'll have multiple tickets for some girls and it'll be a big day for me as I'll be meeting my favourite AKB members - Komi, Zukkii and Yukirin as well as another very special member of the group!

 

‘Shitsuren, Arigato’ Online HS Event 1/17
Today's slots started with another broken night's sleep for me with Zukkii being moved from slot 10 to slot 3, but of course it's always worth getting up early for your ni-oshi!

Yamauchi Mizuki
From my experience of meeting her in Japan in 2019 I found her to be a little quiet and I've seen similar HS write-ups about her, but today (wearing a very smart beige-coloured outfit) she was very lively and it was me who was half-asleep! I told her that I'd met her two years ago and she did seem to give the impression that she remembered me, especially when I told her that I'd won a 1S video with her at the time. Apart from that it was just the usual exchange of waving and 'daisuke'. It was a little unfortunate that the online meeting had to be at 3.30 am my time, hopefully better luck in the future!

So back to bed again to wake rather more refreshed for a member whose name I never ever expected to be including in my event write-ups!

Iriyama Anna
My best 2020 Christmas gift was when it was announced on 12/25 on the Official AKB48 Blog that tickets had gone on sale for a short period for online slots with Annin for this weekend, her first participation in any type of HS event since 2014. I managed to secure tickets for two slots today. I wasn't sure whether to try to speak Japanese or Spanish to her but in fact she was able to speak some English although that led to something of a muddled conversation in the three languages! I told her that I was a big AKB fan and that I was "muy muy feliz" and very happy to be able to meet her at long last. I asked her if she enjoyed her visit to London 2 years ago and she said she did. All too soon time was up but I had another slot with her later.

Hirata Shiina
Shiichan immediately stood out for me as a new beauty in SKE the first time I saw her and early last year she seemed to be having something of a push. She certainly looked very pretty in the chat and she understood me when I thanked her for signing a photocard for me in last week's online sign-kai for 'Koi Ochi Flag' but otherwise she seemed to me to be a little quiet.

Baba Sayaka
Sayamaru is another new-gen member (this time in HKT) who immediately stood out for me but for being super-cute although she seems to have largely disappeared over the past year so I wasn't sure what to talk about. However she was very lively and genki and I was happy simply to exchange 'daisuke', 'love' and hand-signs with her. She thanked fans today in her Twitter for taking part.



Iriyama Anna
Now to my second slot with Annin. This time I told her that I'd visited Japan several times and I congratulated her on her success with the 'telenovela' on TV in Mexico. I asked her "Volverás a trabajar en México" ("Will you return to work in Mexico?") but she looked a little sad and replied in English "I don't know". I said that I hoped she could and I wished her Good Luck for the future. In both the talks I had with her she seemed a little quiet but of course this is her first meeting with fans for seven years and maybe things are currently a little unsettled for her? Anyway, I'm just very happy that I finally got a chance to talk with her! Photo from her Twitter today:



Komiyama Haruka
At last it was time to meet my kami-oshi! My meetings with her both in Japan and online have always been very good and today was no exception. She does understand some English so I used a mixture of that and Japanese. As usual I told her that she's my favourite member in AKB48 and she replied saying "Number 1" with making a handsign of the figure '1'. I then said that I loved her Komibook photos in her Twitter and she made the same sign with her fingers as in my avatar photo and said "Beauty!". I told her she was indeed very beautiful and she replied by saying that I was "ikemen"! We then finished by exchanging 'hearto' signs and I made the Team K sign with my hand which she loved! It's these kind of experiences I've had with her which is why I love her so much as my kami-oshi and I can definitely recommend to AKB fans to get tickets for her whenever they're available for future events. She really did look very beautiful today as her Twitter photo shows:



Okada Rina
Okarina is not someone who's stood out for me very much but I've seen so many good fan reports of HS meetings with her that I thought I'd try for myself. There was no queue for her so I went straight through the ID check and into chat with her. Unfortunately though she seemed to be rather quiet and I had a rather ordinary meeting with her. Maybe she just had an 'off-day' and I'll try and watch out for her in future. She was dressed very smartly and she posted a photo of her jumper on her Instagram:



Shimizu Maria
For me Maria is the top Eito beauty alongside RinRin and indeed she looked very beautiful today. She was in a very good mood and I had a very happy reponse from her when I said I loved Team 8! Again lots of 'daisuke' and I hope so much I can meet her for real one day. She was also wearing a smart jumper and she posted a photo on her Twitter:



Kashiwagi Yuki
Yukirin is another member with whom HS experiences are guaranteed to be good, she's always as genki as she appears on screen! I told her that I last met her in Japan two years ago, she understood me and she was pleased but I'm not sure she remembered me! I mostly talked to her about her YouTube videos, I said how much I enjoyed them and how entertaining they were for me which she was very happy to know. I enjoyed my chat with her and I wish I'd bought more tickets, hopefully I'll get another chance before she graduates.

Nojima Kano
Of all the members I met today, Kanochan gave me definitely the happiest reaction to have an overseas fan in her talk! Maybe because it was my last slot of the day I got a little tongue-tied in Japanese so I had to try and speak English to her but she seemed to understand me and she was very pleased to know that I'd enjoyed her singing performances on 'J-Melo' on NHK World. We had a long goodbye as the chat seemed to continue a few seconds past the red on-screen notification that time was up, hopefully a very kind staff-san gave us a little extra time! Her jumper today from her Twitter:



That's all for this weekend but I've a few tickets left to use up in two weeks' time - mostly for HKT and STU members but also for Yuihan who I haven't been able to fit in so far.

 

‘Shitsuren, Arigato’ Online HS Event 1/30 & 31

So on to the last weekend for this for me – as I said before, this has been rather strung out as I wanted to concentrate only on the last few slots each day as they fit better into my time zone. However most STU members have only been doing early slots and that meant waking up in the middle of the night my time. That includes Kokoa and Cuca who I had tickets for, however there was one slot which they were both doing (the 3rd slot today) and so it made sense for me to choose it as it meant I could do both with a 3.30 am alarm call.

Kai Kokoa
Of all the members I’ve met online in this series, Kokoa was definitely the most excited to have a foreign fan! However she always does seem to have a very lively personality which I why I chose to have a ticket for her. Speaking Japanese is especially difficult for me at that hour of the night lol so after telling her I was from England I was happy to mainly exchange ‘love’ signs and for me to wish her ‘ganbatte’. I seemed to get a couple of extra seconds with her after the time-up message which was nice. She's definitely someone I'd like to meet properly one day. She was wearing a pretty dress as her Twitter photo shows:



Sakaki Miyu
I met Cuca in 2018 in Yokohama when I got a signed card from her and I held up the card to the camera to show her I’d met her in Japan. She understood me and she was interested to see the card but it was clear that she didn’t remember me! I found her to be rather quiet when I met her that time and it was much the same this time but she remains one of my top 3 STU members.

Now back to bed for a good continuation of sleep as the only other two members I had today were in the 9th slot, both of whom I hadn’t been able to fit into late slots until now:

Kato Yuuka
Uuka was one of my first favourites in NMB but she seem to disappear for a while, however recently she seems to have made something of a comeback in gravure. I’ve always felt she’s very pretty and indeed she did look nice in the cam with a very pretty outfit as her photo below from Twitter shows. However it was a fairly routine meeting with the usual exchanges of ‘daisuke’, and ‘love’ and ‘heart’ signs although as with Kokoa I was given a couple of extra seconds with her.



Yokoyama Yui (Team A)
Yuihan has been one of my top favourites at HS in Japan and again today she looked very lovely and elegant. Beforehand I’d found my copy of the DVD of her solocon from 2018 so I held that up to the camera which she was surprised and happy to see. I told her she was very beautiful and I said I hoped she could visit here again one day (she visited London in a Japanese TV show a couple of years ago). Afterwards she sent the Tweet below to show her nails for today but she also said in it higher up '今日はロンドンから!!!' - ‘Kyo wa London kara mo!!!’ - ‘From London today also!!!’ which made me very happy!



That was all for today, now to Sunday and a ‘mop-up’ of my last remaining tickets for AKB and HKT. These are all members who I like mainly for their visuals and I just had single tickets for each of them which I bought with the intention of admiring their beauty from close up at the events I'd planned to attend last year, but I had to be content with doing that through my tablet screen.

Yamashita Emiri
Of all the members I've met online Emiri definitely seemed to be the most surprised to have a foreign fan, in fact it was a few seconds before I got a reply from her! Therefore there was just time for the exchange of 'love' signs and 'arigato' before time was up.

Omori Maho
Mahopyon usually seems to me to be very sweet but quiet, however she was the most lively and genki member I met today. We had a very quick-fire exchange of 'love' and 'hearto' signs and I left the chat feeling very happy!

Kubo Satone
Satopii was also very lively and she said "Hallo! Pleased to meet you!" in English which was unexpected and very nice, and so we had a very brief chat in basic English, I said she was very pretty and cute and she said "Thank You"! She stood out for me quite a lot in last weekend's Ouchi RH and she's now definitely on her way to becoming one of my favourite members in AKB.

Kurihara Sae
For me Saechan is one of the top beauties in HKT and I think her most recent Instagram photos of her wearing a white dress are particularly beautiful (I've posted them in her thread). I complimented her on her beauty but she was rather quiet and I didn't get much of a reaction from her. I do hope though that I can see her close up one day in HS.

Oda Ayaka
Odachan is someone who has stood out for me more in HKT variety shows than in song performances, and I wondered if she'd have many fans today? She actually had the longest queue I encountered this weekend, I entered at 29th, and it moved very slowly which probably meant that many people had multiple tickets for her. When I finally got into chat she reacted very happily to have a foreign fan and we had a good but of course short exchange of greetings and love signs. I'm pleased to see that she seems to be very popular and I hope she can be a regular in HKT A-side senbatsu.

Kitazawa Saki
And finally to Sakii who is one of my Team B favourites, I like her theater performances especially those with Yuiri. I also like a song called 'Shinigami-sama' which she performed about a year ago in a stage musical in Tokyo and I mentioned that to her which she was very pleased to know. She was very sweet in chat and it was a nice finish to today. She later posted a photo (with Mogi) from today's event in her Twitter:



(Actually that’s not quite the very end of my online HS as I’ve the postponed slot with Mirurun next Saturday but I’ll report on that in her thread after then.)

It’s certainly been very enjoyable doing all of this from the comfort of my home while stuck here in winter Covid lockdown and it’s been rather better than I expected but obviously still not as good as meeting the members for real. The main negative for me is that you don’t get ‘before’ and ‘after’ time. In a ‘real’ HS event you can spend some time looking at the member while you’re waiting for your turn, you’ve time to look at what she’s wearing etc and then you go to talk to her – and you can have an extra couple of seconds waving ‘goodbye’ as you leave the booth. With the online events it’s a case of ‘straight in and straight out’ – you have to start talking as soon as the member appears and you have to make sure you say everything you want to before the end - and with single tickets there’s really only time for a quick introduction, a ‘daisuke’ and a couple of ‘heart’ signs before time is up.

However on a more positive note it’s still very much possible to have a lot of fun speaking with each of the members and I’d recommend this for fellow overseas fans if any more sessions become available, maybe with the 58th single whenever that happens. I’d strongly recommend having at least 2 and certainly 3 tickets for each member each time, single tickets are over much too quickly. Also I didn’t win any gimmicks and I think you need at least a few tickets for each member to get those. Therefore next time I’ll only buy multiple tickets but I'll just buy them for my top favourite members (and especially for Komi, I know she’s my kami-oshi but I do think she’s definitely the best at HS!).

 

‘Shitsuren, Arigato’ Online HS Event 3/13

Having enjoyed the previous events, and still stuck indoors with the current UK lockdown, when tickets for the additional session today went on sale I jumped at the chance for more talk time! There were only 3 slots today but all in the later morning my time and it gave me another opportunity to meet online my top 6 oshis in AKB48, 2 in each slot.

Yamauchi Mizuki
In the first slot I had tickets for Zukkii and Yukirin. I went online before the slot opened but already the queue for Yukirin had 91 people in it so I left it to let it count down while I waited in line for Zukkii who had 35 in hers (with this system you can keep your place in one queue while waiting in another). However Zukkii's queue was going down unusually slowly and I had to wait for about 25 minutes after the slot opened before I could pass through the ID check and into chat with her.

This time I had 3 tickets for her and at last I won a 'gimmick', which for this slot was a one-shot photo. I introduced myself again from England and said again that I met her two years ago at HS in Japan, but as the countdown timer for the 1S photo had started I asked her to make a cute pose with her fingers on her cheeks, this is the result :



After that I could use the other two tickets to chat with her. I congratulated her on being the center of 'Shitsuren, Arigato' and she started to sing the chorus so I joined in with her, not that I could remember all the words but it was very funny and lovely (and unexpected!). I then said I enjoyed watching IxR, I hoped I pronounced it correctly as 'Airu' but she understood me and thanked me, and she was also happy that I liked her song "Monica, yoake da'. By now time should have been up so I thanked her and we exchanged 'hearto' signs, and she did her 'Lucky Zukkii' one, but with still no warning message of the end I continued by saying 'Love you' with more love signs and then finally the warning came up so I waved 'bye bye' to her. I did seem to get a long time with her, noticably longer than I got later with Komi with 3 tickets, maybe about 40-45 seconds in total? Anyway I enjoyed the chat with her so much and I definitely left it with a smile on my face!

Kashiwagi Yuki
Back to Yukirin's queue which was now about 30 in length but going down very quickly and it looked like I should just get in before the end of the slot. The ID check was very rushed with staff-san reading all the rules to me in one go without pausing for breath (obviously things were running late) and then I was in the final waiting 'room' for her. I did try to get 3 tickets for her but I only won one so I had be fast. I quickly introduced myself and then she wanted to make sure she pronounced my name correctly (fans' names appear to the members on their screens) which was sweet of her but it took up valuable time! So I just had time to compliment her on her new single which she thanked me for liking, and sadly that was it!

Muto Tomu
I didn't have an online chat with Tomu previously as she was absent from most of the earlier sessions due to other commitments so this extra session was an opportunity. After introducing myself from England I then said (hopefully correctly in Japanese) what the weather was doing here (windy, 8C) which she was surprised to hear but she thought was funny! However she seemed to be a little quiet today and otherwise it was a rather routine meeting with her.

Okabe Rin
Now to my Eito-oshi who seems to be more beautiful every time I see her and again she was today even through a relatively low-res webcam image. As usual I introduced myself from England and she replied very excitedly with something very fast in Japanese but I couldn't understand her. However it seemed to be a question so I just confirmed where I am. I then just had time to compliment her on her beauty and to tell her she's my favourite in Team 8, then it was time to finish. I definitely should have had at least one extra ticket with her today! Later in her Twitter she posted the photo below and said that she was particularly happy that there were many participants from overseas.



Komiyama Haruka
Kami-oshi time! I started much the same as before with introducing myself and saying that she's very beautiful and my favourite member of the group but I'm sure she remembers that now lol. I then complimented her on her 'Komibook' and I said I liked her fashions, then I said I liked the Sensuality unit she's in but she replied by saying 'hai, sexy!', however I think she might have thought I was referring to her Komibook photos! Already though the warning of the end had quickly appeared so I just had time to say 'bye bye' and 'I love you'. She was somewhat quieter than last time but she had been involved earlier in the 17LIVE event so maybe she was a little tired. Photo from her Twitter today:



Taniguchi Megu
And finally to Megu who was in a very nice and lively mood today. I told her that I love her smile, it's so beautiful and cute and she smiled a lot for me today which is all I really wanted from her lol (and as her photo today in Twitter below shows well). We exchanged many 'hearto' and 'kawaii' signs before I thanked her at the end.



A good end to the day which started so unforgettably well with Zukkii!

 

March 14, 2021 AKB48 All-group White Day online talk

Using reapplied tickets from the canceled May 5, 2020 dai akushukai I met the following members online using the withlive app. Before writing about the individual member experience, I will say a little about the withlive app and the ID verification.

The withlive app is fairly straightforward and it's available in the U.S. appstore, use the QR code that is on king records or chara-ani site to get the meet & greet ver. and it will take you to AKB48 room (there is another withlive app that operates like showroom) Create your account using the name on your passport and upload a good copy of your passport (or whatever ID you will use for the verification). Unlike in-person where you verify your tickets and passport all at one time. Withlive you have to go through the credential check before every member. When you sign up for a members room you get a number that is your virtual place in-line for the credential process (yes, even in cyberspace Japanese line up) a countdown starts and when your number is 5 or less you enter the verification room where a staff member will greet you and ask to see your ID (turn your camera horizontal so they can see you and the ID in the same frame). When cleared you enter the room, and a second countdown begins until the member connects to you. Stay in view of your phone's camera while you are waiting to be seen, done open other apps or play music. No screenshots, no records, etc. Withlive suggests mobile data is preferred over wi-fi (probably because some mountainous areas of Japan have spotting wi-fi) I used wi-fi at first without a VPN and no problem. Later I did switch to 5G over VPN and there was little difference quality was good for both, although the app and my camera seemed to have some issue with zooming in when the camera was horizontal.

This is my second time meeting the members (first virtually) and a one bit of advice. It can be nervous waiting for the member. Certainly, but try not to be. She is the one working, this is supposed to be a relaxing, fun, event for the fans. Go ahead and prepare an intro and practice some Japanese, but my advice is to stop being the smooth operator you are back home and just lets the pros lead the conversation, even the laconic Kyouka Yamada knows how to talk to a shy fan.

Best experiences:

Yokono Sumire NMB48 She is super kind, and she controlled the convo right off the bat. She complimented me, and she asked me if I liked her and I confessed, We are dating now.

Suzuki Kurumi AKB48 Again, took charge like a pro. She was wearing a pink sweatshirt with a bear on it. And she wanted to know what I thought about it. I told her it was the cutest thing in the world and called her kuma-ku-ru-ru-n. and she laughed like it was the funniest thing she heard in her life (pro).

Good (could have been better if I had taken my own advice above, not her fault, mine):

Umeyama Cocona NMB48 I was stunned by her beauty and I was my first meeting of the day. (6 pm my time, 11:00 am for her). I tried to introduce myself and apologize for my bad Japanese without giving her much chance to speak, it seemed like it was over before I got the words out.

Nakano Mirai NMB48 Super genki and funny Mirai, I only had 1-ticket for her. Should have used more.

Kyouka Yamada AKB48 Kyouka is really quiet, and it got a little awkward.

Utada Hatsuka AKB48 Hatsu was the first member to ask where I was from. (I read somewhere in this forum that some intl fans couldn't connect to the withlive app, so I didn't mention it in convos with the members. I'm sure it was obvious with my passport verification and speech). I wanted to tell her that I have a complete 5-card dobbon set for her but don't know if it got through. She did her best to converse in English and she's not bad. (even if she was just telling me that she didn't speak English).

Technical Difficulties:

Kudou Riko STU48 I scheduled Riko in the middle of the day thinking it would be a break from all Japanese convos I was having. As luck would have it, the talk of the girls around her was so loud we could not hear each other. She was using earbuds and I had open mic on my end. Just don't how it happened.

Overall, the time with the idols is rushed compared to in-person, but I am grateful for the experience. I'm still searching for that kami-taiyou experience that will have me stop spreading my tickets all around members and just use all my time for one member. Definitely going to see Sumire in the future tho.

 

I had no idea AKB were doing online handshake events, so it was a delight to go back and read all of these reports. It sounds like it’s very much open to people living overseas, where it’s hit-or-miss with the Sakamichi groups whether or not you’ll be turned away if you’re not a resident of Japan. Reading these reports, it also seems like people were getting a comparatively decent amount of time per ticket. With that in mind, I’ll need to participate assuming they end up doing anything online for the new single.

 

I guess I’ll kick off the Rumor online talk experience-sharing despite being woefully unqualified to do so. This was my first time “meeting” any AKB members, virtually or otherwise. I’ve seen Team 8 live before, but that’s it. Also, I had tickets for Yokochan who was unable to participate. Anyway, here we go…

Chiba Erii:

Erii was nice and immediately gave a pretty big reaction to my not being Japanese. She tried to speak some English at the start (just basic “thank you” and such) and then switched to Japanese after I said “hajimemashite.” Naturally, I got the “nihongo jozou” treatment from saying just a single phrase, which is always kinda funny - particularly since I wound up stumbling over my words a tad bit in explaining that I was American and a new fan. I asked what her favorite English word/phrase was at the end of the call, which got a funny, flustered response from her - “eigo?!” She briefly turned away, deep in thought, and came back with… an answer that was clearly English but that I unfortunately couldn’t understand at all. After the gears in my brain stopped turning, I tried to give a convincing “ii, ne!” to her response and all that was left after that was time for waving and “byebye.” She had incredibly flashy nails.

Muto Orin:

Genki as hell. I’ll be honest, at a certain point early in the ticket-application process I kinda got carried away. I started applying for members I didn’t really know anything about but who I thought were intriguing for one reason or another. Orin was one of those members and I didn’t really learn too much more about her between then and now apart from seeing some Bingo appearances. All of this preamble is just to say that I wasn’t really looking forward to this call, because I thought while Orin seemed cool, it’s not that I was necessarily a *fan*

She was awesome. I wish I had bought more tickets for her. It’s hard to really even offer a play-by-play since I was just matching her energy for the duration of the call. Like Erii, she started out with English when she saw me and then we kinda jumped back and forth between English and Japanese. That’s not to say she’s fluent in English or anything, but she was very confident in saying what she did know and I thought her pronunciation was very good. I asked her favorite English word/phrase as well and got a quick “I love you” which is along the lines of what I was expecting, but I’ll never complain about hearing that. At the end of the call, she made sure to use my name, which is notable only because I forgot to enter a nickname on WithLIVE until it was too late. That means an idol called me by my full legal name as written on my passport. That’s a wild feeling.

Orin is simply so easy to talk to and radiates a warm, positive energy. Definitely use some English if you have a talk with her, since she seemed to like having an excuse to use the phrases she knows.

Next up I have Taniguchi Megu and (jfc) yuiyui on the 23rd of November. Due to timezone differences, that will be the night of the 22nd for me. I only bring that up because that means that I’ll be talking to yuiyui after work on a Monday night. Wild.

 

Well, that was legitimately so much fun. The staff was really cool and made the experience a lot easier and less intimidating. First time meeting the AKB48 girls and it was some really fun experiences. Will be posting the dates in the time it took place in Japan even if it took place in my time, the day before.

10/09

Ma Chia-Ling 第2部

I met her after hearing a friend say she has a funny reaction when you talk to her in Chinese! I said 'ni hao' and she was shocked but starting laughing and she has a really pretty smile! Most of the call was her repeating my name and saying thank you. She was really cute and for my first ever meet and greet with AKB, it was a really good one!

Ma Chia-Ling 第3部 (final)

Again with Macharin! I wish the times were a bit longer but I at least had some fun with her again! I spoke in Japanese and told her good evening and she remembered me and said welcome back. I panicked a bit and just blurted out daisuki and she said it back to me as we said goodbye. She was soooo pretty. I'm glad I chose Macharin as my first member. She was very friendly!

Muto Tomu 第3部

I won the stupid chance minigame and got her autograph. I already had 30sec with her but the autograph added more so I believe it was a minute total. Tomu...she's my kami-oshi so I was already completely nervous and my heart was beating so fast, it felt like it was gonna rip out of my chest. ANYWAY... As the video started up, I held up Tomu's little chanrio plush and immediately she said, "Ah, it's me!?" (in Japanese) SO CUTE

I just won a limista autograph from her a few weeks prior so I think she recognized my name which made me feel so happy. She thanked me for coming and then did the autograph and showed it to me. I was so flustered at this point, all I kept saying was arigatou and hai like a robot. After the autograph, she asked if I was from America and when I said yes, she got excited and asked if it was night time over here. I said it was and when she asked for the time, my brain completely betrayed me and I forgot how to say "eleven" in Japanese. I just said "eleven" in English so I didn't waste time and she did the cutest freaking thing...

She put her two index fingers to her cheeks and said "Eleven?!" and I was like, "Yes!" and at that point, she started laughing and I told her I was a big fan and she thanked me. We waved goodbye as the time ended. Honestly, she is STELLAR at these. She's super freaking nice and very easy to talk to! I almost let the nerves get to me but she really reeled me in with the cute eleven thing.


10/10

Muto Orin 第1部 (final)

If I was meeting Tomu, I had to meet Orin as well! I didn't really know too much about her until about last year as I started to attend as many SHOWROOMs as I could so I can see how she is. She's really cool and laidback...until I got in the talk session with her. She talks a lot and is super energetic. I was really overwhelmed because she looked really excited and high energy which made me try to replicate her energy too. Plus, she was dressed as a panda too which was SUPER cute! I only had one ticket but I did say I was from America and she ended it while saying "I love you!" before it cut out. Short, but sweet!

Honda Hitomi 第2部

Okay, Hiichan was SO CUTE. Her voice is so tiny. She immediately waved at me and went "waa" for some reason but it was really cute. I'm going to use that word a lot here. I told her in Japanese "Good evening from America!" and she responded back that my Japanese was shocking. I guess she wasn't expecting that haha. I held up a little bunny plush I had with me and as the screen was about to cut, she did the bunny ears gesture and said thank you JUST as it cut. I at least got to see Hiichan's bunny ears. CUTE CUTE CUTE CUUUUUTE

Oguri Yui 第3部

I kinda flubbed this one a bit because Yuiyui is another of my top kami-oshis and I was really nervous. The nerves hit me bad here. Was just barely able to get out I'm a fan from America and for her to do her best. She's unbelievably cute. Really nice too!

Muto Tomu 第4部 (final)

Just a regular talk session this time but my time with her was so good. This was supposed to be my final time, but I applied for more tickets for her. I was first in line for her and am immediately greeted with a YAHOO~! She straight up remembered me from yesterday because she mentioned our meeting. I thought that was awesome! Told her this was my last (at the time) and she said thank you. I told her to continue always doing her best. She smiled and said she will while doing a little finger heart pose. I ended it with saying she was my kami-oshi and she said "I'm so happy! Thank you!" and did a heart pose with her hands! We waved bye as the video cut.

I love that girl...I really, really do. She is just the absolute best.

Oguri Yui 第4部 (final)

Oh, Yuiyui...I managed to talk clearly this time. She greeted me with my name and waved while saying hello. Already super cute. I told her I was a big fan of her and she said thank you. I then told her my favorite song of hers is Hotei Sokudo to Yuuetsukan and she started doing the dance to it and singing it to me. UNBELIEVEABLE! I told her thank you and we said bye bye! Can't believe an idol sang and danced for me. I'm going to genuinely treasure that forever!

My next upcoming slots are on 11/3, 11/23, 12/5, 12/25, and a few more with STU48 as it was the only way I could get Naachan's slots lol. Still have to meet Mion, Hiichan again, Zukky, Yuihan, Mahopyon, Yokoyui (if she's okay), Annin, and THE Yukirin. I said I was done but...I just applied for more Tomu along with Kyoka, Chiyori, and Komiharu. This stuff is addicting. It was a great experience and I'm so grateful. The virus may have halted travel, but it ain't gonna do anything to stop AKB48 from capturing the hearts of fans!

I hope the girls see that they have a good following overseas as well! I feel like we definitely made our presence felt so I'm really happy! Hopefully we made the girls happy!

 

'Ne mo Ha mo Rumor' Online talk Event 11/23

This was my first event for this single as the earlier dates all clashed with pre-planned trips away from home. However at least I was still in time to talk with Yuihan before her graduation and she was the first member for me today:

Yokoyama Yui (Team A)
I know from previous meetings that she can speak some basic English so I greeted her with 'Good Morning from England' and she then spoke in what was actually quite good English for the whole talk! She greeted me with my name which is always nice when a member does that. I congratulated her on her graduation and I promised her I would watch her concert online which she was happy to know. I told her how much I loved her home city of Kyoto which I've visited twice and she was happy to learn that I've been watching her recent videos about the city on the Kansai ItoIto YT channel. As time was drawing to a close she told me she's been studying English but she doesn't feel confident about using it, however I assured her that she was speaking it well. She said I was very kind and I told her she's very beautiful before wishing her Good Luck for the future and waving her Goodbye. I've met her twice in Japan and once before online, and I'm going to miss her very much, she really is so very lovely.

Komiyama Haruka
But equally lovely is my kami-oshi and even better for me today is that I'd won a signed shikishi from her in the lottery so I got some extra time with her. She was very happy to see me again from England and she spent quite some time showing me the detail of her costume as she was dressed as Hermione from Harry Potter! She showed me the badge and her tie as well as her wand. It was so lovely of her to do that but I then had to rush a little to tell her that she looked very beautiful modelling for Maison de Prière and to congratulate her on her new movie 'Love Reality Show'. She asked me (in Japanese) to watch the trailer on YouTube while putting her hands over her eyes in a spectacles shape and I assured her that I had. Already the red warning had appeared so my Goodbye was very quick. IMO she really is the best member for fan interactions and I'll look forward to meeting her again at Christmas! (If she tweets a photo of her costume later I'll post it in her thread.)

Honda Hitomi
This was the first time I'd ever talked with Hiichan and I just had 2 tickets this time to kind of introduce myself before a longer talk with her on 12/26. She was very happy to see a fan from England and I said that I liked her in both IZ*ONE and Team 8. She then said in English 'Which one?' and I wasn't sure what she meant (did she mean IZ*ONE or T8?) so I just told her that she was the most beautiful member of Team 8 which got a nice reaction from her, and then it was time to finish the talk. I got an excellent first impression of her and I'll also look forward to meeting her again.

Yamauchi Mizuki
Next was my ni-oshi and as usual I greeted her using 'Lucky Zukkii!' with a fairly poor attempt at the handsign but this time she gave me a tutorial on how to do it properly. I still didn't get it quite right but we had a good laugh together while I tried it! It was very good fun but it didn't leave much time for talking so I quickly complimented her again on her center performance in 'Shitsuren, Arigatou' as well as in IxR. I then said that she was the cutest member of the group before saying Goodbye. She is also IMO one of the very best members with fan interactions.

Yamane Suzuha
This was another first time talk for me. She was very happy to see a foreign fan and she complimented me on my greetings in Japanese, she said (in Japanese) in that I spoke the language well (I wish lol) and everytime I said anything, even just 'Arigato gozaimasu', she applauded me. I wish so much I could find a Japanese language teacher who was as encouraging as her! She was very lovely and beautiful and I'll definitely buy more tickets for her in future.

Kashiwagi Yuki
After greeting Yukirin I complimented her on her collaboration with the WACK project. I said I liked all of the songs but especially my favourite, the one with MAMESHiBA NO TAiGUN (I stumbled over saying the title 'Zutto ki ni Naru Zucchini' but she finished it for me lol). I then tried to congratulate her on her successful return to health but I had my only language fail of the day. When it was clear that she didn't understand me I just went on to say that I always love seeing her in AKB48 and as it was nearly time to finish we had a long Goodbye waving at each other. She did seem to me to be a little tired but of course it was the last slot for her in a long day.

Shinozaki Ayana
Ayanan was a late addition for me, just purely out of curiosity as she's the 13th Gen member I know least about but she always seems very nice and indeed she was very lovely in our talk today. She was pleased and surprised to see a foreign fan, she said 'Nice to meet you' in English and she wanted to try speaking more but she got rather tongue-tied. Anyway I said she was a very good member in Team A and very pretty, and that I also like the coupling song 'Black Jaguar' which she took part in. She reacted very nicely and it was a good end to the day.

Everything generally went very well today, possibly because my Japanese continues to slowly improve but I think also that the members are becoming more used to the format of online talks and interacting with fans through the WithLIVE app. Hopefully all will go well again at Christmas and I'll look forward to maybe seeing my oshis in Santa costumes!

 

Online Talk Event - 11/03

I'm sorry. I had this written but completely forgot to post it haha

Komiyama Haruka
*Unfortunately, Komiharu wasn't feeling well this day so didn't attend today's meet and greet. Totally understandable. The tickets for this day are transferrable to the 12/5 date so I'll meet her in two weeks!

Muto Tomu (3rd)
I was so nervous meeting Tomu for the first time as she's my top kami-oshi (with Yuihan as a literal close second, so I consider them W-kami-oshis!) but this three times around, it feels natural. I won a 1shot for this event too! She greeted me with a "Yahho~" and I asked if she can do the Team K pose! She asked me where I was from and was like, "Texas? Oh, sugoi!" I told her the basic stuff like I'm a fan and whatnot, and that she's my kami-oshi. She told me my Japanese was good and we said goodbye. She's absolutely amazing to talk to!

Mukaichi Mion
Mion was very nice and looked happy to see a foreign fan in her lane. I told her she is an amazing soukantoku and she said "Amazing soukantoku? Yatta!" I told her to continue to do her best and she said thank you. I held up a nama-shashin and she pointed it out while we said goodbye!

Honda Hitomi (2nd)
My last time meeting Hiichan and my GOD SHE IS ADORABLE. She immediately greeted me with a 'Hey!' and when I told her good evening, she said "konbanwa?!" shocked and it super cute. I held up my little stuffed bunny and she did a bunny ears pose while puffing up her cheeks a bit before saying 'Bye bye!' and I swear, she has to be the cutest AKB48 member today. Just pure adorableness.

Yamauchi Mizuki
I kinda went overboard on buying Zukki's tickets for some reason. I held up my nama-shashin I got from one of the Rumor CDs and she pointed it out. I told her my favorite song of hers is "Monica, Yoake da" and she sang it a bit for me which was amazing! Really great time with her!

Yokoyama Yui (Yuihan)
As soon as the screen turned on, I caught her drinking water and I thought she almost choked a bit because she said 'domo!' in a kinda raspy voice. Her voice went back to being normal after that, though. The time was really short but I told her congratulations on her graduation and I was happy to be a fan of hers. She was really kind and I can definitely feel that aura of a leader with her.

Awesome day with some really awesome senbatsu members!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online Talk Event - 11/22

Iwatate Saho
The whole reason why I bought tickets to meet Sahho was so I can get fished by her burikko catchphrase. I don't know why but I LOVE burikko stuff because I think it's entertaining! I think I was the very first person she met all day because I was the first in line at her first lane which was pretty cool. I told her hello and she asked what time it was over here. I told her it was 7 at night and she looked shocked and said, "Oh! Night!" I broke the ice and asked if she can do her famous catchphrase for me! She did it and I giggled like a damn idiot. She started giggling too and she said my shirt was cute, then we waved goodbye! (I was wearing a grey Nightmare Before Christmas shirt, so I guess she saw it!)

Absolutely ace fan service right there!

Ishiwata Sena
Got a ticket for her because I think she's cute from the little I've seen from her on shows like Nemousu TV and AKBINGO! It was short and was only able to get a basic greeting and she was friendly enough. Out of all the idols I met so far, she was the most normal and laidback, which was nice.

Sato Kiara
I bought some last minute tickets for her because I saw an AKBINGO! episode I'll mention in a bit. She was super pretty and really sweet. I told her hello and that I loved her Hifumin cosplay on AKBINGO! As soon as I mentioned about the Hifumin cosplay, she burst out laughing and she looked really shocked but happy to hear that. We said our goodbyes and I have to say, she has a really pretty smile. She's an excellent variety member so I hope she can get a boost in popularity soon!

Omori Maho
Oh my GOD, MAHOPYON WAS HYPER. She waved a lot to me and asked what time it was again. (These girls are very curious, aren't they? lol) This time it was 8pm so she said, "Yoru, nanda?!" I told her she has a very pretty singing voice and she looked really happy and said thank you. I told her she's funny and to do her best. She did a heart pose for me before the camera cut off. She was really hyper and smiling all the time which was really cute!

Nakanishi Chiyori
My goal for Chiyori's meet and greet was to speak completely in English and not use Japanese. Since she is, in my opinion, the FUNNIEST AKB member today, I wanted to see her reaction. I remember this conversation really clearly so I'll post it in full!

智 「Anthony!」
私 「Hello from Texas!」
智 「Hello! How are you?」
私 「I'm fine! How are you?」
智 「I'm good! Thank you!」
私 「You are the funniest AKB member!」
智 「*gasp* Funny girl?! *points to herself* Thank you so much!」
私 「I love watching you on AKBINGO!」
智 「Ah! AKBINGO!? You know?」
私 「Yes!」
智 「Ah, thank you!」
私 「Bye bye!」
智 「Bye bye!*」

*So, we said bye in English but uh...I think Chiyori said goodbye as well in Korean which confused the everloving hell out of me. She was probably the best interaction I've had in pure fun levels out of anyone, and it literally made me buy more tickets for her. She is just the absolute best.

Yokoyama Yui (Yuihan) (2nd)
Finally back to see Yuihan. She looked stunning as always today. Told her good evening and again, congratulations on her graduation. She asked me where in America I'm from, and I told her Texas. She said she wants to come here one day which is really neat! Told her she's my kami-oshi and I'm very proud of her. She looked really happy and energetic and then said she hopes I can watch her graduation live! If she wants it, then hell yeah I'm gonna watch her graduation! Might not be able to live as it's too early but I'll definitely find a way to watch it! I have two more tickets for her final handshake day as an idol and it makes me happy and grateful to be among the final batch of fans sending her off and being there for her final handshake. Aaaahhh!

Chiba Erii
Really got interested in Erii because of AKBINGO! (what a savior) so I got two tickets. Told her the basic stuff like good evening and that I'm a new fan of hers. She looked really happy when I said that and she even let out a little "thank you" while doing a heart sign with her fingers! I have to say she has a really pretty smile. Told her to do her best and before time was up, I asked what her favorite AKB48 coupling song. Her favorite is Watashitachi no Reason!

Overall, really fun time with everyone! Chiyori was the MVP for today. That girl is nuts but she is so much fun to talk to! Next up is 12/4 (for me), and I'll meet: Komiharu, Yokochan, Kyoka, Yukirin, Yuihan, and Renacchi. Gonna be nervewracking, especially meeting Yukirin aka a literal goddess. These online meet and greets are so much fun to do. I love the staff, the simplicity of the app and everything about it. The girls are really fun to talk to!

 

nemohamo Rumor AKB48 handshake 2021.12.26

Christmas Day for me. I only bought 10 singles this year so I had a limited number of meets.

Sasaki Yukari
she's wearing a red Santa costume and sitting up so I can see her from the waist up. our last in person meet was 2019 Jiwaru Days in Chiba. we met online today and after I mentioned our last meeting yukari says "oh, I remember! " I don't even care that she made it up. merry Christmas to me.
https://twitter.com/yukari__0828/status/1474961813091790849?s=20

Suzuki Kurumi
she wanted to play acchi muiti hoi but I didn't know who was supposed to be pointing so we just kinda stared at each and decided to end with merikuri I love you. so, winning
https://twitter.com/akb48kururun/status/1475023150912262148?s=20

Kubo Satone
our first meeting. kubo is very sweet and called me by name and asked me in English if I was happy. a very emphatic Yes.
https://twitter.com/AKB48K5/status/1475081831771144195?t=NAo2hviioUB23CN_lpuv5Q&s=19

 

'Ne mo Ha mo Rumor' Online talk Events 12/25 & 26
I was able to fit in some talks between other events this holiday weekend with many of the members looking very cute in Santa costumes.

Suzuki Kurumi
After greeting her with ‘Merry Christmas’ I told her that I met her at HS in 2019 which she understood and she seemed to remember me but I’m never sure when members say that! I then complimented her on her performance a couple of days ago on Sky Perfect Idol Fes. A nice first talk of the weekend and she’s very sweet to chat with.

Yoshiashi Yuzuka
Next talk was with my D3-oshi who I congratulated on her move to Team A which she was definitely excited about! I told her I hoped that she could be in the senbatsu for the next single. She said ‘Thank You’ and ‘Fighting’ which I repeated back to her. She’s very lovely and I’ll certainly buy tickets again for her.

Takita Kayoko
I’ve often noticed Kayoyon in Team B but she seems rather quiet and I was curious to see what she was like in online talk so I bought a couple of tickets. As I kind of expected she was rather quieter but she was still very pleasant and friendly. She happy to see an international fan, she said ‘Nice to meet you!’ in English. I complimented her on her Instagram photos and her performances in Team B, and exchanged a love sign with her.

Okabe Rin
Sadly my Eito-oshi was unwell this weekend. Hopefully she’ll be feeling better soon and I’ll look forward to a rearranged talk date with her hopefully early next year.

Gyoten Yurina
I started with complimenting her on her photos in EX-Taishu and then I said that I visited her home prefecture of Kagawa in 2017, in particular the city of Takamatsu which certainly surprised her! However generally I found her to be a little on the quiet side but she did look very pretty today.

Hashimoto Haruna
Harupyon was very lively and lovely! She seemed genuinely excited to see a foreign fan, she said ‘Ah Englando!’ and then ‘Thank You’ a few times. I congratulated her on her appearance in AKBINGO NEO which we both applauded. She was very sweet indeed and I’d recommend buying tickets for her, I know I will again!

Honda Hitomi
The staff-san I had for the ID check for Hiichan’s talk spoke good English and I was straight through to being first in line for her which is great but when that happens it means you have to be prepared for the member to appear without warning. However she appeared very close to the slot start time and as with last time I talked with her she looked very beautiful and really I felt quite starstruck! I wanted to use the time to tell her that I attended one of the IZ*ONE concerts at the Nippon Budokan in May 2019. She understood me speaking in Japanese (with some English thrown in!) and she definitely seemed to be both surprised and happy that I was there. I finished by telling her that she’s very beautiful and that I’ll support her in Team 8, and we exchanged heart signs.

Kobayashi Ran
This was my first time with Ranchan, I’d heard many good things about her and she definitely lived up to my expectations! She was very bubbly and I complimented her on her Santa costume. I also complimented her on her dance cover of ‘Ne mo Ha mo Rumor’ which she was delighted to hear. I only had two tickets for her but I’ll definitely buy more next time.
So to my last two talks and in both of them I won 1-shot photos and extra talk time :

Komiyama Haruka
My kami-oshi greeted me with a very happy ‘David-san!’ and as it was quickly time for the photo pose I asked her to make a heart one:



She was looking very cute in her Santa costume especially with the hat which I said was ‘kawaii’. I congratulated her on the success of her movie ‘Love Reality Show’ at the recent Akiba Screening and she was very pleased when I complimented her on the white dress with roses which she wore and which she posted on Instagram. I then promised her that I’d vote for her center MV ‘Hohoemi no Toki’ which got the best reaction from her, she’s asked all her followers in Twitter to vote for it so she’s definitely keen for it to do well in RH! It was time now to finish but I had a long and very lovely Goodbye with her. She definitely seemed very happy to see me again but she's very good with fan service anyway!

Sakaguchi Nagisa
Nagi-chan wasn’t wearing a Santa costume but no matter, she did a very cute pose for me:



After telling her I was from England I said I was a Team 8 fan as well as a fan of hers and I wished her ‘Ganbatte’ to be in the senbatsu for the next single. I also said I enjoyed seeing her in AKBINGO NEO. Like Komi she’s very good at fan service and she certainly made me feel happy especially with ‘love’ poses as we said Goodbye.

Another very good couple of days with all the members I talked with being very happy to see a foreign fan. From my point of view I’m getting better at judging how much talk time I have with each member so I can talk more slowly and clearly and they do seem to understand me rather better in my less-than-perfect Japanese. For me it was also a great way to spend a few hours this Christmas!

 

'Ne mo Ha mo Rumor' Online Talk Event 1/16
Seeing the continuing poor sales of Team K members I decided to do something about that by buying some tickets for five of them today. In the meantime of course the shuffle has taken place but no matter, I could meet a couple of members for the first time and Komi yet again!

Okada Rina
The first time I talked with Okarina online last year she was very quiet and said almost nothing so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Yesterday she’d had her much delayed seitansai at the Theater which I watched online so I was able to congratulate her on that. I said that she was a very good dancer and I complimented her on centering ‘Kiseki wa Ma ni awanai’ although I seemed to get a better reaction from her when I mentioned her performance in ‘Jigsaw Puzzle 48’. She was definitely in a happier mood today but unlike almost all other members I’ve ever had online talks with I seemed to have to talk more to get any sort of reaction from her. However she’s still very lovely and I’ll continue to look out for her.

Yasuda Kana
As with Okarina I had 3 tickets but with Kanabun I won 1S photos with 2 of them!



I asked her to make ‘Heart’ and ‘Love’ poses and then I started my talk with her. Compared to Okarina she was much livelier and easier to talk to! I congratulated her on her Coming of Age ceremony last week and I said she looked beautiful in her kimono. I also congratulated her on being in the Fresh Members concert and centering ‘Tsugi no Season’. By then time should have been up but I’d forgotten I’d won extra time with the 1S photos and I couldn’t quickly think of anything else to talk about so I just used up the last seconds by thanking her and exchanging more love and heart signs. She was very lovely and cheerful and I’d definitely recommend her for online talks.

Komiyama Haruka
Kami-oshi time, and again I won a 1S photo! She was wearing a very nice white winter outfit and she greeted me with ‘Happy New Year David-san!’ I asked her to make the following pose:



As always she was in a very cheerful mood. I said that Komiyama Team K is the best team and that Komichan is the best captain, she replied with a very loud ‘Yayyyyyyy!’ and made Team K handsigns with both hands which I copied back. I wasn’t sure how she felt about moving to Team A but I wished her ‘Ganbatte’ and she happily made a Team A handsign (basically a triangle using fingers from both hands). I then congratulated her on her recent news about her forthcoming appearance in the ‘Hinamatsuri in Wonderland’ musical which she was surprised but pleased I knew about, I wished her ‘Omedetou’ again and she replied with ‘Ganbatte’ and ‘Fighting!’ All too soon time was up so I wished her ‘Happy New Year’ and ‘Thank You’ and we finished with exchanging heart signs. Yet again a very enjoyable talk with Komi!

Muto Tomu
I had a talk earlier this year with Tomu and she seemed rather quiet then but this time she was completely different, she was in a very happy and bubbly mood! She was very pleased to see an English fan and she also reacted happily when I told her I met her in Yokohama in 2018, she definitely understood me although I’m not sure if she remembered me! I then thanked her for the signed copy of ‘Ne mo Ha mo Rumor’ which I pointed to behind me. When I got the warning that the session was coming to an end I said ‘Bye Bye’ and ‘Arigato’ and she wished me ‘Happy New Year’ in English with much energetic waving. I didn’t think anyone would be in an even happier mood than Komi but I'd say that Tomu most definitely was!

Muto Orin
I’d never had an online talk with Orin before today but I’d heard so many good reports about her that I had to see for myself and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. She gave me the most excited reaction of the day when I said I was from England and she replied with ‘Ah! Big Ben!’ I continued by saying she was very ‘kawaii’ and we exchanged heart signs. I then complimented her on her SNS, in particular her TikTok with Tomu and her Instagram (I said I liked the Gingham Check dress she recently posted a picture of) and she said ‘Thank You’ in English. I finished by saying that I hoped she would be in the senbatsu for the next single, I said ‘Ganbatte’ but the impression I got from her reaction was that maybe she didn’t look very confident of that? Anyway time was just about up so I thanked her and we exchanged more heart signs.

Yet another very good set of online talks but I’ll leave it there for this single and I’ll wait for news (hopefully soon) of the next one. In the meantime I’ll try and continue to improve my Japanese but I’ve still got a long way to go with that lol.

 

"Ah! Big Ben!"

That's too cute!