Your SKE48 Experiences

SKE48 Tokyo Handshake Events (Individual and National) at Makuhari Messe (2016/20/27-2016/02/28) PART I

I am honestly all idol'ed out after the last 8 days. From the AKB Be My Baby Event, to the 2 Tokyo HKT48 concerts, to 2 FES☆TIVE live events. i thought I would have day off on Friday. But noooo, I had to make a mad dash to Shinjuku to preorder Hashimoto Kanna's upcoming PB for a book signing event in March. It culminated with a pair of SKE48 events at Makuhari. First the individual event where I had 6 tickets, then the National event which I ultimately had 12 tickets for. After attending the two events, I can say without a doubt I had a much better time at the National event. Now one might say "But you barely get any time to talk to the members. How could it be better?" There are a few reasons for that...

First of all, since there are no names on the tickets you can decide who you want to see on a whim. Even the most popular members. Feel like saying hello to Jurina? No problem, just queue up. Second, unlike AKB the SKE National Events seem to make it very easy to use a lot of tickets throughout day. There are a lot of lanes, and the crowd isn't quite as big. I used 12 tickets today, I could have easily used 3x that amount. Third, the way they mix the members you never know who you might get to meet (and really hit it off with) I got a chance to meet so many SKE members today who I had never met before. As a result I came away with a new "best friend"

Oh, and you get the mini-live too. Anyway, on to the meetings. And I am going with Sunday's National Event first since I enjoyed it so much.

The National Event was arranged in four slots, with a mini-live sandwiched in the middle. There were six solo lanes (Jurina, Suda, Churi, Shibata, Sae, Souda) The rest of the members were grouped in threes over 12 lanes. However, Furuhata Nao had a special lane to make up for missed handshake events, so she was not available unless you had her ticket. Also Kitagawa Ryoha was doing a makeup handshake, so she was only available in the morning. The neat part was the girls all shuffled in the afternoon, so the pairings were completely different. I came with a bunch of local friends, some of whom were interested in seeing me interact with my favorite members. So we led off by caravaning over to Mikitty's lane...

AM SLOTS

(Lane 17) Sugawara Maya, Hidaka Yuzuki, Yakata Miki (x2)
As I am coming down the lane Maya gives me this look like I am Frankenstein coming down the lane. I immediately say "What, am I scary???" "But I don't know English" "That's okay" Just as I am saying this I get the OMG reaction from Yuzuki. "Oh, wow!!! Hello!!!" As she is grabbing my hand Mikitty immediately chimes in "Oh, it's Chris!" Yuzuki: "Chris? Chris??? CHRIS!!!" Yuzuki isn't letting me go to Mikitty. Finally I get to Mikitty and I tell her that she better be careful since Yuzuki is giving me special Kami-treatment!

When I visited them later on Mayu had gotten the gist of what I was about. So she is laughing when she sees me coming. However Yuzuki immediately bombs over her "Hello Chris!!!! It's Chris!!!" Pulling me over to her. I kanda felt bad so when I got to Mikitty I whispered to her "Don't worry, you are still my #1 in SKE" "I am? Good! Thank you Chris."

(Lane 11) Takahata Yuki, Goto Rara, Matsumura Kaori (x2)
My friend followed me to Kaotan's lane. I knew Rara was going to be there, but I wasn't sure who the third member was. I didn't recognize Takahata at first so I sort of blew by her. Then Rara began talking to me in English. However, I was still in "talk Japanese mode" so it threw me off and I just sat there stammering. Finally I got to Kaotan. After our usual pleasantries I told her I brought a friend to meet her. She was like "Nande nande nande??? You are Chris' friend?" I guess she was surprised I have friends?

After I left the lane it dawned on me that Hatagon was one of the 7th gen members I was rooting for during the auditions. Plus I really had things I wanted to say to Rara. So a short time later I visited the lane again. Immediately telling "Takahata-chan" (Yes I called her that, and it got a giggle) that I did root for her during the auditions. She was like "You actually know who I am?" For Rara, I told her that I work on one of the big English-speaking 48-group forums and that she was quickly becoming an extremely popular member among overseas fans. "Really? That's great! I am happy to hear that." Finally to Kaotan, who commented on my interaction with Rara. "The two of you can speak English together." I said "Yes, it is good. But I am still here to see Kaori-chan" I asked her if she would be performing in the mini-live. She said that I better be cheering for her.

(Lane 15) Kitagawa Ryoha, Kamimura Ayuka, Tani Marika
The same friend finally followed me into Tani's lane. Truthfully I was excited to meet Ryoha. I am not really a fan, and she seems to have that "potentially salty" personality. On the other hand, I have heard she can be talkative at events. Which Ryoha would I get? Coming down the lane I see her usual "slightly embarassed" expression. She was very "by the book" Exchanged pleasantries, smiled. But honestly I didn't have much to contribute either. On to the little kenkyuusei who acted as you would expect most 12-year olds to act with a foreign ojisan fan. So when I got to Tani we just talked about Kamimura's cute twin tails. (BTW, Ayuka was out sick in the afternoon, so that was probably why she wasn't too animated)

(Lane 2) Suda Akari
I do like to visit some of SKE's bigwigs dung the National events. I used to get tickets for Dasu all the time, but I haven't seen her for at least a couple years. She didn't really have much of a line. Despite that, it was an extremely quick visit. In fact it was the shortest time I got from all the lanes. (And I visited a couple other solo lanes too later on) Pretty much. Hello Dasu, catchphrase, thanks for coming, and I was out of the exit. She was her usual genki self, but this is pretty much the same as every handshake I have ever done with her. It is like a blur...

I considered using another ticket in the morning (possibly for Marika again), but they closed Slot 2 early to prepare for the Mini-live. I still had time to head over and sign birthday cards for my new pal Yuzuki and Yamashita Yukari.

Mini-Live
I usually have good luck drawing a spot for SKE's mini-live. I was surprised to see people queueing 3 hours early for it since the draw is completely random. That said, the earier you are the better spot you get in whatever section you choose. My friends and I all went in relatively late and drew the middle section (which we were in the middle of) So we weren't very close to the stage.

One thing I never knew was that every SKE member has a specific lightstick color scheme that their fans wave. I had only brought one stick with me. I have a bunch, but they are all one-color types with the exception of the one Kingblade I own. So I asked about Kaotan and Mikitty's colors. They both had a 3-color scheme with red. How about Tani? "Oh Tani's is crazy, like 6 different colors" So I am supposed to have 6 Kingblades for Marika? Forget it! All three of them had red so I went with red for the show.

Kageana was done by a bunch of different members. There were plenty of screwups, and plenty of giggling.

All of the members who didn't have a sub-unit opened the live with Okey Dokey, followed by each sub-unit. In order: Love Crescendo, Death Stock Diamond, Furumarion, Caramel Cats, and finally Transit Girls. BTW, my two favorite songs on the single are the ones by Death Stock Diamond and Furumarion.

The one big MC was all about Madoka since this was her last National Event. She was presented flowers, then they did a tribute to her "cheerleader pose". Other members were shown on the screen with their rendition, the funniest to me was Kanon's. It just seemed like she was trolling the pose. Anyway, the show was over. Back to the handshake lanes...

PM SLOTS

So now all of those people who had lined up early for the mini-live were in the handshake area, causing most of the lines to be much longer than in the morning. At least in the beginning it was that way. As I strategized how to use my last six tickets I noticed that my new friend Yuzuki was now paired with Kaotan. So I was surely going to hit this lane a couple of times. The rest we would play by ear...

(Lane 11) Asai Yuka, Hidaka Yuzuki, Matsumura Kaori (x2)
I was all stoked and ready to hit this line. But first I would have to get through another of the 7th gen babies. Yuukatan was all smiles and waves when I came through. But again, Yuzuki was extremely excited to see me again throwing up the double High-Five. Not to be outdone, Kaotan got into the act too. BTW, during the mini-live the members of Death Stock Diamond tossed balls into the crowd (ala Hajimete no Jellybeans). I was so impressed with Kaotan. She has a really good arm, and throws the ball with nice coordination. I bet she played softball when she was younger. So I told her that. "I can throw the ball far, ne?" "Yes, you were really good!"

I returned to this lane during the fourth slot. This time Asai was ready for me. She is laughing as I enter and immediately tries for the double high-five. I said "So you want to be my tomodachi too?" I actually wanted to say something to Yuzuki this time so I told her that sine we are friends I want to see her perform at the SKE theater. I also told her I signed a birthday card for her. Finally for Kaotan I told her I cheered for her as requested, she told me to use the word "call" (Koru) and that Death Stock Diamond was my favorite of the units. And of course I got the obligatory "I LOVE YOU" scream as I left, with Yuzuki still waving at me from behind.

Interestingly I ended up seeing Yuzuki and Kaotan more than anyone else today, including Mikitty and Marika. I guess I made up for blowing off a Kaotan ticket the week before.

(Lane 3) Takayanagi Akane
Another of the members I used to go see and then stopped. I actually wasn't planning on visiting Churi today. But then I remembered I did have things to talk about with her. Her line was almost empty so I jumped in. Churi's handshakes are quite consistent. I have never seen her overly genki. Like Rena, Yui. She is just kinda level-headed and mellow. So I told her that I bought her photobook (It is actually the only PB I have purchased over the past 3 months) She asked if I liked it, which of course I answered affirmitavely. So she gave me the pose from the cover (with her hand partially blocking her face) It was cute. I also wanted to tell her that I saw her photography exhibit in Shinjuku last month, but I got pushed out before I had time. Anyway, the PB cover pose made the visit worth my while.

(Lane 15) Umemoto Madoka, Yakata Miki, Ego Yuna
I was also excited about who Mikitty was sharing a lane with in the afternoon. Not only would I be able to say goodbye to Umechan, but would get to meet Egochan for the first time. However...

The line was HUGE. There were two member lines that remained consistently huge all day. One was Sae, the other was this one. And this queue was gigantic. I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise with both of them graduating, but Madoka's AM lane wasn't that crowded. Obviously people had the later slots earmarked. Perhaps it had a little to do with who she was paired with too. I entered the queue not knowing how long it would take. There were 35 minutes left in Slot 3. The line slowly snaked up and down as it got closer to the 4pm break. I was 12 away from the booth when they called break time. Oh no! Luckily this was one of the few lanes that was only getting a 30 minute break. (Actually it ended up being closer to 40, but who's counting?)

So 80 minutes after queueing for this lane I finally got my turn. I congratulated Umechan, wished her luck and gave her MY version of her cheerleading pose. I complained to Mikitty that the line took so long, and I may not be able to queue up again for it. But I was glad to see her perform. Then came Egochan. I must say, she is much cuter in person than when I have seen her on TV. And she had her hair in these cute-wavy twin tails. She was standing on some sort of stool as well because I know she isn't nearly that tall. But I told her that I was happy meet her. At the end I was just happy I got out early enough to complete the last of my tickets.

(Lane 18) Noguchi Yume, Ida Reona, Tani Marika
I feel kinda bad since I only went to see Tani twice. I had planned to see her more than that, but honestly she was just paired with members I had no interest in meeting. At least in the morning I was mildly interested in meeting Ryoha. I felt even worse because apparently Tani was messaging that she felt lonely all day since her queues were empty. In fact during my hour+ in the Madoka queue I could see her repeatedly craning her neck out to see if anyone else was coming...

So I went in not even knowing which girl was which. I think the first was Yumechi, who asked me where I was from. When I said San Francisco Reona got all excited and pulled me over to her. When I finally got to Tani I asked her if she felt lonely today. She kinda puffed out her lip, which I mirrored back at her. "Should I come back and see you again?" She's like "Please!"

Unfortunately I only had one ticket left, and I wanted to use it somewhere else. So I hope the next time I see Tani she forgets that I kinda let her down. But where to use my last ticket? So many choices. I said earlier that I might want to meet Shibata (who I think I have only met once before) The Azuma/Obata/Arai lane was also intriguing (and getting good reviews) There was also the Ranran/Minarun/Wada lane which would surely be fun. But I decided to go big. And since the line was short I would take advantage...

(Lane 1) Matsui Jurina
So I told my friend (and Jurina fan) that I was going to meet her since the queue had gotten smaller. A couple minutes later he entered the lane, so I went back to the end of the line with him. It was only going to be a few minutes wait anyway. After he told her that he had brought a new fan for her to play with she got very excited. She was reaching for me before I even got into the booth. I told her that I had actually met her twice before, the last time was at the Utsukushii Inazuma event. She winked at me and asked "Do you love me?" I jokingly responded "Mochiron!" She had a really animated guard who started laughing loudly. Jurina went in for the kill with "I am #1???" Now the guard and I are both laughing. He's like "Okay that's enough. Thank you!" as he is half-heartedly pushing me out.

And I was done with my tickets. There were 20 minutes to go before the Matome Dashi. I wasn't going to wait around for the Sae festivities, which from what I heard took hours. So I decided to wait upstairs (where it wasn't so stuffy). My friends and I made a bee-line for the Train Station before the big K-Pop concert next door let out.

I will do a (shorter) Saturday report later.

 

SKE48 Tokyo Handshake Events (Individual and National) at Makuhari Messe (2016/20/27-2016/02/28) PART II

Backtracking to Saturday, SKE's first event of the weekend was an individual handshake event also celebrating the release of the Love Crescendo Sub-Unit Single. I had a total of six tickets for four members. So I was somewhat less excited about this event. So many members I usually go for, like Mikitty and Ishida Anna weren't there. Also, I applied late so I could not get tickets to members like Dasu, Shibata, or Churi. So for me it was going to be light handshake fare.

The doors opened at 10am, but the first handshake slot didn't begin until 11am. One of the big features of the event was the special drawing they were having for anyone who bought copies of the CD at the venue. You could win all sorts of prizes, including additional handshake tickets, 2-shot chekis, autographed goods. At first I didn't realize how big this part of the event would be. It turned out to be the focal point of the day. It also helped that the National Event was the next day, so fans were happy to purchase the CDs for the additional event tickets.

I arrived at Makuhari around 11:30. I would get me tickets stamped and get my one Slot 1 ticket done. Then I would see about this drawing thing. As I came around the corner I saw this huge queue across the bridge. Now I have been to plenty of SKE events before, none of which ever had a line like this over an hour after opening. As I got closer I could see that pretty much everyone on the bridge was female. At that point I knew this had nothing to do with SKE. I wondered what Boy Band was sharing Makuhari today?





For those of you who don't know (I had never heard of them) Got7 is a Multi-National K-Pop Band. I have seen them compared to One Direction. This was the last leg of their Japan Tour, and they would be performing on both Saturday AND Sunday in the building next door. However their goods booths were set up right in front of the entrance where SKE was holding their events. So the venue was filled with cute girls of all ages throughout the weekend. (Both inside the SKE event and outside the hall. )

I made it through the eyecandy and got inside the hall. The CD sales for Slots 1-2 had already ended. The next sales period would't begin until after Slot 2. There was already a sizeable queue for it too. No matter, time to visit a member I have never seen in person before...

Obata Yuna (Slot 1)
Here was another of the 7th Gen prospective members I rooted for during the auditions. In fact most of the 7th Gen prospects I really liked made it into the group. That doesn't happen to me very often. Usually my selections and the groups' selections are very different. In fact, Yuna was very high on my list. So I was excited to see what she would be like in person. Her queue wasn't very long, so I jumped right in.

First impression, is this the same girl? I thought she looked different compared to all the photos I have seen of her. Of course management often does an amazing job of turning new members from "regular girls" into "idols" Once I came in and she smiled at me I knew. "Oh yeah, this is her."

Me: Nice to meet you!
Yuna: Thank you.
Me: I really wanted to see you. I rooted for you during the audition.
Yuna: Really? Thank you!
Me: Good luck with Team KII.
Yuna: I will do my best!
Me: See you again!

She is a very cheerful girl, with a really bright smile. I do like her. Although it was quite telling that I had ample opportunity to see her on Sunday and didn't take advantage. But I am happy I got the chance to meet her. Anyway, on to Slot 2...

I actually had the same two tickets for both Slots 2-3. Tani and Kaotan. There was also a lunch break in between these slots. This would be where I would queue up for the CDs and hopefully win a fabulous prize or two.

Tani Marika (Slots 2-3)
Both Marika and Kaori-chan were in the Chaos Stage a couple of days previously, so I would have plenty to talk about. Neither had a line, so I would get these tickets done quickly.

Me: Good morning Marika!
Tani: Good morning! Are you Genki today?
Me: Of course, I am seeing Marika-chan!
Tani: When you see me is it "Rabu Rabu"?
Me: Of course. I want to see you more on television too!
Tani: Thank you, see you again.
Me: Yes, I am coming back.

I loved her little quip about it being "Rabu Rabu" I thought it was cute the way she said it. Later on...

Tani: Ah, hello!
Me: I saw your performance on the Takamina Stage.
Tani: Oh really?
Me: Tani and Chori's performance was great!
Tani: Thank you.
Me: I am a longtime fan of SDN48...

As I was being pushed out. Like Kaotan, Marika always follows me to the end of the booth and continues waving and talking to me as I am gathering my stuff. I think by now both of them really do know that I am a fan. I have seen them at a bunch of events, and I almost always have multiple tickets.

Matsumura Kaori (Slots 2-3)
Kaotan also had a very small queue. It's funny, but it seems as if at least in Tokyo they get a much bigger turnout at the AKB single events. Perhaps it is because this single wasn't a huge seller. I mean it is nice that I don't have to wait very long, but I know most of the girls are happier when they have a nice turnout. Anyway, I had two tickets for Kaotan in consecutive slots...

Kaotan: Konnichiwa!
Me: Hello Kaotan! Did you have fun at the Takamina Stage?
Kaotan: Yes, did you see it?
Me: Yes, I thought it was great!
Kaotan: Really? You had a ticket?***
(Now I got confused, because she kept talking about Takamina and a ticket. I thought she was talking about Takamina's grad concert in Yokohama. I was wondering why she was asking me that, but I answered affirmatively anyway)
Kaotan: Really, you had a ticket? Wow, congratualations!
Me: Thank you (As I am being pushed out)

Seconds later I realized what she was actually asking me. She was asking if I had won any of the Takamina Special Stages. Now it all made sense. Oh well, I would clear this up when I saw her next slot...

Me: I am sorry. I did not win any of Takamina's Stages
Kaotan: I see, but you won a ticket for her concert?
Me: Yes, two of the concerts.
Kaotan: That's great!
Me: I also won for Sae's concert at Gaishi Hall, so I will see you there!
Kaotan: Yatta!

Okay, glad I cleared that up.

The CD/Drawing Queue
After Slot 2 I ran upstairs to grab some lunch and something to drink. In that short time the queue to buy CDs had ballooned significantly. I wasn't too worried. Even if the line took over an hour I would still have ample time to use my Slot 3 tickets. I was more worried that they could run out of CDs. In fact when I finally made it to the front (in slightly less than an hour) they were all out of Types B and C. So my "Set of 3" consisted entirely of Type A. My friends were saying "That's okay, since you are mainly getting them for the drawing and the National Handshake tickets". However I actually had not purchased this single yet aside from the Theater Version. So I really did want B and C too. Luckily @@Jeff86 had extra copies of B and C so he swapped with me. I used my handshake tickets first, then I queued up for the Slot 4 drawing...

First draw: Nothing.
Second Draw: I won something, but I didn't look to see what it was.
Third draw: Nothing.

As I walked out I saw that I had won a personally signed poster. And I recognized the Kanji of the member. It was Sae! Now I am not a fan of Sae at all, but I knew this was a good ticket to have. Especially since this was one her last events. Just as I hit the exit there were a bunch of fans trying to see what everyone won. Once one of them saw I won something for Sae I was converged upon by a bunch of people who wanted it. I'm like, sure I'll trade it. What do you guys have? The first thing they offer me is a couple of National Handshake tickets. So I immediately had to pull the "I'm not stupid" card. I was willing to trade it for a member I liked. I told them I am a fan of Kaotan and Tani. If they found a prize involving one of them I would gladly trade it straight up. Apparently they couldn't find any prizes for them. So now they were offering me money for it. I felt a bit uncomfortable about this because this is against the rules. But they were insistent. Finally they offered me 10000 yen. I probably could have held out for more, but the guy kept saying that Sae was his favorite member and he wanted the ticket so badly. I dunno, he could have been lying (In fact he probably was since he didn't seem like the Sae fan type), but I didn't want to be a dick, so I agreed. So at the end of the day I got all three CDs and three handshake tickets for nothing, plus an extra 5K yen in my pocket. Not bad. Hey, if it is this profitible maybe I will try again for Slot 5! But first, slot 4...

Oya Masana (Slot 4)
So after all of that silliness it was almost time for Slot 4. I figured I would queue up early for my one ticket and then get in line for the CDs again. As I was walking across the hall I noticed one of the members had their name crossed out for the rest of the afternoon. It was Masanya! She was my last ticket. During all of that CD queueing I failed to notice that she had left for the day. Now with Chara-ani when this happens you can exchange your ticket for an "open ticket" to another member. This was mumo.net though, and they do not do "open tickets" like AKB. I went over to the info desk to see what the policy was. I knew a refund was an option. But a) I do not have a Japanese bank account and b) I am not going through all of that stuff over ONE ticket. I asked if they had any other options. No, but then they started bringing over all sorts of other people. They kept asking if I was coming to the next event (I believe there was one more, but it is in Nagoya) I kept saying "It's okay, not a big deal" But every time I would turn to leave they would say "No, wait here just a little longer" as more and more people discussed this "big" issue. Finally they let me go after like 10 minutes. Seriously, I didn't want them to make any special accomodations for me. I was just asking about the policy.

After that I decided not to stick around for the last CD drawing. I actually had something I needed to handle back in Tokyo. So I maneuvered through the massive crowd of rabid Got7 fans trading pics and whatnot, and bailed back to Shinjuku. There would be more fun the next day anyway.

 

Team KII "0start" 5th Stage at the SKE Theater (2017/04/28)

Finally I had won a show after a 3+ year drought. I was beginning to believe my account was on a "no win" list since it had been so long. However, friends assured me that I couldn't be blacklisted since I had won concerts in early 2016. But even that dried up, I hadn't won a concert in almost a year.



Actually, this was not my first sign that things would be better. I actually got Cancel Machi for a 16th Gen show in Akihabara earlier this month. However, I did not make it into the show (I was about 10 away when they cut it off) Less than three weeks later, I finally got the elusive winning email. I was so excited, even if this meant I would have to spring for the expensive round-trip Shinkansen ride to Nagoya. Team KII was perfect since it has three of my four favorite SKE members in it. Unfortunately, Yumana wasn't performing, another KII girl that I like.

So, after being stuck on "31" for the longest time, I can finally say that I won my 32nd theater show. And this was my first SKE win since I saw Kuumin's 17th birthday show in 2011, before they remodeled the theater. I grabbed a late afternoon Shinkansen out of Tokyo, which would get me to Nagoya in plenty of time. During the ride, I tweeted that I was going to see the show, and I was excited to see Kaotan perform. And whaddya know, Kaotan 'liked" the tweet! Good, she knows I am coming.



When I got to Sunshine Sakae, there was a short queue waiting for the theater to open. I instead decided to go to Tully's and grab a cup of coffee. After taking a walk around the neighborhood, I noticed the line had gotten a bit bigger, so I decided to queue up. The box office was opening soon anyway. Eventually I got my ticket, #31. Good, that meant when my group was drawn I would be first in. I went downstairs to the station and put my bag in a locker, not that the theater doesn't have lockers, but it is a bit quicker after the show if you don't have to deal with that small locker area. Once the lottery started, people began saying little prayers to their oshi members. I was standing just opposite Kaotan's photo, so I gave her a wink. After girls, family, and enpou groups went in, the lottery began...

"11-20!" ~ Shit, that would have been me had I queued up immediately instead of getting coffee!
"81-90" ~ Uh oh, how bad would my seat be?
"21-30" ~ DAMMIT! Had I lined up 15 seconds earlier!!!
"31-40" ~ SCORE-A-ROONI!!! Fourth group in! BTW, I believe "1-10" was right after us, so the low numbers all got in early...

I entered the theater, and wow. It is so much bigger than before when they were performing in what used to be a converted bar. The entire center section was taken up by the girls, families, and enpou, and the first rows were pretty much filled up. But the second rows were only partially filled. I got a seat on the left side of the second row, four seats away from the part of the stage that comes out into the audience. This would be a great spot!

Eventually the show started with the "Zenza Girls" performance. I was so excited since I think this was my first time seeing Kaotan perform Matsumurabu live. As for RESET, I have seen this stage a couple of times before, and I know a lot people (including me) were getting bored with it. However, it had been so long since I had seen a stage that I was happy to see anything. Not to mention, I like RESET, especially the songs after the units. Jigsaw Puzzle 48 is one of my favorite AKBallads, and White Day ni wa is a nice song too. But since most of you know the songs pretty well, I will stick to my experience of the members. Remember, I'm an obvious foreigner, close to the stage (actually there were two of us there, both in the second row) so I would probably get some great reactions.

The Three Girls I am Buddies With: Kaotan, Yuzuki, and Anna
Unfortunately, both Kaotan and Yuzuki spent most of the show on the opposite side of the stage, so I wasn't getting too much face time with them at all. However, they both eventually made it over to my side of the stage. I caught Kaotan glancing at me from time to time, Yuzuki gave me a cute little wave. Anna never really looked at me though, LOL.

Fished the Hell Out of Me: Souda, Aoki, Ego
Especially Souda, who seemed to be right in front of me for most of the show. Constantly smiling at me, winking at me, waving at me, reacting if I reacted to her. She was doing her best to make an impression on me. The same goes for Aoki Shiori, although that didn't start until the last part of the show. However, once she zeroed in on me she wouldn't let up, even throwing the streamer directly at me, and then beckoning me to grab on to it. I must admit, I have a little crush on her after watching this show too. Infectious smile. Egochan got in front of me during one song and just kept pointing straight at me. I also had a little interaction with Obamina at one point too.

Totally into their performance: Churi, Nao, Obata
It is so much fun to watch Churi's trademark emoting and facial expressions, and Nao just oozes sexuality with her dancing. She also reminds me of former actress Shimizu Fumika (Mare, Hentai Kamen, Kamen Rider Fourze) Obata is cute, and constantly bouncing around with her beaming smile. I was warned that she would steal my heart at the theater. However, a couple of members (mentioned above) had other ideas. I should also note Souda for her endless enthusiasm and energy, as well as Mikottii's constant humor were always fun to watch. Heck, they all had great energy.

Eventually the main show ended, and it was time for the encore. BTW, it is cute how the KII fans start the encore with a play on Anna's catchphrase, the "ii desu ka? ii desu ii desu ii desu yo!" part. In fact, since it was "Premium Friday" we actually got a Double Encore". There were a couple of songs included that they don't usually sing. One was Dada Machine Gun, I forget what the other one was.

Anyway, the show finally ended, it was time for "High Wave", which ironically is what SKE used to do back in the old days, before they switched to High Touch. BTW, the fact that they do High Wave instead of High Touch doesn't bother me at all. We still get a second of face-time with all of the members. The fact that we aren't touching hands isn't a big deal. It isn't like handshake events don't exist, right? Anyway, as I was going through I got the expected reactions from Yuzuki and Kaotan. And finally Anna noticed me and gave me a huge reaction and "Sashiburi!" From there I went out the door, out the theater, into the station (getting my bag out of the locker) and back into the subway in less than five minutes. I eventually got home just before midnight, and before going to sleep I filled out the questionnaire sent to me from the Ticket Center asking me to review the show.

So happy to see a theater show again. It is still the amazing experience that it has always been, and it helped rekindle my enthusiasm for the 48 Groups...At least for SKE and Team KII it did.

 

SKE48 21st Single "Igai ni Mango" Individual Handshake Event at Tokyo Big Sight (2017/07/29)



Ahh, so nice to be at an exclusive sister-group event again. As I mentioned to HKT48's Fuchigami Mai a couple of weeks ago, I prefer going to the Sister Group events over the 48-group events. Some may consider it odd since they don't offer oshimashi, or some of the other bonuses you get at 48-single events, but I like that they are a bit smaller, and a bit more low key. I also like that these events give me a chance to focus on one group (as opposed to 5 or 6) and see more members from that group, as opposed to when I go to the 48-group events I basically stick to my top two or three members in each group. Plus, I am more directly supporting the groups I like best (HKT, SKE)

Tokyo Big Sight

I cannot remember when the last time was that a 48-group did an event at Big Sight. Perhaps 2011? 2012? I'm not sure why they switched to Makuhari and Pacifico, when in the beginning (when they got too big to do handshake events at the theater) they were almost exclusively at Big Sight. I have heard a few different reasons. (The Halls are too small, The fans caused trouble) NOW I REMEMBER! the infamous "photo robbery" when one of the photo traders got lured into the men's room, beaten and robbed. I don;t know if that was the reason or not. It could be a price issue too. But no matter, it was just neat to be going to a 48-group event there again.

More 'name' issues

Ya know, management needs to get this Western name issue ironed out. I mean it is ridiculous. At one point some of the systems wouldn't take romaji, so we had to enter our names in katakana. That threw them off. Then, the systems started allowing romaji, but only in double byte characters, and in some situations, only in all-caps. the other thing that they can't get over is the whole "middle name" issue. "Why isn't this name on the ticket too?" Uhh, because that is my middle name, and your system only has two name fields. In the case of chara-ani it is impossible to put my middle name, I can't even fit my entire first name. I doubt Mumo would allow me to put first and middle either, which is over 20 letters. I just wish they would stop making us sweat it every time over our names. It is friggin annoying. At the end of the day, they signed off on it no problem.

Security

I was all ready for another round of heavy duty security after the issues with Nogizaka, and then the beefed up scrutiny at the following AKB handshake event. But to me surprise, they seem to be over that, as the security check seemed to be fairly low-key again. I mean they are still thoroughly checking our hands when we get into the lanes, and they DID have someone in each lane specifically there to watch what you did with your bag before you entered the booth, but it just felt like they mellowed out after being a bit over-zealous at the last event.

Anyway, I had twelve tickets for seven different members all the way from Slot One, through the end of the day Slot 5. Slot One didn't start until 11am, and I was done in the last slot around 7:30pm, so all in all it was an 8+ hour affair. Let's get to it....

Aoki Shiori (Lanes 12, 20) <two tickets> This was essentially a first time meeting. Shiori caught my eye when she tried to fish me at the Team KII theater show I saw three months ago. Not only did she try very hard to interact with me, but at the end of the show she aimed and threw the streamer directly at me and told me to grab on to it. Anyway, Shiori was wearing Sailor Fuku, and looked quite cute. She is maturing very nicely, considering I thought she looked a bit baby-ish when she was a kenkyuusei. When I first went to see her I reminded her of the interaction we had in April. I don't think she remembered it, but she seemed happy to hear the story just the same.



I actually had a second ticket for Shiori in the Lunch Slot. She welcomed me back, and I told her that Team KII was my favorite team, and that I want to see their stage again soon. It was then she noticed I was wearing some Kaotan gear, and immediately grabbed on to it. I wasn't totally sure what she meant by gesturing toward the Kaotan stuff. I mean I hope she didn't think I was oshi-ing her already. But I pointed out "Yeah, Team KII member. Best team!" In any case, she is quite cute, and I would see her again.

Hidaka Yuzuki (Lane 9) <two tickets> Despite the fact that she is my #3 SKE member, I mainly see Yuzuki at SKE events only. Well, except that I DID do a 2-shot with her at the last AKB Album event. But she is always super-genki, and a lot of fun to see. On my first visit, after the usual pleasantries, osashiburi's and whatnot, I asked what her t-shirt said. It was one of those 'engrish' type of shirts with a guys head in the middle. She didn't know, and asked me what it meant. (Which is funny, since her English is actually fairly good) But to be honest, it was written in such an odd, circular way, I had trouble reading it too.



When I returned, I reminded her that I had seen the KII Stage (A familiar theme since I was meeting a lot of Team KII girls today) And like with Shiori, I told her I really liked the show and wanted to see it again. In any case, it was nice to see Yuzuki again. She is one of those members that actually has a pretty solid following among SKE faithful, but is relatively unknown outside of those circles.

Souda Sarina (Lane 6) As expected, Souda tried to fish me really hard at that SKE theater show, and I wanted to pay her a visit to see if the spark would remain. Unfortunately, Souda developed a case of Pink Eye, and had to cancel out of the event since she was contagious. Yeah, that would be a problem considering it was a HANDSHAKE event. I'm not sure what will ultimately happen with this ticket, since SKE do not let you use a ticket like this on another member. Essentially you are stuck with waiting for management to post what the options will be. Perhaps they will allow me to use it at the November event? All I know is that I am not going to waste my time going through the hassle of arranging for a refund for only one ticket.



The silver lining was that this gave me a chance to line up in the HUGE goods queue, since there were at least a couple of things I kinda wanted. Ultimately it took 70 minutes to get through the queue, and I purchased a new Matsumura Kaori ticket holder, as well as some SKE Mango Soap (actually, they are sweets. Good thing I didn't wash my hands with them, LOL), which was relatively inexpensive. By the time I was done, the next segment had just started. I used my first ticket on Shiori (Which I talked about above) and my second on...

Obata Yuna (Lane 21) I had decided to pay Obata another visit, since she was so cute in the Stage I went to. This was the Lunch Slot (between Slots 2 and 3) and the line was really long. I had around 20 minutes until the lane closed, and was really thirsty, so I decided to leave the venue to get something to drink since there was no food or drinks at the event. When I came back, the line was still big, but I decided to brave it, and hopefully it wouldn't affect my Slot 3 tickets.

Yuna was dressed quite casually, with an orange T-shirt, which I got a good eyeful of when I was in line for Shiori. 30 minutes later, I finally made it to the front of the queue, and went through my usual Team KII spiel. Oh, and of course I also congratulated her for getting the center position. The nice thing was that she was a lot more friendly than the first time I met her a couple of years ago, so I was happy I got a ticket for her. But even more I was relieved that the next Slot had barely started, so I wasn't going to lose out on any tickets.

Matsumura Kaori (Lane 13) <three tickets> I was happy to have a few tickets for Kaotan this time, since I think she was disappointed that I only had one ticket at the 48-group event. Then again, she always asks her fans to invest more in the SKE CD events. Anyway, I wanted to come up with something good to say, but I was struggling finding something topical to talk with her about. But I was also going in tandem with my friend Derek, so at least I could introduce him. When I got to Kaotan, I noticed she had on these really cool earrings, so as she grabbed me into her cross-handed shake, I told her that her earrings were very nice, but Kaori was more interested that I was wearing the new Kaotan ticket holder. She grabbed it and immediately turned it around to see what tickets I had inside, which was awesome since right on top I had more tickets for her. But she wasn't done. She immediately looked at my address. "Oh yeah, you live in Itabashi. I know exactly where this is!" I said "Yes, near Wakoshi" (Her hometown) But I was really thinking "Does Kaotan wanna come over???" She is certainly welcome...



For my next ticket I told her that I was graduating and getting my college degree next weekend. She got worried though, and immediately asked if that meant that I was leaving Japan. But I told her no, and that I was going to a bigger college for another degree. "Where is that college?"she asked, and then laughed when I told her it was near Shinagawa. LOL. For my final ticket, I told her that Derek thought she was the best handshake experience ever, which made her very happy. She then grabbed my ticket holder again to see what other tickets I had. "Oh, you are going to see Marika?" She then asked how to pronounce my name. At first she asked if my last name was somehow Japanese. I think she got that from the pronunciation, because it could almost be Japanese. When I told her it was Hungarian, she looked confused, I then said Europe. She then asked what my first name was, since they do this really stupid thing on the ticket and split my first name onto two lines. "Your name is Chr?" CHRISTOPHER I responded, pointing to the continuation on the next line. I then said my complete first and last name, which she repeated.

By the way, if you are wondering why these single ticket exchanged seem much longer than 8-10 seconds, well, that is what makes Kaotan handshakes so awesome. They are as long as Kaotan wants them to be. In fact, that last handshake seemed like it was almost a minute long. Oh, and when Kaotan saw me in a neighboring lane later on, she waved to me...twice. So that was nice. She is so great. Again, I highly recommend to all of you who come to these events to get a ticket for her. She is a total Kami-experience, as Derek learned today.

Tani Marika (Lane 17) <two tickets> Unfortunately Derek waited too long to apply, and missed out on getting tickets for Marika since she sold out. I was fortunate enough to have two tickets for her. The first of which I used in Slot 4. Tani has been dressing very sexy lately, and looking quite beautiful I might add. She had also gotten her hair done recently, and had dyed it jet black. Personally, I LOVE jet back hair. I think it makes girls look really hip and hawt. I remember feeling the same thing about Wasamin when she dyed her hair black. In any case, that was the subject of our first meeting. Tani's super-cute hair. But sometimes I wonder if Tani thinks I am bullshitting her, because she kinda acts like I am sometimes. But I just kept pressing that I really liked her hair that way, and that she looked really good...


Typical Marika, make yourself up to look beautiful, then pose for a picture looking like a slob, LOL

After the dinner break, I came back in for my last Tani ticket. I reiterated that I wasn't bullshitting her when I said that I really liked her hair. So then she puts me on the spot. "I am the prettiest one here?" Fishing for compliments, as usual. I was running out of stuff to say, so I also told her about my pending graduation, so she congratulated me. That was nice. Unfortunately I do not have any Marika tickets for the next AKB event in two weeks, so it may be a while until I see her again.

Oya Masana (Lane 14) I fortunately got this ticket right before she announced her graduation, all of her Tokyo slots pretty much selling out in the next round. Unfortunately I didn't get a November event ticket, and now I am kicking myself for it. As expected, Masanya's line was really big since lots of fans wanted to pay their final respects. So I saved it for my last ticket since I had no idea how long her queue would take. Ultimately it took around 40 minutes. In the meantime this was when Kaotan kept waving to me from the next lane. I wasn't quite sure what I would say to Masanya aside from congratualing her on graduation, but the handshake gods were on my side this time...


Looks like someone is having yakiniku for dinner

So as I got to the front of the queue, the guard told me that Oya had to go to the handicap fan's lane. But Masanya didn't realize that so she is beckoning me to come over to do the handshake, and kinda confused why I was being blocked. When she realized what was going on she was like "Wait right there, don't go anywhere!" LOLZ. I few minutes later she returned, and was talking to me the entire time until they were ready to let me in. After congratulating her on graduation, she asked me if I was living in Japan now. When I said yes. She said "I know you don't come to my lane that often, but I always see you in Kaori's lane, so I had a thought that you might live here now." That was so nice. Ya know, I used to go see her all the time, and then stopped. And this is the first time I realized that she probably noticed, especially since she is often next to Kaotan and sees me all the time. So now I feel slightly bad that I kind of abandoned her. But the truth is that I found members I clicked with a bit better, and it isn't like Masanya is hurting for fans, she has always been relatively popular. But I am glad I got to have that little 'sincere' moment with her. Maybe I didn't tell her, but I ALWAYS liked her, always rooted for her, and always considered her one of my favorite SKE members. Anyway, I wished her the best in her future endeavors.

And that was it. It was pouring rain in Odaiba, so I decided to take the route home that would keep me under as much shelter as possible, only getting briefly drenched when I transferred from the Yurikamome Line to the Yurakucho Line at Toyosu. And by the time I got home the rain had lightened considerably. As for SKE, the only Igai no Mango individual event I have tickets for is the November Makuhari event, where SKE and HKT will be appearing next door to one another. And I only have four tickets (two each for Kaotan and Tani) But hopefully they will have some nice National events to go to.

 

Yes, and if that was you that was 10 spots ahead of me in the goods queue, I apologize. I thought that might be you, but wasn't sure, and I don't just go saying hello to every kaigai fan I see, unless I'm sure I know who they are. Had I known it was you I would have said something.