Just a quick report from my Monday: - When I got in Meno New Year was already on stage but I was still on time for KamenJoshi - KamenJoshi did 7 songs - The bar was closed, instead you now can grab a bottle to drink when you enter (various choises) - Moa-chan smashed her teeth and chipped one of her frontal tooth (but it was very miniscule) - All Checki, signed or unsigned, except for those of the entire group are now small. - Signed cheki ticket no longer exists, for signed you just turn in 2 tickets. - Next to the vending machines now is a manned stand where you can buy tickets with a card. - I did a cheki with Moa-chan and one with the entire group. After the live (I only watched part 1) I went with another fan to bar "Poduti" where former members Shihorinee and Ao-san were working that night. Shihorinee still remembered me from last time and even though Ao-san was a bit timid to me at first we soon had a great time (she followed me back on Twitter so I must have done something right).
WOW! thanks for the update already Oddball, so many changes since your last time! On this point... - Next to the vending machines now is a manned stand where you can buy tickets with a card. Is this for the cheki? No more cheki machine? What kind of card? Debit/Credit? Some kind of special Alice Project Card? No cash? Mod Note. It is against the rules to post back to Back within 24 hours. Either edit your first post or wait. Oddball, if you happened to notice, I was also wondering what the merch table is like these days, do they even sell the Glow In The Dark classic Kamen Joshi "Jason"/hockey masks anymore? Seeing as Kamen Joshi does not actually wear this style anymore & just have the individual metallic color masks now instead.
I went to both parts yesterday so now I can answer. - The machine is still there for if you want to do cash payments. There is only no longer an option to buy a "signed/large" ticket. For that you just buy (and hand in) two, of what used to be "small/unsigned", tickets. If you hand in one ticket you still get an unsigned picture. - In terms of cards: Visa/Mastercard/JCB/AEX/DC and all those local cards like Suica, Pasmo, Icoca etc. Some internet payment providers to like PayPay and others. - Mask was still available. - The merch was a various assortment but not huge. As for the shows from yesterday: I went to both parts as it was Moa-chan her birthday and Yuka-san her 10 year debut anniversary. Shows were great, Moa-chan did (in both parts) a song together with that, soon disbanding, group I never seem to remember the name of . She did this while wearing her button Pa-Ken costume. Memorabele moments: - The boat! - Chiitan gymnastics - Moa-chan blowing out all the candles (fans lightsticks) gave a great effect. - Yuka-san return on stage (even if it was for just one song) - Moa-chan her cheki line had an epic length - Chiitan is very popular with the ladies - Also taking a cheki with Coharu (she is so sweet) Also, I got Moa-chan her photobook that a fan offered to buy for me (I paid him back of course) which made Moa-chan happy and it is a really nice book. When this book was released I got the idea to also make a book of Hitomi-san and I gave the fan who gave me the book also a copy of the Hitomi book I made. (Hitomi-san will get hers the 10th, but that is a secret). However... He is also a huge Seri fan and Seri adores Hitomi-san. So he showed that book to Seri and I watched het reaction, it was awesome. However I could see his dedication and when he asked if he could give the book to Seri I gave him my ok. (I will make him a new copy) We turned it in with staff but we noted both of out names as givers. Guess I will have to take a cheki with Seri on Monday to ask how she likes it
Let me add a final report on my adventures from last week in Japan: First up, the KamenJoshi lives I visited: - On monday I went to part 1 as well as part 2 - On Thursday I went to part 1 (White day special) - I had the chance to ask Seri about the photobook, she loves it. - She regards her and Momomin as "Best friends" and that is something she also wrote on the cheki. - Meno new year had some members turning 20 and they had a "coming of age" ceremony for them, including a full performance in Kimono (the members that weren't 20 performed in female business attire). - White day saw the KJ girls perform in white, it was planned to be an all 7 members show but sadly Seri had to cancel due to health issues (I forgot to aks for details but I did see on monday that Seri performs with quite a lot of sports tape). - The girls gave out chocolate with each cheki. - During the group cheki on monday I promised to include myself in the picture on White day. - Of course the girls remembered that when it was White day - I explained to them that I get shy when I see a camera pointed my way which they found cute. - Promised to return, probably around October. Momomin birthday parties: Of course those two days were the highlight of my holiday. After all it was those that decided when I would visit Japan. I went all out this year, probably a bit too much as I have no idea how I am ever going to top or equalize this (Well I do, but that would rely not just on me so it doesn't count). It was in the concafe "Princess Palace" again so I knew what costume Momomin would wear but it never stops to be a very enjoyable sight to see her in it as she has the perfect figure for it. On the 9th I was the first one to arrive which led to us agreeing to give her her presents a bit later although I did give her already the flowers I bought. I took my seat, got my Highball and we chatted a bit while some other guests arrived. She had to do her best (during both days) to divide her attention between all the guests (I think we were with 12/14 at the same time max). Some stayed long, some stayed short while others arrived late. I was hyping up and teasing her about the present I managed to get this year during her livestreams so she knew I had something special. To buy an add on to that present I went to Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi that day to buy a Hermes Twilly, as if the gods knew I would be coming it turned out that there was also a Hermes silk exhibition and the organ player played my favorit AG song "Les Champs Elysee". Anyway, I gave her that Twilly first and she was already in very high spirits with that. I asked her if she knew what those Twillys are mostly used for which she knew; bag decoration. At that moment I lifted my main present on to the counter (I wrapped it up in bubble plastic and wrapping paper) and told her to open it. The size scared her (I too was pretty surprised when it arrived, it was barely within cabin luggage allowance) but nonetheless she started unwrapping it which took some effort as I wrapped it up REALLY well. At some point she was far enough so she could spot the familiar colour and ribbon that indicated a Hermes box which made her recoil in shock and question my sanity (so cute ) After asking multiple time if this was really happening and me assuring her that it was and she should hurry up and open the box she untied the ribbon (which apparently was some sort of special ribbon too) and opened it. She lifted out the dust bag and under the words "No No No" opened it and lay her eyes upon the contents (up to that point I think she might still have thought that it could be shoes): A Hermes Picotin Lock 22 bag in Bleu Pale with gold plated hardware. She was absolutely stunned and I regarded her reaction as an absolute succes! I also had some other third party accesories like matching should straps and an insert (In her favorite pink). After that the night passed really fast and we had a great time. Strangely enough most people left well before 24:00 but when that time came I had the honour to do the countdown and be the first the congratulate her on her 28th birthday. (Fun fact that I also shared with Momomin: If it wasn't a leap year then the 9th would actually have been the 10th, so her 27th year lasted a day longer then others) Next night: The 10th, Momonin her actual birthday. In The Netherlands we have a chocolate assortment called "Celebrations" which I brought a big box from. It is filled with all sorts of well known chocoloate like Snickers, Maltesers, Bounty, Mars, Twix, Milky Way and Galaxy. Only the first two are actually known in Japan so everyone was very curious. Momomin asked me what my favorite was and after telling her (Bounty) a few of those immediately dissapeared in her bag. I also brought some special chocolate in white and pure but the pure one I gave to one of the other girls working there that I got to know well. I also brought some cosemtics from Rituals of course, or atleast so I thought but when I tried to look for them I realized I left those in the Hotel (white bag on white sheets, you get the idea why). I asked if I should go and get them (Hotel was a 10 min walk) or keep them till White day. She thought that spending time together was more important so White day it would be. However I did bring my main gift for that day and when I said that the ladies who were sitting next to me were already like "Oh my god, what did he bring this time?" (all in good spirits of course). Even though I don't think she needs it but seeing beauty is her hobby I gave her a 120min beauty treatment at a high class spa/wellness parlour. Unsurprisingly she really liked this and told me she will use it once she needs something to lift up her spirits. It was a really nice night where I even saw Momomin drink a shot of Tequila! (She is totally NOT a drinker so that surprised me). I also gave her her photobook, when she saw that she went "Yada Yada Yada" while all other fans were like "SHOW ME". She did sign my own copy of the book. The Champagne did flow pretty well that night and at one point I had 3 drinks in front of me! Once again however most people left early (some even unexpectedly very early) but that did mean that for the last 15/20 minutes it was just me and Momomin left. This gave me the chance to say some really personal things in actual person so I don't complain about it (but understanding it is a whole different matter). Sadly all good things come to an end but I left really satisfied. As an extra: During the night Momomin said that she thought she didn't really have any clothes worthy of being worn together with her new bag. Remember what I said that the gods probably knew I was coming? During my visit to Mitsukoshi I also came across the most perfect dress! I had a picture from it on my phone so I showed it to the ladies next to me for approval. They very loudly approved which made Momomin also want to see it but I told her that that wouldn't happen. I bought the dress the next day and shipped it as a White day present. Other KJ related holiday things: - I visited the bar "Poduti" very often. - I saw Shihori-san and Ao-san (The latter a good amount of times) - As bringing in food was allowed I bought Ao-san and me each a bowl of Kebab and we ate those together. - Ao-san was, next to just being a super sweet girl, a treasure trove of inside information about the inner workings around KJ. - I bought Ao-san and Shihori-san white day chocolates - As Ao-san had told me about her love for Mickey Mouse (like die hard love). When I went to Yodobashi camera and saw that they had matching Mickey and Donald Duck (my favorite) astronaut figurines I bought them both and gave the Mickey one to Ao-san (The astronauts are fitting as one of my hobbies is astrophotography). - I don't know if you follow both Ao-san and Shihori-san instagram accounts but if you do and saw some stories with either a Dutch flag or the words "Dank je/Dank je wel" then those were stories referencing me. FINISH!!! (But the starting point of saving up to go again)
A very impressive & extensive report Oddball. You never cease to amaze me with your devotion to Momomin . The gifts sounded like they were an absolute hit & that your time was well spent with members of Kamen Joshi both past & present. It takes a while to take it all in, just reading what you wrote (never mind to actually experience it.) I thank you for sharing this with all of us. It truly is a joy to read! I look forward to your next visit in October as if it's even close to as good as this one, it will be another feast for the eyes to take in. If you can share (or would like to,) I would also love to hear about Ao's a treasure trove of inside information about the inner workings around Alice Project, sounds like you hit the jackpot there also (along with impressing Momomin ), & also made a new friend!
Thank you @blurryeyes I try my best! As in regards to what Ao-san told me: I don't know if I can share everything but what I can share is the following: - Holidays longer than 3 days were impossible to get and even those 3 days were almost unheard off. - Remember that Momomin had a ban from sns for a year (which eventually lasted around 9 months) after her graduation? This clause was in more members their contract (the exact trigger varied) but AP management stopped with it. Not because they wanted too but because a new Japanese law came into effect that forbid that kind of clause. - Even though KJ idols are considered relatively free idols their lives were still thorougly regulated and monitored by management. - Costumes were sometimes very difficult as no costume was officially made to her length. - Osaka theater had the following lay out: 1st floor: Theater, 2nd floor: staff, 3rd floor: practice/lesson space, 4th and 5th floor: Members private areas. Do note that all info she had was part of the "old style" KamenJoshi and most likely no longer applies to the current group due to the complete ovehaul it went through.
Thanks for all of those "behind the scenes" tidbits Oddball! Very much appreciated! In other news, "Golden Age" Kamen Joshi member Erina has had her baby... https://twitter.com/erinyannn1015/status/1772233892482941112
I am very happy for Erina, her husband and their baby! Sadly this week also brought some major sad news: Kamen Joshi will no longer perform at the theatre on weekdays! https://kamen-joshi.com/【4月からの劇場定期公演に関してお知らせ】/ From the reactions I read from members this is mainly due to KJ going to focus on outside events in order to grow their fanbase. As the statement said nothing about weekends I take it that they will still perform at the theatre on weekends. I am very sad about this as it is, once again, a very major shift for the group compared to the pre-covid group. (I think it is safe to talk about 3 distinctive group types now, pre-covid, KJ-SG era and New System) If I leave my personal feelings out of it I can however think of multiple reasons why this makes sense: - Audience numbers during weekdays, compared to pre-covid, are nothing to write home about. This of course has multiple causes non of which lie with the current members. - Even though their is no new news about the redevelopment of the area where the theatre is it also means there is no news about it being cancelled (which some fans think might happen) and focussing on outside events is KJ managements way to prepare for this. - Outside events are a chance to show off the group to new people. The group no longer has the size to do both outside and theatre events. - Outside events are more profitable. - Outside events offer more rest/free time for members. Although I am sure their condition is nothing to scoff at we shouldn't forget that the average age of the members right now is 26 rising to 28 if we leave out both Mao and Aoi (both 21). Even though my wallet will feel the positive effects of this (depending on what outside events there are when I go to Japan) I still feel as if I have to say goodbye to an important part of my Japan travel routine. I've met so many people and have made so many memories at the theatre that I can't be not sad. On other news: Maopi has joined an idol unit called "Kojinmaru" (next to her membership of KJ) together with 3 other girls from other idol groups. I have no idea what the whole point of goal from this project is but I guess that is something that time will tell.
Report of former Kamen Joshi member (& Fruitpunch fave) Shihori's marriage & pregnancy. https://twitter.com/toriaezubi_rude/status/1774698587240398934 https://twitter.com/2r11663/status/1774700676494569502
I saw that announcement. I am happy for the couple. But I must say, when I met her last month I would have never guessed she was pregnant (and that far already). Also, miss Jellyfish tweeted that (and on behalf of) that Takafuji Hino also got married. https://twitter.com/jellyfish_916/status/1774767749727985705?t=vC1rGpbOqCgWQ8qEUkT8nQ&s=19
^^Wow congrats to Hino as well, she was one of my faves back when she was bangin' with Armor Girls! After I took a cheki with her, she even gave me her business card, what a beauty!
For the Moa fans (that's everybody lol) Shibuya Ward Hachiyama Park video with THE CHAN! if the video does not show watch the video here
Topping Girls with OG Red Kamen Anna if the video does not show watch the video here Kamen Joshi as banchō performing Steam Girls classic HIGH and LOW if the video does not show watch the video here
