Your AKB48 Experiences

Well maybe i'm just super used to text messaging and social media that it doesn't bother me.

Either way he already said he won't change it and he really doesn't need to. He could choose not to post anything, but he has the decency to write his lengthy reports which are interesting and entertaining. I think that alone is enough.

 

I won't be changing my format.... if anyone cares

Part of the fun is writing up the report and all those inner conflicts and struggles and finding screenshots or making gif to let readers know exactly how it went from my view. I admit, it is a lot of work I'll try not to overkill on images as I seem to start doing.

 

@Nieru It's time for u to shine! keep things classy.

 

Handshake Event in Osaka 5/7

So the staff today seems to be a different crew maybe because this is Osaka, so after checking my tickets at each lane, they would say irashaimase... Am I walking into a restaurant lol?


Sayaya
Me: hi
Saya: hey I remember you. (looked at my shirt) Today is neko-san? kawaii
Me: thanks. It's my first time in Osaka. Seems different from Tokyo.
Saya: it has been a while since I came to Osaka as well.
Me: so what is famous here?
Saya: takoyaki! (does takoyaki handsign)

Me: ok I'll go try it later
(I was too used to planning out the whole conversation to cover 30 secs so at this point even though the staff hadn't even said "jikan desu" yet I started leaving by myself )
Saya: you're from Canada right?
Me: yeah
Saya: please come again
Me: yep I'll come again later

She was being very genki to the people in front of me. Said "ni hao" to a Taiwan fan.
Me: you seems genki!
Saya: yes I am genki!
Me: during golden week, I went to Omotesando. Have you been there?
Saya: yes, there were a lot of people.
Me: it's so oshare. I had some amazing french toast there. You should try!
Saya: ok. Did you have fun?
Me: yeah. What kind of dessert do you like?
Saya: I like desserts.. hmm which kind do I like most... but I do like french toast

Me: oh you changed your hairstyle.
Saya: yes I changed it.
Me: which one do you like most?
Saya: mmm which one do you like?
Me: the one you have now fits you well too. But I like your bangs the most.
Saya: thank you.
Me: I first knew you through the janken tournament.
Saya: ahh
Me: where you managed to rank in and kibouteki as well!
Saya: I did!



While I was in line for Milky, Nagisa's next to us with empty lane and she went full on fishing with us.
She did peek a boo with her handkachief and twirled her finger at us and everything. Urghhh Nagisa just you wait I'll come later.



Milky
Right when I was the next in line, OJS stopped me and let Milky take a brief rest. She was putting on make up and drinking water. It's her rest so I tried not to look at her or grab any attention. OJS started chatting with me.
OJS: nice cat shirt
Me: it has a tail on the back too (turned around to show)
OJS: (laughed) did you handmake it yourself?
Me: lolwut no I bought it in Tokyo.
(by the way OJS listening to your handshake and giving nods is totally my pet peeve)

Me: hi I'm from Canada
Milky: Canada!
Me: it's my first time in Osaka. What's famous here?
Milky: takoyaki! Have you tried?
Me: no, I'll try later.
Milky: also kushikatsu!
Me: hmm what's that? oh the fried skewer thing
Milky: yeah
Me: but the best is of course yakiniku right?
Milky: lol
Me: Champion yakiniku!
Milky: (gave the most priceless surprised face, like HOW DID YOU KNOW?! face)

Me: lol I knew from Andy




Komi
Me: hi issukanburi! (haven't seen you in a week)
Komi: isshukanburi
Me: you said in showroom that the favourite part of your body is the back of your hand, right?
Komi: yeah
Me: what's the reason?
Komi: because it seems the whitest
(god forbid if I make a haraguro joke here)
Me: I see, and you put cream on it a lot?
Komi: yeah
Me: so your joshiryoku is high! Then how are you boyish? (her mom called her boyish in bingo)
Komi: my personality is boyish



Nagisa
Me: hi I came from Canada.
Nagisa: Canada!
Me: it's my first time in Osaka.. Osaka toieba? (what is Osaka famous for?)
Nagisa: mm takoyaki!
Me: shouldn't it be nagisa mae? lol (from catch phrase)
Nagisa: ahh nagisa maeee-
Me: you use a lot of English slang word tags on Instagram. Where did you learn them from?
Nagisa: from shoe brands
Me: I see.. even I don't know some of these words as a gaijin... shameful
Nagisa: no no



Saho
(she previously asked me to let her know if I find any good dessert)
Me: hi issukanburi! (haven't seen you in a week)
Saho: hi, ahh a cat (my shirt)
Me: yeah and on the back.. (showed tail)
Saho: kawaii
Me: thanks. I went to Omotesando in golden week.
Saho: you did?
Me: have you been there?
Saho: yeah there were a lot of lines for shops and desserts.
Me: yes there were. I went to this place for french toast and it was so good.
Saho: ahh I'm jealous.
Me: it's fuwafuwa lol (fluffy) I recommend trying it when you're there.
Saho: ok
Me: when you did your shiritori, you said you like earl grey tea more than darjeeling tea?
Saho: yeah
Me: do you drink with milk or straight?
Saho: mostly straight.
Me: I see



Handshake Event in Osaka 5/8


Komi
Me: hi
Komi: kinouburi (haven't seen you since yesterday)
(gives this biggest squinty eye smile)
Me: I watched request hour dvd. You were centering Saki made wa ice tea.
Komi: yeah I was.
Me: amazing. I wish it'll be performed more often.
Komi: right, at concerts. I also want a music video for it.
Me: what kind of mv will it be?
Komi: well everyone's young so a kawaii one
Me: with everyone drinking ice tea?
Komi: I actually like milk tea more.



Sayaya
Me: hi I ate takoyaki at nanba yesterday. Have you eaten?
Saya: yes I ate here.
Me: but I heard from the radio that there was no tako inside...?
Saya: there was!
Me: oh so yours had it and the other ones didn't?
Saya: it depends on what time
(what does that even mean lol)
Me: eee
Me: do you usually eat washoku or yoshoku?
Saya: depends on the day, but mainly washoku

(she was wearing this yellow hairpin previous slot)
Me: where did your hairpin go?
Saya: I removed it
Me: it was cute
Saya: thanks
Me: I watched the request hour dvd. You were in Saki made wa ice tea, right?
Saya: thanks for watching.
Me: speaking of which, do you drink ice tea often?
Saya: I drink it sometimes
Me: so what do you normally drink?
Saya: mmm water, and green tea
Me: hot?
Saya: iced.
Me: isn't that ice tea lol (I was basically out of booth by the time of this tsukkomi so I don't think she heard it)



Nagisa
Me: hi I ate takoyaki yesterday!
Nagisa: how was it?
Me: it was.... standing ovation!!!
(released hand to do clapping)
(nagisa caught on half way and clapped with me)
Me: your hat is fashionable.
Nagisa: thanks.
Me: (running out of things to say) umm look, it's mei! (points to my shirt)
Nagisa: ahh mei
Me: (really out of things to say) ummm what did you watch on tv last night with shuu?
Nagisa: yeah we watched tv!
(miscommunication)



Yuiri's lane is always next to Saho. As I line up for Yuiri, Saho saw me and we waved. I'm coming right after this!
Yuiri
(I go to her pretty rarely so I don't expect her to remember me, but decided to drop a hint anyway)
Me: isshukanburi (haven't seen you in a week)
Yuiri: I remember you
Me: what is this shirt?
Yuiri: wan-chan!
Me: oh a dog! Right you like nankotsu, right?
Yuiri: yeah I love nankotsu!
Me: I'm from Canada so I have never had it. It seems hard.
Yuiri: it's zakuzaku
Me: what does that mean? crunchy?
Yuiri: like you really bite into it. What about horumon?
Me: oh like at yakiniku? I haven't tried that either.
Yuiri: and bonjiri
Me: what's that? Never heard of it.
(Googled after. Apparently it's chicken tail)

Saho
Me: hi
Saho: thanks for coming today.
Me: we talked about tea yesterday...
Saho: yeah earl grey
(wow she remembered this quickly? I'm impressed)
Me: I had earl grey today.
Saho: really? I had earl grey this morning too! I brought tea bag with me.
Me: you look sleepy (I actually messed up here, wanted to say I feel sleepy)
Saho: (laughs)
Me: uhh I meant, drinking earl grey makes you sleepy
Saho: yeah it makes you relax.
Me: but I actually like ceylon orange pekoe more. Do you know it?
Saho: yes I do.
(I'm not sure if she really caught what I said because I had really shitty pronounciation there)

Me: hi, you're wearing same clothes as Yuiri.
Saho: yeah
Me: (read her pin) "I takoyaki Osaka"?
(it's like an I love Osaka sign except the heart is replaced by a takoyaki)
Saho: yeah I takoyaki Osaka!
Me: have you tried it?
Saho: I did today, what about you?
Me: I had it yesterday.. it was.. tasty!
(I was having dejavu Nagisa and almost said "standing ovation")
Me: so how was it?
Sho: it was hot, like (shows expression of eating hot food) %€*#+$@!!
Me: are you nekozita? (tongue that cannot endure hot food)
Saho: yeah
Me: I'm used to it.
Saho: ahh that must be nice.

So, why are all my handshake conversations about food lol...

 

@Nieru Thanks for sharing! I think your write-ups are getting better and more interesting. This is prolli because your interaction with your members are also getting better. I'm not sure if it's because of you're slowly building rapport to some of the members or you're just a bit more sit back now about your convo topic. It's nice that you're always going in with bunch of topics to talk about from their appearances on shows and stuff but sometimes I feel like it's too well prepared that nothing "out of expectation" can even come outta it.

I don't know about others but at least for me I really like to read reports of hs when something unexpected happens within the convo. Even if it's something really not a big deal, but I think it's these moments that people can get another side to our members that's not shown in front of the camera. I think this is exceptionally important when it comes to what makes an hs report interesting, consider some people enjoy living through our reports.

Did you really tell Mirukii that you heard Champion from me? lol. Was she surprised or gave the "ah, expected" face lol

 

Yeah but she didn't really have any reaction to that. I've complete thrown her off mentioning Champion Yakiniku that she's probably too fazed at the moment.

I'm still worried to go in without a plan... like my nagisa handshake today I was just grasping at random topics on the spot and they die right away. It'd be nice if members can do something unexpected or throw something at me to work with on the spot, but of course they mostly take passive roles and I understand. They have to endure through hundreds of people the whole day.

 

5/1 HS report
This will be pretty short since I don't speak Japanese and I don't really have conversations to post. I'll just put down what I remember here lol. This was mariyagi’s last event in AKB. Also, I had intended to win one or two milky tickets but won 6 in different slots. Oops. Lastly, you can assume things were being said in Japanese for the most part.


Slot 2

Naachan: Originally when she cut her hair her I was like "noooOOOOOOOO" along with most everyone else. So naturally once I got up to her in line I told her I liked her hair. I'm so weak. Then, I was surprised after her "oh thank you!" etc. reaction that I wasn't being dragged out just yet and had to come up with something. I quickly said I was Andy's friend since I knew I would go back with Sakuraism later. Honestly even with the short hair she's pretty cute...

Milky: Ok, as I mentioned before I had a single milky ticket for like 6 slots and I'm not completely sure what happened in half of them so here goes~ (In all of them I was either before or after sakuraism) I walked up this first time after Andy left and told her I was from America. Then I was about to say something else and she started trying to speak english. She couldn't quite get what she wanted to say out and kept stuttering (cute lol). It was like "which..which is th...what the...which something." It was like this as I was being dragged away, the struggle was real. So cute haha.


Slot 3

Churi: Lot of short hair going around. Milky's was cute but I think Churi has my favorite short haircut. Anywayyy, I simply went up to her with the usual greeting and told her I would give her votes for ssk this year. She was sweet and thanked me and that was that. Churi looking really pretty

Milky: After the last slot I was going to try and tell her to continue what she was saying last time. However, I don't think I said it right or she had no clue what she was trying to say last time lol. It was just both of us being awkward I guess and not saying much! Fail #2!


Photo session: Mariyagi x Megu

What a cute pair, yagi treats megu like a little sister. I think some of the questions were sexy-themed or pb related since she was trying to protect/shield megu at times . The poses lasted about a minute. Some of the other photo sessions seemed kind of bland but at least yagi and megu had some kind of plan before-hand and were posing together in different ways. A nice 10 minutes for sure. They explained what the poses were during the q&a at one point but it went over my head~



Slot 4

Naachan: This time around sakuraism was ahead of me and told her some stuff (probably trying to convince her I’m rich or something since that seemed to be a theme with him lol). She greeted me "oh hey! Andy’s friend" and I let her know I'd be voting for her this year for which she of course thanked me. Obviously though she won’t be impressed now unless it's thousands of votes but oh well~


Intermission

I met Nieru the previous slot while hanging around. I had no idea at the time that he had been writing up a storm in this thread haha. He went with me to mariyagi’s stand to help write her a message in Japanese. However, once we got there the guy was encouraging messages that weren’t in Japanese since mariyagi wanted to expand activities outside japan. So in the end I wrote in English as usual. Then we pressured Nieru into writing yagi a message as well even though he kept trying to explain how he was only there to help me. Booya


Slot 5

Milky: I think sakuraism went before me but since the next person is only like a foot away I was basically right there and he was talking and they were looking back at me. Basically our slots kind of melded together and I didn't know what was happening. Milky just gave me her classic "I love you" lol.

Rie: She's always been one of my faves, simply a cool chick. I went up and asked her how Niigata was going. She said it was going very well and I said that was good and to do her best~

Yagi: I told her about the first time meeting at sayonara crawl hs years ago and how much fun it was. She thanked me and then tried letting me know she had seen me in the audience at the photo session. I think she was worried that I didn't understand her but I did and kept reassuring her I got it haha. I also managed to ask her if she remembered sakuraism. He saw her last year a bunch and she knew him as Canada. Anyway, she told me she definitely did! She was in really good spirits for her last event~


Slot 6

Milky: I told her to go visit america after her activities were done. Then she said "NEW YORK!" and I was like "YES! GOGO". Honestly milky is pretty cool. Half the time I was going up to see her without any plan at all and even the messed up slots didn’t feel too awkward for some reason.

Fuu: Fuu was fishing pretty hard. She would grab both your hands and pull you really close. I asked her what her favorite ice cream was. Of course she responds with "BANIRRA!" Internally I was "of course it would be vanilla lol". Then before I left I asked if she liked Baskin Robins (I know she does) but she only knows it as "31" so didn't recognize the question


Yagi: the first two slots took forever and I missed my yagi slot... :/


Slot 7

Yagi: This slot I made up for the last one because I looped her 4 times.

First time wasn't the best though. She always had a pet hamster so I told her years back I had one too and it would always escape. I asked if hers escaped as well but she kind of got confused at the last part when I was talking about her. It all took a while for me to say so we ran out of time. XD

Second loop: She thanks me for coming again as usual and I ask her what her favorite dinosaur is. This was from last year when sakuraism asked her that at a hs when he was using my ssk tickets. I thought up a bunch of random things to ask her but he didn't understand the dinosaur she was talking about. Anyway, I don't think I was pronouncing the word dinosaur very well. I tried to do a T-Rex impersonation and she was panicking trying to ask staff the word I was asking her about lol. Finally at the end when I started to get pulled out her eyes went big and she's like "DINOSAUR!!" and starts doing this hyper/frantic little T-Rex thing with her arms and nibbling at the air. She looked like a hyper puppy, it was so cute LOL.

Third loop: A friend of mine here (wlerin) told me how to say this in japanese since we both love tomuyagi. I asked her to keep on being tomu's companion in the future. She's like "AH DAISUKI! hai!" while giving me a wink and A-OK sign.

Fourth loop: Sakuraism made it over to her lane and we decided to try and get yagi to wave at him. He stood in a spot where you could see her and I went into lane. I got up to her and told her Canada-san was saying hi. Then I looked over and pointed towards the crowd. I saw him waving and she did as well. She exclaimed something excited and started waiving back. While I got dragged out she told me good job while giving me a thumbs up haha. Glad that worked~

Milky: Last milky ticket. Sakuraism went before me this time again. I went up and told her this was the last time. I was about to follow up and tell her to take care of herself when she interrupted me with something. It kept sounding like "bingu mani, pingu maney, etc" I was like "...wha? wait what?" lol. I got dragged out and sakuraism was still there so I told him what it sounded like. He said "oh BIG MONEY!" and I knew that was it. I was like "what have you been telling her?!" LOL

Later on I wrote a message at her booth and signed it Big MONEY.


Slot 8

Yagi: When I was almost up Abe was sitting a couple feet from yagi just watching the interactions (9th gens had started hanging around once they were done for the day as well). My contacts were super dry and I was rubbing my eyes like crazy. When I looked up I noticed she had been watching me and was laughing . I used my last few tickets at once to tell her that this was the final one and I would keep supporting her in the future. I stumbled on the first bit and restarted but she was just being attentive and patient. At the end she nodded and thanked me (said something I didn’t quite understand as well) and they slowly pulled us apart as we waved. It was a good, chill last round. Classic mariyagi~

After that I waited with the fans for her to come out. I had a good spot in the second row behind the fan committee. The last few people in her lane took like half an hour, it was nice being around fans who were so passionate. Afterwards, Mariyagi and 9th gen +abe were only a couple feet away at times while everything was going on. It was cool. The committee passed out some song that they sang when she came out. I had no clue but it was a nice gesture. I’m really lucky I happened to get my tickets for may 1st.

 

Great writeup, man! Loving the fun interactions despite the language barrier. BIG MONEY.

@Sakuraism Andy senpai stop trolling our american friend lol

 

Handshake in Osaka 5/21

I met an American fan who is studying abroad in Osaka. It was his first time and he had maybe 30 mayuyu tickets. He wrote out full sentences in japanese of what he wanted to say and spent 3-6 tickets just saying it. He really wanted Mayuyu to remember him so he seemed so disappointed when he went back second time and Mayuyu didn't, even when he said he's from US again. I believe this is actually quite common though for popular members, especially if you don't go to her so often.

Also, I actually find how my hands are all in mixed makeup/perfume afterwards from handshakes kinda disgusting and would wash them right after... I don't know how the fans in those stories we hear about who never wash their hands ever again after handshake deal with it.



Milky
I was struggling between talking in japanese or english. I was tired of saying I'm from Canada to her again for the 30th time, so I was just going to talk in english to show that I'm gaijin instead. Changed my mind right before my turn though, because I think I wouldn't get my thought across in english (and she would interrupt me with random english)
Me: hi
Milk: hi
Me: I saw on instagram that you went to "very fancy" for pancake. -> https://www.instagram.com/p/BFlAImwmWWh/?taken-by=miyukichan919
Milk: hm? (she didn't catch "very fancy" since I was pronouncing in english)
Me: pancake pancake
Milk: ohh yeah
Me: was it good?
Milk: it was tasty
Me: what did you put on it?
Milk: macadamia nuts




Sayaya
Saya: long time no see
Me: hi
Me: the sunlight is so strong these days
Saya: yeah
Me: I see people use umbrella on the street. I was thinking about it too.. but realized mine was one of those combini transparent one...
Saya: that won't do! The sunlight goes straight through.
(that was a bit weak...)
Me: do you use it then?
Saya: sometimes, when the sunlight is strong


Me: I saw your sousenkyo poster. Your expression is a little scary though lol
Saya: that's my serious face
Me: smile more...
Me: that white dress looks like Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai clothing.
Saya: no it's my own dress
Me: do you wear white dress alot?
Saya: yeah I like it


Komi was on the neighbor lane, and as I was in middle of Sayaya's lane I waved at her. She noticed and recognized me and waved back with the brightest smile. I felt so bad after because I wasn't even going to her today.


Matchalin
She had free handshakes today, 1 ticket worth of time each. I don't follow her but I had nothing to do for a while so why not. Her line was actually very long (everyone wants free handshake) second only to Sayanee's. I also heard a lot of mando in line so there must be many Chinese/Taiwanese fans. I spoke in Japanese.

Me: hi I came from Canada!
Matcha: ... (confused, didn't understand)
Me: uhh Canada. Nevermind. What's your favourite Taiwanese food?
Matcha: shoronpo (japanese pronounciation)
Me: ahh I see, xiao long bao (mando pronounciation)
Matcha: (wut you speak Chinese?! face)

I am worried about her level of Japanese if she couldn't understand something as simple as "I came from Canada".. how would she even communicate with members and Japanese fans? I enjoyed trolling her though



Nagisa
(she posted her big face poster on the side of the booth)

Me: hi... (walked towards and said hi to poster) oops that's the wrong one..
Nagisa: that's the wrong one!
Me: I watched NYA48. Could it be that the center is.. Mei?! (her cat) -> https://twitter.com/_Nagisa_Shibuya/status/733651354904731648
Nagisa: (a bunch of keigo mimicking some official statements)
Me: wat
Nagisa: it's a secret.
Me: ok.. what is today's lucky item?
Nagisa: glasses!
Me: oh yay (I wear glasses)
Nagisa: (pointed at my glasses as I walked out)

Nagisa is far from shio in handshake but I feel like we're at different wavelength so our conversation is always unsmooth. It's like if we're playing the two-person-three-leg game, we would keep tripping.



Saho
Me: long time no see
Saho: what? no
Me: well like 2 weeks
Saho: yeah I was surprised there for a moment
Me: I saw Love Shugyo on request hour
Saho: that's nostalgic
Me: you were jumping and running.. so much energy. Still keeping up eh
Saho: LOL (embarassed laugh to the side - this wasn't even the usual fufufun kinda laugh she always gives this is the real surprised laugh)
Me: the white hat you had on? I think it looks really good on you
Saho: thank you. Only I wear it so make sure you spot me in performance!
Me: kk it's easy to spot.
Saho: remember to spot me (twirled her finger at me as I walked away)


Me: who do you think is older, Saho or me?
Saho: ehh? ehhhh?! errrmm
Me: is it hard to guess? lol
Saho: aren't you oniichan?
Me: what do you think?
Saho: eeehhhh~ probably you're older?
Me: heh how old?
Saho: mmmm twenty.....two?
Me: oh I see. (poker face)
Saho: did I get it right?
Me: mmm not telling.
Saho: wtf noo tell me
Me: I think I'm pretty young among the fans
Saho: tell me yooo
She was still looking at me for an answer when I was outside picking up my backpack so I handsigned it to her.

Saho was the easiest to talk to and the only one so far whom I could get rid of using desu/masu form with naturally. Her handshakes are ones I would be smiling like an idiot as I walked out.

 

Not as interesting as the handshake events, but I went to a "AKB48 no Anta Dare!" showing last Thursday. I'm glad I read through the Anta Dare thread because I definitely would've been lost. Thanks for all the help there. Anyways, this is how it went.

I showed up to the AKB48 Cafe & Shop around 3:55. The thread told me I should be there by 4:00 so I was. At first I accidentally got into the wrong line. For some reason I thought they lined everyone up all at once, but there was a line for people who are subscribed to the streaming service, and a line for everyone else after they had finished. I'm pretty sure I read that in the thread, but had forgot.

Anyways I ended up 3rd in line in the General Admission line. From there everything was accurate from what the post said. They checked your "AKB48 Passport", and wrote a number on your hand. Luckily there were only 54 people total so my chances were good that I would be getting in. I was surprised though since the line up was strong in my opinion (Maeda Ami, Abe Maria, Ogasawara Mayu, and Hirata Rina.) I ended up getting in as number 15 in the general drawing.

From there I got my stamp, paid the $20, and went in. Luckily I'm staying right next to Akihabara Station so I don't have to worry about taking a bag in. I was able to just leave it at my hotel. If you're able to do this I'd highly recommend it, but it's understandable if you can't. They have lockers there though so it's no big deal. You get a free drink so I picked one at random. Mine was a bright green, and I think it was apple flavored though I'm not entirely sure.. So I walked over to my spot, and after a few more minutes the show started.

The whole thing was great! I'll be honest and say I don't really listen to any AKB music, but I love their variety shows. This is probably as close as I'm going to get to seeing one live. Plus I've never seen them in person so it was cool to be so close. It definitely gave me a better idea on how tall some of them are, and how tall those boots they have to wear are as well. I honestly don't know how they can walk in them. I also speak very little Japanese so although I didn't understand much of what they were saying, there was a lot of "physical" comedy that I was able to laugh along with. If I lived here I could see how easy it would be to go broke going to these events.

I think I'm going to try and go again tomorrow which will be the last day I'll be able to before I head home.. Fingers crossed I'll make it into this one as well!

 

5/28 -29 2016 NMB48 Amagami Hime HS & Milky Last Handshake @ Tokyo Big Sight.

Day 1

Shiroma Miru







Yamamoto Sayaka











Watanabe Miyuki

 

Day 2

So out of the 2 days the last day was definitely the busiest day for me, both emotionally and physically. A Taiwanese fan I know started a project in Taiwan to make a send off banner to represent Milky's fans in Taiwan. I knew nothing about it till maybe a week before because the guy who started the project suddenly because of work could not come so he had D-san (also a Taiwanese fan, some of you may know him since I often mentioned him in my Milky write-ups) bring the banner in his stead. D-san immediately came to me for help because I was the only person he knew that had tickets for the day who can help bring in all the fans that's flying over to Japan just for the send off (You can't enter the venue without handshake tickets). I won't lie, I was disappointed in how many Taiwanese fans that actually flew over to send her off considering how many I've met that claimed to really love Milky. Anyway, there was only like 3 including D-san which was starting to make the whole banner thing quite impossible, so I tried to get as many foreign fans I knew that would be there at that event to help out like @Slasher20 . Luckily we were able to get about 10 people ranging from different countries like the Philippines, China, and Taiwan. D-san and I then had to go talk to Milky's Committee Head to let them know our plans as a courtesy call and show that we aren't there to take away the spotlight. The committee gave us a quick run down what they will be doing and that's pretty much the early prep.

Yamamoto Sayaka







Shiroma Miru






Watanabe Miyuki







As it gotten closer to the end of the day the more I stopped caring about my handshake with my other members, even Sayaka. All I could think about was what I wanted to say to Milky at the end. Around 5pm the Milky Committee started to gather outside Milky's lane and started to set up spots for the send off. @Slasher20 whom originally wanted to try to be the last few fans to see Milky also decided to not to after I told her I'm not sure if we can guarantee a spot at the banner since there would be so many people near the end. Luckily I didn't have to wait around much since most of the Japanese fans thought I was one of the people running the Taiwan banner project so I had a space saved for me which allowed me to take my time to go see Milky for the last time. As it got closer to the end the committee started passing out flowers to the fans around the center area along with some Warukii horn headband they made. Speaking of flowers, this is just me ranting but I think it's absolute bullcrap that we weren't allowed to give Milky flowers. I'm not going to straight out say who denied the fans that priviledge but let's just say her last Kansai event was an AKB handshake, and flowers were allowed. Make the connection.




After the handshake it still felt unreal that was my last Milky. It wasn't till I walked out and the regular oversea Milky fans asked me if I was alright that it occurred to me that my time with Milky was finally over. Anyway as for the send off, Milky walked out with the members and we welcomed with a Milky name call. She comes out already in tears then gave out a short thankful speech. We then started to sing Warukii which put a smile on Milky's face. (This was the whole purpose, to send Milky off with laughter).

https://twitter.com/_yoshida_akari/status/736911253034008576

Milky asked the members if they had anything to say to her and no one had anything but by then Miru was the 1st to crack down and started to cry. Milky then put a mic to Shu and all Shu said was "Sabishiii~~~lol". Typical ksgk Shu. Milky then mentioned Sayaka and all the fans started to cheer Sayaka on hopefully for her to say something. Instead Sayaka walked further away and tried to push Riripon to speak. Milky then sent Sayaka her wishes by saying she hopes Sayaka find happiness as well, which led Sayaka to come up to the mic to tsukkomi Milky, "You say it like I'm not happy right now!" lol. Either way, there was definitely a seniority presence that send off and all the members understood whose day that belonged to. Anyway, near the end Milky also recognized the oversea's fans effort by briefly mentioning that she's happy that the foreign fans are here too.




Anyway, this concludes my handshake with Milky. I just want to thank the people who enjoyed reading my write-up about Milky. It's been a fun run. That being said, it's not over yet! She's still with us for the little next while and there will be some things coming up and I will try my best to follow it through till the end.

 

Handshake at Yokohama 6/5

This is a sign event. They're pretty hard to win (for me) and at first I kept losing. I skip most of the ones where I did win because they're generally me looking at them write. Even when I try to talk, they're concentrating on the writing and didn't give much of a response. The lines were also super slow because of all the sign and I end up burning some Nagisa tickets.

Yuiri

Me: hi
Yuiri: I remember you
Me: thanks it's been a while. You look so elegant in this dress.
Yuiri: thanks
Me: you've been appearing a lot more in bingo lately.
Yuiri: yeah
me: I want to see Yuiri in shifuku fashion show. You'd make mote
Yuiri: haha reallly? Yeaahh
Me: Is your voice ok? (there's a sign at her lane saying her throat isn't well and she can't speak loudly today)
Yuiri: yeah I sound like an onee
Me: onee LOL

Me: how's your english?
Yuiri: it's so difficult
Me: well at least your catch phrase is simple.
Yuiri: very red..
Me: hm makka.. yeah very red I guess
Yuiri: very red....
Me: ... (maybe she doesn't know "apple"?)
Yuiri: ah APPURU
Me: lol you got it.

I met a Japanese fan who renbaned with me for Yuiri. Since I won a sign he helped me tell Yuiri to write it without san/sama/kun/chan. Normally the staff force you to choose one of the 4 on the form but thanks to that friend she used a smiley face instead.




Sayaya

Me: hi nishukanburi (haven't seen you in 2 weeks)
Saya: ahh.. (probably doesn't remember me)
Me: congrats on prelim!
Saya: thanks
Me: I was watching your shoujiki shougi match on bingo, but my Japanese isn't very good. What is "sukebe"?
Saya: right that word showed up
Me: what does it mean?
Saya: mmm it's hard to explain..

Me: oh wow your shirt is numbered..
Saya: yeah it's cute
Me: how is your english?
Saya: I only know a little bit.
Me: ok then, (in english) repeat after me.
Saya: (pauses, understands) ok
Me: (english) I want to become...
Saya: I want to become...
Me: fresh tomato! (little twirl)
Saya: what
Me: fresh tomato! (twirl)
Saya: fresh tomato! What does it mean? I want to eat tomato?
Me: nono naritaino!
Saya: (laughs) oh lol

I have been losing in Sayaya sign the whole time despite going most often to her so I shotguned my way through in slot 6 with 6 tickets. Luckily enough on my last ticket I finally won one.



Me: this is "the third time's for real" (her ssk motto this year). My third time today I finally won a sign.
Saya: ah that's good.
Me: how old do I look?
Saya: hmm 20.
Me: I see...
Saya: am I right?
Me: not telling.
Saya: oh it's secret? ok. (saho was way more tsun in this..)
Me: can you tell me what's so good about tomato?
Saya: nigate? (do you not like it?)
Me: (thought she said nigai which means bitter) wait what? Tomato's selling point is its bitterness?
Saya: do you hate it?
Me: oh no not at all


Saho

Me: I've only got this ticket today. So lucky good thing I won a sign.
Saho: oh I see...
...
Me: (sees her draw something) what's that?
Saho: my signature...
...
Me: is your hand ok? (she has bandages on her left hand because she is getting pain from it)
Saho: mm it's kinda painful.
Me: oh
...
(so it just turned out to be a rather awkward handshake where she was concentrating on writing the whole time)



Juri

Juri: konichiwa
Me: (in english) hi I'm from Canada.
Juri: ah Canada..
Me: (english) do you know where Canada is?
Juri: (struggles in english) yes I do.
Me: oh you do (in japanese)
Me: yeah I can speak japanese normally
Juri: hidoi! And here I was trying so hard to speak in english.
Me: but you were good.
Juri: thanks. wait they speak english in Canada right?
Me: yep english

The second time I went I won a Juri signature.


Me: I'm gonna bring this back home to Canada.
Juri: oh it's your second time handshake right?
Me: yeah. I was watching the request hour dvd and your mc were so good I just skip all the songs to watch them.
Juri: no way they're not worth it.
Me: they are the best.


Nagisa

Nagisa: thanks for coming all the time.
(I did not expect her to remember me from past events because I don't go to her often and she usually has a lot of people so it was a pleasant surprise)
Me: thank you. I saw your instagram room photo. Your joshiryoku (feminine power?) is so strong.
Nagisa: lol thanks
Me: also your photoshoot? You look kinda like Milky. It must be the dress.
Nagisa: Milky-san? I'm glad.




Shu

Me: hi I came from Canada.
Shu: Canada! hello (english)
Me: hello. Do you still read shokugeki no soma?
Shu: yes I do!
Me: it has gotten quite dark recently...
Shu: ?
Me: the story
Shu: ahh yeah with Nakiri Erina's dad and all..
Me: yeah the bad guy
Shu: you read it too?
Me: I do!
Shu: (gives me double thumbs up)

Me: which soma character do you think you are most like?
Shu: hmmmmmmm...
Shu: who do you think I'm most like?
Me: hmm what do you like to eat?
Shu: (says something I don't know) (laughs)
Me: what? What is that?
Shu: nevermind. Curry!
Me: ok you are soma then!
Shu: soma? hahaha ok (laughs and slaps my hand)

Me: I watched your sakki made wa ice tea on request hour.
Shu: (starts singing) sakki made wa ice tea... (does the little double clap on my hand i die)
Me: ahaha thanks. Do you drink ice tea often?
Shu: yeah I drink ice tea and coffee often.
Me: hm but don't they taste like tatami?
Shu: LOL sasuga.. (like you sure know what's up)
Shu: that's green tea.

I thank myself for getting these random Shu tickets after having good handshakes in January. I would never get into Shu from online content but her kami taiou is so good. She's so genki she's like a pikachu or something.

 

Handshake at Messe 6/12

I accidentally overslept this morning by an hour and a small earthquake woke me up... so I was rushing to messe. The stamping was a huge line as well and some new staff was complaining how the address on my Canadian passport doesn't match the address in Japan on my ticket. Well duh. I still made first slot no problem though. In fact, I think because of that extra hour of sleep, I was more awake and not dead and tired like last week.

Saho

Me: hi, I have been watching your showroom a lot and right now I'm really sleep deprived.
Saho: oh really
Me: yeah like the one you did at 6am... and all you ever talk about is food.
Saho: lol sorry
Me: nono I really like food as well, it's like my second favourite thing
Saho: what's your first?
Me: isn't it Saho
Saho: yay lol


Me: you had chocolate fondue a while back right?
Saho: yeah in Osaka
Me: well I actually had chocolate anago at some french restaurant
Saho: Max Brenner
Me: what?
Saho: that's where we went for chocolate fondue. There's one in Omotesando too
Me: ah I vaguely remember walking by some chocolate place there.

Me: good thing I made it in time...
Saho: sei-fu (safe)
Me: this famous Japanese chef has an event nearby and I went there for kaiseki lunch... you had fettuccine for lunch right?
Saho: ?
Me: err (@GeoFreak ! ur intel!)
Saho: I had hot dog and pasta.
Me: yeah I saw your showroom for a bit. Just long enough to throw stars.
Saho: (does star throwing hand motion)



Me: (points to poster) you know how you like 80s idols? There's a song I wish you would perform sometime.
Saho: what song?
Me: not sure if you know it, but Nako's Ijiwaruchu! It's that kind of song.
Saho: yeah I know it. (hums a line so softly I can barely hear)
Me: are you always drinking at showtoom lol? sake.
Saho: no it's tea. tea!

Me: according to Sayaya, in Hokkaido there's "hotate burger" (scallop burger)
Saho: (widen eyes) ahh I want to try that!
Me: mm me too. You are really high ranked in showroom.
Saho: yeah I'm like 12th place.
Me: good luck at sousenkyo as well! I'll be cheering for you
Saho: thanks
Me: I haven't actually voted yet
Saho: you're gonna miss the deadline!
Me: I'm osoi
Saho: o-so-i

UPDATE: Saho just mentioned this handshake on her showroom the next day!!
I have left my legacy in the fandom lol

Sayaya

Me: hi, oh wow your white dress/shirt. Looks like mochi. (it was really puffy ok)
Saya: lol wut
Me: I have been watching showroom this whole time and I'm really sleep deprived now.
Saya: thanks for watching
Me: yeah I saw your... (think about orientation for hand) flipped "showroom" letters. Now you can do polling too. You should use it more.
Saya: ok please watch


Me: what did you have for lunch?
Saya: I had salad
Me: oh wow that's healthy. I went to kaiseki.
Saya: do you like washoku?
Me: yeah.. trying to eat all the kaiseki and sushi and tempura while I'm in Japan.

I had to wait behind this old dude in front of me who had 50 tickets orz... the guy originally behind him gave up and left. I waited like 8 minutes but it's actually very rewarding. You get to creepily? stare at the member from super close without worrying about carrying out a conversation.

Me: oh you curled your hair. Did you do it yourself?
Saya: yeah
Me: I thought you said you're bad at it. Can't you curl it like how you roll norimaki? (in Japanese they're both the same verb)
Saya: yeah I curled it like that (did not even sense that I was joking)
Me: anyway you look elegant in it. I heard Yukirin did a make up stream on showroom.
Saya: yeah I heard.
Me: are you doing one too?
Saya: mm she did one.
Me: you should do one too.
Saya: ...
(ok I think she just refuses to do it lol)

Me: you talked about all kinds of tomato in your showroom, right?
Saya: yeah tomato
Me: I actually had tomato this small (show size of like a blueberry) once
Saya: I've never seen such tomato!
Me: it's called micro-tomato I think. Had it at some french restaurant.
Saya: I want to try.
Me: good luck at sousenkyo as well! I'll be cheering for you
Saya: thanks

Yuiri

Me: hi, wow katadashi (showing shoulders) again today.
Yuiri: yeah I like that style
Me: right I understand it's hot now
Yuiri: yeah it's hot. Do you like summer or winter more?
Me: summer. I'm terrible with cold temperature. Everyone's doing showroom now and you're popping up here and there...
Yuiri: yeah I show up as guest at other members' stream
Me: which one should I watch to find you?
Yuiri: Ayaka!
Me: ok

Me: what did you have for lunch?
Yuiri: omurice!
Me: oh so you like yoshoku more?
Yuiri: not really I like both. What did you eat?
Me: I had this kaiseki lunch at some famous Japanese chef event nearby.. good thing I made it back in time.
Yuiri: yeah

Me: happy birthday!
Yuiri: thanks
Me: it's.. not yet right? coming up.
Yuiri: yeah in 3 days
Me: ah I was a little ha-ya-i
Yuiri: ...
Me: (completely forgot what I wanted to say after thanks to ha-ya-i) ... what was it again....
Yuiri: when is your birthday?
Me: ah later in november. How old do I look?
Yuiri: hmmm twenty...one?
Me: I see
Yuiri: so how old are you?
Me: not telling
Yuiri: NANDEYA~
Me: lol 22
Yuiri: oh I was close


Me: you said you want to change your catch phrase before right?
Yuiri: yeah
Me: I was thinking.. "Makka na... Iruka!" (Takahashi Kira named her dolphin doll Ringo-chan because it looks like Yuiri and everyone's making fun of her looking like a dolphin now)
Yuiri: it's not even changed!
Me: iruka (dolphin)
Yuiri: what is red dolphin even? I can't imagine
Me: yeah more like tai, like, the fish (red snapper)
Me: maybe you should stick to ringo then...
Yuiri: Makka na ringo iruka
Me: what's that even lol

 

@Nieru Lol sorry. I'm pretty sure it was fettucine (or linguine, always get those mixed up), but she just considered it pasta. Her food level isn't high enough for you yet...

 

6/12 2016 AKB48 Tsubasa Iranai Kobetsu HS @ Makuhari Messe

As you all know the single which includes the election votes always sells best. This is directly reflected on the amount of handshake tickets were purchased as well. Since this is an annual occurrence, this year they wanted to boost up efficiency so they decided to add a matome counter. What a matome counter does is pre count your massive amount of tickets for a certain member in the same slot. Few days prior to the event they sent out email to all the people who has massive amount of tickets with these instructions. I arrive earlier than usual because I knew there would be massive amount of people at the matome counter and information booth. Instead of getting my tickets stamped as I normally do I went to do my matome pre-count. All the staffs at the matome counter were swarmed with massive of tickets and hey coincidentally look who came by and decided to help out.



Yes, Togasaki coincidentally became my ticket counter. I'm not sure why Togasaki was amazed by the amount of tickets I had considering it's pretty normal for this single. Anyway, what they do is they basically bundled your tickets into packs of 10s. Instead of letting you hold on to so many tickets they basically put a "10" sticker on 1 of your tickets for every 10 tickets you have for the same member within the same slot. For example, if you have 100 tickets for Nagisa for slot 1, they will give you 10 tickets with the stickers on it. After Togasaki and another staff finished matome-ing my tickets I asked Togasaki if I needed to go the information booth to stamp my tickets like I usually do. Togasaki called the staff who was in charge of stuff like this over and they had a quick talk and asked me who's tickets I have for today. I told them I have a few members but they're all NMB. They passed on to that info to another staff who then talked into her mic and then I was told I won't be needing any stamps today. Right away I knew I was bumped to VIP for the day lol.



As expected as usual when I went to the lanes I met similar issues as I would if I didn't have my tickets stamped. However this time another staff quickly came over and asked the other staff "Is he Lee-san? He's okay". Just as I was promised, I had no issues the whole day with all the members I went to see.



Yabushita Shu

The convo was about 45min long so I didn't cover everything we talked about. There were a lot of small talks I didn't write about but the main bigger ones I wrote. I will put it in a spoiler to not make the post ridiculously long.

Spoiler: S48's Longest HS Report

Conclusion: Before the HS I was pretty nervous because I had so many tickets but Shu is easily one of the easiest members to talk to. Everything was so smooth and there wasn't any awkward moment and time just flew by. I didn't know I used up all 45min till it was already over. In fact I was so into the convo with her I was actually surprised when I walked out the booth to see people from 2nd slot were alrdy lined up behind me which I didn't even notice at all.

I highly suggest everyone to go see Shu when you get a chance. She's definitely one of those members that shines so much through actual interactions.


I will finish up the other members write-up when I get some free time. Shu's alone took a lot of work to do.

 

@Sakuraism In total how many tickets would you say you had? Seems like you had a bunch just for Shu alone, so I can expect that you had a bunch more for the other members as well.

 

For the single, iuno, like 1000 ish?

 

What. The. ****.

1000 CDs times 1000 Yen is 1,000,000 Yen. That's about ten thousand USD. Crazy dedication there.