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Your AKB48 Experiences

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

  1. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    I went to AKB's big handshake event in Makuhari Messe today. I had 5 tickets for 3 members today, all members I have met before and had good experiences with, so I knew it would be a good day :) Btw, the parts in italic below were actually said in English by the members (and kinda seemed out of place sometimes, lol), but other than that we talked in Japanese. I was kind of surprised by all the random English, cause those members know I can speak Japanese (at least as long as they stick to simple conversational Japanese) [hehe]

    Okada Nana (1st ticket)
    Naachan: Thank you for coming!
    Me: It's been a while! ... You know, I really like your photobook.
    Naachan: Really? That makes me so happy!
    Me: You looked really cute.
    Naachan: Thank you! You are beautiful.
    Me: Thank you! I'll come again later.

    Matsui Jurina (1st ticket)
    Jurina: Sexy, sexy... (this seems to already be her usual "greeting" for me, lol) I missed you!
    Me: I missed you too! I'm going to senbatsu sousenkyo in Nagoya next month.
    Jurina: I'll become #1! I promise! *pinky promise*
    Me: I'll come once more!

    Matsui Jurina (2nd ticket)
    Me: I came again!
    Jurina: Yatta!
    Me: Do your best in Produce 48!
    Jurina: *completely ignoring me, starts poking my boobs as usual :blink:*
    Me: You know, if you want, you can touch them properly (at this point I got already fed up with her just poking my boobs all the time, lol)
    Jurina: Eh, really?! *stares in disbelief (I honestly have never seen her this shocked, so I was probably the first person who ever said that to her)*
    Me: Yes!
    Jurina: Really?!
    Me: I don't mind *starts getting pushed away by staff*
    Jurina: *doesn't touch boobs but laughs and sticks out her tongue while waving*

    Inagaki Kaori
    Me: It's been a while!
    Kaori: It's been a while! I'm so happy you came again!
    Me: About Idol Shuugyou Chuu...
    Kaori: Ah, did you go see it?
    Me: I want to go! But I didn't see it yet.
    Kaori: It's really fun! You should try seeing it.
    Me: I will!
    Kaori: Thank you for always supporting me!
    Me: I might come again tomorrow!
    Kaori: I'm so happy, please come again!

    Okada Nana (2nd ticket)
    Naachan: Ah, you came again!
    Me: That's right! I like Naachan with black hair.
    Naachan: Thank you! I like this color *touches my hair (it's brown by the way)*
    Me: Really? It's my natural hair color.
    Naachan: Ehh? Really?!
    Me: Yeah!
    Naachan: I love it! Love love! *does heart symbol with her hands*
    Me: See you again tomorrow!
     
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  2. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    AKB48-Group 51st Single "Jabaja" Individual Handshake Event at Makuhari Messe (2017/05/26)

    One of the greatest changes they made to the chara-ani handshake system was the addition of the "oshi-mashi" option. Sometimes the application period for these singles is so far in advance that a fan's tastes and interests may have changed by the time the event finally rolls around. Case in point, one of the handshake dates for the next AKB48 single is in late October. It's FIVE months from now. I may feel differently about the members I chose in five months. I may have started to like a new member. Moreover, for me it is a lot more fun to be able to choose a member to meet "on the day" than to send the CD and ticket back for a 1000 yen refund. I bring this up because there are a couple of members who have recently come under my radar who I would really like to meet. If you have read my recent posts (hint: one is above this one, the other is in the NGT Experiences thread) you will know which members I am talking about. Under the old system I would have to wait for the 53rd single events (in the Fall? Winter?) to properly meet these girls.

    So I had the oshi-mashi option at my disposal, and I intended to take full advantage of it. However, this raised a couple of issues. First, which of my existing tickets was I willing to give up? Second, when I reserved these tickets I had scheduled everything for the late afternoon into the evening. The problem was that one of these members was scheduled for the 9am slot only, meaning if I wanted to see her I would have to get to Makuhari Messe 4 1/2 earlier, and then have 3 1/2 hours of time to kill until my next ticket. I would let my body decide. So when I woke up at 5:45 this morning, I figured "Well, I'm up. Might as well get down to Makuhari extra early.

    It also helped that my last Akiyoshi ticket was cancelled because all of the HKT members had to catch a plane back to Fukuoka to get ready for tomorrow's big concert. So that was one oshi-mashi ticket. As for the other, I was deciding among my Tani, Maichan, and Zunchan tickets. Tani was an "automatic" win ticket for the prize, so I kept that one. Of the three, Zunchan was the only one who I had multiple tickets for. So it was decided. I caught a 7:45 train out of Itabashi and made it to Makuhari just after the beginning of Slot 1. Here we go...

    Slot 1

    Kobayashi Ran (Lane 17) This was the girl I came 4 1/2 hours early for. After Wednesday night's show, where she made a great impression on me, I really wanted to meet her, and I didn't want to wait until next week when her slot is mid-day. I got to her lane at 9:20, and I thought I read that the 30 minute oshi-mashi rule was waived for the draftees. My friend said it wasn't, but they let me through. Perhaps it was because her lane was empty, or maybe they didn't want to deal with the foreigner. But whatever. Ran-chan was waving to me from the moment I walked into her lane. However, when I got within 30 meters her expression completely changed. I hadn't even entered the booth yet when she exclaimed "You were at the theater show!!!" She handed me her business card (the 'gift' given by the draftees to all visitors)

    jaba9.jpg

    I told her what an awesome time I had at the show, her performance was great, and that I really wanted to meet her. She just kept thanking me over and over. I promised I would come back and see her next week too. The guards were pushing me out almost the entire time, but whatever. I have made contact. It was a good connection, and I will see her next week.

    And with that I decided that since I still had time, I might as well do my other oshi-mashi ticket now...

    Oguma Tsugumi (Lane 81) Technically I met Tsugumin the same day I caught her ball at the NGT event, but that was a brief, 3-second hello. I wanted to "keep the ball rollin," so to speak and have a proper handshake with her. Her line was only a few people deep, so I only had to wait a minute or two. She greeted me with an English "Oh, hello." Huh, had she forgotten already? So I told her that before last week I wasn't really an NGT fan, but after catching her ball she has become my favorite member in NGT48. The cute thing was that she was repeating my Japanese back to me as I said it, as if to be sure she understood every word. Very cute.

    My oshi-mashi tickets were done, and it was about 9:45. My next ticket was scheduled almost four hours later. After waving goodbye to Ranchan at the end of her slot, I ended up 'cafe-hopping' for 3 1/2 hours having coffee, tea, danishes, lunch. At one point I even dozed off in one of the cafes. Eventually the clock passed 1pm, so I made my way back to Halls 9-11 to begin my original handshake schedule, minus two tickets...

    Slot 4

    Fuchigami Mai (Lane 40) With the rest of my tickets I was now eligible for the day's prizes. The big prize of the day were these autographed stickers, which came in different sizes. I didn't have any tickets for those. In fact, almost all of my tickets, save for one, were for either the 2-shot selfie or the 1-shot video. With Maichan I usually run about a 50/50 chance, and on this day I won the selfie. Her line was very short, so I was in and out fairly quickly.

    jaba1.jpg

    I asked her about leaving early today to return to Fukuoka, which she confirmed. I wished her the best of luck at the concert tomorrow, and she responded with "Ganbarimasu......oh, I love you" which seems to be the m.o. of every handshake I have with her. We used to have a lot more to talk about. I need to brush up on my Maichan knowledge.

    Yamane Suzuha (Lane 37) For a moment I thought this was the slot of my Zukky ticket, and almost walked into the wrong lane. Of course Zunchan's lane was filled with signs and messages to her fans. It is sooooo cute the way she sets her lane up to give fans a different experience. I lost the lottery for a signed card, so it would just be a regular handshake. When I walked into the booth the first thing she said was "You got a haircut???" Wow, I am amazed she noticed. I acknowledged that I did indeed get a haircut, and then I "wowed" her back by saying hello to Gabriel, her stuffed frog. She was like "Yes, Gabriel! You remembered". I told her that I love her signs because they help me practice Japanese. This made her really happy, and she told me to continue to work hard with my Japanese studying. It was at this point that I sincerely regretted doing osh-mashi with her ticket on someone else. But I have tickets for her next week, so all good.

    Slot 5

    Yamauchi Mizuki (Lane 36) Zukky's line was fairly big all day, although it was slightly shorter than usual when I queued up. The good news was that I won the 1-shot video. Which one should I choose? When I was in Zunchan's lane I noticed that Zukky looked even cuter than usual. So when I saw there was a "fashion show" option to the one-shot video, I picked it. In the meantime one of the members of her SSK committee gave me a flyer, it is very nicely done. (I will post it properly in Zukky's thread.)

    jaba5.jpg

    I also had a nice three-way view of Zunchan, Zukky, and Asai Nanami while I waited. Lots of fun watching those three working with their fans. Finally it was my turn and they handed her my video request. She looked taken aback for a quick second, and then went into full "fashion mode"


    if the video does not show watch the video here

    Isn't that a cute video? I told her I selected that because I saw her outfit earlier and thought it was extremely cute. I mean Zukky looks cute regardless, but I love the twin-tails, suspenders, and the choker. Such a great combination. Anyway, this was my only Slot 5 ticket, so I had a big break, and spent part of it eating chili-cheese fries at one of the event food trucks.

    jaba6.jpg

    Interestingly, the rest of my tickets were ALL automatic wins, meaning I was assured of getting the bonus prize for each one. Sad, because I want all of these members to be more popular. However, some of us noticed that there were a lot of very short lines throughout the day, and there were a lot of girls with "automatic win" that don't normally have it. Perhaps it was because people were saving for the SSK?

    Slot 6

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 44) Since I won the bonus prize in all of these slots, there was much less time for talking. Yukachan greeted me with "Yaho Kurisu!" We immediately set of for the pose and took it.

    jaba2.jpg

    I said "You are leaving early?" She affirmed it, so I mentioned that I had tickets for the cancelled slot. I mean I could have oshi-mashi'd the ticket here with her, or even next week. I simply chose not to use it that way. At any rate, I still wished her the best of luck tomorrow, and I would see her next week. Damn, I keep forgetting to mention the "Calcium Now!" thing she keeps doing on twitter.

    Sakaki Miyu [Cuca] (Lane 71) When I met with Cuca two weeks ago I lamented that I didn't have enough to talk to her about, so winning the prize here alleviated that a bit. I actually had a choice between the video or the selfie, but seeing I was going to have four selfies and 2 videos, I chose the video to 'even things out.' Moreover, last time I had the video prize with Cuca I cut off the first couple of seconds of the video. I wouldn't be making that mistake again.


    if the video does not show watch the video here

    Frankly, most of the video script choices they offered were kinda lame. This was the only other one I really liked. Other people said they kinda liked the Janken one as well. Anyway, after the video I quickly thanked her and was on my way.

    Matsumura Kaori (Lane 96) It wasn't even 30-minutes into Slot 6 and I was already on to my 3rd ticket. Once again, this was an automatic win. However, none of these video scripts fit Kaotan's personality at all. I decided to pick the fashion show again, not that I thought she would do it, but that I thought it would give her a good opportunity to improvise. In fact, when she looked at the sheet she surprisingly said "Fashion?" I told her to just do anything she wants. And keep in mind that the videos are supposed to last at the most 10-15 seconds...


    if the video does not show watch the video here

    Holy Moly! A 62-second ramble that covered pretty much anything she wanted to talk about, and she DID do a fashion show of sorts. Of course she took an opportunity to hustle me for Sousenkyo votes. And by the way, 62 seconds!!!!! These videos are supposed to be like 10 seconds or so. THIS is just one of the many reasons why Kaotan is an awesome girl to visit and be a fan of. She really takes care of her fans. But that's not all...

    jaba10.jpg
    Your choice of video scripts.

    As I was leaving, Kaotan just happened to mention to me that she saw photos of me on the Wasamin Bus Tour. Huh??? After I got over my initial shock I laughed and said "Yes, the bus tour was a lot of fun." And then I mentioned I would see her in the next slot for the selfie. It's a good thing, since I wanted to clarify which photos she saw.

    Slot 7

    Matsumura Kaori (Lane 96) After an 90 minute wait, during which time I saw Yuasa and another staff member head out to the food/smoking area to check something out, I came back in a little early and pre-queued for Kaotan. There was nobody there, so I was first in line. When I checked in, for some reason the girl didn't give me the 2-shot paper. At first I thought this was because everyone won. But when I saw the guy behind me get one, I went back and questioned them. They said they thought I didn't want it. Funny, they never asked me. Interestingly, most of the queues were extremely short. Kaotan's lane had just me and one other guy. Obamina's lane was completely empty. In fact, when she finally came out she looked completely annoyed. It inspired a pow-wow among a bunch of members, Oba, Churi, Mikoto who seemed to be complaining that all the lines seemed oddly short. Oba kept looking down to the outside saying "Aren't you guys coming in?" But there weren't very many people outside either. Kaotan eventually came out. They called me into the booth, and she realized she didn't have her footstool with her, so I had to wait a minute while she went to get it. As I set up for the selfie she kept trying to instruct me. At one point she got a little frustrated and grabbed my phone to show me, but then gave it back. I eventually set it up to her satisfaction and took the shot.

    jaba3.jpg
    Hey, I'm getting pretty good at these selfies.

    I think this is my nicest selfie of the day. Good job Kaotan. I asked her where she saw the Bus Tour photos. She said she saw them on Wasamin's twitter, and then she saw a couple more in the responses (One fan took a couple of shots of me picking tea, so I think those are the photos she meant, as well as the group shot) She asked why I wanted to know, and I told her because I also posted Bus Tour photos on twitter. She responded with something I didn't catch, but I said I would see her next week.

    Tani Marika (Lane 87) When I got to Tani's lane it was completely empty, but before I could enter four guys jumped in. I know Tani gets lonely when her line dies down, so this was good. It was just a couple minutes later that I got my turn.

    jaba4.jpg

    It was very quick, we took the pic, I thanked Tani, and was out of there. Perhaps she wasn't as talkative as usual, or maybe the short queues were annoying her too. It is Sousenkyo time after all.

    Next week I have tickets to the Jabaja event in Yokohama, and I need to decide which ticket I am going to oshi-mash for Ranchan. I have two tickets in particular that I am thinking of, and since Mio has been a bit flakey about events lately, I will probably use hers, but we'll see. Tomorrow I have a double dose of Nagara Group, first seeing Minyo Girls' one-man live in Asakusa, then heading to Minowa for Wasamin's final 4th Concert DVD release event. So no AKB48 Zenkoku event for me, but a lot of fun nonetheless.
     
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  3. hermionepj1

    hermionepj1 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2016
    Oshimen:
    Yamashita Emiri
    your selfie game is spot on!
     
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  4. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    With SSK going on, it's taken me a bit longer to write my report this time, but better late then never, I guess? [hehe] On Sunday, I went to AKB's national handshake event in Makuhari Messe. I brought 11 tickets with me, planning to use them mostly on group lanes but maybe using a few during matome handshake as well.

    I won't really go into detail about live, but I have to say I really enjoyed Ame no Pianist performed by Naachan, Yuiri and Yuiyui - it's one of my fave songs, and one of my favorite members centering it is so great. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a place near the fence in women's area this time (as I usually do), so that was a bit unfortunate, but thanks to my height I managed to see well over all the Japanese girls anyways.

    Lane 2 - Okada Nana, Nishikawa Rei, Kojima Mako
    As women have priority for the first handshake, I decided to go to this lane first as I assumed it would be very crowded later. Even in the beginning, when it was only open for women and children, the queue was pretty big. The members ended up arriving quite late, when many of the other lanes were already done with their priority handshakes - I assume this was due to them going to the disabled lane first. When they finally came, it was my turn within a few minutes. Naachan was first in the lane, and she immediately remembered me from the day before (if you saw my last report, you'll know I had 2 tickets for her on Saturday). Then, she noticed the pink ribbon/bow in my hair, and complimented it while touching my hair :inlove: This was the second time that weekend that she touched my hair, haha. I didn't really have that much to talk about with Rei and Kojimako, but I told Rei I saw her at the theater before, and I told Kojimako that I really liked Accident Chuu (they performed it during the mini live, and it happens to be one of my fave B sides ever), to which they both smiled and said thanks.

    Lane 15 - Inagaki Kaori, Utada Hatsuka, Tatsuya Makiho
    I also saw Kaori at the handshake event the day before, and told her I would be coming on Sunday as well, so of course I had to go to this lane. It kind of went similar to the handshake with Naachan before - she remembered me for the day before, and said my hairstyle was cute. Next one was Hattsu. I saw Hattsu perform at the theater before, and thought she was really cute, but I don't really know much else about her, so I figured I'd just tell her that I saw her at the theater and that she's was really cute. She seemed very happy about it, and said she will keep doing her best [hehe] Now for Makichan, I really know next to nothing about her. Luckily, I didn't have to say much since she immediately called me kawaii, and I told her the mini live earlier was good, and with that the time was up.

    Lane 4 - Mogi Shinobu, Kitazawa Saki, Murayama Yuiri
    My favorite members participating in this HS event somehow ended up being completely split into different lanes, so I had another must-go lane, this one with Mogi. I was quite excited to meet Yuiri as well, as I haven't met her before and got slightly interested in her lately (probably thanks to Naachan), but I don't really have much to say to Sakkii. Still, I figured something would come up when I got to her. First one was Mogi, and after a "hisashiburi" (making me feel a bit guilty I didn't buy any tickets to see her lately), I told her she looked really beautiful today. Next one, Sakkii. She greeted me with a "hello" in English, and I told her she was cute since that was all that came up. Luckily in cases like this, national HS really doesn't give you that much time to talk with each member. Last one in the lane was Yuiri, I told her it was my first time meeting her and that I really liked Confession (her unit song in the Team 4 stage), to which she smiled and thanked me.

    Lane 13 - Shinozaki Ayana, Iwatate Saho, Kawamoto Saya
    Since I had many tickets left and this lane wasn't that crowded, I figured I'd go visit it - Sahhoo in particular is always a safe bet. Ayanan was first, and while I don't really follow Ayanan or know much about her, she's one of the most beautiful members in AKB in my opinion, so I told her she was really beautiful. Sahhoo was the second member of the day to greet me in English, and I told her I really liked Tonari no Banana (her unit song). I guess I'm already feeling a bit nostalgic about that stage ending, so I keep bringing up those songs to the members, haha. Sayaya was last, I told her I saw her at the theater and that she was really cute. It was a pretty solid lane overall, all the members gave good reactions to compliments.

    Lane 2 - Okada Nana, Nishikawa Rei, Kojima Mako
    After that, I decided to go to Naachan's lane, aka lane 2 again. When she saw me, she said she was really happy I came again and I told her I really enjoy watching her karaoke. I really like Naachan's reactions during handshakes, they just seem so sincere. I told Rei she was cute, and I told Kojimako to do her best with Produce 48, to which she seemed kinda surprised (maybe she didn't expect a foreigner like me to know about it), but she thanked me.

    Lane 2 - Okada Nana, Nishikawa Rei, Kojima Mako

    Despite the long queue, I decided to go to lane 2 again. When it was my turn, I told Naachan I really liked Confession (mentioning unit songs from that stage again, see I told you I'm feeling nostalgic already [hehe]), and Naachan told me "I love you" in English - she told me this before, but still gets me every time [hehe] Didn't have much to say to Rei, but she kind of figured it out and did the talking instead, calling me kawaii and saying my smile was nice. For Kojimako, there was some awkward silence for a moment but I remembered to tell her that she seems to be good at Korean just before I had to leave the lane [hehe]

    Lane 15 - Inagaki Kaori, Utada Hatsuka, Tatsuya Makiho
    I decided I'd go to this lane again, as I wanted to see Kaori again. When I got to her, her face brightened up when she saw me. I told her she's too cute and that i like her a lot, and she smiled and said she was really happy. She really is the epitome of cuteness. For Hattsun, I remembered I she appeared on Akbingo recently, but I wasn't sure, so I asked her if she did, and she said yes, so I told her I saw her. I told Makichan she was cute, and she asked me "how are you" in English, but I was pushed away by staff before I could answer :^^;:

    After that, it was almost time for draftees performance and another mini live, so I decided to save my last 4 tickets for matome to see Naachan. I could hurry up and use them on group lanes as well if I really wanted to, but I already ran out of things to say to Rei and Kojimako, so I figured matome would be better. So after the mini live, I lined up for Naachan's lane (with some help of Japanese fans, as I have never done matome handshake before and wasn't sure where to line up and how things work).

    Okada Nana
    While waiting in Naachan's lane, it was pretty interesting to see her interact with fans in front of me. I taught this girl really is an angel, she pays so much attention to every fan and just seems so nice and sweet :inlove: When it was my turn, she first thanked me for coming again and said she was really happy. I told her I really like her singing voice, and she thanked me, and then I proceeded to tell her I really like her appearance and character as well. Especially at the appearance part, she seemed really surprised and asked me: "Really?" I wish she had more confidence in herself :( But she was really sweet and the whole time, she was looking in my eyes and paying attention to what I was saying, which is something really like about her - this was pretty late in the day, so she must have been tired already, yet she still gave her all. As I was being pushed out, I told her I would come see her again.
     
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  5. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    Iwasa Misaki 7th Single Karaoke Party at Big Echo Ikebukuro (2018/06/02)
    ~Singing a Duet With Wasamin~


    Some of the most fun times I have had as a Wasamin fan have been with the special events you can send away for with the inserts in her releases. Back in 2016 I won her BBQ Party, which was the Grand Prize in her album insert. Last year, for Wasamin's 6th single, I won the second prize which was the Karaoke Party. With Sado no Ondeko, I again won the second prize, which again was the Karaoke party. Yatta!

    Now I have to admit, when I filled out the postcards I was really aiming for the Grand Prize, which was another BBQ Party. So when I received my winning postcard in the mail there was a slight tinge of disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to win any prize, since the "real" prize is spending time with Wasamin. However, the BBQ party I attended was so much fun, and the food was so abundant and good, that I was really hoping to go. When I filled out the postcards (which had to be mailed like three days after the single released to be eligible) I was tempted to apply for the BBQ party only, but I threw in a few applications for the Karaoke Party...just in case. Ultimately, I'm thankful I did that, or I may have been shut out entirely. Anyway...

    [​IMG]

    I arrived in Ikebukuro and Big Echo around 10 minutes before "doors" opened. It was at the same location of last year's karaoke event. The lunch I had before the event wasn't totally agreeing with me, so I was hoping the unlimited Oolong Tea would help settle my stomach down. We were led in groups to the basement hall, where there were four tables set up for eight people each. I took a seat at the far end of the first table on the right. After being served our first round of drinks, Wasamin's assistant informed us that Misaki-chan would sing a first round of songs. Then we would play janken for the opportunity to sing a duet with her, after that she would take requests. Oh, and the people who sing with Wasamin would also get an autographed Sado no Ondeko poster and clear file. Two things I already have, but oh well. Anyway, she led off with these two songs...

    1. Natsu no Tobira
    2. Goodbye My Love


    [​IMG]
    clear file

    I just happened to watch Wasamin's 4th concert DVD before I left, and when I got to the part where she sang Goodbye My Love I thought this would be a great song to duet with her in the unlikely event I win the janken. So while I love that she sang it, it kinda threw me for a loop. After the second song, Wasamin was talking to some of the people who came. When she came to me she asked how her English was, and I told her it is becoming very good. She also asked if I would say the English lines of Goodbye My Love for her, so I repeated them back in my California accent (actually, most people say the origination of my speaking style is quite confusing, and sounds like it could be from a few different regions of America) Everyone got a big kick out of it.

    Janken for a Duet with Wasamin

    Okay, now on one hand I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do a proper duet with Misaki-chan. On the other, it is kinda worrisome. What song can I sing with her? Which Japanese song do I know well enough to sing? We went through three rounds of Janken. The first guy picked a cute 80's or 90's pop song. Not sure what it was, but the chorus has a bunch of lines like "Co-co-co-co-coconuts, I-I-I Love You, Sekushi Island" or something like that. The second guy chose Temodemo no Namida, after Wasamin asked if he was coming to her event on Sunday, and he admitted he was going to the AKB event at Pacifico. She gave him a bit of crap for it, but little did she know there were a few people in the room (including myself) with the same plan, LOL. After the third person won (and chose a relatively new song by one of the artists who happened to be on Utacon with Wasamin a couple weeks ago) I figured oh well, at least I will get a photo that looks like we sang a duet. That was until Sasou-san announced one more round of Janken...

    Now I had managed to get myself eliminated on the first round of each previous contest. But in this last contest I happened to win the first round. Okay, not a good chance of that happening twice, right? Wrong. I won again. It was down to four of us, and we kept deadlocking for like four rounds. But eventually, it came down to two of us. The guy I was going against was behind me, and I literally had my head down looking in the opposite direction, so I was going strictly by Wasamin's reaction only. And after SIX times drawing the same thing, who won? This guy did, that's who. It was a moment of panic, as I didn't know what I could sing, but I went up to the stage anyway...

    Wasamin asked me where I was from, and his time I said California while hearing a couple people uttering "Itabashi" from the tables, a longstanding fan gag, LOL. I explained to her that I originally wanted to sing Goodbye My Love, but she already sang it. She offered to sing it again, but I pointed out that the karaoke script had no small Hiragana over any of the kanji, so it might be too difficult. Then it dawned on me, and I told her the time I was on Fuji television and sang Mujineki, so I would probably be able to sing that okay, It was settled. As someone in the audience pointed out, this was "Chris-san's Challenge Campaign" LOL

    So we sang together, and it was absolutely incredible to stand up there and sing a full song with her, and it went so well. I aced the first verse, had a tiny bit of trouble on the second verse, and was fine on the end. Every time I would look over at Wasamin she was staring into my eyes with a warm smile. I wanted to just stare back at her the entire time, but I had to look away to see the lyrics. By the end, Wasamin was surprised, as were the other fans, and probably more than anyone else, I was surprised. I had such a feeling of joy as she nodded in approval and gave me a thumbs up. Wasamin handed me my prizes, and I sat back down.

    [​IMG]
    poster

    She went around taking various requests from all the fans, and decided on the 2-3 songs she was most comfortable singing. Then finally she performed Sado no Ondeko, and that ended the event. We went up one by one to say goodbye, and take a commemorative cheki. I had originally planned on presenting her with a small gift, but then I thought maybe I would take a photo with the prizes. The problem was whatever I posed with needed to be small since we were supposed to be doing a singing pose with the microphones. At the last minute I decided on the gift after all...

    [​IMG]

    I am taking a Kanji intensive course, and last week we did a little bit of calligraphy. This was one of the two kanji I chose to do. Look familiar? It's "IWA," as in Iwasa. Needless to say, Wasamin really liked it. After we took the photo she handed it back to me, but then I asked her if she wanted to keep it. She was like "Really?" I explained that I had another one with the Kanji for "HASU," so it was okay. Wasamin handed me a small gift pack of senbei crackers. They look like they might be spicy. I hope they are! After that I headed to the bus stop, and back to my place for a relaxing Saturday afternoon.

    [​IMG]

    This totally goes to show that everything happens for a reason. If given the choice now of having the experience I had today,or taking it all away for the BBQ party, I would without a doubt pick this experience. It was like 4 minutes of nobody else in the world except me and Wasamin, and it was awesome!
     
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  6. PRB Posh

    PRB Posh Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    May 6, 2014
    Location:
    United Kingdom
    AKB48 9th Album 2-Shot Event - 13th May 2018
    Location: Pacifico Yokohama, Japan

    This was my first ever AKB48 event. Thanks to the very useful guides and previous experience reports on here, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Or at least I thought I did.

    I had 10 tickets with 10 different members. I had also won 2 album jacket signing tickets. Unfortunately, in the months prior to the event, it was announced two of my selected members would be unavailable - Ichikawa Miori due to graduation, and Okada Nana due to her participation in the Romeo & Juliet play. I would have to decide on the day what to do with those two spare tickets.

    Slot 1:
    IMG_E1263.JPG

    I was hoping that an album jacket signing with Nozawa Rena would ease any lingering nerves. Rena asked where was I from, if I was on vacation and when I arrived. She asked how long I was going to be here for and what else I had planned for my trip. When I told her I was going to go to Disneyland, she advised going on a weekday when it is not as busy. She said thank you so much as she handed to album jacket back to me. As I walked down the exit lane, I felt a sense of euphoria running through me (a feeling I felt again and again during the day).

    IMG_E1198 (3).JPG
    My first 2-shot was with my long time oshimen, Minegishi Minami. She asked for a pose so I went with a heart. As I was leaving, Miichan called out in English “Where from?”. I replied back with UK but she didn’t understand so I then said England, which I believe she understood.

    IMG_E1199 (4).JPG
    I decided to use one of my spare tickets for Komiyama Haruka, even though I already have a ticket for later in the day. From previous events, Komiharu has done her hair in a different style for each of her slots. I was also intrigued in the differences between the Yori and the Hiki photos.

    Slot 2:
    IMG_1270.JPG IMG_1271.JPG
    I had noticed from the previous event dates that Nozawa Rena was an instant win for the cheki/video. Again, Rena was an instant win for this date also. Great because I get to receive a cheki in the autographed booklet and get to spend more time with Rena. But at the same time, it’s disappointing that it is because so few fans have applied on each date.

    Our conversation basically continued from the jacket signing. She asked me how long I had been an AKB fan and how I found out about them. Rena also asked if I had seen any other members and she asked if Miichan spoke any English when I told her i’d seen her. I also gave her a belated Happy Birthday and said I couldn’t make it the previous the previous weekend. She said she understands how difficult it is for fans to come from overseas but she was happy I was here. It felt like we just talked and talked, and Rena kept writing in the booklet to the point where I only just managed to fit my cheki inside.

    IMG_E1200 (9).JPG
    “Hello!” shouted out Tashima Meru as I entered the booth. After saying hello, I asked for a Kimi dake ni Chu! Chu! Chu! pose. After the photograph was taken, Meru turned to me and said “Chu! Chu! Chu!”. I happily replied with a “Chu! Chu! Chu!” back.

    IMG_E1201 (10).JPG IMG-5909.JPG
    I decided to use my other spare ticket for another 2-shot with Nozawa Rena. This turned out to be a excellent decision because it led to an experience I would never have expected.

    In the queue, there was a middle-aged gentleman in front of me wearing a blue bandana on his head and a large board filled with Rena’s autographed photographs hanging around his neck. He turned around to see me and to my complete surprise he initiated a conversation with me. I did my best to tell him my Japanese was not good but that didn’t deter him from speaking in remarkably decent English. He asked where I was from and if this was my first time here. I then pointed to his board and said “Sugoi”. The kind gentleman then got a photo album out of his bag and took some photographs out to give to me. I was completely taken aback and was saying “Hontou ni?”. Gratefully receiving the photographs, I offered my hand and we shook hands with me saying the most meaningful “Arigatou gozaimasu” I have ever said. He told me at least twice he was very happy I was here to see Rena.

    When I finally got to see Rena, I told her this is my last time today but I hoped I will see her again. I would definitely want to see Rena again in the future. She has a genuine down-to-earth personality with some wonderful, dedicated and loyal fans.

    Slot 3:
    IMG_E1202 (13).JPG

    The queue for Chiba Erii’s lane was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Erii is quiet, yet has a quirky personality and has not had as much opportunities compared to other members from the 2nd draft. Erii was very sweet and look incredibly cute and adorable. Hoping Erii has a promising future in AKB48.

    IMG_E1203 (18).JPG
    Kojima Mako was a member I had a reservations about because I was unsure what her attitude would be. She turned out to be as kind and welcoming as everyone else. I asked for a Team K pose, and Kojimako pulled off a very cool looking pose. Unfortunately, I messed up mine.

    Slot 4:
    IMG_E1204.JPG

    Another 2-shot with Komiyama Haruka and this time I asked for her trademark Komiharu smile post. Komiharu pulled the pose to perfection, while I still need to practice.

    I was then left with an hour wait for the next slot to begin. To pass the time, I leaned against one of the blue railings watching the music videos playing on the big screens. The music videos for the coupling songs on Teacher Teacher where shown which was a good way to pass the time.

    Slot 5:
    IMG_E1205 (24).JPG

    I knew I was heading for an amazing experience as I headed down Ogino Yuka’s lane. You could feel Yuka’s energy radiating from her booth. Either that or the glittering tinsel and balls were blinding me. Yuka was very excited to see me and she started to jump up and down on the spot. I asked for a heart pose, although the various props that were available would have offered so many choices.

    Just like in slot 4, I had another long wait for the next slot to begin. I was really wishing I had more tickets. Instead of waiting inside the hall I decided to leave and have a wander around outside. It was a nice idea until I realised the heavens had decided to open. I Walked around the side of the building past the food outlets to sit on a bench. While going through the 2-shots I already had on my phone, I looked up to see a @Cristafari, who I recognised from his fantastic reports. I am very shy in real life and it is not in my nature to approach someone I don’t know but I took the courage to say hello. Thankfully, he welcomed me kindly and we talked for a while. I had never talked about AKB48 to anyone in real life prior to this event. We discussed our plans for the upcoming slot and made our way back into the hall.

    Slot 6:
    IMG_E1261.JPG

    Album jacket signing time again. This time with Minegishi Minami. Miichan spoke my name out as she wrote it and said “From England”. Miichan then asked “How old?”, to which I replied with 32. Her reaction was “Oh, young!”.

    Personally, I am over the moon that I have been able to have a 2-shot and get Miichan’s autograph before she does decide to graduate.

    IMG_E1206.JPG
    My last ticket was for Yokoyama Yui and actually for slot 7. I decided to use it for this slot to save waiting for the next slot to begin. I was also not really concerned with entering the lottery. I was thinking about asking for a Team A pose, but that would have involved me fumbling around with my fingers so I decided to play it safe and went with a peace pose.
     
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  7. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    AKB48-Group 51st Single "Jabaja" Individual Handshake Event at Pacifico Yokohama (2017/06/03)

    I originally didn't plan to attend this event, instead opting for the May and July Jabaja events at Makuhari. However, for some reason Kaotan is not participating in the July event, which kinda left me in a quandary since she is one of my top handshake members. I ultimately decided to go to both June and July, just with fewer tickets. I am glad I made that decision too, as they announced this week that they would be selling some Sousenkyo goods at the event, including the little poster pin badges.

    Getting the badges was high on my priority list, but I didn't really plan it properly arriving at Pacifico 10 minutes before the opening of Slot 2, and my first two tickets. I checked the goods queue. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't short either by any means. I could've opted to come back later when I had more time, but last year I did that and when I finally got around to getting goods Akiyoshi was sold out. I decided to tough it out, at worst it would cause me to lose out on one of my Slot 2 tickets. Finally, 45 minutes later I made it to the front of the line and got what I wanted.

    jbj15.jpg jbj16.jpg

    I affixed each one to my two ticket holders, and I was off to do handshakes...

    Slot 2

    Matsumura Kaori (Lane 53) Kaotan with a morning slot? That's unusual. Her line wasn't very long, so maybe I could make it to my second ticket. The big gimmick of the day were these resumes the members wrote. And honestly, they were the most WTF "prize" I think they have ever offered. The members essentially autographed and wrote a message on a photocopy of the resume, which was like 17x11 and then put into a large envelope. And yes, I won the prize. So I was getting her signed resume...

    jbj17.jpg

    I told Kaotan that I was watching the video on her Twitter feed, and got worried for a moment. She asked "What, because everyone was crying?" Yes, and then I explained that somebody in the comments wrote "Kaotan is graduating?" She immediately responded "NAI NAI NAI!!!" She finally asked if I voted for her. I anticipated this question, and didn't want to be a liar. So I answered. "YES! I voted for you!" What I didn't tell her was that it was once. (I split my two fan club votes, one each for Kaotan and Yukachan) She made a comment as she handed me the resume about my not being able to read it, but I said I would do my best, especially since I am now taking a Kanji class. She asked if I could read kana, and then I told her I could read some kanji too.

    So I was done, and there was still five minutes before gates closed. I was considering doing oshi-mashi with my second ticket, and the member I was considering was in the next lane over. I decided to check which lane might be smaller. Whaddya know, both of them were practically empty.

    Yamauchi Mizuki (Lane 103) <oshi-mashi> I have met Zukky a few times now, but I feel I am really beginning to click with her, and I wanted to keep that momentum. Meanwhile, the ticket I gave up was for Komiyama Haruka, who I have never done a handshake with before. Though I do have another ticket for Komiharu coming up, so not the biggest tragedy.

    jbj23.jpg

    Like I mentioned, Zukky's line was empty and she waved to me as I was checking in. It was a quick handshake. I admitted to her that it was an oshi-mashi ticket, but I really wanted to see her today. She seemed satisfied with that. I mentioned I have a proper ticket for next event too. Ya know, the great thing about Zukky is that she is kinda shy and reserved, almost like she doesn't know she's an idol.

    During the break between the slots I was roaming down the outside hall to see if there were any birthday cards I wanted to sign. I thought about signing Orin's, but never got around to it. When I got to the far end, the Ricopi committee caught me eyeing their booth. Smelling blood, the grabbed me and brought me over. I explained to them that I do know Ricopi, and have met her multiple times. I also happened to have a ticket for her today. They tried to hustle me for a vote or two, but I explained any vote I have will be going to Akiyoshi (or Kaotan) I exchanged Twiiter handles with them and was on my way. They said they looked forward to seeing me in the queue. BTW, here is the cover of a flyer they gave me (more pages of it toward the bottom of the post)

    jbj11.jpg


    Slot 3

    Fuchigami Mai (Lane 3) Since Tomonaga Mio was again out for this event, Maichan was my only Slot 3 ticket. I waited until the slot was half over before heading back in, and Maichan's line was fairly short. I didn't win the 1-shot video prize, but I think I already have a couple of those with her. In any case, when it was my turn I congratulated her on the preliminary SSK result, and told her I would be really happy if she made Senbatsu this year. Of course she pointed out that I could help her out with that too, LOL. Anyway, she said she would work hard for it.

    jbj24.jpg

    After that I took a look at the two "walls" they had built in the Hall. On the far right side of the hall were the election posters, with the members campaign promises. On the far left side were all the members' resumes, so you could see them whether you won or lost. I took a few pics, and then decided to pre-queue for the line I thought might be the most troublesome since I had three tickets for three different members in the next slot...

    Slot 4

    Yamane Suzuha (Lane 108) By pre-queueing I managed to be second in line. Since they let us in 10 minutes early, I had some time to 1) read some of Zunchan's signs that she posts all over her lane, and 2) get a firsthand look at the insanity going on in the lane next door. More on that in a moment. In the meantime Zunchan came bouncing into the lane with her cards for signing, which by the way I didn't win, nor did the fans in front of me and behind me. When it was my turn I mentioned to her again that I enjoy reading her signs, as it is good Japanese practice for me. She puts so much effort into them too. Then I mentioned her "Majime" face on her poster. She asked how I liked at, and I said "Kawaii!" And with that I was off to the far opposite side of the hall for me second ticket...

    jbj21.jpg

    I mentioned the lane next door, which was probably one of the craziest lanes I witnessed all day. It belonged to none other that Yahagi Moeka. Her line was gigantic. In fact, after they closed it I saw a couple of people wait for the guards not to be looking and jumped the rope into the queue. People had stacks of tickets they were using to oshi-mashi for her. Oh, and watching her with fans, WOW! Talk about Kami-Taiyou. She gets so close to the fans while talking it is almost like she is about to give them a kiss. Seriously, she gets her face inches away. So yeah, I am starting to get part of her appeal. Not that I want to deal with that queue, but the first time I met her she did come across as a fisher, so not totally surprising...

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 4) Finally getting to see Yukachan. However, when I entered the queue she wasn't there. Instead Fukagawa Maiko was in her lane signing a HUGE stack of autographed resumes for a fan. It took over five minutes from when I arrived. I'm not sure who long they had been there already. I wasn't worried as I was 6th in line and still had plenty of time for my third ticket. Oh, and I won the prize. It was a choice of selfie or video. This time I chose the video, and I saw a cute little phrase that I thought would be a lot of fun. In fact, when Yuka-chan read it she giggled...


    if the video does not show watch the video here

    Looks like I have a dinner date! Meanwhile I congratulated her on her preliminary result and told her that I hadn't yet voted, so she had more votes coming from me. She thanked me as I told her I would be back in a bit.

    Kobayashi Ran (Lane 92) <oshi-mashi> I actually planned to use my Mio ticket here, regardless of whether or not Mio was at the event. I waited five minutes for the half-hour mark to pass, and then entered the lane. Actually, quite a few people jumped into her queue at that point, so she is already starting to cultivate a following, Yatta!

    jbj22.jpg

    She was wearing cute little cat ears, so I came in saying "Neko-Ranchan!!!" She immediately exclaimed, "You came back a second time!" Yes I did, and I told her that I bought some Ranchan tickets for the Teacher Teacher single too, so I would be seeing a lot more of her. Meanwhile, the guards were trying to hastily push me out, and she was desperately holding onto both my hands. Finally she let go. I asked if I get a business card. She said she couldn't give me one if I was oshi-mashi. Ahhhh? So I guess when I got one last week it was totally by accident. Well, lucky me I guess.

    I had an hour until Slot 5. I decided to go back to the goods booth just to see if either Kaotan or Yukachan had sold out of the badges. Neither of them had, and there was barely a queue. I guess I could have waited after all. The same couldn't be said for the AKB48 Cafe. I was wondering why they had such a huge line, and it was because they were giving away the SSK poster-coasters with drink purchases. In the meantime I ran into my friend Nori, shortly before both of us headed back inside.

    Slot 5

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 4) Again I pre-queued since this was my last slot of the day and I wanted to get home early. I was second in line. (There's a guy who insists on being first in line for every Yukachan slot. In fact he queues up over an hour in advance to claim it) In the meantime I won the resume prize. When it was my turn I noticed I actually had a choice of three different items to be signed. Two were resumes, and the third was a big card. I chose one of the resumes since it looked like she worked hard on it, although to be honest her writing is quite sloppy, LOL.

    jbj18.jpg jbj19.jpg
    She also signed the envelope

    I had forgotten before, but I wanted to tell her how cute I thought all those "Calcium NOW" tweets were that she made while she was nursing her injured foot. I also called her "Hidarikiki." Yukachan knows I am also "Hidarikiki" and asked me how to say it in English. At first I rattled off "Left-Handed" quite fast, and I don't think she got it. But when I said it slowly she still had trouble with the "ed" part at the end. She understood "Left" and "Hand," but that last part really threw her off, LOL. I got another "I love you so much" at the very end, which always melts my heart, and I said I would see her soon.

    Sakaguchi Riko (Lane 18) I headed over to Ricopi's queue, and was immediately greeted by a couple of her fans who saw me at her seitensei booth. When I entered the lane I didn;t notice who was in the next booth over. It was Bibian. She got a good look at me too. She didn't smile, or wave. Perhaps she was wondering why I haven't been in her lane to visit lately. To Ricopi's right was Ogiyuka's booth, and it was fun watching her be super-genki with everyone. In the meantime, I ran into another Wasamin fan in the queue. It happened to be one of the guys who also won the duet with Wasamin at her Karaoke Party yesterday. (The Temodemo guy) Funny coincidence, especially since I specifically mentioned him in my post about that experience. And we both agreed that it was awesome to sing with Wasamin. Anyway, back to Ricopi...

    "Kurisu! Long time-no see!" Actually, I did see her at the 2-shot event, so not that long ago. I told her that I made friends with some of her birthday committee members today. "You did???" And then I told her that I loved her poster, and it was like a cross between E.T. and Die Hard. She immediately laughed. E.T. Yes it is!!! I was halfway out of the lane at that point. I wished her the best and was on my way. And btw, more pics from the Ricopi flyer I was given...

    jbj12.jpg jbj14.jpg

    I still had a lot of Japanese homework to do, so I headed home. AND, I found a quicker route home that Hyperdia has never given me. It was slightly cheaper too. What the heck? In the meantime, I don't think I have any 48-group related stuff on my schedule until July (my last Jabaja event) So this will be a little 48-group vacation, unless I win some theater show. I do have some Wasamin (and Minyo Girls) events coming up in two weeks, so I am looking forward to that.
     

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  8. soul.assassin

    soul.assassin Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2012
    Location:
    Observer
    I should be proud of myself.

    My first 2-shot with, of all persons, Nana Yamada.

    mission-accomplished.JPG
     
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  9. maenza23

    maenza23 Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2017
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada (Hiroshima)
    Oshimen:
    matsuijurina
    AKB48 HS "11-gatsu no Anklet" @ Intex Osaka, June 10

    I couldn't attend the shamekai on Saturday because of work but I came from Hiroshima to wish Jurina good luck for next week!

    Jurina (Block 2)
    She said good morning as soon as she saw me and and I asked her if she had fun in Taiwan. She said she ate a lot, and I just laughed and said that I have never been able to take and upload that many pictures. I said she had the cutest pigtails today and told her "chouzetsu kawaii!!" So so so cute

    After looping, I showed her the first signed card I got from her (Kimi wa Melody, June 5 2016). I told her that it has been 2 years since we first met on that day and I couldn't ever forget. I thanked her and said that she makes me happy and gives me courage. She responded, "maenza23 you are my hero" I said she is my angel

    Hero. Angel. Angel. Hero...
    It's been like that for the last 6 months

    I then told her she's gonna win! Jurina responded, "promise?" I then gave her a triumphant "YES!" and a pinky-swear.

    Jurina (Block 3)
    I said I would see her in Nagoya (sousenkyo and HS), and with the World Cup, it's gonna be a party and we are gonna have that parade!
    Matsui & Messi! VAMOS!

    I told her to keep doing her best, and that no matter what happens, I love her. She said she loved me. I told her to "watch this" and kissed the SKE48 badge on my shirt. "So that you never forget" ...Shimizu-san, the OJS guard always laughs when I do that hahaha!

    I got a Jurikiss and a "kiss you" outta that though ❤

    I then said it in Spanish lol "Te amo" and she responded likewise. I quickly said that I'm supporting her and then I stood to the side and pointed out to everyone in line -- our hearts are one for her sake.

    She awwed and was all doki-doki. As time was up, I said "Let's go full throttle!" with a wink, a wave, and a "chau Jurina".

    End of Block 6
    Shimizu-san said that Jurina injured her pinky finger from too many forceful handshakes. So Block 6 didn't finish until 7:30...that was crazy. I didn't have tickets but I came back after lunch and shopping to see J. I managed to get a spot and save one in the front with the committee members.

    Akarin was two lanes over. The way how she treats her fans is amazing and so gentle. She walked over to each side and said things like wanting to see everyone's smiles and everyone waving. We clapped and waved to her, too!

    Jurina came out and said she was shivering and feeling really cold, (really? It's usually super hot loll) but that the feelings of the fans warms her. She said we are super kind and that she appreciates our words and reassurances even if she sometimes feels nervous. I don't remember the last part but we wished her goodnight and waved goodbye.

    I can't wait for next week! Bring it on!
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2018
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  10. maenza23

    maenza23 Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2017
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada (Hiroshima)
    Oshimen:
    matsuijurina
    AKB48 HS, Teacher Teacher - Sousenkyo Thanksgiving @ Nagoya Dome, June 17

    Jurina (Block 2-3)

    The longest 5 hours ever for approx. 20 seconds.

    I got to line 26 at around 10am. I was 6th in line. Jurina was late by 45 minutes and our 2部 tickets could then be used for any block (3-7). By this time, the line behind me was getting massive.

    Jurina was wearing the coat! ...and her glasses lol! "Queen Jurina!" I told her that I was so happy for her & SKE and how awesome it was. That JuriDasu 1-2 punch! She thanked me as I said "I love you, champion!" She seemed really genki. As I was pushed out, I told her I would see her later and she squeezed my hands hard. I had a whole get-up planned for 6部.

    By 2pm-ish, she was exhausted. Obviously, there were so many people, that we lined in pairs and it stretched to the info counter. She then did the rest of 3部 as a high-touch. She walked along the side of the lane, supported by staff...and looking absolutely miserable. Yuasa-san was right beside her, too. I've never seen her like that before. To each fan she would utter "kuyashii", frustrated that she was feeling fatigued to the point of tears. When my turn came, I looked into her eyes, and told her to keep doing her best. I then kissed the SKE48 logo on my shirt... and a loud mwah was her response as we waved bye.

    As far as I know, the rest was cancelled. Sakura and Akari, too. I remember the Kokura SKE48 HS in January...and how empty it was in comparison. That time, we had so much fun. Now that Jurina is probably jetting off to Korea soon, with more pressure and expectations, I hope she finds some time to rest.

    I'll be waiting for her...
     
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  11. SunnyHighland

    SunnyHighland Next Girls

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2014
    Location:
    From Scottish lowland to Kanto lowland
    Oshimen:
    okaberin
    AKB48 Team 8 no Kanto Hakusho Bacchikoui! recording

    Just got back from Chiba TV studio to watch recording of 2 episodes for free. It was hilarious :lol:

    How to have the opportunity?
    First and foremost, you need to apply to watch it. Just go to the thread to see when they open the application.
    Filling the form is not that hard, and can be translated into English. usually they do 2 recordings in 1 day, and each for 2 episodes.
    Then they will email you like 5 days before the recording. If you are using general email address like gmail or yahoo, don't forget to check the junk folder. As it usually end up there. If you win, they will give you a number designating your queue in the guest list.
    So if you don't live in Japan and want to watch it for free, see if they have a recording in your travel period. They have around 50-60 winners on each recording, and I think winning it is not that difficult.

    How to get there?
    Look for the location they give you on the email.
    Go to Chiba train station (JR Line), and then ride bus number 1 or 2 from bus stand number 9 (directly in front of the main gate of the station). Get off from the bus on the 4th stop (the bus have a monitor telling the next 3 stops, so I think you will not miss it), cross the road and then walk inside like 3 minutes past an old government building, then turn right. If you arrive on time you will see a crowd waiting in front of the lobby. The building is the one with red bricks and have a broadcasting antenna above it. Just wait there until they call you to line up. The security is very friendly, so just ask them.

    Entering the studio
    After you are lined up based on the number in your email, they will give you time to go to toilet. Then after they finished the preparation, they will call inside the guests in a group of five. Give them your bag for them to keep, but you can keep your phone etc, then go inside the studio. Once inside it is free seating, so pick the best spot for you.

    Enjoying the show
    Before the members come, they will give an icebreaking session by a new or upcoming comedian. I personally think they are funny. Then after that the members and the MC come in. And not long after that the show start. It doesn't have that many cut out, as they show mistakes made by members (well, it is one of the interesting point of the show after all). The recording will be around 30 minutes per session, with 15-20 minutes break in between. After the second session finished, they will ask the members to line up in front of the show's backdrop. Then you will have a chance to take photos of them. You are obviously asked to not say anything about the content of the episodes, but they ask you to post the members' photos on your social media.

    I posted my photos on the show's thread.

    Will post more regarding some HS and concerts/stages.
     
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  12. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    So people in the latter part of 3rd slot didn't actually get a handshake, just a high touch? :confused: I was lucky enough to have used 2 of my tickets at the beginning of 3rd slot, when she was still feeling fine.

    Now on to my report for the Nagoya dome handshake event... I had 4 tickets for Jurina and 6 for Naachan. As Jurina is my kami oshi, I was hoping I'd get more tickets to see her for that day, but she sold out very fast for this event so I decided to get more for my 2nd oshi Naachan.

    My first ticket for the day was for Matsui Jurina in 2nd slot. I didn't hurry to the venue too much since I only had 1 ticket for 2nd slot. However, when I arrived, the queue for Jurina was huge, all throughout the handshake hall. Later I found out this was because Jurina arrived late. By the time I got to the ID and ticket check, 3rd slot has just started, so I decided I'd try asking if I can use my 3rd slot ticket as well, and they let me. So I used my 2 tickets for 2nd and 3rd slot together. Immediately when I got to Jurina, I congratulated her. I wanted to say another thing to her, but she put her finger to her mouth and said "shhh" :lol: Then, she started speaking in English, thanking me for my support etc. (this was particularly funny since I always speak Japanese to her). When I thought she was done and started to say something again, she told me to wait and continued with her English monologue. By then, the time-checking guy was starting to get nervous as she was going over the time for 2 tickets, but of course the staff wouldn't push me away while she was talking. When she was done they quickly pushed me away and I only got to tell her I'll see her later (which I didn't because her afternoon slots got cancelled).

    I had 3 tickets for Okada Nana in 3rd slot as well. Before I was a bit worried about making it to both Jurina's and Naachan's HS in 3rd slot but since I ended up using Jurina's 3rd slot ticket so early and didn't have to queue again, this left me with plenty of time. I've only used 1 or 2 tickets together before, so I wasn't sure how much time 3 tickets will give me, and I ended up with not enough stuff prepared to say, so I had to improvise a bit. Naachan immediately recognized me from past handshakes. I congratulated her for 5th place and told her that while 5th is really good, next year we will go higher [hehe] She told me she will be number 1 next year. As you know, my kami oshi is Jurina so I'm not exactly sure if I want Naachan to be number 1 - of course, I'll be happy for either of them, but to be honest I'd prefer Jurina as first and Naachan as second :^^;: Of course, I couldn't tell her that, so I just nodded. Then, noticing I have time left, I told her I voted for her a lot and even the number of times I voted and she seemed surprised and said "that many?" Then, she called me kawaii and I told her she's more kawaii than me [hehe] After that, I told her I'd see her later again.

    I had 4th slot off, and 2 more tickets for Jurina in the 5th slot, so I went to eat something. However, after I returned to the hall during the 5th slot, I saw the announcement that Jurina's slots for the rest of the day were cancelled. I thought about getting my tickets/CDs refunded but I decided the bother wasn't worth it and to oshi mashi them instead. So I checked which members were available for 5th and 6th slot, and decided to use 1 of my tickets on Mogi Shinobu. I'm a semi-regular at Mogi's lane, so she knows me pretty well. As Mogi didn't rank this year, I told her she did her best and that she will definitely rank again next year. Her hair looked nice that day so I complimented her hair and told her I'd see her again, although to be honest, I'm not sure if I will or not since I didn't buy any tickets to see her in the next few HS events :^^;:

    For 6th slot, I had 3 tickets for Okada Nana again. I pre-queued early and was 4th in line. I told her that I really liked the previous Team 4 stage, especially her song Confession, and that I'm happy that I got to see it a few months ago, to which she thanked me. Then, I told her I'd really like to see the new stage. She said the new stage is really good and that I should definitely come. I told her I'll try but that it's really hard to win tickets. Then, she called me kawaii and beautiful again (for some reason, she always gives me those exact 2 compliments, one in Japanese and one in English [hehe]). I told her I'd see her again at the Kanto handshake events.

    I decided to oshimashi my final Jurina ticket for Inagaki Kaori. Again, a girl I go to see semi-regularly, though she's been growing on me and I've been buying more tickets to see her recently, but I didn't have any for that day. During the queue, I made some small talk with a high school girl lined up behind me. I was quite happy to see several other females in her lane as the last couple of time, it was just me and middle aged men :^^;: When I got to her, she immediately remembered me and I told her it's been a while. She tried to remember where we met before and asked me if it was the Osaka handshake event, I told her no, and she asked if it was Yokohama one? Actually, the last one was Chiba, but I might have seen her at Yokohama events before as well, so I just said yes in order not to waste any more time on this. Then, I told her to do her best so she can rank in next year, and told her I'd see her again (this time, not lying since I actually do have several tickets to see her again) [hehe]
     
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  13. maenza23

    maenza23 Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2017
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada (Hiroshima)
    Oshimen:
    matsuijurina
    Oh yeah. In the space of a bit more than 1 hour she began to look miserable and extremely fatigued. I can't forget the way she looked, felt so sad. The handshakes would start and stop, and in the end, the staff decided to turn the rest of 3部 into a high touch, which they said would have lasted until 3pm because J was going to rest, but as I was leaving the area, I still saw a massive line at that time too because no-one checked tickets. Hope she feels better soon. Wonder how July 8th will be like...
     
  14. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    AKB48 Idol Shugyou Chuu! Stage (2018/06/24)

    Almost exactly one month to the day from my previous win I received another cancel machi email. Actually, I didn't realize I had won cancel machi until I saw @Riina post about her cancel machi win. I immediately checked my email, and I had one too for the same show, albeit with a somewhat higher cancel machi number (39)

    As I have mentioned before, they list a 'cancellation count' on the ticket center for those who have cancel machi. It didn't go very high last evening, and when I woke up this morning it had only reached 15. This dampened my hopes that I would get into the seat lottery, but I still thought my chances were good to get into the show. When I arrived at the theater the count was at 18. However, the last five minutes saw an onslaught of people queue up to buy tickets. In the meantime @Riina found me hiding over by the rear lockers, and wished me luck before she queued up for the entrance lottery.

    Cancel Machi

    Interestingly, the guy doing the cancel machi call was calling in sets of five. (20-25, 25-30) I thought to myself "jeez, they must have a lot of space left." Unless that is just the way they do it now, I don't know. He called 30-35, and I thought I was good to go. In the meantime a bunch of latecomers showed up with winning emails, and they let a few of them into the line. I hoped that didn't dash my chances. Ya know, they used to not do that. If you were late you had to wait until after cancel machi was over. But I suppose it is the nicer thing to do. Anyway...

    IMG_9106.JPG

    Staff called #36, and closed it off. SHIT!!! So close. I was still going to get in, but as one of the last people to enter the theater. The bigger bummer was the last 12 cancel machi winners all got a great entrance draw too. Eventually my group queued up as the 'final 10' winners' as they brought us into the lobby. There I saw that @Riina was in one of the last groups still not called in. And as I finally entered the theater, I saw her struggling to find a spot where she could see, I went to the far right to the standing area, where I thought I saw a bunch of space. It ended up being a terrible place to watch the show from, too many tall people in front of me. But at that point I was pinned in and had nowhere else I could go...

    Part of the problem was this guy who had kinda positioned himself like he wanted a lot of elbow room. There was a bit of space behind him to his left, his right (and in front of him too), so I took the spot to his left, and sorta behind him. He kept creeping backward and almost had me pinned to the back rail, so I moved over to his right against the wall. I could tell this ticked him off, but I didn't care. He was trying to create this 'force field' all around himself, and I and everyone else weren't having any of it. Plus, he was a dead fish throughout the show. No lightsticks, chanting, clapping, nothing. Oh well...

    My 42nd Theater Show, Yatta!

    So given that I had a horrible vantage point, where I could sorta see the right side of the stage, and maybe little bit of the left side, there isn't too much I can say about the girls' performances. In fact for 'Blue Rose' I technically didn't see the performance at all. I spent most of the show craning my neck around looking for Kobayashi Ran (Ranchan) although I would have probably been best served just paying attention to whoever was at the far right of the stage. Ranchan spends most of her time on the opposite side of the stage, but does come over to the right side in that later portion of the show. I did spend some time observing the members I could see in order to gauge which members I might find interesting. I found two members in particular, Sato Shiori and Otake Hitomi interesting to watch. Not surprising since they were among the same members I liked when I saw this same stage last month.

    Once again, I really enjoyed the setlist of the stage, particularly the River/Bell/Theater/Kiss set. The last three are all songs I like, and even River is fun to watch live. The opening set is really nice too. All told, Yukirin picked out a nice stage.

    High 'Wave'

    After clearing out the first row, one of the first areas they clear out as fans leave the theater is the little balcony to the right of the sound booth, so I was able to hoist myself on to the rail and watch a lot of the high touch. I also wanted to strategize who was where so I knew who to pay attention to. That said, most of the High Touch was a quick blur for me, except Inagaki gave me a great reaction, complete with 'Hisashiburi' and all. There was one member in the middle who also gave me a big "English' reaction. I think it was Honda Sora (It may have been Maeda Ayaka too) But of course I got the biggest and greatest greeting from Ranchan, who started jumping up and down as I got to her. It also seemed to surprise Taya Misaki, who was next to her. And with that I was out of the theater. I queued up to get the photopack, and was on to the escalator...

    IMG_9107.JPG

    Interestingly, they held the escalator for a minute or so to clear people out, and one guy in particular seemed to be pissed about it. There was also a guy with two big pizza carriers. I am guessing he was delivering lunch for the girls? When I got to the bottom of the escalator I finally got to meet @marioworldakb who was at the theater watching the monitors with a few friends. He invited me along to hang out (with Riina as well) but I really wanted to eat lunch. Mario recommended a place behind the theater that I have often considered trying, so I went for it. After lunch I considered heading to the AKB Cafe to meet them, but I needed to do homework and get some rest, so I went home.

    So as expected, it is always 'feast or famine' for me with seating at the theater. I either get front row, or am buried in the far back. But I am glad I won and got to see the show, and am especially glad I got to say hello to Ranchan. And I guess I should set my watch for another late-month cancel machi in July, LOLZ.
     
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  15. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Since @Cristafari posted about today's show, I guess I have to as well [hehe]

    I won #4 cancel machi. With such a low number, it was clear I'd get in, and of course the day before, the confirmation email arrived telling me that enough people have cancelled and that I am now considered to have won the ticket. I was really excited for this show - it's been a while since my last win (I had a cancel machi not that long ago, but unfortunately didn't get in), I've never seen this stage before, and one of my favorite members Inagaki Kaori was performing.

    When I got cancel machi, I actually wrote to Inagaki Kaori on 755 to tell her I was happy to have met her at the handshake event a few days earlier, and that I won cancel machi for Sunday's performance and would probably get in since the number was low. Here is her reply:
    Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 23.19.29.png
    Translation:
    Rina-chan
    Kaori was also happy
    cute!

    Oh! Hoping you'll win it

    I was hoping I'd get a decent place in the theater. I know with general tickets (as opposed to ladies tickets) it's a luck thing, you could get front row seats or you could get last row of standing space. This time, I got the latter. My group ended up being second to last to enter the theater, so I ended up standing at the back, with 3 rows of people in front of me. I switched around the 4th row a bit to find the best viewing space, but then gave up and accepted that wherever I stand, someone's head will cover half of the stage. Now, I'm a tall girl, taller than the average Japanese guy, but there was literally no place to stand where there wouldn't be a huge guy (185 cm+) in front of me. Oh well. At least I got in. I ended up tilting my head throughout the show to peek in between people's heads, standing on the tips of my toes during some performances, etc. but I managed to see about half of the stage.

    As for the setlist, I thought it was pretty fun, especially unit songs. Unit songs tend to be my favorite in most stages, and this one was no exception. Also, the costumes for Theater no Megami/Sobakasu no Kiss are very pretty. Overall, I think Yukirin did a good job producing this stage and the members, including the draftees, did a good job performing. Now on to individual members...
    My favorite, of course, was Inagaki Kaori. She may not be the best dancer or singer among the bunch, but she is just too cute :inlove: I'm a semi-regular at her handshake events, and communicate with her through 755 occasionally, as I did this time before show. After the show, there was the seeing off as always. For some reason, the staff decided to make me wait at the corner of the stage before proceeding to greet the members (I assume it was because of the crowding ahead of me). This gave me some extra time to interact with members in that corner of the stage without having to move on fast, and luckily, Kaori was one of those members. Once she saw me standing there, she immediately started shouting: "Rina-chan! Rina-chan!" She looked really excited to see me - of course, she was expecting me as I had messaged her on 755 before. I don't remember which members exactly were around her, but once she called me Rina-chan, some of those other girls were like: "Rina-chan?" then realized she was referring to me, and proceeded to call me Rina-chan themselves as well [hehe]

    Taguchi Manaka was not originally one of my fave 16th gens, but she grows on me more and more every time I see her live. She seems to be a really good performer, and always very energetic. I think by now she's probably in my top 5 of 16th gen members.

    Shoji Nagisa is another member I always enjoy seeing. Again, she is very energetic, and also gives a good response during the seeing off.

    As for the rest of 16th gens - Suzuki Kurumi, Maeda Ayaka, Asai Nanami, Taya Misaki, Michieda Saki and Kurosu Haruka - my opinion of them remains mostly unchanged. I really liked 16th gen in general, but compared to the members mentioned above, these members stand out less to me.

    The draftee I was most excited to see live in Honda Sora - I haven't really been following the draftees enough to know their characters, but judging from photos and videos, she was the one I visually liked the most. She is even prettier in person. Thanks to my bad position, she and Nagisa were also the ones I could see the best out of the 4 girls in Blue Rose, and I thought her performance was really good.

    Sato Shiori, on the other hand, doesn't appeal that much to me visually but she is really fun to watch. Despite her look not really being my type, her performance was one of the most enjoyable ones today. Tsundere also seemed to be a really good song choice for her.

    Now, on to everyone's favorite draftee, Yahagi Moeka. Moeka is really pretty, she looks almost like a doll - now personally, that's not really my type, but I can appreciate her looks. Her version of Mushi no Ballad was nice, but I liked her centering some of the group songs even more. In terms of skill, she can easily blend in with 16th gen members. I also noticed that during the seeing off, while most members stand up straight on stage while they wave to you and thank you, she bends down to be closer to the fans' faces, which I thought was impressive. This girl knows how to please fans [hehe]

    Otake Hitomi was out of my view for the most of the stage unfortunately, but on the few occasions I could see her, her performance seemed really fun and she seemed quite confident in her performance. I also didn't get a super good view of Katsumata Saori, Kobayashi Ran and Tada Kyoka since they were mostly hidden by heads, hidden by pillars or buried in the back but they seemed cute and fun too. I was quite surprised that Tada Kyoka looks a lot cuter in person than her profile photo :blush:

    Overall, the performance was really fun and even though the draftees are so new, they were really fun to watch. I was definitely impressed by those draftees that I saw today. I think so far Sora is the one I'm most interested in, but I'll keep an eye on Shiori and Moeka too since they seem to be really talented performers. I can't wait to see the rest of the draftees perform in the theater too :)
     
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  16. SunnyHighland

    SunnyHighland Next Girls

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2014
    Location:
    From Scottish lowland to Kanto lowland
    Oshimen:
    okaberin
    Too bad she is nearly 20 already, I hope she can get promoted fast.

    Well, TBF she should be in 16th gen back then. :D

    IKR, thankfully I notice her in person first at the Makuhari Zenkoku HS. When I saw her photo in the theater I was like...Is that really her? She is much cuter than that.

    Since those two shared theirs, I think I will write mine also. Not as impressive as theirs tho.

    So, I was like hanging around in Akihabara with 2 hardcore STU fans. As we don't have many thing to do before their flight back home, we just go up to the theater and luckily can watch the show on the screen at the lobby. It is already halfway through, so...if you want to see how it went, see Chris and Riina's post. My point is, if you come to Japan and do not win any theater ticket, just go up to the theater after the show start. If you are lucky they may let you watch at the lobby (not always the case if I'm not mistaken). After the show finish we met Riina and Chris, after showing Chris a good place to have some lunch, the rest of us went to AKB Cafe to kill some time, again if you are lucky they may have some event there open to all cafe visitor (not the kind of event where you need to book first at the website). After that we just go our own way.

    I went to Aozora Fes to see my favourite Team 8 perform with other idols. It is located at Hibiya open air theater. How to get inside, you just need to buy the ticket online or on the spot (if there is still any left). I bought mine at Pia website even before SSK.
    I have to give credits to Last Idol and Tsubaki Factory for their wonderful performance. There are various colours of light stick until it come to the last performer. As the sun set, the venue just lit by Team 8's dark blue colour. I actually surprised that most of the other group wotas stayed and also change the colour of their LS to dark blue. I was like..."wow, this is legit". I still cannot over the fact that we are not allowed to take photos.

    The opening act was by Chou Kurena who was given like 10 minutes to sing 3 songs with her guitar. Then not long after that the overture start.
    The set list was as follow (Unless specified otherwise, the center is the hometown girl Oguri Yui):
    00a. Chou Kurena opening act
    -mc-
    00. Overture
    01. Mae Shika Mukanee
    02. Love Trip
    03. Shishunki no Adrenaline
    -mc-
    04. Hachinosu Dance (Shitao Miu center)
    05. Iiwake Maybe
    06. Kibouteki Refrain
    07. Oogoe Diamond
    -mc-
    08. Yuuhi wo Mite Iru ka (Chou Kurena center playing guitar)
    09. 47 no Suteki na Machi e
    -event end-

    I personally see why they keep pushing Oguri as the next center and Okabe as the next leader. They have the "it factor" and just keep on improving compared to the last time I saw them, which is literally last week in SSK concert. I never thought Yuiyui will slay the performance as the center of Mae Shika Mukanee with her headbanging and twirling the mic stand :blink: And she just keep being awesome as the center of Love Trip and Shishunki no Adrenaline.

    Then the surprise come as the one centering Hachinosu Dance is someone who went to S. Korea and did not selected as senbatsu for that song. But wow...that break dance at the beginning, she definitely learn something in P48. :shock:
    The next 3 songs was like reminiscence of the earlier AKB period where the Oguri-Okabe duo shines the most frontlining those songs. As if you can see Acchan-Takamina combi in eito white uniform. (Highly biased sentence, but who cares :D)
    After all those fast-paced songs, they go with a ballad with Chou playing guitar as usual. They dedicate the song to thank the fans who made 9 members of T8 ranked in at SSK. The touching moment was when most of the audience go along singing with them.
    As the last song is of course, their flagship song accompanied by the famous thunderous call.

    It was a blast. Gratefully happy for today.
     
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  17. Riina

    Riina Future Girls

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2015
    Location:
    Japan
    Twitter:
    48Riina
    Well, her photo from the draft kaigi (on Wiki48) is much better, but seriously, what were they thinking when they took her official profile photo? Do they only take 1 photo and upload that one regardless of how bad it is? Cause some girls' profile photos look exactly like that. At least take 20 photos and pick the cutest one o_O
     
  18. Sakuraism

    Sakuraism Member Stage48 Donor

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2012
    Twitter:
    andilee1989
    wow i havent posted anything on my report for awhile..let me catch up a little

    6/10, 2018 AKB48 11Gatsu Anklet Kobetsu Handshake @ Intex Osaka

    Shiroma Miru

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    6/17 2018 AKB48 Teacher Teacher Kobetsu Handshake @ Nagoya Dome

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  19. Cristafari

    Cristafari Stage48 Admin Staff Member Stage48 Admin

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2008
    Location:
    Saitama, Japan
    Oshimen:
    Iwasa Misaki
    Twitter:
    Cristafari
    AKB48-Group 51st Single "Jabaja" Individual Handshake Event at Makuhari Messe (2018/07/08)

    This was the last of the Jabaja handshake events I had purchased tickets for. I originally planned to be in California at some point in August, so I have avoided all of the handshake events scheduled for the month (with the exception of HKT on August 4th) However, it is beginning to look more and more like I may remain in Japan for the entire Summer (Ugghh) The good news is I can get resale on some of the August handshake events, but not all. Anyway...

    My ticket schedule was slightly different than usual. Kaotan was not scheduled for this event for some reason (a horse racing event, according to her blog), and Tani was only scheduled for the night slots, so I didn't see either of them. I also wanted to oshi-mashi and see Ran-chan (Kobayashi Ran) but I couldn't decide which of my tickets to give up, and she was scheduled for Slot 5 only, meaning I would have waited an extra three hours to see her. I have tickets for all three of them on the 21st, so all good.

    I was really exhausted this morning. I have had difficulty sleeping due to stress, which will hopefully subside at the end of the Semester later this month. In fact, I have been for the most part skipping idol stuff until the end of this month. I would have been completely happy blowing this event off as well, except I really wanted to talk to Yuka-chan since I hadn't spoken to her since she ranked in Sousenkyo. All of my tickets were for the first three slots, so I would simply head down early, get my tickets done, and bail back home around lunch time. I had no trouble making it to Makuhari by 9am...

    Slot 1

    Sakaki Miyu <Cuca> (Lane 74) Interestingly, this is the first time I know of where Cuca's prize wasn't an instant win. This means that she is beginning to sell more tickets in the one slot they give her. She wasn't sold out since her lane was *starred*, but at least it's progress. And, I DIDN'T WIN! Heh, it was the 2-shot/1-shot prize. Anyway, her line only had a couple people in it, so she saw me heading down the lane toward her booth. After the obligatory greetings, I asked her about the stage play she is going to be in. She completely lit up, and told me that she was very excited and she would be working hard. I gave her my best, and was off. I'm glad I came armed with something to talk to her about this time.

    Interestingly, aside from Cuca the rest of my tickets were for lanes all stuffed in the far left back of the venue, so I pretty much stayed in one small area for the entire morning. I did walk around a bit just to do a bit of people watching.

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 40) Yukachan's lane also offered the 2-shot/1-shot, and this time I won. I was torn which to choose, and ultimately decided on the selfie. Later I noticed most of the fans chose the 1-shot video, and had Yuka-chan do the fashion show. Yuka-chan saw me coming down the lane and smiled. I waved my winning sheet at her, and she exclaimed "Yatta, you won!" Since there was no wait, I wasn't ready, so I took my time putting my bag in the bin, and getting my camera ready before stepping into the booth. I centered the camera, made sure at least Yukachan was completely in the shot, and fired away!

    yuka1.jpg

    Okay, my selfies are getting a bit better, although I still do them "two-handed." So it was my chance to congratulate her on her 'victory' of sorts. I told her when I saw the smile on her face after she was called it warmed my heart. Yuka-chan exclaimed that she was so glad I came to see her, and thanked me for cheering for her. I told her I would be back a little later.

    Slot 2

    Yamane Suzuha (Lane 36) I decided I would queue up early to see Zunchan since I know her line tends to get long. In fact, she still had a queue from Slot 1 when we were allowed into the lane for check-in. I was second in line, which meant I had a great view of her signs. Since it has been topic of conversation in the past, I decided I would do my best to completely read her signs, and if I could, talk to her about them. In the meantime, Asai Nanami was in the next lane over, and had her booth completely decorated for the Tanabata holiday. In between the slots, Zunchan took a short break, but Naamin stayed in her booth, and at one point walked into Zunchan's booth to check the decor. Frankly, Zunchan's decor wasn't quite as elaborate as usual, but there were lots of signs. Naamin muttered "sugoi" and "kawaii" before heading back into her booth. Zunchan came out with Gabriel-kun in tow. (Her stuffed animal Frog)

    yuka3.jpg

    By the way, her sign was all about the types of foods she likes to eat in the Summer. Among her favorites were shaved ice, frankfurters, and some kind of potato dish. The sign asked us what our favorite Summer dishes are, and playfully offered to enjoy Summer foods together. After quickly greeting Gabriel-kun, I told her that I read the sign, and that my favorite Summer foods were American barbecue like spareribs, and hot dogs, and that I liked beach barbeques. I think it surprised her, since I was indeed responding to her questions on the sign. When I mentioned the ribs she got very excited, but quickly my time was up and I was getting pushed out.

    Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 40) By the time I made it back to Yukachan her line had emptied out. I didn't win the signed photo, but I actually already have one, so no biggie. I really didn't have much more to say to her, so I basically told her about my day during the Sousenkyo, and that I was on a train when people started messaging me about her ranking. Anyway, I repeated that I was very happy for her.

    Slot 3

    Yamauchi Mizuki (Lane 33) After talking to my friend Panda for a while, I pre-queued for Zukki's lane since it tends to get long, which it did. I did have a few guys cut in front of me on the way in, but decided to not make an issue of it. It all worked out however, since I ended up winning the 1-shot video prize. I was reading over the choices, which included a bunch of Summer-related material, and of course the fashion show is always popular, except that's what I had her do last time. I was between two lines. One was her asking me to buy her shaved ice, and the one I chose...


    if the video does not show watch the video here

    Yay, Zukki and I are going to watch fireworks together. Sounds like a fun date. I hope she wears a Kimono! I told her I have been following her Twitter, and I like that she posts lots of cute pictures. She protested that her pictures aren't cute. (Yeah, right) Interestingly, Zukki is consistently becoming one of my favorite handshake experiences. Even more interesting, I had forgotten I even had this ticket, and only noticed it when I was sorting my tickets at the venue, LOL.

    Murakawa Bibian (Lane 43) It had been quite a while, but I was finally getting the opportunity to visit with Bibian again. What would I talk about? Produce48? Oh...

    So the 'special' prize of the day was a signed time-card. What is that you ask? Exactly what you think it might be. An actual time card, which they drop into a time clock at their booth and then sign it. I mean really, this is on the same level of randomness as those signed resumes we won last month. Bibian's was the only chance I had to win it, and mercifully I lost. Whatever. In the meantime I found a fan's identification on the ground. I picked it up, and started looking for the person it belonged to. After nobody around me claimed it, I just held it up until either someone said it was theirs, or until a guard came by. Eventually one of the Bibian fans took it and started yelling "Who lost their ID?" Finally a guy in line noticed it was his.

    yuka2.jpg

    The line was going very slow since it was a signing slot. I wasn't sure how Bibian would react to me since she gave me a semi-dirty look last month when she spotted me in another lane. However, she was just as genki as usual. She was all blinged out to with a bunch of heart-related jewelry. I mentioned that I laughed at her tweet she made during the Japan soccer match the other day. If you haven't seen it, it's very cute.

    https://twitter.com/murakawabibiann/status/1013840102487818240

    Bibian is awesome on twitter. Her tweets ore often so silly. After shaking Bibian's hand I headed out, but then the guard called me back in. It seems there was a consolation card for people who didn't win the time-card. Okay, I'll take it. And it also meant I got an extra few seconds with Bibian since she reached out to grab my hands once again.

    IMG_9138.JPG

    And that was it. I was able to win 2 prizes out of six, which is about par for the course. Although admittedly I was surprised I didn't win a couple of them. But it was 12:30, and I was heading home to 1) write this, 2) rest, and 3) get on this major assignment I have that's due in two days. My next 48-group related events will be AKB's Teacher Teacher event on the 21st, and then HKT's handshake event in early-August. I have a couple of interesting members scheduled, so we'll see how it goes.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 10, 2018
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  20. sscrla

    sscrla Stage48 Moderator Staff Member Stage48 Moderator

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2015
    Oshimen:
    Takayanagi Akane
    Japan Kawaii Live (2018/7/7)

    This is not really an AKB48 experiences post as much as a my experiences at the Anime Expo in downtown Los Angeles post. Like a @Cristafari Wasamin experience post, I will be talking about when I got up, transportation, how far I walked, where I ate, and finally the concert. However unlike a Wasamin report, there will be no meeting with the performers.

    So why Anime Expo? Because to get tickets to the Japan Kawaii Live concert Friday night, you had to buy a ticket to Anime Expo first (even though I have no interest in anime), and I wanted to see Team 8. Getting the Anime Expo ticket wasn’t hard, but they were selling the concert tickets using a virtual queue: if you had a VIP Anime Expo ticket, you got a 48 head start on buying the concert tickets, but for the rest of us, tickets went on sale on-line at 6 pm on a Friday. Now I have experience doing this, because Southwest Airlines lets you get a boarding pass exactly 24 hours before your flight. The key is to have two browser windows open: one to the world clock for your time zone and another at the website for purchasing. Click a second too early, and you get rejected. In any case, I was ready at 6 pm (but waited an extra second as sometimes their clock isn’t synced with the world clock I use). After about 5 minutes of waiting in their virtual queue, I got a ticket in the 13th row on the left side (stage right). That wasn’t bad, as the first six rows were reserved for the VIPs and those VIPs that didn’t want to pay $150 for the concert would have bought non-VIP tickets before I got mine.

    The instructions for the Expo said to get there early and to get your concert tickets at least 3 hours before the show (the concert was at 5:30). I had a plan to leave my house in the morning and drive downtown and have a late breakfast at the Original Pantry Cafe, an iconic LA eatery owned by Richard Riordan, who at one time was Mayor of Los Angeles. The Pantry is at 9th and Figueroa, two blocks from Staples Center and LA Live where the concert would be, with the LA Convention Center just beyond. Part of the reason for choosing the Pantry is that my son-in-law works one block farther away and has a parking pass, so I wouldn’t have to worry about finding a lot or paying $20 bucks for parking. The plan was going fine: traffic was fine on the 118, and then on the 5 (except for an accident in Burbank that slowed traffic for a while, and then onto the 110 S into downtown. Here things took a bad turn. There was some sort of police activity at the 6th street bridge over the 110, so all freeway traffic was stopped at 3rd Street, and I needed to get to 9th. At that point I was able to get over and get off at the Chinatown exit onto Hill Street (Hill Street Blues, anyone?) and take surface streets. Google maps didn't like it and kept telling me to turn, but I had lived in Little Tokyo for two years and knew the downtown streets. I finally got to the parking garage after one hour instead of the estimated 40 minutes. There was a line outside the Pantry, as there typically is, but after about 15 minutes I was able to get a seat at the counter. For my Japanese connection, I had a stack of buckwheat pancakes (the buckwheat, not the pancakes). Then it was off to the Convention center.

    The first two objectives were to get the Swag Bag, which was near 15th street, an extra 4 blocks of walking (and did I mention it was 102F or 39C out and all the walking was outside?) I then had to walk back to 11th to go into the Convention Center to get my concert ticket. Except that you had to go back outside to actually get the ticket. Did I mention it was hot? I then went to the Laker store just outside Staples and looked for a LeBron James jersey. They said he was going to sign on Friday, but he didn’t, and they can’t sell any of his gear until he does, so I settled for a picture with a Kobe jersey.

    IMG_20180707_115654.jpeg

    At this point I had time to kill until Nanabun no Nijuuni (22/7) was appearing at the AniplexUSA booth. Of course, this had to be at the far south end by 15th Street so another four blocks of walking, but at least most of it was inside. Luckily, I found a seat at one of the few places that had them near some parents and grandparents who had brought their kids. At one point a young man came over and I noticed that his lanyard had pictures of what looked like idols, so I asked. He said it was a Korean group, so I said which one, and the answer was Twice. I admitted I didn’t know much, but I showed him my best double T hand sign.

    At 1:20, I was part of a crowd milling around the Aniplex booth, but the marshals kept telling us to get off the green part of the carpet, that we couldn’t stand still but had to move. They didn’t seem to realize that there was going to be a live event. At 1:30 (or very close), it started with an MC who introduced Sakura. They did some promo work: do you watch my YT channel? do you subscribe? no, you can’t just watch without subscribing. And then more: do you know Sakura is going to be in a tv show? Sakura then told us to find illegal ways to view it, but the MC said no, “alternate ways.” After that Mei, Reina, and Sally came out (pictures in the 22/7 thread).

    IMG_20180707_133328.jpeg

    I couldn’t stay long, as I was supposed to meet the Team 8 in LA Fan Project at 2. There wasn’t much to it, and only one was a S48 member (but is no longer active) from the OC. We started talking, then decided to get out of the heat by heading to Starbucks for a frappuccino. He is Mayuyu oshi who went to her grad concert and more recently to the SSK and the Osaka handshake, where he met some of the Team 8 members who came to LA. Like many fans, he was nothing but friendly. He had about 8 light sticks, and when he found I only had one, he lent me another for the concert.

    They opened the doors to the Microsoft Theater at 4, even though the show wasn’t until 5:30, but the thought of air conditioning made the decision to go in early easy. The show started pretty much on time, and the opening act was The IdolM@ster Cinderella Girls, a group I knew nothing about. They were followed by I☆Ris. Again, I don’t know anime and I didn’t know them, but they were more interesting and had lots of fans. (Another thing I didn’t know: even if I had a seat, I was expected to stand for 2 1/2 or 3 hours.) At this point, I was wondering if AKS made a mistake sending a group to appear before anime fans. I shouldn’t have worried. Even if the cheers were not quite as loud as for I☆Ris, they were plenty loud. In fact the I☆Ris fan sitting next to me sang along to every song; she later told me that she had been studying Japanese since she was 14 (now 21) and that she was also an AKB48 fan. I put the set list in the Team 8 thread, but here it is for completeness.
    1. Aitakatta
    2. Kibouteki Refrain
    3. Everyday, Katyusha
    4. Iiwake Maybe
    5. Hachinosu Dance
    6. Koi Suru Fortune Cookie
    7. 365nichi no Kamihikouki
    8. 47 no Suteki na Machi e
    The set ran around 35 - 40 minutes. Since I don’t understand a lot of Japanese, all I could catch of the MC was 1st time in LA, Santa Monica beach, and hamburger (which was quite large judging by their hand gestures). (@Aka posted backstage pictures in the Team 8 thread.)

    The final act was Shoko Nakagawa, who, like the other groups (not AKB48), sang some songs along with a video on the screen behind. While I☆Ris danced some, it was nothing like Team 8’s dancing. At the end, all the groups came out together to say thanks and goodby.

    After the show, there was a separate goodby for the VIPs. Since my new friend was one, I had to wait outside for him so I could return his light stick. Right away, I noticed some familiar faces, but I couldn’t place them, so I walked over and asked if they had video blog, and they said yes. Then it struck me; these were the guys who did the 10 Worst Keyakizaki Moments (posted in the Keya thread a few days ago) and I mentioned it (“Did you really watch that?” laughs) Then someone noticed that behind all the bag straps, I was wearing a Wasamin jersey, not a regular soccer jersey, so they asked about J-Pop Summit last year, and I said I had gone. Then they asked if I knew CK and ithebigc. I said I really only knew Cristafari, but of course knew about ithebigc. Finally, my new friend came out, I returned the light stick, and walked back to my car.

    Another long day in too much heat, but it was definitely worth it. I loved every minute of Team 8's performance.
     
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