Your AKB48 Experiences

@SunnyHighland

Thanks for the writeup. I'm looking forward to your stage report.

I was busy with Wasamin that weekend.

 

Iwasa Misaki 8th Single Pre-Release Event at Sunshine City Ikebukuro (2019/01/08)

(cross-posting from Wasa-thread)

Wasamin is in the middle of a fairly active pre-release week, with events 5 out of the last 6 days, culminating with an event at Fountain Plaza in Sunshine City. Mind you, she has done pre-order events at Sunshine City before, but this almost felt like this was originally supposed to be a "Release Week" event, especially since it was taking place on the notorious "furage" Tuesday, coupled with a Sunday event scheduled at DynaCity, a venue where Wasamin has held her "Sunday Final" release week event on more than one occasion. All that said, there was a pretty good chance this event would have at least one nice surprise. It turned out we got two of them.

I woke up with a bit of a hangover after indulging in too much jalapeno-infused cider the evening before, and then going on a 2 1/2 hour subway trip where I fell asleep and missed my stop multiple times. So I spent the morning and early afternoon medicating myself as best I could since there was no way I was going to miss the event. I had recovered to the point where I merely felt tired, then grabbed the bus by my house which conveniently stops at the rear entrance of Sunshine City, arriving 45 minutes before the first event.



Sunshine City events are unique, as they have a seating area which is only reserved for people who purchased CDs, and you draw for your seating priority assignment. Also, regardless of how many CDs you pre-order, you can only draw a ticket for one of the two events. If you wish to have a seat for both, you must fill out two separate forms. It's kind of a pain in the ass, but whatever, I'm used to it. I filled out one form and paid for my CD's, opting for an early event seat ticket. I drew #39. Okay, it's a small seating area. I could still probably nab a second row seat. After hanging out with a few of the fans and filling out a Wasamin birthday card, there was still plenty of time before we had to line up, so I filled out another form for two more CDs, this time opting for a late event ticket...



Number one with a bullet! Meanwhile, one of the other fans had multiple seat tickets, and upgraded my #39 to #25 for the early set. We headed back to the queueing area, which is on the exit stairwell near the Cold Stone Creamery. I looked like there were around 50 or so people in the pre-queue. As we headed in I had a choice, I could be in the front row on one of the ends, or 2nd row dead center, which technically is much closer to Wasamin. I chose the 2nd row seat. Finally 3pm rolled around, Wasamin took the stage while the fountains blasted into the air. Here is the early setlist...

Setlist 15:00
1. Saba Kaido
2. Tokyo no Bus Girl
3. Wakare no Yokan
4. Koi no Owari Sangenjaya

Wasamin singing Wakara no Yokan, which is one of the c/w tracks on the new single, was a pretty big indicator of what was coming next. Wasamin admitted she was nervous as this was her first public performance of the song. It's a bit of a change in style from her previous singles. My first impression was that it reminds me of Oshibe to Meshibe to Yoru no Chouchou. I also thought it might be appropriate for Wasamin to sing this in a slinky cocktail dress, as opposed to a kimono. I also liked the background harmonization, which was As for her performance, it felt like she was feeling her way through the song, as her voice kinda dropped a couple times in the verse. Unlike Sado no Ondeko, where she belted the song out right from the gate, this one may take a little tweaking in the coming weeks. Or at the very least would see how she does in the evening performance.

They lined us up for handshakes/2-shots by where we were sitting, which put me about 30th in line. The didn't allow us to queue up until the first row finished. However they failed to notice at least one guy from the first row re-queued for a second visit before we were even called over. WTF? Eventually my turn came...



I never know what pose to do. Sasou-san though it was funny though. I congratulated Wasamin on the performance, and told her I want to hear the song again. She replied "aren't you staying for the second performance?" To which I replied that not only was I coming, but I had seating priority ticket #1! I also asked her about the kimono she was wearing. It is supposed to be the same kimono that she is wearing on the CD jacket, but I noticed a few subtle differences. At first Wasamin was confused, and asked Ishikawa-san (Wasa-manager) about it. Ishikawa-san told me I was correct, and was surprised that I noticed the differences. I'm not sure if it is different, or they digitally changed it on the cover, or what. But it is indeed slightly different in a few spots.

From there I excused myself as I wanted to grab a bowl of soup from Soup Stock Tokyo. I have never been a fan of borscht, but they have a Tokyo Borscht that looks really good. However, I chickened out and instead went for their new Kimchi-Oyster soup, which was really good. I still had plenty of time, so I ended up resting on a bench upstairs until it was time for the late show. With my #1 ticket, I took my rightful place front row center. Here's the setlist...

Setlist 18:00
1. Mujineki
2. Ringo no Uta
3. Anata
4. Koi no Owari Sangenjaya

Despite both Wakare no Yokan and Anata being c/w tracks on the new CD, she has performed both songs in the past. In fact, she has performed "Yokan" on multiple occasions. I bring this up because Wasamin absolutely belted the hell out of Anata. It is such a dramatic song, and her voice was bouncing off the walls. I crowd suddenly got bigger, and the reaction she got was much bigger than I had heard the entire day. In fact you could hear people cheering from pretty far back. After that we got her second performance of Sangenjaya, and her vocals sounded much cleaner than on her first try. That said, I think it will take at least a couple more performances for her to truly own it. BTW, she does this cute little hand motion during the chorus, forming a sort of triangle. She explained the reason for it before the song, but I didn't understand the explanation. Also, during the instrumental portion of the song she turns her back on the audience and raises her arms, so you get a full view of her kimono. It is similar to the "poses" she does during Sado no Ondeko. After the last song Wasamin informed us that there was one more surprise; The full MV of Koi no Owari Sangenjaya. Here is the MV preview, which Tokuma released around the same time as the video was shown...



According to Wasamin she hadn't seen the completed video before, and she was excited to be watching it for the first time together with her fans. She was excited to see our reactions. Not only is the song a departure from her usual style, this video is also a bit different, utilizing actors to dramatize the song's story. At first I was wondering why they didn't have Wasamin act as the girlfriend in the video, until she explained that the two actors, Takuma Zaiki(from Prince of Tennis) and Kanae Yumemiya are both from NagaraPro, so a bit of cross-promotion for Wasamin's teammates.



This time I was around 15th in the queue. Again, I am always wondering what pose to do, and at the last second I chose this one. Wasamin didn't understand what the pose meant, although her assistant seemed to be familiar with it, and was laughing. I explained to her that it is kinda of a child's pose, like "Nya Nya Nya Nya!" So she got it. I felt I needed to give Wasamin a review of the MV, so told her that I liked Wasamin's expressions, which almost seemed like a reaction to what the actors were doing on screen. I also told her that her Anata performance was incredible. I told her I planned on attending the next event in Odawara, and was on my way. It was getting late, I was still tired, and wanted to get back home and in my warm bed.

I came home and immediately searched the internet to see if Tokuma had released the MV, and sure enough there was a preview posted online. Now that she is singing her new material I am really looking forward to the event this weekend. Not only do I want to hear how she is progressing with the new single, but I am hoping she sings Anata again. It is interesting how they chose to tweak Wasamin's style a bit for this single. I think they are really trying to find a song that catches on with the public so that she takes another big step in popularity. Could this be that song? We'll see.

 

AKB48-Group 'No Way Man' Individual Handshake Event at Makuhari Messe (2019/01/20)

I was really looking forward to this event for a couple reasons. For one, it seemed like it had been quite a while since I had attended an AKB handshake event. (Actually, it was November, so 2 months) Also, since I got to attend one of the Request Hour shows, I had lots to talk about with most of the members I had tickets for. On the other hand, I was somewhat concerned about possible awkwardness at the event considering the current goings-on with NGT, but luckily, and as expected, the NGT members sat out the event. Definitely a wise choice.

I had 10 tickets for 7 different members, and oddly enough the way my tickets were scheduled I met each group separately. I started with an STU ticket, then used all of my AKB tickets, after that moved on to my HKT tickets, and finished with my SKE ticket. I arrived early enough to grab some lunch at Makuhari, then checked in to get my tickets stamped. I only had one ticket for slot three, and I figured the line wouldn't be very long anyway. Oh, and the prizes were again in play for this event. Let's see if I could do better than last time, where I lost all but one.

One other thing, I never noticed it before, but there are A LOT of fans at AKB handshake events with bleached blonde hair. I have a feeling quite a few people may have been noticing that on Sunday, if you know what I mean...

Slot 3

Sakaki Miyu <CUCA> (Lane 116) Per usual, Cuca's lane was an "automatic win" for the prize, which was a choice of 2-shot selfie or 1-shot video. I have done both with her before, so for this one I chose the selfie. Cuca immediately switched to English when I came into the booth. "Oh hello, thank you" I got ready for the 2-shot, aimed my camera, made sure we were both in the shot, and....



OOOFAA! I didn't look at the pic until after I left the lane, but the expression on my face is ridiculous. And don't ask, I'm not showing it. My eyes are closed, my mouth is contorted into a weird position. In any case, I told Cuca that I am enjoying her YouTube channel. She was like "Huh?" I said the video of her making coffee was the best. "Oh!" (she started laughing)

BTW, the special prize for this event was the recipe card, which only some of the members were offering. Last year it seemed like pretty much all the members did a recipe, but this time for some reason it was only a few members. I did take photos of the recipe cards of members I like. (Although my Zunchan recipe card pic came out all blurry)


Ranran, Kaho, Yunana, Tani, Maichan, Mio, Ricopi. Of course marika's recipe is a goof, just like last year.

Slot 4

Yamane Suzuha (Lane 45) I pre-queued for this lane since I had three tickets for slot 4. The pre-queue line grew fairly long too. And just like the last time I lined up early for Zunchan, some of her younger fans try to cut in line at the last second. And just like last time, one of them tried to cut in front of me, and I elbowed them out of the way. Although the joke was ultimately on me since I lost for the prize and they won. It was the recipe card, so no big deal.



This wasn't Zunchan's first slot, but since she had taken a break in Slot 3 she had to remove all of her signs, streamers, and balloons, which meant I got to watch her put them all back up. It is amazing to see the care she puts into putting up all the decorations in her booth, although I didn't really have any time to read her messages. I told her that I was in the audience for her performance of Suki no Tane, and like her, I also think that HKT's Koisuru Ribbon is a really cute song (she mentioned it on Twitter) She was like "Yeah!!!" As usual, she was a total sweetheart.

Kobayashi Ran (Lane 41) <2 tickets> Despite not seeing her at handshakes for a while, I have seen Ranchan at the theater a couple times lately. On Sunday she was wearing adorable usagi cosplay, with ears she could make flop around. The prize for Ranchan's lane was the 1-shot/2-shot choice, and on my first go-round I lost. WTF? I have the worst luck in her lane! She only has one slot thou, and it is always packed. I'm gonna guess that they are going to expand her to multiple slots for the next single. Of course Ranchan was excited to see me, and I told her that I was one of the people speaking English at her when she was asking for help with her English homework on Showroom. She immediately remembered, which isn't surprising since there were only a couple people speaking English, and I specifically said that I was a native English speaker. So cool!

(2nd ticket) I immediately looped the lane, and got back into her long queue. And finally I won the prize! But which should I choose. I ultimately chose the 2-shot again since I have never taken a 2-shot with her ever before. This time I was going to make sure it came out good, and that the expression on my face wasn't idiotic...



That's more like it, and Ranchan came in nice and close too. I wanted to tell her that I really like he expanded role in the Pajama Drive stage, but I was getting pushed out almost immediately. I had only gotten half the sentence out "Pajama Drive ni, Ranchan wa..." she immediately interjected "Saiko???" Sure, okay. "HAI!" She gave me a big thumbs up, and an ear flop with her costume for good measure.

BTW, I tweeted that pic in the late afternoon, and got a few 'likes' from the Japanese fans. The other interesting thing is that Wasamin has admitted to me multiple times that she does read my twitter, so I'm not sure if it was a coincidence, but a couple hours after I made that tweet Wasamin randomly tweeted "I want to play with young girls!" LOL. What was even more interesting in Wasamin's responses was that Chiba Erii tweeted that she wanted to play with Wasamin. Uh oh...

Slot 5



Yamauchi Mizuki (Lane 44) Zukki was right next to Zunchan, so while I was waiting I watched Zunchan interacting with her fans. She's so adorable! In the meantime, I won the prize, which was the signed recipe card.



The wait wasn't very long, so when it was my turn I told her I was at the early show on Saturday, and was happy to see that she got to perform in quite a few songs. Not to mention she got to be in the KFC senbatsu. She thanked me as she handed me the signed card. This was my last AKB member ticket, I headed over to the other side of the hall where the HKT members' lanes were...

Murakawa Bibian (Lane 99) I decided to try to see Bibian more often, since she has been really cool to visit lately. There was some sort of issue in her queue; There were a whole bunch of security at the check-in desk talking with two guys. Ultimately they removed them from the queue. I'm not sure what that was all about, but I had the feeling it was an I.D. issue. Anyway, I had a couple things I wanted to talk to her about, but I ended up winning the 2-shot/1-shot prize, which would take up most of the talk time. I chose the 1-shot video, since I had never done one with her before. I originally chose a New Year's message, but changed to a different one at the last minute.


if the video does not show watch the video here

Cute! I didn't have much time, so I told her that I saw her perform Sawatte Yasukute Gomen, and that the green and black outfit she wore is really cute. I got the usual giggly response. I wanted to talk more about her antics on the stage risers, but I ran out of time. Oh well...

As I left the lane I ran into my friend Panda, who had a piece of Mooncake for me that he had purchased in Taiwan. I love Mooncake, although I hadn't eaten it in quite a while, so a nice surprise!

Slot 6

Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 103) <2 tickets> For slot six I only had tickets for Yukachan, so my plan was to get them done quickly, then take off for dinner since I would have over 90 minutes until Slot 7 opened up. The problem was that there was some issue with Motomura Aoi's handshake queue, and the line was still gigantic even though she was supposed to be done. The Akiyoshi fans immediately started bitching at the staff, and they told us they would be moving Aoitan's queue to another lane. Sure enough, right at 4:30 the Aoitan fans were moved to Sasshi's lane next door, since she was out for the day.



I didn't win the prize, which was again the 2-shot/1-shot. "Yaho Kurisu!" I told her I was in the 8th row for Koisuru Ribbon, and was trying to get her attention. I also mentioned that I thought Cross was awesome, and asked her what she thought. She was like "Oh yeah, it was!" I told her I would be back in a few minutes. In the meantime her fans were putting together a congratulatory message book for her upcoming High School graduation. I originally wrote her a message in Japanese, but then thought better of it and asked if I could re-write one in English instead. They thought it was a good idea too, since I have been told by the committees before that they like getting a few English messages in there, not to mention Yukachan studies English, and is fairly good at it.

<2nd ticket> This time I won, and I chose the 1-shot video since I had already done two selfies, just to make it even. I chose the New Year's one that I almost had Bibian do.


if the video does not show watch the video here

Yukachan can be a bit soft-spoken, so with all the noise in the hall sometimes she is hard to hear. But her facial expressions are adorable. I told her I am also graduating this semester, so we will be celebrating together. We both wished one another good luck this semester. That's amazing though, Yukachan is college age now. It seems like yesterday she was a 'little kid'.

From there I went to dinner. While eating I was talking with my friend Jeff, who I didn't realize was also at the event. We planned to meet up at Yukachan's lane in the next slot. This was also around the time I ran into @Boma Adhi where we compared our prize winning percentages.

Slot 7

Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 103) One more Yukachan ticket, and this time I won the recipe card. In the meantime Jeff told me he was visiting Yukirin's lane first before coming to see Yuka. Shoot, I hope he doesn't take too long since I wanted to use up my last tickets quickly so I could head home. While Yukachan signed the recipe card I told her a bit about my new job, where I was working and what I was doing. When she finished signing she asked me to please try her recipe, and that it's really good. I told her that I had already seen it outside on the wall, and that I love Kimchi, so...



So I left the lane, and there was no sign of Jeff. I slowly made my way across the venue toward my last ticket when Jeff messaged me that he was in front of Yukachan's lane, so I high-tailed it back so I could talk with him for a few minutes. However, this ended up being a major tactical error. I finished visiting with him, and was heading toward my final lane when the 30-minute oshi-mashi announcement was made. Oh shit! If my ticket is for a starred lane, this could be major trouble. Sure enough, the lane was starred, and the queue was an absolute madhouse!

Matsumura Kaori (Lane 21) I got into the queue, which took me almost a half-hour just to check in. I mean not only was the line long, but Kaotan is well-known for taking her time with each fan. I also won the prize, which was a signed member card. Ultimately it took me about an hour to make my way through the queue. But of course Kaotan never disappoints...



While she was signing the card I was telling her where I was sitting during the show, which was exactly opposite where she sat on the risers. Moreover, I told her I kept waving at her, but Dasu noticed me instead, LOL. Kaotan has been promoting her graduation concert, so she reminded me that the lottery for tickets would start on Monday. I told her I would do my best. Truthfully, I wasn't sure if I could make the show, but it turns out it starts late enough in the evening that I can make it, so I will apply. Hopefully I will win. And hopefully the fact that she has been listed on my ticket center account as my SKE oshimen for at least 2 1/2 years will help with my chances.

It was 8pm, far later than I expected to be at the event. Oh well, I started the long trek back home. I had homework that I absolutely had to finish before I went to bed, and I knew it would take me a while. Oh, and I ultimately it on 7 out of 10 prizes, which is damn good. Two of the three misses were on members I also won (Yukachan, Ranchan) The only member I was completely skunked on was Zunchan. But yeah, that's a heck of a lot better than the 1 out of 10 I got last time.

I don't have any tickets for the February 'No Way Man' event, opting instead for March. However, next week is the big Wasamin concert, so I am really excited about that!

 

AKB48 Request Hour 2019 at TDC Hall…Saturday Matinee (#75-51) (2019/01/19)

(I made a short highlight post last week in the concert thread. Decided to do a more proper writeup after all)

Back in my early days of being an AKB48 fan, I randomly applied for their very first Request Hour concert. I had no idea what the concert even was. It was held at Shibuya AX, which was a relatively small concert venue. It was standing only, which meant your entry number dictated how close you were to the stage. I purchased my ticket from a re-seller…for 2500 yen! Most fans gasp when I tell them that story.

Little did I know at the time that this event, the first major AKB48 concert I ever saw, would become iconic for so many reasons. Not only was it the beginning of a concert series that would become a cornerstone of AKB48’s legend, it also happened to be the concert where Meetan whipped off her trenchcoat during the performance of ‘Blue Rose’ and revealed her Gold Bikini underneath; a truly historic moment in AKB48 history. And I was there!

Eleven years later, and after four years straight of applying, and getting skunked on every Request Hour concert I tried for, I finally won! For me this was a huge victory. It was it the first AKB concert I had won via AKB48’s ticket center in quite a while, and for an event I have historically loved due to its unpredictability and numerous magical moments. Granted, I do feel that Request Hour has lost some of its magic due to the way the voting has become a bit more political in recent years, not to mention predictable. This is why when I applied this year I only applied for the second and third shows (75-51, 50-26) I couldn’t make it to the first show due to scheduling, but I really had no interest in the Top 25, where the setlist would surely be filled with songs I don’t necessarily care about.

Late Wednesday night I finally received the email stating that the tickets were ready for pickup, so the next morning I walked over to 7-11 to pick mine up. TDC Hal is not too big of a concert venue, so the chances of getting a decent seat were very good. When I received my ticket the first thing I read was “Arena.” Cool, I was on the floor! Glancing to the right; Row 8, seat 23. 8th Row Center! This was shaping up to be even more awesome than I imagined.

It was the early show, so doors opened at 10 a.m. However, I live so close to Tokyo Dome that I didn’t even bother leaving the house until 10:15. I was in front of the venue 20 minutes prior to the show, and leisurely made my way to my seat. It was an excellent spot, close to the stage. Hopefully some of my favorite members, like Kaotan, or Yukachan, would see me cheering for them during the show.

Now I’m not going to do a play-by-play of the entire concert. Instead I will give you a sampling of my favorite highlights and notable moments…

Pre-show…

Oguri Yui did the kage-ana, which was fairly standard. Except she forgot to mention her name at the end. She retued to the mic around 20-30 seconds later to say “Oguri Yui deshita!”

The main stage setup was standard for a Request Hour concert. However, there was a second stage setup at the rear of the arena, even with the 1st Balcony Level. They performed at least 5 songs there, including Nakibesu Kaku Made, Date Twintails, Cross, Koi Yori mo Dream, and Niji no Tsukurikata. On a couple of the songs those members ran through the arena level audience as well.

The show…

When the NGT48’s Gikochinai Tsugaku Densha ranked in at #74 you could almost feel a gasp go through the audience. Like “Oh shit, here they are.” There had been some rumors that in the first show (100-76) people turned out their lightsticks when the NGT girls took the stage. I took a look around when the song started, and it seemed like some people did indeed put their lightsticks down But if you looked at the crowd as a whole, it wasn’t noticeable. At the end of their first song people cheered. I thought I might have heard a couple of boos here and there, but they could have been something else, so don’t quote me on that. On the other hand, it seemed like whatever tension there might have been was pretty much gone during the later NGT songs. And there were plenty of NGT fans in attendance, including the two guys sitting to the left of me (I had HKT fans to my right)



#73 Junjou Soda Sui: Takahashi Ayane sang this song solo. At one point a couple years ago I considered making her my favorite Team 8, but then decided to not force myself to not try to oshi someone unless my heart was completely in it. And to be honest, the first time I met her at a handshake event I didn’t really feel any magic connection. If a Team 8 member is to catch my fancy, it will be more organic than that. As for the performance, Ayane was unfortunately really off-key through most of it. I was rooting for her to kinda rally, but it just didn’t happen.

#70 Otona no Sekai with Tani as center. Looks like I came to the right show; one of my favorite members’ signature songs got performed. That wouldn’t be the last one though…



First MC: This is when the members first began sitting on the stage risers. There were a lot of interesting goings-on back there throughout the show. Yukachan and Bibian were both standing/sitting in the first row on the right side, Bibian still wearing her cute green costume from #69 Wakariyasukute Gomen. This was also where Murashige, Chori, and Sasshi were positioned. Needless to say, there was a lot of nonsense, jumping around, dancing, and reacting going on in this area.



#66 Sandal ja Dekinai Koi Once again, it is a great day when a song one of your favorite members is center for gets performed. This of course is Kaotan’s Undergirls song from the Sentimental Train single. And once again, this wouldn’t be the last personal surprise I would have.



# 63 Cross. This was the most dynamic performance of the set by far. Not only did the crowd go crazy, the girls on the risers went absolutely bananas. Cross was sung on the backstage, and at one point Sasshi came out to the middle of the main stage and started pretending she was singing the song too. It’s just such a great song. Not to mention Hidaka Yuzuki was part of the unit, so again seeing my fav members up there rockin’ out makes me happy.



During Omori Miyuu’s Romance Kakurenbo (#62) in seemed like half the girls on the risers were pantomiming the song, complete with all the hand-motions. The cameramen shot two angles of Miyupon singing, with the sitting members behind her completely in sync with her, it was really cool. Oh, and Miyupon nailed the song, which shouldn’t be a surprise since she is one of the better singers in AKB.



#61 Akai Pin Heel to Professor, with Jurina and her four male backdancers, was great; Sexy red dress, sexy red shoes, sexy dance moves.



#60 Koi Yori mo Dream There it is! This is the reason why the universe let me win this show. I didn’t vote for this song, but it is on my shortlist of songs I consider voting for each year. Any chance to watch Kaotan, Tani, and Dasu goofing around together for a few minutes is time well spent, as far as I’m concerned. BTW, toward the end of the song the three of them began fighting to get their face in front of the camera. It should be an interesting scene when the DVD comes out.

It was during Kubo Satone’s MC that Dasu and Kaotan sat down on the risers directly opposite of me. Kubo’s MC was sort of a comedy bit, involving Murashige, Chori, Kaotan, and another girl I am not sure of who did impressions. Kaotan was great though, and just refused to buy into the bit. It was during this MC that I was desperately trying to get Kaotan’s attention. Eventually I got somebody’s attention…Dasu. It was cute though. She waved to me, but I wasn’t sure if it was me she was looking at, so I pointed to myself; “Me?” She shook her head yes and gave me a heart gesture. I’ll take it.



#54 Koisuru Ribbon My third personal highlight in the show. It was my one chance of the day to see Yukachan actually perform, and the song is completely adorable after all. Interestingly, Yamane Suzuha (Zunchan) also remarked on Twitter that she loved this performance, and when I saw her the next day at the handshake event, I told her that I agreed.

The final MC featuring NMB48 was also interesting. They were showing some sort of PB made for Umeyama Cocona, or does she make it herself? I’m not sure, but it was quite cute.

#51 STU48’s Pedal to Sharin to Kita Michi received an enthusiastic reaction from the audience. I think everyone was happy to get a chance to see STU perform.

There were three songs in the encore; NGT48’s 4th single, Koisuru Fortune Cookie, and Shoujotachi yo. The KFC Encore was sort of a Murashige Anna tribute. Instead of saying “onigiri, onigiri” everyone was saying “Murashige Murashige” I believe she was the show MVP or something? It was a bit of of a goof, similar to what they did for the last show with Iriyama Anna.



The Aftermath…

I didn’t have time to take photos of the flower stands in the lobby, since they place them in an area it is hard to stop and get a clear shot of unless you go out there in the middle of the show. It did seem like quite a few of them were specifically for Nakai Rika, at least from the ones I saw. I found that interesting.

I must admit, this was the most fun I have had at a 48-group concert in quite a long time It was also the best seat I have had for a 48-group concert since forever. When I think back to all the 48-group concerts I have attended over the years, the seat definitely has a correlation with how much I enjoy the show. This is why I always say that I hate Dome and Stadium concerts. While there are few ‘okay’ seats, most of the time you need binoculars, and the sound is usually horrible. TDC Hall is a small venue anyway, but my seat was close enough where I may as well have been at a theater show.

One issue I have with Request Hour. well…it really isn’t an issue at all. It’s just that there are so many songs in the 48-group catalog now, that many of the songs performed I really don’t know. Many I have only heard once, and a couple I had never heard of at all. But still, their traditional Request Hour format performed in a relatively small venue is reminiscent of their early years, and that aspect was best of all…for the exact same reason that I still say the Theater is the best part of AKB.

 

Iwasa Misaki Solo Concert 2019 ~The Power of Music Passed Down Generations~ at Tokyo Kinema Club (2019/01/26)

It's that time of year again; Wasamin's birthday is coming up, For the last eight years that has also meant that a new Wasamin single is due to come out. Moreover, for the last four years it has meant that she will be holding a big solo concert.

Wasamin's solo shows have taken on various looks over the past few years. After the first two were at Asakusa Kokaido, the have switched venues for each show. A couple of times they featured multiple shows, like the concerts at Otemachi Yomiuri Hall and Ebisu Garden Hall. This year the concert was held at the Tokyo Kinema Club, which is just down the road from Uguisuidani Station on the Yamanote Line, next to Ueno.



Keeping with tradition, the fan club was given first crack at purchasing tickets, including the famous "Ichigo Seats" which come with a variety of extra benefits. Needless to say, I put in an early application to assure myself of the full Wasa-experience. My ticket arrived in mid-January, complete with my personally signed 'Ichigo' badge and a rundown of what the Ichigo bonuses would include...




- Priority seating in the first six rows (This ended up not being a big deal since the venue was relatively small)
- The Ichigo Badge
- Guaranteed availability of all new goods
- Additional photoshoot time (I'll address this later in the post)
- Post-concert after-party with Wasamin, with more photo/video shooting.

There were also a few additional benefits available for everyone, including a signed clear file for pre-ordering her new single, and a 1-shot cheki giveaway for spending a certain amount at the goods booth.

Doors opened for the concert at 6 p.m., but I arrived at 2 p.m. to queue for the goods table's early-bird window. When I arrived I noticed a ton of obasans milling around in front of the venue. WTF? Since when does Wasamin have so many female fans? It turned out that Hayabusa, Wasamin's kouhai group were performing a matinee at the same venue. That explained it. A short time later they formed a queue for Wasamin's goods, which were being sold outside in the freezing cold. I was around 25th in line, so hopefully it wouldn't take too long.

I was confused by the cheki giveaway. The way I understood it you received one cheki with at least 5000 yen in purchases, and three chekis with at least 10000 yen in purchases. I should also note that there were only 100 chekis available in total. So initially I was a bit ticked off to see that everyone was purchasing the 'New Goods Set' for 8100 yen, and then adding one 2000 yen item to get three chekis. I thought "What a bunch of selfish pricks! Can't they see that there are over 150 people in line? Maybe some of those people would like to get a cheki too." Some people were even spending 20000 yen to get six chekis.

What I didn't know was that in order to get any chekis you had to buy at least one 'old item'. So when I bought my new goods for 8100 yen, I asked for a cheki, and they said I didn't qualify to get one. Confused, I asked a couple of other fans about it, and they thought I should have gotten one as well. So they went to the table and asked, and they clarified the 'old item' caveat. They offered to let me buy another item, but at this point I was sorta ticked off about it, not to mention I want to get out of the habit of purchasing things I already have, so I refused. I have a bunch of Wasa-chekis already.


Wasa-mug


Wasa-pillow (the new one is on the left, the one of the right is last year's version)

BTW, I forgot to take a photo of the third new item, which is a Wasa-smartphone case since I put my phone in it before thinking of taking a pic. It is actually quite cool looking. Anyway, after pre-ordering the new CD and receiving the signed clear file, I had three hours to kill until doors opened. I camped out at a Dotour a few blocks away sipping coffee, and then moved over to the Hidaka-ya near the venue for a couple of pre-show beers and fried squid.


Hayabusa's flowers. I am pretty sure the flowers for Wasamin were the same, and they just switched out the placards. Most of the TV and radio networks sent arrangements

I returned to the queue around 5:30 since I wanted to take photos of the flowers, but they were placed in a dark alcove, so taking a shot was pretty much impossible. Instead I waited out in the icy cold for 30 minutes for doors to open. The only way we could enter the show was via two elevators, so it took an extra long time for everyone to get inside. It ultimately resulted in the show starting 10 minutes late since people were still filing in at 6:30. Wasamin's entire family were in attendance, and my friend Kenji was lucky enough to have a seat practically next to them. My seat was in the 5th row on the left-side aisle. Hopefully this would result in me getting some nice close-up pics of her during the photo-shooting time. Finally, Wasamin started the Kage-ana, it was showtime! The setlist...

SETLIST

1. Sado no Ondeko (7th single)
2. Ryoshu (7th single c/w)



MC (General welcome, confirming everyone was genki, talked about the cold weather. However, the funniest part of this MC was that Wasamin screwed up and introduced the wrong song. She teed up the intro story for Koi no Dorei, and as she got ready to sing there was no music. She paused for a moment, bowed, and said "That's incorrect!" LOL. She then went into her story about how she had been practicing the next three songs very hard since she had never performed them before)

3. Noto Hantou (Ishikawa Sayuri)
4. Yarazu no Ame (Kawanaka Miyuki)
5. Fuyu no Riviera (Mori Shinichi)

The Songs (The highlight of this set to me was Fuyu no Riviera, which was originally performed by a male vocalist. Wasamin's version was slightly faster-paced, and with a somewhat more cheery style. Frankly, I thought her version was better than the original)



MC (Wasamin was mentioning how she had been really tense about some of the new songs she was performing tonight, and hoped they turned out well. She also made a bit of a joke about the next song intro, since she had already done her little speech about it in error during the previous MC. But she hoped they would clean it up for the DVD. Jeez, I hope not. The screw-up was pretty funny!)

6. Koi no Dorei (8th single c/w)
7. Ohisashiburi ne (8th single c/w)
8. Anata (8th single c/w)
9. Wakare no Yokan (8th single c/w)

The Songs (To me this is possibly the best set of c/w songs Wasamin has ever had on a single. Every time I hear them I am more and more impressed. And Anata, jeez. It is such a dramatic and emotional song to begin with, and Wasamin puts so much feeling into it. I shiver every time I hear her sing it!)



MC (Wasamin left the stage, next Hiyoshi-san and Kanade-chan, the characters from Wasamin's daily show on TV Tokyo, Hiruson, came on stage. Well, actually they were escorted on stage since they seemed to be unable to walk on their own. This was a great idea, since Wasamin has never done anything Hiruson-related with her fans before. Ultimately it ended up being an awkward MC. For one, the dialogue of the characters was pre-recorded, and sounded that way. It sounded like everything was recorded separately and pieced together. However, there came a point where Wasamin was supposed to come back out, but she wasn't ready. Her mic was live, so you could hear her saying "Wait a minute, I'm not ready!" You could also hear the footsteps of her running around backstage. They essentially had to stop playing the dialogue of the characters, who just stood on the stage silently while we listened to Wasamin manically running around. Eventually she made it back, and was positioned on the floor for the camera-shooting time. After a brief interaction between Wasamin and her anime alter-ego Kanade-chan, they introduced the next song.)

10. Tonde Istanbul (Mayo Shono)
11. Osaka Rhapsody (7th single c/w)
12. Tegami (7th single c/w)

The Songs (Well, I think everyone is so busy taking pics that they don't notice what Wasamin is singing, which is too bad since her performance of Tonde Istanbul was quite good. Not to mention Neraiuchi (the song below) was a serious "clap along" song. Wasamin performed half a verse of that while standing right next to me, and at one point I became conscious that I might be prominently featured on the DVD, so I started clapping and smiling just in case.)



MC (Short MC to end the camera shooting time for the general audience, and advise the Ichigo Seat holders that they may continue to shoot photos for one more song. Of course I was allowed to keep shooting, but personally I don't think this was the best idea; to tell half the audience they have to stop taking pics while the other half could continue...just my opinion)

13. Neraiuchi (Linda Yamamoto)

MC (Wasamin spent most of this MC talking about her Kimonos. during the photoshoot she was wearing the one that was a gift to her from Tegawa Toshimi. (Wasa-senpai) Earlier in the show she wore her blue kimono, which I believe was the first one that was specifically designed for her. Later on she would wear the off-white Kimono from the new single Jacket and MV. From there she introduced the next group of songs as her "pop set," which has traditionally been one of the high points of her solocons)

14. Yureru Omoi (Zard)
15. Rouge no Dengon (Arai Yumi)
16. Genki wo Dashite (Takeuchi Mariya)

The Songs (Oh yes, this set was great. The Zard song is like the quintessential late 80s-early 90's pop song. Genki wo Dashite is a very pretty acoustic song, the type I could totally see Wasamin performing at one of her "Love Live" concerts. But to me the best song of the set, and perhaps the best song of the night, was her rendition of Rouge no Dengon, which is known for being the opening theme for the Kiki's Delivery Service anime. Once again, I think she outdid the original)



MC (Wasamin spoke about her 'Love Live' shows, which feature her performing pop songs almost exclusively, sans Kimono, and playing the guitar. Wasamin always says that she has a lot of fun performing the pop genre and would like to continue branching out)

17. Gomen ne Tokyo (5th single)
18. Moshimo Watashi ga Sora ni Sundeitara (2nd Single)
19. Tomonoura Bojou (3rd Single)

MC (Wasamin was impressed that the fans are still keeping with the tradition of certain penlight colors for certain songs. Gomen ne Tokyo = yellow, Moshisora = Light Blue, Tomobojo = Red We were tasked with picking a color for the new single, and decided it would be orange. Wasamin noted that since there are 12 colors on the multi-color penlight we are good for four more songs, and then will have to come up with other ideas. After that she went into her usual "last song" routine, which of course features all of our scripted reactions. We have been doing this routine with her for years, but it still cracks people up who have never seen it before)



20. Saba Kaido (6th Single)

Encore (BTW, we have a go-to guy in the fan club who pretty much does every encore call. Interestingly, this time he was sitting directly in front of Wasamin's mom, and it was interesting to see her mother really getting into the encore chant. The encore call didn't last long (they were running late from the beginning) The encore started with a VTR showing scenes from Wasamin's first seven single MVs)

1. Koi no Owari Sangenjaya (8th Single)

MC (Wasamin talked about her upcoming birthday (Wednesday!) But she also spent a lot of time thanking everyone who has been there for her on this solo career journey, including us as her fans. She really got emotional at one point. For a moment I thought there was a surprise announcement brewing. But no, she was merely reflecting.



2. Hatsuzake (4th Single)
3. Mujineki (1st Single)

SHOW END

Ichigo seat holders were told to remain in their seats while everyone else filed out. They put out a bunch of candy and snacks for us to munch on while we waited for Wasamin to appear. We were also given a bottle of Oolong Tea for the "toast." Wasamin eventually came on stage and did the toast. She was really interested in what we were given to drink. "What is that? Oolong Tea? Itoen?" She was given a bottle as well, but interestingly when we toasted I noticed she didn't really drink anything. Ichikawa-san (Wasa-manager) ran onto the stage with a bottle of Aquarius (tastes the same as Pocari Sweat), and switched it. Does Wasamin not like Oolong tea?



We were then instructed to line up with our groups for movie shooting time. Half of us didn't know what our groups were. It turned out to be listed on a piece of paper that was sitting on our chairs when we arrived. I was in group #2 (There were 12 groups in total) I kinda got screwed on this benefit. I think part of the problem was that some people didn't know which group they were in, and just jumped into the early groups. There were so many people in my group that I got pushed all the way to the far end of the space, and was really far away from Wasamin. The people on the other side were like four feet away from her, and I was like twelve feet away. Not to mention the area was far too dark, so my video looks horrible. Oh, and I had trouble getting my camera started, so I missed the entire time she was talking to me, and she was calling out to me for a good five seconds or so, but I recorded none of it. Oh well, not the end of the world. Here's the last part of the session...


if the video does not show watch the video here

After that was a short Q&A session, where Wasamin answered four random questions drawn out of a box, and then she bid her farewell. At the end I was hanging out by the door since my friend was waiting for me at an izakaya around the corner. I wanted first dibs at the exit. We celebrated with a Yakitori dinner at Torikizoku.

My overall impression? Wasamin sounded great. Her song choices were really good. Oh, during the Q&A someone asked how the concert setlists are decided, and it was revealed that her manager, Ichikawa-san has a lot to do with that. The MC with Hiroshi-san and Kanade-chan was cute, but could've been executed a lot better. On the other hand, the VTR was kinda disappointing in that it felt like it was thrown together at the last minute. Not to mention they usually have some sort of special VTR retrospective of Wasamin's past year, but that didn't occur. I was not impressed with Kinema Club as a concert venue. It was small, cavernous, and quite dark. It made photo-shooting quite difficult. It wasn't as nice as the places she has performed before, although the location was really convenient. I would also re-think the idea of giving the Ichigo Seat holders additional shooting time, I think the negative experience of those who couldn't take pics during that song outweighed the positives for those who could.



The good news was they had just announced that Wasamin would be doing a promotional mini-live in Saitama the next day, so it would be a great opportunity to discuss the concert with her one on one.

 

AKB48-Group 54th Single 'No Way Man' Individual Handshake Event at Pacifico Yokohama (2019/03/16)

It had been almost two months since I had met with my 48-group two-top Akiyoshi and Kaotan. I was really looking forward to spending a little time with the two of them, especially since all the news about Kaotan getting married broke after that last event. In any case, I had nine tickets in total, all for members I see on a regular basis. After some interesting reactions at the theater over the past month or so, I was seriously considering using a ticket to oshi-mashi for either Katsumata Saori or Sato Shiori, both 3rd gen draftees for AKB. The problem was that 1) I didn't have a ticket I was keen to give up, and 2) The slots they were participating in were the two I had the most tickets for, so it was a question of time. Ultimately I would make the decision when I got to the event.

The other news of the day was the return of NGT48 to the handshake events. I'm not sure how I feel about that, as I'm not down with a bunch of weird energy around the event. But checking the venue map, NGT and NMB's lanes were positioned at the far left side of the halls, while pretty much all of my tickets were on the opposite side. So technically I would have no reason to go anywhere near that part of the event since I had no NGT or NMB tickets. The only tickets I had that were even remotely close to that area were for Akiyoshi, but that wouldn't take place until the end of the day, and the NGT members whose lanes she was close to were all kenkyuusei anyway.

I made it to Yokohama early, and had lunch over at Queen's Square. Since my tickets were already stamped I wouldn't have to worry about that process, not to mention with my address now printed on the front of my Japanese ID, the stamping thing is pretty much unnecessary for me at this point. I had three tickets for two members in Slot 4, my first slot of the day...

Slot 4

Kobayashi Ran (Lane 95) <two tickets> Ranchan's lane wasn't as long as I have seen it in the past, so there would be plenty of time to loop the line and make it to my other ticket for the slot. I won the prize, a choice of 2-shot selfie or 1-shot video. Since I took the selfie with her last time, I chose the video. While I waited, they were trying to clear Shinozaki Ayana's line next to us, which was still fairly long from the previous slot. She seemed to be taking her time signing the posters, and almost everyone at the end of her queue seemed to have won. In fact, when Nagano Megumi came out to start her handshakes, she seemed slightly perturbed that she would have to wait a bit for the Shinozaki line to clear out. Around this time Ranchan entered the lane. I was around 6th in line. This was the video I chose...


if the video does not show watch the video here

I was hoping they would have a "dancing" choice for the video, since Ranchan performed really long videos for the people who won that last time. But alas, it wasn't an option. I chose this phrase because it looked cute, and it wasn't too short. (Some of them were like one short phrase) Since I got the video, there wasn't much time afterwards other than for a quick hello and handshake. I told Ranchan I would loop the line and be right back...

<second ticket> This time I didn't win, which was just as well. I did a 2-shot with her at the last event, and I wanted a little bit of talk-time with her after all. As I was waiting in line I noticed Katsumata around three lanes over. I decided not to oshi-mashi her lane because I have a ticket for her at the next single event, so I can talk to her then. As for Ranchan, I told her that I love going to the Pajama Drive stage since she always gives me such a great reaction at the end of the show, to which she thanked me and gave me a "Yheahh!" for good measure. Ranchan is so adorable, and a lot of fun.

My next ticket was fairly close by, but as I got close to the lane I was blocked by a bunch of security and a huge crowd. I thought "What the heck is this? Is an SKE member graduating today?" It turned out to be a birthday celebration for Jurina, and she was outside the lanes taking pics with the fan-made birthday banner. So I simply stood there and watched the proceedings from the side, which was actually a pretty good view. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I saw another fan tell them he was trying to get into the blocked lane, and they let him through. So I followed suit, and it was perfect timing as it was just as Jurina was walking back through the lane next to me. So it was almost like I got my own private moment with her as she was waving to everyone as she walked back.

Matsumura Kaori (Lane 117) At first I was surprised Kaotan's lane wasn't long since she is graduating soon, but then I realized 1) she has a few more events until then, and 2) it still wasn't oshi-mashi time. Kaotan's lane also had the 2-shot/1-shot option, which I won. I chose the video since Kaotan is known for making the videos absurdly long and funny. I also find it interesting how Kaotan almost always grabs the fans' cameras in hopes of helping them adjust for the 2-shots. As for which video script I chose...


if the video does not show watch the video here

I picked the "graduation' line since she is graduating, and I am graduating from University next month. Kaotan asked what I was going to do post-graduation, and I said I need to find a full-time job. She said she wanted to talk with me more about it, and asked if I had more tickets. I told her no, but I would see her at the MetLife Dome event coming up.



As I had a while until Slot 5 began, I decided to check out the CD sales table since I hadn't yet purchased any of the non-theater editions of 'Jiwaru Days' yet. Per usual, they were offering an additional "mystery" bonus photo for buying the CD at the venue. There were eight members you could possible get. I wanted to buy at least one CD to get the Sasshi solo song MV, and to get Zenkoku handshake tickets. I ultimately bought two, Types A and B. And for my bonus photos I got Ogino and Sugawara. Oh, and for some reason they gave me an extra shop bonus pic, which to my pleasant surprise featured Zukki.



Oh, and at this point they were showing the 17-100 Rank-in concert on the big screens. The part where Kaotan gets dumped into the flour is absolutely hilarious!

Slot 5

Yamane Suzuha (Lane 81) I lined up early, before her queue could get too big. This was the first time ever that I have had the chance to win a member poster as a lane bonus, but I didn't hit. I was really bummed too since Zunchan's posters were all very nice. Zunchan had on a black and orange outfit, and was wearing twin-tails. She looked blindingly cute. Also, and this was new, I noticed not only were her usual signs posted all over the lane, but her stuffed frog companion 'Gabriel-kun' also had a sign, essentially saying that he loves humans, LOL.


Yuiri, Zunchan, Naachan

I took the opportunity to confirm with her that she could hear me screaming her name at the theater stage I went to a few weeks ago. (I wrote in the Makino Anna stage thread how Zunchan was hand-motioning to me during the stage that she could hear my calls) She said that of course she could hear me, and thanked me for doing it. I told her I was sorry I didn't win the poster, but maybe next time.

Sakaki Miyu <CUCA> (Lane 120) To my pleasant surprise Cuca's lane was not automatic win for the prize. That said, there was only one other person waiting in the queue when I got there. I ended up winning the prize anyway, which was a signed photo...



I once again told Cuca that I enjoy her videos, and that the Hamachi Carpaccio she made a couple weeks ago looked delicious. She confirmed "My YouTube videos?" Yes. I told her that I have eaten Tako, Saba, and Sanma carpaccio before, but never hamachi. I like hamachi though, so I want to try it. She assured me it was oishii, and thanked me for watching.

I decided to take a break and leave the venue for a little while. After grabbing a drink from the conbini I decided to see whose birthday cards I wanted to sign. Oh, and the table for graduation cards was quite big as well. I ended up signing birthday cards for Cuca and Hidaka Yuzuki, as well as graduation cards for Kaotan and Obata. They also had a big banner for Kaotan, but they didn't invite me to sign it, despite me wearing Kaotan gear. I was hoping they would, except I don't think I had ever met the guy running the table at the time. Oh well.

Slot 6

Yamauchi Mizuki (Lane 85) This was my only slot 6 ticket. I pre-queued so I would have plenty of time to go to dinner afterward at the mall across the street. To my surprise I actually won the prize, which was a signed card.



I cool thing was that as I entered the lane Zukki immediately exclaimed "Hisashiburi Kurisu!" To be honest her remembering my name surprised me, but I guess since I have won her prizes before perhaps it finally stuck with her. Anyway, I complimented her cute blue hair ribbon, and congratulated her on the senbatsu selection. I then spread it on a little thick and told her she was my favorite member in the senbatsu. She kinda gave me this "look of skepticism" but she thanked me all the same. With that I headed to dinner...

Slightly OT, but I was in the mood for non-Japanese food, and despite it being a pit overpriced, I decided to go to the Yokohama Hard Rock Cafe for a pulled pork sandwich. I ended up getting into a bit of a tiff with the manager though. On the menu it said if you ordered an entree you could get a side-salad for 400 yen, which I did. But when I got the bill it said it was 850 yen. So I complained, and asked to see the menu where I pointed out what I ordered. The guy countered with "Yeah, but this is what you received," turning to another page on the menu. I replied "But I ordered this" (I even pointed to it when I originally ordered it) Then he was trying to argue that the salad I received was bigger (it wasn't very big) But is that my responsibility? I don't know what the sizes are supposed to be. The manager then walked away, but the bar manager fixed the bill for me.

Slot 7

Murakawa Bibian (Lane 49) It was decision time, since this would've been the ticket I was going to oshi-mashi for Sato Shiori. Ultimately I decided to stick with Bibian. After all, I bought this ticket because I hadn't been seeing her as much lately, and she is so much fun. Not to mention that I needed to get home as soon as I could because I had a paper to write, and doing oshi-mashi would require me sticking around a bit longer. I didn't win the prize, which was a signed photo like the one I got from Cuca. Oh, and there was a small pre-queue waiting for the lane to open up. And just before the opened the gate, a dude walked up and tried to jump the queue. And to our pleasant surprise a guard stopped him and told him to get at the end of the line, LOL. In the meantime, Bibian's lane had a clear view into Rikopi's booth. I'm not sure if Rikopi saw me or not, but I felt a bit sheepish since it has been quite a while since I have seen her...



Genki Bibian is always genki. I asked her how it was coming with her English studies. (She had mentioned to me she was practicing on her own time) Sadly, she admitted she hadn't been practicing very much at all lately, but she promised to get back on it. With that, I told her the short videos she posts on twitter are cute.

Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 36) <two tickets> Finally I was getting to spend a little time with Yukachan. It felt like it had been so long since I had seen her. Her queue was fairly short, and I won the prize. (2-shot/1-shot) I chose the video because I wanted to use that "graduation" script. After all, she just graduated high school. Just before the video started, I blurted out that my University graduation is coming up...


if the video does not show watch the video here

It didn't give us much time to talk, but I told her I would come back in a few minutes. <second ticket> I looped the line, and again won the prize. Since I won the video last time, this time I chose the 2-shot selfie...



I am always self-conscious about taking these selfies, since I screw them up at an alarming rate. I didn't help that Yukachan started giggling as I was trying to align the pose and maintain a smile. But ultimately it came out alright. Once again, not too much time to talk. But I did get a chance to tell her that I had wanted to see her since it had been a while. And of course I got an obligatory Yukachan "I love You" before I left.

So six out of nine on the prizes. Once again, not bad eh? Although I was bummed about not winning the Zunchan poster. As for my next 48-group event, it will be the SKE48 handshake event April 6th in Saitama. Then the 48-group "Jiwaru Days" event later in April. At this point I am in a bit of a "holding pattern" with buying handshake tickets since my current visa will end in June, and I have not yet secured any assurance of an extension. So I am working on that at the moment, although it probably won't be until May that I have that sorted out one way or another.

 

AKB48-Group 'Jiwaru Days' Individual Handshake Event at Makuhari Messe (2019/04/29)

With two 48-group handshake events on consecutive weekends, it seems kind of odd that I went to a Jiwaru Days event this weekend, and then am going to a No Way Man event next weekend. But such is life when AKB48 schedules far more handshake events than they used to. I should also mention this is the only 55th single event I obtained tickets for. Most of the events for this single are in August, and I still need to renew my visa between now and then. And until then, I don't like investing in events I'm not sure I will be able to attend.

My tickets stretched out from Slot 2 all the way through Slot 7, so this would be a longer than average handshake day for me. Also, of the 14 tickets I had, eleven of them were for the new "Situation 1-shot" photo, which is essentially the member striking a pose based on a scenario. I mean they could've just given us choices like "smile pose" or "surprised pose," but I guess this was supposed to make it seem more special...or something. The other unique prize of the day was the "Date Planner," which was an academic-looking version of a planned date. If you won it, the member autographed a copy for you. (Similar to that "resume" prize they offered last year.) I'll just tell you right now, I had two tickets for that prize, but won neither. At the same, all the members' date plans were hung on a wall, so anyone could take a photo of them if they liked.


The one-shot scenarios

I got to the venue on-time, and decided to test using my tickets without having them stamped since my ID now contains my Japanese address. I only had my ticket questioned once, because my name wasn't exactly the same. (Christop) But when I pointed out that my name exceeds the 8-character limit, they were like "Oh, that makes sense," and let me through. Anyway, off we go!

Slot 2

Since they were fairly close together, I checked which of my two tickets had a shorter queue, and despite seeing one of my Wasa-buddies Caster in one of the queues, I decided to visit the other one first...

Yamane Suzuha (Lane 58) Surprisingly, her queue wasn't very long. Perhaps because it was early? Anyway, I won the prize, which was a 2-shot selfie. Cool, since I don't remember if I had won that prize with her before...



She came in nice and close, Nice! When you win the prize, they don't really give you more than a few seconds to talk, so I told her I graduated from University, and she started clapping. I also told her that I had a ticket for her later, so I would see her in a bit.

Honda Sora (Lane 51) Sora-chan's queue had already gotten a bit shorter. BTW, I got these tickets right around the time of seeing a couple of KKS/Draftee theater shows, which is why I mixed a few new members into my schedule. I won the "Situation 1-shot" prize, and confirmed with the staff that it was indeed a photo, and not a video. I randomly picked one of the poses, not really bothering to try and figure out the scenarios being described. Meanwhile, Sato Shiori, another draftee who often gives me great reactions at the theater, noticed me in Sora-chan's lane and began smiling and waving at me. I do have a ticket to see her next week, but I would love to capitalize on this little interaction. Anyway, it was my turn. Sora-chan looked at the paper, kinda went "Well, okay..." and struck this pose...



That's what I picked? LOL! Sora immediately started taking to me really fast, but I didn't catch what she said, so I kept nodding. I just said I wanted to see her, and thanked her for the photo.

I had one ticket that I wasn't sure if I wanted to use. I do like Ishiwata Sena, but to be honest I really haven't connected with her the two times I have met her, and she doesn't really react to me at theater high-touch. Also, I was trying to free up some time in the early evening to have an extended dinner break. Thus, it was the perfect time to pull an oshi-mashi


Not my pic

Sato Shiori (Lane 50) <oshi-mashi> So yeah, I figured I would strike while the iron is hot, and go see Shiori now. Her queue was very short, just a couple of people. The moment I entered the booth, she exclaimed "I just saw you in the next lane!" I told her that I indeed have a scheduled ticket for her at next week's handshake event, but after seeing her I decided I wanted to meet her today. She thanked me, and said she looked forward to seeing me next week. The thing about Shiori, she does come across as kinda of aloof and goofy, but at the end of the day she is really a sweet gal. And like I mentioned before, here and in my KKS stage reports, she does make an effort to connect with me, which should be a hint to any idol attempting to cultivate me as a fan.

Slot 3

Funny little story, in the short break I had between the slots, I was approached by an HKT fan who noticed my Akiyoshi ticket necklace. He asked if I was on twitter, then he asked if I was Italian. LOL, I knew where this was going. There is a noted foreign Yukachan fan on Twitter who has the Italian flag in his nick, and this guy assumed that was me. He was an Oda Ayaka fan, and kept asking me what I think of O-D-A. I don't really follow her, but I said she was cute.

Kobayashi Ran (Lane 43) <two tickets> I pre-queued for the lane and got in around 6th. I didn't win the prize, which seems like my usual result with Ran-chan. In the meantime, I was spying Yahagi Moeka and her long queue in the lane to our right, and Miyazaki Miho in the lane to our left. When my turn came I told her that I was sorry that I hadn't seen her lately, but I just hadn't won a theater show in a while. She did the 'crying face' pose, but then I told her that I just graduated from college, and she started clapping. In the meantime, I "borrowed" someone else's 1-shot photo, just so we can all experience the cuteness of Ran-chan.


Also not my pic

<2nd ticket> After a quick visit to another lane, I re-queued for Ran-chan. I don't know why my prize-winning luck is so horrible for her, but I lost again. I told her that I now needed to find a job in Japan if I wanted to stay, and I asked her what she thought of the idea of me looking for a job in Osaka (Her hometown) She exclaimed "You are moving to Osaka???" Well, maybe. But I will look for work in Tokyo first. She she seemed relieved when I said that. Also, as we were talking she leaned in really close to me. I never noticed she is kinda freckle-faced, which looks really cute on her. I have more tickets for her next week. Hopefully I will win the prize for a change.

Sakaki Miyu <CUCA> (Lane 64) Once again, not an instant win for the Cuca prize, which was nice, but the fact that her birthday was this weekend may have also contributed to that. Either way, I won the prize, which was good because Cuca looked especially adorable today...



BTW, from this point I starting telling the girls to do whichever pose they liked, although I think they were just doing the one's I randomly selected. In my quick interaction I told her that I am enjoying her YouTube channel, and I liked watching her make the sandwich. However, I neglected to wish her a happy birthday. Oops. But all was not lost...

After visiting with a friend over by the HKT lanes, who recommended I meet new HKT kenkyuusei Kudo Haruka since he thinks she looks like a young Akiyoshi, I headed back toward the exit. However, I was stopped when I noticed a gathering of Cuca fans all wearing her birthday shirt. I thought "It's her birthday??? Shoot, I didn't say anything about it to her." I could tell they were setting up to do a presentation for her, unfurling a birthday banner and whatnot, so I decided to stick around Eventually I was handed a couple of uchiwa and asked to join the group. You can see me in the photos which were posted on Twitter...


I should be easy to spot in both of these pics

They should have brought her a megaphone, since she is kinda soft-spoken, and was hard to hear with all the music playing, but it was nice to see a large group of people making such a big deal out of her birthday. And I hope if made her feel special, since she still seems to be struggling to establish a bigger fanbase. Oh, and if you would like to see what the uchiwa looked like...



Slot 4

Fuchigami Mai (Lane 31) For both of my tickets in this slot, I had the opportunity to win that "date planner" prize, which I honestly didn't care all that much about. So when I didn't win I was like "Whatever." Anyway, I have been struggling to come up with stuff to talk with Maichan about, but I did notice she was wearing concert gear from the Sasshi graduation show the previous day, only her shirt was white, instead of the usual yellow t-shirts I saw people wearing around the venue. So I pointed out her t-shirt, to which she asked if I was at the concert. I then noticed that what she was wearing was more like a sweatshirt, so I asked her if it was a 'hoodie,' but I guess they don't use that term in Japan. Is it a 'Parka?' Anyway, I pointed to the hood, and then she understood was I was getting at.



Yamane Suzuha (Lane 58) Zunchan was right next to Yamauchi Yuzuki, who I usually get tickets for. However, since I applied so late she was sold out in all the slots I wanted. I wonder if she saw me? No matter, I have a ticket for Zukki next week. On the right was Iwatate Saho, whose queue was empty. Hmmm, makes me wonder how much longer she will be around. Anyway, I didn't win the prize, which was okay since I won the better Zunchan prize earlier. BTW, here is a photo of her date planner...



Zunchan thanked me for coming back to her again. I decided I wanted to compliment her on the cute little tiara (or whatever the heck it is) she was wearing. At first she thought I was talking about her big handwritten sign behind her, which I often make reference to when I see her. But I was like "No, your hair!" She was like "Oh this?" Yes, it is is cute, I added. She thanked me again, and I was on my way.

Slots 5 & 6

Since I now only had one ticket each for the next two slots, I decided to leave the venue for a little while to find a place to sit. I also decided to check out what was going on over in the main halls of Makuhari, since I saw a bunch of boy-band wannabe yankii types heading in that direction all day. It turned out Nogizaka46 had a big event going on. and I saw quite a few former AKB fans over there as well. Well, I think some of them were double-dipping both events, but others I think have fully oshihenned over to the 46-groups, since I saw quite a few people over there that I haven't seen at an AKB event for a while. Anyhow, I eventually made it back to Halls 9-11 for the AKB event. But before heading in...

I decided to check out the birthday booths to see if there was anyone I wished to sign a card for. It was then I noticed a booth for Otake Hitomi, another 3rd gen draftee I am fond of. So I immediately asked to sign a card. Their staff also asked me to sign a sticker for a 3rd gen 1st anniversary project they were working on. No problem. After I was done, the group next door immediately asked me to sign a birthday card for Saito Haruna. Now I do think Haatan is cute, but I explained to the guy that I had never actually talked to her before. He said that was okay, and still insisted I sign. So I kept it simple. "Happy birthday, I think you are cute!" LOL. I then commented that I thought their birthday cards were really cool, which have a drawing of Haatan playing an electric guitar.

Murakawa Bibian (Lane 36) This was my one prize win amidst a slew of 5 losses. And once again I told her to do whichever pose she wanted...



Okay, this one was pretty cute. It was the "smile" pose at the bottom. In any case, I asked Bibian if she had fun at the concert. She responded "Me? Yes, I had lot of fun. Where you there?" No, but I watched it on pay-per-view. Since I had won the prize, the interaction was pretty quick, but I did get to say that I thought the concert was good.

Katsumata Saori (Lane 43) I was really happy to finally be doing a proper handshake with Saori. The first time I met her was when she was in a dual-lane with Ranchan back when they were brand new. Ever since then she has always gone out of her way to acknowledge me, even going as far as getting Ranchan's attention for me when she spotted me in the theater audience. Oh, and while I was waiting I noticed this really hawt girl a couple of lanes over. Who was this goddess? Oh wait...is that....Chori???? OMG, when did she become such a babe?


Not my pic either

Saori seemed really excited to see me when I entered the queue. I pretty much thanked her, saying that she always gives me such a great smile whenever I visit the theater, and that it made me want to come and see her. She seemed to be taking it all in as I was explaining this to her as well. So it was a good meeting. Oh, and I was talking with my friend Will later on, and we were wondering what languages other than Japanese she can speak since she lived in Europe. I don't think she can speak English, but Will was speculating that he thinks she might know some French. Anyway, it was time for my dinner break. I had two hours to kill, but not before a quick hello to my friend Boma.

Slot 7

This would be my one trip to the right side of the Halls, The left side were lanes 1-64, which housed Team 8, HKT, AKB, and a couple of STU lanes. (where I saw Cuca) The right side had most of STU, NMB, SKE, and NGT. I did take a peek over there earlier in the day, and noticed the entire NMB area was like a ghost town. Just no queues whatsoever. SKE might have been similar, except they had the Jurina, Dasu, and Furuhata lanes, which were all quite long. NGT's lanes were quite crowded, but that may also have had something to do with them doing makeups on a bunch of events they missed earlier this year. Anyway, I started Slot 7 with my one ticket on the North End...


Tani, with Chori and Anna

Tani Marika (Lane 100) I didn't win the photo op, so I would have to come up with stuff to talk to Tani about. Of course I led with the "You look cute" today line, since I know Tani likes to fish for compliments. At one point she told me that she liked my goatee, LOL. But when I told her I graduated from University, I got the best reaction: "Graduation present for you!" and she blew me a kiss. I'll take it!

From there I went on a five-minute hike to the complete opposite end of the hall, and my last three tickets of the day...

Akiyoshi Yuka (Lane 33) <three tickets> Saving the best for last. I immediately entered the queue, and broke my prize losing streak by winning the one-shot pic. Once again, I told Yukachan to do any pose she wanted...



Okay, so the "shocked" look. I told Yukachan that like her, I graduated from school, and that I would need to start looking for a job now. She congratulated me, and I told her I would be right back.

<2nd and 3rd ticket> Since it was getting close to oshi-mashi time, I decided to do my last two tickets in one go, and then I would have a little more time to talk to her. I won one of the two pics, so I would be getting another one-shot. I picked a different number this time...



But I got pretty much the same pose, although this one seems more like a "happy surprise" pose than being shocked. Anyway, I told Yukachan that I didn't go to the concert on Sunday, but watched it on TV. I told her that I was playing the "Try to find Yukachan game" while I watched. She asked if I spotted her. Yes, a few times. She asked if she would see me tomorrow. No, but I told her I have tickets for next weekend, so all good.

Getting out of the hall at 7 p.m. meant I wouldn't be getting home too late. Oh, and when I got to the station, the Limited Express that goes nonstop to Tokyo was about to arrive, so I quickly purchased a ticket at the trackside kiosk and hopped on. What's amazing to me is that a lot of people get on that train without buying a Limited Express ticket, and then act all surprised when the staff comes over and informs them that it's 510 yen extra to ride this train. The funny thing is that I have always wondered how to use the Limited Express without buying a ticket at the ticket office, or having a JR Railpass. Well I guess the locals have answered my question. You just board the train and play dumb, then wait for the staff to ask for your ticket before finally paying, LOL.

 

パーカー is used for a parka and hoodie (the key is the hood). I ran into it when google was giving me the name Parker in a translation of an instagram post, perhaps Yuihan's. It took me a little while to figure out what it was. Here is Jisho:

パーカー
common word
Noun
1. hooded sweatshirt; hoodie; hooded jacket; parka; anorak

P.S. I can't believe I am giving Cristafari a Japanese lesson.