Your NMB48 Experiences

Events come up all the time so its hard to say but you can apply for the theater and hope you win. Get a ticket center account and have at it. There's also Yugata NMB/Yorugata NMB which is a comedy show that they get 5-ish members to show up to. This takes place in the YES theater which is literally in front of the NMB theater. This show is once a week (once a month for Yorugata) and is much much easier to get tickets to.

 

10/27/2018 SAYAKA SONIC ～Sayaka、Sasayaka、Sayonara、Sayaka～ @ Banpaku Kouen

So I finally got the chance to go a NMB48 concert and lucky for me it was the best one they ever had. I was originally planning to go to Japan for NMB 8th Anniversary but, when Sayaka announced her graduation, I had to change plans up a little. Special thanks to all the NMBros who helped me to get some tickets for this event.

Venue: So this event was pretty huge. There was roughly 30,000 people there and it wasn't really organized that well. Initially they had every one separated into different blocks (A1, B1, etc.) and you had a number (1 ~ X,000). They were letting people in about a few hundred at a time but I think they realized that it was going to take forever so that went out the window. Also, since so many people needed to be processed, they were pretty light on checking tickets and stuff. I probably could have gotten into a better position but that's all hindsight. I was in block B2 and had a pretty decent view of the middle stage and could see part of the main stage. The 4 guys that I went with in the B block are taller than the avg Japanese person so we thought we would be fine, until we got stuck behind probably the only 3 people who were taller than us lol.

Concert: Starting off they had a VTR of Sayaka's time with NMB and that was the first of three times I got a little emotional. Then she appeared on the rear stage and started to walk towards the front stage. I had a pretty majestic view cause when she walked by, the sun was starting to set a little behind her.

I remember trying to guess what the first song was going to be as she was walking down. I assumed it would be something like ZKS or Rainbow Rose but then she belted out those solo lines for Hajimete no Hoshi (one of my all time fave NMB songs) and that was emotional moment 2 of 3. Then they went into all the hype songs and the crowd was pretty pumped.

Second block of songs included the SY Band. All I have to say about that is they murdered Kodoku Guitar and HA. So hype. Third block is where they performed 365 Kamihikouki. Now, for this concert, the Sayaka Committee wanted everyone to wear blue (for blue skies so it didn't rain) and turn their penlights blue for this song. They didn't hand out flyers, which was probably a good idea since this was outdoors, so I don't know how well the message got out but from my perspective is was a little all over the place.

Next up was the Unit Songs and this is where it got really turnt. Yaban na Kyuuai had that pretty cool dance intro but the screens at the venue kept cutting out during the transitions. I don't know if this was planned or not but it threw me off a little. When Tomodachi came on you started to wonder if this was how they when all the grads were going to show up but then Orera came on and so it began. Honestly, I always forget this song so it took me a second to realize what they were doing after Maachun came out. I thought the VTR segment with Nana was pretty clever.

The big moment was when Milky came out and I thought it was really smart how they did it. No one really knew if she was going to show up or not. Personally, I was giving it about a 20% chance she did. I was even joking that they should just do a VTR duet for Ima Naraba just to piss everyone off. So when they started to play Boku wa Inai, the started to get excited. Then Sayaka started singing the solo lines and you started to think that Milky wasn't going to show. Then Milky came out from behind the formation and it was like "Holy !" Then they had the awkward MC after lol.

The last block of songs was probably where Yoshimoto spent all of their yearly concert budget. Kamonegix had the fireworks and colored flames. They were pretty intense because I was pretty far from the main stage but you could still feel the heat from the flames, not to mention smell the gas. The firework finale during Zutto Zutto was awesome and I think we joked that this is why all the other concerts this year were pretty low budget.

The encore really tied things up nicely. All the main 1st gens came out for Sotsugyo Ryokou and then all the 1st gens came out (minus Ainyan) came out for Mikazuki no Senaka. You really get how important Sayaka was to NMB because she is the only person who would be able to get all the first gens to come back for her grad concert. Finally, all the members gathered and started to say their goodbyes and this is usually where I would lose it and start crying but Sayaka kept making funny comments so that saved me lol. Emotional moment 3 of 3 came after this when Sayaka started to give her final speech and the crowd started to chant her name. For some reason that always gets to me.

Overall Reaction: Best NMB concert ever. It's hard to see how they would ever top this. The only one I think has the potential to be better would be 10th anniversary, but they would have to pull out all the stops to make that better than this. This was the perfect event to highlight Sayaka's career with NMB and the perfect sendoff. I am really glad I got to be a part of it.

 

For me I think my emotional moments were:

• The first verse of Hajimete no Hoshi
• Orera (since they were the first graduates to show up)
• Dazai Osamu (SayaNana T_T)
• Sotsugyou Ryokou (waterworks here)
• Sayaka bowing at the end while the door closed

I enjoyed joking around with @Snowman81 and @Matto about the SS SayaMilky and how it sank during Priority and like the Jolly Roger came back up during Boku wa Inai.

 

Gonna be in Japan in May and well there's a national handshake event on 5/11 so this seems a good a place as any to ask - the tickets are gonna be in the limited editions of the new single right? Not the normal edition?

 

There are no national handshake events scheduled for May 11.

 

Curse you google translate

★NMB48 20thシングル 全国握手会★※20thシングル（通常盤）対象・2019年5月11日（土）　大阪・インテックス大阪 - ???

 

Doesn't look like the calendar has been updated for today's news yet - http://news.nmb48.com/handshake/20190115/210417.html

 

Oh wow, you're right. There is a national handshake on May 11.

In that case you need the tickets that come with the limited edition.

 

Hello! I will be going to Japan in the summer and I'm preparing to apply for the event dates announced for the 20th single recently. I'm interested in the 2-shot event http://news.nmb48.com/handshake/20190115/210507.html , and I'm kind of confused by the process - is the members you get to take a 2-shot with random? I'm wondering if the normal handshake would be better to go to if there's specific members I want to meet?

 

Namba-shiki is random. The tickets you receive for buying the CDs only have lane numbers on them. The members of that slot come out and do a drawing in front of everyone and they will go to the lanes they draw. If the member you want to meet draws your lane then congratulations. Its fun if you don't have a specific oshi or all your oshis are in the same group. Its annoying if you just want to meet a member.

Get normal handshakes if you're decided on who you want to go to.

 

Ok i'll do that, thanks!

 

Bit of a C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER with all of the SKE activities I’ve been fortunate of doing:

2019/07/28 NMB48 20th single Tokonoma Seiza Musume Individual Handshake Event at INTEX Osaka

Once again, your hero got dressed and started on shinkansen towards his goal, this time NMB48. I got a quick breakfast and JR sorted me out to Shin-Osaka and Osaka Metro me rest of the way to INTEX Osaka which is a huge venue, and had some other event going on too. After walking past other events I saw the signs that said NMB48 which were a relatively good reason to assume I was walking in the right direction. And so I was, there was the venue. Familiar ticket and security check later I was in. I had some time to burn before first handshake on slot #3, so I got my tickets stamped, checked out the area and met an stage48 member who can identify himself if he chooses to. Nice meeting you, BTW! Also funny coincidence that the lady at information booth suddenly replied to me in flawless English which I was not expecting.

There was a lot of people, I don’t think the NMB HS I went before had so much people.

Slot 3: Kato Yuuka (5 tickets)

I went to the lane and had to queue for a short-ish while. I waited before going in so I could use all my tickets at once which you could not do until after 30 minutes after the start of the slot. In front of me was a dude with 10 tickets so I had time to properly appreciate Uuka’s cuteness... which might have been detrimental since my brain slightly short-circuited with her cuteness. Anyway, time to enter and realize that I had not prepared 5 tickets worth of things to say, but fortunately Uuka was very nice even with my limited Japanese ability. Discussion ranged from her being cute that day to me wanting to see Ni-ban me no door, but having bad luck with NMB theater applications has prevented me. Hearing that, and probably to motivate me to apply again, she said ”Welcome!” (In English.) Then I was off and it was time to try to unscrew my brain. I have to say that Uuka is a) super cute and b) very enjoyable to shake hands with.

Slot 4: Yamamoto Ayaka (5 tickets)

Once again I wanted to use all tickets at one go and waited for 30 minutes before handing in my tickets... but this time it was different as the line was massive. 2 people were checking IDs and tickets, and the queue area was full of people with a bit of overflow. Aayan’s mega-push seems to be working. After about 15 minutes in the line it was my turn and well... Aayan is so mega-adorable that ol’brain short-circuited again and I might have rambled a bit. However it was super cute how at the mention of her chasing the center she squeezed my hands a little bit harder. Anyway Aayan is just so super-adorable that I find it hard to describe. To everyone thinking of a NMB HS she’s a must-visit.

Slot 5: Shiroma Miru (2+3 tickets)

This was my first time meeting Mirurun, and I had heard she gives a lot of extra attention to foreigners. However, I cannot say for certain whether she gave me extra attention or if her normal HS is that nice but she was great. Welcoming and funny. I wanted to ask her how she manages to have Cool Miru, Sexy Miru and Cute Miru all at once, but my Japanese ability failed me and I was unable to deliver that question in understandable form. In the end she asked which I prefer, but I did not have time to formulate a reply and once I was shown out she made a sudden ”sexy” (in reality a super funny) pose. All in all, her rep for great HS is deserved and will go again.

Then it was out of tickets and time to find me some takoyaki! Then off to shinkansen and back to Tokyo for next adventures.

 

This weekend I've been able to use the tickets which came with my copies of the 24th single for online talks with the members of the new NMB48 units. As this could well be the last chance I have to speak with my oshimen Mirurun I was tempted to use all 4 tickets for Mix Juice especially as my ni-oshi Cocona is also a member, but as I don't really know any of the other girls in the unit all that well I decided to spread the tickets across 4 different units. In any case it would be a good way of getting to know the KKS members lol.

The procedure was very similar to the AKB48 talks using the same WithLIVE app. The main difference was that you were passed along from one member to the other by the app with a 2-5 second wait between each one. Also in the ID check each time I was asked to wait while an English-speaking nember of staff was found which caused a slight delay but it's good to know that they cater for international fans.

W1N-C
First up was Anchu who wasn't quite as lively as I'd expected but still very friendly. Of the other members Yuina was the most memorable for me as I discovered that she could speak good English! She said she was pleased to meet a fan from England and she hoped she could visit my country one day. Of the other members I'd already developed a liking for Nanaho but she turned out to be rather quiet. Sadly two of the members I'd have liked to have met were both absent, Chihiro due to other commitments and Mikanyan due to poor health.

Mix Juice
Cocona was first, I told her that I'd met her 2 years ago in Japan and although she understood me I'm not sure she remembered me! Fuwarin was very lively and genki, and my favourite of the KKS members so far. It therefore came as something of a surprise when next up was Mirurun who was looking rather downbeat and staring at the floor! As I've already mentioned in her thread I did manage to catch her attention and I made her smile by telling her she was beautiful and I had a wink from her at the end so it went well after all. Of the other members, ShinShin was definitely the liveliest and friendliest but Haasa was a little quiet.

Chouzetsu KawaE
On to the second day. The member I know best here is Rikatii but she didn't say anything, I'm not sure why, however I did get her lovely smile and some nice waving, maybe she couldn't hear me? But anyway it was good to meet her before she graduates. Next was Kotochan who was also very sweet and friendly and she was then followed by two KKS members, Yunanan and Maiti, who were each very excited to see a fan from overseas. Momone was also very friendly and then last up was NMB's fluent English-speaking KKS member Misaki. After introducing myself I said that I hoped she could visit England one day with NMB48 and she said that she hoped she could as she wanted to visit London.

FRONTIER
The final group for me which started with Mocchan and Wakapon who were both very surprised and happy that I knew their nicknames! Next was the lovely Miikki who seemed to remember me from a online talk we had a few months ago but she thought I was from the USA so the time was mainly taken up by explaining where I was from. Reichan looked very pretty as expected and definitely someone I'd have liked to spend more talk time with. The final member was the unit leader Miichan who did try to speak English with me but she was too tongue-tied lol.

Generally everything went well and although I only got a few seconds with each member I have to admit that there were a number of girls who I don't know very well so I wouldn't have been able to make much conversation anyway. However it was good to discover some new KKS members and in particular Fuwarin, Yunanan and Maiti stood out for me as well of course as Misaki. It was all very good fun and as I chose late slots it meant I could do this at a sensible time for me in the morning my time.

 

Really looking forward to people's experiences with the girls tomorrow! Can't wait to meet Karentan and Yuumin!

 

I had just one 1-shot experience this weekend to try out the Chekicha app. My choice of a member was Yuina, partly because she's been my favourite 6th Gen member for some time but mainly because when I talked with her in the W1N-C group talk she seemed to be able to speak some reasonably good English (as I mentioned in my post above).

I found the Chekicha app easy to use, the screen text is in English with a countdown in the queue shown, including an estimated time. The very good news is that Yuina can indeed speak good English! Admittedly she's not fluent, she had to stop and think a couple of times, but it was definitely good enough for us to talk together.

She was very surprised that I was in England! I said I hoped she could visit here one day and she replied that she's been to Europe, she once visited Malta. Coincidentally I've a trip booked there next month so I told her and I got a very pleased reaction from her. I would have liked to asked her more about the island but time was starting to come to an end and she needed to make the 1-shot pose, and after that there was just a couple of seconds to wave Goodbye.

The 1-shot photo is great because it includes some writing on it by her:



It was certainly good fun but it was rather short for the cost, about 5,000 JPY - OK so you get a set of all 3 types of the latest single but I already have those lol. Anyway, I can now confirm that Yuina can chat in English and also she's a lot of fun!

 

Today I've been using the free tickets which came with the 25th single. This time there were 6 groups each with 6 or 7 members. As Groups D-F were in more timezone-friendly slots for me I registered for each of them. These were the members of each of those groups according to the NMB48 website:

Spoiler

■ Group D
Ishizuka Akari
Kojima Karin
Nakagawa Mion
Minami Haasa
Kuroda Fuuwa
Wada Miyu

■ Group E
Izumi Ayano
Okamoto Rena
Kato Yuuka
Kawakami Chihiro
Sadano Haruka
Asao Momoka
Yoshino Misaki

■ Group F
Ishida Yumi
Umeyama Cocona
Sugiura Kotone
Hongo Yuzuha
Mizuta Shiori
Satsuki Aika
Manabe Anju

However just before I went into the first talk I saw a tweet from @Matto to say that Shiyomin had been included in Group D! So very good news that I could talk with NMB's newest member.

Group D

In the last set of group talks the members appeared in alphabetical order so I was all ready to greet Anchu, but the first member to appear on my screen was Myuu. That threw me out a little but at least I recognised her (she's my current favourite KKS member) so I was able to greet her with her name and we had a nice brief exchange of greetings. But would Fuwarin be next? The next member had brown hair and I couldn't remember if she had that hair colour so I just exchanged 'konnichiwa' and 'arigato' and I had to do the same with Haasa and Mion who I can't really tell apart anyway lol. However next was Shiyomin and I greeted her with 'Annyeong'. She looked puzzled so I then said her name and she looked much happier, maybe she was surprised I knew she was Korean? Anyway she was pleasant but a little quiet, I guess because it's all rather new to her lol. Next was Kojirin who was very nice and surprised to have an English fan, then finally it was time for Anchu. She was very happy when I wished her 'Sotsugyo omedeto' and 'Good Luck', and we waved goodbye at each other.

Group E

This time I decided to assume that if Misaki appeared first then everyone would appear in exact reverse order, and that's what happened! Misaki seemed to remember me from last time, I said I hoped I could meet her one day in Japan and she said she hoped so too. I was now certain who I was meeting even if I wasn't sure I recognised them so I greeted Mocchan and Harutan by the names and as expected I got a good reaction from that, likewise with Chihhii who I definitely recognised. Next was Uuka who is always good fun so I gave her a big 'Konnichiwa Uuka-chan!' greeting and we had a very lively and happy exchange but way too short of course. Then came Renatan who was very sweet and gave me a 'hearto' sign and then finally Aanon who was rather quieter but still very nice.

Group F

First up was someone who I definitely didn't recognise but she reacted well when I called her 'Anju-chan' so it was definitely her! Likewise I didn't really recognise Aipi or Shiori but they were both happy that I knew their names and that they were talking to an English fan. I definitely recognised Yuzu next lol, she was very happy when I called her 'beautiful' in Japanese. Next was Kotochan who always seems very genki when I've seen her in MC videos and indeed she was very sweet and friendly in our talk which yet again was way too short but it was definitely the best one I had in this group. My new NMB-oshimen Cocona was next, as usual she was a little quiet but still very sweet, and as in the last online talks, when I said that I'd met her at HS in 2019 at Makuhari Messe she seemed to remember me.

The final member was Yuumin. I met her back in 2017 at an NMB HS event in Yokohama when she was very quiet indeed and I felt she was almost ignoring me so she dropped out of my list of favourites. This time though she was much more pleasant and friendly, and she definitely looked very beautiful with blonde hair. I'm pleased that I could end the talks on a very personal high note for me and she can return to being one of my group favourites.

As with last time the talk procedures went very well with English-speaking staff members at the ID checks. It's great that you can meet 7 members for each ticket even though you barely have enough time to greet them, introduce yourself and say 'bye bye'. Meeting Shiyomin was an unexpected bonus and I wish now I'd just spoken to her in English as I've seen a few tweets just now from others who talked with her and she seemed to have a good knowledge of the language. I definitely hope I can meet her again, maybe in an individual talk next time, and likewise with Kotochan who was sooooo lovely!

 

Make-up call with Misaki Yoshino today. from the rescheduled March 19 online talks (Misaki and a few other members cancelled for health reasons). I was in the first block and Misaki appeared with her long hair down, looking great. After greetings, I told her I was calling from America. Misaki responded with an awkward uwa~ (wow?), then in English "how's it going?" I told her I saw yesterdays afternoon BII performance, it was really fun, and Misaki is the best! Then the 5 second countdown begins. I always wonder if it times downs right after I announce I'm calling from overseas. Anyway, it was fun, and I almost forgot about the rescheduled call but for the email from ForTUNE reminding me to participate.

https://twitter.com/_Misaki_Yoshino/status/1539011920371458048?t=GwHN-Cj2NH5s4Fs_7psntQ&s=19

 

Each ticket is 15 seconds and the countdown starts at the last 5. I have two makeup calls with her later today too.

 

I started reporting on my theater show and concert experiences in vlog form. Some of the vlogs include walking around Namba checking out places connected to NMB as well as other places I'm interested in. Here's a playlist of them that you can check out.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAmrheOuRDeh6Cz0SQKt2rSXNfl2fMpwq

Here's one of the most recent ones where I talk about a recent BII show I went to.


if the video does not show watch the video here

And this one is from the Monomane Contest that was not streamed on DMM or any streaming platform so it's super secret. Luckily I was there to explain what it was and how it went.


if the video does not show watch the video here