So, has an idol told you today she loves you? I happen to be a member of that exclusive club for a couple more hours. (Nice but fleeting thing, this.) 8月8日（火）手をつなぎながら公演 So once again Te wo tsunaginagara, and with a nice twist with all the girls wearing twintails. My joy was slightly cramped with having a J row seat, but this would soon become less of an issue. The lineup wasn’t optimal since no Hinano, but this mattered less since it was still very nice lineup with girls like Yuzupo, Aaaaaaaya, Ito Miki and Kitano Ruka. However, I picked the colors of a member I’ve liked since she got onboard and it rewarded me quite a bit: KAENYAN . Now unfortunately row J turned out to be the quiet section, so it didn’t really inspire me to be loud either but I didn’t let it stop me either! I noticed that Aaaaaya got the loudest calls, with Yuzupo not that far behind. I was slightly sad because I could not see more than a couple red/green lights, but the stage got only to チャイムはLOVE SONG and me peeking via heads to have a straight line to Kaenyan and she suddenly looks straight at me and waves all the way to Row J. I of course need to verify to check and send a half-heart to her and she instantly responds with same. Obviously it pays off to be alert, as my happiness% increased significantly. The stage then proceeds as normal with funny MCs and cute girls singing and dancing. Then it was omiokuri time and I happened to be second to last one going out so it wasn’t much of a rush anymore. and I could take my time at omiokuri where I of course had to call out ”Kaenyan kawaii!” and got back ”Thank you! Bye! I love you!” which was of course extra nice. Of course there were others following her such as Azuazu and of course Rukatin and Oshirin. Being second last out the door, I managed to sneak in one last wave before going out and noticing I am extremely hungry. Then it was a matter of surviving on the warm glow inside until I found my way to a very nice pizza place at Osu. (I can give recommendation via PM if needed.) Next up: By now surprise to: nobody -> more takoyaki!
So we have finally reached the (temporary) end, and it is time to go home. But before that: 8月12日（土）「We‘re Growing Up～2nd～」公演 So, this was actually my first time seeing this stage, and the lineup looked good. I was kinda torn between Anzu/Kurumin/Mikichan in choosing whose penlight colors I’d show, and I went with Anzu, as she’s been appealing the most of the three. Kyoppi would have been also a deserving choice, but I prefer Anzu so that’s what I went with. However, my seat was again on J row, , close to center, which in itself wouldn’t have been a disaster as we know from before, but this time I was sitting behind the local version of the Big Show so I had to choose watching between left or right parts of the stage and with less members, there was a lot of empty space on stage anyway. This being my last stage for some months until I figure out some more time and money somewhere, so I was going to enjoy myself no matter what. Conveniently several people around me were wearing purple and had 3 penlights on hand, so I knew I wouldn’t be alone in calling ANZUUUUU. And as for this stage, I liked the setlist a lot! The girls really put in effort and some of the songs I haven’t heard in a while so the change was veeery nice. Of course Anzu got most of my attention but I could not help but notice that Kurumin is very enjoyable too. Afterwards I was happy to do my omiokuri congratulating Mikichan for her recent birthday and telling Anzu holiday is over and it is time to go home. Then it was a matter of exit and start packing. This being last report for this trip I think some accounting and brotips are in order: I had essentially 21 days for this trip, and I was able to see in total: 16 Theater stages (5 SKE/9 NMB/2 HKT) 8 Concerts (2 AKB/4 SKE/2 STU) 1 Ohanashikai (AKB) 1 Other (AKB Costumes) Pre-covid I would never have expected such outcome. On a previous trip I was able to see a lot of shows, but most of them were canmachis for less popular teams. This time it was completely different with most being straight wins and only one canmachi. However, the winning odds are very much group dependent. For AKB winning is still hard, since the application windows are tight and I can admit that even if I pay for Eizo, I missed the application window every time and had to resort to applying with ippan, losing every single AKB application. NMB is completely different. They announce stages long in advance, application windows are looser and even if one loses with NMB Mobile, they auto-apply you as ippan for another try. I won every single NMB application I made, with 3 exceptions: Uuka’s seitansai/graduation stage (no wonder), recent team M where Shibuya announced her graduation (in hindsight no wonder) and one random team BII which I won via canmachi omake. HKT is easy wins these days, apparently one can win just about everything except special stages such as seitansais or graduations which are harder wins, unless they are for less popular members. SKE winning depends, as the new team stages are very difficult to win (I was only able to see one this trip, KII), but Tetsunas or WGUs are not. I recommend applying for anything since all the SKE stages are great fun! Some brotips I can share: If you aren’t solely focused on AKB, then basing yourself in Nagoya is very convenient. With shinkansen you can make it to just about anything except NGT going out in the morning and back in the evening (HKT evening stages being exception, not sure about STU stages) and you can maximize value for JR Pass and your investment in a Nagoya hotel. My hotel was about 5-minute walk from shinkansen entrance to Nagoya station with several konbinis on the way to pick up breakfast from, so I was able to maximize convenience and fun. Also, even if the upcoming JR Pass price increases are about to impact the profitablity of JR Pass, with daily travel to idol events even the increased price will easily be covered. If you are only focusing on one group, then this is less of an issue as a local pass or just having an IC card is sufficient. Getting tickets is very convenient these days, as you can pay a lot better with credit cards than before, but concert tickets might require a middleperson in Japan to sort out payment. For goods it is either online/2nd hand/concert sales, with only NMB having a convenient store where they sell stuff but their inventory is stuff they didn’t manage to sell elsewhere so YMMV. (HKT and SKE do sell branded penlights and drinks at the theaters but that’s about it.) All in all, it has been wonderful to be able to spend my vacation with beloved idols, and I have fallen for new members, been reminded of how awesome others were and gotten huge boost in motivation for this fandom! I very much encourage to go to any 48 events because all of them girls are charming and you can and will find new ones to enjoy!
Te wo Tsunaginagara 4/24 Having failed to win Monday night's Team E stage (possibly due to it being Donchan's last regular performance before her grad on Sunday, but I think anything with Oochan in it is difficult to win) I did manage to get a ticket for tonight's show, however with arguably the two top members being Reona and Rukatin then I suspect it would have been somewhat easier to win. Anyway, on with the report, here's tonight's line-up: Rukatin has been one of my favourites for a long time and it was good to see her before she graduates. However I also had some other members there I like including Izurin, Aaaya and Enatan (who keeps popping up in my reports in this thread lol) as well as Himetan - more about her to come later. One thing I like about this stage is the choice of songs, in particular the middle part with Glory Days, Wimbledon e Tsureteitte (centered by Rukatin) and espcially Ame no Pianist (centered by Reona). The encore has two energetic songs, Rope no Yuujou and Kayoubi no Yoru Suiyobi no Asa followed after a costume change (and some variety show VTR on the screen) by the much quieter Tooku ni Ite mo. During the MCs there was a running joke concerning Rukatin and a meal ('gohan') but unfortunately I wasn't able to understand what was happening. And a word about Himetan - she is very tall, very beautiful, a good performer and quite a fisher! She picked me out in the audience a few times with eye contact and winks. At the send off at the end, when I went past her and waved at her she pointed at her eyes and then at me as if to say "I saw you looking at me!" Also all the audience members were each given for free a group photo at the end, something you have to pay for at AKB and NMB shows: So a very enjoyable show but next year if I return again I hope I can win one of the new team performances.
