Your SKE48 Experiences

Sorry for double posting, wasn't sure how long posts the forum allows.

Anyway, as it turned out I had unbelievable luck with Ticket Center for this trip. Even before going in I had 2 enpous lined up, one for SKE and one for HKT. Turned out that was just a start.

Seishun Girls, SKE Theatre, February 11

This theater show was surprisingly loaded with gaijins. There were 3 of us, all in different categories. Mine was enpou, and others were with ippan and canmachi. (They can identify themselves if they choose to.) It was all good fun, and now I know why I like Yuuyu, she constantly looks like she has a smug look on her face. It was my second time seeing Seishun Girls but it is always good fun.

Saishuu Bell ga Naru, SKE Theatre, February 12

I told Naochan earlier there was still a chance, since ippan results had not been announced. I was at mall getting some dinner once I got the e-mail from Ticket Center. "Wait wut this pop-up does not look like a loss. Lemme che-OH SHIT DDDDDDDDDDDD" It was canmachi #64. Now, I did not assume it would turn out as a win. However, it was supposed to be Kaotan's seitansai and since she was injured, it was postponed so there was a chance that Kaotan fans would cancel en masse. Went to the theater and after waiting on the line for a while: EVERYONE GOT IN. Standing place only, and not even first row, but I was able to see Naochan most of the time and truth be told, most other things were out of scope anyway. (Yunana's graduation announcement was quite the surprise.) During omiokuri Naochan called out to my by the nickname she gave me earlier. It was good.

Seishun Girls, SKE Theatre, February 15

I had won canmachi for TII show (More on that on another thread) which did not turn out well for me. However just as I left the HKT Theater Ticket Center mail came in. Any bad mood I might have had for coming to to HKT Theatre in vain were wiped as there was another straight win, this time with ippan. Yuuyu wasn't there but still it was quite good fun. I have to say, Miyomaru is quite striking in Blue Rose. Hatagon was mentioned often on MCs and during omiokuri she said she noticed me from the crowd.

SKE48 Individual Handshake event, Makuhari Messe, February 16

This was my last event of this trip. I had a flu coming on since friday but decided that since I'm Tuhis I will not let it slow me down.

I had scored 50 tickets for Naochan, slots A1-A4. As always, no matter how much tickets I buy, in the end it is not enough. Anyway, I did 10 rounds of 5 tickets each, and started with us being happy I got to see KII, and I told her because of her charm I wasn't able to see any other members and oshimeshi was the best song (of course). Also, she was quite surprised about how I was able to see 3 theater performances in a week. (I skipped mentioning HKT one which was the fourth actually.) Among other things I mentioned Blue Rose, how her performance of it at Kouhaku Taikou Utagassen was best ever and above the ones I saw on the Seishun Girls performances. Also, I had stated before I aim to be the her fans' Center so I started learning Japanese so I could talk with her. For other members Google Translate would be enough. A few other rounds later it was time to head back to Nagoya. During those rounds we agreed to do our best getting her #1 at sousenkyo. Sadly, I had to tell her my next chance for HS is in July, but I re-stated that if she has a solo live and does it on a saturday, I'll jump on the Nagoya plane that takes off friday afternoon. For last round I thanked her and SKE for a very fun week and she likewise me for being there.

After that, got a poster with my last event ticket which was Asai Yuka IIRC, which I gave promptly away since it wasn't Naochan. Met another foreign fan and caught the next train from Makuhari to Tokyo. Little shopping and to Nagoya to prepare for the unhappy ride back home.

 

Individual/National HS, Nagoya Dome, Feb 9-10
I was at the handshake event for the Stand by you single at Nagoya Dome, it's been a while since I've been to Japan and gone to a handshake. The event had an individual HS part (4 slots), a mini-live and 3 slots of national HS, with attractions going on both days (badminton, "laser tag", popcorn, etc.).
As usual I went to see a lot of members, I'll just talk about some of the interesting things that happened, regardless of slot order. Overall, I was happy that the members remembered me even though I haven't been there for a year and a half, it's good be a caucasian guy with long hair, you get remembered easily lol.

Fukushi Nao : (the oshi)
I went to see my oshi first as usual, with Donchan I always need a few tickets to get back on track with her and we had some small talk about the W1 contest, Nagoya Dome, etc. For the 1st time ever, she got jealous with me even though I always go to see other members and never said anything before. For slot 1, she saw me going to see Sato Kaho who was just next lane and mentioned it just after. I tried to joke around saying it wasn't me but she wasn't having any of it lol. I felt a bit guilty so I didn't use my other Kaho tickets after that...

Sato Kaho : (the mistress)
Was looking forward to see the super fisher after a long time, but this time she wasn't wearing some crazy cosplay so it was easier to focus during the talk lol.
The fishing went something like that :
Me : Your way of doing handshake is the one I love the most (with both hands)
Kaho : Really... what about me?
Me : Aaahhh... I love you too
As I said I just saw her in the 1st slot and didn't use the others tickets but well, this interaction was worth getting yelled at lol.

Goto Rara : (the bro)
Always extra easy to talk with Rara cause I can use english and she's extremely talkative, you just give her a subject and she'll talk for 20 tickets lol. I didn't see it at first but, looking at her with other fans, she's now doing the "both hand" handshake too. I didn't notice cause the first few tickets, I approached with just one hand so she did the proper HS version. The ticket after that, I asked her about it and we did the 2h version but somehow it feels weird doing it with Rara lol.
I saw her in a national slot too, as usual it's super funny when I talk with her in english and the member after her is freaking out cause she thinks I'm going to use english with her too.

Inoue Ruka : (the airhead)
Talking about english, this handshake was so funny and just like Ruuchan.
Me (in japanese) : Nice to meet you, I'm...
Ruuchan (in english) : Hello, my name is Inoue Ruka
Me (in japanese) : Oh yeah I know, I saw...
Ruuchan (in english) : My nickname is Ruuchan!
Me (in japanese) : Yeah I... know who you are Ruuchan...
(end of HS)
She has such a satisfied look on her face too, what can you do... I'm sure she does the same to every foreigners, couldn't say what I wanted to but it was damn funny.

Kitagawa Yoshino : (the serious baka)
I saw her last time I was in Japan when she just got into the group and her hs was very good. She always does one of her pose at the end and you will leave her booth with a huge smile on your face. This time she added something extra and you just can't help but love her. Quite like the stories about Suda Akari, she keeps a notebook of every fans she sees in hs, their name, what they talked about, etc. So after each handshake, the line was stopped while she writes on her notebook any new information about the fan she just saw.
So I just do my normal HS telling her she's doing great on SKEbingo and at the end, she asks me for my name. I usually don't give my name to idols cause it's quite unique for japanese people and I dont want them to bother trying to remember it. She wanted my name to write in her notebook, so I tried to give it but she didn't get it.
2nd time I went to see her, first thing she asks is my name again because she couldn't write it properly in her notebook. Such a cute girl and an hardworker, go see her she's amazing!

Furuhata Nao : (furuhotie)
Always one of my favorites to go see, you don't have to do anything and just let the magic happen. I was very happy that she remembered me and damn, she fished me out of my socks!
Me : L...
Nao : Long time no see!! It's been so long!
Me : Thank you for remembering me, it's been almost 2 years.
Nao : Of course I remember you. Aaah! your hands are so warm (she really grabs my hand and squeezes it with hers to take in the warmth)
(Then I died)
What can I say... it's Naochan!

Tani : (the old friend)
So I've heard a lot of people saying Tani's not the crazy girl she used to be in HS but I had to go see by myself cause I couldn't believe it. I always have the best interactions with her and she always seems like she enjoys seeing me and she's one of the few girls I actually used tickets not destined for her cause she always looked disappointed when I said it was my last ticket.
So yeah... she was the same old Tani to me this time lol. It would have really broken my heart if she reacted coldly to me cause yeah... I think she's one of the few member where I can say I have real emotional attachment to lol. She was acting like a needy puppy the whole time so I was glad I had lots of tickets for both days lol.

9th gens :
So the 9th gens's been involved in the last few events, having a line at nationals and stuff. This time they were participating in the attractions during the individual HS slots and then you could take a picture with 3-4 of them during national slots. I'm a sucker for new girls and I followed the Showroom auditions so I used almost all my 20 tickets to interact with them lol.
Overall they're really good at interacting with fans even though they're super new to the group, it's definitively a good trend with the gens that went through the Showroom auditions. They interacted well together too and it was good just watching them while lining up for a HS.
They didn't have a proper HS lane so the best way to interact with them was at the food stand. You could talk to them with a minute or more depending on the lane size while they were preparing popcorn and stuff.
I was quite disappointed when they announced the shamekai and not a proper HS lane cause the way they described the event on the official site seemed super boring : you sitting in front and the members standing up behind you like a family portrait lol. But it was actually very good cause you could talk a bit to the members, ask for a pose and the girls were super into it.

Aoumi Hinano : (the ace)
The one I'm really into so the unveiling, she's super pretty and really good at interacting with fan. I went to see her quite a lot at the food stand and shamekai and her reaction to me was getting bigger each time. It's hard to look at all 4 of them for the shamekai and I just ended up talking to her every time. She's the ace of the gen, lookout for her!

Iriuchijima Sayaka : (future fisher)
Little interaction with her cause she's quite shy but from the few interactions... she's going to be that girl that makes you feel like her boyfriend in HS. Really looking forward to see her in individual HS where she'll really shine.

Akahori Kimie : (the yankee)
She's a weird one for sure but I'm loving her more and more. She looks bored/salty sometimes on photos but then she can have the biggest reactions with fans and her smirk is just awesome. Was definitively surprised to see her interact with fans so much.

Natari : (Dubaichan)
I went to try and test Natari's french cause they said on SR that she can speak it. I casually introduced myself as french and I saw her react immediately. But no time to speak more so I'll have to test on SR when they get their account back lol.
Was surprised at how energetic she was with fans cause she looks "my pace" a lot of times lol.

 

SKE48 Individual Handshake in Makuhari Messe (2/16) and Sendai (2/17)

Alright, here's my second double Report, no sense in making two.

Starting of with Makuhari:

This time I only had Aiai and Honono, which meant I had a lot of freetime. I arrived at the Venue early since I wasn't there before, and I gotta say it's certainly not my favorite. No seats inside, and the toilets inside aren't great either... ^^

But back to the handshake, first was Aiai in B2.
It was pretty relaxed, there was barely anyone around (for the other lanes too), so many of my friends looped one ticket at a time to keep Aiai busy. I did also some loops, because due to the lack of people the staff was pretty relaxed when it came to pushing.
Since it was close to Valentine's Day, Aiai was wearing a red dress, which was incredibly cute! I used my first tickets to compliment her on that and we talked a bit about it

I was first in her lane, so I got a bit of interaction with her when she arrived, she took Chikako along with her, and the two goofed around a bit.
I also told her that I went to the Cheesedog-Place she recommended, and that they taste really great indeed. Another Aiai-Oshi asked her to go to the attractions today as well, maybe he heard that I wanted to play Badminton again

Anyways, she said she wants to go to the badminton later, so I was looking forward to it.
It took a while, but she really went after the end of her slot, and she brought along Chikako and Ayuka. So it ended in an 3 vs 1-Match, which also had me (slightly) crashing into one of the walls at the side of the field while trying to get a ball
Can't thank @Jeff86 enough for giving me this ticket the week before. Just as last week, the match was lots of fun, and the 30s of Badminton are definitely better than that 2s you get at National Handshake.

After that it was time for Aiai in the Noon Slot.
There were a bit more people, so I didn't go as often and used my tickets stacked.
I told her that I'm looking forward to her Seitan-T-Shirt, since they have been really nice so far. She mentioned it'll be really outstanding this time, so there's something to be excited about

Also this was my last slot for her, probably the last one for this year. So I used my last tickets to tell her that I'm gonna watch her Seitansai on DMM, and will continue to comment on SNS.

With my tickets done, I had now 3hrs of free time. After one hour or so Aiai went to the Shop-Booth so me and the other Oshis rushed over there. She went with Ayuka, Yuzupo and Narupi, and unfortunately most of the people in Lane were Aiai-Oshis. The guy in front of me, one of Aiai's Top-Wotas got to go to her, and she immediately tried to sell him all her remaining Towels and Ticket-Holders (about 15 or so), but luckily we convinced her to spare some for us (I think in the end he bought 6 towels and a couple of Ticket-Holders).
I had to go to Ayuka, but that was actually pretty nice since she was next to Aiai, and while buying the towel (I paid with Creditcard, since it takes more time imo) I got to talk with Ayuka and a bit with Aiai. We talked a bit about the badminton before and that I'll go to see her in Sendai the next day. I think I actually got more time with the members than I would have gotten with HS-Tickets for the same price. Aiai was finished with everything after that so I took a short with @Tuhis before it was time for my last slot of the day.

The last one was Honono in B7. I only had time to talk about the Stages I saw the week before, and she mentioned she saw me (I was only looking at Aiai tho). When I was finished I had to rush to Tokyo to meet with friends, but I had an awesome day nonetheless.

Next: Sendai (2/17)

Honestly I think the only reason I went there was because I got to meet some friends along the way since my University is the partner-University of Tohoku-University. I went by bus so it took me 6hrs to get there, and I arrived at about 2 at the venue. This meant I still had 3 hours till my first slot, so I met with the other Aiai-Oshis who went there, bought some pictures and also had a short talk with a Maya-Oshi I know.

My first slot was Chikako in the 6th Slot.
She was wearing a really fluffy Pyjama that day, which looked incredibly cute, and we talked about how it was really cold recently and how nice fluffy clothing is. She was really great, and had a pretty firm handshake, which I usually don't experience with other members. Always lots of fun to talk to her.

Next I had Marin and Ayuka in the 7th Slot.
I had two tickets for each, so I switched between the lanes. My first Ayuka-Ticket I used to talk about her Seitansai which I saw at the theater, it was really nice and I was happy to talk about it. The second one we talked about her outfit, it was really cute on that day, and she complimented me on my nose (sounds like a typical thing for foreigners, heard that a couple times from friends already).

Marin was probably my best handshake that day, she was super cute and we talked about these and that, and in the end I told her that I love the wink she recently does during stages, which resulted in her doing it for me while I was leaving
She was really friendly and talked a lot from herself, unlike Ayuka who was mostly replying to me talking.

With everything done, I waited till the Aiai-Oshis finished the Message-Booth and we went back to the station together, where we said goodbye for this year.

All in all I had great 12 days on my trip this time, with 4 Handshakes and 2 Stages. My next time will probably be in December, so I don't expect any handshakes there (unfortunately). Recently we were a bit worried about Aiai whether she will stay or not (partly because of Yunana's unexpected announcement, and also because Aiai is in 3rd year of Highschool too and apparently hasn't decided on a future path yet), so I'm pretty nervous about her Seitansai and I really really hope this wasn't the last time I spoke to her. Next time I really need to get more tickets for her again

 

SKEBINGO! PRESENTS SKE48 Concert en no Kanto Tour 2019
Kanagawa Kemnin Hall 190426



Today I attended both performances of the latest SKEBINGO live shows. However for neither performance did I have a particularly good seat - in the afternoon I was right at the back of the floor searing and in the evening I was in the 3F level tier - however the view from both seats was still good.

Before the afternoon show I went to take a look at the interactive games being provided by the 9th Gen members but I wasn’t brave enough to take part lol. Instead I used the opportunity to see the members close up and for me it was a much better way of learning about new gen than trying to study the Wiki! Of the girls who were there, Suzuki Ena stood out for me as being VERY pretty and I’ll definitely be looking out for her in future.

For the shows themselves they were mainly in a standard SKE48 concert format but they each had one comedy skit in the middle of about 20 minutes in length. The skits were different in each show - the first was set in a business office and the second at a casting audition for an entertainment show.

The song setlists were the same for each show and similar to the ones in the Wiki for previous shows in the tour. Amongst the differences was a performance of ‘Houkago Race’ as the first song in the encore, and Nao provided an excellent solo performance of her song from the Alface CM. She opened the song on one of those trolley things which go around the audience then she went on the stage in a very happy bouncy mood wearing a very pretty white dress. (She also centered ‘Stand By You’.)

During ‘Gonna Jump’ the girls went through the audience. In the afternoon show, Maya, Sally, Nao and Kumachan all came past me while in the evening it was Yuzuki, Marina, Miki and Negai.

During the MC for the encore in the evening show, Mikotti who is soon to graduate gave a short speech and received a very big cheer.

Two very enjoyable shows and for me a nice opener for other 48G events over the next few days!

 

A long and overdue report for my 1st theater win. It is for Oba Sayaka's seitansai in Seishun Girls stage on March 20th. Hope you guys enjoy.

Spoiler

https://www.facebook.com/1779341718791331/photos/a.2007853905940110/2314017221990442

 

anyone know how to attend SKE handshake event by buying their cd? i want to meet jurina

 

Yes.
I'll assume you mean individual handshakes. If you check out this: http://stage48.net/forum/index.php?threads/attending-akb48-handshakes-how-to-work-in-progress.6909/
For SKE tickets you need to have an account at mu-mo(ID+): https://shop.mu-mo.net/st/special/ske48_25thsg/ where you'll apply for the CDs.

Good luck for winning, not guaranteed for Jurina.

 

thankyou so much

 

This being a longer trip and I have a device with an almost proper keyboard I don’t need to write huge-ass posts after entire trip. Without further ado:

2019/7/13 SKE48 「手をつなぎながら」

This was the start of my summer vacation and I didn’t actually expect winning with enpou but win I did and that’s always nice. I had a slightly tough schedule since my plane was supposed to land to Narita at 8:05 but due to tech problems I was at Narita 9:30. After what felt a long-ass wait for luggage, it was off to find a shower and necessary things such as SIM card and JR Pass in order. Being fast paid off and I was able to sort everything out and be in Nagoya perfectly before the show so I did not have to wait for long.

People know the stage so I’ll not comment much except: the best songs are IMO near the end, with all the energy going out.

Member notes:
- Reona caught my eye, had plenty of energy
- Donchan seemed a bit disinterested at omiokuri until seeing a foreigner
- Hinano was as nice live as I expected, definitely a lot potential
- Aiai was solid as always

And for a nice bonus in the end: surprise performance of FRUSTRATION with almost full senbatsu. (I heard later who were missing because only thing I saw at that point was Naochan on stage. And hooboy. I wasn’t big on FRUSTRATION but sweet jebus Naochan was on FIRE. Now I can say I like it, even with the dude samples. (Maybe because my brain was focused on one thing only.

All in all: a very nice start to my summer adventure! Next up: HKT48 - Stay tuned!

 

And with the 24-hour rule the saga continues with a double post. A lot of this is copypasta from STU experience thread since not everyone reads that one.

2019/7/15 OTODAMA SEA STUDIO 2019 海の日スペシャル！ SKE48 X STU48

And the saga continues with Otodama Sea Studio location of which was 45 minutes by train from Yokohama, to a place called Miurakaigan.

Even if the name of the event hints at a show together, in all honesty this was more like having 2 concerts back to back, first STU and second SKE.
Now, I thought I had a pretty good ticket, as it said ”A 110” on it which in other events has meant I’d be the 110th person to enter. I had a conflicting AKB event ticket which I skipped which was a guaranteed front row, but SKE and Naochan takes always priority and I chose this one. However, once I got to the area I found out A was the shit tier of tickets, and before A tickets got in, the FC tickets were inserted... of which there was about 1330. So being about the 1460th person to enter you might guess that my visibility wasn’t super good. However, I did find a spot where I saw all the important things.

- No, I don’t have eyes on everyone else but Naochan so as far as I am concerned it was almost a solo concert
- Once Naochan was out of sight due to my position being shit I noticed that Kumachan looks rather nice in a midriff-revealing outfit (Kano wasn’t bad either lol)
- The song choices were nice and energetic such as Horizon, FRUSTRATION (duh) and Kataomoi Finally, among others


Stay tuned for next episodes!

 

@Tuhis I've been caught out at least a couple of times in Japan with 'A' and 'B' ticket entry having to wait until after 'priority' ones, it's annoying as well as disappointing.

And over the past year, IMO Kumachan has come from seemingly nowhere to become one of the best-looking SKE members. Hope you get a chance to HS with her on your current trip, she's really lovely too.

Thanks for your reports so far, please keep 'em coming!

 

Edited to avoid breaking double posting rules.

It’ll be very unlikely that I get to HS with her since I have only Naochan’s tickets for the only HS event during my trip in August. Of course if they hold nationwide HS or such then I’ll of course go but that does not seem likely.

2019/7/16 SKE48 「手をつなぎながら」

Well well, once again luck was on my side as I was able to get a straight win, via ippan of all things. This time I didn’t have that much luck in the lottery, as both groups before and after mine got in, but mine was IIRC 13th to be called in so I did get a seat and not totally shit one either. Left side of the stage, nearer to the middle so I had a good view of the center stage. It was quite a lot of fun as always, with a plenty of 9th gen. my favourite songs being near the end: Rope no Yuujou and Kayoubi no Yoru, Suiyobi no Asa once again released a torrent of energy.

Notes:
- Being able to watch Aiai and Hinano side by side was fun. Aiai really knows how to shine and Hinano seems to be a natural idol
- I had not noticed it last time but Hinano was a trooper with her right upper thigh taped but it did not seem to slow her down at all
- I really like the way Yokonyan’s long hair moves with her. Hope she keeps it as is until graduation
- I’ve said it before but a lot of the 9th gens are super cute and have potential, but Hinano is a head above everyone else in 9th gen

 

Well well, the saga has continued since last time.

2019/7/17「最終ベルが鳴る」公演
This one turned out to be a lesson in humility, and a reminder of KII’s popularity. I got canmachi #55 and of course went to check it out... only to see the cutoff be 2 before me. But if one won’t play, one can’t win so onwards to new failures!


2019/7/19「重ねた足跡」公演
This one was also a bit of an off chance since it was on a friday, but Team S so less popular. I won canmachi #54 and of course went for it. However this time it was different, as everyone who bothered to show up got in. My number was large enough to mean I got to stand in the back but hey, it is experience in itself. This time, right next to me was a LOUD Yokonyan fan... and first time I’ve actually resorted to plugging an ear at an idol concert as that dude led the encore calls too. My view was complete shit too, but I’ll live with it.

Notes:
- Holy shit Kano is good. She wipes the table with almost anyone.
- Seeing Aiai next to Kano was quite something. Also, during the dance medley she really had them commanding moves
- Piyosu was fun
- Miyomaru really has the looks to go anywhere
- Team S version of FRUSTRATION would have been relevant to my interests had I seen something.

All in all, a nice experience even if I picked shit shoes to visit in and now have a big-ass blister on foot. Nice preparation for a hopefully better seat.

 

2019/07/20 FRUSTRATION Release event at AEON Mall Tokoname

Once again, dear reader, it was time to march unto the breach. I actually had tickets for both AKB Nationwide Tour concerts at Sendai for this date, but this event had a very strong attraction for me: Furuhata Nao. So I thought for a second about sensible financial style and priorities and decided to follow my heart to Tokoname. AEON Tokoname is in the sticks near Chubu Centrair airport, which makes me think SKE had problems getting a venue closer to Nagoya itself. It took 45 minutes from Nagoya Station via train to reach this site. (This on top the ride on Hikari from Tokyo.)

Reach it I did at a semi-good time. I got to the site at about 40 minutes before the sales start and there was about 150 people before me in the queue. Fortunately one could only buy 3 CDs at once so I did not have a problem getting my tickets for the day. I was planning to buy 3... and ended up getting 8. (Was planning to spend a few at matome but it did not go down like that.) After that it was time to wait a few hours for the Mini-live and HS. Also, they announced Nacky was not feeling well and was replaced by Makiko.

Off to the mini-live! I had entry number 157 which was reasonable, and I was able to get a spot at which I could see clearly all that I needed, which means Naochan. If you ask me about any other members during the mini-live, I have zero clue.
- Naochan looked like a goddess of cool, and utilized the jacket of her FRUSTRATION uniform very nicely when dancing
- Most of the time other members did the talking during MCs but I did not follow what they were saying.
- The mini-live started a little late, and I suspect was cut a bit short. But then again we fans got some singing and dancing by lovely idols so it was all good. Off to the handshakes!

It was divided in 3 lanes, of which Lane 1 had Takeuchi Saki, Matsumoto Chikako and Naochan. At this point, dear reader, you can guess which line consumed all my tickets. I was planning to wait for matome but then I noticed that might cause me to miss the last Hikari to Tokyo, I kept looping. I am not a fan of these national-style handshakes since the 1-2 seconds per member is too fast and does not lead to anywhere. I did get the important ones said so it was all good.

Both Saki and Chikako were nice experiences, and they seemed to find it exciting a handsome foreigner loops their lane several times. Quite lovely. Unfortunately I don’t know much about them but apparently enough to keep their interest up. However, after them was Naochan and having handshakes with her made throwing away the concert tickets worth it.

After I had burned all my tickets it was time to rush to first train to Nagoya and Tokyo and share this tale. Up next: more canmachi shenanigans at SKE Theater!

 

Well well - I promised canmachi shenanigans so...

2019/07/21 「重ねた足跡」公演

This time I was rather confident I would gain entry... because my canmachi number was 1. So off to SKE theater I was. Non-surprisingly I got a ticket in my hand with a place in the lottery as well... and was 17th to be called in. However, I was able to spot a seat which had only one dude blocking part of my view with his large head but otherwise it was smaller or slouching dudes so I had a relatively good visibility with the exception of part of the left side of the stage. Somehow, it seemed the audio system was louder than usual and audience screams more muted, but it might have been just my seat.

The stage itself is nice and well known so I’ll not get into it except that I am always glad when Houkago Race comes on. Also, having visibility to Kano-centered Team S FRUSTRATION was nice too.

Some notes:
- Kano either absolutely loves being on stage or is very convincingly looks like it. Also she once again lit up seeing a foreigner at omiokuri and gave me a heart sign. (I’m not going to lie, this led to her finally being marked as my 3-oshi at AKB Mobile site.)
- Aiai should probably start remembering my face at omiokuri as she has been present on all the stages I’ve seen these last few days. Also, she keeps pumpihng brilliant performances one after another. Koko de Ippatsu was a nice surprise.
- Miyomaru has a very commanding presence on stage IMO. I feel like she’s less suited to cute songs but gawddaymn she is boss level when doing cool songs.
- Piyosu was fun again
- Izurin was also really solid everywhere
- Yokonyan had her hair free, it was lovely

Next up: less likely canmachi shenanigans but of course I’ll go see how it turns out. Thanks to JR Pass for enabling!

 

Well well, I promised cancel machi shenanigans and them I will deliver!

2019/07/22 SKE48「手をつなぎながら」公演

Like I said earlier, this canmachi was a long shot at number 73. However, like Finnish Air Force used to have a credo of always attacking, no matter what the odds, I went for this canmachi even if it was a long shot. And it paid off, as everyone who showed up got in. One dude was even in the 90s and was able to witness the show. Naturally, the lottery was out of reach so standing in the back it was... and it seemed that there was some sort of a coal miner’s convention going on as there was a bunch of big guys blocking my view. Fortunately music reached out to me and I was able to see at least something. Not going over the stage in detail, except during last song the staff fumbled and started playing another song on top of the girls singing.

- Winner of the day was Hinano. She just seems to ace whatever she does. Still had her thigh taped so a trooper
- Release being near, this stage also had a performance of FRUSTRATION, Hinano center. As good as she is she is not yet a match for Nao or Kano centers I’ve had the privilege of witnessing.
- Himetan was also quite nice today
- Them 9th gen lolis are world-leading cuties

 

2019/07/23 SKE48 FRUSTRATION handover event @ Tower Records Nagoya PARCO

Well well, once again your hero was on his mission to witness perfection with his own eyes. There was a proper launch event later, but I had an enpou for AKB theater, decided on this event. So, without further ado back to Nagoya!

I thought the sales started at 12, so I had prepared my schedule accordingly... until I checked while on the train and noticed sales had started at 10. All in all this caused no problem whatsoever because there was zero queue once I showed up and started buying. For some reason the website had a limitation of 2 purchases but it wasn’t enforced in any way, so I bought 4 right away and 3 more after having some tea. Then started the wait for the event to start.

When the event time started to get closer, I went back to the site and saw a line of wotas forming. I was there about an hour before starting time, so the queue had maybe circa 30 wotas before me. (On a side note, it was easy to identify the people who’d join the queue and who were passing by.) Anyway, we were led to wait near the walled area and security checked. Then the members of the day showed up showing up very nice and my brain function reduced significantly.

The members were Naochan, Churi and Kumachan, and for one event ticket you would get your CD from one member. Note: This is the last thing I remember of Kumachan and I probably owe her an apology. I had 7 tickets and it seemed to be more than people in the queue had bought for reasons I don’t know. They kept selling more so I’d imagine people just went to buy more. As my luck went well, for those 7 tickets I did not receive a single one from Naochan. It was always Churi or Kumachan, and I’m not sure which since Naochan was first and I am not able to see anything after her. However, she seemed sad she did not get to hand me any, and I was determined to to get one from her, so back to purchasing queue it was.

Once I was done with the purchasing, security and back on the queue, for some reason there was a break or something going on. While waiting I was browsing on my phone until there was a notification from email client... with very familiar subject line. From the subject line I knew I had won something and then it hit me... that I had won the biggest thing I’ve ever wanted in these years as an idol fan, Naochan’s solo live. I did not bullshit when saying I was so happy my hand started shaking. Also got a canmachi notification for another stage, which did not flatten the mood after all.

The queue started moving and I did get the CDs from Naochan twice, but I have no recollection whatsoever what happened. But I had received FRUSTRATION from Naochan so this day was a winner.

Stay tuned for what went down at the solo live!

 

Hooboy, today was the highlight of my wota life. The thing I did not expect to happen but it did and here I am to tell the story.

2019年07月25日(木) 18:30～ 古畑奈和　ソロ　LIVE
「ブロンドヘアーを振り乱す トゥエンティートゥーと過ごす、夏、まっただ中。」

By now, dear reader you know the drill. Woke up, got dressed, took shinkansen to Nagoya and prepared for a stage. This time was no different, except there was much more excitement in the air. I was in Nagoya early just in case, and was among the first 10 to pick up my ticket. However, that does not help in the lottery as I was to learn.

When lottery started, it did not go well for me... or so I thought. We were the 16th to be called in... which obviously did not look good. I started to move towards the seats and in a fraction of a second I saw only less than optimal AKA shit visibilty available so I did the next best thing - check out the standing spots. Lo and behold - 2 shorter girls standing just in the middle with nobody behind them. SCORE. Standing spot with full visibility in the center with clear visibility on most of the stage, except for the part of girl #1’s head which was fortunately not that large so easy to avoid.

Then it was on! Naochan walked on the stage on same cool outfit she had in previous live and changed outfits twice over the course of the live. All of them of course perfect and suited her immensely.

Now, in the interest of truthfulness I have to conclude that even if the live had been her farting in the mic for 15 minutes, I’d loved it but that was not the case. The setlist was very well chosen and suited her nicely, allowing her to make the songs hers and deliver as she saw fit. IT WAS GOOD. Also, the Vocaloid songs were new to me but she made me quite interested.

For tracklist thanks to https://twitter.com/koakumanao/status/1154349595461242883 as I was unable to take notes as my hands were full of lightsticks.

Honsho
LOVE CHASE
Bara no Kajitsu
Romance Kenju
Sonna Wake de
Darashinai Aishikata
Miraikuru
Yoshiwara Lament
(Q&A Clip)
Rocky
4me
How come?
Blue rose
FRUSTRATION
Parting shot

Encore:
Lay down
ALIVE
Kanransha

The performance was perfectly Nao-ish IMO. It was funny, playful, at times very sexy and not overly polished or too serious. The small fumbles that happened just made her closer with the audience who fumbled too. Only problem I see right now is being unable to figure out how it could get any better from here. Oh well, Naochan hinted might be more coming so we shall see later. (Or so I hope with my very limited Japanese ability.)

I very much recommend you check it out!

Next up: see how it goes down with a canmachi for Seishun Girls!

 

Well well, I promised canmachi adventures so here you are!

2019年07月26日(金) 18:00～ 「青春ガールズ」公演

This one turned into a sorta of rags to riches-type thing featuring some WTF. I knew Seishun Girls is not the most wanted stage but sometimes even staff seem to be surprised. I had canmachi 11, so I was rather certain I’d get in but lottery wasn’t a given. Well, as it turned out only 22 people in total showed up for canmachis, and with 11 I was originally 4th in line, but once it was time to go in, I was 7th. 10 people got into lottery so it was good. What went down next was even better.

GOT CALLED IN 2ND. I did not originally hear or connect with my number, but gentleman in front of me gave me a japanese version of ”Dude, that means you.” So up the stairs I went at a reasonably fast pace. FRONT ROW SEAT. Right side, almost at the edge but still front is front. Excitement went instantly to over 9000. Getting into any show is great, even with standing spots since that seems to have the loudest fans and biggest excitement but 1st row turns it up for obvious reasons.

Seishun Girls is old stage and I’ve seen it several times already so I’ll not comment on it except it has some of my favourite songs such as Blue Rose.

Notes:
- Being obviously foreign and visible gets you plenty of eye contact from the girls close to you
- Nishi and Hatagon were the most obvious ones, but 9th gen lolis weren’t immune either
- I don’t really get tired of telling how Hinano is a head above others in 9th gen but that’s how it is
- Very conveniently Blue Rose had Hinano just at my side which meant I could witness her greatness up close and personal and while everyone looked awesome in Blue Rose outfits, for Hinano all I can say is ”Hot damn.” This performance would be very close for my favourite performances if I had not witnessed Naochan’s performance of it the day before
- Seishun Girls is the easiest stage to get to see and it is great enjoyment. I recommend anyone being at suitable distance to apply.

Next up: less likely canmachi madness!