Bikkuri Project

Hi all! Just got back from my first viewing of Morning Musume’s spring concert tour!! Wai! I love these shows so much. <3

So, it was RAINY today. Not drizzling, not occasional storminess, but hard non-stop rain all day. Good thing it’s not an outdoor concert. Well, I can check off Omiya Sonic City as a great, easy-to-find concert venue. A straight shot, just a couple of blocks from the station. Of the three h!p concert venues I’ve been to, I’d say this is my favorite so far. An interesting feature is that usually there’s a bit of a buffer zone between the stage and the audience, but here the front row was standing right up against the stage. They could have grabbed the ankles of any girl who wandered too close to the edge! (No, no one did that). Anyway, I made my way to the goods table and requested a Gaki-san shirt. The girl at the counter told me that they only had size large left (and I am not a large person), but she radioed over to the upstairs goods table for me, and it turns out that they had one size small left. Hooray! I l finally have a Gaki-san Tshirt! I didn’t buy one of the Resonant Live shirts because I hated the design, but this tour’s are really cute.

Before I go any further, allow me to remind you once again that girls do in fact go to Morning Musume concerts. I tried counting them while I was milling around in the hall, but I got bored and went inside after about 10 minutes. I got to 30-something before I stopped though. There’s this one girl who I swear has been at every h!p concert I’ve been to. She always wears an Aika shirt and a big purple hairbow to match. I also saw a pair of really cute little girls joyfully receiving Gaki-san T-shirts from their mother. Yay for the kidde-wota! They made a good choice of favorite too. Usually, the kids seem to go for Koharu.

So, I got inside and found my seat. Pretty central, and a little over halfway back on the first floor. Not bad at all. I think that maybe I did manage to jinx myself a bit though. There was this really tall guy standing not right in front of me, but in front and to the side in such a way that he perfectly blocked my view of the center of the stage. Annoying, but what can ya do? It was a pretty full house. I could hardly see any empty seats on the first floor (couldn’t see the balcony). The stage set-up is a bit more elaborate than it was for Resonant Live. There was a sort of walkway around the back with a set of stairs that lit up leading up to it. Okay. From here on out I’ll break it down by song.

Songs- Was good, but I don’t remember anything specific.

Naichau Kamo- Eep. I need to learn more of the dance to this. The wota totally have it down.

VTR- Surprisingly funny. They showed pictures of each girl with a different flower, but one of them was always a goofy pose.

Mikan- Still very much a crowd favorite. The audience’s energy level just goes through the roof. Tension up, as the Japanese would say. Also, those blue and pink dresses have got to be one of the best costumes that h!p has every come up with. Vibrant, cute, flattering to the girls, they’re just perfect!

Egao yes Nude- Aw. I was hoping they would replace this with Shouganai Yume Oibito. Maybe they’ll debut it in Tokyo next week? They performed most of this on the rear walkway, and their jigging looked a little cautious. I think they were worried about falling off.

Jonetsu no Kiss- Really sultry. They used a chair as a prop, and the girls were all like, caressing it. One big difference between this show and Resonant Live is that it’s much sexier, at least the first half or so. Ai-chan’s vocalizations toward the end were amazing. She really sang well tonight.

Katamoi no Owari- Sorry, but this Eri solo bores me. Much like Eri herself often does. My apologies to her fans, because I know she has a lot of them, but sometimes I just don’t understand her appeal.

MC- The girls seem to be rotating who does this solo MC. Tonight it was Ai-chan. She talked about Takarazuku and their extreme stage make-up techniques.

Fine Emotion- Panda power! It was short, but fun.

Aika solo- JunLin were doing the robot! LOL. You know, when I heard Aika sing this on their last tour there were some questionable notes in there, but I didn’t hear any mistakes tonight. Also, for some odd reason, the wota has stopped calling Aika “Mittsi” and have switched to “Aika”. Last concert they definitely said “Mittsi”. I wonder why the switch? Also, is there a head wota who sends out mandate about these things? How do they all know???

Yowamushi- It’s not the best song ever, but I love Risa too much to care!

It’s You- Sexy! Ai and Eri were great as back-up dancers. There was one cool part where Sayumi stood in front of the screen, and it lit up in pink so you could only see her dancing silhouette. Then, she walked down the stairs and they lit up as she stepped on them.

MC- Koharu and JunJun fighting about something to do with JunJun taking pictures of LinLin’s lunch. They were talking pretty fast, so I didn’t quite catch it. They were playing the sound effect of a bell like they use in boxing in the background. Also, for some odd reason Koha and JunJun had costumes that they only wore for this MC and not for any of the songs. Odd.

Special Medley

Love Machine- Was surprisingly dull… Maybe it’s because they did it at the beginning, or maybe it’s because they only did a tiny bit of it. I dunno. I was expecting more from Momusu’s theme song.

Renai Revolution- Started to pick up the energy, but again, they only did a tiny bit of it.

Sexy Boy- Now we’re talking! Thanks to the para-para dance, this is one that the crowd can get into.

The Manpower- Great! I just wish they had done a bit more of it. This medley is killing me. It’s like a series of teasers.

Aozora ga Itsumademo- LinLin rocks my socks! Damn that girl can sing. I noticed that a few of the wota even managed to find teal glowsticks for her solo part. Not green or blue, but actual teal, which they don’t sell at the concerts. As a side note, it seemed like quite a few people brought glowsticks in multiple colors so they could wave the right color during member’s solo or small group songs.

MC- Eri, Sayu, and LinLin. Lin taught some Chinese, and then they went into a hilarious little skit where Eri was trying to kidnap Sayu, and “Super LinLin” saved the day.

Kousui- Surprisingly, both Koharu and JunJun did a really good job with this. I didn’t even once feel the urge to chuck something at Koha, and JunJun nailed those high notes at the end.

The Bigaku- Lots of Reina ass-slapping and air humping. Reina fans will not be disappointed.

MC- They set up a little radio booth for MC G.A.K.I on the stairs. At one point in the MC she accidentally referred herself as “Risa… oh wait no!” instead of MC G.A.K.I, and she started laughing so much she had to stop for a bit. The crowd was all laughing too, and calling “Risa!” at her.

Yume Kara Samete- Ai-chan was lovely as always. Pretty slow song, but it’s better than the one she sang at the last concert.

Take off is Now- Sexy, but pretty much the same as it’s been for the last two concert tours. It was interesting watching the audience changing color yellow to blue to green and so on, as each girl’s fans waved their glowsticks during her solo lines.

Guru Guru Jump- Quickly becoming a crowd favorite. Childish, yeah, but lots of fun!

How Do You Like Japan- I love it! They performed this in those leopard-print costumes with the cat ear hoods. They were like prowling animals out there. Rawr!

Resonant Blue- The performances of this are always getting better, much like Onna ni Sachi Are, though I still think they’ve done the song too often lately.

MC- Member bye-byes. You know, there never were any member intros. How odd. Anyway, the winner today is Eri who tried to make a mnemonic out of Omiya, which turned out completely ridiculous. Sayumi went next saying, “Boy, Eri sure tried hard with that one. I wouldn’t have the courage to say something that lame.”

Love and Peace- Probably my favorite song of the whole show! I love all the funny interaction that goes on between the members, and this song is just so high energy and HAPPY. Also, I can’t be sure, but I really think that Risa waved at me!! She was standing on my side, and then she looked directly at me and waved. I kind of pointed at myself and did a “who me?” face, and she nodded a bunch and waved some more. I could be mistaken… she might have been looking at someone else near me, but I don’t think so. I mean, I was wearing a green shirt and waving a green glowstick, and I am both female and  a foreigner, which I think makes me stand out.

Encore

Sono Bamen de- Koharu was wearing a HUGE sombrero. Unfortunately, everyone seemed kind of preoccupied with making sure their hats stayed on their heads.

Ame wo Furanai- Got rid of the hats. It probably would have set the wrong tone if they had left them on. Beautiful beautiful song. The new version is a bit slower that before, and the harmonies are very nice.

Whew. I’m exhausted now, but I have a bit of news before I wrap this up. You see, I made a side trip to a ticket reseller before going to the concert, and I decided to treat myself to a good seat for one of the Tokyo concerts next week. So, I’ll be sitting on ground level 11th row at the first show next Saturday!!! The lady at the store asked me if I was really sure like 3 times when I told her that I wanted to buy such an expensive ticket. But, I’m sure I’ll be able to see them really well, and they’ll probably be able to see me well too, so it’ll be worth it. Soooo excited!!

Momusu 4 Life,

~Celestia~

Concert tickets for Momusu this Saturday have arrived! Actually, they probably arrived a while ago, but I was checking the wrong mailbox (I have 2). Oops.

I’ve quite lucked out this time. This will be the best seat I’ve had so far for a h!p concert. Ground floor, still towards the back, but somewhat closer to the front and much more central that where I sat at the last Wonderful Hearts concert. I’m so excited!!

Also, the person selling the tickets threw in a free randomly chosen member photo. Guess who’s I got?

My beloved Gaki-san! Do I have awesome luck lately or what?

Hope I didn’t just jinx myself,

~Celestia~

I forgot to mention a few thoughts about Morning Musume coming to America’s largest anime convention (and tsunku! and singing the theme song! and selling their CDs there!).  All I can say is that the American h!p fan community better make a damn good showing. I don’t care if you can’t stand anime, you should go there to support Morning Musume, for two big reasons.

First, it’s sure to be an awesome experience. Second, they’re obviously putting a lot into this. A lot of involvement. Clearly, they’re testing the waters here for further expansion and promotion into North America. Those of you bemoaning the lack of access to h!p for non-asian audiences, now is your big chance to do something about it. Go to their show! Scream their names! Buy some CDs!  If this event doesn’t turn out as they are hoping, I doubt they’ll pursue this much further. Hello Project is just now finally becoming aware of their Western fanbase. Hello Online, a major English-speaking h!p fansite, got an exclusive interview with Yoshizawa Hitomi and Ishikawa Rika. That’s direct communication between h!p idols and their English-speaking fan community. H!p is really starting to pay attention to us, the idols themselves are being made aware of our existence, but if we’re all talk and no action, they may very well decide we’re not worth their while.

Ironically enough, I’ll be in Japan while Morning Musume is in America, but I’ll keep doing my best to support them over here. I have no doubt that many new Morning Musume fans will be born at AX, and I truly believe that this could be the start of something good. Momusu becoming massively popular in America?….no. Let’s be realistic here. Momusu (or maybe even the kids groups) occasionally having concerts in America? Opening an English version of the official site? H!p CDs and merchandise becoming much more readily available outside of Asia? All very possible right now. It’s an exciting time. Let’s not blow it.

~Celestia~

Might as well announce it here first… my new laptop arrived today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Super duper thanks to my wonderful father.

That means that I can finally get back to regular updates here. Expect something soon, probably in the next couple days.

In the meantime, a few ultra-brief comments on recent happenings.

H!p has a redone their website- Have you noticed this? It’s quite spiffy.

Buono’s New PV- OMG plot! I love that Momoko is still “the special one”. Love the twist ending.

MM’s New PV- Only low quality, but loving it already. Much better song than Naichau Kamo, IMHO. Probably not as good as Resonant Blue, but with one major improvement, multiple solo lines for everyone 6th gen and above.

Cute’s Bye Bye Bye PV- The song is… okay. The PV? The suckiest piece of suck that every sucked. Seriously, what happened there? Was Kanna the one funding C-ute’s PVs or something?

New Egg Unit- Shugo Chara Egg-Akari+ Sakkity huh? Well, Sakkity and Kanon are two of the best singing eggs, and Yuuka and Dawa are two of the cutest. It makes sense. I guess Akari had her chance in Shugo Chara Egg, but she didn’t prove charismatic enough. Still sad for her though. Personally, I’m really hoping for a major H!p debut for these girls (not TNX). The last egg to do that was who? Kanna? LinLin doesn’t count.

Tsuji Nozomi- Saw her on TV the other day, along with a really cheesy dramatization of her life. Poor little angel Nono was just admiring the other Morning Musume’s costumes when big bad Yuko came and yelled at her!! Lol. We all know she was a little terror back then, and it did not go down quite like that. Even Tsuji herself admits it later in the interview.

Big Ol’ Graduation Concert- I plan to do something with the DVD later, so we’ll save commentary on that.

Apostraphe Key- Is in a totally different place on Japanese keyboards, which I’ve been using for some while now. I’m so confused!

Morning Musume Concerts- Going at least twice, probably three times. Nya nya.

Got to get to bed now. So glad to be back.

Tadaima!

~Celestia~

I think this is right, but then again, it changes a lot. I don’t really have time now to comment on these. Maybe later.