Chuo Dori

As I said on my last post I want to begin writing on this blog again.  I have been brewing up a particularly venomous post regarding the reactions to the latest AKB48 scandals.  But I have usually stuck with positive posts, so that particular entry may not see the light of day.  Anyway, as I predicted the Miichan controversy has already died down.  We’ll see if there is anything to this supposed Yukirin story.

In the meantime…

I have not booked a trip over to Japan this Spring.  I have opted instead to wait until early Summer for my next visit.  This is due in part to AKB48′s crazy handshake scheduling.  Can you believe they are still doing UZA handshake events?  Eien Pressure is already old news and they haven’t even started that one yet!  I have opted for the So Long events, which will be happening around 4 months from now.

But I never completed my report from last Fall.  I mainly focused on the handshake events.  But I didn’t really touch on some of the special things that happened this time around…

Momoiro Clover Z Live at Budokan, Otoko Matsuri 2012/11/05

I had been relatively unlucky when I came to Momoclo Z.  At least when it came to seeing concerts and obtaining tickets.  I DID happen to run into the entire group walking down the street last year.  But as far as a performance was concerned I hadn’t seen them since Pinky Jones was their new single.  That’s two years almost to the day.  But my friend Peter and I tried our luck at the ticket lottery, and sure enough we pulled it off.  I was finally going to see Momoclo again, and at the legendary BUDOKAN!  With all of the trips I have taken, I had never been there.  So I was doubly excited!

We decided to head over extra early for goods.  The trouble was that I had spent the previous night shivering from fever.  Plus, it was cold and rainy.  It took plenty of medication, an endless supply of vitamin C, and every bit of strength, but I was going to make it through this day.  I missed a Momoclo show in 2009 because of the flu.  It wasn’t gonna happen again.

We decided to get into the monstrous goods line, which stretched all the way around the venue, down the stairs, then down the road, then into a courtyard near the park entrance where it looped around 4 times.  I had no idea what I wanted.  But after 2+ hours of queueing I decided to go hog wild and picked up the Tank Top, a Momoka Oshi Towel, a light stick and a cell phone case.

After a pasta lunch we decided to people watch for a while.  This was Otoko Matsuri, which meant “No Girls Allowed”.  However, that didn’t stop legions of female supporters from parading around the festivities.  That’s okay, the girls had Onna Matsuri the previous month.  And I am sure there were plenty of jealous guy fans hanging around the venue that evening.

We had 6th row seats on the first level above the floor.  They seemed like decent seats, although we had no idea what the stage arrangement would be.  So we were totally jazzed when we saw there was no floor seating at all, and there was a stage ramp all around the venue.  So 6th row 1st level actually was 6th row!  We would actually be pretty close to the girls!  Oh, and just before showtime Yamachan showed up to huge applause!

What an awesome looking stage!  The floor also doubled as a screen.  The show opened with the girls “drawing” Otoko Matsuri on the floor with giant paintbrushes.  There was so much around the stage floor, we had no idea how they were going to utilize all of the space.  Then came the Momoclo Z Overture.  By the way, I love their intro!  I remember when they were an indie they would come out to the Universal Music theme.  But what they do now is totally insane. Frankly, it blows the AKB48 overture away!

One amazing thing about this setlist was the amount of “old songs” performed.  Saikyou Pare Parade is one of my favorite old songs they perform.  Shortly after came Supergirl, along with Momoiro Punch and Mirai e Susume.  But what I really wanted to hear were some of my new favorites!

Unfortunately for me most of my faves didn’t get performed that night.  But they DID do Bionic Cherry, which might be my favorite Momoclo song of all!  The real fun was in all of the shenanigans going on between the songs.  This was Otoko Matsuri, so they filled the show with stuff “guys like”…I guess.  Ninjas, bodybuilders, taiko drummers, judo masters, pro wrestlers.  At one point just before the encore Momoka took a huge header down a ramp.  You could tell she wanted to cry, but Shiori grabbed her, dusted her off and our little giant got back to business.

By the end of the show my fever felt almost completely gone.  Even so I was really looking forward to hitting the sheets.

I must say I enjoyed the show immensely, even if they didn’t perform a lot of my favorites.  It is so interesting the way the idol phenomenon works.  Here is a group I used to go see when they had trouble getting 25 people to watch them.  And it was so much fun!  The interactions we got to have with the group were amazing.  Autographs, two shots, the girls feeding you lunch…

Some Momoclo goods, among other stuff

But now they have grown up and have become a huge success.  It is so bittersweet.  I am happy that they are doing so well, but the good old days are gone for good.  Now they play in huge venues and events aren’t nearly as intimate as they used to be.  This is the way of the idol world.  Like with AKB, most of the original fans are probably gone.  Once the masses discover an idol act, it changes everything. But it’s inevitable. Even though the newer fans will never really get to experience a big part of what was so special about the group to begin with. Oh well.

Pardon me while I go reminisce over my old Momoclo 2-shots and autographs.  Momentos from a time gone by. I just hope it isn’t another two years before I get to see Momoclo again.

CK in California

Yeah, I know I haven’t been blogging much at all lately.  Frankly, I think I lost my enthusiasm for it.  Not to mention there are so many great forums to use as an outlet for the fandom.  So what have I been up to?

I am still as much of an AKB fan (and Momoclo) as ever.  But I was preoccupied this past Summer with the purchase of a house.  It is a major commitment, both monetarily and time-wise.  But I love my new place, which I have dubbed the “Casa de Wasa”  The entire upstairs is decorated with AKB and Wasamin paraphernalia.

I also appeared on both of the Fuji television specials that focused on foreign fans.  I wasn’t invited to Japan, but they filmed segments from my house.  One of them featuring Fuji TV talent Fukuzawa Akira.  That was so much fun!!!

Finally I did appear in a web radio show the day after AKB48 announced their latest Team Shuffles.  Old news, I know.  But I thought we did a good job.  You can check it out at the link below if you like…

Stage48 Link to the radio show

So there ya go.  And in the meantime the next few posts will feature reports from the various events I went to on my current trip…

11/4/2012 SKE48 “Kiss Datte Hidarikiki” National Handshake Event at Port Messe Nagoya

When this event was announced I debated making the trip. I don’t have a Railpass this time around, and it is my first full day in Japan. But two things compelled my to go to this event…

1) Kuumin’s sudden graduation announcement. I really wanted to be there so I could see her announcement in person.

2) The fact that AKB’s stages are brand new will make it even harder to win a show, so I better jump on any event I have access to!

Anyway, grabbed the 6am Shinkansen out of Tokyo, which would get me to the exhibition hall around 8:15 if all went well. The queue was pretty big, around 2/3 of the way around the venue, and as I queued up I heard someone talking to me in English. After a brief conversation I found out it was someone who was friends with a member of the forums. So cool! I have someone to pal around with for the event!

As I entered we drew tickets to see which section we would get to stand in. Luckily I got section A which was the closest to the stage. It was half-full when I got there, but most everyone was right down the middle, so I got a spot on the left side right behind the women’s section. Perfect view! Nobody of significant height in front of me! Now it was time for the two hour wait for the show to start while sitting on a concrete floor. PAIN!!! These standing-only shows on a concrete floor are just murder on my ankles!!! Each section began to pack up, and eventually it was time for the show to begin…

Kuumin did the Kage-ana, which drew a lot of reaction from the crowd. First two songs were Banzai Venus and Chime wa Love Song, great songs to begin the show. Banzai Venus is my favorite SKE single, and it drew memories of going to that release event in Tokyo a year and a half ago! It took me a minute, but I finally found Masanya dancing in the back. Churi and Kuumin were right in front.

After the first two songs Yuasa came out and made the announcement about the new theater, then it was time for Kuumin’s oficial announcement…

She didn’t really cry, but she seemed to be at a loss for words. Very long pauses and she kept looking at Yuasa-san with a sort of “Help Me!” look. But eventually with the help of the fans she got through it.

We were then treated to two unit songs. First was Namida no Shounan, which I don’t believe I had ever seen performed live before. I love that song. It was tight quarters, so it was tough for me to do the hand movements. BTW, Yuria was center, and Shawako seemed to be second lead. Aside from Kato Rumi, I don’t remember who else participated. After that was Ookami to Pride performed by the two birthday girls, Ogiso and Kanon! Masanya’s birthday is on Tuesday, but I think it is bad luck to prematurely celebrate?

The birthday girls got flowers, and notes read to them. Yukiko read a note for Shiori, and Rena (!?!) for Kanon. The crowd seemed surprised by that. Airi pretty much lead the MC, which I thought was pretty neat. Oh, and when they read the prize winners, I almost thought I had won the 2-shot. I was one digit off, too bad!

The girls finished with the Akagumi song, and Kiss Datte. Too bad Anna was in Tokyo, the Shirogumi song is my favorite on the single!

Everyone took a one hour break. Then it was time for handshakes. I had four tickets, which was probably perfect since I needed to get back to Tokyo before 7pm (or so I thought) Evreryone got one handshake to start, then when everyone was done you could go back as often as you had tickets. There was also a goods line, with some really cool stuff. But the line seemed insanely long. So I skipped it for the time being (going to another SKE event next week)

Handshake #1: Kuumin and Yukiko. I just knew Kuumin’s line would be insane, and it totally was. Even more than staff expected. They had to redesign the queue to accomodate the fans. These handshakes are so quick that you basically can say one little thing and move on. I congratulated Kuumin on her graduation, and for Yukiko I simply told her where I was from since I had never talked to her before.

#2: Masanya and Shiitan. Oya’s line was pretty small, I got greeted by the ole’ “long time no see” Masanya asked me how I have been. Kinda chummy, I like it! Shiori was a first time meeting, so I basically told her that Team S is great!

#3: Shawako and Seira. Last time I met Sawako she made a big deal out of the line “Nice to Meet You” So I came in and sang it with her. She sang too and laughed. That was fun! Aas for Seira. I couldn’t just come out nd tell her she looks sensational in a bikini, could I? My friend thought I should, but I didn’t want to get slapped! So I went with “Seira-san no solo PV sugoi!” She really liked that I said that. I think I need to make Seira part of my regular handshake rotation!

#4: Churi. I had plenty of time, and one more ticket. Since my new friend was a Rena fan I decided to queue with her over there. After all, the line was moving pretty well. However, they closed it for Rena to take what seemed like a never-ending break! So we bailed and went for Kaotan, but her line was really long too. I wanted to go to Akarin, but I think her line was longest of all. So I went for Churi who had a very short queue all day.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say to Churi, so I basically said that her Solo PV was cool too. I am not sure if she remembered me or not (Masanya and Kuumin did, Sawako may have) But she was very sweet and focused on what I was trying to say.

The only bummer of the day was that I ended up not needing to get back to Tokyo so soon after all. So I could have stayed for goods and more handshakes. But that’s okay. I am going to SKE’s event in Yokohama next week.

Anyway, I am still dead tired from the jetlag so it was probably for the best. Hopefully I will have more fun stuff to talk about in the next couple of weeks!

CK in Tokyo

I went to AKB48′s “Give Me Five” handshake event on Sunday, but since that will take me a while to write, and I need to begin packing for my flight home tomorrow I am going to skip it for the moment. Instead I will report today’s festivities…

I had won cancel machi for last Tuesday’s Team K show, but the storm that went through Tokyo that evening forced many businesses to close early. It also resulted in the Theater being closed for the evening. But I received an email that I could transfer the win to the show of my choosing. So I chose Monday’s show, which also happened to be Team K. But before I get into that…

As a tradition I always meet one of my friends for lunch in Toyosu whenever I am in town. We have a designated meeting spot outside Toyosu Station. So today I headed out to Toyosu in the early afternoon. I went to our normal meeting place, but there were four girls standing there. As I quickly surveyed the situation one of the four girls looked over and stared at me. To my surprise, I then realized that I knew who they were…

It was Momoiro Clover Z!!!

The entire group, except for Reni (the purple one) was standing there while their manager was hailing two taxis. Ayaka and Shiori were still wearing their school unis. I wasn’t sure if Momoka recognized me when she looked over (I have done handshakes and a two-shot with her in the past), so I just stood there pretending not to be paying attention to them.  I didn’t want to scare them away!  But when they left I tried to snap off a few paparazzi shots.

Never a dull moment in the land of Idols.

AKB48 Theater 2012/04/09 “RESET” featuring Team K and various Kenkyuusei

I had cancel machi #56, and this was the only sniff I had at a possible win while I was here. So it would either be this show or bust. Luckily most of the major members of Team K would be absent for this show. So that improved my chances. I didn’t really mind anyway since Yui and Moeno would be there. that was all that mattered to me.

I got up there about 5 minutes before the beginning of cancel machi. I could tell immediately that they had a lot of space because they were calling the numbers rather rapidly. 10, 20, 30, 40, still calling rapidly. When they got to 50 and still hadn’t slowed down I knew I was in good shape with 56. At the end they had gone past 100. So keep that in mind kiddies the next time you have a high cancel machi number. You never know…

So this would be my 29th theater show, and 7th time seeing Team K. It also meant I have now seen all the of the current AKB stages. It took a year and a half, but I have now seen A6, K6, and B5 live. And I was going to be in the seat lottery. Now historically I always had terrible seat lottery luck. I had never been closer than 4th row on the side. But that all changed last trip when I got front row center for SDN. I wondered how my luck would be today with ticket #211?

First call, 80-89
Second call, 70-79
Third call, 210-219…Score-a-rooni!

I didn’t get front row center. But I DID get front row on the left. Awesome! You guys know the RESET setlist, so I won’t bother with a track-by-track. Just some of the highlights from my perspective…
One again, first row always gets you some good one-on-one reactions. Yokoyama Yui and Sazaki Yukari, who I both had handshakes with yesterday both smiled at me right off the bat. But I was really looking for Moeno.

Unfortunately for me Moeno spent most of the show on the other side of the stage. But she came over on the third song and kneeled down right in front of me. When she looked up, she saw me, laughed and waved! LOL, too cute! In fact, just about every time she came over to my side she looked for me.  Moeno is a total flirt!

But I also got attention from a couple other girls too, especially Nakatsuka Tomomi. She kept pointing right at me in one song. Uchida Mayumi waved to me and smiled too. As did Nattori Wakana a couple of times. BTW, has Uchi always had her bellybutton pierced? Or is that new???

Oh, and I ended up being in the perfect seat if I was a Minegishi Minami fan. She was right in front of me quite a lot, and she demands your attention when she is there! I wanted to pay attention to Moeno and Yui, but I was afraid to not look at Miichan!

Also, sitting at the side in front puts you right next to the speakers. It is REALLY loud over there! You can also hear when the girls’ mics are live. Yes, I heard a few clunker notes along the way. But I had forgotten how much I enjoy K6. It is a very fun stage! And for the encore we got GM5, and Moeno playing a mean bass guitar! She really did a great job!

High Touch went very fast, but I got looks of familiarity from Moeno and Yui, and a few English “Thank You’s” I forget from whom.

It was a great last evening of the trip. Now it is time to pack for the flight back to Cali tomorrow. I will do my Sunday handshake event report ASAP.

CK in Tokyo

Okay, so that SDN concert was major. But it isn’t the only bit of fun I have planned for this trip. Not by a longshot, my friends. In fact, the SDN concert wasn’t even the only thing I did on Saturday. There was another event, and I was even more excited about this one than the SDN concert…

Iwasa Misaki – Solo Mini-live and handshake event at Sunshine City, Ikebukuro

This was going to be awesome! And I knew there would be no problem getting into the event since well, pretty much anyone in the mall could watch if they wanted to. But they were holding a special raffle early Saturday morning for the people who wanted “premium seating”. So I hoofed it over to Sunshine and met Tenkun. He had friends who were already there. We got there around 20 minutes before the drawing, and were around 50th in line. This was really good news since they had 200 premium seats for each of her three events.

So the way it worked, you went up to the table and bought a CD. Every time you got to the front you got handshake tickets, and got to draw a seat ticket for your choice of shows. Since there were probably around 100-150 people there, you could simply loop the line and keep drawing seats until you got a decent one. Of course you had to buy a CD too. I ended up with four, which means I have a new product for my shop!

Around 30 minutes before the show we queued up by lottery number, and went down to our seats. A lot of people had gethered around the free areas, so Wasamin was going to have a good crowd to cheer her on. In addition to the CDs, they were also selling Uchiwas and postcards. I have always wanted a Wasamin uchiwa, and now I have one

One of the bigwigs from Tokuma Records did the opening MC. Talked about Wasamin, and did a bit of banter with the crowd. They also explained how the handshake process would work. After a few minutes, out came my little hero. It was Wasamin!!!

She was dressed in her pink kimono, with a beautiful flower set in her hair. She immediately went io the short version of Mujineki. I was in heaven!!! I have been so worried that I would never get the chance to see her perform this live. And now I have. It was so great! But that wasn’t the only song she sang. Actually she sang four in total, with a short MC between each song. I know during one particular MC she mentioned that she sometimes shopped in that mall. Which would make sense since we already know from Sasshi’s 600 sec. segment that she and Komorin like going there. BTW, I was perfectly positioned dead center in the 2nd row. And there was nobody in front of me because of a break in the first row seats. So I was completely in Wasamin’s sightline, and her eyes were fixed on me much of the time.

As for the other songs, she did Heavy Rotation second. The third song changed for each show The early performance had Seto no Hanayome. The 2nd show was Kikyou. I didn’t see the third performance because of SDN, but I am guessing she did Tsubasa wo Kudasai. The last song was the full version of Mujineki. She sang brilliantly, and looked absolutely gorgeous. Even Tenkun remarked how great she sounded! Then came the handshakes. I had four tickets. You used one as you exited the seating, but could requeue for more after all the seated people went once. My plan was to use three in the first show, and one in the 2nd just in case I had to jam out of there to make it to SDN.

First handshake: Wasamin got that excited look on her face I have grown accustomed to. “Oshiburi!!!”, she says. It is funny because it feels like I was just in Japan for the Kazefui event. But I guess Wasamin missed me? So it seems long for her. She then whispered something to her manager. I hope it was something along the lines of “This is the man I am going to marry!” Anyway, I told her how much I loved Mujineki, and I was so happy to be back in Japan for the event. She responded with “I Love You”, which I of course reciprocated. And you guys think I am joking when I say that Wasamin and I are in love…

For the second round I told her that I learned what Oshiburi meant (I actually didn’t know when she originally said it to me) I asked her to teach me more Japanese she paused….”Arigatou???” Her manager laughed! I also congratulated her for winning the AKBingo! Diva contest. For the third round I showed her a picture of my AKB car. She loved it, and actually showed the picture to her manager.

For the last ticket I simply told her that she looked beautiful, and her kimono was lovely. Also, for each event you got a choice of an autographed signboard, or a postcard. Naturally most everyone took the autograph. So I will add that to my collection.

And this was all on the same day as the SDN concert. Not to mention the fact that I had another huge day planned for Sunday. So now you know why I was so exhausted after SDN. But at the end of the day, it was two majorly awesome events. Wasamin, as expected, did an amazing job. I am so happy they are pushing her single so much. It gave me plenty of opportunity to see her live. And I did, os I am a happy camper.

By the end of the night all I wanted to do was get some sleep and have some wonderful Wasadreams.

CK in Tokyo

Warning, this is going to be long. Oh, and another warning. I might be slightly mixing up the order of events. It was a long show, and a lot of emotional stuff happened…

SDN48 Final Concert at NHK Hall 3/31/2012

So yeah, I am in Japan again. You surprised? I said that I would be aiming for this concert since the day they announced SDN’s graduation. But I almost didn’t make it to the main event I came here for…

After months of worrying about being able to score tickets for SDN’s graduation, they finally announced the ticket lottery. I had a lot of friends applying, so I was reasonably confident about getting a ticket. However, they did announce a “random id check”, which all but ruled out obtaining one from a reseller. Anyway, we didn’t have any luck with the ticket lottery, so I had resigned myself to the fact that I was probably going to miss the show. It wasn’t until the wee hours of Saturday morning that my friend found someone with extra tickets. They weren’t the greatest seats, and they were quite pricey, but we went for it anyway.

I spent the entire morning and afternoon with Tenkun and friends at the Wasamin mini-live, then headed over to Harajuku to meet my friend and the girl wth the tickets. BTW, it was raining, windy as hell, and freakin’ freezing in Tokyo. The doors were supposed to open at 5pm, so we queued up around 15 minutes before. Doors opened almost 25 minutes late. By then I was totally numb. So I skipped the goods line and went to my seat in order to thaw out. Basically missed out on trading pics. The t-shirt had already sold out. But enough of my yappin…let’s boogie!

I am guessing many of you have alrady seen the setlist…and the stage setup since tgsk posted it during the show.  If not, then here ya go.  I didn’t get the jungle theme, along with the door to “Club SDN”. The vines actually blocked the monitor from my view. Show started with the standard SDN overture into Sado e Wataru, which was a curious opener. But they did a very cool rain effect over the stage. That was neat. So the opening set ended, and I figured “Okay, they will do most of their songs, then a tearful goodbye, and that will be it” But then, something strange happened…and I swear I am choking back tears as I write this…

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – J.S. Bach?

It was at this moment that I felt this concert was going to be special. It was like, wow, this is REALLY going to be graduation! The pipe organ played for a long time. I was waiting for something to happen Then suddenly two men appeared on stage guarding the door to Club SDN. And these guys were not Japanese. Three members, I don’t remember who was there other than CinDy tried to enter the club, but were blocked by the guards. Then Sayanee came out and asked the guards, in English, how they could get through the door. He responded that you had to knock three times. So the girls all knocked and went in. Next Konan showed up and asked the same question, but this time the guards yelled at her in the Kansai dialect!

The stage setup then changed to inside the club, with a bar, lounge, pool table and dancer poles. Then we got the standard show open with Saturday Night Party, Never, and Black Boy. Both gen’s teams were onstage for this. Then after the first verse of Black Boy, just as the crowd started the 2nd mix, the music changed. They began to intro the members in small groups, each doing a mini-performance while a VTR played above. There was hip-hop, ballet, bubble gum pop, you name it! To me the ballet one was the best. I don’t remember what everyone did, except that Meetan was in a group that did pole dancing ala Dump Show, and Chaki was in the hip-hop group. It was the greatest version of Black Boy ever! Too funny! Onto the next skit, and the first guest star of the night…

Cut to the bar, and some of the girls were hanging out, drinking with the bartender who was curiously “tounguing” a highball glass…Yama-chan! If you don’t know who I mean, he is the ref from the Janken. Masamin sort of led the skit, but Miray and Serina were also there. At one point Yama-chan started making fun of Serina’s voice. That led into the next set of songs…

Now the way they did the units, both team’s units were onstage simultanously. In the case of I’m Sure they were on each side of the stage. As for Yuuwaku no Garter (which was later in the show) the girls shared the same chairs, but on the final verse half of them performed on the stripper poles. At one point Mamitan did an insane split on the pole!!! Full crotch shot for everyone!

There was also a skit before all in, with the girls playing pool. At one point Nonti decided to try a “trick shot”, but failed miserably…TWICE! Didn’t even hit the ball. Then she just threw the cue ball across the table.

FYI, they did the PG-rated version of Futsuu no Anata, and it was about this point in the show that it became apparent the entire catalog was going to be performed.

Queue our next special guest, Mino Monta, who got an amazing reception from the crowd. He had some nice things to say about SDN, then he sat on the couch with the girls from the single. Meetan was totally perving out on Monta-san. They poured him a stiff drink as well. In fact, there seemed to be a lot of alcohol onstage throughout the show. I would like to think it was all real! But before they could perform the song, Rachel came out for her solo while Monta and the girls watched.  Oh, and when they sang Monta-san’s single, the fans’ call for him was louder than the girls!

In the next segment we got Kazue and Cha-min’s new songs. I was so excited to hear Chaki’s new song! I love Kazue, but I thought her song was just okay. Some great moments from the next segment…

Meetan chasing Yamachan around the stage with her whip during Jaujama Lady, the champagne pouring going on behind Onedari Champagne. And of course seeing everyone doing Tamanegi!! Next was the Nachu MC, where she did her impressions. We got to hear a little Daruma, Natsuko/Akiko, Chaki, a few others I can’t remember. The Natsuko/Akiko one was classic, with Natsuko sounding like an airhead and Akiko sounding dopey! And of course her big finale, Takamina.

I think it was at this pont when the speeches started between songs. Various members, featuring the former AKB girls talking about what the graduation meant to them. But then things would lighten up and they would go into the next song. They did both of their AKB covers, whh pretty much sealed that all of their songs would be performed. Oh, and I absolutely loved “1 Gallon no Ase“. Very cute song! When they performed Aisureru Tame ni, each gen’s members shared their respective lines. And since they had so many members on stage, the spelled out SDN simultanously instead of the letters one at a time. With that, the regular set had finished.

It had been predetermined, and communicated by a note on a white glowstick that the graduation committee would lead the encore, and it would be done as SDN…FORTY-EIGHT! It was deafening! At points it was so loud that you couldn’t hear the words anymore.

The first encore finished up all the songs remaining, with tearful goodbye’s from select members. The cameras would often cut to the girls that were crying the hardest. My poor little Chaki! At one point I thought she was going to fall over she looked so distressed! Also, one of Nonti’s MCs was a rundown of chart positions for all of the singles and the album, and a big thank you to the fans for supporting them. But when Kodoku finished and the girls left the stage it was obvious the show wasn’t over since they hadn’t done their official graduation song yet! Cut to the longest and loudest ever “Encoree” I have ever experienced. And then…

Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring. The Bach music returns?  OMG, it is really graduation time!

I forget the order that everything happened. But at one point Nonti was beside herself crying. Pretty much everyone was crying onstage. I think it was this point that the girls went silent and all you could here was pretty much the entire audience sobbing. It was freaking amazing! I wondered what tgsk thought when this happened. Perhaps he was crying too?  Oh, I forget. He was busy Google Plussing. Anyway, the girls came out all dressed in white. First they performed their new single. Then came the “final call” Nonti asked that all of the girls say their name one last time onstage, and the crowd call it back. It was so hard, I was so choked up that I was even having trouble speaking. But I muscled it up when my favorite members’ turns came.

Finally, they performed Owaranai Encore, and we all lit our last white glowstick. Although the effect from where I was sitting was slightly dimmed because the stage was fully lit at the time. Then, for the fans, a second dose of Kodoku na Runner. After a tearful double-bow with a huge SDN chant in the middle, they left the stage. Meetan being the last one to go. They did a closeup on her face…she was crying her eyes out.

As you left NHK there was a beautiful collage with messages from all the members. It was really hard to get close to it, but I did get a side shot to give you an idea…

Final thoughts…

At first I was thinking that management really “phoned in” the planning for this concert. It seemed kinda hokey in the beginning. But as the show progressed I started to see how perfect it really was. Pretty much all of the MCs and skits were unscripted. Tons of goofy things were happening as the show worked up to it’s emotional finale. At the end I think everyone in the audience had to be satisfied. It was a fitting goodbye. Perfect in it’s imperfection. The girls being completely authentic. It was everything SDN is all about, as far as I am concerned. And when you make an entire audience cry, you are doing something right.

And I think about the select few that called SDN a “failure”, and that their concept was “off the mark”, “too sexy”, and whatever else. I don’t think those people truly saw what SDN48 was really about. Sure, they had a sexy side. But in truth that was just a small piece of SDN. they were about fun, they were about authenticity. And more than any other spoke in the AKB wheel, they were about a true comeraderie with their fanbase. Perhaps it was because they are more mature, but the bond they had with their fans was very strong. The manifestation of that was this unbelievable concert that I will remember forever.

And suffice it to say, I will never again be able to listen to that Bach piece without thinking of SDN.

I did a couple of other neat things this weekend, I will post about them later.

CK in Tokyo

Check out the new billboard outside of Akihabara Station, and very close to the AKB48 Cafe.  AKBaby…LOLZ!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I finally won a show at the AKB48 Theater.  SDN48, and Chenchu’s birthday celebration.  I have never won fewer than 2 theater shows on a trip, and I didn’t win anything for SKE.  So I have a week left to try to win at least one more.  But before that…

When I reported on my last trip in June, I had promised to post all of my “Gets”.  However, I completely bricked on it.  So let’s get this out of the way early.  I have actually purchased a few more things that I have yet to take photos of.  I picked up the new releases from Not Yet and SKE48.  I have also gotten a few DVDs, and a bunch of random photos.  And here are a couple of items I am particularly excited about…

SKE Halloween photosets.  Ooh, scary…but cute!  I got Masanya and Churi

The DumpShow DVD was high on my priority list.  I was happy it wasn’t sold out when I got here.  Also, I finally found an autographed version of Wasamin and Komorin’s DVD, for about one-third of what they go for on Yahoo Japan Auction.

Anyhow, back to the action.  I won a show, and even I didn’t know how special my evening was about to be…

SDN48 Yuuwaku no Garter Performance 11/17

Finally I won a show this trip!  My 28th theater show all time, and 11th SDN show.  I was beginning to get worried.  But fate somehow works in mysterious ways.  Remember last weekend I lost out on a bunch of Ohori Megumi handshake tickets because she cancelled for the event…

I won via Ippan , which I like a lot more than Enpou because you have the chance to get a really good seat via the lottery.  Enpou is always last seated row center.  That said, I have ALWAYS had horrible lottery luck when it comes to the AKB48 theater.  I have only once been as close as the 4th row, and that time I had one of the pillars blocking about 75% of the stage view.  Twice I have been the last person into the theater.  I went upstairs around an hour before the show because I wanted to see the birthday committee and their flower arrangement.  I have been to every Chenchu birthday show for SDN, so I actually know a few of the committee members.  Anyhow, the flowers were beautiful, and I was glad to see a few friends there for the show.

I got ticket #46, and went to queue up.  I passed the time by filling out a Yui birthday card and figuring out how the birthday glowsticks were going to work within the show.  By the way, they are now playing SDN songs on the sound system before the show. I know that sounds appropriate. But in the early days of SDN they used to play soft jazz, which I always thought was a totally cool move, not to mention fitting for the theme. Some sexy Jazz, YEAHHH!  They eventually started the seat lottery, #160-169 were called in first.  Oh well, this will surely be another horrible seat for me…

2nd call, #40-49.  OMFG!!!!  I am going to have a great seat.  I hustled in as quickly as I could (you aren’t allowed to run in the theater)  Most of the front row was taken, but 2nd row center was available.  Just as I was about to sit down I noticed the two guys front and center were sitting on 3 seats.  So I jumped up there and grabbed the seat in between.  Front row freakin’ center baby!!!  I didn’t care that I was sandwiched in between these two guys.  This show was going to be awesome!!!

So rule #1:  When big gaijin is sitting front row center, he is going to get plenty of attention from the girls.  Now I know this might be a very silly time to complain, but being in this position actually made things complicated.  Meetan is my oshimen, so obviously I am going to pay attention to her.  But Hatakeyama Chisaki was there, as was Akiko and of course Chenchu.  I have developed “relationships” with all of them.  Who do I pay attention to?  Who do I scream for?  Will Chaki be unhappy if she is looking at me and I am paying attention to Tan?  Or vice-versa?  Not to mention it seemed as if Akita Kazue and Kohara Haruka were fixated on me through the entire show.  Same with Kondo Sayaka…and Kato Mami.  My head was on a freakin’ swivel!

But I’ll tell ya, with the girls practically performing on top of me, it made the show even more amazing.  I twas also great doing the hand gestures with members doing them right back at me.  A few highlights…

Meetan had her antics in overdrive tonight.  First lusting after Mana Ito during the MC with Nachu.  Then during the late MC having to be held back from attacking Chen when she layed on the floor.  Chen actually kissed the stage, lied down, then Meetan went after her doing “The Pantsu Dance”  You had to see it.  It was so silly!  Later during Vampire, Meetan winked at me and stuck her tongue out, then she licked Yukarin!  By the way, I didn’t see this but apparently Meetan’s bra snapped during “Best By”, and she had to run offstage before her top fell off.  She talked about it on her blog right after the show.  If only…

Here is a link to her blog post with a couple of pics of her “wardrobe malfunction”.

“I’m Sure” was done by Mamitan and Kohara.  I had never seen that pair do that song before.  Also, this was a U-18 show, although I didn’t really see anyone under 18 in the audience.  But that meant I got to see the PG-rated version of “Futsuu no Anata”.  I actually did the crossed-arm “X” along with the girls.  I don’t know if the fans normally do that, but it just felt like the thing to do.   Chen did “Yuuwaku no Garter” with Yukarin and Kazue.  I was hoping this would be my chance to get a garter.  But it wasn’t even close.  Chen came down the middle and heaved her garter about 4 rows back!

High-Touch was great, although they were pushing us through very quick.  I got the best reactions from the girls I mentioned above…Kazue, Kohara, Akiko, Sayanee (finally!), Chaki, Yukarin (who might have remembered my antics at her DVD event last year) and finally Meetan, who like usual gave my hand a quick squeeze.

So it’s funny how things work out.  Here I was all bummed out that I didn’t get to do handshakes with Meetan last weekend, and today I probably got more Meetan facetime than I would have gotten with all of the handshake tickets combined!  Go figure.

Without a doubt, and to no surprise for obvious reasons, that was the best SDN48 show I ever saw!

CK in Tokyo

Okay, so this time around I am going to separate these posts by event instead of by day.  The reason is that unlike previous trips I am not jamming every single minute into idol concerts.  I actually spent a few days visiting shrines, museums…touristy things.  I checked out the Edo Museum on Monday which is a neat place.  Kind of reminded me of the British Museum, although quite a bit more low-key.  But well worth the visit for the 600 yen admission.

I had the opportunity to see Berryz Kobo and C-ute last Sunday, but passed it up even though there were plenty of tickets available.  The funny thing was, when I made that decision a rush of relief came over me.  I don’t have to rush into every idol event that happens while I am here.  I am at the point where I can be a bit more selective.  The fact is that HP concerts haven’t excited me for a while now.  And since I had just come off of an exhausting day of handshakes, a quiet evening was so much more attractive.   Even with AKB48.  In the old days I applied for EVERY show while I was in town.  But now, even their popularity being what it is, I stick to shows I want to see.   Maybe I’m just getting old…

By the way, at this point of the trip I had yet to win one AKB48 show at the theater.  I was also blanking for SKE48.  So I was beginning to get worried.  Especially after Tuesday night.  I had mixed up the dates of the Team Ogi Matsuri concerts and made conflicting plans for the first night.  Originally I was okay with this because the tickets were reselling for a rather high price, and I didn’t want to spend a fortune on this concert.  However, when I heard that Wasamin was made a guest appearance to do an Enka performance.   Well, let’s just say I was disappointed, shall we?  Wasamin used to be in Production Ogi, but she transferred earlier this year.  That said, she remains a member of Watarirouka Hashiritai 7, which is an OgiPro group.

Team Ogi Matsuri Live at TDC Hall 11/16 (2nd Night)

I finally found a ticket that wasn’t too expensive after seeing most of the resellers pricing them at close to 20000 yen for the last two weeks.  I scored a standing floor ticket, but toward the rear of the queue.  The bummer was…actually there were two bummers…

1) Wasamin had to keep secret that she would be there, that and my mistaking of the show dates meant I missed the first night, AND Wasamin’s Enka performance.  I was kicking myself for a full 24 hours over that blunder.

2) I checked the reseller website about three hours after I purchased my ticket, and they dropped the prices by about 3000 yen, AND had better tickets at the same price I had paid for mine.  But that’s the chance I took.  I could have also missed out on the tickets altogether.

They handled the floor tickets the same way they used to do the queue for the Shibuya AX Setlist concerts, you queued and entered by number.  I finally got into the venue with floor ticket #735, and jammed down to the arena level as fast as I could.  I probably passed at least 100 people confused about where to go, and stuffing their belongings into lockers.  When I got in, most everyone had crammed themselves on the right side, so I quickly went to the left for a much closer vantage point.  Not bad at all.  I was about mid-pack on the left side of the stage.  I could see just fine.  Now all I needed was to see Wasamin, and I would be a happy boy!

The show started about 5 minutes late.  Right out of the box, Watarirouka Hashiritai.  A quick scan of the stage…There’s Wasamin!!!  Yatta!  They led off with the first two Watarirouka 7 singles, Valentine Kiss and Hettapai Wink.  At this point I was reminded that I had never seen Watarirouka perform live before.  So I was etstatic as I screamed for Wasamin and Komori every time they sang.

No3b definitely had a bigger fanbase in the venue, as the energy rose dramatically when they came out.  Lots of people screaming for Minegishi Minami.  Once again, I had never seen No3b live before (although I have seen the three of them do unit songs together before)  I didn’t realize what a treat this show was until I started to experience it.

They did unit songs as well, and I loved them all.  Tsundere is a great song to begin with, and watching Nacchan, Rabu and Ayarin “ham it up” was too cute.  The came Himawari…with Wasamin on lead!!!!!  I was already getting hoarse from screaming her name (actually I was a bit congested before the show even started, which didn’t help)  But I was so happy she was getting featured so prominently in the show.  I have seen Blue Rose performed live so many times, frankly I was getting bored with it.  But seeing SDN48′s CinDy in Akimoto Sayaka’s position was just awesome!!!  Totally rejuvinated the song for me.  It would have been even cooler if she pulled a “Meetan-gold bikini”, but that’s another story…

The next awesome moment (aside from the performance of the new Watarirouka song) was the appearance of Yokoyama Rurika and Kawamura Yui from Idoling!!!  They stuck around for a few songs, including Chuu Shiyouze!, the AKBIdoling!!! song.  That began the parade of special Ogi guests.  I think my favorite had to be Mayuyu’s solos with Asakura Daisuke.  The second song she did was so pretty.  She did a great job!  Watarirouka with Ikuina Akiko from Onyanko Club was also very cute.  BTW, she still looks smokin’ hawt dressed as a loli-idol!!!

The show ended with an Ariyoshi skit with some dude imitating Takamina.  Actually in the VTR he was also dressed as Acchan, Mariko and Harunyan!  After that, Ponytail to Shushu, Everyday Kachuusha and the show was done…and my legs were killing me from standing on that concrete floor for three hours+

I went over to the goods table to see if they would have anything Wasamin-related.  Unfortunately not, so the good news was I could save a few Yen.  It was basically “I love (Ogi member)” towels, clear files, and Ogi group CDs.  But they DID have the new Watarirouka Book “The Spec Kit”.  I didn’t know if it had been released yet or not, so I was glad to get my hands on it.  They also had gacchas for signed clear files, but I hate clear files!  So I hoofed it back over to the train and got the hell out of Suidobashi!

A few observations…perhaps it is because the fans these days have such a hard time winning shows, but nobody seems to know the calls/chants anymore.  They basically scream the name of the girl on the big screen, regardless of who is singing.  Also, I could only watch the Watarirouka-related MCs on the big screen because some guy kept holding up his “I love Harugon” sign every time she was up there during MCs.  And it wasn’t like he held it there for a minute, he held it up during entire MCs.  Ya know, when you are toward the front of the “standing section”, and have people behind you craning there necks to see, do the world a favor and don’t hold up a big fucking sign…idiot!

Aside from that it was a great show.  Wasamin and Komorin were awesome (as expected), CinDy is always a treat.  I have finally seen Idoling!!! (sort of).  Heck, everyone did a terrific job!

Oh, a quick and blurry shot of the birthday flowers from Flagator and everyone else on the forums.  Nice job guys!

And the good news?  I finally won a show at the theater, SDN48 and Chen Qu’s birthday show.  This means I will have been to every Chen birthday celebration since the beginning of SDN!  Cool.

CK in Tokyo

Alright, paying another visit to my blog!  So what have I been up to lately?  Well…selling a whole bunch of idol stuff I’ve been accumulating lately.  I was getting tired of seeing piles of merchandise I had doubles, triples, even quadruples of.  Might as well sell the stuff, and at least make some cash I can use for future purchases.  Anyway…

I just love when my favorite idols come visiting my backyard.  Not that it has really ever happened before.  I am still waiting for AKB’s first visit to the San Francisco Bay Area.  But if it couldn’t be the adorable Wasamin, or the super sexy Meetan, at least it was the next best thing…

KOZUE!!!

Yes, San Francisco’s Japantown held it’s annual J-pop Summit this past week.  This year the event was dominated by Hatsune Miku and Vocaloid, which I just love.  And since Miku was going to be such a huge part of the event, it only made sense to invite her #1 human backdancers, DANCEROID featuring Aikawa Kozue.  Of course you all know Kozue by now.  I, as well as many others have posted about her awesomeness many times.  After missing her appearance earlier this Summer in L.A., I was finally getting the chance to see her in person.  Yayyy!

But it wasn’t without pre-show drama, as I was originally told I wouldn’t be able to get off work in time to see the show.  But I persisted, and won out.  After sweating out the horrific traffic on the Bay Bridge I was able to find parking and hoof it over to Peace Plaza just in time to snag a seat in front.

By the way, as cute as Kozue looks on her dance videos, she is 1000x cuter in person.  Just adorable as hell!  I’m not sure how many people there knew who Danceroid was, but there were at least a few fans there.  One person even screamed a marriage proposal to Kozue (and I think I might know who it was, too  Hehe)

The show was everything you would expect it to be.  Ikura and Kozue’s awesome dance routines while the mouthed the words to a few Vocaloid tunes, pretty much all of which are featured on their recent DVDs.  I was just excited about the fact that I was finally getting to see her up close after all these years of admiring her on NicoNico and stalking her room on Ameba Pigg.

By the way, you can find some great professional photos of the event here!

After the show they announced there would be an autograph/handshake session at the gift shop across the street.  Unfortunately for me I already had copies of every DVD and CD they had for sale.  But I just had to get in on this event, so I purchased another copy of the Danceroid Soundtrack.  And I bought two overpriced plushies just so I could have something new.  Twenty bucks apiece?  Sheesh!  But I had my swag, so it was finally the moment I would get to meet the girls.

Unfortunately there weren’t too many people buying their stuff.  I would say they signed less than 50 items during the hour they were there.  I opened my CD at the register so I wouldn’t fumble with it at the table.  I approached Ikura and laid my CD in front of her.  Both of them just stared at me.  Huh?  So I smiled and said “Onegaishimasu? “  Both Ikura and the manager laughed and Ikura began to sign.  I told them (in my terrible Japanese) that I loved Danceroid’s new box set.  Ikura digested that for a second, smiled and thanked me while Kozue signed the CD.  After Kozue signed it she handed it back to me and smiled.  So adorable!  I thanked both of them, bowed and walked away.

The bummer was that I didn’t realize until later that they would have taken a photo with me had I asked them to.  Oh well, at least I ended up in the “Team Photo” their manager took after the show.  So yes, it was my second appearance on Kozue’s blog if you count the time she took a Pigg photo of the two of us in her Pigg room and posted it.

Ahhh, the memories…

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Day 2

Now you might find it interesting that I hadn’t posted until now that the weekend event also featured the world-premiere of the Documentary of AKB48 with English subtitles.  I already own a copy of the DVD for this film.  But I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there is a lot I don’t understand in the film, and seeing it with subs would make the film a lot more interesting to me.  The problem was that it conflicted with two other Kozue events taking place on Sunday.  At the end of the day, face-time with an idol I adore is much more appealing than seeing a movie I have already seen.  But by the time I decided to go to the Kozue events they were already sold out.  So onto the film I went.

That ended up being a blessing in the end.  Not only did I get to meet up with a couple of friends from Stage48 and Nihongogo, but I also ran into my friend Yuta who I had met at the Sakura handshake events in Japan last June.  So that was cool.  Even better, it was announced that Danceroid was judging the Vocaloid dance contest later in the afternoon.  So I would get to see Kozue one more time after all!

After spending over 90 minutes watching a bunch of little girls (and one dude!) dance to the same three songs over and over, it was time for Danceroid’s final mini-performance with the contest winner!  Which brought the next WTF moment as I actually knew the girl who won the contest.  Her name was Tiffany, and she is another NicoNico Douga regular!  I was really stoked that she was the winner of the prize and special dance.  Good for her, she’s awesome!!!

Anyhow, another cool little J-pop interlude while I prepare for my next trip over to Awesome Island this fall.  Maybe this time I will finally get a chance to see Danceroid perform on their home turf.  And maybe, just maybe Ikura and Kozue will remember me from San Francisco…

People always ask me how I get so lucky with these special relationships I seem to have with certain idols.  And the answer is simple, persistence and repetition.  Idols meet so many fans that it is hard for them to remember each one.  Only with Wasamin did I ever have a  mutual “love at first site” experience with an idol.  The rest I have had to work at.  They see me once, i am forgotten two minutes later.  but when they see me enthusiastically coming to see them over and over they get that I really am a fan, and they begin to get comfortable.  During this event I admittedly didn’t make a huge connection with Kozue.  But that’s okay because I will eventually see her again.  And eventually she will recognize me.  And that will be the moment I know I have made an impression.  The look of recognition and true appreciation…THAT is the ultimate victory…

And now you know one of the biggest reasons why I go back to Japan so often!

CK in California

Time for another installment of CK’s big “SKE Trip” (hehehe)…

SKE Team S, 3rd Stage at Sunshine Sakae 6/15/11 Yagami Kumi B-day Show!

After multiple attempts to win a show in Nagoya since the early days of SKE, I finally won! So I jumped on the Shinkansen and headed to Nagoya Wednesday morning.

The Shinkansen will run you about 10000 yen each way, and it takes around 100 minutes to reach Nagoya Station. From there you catch the city line, and a couple of stops later you are in Sakae. From Exit 8 the first thing you will see is the monitor viewing area, so the place easy to find!

The moment I came out of the station the first thing I saw was what had to be a birthday committee working on some elaborate package. It dawned on me that Kuumin’s birthday was just a couple of days ago. Wow, my very first SKE win was Kuumin’s birthday celebration. If I wasn’t already excited, this put it over the edge.

I toured the neighborhood for a while before taking a short nap up in Nagoya TV Tower Observatory. Then headed back early because I wanted to see the entire SKE show process. I knew it was different from AKB’s process, and I didn’t want to somehow screw up and miss the show. There is no lobby of SKE’s theater, just the bar itself that it sits in. So all the pre-show festivities take place outside around the building. They don’t put “number sheets” on the ground either. Around 45 minutes before the show they just start calling for people to line up with a bullhorn. I had no idea where to go, so I asked and they escorted me to my spot. I was entry #106. 70 and up were all around the Tully’s. I have no idea where the lower numbers lined up, or the enpou for that matter, The cancel machi were out on the sidewalk.

A quick note: They DO have lockers, but I think you are better off using the lockers inside the station since they are so close to the venue anyway.

Anyhow, they check your email confirmation (either a printout or the actual email) Since I didn’t have either I took a photo of my winning email with my iphone, which they didn’t have any problem with. You then proceed in a line upstairs where you show them your email again, pay, and go grab a seat. Some awesome things about the SKE theater…

a) No Pillars of death! Jeez, was that a relief!
b) cushioned benches. Very comfortable!
c) tv monitors for people in the back to watch. Not that it is that big a place, but it does go a lot further back than the AKB Theater. I just think it is a nice touch.
d) the staff is slightly more laid back than at the Donki, and they are REALLY nice! Another thing, the staff all thank you for coming as you leave the theater, and as you leave Sunshine!

I got a seat in the second to last row, had my birthday kit (which consisted of three glowsticks, a little party hat, and instructions. Talk about elaborate! I was at the triple birthday show of Chaki, Chen and CinDy last year, and the combined efforts of those committees was less complicated. Luckily I just happened to get a seat next to the two captains of the birthday committee, so I merely followed their lead when it came to using the props.

Yes, it is a very nice place to watch a show. And another thing, the volume seemed MUCH LOUDER than the Donki. Perhaps I was close to the speakers. As for the show…

I thought it as odd when I saw Rena singing lead on Omoide Ijou. But when Jurina and Yuka came out and sang Ookami to Pride I knew something was up. They shuffled the units? Masanya is now the lead on Kareha no Station??? That was very cool! I guess they have been doing this for a little while now. I as wondering why I saw a Masanya “Kareha” photoset at the shop.

Oh, in the first MC the last row was Kanako, Yuria, Akari and Mizuki, and the four of them had a great rapport. They had each other, and the audience laughing their butts off. They were doing some sort of manomane.

The birthday festivities were great. Masanya read a personal letter to Kuumin, and by the end they were both crying. It was very sweet. And it looked like they brought out two cakes! I guess it had pics of all the members on it, and from what I hear it looked really cool.

They don’t do hi-touch, but it is almost the same. More like a “Hi-wave” goodbye. As I left I wanted to see if I could get any of the girls to react to the only gaijin in the theater, especially J and Rena. Nope, no big reaction there, although Rena had that usual big smile on her face. I thought Kanako would react given the way she acted at Yomiuriland, but she didn’t either. But Masanya remembered me for sure!!! She sort of yelled “Heyyy!!” as I walked by. And Mizuki gave me a big reaction as well. “Whoa, Thank You!!!”

I have set Masanya up well for the handshake event coming this weekend. I have seen a ton of her on this trip. So the relationship has been established, which will make for a better experience.

I was so happy to get a chance to see this show! And so happy to experience Sunshine Sakae. Especially after being slightly disappointed about the Team “B” show I saw on Tuesday. The overall feeling in that theater has me wanting to return as soon as possible. Not that I am knocking the Donki. I love the good ole’ 8th floor and all of its charm. But this was a really pleasant and COMFORTABLE experience overall.

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P.S.: I watched the 2nd half of SDN’s show tonight on the outside monitors, and saw the “new version” of Futsuu no Anata. The “bleep” and the cross-armed “X” had everyone in the room laughing, including me. But it also ruined what I think is the best part of the choreography. So that is sort of a bummer. I also watched all the show winners come down the escalator, and I think you could count on one hand the amount of U-18′s that were actually there.

But at the end of the day even if I have always been opposed to the idea of opening the SDN shows to the younger crowd, I really hope that opening the show to everyone will push SDN to the next level of popularity. I grew tired of fans treating SDN as some sort of “Old Idol Purgatory” a long time ago. Now everyone will get to experience the awesome. And that is the silver lining.

CK in California

This trip is quickly becoming my “SKE Vacation”, and I will have more SKE fun to report later, but for now…

TDC Hall Show 6/11 SKE48 Team S, 3rd Stage

This was actually the first show I attended after I landed here on Friday. Actually, on Friday I headed down to Tokyo Dome City because a) I was meeting friends who were attending the S2 show, b) I wanted to purchase the Senbatsu Guidebook and Program so I could get some pics to trade. I ultimately ended up with three guidebooks and 4 programs. Immediately people wanted to see my pics, and it seemed EVERYONE wanted Rena! But I got Yukirin, Mayuyu and Tomochin from the guidebook. As for the TDCH pics, I ended up with Sae, Kitarie, Rabu and Rena. I ended up trading my Yukirin and Rena pics for the May sets of Tanamin and Wasamin. Yes, I know that wasn’t the greatest deal in the world, but I mainly collect my oshis. So to me it was worth it.

When I went back on Saturday I saw THOUSANDS of people around TDC and thought WOW, everyone is coming out for this show?!?! It turned out there was a BOOWY concert at Tokyo Dome at the same time, so you had a double crowd scene. The rock fans and the AKB fans inter-mingling

I knew where the Super Enpou booth was, and I was happy that a familiar face (the short guy who has worked at the theater forever) was manning the booth. He smiled when he saw me coming in his direction. For some reason they made the Super Enpou ticket people wear wristbands, so everyone though I had been to the noon RS show!

There were 4 Super Enpou winners, and we had first row just off of the left-side aisle. The other three were speaking chinese, since I can’t differentiate the dialects they could have been from China, or maybe Taiwan. Two were a couple, and the dude seemed completely disinterested in the entire show.

Anyhow, aside from SDN1 this is my favorite current stage. The setlist is just awesome all the way through. Although I have listened to the S3 album in my car many times, and I have an LOD, I have never really watched the choreography before. The dance numbers were excellent! It made me love S3 even more than I already do. Since I was the only non-asian in the front row I was hoping to catch some of the girls’ attention, especially Masanya . But as much as I tried to make eye contact with her I never caught her glancing back to me. Even when she came down to the edge of the stage RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, she never looked down

However, I did have some brief interactions with Kanako, Rikako, Yuka, Yuria and the Kenkyuusei that was performing. But the best was at the very end when the paper hearts came down from the ceiling. the girls picked up the ones that landed on the stage and tried to toss them to the fans. Rena grabbed one and tried to give it to me, but she missed and it flew away to my left

This, and my experience with the girls at Yomiuriland gave me resolve to try and win an SKE show at Sunshine. And finally, after multiple tried on multiple trips, for the first time I have finally won! I am off to see Team S tonight in Nagoya!

Team B/Team 4/RS Show 6/12 (my 26th theater show)

Last trip I saw A6 with 13/16 A girls present (No Rabu, Harugon or Kojiharu). Now I am getting to see B5. But with only 6 actual B members in the show. The roster was an even split of B/4/kks. But that was okay since MY Team B Oshi is Komorin, who would be performing. Plus, I was getting a chance to see some of the newer kks. But hang on….

4 hours before the show, tgsk announces a last minute change. NO MIKAPON!!! Oh no! Now what am I gonna do. To me one of the best parts of a show is to have a girl you really like performing, and cheering the hell out of her for two hours. Without Komori, I had no idea who I would cheer for. Amina? Nacchi? Chikarina? How about Minarun? I had never seen her perform before, and I really want to like her. But the newer member I really like is Mariyagi since she reminds me so much of Oh-yay appearance-wise.

So I got to the theater about 45 minutes before curtain. There weren’t many people up there at all. But many of the people milling around were taking snapshots of Eguchi Aimi’s new pic on the wall At the 30 minute mark they had A LOT OF no-shows, and not very many cancel machi in the lobby either. I didn’t catch the count, but I know for tainai it got to at least 100. So my guess is all cancel machi made it into the show. Keep that in mind if you ever get a high cancel machi number. In the past I have gotten in with CM #139.

So without a clear favorite I would merely analyze the girls, especially the newer ones. Some thoughts…

Kojima Natsuki is soooo cute. I love this girl already. I want to see more of her.

Erena SaeedYokota does not look Japanese at all. That is an arabic name right? She looks more middle-eastern than anything else. She is cute. Not to mention Rena Kato, who reminds me a lot of Kayano.

Miorin is such a trip to watch. I am not a big fan, but I will admit she is cute, and very interesting. Every mannerism is just too adorable. Her legs are soooo skinny! Seeing her standing next to Amina was very funny.

Why isn’t Chikarina more popular? She has such great stage presence. And I think she is becoming so much prettier as she gets older. I just don’t get why people don’t notice her more.

Minarun didn’t grab my attention like I thought she would. Just not as genki as the rest. On the other hand, Shiorin was very good. Hard to believe it is the same girl playing the “heavy” on MG.

Myao was Myao. Always good for a few laughs. Nacchi looks like the Team Mom up there.

By the way, I ended up cheering hardest for Mariyagi and Amina through the show.

The hi-touch went very fast, and many of the kks didn’t come out since it was a night-show. No special reactions, although all of the B-girls said “Thank You” to me without skipping a beat. I had only met Myao and Amina before, and that was two years ago! I had done hi-touch once before with Miorin, so I didn’t have much history with any of them. Oh well.

I’m glad I got to see this stage. So now I have seen the new A and B, plus I saw 5 songs from the new K at Yokohama last year. So I feel “almost” complete with the “new” material.

Maybe it was that so many regular B girls were missing, but this just strengthened my belief that SDN is BY FAR the best show at the Donki. BY FAR! The energy, the interaction, the fan excitement. I know many of you make the trip out here, and many only apply for AKB shows. Big mistake!

Go see SDN, you will not be disappointed.

CK in Tokyo