Chuo Dori

So there wasn’t much rest between the AKB48 handshake event I posted about previously and the SKE event the very next day. So I was off for more idol interaction 12 hours later. But before that…

These reports are completely out of order anyway, so why not throw this little chance encounter. Petelechem, Memorybreak (friends from Nihongogo/Stage48)  and I spent the better part of Monday cruising the shops for various pics, magazines and whatnot. This was all in preparation for the NOTTV lottery later in the afternoon. Memorybreak was our sole winner, the lucky bastard…

Running into idols in public…

Anyway, Petelechem and I headed back to the Donki from the cafe to handle a few errands. When we were about to cross the street in front of UDX a taxi pulled up. I grabbed Pete and told him to stop as I saw  Ichikawa Miori, and then Takeuchi Miyu jump out of the car. It is theater taboo to bother the girls when they are entering/leaving the theater, so I made sure we kept our distance until the girls got inside safely. That is the fifth time I have run into an idol in public. So to those of you who have asked if it happens…indeed it does! But it is always best to give them their space!

SKE “Kiss Date Hidarikiki” Individual Handshake Event at Pacifico Yokohama 2012/11/11

This was my third handshaking event of the trip. I was going to see a few old friends, and a few new girls too. Funny thing, of all the girls I had tickets for the one I was most excited about was a lower tier Team E member. The forecast was for heavy rain, so it was a great day to be spending inside a venue for 8-10 hours! Leading off…

Matsui Rena: This was my first time actually getting to talk to Rena. I was wondering, did I make the right choice? (Choosing Rena over J) But in the end Rena was very sweet, and a good experience overall. When I told her where I was from she exclaimed something to the effect of “You came from San Francisco? Sugoi” BTW, all of the SKE senbatsu were dressed in the outfits from the single. Kind of a royal blue seifuku.

Matsumoto Rina: Another first time meeting. But it was strange. Rina looked much different from when I have seen her before. I’ll say no more. But when I got to her she said “Oh, Hello!” I told her I was from the US. She said “I am Japanese”, to which I responded that I was not Japanese. (hehe)

Takayanagi Akane: As much as I like Churi I always seem to be at a loss for what to talk to her about So I just asked my standard Churi fallback question. “Genki desu ka? Papitan genki?” Any time you can steer your Churi convo into a bird convo becomes instant success.

Oya Masana: I had two tickets. On the first one she exclaimed ” Aitakatta!!!” That’s so neat, she wanted to see me! But by the second ticket she looked tired (sick?). I asked if she was okay, and she said she was cold. I told her I would see her in 2013. she repeated it back…oh hai hai!

Matsumura Kaori: Kaotan’s line reminds me of Nachu’s line when SDN was around. A lot of manic and comedic action going on. But this time Kaotan took it a little bit easier with me compared to the previous day in Tokyo. “Push Push? Watashi? Push Push?” She is great! Later on I made sure to sign a birthday card for her.

Hiramatsu Kanako: I haven’t done a handshake with her for a while. I did the “Myuku Myuku” catchphrase with her, and asked if her leg was better. She was standing, which is a good indication. She pointed to her leg and gave me the “OK” sign. Good to know. She looked so sad the last time I saw her.

Takagi Yumana: Okay, this was great! On my last trip she was positioned next to Wasamin during the GM5 event. She had nobody in her line, and every time I looped Wasamin’s line I would wave to her. She waved back to me every time. So I waited for her queue to empty, then I went for it. Was there a possibility she would remember that exchange 7 months ago? She did, and she laughed so hard when I told her that! Anyway, it was a great official first time meeting. I will surely go back to her next time I have a chance!

Ishida Anna: Is always so sweet and cute. I told her I loved the Shirogumi song, which she was wearing the outfit of. She had a few more people in her queue than before. So perhaps her popularity is getting a small rebound after her promotion to Team B. I hope so. Anyway, I wished her luck in AKB

Yagami Kumi: Like last week in Nagoya, I wished her luck after graduation and told her that I hoped to see her again.

Suda Akari: First of all, this was the last slot. Normally the most popular members are getting pretty tired by now (see Masanya) But not Akarin. No way! She had made these little towel dogs., which she had lined up in front of her. I asked “Kore wa?”, and she started barking. “Arf Arf!” Typical Akarin…on fire! I told her she was cool, and cute. She is such a blast to talk to!

Hata Sawako: My last ticket of the event, Shawako is always going to be a fun experience. I congratulated her on the new theater and told her I wanted to see KII3, she tried to say something in English but got tongue tied, while holding me back from the guard. Eventually the guard won out and Sawako didn’t get to tell me what she wanted to say.

Oh, and…

Kato Rumi: called in sick to the event, so I didn’t get a chance to say hello

And that was it. My handshaking events were completed for the trip!

CK in Tokyo

(Note:  I never made a proper report on my Momoclo experience.  I may do that in the very near future, so watch for it!)

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

Funny how things work out.  I have really started to like SKE48 a lot more in the last year.  I have always liked them, but ever since they released Banzai Venus I have really taken notice.  This is the second consecutive trip that they have held an exusive handshake event while I was in Japan.  It’s just funny that both times the event was going on all the way down in Osaka…

SKE48 Kataomoi Finally Handshake Event at Intex Osaka 4/1

I will keep this one relatively brief, for it is a strikingly similar experience to my Oki Doki handshake event last fall. In fact, it should only be a few pages back in this thread. (Late November) Once again, I woke up at 5am to catch the first train out of Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. After that, plus 40 minutes of local train travel in Osaka, I arrived at Intex about midway through the first slot. I had two tickets for Slot 1, I would go to the shortest line first, then queue up for the other ticket after that. Luckily, both of my first slot girls had short lines. Lucky for me I guess, not really lucky for them…

I had 14 tickets for seven members. Pretty much my Top 7 in SKE. I keep saying that I want to meet more girls in the group…Maybe next time I will try for some of the other girls. But I didn’t want to overdo it since I bought so many handshake tickets for AKB next week. So here are the highlights…

Anna Ishida: I am so close to naming her my SKE oshi. It pains me so much to see her line almost empty for the entire event. She is so adorable, I just love her! I don’t remember what I said on the first ticket, but on the second I told her that I was stupid because I didn’t realize that she was wearing the outfit from Hanikami Lollipop. She responded. “I am stupid?”. I said NO!!! I am stupid, you are cute!!! She got a kick out of that. I also told her I had tickets for her in Tokyo next week.

Kanako: Sitting down beause of her injured foot. She seemed a bit down. I asked her how her foot was doing. She said it was getting better.

Akari: Spoke English to me the entire time. LOLWAT? She is adorable. They were basic English sentences, but she said them fluidly and without having to think about it. I was impressed! I need to get more than one ticket for her next time.

Churi: I told her that her Bird performance at Saitama looked great. She made her little flying motion, flittering her arms. So cute! Later I asked about her bird, Papitan. She said Papitan was genki, and Papitan was cute!

Masanya: Told her how cool the Kataomoi outfits are, and that I loved the performance with the bells on the bonus DVD.

Shawako: “Nice to Meet You”??? What, she didn’t remember me??? She remembered me last time I was in town. What’s up with that? I had an entire routine planned where I was going to imitate her during the handshake, but she threw me off. She was a fun experience anyway. She started jumping up and down when I told her that KII 3rd Stage was great. The funny thing was, the one member that I didn’t think would remember me totally did, and made a big deal about it…

Kuumin: I was almost ready to give up on Kuumin. I wasn’t sure if I was connecting with her or not. This was basically a last chance handshake. But to my surprise, she got really excited. Totally remembered me from before. We talked about the sexy PV from the song, and I showed her my Yabakune pin that I got from Nihongogo’s Jet. She was really surprised I had one. I think she asked where I got it from.

As a small bonus, other girls I got a good look at because they were in close proximity to the girls I had handshakes with: Rena, Kinoshita Yukiko, Kuwabara Mizuki, Kato Rumi and Matsumoto Rina who looked absolutely adorable! I really need to make her part of my SKE rotation!

And since Jurina was out sick, as a consolation any fan who had Jurina tickets was allowed to 1) sign a life-sized cutout of her for her birthday, and 2) take a 2-shot with their choice of said cutouts. Too funny!

As for the event overall, it is a lot more low-key than the AKB events. Not as many people. Lines are never really too long. Then again, this was Osaka. It is probably quite different in Tokyo or Nagoya. Even more surprising, the goods line was practically empty all day! Overall it seemed like a smaller turnout than last November. I wonder why?

I ended up buying two keychains, one for Masanya and one for Churi. I also got five packs for trading pics. What a horrible lot! Out of 25 pics, I got no Masanya, no Anna, no Akari, no Mieko. Just one Churi, one Kuumin, and one Kanako. I didn’t even get any Rena or Jurina!

But I had fun. I just hope next time I can go to an SKE event a bit closer to Tokyo. The day trip to Osaka takes a lot out of you. Even if I did enjoy a wonderful Bento and a nice nap on the ride back!

CK in Tokyo

By the way, Last Friday I took a side-trip and visited the Capital of Japan from about 1000 years ago, Kamakura.  It is an adorable little town with all sorts of neat shrines, not to mention the giant Buddha statue a couple of stops away…

But my favorite part of the trip was visiting a nearby island off the coast called Enoshima.  This place was so cute, with amazing seafood.  They specialize in Shirasu-don, which is like baby sardine sushi.  The restaurants all looked so tempting, but one was recommended.  And along with the meal I had one of their other local specialties…a stout beer with fish extract.

It was actually really good!

Anway, back to the action…This was going to be one serious day.  In order for me to pull this off I was going to need to wake up extra early, travel three hours to Shin-Osaka (plus another 45 minutes of local train travel), and do it all over again once this marathon event was over.  That is almost 8 hours of travel time.  But I was up for the adventure.  Good thing the Shinkansen is a super-comfortable ride.  Here we go!

SKE48 Okie Dokie Handshake Event @ Intex Osaka 11/20

I almost blew it when I partied a little too hard the previous evening after meeting Erika Yazawa from Idoling!!!  But a minor headache rousted me awake at about 4am.  Great!  Plenty of time to medicate, wash up, and get to the train.  Catching a 6:20am Shinkansen, I made it to Intex Osaka just 15 minutes after the event started.  Perfect!  I had plenty of time to make it to my first-slot handshakes.

I had two tickets for Slot 1.  I would go to the shortest line first, then jam over to the second one.  It looked as if Akarin’s line was the shortest of the two, so I went for it.  As I stood in line I noticed she was right next to Rena.  So I got a good closeup look at her while I waited for Akari.  Rena looked beautiful, so I was quite surprised when she went out sick for the event less than an hour later.  I got up to the front of the queue.  Oh shit!  This isn’t Akarin’s line at all.  It was Kuumin….

Yagami Kumi: I had about 30 seconds to figure out what I was going to say to her.  As panic set in I fnally came up with my “brilliant” plan.  I stammered that she was funny on Bimyo this week.  But it worked out as she responded “Hontoni?  Arigato!”  I don’t think Kuumin remembered me from before.  But I got a good reaction from her, so all was good!

Suda Akari: This was my first time ever talking to Akarin (aside from the “high wave” after I saw Team S last June.  I basically told her that I really wanted to meet her, she had an adorable smile and she was cute in the Senbatsu Undergirls PV.  It was a good first-time meeting so I will definitely try to see her again!

After this I had an more than an hour before slot 2.  It is nice the way SKE does handshakes.  The breaks between slots are much longer, giving the girls more time to rest.  Although it kind of drags out the day for fans.  The queue for goods was huge.  But given the amount of time I had, I went for it.

They had shirts, a hoodie, phone straps and charms, clear files.  But the big item of the day were the event trading photos.  There was a limit of 5 packs per person, so people were looping the line before they sold out.  The queue took more than an hour (unnecessarily I might add)  I decided I didn’t care for the shirt, so I bought a Masanya phone charm (which I immediately affixed to my backpack) and my limit of photos.  Of my favorite members, I got one Masanya and two Shawako, although those two Shawako were exactly the same.

Anyway, time for slot #2, which contained one of my three Masanya tickets for the event.  But I will talk about that later on…

Takayanagi Akane: I tried to win more Churi tickets, but only ended up with one.  Oh well.  Her queue was obviously long, but it moved quickly.  I don’t have as much history with the SKE girls as I do with AKB, so sometimes I have trouble coming up with things to talk about.  But for this event I brought my English-Japanese dictionary which helped trememdously when I struggled for something to say.  I could prepare my little speech while I was in queue.  I decided to tell her how much I enjoyed her bonus scene on the new single DVD.  She thanked me, of course.  So is sooo cute.

Hiramatsu Kanako:  Just like when I met her at Yomiuriland, she immediately exclaimed “Yayyyy” as I came in and gave me a double high-touch/handshake.  I told her how cute she was in the Pareo no Emerald PV, she responded with her “Mokyuu Mokyuu” catchphrase, and asked me to do it with her.  I did, and she was happy.  Gave me another high-five and I was on my way.  Adorable session!

After slot 2 was the lunch break.  I decided to try some Takoyaki, since the only other time I had it was in Tokyo…and I hated it.  But I wanted to give Osaka a chance to change my mind.  But that’s for another thread.  On to Slot #3.  I had four tickets for this slot, so I would need to keep moving.

Ishida Anna: I had two tickets for Anna.  I had noticed that like last week in Chiba, her line was almost empty during the morning sessions.  This makes me sad.  She is so cute!  She greeted me with an excited double wave like she is beckoning me to come closer.  I always tell her how adorable I think she is, so I needed to switch to a different tactic.  So for her I also went with the compliment on her part in the Okie Dokie DVD bonus.  In the second session I apologized for my bad Japanese, to her insistence that it was okay  I then told her how nice I think she is, and that I am always excited to do handshakes with her.  I have definitely made a connection with Anna.

Hata Sawako:  I never really paid attention to Shawako until Yomiuriland last Summer.  And that was totally by accident.  The only reason I met her was because she was paired with Masanya.  But it was a memorable session, and it made me want to see her again.  She exceeded my expectations…again.  When she shakes your hand, so actually holds your entire arm with both hands.  I told her that meeting her last Summer made me want to come back to her.  When I said that she immediately remembered and got really excited!  Like last time, as the staff tried to push me out, she tried to pull me back!  Hahaha.  Shawako is awesome!  She also tried to talk to me in English, but fumbled it a bit.  So cute.  Shawako is now firmly positioned as one of my Top SKE members!

Furukawa Airi:  Like with Shawako, I reminded her that we met last Summer, and I also reminded her that we share a birthday (well, we almost do!  She is the closest idol to my birthday that I know of).

Slot four was my “Masanya Time”, but I also had another first time meeting…

Kato Rumi:  I forst started paying attention to Rumi when she did the promotional event for “Paranormal Activity”  I thought she was so cute at that event, and I prepared to tell her that.  But when I got to the front of her queue (her line was really short) she had on a beautiful white furry coat and cute silver shoes.  So I switched tactics and told her how cute she looked.  I then told her I was happy to meet her and really love S3.  Another cool first-time meeting.

Oya Masana:  At the AKB event last week I had told her I was coming to see her in Osaka.  So I got a cool, excited greeting when I got to her for my first of three tickets.  I told her I liked Osaka because it wasn’t cold (I had momentarily forgotten how to say “warm”  It took her a few moment to figure out what I was trying to say, but she eventually got it.  Funny thing was it got really cold later in the day. (LOL)  Later on I told her how much I loved her twin-tails in the Okie Dokie PV.  Surprisingly, on my last ticket Masanya decided to try a little English with me.  This was great!  The greeted me with “Third timu!”  I apologized for my bad Japanese and reminded her that she was my SKE oshi.  I also told her that I am rooting for her.  In summary, all of the work I have done on Masanya has paid off.  She definitely gets that I am a big fan, and is always a great handshaking experience.

I had one ticket for Slot 5, and then I would have to run back to Shin-Osaka to catch one of the last trains back to Tokyo.  In fact, I considered leaving early.  But I had met a friend, and wanted to hang out a little bit.  I also picked up one more pack of photos.  Glad to see that unlike AKB, SKE brings plenty of photos so everyone gets a chance to get some, instead of selling out before the event even starts!  This is why the hour-long queue was unnecessary.  I don’t believe they ran out of anything all day!   My friend and I had the same member for Slot 5 (her Oshi), so we immediately queued up since I was in a mild time crunch.

Sato Mieko:  The line wasn’t very long.  And to be honest I was getting tired.  So I basically said the same thing that I had said to Shawako.  That she was so nice at Yomiuriland th I wanted to meet her again.  She excitedly thanked me, and that was it.  My handshaking was done!

I made it back to the Shinkansen and fell asleep on my ride back.  Finally some rest!  It was an awesome event, so glad I went to Osaka.  Even if I barely got a chance to experience the city.  That will have to be for another time.  I don’t know if I will have anything else to report, but I am still here for a few more days.  We’ll see

CK in Tokyo

Time to get this party started.  Yep, I am back in Tokyo…Yatta!!!

Just off the plane, totally jetlagged and slightly hungover…I made it over to the venue for the 12+ hour Kaze wa Fuiteiru handshaking extravaganza. I had 29 tickets, but only 25 were usable since my precious Tan decided to play hookie from the event. MEETAN!!! Actually, I think I heard a rumor that Meetan was doing a gravure photoshoot, but I’m not sure for what.  Maybe a DVD?  Don’t quote me on that.  Just something I heard.  By the way, they decided to do this event in the larger part of the convention center. Problem is that it is on the opposite side of the property, FAR from any restaurants and the train station. All they had were two drink vending machines for what seemed like a million people!

So without Ohori Megumi I stll had 25 usable tickets for 12 girls. Almost all of which I had previous handshaking experience with. At this point pretty much all of the girls that I get tickets for know me because I stick with my Top 6 AKB members, Top 3 SKE and Top 5 SDN. Makes it easier with my limited Jp skillz. Unfortunately I got shut out on Churi tix. But that’s okay since I will see her next week at another event.

AKB48 Kaze wa Fuiteiru HS Event at Makuhari Messe 2011/11/12

MORNING SLOTS

Anna Ishida (SKE) Poor Anna, she had the shortest line of anyone I went to all day. In fact there was no line. What’s up with that? She is super-adorable and super-genki! She was waving to me as I walked down to her station. She s so cute. I told her that I loved Bowling Ganbou and her “woof woof” song (I couldnt remember the name of the song she does the dog imitation in, LOL). She is just so cute and enthusiastic.

Nito Moeno: Most all of the girls were wearing very fall-like outfits. Moeno looked very pretty, her dress was reminiscent of the Kazefui PV. I told her I was happy to be in Japan and was happy to see her. On my 2nd ticket I tried to tell her that she was funny in Bimyo, but I got all jumbled up trying to explain which skit I liked (hehe). Anyway, I got out that she was funny. Hopefully she didn’t take it the wrong way

Komori Mika: I had morning and late afternoon tickets for Mikapon. Wow, Komori now remembers me. That is awesome. She always seems like such a blank slate, that I can never tell. But this time she knew me for sure! We talked alot about Himechi (her adorable cat) I told her that Watarirouka Seven is THE BEST Watarirouka! She liked that. She wore a red one-piece dress, but she had on a black Satin Jacket over it which looked very cool. In fact at one point I told her she looked Kakkoi! Funny thing was, Amina was next to her and had on almost the same outfit! At the end of the day, I am happy I have taken the relationship with my #2 AKB girl to the next level!

Katayama Haruka: Wearing an off-white flowing dress, with hair extensions and a cute hat. Haa looked very pretty. With my first ticket I went up one of her regulars. He introduced me as one of his friends. Haa told him that she has seen me lots of times. WIN! Anyway, I pretty much told her how pretty she looked, and everytime she gets to be on AKBingo! she is very funny, and they should put her on more TV shows!

Tanabe Miku: She had her slot switched from evening to morning because she was flying to Singapore that afternoon. First of all, I barely recognized her! Tanamin is such a chameleon. Her hair was dark, styled differently and she was wearing Prince of Tennis cosplay. I guess she wanted to have on comfortable clothes for her flight. But the result was totally adorable. Which I told her. I also congratulated her on Baby Gamba, and asked her to say Hello to all of my friends in Sgp. So Sgp people, feel free to mention me if you guys see her! BTW, end result…I get a brief mention on her blog

http://ameblo.jp/tanabe-miku/entry-11076233056.html#main

I have mentioned before that I originally had a hard time connecting with Tanamin. Usually when this happens I sort of give up on handshakes with that member (See Harukyan, Nakayan, Sasshi) But I have always stuck with Tanamin because I have liked her pretty much since the beginning of Team B. She is just so quirky-cute. Just my type!

AFTERNOON SLOTS

Yokoyama Yui: Was dressed very business-casual. Too cute! I’m not sure if she remembered me from before, but I have only met her once before. She likes to try and interview me when I come see her, which is fun but hard! This time she asked me where in America I am from. I told her that I really like Not Yet, and I complimented her on her outfit. On my first ticket I thought she looked tired. But she always seems energetic and enthusiastic during handshakes. I am so happy I decided to start going to her. She is an extremely sweet girl.

Masana Oya (SKE): Yayyy! My SKE Oshi had the cutest little shorts on, showed off her butt very well. BTW, Masanya has a legion of dedicated fans that circled her line ALL DAY! Her queue was always huge! Anyway, I wished her a happy birthday, and I told her I was making my first ever trip to Osaka for the Okie Dokie handshake. The coolest part? At the end of my second ticket with her she said she would see me in Osaka. That meant she understood what I was telling her, and remembered it for later. AWESOME!

Nachu (SDN): Her line, and everything around her is a raging party. She even had Wasamin (who was next to her) cracking up. Anyway, I barely had to say anything to Nachu since she decided to put on a show from the moment I got to her. She even got the OJS security guy involved with talking to me. I highly recommend going to see Nachu if you ever want to have fun during an event. Nachu is great!

Iwasa Misaki: My love fest with Wasamin continues…Of course I had the most tickets for her (five). I would love to get more. But the good news is her line was pretty long for her entire 5 hour shift. Wasamin had a few fans looping her line all day too. She had on a very fall-like dress with huge heels. On my first session I asked her how she got so tall all of a sudden, so she showed me her shoes. (LOL) I got pretty much everything I wanted to say to her out during my five tickets. And the best part? Wasamin did her best to speak English to me the entire time! I thanked her for that. The other best part? How many “I love you’s” I got. One per ticket. And on the last ticket I told her again how much I loved her, how happy she makes me and she would always be my oshimen. She leaned forward and said “I love you too” That’s my baby!

Oh! The Minarun moment!!! Just when I was going to queue up for Wasamin, Togasaki came out in his tux on a riser behind the handshaking lanes. The entire venue froze. He then introduced Oba Mina who came out with tears in her eyes to make her announcement, and ask the fans to allow her back into AKB.  It was such an adorable moment. Watching her apologize and requesting permission from the fans. I was in the audience for the Yokohama “agency promotion” announcements last year. Moments like these are just priceless, and unforgettable!

EVENING SLOTS

By this time I was beyond exhausted…and hungry. But I had 5 SDN tickets to get through. Since my friends also had evening tickets I would tough it out!

Hatakeyama Chisaki (SDN): I love Chaki, but I really fumbled what I was trying to say to her. But it’s okay since i have seen her so many times. I was trying to tell her how happy I as about the SDN concert being on the box set DVD, so I could finally watch SDN at home in America. But I just couldn’t get it together (CK fail!) I also told her that I will cheer for Chaki after SDN 1st phase is over! Oh, and I wished her a happy birthday as well. \o/

Akiko (SDN 2nd Gen): My first time actually talking to Akiko, although I have done a few high-touches with her. I told her how cute she looked, anthat she was my favorite in “Tamanegi”. Her response was amazing! She slowly responded “Hontoni???” and put her arms over her head like in the PV. I of course followed suit. Great first handshake experience! Finally…

Chen Qu (SDN): I always greet her with “Niihau”. I wonder how good her English is, since she spoke it to me the entire time. I forget what I said to her since I was so exhausted, but she is always very nice, and beautiful as ever! BTW, Machiko was next to her, so I spent my queue time spying Machipai’s bewbs (hehe).

After that is was tome for the 20 minute walk back to the station and the 40 minute ride back to Tokyo. It was an awesome, yet exhausting experience. And of course unforgettable. This was just my first day in Tokyo. I am here for two weeks. Hopefully I will have more fun stuff to report.

That reminds me…

I received an email from someone with an interesting question.  How can the big fans afford to buy so many CDs over and over again.  Personally, I do it twice a year.  But many fans in Japan do it for every single.  This was my response…

I dont do it every time since I don’t actually live in Japan. I just travel here for the occasional handshake event. This trip is my 7th and 8th such event. ( 29 CDs foir AKB-Kazefui and 13 SKE-OkieDokie) Plus I have been coming here to see AKB for 4 years now. Last trip I had 24 copies of Sakura no Ki ni Narou and 5 copies of the album. I actually threw away 19 of the singles. I’m not sure hany copies of these particular cds I will actually keep, but they are hell to carry so I doubt too many.

I give away some to friends. Sell some of them online, plus I sell some of the photos. It doesn’t take much to make a portion of the money back, but not all. A small price to pay to go to the events. Think about it, is it worth it to pay $300 to have Wasamin tell me she loves me all day? Not to mention getting good facetime with a dozen members? At the end of the day it really isn’t about the CDs at all.

You see all sorts of people at these events. Some of them buy 1 or 2 CDs, see their favorite member, and go home. Some buy hundreds! You see them with these HUGE stacks of tickets.  How can they afford it over and over again?  To be honest, I haven’t got a clue!

CK in California

One more event before I head back to Cali…

AKB48 Chara-ani handshake event for Sakura ki ni Narou at Makuhari Messe 6/19 (rescheduled from 4/10)

This was the reason I scheduled, or should I say rescheduled this trip in the first place. I had 21 handshake tix for this event alone. In addition to my usual girls, I had also scored tix for Acchan, Sasshi, Yui and Churi. So there was no way I would miss this. At these events your time with the members is “usually” a bit longer, so I needed to come up with good stuff to say! By the way, I say “usually” since there was one particular linebeing moved unusually fast…and it wasn’t Acchan’s!

I caught a 6:15am train out of Shinagawa because I wanted to get there early for two reasons. One, Wasamin had an early time slot, which conflicted with my Sasshi and Acchan tickets. I knew if I got stuck in those lines I might miss out on my Wasamin-time. And two, tgsk announced the Team-Z CD would be available at the event, and I wanted to get it before they sold out. When I got to the venue the line wasn’t too long, so I knew I was in good shape. I would hoof it over to the goods table as quickly as I could. I got everything I wanted, including four microfiber towels for Moeno, Wasamin, Mikapon and Acchan (I shouldhave gotten Yui, I don’t know what I was thinking) They didn’t have any Wasamin keychains , so I got Komorin’s instead, I also picked up the AKB XX DVD and of course, two copies of the Team Z CD (which DID sell out quickly!) Then I jogged over to Acchan’s line…Only three people in queue, SCORE!!!

In not necessarily chronological order, my handshake experiences…

Acchan: Was fashionable 20 minutes late to the 1st slot, which worried me! I need my Wasamin time! in the meantime Harugon offered to sub for her which got a big laugh, and Sayaka was talking to the Acchan fans. She spoke to me in English and asked if I was from the US. Jeez Sayaka, this is my fifth time talking to you. Don’t you recognize me yet??? Anyway, it was a cool move for Sayaka and Harugon to entertain us while we waited. Acchan eventually came out…limping badly. She is definitely injured, oh no! Her limp was worse than Akicha’s, who I saw later on. I told Acchan that I loved Moshidora (which I saw the previous day) and I wished her good luck with Flower. She was very genki (it was still early), was shaking my hand and waving to me at the same time. Acchan is very cute. Good experience.

Sasshi: I also lined up for her early in the 2nd slot, so I was like 15th in line. When I came up to her she said Whoa,Hello! I said “Sashihara quality, sugoi!” She asked me something, and I was trying to spit out a response, but before I could I got pushed out by staff. Sasshi said “Okay, goodbye!” That staff was too overzealous, no way that was 10 seconds!!! Too bad.

Mikapon: Mikapon is always a tough read. I can never tell if she remembers me or not. But I had three tickets for her (one in each of the first three slots), and on the second one she acknowledged it was my second visit, and on the third she seemed really happy to see me again. I talked to her about her blog, that I loved her DVDs, and wished her luck with watarirouka 7. She is funny, she usually repeats what I say to her. It is very cute. I ended it with IwaKomo ichiban desu!

Churi: I didn’t have much to say to Akane, in fact I don’t remember what I said. I think I told her where I was from, and that I love SKE. Something like that. But she is just too damn adorable! She kept saying Arigato Arigato! the entire time. I had never met her before, so this was really an introduction meeting.

Haachan: I also had three Haachan tickets, and she definitely remembered me this time judging by her expression in my first session. I think she gets that I really like her considering I often get multiple Haachan tix. By the third ticket, she seemed really excited! I told her I wanted another MINT song. Told her where I was from and my name. And I told her that I thought she was such a great singer! Haa is always on my top priority list at these events because she is so cool!

Wasamin: IS LOVE!!! I lost count of how many times Wasamin said “I Love You” to me in our five meetings. The feeling is mutual. I was so happy to see that her line never got empty (a lot of girls’ lines did) I apologized to her for sending birthday and valentine’s cards in English, which she said she didn’t mind at all. I told her which comments on her blog are mine (hopefully she notices) I told her that I loved her Iwakomo DVD. Of course I reminded her she is my oshimen. I know she knows me, but I wondered if she actually remembered my name or not, so I reminded her. Whenever I was in line for her, she would turn and glance at me in between each fan in front of me. Damn, do I adore her!

On my last ticket, i started to get teary. This was my last chance to see her this trip, so I waited until almost the end of her slot, got myself together, and went for it. For the last of five tix, I told her that I loved her, that I always cheer for her, and that she makes me so happy. I ended with saying that I would come back to see her near Christmas…

As I left something told me to turn around 2-3 seconds later, I did…and she was still looking at me and smiling! If I only had this onbe experience, the entire event would have been worth it. If wasamin had a longer slot, I swear I would get 20 tix for her alone! After this I went to lunch…

Moeno (2 tix): It is extra-special when the girls remember you. Moeno is one who I have seen a few times before, but hadn’t established that “I know you” relationship yet. So I was pleasantly surprised when this first thing she said to me was “Hey, remember you!” WIN! I didn’t want to play the “Bungee” card with her again, So instead I answered her question of where I was from. I also told her that I loved “Hyaku mile” But I was just so happy that she now knows me

Masanya (2 tix): I have spent this entire week getting to know Masanya, so by now we are like old chums! (hehe) I told her how much I loved Sunshine Sakae, and it was my first time going there. I also told her that I loved her version of Kareha no Station. I then thanked her, and told her I would see her soon. Yes, after 4 meetings with her at three different events, I think it is safe to say I have made a new “friend” in the AKB family. And now Masanya is officially my SKE oshi!!!

By the time the last slot came along, I was dead tired. But I still had 3 tickets left. Two for Tanamin and one for Yui. I would get them done quickly and get the hell out of Chiba!

Yui: Was a great first-time meeting! In fact, I’m not sure I have even seen Yui before. But the look of surprise when she first saw me was priceless. She immediately asked where I was from, and if I lived in Tokyo. I told her I was on holiday, and that I thought Otabe-san was Kakkoi!!! She was very gracious, and sweet, and totally adorable! With that one meeting she just flew way up in my pecking order.

Tanamin: was wearing the cutest Majijo inspired seifuku dress, with red boots and a huge strawberry earring. I told her that Tanamin no fashion was kakkoi, and that she was very cute. She kept asking “You like? Cute? Cute?” I was of course affirming. At the Beginner hs event my experience with her was slightly awkward, but this time was much better.

At the end it was bittersweet because this would be my last akb event for this trip. I was so happy to see an old friend (SDN fan) as I was leaving the venue! It cheered me up. I also met one of the guys from Nihongogo, and hung out with a guy who goes to school in San Francisco. (he does occasionally post here too) So it was a very cool day for so many reasons.

But now it is time to stuff all of my goods into my suitcase and head home, but i will be back again soon

I will post my photos, goods, and other little tidbits after I get home.

CK in Tokyo

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.

———————–
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

I finally made it back to Tokyo after delaying my usual Spring trip.  Part of my original itinerary was to go to the AKB48 “Sakura” handshake events, which were postponed after the Tsunami disaster in March.  I was also going to hit MoMusu’s Spring Tour and if I could make the schedule work, the final Momoiro Clover concert at Nakano where Akari graduated…

But that all went out the window.  Well, almost all.  I was waiting for Togasaki to announce the reschedule dates of the Sakura Ki ni Narou handshake event.  Most of my pre-purchased tickets were for the final date, which got pushed back to June 19th.  So here I am.

The only problem was that there were no other events that I could see on the calendar for mid-June.  No special AKB concerts or events, no other idol groups playing in Tokyo.  This trip could turn out to be disastrous!  But hopefully it will all turn out okay, they usually do.  I am always surprised by what pops up at the last minute.  And I knew my luck would change when AKB48 announced the 19 day concert series at Tokyo Dome City Hall.

So here is the first set of reports (not in chronological order) or my escapades in Tokyo, starting with the SDN48 show I won at the Donki, and an SKE48 handshake event at Yomiuriland.  Fun Fun Fun!!!

SKE handshake event at Yomiuriland 6/12

This was rescheduled hs event at Yomiuriland for Banzai Venus. I got 5 tickets for 5 different pairs…

Sato Mieko (KII) / Furukawa Airi (KII)
Hiramatsu Kanako (S) / Hara Minami (E)
Yagami Kumi (S) / Yamada Erika (E)
Oya Masana (S) / Sato Siera (KII)
Ishida Anna (KII) / Hata Sawako (KII)

Other lanes I was interested in…

Matsui Rena (S) / Deguchi Aki (S) (sold out early)
Matsui Jurina (S) / Nakanishi Yuka (S) (sold out when we were getting near the front)
Tagayanagi Akane (KII) / Yamashita Yukari (E) (sold out shortly before we got to choose, dammit!)

I had never been to Yomiuriland before, and caught a wrong train which made me later than I wanted. that plus a certain someone’s insistence on going to the toilet (with a huge line) before we got our hs tix backed us up for 20-30 minutes, otherwise I wouldn’t have missed out on Churi. Might have even gotten Jurina. But that’s okay since I was happy with all the tix I DID get.

We got great seats (random) to the mini-live. 10th row, just off of center. They performed the tracks from the single (plus 1,2,3,4 Yoroshiku) and gave away a bunch of autographed stuff. Unfortunately I didn’t have a lucky ticket. Two funny things happened. First, there was a big bug on the stage which scared some of the girls during rehearsal. Then Airi picked it up and chased a few girls around with it before safely escorting it offstage. Second, one lucky fan won a 3-shot with one of the girls onstage and the Crown Records Guy. The rest of the girls were behind them (except for the Senbatsu, who were preparing for the final song) After looking at the girls on stage he asked if they would bring Jurina out for it, everybody laughed. He ended up picking Haruka, who was emceeing the live.

HS lines went very quick, so the lines were never too long, except for Rena’s which was a madhouse. All of these were first time meetings for me (except for Anna, who I talked to at the Beginner hs event last fall), so it was more of an introduction. Not like AKB/SDN where I have had handshakes with many of the girls before, so they know me. The best experiences….

Kanako! What a greeting! She is awesome!!! Amazing luck since she was my “replacement” ticket when Churi sold out. Grabbed both my hands! Tried to talk to me in English. I told her the S3 show was great. I think she remembered me from the TDCH show since I was in 1st row.

Sawako! Very cute, even with the funky teeth :silly: I congratulated her on ranking in UG. The also grabbed both my hands and asked me to come to SKE theater. She was pulling me back when the staff was pushing me away.

Anna! I think she might have remembered me from our previous meeting. I told her how awesome and cute she is, and that I love Team KII

Airi! I lied to her and told her we have the same birthday (actually we are a day apart). That got her excited. “Hontoni!?!”

Erika! I told her I hoped her back gets better. She thanked me. very nice girl.

The rest were all great! I told Masanya she was my oshi (well, she IS my SKE oshi) I have two hs tix for her next week in Chiba, along with a Churi hs ticket. That is why I wasn’t too bummed I couldn’t see her.

It was a great event! National handshakes are a lot of fun! I didn’t realize the lines would be so quick or I would have tried to get more tix. I had to leave at a certain time because I had won the SDN show too…

SDN48 Mixed Team Show 6/12

By the way, this was my 25th theater show (and my 10th for SDN), so I am a quarter of the way to MVP. Should hit it around 2025 at this rate

I guess they started mixing the teams shortly after my last trip. This was about half/half 1st and 2nd gen. I was bummed that Meetan wouldn’t be there, but at least my “secret waifu” Chaki would be performing. So without my precious Tan in the show I could put all of my focus on Chisaki.

I don’t think there is any real need to go into show detail, you have all heard it before. But I will note some special observations…

First of all, the new ticket system is interesting. It is all computerized now. No, they don’t have the “second mini-ticket” thing anymore. Instead they walk around the queue and “scan” your ticket with a hand-held. Then they begin paging the people who didn’t get scanned. They re-scan it again as you walk into the theater.

By the way, I have never noted this before. But why do 90% of the winners wait until 5 minutes before the deadline to queue for their ticket? I have always found this odd. It was a Sunday, so it wasn’t like anyone was at work that day.

I like the new configuration of the theater, especially since I usually win via regular enpou. The enpou section is about 4-5 feet closer to the stage. Also, they upgraded the seats (padded back) AND thicker cushions!!!!!!! So much more comfortable now. It is about time!

Just to note, they did the original version of Futsuu no Anata, and not the “clean” version they are going to be performing for the U-18 shows. Also, the choreography for Vampire Keikaku is much different from before since they don’t rise/drop the stage anymore.

Mana Ito speaks fluent English?????? She did the opening welcome/rules before the show, and ended it with “Here is my sexy voice”, and barely had an accent. When she does Chen’s lines in Touhiko she barely has an accent as well. Not to mention, she spoke to me in English during HT.

***Cool Moment, there was a “guest” in the audience who was heckling Nachu during her MC, and also LED THE ENCORE. Guess Who???

Hiichan!!!!

Hi-touch was great of course. So happy I could surprise Chaki. She was so happy when she saw me, as well as Nachu who always gives me a big greeting. But Chaki…yeah, I always have a great experience with her! Kohara acted shocked to see me, which I thought was odd since I have had HT with her before. Maybe she was shocked that I am a multiple visitor. I do get a lot of that during HT. I am starting to think that the shock is they are surprised they see me as often as they do.

But Akiko, WOW! Her reaction to me was the same as last time, just dreamy! I know she has a thing for “the twins” when she sees them too. Maybe she likes the gaijin? Anyhow, that reaction just dares me to fall in love with her. She is so adorable!

I have a week left on this trip, and I have won a Team B show for Tuesday. The bummer is that Wasamin isn’t performing in any of the A shows, but at least I have handshake tix for her at Chiba on Sunday. Meetan is ONLY performing this Thursday, which happens to be the first U-18 SDN show. That is going to be a tough ticket to win! So I am worried that I might not get to see her this trip Especially since some of the Singapore fans told her I was in Japan. Oh well, if I don’t get to see her I will drop off a fan letter.

More to come…

CK in Tokyo

Well…I guess you could say it is in my living room…in a way.  The AKB48 Shibuya AX Box Sets are some of the biggest Jewels in my J-Pop collection.  And for good reason.  The annual event holds a very special place in my heart as it was my first ever live J-pop experience.

My god, it seems like so long ago.  But actually it was almost exactly three years ago in 2008 that a made my first trip to Tokyo to experience this idol phenomenon firsthand.  On my second night in Tokyo I navigated the streets of Shibuya in the snow to see this concert series.  Heck, I didn’t even know that they were doing a countdown concert!  I was a total J-pop N00b, knowing only the music and pv’s I had seen over the past year on YouTube.  I probably knew about 10-15 of the members by name, my oshimen at the time being Ohe Tomomi. (hehe)  But that all changed that very night when I witnessed Meetan’s infamous “gold bikini” moment.  Ohori became my favorite idol that night, and I have adored her ever since.  Anyhow…

I began compiling this list a couple of months ago, and I figure this is a great night to reveal it since the 2011 Shibuya AX series begins in a couple of hours.  I ALMOST went to this concert, but Togasaki’s announcement that they were treating the concert ticket raffle similar to the chara-ani distribution (your name on the ticket, i.d. at the door) squelched that idea.  Instead I am heading back over to Japan in about 10 weeks for the 20th single handshake events.  And with 8 tickets for Wasamin alone, it should be a tremendous time!

Anyway, forgive my rambling.  It has been a long time since I posted on this site.  This is my “ever- mercurial” AKB and Family Top 100 songs.  Enjoy…

01. Oshibe to Meshibe to Yoru no Chouchou (K4)
02. Saigo no Seifuku (SnH c/w)
03. Warning (A3)
04. Rio no Kakumei (A2)
05. 100 Meter Conbini (B5)
06. Doku Ringo wo Tabesasete (A1)
07. 50% (H2)
08. Futsuu no Anata (SDN1)
09. Mori e Ikou (H2)
10. Nage Kiss de Uchi Otose! (A3)

Did you think anything other than Meetan’s tour de force would be #1 on my list?  No way!  A couple of AKB songs that I feel are totally under-appreciated are the totally cool Warning from Team A, and 50%, the second encore song from H2.  I am also glad to see that so many fans love Mori e Ikou.  Jeez, H2 is a great stage!  I wish I had gotten the chance to see it’s revival at G-rosso!  Oh, and to me Saigo no Seifuku is the most beautiful J-pop ballad ever written!

11. Black Boy (SDN1)
12. Love Wars (Q&E)
13. Tegami no Koto (S3)
14. 16nin Shimai no Uta (K4)
15. Seishun Girls (K2)
16. Cinderella wa Damasarenai (K2)
17. Ikirutte Subarashii (H2)
18. Amai Kokansetsu (Ohori Meshibe)
19. Seifuku Resistance (K6)
20. GAGAGA (SDN 1st single)

These are IMO some of the hippest songs in AkiP’s catalog.  There is plenty of Meetan represented here.  Love Wars is maybe the best rock song done by an AKB member.  From the goofy 16nin, to the Brazilian beats of Ikirutte Subarashii, AkiP has an amazing musical range.

21. Squall no Aida ni (A5)
22. Only Today (A4)
23. Vampire Keikaku (SDN1)
24. Tsundere! (A5)
25. Saboten to Gold Rush (A6)
26. Hajimete no Jelly Beans (H2)
27. Nakama no Uta (S3)
28. Wakage no Italian (Watarirouka c/w)
29. Let’s Get “Ato 1 cm” (H2)
30. Koi no Keikou to Taisaku (S2)

Nakama no Uta is the second song on this list from S3.  I really love SKE’s most recent stage, and would love to finally get a chance to see it live after a few failed attempts to win a ticket.  And who’d a thought my favorite Watarirouka song would be a B-side?  But that may chance with their new release coming out in 2 weeks.  Koi no Keikou to Taisaku is by far my favorite song from S2.  I am really growing a fondness for the girls from Nagoya.  Akimoto writes them some amazing material!

31. Kokoro no Hashi no Sofa (K6)
32. Gomen ne Jewel (K4)
33. Wasshoi B! (B3)
34. Touhikou (SDN1)
35. Junjou Shugi (B3)
36. Kagami no Naka no Joan of Arc (B3)
37. I’m Sure. (SDN1)
38. Zutto Zutto  (A6)
39. Itoshiki Natasha (B4)
40. Mango NO 2 (S2)

I haven’t mentioned it until now, but almost the entire SDN setlist (and single) made it onto my list.  And why not?  I think it is the greatest Stage anyone from AKB has ever done.  It is also the stage I have seen the most (nine times!)  The next closest is K5 (5 times)  Touhikou and I’m Sure are two of the sexiest songs in SDN1.

41. Nattou Angel (Nattou Angel)
42. Hikoukigumo (A5)
43. Minasan mo go Issho ni (B4)
44. Seifuku no Me (S3)
45. Rider (A3)
46. Gokigen Naname na Mermaid (B3)
47. Eros no Trigger (SDN c/w)
48. Yakusoku yo (K2)
49. RUN RUN RUN (H1)
50. Mangekyou (S3)

Back in 2009 just about every song from B3 made it onto the Top 100…except one!  And Mermaid is probably my favorite song from the stage!  Two more entries from S3.  If you haven’t picked that CD up yet, you are really missing out!  Yakusoku Yo will always remind me of the final scene from AKB Kagekidan Infinity.

51. Aisareru to iu Koto (ICE)
52. Confession (H2)
53. Kanpeki Guu no ne (Watarirouka single)
54. Christmas Present (No3b c/w)
55. Saka Agari (K5)
56. Aozora no Soba ni ite (A1)
57. 7ji 12fun no Hatsukoi (A4)
58. Locker Room Boy (B5)
59. Uhho Uhhoho (K6)
60. Kuroi Tenshi (A5)

Aisareru is so pretty, and probably deserves to be much higher on this list.  It is sort of a “forgotten song”  7ji 12fun makes it here because it is probably Oh-Yay’s finest musical moment in AKB, along with Aozora no Soba ni Ite because it always brings back memories of her graduation along with Rinatin, Hiichan, Risa and Hana.  As much as I didn’t care for K5, Saka Agari is an awesome song to see live!

61. Boku Dake no Value (Beginner c/w)
62. Blue Rose (K2)
63. Senaka Kara Dakishimete (A2)
64. Yuuwaku no Garter (SDN1)
65. Namida no Shounan (A2)
66. Ki ni Naru Tenkousei (K3)
67. Sobakasu no Kiss (B4)
68. Miniskirt no Yosei (Zenza Girls)
69. Kaze no Violin (Watarirouka c/w)
70. Akogare no Pop Star (A6)

61-70 features two songs that have grown on me over the years.  I always have my Ipod on shuffle.  Believe it or not, I find myself skipping over a lot of old tracks.  But not Namida no Shounan and Senaka Kara Dakishimete.  Sobakasu no Kiss is another song that I have developed a fondness for from multiple Ipod listens.  As for the Zenza Girls, I love all three songs and wish they were on a CD somewhere.  But Miniskirt is my favorite after seeing two of the three performed live.

71. Dear my Teacher (A1)
72. Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou (A4)
73. Ganbarina (SDN1)
74. MARIA (K3)
75. Kurukurupaa (K3)
76. Ashita wa Ashita no Kimi ga Umareru (Chocolove)
77. Kurumi to Dialogue (CnJ c/w)
78. Koike (A3)
79. Candy (B5)
80. Namida Surprise! (12th single)

Finally a couple of the singles make the list!  Yeah, I am a Stage Song Snob, which is part of what frustrates me about the AX countdown.  With the exception of 2009, the series is always flooded at the top with the single releases.  I am sure 2011 will be no different with the gigantic influx of new fans, most of which do not bother to scratch much beyond the surface of AKB.  It is too bad, because there is so much more to love beyond the singles.  The casual fans/listeners are missing out on over 90% of what makes AKB48 awesome.

81. Christmas ga Ippai (K3)
82. Kuma no Nuigurumi (A4)
83. Tobenai Agehachou (Iiwake Maybe c/w)
84. Iiwake Maybe (13th single)
85. Boyfriend no Tsukurikata (K4)
86. RESET (K6)
87. Honehone Waltz (K3)
88. Saturday Night Party (SDN1)
89. Tane (No3b single)
90. FIRST LOVE (NS c/w)

Two more totally awesome, but totally ignored songs are Kuma no Nuigurumi and Boyfriend no Tsukurikata.  I guess they get sort of “drowned out” by the rest of their respective stages, which are both amazing.  Same with the opening song of SDN1, Saturday Night Party.  I will always remember the first time I saw SDN’s Stage in person.  It took less than 2 minutes for Hatakeyama Chisaki to capture my heart that night.  It was too bad I was already a Meetan fanatic, otherwise I might be running a Chakl Worship Blog.  Hmmm, I kinda like the sound of that!

91. Hizukehenkousen (K2)
92. Tengoku Yarou (B4)
93. Enkyori Poster (SnS c/w)
94. Yume no Kane (K6)
95. Sado he Wataru (SDN c/w)
96. Erai Hito ni Naritakunai (K4)
97. Jajauma Lady (SDN1)
98. Manatsu no Christmas Rose (A5)
99. ALIVE (CnJ c/w)
00. Chuu Shiyouze! (AKBIdoling!!!)

Rounding out the Top 100…you may notice most every goofy song in the AKB catalog makes the list.  CinDy is great in Tengoku Yarou.  Yume no Kane from Team K’s new stage deserves to be higher than this.  And if you are wondering why I ended the list with the AKBIdoling!!! song?  Simple, anything that Yazapai is in gets to make this list!!!  A little breakdown of the list…

Team A – 22 (3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 3)
Team K – 20 (-, 5, 5, 5, 1, 5)
Team B – 11 (-, -, 4, 4, 3)
Team H – 8 (1, 6)
SKE48  – 6 (-, 2, 4)
SDN48  – 12
No3b    – 2
Watari  – 3
Zenza   – 1
Choco  – 1
AKBIce- 1
Shibe   – 1
Nattou  – 1
Q&E     – 1
Single  – 10

I am glad I finally got this thing posted as it has been sitting on my “todo” list for a while now.  I know there was a lack of graphics on this post, which probably made it tougher to read all the way through.  Oh well, I hope you like my list anyway.  And I recently updated my member rankers too, which you can click on at the top of the site.

Hopefully I will be posting my thoughts on the 2011 Setlists as they come in.  Talk to you then!

CK in California