Akihabara: Backstage Pass - The place where you raise the idols

Akihabara Backstage Pass

Produced by Tsunku ♂ and Chiyomaru (producer of Afilia Magic School)

 As some may know December 23rd, which is also the current Emperor's birthday, was the opening day of Tsunku and Chiyomaru's joint project in Akihabara: a cafe where you raise the idols by choosing an 押し　and giving her your points.  It is similar in style to the Afilia Magic School (well it is run by the same guy) so you have different levels of point cards and can put your points towards the different girls.  As you spend more money, you get different cards.  All the cards have different levels of "Producer" on them.  The starting level is Assistant Producer.  In the picture below you can see all the levels (thanks for posting that yesterday Chiyomaru) the first level is the red one.

Now, before getting our cards we had to GET into the cafe.  By we, I mean me and my boyfriend who I convinced to come with me (he loves maid cafes so something of a similar nature as a Hello Project wasn't too hard to convince).  The Grand Opening was at 3pm, with a 1hour limit for opening day (and maybe opening weekend,not sure) but there were a lot of people watching Chiyomaru's live stream on Thursday so it was really hard to guess just how many people would be coming.  So we left the house around 11 to get there at noon, checked out the 6th floor.  No people, wandered back downstairs to look around some shops, went back up around 1 and there were 2 people waiting, one of which had seen us going up and down so let us ahead of him, making us 2nd in line.  And then we sat down, with 2 hours to go til opening, on the stairs as we asked and were given permission to do.  I had my tablet with me so used that and drinking bottled iced tea to kill time.  

And as time passed, it was easy to see that coming early was the right thin to do.  The cafe is on the 6th floor of a popular building called Akiba Culture's Zone.  By the time the cafe opened, the line snacked down the stairs to the first floor.  And since it was 1 hour limit on opening day, with Tsunku and Chiyomaru obviously there... yeah you would be waiting an hour if you didn't get in first loop.

10 to three came and we were asked to stand up and a couple of people from the press came and verified that everyone was OK with being on camera (you probably picked the wrong day to come if you weren't OK since there were obviously going to be news outlets as well as filming crew for Tsuntube and Nico Nico Streaming).  Then, one by one we were led inside.  Since we were second I was actually quite nervous and when it was our turn smiled at the camera and was led to the door, greeted by a very cute idol named Azuna (or Azunyan as she likes to be called) and then led down (not kidding here) a corridor of all the girls lined up through the center of the restaurant to the second to front table in front of the giant stage.  They left the first table open for filming and interviews until the cafe was completely full up. 

Wow, the stage was right there, and Tsunku was standing to the wing.  Right away he saw me and nodded.  Pretty sure he recognized me from the couple of other times I have been in the front of events he has been at.  Even if it was just the foreigners well, it was very obvious all the staff were amused at the two foreigners who were practically first in line.  There were cast members everywhere (we were constantly told by the announcers and Tsunku/Chiyomaru to not call them maids) film crew everywhere and a giant stage with Tsunku standing to the wing.  It was amazing and I was grinning the whole time.

We signed up for our producer cards and ordered drinks and talked with Azunya until she went off (for a long while actually x_x) and then looked towards the stage and Tsuntube staff as they were interviewing different cast members.  Then Tsunku and Chiyomaru came out for a bit, did more chatting with different girls before introducing 3 idol groups who had come to support the opening of the cafe.  Two of the groups were minor idols: OSU and Doll Elements (the trainees of Lovely Doll) and the third was a very underused group (hehem Tsunku) The Possible.  Each said hello and then all together they performed (with Possible in front) the Tsuntube created song (Aiyaya Papaiya Aiyaisa ~) that has now become stuck in my head.  

We ordered food, but it must have gotten forgotten about in the busy rushing around, no big deal.  As it hadn't come by the time the hour was up they just took it off the order list and it was amazing how quickly one hour went by.  Along with Azunyan several cast members stopped over at our table to chat with us, all of them being curious how we came to know about the cafe.  One girl even called us the "cool foreign couple" and that made us laugh.  All the girls were rotating around to try and build reputation, since they need to earn points from us in order to advance and be given more opportunities to go out into the media etc.

There are about 100 girls who made it through the auditions (unfortunately not me but they were nice enough to email polite rejections to everyone which is pretty awesome actually) and I am pretty sure all were there rotating in and out yesterday, or at least most.  Here are two who I know talked to me.  Others did talk to me, but I either can't remember their name, or the name on their name tag and introduced to me is not the one on the profile site so I can't figure out who.  And it is hard to figure out by looks as there are tons of them.

 Azuna - 19 years old

Harushan - 15 years old

Azunyan was so nervous, she kept forgetting parts of everything she had to explain to us in the beginning and it was adorable.  I just told her to slow down and relax.

Well the greatest part of the day was actually when we were leaving.  Our hour was up and we were led by Azunyan to the counter to pay.  Tsunku and another male staff member were standing only a couple of feet behind us chatting, waiting for the first group to all leave probably.  So we finished paying and I glanced again at Tsunku, who met my eyes and then walked over to us and first asked in Japanese if we could speak it.  I said yes.  So he stood there right next to me and asked how I found out about this cafe.  I told him I had seen it on his blog, and then Azunyan blurted out how I had told her I knew about it 3 months ago right when it was announced and he seemed amazed.  I said that I was a big Hello Project fan so was always going to events.  He did the obvious thing of thanking me for that and then I told him I was definitely going to be coming back to the cafe more.  He told me he hoped we had a good time, then smiled and said "Thank you for coming" in perfect English before walking off.

I was in shock that we had such a normal back and forth conversation.  I mean I knew he had spotted me and obviously nodded at me a few times while on stage but apparently he was really curious as to how I got there on opening day.  I was so happy leaving the cafe and promised Azunyan that we would come back soon.  Wow... I really should have asked to shake Tsunku's hand but I am just in complete awe that we had a totally normal exchange and I definitely think he'll remember me ^_~

Can't wait to go back again.  Price wise it isn't too expensive so hope to get there at least once or twice a month.

9th Generation Fanclub Tour in Yamanashi 2011, November 5-6

Fall 2011 November 5-6: 9期　Bus Tour in Yamanashi

 

Above you can see my tour pass and the front of the pamphlet we were given at the start of the tour.  In fact we were given a whole pile of materials as you can see.  Among them, slips for voting for the best art project, a questionnaire sheet and a goods order form.

But I am getting ahead of myself.  Before boarding the bus, I took a picture of myself ready to have a fun weekend with the Kyukkies.

I look surprised for some odd reason, not sure exactly why. Well it was before 8 in the morning and I have very little skill with taking pictures of myself so I can use that as an excuse I guess.  By the time I arrived at the meeting area (about 15 minutes before the meet up time) there was already a large wota group ready and raring to go.  I enjoyed chatting with some of my friends from Hawaii and then we parted ways for the moment and got onto our designated buses.

For the duration of the tour, I was on Bus 2.  We had a very cute, very young bus guide who at first glance picked out Riho as her favorite.  As a demonstration of the kindness (not creepiness) of wotas, on Sunday it happened to be that bus guide's birthday, so on our way to events on the second day, the "captain" wota (seems to be known by most, I have never talked to him but have seen him around a lot) led us all in singing Happy Birthday.  It was really sweet and made me feel really connected to everyone around me.

Back to the bus.  Precisely at 8am we started on our way.  Highways were of course crowded because it was a weekend, so traffic was stop and go for a while, but eventually we got moving at a steady pace.  The first rest area we stopped at was too crowded to really get everything we needed done; along with toilet and buying lunch we were also told that 5-shots would be taken as soon as we got to Yamanashi so we needed to get ready for them there.  I opted to put contacts in at the rest stop then grab out makeup pouch from my luggage and do makeup on the bus.  It worked out well, mostly because I don't wear very much make up so "doing makeup" consists of nothing more than putting on concealer and eyeshadow.  For girls who do much more than that, well they wouldn't dare leave the house without make up on so it seemed like all the other girls on the tour were already dolled up when they got to the bus meet up at 7:30.  How they are able to get up and put make up on in the early morning is something I will never understand about most women here.  And I do mean most, I wish I saw more women without make up , since most of them probably look just as beautiful.  But I digress.

Since we had very little relax time at the first rest stop, we did end up stopping about 30 minutes later just after we had entered Yamanashi prefecture.

Saturday, November 5

Only 20 minutes later we were off the highway and headed to the location where the 5-shot was to be done, a nice Japanese style-inn.  Which coincidentally is also the lodging we stayed at.  I was nervous, but nowhere near as nervous as I was in Hawaii.  After the picture in Hawaii, and the 5-shot with Smileage, I was able to approach this picture calmly with a clear idea in my head of the pose I wanted to do.  Outside the room (and after a very cute and ditzy VTR shown on the bus) we were presented with a board showing each girl's suggested pose.  I am really  not sure what Fuku-chan was thinking with her Fuji-san pose, but I am sure some people did choose to use it.

 I decided to go with a pose of my own, which I described to the staff member as (one of the same young guys who was in Hawaii, we both recognized each other) "Holding your hands out as if you are accepting the fans' love"  3 out of 4 of the girls understood what I meant.  Riho looks like she is presenting a product.

They were so cute!  I mean I am a sucker for school uniforms, but I don't think anyone could pull it off better than these four.  Staff member who put up the suggestion for the tour to be like a middle-school field trip, I salute you ^^

After the 5-shot (we were given the picture on the bus ride back to Tokyo the next day) we were shipped off to do grape picking while the bus group from Nagoya took their turn at the 5-shot.  A good way to kill time without leaving us bored, but the girls weren't there at all so it was kinda pointless.  OK, the girls were there in spirit.  They were there in the sense that the artwork they made out of clay as their image of Yamanashi grapes was there.  I didn't get a picture of it myself, but there are pictures floating around.  Three of the pieces actually looked like real grapes, and one looked like a weird character styled grape, we think that one was Kanon.  The voting slips we were given were for voting for what we thought was the best piece.  Of course most people debated who made what and then tried to vote for their oshi, but I actually voted for the one I thought looked the best, though I am pretty sure the weird wtf-is-that character was my beloved Zukki's.  

Conveniently they finally uploaded the voting results, and here they are.

1位　D作品　譜久村 聖　　Mizuki　　　　　　
2位　A作品　鈴木 香音　Kanon
3位　B作品　鞘師 里保　Riho
4位　Ｃ作品　生田 衣梨奈 Erina

As we thought, the weird one was Zukki, it was cute, but I voted for what did turn out to be Mizuki's and the winner, D.  I liked the way she formed her grapes.  Riho's and Erina's kinda just looked like lumps, so I can see why it was between A and D.  

So yeah, the grape picking was really just to have us kill time, and yeah we had the clay artwork to look at, besides for eating slightly sour but yummy grapes (why the Japanese PEEL grapes I will never understand, I just eat them whole).  But yeah, it would have been nice to have been doing something slightly  more related to the girls we were there to see.  

After we finished picking our grapes, we were instructed to go into one of the other areas of the building to do one piece of calligraphy each.  You could do any single character that you liked, and although you might think people would only choose characters from the 9ki members' names, you would be wrong.

 

As for me, I choose a character dear to my heart (and one of the few I can write that doesn't look like it is written by a 5-year old.  Can read kanji just fine, cannot write them to save my life)

A tribute to my Junjun.  I was so happy to see her on the Chinese contest show ^^.

After everyone was finished at the grape-picking farm, we were bussed back to our hotel and allowed to check in.  My room was six girls.  We all started chatting right away, and one of the girls had brought a portable DVD player so we sat down and watched the Single V of the latest Musume single, complete with lots of "Kawaii"s just as you would expect from a bunch of girls.  We had about two hours to kill before dinner, so after watching that we all just kind of relaxed and showed off the items we had brought on the tour.  One girl (who I need to chase down at the Yomiuri Land Event) had even made clothes for a miniature bear to match Reina's concert outfit from Fantasy DX. 

 

Or I think the bear was Reina.  Of the Kyukkies, Eripon is her favorite and I don't remember Eripon having a bow like that.  The bear was so adorable that it was an instant photo favorite.  Another one of my roommates was wearing Zukki's shiny green-trim outfit from the Fantasy DX which her mom had hand-sewn for her.  Makes me seriously want to learn to sew so I can make my own outfits whenever I feel like it.

Finally, at 4:50, we headed down to the dining hall, took our seats and dove into a delicious Japanese-styled feast.  There were so many different dishes, including yummy sashimi and flame-boiled rice with mushrooms, that at the end of the meal we were all full to bursting.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera when we went downstairs, because the meal really was that huge and gourmet, and even included a couple of slices of boar roast.  Yum, boar meat.

After a huge dinner, it was back upstairs to grab what we needed for the Mini-Live and Talk Event and then back on our buses.  Two of my roommates were on the same bus, so we all went together and settled in with our full stomachs to watch another random 9ki VTR for the hour-long bus ride to the venue.  The talk and Mini-Live were at a small concert hall in Yamanashi, and when I say small I mean it.  Even though I had pulled the 12th row (the entire hall maybe had 20) and was in the last row of the tour group, I still had a great view and with my pen-light in hand and my Fantasy DX t-shirt on I was ready to cheer.

The first half of the event was just the Kyukkies talking about a variety of subjects, including answering how an idol would respond in certain situations.  A comedian acted as the "Heaven's Voice" in order to make sure the girls didn't go too off topic.  It was amusing but a week later not that memorable because everyone was waiting for the live.

And the live did not disappoint.  It was short,　but full of high power songs that highlighted all of the girls strengths.  First was Go Girl, a trying song for even veteran members but all four were able to pull off the dance and song brilliantly.  A great high power number to start off the night.  Next was Mikan, another song that came out way before they joined but captures the spirit of their youth.

After the opening they moved into the solo corner (seems to be a trend that FC tours have solo corners) with Riho picking KoiING (because she didn't get to sing it during the summer), Fuku-chan picked Tokutouseki (a Gomaki song that while at first I couldn't place, by the chorus I was humming along to it.  A great song to highlight Fuku-chan's strong voice), Zukki (Yeah! Meccha Holiday. A perfect choice for Zukki.  Keeps with her fun-loving nature, as well as highlights her deeper-toned voice.  Plus she just exudes the young genki idol vibe) and finally Eripon with Koi no Boogie Train (a great song, though again a fast number which just like Hawaii Eripon had a little trouble keeping up with.  However, this time she didn't lose her breath at all and was able to perform the whole song and dance without missing a beat.  Still, Eripon... you don't need to push yourself, those are hard songs to sing solo).  

After the solos it was again back to high powered group numbers, starting with Ikimasshoi.  As one of my favorite Musume songs it was great to see performed, even if having only four members made it seem slightly lacking.  The girls are all high-energy though so were able to pull it off well.  Tired me out with how much I jumped and flailed with love during the verses.  And next came the song we had all been waiting for (when hearing they were going to perform a song by that legendary 4-person group, well what else do you think came to mind?) Melon Kinenbi's "This is Unmei"  Sure the girls are too young to understand the lyrics (just like Smileage) but still this is a song you cannot lose with.  It is high energy, the girls did the opening head turning completely in sync and the power and energy it unleashed upon the audience was unbelievable.  It.. it really made me miss Melon.  (Poor Sexy Saitou)  Still, I had been secretly hoping this was the song they were referring to and was not disappointed in the least.  If anything, the only strange part was not having the stage go red when they said "Is this hell?" like it does for any performance of this song in an actual fully-staged concert.  And once again I felt that This is Unmei is not a song you can listen to on CD after hearing it live several times.  It just isn't the same without the wota-calls.  And I was shouting just as loud as everyone else there.

Lastly they performed Maji Desu Ka, an expected choice to show off how much they have grown since it was first recorded several months ago.  They left the stage, and we all thought it was over, but then they showed the previews for the Sharehouse movie.  (Which no I didn't go see... it just really didn't seem that interesting, though after seeing a longer preview it does seem like something nice to sit at home on the couch and watch, just not something to pay to see in theaters.  Plus the 9kis only have a small part in it, and it has D-boys x_x)  And suddenly... the girls were back on stage doing a comedy skit with the title of... wait for it... Ramen Ranger!  And yes, three out of four of them were rangers, with Zukki playing the ramen customer who is angry and surprised at the ridiculous-ness she is subjected to.  Finally after a hilarious skit they did one more section where they had the girls do rock-paper-scissors with the audience, I lasted three times before having to sit down.  The last few people (as long as it was under 10) got bags that had the strange hippo drawings printed onto them (hippo drawings that were showcased during one of the many in-bus VTRs.

The Ramenja- segment reminded me that they also did two short comedy routines before the live began, split into pairs.  Both were very funny, with the one highlighting Fuku-chan's sheltered home life and acting as if she is a princess with several servants and it had everyone rolling with laughter.  Course her partner was Zukki, who of course is brilliant at tsukkomi.  Ikuta and Riho did a doctor's appointment setting where Eripon was the ditzy and overreacting doctor.  Very amusing, all four girls have gotten quite good at acting.  Another corner of the night was a gesture game corner, some of the questions were really hard and you felt bad for the girls getting them but ah well was amusing for the audience ^^  Tokyo Sky Tree included Eripon jumping higher and higher to show that it was taller than Tokyo Tower.

At the end of the night we were given out the cap and badges below.  And... I feel so bad.  I thought the lady who handed me the cap looked familiar... it was Inaba Atsuko!!! But... but then I saw on her twitter that she was on the 9ki tour and totally didn't realize it was her and wondered if she was ever going to appear and do anything and she didn't and... and I had my chance to say hi and I didn't.  Granted her appearing was the worst timing ever, coming off of the high of being sent off with a wave and a smile by the 9ki members in pajamas made it very hard to really focus on what was going on as I was handed the cap.  Gomen ne.... and I really liked T&C  Bomber too.  Maybe Atsuko just isn't recognizable without her afro ^^

Sunday, November 6

With breakfast starting at 6:45 and the bus leaving at 7:50, it was an early morning.  Felt even earlier for me because I had some weird stomach problem that made me have cold chills and keep waking up the night before.  Really sucked because the night before I had gone to the public bath in the hotel with two of my roommates and had such a good time chatting with them in the outdoor bath.  I rarely get to use public baths because I have a tattoo on my stomach, and as you might know, apparently everyone who has a tattoo is a Yakuza.  My roommates told me to try coming in anyways and when I looked after we got it, it seemed like the rules for the bath at this hotel didn't mention anything about tattoos, so I felt very lucky and relaxed.  And then my stomach bothered me.  I was probably over tired from a long, eventful day.  Ah well, a new day had begun.

 

 Breakfast was delicious, I really love Japanese-style dishes but they are too much work to make at home.  The only thing I didn't touch was the natto packet, I can eat it but I really don't like it enough to want to eat it.

After returning to our rooms and getting all of our belongings ready, we were back on the bus and headed off to what was called the Morning Event.  Well, it wasn't really an event.  It was more like we were lined up in the order we would be taking the group pictures in, put into a very tiny room, and then the girls were on a platform at the front of the room.  Except it was so crowded that anyone off to the side couldn't see at all, even after asking the staff to make people in the front sit down, and all it really was was morning greetings from the girls.  The school style greetings were nice, but it really wasn't a good event unless you were in the front and center I think.

Afterwards we were led in our lines to another room in the hotel we had been brought to and they proceeded to take the group pictures.  This time, 10 of us were sitting in front of the Kyukkies standing behind us.  And they were dressed in sports tracksuits, wearing different colors for their grade.  A cute idea, but kind of plain and unfitting for an idol to be wandering around in all day.

Photos finished, we headed out to the bus once again, this time for just a short trip to another location where we would be making the traditional miso soup that had been advertised in our pamphlets.  There were two groups, the noodles and the soup.  I was in the noodles group so I headed to the gymnasium and took a seat at my designated place.  This was to be my first time making pasta from scratch

I am wearing the apron and head cloth that were sold as goods the day before.  They actually ended up selling out of them quite quickly I heard.  Apparently the staff didn't take into account the fact that they announced on the website that the apron was a must have item during the tour and that that would mean that almost everyone would want to buy one.  As for the rest of my outfit, don't be fooled by the purple, I am a Zukki fan.  I just happened to have a purple sweater and dress, and my luggage is purple.  So everyone was teasing me about how my mind was telling me I am an Eripon fan, but no I swear Zukki is my oshi.

After a short wait, in came Zukki and Riho to make noodles with us.  Or rather, altogether we watched the workers from the hotel show us how to make the noodles (or rather everyone tried to look up towards the Year 1 pair instead of watch what was going on) and then Riho and Zukki stayed up on their platform at the front (I was the second row of mats back) and we all set to work on the noodles.  The one girl in our group didn't really help much, but the other four of us worked hard on the noodles, looking up at the girls when we traded off duties.  We figured that we had been told that the quickest ones to finish would be able to go over to where the soup was being made and see the girls more there.  So we put our hearts into finishing our noodles, and after stepping on them and endlessly rolling them out like was required, we were finished.  Usually during FC tours, the girls will come and walk around the room at events like this.  They will make comments and perhaps even directly help you out, yet this time they never left their platform.  It was really disappointing, but was a theme throughout the whole tour, that the staff apparently did not think the four Kyukkies were ready to interact with the fans on their own.  *Sigh*  The cutest point during Riho/Zukki  making noodles was when Zukki held Riho on her back and danced around on the dough, damn is that girl strong.

Noodles finished, we headed over to the cafeteria (or rather a tent set up as a cafeteria outside) and took our places at the designated table (half the group had been noodles, half soup) my table being 3 tables back from where the girls were cooking but at least in the center.  Unfortunately the front two tables kept standing up and getting in the way so it was at times hard to see Eripon and Fuku-chan continue to cut up vegetables.  I wonder if this was their second time, as all the fans had already finished making the soup, so it seems like if they were still working through cutting their first time, then they were really slow.  We learned something, do not let Eripon cook.  She is really not good at it.  After tasting and cooking for a while longer, all of our noodles had finally cooked through and the miso soup had been served up.  As if we were in a school, together we all said "Itadakimasu" and dove in.

 

Very good lunch, yet the girls left us too soon and we finished off on our own.   Afterward, there was a rush to the bathroom.  Before going, I stopped to snap a picture of the board the girls had drawn to announce that days event.

And once again a 30 minute or so bus ride, and one stop at an ice cave for 20 minutes to kill time, we were parked at a shopping center outside of the small hall the last event was to be held out.  The inside of the hall was set up just like a school auditorium, with various posters of rules and class schedules for the "School" we were at posted around the room.  Our pieces of calligraphy, as well as the girls' were also hung up.

The set up, the idea, everything about the posters was nice.  I was sleepy, so I took my seat quickly (third row, right) and struggled throughout the event not to fall asleep.  Why, you may ask.  Because I had almost no sleep the night before as mentioned.  But I was determined not to fall asleep.  It was really hard though, as to be honest, the event was quite disappointing.  Past Fan Meetings I have been to have always involved a lot more interaction (games and questions in Hawaii with Musume, a cooperative relay game with Smileage) and this one had well none.  Oh sure they started off with really cute and hilarious excuses as to why they were late to "school" and that had everyone laughing.  Then they had us do formal greetings, because Fuku-chan was the Class President.  Then the sports leader (eripon) led us in simple morning exercises that were amusing because Eripon didn't seem to be quite sure of what she was doing beforehand so there was a bit of confusing when she tried to get us to do this weird pose representing the 9ki mascot (see the pamphlet below) but she didn't really have a clear image in her mind of what she wanted to do.  That was funny.  Zukki had already fulfilled her role as Lunch Girl and Riho had already been cameraman when we were eating the soup.

After the opening talk though, I was really struggling to keep my eyes open.  So when they did the question box, I eagerly listened for my question to be asked, but it wasn't.  And then after that, to be honest I wonder if I did actually sleep for part of the event, because while I remember them talking a bit more, it seemed like it was suddenly over.  I feel really bad x_x  I didn't want to sleep, and I wouldn't have if I hadn't been sick and unable to sleep the night before.  But I also feel like just having to sit for the hour did me in.  If it had been more interactive, or active like the warmups, then it wouldn't have allowed me to sleep.  I am sad that I missed seeing all I could of my Zukki and hope that they didn't notice me nodding off x_x I would feel really bad if they did.  Apparently I wasn't the only one, as I overheard other guys talking after, saying they had nodded off a bit, but they were tired from staying up drinking all night, I wasn't!  My body just hated me x_x.

Ah well, nothing I could do.  After the meeting was the much awaited handshake.  They started from the back, so i was almost last and was getting more and more nervous by the second.  I knew what I wanted to say to Zukki and that's what counts.  This is how our conversation went,and since she was first in line I was able to say all I wanted to.

Z: Thank you very much.
A: It was a lot of fun!
Z: Thank you so much for coming again!  (could it be, she remembers me from Hawaii)
A: NO problem, the soup was good wasn't it?
Z: Yeah, it was so delicious.
A: Hope to see you again soon.
Z: I'll be waiting

and then I was asked to move on.  To Riho, I mentioned how amusing I had found their skit the night before and wished her good luck.  To Eripon I mentioned how much she had matured and congratulated her on doing so well on OhaStar, wishing her luck.  To Fuku-chan (who still has the grip of death though it has loosened a little) I told her to keep doing her best and that she was always so down to earth.  She seemed really happy to see me again and I once again commented that her singing was great and I hoped she would continue to do her best with the 10th gen.

And then it was over.  It was a relatively slow handshake, not to the level of Hawaii (where you ran out of things to say) but to the point where you could really make contact with the girls, and Zukki's smile is such an amazing thing that it made me forget at once how sleepy I had been only moments before and I left the hall on a high.

Back on the bus, we were all waiting with the windows open, knowing that there would be a sendoff.  However, after driving a minute we were told to close the windows because yes there would be a sendoff like there always was but it was a bit further on and the bus was wasting heat.  A ten minute drive later, we pulled into the parking lot of Fuji Q Highland (I want to ride the new coaster so bad!) and proceeded to do a slow drive past the girls, able to open the window and wave down at them (they were right next to the bus) then to drive past once again with the girls standing on the other side of the bus.  And then we were off, headed on back roads (the highways were backed up) on the road back to Tokyo.

Two days went by so fast.  And while there were a lot of disappointments, the girls themselves did not disappoint in the least.  They have really grown up, all four of them, in the past few months.  It is hard to picture those four standing on the stage nervously at Nakano in January as being the same girls.  They have both matured and filled out into four girls with differing personalities who are able to hold their own in conversation.  I am sure they will continue to grow and change as sempai to the 10th gen members.  And even if she may be a little chubby I want my Zukki to continue to eat her fill and enjoy what she loves.  (It certainly was amusing to see her gobble down more soup when they were told they had to move on to the next area to get ready for the last event.)

I leave you with photos of all the pictures of the hand written tour pamphlet we were given at the start of the tour.

Morning Musume Fall 2011 Ai Believe 9/29 at Budoukan

 On September 29, 2011, at Nippon Budoukan, a new era of Musume history began...
But first I must apologize for how ridiculously late this post is.  Had no time at all (or energy when I did have time) outside of work to work on this.  Luckily tomorrow is a National Holiday (Sports Day) so I have a bit of breathing time.

The picture you see above was the first indication that Musume performing at Budoukan was a big deal.  They haven't performed there in a few years, and since it was my first time to be there EVER I was happy and moved to see such a large banner outside.

I was also surprised at just what Budoukan looked like.  I mean I knew it was a traditional Judo arena often used for concerts now.  And I also knew as I got off the train that it was the next stop after the station which you can get off at to walk to the Imperial Gardens.  But I still was not expecting this...

or this...

 I was stunned by the absolute beauty of it.  As someone who dislikes doing touristy things I have never been to the Imperial Gardens, but now I am thinking I might need to head over there sometime just to relax in such a peaceful atmosphere.

   Today however, Budoukan was far from peaceful.  As soon as I crossed through the gates, I saw this...

... a scarily long goods line. Ah, well that was to be expected what with it being Ai's last two concerts and at Budoukan.  Still, goods had opened up over 2 hours prior to me getting there, you would expect them to die down sometime.
Since I actually didn't have goods as my main motive for going early, I continued on around  to the front of the venue where I found my friend, Ken.  Ken was one of the friends I made on the Hawaii tour so we had planned to meet up for lunch.  He's a huge Ai-chan fan and has been ever since her debut, so he swears that he will move away from Musume though still follow Ai.  But we all know how difficult it is to graduate from Musume once you have formed a connection.  I thought I could with JJ leaving but it just didn't happen.  We both laughed at the length of the line, looked at the Ladies' Only line and I said I would wait til later (bad idea btw) and headed off to a cafe by the station for lunch.
   Over lunch we talked a lot about the future of Musume, who we thought would get in, what Konkon and Makoto might do at the concert today, as well as just talking in general about what we had been doing since the tour.  I really find it amazing that I made such great friends in Hawaii, and look forward to seeing a couple more of the guys again when we all go on the 9th gen tour.  (Not Ken, the 9th gen haven't pulled him in yet.)
  After lunch, I figured, OK now I need to go wait in line for goods.  The Ladies' Only line should be quickest right?  Yeah... not.  Unfortunately I didn't realize just how slow it was moving (only 4 workers for a ton of girls at a very large venue)  until I had already been in line for 30 minutes and you figure at that point you might as well just wait it out.  And wait I did, for 3 hours...

The funny part is that I wasn't really waiting for myself, as lately I have become the type of wota who would rather go to more events instead of spend money on goods that I have too many of anyways, I had promised a friend to get goods.  Ah well, got out of the line eventually, was able to grab a copy of the Alo! Hello 5 photobook because one of the things my friend wanted was sold out and then headed back over with my friends.  We all just laughed because it was very obvious by that point that waiting in what looked to be the longer General line would have been a LOT shorter.  Ah well, now it was just off to the bathroom for me to throw on concert T-shirt and put in contacts.
   And then we all headed inside.  After looking up my seat online, I figured from the layouts I had found that I was probably second row (since I was 10 and most rows went to 8 on the patterns I found online), but I was wrong.  I was FRONT ROW!!! At　Budoukan!!!  And not only that, I was Off-center Right.  I actually did a little dance when I saw where I was before wandering back to chat with my friends more, with them jokingly asking to trade and me firmly replying no.  We all laughed at my luck, I had been getting pretty bad tickets for the past few events but now my time had come.  \A couple of minutes before start, I said goodbye and headed up to my spot.  One note here is that front row at Budoukan is actually more like 5-6th row at any concert hall distance-wise, except that you have no one in front of you so I could see everything and everyone on stage very clearly.

The Concert
    As anyone who has looked at the setlist (easily google findable) can see this was very much an Ai-centered concert tour.  She talked a lot on radio shows she went on about how much input she had; everything from set list decisions to costume decisions.  And from the first show's recording that I listened to, I was impressed.
   They started off with Mr. Moonlight.  Minus Yossi this song hasn't been done too often, but I figured they would still go with two male characters; perhaps Ai and Risa.  Instead, they chose to have it set up as a ballroom dance with only Ai as the sought after male lead.

Hot, that is really all you can say. I mean sure the all-white dresses are just a bit too frilly (at least when you are front row, they are SUPER frilly) but they look great in motion and all of the girls played up their roles of being in love with Prince Ai to the max. 
   After the opening VTR they came out and performed in the Kare to Issho Ni outfits.  One thing noticed is that they don't seem to perform in the Kono Chikyu outfits very often.  Maybe they are afraid of shiny bangles flying everywhere.  I dunno.  The two Double A songs go together really well so they are a great pair to see.  After that, arriving on stage to the sound of Kono Chikyuu (Tsunku version) in the backround, Tsunku announced the four winners.  I am sure everyone has seen them, but here is a picture of all four.  I love all of them and am sure they will do great.  If I had to pick a favorite I would pick Haruka just because she is so adorable and I love her husky voice.

It was hilarious watching Zukki during the announcement.  Her and the rest of the kyukkies were flipping out and jumping around like idiots when everyone was announced.  Zukki went especially crazy and started jumping around when Haruka was announced.  It was adorable.  Clearly the girls really had been watching Hello Pro Time and cheering on their favorites.  I have no problem with the girls' ages myself because it really does seem like an 11-12 year old now is so much different then ten years ago when I was that age.  My 10 year　old students are probably more mature than most 15-16 year olds when I was in high school.  But the ages did make for funny responses from the four older members on stage.  I mean 2 of the girls were born the year Love Machine came out.  Wow, just really shows Musume's history.
   In the concert they performed several of the new album songs, varying day to day.  The ones I saw were "My Way Joshikou Hanamichi", a great upbeat and powerful song that really gets the crowd going.  I love the rhythm and the girls seem to have a great time performing it.  "Kono ai wo kasanete" a great ballad for two of the strongest singers, though Gaki's voice is actually quite unique and not perfect like people presume, it does match her singing style and fits this moving ballad.  "Give me Love" I like this song because it is somewhere in the middle between being a slow song and an upbeat pop song.  A good filler for concerts though it really needs to be matched to the songs around it to sound best.  "Jounetsu no Kiss wo hitotsu" a great R&B number in my mind.  AixGakixReina may be overused in this concert but they are definitely good at what they do.  Oh wait, checking now it seems this is not a new song but was on Platinum 9 Disco, did sound familiar.  Oh well, love the name and sounded great.
   "OK Yeah!" another great album song that provides a high tension and fun feeling.  And I love the parapara frogger sounding background music.  "Suki da na kimi ga" I never would have thought to pair Sayumi and Mizuki but they actually work really well together."  I don't think "Silver no udedoke" was performed, well actually I do as I remember hearing it but it doesn't seem to be on the set list for the time I went so maybe I am just imagining it x_x  Not sure.  I know I at least heard a radio rip and enjoyed it.
   The other songs performed, such as Songs and Take Off is Now ~ Breakin Out and Bravo, were again numbers that I am sure Ai picked to allow the current Musume a chance to show off how powerful they are.  All the dances looked well, though of course there were times when you noticed one girl being a little off from the others.  But overall there was no time to not enjoy the concert (especially being front row) and it was over almost as soon as it began. 
   Two highlights: the reunion of the 5th gen and the last MC.  Everyone was looking forward to seeing Konkon and Makoto and we weren't disappointed.  Between Ai teasing Konkon for talking "too much like an announcer" and Makoto stumbling over her Japanese just like she always has, it felt as if the four had never been separated.  And though they originally sat down for Suki na Sempai, in the end they stood up and hummed along with Ai and Gaki during the last chorus. 
   As for the last MC, the reason I picked it because it was very obvious they were getting dangerously close to 9pm.  Why is that such a big deal you ask?  Because anyone under 18 MUST be finished working by 9pm, which in an idol's case means they must at least be off stage.  They got away with it last year at JunLinEri grad with Aika (it was almost 10 when they finished) because she was 17 (though Tsunku and staff probably did get a talking to) but with an 11 year old as the youngest member on stage (the 10th gen joined Musume on stage for the last MC and they performed Tomo together) they couldn't let it hit 9.  So instead of the normal paced thanking the audience, commenting on the day, etc.  It was super high speed, must get everything out as quickly as possible last message.  And it was very obvious they were being told to do so in their earpieces because a couple of the new members slowed down a bit but then sped up halfway through.  They ended up finishing Tomo and leaving the stage at about 8:57, so yep they cut it really close. 
   I like how Tsunku does things now, not letting the current members know who or how many winners there are until they come on stage.  That sort of surprise makes for really good reactions, always good for the audience.

In closing, Ai may be gone, but Musume will live on.  Every day they grow and change and I will keep following them until the end.

Although there may be a post beforehand, my next definite report will be on the 9th Gen Bus Tour coming up the first weekend of November.  So, now I leave you with a picture of all of Musume backstage after the show, including the new members.

Smileage Concert Tour 2011 Fall ~Gyakushuu no Cho Miniskirt~ Shibuya 9/18

So today was the day that I would get to see just what the new Smileage was turning out to be.  With tickets in hand, boyfriend and I set out in the morning at 9am in order to get a chance to meet the new members.  When we arrived at about 9:45 there was quite a line waiting to handshakes with the new members.  

 

Well, no rush so we got our tickets out, ready to be stamped upon entry (as well as the back of our hands) to show that you had already participated in the handshake.  The handshake was surprisingly slow, too slow almost.  We came into it expecting it to be the usual release event style of light-speed line movement but when we actually got up to them, it was so slow that you ran out of things to say.  All four of the girls are adorable and very polite.  To Rinapu and Kanana I just said to do their bests today, added a bit more about how I was looking forward to it to Akari and then the kicker came when I made Meimi squeal.  How, you may ask?  I told her I had gone to the Shugo Chara musical.  She seemed really pleased at that, and I must say as much as Kanon keeps telling people to not Oshihen (change favorites) it is hard not to with how adorable and sweet Meimi is. But don't worry Kanon you are my number one in Smileage.  The new members made a great first impression and left me feeling happy and giddy as we headed to a coffee shop for breakfast.

The Concert

The set list can easily be found online so I won't post that here, but will post my overall thoughts.  

First off, this is probably the best Hello!Project concert I have been to in a long time, and that's saying a lot since my Number 1 group is Morning Musume.  After the fail that was the last Buono concert due to completely inept sound guys, well it was refreshing to go to a hall concert.  And to top it off CC Lemon has to be one of the most well-ventilated halls I have been to, you barely sweated even dancing throughout the whole concert.  Although the music was a bit too loud for the first and last songs, the rest of the time the balance was perfect and besides Dawa's mic cutting out for one phrase, none of the girls missed any lines.

Things that made this concert great: 

• The setlist: a great mix of all the Smileage singles and most (if not all) album songs.  Since they did most songs, you can't say it was the songs they picked that made it great, rather it was the order.  Started with Tachiagirl - Otona ni Naru, a great mix of the new and the older to kick the fans into full drive.  Then after introductions they went into sets of two songs each featuring the 3 main members and 1 sub member.  Then a perfect set of songs by the sub-members only: Ama no Jaku and Yume Miru 15 to represent Smileage's beginnings.  Then another set of main + sub member.  Finished off with two songs with all members, then the encore of the coupling to Tachiagirl (love it, perfect for all the fall festivals, and so pervy to think of a Smileage Rice Bowl Meal) and finally Suki-chan.  Just... you couldn't ask for a more perfect arrangement.

• As I mentioned previously, the arrangement of members.  The 3 +1 format worked well at showing off each sub-member without overshadowing the main members.  Also, as one sub member left from one side of the stage, the next member came on from the opposite side.  If I can say one thing about AKB that I like, it was that they always have smooth song transitions and I am glad to see it used in a HaroPro concert. 

• The surprise announcement made in a letter written by Tsunku and read by Goro (that guy who has narrated at several of Smileage's events)  that the sub-members would indeed be put through the same trial as the main members of having to gather smiles.  Except, there is one major catch.  People do not merely submit the smiles.  No no.  The sub-members have to take pictures of people, with the random person's cell phone, and then get said random-person to upload that picture to his/her blog or twitter and post that they have done to using the Smileage twitter tag.  So these girls have to summon all their courage and approach strangers on the street with what will probably sound like the sketchiest scheme ever.  And this will be a major factor in Tsunku's decision of who if any become full members (TBA at October 16 release event).  Boyfriend and I plan to lurk around Shibuya to see if they area actually taking advantage of the holiday tomorrow (the 19th) in the most obvious area.

What can I say, it was just a great concert and makes me confident in all of the sub-members.  Each girl has great personality, and while Meimi is the obvious fit for Smileage's image, the other three also have something important to offer.  All 7 girls seemed to interact well, and yes I know of course they will they are performing, you could see genuine chemistry forming through their interactions.  I am hoping I can make it into the release event and see history in the making.

And I leave you with a picture of my goods, didn't buy much as I am saving for the 9th gen FC tour in 2 months time.

An Update

Before I say anything I have to point out something Sayu posted on her blog yesterday:

Yep, there I am.  Sure it's only my back, but I am the short one in the Kanon shirt.  A couple of my wota friends noticed too, because we were all on the Hawaii tour together, and excitedly commented on my mixi last night.  It might only be a small thing, but it's amusing to me ^^

In other news, last Sunday the boyfriend and I attended Rock N' Buono 4 at Yokohama Blitz.
The performances themselves were great, though Partenza and Frankinsense were completely lipsynced.  Partenza just does not work as a live song, though it is a good album opener.  The talk was also really good, they were all really amusing.  The song choices that weren't from the mini-album were great.

But the concert overall was complete crap!!! Why do I say this?  Because the sound quality was so horrible.  Rewatching the youtube stream, it sounds so great.  At the venue, the speakers were turned up so loud they hurt your ears and you could barely hear the girl singing over the blasting music.  Seriously, whoever has been the sound mixer for the last few concerts (not just live house but halls too) needs to learn how to use mixers.  The loudness of the music was even messing up the girls, as you can see clearly in My Boy where they were having a really hard time keeping pace.

There were several fans who walked out before the encore, and I understand their feeling.  We had high numbers so chose to stand in the back, so yeah I knew I wouldn't be able to see perfectly (though it wasn't horrible) but I could barely hear many of the songs which did piss me off.  I feel like this is a recent development in the HP world and hope they get their act together soon because I love going to concerts.

Coming up in 2 weeks (after my B-day in one week, yay!) is the Smileage live.  It will be strange seeing 8 girls but our seats are pretty decent so we are really looking forward to it ^^

An Eventful Week

First off, let me give a big congratulations to the 5 new (sub) members of Smileage: Nakanishi Kana (14), Kosuga Fuyuka (13), Takeuchi Akari (13), Katsuta Rina (13) and Tamura Meimi(12).  Good job girls!  Well, you can't celebrate yet.  You still have a long way to go to become full members.

Yep, they aren't out of the water yet.  These five have to survive the Smileage Fall tour before Tsunku judges which are worthy of becoming full-fledged members of Smileage / which get to return to the obscurity of egg-dom.  I am really looking forward to seeing a 9 member Smileage on stage in September!!!


Now for my second piece of news.  On Friday, August 12th Smileage held a Polaroid Picture Event to commemorate their last single as 4 members (only if you bought the 7000 box set about a month ago) so I headed out towards the Ginza area in the morning for my turn.  I only signed up for one set, but looking around me I could see wota with 4-5 tickets.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love the girls... but I knew I would be basically broke after Hawaii (the box set was COD last week) so there was no way I could order more than one.  Well that and I thought I had work on the Friday, forgetting it was during my one-week summer holiday.  The usual line up, check your name, get reminded of the rules of no touching (aww I was hoping for a quick handshake at least) and then the girls entered.  We all waved enthusiastically (there were quite a few girls, many obviously in high school, in the morning session I went to) and then they started the picture taking process.

Before your turn you could choose a pose, so I kept it simple and said "Heart" so all five of us made a heart with our hands.  I said a brief greeting before sitting down in the chair, a 3 in front 2 in back pattern.  Saki and Kanon in the back, Yuuka and Dawa in the front.  Before leaving, I waved to the girls as I picked up my bag then I was out giggling like a madwoman and shaking my polaroid.  Now the picture is really tiny (it's a polaroid) so I can't really scan it and up it here but it came out well and although brief I was very glad to have the encounter I had with the girls.

The third piece of news happened last Sunday, August 7th... Hello Project Summer 2011 ~Nippon wa wow wow live~

I don't plan to go into too much detail, as it was basically your average group concert held twice a year.  It was very enjoyable though, all the groups were top-form.   I really like all groups new singles so it was great to see them in concert.  The outfits C-ute wears are very girly and emphasize their member colors, and the song lives up to its name of being Happy.  Berryz takes on the sexy role, performing in the sexy nightgowns they appear in the PV in brilliantly.  Mano performs her single released in June well, and Musume (minus 2) does a great job on their new single with the long-ass title.  I love the shiny gold outfits, especially on Ai-chan.   They match the current light brown-color Ai has going for her hair.

The only thing I can say I noticed about the concert was that it was a complete Mano-fest.  Including the fact that she was one of the "solo" singers of the day, Mano probably performed 5 songs basically by herself.  I am not sure of the exact number, but I know she did two songs outside of the solo section, the "solo" song and then one or two of the group songs were her songs, performed mostly by her.  It just seems... well a bit much.  I don't mind Mano but it seems a bit like they are trying too hard to push her, considering she is the only solo act.

Kikkawa did perform as an opening singer (who knows what is up with her promotion since she is Universal but still doing lots with H!P) and did great.  I really love her voice and hope she does well.  It is hard to believe that she is getting her start at such an older age, but I think if she keeps working hard she will do great.

I am back to work as of tomorrow, so my next H!P escapade will be the Buono! concert on the 28th.

Morning Musume Fan Club Tour in Hawaii 2011 ~2 Memorable Days~

To Hawaii, Let's go!

Due to needing to minimize my time taken off from work, I chose the shortest course: B.  So this meant that I left Tokyo at night on the 21st, then left Honolulu on Sunday the 24th to arrive back in Tokyo on the afternoon of the 25th.  The time difference between Japan and Hawaii is crazy, 19 hours!!!  So essentially you can just think of yourself as being five hours ahead of Japan, a day behind.  This meant that everyone on the tour relived a day since most flights left in the evening from Tokyo.  (Tokyo being a relative term as anyone who has visited Japan knows that Narita airport is nowhere near the city.)

But, I digress.  So first thing I do when it starts to approach meetup time at the airport is spot three very obvious wota, one of whom is a foreigner I have seen at several events but never said hi to. So we start talking, and they mention something about Reina losing her passport.  This gets confirmed when I go to check in at the group flights desk.  They inform us that Reina has indeed lost her passport, and although they will be issuing a new one by the next afternoon, they cannot guarantee she can get the US security clearance (ESTA) that is required in such a short time.  So they can't guarantee that Reina will be participating in the tour, blah blah blah.  They do offer a full refund even on the day, but Reina or no Reina I was going to Hawaii dammit!!!  So, I check in, hand over my bag and receive these:

 

my pamphlet and badge!  Seeing just these got me pumped, the first time I would have a FC tour ID.  To top it off, my ID included a name that when written in its original roman letters is unable to be read by most Japanese staff so therefor had the staff knowing my first name very quickly and those that didn't just politely waving me over for things and saying "Sorry, I couldn't read your name."  It was quite amusing.  

       Normal airport boarding procedures ensue and at 10pm, we are off into the sky heading out across the pacific.  Dinner was served early on the flight because turbulence was expected due to the typhoon we'd be flying over, but it didn't actually turn out to be that bad.  We arrived in Honolulu about 20 minutes early, I had the advantage of being able to hit up the short citizens line,and then we were all gathered together and assigned to our buses.  Below you can see a map of Hawaii; we waited in front of it for our names to be called.

After a buffet lunch at a Japanese style restaurant (seriously Hawaii is more Japan than America) we were taken to our respective hotels and left on our own for the rest of the day.  I chose to wander around shopping, then passed out early from my very long double day.



Friday, July 22nd - Tour Day 1

 No clue how to turn the orientation of the picture once it is embedded, there is me looking weird  before the first event.

 On the morning of the first day I finished all nine of my letters.  Yes, I wrote something to each member, most being very very short because I just didn't have the time to think more out.

     So now for a write up of Day 1's events.  Early Friday morning (7:50 am meetup time, ugh)  we were hustled onto our buses and over to the Honolulu Convention Center for the opening event.  Got seated and finally the members came out... no Reina.  But, they smiled and announced that Reina's plane had just touched down so she would be joining us from the afternoon events.  Big cheers went up but then we got the strangest news of all time, the news about just what the morning's event would be.  

Wait for it... Factory Tours!!!  And a big EHHHHH from the crowd later, Risa chided us for not being more open to new experiences.  Most of the audience's reaction was "What new experience?  You brought us all the way to Hawaii and instead of beach volleyball or hiking like in the past we are going to visit factories?"

Well, the 9th gen each gave a description of the factories we would be visiting and then headed out the back while the fans were ushered out into buses.  And off we went.

Stop Number One ~  Aloha Tofu

A family run, small tofu factory about 20 minutes outside the heart of Waikiki.   Since the factory was so small, each bus was split into two groups, and we were the second (6 buses, split into three touring groups) at the factory so we had to wait.  While waiting we were encouraged to shop at the goods table (Tofu, not Musume) so I got a bilingual cookbook and a t-shirt for the boyfriend.  And then we wered led inside.  Our guides for Stop 1 were Aika, Kanon and Risa.  I managed to stand in the front row, and there was lots of exchange of small comments back and forth.  I got a "Wow" look from all three, and an adorable smile from Kanon, since though I had said at all the handshakes leading up to this tour that I was going... I don't think they believed me.  The 2 feet away from them, can just joke back and forth about normal things atmosphere of this tour was amazing.  We were encouraged on the bus to at least listen to the Factory Guides while they were speaking, and we did, but our eyes and attention was focused completely on the girls.  We were given samples of two kinds of tofu, both of which were amazing.  One was fried tofu with kimchi and the other was dessert tofu that had kiwi and pineapple cooked into it.  Both were great, and on our way out Risa handed us each a cup of soy milk, giving a special "Thank you!" loudly to me.

Who would have thought that sampling tofu could be so exciting ^^  Well, after we went outside, I asked permission to run across to the gas station to get a drink, as I had not thought to bring a bottled drink with me.  And then we were back on the bus headed towards our second stop.

Stop Number Two ~ Menehana Mac Chocolate

     Yep, the picture is of a sign with a fat leprechaunish man.  Apparently short fat men are a sign of luck and happiness in Hawaiin myth.  Here we would be making chocolate with the girls (this stop Riho and Sayumi, with both wearing signs on their hats that said they were in the Sayashi Riho Club... oh Sayumi) While most wota went over to the windows to watch the girls, and other wota, making chocolate, I spent my time at the tasting corner of the shop and got some chocolates to take home.  Then I went back to the other side of the room just in time to be first in line to enter the factory room after the first group came out.
    Again I managed to grab the front spot for the explanation part, both Sayu and Riho looked adorable in their choclatier outfits.  Can't wait to see it on the DVD.  More close banter as we were shown the chocolate making process, then we were led over to our tables to make our own chocolate.  I was unfortunately facing away from where the girls were but turned around as I was mixing to look at them of course <3  After a very brief chocolate making period (mine looked horrible but tasted great), we were ushered back out onto the buses and onto the last stop!

Stop Number Three ~ Lion Coffee

     Mmm I love the smell of coffee.  While we were waiting for out turn to go through the tour we were served free coffee and given time to browse the shop.  As a coffee lover I took advantage of this opportunity and got some Swill Almond Chocolate coffee to take home.  Then it was our turn to head into the factory.  Once again I maneuvered myself to the front for the tour and although while listening the explanation at each station I had to kneel down it was well worth it to see the girls up close and laugh with them.  The girls at this station were　Ai, Erina and Mizuki.  Erina was her usual KY self but seemed to be having a lot of fun, Mizuki was down to earth and showed her maturity and Ai was her usual tongue-biting self.  There was one point in the tour when Ai was asked to do the translation of the guide (only this factory had an English guide, translated by a staff member) and though we are all pretty sure she memorized it, she still did a good job with making it look like she was directly interpreting.
   The tour of the coffee factory was the longest, and the nicest smelling, and so when we were finally ushered out (waving) away from the girls, all of us were more than ready to eat.  And so we were bussed over to the Alomohana (sp?) Shopping center, the largest mall in Hawaii, and left there for.... THREE HOURS!!! until they were to come pick us up for the afternoon events.  OK, kind of a long time but it is a huge mall and for me an American felt kind of nostalgic and fun to wander.  Too bad that the first day I hadn't really made any close wota friends to wander with so just ate in the foodcourt alone (Sbarro's stromboli, yum) and then went shopping.  This is where a lot of my money went, had to get some clothes and used Wii games!

The afternoon meetup time came, and then instead of a bus we were told we would be walking to the convention center.  And walk we did for 15 minutes.  Seriously, buses people, we paid for them.  But it was well worth it, as when we arrived at the convention center and were lined up in lines of 10 for the group shots we heard excited cheers coming from upstairs.  That could only mean one thing, Tanaka Reina had arrived!

When our bus got its turn to go upstairs, we saw that our predictions were true.  Reina walked over to each group of ten and personally apologized for the inconvenience (according to one wota's blog the staff said she had indeed found her passport so the emergency issuing hadn't been needed after all... phew) and then we were walked over and told to kneel in front of the girls.  I was on the end with Zukki (teehee) and was the one holding the bus placard so I definitely stood out. Also stood out for the fact that whenever a new staff member who didn't know my first name saw my name card for the first time they just said "Sorry, but... um you are next."

Group shots were over in an instant then we were led into the room for the fan meeting.

Fan Meeting
     The fan meetings at any FC event are meant to be a forum for you to really interact with the members.  This is done through quizzes, games, and even making the fans do strange things like 3-legged-races for the girls amusement.  This time was no different.  First they did a corner with questions and requests from the audience, which included things like "Do a sexy pose" and "Decide on the date when I will file my marriage registration" and "Show us your image of Hawaii using just your body."  There was also an incident where Sayumi was asked to do her pantomine escalator out where the audience could see how it was done and as she was going back up she stepped on her dress and almost flashed the audience, had the rest of the girls not crowded in as Sayumi covered herself and ran to crouch behind the podium screeching.  Many fans wondered if it wasn't a call for attention, as she had carefully looked and pulled her dress back only moments before. 
     Continuing on they had a team quiz section where the members were put in charge of sections of the audience and had to pick people from the audience that they thought fit certain categories to bring up on stage.  This included; people whose ages add up to 100, people who can perfectly dance Maji, people who can do hula hoop, and people who could run a 3-legged race the fastest.  I unfortunately wasn't picked for anything I tried to get picked for (can't hula hoop or dance so didn't even try to get their attention) but my team ended up having the most points so Sayumi and Eripon went around putting leis on our heads.  Sayu put mine on, and I wore it the next day to the concert and photoshoot.
   Another section of the meeting included the members wandering around the room to play the popping head out of a barrel game or do a talk section with each of the fans.  At first the girls weren't very good at making what is a quite one-sided game fun but after the first time the groups seem to get the hand of it.  Zukki, Aika and Ai were the greatest though.  Ai pushed Aika as she quickly handed out the plastic swords to shove in the barrel one at a time, Zukki collected them.  Zukki did bug impressions along with the fan who made the ball pop out of the top of the barrel as a punishment game.  It was just a great combination and so fun even to watch.  Overall the fan meeting was a lot of fun.


Saturday, July 23rd - Tour Day 2
     Every year, Day 2 consists of the same events; the photo with the members and the concert.
So I dolled myself up cute for the picture and headed out at our assigned meeting time with the rest of the wotas from my hotel (many of whom I had befriended the afternoon before).  I (and others) assumed there would be a bus to the photo location, so I wore very uncomfortable heel sandals that matched my dress.  I am not girly at all but decided that I might as well step out of my element while in Hawaii.  Bad idea.  We walked for about 10 minutes to get to this very fancy hotel, where we were lined up to wait our bus' turn for pictures. The closer we got to our time, the more nervous I got.  I kept trying out different poses in the reflection of the glass beside us, to the other wotas' amusement, but nothing seemed right.  Finally we were ushered into a  seated waiting room, where the girls directly handed us flyers and explained the procedure.  Then, they headed out one way, and us another into the line for the actual photo.
     The photo was over in an instant, many fans saying it was too quick as usually there is a little more time to atleast say hello and thank the girls for their efforts.  When asked by the staff what pose I wanted, I instinctively said "cat" though I had thought of many others.  As you can see below, not all of the members seem to have understood the idea of cat.
     After the photos, we were walked half-way back to our hotel then left on our own.  The guys at my hotel and I decided to have lunch together there, then hop in the hotel pool for a short swim before heading back upstairs to get prepped for the days main event: the concert!

 Taken from another wota's blog, below is the set list to the concert and comments.
1 夏LOVEロマンス Natsu Love Romance
I was completely unfamiliar with this song before the concert, though the melody and feel of it were a great fit for Hawaii.  Apparently it was an original song on Pucchi Best 4. 
 
2 真夏の光線 Manatsu no Kousen
A really old song that I definitely wasn't expecting the current line up to sing, though since the MV was filmed in Hawaii (ages ago) I guess it fits.  A perfect song for Hawaii and one of my favorites from the archives. 
 
3 すき焼き Sukiyaki 鈴木
When asked why she chose this song, Kanon responded easily that she was drawn to it because it has to do with food.  Laughter from the audience only made her smile more.  She sang this in a very nasally voice, and did her best to put in the accent that the original was sung in.  Since joining her voice has gotten much stronger and the fun she had while singing it made up for the few times she went off key.  A great fun choice for Zukki.

4 グルグルJUMP  Guru Guru Jump 生田
Bad choice Ikuta, very bad choice.  The song itself is great, and her reasons for choosing it (the crowd loves it, it's upbeat, etc.) were good ones but for off-pitch Ikuta it was a bit above her level.  The speed and energy required for this song are difficult for even the best to pull off though she gave her best.

5 シャニムニパラダイス Shanimuni Paradise 新垣
A great choice for the next leader.  It's a crowd favorite to sing and dance along to, as well as a fitting song for Hawaii.  I love upbeat songs and this one is no different.  Feels a little strange to hear it sung by only one person, but was done well.

6 晴れ雨のちスキ Hare ame nochi suki 譜久村
Mizuki has an amazing voice.  The girl may have the least personality of all the 9th Gen but her voice is top level.  I really hope she is pushed more in the future as her vocals will definitely be necessary after she leaves.  Part of why she chose this song was because she loved when Eri sang it and practiced for hours herself to be able to do it justice.  Great job Fuku-chan.

7 弱虫 Yowamushi 道重
Well Sayumi, when you put your mind on it you can stay on key for a whole song.  I was actually quite impressed as when she started singing this song I inwardly cringed even though she was on the original recording of it.  I am not a big fan of ballads but this is one that I always enjoy hearing, it is very moving and a good change of pace.


8 常夏娘 Tokonatsu Musume 光井
Aika  performed the concert seated as well, but she put out so much energy that I was moved by how much effort she was making to make sure everyone enjoyed the tour.  I was also impressed that she was the only member to choose a non Musume song, and a Coconuts Musume one at that.  I love this song and since it was originally sung by girls from Hawaii, it fits.  I immediately thought of how I had been talking to Lehua recently and smiled.  Good choice Aika, and she even filled the middle part with talking in her motherly tone of how we needed to be careful in the sun and all that.


9 シャボン玉  Shabondama 鞘師
Poor Riho and her old-lady back pain.  She leaned on a chair for her solo and stood still the rest of the concert, but she did her best.  And her choice of song was great, if only to hear the Riho chants.  She has quite a powerful voice so even without dancing she was able to do a great job on this song, I recommend giving it a listen if you can find the concert recording.

10 チュッ夏パーティー Chu Natsu Party 田中
I LOVE this song... but I don't know if it suits Reina all that well.  She said that it was the first thing she thought of when she thought of summer, but I just don't know if it fits her personality the best.  She did her best to be cutesy during it though, which for Reina means prancing around and doing lots of skirt flips to the song.  Sorry to tell you though, you might be a little too old to be doing this song Reina but the skirt flips as an apology for coming late are appreciated.

11 壊れない愛が欲しいの Kowarenai Ai ga Hoshii no 高橋
Great choice of song Ai!  Though you skipped out on the rap... probably for the best because you would have stumbled over it.  Still, the random solo dance she through in to replace the rap section was pretty good, looked like it might have been improvised.  I love this song, and Ai's voice fits the melody well. 

12 なんにも言わずにI LOVE YOU  Nanni mo iwazu ni I love you
A bit strange of a choice after the solos, but a note here is that there was a big talk and prize give away section after the solos so this actually turned out to be a good lead in for the last section.  Though I do wonder if the planners weren't just trying to make Ai cry more.  She cries so easily that I wouldn't be surprised.  I do like this song and the line distribution was pretty fair.

13 青春コレクション Seishun Collection
I was not a fan when this song first came out, but after hearing it performed several times it grew on me.  It's a really generic idol song but works well with a bunch of members of different vocal levels.  The dance is also quite simple and fun to do along with the members, and the Hawaii atmosphere felt great.

14 まじですかスカ Majisuka ska
I would say that this song was pretty much expected, since this was 9th gen's first Hawaii tour.  I love this song and although it sucked that two of the members couldn't dance fully to it, I think the audience doing most of the dance perfectly made up for that.  I love the cheers and this song is A+.  Surprising that they didn't also do Only You, but also a nice change as I have heard too much of that song lately.

15 でっかい宇宙に愛がある Dekkai Uchuu ni Ai ga Aru
My favorite song to dance along to.  The dance is so simple that even I can follow along with it.  I like that.  Good ending song choice.  Brought the audience together in one final sing-along.

After the girls exited the stage, we only had to wait about five minutes before the girls were walked over and lined up ready for handshakes.  I had heard that the handshakes in Hawaii were super slow paced so I was incredibly nervous.  I mean, I have no problem talking to them at handshakes, but usually it is nothing more than a blurted out comment about how much fun I had.  As the line started moving from the back where I was, I saw just how slow the movement was.  But I knew I had to make the most of it.

When I finally got up to the table, Aika was first and I told her how moved I was at how much effort she was putting into this tour even though she must still be in pain.  She's such a sweetie.  I don't remember everything I said but I do remember commenting to Sayu how great her singing sounded that day, to Eripon how cute her dancing has gotten, to Fuku-chan how great her singing is and just chatting about general things with Ai and Risa.  Fuku-chan seemed almost desperate for fans as instead of handshake she was giving a death grip to everyone's wrists, which surprised me at first.  All the girls were really kind and it was nice to be able to exchange a few words back and forth about general things, including telling Reina that I was glad she could make it.  The handshake was in fact so slow that you actually ran out of things and had to quickly throw something into the mix so you didn't have awkward silence while holding onto a member's hand.  It was so amazing.  I wish all handshakes were this slow but then realize that at a general release event that would mean the handshake would take days.


 Before boarding the bus we were given the photo holder below and a set of 9 VERY old pictures of the members, taken very obviously right after the 9th gen had joined based on their facial expressions and hairstyles.  In fact Riho's outfit looks like the one she wore in some of the Morning Labo 2 shots.  So yeah, UFA is lazy.  But I was on such a high from the handshake that I didn't care.  The wota and I agreed to meet up to go out to dinner but we had to wait for another friend who was further back in the handshake line so probably on another bus. I called down to the hotel room then went and hung out with them until we were all gathered together, then we went to a very delicious buffet to celebrate the finishing of the tour.

 After the concert the day before we were given a memories book with 9 pre-taken (and by pre I mean obviously about 6 months ago) photos.

 The next morning we received our 10-shot photo back.  Riho looked quite frightening in most of hers, and not happy at all.

And the group photo we had taken on the first day.  (Once again, no clue how to change the orientation)

Overall impressions of the tour

The tour itself was great.  I have no complaints about how closely I was able to interact with the girls and love all the new friends I made.  I loved going to Hawaii and would spend the money again in a heartbeat.  The Hawaii tour used to have over 1000 people go, now it was limited to 200.  I think this is a good number.  It allows for a lot closer interaction and allows the fans to form a bond over the weekend.  While it might have been great in the past that so many people would spend a month's salary to go to Hawaii for only 2 days of events, I don't know if it would have been worth it.  Now, I definitely feel like I got my money's worth.  It was over in a moment, but the moment I had was spectacular.  I definitely plan to go again... well as long as they don't do it next year too.  I don't think I can afford it two years in a row x_x.

Complaints, yeah I have several.  I was very detailed in the survey they had us fill out and hand in on the last day before we left.  The choice of factory tours for one, the way it seemed like the buses were separated by hotel class from highest to lowest and the lowest always did things last (not usually a bad thing though).  The fact that there was no time to pause and say a real thank you after the 10shot.  Just things in general that could have made it more worth the money.  I figure that unless people give specifics of what they had problems with they won't know what to change for the next time.  And it was very obvious that UFA was trying to save money this time.  I mean I know they lost lots of money by canceling the cute Hawaii tour after the earthquake (why they canceled the Hawaii tour I have no clue as that was a big loss to them I am sure) and all the ticket refunds they had to issue... but the quality of the tour still matters.  Factory tours etc were made great because of the girls, and they were a lot of fun.  So I would like to say a big thank you to Morning Musume for giving us fans such a memorable experience.

Hmm now what will my next big adventure I wonder...