2 posts tagged “shinjuku”

It's a mere hours before I leave Japan to return to San Francisco, so I am sort of in a "come down" state.  But I will do my best to stay enthusiastic and do this review.  Anyhow, I still have a few things to do before I leave, like dash down to Shibuya to pick up Berryz Kobo's new single.  By the way, is anybody thirsty?

Jeez!  Seven shows in 10 days!  It seems like "forever" ago that I was watching Matsuura Aya live at STB-139.  Throw in three AKB48 shows, Berryz in Fuji and now Two Morning Musume concerts, it has been a whirlwind vacation.  I am sad I am leaving, I could stay here forever!

Since I couldn't find any good pics from this show on the internet, should I pepper this post with pics of my concert goodies?  Or should it be random pics from around Tokyo?  Uhhh, how about a little of both...

Morning Musume ~Resonant Live~ 11/02/2008-11/03/2008 at Tokyo Koseinenkin Kaikan

I was really "pushing the envelope" by winning a ticket to see AKB48 Team B's matinee show on the same day.  That meant I had mere minutes to literally run out of the AKB48 theater, grab the JR Chuo rapid train across Tokyo to Shinjuku, and meet Celestia so we could hit the concert.  I got nervous for a minute because I didn't know she was lost wandering around JR Shinjuku station.  Eventually we met up and made it over to the venue just fine.

When we arrived the front of the hall/hotel was just a sea of people.  There were two lines, but neither seemed to be moving.  Eventually we lined up on the left which led us behind the hotel where there were tons of people selling/trading merchandise.  This turned out to be the line to actually get into the show.  The weird thing was that they were actually selling the merchandise outside of the theater.  So neither of us could buy and goods or glowsticks.  It was a good thing we were both coming back the next day, lesson learned.

The stage setup itself was sort of non-descript, unlike the Wonderful Hearts stages, which are usually a lot more extravagant.  It's easy to tell who is a fan of who because everyone prominently wears the colors of their favorite member.  I only saw a few people with multiple colors represented.  I think the idea is that you will get your favorite girl's attention that way.  At the first show Celestia and I were surrounded by Sayumi Michishige fans.  The second day I was in a sea of Kamei and Ai-chan fans.  We also noticed a piano set in the middle of the stage.  That could only mean one thing...Manoeri.  Well, unless Koha has taken up the piano lately.  And contrary to popular belief, there were many girls in the audience!

The lights went down, and Manoeri walked out to sing her new single, Lucky Aura.  Now I have made it no secret that I am not a huge fans of Mano Erina's material, although I DID buy the single.  But that was mainly because I wanted the bonus photo, and it was totally cheap too!  I may not like her music, but I do think she is really cute.  Anyhow, song was okay live.  I like it a bit more than Manopiano.  By the way, she did not perform at either of Monday's performances.  So I am glad I had an opportunity to see her.

Oh boy, time for Momusu.  The arena went dark again, and the girls come out in what looks like yellow rain slickers singing the B-side to Resonant Blue,  Sone Bamen de Bibiccha Ikenai Jan!  I really like this song, and it is perfect to get the crowd going to start the show.  And as usual, I was fixated on Reina during this performance.  At Monday's show I had the opportunity to buy goods so I could represent, so I was decked out in Reina Blue!  And WOW, the crowd was "shot out of a cannon" for the first few numbers.  Mikan is a great song to see live.  It is a lot of fun to dance to, and also really energetic.  By the way, Takitty has amazing legs.  Very muscular, you can totally tell she is a dancer.  By comparison, most everyone elses legs look really skinny!

After the intros and opening VTR, we heard Pepper Keibu, which was done in the PV outfits, and a few other random songs.  But the one I like the most in this set is TOP, from the fifth album.  Hearing it reminded me of Kei-chan's graduation concert.  I absolutely loved Lemon Iro Milk Tea, with Sayumi, Eri, and Reina.  Now the cool thing was they rotated who the lead girl was on each performance.  Sunday night was Eri, but Monday I heard Sayumi.  It's a great song, and it was neat to hear each girls distinct interpretation of it.  I loved Sayu's uber-cute version.  But I am jealous of Celestia who got to hear Reina's version!  No matter who did the lead, it's a great song.

After the next MC, which seemed to have Reina trying to teach Sayumi and Eri to speak French?  With some great Reina pouting thrown in.  It was time for Tan Tan Taan with ALL of Milky Way.  Personally, I prefer Anataboshi.  But the funny thing was the Ai-chan fan behind me was apparently a huge Kitahara Sayaka fan as well.  When they came out he went absolutely berserk.  Even his friends were laughing at him...SAYAAAAAAAAA, SAYAAAAAAAA, SAYAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

That led to a bunch of the new material, with a few solos thrown in.  Mittsi looked cute , but I thought she was pitchy throughout Watashi no Miryoku ni Kizukano Donkan na Hito.  Risa's solo was in the matinee, and Takitty's was in the evening.  Of the two, I preferred Gaki-san's Indigo Blue Love.  Then again, ballads are always a tough sell for me.  But she looked smoking hot.  That hairdo she is wearing is total win.  And I loved the way she "spun" out of her dress to go immediately into Take Off is Now with Takitty and Reina.  A very sexy song.  I generally liked the outfits here, although I thought Risa had the lamest of the three (see my last post).  Somewhere in this set there was a Risa/Ai MC segment.  They were talking about birthdays, and all of a sudden Reina (b-day 11/11) ran out in the background of the set, flashed a peace sign, and ran off.  Such a cute moment.  But my favorite performances of the show were still to come...

GuruGuru Jump is not on the Aku Yuu tribute album, so this must be a preview of their 9th full length release?  In any case, it is a cute, fun, and energetic song.  JunLin and Koharu made a great team up there.  This one got the crowd going again.  And the following MC segment with the three of them and Aika was cute too.  JunJun plays that ditzy card perfectly.  She makes Koharu seem like the levelheaded one when they are together!  But I still say Koharu's personality goes a long way in adding much needed personality to the group.  My favorite song of the night by far was Koi no Dial 6700.  Man, this is an awesome song.  Having LinLin sing lead on it so she could do the "rin rin rin rin" parts while pointing to herself was genius!  She looked so happy and cute up there.  But the cutest thing was Sayumi dressed in the sweet loli clothes doing the "hello?" parts.  That was unbelievable.  You have to see it!

Next we get the standard Momusu selections.  Souda! Were Alive, Koko ni Iruzee, Roman My Dear Boy are all good choices.  Souda! really gets the crowd going too with the fist pumping part.  At some point Reina waved to me here.  At least I think she did.  She was looking right toward me, and there were no one else in Blue in the immediate vicinity, AND I jumped around when she looked my way.  So I am going to say she was waving at ME!  Resonant Blue finished the set.  That is an amazing dance!

I love the way they "chant" for encores at these shows.  "encor-ee, encor-ee" on and on and on.  They did it the same way at Berryz and AKB48.  Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou? is that beautiful song from the Summer concert with the JunJun-LinLin chinese solos at the end.  I love that LinLin got a lot of face time in this show.  And JunJun was so cute when she pointed out everyone with bananas in the audience!  The last song was the standard Auzora de Itsumademo Tsuzuke You na Mirai de Are!,, a song that I loved when I saw H!P winter.  I really tried to savor this moment because I really don't know when I will next get the opportunity to see them.  I watched Reina all the way off of the stage.

So there ya go!  Quite a trip eh?  I know we all like to critique the DVD's when they come out.  But there is nothing like seeing these groups perform live.  They are ALL consummate professionals, and fabulous at what they do.  And I am so in love with Reina.  She is the total package, a perfect Idol to me!  I really felt sad after the show was over.  Now all that is left is to pack to return to California and relive the memories through these posts, photos and personal experiences.  I love it here so much.  If I could I would move here for good.  But for now I'll just have to plan my next trip over.  Hopefully it will be fairly soon.

Goodnight

CK in Tokyo (for just a little bit longer) 

Remind me to kill Catch Five Bats from Obnoxious Wota when I get home...

Actually, I should be thanking him.  It is because I have spent so much time searching for PB's that he wants that I have found so many great used H!P and AKB48 things, and at such cheap prices too.  Most all of the old photobooks are less than $5.  Book Off is a used book/CD/DVD chain throughout Japan.  Their inventory is huge!  So chances are you will find most anything you want there.  Geez, I wish I had more room in my suitcase!  That said...

Can you believe the brand new Nacchi and Reina PB's were on sale there for $19.  Reina's just came out!  That old AKB48 Jump & Cry book was a few dollars more.  But the W book and Maeda Aki (from Battle Royale) were cheap!

Most of the CD's and DVD's they had were already in my collection, but I did pick up that Morning Musume PV collection for $9, and the two AKB48 concert DVD's were $24 a piece.  They sell for almost $70 online!!!

The Search for Tokyo Koseinenkin Kaikan

Since neither Celestia from Bikkuri Project nor I have ever been to this venue.  I decided to take a ride to Shinjuku so I could map out the place.  Shinjuku is a major shopping area near Shibuya, and they have lots of musicand anime shops.  They also seem to have a few kinky stores too from what I noticed.  I finally found the venue, but I missed it the first time because the map shows it on a sidestreet.  But it is right on Yasukuni Dori, which is a major boulevard.  But my favorite thing about Shinjuku is this billboard just outside the East entrance of Shinjuku station.  Hello Ayaya!

Putting the Exclamation Point on AKB48

Now I am not completely finished with my AKB48 experience.  I am meeting some friends tonight after the last Team B show to exchange goods.  They had me buy them the new AKB48 calendar because they were afraid the "first press" versions would run out.  And in exchange they are giving me a free copy of the Theater Edition of Oogoe Diamond!  FYI, I did manage to get into see Team K on Thursday night with my Cancel Machi ticket.

I watched the first 45 minutes of K-4 from the cafe on Monday, but this time I actualy got into the Theater!.  The first set of songs prior to the introductions are great.  Total energy, with that cute song in the middle. And the 16 sisters song is adorable too.  I'm a Meetan fan, but my three fave girls of the night were Natsuki Sato, Risa Naruse, and Kana Kobayashi...all have great stage presence.  But hell, they were all awesome.  Tomomi Kasai was so cute, every time she talks the crowd screams "Kawaii". Do they always do that?  They end the show with Oogoe Diamond. I also liked the second to last song before the encore.

Last night I won a ticket to see Team A fifth stage, or I should say A/Kenkyuusei-5, as half of Team A was missing.  No Yukari Sato, Mai Oshima, Tomomi Itano, and no Mendol cast (Kojima, Takahashi, Minegishi).  So half of the group were girls I didnt recognize as I haven't followed the Research Students yet.  If I had never seen Team A before, I would've been really disappointed.  Plus this will definitely not be the last time I visit Japan (2nd time in 8 months, with plans to come back already).  I don't want to be too critical of the stage, would like to see it with all of Team A.  But the Kenkyuusei did a really good job.  It was awkward at times, some noticeable mistakes. But you could tell they were excited to be performing it.  The plus side is it forced some of the newer A members to step it up.  And I thought Fujie Reina (who I adore) was very good.  And Miyazaki Miho really impressed me!  There was a cute MC segment where they are asking Nozofisu about Halloween (It was Halloween night here) and she was totally confused.  Later they all started talking about the Gaijin in Roppongi dressed as monsters, and how scary they are (LOL)

 Half way through the stage I wasn't liking that much.  Keep in mind, I was blown away by K-4 last night, with everyone present but Oshima Yuko.  It wasnt until the last song before the second MC that I started getting into it. But the stage from that point forward was excellent.  The Christmas song was good, and there is a song where they wave flags (I bought a flag to wave along) that is great.  It was the second to last before the encore.  AKB Sanjou! was awesome, probably my favorite of the night.  My group got called 18th of 23 (uggh) so I had a really bad vantage point.  But I kept my eyes fixed on Acchan the entire night.  So I'm sure she cought my glance at least once. (I'm a gaijin, taller than most Japanese, so easy to spot)

 Overall, I'll take K-4 over A-5 any day, but props to the research students for giving their all.  And I am still hoping to win a ticket for Team B on Sunday!  Oh, and here's what I have purchased "so far" from the AKB48 Theater (oops, forgot to put Ohori Meshibe CD/poster in the pic)...

So now my focus switches to Hello! Project as I am seeing Berryz Kobo today.  They are playing in Fuji-shi, which is about an 80 minute ride via the Shinkansen (Bullet Train).  Jeez, I need to leave soon!  I know it isn't on the setlist at Wiki.theppn, but I really hope they perform their latest single Madayade!  Then I am seeing Morning Musume Sunday and Monday night.  It's going to be great!  I have tons more to talk about.  I will post my next report tonight!

Actually, for many of you that's tomorrow, or this morning...I'm confused!!!  Happy Halloween, Mata ne!

CK in California