At first we had no idea where it was so were forced into a detour to Dave's truck so that we could get the map of the convention, with this in our heads we ventured back inside and eventually found it by ear as we could hear the DDR music lol What we found was an empty shop front that had been kitted out with about 25 cabinets but they were very very misleading!
One cabinet had the image of Marvel vs Street fighter but it turned out the game was a Megaman game. Another had Teenage mutant ninja turtles but the game was The Avengers. However, we didn't let this spoil our fun. One cabinet had Puzzle fighter which Dave well and truly kicked my arse at! As I slithered over to play the avengers, he was challenged by someone else, and was holding his own, before he got beat and retired lol At the same time I completed the avengers pretty much solo without losing a life, while Dave continously died. Have to say, that game is hilarious, a Sentinel attacked us a boss, but it was labelled Giant robot! Funnier still was when Juggernaut attacked us, we managed to somehow lock in an infinite combo and just totally wiped the floor with him.
After this was over, it was around noon so we ventured up to the dealers room. Kikka's stall was vacant so I decided to go and look around, while Dave wanted to wait at the stall. I walked about and managed to find a DVD box-set of 'Fist of the north star' now I bought this because it was initially released as a VHS thing with three parts in the UK but stopped for no reason after volume 7, so I never saw it through to the end, and nostalgia has bitten me quite badly since coming to this con!
Soon I ran into Shug and Needmorebuono! So we hung about and went into artists alley to see what was on offer, a lot of stuff was there for the crafts side of business, and also some good guides on drawing anime style. Needmorebuono! wanted to scout alone while Shug and I went into the food court and tried some smoothie with a flavour I forget the name of... What it was, in a nutshell, was a sort of creamy taste but it had these annoying gel things that got sucked up along with the fluid. The drink was nice, but they weren't, and no matter what we tried, we couldn't stop sucking them up. So we just finished what we could and dumped the rest, a shame.
After this it was just gone ten minutes to one, we got there and the line was long, much longer than the previous day, this was wonderful to see as I was concerned she would be seeing the same faces alot. She was dressed in her outfit from the PV from Darling to Madonna and looked absolutely gorgeous. I went around a few times again, getting reactions from her for multiple things. Best of which, was when I presented a photo from her first single Kikkake wa you! and she pointed at it and said "young", then to herself in the flesh and went "old!" I giggled before saying she was beautiful which got her putting her palms under her chin in a really aluring fashion, no photo sadly :( I also said a pun created by Tomasz in response to 'big Kikka' the day before when I told her 'oki-kka' (big kikka basically) and she giggled before doing a shape of her upper chest area getting bigger. This made me smile.
After the autographing was over we were all feeling the burn from hunger, so Shug, needmorebuono! and I visited the Cheesecake factory since Kikka raved so hard about it. I got myself one of their classic burgers and was a bit taken aback when asked how I wanted it. In my head I am like "err... it's a burger, on a bun!" but I realised that they meant like a steak, as it was gonna be on bread I just chose Medium. When it came I was amazed at how big it was, damn thing was colossal! Really really nice but on reflection, could have caused problems during the live!
Now it was time to venture over to the hall as the lives were about to be called forward. Now before Kikka there was a seiyuu that would be performing called Suzuko Mimori, I had never heard of her, but was told by staff that both concerts would be treated as one, meaning that the hall would not be cleared. Determined to get as best a slot as possible, we all decided to watch her too. All being Turbos86, Shug, Needmorebuono!, catchfivebats, manami kawai, nights4saturn, dave and a whole host of others.
Now this seiyuu was actually not what I expected, she was incredibly petite and reminded me alot of Ogura Yuko. She had a few songs but I recognised none of them, being mostly from games or animes I hadn't seen. This concert was quite jarring as she had a translator... Whose microphone did not work! So there was constant toing and froing all across the stage to provide the insight. In short though, she was good fun and not bad at all.
But now it was time for the main event, I was worried that with the previous performer being an anime seiyuu the hall would empty out, but most people hung about and even more came in. As the lights went down everyone started the Kikka! chants and all the glowstick shaking began, which got some confused looks from the anime fans that hung around!
She ripped onto the stage and went straight into koko kara hajimarunda and performed with aplomb, up close I could really appreciate how well practiced she is, she really nailed the notes and dances, even with the sound problems. Said sound problems got worse during next song hapi rapi sunrise where the PA decided it would take a nap, meaning we could only hear music through the monitors. Kikka herself kept signalling to her ears as if to say 'turn it up!'
The PA came back halfway through the song and the crowd continuously interacted with her alot, including shouting the line 'Aru kamo ne' on cue, which was a nice thing to experience. After this song she introduced herself speaking English, and she did it really well. Saying, in a nutshell, that she was called Kikka and was really pleased to meet us, before she started getting the crowd to chant you at her after she went 'Kikkake wa..." so I thought that was coming next, but no she suddenly reached behind a monitor and as a total surprise pulled out her Milkyway tambourine!
I was like 'whoa!" and before anyone could wonder what was gonna happen, she ripped into a solo version of 'tan tan taan' which was wonderfully nostalgic, and it was so interesting to hear how her voice has developed since she last did this song about three years ago! Although at one point she was so eager she started to sing before the music could catch up lol Also interesting was the absence of the harmonised vocals from the other two members, certainly a unique rendition.
Now, if doing that song felt like a shock, it was nothing on what happened next, out of absolutely nowhere she did Romantic ukare mode! This Mikitty classic naturally got a lot of chants and cheers due to the nature of it, I did not do the romansu dance as I was wearing my rucksack and did not think it a good idea to knock people out with it! However, Kikka's version of this was wonderful, her naturally powerful vocie coupled with her softer style was eerily reminsicent of Miki herself... Praise doesn't get much higher than that!
If hearing her do that song was not shocking enough, when she started the line for her next song there was a communal sense of holy shit! Mainly because, totally out of nowhere with no hints to it whatsoever, she did a rendition of Daite hold on me the ancient Morning Musume classic. This song is not only rare to hear, but a difficult song due to its semi-urban style, but Kikka really did well, she even did the rapping part by herself and that was awesome to watch as I haven't seen her do that before, but she did it first take with no trouble at all, truly awesome.
After this she spoke about them in japanese, saying how she did the old songs before once again getting the crowd to do the 'you' chant in response to the 'Kikkake wa...' setup. But once again she caught us out by starting Konna watashi de yokattara. I have always loved this song because it has mutliple styles and is so different. The vocals build up in different ways and live it had lost none of its power.
For her penultimate song she performed her most recent single Darling to Madonna, I hadn't heard much of this song as I haven't got a copy yet, but I remember it being a great semblance of rock guitars and electro music, she was extremely energetic during it and constantly waving for the crowd to go for it and chant, which we duly did.
Then it was time for the final setup of 'Kikkake wa' and the crowd reply of 'you' and then this track as the closer. Her dancing for this song is incredible energetic and powerful, plus lots of opportunities for the crowd to chant and flash the glowsticks at her. In all too short a time the concert ended. But my god! She was awesome, even when faced with tough sound problems she just overcame them with absolute ease. her constant smiling expression showed she really enjoyed being out here for all of us and that we were delighted to have seen her.
Though there was one last surprise, in that there was another autograph signing announced for immediately after the concert. I went through the line once telling her that her live performance was one of the best I have ever seen, before I was asked for an interview on camera. I gave a simple message of how I had come from England, that Kikka was really amazing and constantly looking to improve as she performed, not only this but how she treated us with such old songs and the modern stuff, concluding by saying that if anyone gets the chance to attend her shows in France and Belgium, they should go! (I can't sadly due to the cost of this event), I hung around after this and we were all given a treat of yet another group photo with her. She asked what pose we should do and I gestured for the one at the end of the PV for Kikkake wa You which she was instantly saying yes to.
This was truly the cherry on top of the cake! We all were very happy about this, afterwards, with no other events of interest, we all went to a Chinese place called Changs, waited a long time for a table due to the group being 13 in number (well 12 as one of us disappeared), I just drank a few beers as my stomach was still full due to that massive lunch, but everyone else indulged and seemed to love it. One group shot followed before we all called it a night, high on the fumes of Kikka's gig. Truly wonderful day, and now it transpires there's another signing event and a panel for the final day, so more Kikka goodness to get stuck into, I aim to do that shortly. Until next time, sets sail.
It's been a pleasure meeting you and all the other Kikka fans this weekend! I think Romantic Ukare Mode was the highlight of that concert for me. I was hoping she'd sing it since her duet of it at a Shinjin Kouen with Sekine Azusa was such an impressive performance.
ReplyDeleteShame you didn't get to Romansu! Was having a blast doing that and spinning around during the chorus!