A voyage to... Woodstock?!

No, I am not kidding!  Evening all, sswishbone checking back in, now before I go on and explain the title, I do have another entry tomorrow which will cover the three days prior to this, but today is most important so getting that out of the way first.

To give some background.  I have been to many events here in Japan, three Kikka handshakes, two of which had signings and one a mini-live event, five of the 'Cool hello'' summer concerts, Idol nation and Akihabara Backstage Pass (which I will explain in tomorrow's entry).  So after the last thing I did, I was thinking, well that's it, no more events and a week to go.  Most would get disheartened but I have my mates about and places I have not gone so lots to do.

That's until the 28th August, a day after my Birthday (31 now, gulp!) when I got an e-mail from Kikka's e-mail fansite support with lists of events.  Dates appeared to be when I was not in japan, until I saw one listed as 30th August!  I was like 'oh awesome!' read further and it was a live event, so I was properly going mad but wondering where it was, preparing myself for somewhere like Sapporo which I have no chance of reaching due to no money... 

I put the venue name 東京キネマ倶楽部 into google maps...  It was in UGUISUDANI!  This is literally one stop on the yamanote train line from where I am staying, total out of fucking nowhere choice!  Only issue now was getting a ticket, my Japanese is poor with kanji and I noticed some of it talking about going convenience stores and that had me wondering if I had to use those annoying lawson station machines to get a ticket.

Well to find out I drafted in some help, firstly I approached Turbos86 but forgot he was in Canada and that meant I was 13 hours ahead of him!  Not reasonable to expect an immediate response!  So thus I approached Dean and he got some assistance from his fiancee.  Turns out you have to register for some site, then order it, take a slip to a convenience store and job done...  Oh boy was this a fucking pain in the shitter!

First it would take my name, then asked for a nickname but wouldn't accept that!  Then address and phone number problem, then time out, close all browsers and start again.  same problem.  Close all browsers, everything is fine apart from my e-mail and my phone numbers!  By now I am tearing my hair out getting proper angry, posting stuff on twitter about it, angrily putting down Nino and Dean's joke comments as I wasn't having any fun (sorry guys really ticked me off this did!)

Eventually Dean's fiancee rode to the rescue filling out everything but having it in my name and e-mail, Dean then went one further by getting a lovely screenshot of the e-ticket.  29th August I walk to the 7/11 about 300 yards from my flat, guy puts in the code, prints out a ticket and asks me for cash, job fucking done!

So I kill time by looking more at the event and it turns out to be 'Woodstock Party ライブ had me wondering all sorts of stuff.  My excitement hit fever pitch however when I saw that not only was Kikka on the bill...  So were The  ポッシボ (or The Possibooooo as their towels and shirts say!)  This had me marking massively, one of my biggest regrets was missing them in Yokohama, to suddenly have this happen is like the planets aligning and the gods saying 'go on we'll make this guy's holiday!'  Absolutely awesome, also on the bill were 青SHUN学園 and テレパシー

I took a look and both seemed quite average but no matter, I was there for the two on the bill.  So on to today and after spending the morning in Ueno playing on silent hill arcade and chilling out, I ventured to Shibuya to visit some places.  Went to Uniqlo and saw a cool white shirt in my size which was basically drawings of people leaning against each other in different ways to form the kanji for Person.  Being a bit of a nerd I just had to buy this!  Also went shakey's for all you can eat pizza, 850 yen and it was decent, had about 8 slices, six huge potato scallops, pesto pasta...  Yeah , I pigged out a bit lol!

Got back to my apartment and was almost time to go to the gig, so just got my shirt ready and ventured out for water and pocari sweat as per usual for a live gig.  Got there about 45 minutes before doors opened so stood outside, briefly talked with Emu before we started being ushered into a line, now the tickets were just numbered rather than a row and seat, yup, standing gig!  My ticket was 132 but I still got in and found myself on third row.

However, getting in was the most fucking daft thing ever...  We had to use LIFTS!  There was just two and they only had a 600kg limit, I weigh about 118, a few more with me and that thing is going nowhere!  So after waiting for about ten minutes we finally got in and the venue was actually very nice.  It had a sort of theatre feel to it, especially with the look of the stage.  Venue was however on the 5th through 7th floors!  strange being so high up and at a gig, gave me flashbacks to tower records shinjuku!

So just stood about waiting and one wota was showing off a two-shot polaroid he had of himself and Akkyan from The Possible.  cue me getting my mobile out and showing off my two shot from Atlanta with Kikka, gained me a few points for sure.

Eventually lights go off and two MC's come out...  One was dressed in proper street clothes (including a shirt saying 'hardcore superstar') while the second wore a fucking dress and hat like a character from Alice in Wonderland...  I was now thinking I understood the 'Woodstock' name!  Anyway first up were 青SHUN学園 and this group really confused me!   There must have been around 12 girls...   Half of which had mics, the other half had nothing but their clothes, which were their own shirts signed by themselves, whilst a random guy in his 20's was there dancing with them...

First song was pretty average but my god are their wota loud!  They were proper chanting, oshi jumping and fuck knows what else, I know most wota are loud, but there was only about 10 of them I could see in their merchandise and they still managed to be deafening, probably saw videos of me and were like 'that's it!'  lol  But speaking of being crazy, at one point one wota climbed on another guy's shoulders, cue more outdoor high festival related jokes, and then, staggeringly, actually stood up doing full on wota swinging of his arms.  Damned impressive!

At this point two venue staff came in but he had already climbed down, they began the usual 'oh against health & safety, you're not allowed'  I just went "get outta here!" and another wota shouted it after them which I found funny (Especially as I said it in english and so did this wota!)

Second song is where things got even more bizarre...  The guy goes offstage then comes back dressed as a high school girl student (cue me preparing to vomit, if it wasn't for me sweating nearly everything out due to 35 degree outside heat I would have!)  Music again is quite average but the wota and the girls interaction just made it a good laugh, before, bizarrely, half the group left the stage and actually came into the crowd!

Not just to wave, oh no, they actually had everyone form a ring around them and do dancing.  I ended up right at the front of one outer ring so thus I had these idols literally two feet away shouting for us all to go for it.  This involved at one point some dance move that is hard to explain...  err...  Imagine a pub night where at the end there is sing-song.  Everyone stands in a line and a person places their left arm behind person to their left and right arm behind the person to their right, thus forming a sort of wall of people.  usually everyone then sways to some mid-paced music and roar drunkenly before staggering home...  Well this was similar, except everyone was in a circle rather than a line, and instead of swaying side to side, we were leaning backwards and then forwards in tandem...  I truly had imbibed something by this point, I had to have, it was just too fucking random!

Still the idols hung around and did high fives to everyone (including me, three or four them were up for double high-fiving me for some reason!), then for the third song a second dude comes out singing, then jumps into the crowd, who suddenly start something akin to a circle pit whilst he is being crowdsurfed in the middle.  Security again tried to get in and I am just like 'no chance, give up!'

After they left the stage/crowd brief MC on stage with them, so I took the first drinks break before テレパシー came on.  I had heard a couple of songs and they had this odd gimmick of air guitaring on cardboard cut outs of guitars.  I haven't heard of that since the new wave of british heavy metal scene circa 1979!!

But at first they actually came out in pink cheerleader outfits carrying pompoms and did the song cheerleading style.  Hmm...  Air guitaring cheerleaders, I'd even watch soccer if that became a staple thing!  Their gig was ok, songs were pretty decent semi-j-pop/punk, though lacking the utter awesomeness of Buono! or even the power of Passpo it was still highly enjoyable. 

One thing I will say is once their cut-out guitars were picked up it did become quite cool, I am sure Pukovnik_krv wouldn't like their inability to even try and air the technical playing, but they did show the attitude.  One member priouetted whilst playing along, another did some nice guitar screeching faces.  Plus a really awesome moment was when three of them threw their guitars and the other members caught them and carried on, shades of many an 80's stadium rock band right there!

Usual MC which wasn't that interesting followed before it was time for The ポッシボー  When they came on stage I nearly passed out, they went for this semi-chic/office look.  With Hashimon and Mororin sporting leather shorts and suit jackets, Robin this rather sparkly evening top and skirt, whilst Akkyan had a suit jacket and smart skirt combo.  Goto didn't stand out so I don't remember what she wore (sorry to any of her fans for that!)

They kicked off with their newest single 'be ambitious!' which is a corking track with an awesome PV.  Crowd were realy into this with the chanting along.  After this they did a song I had never heard which was similar in pace to Ijiawru Crazy love  but lacking the same impact, still they made up for this with their next track 'Nasty!' which has a rather smooth lick in the leads and some nice shifting in the dance beats.  One thing I will say is that Mororin is not very good live. I really struggled at times to hear her.  However, Hashimon, Akkyan and Robin really do a great job, and Goto has also improved a lot since I last saw any real footage of them, so great encouragement there.

Next song was 'Banzai my glory'  (can never remember the full title!) And this song is where I got pleas from the crowd to fully join in with what they do.  This is not to say I wasn't chanting or anything, I was, it is just that I very rarely oshi jump.  For those who know me there is a good reason for this...  I am rather tall, clocking in at 6'2 or around 187/188 centimetres.  When I oshi jump about nine rows temporarily lose all vision.

Add to this that the gig is standing only and there is possibility (no pun intended!) for something disastrous.  But the crowd insist I go for it, so I did.  Thing about this song, if you have ever seen the PV, is that at the main chorus the PV is of all members getting some serious air on a trampoline and doing all sorts of poses and moves...  Well the crowd took this as an instant invitation to be oshi jumping, I did a few must have easily cleared the highest achieved by wota by at least a foot, so yes, the U-stream might have been nothing but a guy in a yellow shirt with a backpack strapped to him in this song for a bit!

Following this they did 希望と青春の光 now this I saw live on an episode of Tsuntube where the girls had these glowing balls they held in their hands and due to their formation they could do these awesome arm movements that caused brilliant trailing light effect and fans had them to recreate it.  I was content to just raise my arm and chant but one wota actually borrowed me a jury-rigged star shaped thing that did lights exactly the same!  That was awesome and really helped me get into this really rather awesome energetic song.  The girls did the same dance I had seen on Tsuntube and being there you really got to appreciate the effect, I think once it goes through a camera filter it tones to down, here you get the raw unchecked fusion of the light which just makes it more cool, added to which they sounded amazing.

Their final track followed this but I am unsure what it was, it's one of those annoying tracks I have heard but not got the title of it anywhere in my head.  Really nice rock track which the fans got the towels out for.  All this time I was second row so really close and able to soak it all in.  Did all I could to not rip a person's towel from their hands.

After this they did their post-gig MC and talked about how they enjoyed seeing all the fans earlier dancing with 青SHUN学園, Hashimon was especially complimentary and even had a brief go.  Once they left the stage four fans walked off the barrier...  Yup!  Instantly I was there and not only on the barrier, I was DEAD CENTRE of the stage!

Cue the Kikka chants and on she came, adorned with the same outfit she wore at idol nation and when in the states, she looked as gorgeous as ever.  What she opened with surprised me, it was a medley of Kikkake wa you, hapi rapi sunrise, konna watashi de yokattara and darling to madonna.  All sorts were sort of 60% length so a long and interesting opening.  Great to also see the on the fly change of the chants from the crowd and Kikka did her trademark of getting us to sing the likes of 'aru kamo ne?' during this, which threw me back to Atlanta again ^__^

After this she did a mid-gig MC and she spoke about it was great to see The ポッシボー at the event as she considered them sort of family since they were all eggs together.  I liked that a lot as I think they graduated into NGP only a few months after Kikka joined but there obviously is some friendship there for her to say that! 

Why is Hashimon pointing a gun at Kikka's head?

Following this she did her best of album exclusive track 八月の花火 and it is still a wonderfully different song.  Very nice mid-tempo pace and some nice long pauses where I once again chanted Kikka and had wota join me which was awesome.  After this she shocked me by doing To Be.  I was not expecting this at such an event but it was so cool to see her do the song with the tough vocal delivery and lack of pace, meaning it was all about her.  On stage she had the occasional hand move, but mostly this felt like the sort of song where standing at the mic stand would have been enough.  Still, she carried herself well through it.

Afterwards pace picked up with her once again doing Time to Zone which was a nice reignition of the gig and some very simple chanting, before she ended with a song I have enjoyed for a long time...  Mizuiro.  This was really great live as she had the crowd towel spinning like crazy and of course we all shouted our fucking lungs out too!

Once this ended the post-gig MC occurred and at first the guys were complimenting her on her delivery in such a song.  The MC dressed like Alice in wonderland character spotted me at this point and was a tad surprised I was there!  Afterwards they asked Kikka to speak English since she had been to America.  she began to cheat and literally use the same phrases she did whilst there.  "My name is Yuu Kikkawa, I am a Japanese singer"  They stopped her laughing saying that as obvious due to where we were and she should say something else!  Cruel bastards!  Plus 1000 points :P

She responded after a moment to think by saying, with a drawl as bad when I speak Japanese, "did you have fun with me?"  I'll ignore the million and 1 innuendos you can draw from that and simply state we cheered, at which point the three of them looked at me so I just went '英語すごい！ (Amazing english) which made Kikka happy, guys didn't seem sure so I just shouted "Trust me I should know!" which got half-laughs, mainly as they probably only understood one word lol

After this all groups came on stage and were joined by some dude in a huge outfit dressed as an egg!  I was like WTF?  And it turned out to be some morning exercise thing and does dances with idols/performers.  So cue the whole group being asked to take part!  Kikka also got referred as sensei at one point and forced to perform in the centre.  Cue me cheering as I was right in front of her!  Afterwards her and Goto had a conversation and giggled, no idea what was said though.

Finally after this lights went up before the stage area was cleared, then bizarrely three sets of tables were pulled out and partitioned by flimsy barriers.  Cue Theポッシボー and Kikka being directed to their tables.  Due to not carrying more than 2000 yen on me; earlier I had been forced to choose between them... No contest, I adore The ポッシボー and would have loved to meet them...  But Kikka is my first place and was not going to miss a handshake with her on my final few days in Japan!

Thus I found myself somehow third in line which was good as only had one ticket so less people to clutter the place afterwards!  Before this Robin and Hashimon looked and spotted me, it probably took them by surprise as they were waving so I waved back and gave a thumbs up which Hashimon reciprocated, nice bonus end to the evening since I was theoretically blowing them off...  Oops!! 

Anyway I went up to Kikka and said in english that her english was fabulous, she replied with thank you and constantly signalled with 'ok' to which I was like yeah you're good, she smiled alot and then I was kicked out of the table area!  Cue the end of an awesome evening, I'd have liked them to have ended it later since both Kikka and The ポッシボー are over 20 so can legally work past 9pm but wasn't to be.  With a little editing of the MC's they could have given the groups more time but I can't argue.  I have been extremely lucky whilst out here.  Kikka, The ポッシボー, up up girls, morning musume, c-ute, berryz kobou, s/mileage, juice=juice...  All have been witnessed live, some handshaked, others signed merchandise...  No I cannot complain at that!

So now I am getting ready for bed, my missing days blog will be released probably tomorrow, nice relaxing day with friends ahead of my last day in japan :-(  Been so awesome, wish it wouldn't end.  Until next time *sets sail*

A three day update of all the craziness, and my thoughts on Kikka's concert in Santa Clara!

Hey all, sswishbone checking back in with yet another log of what has been going on.  Well got three days to cover as the days have been balanced and checked, I prefer to do a long post giving lots of details and pictures.  If too long...  Err...  Tell me!

So anyway I will start with the 21st, this day was pretty much a chillout day as I was recovering from my trip to Odaiba.  Not that I just sat in the hotel room watching Top gear or anything!  I decided to stay local in Tokyo and first port of call was Akihabara.  As I said in my last log I had found a massive memory my childhood in a functioning cabinet for super hang on, well for those who don't believe what they are told, time for show to trump tell.

 Seriously, that is one of the coolest things ever!  Ok it's dated and ancient, but it brought back memories of being six years old, pretending I was a champion racer in a holiday camp in Bournemouth!  For me reliving classic memories is part of why I came to Japan, there is so much here for the nerd, geek and nostalgic person!

After dropping some coins in there it was still before noon and I was therefore unable to go immediately where I wanted, so instead began to walk around when I suddenly spied this.

No it isn't a photoshop, that is a genuine Ferrari 458 that has been decorated by an otaku in anime characters!  I feel like someone has played Forza 4 just a little too much and gone 'I have the cash, let's do it!'  I pictured it lining up at Suzuka alongside the proper race-prepared ferraris and wet myself, can imagine Murray Walker going "and look at that!" When it comes on the main straight XD

After stopping myself from laughing further I grabbed a swift coffee and then went to the Hello Project shop here in Akihabara as it has been two weeks since I put in my special order.  Before I set off I had found my receipt and brushed up on an adequate phrase that summarised my request of 'it's been two weeks, where is my order?'

At first there was a bit of an issue as the attendant thought I was saying I'd like to collect it in two weeks, with patience and resolve I explained I had waited two weeks and was wondering if it had arrived.  After this there was a further litany of errors in that they searched the back rooms for some time before they finally found what they were looking for and what I desperately wanted.

Yup that is an A4 sized photo of Fukumura Mizuki from Morning Musume.  Aside from Kikka she is one of the few other idols I really care for.  Online even those who aren't keen say she has two things going for her...  Left tit and right tit XD  I am a little more supportive than that in that I think she has an excellent voice, superb character and gorgeous looks all over her body (though yes her rack is a superb asset I acknowledge that!)

So yes this nice piece shall have a frame found for it upon my return to the UK and placed on one of the walls in my home.  Alongside the other insane amounts of stuff I own!  I do find it annoying that I have so little merchandise for Kikka-sama, main problem being that it is so bloody hard to find!  Outside of concerts and events it just does not exist that easily, oh well, one of the challenges of being an international fan of a totally independent artist!

By now it was around 2pm so I ventured home, showered and then chilled for a while before I decided to head to Shibuya just for an evening meal and to check out the evening.  In between a hellacious thunderstorm hit Nippori so I rightly stayed inside and kept my head dry!  In Shibuya I tried out a food place I had not visited before called 'Freshness burger'

What you are looking at there is a curry burger, wedges and a non-alcoholic mojito...  Bit of a strange combo but hey, I'm on vacation, fuck the rules!  The burger was nice but had a huge egg in it so got that annoying British breakfast muffin problem of it all exploding when you bite into it, nice though!  The mojito meanwhile was actually really nice and refreshing, though would have preferred some rum in it!

Afterwards I took in the streets and noticed that high above the 109 pedestrian crossing, Morning Musume have a gigantic advertising billboard for their newest single わがまま気のまま愛のジョーク and I had never seen one for Hello project there before so that was a nice feeling.  Of course I couldn't resist getting a shot of one of the busiest pedestrian crossings you will ever see.

Yes many people crossing and to cap it off top-left you can see the aforementioned billboard.  After this it started raining again and fearing exposure in a huge storm I leapt on the yamanote line and bolted back to Nippori.  Got in and literally twenty minutes later it hit...  Oh my fucking god did it hit!  Proper nasty rain that was easily as heavy as the rain storms we suffered in 2007, accompanied by proper thunder and lightning, so loud it drowned out my headphones!  I stuck inside and then after it eased off at 11pm I went to sleep.

So on to August 22nd.  Had a nice relaxing morning before I went to Nakano broadway, this was a place I had never visited before but heard loads about.  I got there but was a little earlier and many stores were not open.  Still I managed to find an arcade cabinet which had about 200 roms of classic games on, feeling nostalgic I put on R-type II and went space shooting for around half an hour.

Once this time passed most of the stores began to open and this place is just awesome if you are in any way an idol, otaku or general nerd.  One store had tonnes of Formula 1 stuff for sale, including a Renault racing suit as worn by Jarno Trulli in 2004, a cap worn by Sebastian Vettel and loads of signed photos of drivers from the 1980's until present day.  Unfortunately all were expensive and I am cautious of my monetary limit, but should I have any spare cash I will be back there!

I also found a bookstore which had some interesting PB's in, one of which was from the high-school maths drama that Reina, Kikka, Sayu, Mano and fucking everyone else from H!P/NGP was in, I was tempted by it but resisted since it was more than likely making of photos which is not what I buy a PB for...  Slap me if I missed a sitter with that one!

Nakano broadway looks normal here...

But then you find this!

I continued walking around the place taking in loads of things I wanted but were just too expensive, one of which was an 8 dvd boxset of solo angles for the Morning Musume concert 'Pika Pika 2010'.  This item is rare and would have made an awesome addition to my collection, but at 27000 yen, not something I can defend purchasing!  I also saw another item I really wanted to buy.

That is seriously one of the most awesome items ever but again, it was 37000 yen!  I might be a huge nerd and think back to the future is the greatest movie trilogy ever...  But I cannot excuse that, not yet anyway!  I continued taking in the stuff here and generally having fun nerding out before I found an awesome local ramen bar, had lunch and then headed off back home.

After this I didn't do much aside from head to Ueno to order some shinkansen tickets so with that I'll segway into the  23rd when I returned to Osaka.  I feel that there was unfinished business here, last time I came was for the amazing kankyukan aquarium, but I never actually ventured into Osaka itself, so that is what I intended to do.

Jumped on the shinkansen at 8am and had a completely smooth journey all the way down to the Kansai region before I set foot out of the station and realised I had done zero recon!  Yup!   This was a totally cold entry and could result in epic awesome or total and utter disaster.  Gulping down any fear I ventured into the unknown after getting a train to Osaka itself and ventured out the south exit.  Without any real plan I walked the streets and ended up, purely by accident, stumbling on something amazing...  A ferris wheel that was on the 7th storey of a building!  Naturally I went up!

Yup that's a shot from out of the ferris wheel, I have more but not got them off my camera yet, so keep an eye on my photobucket account and more will come.  But this was amazing, really got very high, probably around 12th floor in height and only cost 500 yen!  Normally in england these sorts of wheel cost anywhere from £6 up to £30, in GBP 500 yen is about £3.33!  Absolute bargain!

After this I once again started stalking the streets and found myself in a rather dodgy looking side market.  It had loads of pachinko parlours, a porn dvd store, an eatery for those who like very fresh fish and bars designed for slugging shots and getting massages.  No, there was no red lights on, but then it was only around 1pm so might have been a bit early for the fun to start!  

Rare or raw?

Bewilderingly, after this alley came to an end all of a sudden I was in this public space where tonnes of tradition shrines and buildings stood, with locals donating coins and performing Shinto praying rituals, talk about a shift in balance, going from pretty much porn/crime alley to this was the most perplexing experience I have had in a while.

I returned to the station after this as started getting hungry and found this cool underground shopping plaza that is very similar to one that is in Shinjuku.  I walked around for ages and passed loads, but all looked pretty damn expensive, talking over 1000 yen for the main alone.  I started getting a bit frustrated when I noticed a tempura place that looked at a decent price.  Ensuring I was not jumping the gun I went up close and sure enough prices were fine so I dived in and had a fine meal of five tempura, rice and a green tea for just 650 yen.

Yellow signed building is where I ate, damn nice!

When it came to settling the bill I asked for them to please wait before counting out the change and handing it over and thanking them.  At this point the attendant advised my Japanese was good, I said thanks and then began pondering something.  You see, when I met Madoka she also said my Japanese was good, however, on 15th August I got my Japanese AS level result, and I got a disappointing grade.  D for disappointing!

So this caused me to ponder what level I was really at and I think the reason I didn't do well is that the exam and the course material is stuck in the 1960's.  Before anyone says it, I adore my tutor, she is absolutely awesome and so understanding and supportive.  But the exam was obsessed with asking about things that no one really gives a shit about!   One question was about a school fete or something where the tutor dressed as a clown and questions were about prepartion, while another was about an island where climbing became popular and the questions related to toilets, honestly who gives a shit?

Out here I have found myself needing some of the stuff I learned, but a lot of it, has not been helpful.  So that is why I am going to take a year out, study alone for some context and then have another crack at getting the result I want.

Anyway, after making this bold decision I ventured back on to the streets and eventually found my way down to a huge wide river that led to city hall.  As time was getting closer to my shinkansen back to Tokyo I walked, took shots and enjoyed the sights at my fingertips.

I thought it was awesome to be at this fusion of the wide waterways, traditional crafts and the modern skyline.  The synthesis of old and new is one of the greatest things about Japan, I know that in London, Manchester and York this exists too.  But I think it is the sheer magnitude of it which takes my breath away out here.  Like when I was up the skytree and saw so many eras of Tokyo in one microcosm, just wonderful.

After this I ventured back to Shin-osaka, grabbed a beer while waiting for my shinkansen then ventured back to Tokyo.  Bitten by the sales bug I went to Yodobashi akiba and bought myself a set of JVC HA-XM02X headphones.  They are awesome, really powerful and extremely comfy, cost 5400 yen which is only around £37.  Plus I got an unexpected surprise, not wanting to touch my cash if I could, I decided to use my bank card and unexpectedly, this place had 'chip & pin'!  So easy security, score!  

Now on to the final part of my blog where I mention Kikka's concert in santa clara.  First of all, santa clara is in San Francisco, USA...  I am in Japan!  So I am not there, however thanks to a...  Err... Source!   *Whistles*  I have heard an audio recording of the concert and it was a very unusual gig!  Started with a singles medley of Kikkake ha you, Hapi rapi sunrise, konna watatshi de yokattara and darling to madonna.  She then did something which has made me very jealous of those who are there...  San san go go and I wish!  For those who don't know, they are classic tracks by Milkyway!  and Morning Musume respectively!

The first of that pairing is one of my favourite songs she has ever done whilst the second is just so unbelievably random as to be awesome.  She also bizarrely did Airi Suzuki's solo song Tsuugaku Vector truly random shit!  It was also cool that she the b-sides candy pop and Sweetie before ending with ずっとずっとずっと君がスキだ  Though bless her she did mess up on candy pop, がんばってきっか様！

Yes I am jealous, yes I would love to be there, but having had signings, mini-lives, festival dates, MM live, MM soundcheck, MM handshake, Kikka handshake, Cool hello concerts...  Yeah I reaaally can't complain so to all who are going, I am jealous, I am sorry I am not there, but all have an awesome time in Santa clara!  As for me, it is my birthday in a few days, but as my peeps are all busy on the day, tonight from 5pm we are going to be decimating Shinkjuku.  Brian, Dean, Mika and Nino...  There's gonna be nothing left of the place when we are finished!  Until next time *sets sail*

A final live report for Yuu!

Hi all, before you all start, the title is not me saying I am going home and is actually not my final live report, score for misleading journalism!  No the title is that this is the final event I can attend of Kikka's so from this point on my blogs will about my other antics!

Anyway the previous day to this I was really really really tired, constantly felt on jelly legs when walking and everything.  Initially I just wanted to stick around and do something like the Tokyo Skytree...  But I was simply too knackered, worried at first I had heat stroke or come down with something, so I just stuck my head in some books and took the day off, advantage of a month abroad, if a day feels like shite, you can write it off!

So to yesterday, well the night was Kikka's mini-live event in Shinjuku, but I wanted stuff to do in the day before it.  Fortunately, I saw on my twitter that Nino was knocking about and wanted to go scouting for a potential laptop as well as visit Akiba backstage pass so I thought, fuck it, not done that, let's roll!

So hot morning around 11:15 we meet in Akiba station and head to the huge Yodobashi shopping...  err...  Stadium!  Seriously, if you weren't aware it was a shopping store you'd at first glance think it was a stadium of some sort, they are freaky places which have tonnes of stuff for sale.  Nino and I checked out the laptops and cost was very high, as you'd expect in Japan, but specs weren't the great, mostly mid-rate, on that barrel full of disappointment we headed into Akihabara itself.

I decided I wanted to scout out the Hello Project shop again just in case there was something in there that took my fancy.  (Note: - My rather exclusive Fukumura Mizuki A4 photo is still not in!)  Inside I noticed something I hadn't seen in the H!P store very often, lots of young people!  This was cool and evidently shows the new direction of the groups is generating cross generation interest.  Though I am still not too hot on some of the younger additions (more on that later).

Still I did spy an awesome item I had to pick up featuring the aforementioned Fukumura Mizuki

Yup a lovely clearfile with photocard, what made Nino and I laugh is the blatant copyright rip-off from chupa chups, then again, Kikka-sama got away with ripping off star wars so they have previous when it comes to this sort of thing!

After this we checked a couple more computer stores which somehow had the same machines as Yodobashi but at half the price, score one for rip-off consumerism within one mile of itself.  Thing you'll notice about Akiba is the fierce competition for electronics sales.  If you are in Japan and need a new camera, shop around here is my advice as you may score a bargain!

Once done we were both feeling a little hungry and decided to hit Akihabara backstage pass, for those of you who do not know, this is Tsunku's own maidcafe.  I have never done maid cafes before but have never really been that interested as they mostly seemed about blessing your lunch and being drowned by sickeningly sweet antics.  However, Dean mentioned should at least give it a go and having someone who has been before as a guide was enough of a reason.

When we got up there it was quite amusing as the maid on door duty had to call three times for someone to take our custom haha, I think they were all terrified of these foreigners not being able to understand them, despite the door maids repeated instruction that japanese was ok.  (well...  sort of!)

Anyway eventually we got ourselves sat down and ordered some food, which was decent, usually, from what I have heard, the food is crap but the experience great.  Here it fused both which was nice.  First thing I had to do was sign this form for a members card with my 'producer's name'  (mine in other words!) which was fun.  After food arrived we suddenly got accosted by 海岬まりな who is one of the maids that Nino is a big fan of

Show beats tell usually so there you are!  She was actually very funny, she understood my Japanese and kept asking stuff like how old I was and where I was from, both of which surprised her.  Not entirely sure why me being English is such a surprise, I guess I really am from the grim northern steppes and totally out of my universe or something!

She also made us laugh because Nino and her are fans of the Japanese artist YUI, and she has a song titled 'Please stay with me'  So まりな, bless her, asks two foreigners what it means and how to translate it.  we both broke down laughing with the same wavelength thought...  "err...  is that appropriate for an idol to ask?"  I think she realised and immediately shouted 'dame!'  (Japanese for don't!)  Which just tickled us even further.

After this the stage suddenly became active and five members of the cast came on stage to perform one of their songs.  At this all maid activity stopped and instead I was treated to something I have never seen before.  The maid group on stage sang live, but all the maids suddenly danced the PV dance where they were.  This included behind the car, at tableside, entry to the cafe...  It was...  Awesome, but not something I was anticipating.  Also as a bit of fan service, if you look at one of the off-stage maids while they do this, they come over and pretty much do a one on one dance for you.  Can see now why many are attracted by these places!

I do think we got her in trouble though as she wanted to stay talking to us forever but management kept calling her away from the table, oops!  Anyway next to us two Japanese wota turned up and began talking with us, trying to get Nino to say to a maid that the word for beautiful in Japanese was actually something far worse.  Nino played along at first, before bailing out when she came over.  Maid was called もえのあずき

Japanese wota continued to hound Nino for more fail Japanese but he was just like 'dame!' which got them giggling profusely.  もえ however stuck around talking to us for some time, especially when she mentioned jackie chan and it turned out she was a fan!  I sat there talking about Rush hour, Who Am I?, dragons forever and others which was unexpectedly awesome.  Jackie chan really is the man and if he ever goes to japan I know one maid who'd fangirl massively that's for sure!  Just as we were readying to leave the Japanese wota gave us a parting gift.

Yup, copies of their singles, which was awesome!  Especially as one on the left is actually sealed, shows these guys are regulars!  We settled our bill after this and left, overall, a good experience had.  Certainly fun if you know some Japanese so can interact fully with both the maids and the other customers.  Not too expensive if you are careful, my bill was around 2400 yen for just under an hour.  However, Nino did point out one option on the bill was Dom Perigion at a whopping 40000 yen!  Firstly, champagne is horrible, secondly, especially at that price!

We settled for a swift drink in a bar near the station, though Nino began having issues with his stomach at this point so went for coke while I grabbed a shot of whiskey on the rocks, hey, I can live the high life now and again!  After this went our separate ways and I returned to my room to park my stuff and just chill for a while.

At home I got some news about Morning Musume having a semi-best of album with new arrangements and so forth.  Now, something I have never hidden, is that I do not understand the adoration for Sayashi Riho.  Yes, she can dance well, but she can't sing and just strikes me as dull.  Whenever I have seen comments about her I always get this overwhelming feeling of people being suckered by hype...  Which I broadcast on the forum Jplop...

Oh boy did this start a war!  Naturally people were defending, which is absolutely fine.  But it proceeded to degenerate when I simply said you have your opinion and I have mine, let's agree to disagree.  An attempt to move the discussion on, water under the bridge, etc...  Some people just don't know when to quit and begin talking about previous dismissals from other forums and such.  I am all for flaming my opinion, that's fine, but when you start to go 'neeer you're not welcome on this place and no surprise' it just makes you look an asshole!


Anyway I wasn't about to let this ruin my evening, with about two hours left before Kikka sama I decided to return to Akiba for some arcade gaming and some grub.  After throwing 300 yen into outrun again (seriously I am addicted to that game!)  I went for a swift matsuya, but while on the way there I saw this outthere and amazing thing.

That's just...  Wow!  Something so out of leftfield from where I am from to be absolutely awesome!  It'd be interesting to see the response if that ever took round the city of Manchester, even here there were nationals taking photos in bewilderment, and that is saying something for a town where maids stand on the street offering you flyers for their cafes lol

So train ride to Shinjuku and I happen to spy some promotion for Momusu at Shin-okubo station, two large posters for the single.  I have to say one thing, ever since these new generations have appeared, the company have finally put the effort in for promoting their singles.  Just a pity that my fave era didn't get the same sort of treatment but ah well!

Finally made it to Tower records and around 9pm bought  a copy of Kikka's album which got me access to the live and the following handshake.  What was interesting here is that the tower records in Shinjuku has a small stage in the middle of the 7th floor and like in Shibuya Tsutaya we had to queue up the stairs between floors depending on the number for your ticket.  As I was a late arrival my number was 123, but not a massive issue considering I had around 6 inches in height on most of the audience so good view regardless!

But it was still a strange experience to be about to watch a concert on the 7th floor of a shopping centre in the middle of a records shop!  Not that it stopped us doing what we usually do at concerts, yup, the glowsticks came out, the chants and more.  Makes you wonder how the staff put up with that sort of thing, then again, welcome break from the monotony maybe?

Kikka rushed on stage and opened with Time to zone which was an unexpected surprise.  Whilst it is from her best of, I wasn't prepared for it.  Worked brilliantly as an opener though being that sort of semi-acoustic dance number at slightly higher than average pace.  Got the crowd clapping and cheering loudly which is always awesome.

Following this she did a brief MC introducing herself and talking about how her next song was one produced by Kimaguren, thus I already knew that 八月の花火  was coming next, before that though, she sang a line from ''cafe ole no uta' before asking us to sing it back to her, which was pretty cool!  It was funny to hear the offset between Kikka's beautifully refined vocals and the crowds harsh rebuttal, it certainly made Kikka chuckle.  As the next song began the crowd continued where we'd left off at Idol Nation in uncharted territory with a song where no real existing wota chanting was in play.

Still we pulled through and got most of the unfamiliar to join in, whilst Kikka continued to display why she is my favourite idol with the great ability to swing between vocal styles with ease whilst having the presence to interact with as much of the crowd as possible.

After this mic went on to the stand as she launched into the ballad 世界中に君は一人だけ I was surprised as this song as it was such a change in pace, but she just absolutely nailed it everytime, really high notes and different keys without as much as hicup.  Following this the pace picked up again with こんな私でよかったら which was as flawless as idol nation before she ended with Sweetie.  The final song was funny as we at the back sort of trolled the crowd because it seemed we changed the rhythm of the chants which threw people off.  I am not sure if Kikka clocked it herself, but she at points stopped singing and pointing at the crowd, so we missed a line before singing for her and she kept giggling.  I reckon it was more coincidence but if not then she truly is amazing!

After the live it was time for the handshake and I spoke with a few of the wota beforehand as once again, in true Japanese fashion, it was pretty rapid.  Kikka2525 was saying how he much preferred the American style we enjoyed in Atlanta where you had much more time.  Still, any time is better than no time, so having queued around I reached her and decided to play safe and simply said that she was the best in the world.  She responded by going 'wow, I love you, Kikkawa Yuu' This made me XD but I just responded with 'I love you too' and she replied with thanks in English while the crowd cheered, nice crowning moment to a very good day and evening overall was that.

Final thing I did was come home, say night to my girlfriend and family before hitting the sack and getting sleep.  Now today...  Err...  Nothing planned!  I have the cool hello concerts tomorrow and sunday so probably going to get some supplies in ahead of those and generally laze about.  Isn't a holiday about relaxing and enjoying yourself?  Exactly!  And I aim to do just that!  Until next time, *sets sail*