Attending AKB48 handshakes: how-to (work in progress)

Especially stupid when the ‘group’ you're punishing is ‘most people in the world’

 

I've applied for the online handshake for the first time. After paying with my card, I got this email. Does this mean everything is sorted now? I can see the transaction at my bank but the payment is still pending.

(Took out image)

I'm just worrying as I've never done it before lol.

 

Yes it's all sorted. The important thing is to have an order number in the line near the top which begins 'ご注文番号' (my number is 7 digits long starting with a '4') as that's only generated when payment is complete. It should also appear in your account in https://shop.akb48.co.jp/mypage/top under the top drop-down labelled '購入履歴' ('Purchase History').

 

Yeah I do have that in the purchase history, thanks for the help!

 

OFFLINE (IN-PERSON) TALKS - HOW TO USE THE NEW WITHLIVE E-TICKETING SYSTEM

This is based on the official guide at the following URL:
https://www.universal-music.co.jp/akb48/wp-content/uploads/sites/3973/2023/04/wl_real01.pdf

However this is also based on my own experiences at the event at Pacifico Yokohama on 2023/05/06 which was the first time the system was used (it might possibly get tweaked and be slightly different for future events).

Getting your tickets

Tickets for the offline talks can be ordered in exactly the same way as for online ones at the AKB48 Official Shop:
https://shop.akb48.co.jp/

The differences start 9 days before the event when it's time to download your tickets to the WithLive website. Although you connect to the external Official Shop site in the same way as for online events (you go to https://mg.withlive-app.com/external/entry and enter your AKB48 Group ID and the telephone number on your account), in order to see your tickets you'll then need to select the menu option '電子チケット一覧' ('Electronic Ticket List') which takes you to https://mg.withlive-app.com/offline_events.

For confirmation, you do not use the WithLive app for offline talks as you do with online ones, you use the Electronic Ticket List page in a web browser on your phone.

There you will see your ticket list which will look rather different to an online one - here's an example ticket:



The button on the left should be pressed to display a QR code to show to staff on arrival at the member's lane. However before that the red button can be pressed for some options to make some changes to your ticket(s) for that member at that slot. Three blue-bordered buttons will appear - in order from top to bottom these are as follows:

1. 'Divide'
If you have many tickets for a member you can split them into 2 or 3 lots so that you can meet her multiple times in a slot. For example, if you have 10 tickets you could split them into 2 lots of 3 each and one of 4. Note that you can't use more than 3 tickets together for a member in the first 30 minutes of a slot so this could be used as a way around that restriction.

2. 'Put Together'
Let's say you bought 3 tickets for a member in one slot in one sales round, and then a couple or so weeks later you bought another 3 in a later round. These will appear as two separate tickets but you can use this option to combine them and use all 6 together in one visit (after the first 30 minutes of the slot).

3. 'Increase'
This is the option you would use to 'oshimashi' or transfer tickets to another member. Pressing on this gives a screen where you can select the number of tickets you wish to transfer and then the number of the slot in which you want to make the change in order to display a list of available members. Here's a couple of example screenshots taken from the official guide:



In the first picture the user has selected 5 tickets for Miion to be transferred (you can transfer all or part of your ticket allocation for the member, doing the latter allows you to transfer to more than one member if desired). A list of available members for the 5th slot (in this case) is shown. Note that members who are sold out or nearly so are not available to transfer to - if in doubt and you're at the venue look to see which members have a red star on their lane signs, this shows availability for transfer. In the second picture the user has transferred 5 tickets to Manaka and would then press the green button to confirm. A new e-ticket for her would then appear in the user's list.

Note that if a member for whom you have tickets is absent on the day, an alert message with red text will appear on the relevant e-ticket.

At the lane

When it's time to meet a member, go to the start of their lane and present your phone to the staff member with the relevant QR code displayed (and also show your passport or other ID). He or she will scan the code with their iPad and assuming all is well they will press a green button on it which should make the code disappear on your phone and your e-ticket appear with a green button. (N.B. if this doesn't happen make the staff member aware but it should simply require a refresh of the browser screen.)

You then move forward to the member's booth. There you show your phone again to another staff member who will press the green button to display two consecutive messages for his or her use, one of which confirms the number of tickets to be used. This will leave the e-ticket with a bar saying '利用済み' ('used') as in the example below:



You will then quickly need to hide your phone in a pocket (but not a shirt one) or in your bag which you must leave on a table outside the booth (it's all perfectly safe!) and then when called forward by the staff member it's finally time to enjoy talking to your oshi. (Afterwards you just exit and find your next member's lane to repeat the process.)

Good Luck and Enjoy!

 

Should pin this page to the top. I thought there were also some updated WithLive instructions for online meetings?

 

See this tweet thread by bonjourmarlene:

• https://twitter.com/curioushitomi/status/1630197982678208512

Not sure if Twitter is the best place for it, but I would suggest a brand new post on the forum or on the wiki for it and offline talks.

 

The guide by @bonjourmarlene includes the process of registering an account and applying for tickets (which mine doesn't) so it definitely ought to be pinned to this thread.

 

I'll try and make a post on here today or tomorrow based on my twitter thread, so we can then pin it!

 

I have a online talk for the first time tomorrow. Is there a guide anywhere to how it works on the day?

I've got the app and my talks are displayed. Just curious about when I should enter the rooms and how the ID process works (I've uploaded my passport to the WithLive website already).

 

@IbarakiRose I'll try and explain as best I can without being able to add any of my own screenshots, instead I'm attaching in the thumbnail the graphic on https://official-cd.akb48.co.jp/61st/:



If you click and open that there's a series of 4 images. From left to right this is what happens:

1. In the first screen, starting from 20 minutes before the start of the slot time, tap on the button for the person who you want to talk to.

2. The second screen will appear. Your number in the queue for the ID check on the bottom line ('6' in this picture) will start to countdown from about 5-10 minutes before the start of the slot but it won't do it automatically, you have to keep clicking on the 4 kanji at the top right to manually refresh the screen. When the queue number gets down to 5 or less, tap on the green button to enter the ID check.

3. In the ID check you'll see a green-backed screen with your camera image in the top right-hand corner. You then need to wait for a random amount of time (could be 30-60 seconds but might be more or less than that) and then a staff member will come online and start to talk to you in Japanese. As far as I can remember the conversation should go like this:

a. "Can you hear me?"
b. "I'm going to check your ID... Yes it's OK."
c. "Do you have anything to show the member?"
d. Staff-san will then read out a long list of rules about not capturing any video or images etc.

Then if all is well staff-san will transfer you to the third screen, but if he/she thinks you're having trouble understanding Japanese you'll be pushed back to the second screen - but don't panic , press on the green button again and after a short while you should find yourself talking to an English-speaking staff member.

4. The third screen shows your place in the queue to talk to the member but this time it does countdown automatically. Note however that when the display shows '2' you're actually at the front of the queue! When it's your time to talk the display will show '1' for a split second and then you'll find yourself connected to the member.

If you've won a 1- or 2-shot this will happen at the start of the talk - you'll see a countdown giving yourself a few seconds to arrange a pose with the member. The photo will then be taken automatically (and will appear after the talk in your account on the WithLive website).

Finally when it's time to end the talk you'll see a red countdown display in seconds at the top left of the screen.

Hopefully I've remembered everything. The process is something which seems somewhat complicated the first time you try it but from the second time onwards it makes more sense.

Good Luck!

 

A couple of things to add:

Staff-san should have printed out instructions (in Japanese, English, Chinese & Korean, I think) which they can show you if you don't understand Japanese, so if you can get them to show them, you should be ok to continue without having to speak to an English speaking staff member.
If you're in a 2-shot session (I think), they'll ask you to have your device in portrait mode at the end of the verification process, if it isn't already.

 

Thanks to you both! That was the sort of thing I was looking for.

edit: First slot went fine. I think I would have been lost if not for your instructions. The staff-san I was taking to said a lot which I didn't catch, but I listened out and heard them say kikoemasu ka (Can you hear me) and misete (Anything to show) so it went fine.

 

Can any of the veterans who have attended the in-person events advise how many tickets max I can feasibly get for each slot across multiple members without the entire event being a rush? I was already considering a trip in October so I was thinking I might make it coincide with the 28th/29th Oct events. It will be my first in person events. I always just go for Seina's slots for the online events, but if I'm going to travel all the way there I might as well make the most of the trip and see other members as well

 

To be on the safe side, my advice is not to have tickets for more than two members in each slot, however in practice I've found that generally three is possible as long as they're not all sold out. Sometimes things can be unpredictable, e.g. a member might be late appearing but that didn't happen for me last time.

If you've got tickets for a sold out member it's good to be close to the front of her queue so you can quickly move on to somebody else. To do that, at about 15 minutes before the start of the slot go to that member's lane but wait on the opposite side of the walkway which goes past the lane entrances. You'll almost certainly find some other fans gathering there for that member, then when the lane opens everyone will filter through the entrance to the ID check and you should then find yourself close to the front ready for the member to appear. Once you've met her you should then find you have time to meet two other members in that slot (as long as they're not both among the top sellers).

Otherwise if you want to be sure not to be in a rush then keep to a maximum of two members in a slot and that also means you'll definitely have time to occasionally go outside to get some food, drink and fresh air which is advisable as the venues are always very warm.

As to how many tickets to buy - simply buy as many for each member as you can afford! Remember that each ticket only gives you 10 seconds talk as opposed to 15 for online talks but you can often 'steal' a few extra seconds by waving to the member as you leave her booth, something you can't do with online talks lol. I bought 8 tickets for my oshimen Komi at the event I went to in May but for my other favourite members I bought 3 each.

Finally just to say that if you want to try and fit in some extra members but things don't work out in a particular slot you can always 'oshimashi' tickets for different girls in a later slot.

Have fun! Meeting members in real is a great and very addictive experience!

 

It depends on the member. For someone like Yuiri the experience is very different from let’s say Chake. But then again for someone like Yuiri it is very hard to win lots of tickets. Also, earliest and latest slots are less crowded than the ones in the middle.

When going through the tickets, for the first 20 minutes you can only spend 3 tickets at the time, and I often found that often there was a transition between where you had the early line cleared and the big ticket amount holders not entering, so even for someone like Miion it was possible to go practically without any waiting in line.

Depending on members you choose and how much you bought tickets, 2-3 members per slot should be easy unless they are the big hitters or you were to buy a mass of tickets. Oshimashi is a good thing, but don’t assume the members you want to oshimashi to are available. However many tickets you buy, it is not enough.

When you meet members for the first time, it can make or break the member for you if the experience isn’t good. (But they are also humans and have good and bad days.) If someone tells you member X or Y is not a good choice, ignore it and see for yourself if you want to.

Finally: ask for help if needed! Most likely you will have foreigner fans from S48 or Discord around, and if you have Japanese ability, the staff is helpful too.

PS. And I agree, meeting members is the best and very addictive! Especially when the handshakes return and there is actual touch involved. I’ve found that even the pressure in your hands from the members’ grip can boost the experience.

edit: Also plan your schedule and if it is more convenient for you to condense or spread out to more or fewer slots based on transit etc. Yesterday I had one member slots and it lead to quite a bit of waiting around.

edit2: And have some spare money or credit card balance going in, the girls might be selling something and they can be quite convincing!

 

Thanks for the info guys. I've just spent the past 2 hours trying to plan how to split the members across 2 days based on your advice, and damn it is pricey as heck, and that's not even factoring in yet the additional tickets I'm planning to get for Seichan in the later rounds. 1 ticket is such a short time, basically just enough time to get an intro in before I get ushered away, yet going for a minimum of 2 tickets per member suddenly makes things so expensive, with 17 members I was thinking of buying tickets for so far.

What would they be selling?

 

As @Tuhis said "however many tickets you buy, it is not enough". Meeting AKB members definitely is addictive and I've spent way too much money in the past - yet I've never regretted it. The worst feeling for me at HS events has been when I've seen some members with no queues waiting hopefully for fans to meet them but I've no spare tickets to use. However I really don't want to be responsible for advising anyone here to get into debt!!!

Just to add that at the event I went to in May I wasn't aware of any members selling anything but Komi tweeted that she'd be selling her FC merch at this weekend's talks, maybe others were doing the same? Certainly she could have very easily made me part with even more cash lol.

 

It depends, at my latest event they sold the 17th gen concert tickets.

Good thinking, one ticket is not much and even 2 you don’t get that much but 2 does cut it already, as I learned with Chiba Erii. Also, it did feel like the staff became looser nearer the end of the day so you might get more bang for your buck in the later slots. This is completely anecdotal though, so don’t plan on it. 17 members adds up quickly indeed!

What my mans said. Even if we talk about supporting the girls, remember that at the end of the day we are the customers, and we should only spend what we comfortably and safely can. There have been cases where people have gone into debt or crime or both, and that’s just stupid. Also when planning take into account transportation, accommodation, food etc.