Nakano Miyabi (Minyo Girls)

Minyo Girls Live at the DMM VR Theater, Yokohama (2018/06/17) [Plus their new single!)



As part of a NagaraGroup concert triple header, the Minyos did a solo live show at the DMM 'Virtual Reality" Theater. Along with Minyo Girls, both Hayabusa and Wasamin also had solo lives on the same day. This was the middle show. But before I get into that, here is the new PV for their first major single, Kirari ☆ Yume Ondo...


if the video does not show watch the video here

The CD releases this week in three different types with three tracks each. Some great c/w tracks as well, I highly recommend. Anyway, back to the concert...



I arrived in Yokohama relatively early because I wanted to get lunch before the shows. I was in the mood for sushi, and found a decent kaitenzushi around the corner from the venue. They were doing new single preorders outside, but I already knew I was going to buy the new goods, as well as a ticket for the group's July solo concert in Shinjuku, so I skipped on the singles. Their newest item was a new version of their oshi towel, which is a great idea since the previous towel has the old lineup on it. This version is simply the group name. They also had the reflector postcards and plastic uchiwa, just like Wasamin. I bought the July solo show ticket, but held out on August since 1) they are more expensive than their previous solo shows, and 2) I'm not sure if I will be in town for the August show. But I got my goods, and my prepaid Ginger Ale, and headed in for my seat.



BTW, a funny little side story. The total for all my goods and tickets came to 6200 yen. Being that I like to minimize change and bills in my pocket, I gave the girl 11200 yen. (1 10,000-yen bill, 1 1,000-yen bill, and 2 100-yen coins) This completely confused her, and she kept trying to give me the smaller money back, but I kept insisting. She brought another girl over, who also didn't get it. Finally the manager came over and had to explain basic addition to them. 11,200-6,200=5,000. One 5,000 yen bill. But they ended up giving me 5 1,000-yen bills.

I was in the 5th row on the left side, and had a decent view of the stage. I was really interested to see how they would incorporate 'virtual reality' into their show. In case you are wondering, the theater has a he back screen and an invisible screen in front of the stage. There are also side screens to give the show sort of a "Cineramic" feel. So essentially you have visual effects going on all around the performers in sort of a 3D effect. Here are some example pics...



Personally, I found the effects to be kinda cool. However, I also saw Wasamin perform there later in the day, and the difference in the utilization of the effects was noticeable. For Wasamin, it seemed like they really thought about how the effects would enhance the song, and also how they would look in relation to Wasamin. For Minyo Girls, it just seemed like they chose some cool effects and went with it, regardless of how it would actually relate to the performance. This cause some of the effects to be a bit distracting and odd. They also used the effects for most of the show. The only time they didn't use them was when the members came out to the floor for a couple of songs, and the 'photo-op' segment. It seems like my iPhone camera is getting more and more unreliable for getting clear shots, but here are a few shots of the members...


Ramu-kyun. Interestingly, I take more photos of Ramu than any other member including Miyabi and Yuua. I really like her a lot. I'll talk more about that further down the post.


Rinacchi, one of the group's singing 'aces'


Kako, the 'senior' member


'Captain' Izumi, who is always genki


Yutori, the 'member I have known the longest


Rio, Minori, and Matsuri. Unfortunately I didn't get any good individual pics of the three of them.


And of course my '2-top' Yuua and Miyabi

After the show it was time for benefits, which were done in a small room outside the venue. Minyo Girls have kind of a strange system. First of all, you get one ticket for every 2000 yen you spend. This is usually good for a signed cheki, or shamekai. If you spend two tickets you can take a full group picture. One of the issues is that all of their stuff is oddly priced, so it's tough to hit the 2000 yen plateaus evenly. And their is no partial, so if you spend 3500 yen you get one ticket. they used to sell various member pins for 500 yen that you could buy to bring it up to the next level, but they haven't done that lately. So whenever I am buying goods I am always trying to mathematically work it out to hit as close to 2000, 4000, or 6000 as possible. Also, for some reason which I am not sure of, I earned a bonus ticket this time around. I mean they do have a 'ponta card', but I haven't hit any level up as far as I can see. So cool, I guess. I wasn't sure if I wanted a group shot or not, but the manager came over and asked me if I wanted to take one. Ultimately I decided to go for it. I must say, it is probably one of the coolest group shots I have taken with them, and I got the new oshi towel in it too (Yuua and Miyabi helping me hold it up.



After the shot I got Matsuri's attention, since I wanted to tell her that I am also a fan of the K-Pop group Black Pink. During the group solo live last week Matsuri did a dance performance to the song 'Boombayah' which I really liked. Anyhow, my comment got Matsuri, Izumi, and Rina all laughing very hard. Oh, and it seems Ramukyun is an AKB fan, and recently went to Asai Nanami's birthday show at the theater...



After that they had two separate lines. One was for chekis, and the other for shamekai. Personally I prefer the chekis since I like to collect them, and quite often I get them signed by the members. I wasn't sure which line was which, so I asked their new kenkyuusei Ryo, who was helping direct fans and answer questions. She actually pointed me to the wrong line, but a few fans nearby corrected her, LOLZ. Since I had used two of my tickets for the group shot, I had two left for individual pics. Per usual I used them for Yuua and Miyabi.



To be honest, I have been captivated by Ramukyun ever since she joined the group. In fact, the first time I saw her live I took a cheki with her. The issue is that chekis with these girls are already kinda pricey. I don't want to add a third girl to my repertoire. I could always take one with her in place of Miyabi or Yuua, but that would be a problem. They are not a huge group, and they all see who is taking photos with who. I have been taking pics with Yuua and Miyabi for a couple years now, and have also cultivated a sort of 'friendship' with both of their parents. Not to mention these girls are pretty young. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and I do like Yuua and Miyabi. So I guess my only pics with Ramu will be the group pics. Or perhaps if one of them is out for a show Ramukyun will be my backup. Yeah, that'll work...for now.

For some odd reason they only allowed me to get one cheki signed, so I chose Miyabi. I told her that I really enjoyed the show. She asked my if I was going to see Wasamin later. I told her I was, but that my ticket for Minyo Girls was a better seat. So I didn't get a chance to say much of anything to Yuua other than 'Thank you' and 'Great job.'


Bonus 'gift' photo was taken at last month's solo live in Asakusa (I remember those costumes!)

I was done with my tickets, and the Wasamin fans were already milling around outside waiting for the evening show. I decided to take off for a little while and take a short break before starting the whole process again for Wasamin.

Ya know, I really love this group. I think their music is great, and they really have a bright future. I hope they don't stray too far from the 'Minyo' aspect of their music, since that is what I think makes them special. There are some folk-style songs on their new single, so that's a good sign.

 

I am glad(?) that Japanese teenagers don't learn arithmetic any better than American teenagers.

 

Today is the official release day of the Minyo's first major single, ending theme for the anime "Dual Masters." Here are the covers and tracklists...



(Limited Edition)
1. Kirari ☆ Yume Ondo
2. Kirari ☆ Yume Ondo (TV Version)
3. Kachō Fūgetsu Fuji no Yama ~Enrei~




(Minyo Edition)
1. Kirari ☆ Yume Ondo
2. EMOTION
3. Akita Ondo




(Girls Edition)
1. Kirari ☆ Yume Ondo
2. Handkerchief Drop
3. Sentimental Journey

Minyo Girls official YouTube channel also uploaded a bunch of performances from the groups' April and May Solo Lives in Asakusa...


"Ringo Bushi" (Miyabi, Yuua, Ramu) BTW, this video is a great illustration of why they are my "3-Top" in this group!

if the video does not show watch the video here

"Iyoootsu! Kabuki Mono" (Miyabi, Yuua, Ramu)

if the video does not show watch the video here

"Kachō Fūgetsu Fuji no Yama" (Izumi, Kako, Minori)

if the video does not show watch the video here

"Handkerchief Drop" (Riina, Yutori, Rio)

if the video does not show watch the video here

"Roppongi Shinju" (All)

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

A Wild Weekend With Minyo Girls (Live at Oedo Hawaii Fest, plus 1-Man Live at Shinjuku Marz, 2018/07/14-15)



When I say wild, I mean a lot of interesting things went on with the Mingaru's two appearances this weekend. First off was their appearance along with Wasamin at the Oedo Hawaii Festival in Nihonbashi. I had planned on meeting some friends, as well as the Wasafans for this event. Minyo Girls would be performing first, on the 1st floor of Belle Salle, and Wasamin would be performing 40 minutes later on the B1 level, which was actually inside Nihonbashi Station. The actual festival was happening on the B2 level, and cost 1000 yen to get in. So lucky for me I avoided having to pay any admission...

The problem was that Tokyo is in the middle of a tremendous heatwave. Not only that, it is extremely humid, which makes any outdoor activity quite the challenge. Minyo Girls were actually scheduled to perform outside. Which brings me to the prediction I made a couple months ago. If you check a few posts back when the girls performed with Wasamin in Saitama. I mentioned that their new costumes would be hell to wear at any outdoor Summer activities. This pretty much came true. It was supposed to be a full group show, but Ramukyun was announced as cancelling her appearance in the morning. A short time later, Rio was announced as out for the show, and just before showtime Miyabi was announced as out sick for the show. In fact, I sorta witnessed the drama around Miyabi, especially since I am friendly with her mom. Mom was called backstage, and a short time later she came out and started apologizing to everyone.



So the seven remaining members, plus Ryo, their one kenkyuusei, came out and did a shortened version of their performance. It was only around four songs, and they were sucking down water in-between each song. I felt bad, since the friend I was with was seeing them for the very first time. But with the heat, and the sudden lineup changes, they were really off their game. They didn't do their intro properly, which I think is a cute feature of their act. The first song (Akita Ondo) sounded good, but the other three they sang all sounded off. The entire time I sat there I was just wondering how uncomfortable they were.

Taking all that into account, and since it was a free live, plus two of my three favorite members were out, I really didn't mind the abridged setlist which was mainly songs from the single release. In fact, I didn't even stick around for goods, chekis, and whatnot. Instead I headed down to the far cooler B1 level where Wasamin was about to perform. By the way, the reason I was so nonchalant about missing on goods and benefits, aside from the fact that Miyabi (and Ramukyun) were out was because Minyo Girls would be performing their one-man live the next day in Shinjuku. So I figured I'd save my energy (and money) for that. However, I did send Miyabi-chan a tweet telling her I hope she feels better.



In the meantime, my friend and I headed over to Oktoberfest in nearby Hibiya. We ended up being there for around six hours, but I was very conscious about how much beer I was drinking because I didn't want to be hungover for the Minyo's solo live on Sunday.

Mingaru's One-Man Live at Shinjuku Marz ~Fiery Performance, Chapter 1~ (2018/07/15)



So my strategy paid off. I avoided drinking too much on Saturday night, and was good to go for the girls' Sunday morning Solo Live. The group has been doing their monthly solo live in Asakusa for the past six months or so, but have changed that up for Shinjuku in the coming months. Why? I am not sure. It is technically not a bigger venue, and the stage seems slightly smaller. Perhaps it is less expensive? I am not sure, but I can say the tickets were considerably more expensive. I knew exactly where the club was since I have eaten at the izakaya above it (Sekai no Yamachan) on many occasions. Despite the fact that we had entry order numbers, I didn't want to arrive early just to stand outside in the even more oppressive heat and humidity than the previous day. Luckily when I arrived they were already queueing everyone, and my spot was just inside the doorway in the shade.

Shinjuku Marz is not dissimilar from Shibuya Glad in that you enter the venue on a small balcony, and then go down a level to the floor-standing area, although Marz' balcony is considerably smaller than Glad's, quite a few people did watch the show from there. Also, since Minyo Girls always have a lot of family in attendance, there is a seating area on the far left mainly used by grandparents and siblings. (A few of these girls have very young brothers and sisters) I even got the opportunity to meet Miyabi's grandmother. I told her that Miyabi is a great singer, and that I am glad she was feeling well today.



The good news was that none of the members were worse from wear the previous day, so we would be seeing the full group. After grabbing my prerequisite beverage (Oolong Cha) I took a spot three back from the stage. They were playing the new single music video on the giant screen behind the stage, and the show got off a little late. Also, the air-conditioning was on full-blast, so the place felt quite cool. Although when I stood very close to the AC unit upstairs I could sense the faint smell of mold.

Mingaru often "theme" their one-man live shows. This one was mainly Minyo-style songs in the beginning, and then it turned into a tribute to the Minyo Girls II EP. I love the second EP, so I was good to go. Moreover, I was so relieved that their performance skills were back on track today since the previous day was kind of a small disaster, LOL. Also, it was a very long show. They sang a lot of songs, and the encore was quite long too, I think 4-5 songs plus two long MCs.



They allow photography for two songs in the early part of the show. I used to have a difficult time getting my pics to come out properly, and I think others had the same issue since the past couple of shows I notice they change the lighting for this part. My pics look a lot better as a result. I was on the right side, which meant I had Rio, Matsuri, and Ramukyun right in front of me. The awesome thing about Ramukyun is the way she reacts when you smile at her. I think she has probably been told she needs to smile more, since nearly every time I smiled at her she would instinctively smile back. It is so cute. On the other hand, Miyabi (and Yutori) were both relegated to the back row for this entire segment, so getting good pics of them was a bit difficult. I also had a tall guy between me and Yuua, so that was an issue. But oh well. I got a few good group shots.



As has been a tradition at the 1-man shows, they had a VTR with announcements during the encore. We all have to kneel down for this (which kills my knees, BTW) They did a retrospective of all their releases, which some great early group footage, followed by an announcement of more 1-man live events in the fall. But the big announcement was the promotion of their one kenkyuusei, Ryo to a full-fledged member. It was cute how they did it too. The manager came out and presented her with a proper costume. Nikkan Sports wrote an article about it...

https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/201807150000700.html

And here's a video of her promotion...


if the video does not show watch the video here



I waited to buy goods until after the show, and there was a bit of a mix-up, thanks to 1) my non-fluent Japanese, and 2) Mingaru's complicated system. You see, how many tickets you get, and what kind of tickets you get, depends on not only how much you spend, but what items you buy. This totally confuses the process where it used to be "spend XX yen, get XX tickets." So I spent 4000 yen on goods, and only got one ticket. This wasn't what I wanted. Not to mention, I specifically bought something I didn't really want just to get to the 4000 yen mark. I couldn't explain my problem on the fly, so I told her I would come back. In the meantime I tried to explain it to one of the other staff, who understood, but told me I would have to explain it all to the people in the goods booth. Jeez! The big issue was that I wanted to return the second thing I bought, since it didn't get me the second ticket I wanted. Eventually the guy behind the counter understood what I was getting at, and let me return the item. I bought something else, and had my two tickets. One was for a signed cheki, the other for a shamekai.



I used my first ticket on Miyabi. The first thing she did was thank me for the "get well" message I sent her the previous evening. I told her I was worried, but was glad she felt better. The rest of the time I essentially talked about the heat.



Which was the same thing I talked about with Yuua. I seriously considered using my second ticket on Ramukyun, but she and Yuua were right next to each other, so I just could not do it. I really want to discuss Ramu being an AKB fan though. Not to mention she reacts to me while on stage all the time.

And with that I took off. I had to return to Oktoberfest since I had purchased in IQOS there the previous evening, which was defective. So I wanted to bring it back so they could either fix it, or give me a new one. They gave me a new one. But it was yet another interaction where I had to explain my problem all in Japanese. And since I came all the way to Oktoberfest, might as well have a couple beers. Frankly, after all the explaining and complaining and whatnot, I really needed a drink!

 

Minyo Girls One-Man Live at Shinjuku Marz ~Fiery Performance, Chapter 2~ (2018/08/19)



This was the beginning to what turned out to be a long, idol-filled day. Mingaru's monthly one-man live is their one event I try to see as much as I can since it is a longer set, approximately an hour or so. Plus, the group tends to make big announcements at their one-man show. This time was no exception. But first, highlights from last month's event. I like that the group publishes these videos regularly...


if the video does not show watch the video here

I got to the venue earlier than usual, and I noticed there were a few more Wasamin fans in attendance. I guess the buzz from the few of us who have been going all along is beginning to catch on, eh? I grabbed a spot along the right side wall one row off of the stage. This would put me very close to Ramu-kyun, who I enjoy playing with during the show. For the group's monthly event, they seem to alternate between a more traditional group program to a special setlist, where the members try something different. Since the members came out in casual outfits, we knew this was going to be a more informal type of show. They opened with Sochuu Omimai Moushiagemashou, which has almost become a regular part of their repertoire. However, I only counted ten members, including recently promoted Ryo-chan. Who was missing? It turned out Kako was on holiday in Australia. Okay then, at least it wasn't one of my favorite members. After the opening song and introductions, they announced that they would be doing an "idol unit" show. Leading off with...


Rio and Izumi

Secret Base (Zone) performed by Rio, Ryo, and Matsuri: This is one of my favorite J-pop songs, as it reminds me of the Anohana anime/drama, which is such a tearjerker. The fact that Rio was performing gave this song promise, although the girls collectively had a bit of trouble on the chorus. Overall I enjoyed this performance.


Rio, Yutori, Izumin, and Ramukyun

**An interesting side-note on the above pic, when you see how tiny Yutori is it is amazing to think she is one of the OLDEST members in the group!**

There always seems to be a Momoclo song in the set, and Minori always seems to be involved. This time is was Wani to Shampoo, which was performed by Rinacchi, Minori and Ramukyun. Yuua and Izumi sang an old anime song called Majokko Megu-chan, which is interesting since Yuua is one of the group's top singers, while Izumi isn't quite as good. That said, I think Izumin leveled-up singing along with Yuua. The final performance was Uchiage Hanabi, sung by Miyabi with Yutori on guitar. Miyabi sounded great, and Yutori did an excellent job harmonizing on the chorus. Yutori's guitar prowess seems more skilled every time I watch her. This was the best of four performances IMO.


Ryo, Minori, Matsuri, and Rio

The remainder of the concert was many of their standards, including zashikiwarashi, Ureshi Namida (their standard show closer) and of course their most recent single. Since I was on the far right, I was very close to Ramukyun, and like last month, she reacted every time I focused on her. I think Ramu is so adorable, and I am still looking for another opportunity to take a 2-shot cheki with her. Every time I look at her she gives me the greatest smile in return. I also got a lot of reaction from Yutori since she spent a lot of the show positioned in front of me.


Ramukyun

There was a VTR presentation during the encore. The girls expected it to be a message from Kako in Australia. However, there was also a second announcement. Minyo Girls will be releasing their second major single on November 28th, and the song will be called "Mirai." Naturally the girls were very excited about that, and it means there should be lots of in-store lives in the coming months. They have their performance in Korea coming up, plus this new single. Minyo Girls have a lot going on!

Post-show...

I decided to keep things simple. I cannot make it to their one-man live next month since it conflicts with a Wasamin event. Their October show is mid-week, and I'm not sure I will be available. I decided to purchase a ticket for their November 'Countdown' concert in Hamamatsucho. This would afford me either one signed cheki with one member, or a group 2-shot. I decided just to stick with the Group shot today....



I should be pretty easy to spot on the far left

As I sat down and put up the peace sign, Miyabi immediately attached her peace sign to mine. So cute. I wonder if she has noticed me paying attention to Ramukyun, since this was certainly a "This is MY fan" move. But yeah, I decided to be somewhat frugal and skip the individual chekis. After that I headed upstairs, said goodbye to Miyabi's mom, getting a wave from a couple other parents as well....


Yuua and Miyabi

After eating lunch at Taiyou no Tomato Men, I debated what to do with the rest of my day. I checked what was playing at the TOHO cinema, and the only movie I was interested in was Gintama 2, but the next showing wasn't for over two hours. I instead decided to head to Odaiba to see another Idol Group I like. That turned out to be an amazing adventure, as I ended up seeing not only KissBee, which was the group I went to see, but I also ended up seeing a Kamen Joshi performance. So yeah, quite a wild day. Not to mention my journey the next morning to Nagoya for an SKE48 theater show. I was happy to take Tuesday off entirely!

 

Minyo Girls Live at Hama-Site Natsu Matsuri, Hamamatsucho (2018/08/31)



Since I am not going to be able to see Mingaru's next two 'One-Man Live' events due to schedule conflict, i wanted to catch them at some of the free lives they will surely be doing since they announced the upcoming release of their second single. Minyo Girls, along with Wasamin and Hayabusa played at this event last year, but it was not a Summer event. It was in November. No matter, it's a fun little festival across the street from Hamamatsucho station. My original plan was to get there a little early, have a beer at Devilcraft, go to the event, and then meet my friend for dinner afterwards. That plan got nixed when I dozed off in the mid-afternoon. I ended up having to rush out the door to hopefully not miss the event.

As I approached the square the MC was still talking. Great! I didn't miss anything. There was plenty of room in front of the stage, so I grabbed a spot on the left side. Most of the people there were merely socializing, eating, drinking, and only mildly interested in the entertainment. However, the Minyos do have a way to grab people's attention due to their unique style, costumes, and of course their age. As they took the stage I noticed there were only seven members. Hmmm, they had posted on Twitter that eight members would be there. Who was missing? I saw Miyabi, Ramukyun...Yuua??? It turned out Yuua got sick in school earlier in the day, and had to miss the performance. She is posting today though, and says she feels better.



They performed at short three-song set, which included their first single, and as promised, the debut of their upcoming single "Mirai." The song is somewhat similar to their first single, and sounds like it might be catchy, but frankly it seemed like a debut performance in that it was a bit messy. We will see how they iron out the kinks going forward. Yuua usually acts as one of the center, solo performers, so her last-minute cancellation may have had something to do with it as well. But that wasn't all the 'fun' going on during the show...

The Perils of Public Performances

While I was watching the show I noticed security seemed to be watching someone. I had one of the guards standing right in front of me with this angry scowl on his face. It didn't take me long to figure out who they were chasing, some eccentric dude with a huge backpack to seemed to be muttering to himself and acting randomly in general. Eventually he took off toward the food area, and security seemed to follow him. I figured that would be the last time I would see him. That wasn't the case. As Minyo Girls were starting their 2-shot benefits for fans, the guards chased the guy down right in front of the girls, trying to get him to leave the premises. He was screaming, ranting, and raving. The girls didn't know what to do, so they kinda backed up. Eventually event staff came over and asked security to move the guy away from the group. However, they didn't seem to want to touch the guy, and every time they tried to force him to move away he would spin around, and basically act like a jerk. This went on for a good five minutes, but eventually the guy disappeared.



Benefits

Anyway, back to the event. When the show ended I immediately went over to the booth and grabbed a preorder form. As I was filling it out, I asked which shop was supporting this show, not realizing I knew the guy behind the table. The moment he said Asakusa, I was like "Oh, it's you!" It was the staff from Yoro-do, where Wasamin performs regularly. I pre-ordered two CDs, which was my original plan. However, I had always said that if one of my favorite members was out, I would use that event to do a 2-shot with Ramukyun. With Yuua out sick, this would have been a perfect opportunity, but I decided to stick with the original plan and just do a group 2-shot. In the meantime both Rina and Matsuri came over, said hello, and thanked me for coming.


Miyabi at Zero Position

The incident with the crazy guy happened as I was stand in line, but eventually it was my turn. It was dark, and beginning to drizzle, so I hoped the photo would come out okay. As I knelt down I chanted "Mirai" and put out the peace symbols, and again Miyabi "attached" her peace symbol to me. The photo didn't come out too badly, but a short time later they brought out some lighting to help with the photos. Maybe I should've asked for a re-do?



Anyway, I was done. I wasn't going to buy any more CDs, so I went and had that beer I had promised myself, and then had a late dinner at a local izakaya. I have no concerts or events to attend this weekend, so I am ending my 5-week vacation on a quiet note. Monday will be quite the day, as I am beginning my next level Japanese class, and then running off to see Wasamin in her new play.

 

New Single MV, "Mirai"


if the video does not show watch the video here

"Making-of" MV


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Minyo Girls 2nd Single "Mirai" Release Week Mini-Live at Alta Shinseido, Sunshine City (2018/11/28)



I have been super-busy with schoolwork this week, so I am a bit late in posting my reports. In fact, I have another Minyo Girls experience report from last weekend that I still need to put together, but I figured I would get this out of the way first...

Mingaru have been performing everyday this week in support of their new single "Mirai," which released on Wednesday. As I mentioned, I had a lot on my plate this week, but I really wanted to attend at least one of their lives since I had only pre-ordered two of the three versions of the single, so I wanted to make sure I had the complete set. Although I had a big paper to write and a big test to study for Wednesday night, I decided to take a break and head over to Sunshine City for a couple hours. After all, it isn't far from my apartment, and I could have dinner while I was there.



I usually get to Sunshine City by bus, and enter through the rear of the mall. They had a cute, multi-level illumination outside. Nothing too ostentatious, but it was very nice, and they were playing contemporary Western Christmas music over the PA. It made for a festive atmosphere. However, I had things to do, so I headed inside. Passing fountain square, I noticed an enormous crowd gathered. I knew this wasn't for Minyo Girls since Fountain Square wasn't mentioned on their schedule. It wasn't until I passed by that I figured out what it was...


Toshi from X-Japan Mini-Live!

Wow, Toshi does mini-lives at Sunshine City??? I mean there was nothing mini about this live event. The crowd was exponentially bigger than for any artist I have seen there. I had time, and the event was about to begin, so I decided to stick around for at least a few minutes. Just then the girl next to me started talking to me. She asked if I knew who the artist was, and if I was a fan of X Japan. I told her I knew who Toshi was, but I wouldn't call myself an X Japan fan by any stretch. I just wanted to see some of the live before I went to where I needed to be. Unfortunately for me, they started the event late, and first played the MV for the single from his new album. It wasn't until almost 15 minutes in that Toshi finally made his first appearance. I was a really far back, and everyone had their cameras raised in the air, but I snapped a couple of long-distance pics and was on my way.



When I got to Shinseido the viewing area was closed off, and they were still rehearsing. So I took the time to pick up two copies of the CD, Types A and C. I short time later they opened the viewing area, and the members came out to pass out flyers to people in the area. I grabbed a front row spot on the right, which reminds me...

Minyo Girls usually only send a partial team to in-store lives. You never get the full group, unless it is a significant event. In fact, they post in advance on Twitter which members will attend which events. For this event, my two "favorite" members, Miyabi and Yuua, were not performing. However, my "secret oshi" Ramu-kyun would be there. This meant I could spend the evening fawning over Ramu without Miyabi or Yuua getting jealous. The other performing members there were Rina, Ryo, Minori, and Yutori. Which brings up another issue...


Yutori (and Ramu)

Of all the members in Minyo Girls, the one I have known the longest is Yutori. In fact, she is the first member I ever took a photo with. She is also one of the more talkative members when she interacts with me, and she always takes the time to say hello to me at events, despite the fact that I rarely go to her for chekis. Once again, the moment she saw me she came right up and acknowledged me. She is also learning English. She is the member I should oshi, but don't. I do like her though. So I decided before the event even started that instead of doing two chekis with Ramukyun, I would do one each with Ramu and Yutori.

The Live

After opening with one of my favorites of their songs, Akita Ondo, they mainly performed songs from the new single. Actually, only Yutori, Rina and Minori sang, Ramukyun played her shamisen in front of the stage, and Ryo danced along side of her. This meant that I was literally inches away from Ramu for the entire show. I actually felt kinda bad, since I knew there were Ramu fans behind me, so I would eventually shuffle a bit to the right to let other people see her, and during the photo-op portion of the show I actually moved back and let some of the fans move up into my position to get closeup shots. Although I mainly took pictures of Ramukyun, I did manage to get at least a couple shots of the other members too.


Yutori


Minori


(l-r) Rina, Ryo, Yutori

Ramu is so funny. The way she introduces herself, and talks in general is so methodical and robotic, while cute at the same time. I don't know why she does that though. Is it her way of flirting, or is she just super-awkward? I think perhaps it's a bit of both. And of course I got lots of photos of her playing her shamisen since she was right in front of me...


Ramukyun!!!

Once the live ended they set up for benefits. The group shamekai were first, followed by the individual members. I decided I would visit whichever of the two members I wanted was available. So i chose Yutori, just as they asked her to MC and promote the event. When it was my turn they sent me up to where Ramu had just finished, and she thought I was coming to her. She began to thank me, when the manager said "No, he is seeing Yutori." Ramu was like "Oh.." But I immediately said "It's okay Ramukyun, I'm coming to see you next!" In the meantime Yutori was thanking me profusely for picking her. I asked if she was still practicing her English, which she affirmed. I reminded her that I responded to some of her English Twitter posts, to which she told me that she saw my replies. I started to walk away, but she kept saying "don't leave yet, come back!" I didn't realize that they were allowing more time than usual. When I watched a few other people I realized I cut myself short.



All the Minyo Girls are extremely gracious when you pick them for chekis, but Yutori is one of the most personable of all the members, even more so than the members I usually go to. But like with Ramu, I have a limited budget I allow myself for this group, and I am not going to oshihen off of Miyabi or Yuua, so Ramu and Yutori will continue to be my backup girls. I immediately re-queued, and was sure to pick Ramu this time. Unfortunately for me the two guys in front of me also picked her, so I would have to wait a little bit. When it was my turn, like with Yutori, I decided to use the CDs as a prop, and just before the shot Ramu put her head on my shoulder. Ehhh?????



Ya know, Miyabi has acted similarly with me in the past as well, once leaning her head close to my shoulder, and a couple of times "connecting" our peace signs. Ultimately it's cute, but a little dangerous considering how young they are. In any case, I told Ramu that I positioned myself so I could watch and listen to her shamisen, and I told her that her playing is getting really good. In true "Ramu fashion," she just smiled, and repeatedly thanked me in her little sing-song way. I mean she doesn't have personality like Yutori, or Miyabi have, but there is just something unique about the way she acts with fans. It's like she is so stiff and robotic that it becomes endearing.


The full-set

Anyway, I bailed for dinner right after my chekis. I needed to get home to start my essay anyway. I am debating which of their next events I want to attend. They have a mini-live in Tachikawa tomorrow, and another in Saitama next week. I am leaning toward Saitama since it's a little closer to where I live, but I will wait for them to announce who is appearing.

And I will report on their one-man live from last week in the next couple of days.

 

Minyo Girls "Best 10 Live" Vol. 2 at Hamamatsucho Bunka Hall (2018/11/24)

Yeah, I know I wrote these last two posts in opposite chronological order. I was merely trying to get the easier report out of the way first. For this one I had a lot more photos to sort through...



Like last year, all of the NagaraPro kouhai groups, including Wasamin, performed at Hamamatsucho Bunka Hall over the Labor Thanksgiving holiday weekend. And like last year, Mingaru chose the occasion to perform a countdown of their fans' favorite songs. Last year's show was a lot of fun, and they have added quite a few new songs to their repertoire for fans' consideration. I knew I wanted to attend this show, as it was on the same day as Wasamin's solo concert at the same venue, so I picked up a ticket for it over the Summer.

The morning of the show they announced that for Wasamin's evening concert there would be a limited number of "on the day" tickets available. I had a friend who really wanted to go, so I headed out extra early in order to hopefully score a ticket for him. However, while I was on my way he informed me that he had made other plans and couldn't go after all. With the extra time I camped out at the local Dotour for some coffee and a danish before it was time to queue. Interestingly, they did not have assigned seating, despite the seats being numbered. Instead you had an entry priority number, and from there it was first come, first served. I had ticket #26, and when I entered I was able grab a 2nd row center seat. I could have grabbed a first row seat on one of the far ends, but I thought this was a better spot. Once I reserved my seat I went back outside to check out the goods. They had three new items; a new penlight, a clear file, and a rubber bracelet. Frankly, I'm never going to wear that bracelet, and I already have a huge stack of clear files. However, I did pick up the penlight, as well as a ticket to their January one-man live. This would get me three tickets to use during the benefits time.


New penlight on the left, old version on the right

Once back in my seat it was a short time before the girls did their kage-ana and the show started. In true Mingaru fashion, their kage-ana was disorganized and full of giggling. I could see the members behind the small partition getting ready to take the stage, then the lights dimmed. Here is the "countdown" setlist, along with what release they are from...

Setlist
10. Kokiriko Bushi (2nd single c/w)
09. Takeda no Komori Uta (Minyo Girls I)
08. Zashikiwarashi (Minyo Girls III)
07. Touryanse (Minyo Girls IV)
06. Shiki Ori Ori Origami Uta (Minyo Girls IV)
05. Mirai (2nd single)
04. Let's Go Takarajima! (Minyo Girls II)
03. Sakura☆Kishi (Minyo Girls III)
02. Emotion (1st single c/w)
01. Kirari☆Yume Ondo (1st single)


Congratulatory flowers for all of the NagaraPro artists

No real big surprises there, although Aizu Bandai, their first MV song, dropped off the list. I was also slightly disappointed Akita Ondo didn't make it since it is probably my favorite of their more recent songs. On the other hand, I was happy to see Shiki Ori Ori Origami also made the list, at it has such a cute MV, and was really a turning point in the Mingaru style.

As usual with Minyo Girls, there were a lot of family in the audience. I said hello to Yuua's mom before the show while she was busy with a slew of little kids. Izumi's mom always says hello to me, even though I never take chekis with her daughter. She was with a bunch of other mom's, including a cute young one who only started showing up recently. Could that be Ramukyun's mom? I didn't see Miyabi's mom until the end of the show, but I waved to her and told her I picked Miyabi for a 2-shot.

As for the performance, it was pretty much what one would expect from a Mingaru live. They are efficient singers, and choreograph their dancing quite nicely. Miyabi and Yuua function as co-centers, although Matsuri, Rio, and Rinacchi (and sometimes Kako) do occasionally jump to the front and take the lead. I always forget to bring all the props needed for the show, although I did have their oshi towel to wave, as well as my penlight. I forgot to bring my folding fan, which the fans are supposed to wave in the Origami song. Instead I waved my penlight. Of course they had a photo-op portion of the show, for which I was in a great spot to get a bunch of closeups and personal reactions...

Picspam Time!!!


Miyabi


Yuua


Ramu (per usual, I took tons of Ramukyun pics)


(l-r) Matsuri, Rio, Rina, Kako, Minori, Ryo, Yutori, and Izumi (who I unfortunately didn't get a closeup shot of


At the end of the show they formally announced the three upcoming one-man lives at Shinjuku Marz, after which they posted the setlist. I quickly took a pic of the screen, since last year I had to comb the internet after the show to find the setlist. After that we headed back downstairs to the lobby for the cheki/handshake event.



I had three tickets, and was trying to decide whether I would use them all for individual member chekis, or for a group shamekai (which costs two tickets) I have been having a litle trouble with my phone lately, and the camera seems to have a focus issue. nevertheless, I decided on a group shot since the entire team was there...



Blurry!!! The guy taking the pics actually tried it three times, but it just wouldn't focus. Part of the issue was the lighting, as you can see from the pics I took in the show I can get good photos. I just don't know why it seems so sensitive to the light, or lack thereof. But no matter, I have lots of group shots with Minyo Girls' already. For the individual chekis, they had a slightly different format from usual. There were three lanes, and each one had one member. When that member's line became empty, they replaced her with another member. They seemed to start with the least popular girls, which was kind of a bummer to watch, as some of them only had a few people go up to them. While we were waiting the girls were hawking the new goods. "Raise your hand if you bought the clear file! Raise your hand if you bought the penlight..." I was waiting for Miyabi, who ended up being second to last to be called to a lane. (Ryo, the newest member, was last) I immediately jumped into her queue and quickly got my cheki. I told Miyabi that I loved the show, and she thanked me for coming. It was a quick interaction since they usually give you more talk time if you spend the extra ticket for the cheki to be signed, which I didn't.



After that I took off. I had two hours to kill before I had to be back for the Wasamin live. I would spend those two hours at a local bar "loosening up" for Wasamin.



Aside from Misaki-chan and AKB, Minyo Girls are really the only group I am following on a regular basis, despite the fact that I took a couple months off from seeing them. I love their music, and I love their style. I just hope their popularity continues to grow as I think they are a very special and unique Enka/Idol unit. I skipped their Mini-Live events this weekend, mainly because none of my favorite members were present, but depending on who is there, I am tentatively planning on seeing them in Saitama next weekend.

 

Minyo Girls 2nd Single Mini-Live at Wakaba Walk, Saitama Prefecture (2018/12/08)



I've had a quiet week. I mainly spent it cleaning the house, catching up on rest, and studying for my last finals which are coming up next week. Checking the schedules of my favorite idols, I noticed Mingaru were performing in Saitama this weekend. I like going to events in Saitama as they are relatively easy for me to get to. I also noticed that both Yuua and Miyabi were slated to perform. I hadn't seen them since their 1-man live in Hamamatsucho, so I was motivated to see the performance. It was free after all. With that in mind, I headed out Saturday morning for my little adventure...

To get to Wakaba, where they were appearing, you have to take the Tobu-Tojo Line. Normally for me that means I have to head down to Ikebukuro to catch that train, and then head back up. However, I realized that the Tobu-Tojo Line goes somewhat close to where I live. So why I am I going all the way down to Central Tokyo? I had a choice; I could walk 6 minutes to the bus that takes me to Tokiwadai to catch the train, or I could just walk for 20-25 minutes. It was early, so I decided the exercise would be good. I'm glad I did it too, since I discovered a really nice Supermarket about 10-12 minutes from my house that I didn't know existed. It is one of the many things my local neighborhood lacks, so I'm glad I found it. Anyway, I made it to the train and was on my way...

I had been to Wakaba Walk once before for a Wasamin mini-live. It's a cute little outdoor mall directly connected to the station. The stage is in the center square, just below the food court and next to the Supermarket. Since I got there somewhat early I decided to have lunch (Indian Curry) before the show. After that I headed down and purchased a ticket for Minyo Girls' Christmas 1-man live, which afforded me a ticket for a signed cheki. The five members who were present (Miyabi, Yuua, Rina, Izumi, Ryo) were roaming the mall and handing out flyers for their performance. I positioned myself in the standing area not far from where the girls were, but this time none of them came up to me. As it got close to 1pm, the girls went backstage before returning to for a warmup song. There was an issue with some of the mics which they never seemed to iron out Some of the girls' mics were too hot while others were too low. I also noticed Yuua's mic was cracking throughout the performance. I have seen this issue happen a lot at these mini-lives. I'm not sure if it is a problem with the venues, or with NagaraPro (Wasamin sometimes has speaker issues) but they need to iron it out since I think it is detrimental to the impression they make on people seeing them for the first time.



There were two performances, at 1pm and 3pm. For both setlists they did six songs, mainly selections from their new single, as well as songs from their first single. They had a cute MC is the first set where they said what they wanted Santa-san to bring them for Christmas. I didn't catch all of what they said, but I did get that Miyabi wants a guitar since she is learning to play, and Rinacchi mentioned wanting Nike athletic equipment. In the second show I think they were talking about their favorite anime. I know both Miyabi and Ryo mentioned Doraemon. The musical highlights for me were Kokiriku Bushi, which they performed in the first set, the in the second set Akita Ondo. Oh, and I am beginning to love Secret Game, which is another one of the c/w tracks to the new single. Both sets went on for over 30 minutes, which was quite nice for a mini-live. On the other hand, the weather is just starting to turn very cold. In fact, Miyabi's mom, who was standing next to me during the first set, kept complaining about how cold it was. Frankly, I agreed with her, and by the second set I was really looking forward to getting inside somewhere where it was warmer.


I owed Izumi a solo pic since I missed her in my last post

As for benefits, like I said the concert ticket I purchased afforded me the signed cheki, which I used on Miyabi. However, I also wanted to take a cheki with Yuua. So I would need to make another purchase. But first, Miyabi...



Ryo was running the line, and asked who I wanted to see. She also offered to stamp my card, but I already had that done. Her manager took the cheki, but I neglected to give her the second ticket for the signing since I thought they did that separately at the end. So when Miyabi handed me the photo I told her I wanted to have it signed, so she called her manager back over so I could "pay" for that. So Miyabi began signing my photo, and I mentioned to her that my birthday is coming up. I asked her how old she thought I was, and bless her heart, she answered "20 or 21." It was about this time that she noticed that the photo didn't develop, so she called the manager back over once again so she could re-take the photo. Miyabi mentioned she hadn't seen me in a while (It had been two weeks actually) so I mentioned that I went to the Ikebukuro mini-live that she didn't perform at. She then confirmed that I had tickets to their upcoming 1-man live events, I told her I had tickets for December and January, and would purchase one for February later this month. In any case, it was an extra-long photo session with Miyabi. I'm glad she was talkative. At the end she asked if I was staying for the second show, which I was.


Miyabi solo shot

In the meantime I decided to just get all my cheki's out of the way in the first session while it was lighter out. (I seem to get a lot of "dark" chekis from the Mingaru) So I went to the table and grabbed one of their new CDs, which afforded me a non-signed cheki. I immediately went to Yuua, who I had promised I would come to visit a few minutes earlier.



Normally when it isn't a signed cheki the session is a bit shorter, but Yuua was also in a talkative mood. Also, Miyabi actually snapped the pic, and the three of us were talking for a few seconds. I was telling her I like coming to Saitama (her home prefecture) since I live nearby and it is easy to get to. She also asked if I planned on coming to the 1-man live. I mentioned that I thought I was going to America, but it looks like I am probably sticking around, so I would be there.


Miyabi front and center!

I took both chekis between the first and second set. When the second set ended, I bid farewell to Miyabi's parents and quickly took off for the train station. As I mentioned, I don't have too much planned this month idol-wise, although I now have that Minyo Girls ticket for the 23rd. Also, Wasamin has a mini-live in Saitama on Christmas Eve day, so that should be fun. We'll see what else I can shake out during my six weeks off.

 

Minyo Girls One-Man Live at Shinjuku Marz ~Fiery Performance, Chapter 5~ (2018/12/23)



After missing Chapters 3 and 4 of Mingaru's monthly one-man live in Shinjuku, there was a possibility I would be missing this performance as well. However, I was able to pick up a ticket at their Hamamatsucho show last month after confirming I would be in Tokyo over the Christmas holiday. Aside from Wasamin, Mingaru is the only idol group I have been seeing lately on any sort of consistent basis, Not to mention that you get two member 2-shot chekis, or one group shot shamekai for buying a ticket. So that's been my system, I purchase a ticket for a future show as a means of getting benefits. Since they didn't have any new goods this month, it spared me buying CDs and goods I already have. After a leisurely morning, I headed over to Shinjuku and made it to the venue shortly before doors opened.

I had a relatively high-numbered ticket, so I figured I would be somewhere further back for this show. However, when I entered the venue I noticed my usual spot wide open, so I grabbed a standing position right of center, right behind the people standing against the stage. I remembered to bring my Minyo Happi, as well as my penlight and sensu. However, I forgot to bring my Santa hat as I had planned since this was going to be a Christmas themed stage.



I was a bit perturbed with one of the other fans. As I was standing there waiting for the show to begin, he slid in front of me and stood practically in my lap. At first he was acting as if he was just there momentarily to talk to the guy in front of me, but after a while he put his bag down like he was going to stay there. I started staring daggers at him until his friend (who knows me from Wasamin shows) noticed and told him to move. He ended up moving into someone else's spot, who also got annoyed. Eventually he moved to a different spot entirely.


Miyabi and Kako (w/ Ramu)



Rina and Ramu

As you can probably figure, much of the setlist was Christmas themed, although the opened and closed the live with their own songs. Love♡Metal, a c/w from their latest single, was the opening song, and sounded even better than the recorded track. Their medley of Christmas songs was quite cute. It included the Japanese versions of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jingle Bells, and a couple of songs I don't remember. I think one of the songs was Suteki na Holiday, which is probably the most famous Japanese Christmas song, originally recorded by Takeuchi Mariya in 2000. If you aren't familiar, it's the theme song for KFC Christmas...


if the video does not show watch the video here

And in keeping with tradition, the entire group performed Momoiro Clover's Santa-san, which I actually have a CD copy of (It was sold in very limited quantity) They did do a giveaway, as they sometimes offer. Eleven lucky winners were drawn to get a special Christmas Card from one of the members. I am yet to win that lottery in all the shows I have been to, and I have to figure my odds are going to catch up to me as there are usually 8-10 winners per show, and there are only around 100-150 people in the audience.



That pretty much led into the encore, where they performed their two singles and their usual ending song, Ureshi Namida. There was also an announcement VTR at the end of the show. The big news of the day was that Minyo Girls will be making their second overseas appearance, this time at a Japanese festival in Cambodia. Earlier this year they had their first international appearance in South Korea, and they recorded a travelogue video for it...


if the video does not show watch the video here

The show ended, and they cleared the area for 2-shots and whatnot. The queue was fairly big, but I bought a ticket for the February one-man live, which got me two handshake/photo tickets. The girl behind the counter accidentally gave me a March ticket, so I exchanged it. I'll pick up a ticket for the March Live at the next show. I wasn't sure who I wanted to take a cheki with, so instead I decided to make things easy and just take a group shot....



This time I was next to Ramu-kyun, Yatta! BTW, I was worried about my camera being blurry so I tested it out beforehand. They had the stage lights on, so that allowed my phone camera to focus a lot better. But I still have issues when I try to take indoor photos in unlit conditions. Again, you can see the pics I took during the show came out just fine. Anyway, I thanked the girls, and got a big smile from Ramu, and I was outta there. I was really in the mood for sushi, so I hoofed it over to a kaitenzushi I like on the South side of Shinjuku station. This was also when I picked up a Christmas present for Wasamin. I usually give her products from LUSH, but I didn't want to give the same thing to her again, and there is a cute store near the station called Soaptopia that I have always wanted to buy something from. To make a long story short, Wasamin was very happy with the gift.


Ramu-kyun (w/ Miyabi & Kako)

As for Minyo Girls, I am pretty much locked into their next 2-3 one-man live shows. They have quite a few in-store events coming up as well, so if I have the time, and the members I like are attending, I will likely go to see a couple of those as well. The group is really beginning to cultivate a loyal following, which doesn't surprise me since I think they are really good!

And one more thing...


Miyabi (w/ Yutori)

Miyabi was on that TV Karaoke battle last week, and made it all the way to the last round, ultimately finishing in 3rd place. But she did really well, so congratulations Miyabi! As I mentioned to my friend, THAT is why she is center of this group, because her singing is on point!

 

Thanks for the report as always, but special thanks for the travelogue. I like it when I can see performers as "just plain" people.

 

Minyo Girls 2nd Single Mini-Live at HMV & Books, Shibuya (2019/01/04)



I mentioned n my last Mingaru event report that they had a slew of mini-lives coming up and that I hoped to attend some of them. In the meantime I have been battling a cold ever since Christmas. The cold medicine I have been talking has done a great job keeping it at bay, but last Wednesday it really knocked me out, enough that I completely forgot about Minyo Girls' even at HMV Esola in Ikebukuro. However, I was heading to Akihabara on Friday night for the AKB kenkyuusei show, so I decided to medicate myself and spend the afternoon in Shibuya for lunch and Minyo Girls' second set at HMV. After all, Yuua would be there, as well as Ramukyun. Two of my 3-top.

I actually got to Shibuya in time to see their first event, but decided to have lunch first. Unfortunately for me Shibuya was packed, and it was tough finding somewhere to have lunch. I ended up back at HMV 30 minutes before the show. Initially I ended up on the wrong floor and ended up in the middle of a boy band event on the 7th floor. Eventually I found my event downstairs. I picked up two CDs, and grabbed a spot in the back of the staging area. I ended up hanging out with the moms for the show. A couple of the fans asked me why I wasn't at the Wasamin event at Sky Tree, but it wasn't like a normal Wasamin event, there was limited space, and most of the people going were there to sing karaoke, which I wasn't interested in doing.


Ryo, Yuua, and Rina

As usual for their in-store or mall lives, half the group was there. For this show we got Yuua, Ramu, Rina, Minori, and Ryo. Interestingly, a bunch of the fans of the boy band came down to watch, it was a nice sized crowd. Unfortunately, the shop had them turn the volume really low. Much lower than the Boy Band event upstairs. I think part of the reason was because there was some sort of fitness supplement promotion also going on right next to the stage. As a result the show sounded quite muted. Also, Yuua had some sort of 'emergency' where she had to leave the stage for a few minutes, and the other four had to cover her with a long MC. Luckily, Minori and Rina are good talkers, so they kept things moving. Among the songs they performed were her two singles and Akita Ondo, which I have mentioned is one of my favorites of their songs.

I was trying to decide whether to do two chekis with Yuua and Ramu, a signed cheki with Yuua, or what I ultimately decided, a group shamekai. Usually when you do a group shot, you go on stage, pose, and then briefly greet the members before you leave. However, one guy in front of me really took his time, greeted all the members before the shot, and then practically did a full handshake with all five members after the shot. The managers were trying to get the guy to move along, but you could tell they weren't used to dealing with fans overstaying their turn. So when it came my turn, I knelt down, and asked Rina to choose a pose for me. She decided on the double-peace pose...



So this time I took a little longer to shake each members hands and greet them. Not nearly as long as the guy before, but I wasn't going to rush off stage after they gave the previous fan so much time.


Yuua, Rina, and Ramu

My next Minyo Girls event will likely be their one-man live in Shinjuku on the 27th. Since they aren't promoting a single at the moment, they probably won't have too many free lives in the near future. But you never know, they pop up in odd places. But my vacation has eight days left, so I will be much busier in the coming weeks.

 

Minyo Girls One-Man Live at Shinjuku Marz ~Fiery Performance, Chapter 7~ (2019/2/24)



It seemed like it had been quite a while since I had seen a Mingaru show. In fact, the last time was just after the first of the year in Shibuya, and before that the Christmas ~fiery performance~. I had a ticket for their January one-man live, but ended up skipping it to see Wasamin. So I was looking forward to the show, except...

When I checked the lineup a couple days ago, I noticed that my "2-top," Miyabi and Yuua, would both be absent for the performance. Oh no! What would I do without my two favorite girls....oh wait!


Ramu!

This would be the PERFECT opportunity to spend a little time with my Mingaru "secret oshi" Ramu-kyun. Ya know, the more I pay attention to Ramu, the more interesting she is. For starters, she has that slow, sing-song speaking voice, which everyone finds adorable. It's almost like she doesn't know how to speak. Except if you check out her personal twitter, she constantly makes some of the most verbose and silly posts an idol can make. Sometimes it's hard to believe it's the same girl. Moreover, this past week she seems to have discovered the TikTok application, which has brought her goofy antics to another level. Oh Ramu-kyun, I look forward to having fun with you this weekend!



I headed out to Shinjuku early enough, and arrived at the club with plenty of time to spare. Our first treat was a Valentine's Day special Kit Kat, with the members on the packaging. (Wasamin had a special Kit Kat just like this a couple years ago) Rinacchi was at the door handing them out to us as we entered the venue. Shinkuku MARZ is pretty much all standing area (with the exception of a small seating area for the members' families) and is first-come first-served. Per usual, I scouted out a spot on the right side, opposite where Ramu-kyun usually stands. I was one back from the stage, with two relatively short guys in front of me. In what seems to be a tradition, random people will come over and try to squeeze into the cracks up front to be closer to the stage. In fact, one guy tried to take the spot reserved by one of my Wasa-buddies, but when he came back from the goods table he pushed the guy back, LOL. I was pretty thirsty, so I decided to head to the bar for my prepaid beverage, and when I returned nobody had tried to take my spot. Good! It was time for the show to start.



Instead of their usual "one member at a time" entrance to the stage, they all came onstage together. They were wearing their outfits from the recent single, and performed three songs from the release, in including Mirai and Love♡Metal, which to me sounds like a song one would find on a Babymetal CD. Seriously, and it's a really cool song too!

After a quick MC where the members introduced themselves, they quickly ran offstage as we watched a short VTR. The video summarized the dates of their upcoming live shows, and contained video greetings of the three members who were absent. A couple of the performing members had hinted on social media that they would be wearing school uniforms as the theme of the show, which was Valentine's Day. Sure enough, they returned to the stage in what seemed like the same outfits from their 2nd indie MV, opening up with Koisuru Fortune Cookie before splitting into smaller units...

Rina and Matsuri: Chocolate Disco (Perfume)
Kako and Izumi: (I didn't know the song, sounded like some sort of anime theme)
Minori: Love Love Love (Dreams Come True)
Ramu, Ryo, Yutori: Valentine Kiss (Kokusho Sayuri, WH7)

Chocolate Disco sounded about as good as you could expect a techno song to sound being sung by two young girls with no voice affects. Although Rinacchi is a good singer, so she sounded alright. I didn't know the song Kako and Izumi performed, but it was definitely out of Kako's range, which made for a few cringe-worthy moments. Minori singing solo was a surprise, and she wasn't bad at all. The three cutest members doing a cute song at the end was all sorts of win. The rest of the group participated in the final chorus.


(l-r; Izumi, Minori, Rinacchi, Yutori)

The monthly prize giveaway was a signed program from the event in Cambodia the girls performed at earlier this week, along with another box of chocolates, and of course I didn't win. No matter, IMO it wasn't one of their most memorable prize giveaways. They performed three more songs before leaving the stage for an encore. Oh, and I noticed during the final set that Ramu had busted all of the strings on her shamisen during the last three songs, but kept on pretending to play as if nothing was wrong. When she came back out for the encore the strings had been repaired.


Ramu!

Well, the highlight (or lo-light) of the encore was the graduation announcements of Kako and Izumi. Both of them stated that they wished to focus more on their high school studies, and that balancing being an idol and a good student had been a challenge. Their final show will be the next one-man live at the end of March. It didn't seem like the announcement was a big surprise, to the members or the audience. That said, Ramu-kyun was crying her eyes out through the entire speech. Minori made a speech afterwards in tribute to the pending grads, and that seemed to affect all the members. The show ended with the girls doing a tearful medley of Ureshii Namida and Mirai.


(l-r; Minori, Rinacchi, Yutori)

I hadn't yet purchased anything from the goods table since the line was really long before the show, so I immediately queued up. My plan was to purchase two tickets for the March one-man live (for me and a friend) which would give me four tickets to play with. I knew I wanted to take a cheki with Ramu-kyun, the rest I would play by ear. I decided not to do a group shot since Yuua and Miyabi weren't there. When the queues opened for the individual members I went to Ramu's line first. Only they weren't offering chekis, just shamekai. Well, okay...



Posing with the Kit Kat. They don't give you too much time to talk during 2-shots. Well, that depends on which staff is taking the photo. Some are a lot more lenient than others, so I didn't get much time to talk to Ramu. There are a few things I really want to talk to her about too! Up next, I queued for Yutori and another shamekai...



Yutori always seems so thankful when people come to take photos with her, especially if they aren't her regulars. She used to be the center girl for this group way back in the beginning, then sorta took a backseat when Miyabi and Yuua emerged as co-centers. But she's a really sweet kid. And it's amazing to think that once Kako and Izumi graduate next month, tiny Yutori will become the oldest member of the group. Sheesh, she still looks like the youngest!

So I waited around for the cheki portion of the event to start. In the meantime I watched the two guys who at every event do a huge photography production with a bunch of members. They bring lighting, reflectors, the whole shebang. Frankly, I think they are taking advantage a bit since they ultimately spend a ton of time with each member just "setting up," but they do seem to spend a lot of money at each event. And now that the girls are keeping track of how many photos and signings they individually sell, I am sure they are happy to get the business.

After that they started the "item signing" portion of the event. Huh? When are they doing chekis? I asked one of the managers, "you aren't doing 2-shot chekis anymore?" She kept repeating that I could buy 1-shot chekis and have those signed. But I wasn't interested in that, since the 1-shot chekis are random, and the one time I bought them I got a bunch of members I wasn't a fan of. So I confirmed that I could save my remaining tickets for future events, and took off for lunch. Taiyou no Tomato-men.



As for the graduation announcements, Kako didn't surprise me. For one, she is the oldest member by far. Plus, she commutes in from Nara Prefecture. She is also one of the least popular members, so...there ya go. Izumi is a bit more of a surprise, especially since she was recently named Captain of the group. But again, she is also an older member, and not among the most popular. So I guess that means Yuua will be promoted to Captain, and if they name another co-Captain, maybe Minori? Rinacchi? We'll see.



I'm also wondering when they might announce a new single. They are about due.

 

Minyo Girls One-Man Live at Shinjuku Marz ~Fiery Performance, Chapter 8~ (2019/3/30)
Izumi's Graduation!



It was time again for the Mingaru monthly solo live show. Originally this was supposed to be a double-graduation for Izumi and Kako. But then they announced Kako would instead be graduating at the group's April 1-man live in Yotsuya. Izumi is the first of the non-1st gen members to leave the group, and with Kako's graduation coming next month, half the original members will have left, leaving Matsuri, Miyabi, Yuua, Rio, and Yutori as the last of the 1st gen. Oh, and little Yutori becomes the group's oldest member, that blows my mind!

March had been a bit of a quiet month for me idol-wise. I knew this was going to be a tough semester, given the part-time job I am doing, a super-difficult Japanese class, and the seminar-class for my Major, my plate has been really full. I have been pretty much limited to one, maybe two events on the weekends only. Given I hadn't seen the Mingaru in over a month, and hadn't seen Miyabi or Yuua in at least two months, I was really looking forward to the show. Not to mention, I was bringing a friend with from overseas, so I was excited about that too.


Yuua and Miyabi

I made it to Shinjuku Marz a bit early for a change, although I didn't have a high-priority ticket. I wasn't too worried since you can get a decent spot even if you arrive late. Sure enough, there was plenty of room really close to the stage. However, my friend wasn't up for being so close since he was a bit overwhelmed the time we went to see FESTIVE together at the cramped Twin Box Akihabara and the entire audience went nuts for the group. I was fine with hanging in the back for a change, even if it meant I would miss out on doing one of my favorite things, playing with Ramukyun during the show. We decided to skip the early queue for goods since the line was really long, mainly people stocking up on the 500 yen 1-shot chekis.

BTW, the members were tweeting in the morning that they wanted everyone to wear pink for the show in honor of Izumi. However, I have no pink clothing with me in Japan. At least I have pink penlights though. The show started a couple minutes late. They entered with their traditional theme music. However, for the second straight solo live they neglected to enter individually, instead just walking out as a group. And of course they were all wearing pink.


l-r Yuua, Matsuri, Minori

The first half of the show pretty much consisted of songs from their two major singles, including Gunjou Homerun, Kirari☆Yume Ondo, and one of my faves, Secret Game. They sang one of their earlier songs, but lately they haven't been performing them as much, sticking to the stuff on their two major singles. Oh, and at one point Ramukyun had some sort of emergency and ran off the stage. It prompted the members to wonder where the heck she went in the first MC. Did she go to the toilet? Was her shamisen broken again? They went through their entire MC introductions before Ramu came bouncing back onstage to do her opening appeal. And by the way, I had prepared my friend for Ramukyun's MC antics, which have always been so awkward and cute. But to my surprise she was extremely talkative, and speaking at a normal speed. I mean she still has that "baby girl" voice going in spades, but she seemed a lot more comfortable, and much less awkward.

The also did their usual "fan photo" time early in the show. I was positioned further back than usual, bud I did my best to get decent solo shots of my favorite members, and also Izumi since it was her special day.


Izumi

The middle part of the show focused on Izumi's graduation. BTW, Izumi looked absolutely radiant...just beaming the entire time. I'm not sure what circumstances are behind her leaving aside from the official line of "focusing on High School studies," but she had the air of someone who is "ready" to graduate. Anyway, they did three graduation-style songs, first the younger members formed a unit, then the older members, and finally Izumi led the third song. Unfortunately she is not among the group's best singers, but she did her best. During the instrumental portion of the third song each member came over and whispered something in her ear.



I forgot to mention, and this happens at every show, but there are two moments during their lives where the fans are asked to kneel, or sit on the floor. One is for the group photo, the other is for the VTR. Now I am not a young guy anymore, and my body does not flex like it used to, so kneeling or sitting down on that hard pavement is quite an uncomfortable endeavor for me. I usually try to position myself over to the side so I can instead lean against the wall. Only this time a guy who came late kinda nudged me further in. I was a bit annoyed at him at first, until I realized he was the head of the graduation committee, so I felt kinda bad for re-positioning myself in front of him. Suffice it to say they are two moments I dread at their shows. The photoshoot isn't so bad since it is quick, and I usually crouch down like a baseball catcher. But the VTR, which in this case was a retrospective of Izumi's time with the group and a message from Kako, who wasn't at the show, was excruciatingly hard on my knees.

The encore call was dedicated to Izumi, and included a long support message read by the guy next to me. We were all given pink disposable glowsticks to use for the encore, although like I said I was already using my multi-colored Minyo Girls lightstick for the same purpose. The final two songs were Mirai, and Ureshii Namida, and included a proper graduation sendoff from the members, and a man wearing a mask (all the adults wear masks when they come on stage during their shows) who presented her with a graduation certificate. At first I thought it was her dad, but I think it may have been someone from their agency. (He looked a bit old to be her father) Whoever he was, he sparked the biggest emotional moment both for Izumi and the other members.

And that was the show. My friend and I immediately went over to the sales booth since we wanted to get buppan tickets. I knew I wanted three more, (I had two already) and my friend wanted three as well. The line extended upstairs into the bar, and was moving quite slowly. While we were waiting I noticed all the mom's standing nearby and talking. I have always tried to figure out which mom belongs with which member. I mean I know Yuua, Miyabi, and Izumi's mothers since I have talked to them, and I had met (graduated member) Fuka's mom too. Just them, one of the mothers turned and looked at me. There was no more guessing with this one, she looked EXACTLY like Matsuri. What I really want to know is which one is Ramukyun's mom.


Ramu

So at this point I was worried were were going to miss out on group shots. When it was finally my turn I purchased a ticket to Kako's graduation live, and I since it looked like they only had one more XL T-shirt left, I got that too. There were my three tickets. As I left the booth they started doing last call for group shots. Oh shit, we better hurry....

I made it on time, although my friend was still at the booth. Staff called, anyone else for group shots, I called out "Yes, me!" But then the other staff told the girls group shots were over. WTF? The girls spread out to do the next thing. I'm like "Wait a second!!!" The staff member who sometimes does Wasamin events told me to hold on, and then the other guy asked "Oh, you wanted a group shot?" Yes, and I was explaining to him that my friend, who was still at the booth, also wanted one. For some reason he was taking an extremely long time. I was going to help him, since their buppan system is totally complicated, and different types of items cannot be combined for tickets. They eventually regrouped the members and I got my group shot, and by this time my friend had come over, so he got his as well...



Next up were 2-shot shamekai. The way this works; they have three lanes, each with one member. The members continue until their line empties. They then do a "last call" for that girl, and replace them with another member. I had planned on taking three 2-shots, although none of the members I wanted to take one with was among the first three. Eventually Miyabi came out as the first replacement. I tried to find the end of her line, but it was such a clusterf**k that I merely milled around with my phone and a ticket in my hand until the staff called me over...



Miyabi remarked that it had been a little while since we had spoken. I told her that she was one of the members the friend I brought wanted to see, and we enjoyed her performance on The Karaoke Battle a couple months ago. She thanked me for the compliment and I was on my way. Unfortunately due to the price of the tickets my friend ultimately chose to skip a 2-shot with her and only meet with his favorite member, Rio. In the meantime, Yuua came out in the lane next to Miyabi. Her queue was very short, so it was only a minute or two until it was my turn...



Yuua is always genki, although I don't really have quite the connection with her that I have with Miyabi. In fact, I think I have more of a connection with Yuua's mother, LOL. But I told her that I was happy to see her again, and that she performed very well. Meanwhile, my friend was still waiting for Rio to come out. Instead, the member I had earmarked for my third ticket entered the lane next to Yuua. It should be no surprise who I was going to see.



Oh Ramukyun, you are so adorable! And I am so happy she seems like she is getting a lot more comfortable talking to fans. Although she is still the Mingaru version of former AKB48 member Komori Mika. Once again, I forgot to talk to her about AKB since she is a huge 48-group fan. Instead I told her that I had watched all of her Tik-Tok videos on Twiitter, and loved her latest "Dame dayo" video. I also mentioned that she did really good MCs during the show. Per usual, she had a huge smile and a thrilled look on her face.

I was done, and went up to get my prepaid beverage while my friend met with Rio. He spent a lot more time with her than is usually allowed, but the staff just kinda let him be until Rio kinda ended it for him. Still, it seemed like they had a really cool first-time connection.


l-r Yutori, Rio, Minori

After the show, my friend and I decided to head over to Ueno Park to check out Hanami. It was super-crowded, but we still grabbed some festival grub and took photos of the sakura. Later that evening I tweeted some of the pics I took during the show. What's interesting is my tweets about Ramukyun get so many likes and retweets, more than any other member. I mean all of my Minyo tweets usually get a lot of likes, but Ramu just seems super-popular right now.

So next month the Minyo Girls one-man live will be at a new venue, Yotsuya Lotus. As for my next events, this Saturday will be SKE48's last Kanto handshake event for their latest single, and my final handshake tickets with Matsumura Kaori. Then on Sunday I will be at a Wasamin mini-live in Saitama. Not the best time for me to have a loaded weekend since I have a couple papers due early next week, but I will manage to make everything work out.

 

Minyo Girls One-Man Live at Yotsuya Lotus ~Fiery Performance, Chapter 9~ (2019/4/28)
Kakotan's Graduation!


l-r: Matsuri, Yuua, Kako, Rio, Ramu

This has become my traditional monthly visit with the Mingaru, their 1-man live which for this month temporarily moved to a new location. They started their one-man live series at Asakusa Gold Sounds, which is a nice little venue. Then late last year they began holding them at Shinjuku Marz, which isn't bad. After all, it is probably the most conveniently located, but it can get a bit tight inside the venue when they start doing Buppan, like there is no place to stand where you aren't in the way of something. Not to mention, it is kind of a musty basement. Yotsuya Lotus is also a basement venue, (actually all three of them are) and by comparison of the other two is much smaller. This would cause some major headaches when it came to buppan, but I digress...

One nice aspect of this show was that I was again going to meet @David61 , who had notified me that he purchased a ticket as well. The station by the venue, Yotsuya Sanchome, was not convenient for me to get to, so I went to the next closest station, Akebonobashi, and walked for around 10 minutes. I was a little early, so I hung out in Cafe Velocce for a little while until it got closer to doors.

The staff at the venue were a little disorganized, they let the first 50 people into the venue stairwell to queue, and then made no effort to put us in proper order, instead just making sure we weren't blocking them from going up and down the stairs. I had ticket #46, so I just hung toward the end of the line. Once I got into the venue I saw how small the bar and sales table area was, so I went immediately into the stage area to camp out a spot. I figured David would probably prefer to be toward the back, so I grabbed us a spot on the rear right side. However, unlike Shinjuku Marz where there is a lot of standing space, Lotus was much smaller, meaning that the fans would be crowded all the way to the back wall. In fact, I was worried I would lose the spot I was saving for David, but he eventually came in. They had also cordoned off an area on the right for the members to stand in during the VTR portion of the show, making the standing area even smaller.


It was tough to get a pic of Kako's Grad bouquet

I chose not to wear my Happi, but I was wearing orange, which was the color they requested the fans wear since this was Kakotan's final show as a member. Plus I had plenty of lightsticks, including those provided by the graduation committee. I was also asked to sign the graduation book as well.

The Show


Minori

Just before curtain, I looked over by the door where most of the parents were standing, and I noticed Izumi, the member who graduated last month, standing among the moms. There were a few other teenage girls over there as well. At first I thought they where the other graduates, but I didn't recognize anyone in particular. Since the show was dedicated to Kakotan's graduation, it wasn't a surprise that they generally stuck to a more traditional set. In fact, they performed a lot of their old songs since Kako seems to do better with the minyo/enka style than she does with the pop stuff.


l-r: Miyabi, Yutori, Minori

I was really happy to hear them perform Aizu Bandai-san, which was their first single MV back before they were signed to a major label. They also performed Zashikiwarashi, Akita Ondo, and of course Ureshi Namida, some of their older classics. They did do some newer songs too, like their latest single.


l-r: Rinacchi, Miyabi, Yutori

As for the VTR, there were no special announcements, it was mainly a retrospective of Kakotan's time in the group. Since she is an original member, it's amazing to see how little she was when the group debuted. She's so tall now by comparison. In fact, all of the original members have grown so much since their early days as idols. They did have a graduation presentation during the live, and again the same guy who did the presentation for Izumi last month did it for Kako too. So I am guessing that he is from King Records. I mean he could be from Nagara Pro, but I have never seen him before at any of Wasamin's events. BTW, once again of all the members, Ramukyun cried the hardest during the graduation, which is interesting since she is one of the newest members. I guess she is just an emotional girl.


Rio and Ramukyun


Buppan

So this is the point where I concluded that this was an awful venue to hold this event. Once the show ended I immediately led David outside to the goods table, which remained in the bar because there was no room to bring it into the stage area like they normally do. We got our stuff quickly, and tried to get back into the main room, but nobody was allowed to go in unless they were in queue for whatever the benefit being offered was at the moment. The other problem was there was absolutely nowhere to stand outside either. It was basically a clusterf**k of people in a tight hallway, and getting in and out of the stage area through the narrow door was almost impossible.

In the meantime I did see Miyabi's parents, and introduced them to David since Miyabi was the member he seemed to like the best. Just then Yuua's mom, who speaks pretty good English, came over to say hello. I also showed them the article I wrote for the Japan Times, which features Minyo Girls. So they were pretty happy about that. I showed it to a couple of staff members as well later on. Now my plan was to just take a group shot with all the members, but I could never find the end of the line. Then the next thing I knew that portion of the event was over. I started to get really ticked off at this point, which seems to be a tradition at the Minyo Girls events. They are just so disorganized, it is really annoying...

A short time later we heard that they were starting individual member 2-shots, and Miyabi was among the first girls called. I wasn't going to allow both David and I to get screwed out of meeting with Miyabi due to the confusion, so we jammed into the main stage area, and found what seemed like the end of Miyabi's queue. I went first.



So yeah, I showed her the article, and I got the feeling that she was thinking "English newspaper I cannot read." LOL. But I also took a moment to introduce David, and point out it was his first Mingaru show and he liked her performance the best. While he was talking to Miyabi, I was trying to decide between meeting Yuua or Ramukyun, who had both entered the 2-shot lanes together. My original plan was to go with whoever came out first, but this made it tougher. But while Yuua had a bit of a line, there was no waiting for Ramu, so the choice was made...



I didn't bother showing her the newspaper, as I don't think I would've gotten the reaction I was fishing for. But it is always fun to meet with Ramukyun since she is so silly and cute. One of these days though I need to talk with her about AKB since I know she is a big 48-group fan. On the other hand afterward I felt badly about choosing her over Yuua, so I think I owe Yuua one next time I see them.

From there I couldn't wait to get out of the venue, so David and I immediately took off for the exit. David had a ticket to go see the Sasshi gradcon, and I was heading to Saitama to see Wasamin, which you can read about in this report. My next planned meeting wi the Mingaru will be May 26th back at Shinjuku Marz, but I won't rule out going to see them some random mini-live event, if a convenient one pops up.



As for Minyo Girls, Kakotan's graduation now means half the original members have left the group. They are now a 9-nin unit, and unbelievably, cute little Yutori is now the senior member. It will be interesting to see if any other changes occur within the group over the next year. And they are about due for another release pretty soon by my estimation.

 

@Cristafari posted an interview with Wasamin on Around Akiba in her thread. I watched it on YouTube, and when it finished, the suggested next video was this interview with the Minyo Girls from June, 2018. It was from the DMM VR THEATER in Yokohama, which I believe is the show that Cristafari reported on at the time (top of this page). [I don't see the video previously posted]


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Minyo Girls One-Man Live at Shinjuku Marz ~Fiery Performance, Chapter 10~ (2019/5/26)


Miyabi (with Minori, Yutori, and Ryo)

After temporarily moving their one-man live to the comparably tiny Yotsuya Lotus in April, Mingaru were back at their traditional location for their May event. I purchased a ticket at Yotsuya mainly to get the buppan tickets (Yes, purchasing a ticket to a future live earns you two tickets) forgetting that AKB48 also had a zenkoku event scheduled on the same day at Makuhari Messe. The good news was that this event only conflicted with the mini-live portion of the AKB event, so my plan was to go see Mingaru, then head off to Makuhari for AKB's handshake meeting.



In fact, I also considered skipping on the buppan for this show, which would have possibly allowed me to get to AKB's mini-live as well. I arrived at Shinjuku Marz a few minutes after doors opened. I had entry #42, and just as I got to the door staff called #41-50. Talk about perfect timing! Upon entering I was given my drink ticket, and the usual monthly photo which also contained a contest drawing ticket. Minyo Girls sometimes give away prizes during their show, but haven't been doing it as often lately. The queue for goods was not very long, and I noticed they had a new T-shirt on sale. As I mentioned before, I hadn't planned on purchasing anything for buppan, but I really wanted the T-shirt...



Apparently the design was drawn by Rio-chan. I like last year's shirt better, but this one is nice too. The shirt was 3000 yen, so I needed to make another 1000 yen goods purchase to get to 4000 yen and earn a second buppan ticket. The choice was either plastic bracelets, or random one-shot chekis. I chose the chekis, and hoped I would get members I liked...



Well whaddya know! Yuua and Ramukyun, both members I like meeting with. Since Minyo Girls don't really offer 2-shot chekis anymore, fans use these to get autographs during handshakes. So I will save them for a future event. I then picked up my prepaid drink and took a spot in the back of the venue. I was debating moving up a bit closer, and then three guys who are all tall decided to stand literally right in front of me. It was like they were forming a wall preventing me from being able to see. Well that settled it, I moved in front of them to the middle of the standing area. Actually, this was a much better view, especially for taking photos. I don't know what I was thinking standing so far back. Anyway, was just about show time...

The Show


Miyabi (with Yutori, Rio, and Ryo)

It turned out this was one of those shows where the members get to pick and perform any kind of song they like, so when they first came on stage they were dressed in either street clothes, or clothes themed out for their performance. The most noticeable of all of them though was Miyabi-chan, who came out dressed in full Hatsune Miku cosplay. I immediately thought "Well, that settles that. There is no way I am skipping out of here early and missing out on taking a 2-shot with "Hatsune Miyabi!" After a quick introduction, each ember came out one by one and did their solo performances...


l-r: Miyabi, Ryo, Yuua

Ryo-chan- What is Love? (Twice) Dance performance only. Ryo is a good dancer, so this was good.
Yutori- Waterloo (Abba) Yutori sang the entire song in English, so major props for the effort! (She occasionally tweets in English too)
Ramukyun - Kyuushamen (Nogizaka 46) Ramu is a known 48-group wotaku. Seems like she loves Nogi as well.
Rio (Ise Ondo Medley) and Yuua (???)- both sang traditional minyo-style songs, which plays to their strengths. The did an excellent job.
Miyabi- Ghost Rule (Hatsune Miku) Miyabi is quickly becoming a top level singing pro. She was excellent
Rinacchi- Kuroi Shizuku (Superfly) Not sure which song it was, but Rina did a great job. She's one of the top singers in this group.
Minori- Yumi Miru Shojo ja Irarenai (Aikawa Nanase) Minori used to mainly do Momoclo songs, but lately she has been branching out. Her singing has improved as well.



The set was quite long, so afterwards there was a series of giveaways and games, following the usual group photoshoot. (I am further back, so I little bit harder to see) The giveaway were two framed wide-shot chekis of the members, which I of course lost. Then came the batsu game. Their manager wheeled out a covered box. Oh yes, it was everyone's favorite "Guess what's in the box by touch" which freaks so many idols out...

Ryo-chan went first, and freaked the rest of the girls out when she said the contents were slimy and asked for a towel. However, most of the rest of the members were pretty darin and stuck their hands right in there, with the exception of Ramukyun, who in the spirit of Nishino Miki completely freaked out while putting her hand in, jumping backwards and nearly breaking the entire box. She knocked the side wall off, and nearly spoiled the game if it weren't for their quick-thinking manager who immediately tossed a towel over the exposed area so the girls couldn't see. Nevertheless, at least 3-4 of the members declared they knew exactly what the contents were, and when the groups made their guess both correctly answered that it was tapioca.


Ramukyun!

So since it was a tie, the game had to be decided by janken, with Ramukyun going against Yutori. Ramu's scissors beat Yutori's paper, so her team won the grand prize, giant lollipops, while the other team had to drink some foul-tasting concoction. Yutori was puckering her lips for at least the next five minutes. The girls sang one more song, which was camera shooting time, and then went to encore.

The encore VTR was mainly a video from Matsuri, who was not at the performance. The rest of the VTR was about next months live, and a special fan meeting being held some time next month. They finished with Mirai and Ureshii Namida. I checked my phone, it was after 1 p.m. I think this was the longest one-man live they have ever done! Buppan or not, there was no way I would make the AKB mini-live now. Oh well...

Buppan

I had two tickets, and decided to forego a group shot and take shamekai with two members. I would definitely meet Miyabi since 1) I always do and 2) I wanted a 2-shot with her in her cosplay. As for the other, I decided to choose Yuua over Ramukyun since I hadn't taken a photo with her lately, and she is always very nice. It's too bad, though since I would have loved to tell Ramu that I was heading to see AKB afterwards. After the group shots ended, both Yuua and Miyabi were in the first group for shamekai. Miyabi's line immediately became long, so i went immediately to Yuua, and was first in line.



In my brief interaction, I told her that she did a great job with her song, and that she always sings very well. She cheerily thanked me, as usual. I then went to Miyabi's queue, which was quite long. I think all the fans wanted to get a photo of her in that outfit. I was only in line 5-10 minutes or so before it was my turn...



Awesome! She asked me what I thought of her cosplay. I told her it was perfect, and that I am a Miku fan myself. What I also find interesting is that in that cosplay the shape of Miyabi's face completely changes. She's very thin, although she isn't very tall, giving her face a narrow look. But in this outfit her face looked much wider, and her cheekbones more pronounced. Ultimately I thought she looked really cute.

So that was it for me, I headed out of the venue and back to Shinjuku Station. It would take me close to an hour to get to Makuhari Messe, although I wasn't in that big of a hurry since I would be arriving during the break between the live and handshakes. I already did a report on that event, which you can read about here.

 

Minyo Girls 3rd Single Pre-Order Mini-Live at HMV & Books, Shibuya (2019/05/29)

Despite not being a huge fan of going to Shibuya, I do enjoy when groups perform at this particular venue. In fact, it has become a go-to venue for many groups. I have seen Wasamin, Festive, Kiss Bee, Chaki, and Minyo Girls here many times before.

I was going through the June schedules of all the groups I like, trying to map out a schedule for the next month. This was the one Mingaru event I knew I would be able to make. However, both Miyabi and Ramukyun wouldn't be performing, although Yuua would be there. The 29th was also the opening night of the Keyaki Beerfest in Saitama. So it was decision time; beer or idols? I decided that since rain was in the forecast, and the beerfest was outside, I would head to Shibuya. After all, I don't yet have a ticket for the Mingaru One-Man Live in June. Perhaps I could pick up a ticket at this event, even though this was specifically a promotional event for their upcoming 3rd major single, Happy Days!!!


Store giveaway...Should I apply?

I arrived in Shibuya a little early, and grabbed a cocktail and snack. When I got to the Modi building there was tons of promotional material all over the place for the K-Pop group Seventeen. Apparently there was some sort of pop-up shop and museum in the building commemorating their new release, and there were cute K-pop boy bancd fans literally everywhere. Opening up CDs, collecting and trading photos, they were literally on every floor from the 4th all the way to the 7th. When I arrived at the 6th floor there was nobody near the stage area except for Seventeen fans. Huh? I checked Twitter again; This was the place, and this was the time. I decided to go up to the 7th floor to see if they had moved the event. Sure enough they had. (I had missed that tweet, which went out 30-minutes before the event) In any case, there weren't more than 20 fans there, so I took a spot on the far right side very close to the stage.

The girls came out for a rehearsal performance, Yutori, Yuua, Ryo, Rina, and Minori. The two members I like the best of these five, Yutori and Yuua, were on the far left side. I had Minori and Rinacchi in front of me. I was debating moving to the other side, but I would be giving up a primo spot for a spot a bit further back, so I decided to stay where I was. Perhaps it would be fun to root for Minori and Rinacchi for a change.

They did a fairly long set, performing six songs, including Kirari Yume Ondo, Handkerchief Drop, Sentimental Journey, and Gunjou Homerun. Something went wrong with one of the microphones, so for most of the show Ryo and Minori switched off using a mic, the other one just dancing. They pretty much stayed in their stage positions for the entire event, so I had quite a few interactions with Rinacchi, and got a good closeup view of the way Minori expresses herself onstage. She is really interesting to watch.

The show ended, and I immediately went to the back where they were selling CDs and giving out handshake tickets. It turned out they weren't selling one-man live tickets at all, only CDs. Oh well, I pre-ordered two copies, which would afford me one group-shot...



After taking the photo, I turned around to shake everyone's hand, then stopping in front of Yutori since I wanted to deliver a personal message to her. I told her that I loved her performance of Abba's Waterloo at Shinjuku Marz the other day, and that her English was really good. Yutori smiled and thanked me while the rest of the girls laughed. With my two tickets spent, I talked for a couple minutes with the Wasafans who were at the event, and took my leave....

When I got out outside, it was pouring rain. Good thing I had an umbrella, and good thing I didn't go to Saitama. Although when I got back up north a little later (to Akabane, and then home) it was completely dry, like it had not rained there at all. So apparently this storm just skirted through Central and Southern Tokyo, and missed the north.

I really want to pick up a ticket for their June one-man live. I could do that online, but I would be missing out on bonus handshake tickets if I did it that way. I will need to scour their schedule to figure out which event they will be hand-selling tickets at.