Your AKB48 Experiences

It is because she has a stage play this week until 5/13 which clashes with shamekai date, thus people that have HS tix of any of Romeo Juliet play members
on 5/13 can use their tix on another date. You should see more crowds on that play members, it just that Naachan sold all of her hs tix, thus making her lane extremely crowded when a transfer happen, especially unlike normally when a member is sick thus you probably can use it at a later date which for some people they probably don't want to wait and just use for oshimashi, this time it is pre-planned (before the actual hs date) so I believe more people are actually using the tix for Naachan HS instead for oshimashi.

 

AKB48-Group 9th Album Shamekai Event at Pacifico Yokohama (2018/05/13)

This was the last of the shamekai events for AKB48's 9th Album. I chose to skip the three Golden Week events, figuring they would probably be more crowded. It also gave me a little more separation from the 1st event of the series, which took place in early April. My report on that one is a couple of pages back.

The bummer was that my favorite member, Akiyoshi Yuka-chan, was going to be absent from this event because of her commitment to the Romeo and Juliet musical. They gave us the option of using it as a makeup during any of the Golden Week events, but I was not going to make the trip all the way out to Pacifico just for one ticket. Furthermore, I have two tickets for Yukachan at HKT's shamekai event next weekend in Gotanda. So I will have a nice sob story to to tell her. Well, actually two, since I didn't win for her play either. Anyway...

I had six tickets, plus an album jacket signing. I had at least one oshimashi to do, and the possibility of a second one came up during the event. My first ticket wasn't until slot 4, so I came sauntering into the venue at 1:15pm, well rested, and ready to go.

Slot 4

Sakaki Miyu [CUCA] (Lane 28) At the April event, I managed to go 0-6 on winning the signed cheki and booklet. However, I knew I would be getting at least one today since Cuca-chan was an automatic win. I met with @David61 in front of the queue, shortly before the beginning of the slot. We decided to tandem, and were 1st and 2nd in line. Cuca came out, we took our cheki...



Now the problem was that I didn't really think this meeting through. As you can see, Cuca took her sweet time signing the book, but I really didn't have that much to say to her. To her credit, she began initiating conversation with me. She asked where I was from, and how long I have lived in Japan. She also asked if I had gone to any of STU's concerts. What I find most amazing about Cuca is that every time I see her she seems more mature, idol-like, and beautiful. I'm just really impressed by her. So next time I see her I am going to plan some good stuff to talk with her about.

Yamane Suzuha (Lane 74) I waited for David to finish up with Cuca, since we both needed to walk to the other side of the hall. Eventually I made my way over to Zunchan's lane. I expected the usual huge crowd. To my surprise the line wasn't long at all. I lt the cheki drawing, and while waiting in the queue I saw Inagaki Kaori in the next lane over. She looked good, and genki. Considering her serious injury at SSA, I was glad to see she was doing well. Anyway, Zunchan remarked that she hadn't seen me in a while. I think it has been around three weeks. I dunno, not so long, but maybe she missed me, LOL. I asked her the name of her little frog doll she always brings to events. His name is Gabriel. (The way she said it was really cute) So I asked if we could incorporate Gabriel into the shot.



Well, at least Zunchan looks good. I hate when they turn me profile like that. And, this is just another example showing that the closeup shamekai are much better than the long shots. At least that's how I feel about it.

When I left Zunchan's lane I walked by Tomonaga Mio's lane, and it was closed. WTF? If she's out for the day, then I have two oshi-mashi to do. I found out that she was there for Slots 2-3, cancelled Slot 4, but had not yet cancelled Slots 6-7. (I had Slot 6) What should I do? One of the members I was considering doing oshi-mashi with, Oba Mina, had early slots. If I wanted to see her, I needed to do it soon....

Slot 5

Yamauchi Mizuki (Lane 84) To save a little time, I decided to prequeue for Zukki's lane. I was around 5th in line, and just before they opened the gates a bunch guys started to mill around, I guess planning to cut the queue. I stared daggers at a couple of them, and they walked to the back of the line. However, one guy stayed, and when they opened the gate, he tried to jam into the line, but I blocked him with my elbow, LOL. While we were waiting in the queue, they started playing the new b-side MVs from the upcoming AKB48 single. I loved the Center Exam Senbatsu. The song, PV, all great. They just started the Team 4 Music Video as the queue started moving. I really liked this one too. The video ended with Zukki doing a "Nyan" pose, just as I was next in line. Perfect! Zukki lit up as I entered the both. "You have returned!" I said I loved her in the PV, and we should do the PV ending pose...



I think this is my favorite shamekai of the day. (The Cuca pic is nice too) Afterwards I congratulated her on being in senbatsu and centering the single team song. She said she hoped I come back to see her many times. Yes, I do have more tickets for her for both Jabaja and Teacher Teacher, so I am good to go!

I was considering seeing Zunchan for the Jacket Signing, which was in this slot. But after checking her queue, which was pretty long, I decided there was someone else I would rather to the Jacket Signing with. I instead left the venue since I had over an hour until my next ticket. I went all the way out to the Food Truck area before I found a seat. Here I met another Stage48 lurker named Paul. It was Paul's first 48-group handshake event, so we talked for awhile about what he thought, and shared a few war stories about meeting the members, before heading back in. I wanted to get back in a little early since my Slot 6 schedule had the potential of becoming a little hectic.

Slot 6

Matsumura Kaori (w/Saito Makiko) Jacket Signing (Lane 51) I debated using this ticket first, or one of my handshake tickets. I'm glad I decided on this one, since the interaction completely changed my game plan for the rest of the day. This was another joint autograph lane, just like the first event I went to when I had Yuka-chan sign my CD. Luckily, I managed to be second in line, so I was getting a good head-start on the slot. I knew I wanted to have Kaotan sign my CD, except that Tani was in the next lane over. Moreover, I did not get any Tani tickets for this day's event. This could be an issue if she sees me, and then doesn't see me in her lane. In the meantime, Takeda Tomoka was in Tani's queue, still with a huge line of people. So I might luck out after all. Around the beginning of the slot Murakawa Bibian came walking over, fresh off of her Produce48 activities, and I have to admit, Bibian looked radiant. Not to mention the cute little black shorts she was wearing. I'm not sure why she came over, she talked to the guards for a minute, and then left. After that, Tani came out. The trouble was, they had just cleared out all the fans who didn't get to see Takeda, and hadn't let Tani's fans in yet. Everything was a mess, plus Kaotan and Makiko still hadn't come out. Finally, a few minutes later, here they came...



The first guy in line chose Makiko, and she signed her CD relatively quickly. It was then my turn. Since Makiko was there, I decided to relate the memory of one of my earliest handshakes with Kaotan, the time when she started yelling at me, and then Makiko and Mikitty started laughing at me. Kaotan and I were trying to figure out how long I had been seeing her, but then when I said the part about Kaotan screaming "Why Why Why???? I Love you I Love you I love you!!!" Makiko started laughing. Not only that, Tani was laughing at us. I think after I related that part of the story, Makiko seemed like she might have remembered it. In any case, I am glad I made everyone laugh, including Tani. Kaotan asked me if I was coming for shamekai, and I pointed to my ticket holder, which I had strategically placed my Kaotan shamekai ticket right on top. (Hehehe)

Yamauchi Suzuran (Lane 43) <oshi-mashi> I had considered quite a few members for my oshi-mashi ticket. Komiharu, Mutou Orin, Sato Kaho, Minarun, even Yuihan. But I have wanted to meet with Ranran for a long time. Plus, I had a story that I wanted to tell her, and I wanted to do it before the story became too old. So this is where I decided to use my Akiyoshi ticket. I got over to her queue around 10 minutes before it opened for oshi-mashi, and spent the time talking to my friends Nori and Keita, who were also waiting to oshi-mashi with different members. Her line wasn't very long at all, so I still had time to use my other ticket for this slot afterwards. In the meantime I was watching Jurina in the next lane over. However, I never made eye contact with her. She does a great job of focusing on her fans in queue. When I stepped into the booth, Suzuran immediately pivoted to "Oh Hello!" We sat down and I quickly suggested the peace pose, trying to save as much time as possible for my story.



I wanted to talk to her about HoriPro Matsuri, which I went to see around a month or so ago. Suzuran sang a duet of Sakura no Hanabiratachi with a classical singer named Okamoto Tomotaka, and it was really good. I wanted to tell her that I really enjoyed it. She thanked me, and asked if I came to see her, which I replied "of course." Actually, I'm not sure what she really meant by that, but the fact is I really did want to see her. She said goodbye to me in English, and asked me to come back again. She's really nice. I had always heard she was a big 'fisher', but I didn't really have that kind of experience. I think perhaps because I kinda controlled the conversation.

Tomonaga Mio (Lane 60) So Mio did come back for her evening slots. But I had somewhat of a dilemma. Since Tani had interacted with me during my jacket signing with Kaotan, I felt really bad about not having a shamekai ticket for her. When I went to Mio's queue I noticed there was hardly anyone in line. Moreover, there were a bunch of signs hanging in front of her lane. I couldn't read what they said, but they usually put those up if the member isn't feeling well, can't talk, or something adverse like that. It was at that point that I thought that I would really rather go see Tani than see Mio, so I took off. In any case, I may have the opportunity to see Mio next week at the HKT event anyway. I found out later from a friend who went to see her that she seemed fine to him, and she looked really cute in his picture too. As a consolation I will show you what the outside of the cheki book looks like...



BTW, I was running into a few Wasafans during the day. Since Wasamin is out of town, many of her fans found their way to 48-group events. One of them told me that Wasamin apparently mentioned me on a radio show she guested on? When I met with Wasamin last week, I mentioned to her that the name of the show she was going to be on that week was the same as the name of the city I grew up in. So apparently Wasamin related that story to the host of the show. Cool!

Slot 7

Matsumura Kaori (Lane 37) After the dinner break, I headed in a little early to pre-queue for Kaotan, and I managed to be 2nd in line for her slot. Plus, I won the cheki, Yatta! I ultimately went 2-4 on chekis today (I had two ineligible because of oshi-mashi) While I was waiting for Kaotan to come out, Tani was in the neighboring lane, and spotted me again as she headed to her booth. That cemented it, I made the right choice by saving a ticket for her. Anyway, Kaotan came out, and I had a couple minutes since the girl who was first in line also won the cheki. When it was my turn, Kaotan exclaimed "Yatta, you won!" Yes, I was very happy about it too. She asked what pose, I said "smile pose." Kaotan remarked, "You are very basic with the pose suggestions." Yeah, I know.



I guess now I need to come up with interesting poses for her, although I thought the one we did in April was funny. (What, me worry?) We continued with my story about some of the first times I met with her. I will have to go back and look to see when it was, and if it was an SKE event or AKB. The incident I was talking about was an AKB event, but I am sure the first time I saw her was at an SKE event. In the meantime, she asked me how to spell "Smile" She had written it, but omitted the "e" at the end. She also asked if I had more tickets. When I told her I would see her next at the Jabaja event on the 26th, she asked how to say that in English. At first she said "two weeks ago," but she kinda knew that was wrong. Then she said "two weeks later," which I said was okay. I then told her "in two weeks" She repeated it twice, like she was happy she learned something new. Always fun with Kaotan, she hung out in the doorway chatting at me as they had me check the photo one more time, and didn't leave until I was halfway down the exit. Kaotan runs on her schedule, LOL.

Tani Marika (Lane 35) <oshi-mashi> I had to wait 15 minutes before I could queue up for Tani. Plus, her line wasn't short. So this had the potential to take a while. That's okay, I really wanted to see her at this point. I ended up waiting around 35-40 minutes before I made it to the front of the line. She immediately suggested a heart pose, but after Kaotan made fun of me for being basic, I wanted to do something at least a little different. I had a couple of ideas, but ultimately decided on the Sailor Moon pose...



Yeah, not that groundbreaking, but it's slightly different from what I usually do. I asked Tani if she liked the story I told Kaotan. Tani asked me about the shirt I was wearing. "Ebi shirt?" I then showed her the whole thing, it is a Wasamin shirt! She puffed her lip and said the she wanted to meet with Wasamin, and gave me a heart sign. I love that Tani and Wasamin are fans of one another.

It was time for me to go, just as the passing rainstorm was at its heaviest. The nice thing is that there is a covered walkway all the way to the station from Pacifico. So despite it raining all day, I never once needed to open my umbrella. Well, except to show the guards that I wasn't hiding any contraband. Interestingly, of my seven tickets, ultimately I used none of them on HKT members. 4 were used on SKE, 2 on AKB, and one STU. Considering that I think of myself as an HKT fan...Well, next week is an HKT exclusive event, so I will make up for it then.

 

(cross posted from the Wasa-thread)

The Iwasa Misaki Fan Club Bus Tour to Shizuoka (2018/05/16)



I went back and revisited my post last year of Wasamin's 2017 'Valentines Bus Tour' just to remind myself of what an amazing time it was. Suffice it to say, I was really looking forward to this year's edition. This year's event kept with a tradition of moving further and further away from Central Tokyo. The first edition drove to various places around Tokyo, last year was the general Yokohama area, and this year we would be heading 75 miles Southwest of Central Tokyo, to Shizuoka. There we would be visiting the Mishima Sky Walk attraction, enjoying a fabulous lunch, Tea Picking, our traditional shrine visit, as well as all the fun during the bus ride. I'll tell you right now, this year's tour was even more special than last year's, for numerous reasons.



I set two alarms since I didn't want to oversleep and miss the event. Luckily, I was up at the crack of dawn, and out the door quite early. The event started at 8am in the bus parking lot at Tokyo Station. My first concern was which of the two buses I would be on, since last year I was on Bus #2, in the very back, and it felt like the 2nd bus kind of got a secondary experience. Luckily, I was on Bus #1 this time, albeit in the back row again. Although I had my section to myself, so I could stretch out. The buses were scheduled to leave at 8:30, but Wasamin was 'fashionably' a few minutes late. which amused most of the fans.

Bus Ride #1



Lucky Bus #1 got Wasamin on-board first. After a few introductions, where we were given a basic rundown of how the day would unfold, Wasamin had everyone in the bus introduce themselves, and then give some background of how they became a Wasafan, or why they are a fan now. There were 38 fans on each bus, so this took the better part of an hour. In fact, when we reached the mid-point rest area of the drive out, we still had five people left to do the introduction, including myself. (I was last) I essentially told the story about the first time seeing Wasamin perform in the theater in April 2009, and how special I thought she was even from that first encounter. Then I talked about meeting her in New York later that year, and that was how she became my oshimen. I know Wasamin remembers our New York meeting (she has mentioned that she does) but I don't know if I had ever told her the theater show story before, and how I rushed back to the hotel to figure out who she was, LOL. Anyway, we were then given 15 minutes at the rest area to use the toilet, or whatever.



This was a lively rest area, to say the least. There were lots of food stalls selling melon pan, steamed buns, and meat skewers. Everyone lined up at the various booths to grab a snack, including Wasamin. Wasamin had two photographers filming her every move on this trip, so people at the rest stop began to notice. Everywhere I heard people muttering to one another. "She's the Enka singer from AKB!" I was so proud of her. She looked so beautiful, and was catching the eye of everyone, yet she is hardly a diva, and is totally comfortable milling around with the fans, and everyone else.


Our one chance to see Mt. Fuji. No worries, I have seen it many many times.

We re-boarded the buses, this time with Wasamin on Bus #2, and proceeded 75 minutes to our next destination. For this part of the ride we were entertained with Wasamusic over the bus sound system.

Mishima Sky Walk



Mishima Sky Walk is essentially a 400 meter long walking bridge over a small valley on the opposite side of Lake Ashi from Hakone. It also provides beautiful views of Mount Fuji on a clear day, which unfortunately this wasn't. Of course there are also food stalls and gift shops with local products. Wasamin handed each of us our tickets and guidebook, and we proceeded to the bridge entrance where we took a group shot, and then had a Wasamin photo session. The sessions were broken up into four groups, I was in the 'kiro' (yellow) group, which usually went second.




At this point I will mention that I kind of have a fear of heights, a concern I mentioned to Wasamin a couple weeks ago. In this case, it's wasn't that I feared the bridge falling down, it's that I thought I was somehow going to fall over the side. Ultimately, it ended up being quite the pleasant walk, despite the fact that the floor of the bridge was a metal grate, and you could see the valley below under your feet. Since it is a suspension bridge, it sways a bit too. There were a few fans that didn't cross, and a few others that did, but were petrified the entire way. LOL.



Once across, Wasamin took some photos on the other side. There were food stalls here too, including a guy steam-roasting chestnuts. He saw our large group come across and immediately got to work steaming, but nobody went to his stall. Ultimately Kimura-san and I each bought a bag. Another feature of the Sky Walk is the 'flower drop' where you get a small wooden 'flower' disc and write a wish on it, then throw it over the side of the bridge. I bought a yellow one, (Wasamin's color) wrote a small wish for myself, and a small message to Wasamin, and threw mine around mid-way, where a rushing stream passed. When I threw it, it went into a really fast spin, and practically floated to the bottom of the valley, and I am pretty sure it landed in the water, which is what I was aiming for.



We were given discount coupons for the soft cream shop, so a lot of people lined up for that. The rest of us loaded back on to the bus for the next stop. While we were waiting, one of the fans told me he had an extra ticket for Wasamin's Utacon performance next week, and invited me to come. SCORE! I was about to send a message out to the fans asking if anyone had an extra, so that worked out perfectly!

Soba Lunch



Wasamin was back on our bus for the ride to lunch, which took over 30 minutes to a town called Izunokuni, which is near Atami. The bus had a karaoke system, so Wasamin sang 2 songs for us along the way. First Tokyo no Bus Guide, and then Tegami (The song she sang at her most recent challenge stage) Much to Wasamin's surprise, our bus guide had never heard the bus guide song before, LOL. The other nice thing was, Wasamin performed the 2nd song at the rear of the bus, so they were really focused on paying attention to everyone this time around.

So lunch...Actually, we were in more of a catering hall, which seems to be a regular stop for Tobu Top Tours, since we weren't the only tour group there. We could essentially sit wherever we wanted for lunch, and our food was already set at the table, waiting for us to eat. I grabbed a spot at the end of the center table, which ended up being a primo seat later.



Cold soba, tempura, sushi, soup, veggies, and green tea jello. Quite the bounty, eh? The tempura was served with green tea/salt, which from what I understand is a popular local condiment. Everything was delicious, and we all finished rather quickly, which gave us time to go the local gift shop in the regular restaurant, where Wasamin was having lunch with staff. One of the fans, whose name I always forget, came out with an interesting looking bottle. What was it? Unagi Cola??? It has Unagi in it??? I had to try this, so I went inside and bought a bottle.



All the fans were crowding around me. "What is that? Unagi Cola? How does taste?" To be honest, it just tasted like cola. But it ultimately got me a lot of attention, so well worth the purchase. After that we headed inside the dining hall, where we would be getting an impromptu photo session with Wasamin...



I strategically placed my Unagi Cola bottle right at the edge of the table. The first person to notice it was the photographer, and then Ichikawa-san (Wasa-manager) who came over to take photos, ask what it tastes like, etc. Wasamin was moving from table to table, posing while asking us about lunch. I got awesome closeups since I was in the first seat. And, I got a special pose...



Yes, that Unagi Cola was a wise purchase indeed...

Tea Picking at Kuraya-Narusawa



A short ride away we arrived at the site of our tea-picking experience. Before leaving the bus we were given a bandanna, and a bag to collect tea leaves. This was also our chance to take 2-shots with Wasamin with her wearing her tea-picking outfit. The tea fields were up on a hill, and had a beautiful view of Fuji...on a clear day. Today was really hazy.


Looking thoroughly confused, not sure which leaves were the right ones...

They didn't really give us much instruction on tea picking, so I kept asking everyone around me if I was picking correctly, and getting laughed at each time. People were like "What the heck are you picking?" and removing half the leaves from my bag. Ultimately people threw a bunch of handfuls in my bag. I guess I will make some tea with it eventually. To be honest, I was kind of distracted as I had noticed that the property also housed a microbrewery called Hansharo Beer. I was more excited to visit the gift shop than anything else. So I headed back down the hill.



Wow, I would have loved to buy just about everything in that store. They had just about everything tea or wasabi related imaginable. Tea tasting, green tea soft cream, and of course Hansharo Beer! Ultimately I picked up a 4-bottle variety pack, along with a few Wasabi related items. I really wanted to buy the fresh wasabi too, but their graters were kinda pricey, and I had already spent quite a bit, so I passed.

Mishima Taisha



Back to Mishima, where our last 'event' would be a visit to a traditional Shinto Shrine to pray for Wasamin and her fans. We did the same thing last year on the tour to Yokohama. Ya know, it is this moment, watching Wasamin praying, that I really get that at the end of the day she's just a human being with hopes and dreams, just like the rest of us. Anyhow, it was a short ceremony, and we all got a small cup of sake at the end. After a few minutes where everyone bought fortunes and charms, we re-boarded the bus. BTW, my fortune was kinda mediocre. The fans I asked either said "slightly taihen" or "it's okay" Anyway, I tied it to the wall just the same hoping that it will bring me good luck anyway.

The Ride Home

Once again, Wasamin split the ride home between Bus #1 and #2, we got the first leg. We had been running around 20 minutes late all day, so we would only have a short stop in Ebina for a toilet break, and for Wasamin to switch buses. For starters, Wasamin went around the bus asking various people what they thought of the trip. When she came to me, I told her that I was happy because I had a delicious lunch, bought a lot of omiyage, and got to be with Misaki-chan all day. She asked about the omiyage, and when I showed her the beer she said "You really like beer!" She was referring to the conversation we had a couple weeks ago, when I told her about going to a bunch of Golden Week beer festivals. Wasamin also mentioned to me that she had been reading my twitter updates on the trip all day. Afterwards, she was speaking to the woman who was also in the back of the bus, and sat down in the seat right next to me. My first reaction was to move in order to give her some space. But then I thought "What the heck am I doing? Wasamin sat her cute little booty right down next to me!" So I stayed right where I was.



Next was janken for prizes. She had 10 signed clear files with unique messages, plus a personally signed 2018 Calendar. Unfortunately I didn't win, but I did come close on the second round of Clear Files, losing on the final round. Misaki-chan rounded out this leg of the trip with more karaoke. Unfortunately a lot of the songs we were requesting (including my request of Niji wo Watatte) weren't in the system, so Wasamin ended up singing a lot of songs acappella. Finally, as we left the bus we were given a thank you card from Wasamin, as well as Wasa-chocolate (and a gift of green tea from the Tour Company)



For the rest of our bus tour, we were treated to a karaoke performance by our Bus Guide, who was a total doll. Bus #2 got an older guide, we got the cute, idol-level guide. Finally a few fans did Karaoke before we arrived in Tokyo. We all said our goodbyes outside Tokyo Station, and went our separate ways.


Our idol-caliber bus guide

Summary

Chalk it up to another incredible 10-hour experience with my favorite girl in the world. Everything about this event was an upgrade from last year. The bus rides were more evenly distributed, had more activities, and she paid attention to the people in the rear of the bus too. We had more interaction with Wasamin, more photo-ops, and it was a beautiful place to take a bus tour. Wasamin is a wonderful host, and it seemed as if she had as much fun on the tour as we did. I know I had a blast, and I look forward to whatever the next big event is.



Actually, my next 'big' Wasamin event is her karaoke party, which is in three weeks. But we also have Utacon next week, Wasamin's DVD release weekend, and the concert at DMM VR Theater in mid-June. So lots coming up!

 

AKB48 Idol Shugyou Chuu! Stage (2018/05/23)



It looked like my theater show drought was finally coming to an end. I never properly posted about it here, but I won my 40th theater show back in early January, and since then I have had 4 consecutive really high cancel machi invitations, and ultimately didn't get into the theater on any of them. Well...I did win the 'last chance' "High Wave" draw a couple of times, where you get to enter the theater after the show and greet the members, but no actual show wins.

On Monday I received a cancel machi email for Wednesday night's show. The good news was that it was a Fan Club cancel machi, meaning the number (#35) would be a lot lower, thus increasing my chances of winning. I checked the show roster, it was the Kashiwagi Yuki produced stage, which features many the 3rd Gen draftees, as well as some of the 16th Gen kenkyuusei. There were really no members I was a huge fan of, and I had never seen the new AKB draftees before, so I would be going into this fresh, providing I actually won.

One of the Wasafans I hung out with Tuesday night checked the show history, and for this stage the cancel machi has always gone over 50. That's good. I spent the morning periodically checking the ticket center to see how many early cancellations there were. It was really slow going at first, but after the rainstorm came the number started increasing. I headed over to Akihabara and the Donki a little earlier than usual, and went upstairs around 15 minutes before the cancel machi call. To make a long story short I got into the seat lottery. I was good to go. It was my 41st theater show. Now the question was how good my draw in would be.



There was a slight delay because a couple of the people with family and women's seats disappeared, and they wanted to find them before beginning the lottery draw. The first group to draw in was #100-109. Oh well, that was never going to be me. Next was #200-209. Damn! Those were the cancel machi people ahead of me. Next #110-119, then #240-250, which only had three people. A moment later, #210-#219, Nice, I should certainly be able to get a decent seat with this draw. After going through the metal detector I scanned the room, and noticed the entire left side front row was empty save for one person. I made a beeline for that row and got the 4th seat left of the pillar...

FRONT ROW BABY!!! THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT!

It's funny though, it is usually feast or famine for me with these draws. I either get the first row, or I am stuffed somewhere in a back corner staring above many shoulders. But this meant I was gonna get a really closeup view of the members, and of course it meant I was going to get fished a lot. The question was by who? And how much?

The Show



Suzuki Kurumi did the Kage-ana, and the show started a few moments later. This stage is relatively new, and for the most part has a very strong setlist. At least that seems to be the consensus. There is a lot of energy to the stage, and it is sprinkled with quite a few iconic songs like Blue Rose, River, Nage Kisu de Uchi Otose, and Enkyori Poster. It also includes one of my old favorites, Sobakasu no Kiss. My first impression of the show was that all the members were full of energy. It helped that it seemed to be a really rambunctious crowd, even more so than usual. And it wasn't a minute into the song that I had my first fishing attempt. This draftee member came right up to the edge of the stage and started pointing right at me. She was adorable too, but I didn't know who she was. Later on in the same song I had a similar interaction with Kurumi, but I could not wait to get to the MC to find out that girl's name!

First MC

There are quite a few goofy members in this new gens, and there were two members in particular acting crazy through the entire MC. One was Maeda Ayaka, who I didn't remember being like this. The other one was Sato Shiori, the draftee from Hokkaido. In a way, she reminds me a bit of Zunchan. Her devlish grin also reminds me a bit of Tani. Anyway, Shiori just acts goofy all the time, even when she is performing. I was cracking up watching her dance during Tsundere. Oh, and that cute draftee who fished me? It was Kobayashi Ran, (Ranchan!) Great, now I know who I am rooting for during the show.

Units



Blue Rose just happens to be my original oshimen's unit. That said, I thought all four girls fit the song very well. I was closest to Kurosu, and in a way it felt like she was channeling Meetan. Nage Kissu also reminded me a lot of the AKB 'old days.' The chant on this song is always a lot of fun. Kurumi does a good job as center, AND it has Ranchan in it! I had fun all night yelling her name. The ballad was okay. Tsundere! was complete silliness, from Shiori's over-animated 'guitar' playing, to Manaka's playacting, to Kana-chan's big goofy smile. And then there was Yahagi...



By now it is no secret that Yahagi Moeka is a superior singer. She was great control and nuance. In fact, I'd say singing-wise she is superior to Akimoto Sayaka. My only complaint is that she is a bit frozen for the first two verses of Mushi no Ballad, and then goes into 'spasm' mode on the last verse. It was a lot of herky-jerky convulsing. So in that respect I think she still needs to work on matching the proper emoting that Akimoto was so brilliant at doing in the original K-Stage. But singing-wise, two enthusiastic thumbs-up!

Post-Unit

One of the funnier MCs was when the girls were discussing what physical or character trait they admire, or want to 'take' from the other members. A couple of them agreed that they admired Yahagi's singing prowess, but I was surprised when Kurosu said that she wanted Ranchan's oshiri. Really? She's kinda young. Then again, Kurosu is super-skinny, and probably lacking back there in the curve department. I was ecstatic to hear them perform Sobakasu no Kiss, which is one of my old faves. Moreover, I also know all the hand motions to it, so I was 'dancing' along with the girls on stage. That got me quite a bit of attention; first from Kana-chan then Shiori, and finally Taya Misaki who started fishing me really hard toward the end of the show. Although I think she calmed down when she saw me screaming for Ranchan, who was right next to her at the time. Like Team B Oshi, the "fresh" version is just as big a mess, but I do get that it is a bit of a crowd-pleaser. I was wondering how the girls always remember the order, especially with the lineup occasionally changing.

Notable Members (These are the members who fished me, or otherwise left me with a good impression)



Kobayashi Ran: Ranchan made a wise move by focusing on me so early in the show, since it guaranteed I would be focused on her for the rest of it. I think she has great energy, enthusiasm, and is really cute. She reminds me a bit of Ariyasu Momoka (former Momoclo) and Sato Minami (16th gen) Anyway, she came away as my show MVP, and someone I want to meet during handshake events.



Sato Shiori: She didn't interact with me until much later in the stage, but we exchanged a couple of funny facial expressions toward the end. This girl is all about goofing off, all the time, She was reacting to everyone's MC, either laughing, or making a funny gesture with her partner in crime, Maeda Ayaka. I can definitely see her following in the footsteps of Tani Marika or Yamada Noe.

Suzuki Kurumi: I started noticing it earlier this year, but Kurumi is fast becoming a true stage leader. It surprises me since early on I found her to be kinda bland and uninteresting. But she has grown a lot, and is someone to watch.

Yahagi Moeka: Exceptional singer, good personality. She caught my eye quite a bit during the show, and I was impressed overall with her unit. At one at the end of the show she spotted me and started waving, then accidentally almost missed her queue to talk. She was caught off-guard, LOL.



Otake Hitomi: Reminds me a lot of Anai Chihiro, looks-wise. She was one of two draftees who came across as more mature, both in looks and demeanor, the other being Honda Sora. Both of their presence was abundantly felt throughout the show.



Inagaki Kaori: I have to mention Kaori. This wasn't her first show back from injury, but the fans gave her a huge ovation just the same. I almost didn't recognize her, since it looked like she lost a bit of weight since I last saw her. But Inagaki seemed thrilled to be performing every step of the way. Anyway, she has great energy, and I am happy to see her back on stage performing. Finally...

Taya Misaki: Who made a significant effort to fish me during Team 'Fresh' Oshi, pointing at me and then herself. She has tried with me before, so she gets points for that.

Ending

Before we left for 'High Wave' we were treated to the full Teacher Teacher MV. Visually, I like the PV quite a bit. In fact to me the visual is a lot more memorable than the actual song. And I get why people think the 'mountain' scene seemed a bit out of place, but it didn't bother me at all.

The members returned to the stage, and there was a couple of minutes until we filed out of the room. In the meantime I was lucky enough to get Ranchan and Yasuda Kana right in front of me. Ranchan gave me and the guy next to me a really enthusiastic wave. The other guy told her that her performance was awesome, and I nodded in agreement. She thanked both of us. Ranchan also jumped up and down when I passed her leaving the theater, LOL Kana and I are 'old friends' so to speak, so she gave me an enthusiastic acknowledgement too. The other member to focus on me during high-wave was Yahagi, who actually stepped right to follow and try to talk to me, LOL.

I left the theater, and quickly queued up to get the group photo set, which now has a limited edition folder drawn by Miyupon. From there I grabbed my umbrella, and took off for dinner, and then home.



Suffice it to say I am extremely impressed with the AKB 3rd Gen draftees, especially those I mentioned during this writeup. So far I have seen the SKE, NGT, and now the AKB draftees, and to me these girls are the most impressive (I really like SKE's as well) I was worried when most of the 16th gen got promoted since their stage was my favorite (and easiest) to win. But now I will be happy to watch the draftees perform any time, especially for Yukirin's stage, which is a lot of fun to watch...

And I will be rooting for RAAAAAAAAAAANCHAAAAAAAAANNNN!

(some photos "borrowed" from ModelPress)