Your AKB48 Experiences

Fantastic reports for the Handshake Event and Team K concert! The great amount of detail makes it easy to imagine what it was like at both places.

Congrats on having a wonderful trip.

 

I can feel your happiness and can't help to feel happy too just by reading your report!

 

Yesterday, I went to see Pajama Drive stage at the AKB theater. It was my first show after moving back to Japan, and also the first one I even applied to (I literally just arrived the day before). This time, I won through AKB mobile which I got quite recently. I was super excited because Pajama Drive is my favorite original setlist and I was worried they'd stop doing it before I come to Japan, but luckily they're still doing it and I got to see it at least once (though I'm hoping I win it again, of course). Funnily enough, my friend also won, so we asked at the theater if we would be able to get consecutive entrance numbers, and it was so we could enter the theater together.

Our numbers were called quite early but not super early, so most of the best seats were already taken. Then I spotted some empty seats in the 2nd row on the right side of the theater, and we quickly snatched those. While it was a bit hard to see the left side of the stage, the closeness of the stage and excellent view of the right side totally made up for it. Some members spent more time than others on our side of the stage, so depending on which members you care about the most, it might not be as good but for me, some members that I like spent a lot of time on our side so that was nice.

Now for some member opinions...

Yamane Suzuha: One of my 16th gen faves, she is always so fun to watch because she looks like she's having a lot of time on stage. She also improved a lot since I last saw her live in Let's go kenkyuusei stage. She spent quite a lot of time on the right side of the stage so I got a good view of her. During omiokuri, she called me kawaii which was nice - I remember she always gave me compliments before too and she complimented my friend as well so I guess it's her fishing technique, but it definitely works

Kobayashi Ran: I remember her as one of the more promising draftees when I saw her in Idol shugyouchuu and she's still very good - the recent promotion is well deserved. She didn't spend that much time on my side of the stage but during a short time she did, it was obvious she was trying to make eye contact with fans. She even told me our eyes met during omiokuri On a side note though, she seems to have lost a lot of weight since I last saw her so i hope she's taking good care of her health. I know she's doing a lot of stages, having perfect attendance at Pajama drive and recently also Reset so I hope she's not overworking herself or something.

Nagatomo Ayami: I remember Ayamin from her 16th gen days, and she improved so much since then. She spent most of the show on my side of the stage, right in front of me and she was always making eye contact, waving etc. at fans. During the time after the performance before omiokuri starts, many members chat with each others but she used the time to wave to fans and even chat with some. Overall, I think her performance was really impressive. She's not really my type look-wise but she makes up for it with other stuff.

Omori Maho: My first time seeing Mahopyon live! I saw her on LODs before and thought she looked a bit awkward (but in a cute way) but she's really good live. Like Ayamin, she's one of those members that work hard making eye contact with fans and waving to them so I understand her popularity.

Murayama Yuiri: Do I even need to say anything more about Yuiri? She's obviously miles ahead of everyone else in the stage in terms of performance strength, but she's also a big senpai to them and known as one of the best performers in AKB so it's to be expected. I'm really glad she's in senbatsu now. Anyway, I didn't get much attention from her during omiokuri because my friend who is a Yuiri oshi went right before me, but I'm glad she got her attention from Yuiri

Sato Shiori: I think Shiori is a pretty good performer and she's good with facial expressions but she didn't stand out that much to me yesterday. Maybe it's because she wasn't on my side of the stage that much. But like Ran, she also said our eyes met during omiokuri which I found funny because I don't even remember it myself

Sato Minami: Satomina is so cute and I'm really mad at management she's not promoted yet. Yes, I know she's not "perfect" at performance yet but her slight awkwardness is what gives her the charm. Unfortunately, she didn't spend much time near me but she was so cute the few times she did.

Furukawa Nazuna: Nazuna is one of the draftees I pay the least attention to. I don't dislike her or anything, but I haven't found anything she stands out in yet. She was ok though, didn't leave a bad impression either.

Honda Sora: Sora has been my fave draftee since D3 debut and I event went to her handshake once, a year ago. I think she is a very strong performer and she does many different positions in both Pajama Drive and Mokugekisha so seems like she's got at remembering. I expected her to do Temodemo no Namida with Yuiri based on the members appearing that day but she ended up doing Junjou Shugi which fits her so well. During omiokuri, she didn't say anything special but she did that kind of reaction that members do when they recognize someone from their HS (like face lighting up etc.) so I think she probably remembered me, but since she didn't say anything I'm not sure. She was also on my side of the stage quite a lot and looked my way a few times which was nice.

Michieda Saki: Another "leftover" 16th gen who should also be promoted already. She's even more awkward than Satomina, but it's adorable. Even her MC is adorably awkward. I'm saying this as a good thing

Suenaga Yuzuki: Another awkward kid. With Yuzuki I'm still not totally sure if her awkwardness is cute or just, well, awkward, but she's certainly cuter in person than on LOD.

Nagano Megumi: When Megumin first debut, I thought she was pretty but a terrible performer, and I loved watching LODs to see her improvement. She's still not the strongest performer in D3 but her improvement is huge. I'm a bit disappointed she wasn't promoted together with Ran and Okarina but I can see she's working hard so I'm sure management will notice it too and do it soon

Saito Haruna: Haatan just got promoted recently so I think this was her first Pajama Drive performance as a full member (she was in fact not yet a member when I was applying for the performance ). I remember her as the cute but awkward little kid from Idol shugyouchuu, and she's still in that category together with Satomina and Sakipon. She was on my side of the stage a lot and she was cute to watch but I don't feel super strongly about her.

Ishiwata Sena: It forever surprises me that she's already 17 but looks about 12. She's so tiny and cute. She doesn't have that awkwardness like those other kids though, so maybe her age is showing there. Unfortunately she didn't spend that much time on my side, but I think she's a very strong performer and I think she might be in the next batch of promotions.

Kuramoto Miyu: Kurara is quite cute but she's a bit timid and doesn't leave a strong impression. I hope she can get out of her comfort zone more because I think she has the potential to be really good if she does.

Yoshihashi Yuzuka: another members whose face I'm not really a huge fan of, but she's a bit cuter in person. That being said, she's a really good performer. She was right in front of me a lot and our eyes met quite a bit.

Overall, it was a great performance and I'm really glad I won it, even though I was extremely tired from moving 2nd row was also the seat closest to the stage I've had so far, so that was a great experience. I hope I can get front row one day. Anyways, I think everyone was really good and fresh and I hope they can all be promoted soon

 

To be honest, I've been neglecting this thread and not writing any reports for my past 2 Pajama Drives, but yesterday I went to see Theater no Megami for the first time and decided to write a review. It was a women's only performance, and I got super lucky with the seat lottery - my group got called in 2nd, and I managed to get myself a 1st row seat, on the left side of the theater right by the pillar. It was my first time getting 1st row, so it made it all the more exciting. I will go into more detail later but it was a great spot to make eye contact with members. Because of the closeness of the members on the left side of the stage, I mostly focused on that area rather than center or right side of the stage, so I might be a bit biased. Also unfortunately, many of the top members like Yukirin, Seichan and Megu were missing for this performance.

Now about the setlist, I have to admit I am not a huge fan of this setlist. It's probably my least favorite among the ones they are currently doing. There are a few nice songs (Theater no megami, Team B oshi, Arashi no yoru ni wa, Candy...) but most of the team songs are quite forgettable for me. That being said, the dances are really cute and the members did a good job performing it, so I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Iwatate Saho: I really like Saho's facial expressions but I think she's one of the worst dancers on the team. Luckily, it somehow works with her cute character. She didn't spend that much time on my side of the stage but when she did, she was trying to make eye contact with the fans so that's good.

Otake Hitomi: Despite seeing 3 Pajama Drives in the previous month, this was my first time seeing her since Idol Shugyouchuu. She definitely improved a lot (and she was already showing potential back then). She spent a lot of time on my side of the stage and we made a lot of eye contact.

Omori Maho: Mahopyon was doing Seichan's position and didn't spend much time on my side of the stage, but I have seen her before in Pajama Drive. She did a good job with her solo unit and centering some songs (including Sustainable) but was still pretty awkward. She also does an awkward laugh during MCs a lot but it's kinda cute.

Okuhara Hinako: I think I've seen her before in a Team 8 stage about 2 years ago but not completely sure, lol. She was spending a lot of time on my side of the stage so I watched her a lot. She's very cute, but I probably wouldn't really notice her if she wasn't right in front of me most of the time. She tried hard to get my attention before and during omiokuri though.

Kitazawa Saki: I've seen her in Pajama Drive recently and a long time ago in Yume wo Shinaseru Wake ni Ikanai. To me, she's a member who's a solid performer but not really that attention grabbing. She was on my side of the stage for a few songs and you can definitely see she's one of the senpai though. I was also impressed how she handled her bra strap getting undone during Theater no megami, I could see she was moving carefully in order not to accidentally flash anyone but she didn't let it disturb her performance until one of the other members could fix it for her.

Kubo Satone: Satopii was cute but didn't spend much time on my side of the stage. She made some eye contact with me when she did though, which was nice.

Saito Haruna: I've seen Haatan a few times in Pajama Drive before (and Idol Shugyouchuu) but I think this stage fit her better than Pajama Drive. She looked a lot less awkward. I wasn't sure she was ready when she was promoted but seeing this it seems like she's a good fit for B.

Sasaki Yukari: I feel really bad saying this but Yukarun is one of those members that do a good performance but are still so forgettable to me. She is just missing something that would make her stand out more. She was on my side of the stage quite a lot but she wasn't as interesting as some of the other members so I ended up not looking at her that much.

Takita Kayoko: Kayoyon is not really my type of member but she is such a good performer. She looks like she's having so much fun on stage and we made eye contact a lot (the fact that she was on my side of the stage a lot of course helped). I also got a heart (with her hands) and a flying kiss from her, lol. She was definitely one of the best performs in the stage.

Nakanishi Chiyori: Chiyori barely came to my side of the stage during the songs so I don't have much of an impression of her performance but she was very entertaining during MC.

Hattori Yuna: She was doing Yukirin's position so she was in the center a lot but not much on my side of the stage. She looked very pretty and from what I saw she seemed like a good performer too, but she was usually quite far from me so I wasn't paying that much attention to her.

Hiwatashi Yui: Hiiwatan is so much cuter in person than in photos! She's so tiny and adorable. She was on my side of the stage a lot, including right in front of me during the beginning. We made eye contact immediately and she looked like she's gonna start laughing, lol. But after that we made a lot of eye contact normally, and she waved to me during MCs and while waiting for omiokuri (again, she was right in front of me). Another one of my favorites in this stage.

Yamabe Ayu: She was the one I was most looking forward in this stage, and she was really good, but I'm not sure if she was the best since some other members really impressed me. Anyway, she was adorable and we made a lot of eye contact. She also tried to speak English to me during omiokuri, lol.

Yoshikawa Nanase: I never found Nanase my type and never paid much attention to her. That is, until yesterday. She was on my side of the stage most of the time and gave me honestly the best treatment I've ever got from any member at the theater (first row + being a foreigner helps). She was constantly looking at me, sometimes not breaking eye contact for a long time. Everytime there was a pointing dance move, she would point at my direction. During one of the last songs where they have paper airplanes, she kept pretending she'll throw it in my direction (unfortunately during the actual throwing she was on the other side of the stage lol). She kept waving to me during MCs, while waiting for omiokuri, and even sometimes in the middle of songs. Honestly, I felt like I was the only person there, lol. If you asked me before the stage to rank the members in order of who I'm most excited to see, she would be near the end of the list, but this stage changed my impression of her completely. Yeah, I'm totally fished, lol. Will be paying more attention to her from now on.

Nagano Megumi: One of my fave draftees! She's so cute and I think this stage fits her a lot better than the Team K stage. Too bad she was drafted into K, her cute character would fit B or 4 a lot better. You could see she was more awkward than the other members who have more experience doing this stage but she was doing her best. I just wish she had gotten one of the cute units and not Arashi no yoru ni wa. As much as I like that song, I think it fits older members better. I would love to see her in Hatsukoi yo konnichiwa or literally any other unit but Arashi no yuri ni wa.

Kuramoto Miyu: My opinion on Kurara is the same as last time - she's cute but doesn't leave a strong impression. And she definitely did better in Pajama Drive (though that's expected, since she has done that stage a lot more and is more used to it). But personally I prefer her in the Team 4 stage.

Team B is the team I paid least attention to so far (other than Team 8) but it was really good. The 1st row seats were really amazing. Although this stage is not my favorite, I would definitely go see it again if I got the chance.

 

AKB48 in Barcelona, Spain (31/10/2019~01/11/2019)
Hello! I just came back from ones of the best days of my life.

I will do my best to write my report in order all people who couldn't go to MANGA BARCELONA enjoys it ^_^

Thursday. 31/10
I skipped class because I wanted to be in all the activities AKB48 were doing, so I was there in Thursday too!

The only activity they were doing in Thursday it was "Dance Koisuru Fortune Cookie with AKB48".
I uploaded the self-introduction of the members here:
https://twitter.com/TiduAura/status/1190141574727921664

When I saw the girls I was impressed. All of them were so cute!! Chori was in front of me in the stage and she looked at me a lot and she made me a lot of hearts!! So cute!

Friday. 01/11
The experiences I had this day were one of the best experiencies of my life.
I could get the opportunity to interview AKB48 for an anime website. (When they upload the interview I'll tell you).
First of all, I prepared the table with the goods I bought when I went to Japan this summer. It was Team K-ish but all members were so happy to see that I had a lot of goods!

The girls did not come all together. First came Manami and Mogi (what a coincidence lol both are from my beloved Komiyama Team K).
Manami was talking with the manager and both saw my T-shirt and they were like: Wow!! AKB48 Tour 2019 T-shirt!! and the conversation was like this:
Manami: Eeh. Do you have the T-Shirt?
Me: Yes! I went to Japan this summer and I could go to Team K Concert in Saitama.
Manami: Eh!? Team K concert!? Kawagoe's one right?
Me: Yes! In Kawagoe!
Manami: eeeh. Mogi Mogi!! She was in Team K concert in Kawagoe!
Mogi: eeeeh. Awesome!!
Manami: Did you like it?
Me: SAIKOU DESHITA!! (It was the best!!)
Manami and Mogi: I'm so glad!!!
I was already so happy, I could talk with Manami and Mogi *__*

Then, the other members came and were so impressive because of my goods and my T-shirt. (Some of them took photos of the table, I wonder if they will upload it or not lol)
The director of the anime website gave them some stuffed animals. Members were so happy and even some of them put a photo with the stuffed animal in SNS! The director is so happy right now!
The interview went smoothly. When it's edited I'll tell you!
Here a photo when they were doing the interview. (Yukarun with her stuffed animal watching my camera lol)


When it ended, I asked their manager if I could take a photo with them, and he let me! He was so kind! I was so happy that I could take a photo with all of them! They were so kind!


During all the time I tried to avoid talking about Komiharu because I didn't want them to feel bad. After all, Komiharu didn't come and I didn't want members to think: Why are you talking about Komiharu if she isn't here?
But after the kami-photo, Manami asked me "Who is your favourite?". I had to answer sincerely so I said: "Komiyamaa Haruka-san". The big surprise was when Manami said: Eh? Komiharu!... EH!? ARE YOU JUDIT-SAN!? and the other members: EH!? ARE YOU JUDIT-SAN!?. I was so impressed because they already knew about me! (OMG IT'S A DREAM!?) I answered: Yes. I'm Judit. And Manami said: Komiharu talked us about you! We are happy to meet you! We see your Twitter too.
(KOMIHARU IS SO KIND!! )

Then, they had another interview so they had to stop talking to me. I wanted to give to them the letters I wrote. I wrote a letter in Japanese for each member!! Staff told me I had to give to the manager and then he would give to the members. I gave the letters to the manager. When I was watching the other interview they had, then the manager came and told me: I think it would be better if you give it to them personally. I was so happy!

After the interview I said to them: In fact, I wrote a letter for each member. Please if you have time read it.
They were so happy! Some of them were doing a two-shot with my letter lol (I don't think they will upload it but I'm happy to see they were doing photos with my letters). Then I said: Could I take a photo of you with the letters?. And members said: Of course! And here you have the photo:


They had time so some of them read my letter there. When I was thinking I was in a dream, Manami came to me and told me: "Could we take a two-shot!? I will send it to Komiharu". I was so happy T_T I asked if Team K pose was okay and she said: Of course!!. and I took a photo with Manami doing Team K pose T_T
MANAMI WAS SO KIND!!. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT YET!

Then I had to go because I had to eat something before the concert.

The concert was awesome!! In fact, the setlist had one more song in Friday than Saturday. I think because in Saturday they didn't have much time so they had to cut off one song. The song they did in Friday was #SukiNanda and the center was Nakanishi Chiyori.

So the setlist of Saturday was like that (I don't remember where it was #SukiNanda for Friday):
1. Aitakatta ⭐Chiba Erii Kato Rena
2. LOVE TRIP ⭐Kato Rena
3. Heavy Rotation ⭐Kato Rena
4. Oogoe Diamond ⭐Ichikawa Manami
MC1
5. Iiwake Maybe ⭐Iwatate Saho
6. Kibouteki Refrain ⭐Sasaki Yukari
7. High Tension ⭐Mogi Shinobu
8. Everyday、Kachuusha ⭐Sasaki Yukari
9. Flying Get ⭐Shinozaki Ayana
MC2
10. Koisuru Fortune Cookie. DANCE with Kamieda Emika (Ex NMB48 member)

Then, after the concert, it was the High Touch. You had to buy a set of 5 random photos from the photoset of AKB48 Theater October 2019 to get a ticket and do a high touch. 1 set is 5 photos and the price for each set was 15 euros.
I helped two japanese fan to get tickets to enter in the event so when they bought the random set for the ticket of the High Touch they gave me the photos, so I ended up with a lot of photos from Friday and Saturday! YAAY!

For Friday, I bought two sets, with the first one, the high touch was so fast, I was like: Lol that looked like the send-off of concerts in AKB48 Tour 2019. the only exception it was that I could do a "high touch" and in the send-off I only could wave at them.
With the second set I had a lot of more time lol and Manami told me: Judit-san! Komiharu saw the photo. She is so happy!! And I answer: I'M SO HAPPY THANKS MANAMI-SAN! and others told me: Judit-san! Thank you for the letter! I loved it!!

Aww this day was so perfect!! One of the best days in my life!! *__*

Saturday. 02/11
Like I said before, this concert had only 10 songs instead of 11 because they didn't have time.

It was awesome! This time the outfits were different than the other concert ^_^

After the concert they were judges of an IDOL CONTEST so they were very close!


When they came to seat there Erii saw my camera and did the "Komiharu Smile"'s pose! So kind!! In the stage each time she noticed me she was doing Komiharu's Smile. She can be cuter!?


After the IDOL CONTEST, it was the High Touch Event again. This time I bought two sets again. The first one I said to the members It was really fun and that please come again. They wanted to come again too!
The second (and the last one) I told the members it was the last and they were very sad and they said to me they enjoyed a lot this event. Then Manami who was the last was like a Handshake event (in high touch you touch the hand and that's all). lol. She didn't want to let my hand and she said to me: Please when you come to Japan again, apart from going to see Komiharu, please visit me, It's a shame we couldn't meet in August.
(In the letter I wrote to her I said that from Zun-chan lane I saw Manami and it was soo cute that I wanted to do an oshimashi but she didn't have the option so I couldn't meet her). Next time I'll buy handshake tickets for Manami too!

I hope you liked my report! It was like a dream! T___T I'm so lucky! 2019 is the best year as an AKB48 fan for me!!
In August's handshake I said to Komiharu: Please come to Spain! and she said she wanted to come. I'm pretty sure if she wouldn't have the stage play she would have come. It's a shame but I really enjoyed the members they came so no problem!

Btw, I ended up with a lot of photos from the photoset of AKB48 Theater October 2019!

If you want to see the full version of the photos, all are in my Twitter!

 

Lately I don't write HS reports as much as I used to, but I figured I'd share some after a while Recently I've been to several AKB individual HS events (September 22, September 23, November 4, November 23), AKB's national HS event and STU's national HS. Also I'm quite happy to report that Naachan also learned my name this year, so now she and Kaori both call me by my name whenever they see me (even if it's just omiokuri or something)

Yesterday at individual HS at Pacifico Yokohama, I was supposed to meet all 3 of my oshis. Unfortunately with Jurina still being absent, I would only got to meet Naachan and Kaori.

I only had 1 ticket for Naachan in the last slot - I tried to get more, but since I split my early application rounds between her and Jurina and I focused more on other dates for Naachan, I ended up winning only one. Once I lined up and got close enough to see her, I realized we were wearing somewhat similar tops (choker sweaters) so I decided to talk about it:
N: Rina!
R: We're wearing similar clothes today!
N: Ah, the choker ones? You're right! It's nice!
R: But Naachan's looks more like a collar...
N: Wanwan! *does a puppy pose with her hands*
R: ... (honestly I didn't know what to reply to that lol)
N: Kawaii
R: Bye bye, see you again!

Funnily enough, soon after the end of the slot, Naachan posted this on Twitter: https://twitter.com/okadanana_1107/status/1198225914158387202 Her post included the dog emoji and the word for collar when talking about her and Yumirin's clothes, even though she called it a choker earlier when I met her until I said collar first. Now, I'm not saying it's a direct reference to our HS, and I'm sure other people have said it to her too, but I just like to think that maybe our conversation stayed in the back of her mind or something and influenced her choice of words

I also had 5 tickets for Kaori. I managed to win a 2 shot for the first time, well actually two of them! This is my 2nd time overall winning any of the HS benefits at all (I also won a Naachan sign back in September). The first photo turned out pretty bad, I was trying to take it with 1 hand while doing a heart pose with Kaori with the other hand as per Kaori's pose suggestion... However the photo turned out to be at weird angle, blurry, and just overall not too good (can't even see the heart well lol) so for the next one I held the phone with my both hands and it turned out a bit better. Weirdly, the staff won't let you to take a photo in portrait orientation, it has to be landscape. Seems like the members themselves are confused by this rule since I was about to take a portrait photo with Kaori and staff told me it's not allowed and Kaori seemed surprised/confused by it too. Anyway, here are the photos - Kaori looks adorable as always



...

And here's an old but funny one back from September. I realized I never posted it here before, although I have told many people about it. I had a bunch (15+ iirc) tickets for Naachan that day, including 5 in a single slot, so I decided to propose a game... Didn't turn out as well for me as expected Lesson learned from this was never to trust others when they advise you what to play in janken, if I had listened to my instinct instead of listening to someone else's recommendation I would have won lol.
N: Rina!
R: Can we play a punishment game?
N: Let's do it!
R: If Naachan loses at janken, you have to do moe zerifu. Ok? (notice that I worded the rules that she has to do it if she loses, not whoever loses has to do it)
N: Ok!
*we do janken, Naachan wins*
N: Douzo!
R: Eh? (I didn't plan to do it lol)
N: I want to hear it
R: *stalling for time, hoping time will run out before I have to do it lol* What should I do...
N: Say "daisuchi"! With SU CHI!
R: *reluctantly does it*
N: *looks very excited about it*
R: Let's do janken again!
N: Ok!
Staff: Stop with janken
N: Let's do it (ignoring the staff lol)
*we do janken again, I lose again*
R: Eh??? I lost again?
N: Yayy!
R: I wanted to hear Naachan's moe zerifu though...
N: Ok I'll do it! Daisuchi!
R: Bye bye (I had to finish it fast cause the staff was getting mad at me lol)

 

I haven't been able to write any report lately.. But here is some swag that I got from the last few months of HS events.. (Only Odaeri related stuffs, others are excluded)

Sorry for the picture quality. Actually I was tidying up my room and found them just stuffed in my drawer so I decided to take a picture. I didn't realize that some of them were outside the frame.

 

Yesterday, I was super lucky to be able to see one of my oshi's, Naachan's seitansai. I originally got a cancel machi #3, but I got an e-mail the day before that the number of cancels has reached that number so I would be able to buy the ticket normally and do the seat lottery.

Since I arrived to Akihabara early, I went to have some tapioca first and made it to the theater when I felt it was a good timing. I ended up getting ticket number #130, meaning I would be at the front of the 130's group. Of course, the most important thing is when our group will be called... We ended up being called 3rd or 4th (not sure exactly) and being at the front of the group, I managed to get myself a front row seat! It was the 3rd seat from the left, so quite far on the edge, but still, a front row seat. Can't complain. I'm glad I listen to my intuition telling me to go get the ticket at that timing.

The stage was amazing. It had all the popular members performing (Naachan, Yuiri, Nagi, Zukkii etc.), actually it was almost all full members except for 1 kenkyuusei, Kurara. I mostly cared about Naachan and Kaori, and they spent a good amount of time on my side of the stage, especially the first few songs. Their positions were next to each other a lot which is good for me cause I could watch them both at the same time. During the songs when they were both on the opposite side of the stage and couldn't see them well, I focused on other members in front of me, but other than that, my eyes were on Naachan or when she wasn't around on Kaori. My eyes actually met with Naachan's 2 or 3 times during the stage, which made me super happy.

Another nice part of the stage was Daisuki. Although unfortunately both Naachan and Kaori were far away during this time, I had some other members like Yuiri, Kiichan, Momoka, Naamin, etc. right in front of me. During the chorus, the members tend to lock eyes with someone in the audience for the entire length of that chorus. I had it happen to me with Kiichan and Naamin. I must admit, I got a bit embarrassed when they were singing "Daisuki na no, anata no koto..." while looking straight into my eyes But it was a nice little detail. I also had my eyes meet for a long period with Honma Mai who was a back dancer for Glory days and was right in front of me for most of the song. I must admit I used to not like Mai too much but recently she improved so much, both her dance and facial expressions, so I am looking forward to her growth. She might be a slower learner compared to other 16th gens but she's getting there.

Now for the best part, the omiokuri. After the members did their final greeting, they waited on the stage for the staff to prepare for the omiokuri. During this time, Mai was in front of me again and kept waving to me. Then, it came time for the members to switch into their positions for omiokuri. Since it was her seitansai, Naachan would be the last one. This meant her position was right in front of my seat. When she came to her position, she immediately looked at me and said "Ah, Rina!" which made me so happy There were other Naachan fans around me whose names she knew (she called the guy who was sitting next to me by his name during omiokuri, so she definitely knew his name) but she called mine She called me by my name again during omiokuri and so did Kaori, so that made me really happy.

Overall, it was such a great experience. I have seen a few seitansais before but never my oshi's until now, and it really is such a special experience as a fan. I also had so much luck with the seat lottery. Honestly, my theater luck is really amazing lately, I win about 3 shows per month, but this one was the one that mattered the most.

 

you are all lucky. The first time I went there last year I wasn't anywhere near the AKB fan I am today. I didn't know that the tickets were a lottery system, so I only watched them perform from that small TV in the lobby with other fans gathered around. My friend and I thought we could just buy tickets and just walk in LOL.

 

Late report but what the heck...
August 10th: Chiba, Japan (Makuhari Messe-Jiwaru Days big handshake meeting)
Hot and humid

Members visited:

Sasaki Yukari (Team B)

Spoiler: Yukarun

First member to meet face-to-face. Time to see what JAPN 1A and 1B plus 7+ years of AKBINGO can do.
X: 初めまして
Y: あ、初めまして
X: アメリカ人です
Y: アメリカン？？？あ、HAPPINESS!
X: 初HAPPINESS 嬉しい
Y: イエーイ!
X: SHOWROOMで会いましょう！
I feel like we really breached the cultural barrier there. Sasaki wore yukata, I was impressed by how delicate and small her hands and face were. Flawless complexion and perfectly aligned, bright smile. This was first 2 meetings after doors opened. Yukari was alert and ready. I won a signed card from her.

Kato Rena (Team A)

Spoiler: Renacchi

Long line to see Rena. As expected, I could see her looking bored. Fan won a 2-shot, Rena made a hengao. Otherwise she seemed sweet enough, if unanimated. In the adjacent lane the exact opposite was happening. Honda Sora, in cheerleader cosplay, was holding court. Honda’s big smile and voice could be seen and heard from the check-in at the beginning of Rena’s line. Everyone exiting Honda’s lane had a huge smile on their face. Finally, my turn to meet Rena. After introducing myself and mentioning that I came from overseas to meet her, she really lightened up. Then, the ultimate praise, Rena said my Japanese was うまい. Of course, all Japanese will say this no matter how bad a foreigner talks down to them, but it still gave me feels. And Rena was the only member I met that commented on my Japanese.

Suzuki Kurumi (Team A)

Spoiler: Kururun

Ultimate cuteness and the Rena prodigy. In plain clothes she was just a bright-eyed and cheerful as on-screen. I asked if she is studying English in school and could she understand. Suzuki said no, and apologized. It’s ok Kurumi your smile is the same in any language.

Mukaichi Mion (Team A)

Spoiler: Mion

Mion was sick. She cancelled her morning lanes. Came back for the afternoon/ evening wearing a mask, an angry red pimple on her forehead. Tried not to look at the pimple. Introductions. Then behind the mask mion said something I couldn’t hear. I leaned-in, still couldn’t understand. Mion gave up: “I don’t know” she said. Poor Mion, I can see she is doing much better now.

Kawakami Rena (Team M)

Spoiler: Udon

Udon tweeted out an invitation to her lane and had to accept. Used a Mion Ticket. Didn’t know that she would announce graduation a month later. I always admired Rena; couldn’t understand why she wasn’t featured enough in singles especially as the remaining 1st gen was down to single digits. 1-ticket is a rushed experience. Greeted her in Japanese, explained I was an overseas fan. Udon responded in English: oh you’re American, wow! Nice to meet you!

Spoiler: Other Notes

Other notes. This was the first handshake Niigata members participated in since the departure of Mahohon, Rena, and Cherry-girl (riko). Someone tweeted a pic of empty lanes for Yuka Ogino. I had to see for myself. Her lanes were not empty, however, I’m certain there was much less activity than when she made her run for sousenkyou senbatsu. Yuka and Gatanee were not accepting extra tickets for their lanes.

 

I haven't been really active here lately but this made me really happy so I had to share

STU were doing an online cheki sign event where if you bought a set of 3 CDs, your preferred member would sign a cheki with your name on live Showroom and they would send it to you together with CDs. Although it's an STU event, this is about Naachan, so I figured it would make sense to post it here. Since it was on first-come-first-served basis, it was really hard to get it for Naachan, but I managed to grab a set before it sold out, so I got Naachan to sign a cheki for me.

Unfortunately due to work I missed the part of Showroom where she signed mine, but I watched it later and she said many good things about me while signing the cheki It's a bit embarrassing for me to write the translation here since she's complimenting me so much (I'm really not as amazing as she makes me sound ), but if any of you who know Japanese want to watch it, I posted the clip on my Twitter: https://twitter.com/48Riina/status/1291367413968072705

 

The STU48 online cheki event has indeed been great fun. I've posted my own reports in the STU members' board so I won't cross-post them here but I just wanted to say that it's been the best and happiest idol-related fun I've had all year and for me it's partly made up for not being able to get to Japan in 2020. The STU event appears to have been a great success as Naachan, Yumirin, Chiho and many other members all sold out (Chiho signed chekis for 4 hours solid yesterday) so I hope very much that AKB48 will take this on board for their next single and offer something similar. It would be fantastic for overseas fans but they do need to make ordering much easier for us! Anyway here's hoping that this thread can be revived over the coming months.

 

I only got Naachan's, and I believe her chekis sold out within about an hour of going for sale, but I saw many other girls had nice sales too (even some 2nd gens). It feels really great to be acknowledged by your oshimen, having her talk about you while signing the cheki. I know it depends on the member too, but Naachan for example is really good at remembering names and details about her fans.

Considering AKB and STU are both under King Records, I wouldn't be surprised if AKB do similar stuff in the future, or at least the online talk thing that STU is starting now. Of course, I hope we will be able to do normal handshake events sooner rather than later, but I'm glad they are coming up with events that are possible even in this time (and as a bonus point, since it's online, overseas fans can participate too).

 

STU are doing a sign thing on Showroom again this weekend, this time it's the transfer for sign slots of their 4th single HS event that got cancelled due to coronavirus (so only available for people who had tickets for that already). The system is similar to the cheki sign thing in that the members sign it on Showroom while talking about that fan, except that they are signing the regular sign things instead of chekis.

I had a ticket for Naachan, so she made a sign for me too on yesterday's SR. Here's the video, in case anyone's interested: https://twitter.com/48Riina/status/1299581562858516480

For those who can't be bothered to watch the video or don't understand Japanese, as usual, I got a lot of compliments from her, including being called 超絶美女 (transcendent beauty) and ビューティフルの塊 (personification of beautiful). Extremely over-exaggerated lol, but I have to say she is very good with compliments. She also remembered that I also participated in the cheki sign event and because of my name (Rina) a lot of people were commenting asking if it was her sister (who is also called Rina) so she had to explain that it was a different Rina I also find it adorable that when I would comment that I'm watching and that it made me happy she would keep saying "kawaii"

 

Has been 6 month since my last theater show in February.. I was lucky enough to go for Boku Natsu earlier this month after the reopening.. yeay.. (also nnew profile picture)

Bonus, her profile:

 

I've just had an online ('national') HS with Komi so while it's still very fresh in my memory I'll do a write-up. Although I thought you could only enter the 'waiting' area 10 minutes beforehand I tried around 12 minutes before and I got in at 20th in the queue. I then refreshed the screen about every 30-40 seconds until I was at 5th and then I was able to press the green button to go ahead for ID verification. I then waited about 5 minutes until a Japanese male voice came on, he said a couple of things (I think the first was to say my identity was confirmed, the second one was definitely a warning about not recording video or capturing images), I just said 'hai' to both and then I automatically went to the final screen which showed I was 5th in the queue (this was only about 6 or 7 minutes after the start of the session).

So the countdown continued, 4th, 3rd, 2nd. I was then expecting 1st to appear but I just went straight into chat with Komi which threw me off a little! Anyway I knew what I wanted to say which was "Konichiwa Komi-chan, igirisu-jin desu!" and then I said to her in English "I met you last year at Makuhari, you're very beautiful" but I don't think she remembered me, she just repeated "Beautiful!". I then quickly said "You're my favourite member, ichiban menba desu!" and she replied "Love you!" with a heart sign, which I couldn't reciprocate because I was holding my phone with one hand (next time I'll put it on a stand lol). The orange warning message then appeared so I just had time to say "Love you too!" but I got cut off before I could say "Bye bye".

As I was using 3 tickets I was expecting about 8-9 seconds based on previous NHS experiences in Japan and that's what I got so I'm happy with that. For me it was very good practice for when I can finally use the IHS tickets from my aborted trip to Japan back in April/May, assuming further online HS events are organised. It was certainly a fun experience from home on a Saturday morning here in the UK!

 

@David61 @dutchie Had you purchased the limited edition copies way before when the single was released, or were you able to find LEs somewhere just recently? Hearing David's experience with Komi made to want to see Zukky for the first time, too, if they continue holding these online HS sessions.