Realized that pages exist. -_-
New merch/want list is here.
- cfb
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Second HelloStoreUSA Batch
Yup, second batch of stuff from HelloStore. This was actually my 5th order, but orders 2-4 were pretty small (5 items between all of them), so I won't bother posting about them in detail here. BUT. I have to say, the metallic photo sets are VERY cool...kind of a subtle metallic sheen to them, definitely worth getting if you can. Anyway, on to to the stuff :P
This would be my spoils from the second "raid" of HelloStore, when all the the Nine Smile items went live.
And, once again, the photo sets all laid out:
And, as I mentioned in my previous HelloStore post...here's a couple pictures of my room at the moment:
Sorry for the big empty spot next to my Aichan mini-towels...I'm hoping to get ahold of an Aichan solo uchiwa to fill it, but until then...nothing.
Had to rig some stuff up kinda funny to hang the towels...but it gets the job done :D
So yeah, more fun times at HelloStoreUSA for cfb :P
This would be my spoils from the second "raid" of HelloStore, when all the the Nine Smile items went live.
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 T-Shirt - Ai Takahashi
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 - Visual Book
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 Muffler Towel - Ai Takahashi
- Morning Musume DVD Magazine Vol. 26
- Morning Musume DVD Magazine Vol. 27
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 L Photo Set A (Group)
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 L Photo Set B (Group)
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 L Photo Set C (Group)
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 L Photo Set D (Group)
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 - Tour T-shirt
- Ai & Risa Premium Dinner Show - L Photo Set A (Duo)
- Ai & Risa Premium Dinner Show - L Photo Set B (Duo)
- Summer 2009 Hello! Champloo - L Photo Set 3 - High-King
- Morning Musume 40th Single - L Photo Set (Group)
- Morning Musume 40th Single - 2L Photo Set 1 - Ai Takahashi
- Morning Musume 40th Single - 2L Photo Set 2 - Ai Takahashi
- Ai & Risa Premium Dinner Show - 2L Photo Set 2 - Ai Takahashi
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 2L Photo Set A - Ai Takahashi
- Morning Musume - Nine Smile 2009 2L Photo Set B - Ai Takahashi
- Ai & Risa Premium Dinner Show - 2L Photo Set 1 - Ai Takahashi
And, once again, the photo sets all laid out:
And, as I mentioned in my previous HelloStore post...here's a couple pictures of my room at the moment:
Sorry for the big empty spot next to my Aichan mini-towels...I'm hoping to get ahold of an Aichan solo uchiwa to fill it, but until then...nothing.
Had to rig some stuff up kinda funny to hang the towels...but it gets the job done :D
So yeah, more fun times at HelloStoreUSA for cfb :P
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Kimagure Princess Lyrics
Yup...too lazy to even come up with a better title than that.
Anyway, just got done watching the Kimagure Princess PV with subs, and I have to say I'm quite pleased. From the second the song was released, it was obvious that the lyrics were talking about boobs and butts and so on (my knowledge of Japanese is good enough to at least have caught that much already, lol)...but the fully-translated lyrics didn't come off sleazy like I half-expected them to. The H!O torrent description and some people's reactions had me anticipating much worse, so I was quite relieved to see something that didn't turn me off.
Tsunku's developed a habit of writing lyrics for MM that are sung by the girls as a character...they're always quite obviously about the feelings of some person other than the girls themselves (then again, when are H!P lyrics EVER truly written from the idols' perspective :P). For example...in Naichau's case, the lyrics were actually about a SPECIFIC other girl. In the case of SYO through Kimagure...they were about some non-descript external character.
I like that. It allows some room for kind of risque lyrics without compromising the girls' image, and I think it gives MM the ability to gain a little of that 'edginess' that they have apparently been lacking (and therefore losing ground with potential new fans who like that sort of thing - myself, of course, not included. Although at this point I'm completely committed to MM, as long as their music is listenable and the PVs are watchable, I'll be happy...but that's a discussion for another post that will probably never happen). Some people may argue that Morning Musume "shouldn't do that" or "can't pull that off"...but hey, their loss if they don't want to enjoy the group. :P
On the whole, I think Kimagure Princess as a complete package (song, PV, lyrics) is pretty sexy and badass. Morning Musume looks to be moving in a smart direction image-wise...let's just hope the single sales follow through with my gut feelings about that.
- cfb
Anyway, just got done watching the Kimagure Princess PV with subs, and I have to say I'm quite pleased. From the second the song was released, it was obvious that the lyrics were talking about boobs and butts and so on (my knowledge of Japanese is good enough to at least have caught that much already, lol)...but the fully-translated lyrics didn't come off sleazy like I half-expected them to. The H!O torrent description and some people's reactions had me anticipating much worse, so I was quite relieved to see something that didn't turn me off.
Tsunku's developed a habit of writing lyrics for MM that are sung by the girls as a character...they're always quite obviously about the feelings of some person other than the girls themselves (then again, when are H!P lyrics EVER truly written from the idols' perspective :P). For example...in Naichau's case, the lyrics were actually about a SPECIFIC other girl. In the case of SYO through Kimagure...they were about some non-descript external character.
I like that. It allows some room for kind of risque lyrics without compromising the girls' image, and I think it gives MM the ability to gain a little of that 'edginess' that they have apparently been lacking (and therefore losing ground with potential new fans who like that sort of thing - myself, of course, not included. Although at this point I'm completely committed to MM, as long as their music is listenable and the PVs are watchable, I'll be happy...but that's a discussion for another post that will probably never happen). Some people may argue that Morning Musume "shouldn't do that" or "can't pull that off"...but hey, their loss if they don't want to enjoy the group. :P
On the whole, I think Kimagure Princess as a complete package (song, PV, lyrics) is pretty sexy and badass. Morning Musume looks to be moving in a smart direction image-wise...let's just hope the single sales follow through with my gut feelings about that.
- cfb
Thursday, October 8, 2009
First Purchases From HelloStore USA
I suppose it's pretty easy to guess what this post will be about from the title...
Anyway, this afternoon a package for me was delivered:
And, as expected, the contents were...
A wonderful assortment of Aichan and MM tour goods! :D
Here's the photosets all spread out:
These are basically the first concert goods I've ever bought (aside from the ones I obtained at AX and maybe 1 or 2 other items I got from friends), and I have to say that I'm enjoying them more than I thought I would. I'm sure part of that is because, as a wota, I've recently begun supporting Aichan almost exclusively...so getting photos and towels and so on of her is a great feeling. It's nice to be surrounded by the idol you love ^^ I'm especially surprised at how addictive collecting photos is...and now I just have to find an album or two to put them all in XD I'll throw together another post or something once I get all the towels hung up.
Anyway...overall a great first experience with HelloStore, and I look forward to continuing to buy from them.
Keep it up, JapanFiles!
- cfb
Anyway, this afternoon a package for me was delivered:
And, as expected, the contents were...
A wonderful assortment of Aichan and MM tour goods! :D
- Sexy 8 Beat Tour '07 - Tour Pamphlet
- Concert Tour 2007 Aki Bon Kyu! Bon Kyu! BOMB - Tour Pamphlet
- Platinum 9 DISC Summer '09 Tour - Tour T-Shirt (Large)
- Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - Microfiber Sports Towel - Ai Takahashi
- Platinum 9 DISC Summer '09 Tour - Mirror Ball Phone Strap - Ai Takahashi
- Platinum 9 DISC Summer '09 Tour - Muffler Towel - Ai Takahashi
- Platinum 9 DISC Summer '09 Tour - Microfiber Mini-Towel - Ai Takahashi
- Platinum 9 DISC Summer '09 Tour - 2L Photo Set 1 - Ai Takahashi
- Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - 2L Photo Set A - Ai Takahashi
- Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - 2L Photo Set B - Ai Takahashi
- Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - 2L Photo Set C - Ai Takahashi
- Shouganai Yumeoibito Launch Event '09 - 2L Photo Set 1 - Ai Takahashi
- Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - L Photo Set A - Group
- Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - L Photo Set C - Group
- Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - L Photo Set D - Group
- Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - L Photo Set E - Group
- Summer 2009 Hello! Champloo - L Photo Set 1 - Morning Musume
- Summer 2009 Hello! Champloo - L Photo Set 2 - Morning Musume
- Summer 2009 Hello! Champloo - L Photo Set 3 - Morning Musume
- Summer 2009 Hello! Champloo - Fan - Morning Musume
Here's the photosets all spread out:
These are basically the first concert goods I've ever bought (aside from the ones I obtained at AX and maybe 1 or 2 other items I got from friends), and I have to say that I'm enjoying them more than I thought I would. I'm sure part of that is because, as a wota, I've recently begun supporting Aichan almost exclusively...so getting photos and towels and so on of her is a great feeling. It's nice to be surrounded by the idol you love ^^ I'm especially surprised at how addictive collecting photos is...and now I just have to find an album or two to put them all in XD I'll throw together another post or something once I get all the towels hung up.
Anyway...overall a great first experience with HelloStore, and I look forward to continuing to buy from them.
Keep it up, JapanFiles!
- cfb
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
August 2009 Purchases
Yup, over a full month late on this one. Life has been crazy, sorry folks x.x
Quick thoughts:
- Kirarin*Land is so amazing. Anyone who doesn't like Koharu's solo stuff is seriously missing out.
- I like the Champloo Marriage Songs album wayyy more than I thought I would. Nice surprise ^^
- I've essentially listened to Nanchatte Renai at least once every day since it was released. I get the feeling Kimagure Princess will be much the same. :P
- Lots of DVD Magazines, working my way toward all of them. It's a long and expensive road x.x
- One more Event V in my H!P DVD collection. I love getting these things, such unique additions. :D
- I've completed the concert DVD discography for MM's current lineup. Can't wait for Nine Smile to come out though~
- cfb
- Momusu - Best! Morning Musume 2 LE (w/box case & pin)
- Momusu - No. 5 LE (w/box case, booklet & poster)
- Kusumi Koharu - Kirarin*Land LE (w/box case, DVD & card)
- V/A - Champloo 1 ~Happy Marriage Song Cover Shuu~
- Nanchatte Renai LE A (w/DVD)
- Nanchatte Renai LE B (w/DVD)
- Nanchatte Renai RE
- Nanchatte Renai 40th Single Kinenban
- Momusu - Onna ni Sachi Are RE
- Momusu - Aruiteru LE (w/DVD)
- Momusu - Shouganai Yume Oibito LE B (w/DVD)
- Melon Kinenbi - Namida no Taiyou
- Melon Kinenbi - Nikutai wa Shoujiki na EROS
- Melon Kinenbi - Champagne no Koi
- H!P DVD Magazine Vol 4
- H!P DVD Magazine Vol 12
- H!P DVD Magazine Vol 14
- Momusu DVD Magazine Vol 6
- Momusu DVD Magazine Vol 7
- Momusu DVD Magazine Vol 20
- Momusu - Eizou The Morning Musume 3 ~Single M Clips~
- Momusu - Eizou The Morning Musume 5 ~Single M Clips~
- Momusu - Resonant Blue Single V
- Momusu - Roman ~MY DEAR BOY~ Event V
- Momusu - Concert Tour 2007 Aki ~Bon Kyu! Bon Kyu! BOMB~
- Momusu - Concert Tour 2008 Haru ~Single Daizenshuu~
- Momusu - Concert Tour 2008 Aki ~Resonant Live~
Quick thoughts:
- Kirarin*Land is so amazing. Anyone who doesn't like Koharu's solo stuff is seriously missing out.
- I like the Champloo Marriage Songs album wayyy more than I thought I would. Nice surprise ^^
- I've essentially listened to Nanchatte Renai at least once every day since it was released. I get the feeling Kimagure Princess will be much the same. :P
- Lots of DVD Magazines, working my way toward all of them. It's a long and expensive road x.x
- One more Event V in my H!P DVD collection. I love getting these things, such unique additions. :D
- I've completed the concert DVD discography for MM's current lineup. Can't wait for Nine Smile to come out though~
- cfb
Monday, September 14, 2009
Happy birthday Aichan!!!
Our favorite leader turned 23 today!
Her hard work and dedication as a member of Morning Musume has become a real inspiration for me and I can always count on her to lift my spirits...so here's to what was hopefully a great birthday and to many more! Happy birthday Aichan~
- cfb
Her hard work and dedication as a member of Morning Musume has become a real inspiration for me and I can always count on her to lift my spirits...so here's to what was hopefully a great birthday and to many more! Happy birthday Aichan~
- cfb
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Nanchatte Renai World Collage Project
^ click! ^
Wanted to take the time to pimp an awesome fan project that's going on right now. Basically the idea is to show Morning Musume/UFA/Tsunku that we fans outside of Asia really love Momusu (directed at the girls) and are giving them monetary support (directed at UFA/Tsunku) by taking pictures with our copies of Nanchatte Renai. For anyone who wants to see Morning Musume in America again (or wants to see them somewhere closer to wherever you may happen to live in the world), I think this is an excellent opportunity to do something proactive toward that cause (and if you haven't bought Nanchatte Renai yet...the deadline to send in your pic is September 19th, so there's still time!).
Also, for anyone who collects H!P CDs/DVDs/photobooks/concert goods/whatever, this is your chance to shine! Take a picture with all your H!P stuff...be creative, set it all out on the floor and lay down on it or something, I don't know. XD This is a really great way to demonstrate how dedicated we all are, and how much time (and money) we put toward supporting these girls...so come on people, let's send in those pics!
Here's mine (not terribly creative, I know, but I couldn't think of a good way to display it all aside from this...there's really not enough room x.x):
(sorry about hiding my face, haha...didn't do that in the pic I sent in, I'm just not totally comfortable posting a picture of myself on my blog :P)
Details for the project here (or click on the banner at the top of this post).
- cfb
Thursday, August 13, 2009
July 2009 Purchases
Said I'd post this within a few days a couple entries ago...obviously didn't happen, sorry about that.
Quick thoughts:
- I love Aichan's solo song on Pucchi Best 7. I've only begun to discover recently just how great her voice really is.
- The photobook that came with Aruiteru LE is really, really nice. Reina especially caught my eye.
- Obviously there's a lot of DVD Magazines here...and that would be because I've decided to start collecting them. Momusu and H!P only though, no solo artists or other units.
- Platinum 9 Disco is an absolutely incredible concert. The current lineup of MM really knows how to put on a show, and their live vocals are, for the most part, very solid.
- 20's Time was adorable and awesome. Definitely recommend this one to anybody with an interest in Sayu, the kickboxing bit was especially funny.
- Lots of cute, tiny rokkies in the Momusu live photobook. The copy I ended up with is a little beat up...but it was cheap, so I don't mind.
- cfb
- Nacchi - 2nd ~Shimiwataru Omoi~ LE (w/box case & photo sheets)
- Pucchi Best 7
- Gomaki - Suppin to Namida
- Koharu - Balalaika RE
- Momusu - Egao YES Nude LE (w/photobook)
- Momusu - Aruiteru LE (w/photobook)
- MM DVD Magazine Vol 1
- MM DVD Magazine Vol 2
- MM DVD Magazine Vol 4
- MM DVD Magazine Vol 5
- MM DVD Magazine Vol 10
- H!P DVD Magazine Vol 1
- H!P DVD Magazine Vol 2
- Momusu Concert Tour 2009 Haru ~Platinum 9 DISCO~
- Michishige Sayumi - 20's Time
- Pepper Keibu Single V
- 2002 Shuffles Single V
- Morning Musume in Hello!Project 2004 Summer
Quick thoughts:
- I love Aichan's solo song on Pucchi Best 7. I've only begun to discover recently just how great her voice really is.
- The photobook that came with Aruiteru LE is really, really nice. Reina especially caught my eye.
- Obviously there's a lot of DVD Magazines here...and that would be because I've decided to start collecting them. Momusu and H!P only though, no solo artists or other units.
- Platinum 9 Disco is an absolutely incredible concert. The current lineup of MM really knows how to put on a show, and their live vocals are, for the most part, very solid.
- 20's Time was adorable and awesome. Definitely recommend this one to anybody with an interest in Sayu, the kickboxing bit was especially funny.
- Lots of cute, tiny rokkies in the Momusu live photobook. The copy I ended up with is a little beat up...but it was cheap, so I don't mind.
- cfb
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Nanchatte Sales Ranking Observations
I've been keeping a pretty close eye on amazon.co.jp's and cdjapan's hourly rankings for jpop CDs since about 3AM on the 12th Japan time...figured I might as well make a quick post of my observations.
cdjapan (10-item chart):
Both non-limited versions have at least been ranking since I started checking.
Nanchatte 40th has been at #1 pretty much all day (I believe Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra outranked them for a little bit at the beginning, but after that it's been #1 all along).
RE has fluctuated wildly between 2nd and 9th or so, I believe.
Amazon (25-item chart):
As with cdjapan, both non-limited versions have at least ranked the entire time.
40th has been at 5th all day.
RE has been shifting between 9th and 15th.
The big thing to remember (especially with amazon's numbers) is that these charts include preorders...taking that into account, 40th has actually been at #1 for non-preorder releases on amazon all day. And while I haven't researched this extensively (see: at all :P), I'm pretty sure that the 40th and RE versions of Nanchatte are at #1 and #2 respectively on both site's charts for today's releases (actually, there may not even be any notable competition for the top spot at all today...I'd have no idea since I don't keep track of anything but H!P releases, haha [EDIT: so I'm apparently insane and thought Ayu's new single came out on the 14th, nvm about the 'no notable competition' thing XD]).
Obviously we'll know how well the single really did on its first day in about 12 hours or so (I would think that Oricon releases its sales charts for a given day at midnight on the next day, or shortly thereafter), but I put this post together for those who may be curious as to how the single is selling on two big-name sites in the business of selling Japanese music online.
Another thing to note: Nanchatte Renai is already at #1 on the pop ranking for JapanFiles, way to go people! :D
And for anybody who wants to see the charts for themselves:
cdjapan
amazon.co.jp
Ganbare Momusu~
- cfb
cdjapan (10-item chart):
Both non-limited versions have at least been ranking since I started checking.
Nanchatte 40th has been at #1 pretty much all day (I believe Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra outranked them for a little bit at the beginning, but after that it's been #1 all along).
RE has fluctuated wildly between 2nd and 9th or so, I believe.
Amazon (25-item chart):
As with cdjapan, both non-limited versions have at least ranked the entire time.
40th has been at 5th all day.
RE has been shifting between 9th and 15th.
The big thing to remember (especially with amazon's numbers) is that these charts include preorders...taking that into account, 40th has actually been at #1 for non-preorder releases on amazon all day. And while I haven't researched this extensively (see: at all :P), I'm pretty sure that the 40th and RE versions of Nanchatte are at #1 and #2 respectively on both site's charts for today's releases (actually, there may not even be any notable competition for the top spot at all today...I'd have no idea since I don't keep track of anything but H!P releases, haha [EDIT: so I'm apparently insane and thought Ayu's new single came out on the 14th, nvm about the 'no notable competition' thing XD]).
Obviously we'll know how well the single really did on its first day in about 12 hours or so (I would think that Oricon releases its sales charts for a given day at midnight on the next day, or shortly thereafter), but I put this post together for those who may be curious as to how the single is selling on two big-name sites in the business of selling Japanese music online.
Another thing to note: Nanchatte Renai is already at #1 on the pop ranking for JapanFiles, way to go people! :D
And for anybody who wants to see the charts for themselves:
cdjapan
amazon.co.jp
Ganbare Momusu~
- cfb
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Updated Collection Pics
Just took these pics for something real quick, figured I might as well post them here.
Not the greatest quality pics, but whatever.
Expect July's purchases post in the next few days :P
- cfb
Not the greatest quality pics, but whatever.
Expect July's purchases post in the next few days :P
- cfb
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Yatta!
:D
Just picked it up from the frame shop. I can say, without the slightest bit of doubt, that this is my most prized possession. Worth every bit of money spent on the plane flight, the hotel room...and, of course, the frame. :P
Life is good! ;D
- cfb
Just picked it up from the frame shop. I can say, without the slightest bit of doubt, that this is my most prized possession. Worth every bit of money spent on the plane flight, the hotel room...and, of course, the frame. :P
Life is good! ;D
- cfb
Thursday, July 16, 2009
May/June 2009 Purchases
Very, VERY late on the May merch, and not exactly on time for the June stuff either...but Anime Expo's done now (T-T), so I should be back in full operating order soon enough. :P
May
June
Quick Thoughts:
- Shouganai Yume Oibito is AMAZING, and 3,2,1 BREAKIN' OUT! somehow manages to be even better. Momusu is seriously rocking my world right now.
- Ai Ai Daiko is somehow one of the most intense songs in all of H!P...and it was released by freaking Maeda Yuki. XD Awesome.
- I got a really good deal on the Momusu Early Single Box...and with that, I only need 3 more CDs (one of which is already on the way, and another I'm bidding on right now XD) to complete Momusu's discography, not including the weird remix stuff or the early vinyl releases or anything like that.
I'm considering doing weekly or bi-weekly merch posts instead of monthly ones, and including more of my thoughts on the stuff I've bought as well. We shall see... :P
Until next time,
- cfb
May
- Momusu - SEXY BOY ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte LE (w/box case & cards)
- Momusu - Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari LE (w/box case & cards)
- Momusu - Shouganai Yume Oibito RE
- Berryz Koubou - Dakishimete Dakishimete RE
- Buono! - MY BOY LE (w/DVD)
- Maeda Yuki - Ai Ai Daiko RE
- Momusu - Concert Tour 2004 Spring Best of Japan DVD Pamphlet
- Kusumi Koharu - Koi Kana Single V
- Buono! - MY BOY Single V
June
- Morning Musume Early Single Box
- Nakazawa Yuko - Tokyo Bijin
- Berryz Koubou - Seishun Bus Guide/Rival RE
- Matsuura Aya - Sougen no Hito RE
- Morning Musume - Shouganai Yume Oibito Single V
- Hello! Project 2009 Winter Wonderful Hearts Koen ~Kakumei Gannen~ / Elder Club Koen ~Thank you for your LOVE!~ Concert DVD
Quick Thoughts:
- Shouganai Yume Oibito is AMAZING, and 3,2,1 BREAKIN' OUT! somehow manages to be even better. Momusu is seriously rocking my world right now.
- Ai Ai Daiko is somehow one of the most intense songs in all of H!P...and it was released by freaking Maeda Yuki. XD Awesome.
- I got a really good deal on the Momusu Early Single Box...and with that, I only need 3 more CDs (one of which is already on the way, and another I'm bidding on right now XD) to complete Momusu's discography, not including the weird remix stuff or the early vinyl releases or anything like that.
I'm considering doing weekly or bi-weekly merch posts instead of monthly ones, and including more of my thoughts on the stuff I've bought as well. We shall see... :P
Until next time,
- cfb
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Momusu at AX! (Part 6)
Alright...some final thoughts on my time at AX, and how I feel that it has affected myself and the community. And yes, I know I sound crazy at some points, but I don't care. Momusu high, baby! :D
The first thing I must say is that Momusu's current lineup has completely won me over, although I think it was more a circumstantial victory than one of pure merits. It's one thing to see an artist you love perform live for the first time and be able to greet them in person. Of course I'm going to come out of that experience with an even greater appreciation for said artist...anyone attending their first concert for one of their favorite artists will gain at least that. But this was a special case...having the opportunity to see the members of Morning Musume interact with their English-speaking fanbase for the first time, and seeing Momusu's reactions to our excitement upon finally being given the opportunity to show our love......words cannot express how that makes me feel (this is going to sound a little silly, but I'm getting a little teary-eyed even as I type this XD). I left the weekend with such an unbelievable high, and I can't help but associate Momusu's current lineup with that rush of emotions. It is no surprise, then, that I come out of Anime Expo more passionate about the 9 current members of Morning Musume than I have ever been about anything else before in my life, let alone my previous favorites in H!P...and yes, that does mean that Miki has been surpassed** (I suppose it was bound to happen eventually :P).
There is a specific moment from my 5 days in LA that stands out to me. At the Q&A Panel after the introductions, the translator started with the question "how do you welcome (the fan's) craziness/excitement", which was directed at leader Takahashi Ai. She started to answer the question, then paused for a moment, looking out at those attending the panel...then she smiled and waved, saying "hi everybody!" in Japanese, and everyone in the crowd cheered and waved and went crazy in response. That moment...with this girl, whom we had only been able to adore from afar on our computer and TV screens, sitting right in there in front of our eyes, in the same room as us, waving to us in person...and finally being able to wave back at her and cheer for her and show her how we all feel...it felt like a huge wall between the girls and the fans had been demolished. That memory really opens up the emotional floodgates for me, and I have my doubts that anything could ever beat how I feel when I think back on that.
And it was moments like that which caused me to come out of AX with a completely rehauled understanding of the wota/idol relationship. Sadly, I wasn't able to make it to either of the first two autograph sessions, so I got very little of the one-on-one communication that some fans had the priviledge of experiencing (not to say that I don't appreciate the rushed experience I had at the third session - being just a table's width away from Momusu and being able to greet each member face-to-face is something I'll never forget). Still, hearing how enthusiastic the girls were at the first two sessions from those who attended - and seeing Momusu's enthusiasm at the Q&A and concert - has pretty well squashed any suspicions I ever had of the girls resenting their fans. It is clear to me now that the girls (or, at least, the current members of Morning Musume) adore their fans almost as much as the average fan does them, and knowing that only makes me want to support them more...which is why I came out of the third session fairly agitated at how poorly it seemed to have been handled. By the end of my time at AX, I was more concerned about whether the girls' experience was a good one than I was about my own. XD
That dynamic - the kind of support system between wota and idol - has now become a large part of the allure of H!P for me. In fact, almost immediately after attending the third autograph session (Momusu's last event at AX), I was ready for them to come back so I could do a better job of showing my support...say more to them at the autograph session/handshake event/meet & greet/whatever, learn the chants better for the concert, wear an official Japanese t-shirt of my favorite member instead of the one being sold at AX (not to say that I dislike that t-shirt, it's actually really awesome...but I'd like to make myself stand out a little more :P), and so on. I hope other fans left AX with the same drive and inspiration that I gained, because it will make H!P's next appearance in the West all that much better. :)
I also have to say that Momusu's appearance at AX was not only an incredibly enjoyable and enlightening event, but also a rewarding one. Anyone who has seen my collection (or keeps an eye on my blog :P) knows that I buy a LOT of H!P stuff (as do a decent number of other H!P fans who are capable of throwing money around like that). As a fan outside of Japan (or even in Japan, for that matter XD), what better way is there to ensure the continued success of the girls you love than to give money to the company that manages them? (and to anyone who disagrees - sorry, but when it comes down to it, idols are all about turning a profit...sad but true :P) And, of course, we all created communities and wrote about H!P in our blogs and made a general ruckus about our love for these girls. So when it was announced that Morning Musume would be coming to Anime Expo, it felt as if all the time and money and efforts of English-speaking fans had finally born fruit. We were being rewarded for our dedication (some of us for dedication lasting nearly a decade or more o.o), and I knew from the first day it was announced that I wasn't going to miss this reward - the opportunity to see Morning Musume perform live and show them our support in person - for the world.
I also want to take this time to apologize for my previous selfishness as a fan. Until it was announced that Momusu would be at AX, I had been pretty strongly opposed to the idea of H!P's movement to the West. I felt that, if H!P became more easily accessible in the West, it would take away from the unique niche aspect of it, which has always been important to me in my hobbies. Even after deciding I was going, I justified my trip to LA by saying it was an excuse to see the girls, not because I wanted to contribute to their success in the English-speaking world. I realized after attending AX, and especially after attending Hello!Party, that we have created a really amazing community around these girls, and that it's actually quite nice having a large group of fans to commune over a common passion with (who'da thunk it? :P).
And since we're on the subject, I'd like to say that we as a fanbase should work together and keep our focus on what matters. While I'm all up for a little forum pride (I bought a Hello!Online t-shirt...even though I basically never post there XD), the real reason we came together in Los Angeles wasn't to promote ourselves or the communities we've created...it was to show our support for Morning Musume. I think the biggest potential resource for a fanbase as large and enthusiastic as ours is the ability to join together as one and really blow the girls away, for lack of a better phrase. It was obvious at the panel (where I heard that almost the entire room was full...? can anyone confirm this?) that the members of Morning Musume were amazed at how many of us there were and how much noise we were able to make. XD The same stands for the concert...in this interview, Risa said "We didn’t imagine there would be so many people, it was a little overwhelming". And it was so much easier to overwhelm the girls like that when, during the panel and the concert, we all forgot about which forums we normally post on, or how some of us may not like the way a particular community approaches the fandom, or whatever, and just put all our energy into showing the girls how much we love them.
I'm not trying to criticize anyone here...I think everyone from all the different forums and whatnot got along just fine throughout AX, from what I saw. But I present this idea as food for thought...what if, instead of wearing t-shirts at AX promoting the forums we post on, people had worn t-shirts of their favorite members like the Japanese fans do? Now, obviously there were fans who did this for the concert and the panel...but I'm talking about the rest of the convention, when some of us had the opportunity to talk to non-fans (or even members of the press or the people who will decide if Momusu comes to the West again - staff from JapanFiles, UFA, etc). I think it would have been even better if, instead of saying "oh, my t-shirt? it's for the forum I go to, it's awesome, you should check it out", people could have said "oh, my t-shirt? it's for my favorite member of Morning Musume, she's awesome, I wanted to show my support". I'm sure this all sounds a little cheesy...but I think coming off as an enthusiastic fan is more important than trying to get more people to look at your website. If interest in the group is there, people will find places to talk about them. I don't think any English-language H!P-centric forums are struggling for members right now. :P
Anyway, enough preaching. I'll make my plea short and say that attending AX (and Hello!Party) has shown me how valuable a unified community is in creating an enjoyable experience for everyone...and for showing the girls that we love them just as much as any other fanbase and, hence, showing UFA that we are just as valid - and as much of a cashcow - as any other fanbase. I think it would do everyone a lot of good to at least consider the option of some kind of primary hub for the members of all the different forums and communities and so on to get together...even if it's only to plan for special events (such as, say...Momusu's potential next appearance in the US? :P). Because I think we could make an even bigger impact on whoever UFA may decide to bring over next (and, of course, on UFA itself) if we can organize ourselves as one single entity working together for a common cause instead of multiple entities all trying to do the same thing separately. (hopefully that all made sense, I'm obviously still organizing my thoughts on this :P)
Regardless of what I just said, I am truly grateful to everyone in the H!P community for doing such a great job of showing their support to the girls during their time in LA. I went into AX expecting great things, and somehow the events that transpired during my time there managed to exceed my expectations and a lot more. I think both Morning Musume and UFA now know full well just how powerful of a force we are in the world of H!P fans, and I would be shocked if we don't see another H!P group on US soil within the next few years. The only thing I would like to ask is that everyone who is able to buy things from HelloStore USA (whenever it opens :P) please do so, as that's going to be the best resource we have to show UFA that we want things like Momusu's appearance at AX to keep happening in the future.
And to JapanFiles and UFA (whether they end up reading this or not :P)...thank you so, so much for taking the time out of Morning Musume's busy schedule to fly them over here for our sake, and allowing us the opportunity to spend some time with them at Anime Expo. I really can't say enough to express my gratitude, and I'm sure other fans feel the same way. I earnestly look forward to (hopefully) being able to see other H!P acts here again.
- cfb
**Most people who know me are aware that I've been a big fan of Fujimoto Miki for a while now (a little over a year, actually). And as I'm sure most of you know, she announced her marriage to Shouji Tomoharu a few months ago, which made it tough for me to continue on as a fan of hers (it's extremely difficult to be a wota when the girl you like is no longer an idol D:). It is fitting, then, that while Miki was getting married (literally...Miki's wedding and the Momusu concert occurred on the same day O.O), I was at Anime Expo enjoying the greatest week of my life and having my heart stolen by Morning Musume. And to be honest...even though I went into AX with no intention of giving up the Miki love, I'm glad it happened that way because it allowed me to move on from her quickly and painlessly. (sorry to all my Mikitty fan friends! x.x) Through this, I've discovered that the world is a much cheerier place for a wota when the girl(s) you're into are actually still idols. XD
...also, some of you may have noticed that I have yet to post a picture of my signed Momusu poster on here. I'll be posting it eventually, I just want to get it framed first. Don't panic, people, it'll happen in due time! :P
The first thing I must say is that Momusu's current lineup has completely won me over, although I think it was more a circumstantial victory than one of pure merits. It's one thing to see an artist you love perform live for the first time and be able to greet them in person. Of course I'm going to come out of that experience with an even greater appreciation for said artist...anyone attending their first concert for one of their favorite artists will gain at least that. But this was a special case...having the opportunity to see the members of Morning Musume interact with their English-speaking fanbase for the first time, and seeing Momusu's reactions to our excitement upon finally being given the opportunity to show our love......words cannot express how that makes me feel (this is going to sound a little silly, but I'm getting a little teary-eyed even as I type this XD). I left the weekend with such an unbelievable high, and I can't help but associate Momusu's current lineup with that rush of emotions. It is no surprise, then, that I come out of Anime Expo more passionate about the 9 current members of Morning Musume than I have ever been about anything else before in my life, let alone my previous favorites in H!P...and yes, that does mean that Miki has been surpassed** (I suppose it was bound to happen eventually :P).
There is a specific moment from my 5 days in LA that stands out to me. At the Q&A Panel after the introductions, the translator started with the question "how do you welcome (the fan's) craziness/excitement", which was directed at leader Takahashi Ai. She started to answer the question, then paused for a moment, looking out at those attending the panel...then she smiled and waved, saying "hi everybody!" in Japanese, and everyone in the crowd cheered and waved and went crazy in response. That moment...with this girl, whom we had only been able to adore from afar on our computer and TV screens, sitting right in there in front of our eyes, in the same room as us, waving to us in person...and finally being able to wave back at her and cheer for her and show her how we all feel...it felt like a huge wall between the girls and the fans had been demolished. That memory really opens up the emotional floodgates for me, and I have my doubts that anything could ever beat how I feel when I think back on that.
And it was moments like that which caused me to come out of AX with a completely rehauled understanding of the wota/idol relationship. Sadly, I wasn't able to make it to either of the first two autograph sessions, so I got very little of the one-on-one communication that some fans had the priviledge of experiencing (not to say that I don't appreciate the rushed experience I had at the third session - being just a table's width away from Momusu and being able to greet each member face-to-face is something I'll never forget). Still, hearing how enthusiastic the girls were at the first two sessions from those who attended - and seeing Momusu's enthusiasm at the Q&A and concert - has pretty well squashed any suspicions I ever had of the girls resenting their fans. It is clear to me now that the girls (or, at least, the current members of Morning Musume) adore their fans almost as much as the average fan does them, and knowing that only makes me want to support them more...which is why I came out of the third session fairly agitated at how poorly it seemed to have been handled. By the end of my time at AX, I was more concerned about whether the girls' experience was a good one than I was about my own. XD
That dynamic - the kind of support system between wota and idol - has now become a large part of the allure of H!P for me. In fact, almost immediately after attending the third autograph session (Momusu's last event at AX), I was ready for them to come back so I could do a better job of showing my support...say more to them at the autograph session/handshake event/meet & greet/whatever, learn the chants better for the concert, wear an official Japanese t-shirt of my favorite member instead of the one being sold at AX (not to say that I dislike that t-shirt, it's actually really awesome...but I'd like to make myself stand out a little more :P), and so on. I hope other fans left AX with the same drive and inspiration that I gained, because it will make H!P's next appearance in the West all that much better. :)
I also have to say that Momusu's appearance at AX was not only an incredibly enjoyable and enlightening event, but also a rewarding one. Anyone who has seen my collection (or keeps an eye on my blog :P) knows that I buy a LOT of H!P stuff (as do a decent number of other H!P fans who are capable of throwing money around like that). As a fan outside of Japan (or even in Japan, for that matter XD), what better way is there to ensure the continued success of the girls you love than to give money to the company that manages them? (and to anyone who disagrees - sorry, but when it comes down to it, idols are all about turning a profit...sad but true :P) And, of course, we all created communities and wrote about H!P in our blogs and made a general ruckus about our love for these girls. So when it was announced that Morning Musume would be coming to Anime Expo, it felt as if all the time and money and efforts of English-speaking fans had finally born fruit. We were being rewarded for our dedication (some of us for dedication lasting nearly a decade or more o.o), and I knew from the first day it was announced that I wasn't going to miss this reward - the opportunity to see Morning Musume perform live and show them our support in person - for the world.
I also want to take this time to apologize for my previous selfishness as a fan. Until it was announced that Momusu would be at AX, I had been pretty strongly opposed to the idea of H!P's movement to the West. I felt that, if H!P became more easily accessible in the West, it would take away from the unique niche aspect of it, which has always been important to me in my hobbies. Even after deciding I was going, I justified my trip to LA by saying it was an excuse to see the girls, not because I wanted to contribute to their success in the English-speaking world. I realized after attending AX, and especially after attending Hello!Party, that we have created a really amazing community around these girls, and that it's actually quite nice having a large group of fans to commune over a common passion with (who'da thunk it? :P).
And since we're on the subject, I'd like to say that we as a fanbase should work together and keep our focus on what matters. While I'm all up for a little forum pride (I bought a Hello!Online t-shirt...even though I basically never post there XD), the real reason we came together in Los Angeles wasn't to promote ourselves or the communities we've created...it was to show our support for Morning Musume. I think the biggest potential resource for a fanbase as large and enthusiastic as ours is the ability to join together as one and really blow the girls away, for lack of a better phrase. It was obvious at the panel (where I heard that almost the entire room was full...? can anyone confirm this?) that the members of Morning Musume were amazed at how many of us there were and how much noise we were able to make. XD The same stands for the concert...in this interview, Risa said "We didn’t imagine there would be so many people, it was a little overwhelming". And it was so much easier to overwhelm the girls like that when, during the panel and the concert, we all forgot about which forums we normally post on, or how some of us may not like the way a particular community approaches the fandom, or whatever, and just put all our energy into showing the girls how much we love them.
I'm not trying to criticize anyone here...I think everyone from all the different forums and whatnot got along just fine throughout AX, from what I saw. But I present this idea as food for thought...what if, instead of wearing t-shirts at AX promoting the forums we post on, people had worn t-shirts of their favorite members like the Japanese fans do? Now, obviously there were fans who did this for the concert and the panel...but I'm talking about the rest of the convention, when some of us had the opportunity to talk to non-fans (or even members of the press or the people who will decide if Momusu comes to the West again - staff from JapanFiles, UFA, etc). I think it would have been even better if, instead of saying "oh, my t-shirt? it's for the forum I go to, it's awesome, you should check it out", people could have said "oh, my t-shirt? it's for my favorite member of Morning Musume, she's awesome, I wanted to show my support". I'm sure this all sounds a little cheesy...but I think coming off as an enthusiastic fan is more important than trying to get more people to look at your website. If interest in the group is there, people will find places to talk about them. I don't think any English-language H!P-centric forums are struggling for members right now. :P
Anyway, enough preaching. I'll make my plea short and say that attending AX (and Hello!Party) has shown me how valuable a unified community is in creating an enjoyable experience for everyone...and for showing the girls that we love them just as much as any other fanbase and, hence, showing UFA that we are just as valid - and as much of a cashcow - as any other fanbase. I think it would do everyone a lot of good to at least consider the option of some kind of primary hub for the members of all the different forums and communities and so on to get together...even if it's only to plan for special events (such as, say...Momusu's potential next appearance in the US? :P). Because I think we could make an even bigger impact on whoever UFA may decide to bring over next (and, of course, on UFA itself) if we can organize ourselves as one single entity working together for a common cause instead of multiple entities all trying to do the same thing separately. (hopefully that all made sense, I'm obviously still organizing my thoughts on this :P)
Regardless of what I just said, I am truly grateful to everyone in the H!P community for doing such a great job of showing their support to the girls during their time in LA. I went into AX expecting great things, and somehow the events that transpired during my time there managed to exceed my expectations and a lot more. I think both Morning Musume and UFA now know full well just how powerful of a force we are in the world of H!P fans, and I would be shocked if we don't see another H!P group on US soil within the next few years. The only thing I would like to ask is that everyone who is able to buy things from HelloStore USA (whenever it opens :P) please do so, as that's going to be the best resource we have to show UFA that we want things like Momusu's appearance at AX to keep happening in the future.
And to JapanFiles and UFA (whether they end up reading this or not :P)...thank you so, so much for taking the time out of Morning Musume's busy schedule to fly them over here for our sake, and allowing us the opportunity to spend some time with them at Anime Expo. I really can't say enough to express my gratitude, and I'm sure other fans feel the same way. I earnestly look forward to (hopefully) being able to see other H!P acts here again.
- cfb
**Most people who know me are aware that I've been a big fan of Fujimoto Miki for a while now (a little over a year, actually). And as I'm sure most of you know, she announced her marriage to Shouji Tomoharu a few months ago, which made it tough for me to continue on as a fan of hers (it's extremely difficult to be a wota when the girl you like is no longer an idol D:). It is fitting, then, that while Miki was getting married (literally...Miki's wedding and the Momusu concert occurred on the same day O.O), I was at Anime Expo enjoying the greatest week of my life and having my heart stolen by Morning Musume. And to be honest...even though I went into AX with no intention of giving up the Miki love, I'm glad it happened that way because it allowed me to move on from her quickly and painlessly. (sorry to all my Mikitty fan friends! x.x) Through this, I've discovered that the world is a much cheerier place for a wota when the girl(s) you're into are actually still idols. XD
...also, some of you may have noticed that I have yet to post a picture of my signed Momusu poster on here. I'll be posting it eventually, I just want to get it framed first. Don't panic, people, it'll happen in due time! :P
Momusu at AX! (Part 5)
Alright, pretty sure this is the second to last AX entry for me. Regular readers of my blog should be familiar with this...it's the swag post! :P
First up...things I bought from the H!P booth in the exhibition hall.
- In the upper left is what H!P's booth was calling the "Morning Musume Visual Book", or something to that effect. I'm pretty sure it's actually the Platinum 9 Disco tour pamphlet, and there are some awesome pictures of the girls in this one. :)
- Hangry & Angry - Kill Me Kiss Mini-Album
- Platinum 9 Disco Wristband
- "Morning Musume In USA" t-shirt (this was sadly the only Momusu t-shirt they had at the booth...bad planning on their part, as I know lots of people - myself included - would have bought more if they had them O.o)
- 2 Morning Musume photo sets
The two pictures below are the contents of what was called the "Morning Musume Happy Set". For $60, you got 5 randomly selected items (I think they were mostly tour pamphlets and the like, although I heard you could get a towel if you were lucky), 2 randomly selected photo sets, and a bag to hold it all.
- Everyone got the same bag, which was from Momusu's 2008 Autumn concert tour, Resonant Live. It's honestly a little flimsy, but cool nonetheless.
- I got the following pamphlets:
And this is stuff I got from other H!P fans over the course of the week.
- There was a guy selling DVDs at Hello!Party, and that's where I got all of these:
- Kamei Eri Hatachi photobook (this is the one those Japanese fans were selling an In-n-Out on Sunset Blvd XD)
Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself. My only regret is not grabbing some of the other DVDs the guy at Hello!Party was selling (he had Vol 3 of Futarigoto and the MiniMoni movie, amongst other oddities XD).
Probably going to do one more post with some final thoughts and a summary of what I gained from my time in LA. お楽しみに！
First up...things I bought from the H!P booth in the exhibition hall.
- In the upper left is what H!P's booth was calling the "Morning Musume Visual Book", or something to that effect. I'm pretty sure it's actually the Platinum 9 Disco tour pamphlet, and there are some awesome pictures of the girls in this one. :)
- Hangry & Angry - Kill Me Kiss Mini-Album
- Platinum 9 Disco Wristband
- "Morning Musume In USA" t-shirt (this was sadly the only Momusu t-shirt they had at the booth...bad planning on their part, as I know lots of people - myself included - would have bought more if they had them O.o)
- 2 Morning Musume photo sets
The two pictures below are the contents of what was called the "Morning Musume Happy Set". For $60, you got 5 randomly selected items (I think they were mostly tour pamphlets and the like, although I heard you could get a towel if you were lucky), 2 randomly selected photo sets, and a bag to hold it all.
- Everyone got the same bag, which was from Momusu's 2008 Autumn concert tour, Resonant Live. It's honestly a little flimsy, but cool nonetheless.
- I got the following pamphlets:
- H!P DVD Magazine Vol 11 Making Photo Book
- H!P DVD Magazine Vol 4 Making Photo Book
- Morning Musume First Concert Concert Hello! Tour Pamphlet
- Hello!Project 2007 Summer 10th Anniversary Dai Kanshasai ~Hello!Project Natsu Matsuri!~ Tour Pamphlet
- Hello!Project Wonderful Hearts 2006 Winter Tour Pamphlet
And this is stuff I got from other H!P fans over the course of the week.
- There was a guy selling DVDs at Hello!Party, and that's where I got all of these:
- Making of Sugao no 17sai
- Hello! Project 2005 Natsu no Kayou Show -'05 Selection! Collection!- Concert DVD
- Tokkaekko (HILARIOUS movie, I was so excited when he actually had it XD)
- Morning Musume Edokko Chusingura Musical
- HELP!! Acchii Chikyuu wa Samasunda Musical
- Kamei Eri Hatachi photobook (this is the one those Japanese fans were selling an In-n-Out on Sunset Blvd XD)
Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself. My only regret is not grabbing some of the other DVDs the guy at Hello!Party was selling (he had Vol 3 of Futarigoto and the MiniMoni movie, amongst other oddities XD).
Probably going to do one more post with some final thoughts and a summary of what I gained from my time in LA. お楽しみに！
Momusu at AX! (Part 4)
Even more continuation of the greatest weekend ever. Sorry for any lack of details or people I leave out...it's all kind of a blur, especially the first couple days.
Saturday
Alright, so...on Friday at the concert, somehow I managed to lose my autograph voucher. D: I was keeping it in my badge holder, so I'm sure it fell out while I was jumping and so forth. The night before, at Hello!Party, maiZe actually got ahold of an extra voucher to give to me, but I was already kind of on the fence between attending the Tsunku panel or the second autograph session, so I denied the voucher, claiming that fate had decided I was going to the Tsunku panel or something. Well...I woke up Saturday morning and realized the horrible mistake I had made. I've always been the type who thought that just buying autographs was stupid, and if you're going to have an autograph you should get it in person...and here I was blocking myself from what would likely be the only opportunity I would ever have to do this with FREAKING MORNING MUSUME!!! D: So when I got to the convention center around 8:15AM, I made a mad dash for the autograph session line in hopes that OpsMonkey still had the extra ticket (maiZe ended up just giving it to him, saying he should give it to someone who doesn't have one)...but he had already given it away. T-T So I was feeling pretty bummed about essentially shooting myself in the foot, obviously.
Anyway, at that point I decided to take my seat in the Tsunku panel, which actually made me feel a little better...the crowd wasn't nearly as large as at the Momusu panel, but everyone seemed much more serious and focused as they waited. I could tell this was going to be a good Q&A session...and it most certainly was. All the questions were good, the answers even better, and everyone was very professional, for the most part...it was really satisfying to see The Man Himself getting the respect he deserved. :P Once it finished, I actually felt that missing the autograph opportunity was pretty well worth it.
There were plans for a wotachat/IW photo to be taken around noon on Saturday, and at this point it was about 10:15, so I went and sat down in the planned meeting spot until everyone started showing up...but, of course, as I sat and looked over the purchases I had made in the last day or so (some video games, actually...I got all the H!P stuff I wanted on Thursday :P), the regret of missing my chance for autographs snuck back up on me. After a bit, some wotachatters started showing up for the picture...and as we were waiting for everyone else to arrive, I started babbling about how I wished I could have gotten autographs. When Amy heard this, she told me she had a ticket for the guaranteed autograph session that afternoon that she could give me. : O So I had a little conniption fit (ask any of the people I've mentioned in these entries...they can confirm, I was kind of flipping out XD), called my roommate and begged him to bring me the poster I bought but left in the hotel room (which he did, thank you roomie <3), participated in the wotachat picture, and made my way to the autograph session.
They were holding the session in the back of the exhibition hall, so Amy, CK, Paul and I all made our way to where the line was forming. They weren't allowing people to line up past a certain point, so we had to kind of camp out at a table nearby until enough space cleared up at the end of the line for us to jump in...then the nerve-wracking process of waiting in line began. I had a few people come up to me and ask what we were all in line for, and I just kind of flashed my voucher and said "Morning Musume autographs". One of them was this girl and her dad, and after I answered them, they continued walking and I heard the dad ask "You wanna get an autograph?", obviously trying to do something nice for her. CK and I just kind of looked at each other and quietly said "Yeah, good luck with that". XD
Anyway, the line actually moved fairly quickly, and before I knew it I was in the curtained-off area with Morning Musume sitting right there in front of my eyes. O.O There was a line of 5 or 6 people between myself and the table, and JunJun (who was at the end) actually didn't have anyone in front of her for a little while when I walked in. She was practically looking right at me, and I could have waved at her, but I wimped out. T-T (nervousness will do that to you, haha) Also, Sayu was next to her (I think), and she seemed to be zoning out a little bit...I'm sure she was tired. D:
Anyway, Reina was first up when I got to the table. I greeted her with a simple 'konnichiwa', to which she responded with the same and a quick smile, then proceeded to write out her very long-winded and detailed (and cute :3) autograph...I remember it being kind of awkward as I waited patiently for her to complete her masterpiece...it took so long. XD When she finished, I said a simple 'arigatou gozaimasu', which she returned before passing the poster along.
Then came LinLin. Now, I have to make a quick deviation here and say that LinLin COMPLETELY won me over throughout the course of AX. When maiZe, Joh and I were lucky enough to catch Momusu walking in for opening ceremonies on Thursday, LinLin seemed to be the only member who didn't look totally bewildered (in fact, she looked really happy to be there, latched onto Ai-chan's arm just chatting away <3). And the fact that she spoke English throughout the Q&A panel and a lot of the concert really impressed me. Plus she's such a goofball, and she was all smiles whenever I saw her at the events. <3 As such, sometime during the week I decided that I would let her know she was my favorite if I made it to an autograph session. ANYWAY, I greeted LinLin with a plain 'konnichiwa' (just like Reina, and every other member at the session :P), which she repeated back. As she was signing I said a quick 'daisuki desu' , and she looked up and said "arigatou!" to me with a quick smile before going back to finish her autograph ('daisuki desu' obviously doesn't have exactly the same meaning as "you're my favorite", but I didn't want to say that so bluntly with the other members there, even if they may be used to it - LinLin's definitely at the top of my list, but I like all the other members too much to just blatantly say "yeah, I like her more than you" :P). Once she finished, I said a quick 'arigatou gozaimasu' and received the same from her, then she passed to the next member.
After LinLin was Ai. A quick observation...while all the members were wearing red sparkly dresses (they looked like concert outfits to me), Ai was also wearing this cute little jacket. I think it was kind of a thin windbreaker, leopard-print...and it had little black cat ears on the hood, which she had pulled over her head. It was adorable! XD (EDIT: pic here ...okay, so maybe it's not exactly cat ears...and actually, it turns out that all the members were wearing that outfit...oh for pete's sake, Morning Musume was RIGHT THERE, I'm lucky to remember anything at all XD) Anyway, I remember that she was fairly straight-faced throughout the whole thing, except for a quick smile during the exchange of 'konnichiwa' and 'arigatou gozaimasu'.
I greeted Risa in the same manner as LinLin, Reina, and Ai, and thanked her the same as well...but when Risa was done signing her autograph, the next girl was still finishing up hers. There was kind of this awkward moment as Risa and I had to wait, then she said a quick something about my Japanese...either that it was good (my accent isn't bad, I suppose...so it's possible XD), or just acknowledging the fact that I was using Japanese, I don't exactly remember...regardless, I managed to stutter a quick "a-arigatou" in response as I made my way to the next member. :P
Now Aika REALLY impressed me here. I've never been a huge fan of hers (before this, I always kind of deviated between thinking she's good and only okay), but she had so much energy and spunk here that I couldn't help but be charmed by her. She gave me a big smile when she said 'konnichiwa' back, and a very enthusiastic 'arigatou gozaimasu!' when I thanked her after she finished. What a cutie pie. :)
I don't remember much of anything about Eri, other than the fact that I said 'konnichiwa' and 'arigatou gozaimasu' to her and she smiled and said each back, just like with all the other girls. D:
I also can't remember exactly which order Koharu and Sayumi were in...I believe I saw Sayu next to JunJun when I first walked in, and JunJun was definitely last in line, so we'll say Koha was first.
Honestly, Koharu was kind of short with me. D: Somehow I hesitated and didn't greet her when she received the poster, and she didn't really say anything either...just quickly signed. I did remember to say 'arigatou gozaimasu' when she finished though, and I'm fairly certain she said that as well before passing the poster on.
When I got to Sayu, she actually said "hiiii" to me before I had the chance to say anything, so I just skipped the Japanese and said "hiii" back. She was quick when she finished as well, and ended up saying "thank youuu" to me before I could thank her, so I just said "thank youu" back as she passed the poster on. XD I have to note that her English was adorable here. <3
And last but not least, JunJun...who I sadly remember absolutely nothing about. D: I know I greeted her the same as everyone else, and I'm sure she was perfectly cheery...but that's as much as I can muster. I feel bad neglecting one of the pandas like that. D:
After the autograph session finished, I wandered out into the exhibition hall (holding my poster like it was more precious than my life...which, by the way, it is :P), where they had a bunch of tables set up in a corner with people just kind of resting and waiting around and so on. I'm sure a lot of them just got their autographs and were waiting for the session to finish so they could see the girls leave, but I just waited for CK and Paul Thomas so we could make our way out of the exhibition hall to meet up with Amy and Kirarin*Snow, who got their autographs shortly before we did. There was probably a good hour of time here spent standing and chatting in the South Hall lobby as we waited for people to finish up what they were doing and discussed dinner plans. I got to meet Mozenator during this, which was cool...he seemed like a really nice guy. We ended up with a group consisting of CK, Kirarin*Snow, Amy, Rocky, Joh, maiZe, Paul Thomas, Mozenator and myself, I believe. This was also when Amy and Rocky made their final leave, which was sad. D: Shortly after the Nugget Twins left, so did K and Mozenator (D:)...then CK, Joh, maiZe and I wandered off to a quieter area of the con to sit down and talk. Shortly after that, Joh and maiZe had to leave (D:)...so CK and I met up with OpsMonkey to wait for Paul Thomas (who had to leave for his final meeting with the folks at JapanFiles), and we sat and talked for a while as well. Once Paul finished taking care of his business, we made our way to Lawry's Carvory (recommended by CK - you rock dude), where I had the best sandwich I've ever eaten, not even joking (prime rib sandwich w/au jus and chips...$15, but worth every penny).
After dinner, we all headed to the Westin Bonaventure to hang out with Paul and some of his friends at a bar over there, which was hilarious...although CK left after a few minutes to take care of some things. Ops and I ended up checking out the 'official AX party', which was TERRIBLE (dark room, strobe lights, people with lots of glowsticks and no dance skills, crappy house music, and a very loud and annoying DJ), which took up no more than 30 seconds of our time, then we headed back to the bar for some more good times. A little while after that, Ops and I headed back to his hotel so I could leech off his internet for one last night, then at about 3:30AM (x.x) I walked back to my hotel and crashed for the night.
Still more AX post(s) to come...
Saturday
Alright, so...on Friday at the concert, somehow I managed to lose my autograph voucher. D: I was keeping it in my badge holder, so I'm sure it fell out while I was jumping and so forth. The night before, at Hello!Party, maiZe actually got ahold of an extra voucher to give to me, but I was already kind of on the fence between attending the Tsunku panel or the second autograph session, so I denied the voucher, claiming that fate had decided I was going to the Tsunku panel or something. Well...I woke up Saturday morning and realized the horrible mistake I had made. I've always been the type who thought that just buying autographs was stupid, and if you're going to have an autograph you should get it in person...and here I was blocking myself from what would likely be the only opportunity I would ever have to do this with FREAKING MORNING MUSUME!!! D: So when I got to the convention center around 8:15AM, I made a mad dash for the autograph session line in hopes that OpsMonkey still had the extra ticket (maiZe ended up just giving it to him, saying he should give it to someone who doesn't have one)...but he had already given it away. T-T So I was feeling pretty bummed about essentially shooting myself in the foot, obviously.
Anyway, at that point I decided to take my seat in the Tsunku panel, which actually made me feel a little better...the crowd wasn't nearly as large as at the Momusu panel, but everyone seemed much more serious and focused as they waited. I could tell this was going to be a good Q&A session...and it most certainly was. All the questions were good, the answers even better, and everyone was very professional, for the most part...it was really satisfying to see The Man Himself getting the respect he deserved. :P Once it finished, I actually felt that missing the autograph opportunity was pretty well worth it.
There were plans for a wotachat/IW photo to be taken around noon on Saturday, and at this point it was about 10:15, so I went and sat down in the planned meeting spot until everyone started showing up...but, of course, as I sat and looked over the purchases I had made in the last day or so (some video games, actually...I got all the H!P stuff I wanted on Thursday :P), the regret of missing my chance for autographs snuck back up on me. After a bit, some wotachatters started showing up for the picture...and as we were waiting for everyone else to arrive, I started babbling about how I wished I could have gotten autographs. When Amy heard this, she told me she had a ticket for the guaranteed autograph session that afternoon that she could give me. : O So I had a little conniption fit (ask any of the people I've mentioned in these entries...they can confirm, I was kind of flipping out XD), called my roommate and begged him to bring me the poster I bought but left in the hotel room (which he did, thank you roomie <3), participated in the wotachat picture, and made my way to the autograph session.
They were holding the session in the back of the exhibition hall, so Amy, CK, Paul and I all made our way to where the line was forming. They weren't allowing people to line up past a certain point, so we had to kind of camp out at a table nearby until enough space cleared up at the end of the line for us to jump in...then the nerve-wracking process of waiting in line began. I had a few people come up to me and ask what we were all in line for, and I just kind of flashed my voucher and said "Morning Musume autographs". One of them was this girl and her dad, and after I answered them, they continued walking and I heard the dad ask "You wanna get an autograph?", obviously trying to do something nice for her. CK and I just kind of looked at each other and quietly said "Yeah, good luck with that". XD
Anyway, the line actually moved fairly quickly, and before I knew it I was in the curtained-off area with Morning Musume sitting right there in front of my eyes. O.O There was a line of 5 or 6 people between myself and the table, and JunJun (who was at the end) actually didn't have anyone in front of her for a little while when I walked in. She was practically looking right at me, and I could have waved at her, but I wimped out. T-T (nervousness will do that to you, haha) Also, Sayu was next to her (I think), and she seemed to be zoning out a little bit...I'm sure she was tired. D:
Anyway, Reina was first up when I got to the table. I greeted her with a simple 'konnichiwa', to which she responded with the same and a quick smile, then proceeded to write out her very long-winded and detailed (and cute :3) autograph...I remember it being kind of awkward as I waited patiently for her to complete her masterpiece...it took so long. XD When she finished, I said a simple 'arigatou gozaimasu', which she returned before passing the poster along.
Then came LinLin. Now, I have to make a quick deviation here and say that LinLin COMPLETELY won me over throughout the course of AX. When maiZe, Joh and I were lucky enough to catch Momusu walking in for opening ceremonies on Thursday, LinLin seemed to be the only member who didn't look totally bewildered (in fact, she looked really happy to be there, latched onto Ai-chan's arm just chatting away <3). And the fact that she spoke English throughout the Q&A panel and a lot of the concert really impressed me. Plus she's such a goofball, and she was all smiles whenever I saw her at the events. <3 As such, sometime during the week I decided that I would let her know she was my favorite if I made it to an autograph session. ANYWAY, I greeted LinLin with a plain 'konnichiwa' (just like Reina, and every other member at the session :P), which she repeated back. As she was signing I said a quick 'daisuki desu' , and she looked up and said "arigatou!" to me with a quick smile before going back to finish her autograph ('daisuki desu' obviously doesn't have exactly the same meaning as "you're my favorite", but I didn't want to say that so bluntly with the other members there, even if they may be used to it - LinLin's definitely at the top of my list, but I like all the other members too much to just blatantly say "yeah, I like her more than you" :P). Once she finished, I said a quick 'arigatou gozaimasu' and received the same from her, then she passed to the next member.
After LinLin was Ai. A quick observation...while all the members were wearing red sparkly dresses (they looked like concert outfits to me), Ai was also wearing this cute little jacket. I think it was kind of a thin windbreaker, leopard-print...and it had little black cat ears on the hood, which she had pulled over her head. It was adorable! XD (EDIT: pic here ...okay, so maybe it's not exactly cat ears...and actually, it turns out that all the members were wearing that outfit...oh for pete's sake, Morning Musume was RIGHT THERE, I'm lucky to remember anything at all XD) Anyway, I remember that she was fairly straight-faced throughout the whole thing, except for a quick smile during the exchange of 'konnichiwa' and 'arigatou gozaimasu'.
I greeted Risa in the same manner as LinLin, Reina, and Ai, and thanked her the same as well...but when Risa was done signing her autograph, the next girl was still finishing up hers. There was kind of this awkward moment as Risa and I had to wait, then she said a quick something about my Japanese...either that it was good (my accent isn't bad, I suppose...so it's possible XD), or just acknowledging the fact that I was using Japanese, I don't exactly remember...regardless, I managed to stutter a quick "a-arigatou" in response as I made my way to the next member. :P
Now Aika REALLY impressed me here. I've never been a huge fan of hers (before this, I always kind of deviated between thinking she's good and only okay), but she had so much energy and spunk here that I couldn't help but be charmed by her. She gave me a big smile when she said 'konnichiwa' back, and a very enthusiastic 'arigatou gozaimasu!' when I thanked her after she finished. What a cutie pie. :)
I don't remember much of anything about Eri, other than the fact that I said 'konnichiwa' and 'arigatou gozaimasu' to her and she smiled and said each back, just like with all the other girls. D:
I also can't remember exactly which order Koharu and Sayumi were in...I believe I saw Sayu next to JunJun when I first walked in, and JunJun was definitely last in line, so we'll say Koha was first.
Honestly, Koharu was kind of short with me. D: Somehow I hesitated and didn't greet her when she received the poster, and she didn't really say anything either...just quickly signed. I did remember to say 'arigatou gozaimasu' when she finished though, and I'm fairly certain she said that as well before passing the poster on.
When I got to Sayu, she actually said "hiiii" to me before I had the chance to say anything, so I just skipped the Japanese and said "hiii" back. She was quick when she finished as well, and ended up saying "thank youuu" to me before I could thank her, so I just said "thank youu" back as she passed the poster on. XD I have to note that her English was adorable here. <3
And last but not least, JunJun...who I sadly remember absolutely nothing about. D: I know I greeted her the same as everyone else, and I'm sure she was perfectly cheery...but that's as much as I can muster. I feel bad neglecting one of the pandas like that. D:
After the autograph session finished, I wandered out into the exhibition hall (holding my poster like it was more precious than my life...which, by the way, it is :P), where they had a bunch of tables set up in a corner with people just kind of resting and waiting around and so on. I'm sure a lot of them just got their autographs and were waiting for the session to finish so they could see the girls leave, but I just waited for CK and Paul Thomas so we could make our way out of the exhibition hall to meet up with Amy and Kirarin*Snow, who got their autographs shortly before we did. There was probably a good hour of time here spent standing and chatting in the South Hall lobby as we waited for people to finish up what they were doing and discussed dinner plans. I got to meet Mozenator during this, which was cool...he seemed like a really nice guy. We ended up with a group consisting of CK, Kirarin*Snow, Amy, Rocky, Joh, maiZe, Paul Thomas, Mozenator and myself, I believe. This was also when Amy and Rocky made their final leave, which was sad. D: Shortly after the Nugget Twins left, so did K and Mozenator (D:)...then CK, Joh, maiZe and I wandered off to a quieter area of the con to sit down and talk. Shortly after that, Joh and maiZe had to leave (D:)...so CK and I met up with OpsMonkey to wait for Paul Thomas (who had to leave for his final meeting with the folks at JapanFiles), and we sat and talked for a while as well. Once Paul finished taking care of his business, we made our way to Lawry's Carvory (recommended by CK - you rock dude), where I had the best sandwich I've ever eaten, not even joking (prime rib sandwich w/au jus and chips...$15, but worth every penny).
After dinner, we all headed to the Westin Bonaventure to hang out with Paul and some of his friends at a bar over there, which was hilarious...although CK left after a few minutes to take care of some things. Ops and I ended up checking out the 'official AX party', which was TERRIBLE (dark room, strobe lights, people with lots of glowsticks and no dance skills, crappy house music, and a very loud and annoying DJ), which took up no more than 30 seconds of our time, then we headed back to the bar for some more good times. A little while after that, Ops and I headed back to his hotel so I could leech off his internet for one last night, then at about 3:30AM (x.x) I walked back to my hotel and crashed for the night.
Still more AX post(s) to come...
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Momusu at AX! (Part 3)
More continuation of the greatest weekend ever. Sorry for any lack of details or people I leave out...it's all kind of a blur, especially the first couple days.
Friday
I woke up fairly early and got to the convention center around 9:30 to meet up with Amy and Rocky (the nugget twins :3)...although I actually ended up meeting up with CK for a little while before they showed up. We sat and chatted in the food court in the West Hall lobby until around 10 or so, at which point he ran off to the exhibition hall to meet someone. Shortly after that, Amy and Rocky arrived, and after they got through badge pickup we ran into Joh and maiZe, shortly followed by Ops (who I hated at the time, since he got to go to the GoH breakfast...bastard) and Paul. After that, I went to the tabletop gaming room to meet up with some fellow wotachatters and talked for a while, then went with Joh to drop our bags off at bag check-in and headed to the concert.
I actually ended up with really good seats for the concert (I would hope so, considering how long my roommates and I waited in line on Wednesday to get our tickets :P)...5 rows back on the right side of the stage, with a perfect view of the girls. :D Anyway, I'll go ahead and write a quick snippet about each song/MC.
Mikan - This has become my favorite Momusu song, no doubt. So great live, and a perfect opener for the show. I get pumped whenever I hear it now.
3,2,1 BREAKIN' OUT - I loved this song from the first time I heard it, and I've been listening to it a LOT since Shouganai was released. Finally getting to hear it live was so unbelievably exciting, I could barely contain myself. XD (then again, the whole concert was like that :P)
MC - I loved all the adorable engrish (and the adorable Japanese, actually :P). I want to beam about all of their MCs individually, but it would just be me repeating what they said and being like "awwwwwwwwwww : 3". So I'll just say that every girl was super cute, JunJun & LinLin's English was VERY impressive ("no borders to music"? hot damn JunJun, that's some deep stuff), and Ai-chan sounds WAY hot speaking English, even if it's totally broken. XD
Shouganai Yume Oibito - For some reason this song registered in my head as Naichau Kamo when they performed it. O.o Sometimes I get a little too caught up in the music, I guess? I don't know, I'm a terrible fan or something :P
HOW DO YOU LIKE JAPAN? - I flipped when this song started...I would NEVER have expected them to perform it and I love this song, so I was ecstatic. The song was practically written for concerts, with all the "jump! jump! come on!" stuff, and it's so high-energy.
Resonant Blue - I've always been kind of neutral on this song. Even so, it was awesome when the bridge came along and everyone cheered for the dance...cause that dance kicks ass. :D
MC - All their little "yayyyyyyy"s were so cute. XD
Medley - Definitely my favorite part of the concert. Kind of wishing people had kept quiet during I WISH (it's a quiet song people, follow suit! :P), but I couldn't help getting a little teary-eyed when the pace picked up (even listening to the recording now... T-T). Words cannot even begin to describe how overjoyed I was when they performed Happy Summer Wedding, my eyes teared up even more when this song started. T____T Koi no Dance Site is another of my favorites, and it was so much fun doing the dance moves, even if I don't know them perfectly. XD Souda! We're Alive made me want to cry like a little girl, especially when the chorus came along...seriously one of the most uplifting, and unexpected, choruses in all of H!P. T-T I have a friend who's WAY too into The*Peace, so I'm honestly a little tired of it...but still, it was a lot of fun to do the peace signs and so forth with everyone. XD And it made me so happy when they did the monologue live, even if it wasn't Rika. :D Renai Revolution 21 is another song that isn't a particular favorite of mine, so I wasn't all excited compared to the rest of the concert when they performed it...although it was still fun to try and do the dance moves (and fail :P).
MC - I want to take this time to say that Gaki is ADORABLE during MCs. Always. Also, I had no idea what Eri was saying here for the most part...and I don't think anyone else did either, haha. XD
Love Machine - This song is so awesome live, mainly because of the "fu fu fu" and "woo woo" and whatnot, since everybody knows those and most of the major dance moves. Audience participation ftw :D
Sono Bamen de Bibiccha Ikenai Jan! - I've always really liked this song (more than Resonant Blue, by a long shot :P), so of course I was pumped when they performed it. :P
Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou? - Really wish people would have kept quiet during this one, but aside from that it was beautiful. I was so close to bawwwwing when LinLin sang her solo line. T-T
Myspace OPV Contest Winners Announcement - Seriously wish they had just announced this some other time and given us more concert. D: Even so, Sayu's little slip-up during the intro MC was adorable...and seeing Yossui right there in front of me was SO epic, more near-bawwwing when she walked out on stage. I stopped watching the OPVs about halfway through and just looked at Momusu on stage...their reactions were so cute. XD
3,2,1 BREAKIN' OUT Encore - Still love this song, although it was a little hard to muster up the energy to shake my glowsticks and whatnot after resting throughout the announcement of the OPV Contest winner. :P
And thus the concert ended. At this point, a good chunk of the audience started to chant for an encore, but it didn't happen. I even heard the girls wanted to do an encore, but UFA/AX/somebody wouldn't let them. :(
After that, we had made plans for a bunch of wotachatters to go to Taco Bell (yes, Taco Bell...we're cool like that :P), but the place I had Google Map'd as being a Taco Bell consisted of a gas station with a Subway in it and a strip mall with most of the shops for lease. O.o So we went to the food court in the Sheraton instead. XD After that, it was time for Hello!Party...I showed up about 45 minutes early to help out, and I ended up running the sound booth for all of the earlier stuff (guest performances, games). There was a great turnout, and it looked like everyone was having a really good time (thanks Bryan and Jen! :D). After the wotagei and karaoke came along, I spent most of the night just kind of wandering around hanging out with random people. For the last hour or so, I chilled with Joh and maiZe at the welcome/nametag booth. Hello!Party really made it clear to me that this community has needed a way to get together so, so badly...let's hope this isn't the only time. :)
Sometime around 12:30AM, I wandered back up to my hotel room and passed out for the night. :P
Saturday is also on its way. 8D
Friday
I woke up fairly early and got to the convention center around 9:30 to meet up with Amy and Rocky (the nugget twins :3)...although I actually ended up meeting up with CK for a little while before they showed up. We sat and chatted in the food court in the West Hall lobby until around 10 or so, at which point he ran off to the exhibition hall to meet someone. Shortly after that, Amy and Rocky arrived, and after they got through badge pickup we ran into Joh and maiZe, shortly followed by Ops (who I hated at the time, since he got to go to the GoH breakfast...bastard) and Paul. After that, I went to the tabletop gaming room to meet up with some fellow wotachatters and talked for a while, then went with Joh to drop our bags off at bag check-in and headed to the concert.
I actually ended up with really good seats for the concert (I would hope so, considering how long my roommates and I waited in line on Wednesday to get our tickets :P)...5 rows back on the right side of the stage, with a perfect view of the girls. :D Anyway, I'll go ahead and write a quick snippet about each song/MC.
Mikan - This has become my favorite Momusu song, no doubt. So great live, and a perfect opener for the show. I get pumped whenever I hear it now.
3,2,1 BREAKIN' OUT - I loved this song from the first time I heard it, and I've been listening to it a LOT since Shouganai was released. Finally getting to hear it live was so unbelievably exciting, I could barely contain myself. XD (then again, the whole concert was like that :P)
MC - I loved all the adorable engrish (and the adorable Japanese, actually :P). I want to beam about all of their MCs individually, but it would just be me repeating what they said and being like "awwwwwwwwwww : 3". So I'll just say that every girl was super cute, JunJun & LinLin's English was VERY impressive ("no borders to music"? hot damn JunJun, that's some deep stuff), and Ai-chan sounds WAY hot speaking English, even if it's totally broken. XD
Shouganai Yume Oibito - For some reason this song registered in my head as Naichau Kamo when they performed it. O.o Sometimes I get a little too caught up in the music, I guess? I don't know, I'm a terrible fan or something :P
HOW DO YOU LIKE JAPAN? - I flipped when this song started...I would NEVER have expected them to perform it and I love this song, so I was ecstatic. The song was practically written for concerts, with all the "jump! jump! come on!" stuff, and it's so high-energy.
Resonant Blue - I've always been kind of neutral on this song. Even so, it was awesome when the bridge came along and everyone cheered for the dance...cause that dance kicks ass. :D
MC - All their little "yayyyyyyy"s were so cute. XD
Medley - Definitely my favorite part of the concert. Kind of wishing people had kept quiet during I WISH (it's a quiet song people, follow suit! :P), but I couldn't help getting a little teary-eyed when the pace picked up (even listening to the recording now... T-T). Words cannot even begin to describe how overjoyed I was when they performed Happy Summer Wedding, my eyes teared up even more when this song started. T____T Koi no Dance Site is another of my favorites, and it was so much fun doing the dance moves, even if I don't know them perfectly. XD Souda! We're Alive made me want to cry like a little girl, especially when the chorus came along...seriously one of the most uplifting, and unexpected, choruses in all of H!P. T-T I have a friend who's WAY too into The*Peace, so I'm honestly a little tired of it...but still, it was a lot of fun to do the peace signs and so forth with everyone. XD And it made me so happy when they did the monologue live, even if it wasn't Rika. :D Renai Revolution 21 is another song that isn't a particular favorite of mine, so I wasn't all excited compared to the rest of the concert when they performed it...although it was still fun to try and do the dance moves (and fail :P).
MC - I want to take this time to say that Gaki is ADORABLE during MCs. Always. Also, I had no idea what Eri was saying here for the most part...and I don't think anyone else did either, haha. XD
Love Machine - This song is so awesome live, mainly because of the "fu fu fu" and "woo woo" and whatnot, since everybody knows those and most of the major dance moves. Audience participation ftw :D
Sono Bamen de Bibiccha Ikenai Jan! - I've always really liked this song (more than Resonant Blue, by a long shot :P), so of course I was pumped when they performed it. :P
Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou? - Really wish people would have kept quiet during this one, but aside from that it was beautiful. I was so close to bawwwwing when LinLin sang her solo line. T-T
Myspace OPV Contest Winners Announcement - Seriously wish they had just announced this some other time and given us more concert. D: Even so, Sayu's little slip-up during the intro MC was adorable...and seeing Yossui right there in front of me was SO epic, more near-bawwwing when she walked out on stage. I stopped watching the OPVs about halfway through and just looked at Momusu on stage...their reactions were so cute. XD
3,2,1 BREAKIN' OUT Encore - Still love this song, although it was a little hard to muster up the energy to shake my glowsticks and whatnot after resting throughout the announcement of the OPV Contest winner. :P
And thus the concert ended. At this point, a good chunk of the audience started to chant for an encore, but it didn't happen. I even heard the girls wanted to do an encore, but UFA/AX/somebody wouldn't let them. :(
After that, we had made plans for a bunch of wotachatters to go to Taco Bell (yes, Taco Bell...we're cool like that :P), but the place I had Google Map'd as being a Taco Bell consisted of a gas station with a Subway in it and a strip mall with most of the shops for lease. O.o So we went to the food court in the Sheraton instead. XD After that, it was time for Hello!Party...I showed up about 45 minutes early to help out, and I ended up running the sound booth for all of the earlier stuff (guest performances, games). There was a great turnout, and it looked like everyone was having a really good time (thanks Bryan and Jen! :D). After the wotagei and karaoke came along, I spent most of the night just kind of wandering around hanging out with random people. For the last hour or so, I chilled with Joh and maiZe at the welcome/nametag booth. Hello!Party really made it clear to me that this community has needed a way to get together so, so badly...let's hope this isn't the only time. :)
Sometime around 12:30AM, I wandered back up to my hotel room and passed out for the night. :P
Saturday is also on its way. 8D
Momusu at AX! (Part 2)
Continuation of the greatest weekend ever. Sorry for any lack of details or people I leave out, it's all kind of a blur, especially the first couple days.
Thursday
Met up with some people early on (I believe Johpan, maiZe, Paul Thomas and OpsMonkey). Paul left to get in the line for the exhibition hall (which paid off for him, he got a guaranteed autograph ticket for both Momusu and Hangry :D) and Ops went...somewhere, I think...I don't remember, haha. Either way, I ended up waiting with Joh and maiZe to go to the opening ceremonies...and we were lucky enough to see Momusu walk into the building! maiZe will write up her part of the story at some point I'm sure (it's pretty funny :P), but it was basically just a moment of pure bewilderment for me as Morning Musume walked right by, only 15 or 20 feet away from me. I started to think "I should grab my phone and take a picture!" but my mind just halted and I hesitated, so no pics from me...but wow, that was awesome. XD
After that, it was the opening ceremonies...I ended up sitting by myself because all those IW losers I was hanging around with had press passes and sat in the press section...but seeing Morning Musume up on stage at the ceremonies was still something I just couldn't put into adequate words...they were so cute. T-T (and Ai-chan had a fangirl moment when the Sephiroth voice actor did his impression, which was just adorable beyond words <333) From there we went to wait for the Momusu Q&A panel, which meant sitting through the panel for Sephiroth's voice actor (sorry to anybody who actually wanted to see the guy XD), then a mad dash for close seats in hopes of getting an autograph voucher. OpsMonkey and I made complete asses of ourselves and switched places about 6 or 7 times in the panel room before the Momusu Q&A started, jumping over people and so forth...we decided on our final position when we counted chairs and rows to figure out that we were in the row ending with something like ticket #396 out of 500 tickets being given out, which satisfied us. XD The panel was great...the girls were adorable and a lot of the answers were really cute and funny. It was a great way to kick off the Momusu-related events.
Then the real fun began. At the end of Momusu's panel, the translator lady announced that the autograph session would be behind artist's alley in the exhibition hall, so everyone made a mad dash for there...only to find NO signs of an autograph session. I was with Paul and OpsMonkey at this point, and after asking a couple booths if they knew where the autograph session was only to hear "go ask them over there", we started to walk toward the exit of the exhibition hall in hopes of finding the autograph session somewhere else nearby. At that point, we saw a group of Japanese wota running out of the exhibition hall, so we started following them (which we quickly learned was the right thing to do...follow the Japanese guys, they know what's up XD)...and when they took off up an escalator, we decided to have Paul follow them while OpsMonkey and I went to check out the exhibition hall one more time. Paul actually called us while we were in the exhibition hall, but we missed it, which sucked...since it turned out Paul took the right choice, as the line for autographs was indeed upstairs (and around the corner :P). Ops and I got in the line, which ended up being a huge fiasco consisting of one line for about 30 minutes, followed by another line for 30 more minutes or so...at which point they shut the door, and in another 5 or 10 minutes they announced that the session was over and the girls were leaving. Some people started to make a scene, but I put on my nice face and left cooperatively...no reason to argue with the staff in a situation like that, all you'll do is piss them off.
After that, I hung out with Joh, maiZe and K in the convention center for a while (went to the H!P booth in the exhibition hall and bought some stuff...more on that after I get home :P), then went to dinner with K at IHOP. While we were waiting for our food, we pulled out all the stuff we bought (official photos and tour pamphlets and such XD) and spread it all out on the table to look at it...and when the waiter brought our food out, we had to rush to get it all out of the way. :P After that, K and I went to my room and chilled for a while, and when he left I went to OpsMonkey's hotel to leech off his internet and get on wotachat (my hotel was charging $13/day for internet, no way I was paying that much). Upon finishing that, I went back to my hotel and got to bed.
Friday is on its way :D
Thursday
Met up with some people early on (I believe Johpan, maiZe, Paul Thomas and OpsMonkey). Paul left to get in the line for the exhibition hall (which paid off for him, he got a guaranteed autograph ticket for both Momusu and Hangry :D) and Ops went...somewhere, I think...I don't remember, haha. Either way, I ended up waiting with Joh and maiZe to go to the opening ceremonies...and we were lucky enough to see Momusu walk into the building! maiZe will write up her part of the story at some point I'm sure (it's pretty funny :P), but it was basically just a moment of pure bewilderment for me as Morning Musume walked right by, only 15 or 20 feet away from me. I started to think "I should grab my phone and take a picture!" but my mind just halted and I hesitated, so no pics from me...but wow, that was awesome. XD
After that, it was the opening ceremonies...I ended up sitting by myself because all those IW losers I was hanging around with had press passes and sat in the press section...but seeing Morning Musume up on stage at the ceremonies was still something I just couldn't put into adequate words...they were so cute. T-T (and Ai-chan had a fangirl moment when the Sephiroth voice actor did his impression, which was just adorable beyond words <333) From there we went to wait for the Momusu Q&A panel, which meant sitting through the panel for Sephiroth's voice actor (sorry to anybody who actually wanted to see the guy XD), then a mad dash for close seats in hopes of getting an autograph voucher. OpsMonkey and I made complete asses of ourselves and switched places about 6 or 7 times in the panel room before the Momusu Q&A started, jumping over people and so forth...we decided on our final position when we counted chairs and rows to figure out that we were in the row ending with something like ticket #396 out of 500 tickets being given out, which satisfied us. XD The panel was great...the girls were adorable and a lot of the answers were really cute and funny. It was a great way to kick off the Momusu-related events.
Then the real fun began. At the end of Momusu's panel, the translator lady announced that the autograph session would be behind artist's alley in the exhibition hall, so everyone made a mad dash for there...only to find NO signs of an autograph session. I was with Paul and OpsMonkey at this point, and after asking a couple booths if they knew where the autograph session was only to hear "go ask them over there", we started to walk toward the exit of the exhibition hall in hopes of finding the autograph session somewhere else nearby. At that point, we saw a group of Japanese wota running out of the exhibition hall, so we started following them (which we quickly learned was the right thing to do...follow the Japanese guys, they know what's up XD)...and when they took off up an escalator, we decided to have Paul follow them while OpsMonkey and I went to check out the exhibition hall one more time. Paul actually called us while we were in the exhibition hall, but we missed it, which sucked...since it turned out Paul took the right choice, as the line for autographs was indeed upstairs (and around the corner :P). Ops and I got in the line, which ended up being a huge fiasco consisting of one line for about 30 minutes, followed by another line for 30 more minutes or so...at which point they shut the door, and in another 5 or 10 minutes they announced that the session was over and the girls were leaving. Some people started to make a scene, but I put on my nice face and left cooperatively...no reason to argue with the staff in a situation like that, all you'll do is piss them off.
After that, I hung out with Joh, maiZe and K in the convention center for a while (went to the H!P booth in the exhibition hall and bought some stuff...more on that after I get home :P), then went to dinner with K at IHOP. While we were waiting for our food, we pulled out all the stuff we bought (official photos and tour pamphlets and such XD) and spread it all out on the table to look at it...and when the waiter brought our food out, we had to rush to get it all out of the way. :P After that, K and I went to my room and chilled for a while, and when he left I went to OpsMonkey's hotel to leech off his internet and get on wotachat (my hotel was charging $13/day for internet, no way I was paying that much). Upon finishing that, I went back to my hotel and got to bed.
Friday is on its way :D
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Momusu at AX! (Part 1)
Okay...greatest weekend ever, seriously. Sorry for any lack of details or people I leave out...a lot of it is kind of a blur, especially the first couple days.
Wednesday
CRAZINESS. My plane left at 6:00AM, we had a connecting flight in Phoenix and arrived in LA around 9:00AM. Took a taxi to the hotel, which took about 35 or 40 minutes, ended up arriving there around 10. Dropped off my stuff and ran off to the convention, where I proceeded to sit/stand in line for about 7 or 8 hours, including the event ticketing line (it would have been less if the AX staff hadn't run into trouble with the computers for registration, delaying the line for a good 45 minutes, at least...a sign of things to come :P). I ended up meeting up with some online friends after I got my concert ticket (Johpan, maiZe, Kirarin*Snow, OpsMonkey, Paul Thomas), which was super awesome. After that, I joined OpsMonkey and some of his friends (Tris, Jessie, some other dude and LOTS of people I didn't know, I think we took up 1/3 of the restaurant, at least XD) for dinner. BUT, on the way we had to stop at the Mayfair Hotel in the ghetto to wait for some JPH!P people for wayyyy too long, then we drove through more ghetto to our destination, an In-n-Out on Sunset Blvd. Of course, I dropped my tray like a big dope so I couldn't eat my fries (>.>), but the burger was DELICIOUS. Like, oh my god. Go to In-n-Out, eat a burger (double-double animal style), die happy. Also, there were some Japanese Momusu fans (somehow connected to JPH!P, I believe?) at In-n-Out who were selling sealed copies of Eri's photobook Hatachi for $30, so I went ahead and grabbed one (as did Ops Monkey). From there we drove back through the ghetto to the Mayfair in the ghetto where I picked up my bag, at which point I was dropped off back at my hotel and crashed for the night. :P
Expect Thursday's post in the next couple days. :D
Wednesday
CRAZINESS. My plane left at 6:00AM, we had a connecting flight in Phoenix and arrived in LA around 9:00AM. Took a taxi to the hotel, which took about 35 or 40 minutes, ended up arriving there around 10. Dropped off my stuff and ran off to the convention, where I proceeded to sit/stand in line for about 7 or 8 hours, including the event ticketing line (it would have been less if the AX staff hadn't run into trouble with the computers for registration, delaying the line for a good 45 minutes, at least...a sign of things to come :P). I ended up meeting up with some online friends after I got my concert ticket (Johpan, maiZe, Kirarin*Snow, OpsMonkey, Paul Thomas), which was super awesome. After that, I joined OpsMonkey and some of his friends (Tris, Jessie, some other dude and LOTS of people I didn't know, I think we took up 1/3 of the restaurant, at least XD) for dinner. BUT, on the way we had to stop at the Mayfair Hotel in the ghetto to wait for some JPH!P people for wayyyy too long, then we drove through more ghetto to our destination, an In-n-Out on Sunset Blvd. Of course, I dropped my tray like a big dope so I couldn't eat my fries (>.>), but the burger was DELICIOUS. Like, oh my god. Go to In-n-Out, eat a burger (double-double animal style), die happy. Also, there were some Japanese Momusu fans (somehow connected to JPH!P, I believe?) at In-n-Out who were selling sealed copies of Eri's photobook Hatachi for $30, so I went ahead and grabbed one (as did Ops Monkey). From there we drove back through the ghetto to the Mayfair in the ghetto where I picked up my bag, at which point I was dropped off back at my hotel and crashed for the night. :P
Expect Thursday's post in the next couple days. :D
Friday, June 5, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
April 2009 Purchases
Super, super late on this one. My schedule's always crazy in the summer. >.>
No thoughts this time, sorry folks.
- cfb
- Momusu - Osaka Koi no Uta LE (w/box case & cards)
- Momusu - Namida ga Tomaranai Houkago LE (w/box case & cards)
- Kusumi Koharu - Happy RE
- Country Musume - Iroppoi Onna ~Sexy Baby~ RE
- Country Musume - Koibito wa Kokoro no Ouendan RE
- Kira*Pika - Hana wo Pu~n/Futari wa NS
- Nakazawa Yuko - GET ALONG WITH YOU RE
- Melon Kinenbi - 1st Anniversary LE (w/foldout & stand/case)
- W - Duo U & U RE
- Pucchi Best 5
- Momusu - 7.5 Fuyu Fuyu Morning Musume Mini! LE (w/DVD)
- W - 2nd W
- Pucchi Best 6
- Ayaya - YOUR SONG ~Seishun Sensei~ Single V
- Ayaya - Suna wa Kamu You ni... NAMIDA Single V
- Ayaya - Zutto Suki de Ii Desu ka Single V
- Ayaya - Watarasebashi Single V
- Ayaya - Sougen no Hito Single V
- Nakazawa Yuko - Single M Clips 1
- Momusu - Eizou The Morning Musume 2 ~Single V Clips~
- 2001 Shuffles - Chu! Natsu Party/Summer Reggae~ Rainbow/Dancing! Natsu Matsuri Single V
- Kusumi Koharu - Balalaika Single V
- Momusu - Concert Tour 2003 ~15nin de Non Stop!~ Concert DVD
- Hello! Project 2009 Winter ~Kettei! Haro☆Pro Award '09 Elder club Graduation Special~ Concert DVD
- GAM - 1st Concert Tour 2007 Shoka Natsu ~Great Aya & Miki~ Concert DVD
No thoughts this time, sorry folks.
- cfb
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Free Bawww? Ohhhhh yeah. :P
So uh...Bryan's pretty much the coolest.
<333
Thanks Bryan, you rule.
- cfb
<333
Thanks Bryan, you rule.
- cfb
Sunday, April 19, 2009
A Collecting Experiment
I was recently given a little advice by someone from a forum I used to frequent about how to quickly obtain large amounts of Japanese CDs. Basically, put in vague searches on Yahoo! Japan Auctions and trudge your way through the results until you find large, cheap lots of stuff. Well...I took that advice, and here are the results.
^This is the package itself. It cost $80 to ship...because it weighed about 9 pounds and had to be shipped EMS. XD (sorry about the big black splotches - I'd rather not have internet pedophiles stealing my personal info :P)
^This is the box upon opening the lid. Everything is packed nicely, thanks to either Ohta or the seller. I'll give the credit to Ohta since he's a cool dude and bid on the auction for me, haha.
^Here's all the CDs unpacked and stacked up. 55 in all.
^And sorted in stacks. The left stack is CDs I didn't have already. Middle stack is CDs I already had. Right stack is doubles from within the box.
Here's a list of the contents of each stack:
New (34):
Already Had (16):
Doubles (5):
The auction ended at 8000yen (about $80). With Ohta's middleman fees and the seller's shipping fee, the total without shipping to the US was $120. Add in shipping, and it comes out to $200. That's a little less than $4 per CD, and a little over $2 per if you don't include shipping. All of them are releases from 2002 or before, so I suppose that's not quite as good of a deal as if they were stuff from 2003 to present...but they're all in good condition, and I can sell/trade the ones I already have (which I'll be doing very soon - I already had a decent-size pile of stuff to get rid of before this monstrosity arrived XD). I'll most likely be doing that in a thread over at H!O, by the way - I'll make note of that here as well, for those who don't regular the forums and may want to make me an offer I can't refuse. ;)
All in all, I'd say this is a pretty good way to get a running start on your H!P collection (or, if you're already well on your way, to give it a quick boost and get some leverage to work with in the H!P selling/trading community). It's obviously a fairly large chunk of cash to drop in one shot, but I think it's worth it for anyone who enjoys collecting H!P stuff, or who wants to start doing so.
Now...NO MORE SPENDING UNTIL ANIME EXPO, DAMMIT. >.>
- cfb
^This is the package itself. It cost $80 to ship...because it weighed about 9 pounds and had to be shipped EMS. XD (sorry about the big black splotches - I'd rather not have internet pedophiles stealing my personal info :P)
^This is the box upon opening the lid. Everything is packed nicely, thanks to either Ohta or the seller. I'll give the credit to Ohta since he's a cool dude and bid on the auction for me, haha.
^Here's all the CDs unpacked and stacked up. 55 in all.
^And sorted in stacks. The left stack is CDs I didn't have already. Middle stack is CDs I already had. Right stack is doubles from within the box.
Here's a list of the contents of each stack:
New (34):
- Morning Musume - Manatsu no Kousen (Original 8CM Release)
- Taiyou to Ciscomoon - Magic of Love
- Ichii Sayaka in CUBIC CROSS - Shitsuren LOVE Song
- Heike Michiyo - Murasaki Shikibu
- Morning Musume - Single Medley ~Hawaiian~
- The Douyou Pops 1 - Christmas to Fuyu no Uta Shuu
- Morning Musume - Best! Morning Musume 1 (SEALED)
- Morning Musume - Koi no Dance Site (SEALED)
- Pucchi Moni - BABY! Koi ni KNOCK OUT!
- Pucchi Moni - Chokotto LOVE
- Pucchi Moni - Seishun Jidai 1.2.3! / Baisekou Daiseikou!
- MiniMoni - MiniMoni Hinamatsuri!
- MiniMoni - MiniMoni Jankenpyon! (SEALED)
- MiniMoni - Minihamuzu no Ai no Uta (SEALED)
- MiniMoni - MiniMoni Telephone! Rin Rin Rin (SEALED)
- Tanpopo - Tanpopo
- Tanpopo - Last Kiss
- Tanpopo - BE HAPPY Koi no Yajirobee
- Melon Kinenbi - Amai Anata no Aji
- Melon Kinenbi - Saa~ Koibito ni Narou
- Melon Kinenbi - Kokuhaku Kinenbi
- Melon Kinenbi - Natsu no Yoru wa Danger!
- Coconuts Musume - Jounetsu Yuki Miraisen
- Coconuts Musume - Watashi mo 'I LOVE YOU'
- Coconuts Musume - DANCE & CHANCE
- Coconuts Musume - Tokonatsu Musume
- 7nin Matsuri - Summer Reggae! Rainbow!
- 3nin Matsuri - Chu! Natsu Party
- Sexy 8 - Shiawase Desu Ka?
- Odoru 11 - Shiawase Kyouryuu Ondo
- Happy 7 - Shiawase Beam! Suki Suki Beam!
- Akagumi 4 - Akai Nikkichou (SEALED)
- Kiiro 5 - Kiiroi Osora de BOOM BOOM BOOM (SEALED)
- Aoiro 7 - Aoi Sports Car no Otoko
Already Had (16):
- Fujimoto Miki - Sotto Kuchizukete Gyutto Dakishimete
- Nakazawa Yuko - Kuyashi Namida Porori
- Nakazawa Yuko - Shanghai no Kaze
- Nakazawa Yuko - Futari Gurashi
- 10nin Matsuri - Dancing! Natsu Matsuri
- Morning Musume - Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~
- Morning Musume - The Peace!
- Morning Musume - Renai Revolution 21
- Morning Musume - Koko ni Iruzee!
- Morning Musume - DO IT NOW!
- Tanpopo - Oujisama to Yuki no Yoru
- Tanpopo - Otome Past ni Kandou
- Country Musume - Hajimete no Happy Birthday
- Country Musume - Koibito wa Kokoro no Ouendan
- Country Musume - Iroppoi Onna ~Sexy Baby~
- V/A - Pucchi Best 2 (SEALED)
Doubles (5):
- 7nin Matsuri - Summer Reggae! Rainbow!
- Kiiro 5 - Kiiroi Osora de BOOM BOOM BOOM
- MiniMoni - MiniMoni Telephone! Rin Rin Rin
- MiniMoni - Minihamuzu no Ai no Uta
- Morning Musume - Koi no Dance Site
The auction ended at 8000yen (about $80). With Ohta's middleman fees and the seller's shipping fee, the total without shipping to the US was $120. Add in shipping, and it comes out to $200. That's a little less than $4 per CD, and a little over $2 per if you don't include shipping. All of them are releases from 2002 or before, so I suppose that's not quite as good of a deal as if they were stuff from 2003 to present...but they're all in good condition, and I can sell/trade the ones I already have (which I'll be doing very soon - I already had a decent-size pile of stuff to get rid of before this monstrosity arrived XD). I'll most likely be doing that in a thread over at H!O, by the way - I'll make note of that here as well, for those who don't regular the forums and may want to make me an offer I can't refuse. ;)
All in all, I'd say this is a pretty good way to get a running start on your H!P collection (or, if you're already well on your way, to give it a quick boost and get some leverage to work with in the H!P selling/trading community). It's obviously a fairly large chunk of cash to drop in one shot, but I think it's worth it for anyone who enjoys collecting H!P stuff, or who wants to start doing so.
Now...NO MORE SPENDING UNTIL ANIME EXPO, DAMMIT. >.>
- cfb
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