Risa's birthday concerts

Yesterday, I took a Shinkansen trip out to Shizuoka, to celebrate Risa's birthday at the Musume concerts.

When I got there I got to see the plans of how it should be celebrated properly by the fans. We were instructed to, as always, use green glowsticks while shouting for the encore ("encore" call changed to a "Gaki-san" call). Some people also thought that it would be a good idea if everyone copied Risa's dance moves during Resonant Blue. This most people laughed at and it did of course not happen, lol.

I wrote a birthday letter to Risa, half in Japanese and half in English. Since her English skills are terrible, I also wrote letters to JunJun and LinLin, asking them to help Risa with translating my letter. To Risa I said that she should ask them as well and not Aichan, who's English really is pretty bad (lol). I of course wrote some nice stuff to the pandas as well. I've always wanted to write them letter because they don't have as many fans as the other members so they probably don't receive that many. The timing was good for doing it this time.

When entering the hall, I tried to get hold of Risa's daily photo set, which of course was sold out already. I didn't get my hands on the birthday T-shirt either. Because, really, the design is horrible. There's a text in English on the back saying this:

"The member of Morning Musume。
Birthday Girl!"

The overall design is pretty meh as well, and I don't really feel like buying shirts that don't have the girl's color if the design ain't neat. Otherwise I won't be using it anyway.

Already at the beginning of the day concert, at the first MC, Aichan thought it was time to sing Happy Birthday to Risa, lol. I've never been aware of this happening at the first MC already before. Damn KY-Aichan, haha.

At the last MC, Koharu hade come up with some sort of catchphrase or something that we were supposed to copy, going something like "Yoroshiku~chuuzu~". It was after she had been talking about her leaving MM and H!P this year and asking us to keep supporting her. During the night show, she however dedicated this part to Risa, for some reason. We did the peace sign while shouting it out and pointing at Risa, who was by then on her knees, crying of laughter. Damn random Koharu!

After the final show was over, Ai and Koha forced Risa to stay on the stage and she thanked us once again. Then when she left everyone kept shouting her name and she came back after a minute or two, having another speech.

The picture in the top is before the encore during the night show. Credit goes to whoever posted it on 2ch, or wherever it was.

オマリー

Next flu victim: Nakki - C-ute 5-nin at Erika's last appearance in Tokyo area

Another H!P girl has caught the flu, Nakajima Saki. C-ute had to do without her today at their concerts in Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo.

Now of course the rumours have begun about whether the rest of the members might have been infected by being in close contact with Nakki, since they performed together with her yesterday. There was luckily no signs of weakness from any of the other members today.

What's making people most worried is the fact that next weekend is the big final of C-ute's fall tour, with Erika's graduation. Even if no other member will be reported with also have caught the flu, will it it be enough of a reason to move the concert with Nakki's absence? Taking in consideration that it's such an important show, where Erika officially is leaving C-ute and H!P and all members would definitely want to be there. Usually you're supposed to stay in bed for a week when you get the flu.

For me this is even more worrying than for the Japanese wota, because I will be going back home at November 11th and it seems like it will be hard for me to come back again this year. I of course already spent a lot on a ticket for the final show with no guarantee of being able to get much of that back by re-selling it to someone else.

Let's hope that the rest of the girls got vaccinated against this type of flu and that Nakki will recover fast.

With Nakki's absence today, the big difference was that Erika got to sing "Time Capsule" solo. Something that I of course didn't mind. Earlier this year I got the same kind of luck when Miyabi became ill and missed a Berryz concert, where Saki got to sing their duo song solo as well (Sakura wa Raku Sa). As a fan of the least popular members, you don't get to see your favourites in the spotlight that much, so I've feel good about have been there when they finally got their chance to shine.

According to some wota, apparently four members of Morning Musume went to today's concert. I didn't get to hear it from someone who actually saw them, but I sure hope that Risa wasn't there to see me cheering on another girl, lol.

Since this was Erika's last time to be on stage with C-ute in Kanto area, all fans kept shouting her name for more than five minutes after the concert was over. We didn't get her back on stage, but it was still touching and the tears were close to fall for me. Next weekend I will probably be weaker than Aichan at a Musume graduation...

オマリー

FIVE of the Berryz members knocked out with the flu

Today it was reported on the official H!P site that Saki also has caught the flu, being the 5th out of 7 members within a just two days time span. The Sendai concerts this weekend were already postponed to 12/30, making it a new date for the final of this tour. Now the H!P shop events in Sendai with Saki also is rescheduled to a not yet announced date.

Personally, I believe that it's good that many of the girls got sick at the same time. I actually hope that Yurina and Chinami got it too. Them just not announcing it, because there's no need to do it really and make the fans worried when the concerts already have been moved. If all of the girls get this at the same time, then they won't get it later. I'm no doctor, but usually the flu that comes each spring and fall is the same bacterium that is getting spread and once you've had it you're body is immune against it.

Luckily, there's no concerts scheduled for next weekend. The next live event on the girls schedules is the fanclub bus tour at 10/31-11/1. I'm going to this, so of course I'm a bit worried, but all the girls should be fine by then.

It's kind of somewhat funny that Miyabi now has been so sick that she has had to take a rest from concerts three times this year already. I'm no expert here either, but maybe she should start take better care of herself after this, so it doesn't have to happen again.

Another point that is somewhat funny is that when they earlier this year cancelled/moved tons of events just to prevent that the girls or even the fans would get sick, no members of H!P was reported becoming ill. It was all because of medias hype about the H1N1 (swine flu)...

All you really have to know when there's big climate changes, particularly from hot to cold, you should watch out and make sure you have enough clothes, eat well, take a hot shower asap when you've been working out and etc.

I always thought that the Japanese people were good at this. You see people walking around outside with masks and shit at any time of the year. Personally I'm usually doing fine during the times of the year when most people fall ill. Maybe it's my Viking genes? Hehe. Cold climate sure never has been an issue for me.

This time however, with the clear sign from the Berryz member how easily this can spread, I will take more precautions. I sure don't wanna get knocked out when I only have a couple of weeks left to stay in Japan.


Saki, Momoko, Maasa, Miyabi & Risako; get well soon, please!

オマリー

The day Buono! was a one girl act

Because I didn't win a ticket for Mano's "premium live" release event today, I decided to go to the MELON GREETING show hosted by Melon Kinenbi and where Buono! were supposed to be guests. Unfortunately though, both Momoko and Miyabi had caught influenza, so Airi had to be alone. Which made it very interesting though!

The show started with Melon performing four of their songs, for then today's other guest, Tsutsumi Kayoto, joining the stage (I have no idea who she is). She had a MC with the Melon girls then performed a song in English, "Desperado" by The Eagles. Then she performed one more song by herself and one together with Melon ("Doukoku"? Never heard it before), before leaving. A pretty decent singer, but no one who caught my interest really.

After that Airi joined the stage. The first song she performed was "Take it easy!". To be honest, to me it became a little bit boring just hearing Airi, after getting used to all the girls performing it together. It's a nice song though and I sure enjoyed it. Her second song was from Buono!'s first album, "Hoshi no Hitsuji Tachi". This is one of my least favourite Buono! songs and I don't get why it got picked when it's so boring live and there's so many other awesome Buono! songs and she only would perform a couple of them. Finally to make it easy for Airi, she got to perform her own C-ute solo song, "Tsuugaku Vector". I wanted more Buono! songs, but this is a killer live, so it was all good.

When Airi was finished singing solo, the Melon girls came back on stage for a MC and then performing "Pinbaka" all of them together. This was probably the highlight of the concert for me, just like last year Buono! were guests at MELON GREEETING and peformed "Onegai Miwaku no Target" together with Melon. The girls had a lot of fun on stage and since usually the Melon girls just improvise, so did Airi. She was a bit lost and also amazed by the Melon girls wackiness so it was very enjoyable to see.

After Airi had left the stage it felt like the show had started for real and Melon performed some really great live songs, such as "Saa! Koibito ni Narou", "Onegai Miwaku no Target" and "This is Unmei".

Another great show by Melon, and I didn't feel that bad about missing Mano's event afterwards. I should probably stay away from fan reports of her event though, lol.

I also just read the news that Maasa and Risako also got the flu now so Berryz concerts in Sendai on Saturday are postponed until 12/30. I'm glad that I had planned to go to Musume's concerts this Saturday anyway. Which, by the way, will be Risa's birthday concerts. I still haven't bought her any birthday present. 'Better take care of that tomorrow... orz

オマリー

Berryz fall tour -09 "Medachitaii!!" review

The last few days I've been pretty dead. Both physically and mentally. I haven't found the will to do anything else than slacking. I'm sorry for this late report of Berryz new tour.

I suck at doing reviews of concerts and events. Basically because I tend to focus on wrong things, like being a bit too into the dancing and cheering or just being completely numb while staring at my favourite member. Hopefully some people will find this interesting.

A lot of text so I'm sorry if there's grammar mistakes and typos.


Some thoughts on the set list:

1. Ryuusei Boy
- This was the first time I heard the whole song. Right away it strikes me as a typical upbeat and genki Berryz type of song. You get into the dance and the melody right away and overall I think it's a pretty good song. For some reason it reminds me of Seishun Bus Guide, maybe a bit more entertaining to watch but a bit weaker.

2. Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi
- The girls stayed on stage, keeping their Ryuusei Boy dresses on for this. A good live song with a cute dance. I've got nothing more to add.

Member Intro VTR
- The video consists of the members getting introduced with old pictures showing them growing up, all the way until they decided to tryout for H!P Kids because of their "will to stand out" (the meaning of the tour name, "medachitaii"). Some really cute shots. The big winner was definitely Chinami, of whom they showed pictures eating literally all the time before she fell asleep, woke up, ate more and then fell asleep again. It's also interesting to get reminded about how different Momoko was as a child. A serious, grumpy loner compared to the always so energetic and hyper self she is today. You who have watched the old H!P movies involving the kids should have a good idea about what I'm talking about.

3. Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama
- This was also my first listening. A serious(/"mature") song from which I'd have to get the lyrics explained for me to understand. The girls wear dark red long dresses in which some girls fit better in and some not. I don't really approve of them. I've already forgot the melody, which is understandable because I'm pretty deaf when it comes to music. It really is boring though. I'm glad that Ryuusei Boy is the song getting more attention out of the two for this new single. Saki looked very cute though. Always something.

MC 1
- IIRC just bla bla talk about that the tour has started and etc.

4. MADAYADE
- A song that I really hated when it was realeased but which I've become quite found of lately. It's a fun song and great live for us wota to take a part of.

5. Munasawagi Scarlet
- Still in the dark red dresses, fitting well for this song. I like the song, but it's never really getting me that excited to see live.

6. Ohiru No Kyuukei Jikan (Chinami solo)
- I was, just like most other people, very surprised to see Chinami solo. I was half-way through still waiting for someone else to join the stage. She did it pretty well and was cute as always, but her voice was getting really strained at the end of the song. Maybe it will get better after a week or two into the tour. (Btw, I have no idea if I've ever even heard this song before, lol)

7. Otoko no Ko (Miyabi & Yurina duet)
- Oh, damn, wow. This made me end up staring at the girls with a hanging jaw, almost starting drooling on myself. A great song choice for these girls, who were wearing short skirts and heels. They did an awesome job with it, too. It was even better than the full group's performance of the song during this spring tour. Thank you, Tsunku!

8. Halation Summer (Saki, Momoko, Maasa & Risako)
- This is where the hilarity started. The girls enters the stage wearing huge sunglasses, looking incredibly ridicilous. I was laughing out loud even before the song started and was crying after like half a minute. I can't even describe how funny they make it. By far the best performance of this song I've seen until now.

9. Seishun Oodoori
- Zzz, zzz and zzz.

MC 2
- Eh. we just got some rest with the previous song. No need for a MC here! I don't even remember what was happening, by still being sleepy after the previous song.

10. Dschinghis Khan - beatboxing with Risako solo in the middle of the song
- I love how they stopped in the middle of the song for their beatboxing. They did it for Gag 100kaibun Aishite Kudasai in the spring tour, which was mostly entertaining because of Momoko's chipmunk solo. This time the girls had improved a lot and the higlight for me was Saki's and Chinami's part which was really funny. Risako sang the lines for the song alone, which she did really well.

11. Seishun Bus Guide
- Somehow a pretty disappointing performance. I liked it better when they wore the PVC space busguide outfits during the spring tour. The PV was so hilarious and is making live perfs lame. But it's not like it's a song that I'm very found of anyway.

12. Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba (Chinami, Maasa & Miyabi)
- A nice song, but nothing you get excited over to see live really.

13. Baka ni Shinaide (Saki, Miyabi, Yurina & Risako)
- Somewhere around here I got lost with the outfits. Oh well, anyway, this song is a killer. Saki also has a decent amount of solo lines, which I'm glad for since it's a good song for her voice. It's really one of my favourite songs they've released the last two years.

14. VERY BEAUTY (Momoko solo)
- Ehh, why is MOMOKO doing this solo? She doesn't even have any solo lines in the original, lol. I guess it made her and her fans happy, but it's so more suitable for Risako or Yurina. Maybe even Miyabi. I was too disappointed with the fact that Momoko sang it so I actually didn't like it. They ruined one of my favourite Berryz singles. No offence to Momoko, I do like her a lot.

15. Special Generation
- WOW, the LULS. All the girls except from Momoko coming on stage wearing huge fish outfits. I'm bad at describing it but yeah, they were dressed as orange/pink fish, dancing to Special Generation. I'm not sure if a perf of that song can be more awesome. Or well, I wasn't, until Momoko came on stage half-way through the song dressed as a fish market dealer, trying to catch the girls with a huge landing net. Maybe the highlight of the concert.

16. Nigiyaka na Fuyu
- The girls sing this song in a very silly way, still wearing the fish outfits. I'm not sure if I've heard this song before either, but it was funny as hell to still see the girls as fish. Miyabi seemed to surprisingly be enjoying herself a lot while running off the stage, lol. Damn cute.

MC 3 (Saki & Momoko)
- The girls talking about the other members, somehow. I didn't catch what was said and haven't talked to anyone who did yet either.

17. ~Berryz 1st Special Medley~
21ji Made no Cinderella
Omoitattara Kichi Desse
Gag 100kaibun Aishite Kudasai → Stop in the middle for one member playing the chorus on a xylophone
Kaccho ee!
Warera! Berryz Kamen
21ji Made no Cinderella
- I wasn't too thrilled over the song choices for this medley, but they made it really funny with the xylophone part and Kaccho ee!. Upbeat and entertaining, just like a medley should be.

MC 4
- From this I remember nothing, lol.

18. Suhada Pichipichi
- Like usually during the end of the concert before the encore they finish it with some upbeat songs. This being one of my favourite live songs. Very cute.

19. Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance
- This song and Dschinghis Khan was the songs that got me into Berryz in the first place. It's funny as hell and great live in all ways.

20. Rival
- So far the H!P song of the year for me. It's extremely cute and a good mood-raiser. Every H!P release should involve songs of this calibre.

ENCORE
21. HAPPY! Stand Up
- The girls came out wearing some cone shaped silverish hats, vests and shorts. It made me laugh again. The song is one of my favourites from the latest album, but I'm also a bit tired of it by now because it's so repetitive. The encores are apparently supposed to be bad, so whatever.

MC 5
- Thanks for coming, bye-bye, bla bla.

22. CLAP
- A great ending song which as it's supposed to be lets the audience take a part of it. Somehow disappointing to have just Chinami, Miyabi and Yurina singing though. But I like it.


Overall I'm pretty pleased with the set list. The spring tour had some better songs and it made me always work up a good sweat. This time I didn't even have to change shirt afterwards. However, this one is more entertaining to watch. The theme of the tour that is "wanna stand out" is presented in a very amusing way. A good Berryz concert that made me realize how unique they are and how much I've missed attending their concerts.

There's a big mystery though...
Why the hell didn't they perform "Dakishimete Dakishimete"?! It's one of my favourite Berryz songs and was realeased this year, god damn it. It better be performed during the mini live at the bus tour in a couple of weeks.

I'm also of course very glad that there wasn't any graduation announced. Before the concert started I was already pretty convinced again that they wouldn't graduate anyone this tour. Some of the girls made me worried before the final MC though. Yurina seemed to be in pain, with a sad look on her face and some of the other girls were not smiling either. Each of them had their final speech and I got more and more nervous, with Saki being the last one to talk. After the MC was over I checked around in the audience and noticed that most of the wota seemed really relieved and then I decided that I could relax as well, lol. I realized before the concert that it would just be stupid to graduate Miyabi because then they would have to disband Buono!. My #2 on the list for girls possibly leaving was Saki and I just couldn't imagine her graduating and leaving the girls behind, as the leader of the group.


This is a good show that I'm sure most of you will find being one of the best concerts ever with the group when you get to see it on DVD. It's time to really start looking forward to it now!

オマリー

Oh, I forgot Mano!

Since I forgot to mention anything about her in my last post, let's dedicate a full post to her instead.

Right now I'm terribly upset because I didn't receive a ticket to her "Premium Live" CD event. I went out to buy 8 extra CDs to apply for this event, after already have been purchasing 16 copies before. I didn't win a ticket and I'm going to miss the most likely best event this year.

Now, somehow, I feel bad for this. It feels like I'm a bad fan because I'm not going, lol. But what can I do? Not more than telling her tomorrow at her handshake event that I did do my best to try get to go. Apparently you have to buy 50 CDs to get to go to her events. Mano-chan, please ask Manager-san to not do it the same way next time. It's just stupid that you have to spend so much money to be sure that you will get to go.

I can't even buy a ticket second hand through auction because they are personal with name, birth date and everything. Sigh.

オマリー

Beri nervous today

I am very proud of myself now. Today I managed to wake up as early as 6:30 AM. Which means it won't be too hard to get up at around 3:30 AM tomorrow, to go line up early for Mano's mini live. I also already managed to take a shower, watch one episode of Huse M.D., write a fan letter to Saaya and make this blog post! I are so productive. Yay!

So, yesterday I went to the Egg FC event. Actually I wrote the lineup wrong in my last post. Karin was there and not Kaneko Rie. Which is win because Karin is just 10 years old but already on the level of her 14-15 years old senpais. I'm already convinced that she one day is going to be one of the stars in H!P.

The event itself consisted of the girls practising for "Phantom of the Opera". I didn't get everything but I feel no need to go into the details anyway. The story is basically around that and the girls did a great job. I liked the mix of girls. Their characters in this mini play fit them well.

Afterwards there was a handshake event. It was so fast so I didn't bother say anything special to the girls. At least I can add a couple of more eggs to my list of H!P girls I've met, heh.

When it was finished I went to an idol event in Akiba with my friend. It was a free to attend release event with "Kotone Mai" (小桃音まい). An ex H!P wota who just had her first indie single release. Her style reminded me about animu and Perfume's music. If you ask me she's cute but not that much of a talent,. It was fun though with a lot of hardcore Akiba idol fans freaking out to the max with their wotagei, lol.


Today I'm heading to Berryz Koubou's tour start. And I'm worried as hell. Already there have been graduations announced for all groups this year and it would be a disaster if a girl from Berryz would leave too (or well, almost).

I want to make some prediction though of which girl would be leaving if any. Just to be able to say that I was right afterwards. At first I was convinced that Saki-chan would be most likely to leave. But someone made me convinced that Miyabi is actually more likely and it makes sense to me now. I'll save the reasons why to a post tomorrow, if/when it has been announced.

So, if any Berryz is leaving - which is not very likely - it will be Miyabi. Arright.

オマリー

The Emperor's Paste (ウエイパー)

Since it was a while ago since I tried out any idol food recommendations, I decided to go out and buy a can of 味覇 (ウエイパー/Uei Pa), which means Emperor's Paste in Chinese. Recommended by Suzuki Airi!

Uei Pa comes from China and is a sort broth, used in soups. I'm not sure what Airi recommended it for, but I tried to put some in my soy sauce ramen now and it was very good! Well worth the price of ~1000 yen per can since you can use it for a long time.


Just now I got contacted by my friend who told me that he has a spare ticket for the Egg FC event that I wanted to attend on Saturday. Lucky!

The event is a stageplay "actress recital". It seems like it's some sort of theatrical sketches with a handshake event afterwards.

The lineup for the event I'm going to is: Kitahara Sayaka, Maeda Yuuka, Kaneko Rie, Sano Kaori (UF Egg) and Katsuta Rina.

I'll try to come with some sort of report after I've been to the event!


I also of course just watched the Kimagure Princess PV and I have to say that I'm disappointed. The girls look great but the video feels empty when it's pretty much just filled the dance and closeups. That fire waving thing I didn't like in the Iroppoi Jirettai PV and here it looks even worse. At least the set is kind of cool and I like the outfits. Overall I guess it's a decent PV based on H!P standards.


Tomorrow I'm out shopping a birthday present for Risa and perhaps something for Saaya and Mano-chan as well. I also need to get started on more fan letters that I will give to all of those girls. In Japanese... orz


オマリー

Yes, more Mano

Because I have nothing better to talk about.

This week has been terribly boring so far. No events to attend and shitty weather. The typhoon prevented us from getting more Mano events this week, but luckily one more has been announced on Monday. I had planned to go see Berryz at that time but of course I change my plans for Mano-chan <3. It's interesting how I have different obsessions with each trip I do to Japan. First it was Musume last fall, then Berryz this spring and now Mano-chan. Who will it be next year? lol.

Anyway, yesterday we received something that came out with perfect timing. Mano's next single (yes, already) was played on a radio show on bayfm for the first time. Usually I wait for at least a live performance or for the PV to be uploaded to Dohhh UP! This time I'm glad that I didn't. [stop reading here if you don't want to get any spoilers]

For those who have happened to missed it, it goes under the name of "LOVE & PIECE = Paradise". As you kind of expected out of the title it's a cute and warm tune, which can turn any shitty day to a good one. Exactly the reason why I got into H!P and still the main reason for why I'm a fan. It makes you forget about all hardships in life for a while and raises your spirit.

After this single I don't want to hear anyone ever more say that Mano's voice is dull, boring, emotionless etc. You can hear through her voice how happy she is while singing this.

What's missing though for it to reach Hajimete no Keiken level, is a stronger instrumental. It has no intro at all, she starts singing right away. I want to believe that this song was actually recorded this Monday, when she said she went to the studio, and that it was just pushed out fast so they could start playing it on radio. I'm sure that the actual studio version will be different and so also the live performances.

What would a Mano song without her piano? A radio rip of the song can be grabbed here.


Besides that, I've been occupying myself with Mano's blog and trying to follow discussions on 2ch. Not much interesting has happened there either. This week Mano has been doing early updates on her blog everyday from strange places like - according to 2ch wota - Yakushima, a small island south of Kyushu, in Kagoshima prefecture, not telling us what she's been doing there. I guess it's all about photoshoots (as always) and of course practicing for the upcoming stageplay.


This weekend it seems like I'll have to pass on the Eggs FC event that I had planned to go to if I could have just found a decent priced ticket. Then on Sunday, Berryz are having their first concert for this tour and on Monday it's the Mano event followed by another Berryz concert.


Until then I guess I'll keep looping LOVE & PIECE = Paradise.. "Pa-pa-pa Parapipu lululu luula..."

Maybe I should actually try to learn the lyrics this time for once. Heh.

And oh, in the pic in the top of the post she's holding a lantern she received by the hotel staff because there was a power outage. The reason why I choosed it however is because I love to see her without makeup, lol.

オマリー

MANO MANIA - CONTINUED

Here's a round-up of the last couple of events Mano had last week, promoting "Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo".

At Friday, she went to Queens Square mall in Minatomirai, Yokohama, for a mini live and handshake event. Assisting her did the same lineup as the day before; Kikka, Saaya, Sekki and Momoka.

The set list:

1. Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo
2. Otome no Irori
3. Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo

I arrived around two hours before the mini live would start, after have planned to get there earlier but managed to miss two trains (lol) and got there an hour later than planned. But it was ok since I managed to get like 4th row and made it to the reherseal :-). Saaya was once again looking stunning with a one piece dress and a cool baseball jacket. Kikka also looked great in a black kind of casual dress.

Mano as always talked about the weather, which today was rainy, but wasn't an issue since the events were taking place inside. She also talked about how she used to go to this mall when she was a kid to visit a Snoopy shop. Adorable as always.

The handshake event wasn't all too intresting, but here's some highlights:

①

俺： 俺名前は？
北原： オマリーさん！
俺： 女優宣言行きます！
北原： お～ありがとうございます！
（まってます？ｗ）

桃香： オマリーさん！
俺：　ありがとうございますｗ

真野： オマリー！
俺： Thank you！ｗ
俺： バイバイ！
真野： バイバイ！

Me: My name?
Saaya: O'Malley-san!
Me: I'll be going to Joyuu Sengen! (Egg FC event)
Saaya: Oh～ Thank you!
(I'd expected her to say "mattemasu", as in "I'll be waiting for you", so I'm not sure if she understood what I said, lol.)

Momoka: O'Malley-san!
Me: Thank you! *lol*
(I feel bad about never having more to say to this lovely girl... orz)

Mano: O'Malley!
Me: Thank you! *lol*
Me: Bye-bye!
Mano: Bye-bye! *lol*

②

俺： 新人公演に行たけど、見えた？
北原： え？お～はい！見えたー見えた！

真野： オマリー！
俺： Hello！
真野： Hello！
俺： How are you？
真野： I'm fine, thank you！
俺： Thank you！ｗ
俺： Bye-bye！
真野： Bye-bye！

Me: I went to Shinjin Kouen, did you see me?
Saaya: Eh? Oh～ Yes! I saw you!
(To get yesterday's confusion cleared up ^^;)

Mano: O'Malley!
Me: Hello!
Mano: Hello!
Me: How are you?
Mano: I'm fine, thank you!
Me: Thank you! *lol*
Me: Bye-bye!
Mano: Bye-bye!


After the event I went with my friend to the radio studio in Yoyogi I went to the other day where he's usually going every Friday with his friends. I hanged out with them and we went to a family restaurant where we spent the night, before me and my friend took the first train to Toro in Saitama the next day for another event with Mano-chan.

When we got there at 6 AM in the morning there was already around 10 people there! Surprisingly the weather seemed to turn out to be good that day. But after a couple of hours waiting and then getting to take our spots in front of the stage, of course it started raining right before the girls would come out for the reherseal. Mano hadn't brought her piano with her since the weather forecast had said there was a high chance of rain. The lineup was the same as the two days before and today the set list was as following:

1. Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo
2. Hajimete no Keiken
3. Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo

Again, Saaya and Kikka looked stunning (lol). I was glad to see Kikka's energy this day since she had to run out during the handshake event the day before for some reason, making me worried she wasn't feeling all okey.

The rain was really bad but when the girls entered the stage for the mini live it had stopped. Then of course when Mano mentioned that it was ok it had just started again, rofl. Still it was a lot of fun. I love when they perform Hajimete no Keiken (my by far favourite Mano song).

This day I gave Mano-chan the letter I've been mentioning before. It was written with hast, but I believe it was still good. However, it was in English, so I have no idea if she actually managed to understand all of it, even if someone helped her translate it. So I'm definitely gonna try to write something in Japanese before I head back again to make up for it.

Handshake event summary:

①

俺： 僕は何歳ですか？
北原： えぇ・・・２５歳？
俺： 二十歳ですｗ
北原： お～
桃香： w

Me: How old am I?
Saaya: Ehh... 25?
Me: I'm 20 years old. *lol*
Saaya: Oh～
Momoka: *lol*

俺： Ehhh, see you in Shinjuku!
真野： See you in Shinjuku! ｗ

Me: Ehhh, see you in Shinjuku!
Mano: See you in Shinjuku! *lol*

②

俺： Can I send you a fan letter in English?
北原： えぇ？
俺： Fan letter, English, OK?
北原： NO, NO, NO !!!
俺： 済みませんｗ
桃香： w

Me: Can I send you a fan letter in English?
Saaya: Ehh?
Me: Fan letter, English, OK?
Saaya: NO, NO, NO !!!
Me: Sorry. *lol*
Momoka: *lol*

俺： See you later!
真野： See you later! w

Me: See you later!
Mano: See you later! *lol*

After the event I went back home to get a couple of hours of sleep before heading to Shinjuku for another handshake event with Mano only. I was still really tired, so even though we got A LOT of time with Mano (once I was standing there for probably around 20 seconds!!!), I wasn't able to get much said. I asked her in English, just to test her, if it's ok that I gave her a fan letter in English. She got lost and I repeated myself, talking extremely slow, and then she looked at the staff for help (cute, lol), so I explained the situation to her in Japanese and told her that I was sorry, lol. This was pretty funny, however:

俺： 恋するハロキッテイに行きません、ご免。
真野： マジで？！
俺： はい、来月は、スウェーデンに帰ります
真野： お～スウェーデン！！すごい～！
俺：　がんばってください
真野： はい～がんばります！
俺： バイバイ！
真野： バイバイ！

Me: I won't be going to "Koisuru Hello Kitty", sorry.
Mano: Seriously?!
Me: Yes, next month I will be going back home to Sweden.
Mano: Oh! Sweden!! Cool!
Me: Please do your best.
Mano: Yes, I will!

I was surprised by her reaction over that I would be going back to Sweden. I thought she already knew that I'm coming from there and I had expected her to be sorry or something for me having to go back, but she just found it cool, lol.

The next day was the last day of events. Held at La Qua, next to Tokyo Dome. It's a huge outdoor space so I didn't rush with getting there, instead heading to an event with my friend's favourite idol group, "Momoiro Clover". They are not very famous at all, but did manage to sell around 10,000 copies with their major debout. It was only 1,000 yen to attend the event which consisted of a mini live for then having a signing session where you got a personally signed autograph from one of the girls. It was random which girl you'd get it signed by and luckily I got it from the one girl that had caught my interest, Akarin. Unfortunately I didn't have anything cool with me that she could sign so I just got it on a blank piece of A4 paper, lol.

I arrived at La Qua for Mano's events about 20 minutes before it would start. Already around 1200 tickets had been sold for the handshake event! (Compared to the previous days number of around 700 per event.) Even though I was standing in the back I was surprised to get to see Mano noticing me and waving at me. I could tell because she always change her normal smile to this huge big grin on her face when she notices me and starts waving faster while locking her eyes at me, lol.

For the event I attended, she had S/mileage as backup dancers and once again Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo was performed twice and also Sekai wa Summer Party.

At the handshake event I only said thank you to all of the girls because it was so fast. However Mano managed to squeeze out that she had read my letter already and thanked me for it!

I was sad that I couldn't go to the evening event, which involved Saaya and the other girls again. Unfortunately I had to go to a Morning Musume concert that I had already bought a ticket for. Which was a lot of fun as well though, of course. The end of a really awesome week. :-)


Right now I still feel a bit overwhelmed and extremely happy for Mano-chan's achievement earlier today with the daily #1 at Oricon. After been supporting here for over a year from her first indie release, attending her events at locations outside of Tokyo, at would you cold almost call the country side, with less than 50 people showing up, following her from practically not having much support at all for then making it to something as big as getting a daily #1 Oricon. There's no greater satisfaction from being a fan than seeing your idol reach a major success.

To be honest, I think I have to admit that this girl currently is my favourite H!P member. Everything she does just amazes me and makes me want to support her as much as possible. Her mentality and devotion towards her job and obvious love for her fans is just mindblowing. She's making up for her lack of talent in other aspects (such as singing, dancing and being entertaining) by always working extremely hard but yet not showing any signs of getting out of energy, constantly having a smile on her face and showing how much she loves what she is doing. Mano Erina is simply awesome. Period.

PS. In 4 hours Mano is gonna be at the Hello Kitty show "Kitty's Paradise Peace", as a host of her own corner and having the ending song. Don't miss it!

オマリー

MANO GETS DAILY #1 ｷﾀ━━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━ !!!!!

It was just announced that Mano-chan got her first daily #1 at Oricon!! The official website ain't updated yet but it's all over the net already. You can access the daily charts quicker through mobile site, which I don't know how to do. But I trust it anyway.

CONGRATULATIONS MANO-CHAN! You sure deserve it after all hard work!

Too bad though that there wasn't any events this evening so we could get to see Mano's reaction when they told her about the rank. When I went to Akasaka Sacas for an event for Hajimete no Keiken earlier this year, Mano started crying when it was announced that she got #2 and it was probably the best Mano moment for me so far.

Edit: Oricon has updated it's site!












And oh, today I bought 7 damn copies of her LE to apply for her "premium live" release event that only 200 people get to attend. It better be enough for me to get a ticket. In which case, whenever/wherever the next event for her is I will make sure to make it there.

オマリー

Mano fan letters

A long week with six straight days of Mano events is now over. I'm incredibly tired but also very happy after been having a great week. I will try go into details about the last three days of events tomorrow. I'm just too tired to go through everything right now.

After I got back home now I sat down to go through all sites that I visit frequently, to catch up with what I've missed the last few days. When I got to Mano's blog I saw this post about her receiving a lot of fan letters.

Yesterday I wrote her a letter in English after my friend had convinced me that even if I couldn't write in Japanese, he was sure that Mano would appreciate it. I've felt a bit so-so about been doing it (it feels somehow disrespectful), until now when I read this:

「中には,
英語で書いてある手紙もあって,
音楽の力ってすごいなぁ
って思ったり...」

"One of the letters is written in English.
The power of music is strong, huh.
I think so..."

Mano-chan was touched by just me writing her a letter even if I didn't even try to at least write some of it in Japanese. I'm satisfied, since that's the reason for me even writing it, but I do want to ask her if she managed to understand all of it. She told me at the handshake events today that she had read it but I didn't have enough time to ask her about it. I tried to buy a CD for another handshake but they were sold out already at that point...

Now I have to somehow make it to some more event with her before I go back home to Sweden next month. Or, try send her another letter and hope that she will reply. I didn't include my address in the first one, lol.

オマリー

MANO HANDSHAKE EVENT MANIA - DAY 3

I got to today's events in Kawasaki a bit late so I missed the rehearsal for the mini live. My favourite egg member Saaya was there so it was kind of a disappointment. Then when the mini live started there was already so many there so I had to watch it from a spot where it was hard to see much. At least I had a good view of Mano and Saaya all the time. The other members was Kikka, Sekine and Momoka and they did backup dancing for Mano.

Set list:

1. Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo
2. Hajimete no Keiken
3. Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo

Once again Mano talked about her being an "ame onna" but somehow had managed to get good weather without any rain for the today's events that took place outside. Besides that I didn't get much except from her going through the usual stuff like please listen to the new single a lot and to come see her at the stage play in November (which I unfortunately will miss.. orz).

Today's handshake event (Scroll down for English translation.)

①

俺：　さぁやファンです！
北原：　お～！ありがとうございます！お久しぶり！
俺：　はい、ありがとうございますｗ

真野：　オマリー！
俺：　僕は何歳ですか？
真野：　ありがとうございます。お～・・・２６？ｗ
俺：　二十歳ｗ
真野：　お～ｗ　バイバイ！

②

俺：　新人公演行きました！
北原：　未定～未定～（？聞き逃す・・日本語・・orz)

桃香：　THANK　YOU
俺：　えぇ～？ｗ　Thank you!

俺：　せっきはひかりききですね？
関根：　えぇ？
俺：　お～左利き！ｗ
関根：　お～はい～
俺：　僕も！
関根：　Thank you～

真野：　オマリー！ｗ
俺：　Thank you～ｗ
真野：　バイバイ～
俺：　バイバイ！

③

俺：　Your hairstyle today is very beautiful～
北原：　お～Thank you!

俺：　桃香はすごい優しいキャラです
桃香：　おぉ～！Thank you!!
俺：　バイバイ～ｗ
桃香：　バイバイｗ

俺：　Now I will go back home!　お疲れ～
真野：　お疲れ様でした！
俺：　See you tomorrow!
真野：　はい！バイバイ！
俺：　バイバイ～

④

俺：　僕はオマリーといいます。覚えて下さい！
北原：　オマリー・・？
俺：　はい！オマリー！
北原：　はい！Thank you!　バイバイ！

桃香：　オマリーさん？
俺：　はい！ Thank you!
桃香：　Thank you! バイバイ！
俺：　バイバイ！

俺：　僕はオマリーといいます。覚えて下さい！
吉川：　オマリー？
俺：　はい！バイバイ！
吉川：　バイバイ～

関根：　オマリーさん？
俺：　はい！バイバイ！
関根：　バイバイ～

俺：　Do you speak English?
真野：　English... speaking? Oh..uh... See you later! w
俺：　See you later! ｗ
真野：　ｗ　バイバイ！
俺：　バイバイ！

①

Me: I'm Saaya's fan!
Saaya: Oh, thank you! Long time no see!
Me: Yeah.. thank you!

Mano: O'Malley!
Me: How old am I?
Mano: Thank you! Oh~! ....26? *lol*
Me: 20! *lol*
Mano: Oh~ Bye-bye!

②

Me: I went to Shinjin Kouen!
Saaya: "Mitei~mitei~"(?) (I couldn't hear this well.. but I believe she misunderstood me for asking if she will be at the next Shinjin Kouen and replied that it's not decided yet.)

Momoka: THANK YOU!
Me: Ehh? *lol* Thank you! (I think she actually heard what I said to Saaya, haha.)

Me: Sekki is light-handed, right?
Sekki: Eh~?
Me: Oh! Left-handed! (I said hikari and not hidari, lol)
Sekki: Oh! Yes!
Me: Me too!
Sekki: Thank you~

Mano: O'Malley!
Me: Thank you! *lol*
Mano: Bye-bye!
Me: Bye-bye!

③

Me: Your hairstyle today is very beautiful~
Saaya: Oh, thank you!

Me: Momoka's character is really very kind. (Here I accidentally said "yashii" and not "yasashii" at first, so I couldn't finish the sentence, lol.)
Momoka: Oh! Thank you!
Me: Bye-bye~

Me: Now I will go back home! Good job!
Mano: Thank you!
Me See you tomorrow!
Mano: Yes! Bye-bye!
Me: Bye-bye~

Then I realized that the speed got slower so I decided to go once more.

④

Me: I'm called O'Malley. Please remember it!
Saaya: O'Malley?
Me: Yes! O'Malley!
Saaya: Ok! Thank you! Bye-bye!

Momoka: O'Malley-san?
Me: Yes! Thank you!
Momoka: Thank you! Bye-bye!
Me: Bye-bye!

Me: I'm called O'Malley. Please remember it!
Kikka: O'Malley?
Me: Yes! Bye-bye!
Kikka: Bye-bye!

Sekki: O'Malley-san?
Me: Yes! Bye-bye!
Sekki: Bye-bye~

Mano: O'Malley!
Me: Do you speak English?
Mano: English... speaking? Oh..uh... See you later! *lol*
Me: See you later! *lol*
Mano: *lol* Bye-bye!
Me: Bye-bye!

Mano-chan needs to calm down with showing that she remembers my name, haha. It's hard to talk to her because she is not listening being busy shouting my name, lol.

Then I waited for the girls to change clothes before leaving since I missed them during the rehearsal and was curious what they were wearing. The staff pulled a nice trick on us, though, by letting the girls leave from another side of the building than what is usual. So I didn't get that close to them and couldn't say good-bye to them again. Oh well, they at least noticed me and waved to me! lol

Tomorrow it's the same lineup of girls in Yokohama. I'm glad to get to meet Saaya and the other girls again!


Lastly again Mano's outfit for the events (also used in her debut concert in June):



















オマリー

MANO HANDSHAKE EVENT MANIA - DAY 2

I just got back home after have left my home at 9:30 this morning. The whole day was spent on Mano events! Being a DD wota sure is a full-time job. However, I miscalculated the amount of people who would show up early for a ticket for today's mini live with Mano and S/mileage, so I could have left home at 5 PM instead, lol. Because the events was at Odaiba it was a long and expensive trip back home. The weather was also bad with rain all day long. (Of course because of our "ame onna", Mano-chan ^_^.) However, I went out for karaoke the whole afternoon with my friend from Hong Kong and a Japanese wota. It was fun, so no time got wasted really.

Mini-live

As usual we got to see the girls doing their rehearsal on stage before the event started. It's always great to get to see Mano in casual clothes and the eggs wearing their cute sweatsuits.

The actual event consisted of Mano performing the A side of the new single twice and also the B side. There was some talking from Mano as well about how it has become fall now and something about that we shouldn't eat too much, lol. She was also of course sorry about the weather she had brought with her.

Handshake event

I started out by buying two CDs for two handshake event tickets and today's handshakes were so fast so I decided to not go for more. I didn't really say anything to the S/mileage girls, just a simple "arigatou gozaimasu" both times. So far neither of them have caught my interest that much so I couldn't come up with anything that I wanted to tell them. When I talked with Mano it looked like this:

①

真野： オマリー！
私： 俺名前は？おぉ～！ｗ
真野： オマリー！！
私： ありがとうございます！
真野： バイバイオマリー！
私： バイバイ！ｗ

1st round

Mano: O'Malley!
Me: What's my name...? Oh～! *lol*
Mano: O'Malley～！！
Me: Thank you!
Mano: Bye-bye, O'Malley! *waving*
Me: Bye-bye! *lol*

②

真野： オマリー！
私： 今日のラジオ番組へ行きます！
真野： お～！待ってます、オマリー！
私： じゃ、後で！ｗ
真野： はい、バイバイ！
私： バイバイ！

友達： 僕はオマリーの友達！
真野： 本当に？？

2nd round

Mano: O'Malley!
Me: I'll be going to your radio show today!
Mano: Oh～! I'll be waiting for you, O'Malley!
Me: Well, later then! *lol*
Mano: Yes. Bye-bye! *waving*
Me: Bye-bye! *waving*

Friend: I'm O'Malley's friend!
Mano: Seriously??

Yesterday I asked Mano to remember that I'm called O'Malley. I had planend to ask her if she remembered it today and she shouted it out so fast when I got to her that I didn't notice it so I asked if she remembered, then she repeated it with a thrilled voice. I got so surprised so I just said thank you and bye, haha.

The next time she seemed to want to make sure that I could see that she had remembered my name and kept repeating it. I just told her that I would be going to the radio show later because I had nothing else to say really. After that my friend who was right behind me for some reason shouted out to Mano that he's my buddy and I'm not sure either how to interpret her answer, haha. It was fun though.


Radio show

When the events were finished in Odaiba I had to go to Yoyogi, which took almost an hour including walking between venues and train stations. Not many people showed up, only about 40. I guess that was because many were satisfied with the events in Odaiba and Mano wouldn't be on the show until 10 PM.

There wasn't much to the show, since we didn't even get to hear it. Mano waved a lot to us though and since we were only 10 people in each group watching it at a time she could wave to every single one of us. I enjoyed just watching her talking to the hosts. She was extremely adorable as always. Well worth the time and effort.

When she left in a taxi, I took a spot on the other side of the street where no one else was standing. Then when the car passed by me and Mano noticed me she started waving like crazy, lol.

Right now I'm probably the happiest Mano wota in the world. She sure knows how to treat her fans!

The clothes Mano wore during the reherseal and radio sow from her blog:
















I'm bad with names of girl clothes, but the greyish article was some kind of one-part whatever you call it with shorts and top together. Then she had that black shirt underneath it and black stockings. Very cute!

Tomorrow there's a mini live in Kawasaki (Kanagawa) followed by a handshake event with a couple of not yet announced eggs. Luckily I don't have to be there until late afternoon, so I can take a long rest before I head there.