Getting it done…

Work in progress…

2015.12.04 – Can’t recall

2015.12.05 – Sakura Gakuin 5 year anniversary day 1/2 – Live viewing @ Ikebukuro HUMAX

2015.12.06 – Sakura Gakuin 5 year anniversary day 2/2 – Live viewing @ Shinjuku Wald 9

2015.12.07 – Can’t recall

2015.12.08 – Can’t recall

2015.12.09 – Variety show @ Akasaka BLITZ

Since BILLIE IDLE only did one show at the time I would spend in Japan and it got instantly sold out this was my only chance to catch them.For a full list of people that appeared there is a link at the end to the event.

As the headline says it wasn’t and idol show but a variety show with different sketches and some idol collaborations, the main female host was Shizu Mizuno and she was pretty amusing. As for the sketches I got most of it but if I had understood the language it would have made it more enjoyable. BILLIE IDLE played 3 songs as I recall, they were not quite as good live as I had hoped for, mainly because Uika was goofing around a bit too much but I’m looking forward to seeing them again on my next trip. Other highlights would be when Aipon of PASSPO☆ entered the stage, the crowd went pretty wild, I had no idea she was that popular – I think they ended with an AKB48 song where everyone that had participated joined in, Shizu Mizuno clumsily danced along, it was a wonderful sight.

Link to event

2015.12.10 – Can’t recall

2015.12.11 – Can’t recall

2015.12.12 – Usabe’s 17’th birthday concert @ Shinjuku MARZ

First off, of all the smaller places MARZ is definitely my favorite, it does have the same issues as most other small places but I like it for some reason! Also note the order of the groups might not be correct since my memory fails me.

This event as the headline suggests was a celebration of Usabe (she’s the one with the red school bag) of Avuandando’s birthday, as I recall it started off with her doing some solo “singing” and performance, her group then joined her and did a few songs.

Up next was a guy called Ishikawa Koji, a chubby middle aged guy with just an acoustic guitar, I quite enjoyed his performance.

Next were Oyasumi Hologram and like everyone else they put on a great show, also I think every artist this day went into the crowd at some point and they were no exception, I think this be one of the reasons I like MARZ because last time I was there it was the same, it really great for idol interaction. Anyway to get back on track here is a picture…

Black DPG was up next, basically they are a (evil) part of Natsu no mamono but yet an independent group! They are a wrestling themed “metal”-idol group (sounds kinda like Alice Juban a bit), I recorded one of their songs.

At the end of their set some wrestler guy associated with them kidnapped the birthday girl and then a member of Natsu no mamono appeared and tried to free her but failed and the evil-doers left – the rest of Natsu no mamono appeared and they did their set, culminating in them fighting the kidnapper in the audience and freeing Usabe 🙂

 

Time for BELLRING Shōjo hāto a quite popular group with a lot of female fans, I would have the opportunity to see them many times this trip but this was the only show I watched in it’s entirety.

Usabe went on stage again and was joined by Ishikawa Koji and they did some song where he played some machine that basically did everything, like drum/horns and whatnot in one, next they were joined by Kai from BELLRING Shōjo hāto, apparently the three of them have a group together and they did a song or two, I just saw they are performing again on April the 20th maybe I should go see them.

Link to event

2015.12.13 – Can’t recall

2015.12.14 – Piiiiiiin/Hime Kyun Fruit Can

Work in progress…..

The first week or so….

The usual note to any reader: Yes there is often not a lot of detail in my “reviews” but remember they are for my personal use – the next ones will only get worse since I only have one day left to post about the next 30 shows

 

2015.11.29 IDOL EXPRESS LIVE – Studio Earth 

Located right next to Tokyo Tower it gave me a chance for some sightseeing without actually making plans for it.

On my way to the show

It was a good show with a lot of groups I liked,  Akishibu Project, Screaming Sixties, elfloat, CANDY GO!GO! and Ready to Kiss. I would end up seeing many of those groups again…. and again so I won’t be going into details here. Funny story: When I went in they were trying to get me out because they didn’t sell tickets to Tokyo Tower, I finally managed to get them to understand that I was there on purpose to see idols.

This was the depressing building that housed the concert, right next to Tokyo Tower

Link to event

 

2015.12.01 JAPAN IDOL SUPER LIVE 2015 vol.6 – TSUTAYA O-EAST 

Again a really nice lineup for me, Nama hamu to yaki udon, Ready to Kiss, Baseball Girls, Moso Calibration, Akishibu Project – also while I’m not crazy about the music I have to say both Festive and Ciao Bella Cinquetti (formerly called “The Possible”) are excellent performers.

And this was the show I got my first 2-shot, I had been kinda iffy about it, but wattstax had been teasing me and saying I couldn’t be considered a real fan until I got a cheki. So I got in line expecting to buy something but when it was my turn nothing was for sale so I got a bit confused because I never thought you simply paid to get your picture taken with a girl, but that was how it worked. Since I had no favorites at that point I just picked the closest one which happened to be Arakawa Yuuna. I was happy to have it out of my system but when I told wattstax about, he added it had to be with a group he liked!

Link to event

 

2015.12.02 COSMICBOX vol. 15 – Shibuya eggman 

I picked this event based on the shallow reason that I think Rinahamu is the cutest thing ever and one of her projects called BPM15Q were performing. Also I really liked the video “Shit End” video by “Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da” (no idea there is a short for their name) so that convinced me I had to go.

Anyway, the venue was kinda awful mainly because of smoking. Smoking IS restricted to certain areas most places but when the venue is this small it doesn’t really matter that you can only smoke at the bar!

This was quite a different show compared to normal idol shows. First off there was a DJ (POCHI) playing songs and behind her a girl then started to paint a picture which she would continue with the next couple of hours while the idols were performing (yes very artsy).

First up was a group of girls dressed as business women called “Kichohanakansha” they only played one song so it was hard to get much of an impression, next was Yuri Shinohara, a solo idol she was very cute but can’t recall anything else! Then there was a group with a name that I can’t translate “Shōjo kakka no intānashonaru”, they were absolutely weird and wonderful, I didn’t know it at the time but Risa Satosaki is a member of this group aside from doing her solo stuff. (below is a video of their performance at the same club a month earlier)

They were a pretty hard act to follow and  “Otome Corporation” really didn’t make much of an impression on me neither did the next solo idol again I can’t remember anything about the performance aside from her being cute, her name was Yuzumochiko Miko. Finally “Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da” went on, just as expected I liked them a lot but the performance was nothing too special. More solo idols, this one went by the name “tenkawa uchū”, unlike the two previous solo idols this night she wasn’t hyper and happy looking but rather looked kinda bored, it took me a while to realize that it was her concept, once it dawned on me I enjoyed her awkward show a lot, unfortunately it turns out she stopped as an idol soon after and now goes by the name “Imagawa uchū” what she does exactly is not clear to me!!!

The last act was BPM15Q…. but I left shortly into the second song I couldn’t take it anymore, it’s just not my kind of music

All in all a very mixed night – I didn’t like the venue, BPM15Q were terrible (to me) and I didn’t get a cheki with Rinahamu, BUT I liked that it was a completely different experience compared to most idol shows and “Shōjo kakka no intānashonaru” were amazing 🙂

Link to event

 

 

2015.12.03 We are the idol vol. 4 – Shibuya-REX 

Another shitty small venue, no smoke this time since the smoking section was separate but the stage wasn’t very wide and it was pretty cramped.

I picked this show because I knew and liked JyuJyu from live videos and I had seen the Maison Book Girls official videos but I wasn’t really sure if I liked them or not.

First up was “Firosofī no dansu” I guess their theme was to be funky-sexy idols and while their music wasn’t to my liking I liked their performance. Next was “Hauptharmonie” a weird group with a German name and many of their song titles are German as well, some of their songs are really good and they were quite entertaining. Maison Book Girl, after seeing them here I still wasn’t convinced but after I got the album I’m a fan, I guess it’s one of those groups where knowing the songs makes it better! JyuJyu, they started off with their more “controlled” songs and being very stylish and neat but got more “wild” with each song. I didn’t stay for any chekis because it was so crowded.

Link to event

2015.11.28 PASSPO☆

This was the first major event of my trip, my favorite group PASSPO☆ did two concerts in one day, and I was especially excited about this since they would perform as BAND PASSPO☆ and I never saw them play before.

The concert was held at Shinagawa Stellar Ball which was also a first for me, I got a little lost but I was there in good time and met Clem outside before the first concert, we talked a bit and waited for our numbers to be called out – it was Clems first PASSPO☆ show and as I recall he bought everything, t-shirts, hoodie, towels and probably also some photos, I just got a towel (old design) because I didn’t really like the design of the new t-shirts – come to think of it Clem also bough a glowstick in the wrong color 😉 We got our drinks and went in and waited for it to start.

Before PASSPO☆ started we got a few songs from Puchi PASSPO, they are a pretty cute group and I can enjoy their songs although they are still a bit rough, however compared to how they were a few months earlier they had improved a lot.

PASSPO☆ started off as BAND PASSPO☆ and played “Wanted” which is probably the heaviest song they’ve done as a group it was nothing short of amazing, they proceeded to do four more songs as a band – since Sakotee was on indefinite hiatus Naomin had been promoted to lead-guitar and Yukkii had taken over on rhythm-guitar. After the 5 songs they took a short break and came back and did their “usual” idol performance. At some point the spotlight fell on Yukkii/Naomin and the members took turns to read letters of thanks to the two members for stepping up and working hard to make it possible to perform as BAND PASSPO☆ again, obviously I understood nothing of what was said but I didn’t have to to get the point.

BAND PASSPO

After the first concert Clem wanted to get a 2-shot with Morishi and went to look but it seemed like she was doing handshakes at the time so he would go back later! So Clem and I went to get something to eat before the next show.

The second show again started with Puchi PASSPO, this time there was no BAND PASSPO☆ but overall I liked the 2’nd show better for some reason. They announced that they had signed with CROWN records and their first single would be “Mr. Wednesday” but they didn’t perform the song at that time. My memory is a little off but I think it was in the second show they did a medley of songs each representing a year and it included “Tracks” which they hadn’t performed since Makkochan left, Aipon took over Makkochan’s part in the song and afterwards she talked a bit about Makkochan (again I didn’t understand anything), they also played “Growing Up” again with Aipon taking Makkochan’s part – while neither of those songs are my favorites I got pretty emotional over it (I didn’t cry like Aipon tho).

Aipon during “Tracks”

Clem never got his 2-shot 😦

And that will be the end of the run-sentences for this time.

Other sources:

Natalie report on concert and some great photos

PASSPO☆PHOTO

 

It’s been a while…

I’ve put off posting about my last trip for too long, in fact I’m going back to Japan next Thursday so I guess it’s about time to get it done – this won’t be a very informative write-up, it’s mainly notes for myself that I can look back on, so take it as such.

2015-11-25/26 Arriving

For this trip I decided to save some money on accommodation since hotels are pretty expensive in Tokyo. I did consider a hostel but I really like my privacy so I ended up renting an apartment through Airbnb – it’s more expensive than a hostel but cheaper than a hotel and you basically have a real apartment with a small kitchen which is nice.

Like last time I prepared a bit for the trip by changing my sleep pattern to be closer to Japanese time. It’s not really a big deal, over a week my end goal was to go to bed at around 18 and getting up at around 2,  I can already say I experienced no jetlag at all. I also decided to rent a portable Wi-Fi device this time since I wasn’t sure about the quality of the internet in the apartment (last time I just got a SIM-card). Finally I bought tickets for the most important events, I knew they most likely wouldn’t sell out but better safe than sorry. (I got tickets for PASSPO☆, Muto Ayami, You’ll Melt More).

My flight to Japan was on the 25th, the flight was pretty uneventful and boring, I did watch a really good sentimental Japanese movie called “The furthest end awaits”, I tried to get some sleep and I think I managed to get 3-4 hours or so.

Having safely arrived at Narita Airport at around 10:30 I headed straight for the Airport post office, having been there before meant I didn’t have any problem finding it, I got my portable Wi-Fi device and headed for the train station where tanked up my Suica with 10,000 ¥ and went to get the train to Tokyo. At around 13 I arrived at my apartment which was located in the eastern part of Shinjuku in a mostly residential area and nowhere close to any of the interesting stuff. I obviously already knew the apartment was small but damn… it was really small, like 2m in width and 6m in length but it had all I needed a fancy lavatory, a shower (no bathtub), a small kitchen, a washing machine (full size) an open closet, a table and a chair and a futon. I pretty much instantly took a shower (I had been traveling for 24 hours) and then I went shopping for groceries at the 7-11 and went back home, I kinda wanted to go to a show but I was really tired so I just spent the day unpacking and went to sleep pretty early.

 

2015-11-27 SUPER REACH FES vol.2

After a good night’s sleep I woke up early and started thinking about what to do – yes I didn’t plan anything aside from idol shows for my trip, so I decided to go to Tower Records and looked a bit around the Shibuya area. An online acquaintance and fellow PASSPO☆ fan called Clem was also in Japan at the same time and he had just been sightseeing the whole time, so I had asked him a while ago if he didn’t want to go see some random idol show to experience the idol show atmosphere so we agreed to meet for a show that evening.

This show was at ReNY which an be hard to find the first time, it’s located in what seems to be a business area of Tokyo and the sign at the door is quite small. I remember last time I was there I went out for some air and happened to run into a bunch of Indonesian guys that had been running around in circles not being able to find it, I was kinda proud to be able to show them where it was.

Anyway, I went there from the start but Clem didn’t arrive until much later and by that time my right knee had started to hurt really bad, this was a thing that would bother me the entire trip (turns out I have osteoarthritis of the knee) so I left soon after he arrived, this meant that we didn’t get to talk much that day. As for the show it was the usual kind of “many idols” show, 2-4 songs with a little MC and then on to the next act, I actually quite fancy those kinds of shows since if there is a group you don’t care for you can take a break. Anyway the most noticeable new act for me was “Nama hamu to yaki udon” translated to English it means “Raw ham and baked noodles” one girl is ham one is noodles, they are a sketch based idol duo and even if I can’t understand a word they say I find them very entertaining, some other groups from the lineup this night that I liked was Baseball Girls, Ready to Kiss and Candy Go!Go!