プロデューサーさん、フェスティバルですよ！フェスティバル！

Yup, I went to the event where the iDOLM@STER Movie was announced: The Music Festival of Winter! Set in Makuhari Messe, the same place where the 5th Anniversary (where Kugyu cried) took place, the event seems super massive because it was surrounded not only by Producers, but people going to the WonFes, AND a bunch of people taking entrance exams for university. This (and the fact that Scamco is Scamco) is probably the reason why they had goods presales the day before the concert.

Fellow Producers, having an important meeting about the future of 765 Pro

Having gone to the presales, I didn't need to line up for goods early in the morning on the day of the concert, so I came about an hour before the concert start to pick up the Call Book. As usual, people were showing off their power levels in the area, so Producer cosplayers, itabike riders and people wearing happis of their favourite idol were everywhere. At about 10:45ish, the line to enter started forming, and everyone immediately lined up. Heard from the guy sitting beside me in the area that the line ended up going to the park nearby.

Had a heart attack as I got in the arena, as for some unknown reason (buying all 3 Shiny Festa games), I somehow got the front arena seat, about 8 rows from the front. The live started pretty late, about 30 minutes late as they were doing body checks and bag checks before you were allowed to get in, which was a first for concerts. Did not matter though, as when they started showing random commercials on the screen, everyone did the calls for RE@DY!!

Eririn Sensei~

As the commercials died down, President Takagi came on and welcomed us to the stage before calling Akabane P to give us the usual warning (No taking photos/recording, no waving cylumes too hard). At this point, the lights started turning up, and the music for The iDOLM@STER started, with the girls silhouettes being shown on a massive white screen in front of the stage.

Setlist:

1. Jibun Rest@rt - All

Suddenly starting with Jibun Rest@rt is cheating! And even though they were missing 4 people (Kugyu, Mingos, Chiaking and Hirorin), Jibun Rest@rt does not stop being awesome. The girls' new costumes were adorable, although the colour scheme reminds me too much of the American flag. After the song, they did the usual introduction, with Asapon (who had the most adorable ribbon) calling for all niichan and neechan, and there were surprisingly a LOT of neechans. After their intros, the girls who needed to prepare left, and we had Nu, Harami, Akky, Maya and Juri doing MCs which includes what their hope is for this year (Nu's is to get her driving licence).

2. Honey Heartbeat - Asapon/Naomi

So much fun done live. Asapon is super expressive, and she keeps making a lot of faces during her performance. Kami's cool too as usual! At this point, everyone noticed that they had a live band backing them, which is pretty unusual for imas.  They had this rocker style outfit going on, with a black jacket covering a silvery dress with the idol's colour as accent and a big ass ribbon on the back.

3. I Want - Eririn

I WANT! I NEED! It was as if Harukakka herself was on stage. Wanted to be stepped on by Eririn so bad at this point orz orz orz

4. Alright* - Azumin

She opened with another "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" this time around, and it was pretty amazing hearing it with a live band backing. She started on my side of the arena too, so that was another thing. Azumin's smile is that of an angel's.

5. Genki Tripper - Maya

Maya's entrance to this song looked as if she got shot out of a cannon, cause she jumped REALLY high, and proceeded to fall on her butt. It was just like the accident part in the games. She immediately got up, and was all energetic as usual though. Was as if Yayoi herself was on stage.

6. Me Ga Au Shunkan - Nu/Akky

ME TO ME GA AU SHUNKAN~ Perfect song done by a great pair who can sing and dance as well. Did not expect this to come out, but at this point, imas has around 200 different songs, so having old songs like this show up is really awesome.

7. Meisou Mind - Harami/Juri

Having Harami and Juri who mostly does ballads do this song was a little surprising, but awesome. The way they carry themselves on stage, and the way the song was performed was perfect.

8. Vault the Borderline (M@STER Version) - Eririn/Naomi/Juri

Was wondering how they were going to do Vault since two of their members were missing, but having Juri as the pinch hitter was not bad at all. Heard this live before during Tokyo Game Show and wasn't super into it, but the full version is great. They used Vault the Borderline to end the first part of the show, which was the rock part. Even introduced their band and everything!

Asapon!

9. Visionary (M@STER Version) - Asapon/Maya/Nu

Adorableness to the max. Visionary has always been my favourite of the three different game songs (cause it has Iori), but seeing and hearing the full version done live was just too much. Asapon is super expressive as usual.

10. Brand New Day - Nu

Such a happy, sunny song that fits Nu perfectly. She had one of those mic stands and used it as a prop awesomely.

11. Reimei Starline - Asapon

Asapon gave everyone a salute as the music started, and started waving Ami/Mami coloured cyalume during the ending part.

12. Lovely - Eririn/Maya/Naomi

Azusa's song! Done by this trio. Was a little weird, but the sheer adorableness just poured out from those three. Eririn was terrifyingly cute when she did the "Anata ga suki yo~" part.

13. Ippai Ippai - Naomi

Ricchan's Noble Phantasm. Third time hearing it live, and it is still awesome as usual. IPPAI IPPAI IPPAI IPPAI~

14. Ai like Hamburger - Naomi/Maya

Adorable big band type song, done by the girls who did it for the Namassuka album! Went and got a burger for dinner because of this song.

15. Kyun Vampire Girl - Akky/Harami

Hearing Akky and Harami do 「はああああああ～ん」 live was just too much. This is my favourite new DLC song for the second game (mostly because My Dear Vampire goes SO well with Iorin), and getting to see Harami and Akky perform it live was so great. From my memory, this was the end of the second part, which was about cute songs, before they went for FEELs for the final part. This was also the point where Takagi announced the movie, Gami P going up the stage to be called "HENTAI!" by several thousand people, and showed us the announcement PV.

Azumin's angelic smile

16. edeN (M@STER Version) - Akky/Azumin/Harami

Objectively, this is the best Shiny Festa song, and they even prepared violins and cellos for this part. The dancing, and the music was just perfect. They were trying to look all serious for this part, but Azumin's serious face was too cute to be taken seriously.

17. Little Match Girl - Azumin/Eririn

Finally getting to hear the full version after hearing a short version during the 7th Anniversary medley was so much fun! Azumin shone on stage, and the red provided by Eririn made it seem like the snow was on fire.

18. DREAM - Akky

Excellent choice of song by Akky, and I really did not expect to hear this live. Perfect combination of dancing and singing, and she pulled it off really well!

19. LOST - Harami

Back in the days, before we had Yakusoku, this was my second or third favourite imas ballad song after my song. Harami put all her heart and soul into singing this song, and it was just too much. Seeing her expression while she was performing this song makes it look as if she just lost someone important, and this was met by a round of applause from everyone.

20. Futari no Kioku - Asapon/Nu

And before we had LOST, this was my second favourite ballad song (because its an Iorin song), and I really did not expect them to do this song, especially not by the genki combination of Asapon and Nu. Asapon actually used Amimami's voice during the performance, and it was impressive

21. First Step - Azumin

The mythical song that was not released until last week was finally performed live, on the stage where Azumin debuted two~three years ago. The kindness, the amount of heart radiated by Azumin's smile made her seem like a celestial being, arriving from the heavens to share her song with us. If Yakusoku was the peak of feels during the 7th Anniversary, First Step had the same effect on the Winter Festival. The whole crowd gave her a long round of applause as she left the stage.

22. Sachi - Juri

In Namassuka Curtain Call, Kotori sang this song as a representative of the fans as a way to deliver our feelings of gratitude to the idols. And it was exactly that. Juri's always been good at ballads, and this was no exception. Even though she is just an office worker, she definitely shone on stage today. Everyone also clapped for this.

23. Music (M@STER Version) - Everyone

Everyone came back on with their group costume for the final song of the day, and it was the theme song of the Festival: Music! Like the other Festa songs, I've heard it when they performed it during TGS and did not really get into it, but the game, and now the full version definitely made me change my mind. The beat, the rhythm, and the melody of song was excellent to use as an ending song.

Except its not, as everyone kept standing up after the girls went back and started calling for encore.

24. Encore: READY!! - Everyone

Yeah like we weren't getting READY!! at a post Animas iDOLM@STER concert. Of course they did this song, and the amount of awesome does not change no matter how often I've heard this live (4 times at this point). All kinds of cyalumes were being waved around at this point, and everyone knows the calls and did their best to cheer for the idols on stage.

25. Encore: MUSIC - Everyone

And for the final song of the day, they did the M@ster version of Music again, but this time, they had the lyrics showing on screen, and had everyone sing the song. Was definitely a perfect way to end the concert without doing Go My Way or The iDOLM@STER.

Nu! Not just for show!

Closing Thoughts

Well there I was, my 4th time seeing iDOLM@STER live, and my second time being in an iDOLM@STER only concert. It has never stopped being awesome, and I doubt that it will. Not having everyone up there on stage today was kinda disappointing, but then again, everyone up there definitely did their best, and this is definitely almost as good, if not actually as good as the 7th live. After Lisani at the end of last month where Mingosu did Aoi Tori, I was wondering if they'll ever do more imas concerts with live bands, and there they were, performing with the backing of a great band, and not only that, they even brought out instruments like the violin and the cello to do their songs.

At this point, I don't think I'll ever stop loving this franchise. It doesn't matter if they're mostly doing it for money because dammit, any franchise that can make you cry from the sheer amount of happiness you get is definitely worth the money.

In my ongoing effort to maximise the amount of jealousy felt by Shinn so he can truly feel what getting NTR'd is like, I attended Nana's second orchestral live. Set in the Saitama Super Arena, where more than 30,000 people can fit, Nana had the backing of her Cherry Boys band, a full orchestral set of 98 people, and a chorus of 77 people. The live itself was truly something else. Taking the center stage, surrounded by the blue glow of the audience's cyalumes, Nana definitely delivered yesterday night.

The journey started with the usual good sales in the morning, and having learned my lesson from other events, I took the first train available from my station to Saitama Super Arena, and arrived at around 6:40 where a large number of people have already started lining up for the concert goods. The first noticeable thing was the fact that there are actually a lot of girls there compared to the usual concerts I go to. If iDOLM@STER had a ratio of maybe 1 girl for every 10 dudes, Nana was more like 1 girl for every 7 guy, maybe even more. It was also crazy how quickly the goods get sold out, as by the time I got there, the L sized cardigans already ran out. Was still able to get the towel, a shirt, the penlight and a booklet though, and since they were doing a deal where you get a poster for CD/DVD/BD purchases over 2000 Yen, I ended up picking up the first The Museum too.

There isn't much to do around Saitama Super Arena before the concert started, so people mostly just sat around trading the Nana trading cards you get for buying goods. Unsurprisingly, there were also cosplayers around, and not just of Nana's anime characters, but also of Nana herself. Since this is the era of Lovely Fruit, there were quite a few waitress dress wearing cosplayers, even though it was around 2 degrees celcius out there.

The gates opened at around 16:40~45 or so, and tens of thousands of people started pouring in the arena. Due to the sheer amount of people attending, it took around 2 hours for everyone to get settled, and then it was time for the concert to begin! As the orchestral music played in the background, everyone turned on their blue cyalumes, and the area was completely bathed in blue light.

Setlist:

01. Zankou no Gaia
02. SCARLET KNIGHT

Starting with Zankou no Gaia is kinda unusual, albeit awesome, and then following that with some Scarlet Knight is even better! Nana wore a super frilly dress with a massive skirt for this part that really suited her, and is totally appropriate for an orchestral setting. She welcomed us to her second orchestral live, and tried to be all proper and formal, but then decided against it. This was followed by introduction of the orchestra and some remarks from the conductor. "This kind of (cyalume) coordination is only possible in North Korea! Even if we got paid extras to try and emulate what you guys are doing, they're not going to turn out as well as this! And you guys are paying to do this!"

He also told us about how Nana came super early for the rehearsal, fully equipped to make sure that everything works well, and that she does not need the help of a teleprompter to remember her song lyrics, which are quite long. That made him a fan of her, and he ended up joining the fanclub （笑）.

03. Juliet
04. Replay Machine
05. Risouron
06. Lovely Fruit
07. Hoshikuzu Symphony

The live picked up again at that point, and she went and sang a song that is quite old, which was really surprising, followed by a little costume change, nay, modification before she started Lovely Fruit. Which was amazing done live with a full orchestral backing. I think this was also the point where everyone wished her an early happy birthday (21st of January), and sang Happy Birthday to Nana.

08. DISCOTHEQUE [PV]
At this point, Nana went backstage for a costume change, and we were shown a great PV of her being a nerd wanting to be the prom queen in a Glee-like setup. The biggest surprise at this part was the fact that a certain Ono D was also in the PV, acting as the teacher. Right after the thing is over, we also found out that he was also there, watching the live.

09. Avalon no Oukan
Her next costume was a white magician-like costume that showed a lot, and I mean, a lot of legs. She then took a ride on a (fake) horse cart, and rode it to the center of the arena, where the next session begins.

[Acoustic Session]
10.Gozen Reiji no Baby Doll
11.Futari no MEMORY
12.Darling Plastic
[End of Acoustic Session]
To let the orchestra take a break, Nana had an acoustic session of her older songs with the Cherry Boys, and had us call in the members one by one. It honestly felt weird calling a guy who is not Aniki "aniki", even though he was actually pretty cool. And is a good cook too! Nana asked the band members what they want to challenge this year, and quite a few of them wanted to become better musicians, although the bassist wanted to finish climbing Mt. Fuji.

13. TRANSMIGRATION
The orchestra finished their break at this point, and Nana took the horse cart back to the main stage before going backstage again to change costumes again. We were treated with a pretty nice symphonic background music at this point that included the Star Wars main theme.

14. BRAVE PHOENIX
15. Pray
16. Kiseki no Melodia
17. Koi no Yokushiryoku
18. BRIGHT STREAM
And this was it. This was the super hot, super awesome, lots of jumping part of the concert. Nana changed to a hot red-pink dress for this part, and it was definitely the best part of the concert. Hearing a full orchestral arrangement of BRAVE PHOENIX and Pray was just too much, as tears started flowing out of my eyes. Both Kiseki no Melodia and Koi no Yokushiryoku were great too, and she finished the live with Bright Stream.

<Encore>
19. innocent starter
20. Orchestral Fantasia
But of course that's not the real end, as everyone called Nana back in for an Encore, where she revealed that the theme of the second Live Grace was doing the songs that she didn't do with a full orchestral backing before. But then, she just HAD to sing Orchestral Fantasia, since it has the word Orchestra right there on its name. Hearing an orchestral arrangement of innocent starter was amazing.

<Double Encore>
21. Yakusoku
At the end of Orchestral Fantasia, she thanked everyone again, and went back inside. At this point, people started leaving, and I didn't know there were going to be a second encore. Not wanting to risk missing the train home, I left at this point, and checked Twitter on the train. To my surprise, there WAS a double encore, and she sang the final song of Rockbound Neighbors. Cue loud swearing noises inside the train.

So that was it. The first Mizuki Nana concert I've been to. It was definitely worth every second and yen. Although not being able to hear Shin'ai, Super Generation and Eternal Blaze in addition to her multitude of other awesome songs kinda sucked, the set list is amazing enough as is. Nana is an amazing artist, and being able to basically pull off a 3 hour one person live is definitely not an easy feat.  The rush of emotions inside me as I sat down there on the long journey back home was just too much, exactly the same as the feels I got during the end of iDOLM@STER 7th Anniversary Live.

Will definitely go to another one of her live if I get the chance to, but for now, both days of Lisani, the iDOLM@STER Winter Live, and JAM Project's concert this February are waiting~

The only proper way to enjoy the game.

音楽祭ですよ！音楽祭！

There is something that is just magical about The iDOLM@STER. I'm not sure what it is exactly (other than the marketing that is), that makes people fall in love with it (by people I mean me) but the franchise definitely has that something. The latest installment in the game: Shiny Festa is just a typical rhythm game with awesome im@s songs (Kyun Vampire Girl's PV in Funky Note and Shalala in Honey Sound are amazing). Gameplay wise it's not actually all that special, but then again I haven't been playing them properly yet.

Haven't actually explored the full extent of the game yet, but it's definitely not bad, at least not the songs I've tried out and the OVAs. As you start the game, you get to name your idol groups and your producer name as usual, and the OVA will immediately start. You can replay it anytime from the game's menu, but it does kinda suck to be stuck with a PSP resolution anime. Knowing Scamco however, they'll probably release a BD for it sometime soon enough.

Warning: Short summary of each after the jump. Spoilers everywhere obviously! I'd post pics, but my PSP isn't setup for screenshot so go look for them somewhere else for now!

In general, the OVAs themes are related to the PV of the special songs. The OVAs are generally about the girls figuring out how they're gonna perform during the festival. It's got quite a lot of stills, and I do notice some off animations here and there, but they're still really enjoyable.

Music is a Friend (Funky Note)

Funky Note is all about Iori/Yayoi with Hibiki and Amimami as support. They're technically main characters too, but Iorin takes the main character cake in this. After P's announcement of who were chosen to be the 765 Pro Representatives for the International Music Festival, the girls flew there. On the plane, Producer reminded them not to play around too much, especially since they're there for work. Of course the girls managed to convince him otherwise!

Cue them playing around, and the next day, Iorin was all depressed. Yayoi noticed Charles missing, and Iorin told her that she'd be a failure of a professional if something like this causes her to stop working. The other girls managed to convince Iorin to look for the bunny anyways, and they did. At the end of the day, Iorin's group weren't able to find it, and Iorin figured that this is probably punishment for playing around. But wait a minute! The twins and Hibikin were on the Ferris Wheel when they noticed a girl holding Iorin's bunny. Of course they were able to get it back, and give it to Iorin. Iorin apologized cause they missed practice/fun, and still doesn't have a material for the stage, but then Yayoi's brother told her that today was like an adventure. This led to her getting an idea, and they decided to go with that for their stage material!

Cue Visionary. At the end of the stage, the girls were announced to be the winners of the festival, and everyone surprised them in the backstage. During the encore, everyone came up on stage, and performed Music~! (This part is the same for each episode.)

Music in the World (Honey Sound)

So Chihaya/Haruka/Azusa is not a very good team to come up with things like themes for a performance. They ended up in Azusa's room (where Chihaya noticed that milk is in fact important for your body.) and still couldn't come up with anything. The next day, Ritsuko told them that P wouldn't be able to join in cause he's busy with other things, and told them to use whatever they have to decide what they'll do in the stage. Since Ricchan technically counts as a thing that the girls have, they decided to use her. Cue them going on the island, and on the boat, Chihaya noticed that there are a lot of foreigners there before a pair of Indian kids came up to her and gave her candy. Poor Chihaya, even kids feel bad for her.

In the island, they met Jupiter who is all prepared for the stage with all kinds of 3D and stage lights. Ricchan didn't realise that they can do that, and got depressed for a while. As they walked around, they noticed that the island is packed with people from everywhere because the Music Festival is in fact an international one! Haruka and Azusa decided to go and sing with people, before Chihaya realised something and got Ritsuko to join. At the end of the day, they realise that music is not about winning, but its about having fun with people from everywhere and decided to just have fun in the stage for their performance. P was worried so he came, and noticed Azusa's boobs that everyone was having fun in the pool, and asked if they're not worried about the stage, but Chihaya (of all people) told her about what they learned. Stage begins, cue Vault the Borderline.

Music of Love (Groovy Tune)

Because they were going to this island, Miki was all daydreaming about all the ラブラブ stuff she'll be doing with honey in the island, but the other girls told her that this is work! Then they realised that none of them have experienced love, and Miki decided to get P to train them in the ways of love. She ended up making plans for everyone to go on a date while they were on the island. The dates started with Yukiho, followed by Makoto crossdressing and wearing girl's clothes. Takane had the sunset date with P (called him anata-sama and everything. You will never have Takane calling you that.) At last its finally Miki's turn, but Producer noticed the concert people, and so he ended up late. Miki, being Miki was all depressed, and got mad at everyone cause they had their dates, but she didn't, and told everyone to leave her alone.

The other girls felt bad, and decided to do something to cheer her up. And so they decided to have Makoto dress properly (like a man that is) and get Miki to go on a date with him. But wait! Producer decided to show up too cause he felt bad for ditching Miki last night, and decided that he should ask Miki to go on a date, since he's the man after all. So everyone decided to go on a date together, and although they still haven't felt real love yet, they'll be okay on stage. Right before the stage, Miki asked Producer for a reward if they win, and didn't say anything. Cue edeN and them winning before Miki ran back and hugged producer. Since they won, Miki wants her reward, and of course being Miki, the reward can't be anything but a kiss from her Honey. Of course she didn't get it since everyone arrived right there and there!

Ending Thoughts

Holy shit that ended up being long. I'm not sure if getting all 3 games are worth it, but then again, each of them comes with a backstage pass that you need to preorder tickets for the Winter Live (and I'll preorder it right away when it opens next Thursday). And I really enjoyed the OVAs that came with the show, but I'm sure people will rip them soon enough. So it's not really all that bad. I also heard the songs live during TGS last month, so that's also pretty cool!

Don't think this is the last iM@S related thing coming up however, as iM@S wise, there's another event coming up in the December, a Shiny Festa  + Cinderella Girls live, but it is limited to 600 people, and its a lottery, so getting in is a little hard. I've also preordered tickets for the Lisani live, since iDOLM@STER is coming on the first day~! There's also Puchimasu to look forward to.

This is a good era to be an iM@S fan.

This is it. This is the fabled mountaintop, the event to end all events for Japanese cartoon and comic enthusiasts everywhere, as far as I'm concerned. I've only ever heard and read tales about the bi-annual Comic Market (or Comikè, if you say it like a local) event at the Tokyo Big Sight, and despite being able to finally fulfill the pilgrimage, the experience still feels so unreal.

As much as I wanted to head over to Ariake for all three days, I was still in Osaka when Day 1 commenced. In hindsight, a preliminary scan of the circles that were present that day suggested that it was going to be a fujoshi sausage buffet, with all that Tiger and Bunny doujins and whatnot, although it meant that I would also miss out on Kantoku's new artbook. The day started with absolutely no sleep whatsover, with me and friend heading out for the event on the very first train of the day.

It wasn't much of a head-start anyway, since our starting point was in Chiba. When we did reach our destination however, we were greeted with the biggest crowd I have ever seen in my life. And if you know me personally, you would know that I have too much pride to outwardly exhibit signs of excitement in public, but even that veneer of calm cracked the moment I stepped foot out of the 'main entrance'. Pilgrims like myself as far as the eye can see, were converging and heading towards their respective entrances for the event of the year. And there I was with the rest of them, about to partake in the insanity of it all.

For the uninitiated, the exhibition centre is split into the East and West halls - the latter is where the corporate booths set up shop on the fourth floor, with a number of circles present as well, on the first floor.  I had no real plans in the East hall today, so I decided to check out what the companies themselves had to offer. As I marched to the fourth floor with everyone, it was only then I realised the true horror of what it means to queue up at Comiket.

The space leading into the corporate hall was an open area, with enough attendees to fill up an average anime convention here in Malaysia. While intimidating as it is, it was only later that I understood what the significance was. Going in to window-shop is fine and all, but if you actually intend on buying something from the big names like Aniplex, Type Moon, Nanoha or Hibiki Radio, you're going to have to join a queue...

"Yeah, no problem." I mean, I already queued up earlier for 3 hours just to come into the hall anyway, so what's a little more waiting in line anyway, right? Then it hit me - the long-ass lines by the booths weren't even the actual lines. The massive crowd out in the scorching sun I saw earlier was in fact, made up of several queues for different booths. So that's why they were all so organised! Despite the insane number of people, the organisers had in place an archaic yet effective system of making sure things didn't get out of hand. From the tail-end of the Hibiki Radio queue, I counted roughly 300 or so ahead of me. This number is reduced about 20 people at a time, who are then escorted into the halls. Aptly so as prisoners of consumerism, we were instructed to raise our hands surrender style until we got to the booth.

For my 2 hour long effort of standing out in the hot sun, I was rewarded with an advanced sale of iDOLM@STER goods. Stocks were nearly depleted by the time I got to the cashier too, so I definitely lucked out. Everything from that point onwards was pretty much a leisurely stroll to see I could get my hands on without having to queue. Even by midday, the crowds for the big names still showed no sign of dwindling, so I gave all those a miss. That said, the Nanoha booth was surprisingly quiet with everything already gone. But to be honest, none of it was of any interest to me, until I got to ASCII Media's booth where they had Ro-kyu-bu goods on sale. Without even checking what was in the goodie bag, I just told the booth attendant to shut up and take my yens when I caught a glimpse on Hina on the bag. I hate myself sometimes.

With the corporate hall pretty much covered, I decided to go to East hall just for a quick scout of the location, since this is where the battlefield really takes place for me...

And on to Day 2. Equipped with knowledge from the previous day, I had a better idea on how to navigate through the halls, although I was a bit too ambitious and had well over 50 circles marked. Seeing as how the regular attendee had about a third of that, I would soon find out the hard way that things weren't going to end well for me.

This is the 7am line. To give you a sense of how crowded it got, imagine this photographe entirely filled up by 10.

There comes a time when even the Japanese leave the civility they are so known for at the door, and Comiket is just the place to witness it taking place; I lost count of the times I was rammed into and shoved aside. Rather than getting upset over it, I was even more pumped up than before as I came to a revelation. When you come to Japan, there is an expectation for you to put on your best behaviour due to how all that politeness is so ingrained into their culture. When all that's thrown out of the window, I couldn't have been more elated since it meant I could ditch that faux gaijin decorum and become one of them. These people wanted their porn as badly as I do.

While this may be my first time on their home turf, the Japanese have nothing on me. I mean, these people are only assholes for the duration of Comiket, whereas I am an asshole everyday - I take public transportation in Malaysia; we practically wrote the book on how to be commuters from hell. With that limiter taken off, I pushed, rammed and shoved my way past the horde and made my way to my first objective of the day, Taka Tony's.

Well, when I say me, I actually meant my friend - an ill-informed individual who tagged along because he was curious as to how Comiket was like. Word of advice, folks: If you plan on going to Comiket just to look around, don't even bother. Just don't. Comiket is war, and Big Sight is an unforgiving battlefield that will push you to your physical and mental limits, so you need to preempt your mind with the goal of actually getting stuff. Putting mind over matter was the only way I could do to alleviate some of that pain. It was only post-event that I realised I got cuts on my fingers and loss of sensation in several of my toes.

Anyway, back to actual doujin-hunting. I had my friend queue up for the T2 stuff as I headed to the smaller circles first. I got lucky with a couple more circles until I hit abgrund's, which was when the shit started hitting the fan. The pushing and shoving didn't end at entering the halls, of course. There I was lining up for my trap porn, when a sudden surge of people slammed into me from a 45 degree angle, causing me to be swept far from the line. That's what I get for rolling a skinny Asian build. Either way, I wasn't going to allow myself to give up on my smut, and lining up all over again was out of the question, with the queue having bulged up considerably since I got ejected. I was already at a brink of panic, so I took a chance and tried to jump in line, and miraculously enough, it actually worked! I simply waited for the next wave of people to walk past the abgrund line and joined them as they did. Then I merely crept into the queue and pretended nothing happened. I'm not sure if the guy behind me actually realised anything, but since he kept quiet, I'll just assume that he didn't notice. That or he couldn't tell Asians apart, I don't know.

90 minutes in and I have only managed 1 heavyweight circle and a couple of smaller ones. There seems to be some form of time dilation in effect here at Big Sight, because I honestly have no idea where the time went with how little ground I managed to cover. Just to give you an idea, refer to the cut-out of the map below:

Full map here

What you see here is just East Hall 1 of 6, sizeable in its own right.  Basically if you're allocated any booths along row A, you've made it into the major league. That's not to say you're small fry otherwise of course, because I noticed some popular names in the... normal lanes too, like Takemura Sessyu and Shiwasu no Okina. Anyway for starters, I had my friend head towards A29, which is where T2 is located (abgrund's at A13). There real reason why people like him are placed at the outer edges is because that is where the exits are as well. Remember that queuing mechanism I was referring to earlier at the corporate hall? It's in effect here as well, although with a minor changes. Queues are still segmented as before to ease the flow of traffic, although this time around, attendees are expected to hold a "line ends here" placard above their heads. It doesn't sound too bad until I was at the end of the line for one circle which used a rather tasteless placard of a random underage-looking girl covered in semen. Ironic, considering where I was.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Plum is one of the few circles that can easily rival T2 in terms of size, with the queue for their merchandise stretching all the way outside. Not even 'outside the hall' outside mind you, but 'outside the exhibition centre all the way to the main road' outside. I did a Tracy Morgan "No." and reluctantly decided to get the Yukikaze doujin I wanted elsewhere. And moving from booth to booth can get really excruciating too, as you would most likely be shuffling your way around, with what little room you have to move about. Don't even get me started on the sweat and stench. The organisers somehow decided it was a good idea to not turn on central air conditioning at a place packed with 200,000 people in close proximity. In retrospect, being lubricated by otaku grease probably eased movement somewhat.

Although Comiket officially ends at 5 in the evening (4 on the Day 3), you really only have until 2 in the afternoon to finish your rounds before everything gets sold out. Through a two-man effort, I managed about ten or so circles by the end of it. Not bad for my first time, but I know I could have done better. Either way, this was the best time to actually do some 'sightseeing' of the halls since things were no longer hectic. It was also a great opportunity to take a better look at the faces behind the smut I have consumed at the comfort of my own home on so many occasions.

While it is no secret that there are plenty of females artists that serve H for the male audience, actually meeting some of them in person was a real ドキドキ moment. Also, if you haven't been keeping up to date with the scene, there was a really good reason why I had to queue up for abgrund or die trying. Comiket 82 was to be the author's final appearance as a trap artist. That's right. Years of blackmail finally mindbroke her, so to speak, and she's through with the gay stuff. As a connoisseur of the ladyboys, I was genuinely upset by the news, which you can read about here. I guess the only consolation is that my abgrund set is going to fetch a handsome price on the auction sites because of this w

But I digress. Resuming my rounds around the halls, virtually all the big circles had deserted their booths, with only a 完売 sign welcoming slowpokes like me. However, I did get lucky and met the head honcho of Mitarashi Club himself, who was stationed at his booth. There was no real reason for me to approach him until I noticed that he placed a sign asking to trade 3DS friend codes. I jumped at the chance, and with my friend's help, I managed to introduce myself to him, saying I came all the way from Malaysia just to meet him(not really), although he had no idea what that was. To be precise, he doesn't of its existence, nor that of Singapore, for that matter. He does however know where Thailand was, with everything beyond that a blur. He was probably under the impression that Sagat's kingdom stretches all the way to the southern tip, I suppose. Later on, I also managed to chance upon Unagimaru's booth and there were still copies of his compilation on sale (the Suomi doujin was also there, but I didn't care for it, and neither did anyone else for that matter). I did the whole process of introducing myself to him as well, though this time I snagged an autograph along with a copy of his book. His geography was somewhat better than Mitarashi Club's, since he was still at least able to recognise Malaysia by its old name.

The crowd leaving en masse after the event had officially ended

I was about to finally call it a day, before I suddenly remembered that there was a certain iDOLM@STER doujin that had caught my attention prior to Comiket. OGI☆STAR MEMORIES is a 112 page artbook doujin which has contributions by staff who had worked on the anime, including its director, Nishigori Atsushi. If it sounds awesome, that's because it fucking is. However, the problem, and a major one at that, is that the booth itself is located at the West halls, meaning if I had made this a priority, I would have had to sacrifice literally everything I had planned for in the East halls. It just didn't seem worth it. Even so, I sauntered over to the West hall anyway, just to see how things were going on there. As expected, the booth was pretty much abandoned, with no signs of the doujin ever being sold here other than empty boxes and a promotional bunting. I also managed to spot Kishida Mel, since his booth was just right next to it w

Realising that we had not eaten anything since 5 in the morning, I decided that we would go grab a bite until I was tapped on the shoulders by some random Japanese. He said something along the lines of whether or not I wanted to get something or other off his hands, but I didn't know what he was actually talking about, until I directed him to my friend. Who would have guessed that the person who approached me was one of the many individuals that had queued up for a copy of OGI☆STAR MEMORIES.

He seemed really desperate in wanting to get rid of his copy so I asked him to name his price. He wouldn't do so at first, so we walked out the halls to the parking lot where he would then start off his pitch by showing me a photograph of the line. I think I almost crapped my pants when I saw it because it looked as if half of Comiket was lining up for the book. He then went on to say how he had queued for 3 hours before finally getting his hands on it. "Cool story aniki, but how much?" The book originally retails for 1500 yen and the chap wanted ten times for it. "Shit son, I love iDOLM@STER, but not THAT much." Still, it was something I would just love to have, and it in my blood to haggle with him. Well, not that negotiations went on for very long anyway. I basically just knocked the price to half of he had initially offered, and he agreed on the spot. I was actually quite disappointed that he didn't put up much of a fight. In fact, he was so grateful to me for taking the book off him that he shook my hands several times, before and after money had exchanged hands, and bowed many times even as we parted ways. It's safe to say that no one has been this grateful to me for anything in my life. For the people asking me about it, that's how I became the proud owner of what I think is the ultimate collector's item for iM@Sfags everywhere, and for 7500 yen, it was a steal. I would later find copies of the book at places like Mandarake for 30,000 yen and online auction sites for 20 to 40K. If that wasn't the equivalent of having a dozen trays' worth of pachinko balls land on your lap, I don't know what is.

I think pretty much everyone who's reading this post is really here to look at my loot anyway, so here it is. If you noticed the distinct lack of loli, that's because there aren't any to begin with. My favourites such as Higashiyama Show, Aoyama Reo and Onizuka Naoshi are pretty much exclusive to magazines, although I did miss Okada Kou who was actually present at the event with an original work. Also, as much as I like to collect doujins, tanks are really the way to go, because at an average of 1000 yen a copy for over 400 pages of content, it offers the best fap per yen ratio.

I can now cross Comiket off my weeaboo to-do list, and would gladly do it all over again, but in Winter. Summer had its fair share of challenges, though the most obvious one has got to be the weather. I did get rather lucky since it was cloudy on both the days I was there. You can never be too prepared of course, so ready a checklist of obvious items that you think you're going to need. As for the Comiket catalogue, I was too cheap to buy it, and had resorted to just printing out the map and marking points of interest. There's also the fact that it's the size of a standard phonebook, and lugging it around will just wear you down. For the dosh, prepare a fanny pack and have only 1000 yens in it (500 yens are better since it's the most common denominator used). Also huge spoiler ahead: If you do somehow find yourself failing to get something you really wanted, you can always Show ▼

But please, for your own sake, try not to do it as it takes the fun out of the actually going to Comiket in the first place, not to mention the fact you also miss out on the occasional omakes. There are guides you can refer to out there, but feel free to ask me anything.

That's pretty much it from me having popped my Comiket cherry. I hope I'll get to cover the Winter one sometime down the line, or least convince my former co-writer to post his experience of the upcoming C83...

てってっててってってって~

So let's just jump right in and pick up from where we left off last time shall we?

14. Yokohama Arena Special Medley／765PRO ALLSTARS

They actually had everyone in the audience sing for some songs during this part, and those are the ones marked with an [E]. Most of the songs are done in duets with the other girls doing the backup vocal or running around and cheering the crowd.

1. Furu Furu Future☆／Akki & Mingos [E]

Starting up the medley session was a Mingos/Akki combination singing one of Miki's most fun song!

2. Mahou wo Kakete／Naomicchi & Hirorin

Naomicchi & Hirorin picked up the next part, and they did Mahou wo Kakete. This song, at least the Haruka/Yukiho/Ritsuko version was actually my first exposure to iDOLM@STER, so it felt kinda sentimental hearing it live on stage.

3. Kimi wa Melody/Kugyuuuuuuuu & Maya-chan

The best, and I mean THE BESTEST idol combination doing a really fun song. Even though Kugyu didn't really get shown a lot, I was honestly a bit too busy fanboying over her to pay attention to Maya-chan. Her voice is pretty audible, but Kugyu's vocal is better suited for this type of song.

4. Brand new day!／Harami & Nu

Nu didn't really get to show any dance moves during this part sadly, and it also sucks that Hibiki's new song gets relegated to be a medley song only instead of getting a full treatment like the other girls'.

5. Watashi wa Idol／Chiaking & Asapon [E]

I really really really really like Asapon, I mean really. Chiaking on the other hand is a bit too old sexy for me.

6. Do-Dai／Eririn & Azumin [E]

Everyone, and I mean everyone shouted during the "Ikinari!" part. It was really something else!

7. MEGARE!／Everyone [E]

Chiaking had too much fun during the "dokkiri and sexy~" part of the song.

8. TOWN (てってっててってってって～)／Everyone [E]

For a BGM, TOWN is really fun when its done with a few thousand dudes (and several hundred girls). This song, well, BGM marked the halfway mark of the medley. President Takagi then went on again, had us do another wave before introducing Sakagami, the actual iDOLM@STER Producer (cue the "HENTAAAAAAAAAAAAI!" scream from everyone in the audience) who showed us the trailer for Shiny Festa.

After introducing the game, Hentai P left, and the idols went back on stage. Cue the best song ever.

9. my song／Kugyu & Maya-chan

If Mahou wo Kakete was my first exposure to iM@S, then this is the song that made me fall in love with it. And getting to hear it live on stage, albeit a short version made tears fall again. There I was, standing, waving around my pink and orange lightstick in an arena where Kugyu (and Maya-chan) was singing my favourite song. It was a bit annoying to not be able to get a full version, but it was better than nothing!

10. Flower Girl／Harami & Nu

Since they did Hibikin's song in the first half, they went and did Flower Girl in the second part. Not a lot of dancing either sadly. They gotta let Nu dance some more dammit!

11. Little Match Girl／Eririn & Azumin

As the beginning part of the song begins to play, the stage turned white and red. Azumin was pretty damn adorable performing this song on stage.

12. relations／Chiaking & Asapon

It was kinda weird seeing them perform this song. I expected Asapon to do Agent instead.

13. arcadia／Mingos & Akki

Akki is a really good singer, and she really helped Mingos with this song. I kept expecting them to show Kisaragi on the screen, but that didn't happen either.

14. Agent Yoru wo Yuku／Hirorin & Naomicchi [E]

Another super short version, but at least we got to sing the "tokachi tsukuchite~" part.

15. GO MY WAY!!／Everyone [E]

I kept on expecting them to end the medley with the World is All One, but they went with go mae~ instead. It was honestly the perfect way to end the medley, so I'm not too sad that they decided to put this song here instead of as an encore song.

15. Kiramekirari／Maya-chan

It was like Yayoi was actually on the stage! Maya-chan was really adorable while performing this song.

16. Sta→rtStar→／Asapon

It's not my favourite AmiMami song (Positive), but its a fun performance nonetheless. Asapon being all kinds of adorable on stage was fun to watch.

17. Jitensha／Hirorin

Oh god yes. Hirorin was the first one to get two solos, and of course she went with Jitensha since Agent was already a part of the medley. Everyone sang together during the "SUKI DA YO!" and "KIRAI DA YO!" part! That was super fun.

18. Kami SUMMER!!／Nu & Naomicchi

The combination is a little random to be honest, but they actually worked well. Naomicchi isn't particularly sexy though, and having her perform a sexier song with Nu makes me feel a little bad.

19. Hare Iro／Chiaking

The insert song from Episode 7 is quite fun. I expected them to use Lovely as Chiaking's solo, but this was a better choice.

20. Nanairo Button／Kugyuuuuu, Naomicchi & Chiaking

When Nanairo Button started, I didn't realise that Asapon wasn't on stage, and ended up waving the yellow stick too for quite some time. I think this was actually the M@STER Version as it went on for quite sometime.

21. Hikari／Jurikichi

Kotori's other awesome song was done really well. Jurikichi is no Mingos, but she is an awesome singer in her own right. Nothing much to add really.

22. Marionette no Kokoro／Akki

Oh god yes. That AWESOME Miki song from Episode 13. Done live by Akki who can also dance pretty well. The backup dancers actually danced Hibiki and Makoto's part from the show, and that was really cool. Seeing the whole arena go green at the same time was amazing. Also noticed that Akki has a green hair extension that made her look a bit like a certain Rider.

23. DIAMOND／Kugyuuuu

I am annoyed at Kugyu's management for not letting people shoot her closely, I mean she isn't exactly the cutest seiyuu, but dammit this was her solo, at least give her some closeups and not just full body shots! The song itself was really fun though, and the crowd definitely enjoyed it as everything turned pink!

Credit to ZEN from Pixiv.

24. Yakusoku／Mingos

ARUKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!  Yes, it's the other song the crowd was waiting for, and it was AMAZING! The set, the lighting, everything supported Mingos' heartfelt performance. They actually showed silhouettes of the other 12 idols on the stage during the middle of the performance, and that really adds that extra oomph to the performance. Hearing Mingos perform what might be the best Chihaya song was just- I don't know. It cannot be put into words. Everyone clapped when the song was almost finished. She kinda started crying during the middle too, and that just showed how much feelings she put into singing the song..

25. Mitsumete／Harami & Azumin

The vocal version of the ED song that played when Broducer Died In Lava gets injured. It's a nice ballad, and the Harami and Azumin pair put a lot of effort into the song, but after Yakusoku it just felt lacking. They should really have put Yakusoku right before the group songs.

26. Sayonara wo Arigatou／Eririn

It's a really good ballad song, but Eririn actually messed up a few times during her performance. It was kinda obvious, but it didn't really devalue the song or anything. She tried her best! But again, they had this after Yakusoku.

27. Watashi-tachi wa zutto... deshou？／765 PRO ALLSTARS

The new song from the penultimate episode and it was done pretty well! I'd complain about how its not Yakusoku for the nth time, but to be fair, Mingos is in the song, and everyone looked like they had fun while performing it.

28. Issho／765PRO ALLSTARS

"Since this year's theme is Minna to Issho, there is only one song to finish this live with!" and of course they went with Issho, the ending song from episode 25. And this was that version because they actually did the top idol speech from the end of the song. It was the perfect choice to end the live with.

Encore:

EN01. THE IDOLM@STER／765PRO ALLSTARS
EN02. READY!!／765PRO ALLSTARS

Except you know, the encore is there, and of course they went with the basics. Instead of using 2nd Mix like the past two years, they went with the plain old version, and honestly I prefer this one to the 2nd mix. Ending the live with a bang was another helping of READY!! By the time READY!! started again, around 3.5 hours has passed, and you'd expect people to be tired, but nope! Everyone went and otagei'd the shit out of the song. Everyone on stage helped with the cues, and it was seriously an awesome choice to end the show with.

As the song ended, everyone gave their thanks to the audience, and introduced us to the dancer who were really awesome at backing up the main performers. And of course, since its iM@S, Eririn had us shout the usual.

Producer-san, iM@S desu yo! iM@S!

Ending Thoughts

Well, more personal thoughts anyways.

The lack of World is All One and Colorful Days, not using GO MY WAY!! as an encore song and in addition to not doing a full version of my song was a little disappointing. On the other hand, READY isn't exactly a bad encore song. And the concert was already super long as  including the encore, it was almost 4 hours long! We started at around 18:00, and by the time its over it was almost 22:00 or so.

I've been to several other anime or anime-related concerts like the May'n concert in KL a few years back, the AFA with JAM and Aniki and Super Robot Tamashii earlier this April, but this one has got to be the best one so far. The reason behind has got to be the combination of the crowd and the performers. The crowd's love for iM@S was flowing out everywhere and it was shown through their (our) cheers and calls while otagei-ing. The performers react to the crowd's love for iM@S by doing their best on stage, and by the time the Encore starts, I can notice both Asapon and Nu tearing up a little.

Dammit Scamco, for a franchise designed to drain people's wallets, the iDOLM@STER actually ended up becoming something else. The love it gets from the fans, the performers and the producers is definitely real.

To all you Broducers out there, I hope that all of you will have a chance to go see a live iM@S performance sometime, somewhere. It might not be exactly like in the games or anime, but it is definitely an amazing experience. And if you do get a chance to see one, go research the otagei steps before you actually watch the live. And prepare lightsticks! If you want to see more pictures, go check out my imgur. I've used up most of the pictures here, and with my phone's battery dying, I couldn't get more, but if you still wanna see more, go ahead and do so.

With that, I shall take my leave and figure out how the hell I'm gonna survive until the second Nanoha movie comes out next month.

23 June 2012 is a day I will never forget. For I was able to go to an iDOLM@STER Live Concert on that day.

Hi, I'm Basu and I will be your guide today.

Pre-Event

Like any other anime/game concerts, the festivities started with a massive line for the special limited edition goods. The sale was supposed to start at 9:00 , and it actually did start at 9:00, but what I did not expect was the massive line even though I arrived 30 minutes early. By the time I got there, the line already reached the pathway going to the Shin Yokohama station.

Took around 30 minutes to get in this spot.

The spot pictured was just the beginning of the line that goes on and on around the arena. I honestly really regretted not going to the event earlier even though I live really closeby. It took around 6 hours to actually reach the shopping area, and by then, a lot of the goods (Towel, Pink T-Shirt) were already sold out. Got lucky, and was able to get the white T-shirt and the Seiyuu Pamphlet, and deep down I was glad because I didn't end up spending over 20,000 Yen on silly things.

Lining up wasn't actually terrible as I got to see (and hear!) some cool stuff like: Miki and Iori Itasha, Kugyu rehearsing Diamond AND Smoky Thrill! When we actually got to hear the rehearsal for Diamond, people around went wild! After getting my shopping done, there was plenty of time before the concert starts, so I got to walk around and see more things. The selection of Itasha and Itabikes in the area was quite cool, and it ranges from a combination Miki/Chihaya Itasha, Two Iorin Itasha, and a lot of Itabikes that I wasn't able to take pictures of. There were a few cosplayers in the arena too, but sadly I wasn't able to take pictures due to my phone not having enough battery.

The Concert

(Photography and Videotaking was prohibited in the concert, so you'll have to use Famitsu's site for pics.)

Remember that time when the Internet was infected with the feels? I felt that way throughout the concert. If I was to describe the concert with just one word, then I will not be able to describe how exactly I felt as it was just mindblowing! All the seiyuu was able to participate this time around, and to prepare for that, I ended up getting quite a few of those lightsticks for otagei-ing. This was actually my first time doing otagei cause you don't exactly otagei in a Super Robot Spirits concert.

Due to not having Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket a certain magical ticket order form for the concert, I ended up getting a pretty shitty spot, but thankfully the stadium's huge screens were enough to enjoy the concert. Lighsticks on hand, the concert opened up with President Takagi welcoming us, and having us do a call for him. It's pretty funny how we all ended up doing it even though he wasn't exactly there. Before he went and started the show, he had a certain Broducer brief us on what not to do in the concert (take pics/videos, otagei too hard).

And with that, the stage is set, the lights went dark, and it is time for the Live to start!

The Setlist

01. READY!!／765PRO ALLSTARS
02. CHANGE!!!!／765PRO ALLSTARS

Instead of doing the usual and starting with THE iDOLM@STER, they changed it up a bit this year and went with READY!! followed by CHANGE!!!! and instead of the combined version they had in the penultimate episode, they did the M@STER Versions of both.

To get a feel of the otagei that went on during this part, go watch Episode 25 again. It was exactly like that, complete with the "woo woo woo woo!” and "se-no EI EI OOOOOOOOOO!" The arena was littered with colours, and it was quite the spectacle. Everyone introduced themselves after this, and Kugyu was all "Aren't we cute?!" Since it was Ricchan's birthday, everyone screamed happy birthday during

03. Otome yo Taishi wo Idake/Eriko Nakamura - Eririn (Haruka Amami)

Eririn followed up with some Otome yo, and well, she has improved quite a lot, especially considering how her first performance of this song was. It was a good choice to keep the audience pumped.

04. ALRIGHT*／Azumi Asakura - Azumin (Yukiho Hagiwara)

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

She actually opened the song with that, and it was quite funny hearing it in the LIVE. Azumin is quite cute and everything, and ALRIGHT* is a pretty good song for Yukiho. Tears actually started flowing out of my eyes during this. It wasn't even the song, it was just the fact that I got to be there.

05. Sora／Juri Takita - Jurikichi (Kotori Otonashi)

Piyo-chan started with the usual, and it was awesome as usual.

06. Cheering Letter/ Hiromi Hirata - Hirorin (Makoto Kikuchi)

This was the ending song used in the Makoto episode of the anime, and Hirorin really kicked ass at it. Her costume was actually the manliest out of the bunch, and it's pretty funny seeing her sing an adorable song like this with such a manly costume.

07. Kazahana／Yumi Hara - Harami (Takane Shijou)

Hime-chin! Harami performed pretty awesomely, and I don't have a lot to add.

08. Ohayou!! Asagohan / Akiko Hasegawa - Akki (Miki Hoshi) and Mayako Nigo - Maya-chan (Yayoi Takatsuki)

Oh my god, after a string of solos, suddenly, a duet! And a Miki/Yayoi one to boot! The song is really fun, and since the theme is "Minna to Issho" I kept on expecting Akira Kushida to pop up halfway through. But sadly that didn't happen.

Some MC followed this part, and Maya-chan asked the arena to do the wave. It was pretty damn awesome being in one.

09. Ippai Ippai／Naomi Wakabayashi - Naomicchi (Ritsuko Akizuki)

Remember Ritsuko's episode in the anime? It was exactly like that, except everyone already knew that they were supposed to use the green sticks instead of having them be changed through stage lighting.

10. Next Life／Manami Numakura - Nu (Hibiki Ganaha)

She is smokin'! Nu is a pretty awesome dancer, and she isn't just for show because damn she performed her song well. The camera kept on showing her boobs and ass too, and that wasn't exactly bad.

11. Nemuri Hime／Asami Imai - Mingos (Chihaya Kisaragi)

Mingos is an AMAZING singer, and she is definitely the best out of the bunch, even during the live. It was a very touching performance, and I kinda wished that they did an acoustic version like what happened in the anime, but even a plain Nemuri Hime that is performed well is mindblowing.

12. SMOKY THRILL／Rie Kugimiya - Kugyuuuuuuuuuuu (Iori Minase), Asami Shimoda - Asapon (Ami/Mami Futami), Chiaki Takahashi - Chiaking (Azusa Miura)

Smoky Thrill! Performed live! It has Kugyu! Oh my god it has Kugyu! Asapon was totally adorable too. Oh and Chiaking.

13. Jibun REST@RT／Everyone - Kugyu/Chiaking

It was the one song everyone was waiting for! The arena completely turned orange and EVERYONE shouted "RESTAAAAAAAAAAAAART!" as the song started. They couldn't really do all the dance routines because of microphones and everything, but they were able to do parts of it and the parts they were able to do was done really well. The rehearsal obviously paid off. During the middle of the song, they even did the pep talk from Episode 13 while they were waiting for Ryuugu to arrive! The otagei was also something else, especially because the crowd was really into it. It honestly felt like the show, the atmosphere, the sounds, the crowd. Everything!

That ended the first half of the show, and everyone was called back to the stage. There was a bit more MCing, and Asapon was saying something along the lines of "When the anime was announced, we were super excited cause it felt as if our activities have become real, and now, the anime has actually become real!"

Since this post is getting really long, I'm going to end it here, and finish it in the next part! Look forward to the Kugyu fanboying!

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a 3D island of ignorance in the midst of kawaii seas of 2D infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

And it was then that Ny̛҉a͝r̵ļ́k̛͝o͏̀ came out of Japan. Who͟ ̶she ̡w̷a͟s͏,̨ non͡e ̶c͠óuld ͡tell̨, but͠ s͏h͡e͠ ̶w̵a̕s of̕ th̕e ̀o͝l͠d ̢na̡tiv̢e͏ ͡blơo͢d̴ ̛a͡n̸d ̶l͢òok͏ed l͏i̧k͡e ͢a̛ l̢͉̥̤̰͘o̺̥̻̬̣̦͢͟l̮̳̼̲̼̤̮͉͢͢i̮̻̩͖̺͡.̬͖̙̦͓͎͡

She spoke much of the cuteness o͞f̛ ̧̀zettai ryouiki and ahoges ̸̸-͡ ̢̀  and gave exhibitions of moe which sent her spectator away speechless y̡̧̧e̢̕t̀ ̶̴wh̵i͡c̸̢h̢ ̧şwelled ̷͝h͘er̢ ́҉̡f͏̸̨a̧͢͞m̴̵e̶͟ ̴̡to exceeding magnitude.

O͟t̛a҉k̸ùs adv̸ised͞ on̶e ͞anoth͝e̸r͠ ̵ţo se͟e҉ Ny͜arlḱo,̧ an͝d ͜h͠n̵nn̨n͜gh̴ An͟d wh͘e͘re Nya͜r̸l͞ko ͞w͝en͡t҉,͏ re̶st v̢a̕ni͡shed; ͡fo҉r t́h̶e ̀śmąll̷ ͏ho͝ur̢s w̸e͟r̸e ren̵t w͝i̧t͜h̨ the̸ m̀oan͠s̵ o̧f͠ ̢fap̢ping. ͘ ̕

Be̴h̨o͏l̸d ͠the ̶mig̷h҉t͏y͝ ̶N͟y͜a͏r͘l͏k͘o.̵ Thè m͠ęs̢s͏eng͠er ̡o̶f t͞h̕e͏ o̕utér g͟o̴d͝ś ̵ẁh͞ós͜e ́l̵o͢l͘i҉ bo͝dy causes̶ ͢m͟e̢n̢ t͟o f͏ap͡ ̢t͢h̀em̷se͝l̶v͞e͠s̡ ͏i̵nt̨o ḿadd͝es̨s͘.̸ ̸S͜he ̀w̕èaŗs͝ ̴a t̶ho͞usan̷d m̵as̶k͠s e̛a͏c͏h m͟or̶e̵ ̛m͜o҉e ͡t͡h̢an͞ t͏h̢e l̡a͝st ̨ánd͝ ̀for a price can teach the ͡se͢c͡r̢ets ̢o͢f҉ ͞absolute ̢mǫe.̡

An̨d̛ thr͝o̕ugh t̛hi̧s̴ ͝q̨uįe͝t ̡gr͡a͏veyard ̕o҉f ́th̨é bath̸roòm, ͜t͜he ҉m̧u̕ff̨l̀ed͠,҉ ͏mad́dęni͝ng ̸e͞chos, an͡d͡ ̕th̵i͡n̶, ̢mòn̨otơńơus ͝wh̕ine̷ o̕f͢ blasphemous  s҉tea̡m ҉f͠rơm ́inconceivable, ̶unl̡ig̀hted͘ ͡c͜ḩa͢m̵be̵rs ̷b́eyon͢d ͜T̛ime;͡ ţhe̢ detestable pounding ͢aņd p̨ìpi̵n̡g w̧he͡ŕe̕u̡nt҉o grope ̢s̡l̷ow͟l҉y͟,͢ ̢awkwardly,͜ ̶a҉nd ͢absurdly th̛e deli͝ciou̵s͢, ṕer̴v̕erte͡d̨ ̸ul͢ti̛ma̢te̢ ͘g͠od̵s̸ — t̸he͞ ̸kawaii,͡ ̷ge͡n͞k̢i, a͏ss̛er̢ţìv͡e͡ ̢g͜ar̷g͢o̕yles ͢whose soul͡ i̶s͡ ̨Nyàrl̴k̸ò.

Haruka

Himmler suspects that there might be an SIS agent among the ranks of the Schutzstaffel and has ordered newly promoted officer Tachibana Junichi to be assigned to senior officer Morishima Haruka on a top secret mission to hunt down the British spy.

While seemingly professional on the exterior, Haruka is in fact very playful and teases Junichi a lot, which often times impedes their investigation. She is also very excitable and will arbitrarily use English phrases such as ‘Blimey’ and ‘Jerry tossers’ at inappropriate moments, although Junichi does not pay too much heed since her line of work as an intelligence officer requires her to speak multiple languages.

Unbeknownst to Junichi, Morishima “Lovely Bird” Haruka was the spy all along.

Kaoru

Nicknamed ‘The Warhead of Munich’, Junichi’’s war kumpel Taneshima Kaoru instilled fear within the Schutzstaffel, intimidating even the higher ranking officers due to her aggressive character. She is however, less volatile around Junichi as they swore to be bad friends for life, whether either of them like it or not.

Their relationship is put to the test when Kaoru discovers that her mother, a highly ranked and respected Nazi official fell in love with an Allied officer and has defected. To make matters worse, Junichi and Kaoru were given direct orders to capture and kill Kaoru's mother.

Sae

Nakata Sae is a newly enlisted officer under Junichi who dreams to be part of the Hitler’s elite Praetorian Guard just like her parents. But as Junichi soon finds out, Sae is as green as they come, has never been through any military training whatsoever and is frightened by the sound of gunfire.

In addition to that, Sae claims that she keeps hearing voices in her head, where a suave, deep-voiced Yellow Aryan man narrates highlights of her life. Unable to turn down a fräulein with a formidable pair of Schwerer Gustavs, Junichi takes it upon himself to help train Sae into a competent officer worthy of the Führer.

Ai

Junichi is reassigned to the Kriegsmarine led by Grossadmiral Tsukahara Hibiki, to help supervise the newly enlisted U-boat crew recruits. There, Junichi meets the cold and distant Nanasaki Ai, who showed a lot of potential but is plagued by a recent string of poor performance caused by suspicion that her younger brother may be leaking information to the Allies.

After pressure from the Grossadmiral that might see Ai being dropped from the crew, Junichi must help her regain confidence and composure if she was to be eligible to be among the first to man the U-99.

Rihoko

As part of their North African campaign and formation of the Afrika Korps, the Third Reich had recently developed and deployed a new line of heavy tanks known as the Tiger. Tank Operator Sakurai Rihoko is selected to be one of the first few to operate the Tiger Tank due to her excellent service record at the Eastern Front.

Unfortunately, she is known for having trouble getting into a tank and on many occasions, getting stuck when she tries to exit. The introduction of the even heavier Tiger II meant that Rihoko would practically render the tank immobile due to sheer combined weight. Fearing that it might jeopardise her chance to operate the Tiger Tank, she desperately seeks her childhood freund and fellow war kumpel Junichi to help her lose some weight.

Tsukasa

After the successful invasion of Poland, Second Lieutenant Ayatsuji Tsukasa volunteers to organise a Nazi celebration in honouring victory for the Wehrmacht. Junichi, who was incidentally assigned to assist Tsukasa in the preparations, manages to pull off the event successfully together.

Due to her innate talent for managing human resources, Tsukasa is given the opportunity to head the Auschwitz concentration camp. Things go well for Tsukasa until one day Junichi picks up a small notebook that she always carries around with her. Curiosity got the better of Junichi and he flips through a few pages, only to discover a list - Jewish families who Tsukasa helped escape.

Risa

News of a fearsome marksman reached Berlin, where advancing Nazi troops were being massacred by a lone female sharpshooter at the frontlines of Stalingrad. Personally requested by his former instructor Major Erwin König, Junichi heads to Russia to put an end to this menace.

An unfortunate turn of events saw Junichi being betrayed by his girlfriend, who led him straight into a sniper ambush. However, Junichi manages to entrench himself safely, waiting for an opportunity to take out the enemy sniper. At the end of a four day standoff, Junichi successfully tricks the sniper and incapacitates him. As he goes to confirm his kill, Junichi is shocked to discover that his opponent was none other than Kamizaki Risa, the sniper who had been terrorising Nazi troops previously.

Risa, while injured, is very much alive. Due to Junichi’s weakness for cute fräuleins, he is unable to finish Risa off and instead patches her up. He then leaves Risa to her own devices and no news was ever heard about the sniper again. Fast forward two years into the war, recently promoted Officer Junichi is unable to shake off the feeling of being watched and kept in (telescopic) sight at all times...

Omake:

ARE YOU READY, WEEBS?

AYE AYE CAPTAIN!

I CAN'T HEAR YOOOOOOOOOOOOOU

AYE AYE CAPTAIN!

OOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

WHO LIVES IN A SPACE SHUTTLE OVER THE EARTH?

SCHOOLGIRL PIRATES

KAWAII AND MOE AND CRAVING SOME GIRTH!

SCHOOLGIRL PIRATES

IF SPACE PLUNDERING BE SOMETHING YA WISH!

SCHOOLGIRL PIRATES

FORGET ABOUT THAT AND FAP TO PANTIES!

SCHOOLGIRL PIRATES

READY!

SCHOOLGIRL PIRATES

SCHOOLGIRL PIRATES

SCHOOLGIRL PIRATES

SCHOOLGURLLLLLLLLLLLL PIRATES

I. LOVE. YOU!

Doushio? Doushio? Should I tell him that I love him? B-but there won't be another chance again. Doushio, doushio?

I love you~uu~uu

Y-You love me best right??

Am I good enough?

Please, just a little more

You said it! You said Mami was the best! I'm sure you said it!

Ami will alwaaaaaaaaays fix your necktie for you!

I... don't hate you.

I like you.

I love you.

Honey honey honey honey suki suki suki

What's wrong? Isn't this alright?

Oh dear. This is love...

(Not as dissatisfied as he would have us believe)

Sauce