Anyway, as you can tell from the title of this post, I went (am at) AnimeNext in New Jersey. The concert yesterday was amazing (with an amazing setlist, though my favourite BK song “Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba” was not played”). And today was the Q&A and signing session. I won’t get into too many details because I need to eat dinner real quick and then head out to help with Hello! Party 3, but here’s a quick summary of the signing session (which was the most important part of the day).

They wanted to get through as many people as possible, so we weren’t allowed to give gifts, handshake, etc. during the signing. Just have your merch ready for signing and go.

So I had the back page of the 2009 BK calendar ready for signing. First up was Captain. She looked up, gave me a smile and “Hello!”, signed and a thank you (which responded to with “Arigatou!”). Up next was the same with Momochi, Chinami and Maasa. (Sorry guys, they were not my highlight). I get to Miya and she gives me a big “Hello!” As she’s signing, I say “Miya, daisuki! Daisuki!” She looks up at me, then notices my shirt (her 18th birthday shirt), points and gives a cute “Oh!!!!” She finishes signing the poster and I’m ready to move on to Yurina, when Miya sticks her hand out to me (Maasa was lagging a bit with the person behind me). So even though the rules were “NO HANDSHAKES!!!!” Miya’s the one who stuck her hand out, and it would be SUPER rude of me to NOT shake her hand… XD So I shook her hand, and at the same time remembered to say “Toronto, Canada ni kimashita!!!” Her eyes widened in surprise and said “Arigatou!! DD” (*/me dies*) Then I moved on to Yurina and Risako… And their parts went much the same as the first four girls.

While waiting for the raffle for the signed banner, I was sitting the crowd and waiting for Miya to have moments where no one was with her. She saw me a few times and gave a big smile and wave. ^_^ Happy day.

So here are some photos I got from today. While we were waiting outside for the Q&A, the girls went by on their way into the building. I got some nice shots (and a video which I’ll post a link to once it uploads). They also allowed a few pictures to be taken before the Q&A started. Enjoy the photos!

There isn’t much substance to this post, but I couldn’t let this day go by without doing something to commemorate the day.

So first up, some picspam of my favourite leader in her outfit for her solo song.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I think she’s looking mighty fine in this get-up. On jph!p, they’ve taken to calling her “Guy-chan” when she’s in this outfit.

And for those of you who haven’t heard her solo song on the 47th single graduation commemoration edition, here she is performing it on the show “Coming Soon!”

HAPPY QUARTER OF A CENTURY AI-CHAN!!!

I wish I had the time to write out a nice long post to commemorate this event, but sadly, I’ve been busy with the last days at my job as I prepare to head back to school this fall term. Tomorrow (the 26th) is actually my last day at work. Straight after work I’m heading out camping for the weekend, so I must keep this brief.

Luckily, I have 2 previous years of posts that I can link to where I had more time to spout my praises for the lovely Takahashi Ai and excitable Niigaki Risa. So, if you want to watch some videos of 5th gen goodness, check out my 8 Years of Gokki Goodness! and Leader and Subleader Celebrate 9 Years!!! posts.

However, I do have a video which I haven’t put up yet to celebrate today. How can you celebrate today without listening to or watching a video of the quintessential 5th generation song, Suki na Sempai. So without further ado, here is my favourite generation performing their song from 4th Ikimasshoi! at their fan club event from last summer.

This is the last anniversary they will celebrate with the both of them as members of Morning Musume… What a great 10 years it’s been!

Happy 10 years Ai-chan and Risa!!

Today marks International Wota’s 4th birthday, so as to continue with tradition, here is my cake day post!!

In previous years, I have always had (either homemade or bought) cake to celebrate. However, this year, I’ve been trying my hand at making crepes…. So…

The photo in the background is a photo from Aichan’s blog – her birthday cake. Because I’m an Aichan geek, I added her birthday cake to celebrate IW’s birthday.

This year has been a year full of ups and downs for IW. However, as mentioned in the title, this is a belated cake day post. I haven’t posted on here for a while, but I think anyone reading this blog (heck, everyone in the world), knows about the terrible tragedy that happened in Japan. The earthquake and tsunami hit one week before IW’s 4th birthday and we felt that in the aftermath of the disaster, it wasn’t the appropriate time to celebrate and go about pimping our contest and awards. So, this year, we delayed Cake Day by a week.

Japan obviously has a long road to recovery, and they’re still dealing with their nuclear complications. So to do our part to help a country which gives so much enjoyment and entertainment, IW and other bloggers within the IW community decided to pull together and set up a charity auction to raise funds for Japan relief.

Information on the charity auction can be found here. I’ve donated pieces of my Hello! Project collection and Arashi collection for this good cause, so if any of you readers happen to win those items, please take care of my babies! <3

And now, as Cake Day basically comes to a close, I shall close this post with my usual "making of" set of photos. You will notice that I am no good at making round crepes. XD They have fingers which freak the heck out of my mom. Also, for the Filipinos who read this (or people who know Filipino food), my grandma tried a crepe (which we put ice cream in). You know what she said? "In my 90 years on this earth, this is my first time having ice cream lumpia." ... XD I love my Lola! <3

HAPPY 4th CAKE DAY IW!!!!

Edit: Also, IW suggested that anyone who didn't want to bake a cake could also donate any money they might have spent on cake supplies to Japan relief. In addition to my crepes, I wanted to mention that I'm donating to the earthquake relief fund at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre’s. If you’re in Canada/Ontario and have been wondering about a place you might want to donate to, I’d suggest check out the JCCC. I take Japanese lessons there, and what I like is that the money they raise in their fund will be set for 2 phases:

100% of funds received in the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund will be directed to the relief and rebuilding effort required in Japan. In the first emergency response phase, funds are being directed to the Japanese Red Cross through the Canadian Red Cross.

In the next phase of recovery and rebuilding, the JCCC Foundation board will consult with the Japanese and the Canadian government to allocate the Japan Earthquake Relief Funds to effectively rebuild communities in the Tohoku region of Japan.

Link to a youtube video with some clips of Aichan’s performances and her announcement at the Winter Concert. I just need to say, Kioku no Meiro – HAWT. <3

I wasn’t shocked to read that. The news wasn’t a surprise. When I attended the concert where Tsunku personally announced the upcoming (now past) graduations of Kamei Eri, JunJun and LinLin, my heart plummetted – expecting and dreading to hear that Aichan, Risa or both would be graduating. Of course, at that time, it wasn’t the case. However, ever since then, I have been waiting for this bombshell which I knew would rock my H!P world.

I joined the H!P fandom around the time when 5th gen joined. I’ve been watching Aichan grow almost every step of the way, and what a great 9 and a half years its been. Her announcement said that she still has about 9 months to go before graduation. However, if she’s graduating during the fall tour, shouldn’t it bee 11 months? The fall tour usually ends in early to mid December… I hope she’s not saying that she’s graduating at the start of the fall tour… That just wouldn’t make any sense.

There’s a lot of talk and speculation going on about what Morning will be like once Aichan’s gone, that this is the beginning of the end of the Momusu legacy. I don’t want to get into that here. Over the upcoming months, I think there’s going to be too much of that kind of talk. And really, I don’t want to speculate on the possible downfall of the group that Aichan truly seems to love with all her heart. Instead, I just really want to convey my love and appreciation for this woman who has provided me with so much entertainment over the years.

I know there are still quite a few months before she graduates, but I don’t mind reflecting on her wonderfulness again come that time. XD Really, when have I ever had trouble gushing about Aichan?

It’s funny. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling strangely nostalgic about Aichan. Maybe it was the release of the Gokki FC event DVD. Maybe it was watching her get so emotional during the graduations of Kamei, JunJun and LinLin. Maybe it was watching subs of Kamei, JunJun and LinLin’s memories of Aichan and their comments to her on their graduations DVDs…. Whatever it was, I have been feeling such an astounding amount of affection for the girl who started out so awkward when she joined at the age of 14 and who has blossomed into the amazing leader and performer that she is today.

Watching what her now former members have had to say about her really shows what she does for the group. All the girls mention how Aichan has been there for them to go out for meals, to talk, to cry… Even Koharu said this in her graduation DVD (well, not so much the crying, but going for meals and talking). She is really someone they can rely on for emotional support, and I think that goes beyond the bonds of Morning Musume. As the leader of Hello! Project, she spends time with members of Berryz Koubou and C-ute as well. I’ve heard some of the girls from those groups mention going to the movies or the theatre with Aichan (and she pesters them all to call her Aichan, just like she hounded her fellow MM members – and she was able to wear them down XD). I am really looking forward to Aichan’s graduation DVD, and I’m ready have the waterworks going as Risa give Aichan her graduation message. Seeing how much Risa was crying on Eri’s DVD, I can’t imagine she’ll be any better on Aichan’s DVD.

I can already forsee that for the next few months, I’m going to be on Aichan overload. As the time draws nearer to her graduation, I can see myself getting increasingly sad. I’m happy for her and I’m positive that she will be absolutely amazing in whatever she pursues in the future (PLEASE let one of those things be a solo singing career), but I’m sad for myself knowing that I won’t be able to watch adorable Aichan/Risa moments on DVD magazines or at concerts. I will have to console myself by watching video after video of Aichan being her dorky, goofy self. It’s CLAZY (see clip below if you’ve never watched Aichan’s “It’s CLAZY” infomercial segment) for me to imagine Momusu without Aichan, simply because she’s been my #1 girl since Rika graduated back in 2005. And I must say, this is the first graduation announcement that has made me sad since Rika’s graduation announcement.

It is going to be so strange to watch Morning Musume without Aichan and Risa together. I really did think the two would graduate together, much like Mako and Konkon did. At Aichan’s graduation concert, I really want an Aichan/Risa duet of Suki na Sempai, even though they’re the eldest and longest serving members of Hello! Project. They can cry it out together just like they did at Mako and Konkon’s grad. I have to say that even after all these years, that Suki na Sempai performance is one of the most heartwarming and gutwrenching performances I’ve watched in my H!P fandom.

For the Aichan haters and non-believers, you’re really missing out. I can understand feeling frustration when she gets the centre position and the bulk of the lines, at the expense of whoever your favourite member happens to be. However, you cannot deny that she has the talent and the stage presence for the amount of screen time she’s given. I’ve seen others comment on how Aichan seems conceited and gives off the vibe of being better than the rest. Personally, I have never once gotten that feeling from her, and that is not just my bias as a huge fan of hers. Aichan has a very strong stage presence. Because of that, others may take it as her trying to steal the spotlight from others, but how can you knock her for being the amazing performer that she is? And if all you’re seeing of her is her concert performances and her parts in PVs , you’re missing out on all the insecurities she has, her constant drive to improve herself, and the ridiculous amount that she beats herself up for not picking things up quickly enough or screwing up (in her eyes) during a concert performance. In addition to that, Aichan’s strong performances give the other members something to aspire to and strive for. As I’ve said before in my previous Aichan gushing posts, Aichan leads by example, and what an example she sets for her girls.

What I noticed in all of the graduation DVDs (Koharu’s, Eri’s and Jun/Lin’s) is that Aichan has asked that each of the girls not forget about her… And all their responses have been incredulity at the thought of forgetting someone like Aichan. My feeling of Aichan has always been that she’s incredibly humble and often self-depricating. It has really endeared her to me over the years.

I’m sad that it was news of this sort that pulled me out of my silence on this blog. I think in the upcoming months, I may start a series of my favourite Aichan moments as a sort of countdown to her graduation. We’ll see if I post those here or at Lovely Bean. For now, I will leave you with a few clips that I re-stumbled upon of Aichan over the past few days and have been leaving me laughing and smiling (and wotaing).

As we progress towards Aichan’s graduation, I’ll be cherishing every moment that I can of my favourite member. If she graduates at the end of the fall tour (which should be in December), I definitely won’t be able to make it out for her graduation as I can’t take vacation time from work in that month… But if it does end up that she gradutes in 9 months, which would be October-ish, I will do everything in my power to get myself back to Japan to see it.

I do still plan to finish off my Buono! concert review/experience, but since the DVD just released, I’m going to wait until I get it so that I can add photos and video to my review (even though the recorded concert wasn’t the one I attended). So hopefully within the next week or so, I’ll get that up.

But to celebrate the fields’ 3rd anniversary, I thought I’d post 2 performances from the H!P summer concert DVD. I attended this concert, and I can see a guy who was just a little bit away from where I was. I remember his red glowstick pinwheel. I tried listening for the Eri fangirl behind me, but alas, with all the Eri love going on in that concert, I couldn’t single her out.

Anyway, my commentary on these two videos are found in my H!P summer afternoon concert review, even though these performances are from the evening concert.

Happy 3rd cake day fields!!! I’ll try to stop neglecting you. XD <3

PS. The cake in the preview was from field’s 2nd birthday. -_-;

I will backtrack in my next post to talk about the Buono! concert I attended on Day 5 of my Japan trip, this post is meant for my two favourite Morning Musume girls – the remaining 5h generation.

Today marks the 9th anniversary of when Takahashi Ai and Niigaki Risa joined Morning Musume along with their fellow gokkies Ogawa Makoto and Konno Asami. 9 years! It’s amazing to think I’ve been listening to Morning Musume for 9 years now.

Today, during my travels back home, johpan and I had a short stop over in Narita. I really wanted to tweet from there and link to that tweet – that I was in Japan on this momentous (well, 9 years in the group is a pretty big feat) day.

I won’t go into why I love these two so much yet again. I did enough of that on their 8th anniversary. XD But… I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I started up another blog dedicated to these two lovely ladies called Lovely Bean. I had started off translating Risa’s blog entries… But she updates so freaking often that I couldn’t keep up… Though now that I’m back from vacation, maybe I ‘ll try translating at least the more interesting posts that I see – like anything that has to do with Aichan and the other Gokkies.

Anyway, to celebrate this day, here are some clips of the girls.

Check out this post from Lovely Bean which has some around Aichan fail moments, but Risa’s there to add her word on Aichan’s ability to fumble during concerts.

This Lovely Bean post has Aichan and Risa’s Futarigoto: A Close Friend.

The afternoon concert ended at around 17:00. The evening concert was starting at 18:30 with doors opening at 17:30. So after johpan left for Akihabara (yes… right after a Hello! Project concert, he was heading to the Don Qoijote to watch the B stage on the monitors at the theatre), I grabbed myself a drink and some pocky and got right back in line for the next concert.

Seeing as this time I knew where to go, I just found my seat and waited for the show to start. The same pre-show happened, except Yossy had only 2 Eggs come out on stage with her, unlike the 6 or 7 who ran on stage in the afternoon. After Yossy’s per-show segment, with the lights still turned down, but the show not having started yet, there was an Eri fangirl right behind me wailing out Eri’s name. It was quite evident that the news of the announcement made during the afternoon concert had spread.

As the flashing lights started to indicate the beginning of the concert, Eri’s name was being yelled from all corners of the venue. Make you wonder where all the Jun and Lin fans were. XD

The girl behind me was yelling for Eri throughout the entire concert. After the opening VTR, Makoto, Yossy and Morning Musume came out onto the stage… No Tsunku this time around. Makoto and Yossy made the announcement to the fans, then asked the three soon to be graduating members to address the crowd.

This time around, Eri, Jun and Lin were more composed. Whereas in the afternoon Eri could barely talk, Eri was able to keep the tears at bay and just had one moment where she had to pause and take a deep breath to steady herself before continuing with what she was saying to everyone. However, even though Eri wasn’t crying, it didn’t stop the Eri fangirl behind me from crying. I could hear her shuddering breaths and constant sniffling. Poor girl. All I could think as I heard her was that if the announcement had been for Aichan or Risa, that could have been me freaking out at the start of the concert. Luckily for me, that wasn’t the case.

Lin did shed some tears, her voice definitely breaking and the tears coming halfway through her message to the fans… But it was still more composed from what happened at the afternoon concert.

After they gave their messages, Makoto asked Aichan to say some words about the new auditions I think (they did the same at the afternoon concert). As Aichan was put on the big screen, you could see the tracks of her tears on her face. Even though Eri and Jun were able to hold it in, Aichan (and even Risa, as I saw her continuously wiping her eyes) wasn’t.

Continuing on with the concert, I’ll just move on to the songs which were different in the evening setlist, since the first 6 and last 6 songs were the same for both concerts.

Aisucream to My Purin – Zoku Biyuuden
This isn’t my most favourite Biyuuden song. I would have been happier to have seen Koisuru Angel Heart (even though Zoku Biyuuden has performed that song before). However, I have to say it was well done by all three girls. None of them are the strongest or most consistent singers, but they all did a great job. I was actually quite impressed with Risako through both concerts because her voice often bothers me at concerts. This one was well done by her.

I should mention that the crowd at the evening concert was much more energetic than the afternoon crowd. I had this one guy right in front of me in full out wotagei mode. I had to dodge his erratic hand movements at times. If I didn’t, I’m telling you I would have been knocked out on the floor of the Nakano Sun Plaza. That would have been quite the story to tell.

Daite yo! PLEASE GO ON – High-King
Classic Goto Maki song… However, even though I listened to Maki’s early solo releases, I never listened to this one much. Thus, i can’t quite remember how the performance was. I’m sure all the girls were wonderful, and I have no doubt that Aichan rocked it… I just… can’t recall it. XD

Chu! Natsu party & Ama no Jaku – S/mileage
S/mileage did a good job with Chu! Natsu Party. I was quite excited to see it on the evening setlist as it’s a classic shuffle song. It’s obviously impossible to live up to the original 3 who performed that song (I mean, come on Matsuura Aya, Ishikawa Rika and Kago Ai? Talk about big wigs in the history of H!P [nevermind Kago's later exile from the company]), but these 4 held their own. And they definitely have the cutesy voices to compliment the song. As for Ama no Jaku, it was well done by the girls. I quite enjoy that song.

Momoiro Kataomoi & Haru no Arashi – Mano Erina
When I saw Momoiro Kataomoi on the setlist, I was quite excited… Then I saw who was singing it…… That put a damper on my mood very quickly. I don’t want to bash on Mano, but as I’ve said before, her voice just isn’t to my tastes, and any and every Matsuura Aya song is sacred to me. It wasn’t horrible, but let’s just say Mano’s not the person I want to watch cover Aya’s classics. As for Haru no Arashi, I don’t remember what went on in that one.

Campus Life ~Umarete Kite Yokatta & FOREVER LOVE – C-ute
It’s funny, but I can’t quite recall what happened in the songs that I don’t know well… And I don’t know Campus Life at all. I watched the PV once, and I think that’s the only time I’ve listened to the song. I must admit that C-ute’s latest releases haven’t been interesting me recently. FOREVER LOVE on the other hand is one of the last releases of theirs that I quite enjoyed. I still love the song, but somehow, it just isn’t as awesome when Maimi, Airi and Chisato aren’t in suits.

Dakishimete Dakishimete & Gag 100kaibun Aishite Kudasai – Berryz Koubou
I love Dakishimtete Dakishimete. It’s such an awesome song. I love the beat, the instrumental, the melody… Everything. It was a great song to see live. Also, I didn’t mention this earlier because i skipped the opening songs, but in the evening concert I noticed that Miyabi had shoulder length hair, when in the afternoon I could have sworn that her hair had been longer. I am not a fan of Miya’s extensions and I’m crossing my fingers that at the Buono! concert on Thursday, Miya won’t be wearing extensions. I checked with johpan and he said that Miya’s hair had definitely been long (down to her back) during the afternoon show. It just looks so much nicer when it’s her real hair… With the extensions it just looks too… not Miya for me.

Gag 100kaibun was good. It’s got a lot of Momoko and not enough Miya, but it was well done by the girls and a good classic Berryz song.

Naichau Kamo & Koko ni Iruzee! – Morning Musume
Leading into Morning’s section, the Eri fangirl behind me got back into her screams for ERIRIN!!!!! Every solo line that Eri got in both songs got a HUGE Eri chant from the crowd. Seeing as Jun and Lin don’t get solo lines like EVER, you didn’t get the same sense of “OMG THEY’RE GRADUATING” as you did for Eri at the concert.

And that ends my review of the evening concert.

Overall, I enjoyed the setlist of the afternoon concert more than that of the evening concert. I mean, Tanpopo, are you kidding me? And Manatsu no Kousen? Be still my heart! The only downer was seeing that the morning concert got Say Yeah! ~Motto Miracle Night~ that is a song that I would have LOVED to see in concert… It was one of the first songs I went absolutely crazy over when I started with my Morning Musume fandom, after seeing 10-nin Momusu perform it at Yuko’s graduation concert.

However, the evening concert was more interesting for me in the sense that the crowd was much more into it… And I had the crying fangirl behind me, this guy in full wotagei mode right in front of me, a iota with half-hearted movements on my right side… And then on my left was this guy who barely moved through the concert. He clapped as each song ended, and that was about it. It was kind of amazing how different each fan immediately surrounding me was. XD

Being at the concert where this triple graduation was announced was absolutely epic. I never would have imagined that something like this would happen at a concert that I attended, and I have to thank johpan’s friend for not being able to get tickets to the evening show. XD We originally wanted to go to the evening show because it was the last one of the tour, and would likely be the one to be recorded for the DVD. And of course, if I could, I wanted to attend the one which would be released on DVD so I could watch it and know that I was there. And knowing that, I probably wouldn’t have gotten tickets to go see the afternoon one at resellers. So, it really was a stroke of luck for johpan and I.

As for my thoughts on the graduation, it was very very surprising to say the least. I didn’t find out the reason for Eri graduating until quite a few hours after the announcement (basically when i got back to the hotel in the evening and read a translation… lol not being able to understand Japanese XD). I do wish Eri a speedy recovery and am amazed that she’s been able to keep on going for 7 years. As for Jun and Lin, it’s sad to see them go. They were on a variety show which had been subbed recently, and Jun and Lin had been saying that they refuse to quit Momusu because they want to achieve getting the spotlight before they can leave the group. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, unless Tsunku writes Morning an epic songs which features the pandas for their graduation song…. But the likeliness of that happening as they graduate with Eri is very slim.

Graduating along side Eri really is going to take away from the two Chinese members. If it was just the two of them leaving, it wouldn’t have been so bad. It would have been like the Tsuji/Kago graduation, or the Konkon/Makochan graduation. Tsuji/Kago were leaving to focus on W. Konkon/Makochan were both leaving to pursue their studies. Jun and Lin leaving together makes sense in the way that they are the Chinese team… I know that a lot of fans are having a hard time accepting this, but well, it’s Morning Musume and seemingly unreasonable graduations happen all the time.

Fans are taking this to be end of Morning Musume, especially with Tsunku’s announcement that 9th generation auditions are looking for girls ages 10-17. I see a lot of bloggers think that it just wouldn’t make any sense to add girls that young to what would be left of Morning Musume. With the youngest (Aika) being the age of the oldest girl who could get in, how would this ever work out?

But my take on it is, Morning needs to do something to get back into the spotlight. These graduations and auditions may or may not do the trick, but they need to do something.

And really, is having little girls join the group really that unthinkable? Think back to 1999 when Goto Maki joined Morning Musume at the age of 13. Nakazawa Yuko was 26 (older than Aichan is now). The member closest in age to Maki was Mari who was 16.

Think on to 2000 when 4th generation joined. Yuko was 27 years old and Kago Ai was 12 years old… You want to talk about an age gap in Morning Musume – there it is. 15 years between leader and the baby of the group. Even if a 10 year old is added to the mix, the age gap between Aichan and the youngest member wouldn’t be as large as it was between Yuko and Kago. (**Fix: actually, thinking about it now, the new recruits would be added after Aichan’s birthday, so if a 10 year old was added, the age difference would be the same as Yuko and Kago.**) Also, back in those days, Hello! Project didn’t have the H!P Kids or Eggs. Basically a 12 year old was shoved into Yuko’s care. Now, H!P has young eggs, and Aichan has been the leader of the Project for a year and a half now… She has some experience with watching out for the little ones. I think she and Risa would be able to handle a few youngin’s coming into the fold.

I’m seeing 9th gen to add multiple members, likely 3 to 4… In my head, I’m picturing it to be something like 4th gen where Tsuji and Kago were close in age (and became best friends) and Hitomi and Rika were close in age (and became very good friends – though I do believe Shibata Ayumi from Melon Kinenbi was/is Rika’s best friend from the Project). I’m not saying Tsunku will follow that formula, but 4th generation was a huge hit for Morning Musume.

Though, really, the ages don’t matter. What needs to happen is that Tsunku needs to choose a/some girl(s) who have amazing personalities – something that can bring back a spark of life to the group.

I have no idea what the future holds for Morning Musume, but I’m interested to see what’s next for them. I can’t say that the addition of the 9th generation will save the group.. I can’t say that I will be able to keep my interest in the group once my favourites leave… But for the moment, Aichan and Risa are still there and I will keep on supporting my girls. And I’ll do my best to not hate on whoever the new members are when they join (because I’ve been known to be ridiculously judgemental towards Momusu newbs. XD Heck, I was so against 5th gen when they first joined… And I joined the fandom when they joined the group. XD). This is an exciting time for Morning, I think (if not very depressing for many, many fans). I can’t blame any Eri, Jun or Lin fans if they write off Momusu due to their pending graduations, that’s just how the Momusu fandom works… I may be doing the same in a few years…

Today (well, now it’s Monday in Japan, but we’ll pretend it’s still day 1 since I have slept), on August 8, 2010, I attended my first (two) Hello! Project concerts in Japan. This adventure started last night when we got into Japan.

After finding our hotel, my brother johpan and I went to meet his friend for dinner (the one who got us tickets to the summer concert and Buono!’s Rock ‘n Buono! 3 in Osaka). We had originally asked her to get us tickets to the evening (aka final) show on August 8th. However, she was only able to get tickets to the afternoon showing, which ended up being pretty awesome.

After dinner and hanging out with johpan’s friends, we got back to the hotel and I checked onto to see what the setlists were for the afternoon and evening performances. If the evening setlist was good enough, I was planning on getting tickets for that show at a reseller in the morning.

Needless to say, the evening setlist (which I’ll get to later) was intriguing enough for me, so first thing in the morning, johpan and I stopped by Harajuku so I could get tickets to the evening show (which johpan did not attend with me). After that, we made a stop in Shibuya to try and find the Hello! Project store to see if I could get an Ai-chan or Risa shirt to wear to the concert… However, our search was fruitless as we couldn’t find the store (though now we know where to go and will be heading there tomorrow) and thus went to the Nakano Sun Plaza to wait for the concert to start.

The doors were opening at 14:00, and we got there at around 12:00. We hit up the goods line, and here are my purchases from today:

I love the design for the summer tour shirts. I was debating on getting a C-ute shirt as well because it was orange, but I started feeling guilty thinking of buying a C-ute shirt over a Berryz shirt (which was red), so I ended up not getting the orange shirt.

Now, fast forward to the afternoon concert.

The opening act was Ogawa Saki and Lilipri 30 minutes priorate to the show starting. They were cute and sounded good, but I haven’t followed what’s going on with Lilipri, so not too much to comment on for that.

About 5 minutes before 15:00, Yoshizawa Hitomi came out and introduced a few Hello! Project eggs. I don’t know the eggs very well, but I was happy to see Okai Chisato’s little sister introducing herself.

After that, we get into the first song:

All for One and One for All – Everyone + Eggs
This song is so awesome with good crowd participation. Everybody go! (GO!!). it was also a perfect start to the concert, what with my two girls starting it off with the opening line. If I’m recalling correctly, this is the first time they’ve performed this song since Elder Club graduated. So Aichan and Risa, as the longest serving H!P members, got the opening line together, and seeing them come out together at the start of this concert just made my heart swell so much.

The energy was good throughout the song and once we got into the opening VTR, I was pumped for an awesome concert.

However, just after the VTR, we didn’t get the usual MC by Makoto and whoever his guest MC is for the tour (this time it being Yossy). Instead, immediately after the VTR, big red kanji character show up on the video screen. I don’t know what it said, but in my screwy head, I read it as “HAY! HOLD UP! ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!”

The crowd goes :OOOOO. Then, one of the sliding doors open… And out walks Tsunku!! The crowd goes more :OOOOOO. It seems that this was the first time that Tsunku has been on stage at a Hello! Project concert in Japan (as a friend mentioned he was on stage with Morning Musume during Anime Expo in LA. I’m not sure about Japan Expo in Paris).

First, Tsunku tells the crowd that auditions will be held for Morning Musume’s 9th generation. I think everyone had been waiting for that announcement, so it wasn’t that huge of a surprise. He’s calling for girls 10-17 to come out and audition and that the information is on the H!P website.

Makoto, Yossy and Morning Musume then come out on stage to join Tsunku. As I saw them come out, I thought that they would simply be asking the girls their thoughts on getting new members added, since the last members to join were Junjun and Linlin back in 2007. Instead, Tsunku says the dreaded words… graduation announcement. I will not lie. My heart stopped for a moment and all I could think was “Don’t let it be Aichan or Risa. Please please please don’t let it be them!!”

I’m sure most everyone in the H!P fandom knows of this news by now, but graduating at the conclusion of Morning Musume’s fall tour will be 8th generation members Junjun and Linlin, and 6th generation member Kamei Eri. I didn’t understand the reasoning for why, but you can check out Hello!SayuNii for more information.

The crowd’s “Ehhh!!!!!”‘s got progressively louder as each girl was announced, with a particularly pronounced “EHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” at the mention of Eri’s graduation. At that point, johpan and I were wondering if this was the first announcement of this news, or if the morning show had been told. However, we later found out that the afternoon show was the first show to get the news.

Eri, Jun and Lin then addressed the audience. Eri was crying like it was a graduation. She could barely get her words out, she was so emotional. It was heartbreaking to watch, even though I couldn’t understand what she was saying. Jun was up next and while she cried as well (really, most of MM was crying on stage), she wasn’t as bad as Eri. And when Lin spoke, it broke my heart as I understood some of what she said through her tears: that she was homesick when she started in H!P as an egg, but with the fans support and being part of Momusu, she feels like being with the fans and with H!P and Momusu is another home for her.

After this announcement, Momusu left the stage and the show began (or rather continued). Up first after the announcement was S/milage. For some reason, I haven’t really followed them since their debut, though I really should. Really, I won’t have much to say about anything that went on with S/mieage or Mano Erina seeing as I don’t really follow them.

Dance de Bakoon! – C-ute
C-ute’s new single is pretty okay. I enjoyed the dance. Maimi and Airi were really getting into it. I haven’t watched the PV for it yet, but there’s this one section in the dance where they’re hip thrusting, and Airi was TOTALLY into it. She was more into the hip thrusts than Maimi, and that’s saying something. Airi looked about ready to dislocate her hip with the force of her thrusts. XD

Maji Bomber!! – Berryz Koubou
I don’t know where the heck I’ve been, but how have I not listened to Berryz Koubou’s latest single?! And how did I not realize that it had released?!?! Anyway, this is a fun song, and now I have another thing to pick up while I’m here.

Seishun Collection – Morning Musume
There’s a lot of hate around for Morning Musume’s latest single. However, I quite enjoy the song. However, the dance and PV and horribly boring, and there is very little opportunity for crowd participation in this song. Definitely not a great song for a concert.

We then get into the start of the shuffle songs:

Lucky Cha Cha Cha! – Shin Mini Moni
I loved MiniMoni post-Aichan addition. Lucky Cha Cha Cha! is such an awesome song – though it would have been interesting to see Shin Mini Moni sing Crazy About You with their little members. XD

Tanpopo – Tanpopo #
Can I tell you that when I saw this song on the afternoon setlist, I nearly died. I LOVE this song. When I say love, i mean L-O-V-E, Lovely Tanpopo! kind of love. I love the symphonic version best, but this a huge favourite of mine within the H!P catalogue. Eri did a good job with her opening solo part, but I really do wish that they gave the second solo part to Chisato rather than Yurina. Yurina wasn’t very strong and her voice cracked a bit. That is simply not allowed for a song as epic as Tanpopo. But otherwise, good stuff, and I was amazing to see that song live.

Manopiano & 18sai no Kisetsu – Mano Erina
Mano’s voice just does absolutely nothing for me. I’m not being mean. It’s just not one that I take pleasure in listening to the way I love to listen to Aichan or Risa or Miyabi… or Ayaya. And I still really don’t enjoy watching her play the piano because it just feels like she’s reading the sheet music in her head (she didn’t look up at all during the piano solo) rather than just letting it flow and playing the piano.

Yume Miru 15sai & Otona ni Narutte Muzukashii – S/mileage
They were good, but again, don’t have too much to say about the girls. Probably because I don’t have any emotional ties to this group yet, their parts for the concert are kind of a blur for me.

Arigatou! Otomodachi & Jiriri Kiteru- Berryz Koubou
Awww… Old school Berryz in the house. Arigatou! Otomodachi is such a cute song and it makes me picture little Berryz as they sing it. Jiriri Kiteru is such a classic Berryz song and it was awesome to see it live.

Amai Wana & Ooki na Ai de Motenashite – C-ute
I had to look it up, but Amai Wana is the b-side to EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!! (I don’t know C-ute b-sides very well – except Bishoujo Shinri, which is freaking’ awesome and Darling I LOVE YOU because Berryz also did that b-side). Nothing much to report on that, but overall well performed. Ooki na Ai de Motenashite is an awesome song for concert because I love the dance. XD Singing and dancing to the title part is just so much fun. It is also johpan’s favourite H!P song ever, so it was good that they played it during the afternoon show rather than the evening show.

Manatsu no Kousen & Namidacchi – Morning Musume
GAHHHHHH!!!! Manatsu no Kousen for me to see in concert!! <333 That was absolute love! That is one of my favourite old school MM songs, and it's a perfect song for a summer concert. Namidacchi is a great song from Momusu’s latest album with a nice mix of sweet/soothing alternating with energetic. The rap in the middle is also good for bring up the crowd’s energy.

The last set of songs were performed at all Fankora shows – the #1 voted song for each group.

Suki-chan – S/mileage & Sekai wa Summer Party – Mano Erina
Again… not too much to say here. S/mileage was cute, Mano was meh (for me).

Massara Blue Jeans – C-ute
AAHHHHH AWESOMENESS. The hip shakes/hip thrusts… So much fun to dance along with at concert. It’s such a high energy song, and it helped to bring up the energy for the following songs which were all also very high energy.

Special Generation – Berryz Koubou
People say they are tired of this song in H!P/Berryz Concert setlists, but it’s such a great high energy song! And personally, I’m glad it played because I feel like as a Berryz fan, it’s a good thing that I got to see this song live, since I won’t be able to attend a Berryz concert. Who knows when I’ll be back in Japan, and when I do come back, who knows if Berryz will still be around. (PS. Miya’s “Woah yeah”s were AWESOME)

Sexy Boy !Soyokaze ni Yorisotte – Morning Musume
The “Sexy ue ue” makes this song. It was so much fun! If you thought the energy was high with Massara Blue Jeans and Special Generation, Sexy Boy kicked it up another notch. I think it was partially because you don’t get the usual “OI! OI!” chants from the wota for this song. It’s just full out “Let’s dance along with Momusu” for this one. Good stuff.

And for the final song of the concert:

Genki Pika Pika – All
The solo/ duet lines stayed with the Momusu members who sing them on their album. It’s a good cute and happy song to end the concert with, leaving the crowd in high spirits (though not as high energy as the previous 3 songs).

And… now it’s super early in the morning. This took a little while to write up. XD This will now be a 2 parter for Day 1. I’ll continue with my review of the evening concert later (and the reactions of fans from that concert to the graduation announcement) as well as my overall thoughts of my first two H!P concerts in Japan (and I guess my obligatory response to the graduation announcement). So stay tuned! … Also, super wall of text. Thanks for sticking around and reading it all if you got to the bottom. XD

I have been a horrible blogger – what with ignoring this blog for over 2 months now… However a bunch has been going on for me. In mid-June, my family moved from our home of 16.5 years into a new house. Packing and unpacking took forever, but I’m happy to say that I’m happily settled into the new house (my Morning Musume calendar and framed autographs have a home on my new wall – that’s the most important thing, right? XD).

Hopefully come September I’ll get back into blogging here. The reason I say September is because as of… well later today, I’m off for a 3 week vacation to……. JAPAN and the Philippines!!!

I am super excited. I’m doing a week in Japan with my brother before we head to the Philippines for our Aunt and Uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary and a huge family reunion.

Japan is looking to be awesome: I arrive there on Saturday, and on Sunday I will be attending the afternoon Hello! Project Summer concert.

I’m quite excited to see what will be on the setlist. During the song voting period a few months ago for the summer concerts, I voted for Morning Musume’s “Otome no Shinrigaku” from the album Second Morning as a Aichan and Risa duet… The possibility of that is so minute, but seriously, wouldn’t that be the most awesome thing ever? If you don’t know which song I’m talking about, check out Maki and Nacchi from the MM Tanjou 10nen Kinentai concert:

My brother is going to try to get to an AKB show that day, so I may try and get tickets to the evening summer concert.

Through the week, johpan and I will be wandering Tokyo and take possible day trips to Yokohama and Kamakura. But the 2nd major highlight of my trip will be a day trip to Osaka to see….. BUONO!!!

2 H!P concerts to attend during my week in Japan! This is a 9 year old dream finally coming true! I’ve wanted to see a Hello! Project concert in Japan ever since I got into Morning Musume back in 2001.

The 2 bummers about the trip are that I am missing a concert by Angela Aki by 3 days, and I’m missing the start of Arashi’s concert tour by about 8 days (though the chance of getting to see Arashi without selling a limb would have been slim anyway).

So, that’s what’s been up with me recently… When I get back I should have lots to write about. Maybe I’ll do some updating while I’m on my trip, but we’ll see how busy it gets. For now, I bid you all a good summer, and a big thank you to any of my readers who still read this blog! <33