Otodama Sea Studio Live 8/3 2016

Just as planned, I met with my friend who gave me tickets and a surprise birthday present. I got Airi’s T-shirt, a wristband and Airi’s clearfile from her birthday event! She saved my life with this gift as my Japan Expo T-shirt was already drenched with sweat. I knew that Otodama lives are always very hot so a T-shirt I could change into was heaven sent.  We had some time before the show so we frolicked around on the beach. It was our first time meeting in person so we had a lot to catch up.

C-ute ❤

I bought myself more water, changed my clothes and lined up according to the number on my ticket. This time the line was organised by the Otodama staff so everybody knew what to do and where to stand. Nobody rushed and nobody was as excited as I was. I considered bolting for the women section to get a good view again but when we entered it was already very crowded. We decided to stay on the right side of the stage where we found a nice spot to see the members. A man next to us pointed to the women only section but I told him that I like this place and asked if it was okay with him. Who knows, he might have been a womanphobe or something. But he was cool. Probably thought I got lost. There were some girls opting for a different place than the women section so it wasn’t that weird. I had my Kingblade on bright pink so I was ready to take part in this legendary C-ute live. It was getting hotter and more humid with every second and my friend felt weak. We crouched down and I held cold water bottle to her skin to help her. It was really scary because I had no idea what to do if she passed out. Luckily, C-ute family is really nice. The men standing next to me started to fan her and ask for her well-being. I was truly touched and so was she. She later told me that Morning Musume fan (she’s not into C-ute) aren’t that nice. She felt a bit better and was ready to stand up before the concert started.

The experience was so much different than the concert in Paris. The girls were truly in their element. It was like seeing your idol with a group of friends. They OWNED the stage and there was no nervousness in the air like in Paris. I had eye-contact and many small waves that made me such a happy fan. The girls’ singing and dancing ability is superb. Okay, not MaiMai’s. I’m not a hater but her voice is getting worse and worse. She was standing out so painfully but received lots of love. She was clearly a bit sick that day and coughing a lot. Still her outfit was the cutest and the red lipstick suits her very well. The concert was streamed so you can see the first part of it uploaded here:

Bokura na Kagayaki is a great song to start off a concert. Chisato’s voice sounds a bit strange but it’s still strong and captivating. The girls try their best to reach every fan so very often they walked to the sides to entertain fans like me not being able to reach the very centre. I thought it was very nice and very proffessional of them. For Momoiro Sparkling I had a lot of MaiMai and this was a different girl than the one in Paris. She was far more confident and encouraged us to have fun. Notice how at 4:51 she’s turned completely to the women section. I was more to the center but got a good view of her thanks to that.

At the first MC the girls asked the crowd to move back a little because of the lack of air and the temperature. I don’t think that anybody moved a muscle LOL. Chisato left the stage because her voice needed some rest. They performed some songs without her.

The next song, Meguru Koi no Kisetsu brought Airi closer to me and she really looked at us a lot making the experience so much better. They didn’t just perform in front of us, they performed FOR us.

Saikou Music is a very good song for chanting. I had lot of fun screaming the names. The song is very catchy but simple. Perfect idol fun.

Dare ni mo Naisho no Koishiteiru no is one of those songs you can recognise but not really pin it to a specific album. It’s not their best song but I guess they needed some less energetic but cutesy song. You can’t have Dance de Bakoon all the time, right?

Kokoro no Sakebi o Uta ni Shitemita is again a very cute song with mild tempo but Chisato came back after a short MC plus the choreography is more structured so I didn’t complain. Okey, I wouldn’t complain even if they just stood there and sang Happy Birthday in a loop for 3 hours. Just watching them was pure pleasure. I was high on C-ute. ALL OF ME!

Go Go Go is what I missed in Paris. A song with waving and smiling and just interacting with fans and the members. I wouldn’t put it on my “C-ute’s best songs evar” CD but it was again very enjoyable thanks to C-ute being super friendly.

By the time of another MC break I was a sweat machine. I could literally feel myself  melting. Since the Airi T-shirt is too big for me, it wasn’t as drenched as everybody else’s. I had it rolled in my stomach so that the rest barely touched my skin. I was a human sauna. But a very VERY happy one. C-ute members were drenched in sweat as well so they used some towels. The video stops then and I don’t really remember the exact timing but I think that around this time the girls organised a lottery with ticket numbers. They winners could get some signed items and later a polaroid picture with a chosen pose. The poses were usual “cute”, “wink” and “hug” poses. I’d totally go for kabedon. I might have developed a kabedon kink thanks to Duu.

The next song wasn’t a big surprise. Summer Wind is THE song when it comes to summer songs. I mean, DUH. SUMMER wind. This one is not about sweet smiles and running around stage but it’s so pretty to look at. The dance is very elegant. Airi’s voice soothes me so much. This change of pace was very much needed because of the temperature.

Okay, this one simply crushed me and crushed me to pieces. I heard the song secret base ～Kimi ga Kureta Mono～ before by accident and it’s such a nostalgic beautifully simple song. You really need just a couple of words in japanese to understand the lyrics. It’s very straighforward. Let me provide you with some translation though.

The end of the summer with you
Our dreams for the future
The big hopes, I won’t forget them

Believing that in August, ten years from now
I’ll meet you again
The best memories…

Go on. Cry. I know you want to. I didn’t expect C-ute to sing a cover of this song. The sweetness of this song, the context of this summer and me making my ultimate dreams come true was just to much. I cried my eyes out and Maimi saw me crying and she cried even more herself. I literally saw her looking at me and then rubbing her eyes. I don’t say that I made her cry but I definitely made her cry more. Now, knowing that they graduate she knew that this was their last Otodama Live and their last summer as C-ute. They must have felt this sadness. They all cried during this song. It was one of the greatest moments of this live.

Another MC and I think that Chisato had to rest some more. I really can’t remember. I know that she skipped some songs from time to time. Jinsei wa Step is generally considered to be an awesome song and I agree. Even non-fans consider it to be very good. I love how H!P likes to experiment like that from time to time. I’d prefer some more actual stepping going on but well, you can’t have everything. I had a blast during this one. This song and the following ones was a medley of energy and jumping. The girls gave it all and we were all surprised how the fun didn’t seem to stop. I mean, Sekaiichi HAPPY na Onna no Ko is high energy, Tokaikko Junjou is fierce, Adam to Eve no Dilemma very sexy and Kiss Me Aishiteru is again very fun with the repetitions. Chou WONDERFUL! is a great cherry on top. Everybody was beyond sweaty and exhausted by the end of this song. I couldn’t believe they could go on so long with this amount of energy. Just song after songs of pure win.

Chou WONDERFUL! seemed to be a good song for the end and the girls actually waved goodbye but nobody got fooled. Encore, right? RIGHT?! Everybody treated the encore chanting as a chance to drink something and rest a bit.

The members appeared of course and explained why they gonna sing a cover song but I had no idea what they were saying and frankly speaking I couln’t care less since they brought freaking water guns.

I knew this was gonna happen and I was waiting for it. Not just because I was swimming in my own sweat and ready to pass out but because you could FEEL the girls attention on you. If you touched the water or got splashed it’s not by accident, but because the girls looked at you and sprayed YOU and not the person next to you. Am I making any sense? It’s almost like a handshake event but with water  🙂

Firstly, I could barely get any water on me but then I got sprayed right between my eyes and I went to heaven. Yep, I think a long paragraph full of dirty analogies is due but let’s skip that.

[a long paragraph full of dirty analogies]

Okay, now that we can forget about this embarrassing moment of fangirling and move to ANOTHER FREAKING SPLASH OF WATER STRAIGHT TO MY FACE that left me in utter bliss. The first time it was Maimi’s and this time it was Nacky’s gun. I looked at my friend with water pouring down my face and I think I was smiling like a maniac because she laughed at me so much. C’mon, wouldn’t you be utterly happy in my place?!

The next song Iron Heart again was a good opportnity to get a couple of waves from the girls and I honestly thought that it was the last one. But alas was I wrong.

The last song was Wasuretakunai Natsu and it is a very fitting song to end the live. I really don’t want to forget this summer forever. I think the girls felt the same. It was less crying (oh, I cried a BIT) but more waving and appreciation of the whole live. You could see this song on Hello!Station but here is a nice cut version.

After the live I was deaded. The staff gave away some free samples of energy drinks and we were more than happy to give it a try. I looked like roadkill that somebody tried to wash in a washing machine. I changed clothes, ate some dinner with my friend and headed home while riding my C-ute high. It was the best live ever and it was just the first one during this trip. There was still so much to come. Next? Tokyo Idol Festival with UpUpGirls, Tsubaki Factory, Kobushi Factory and LoVendoЯ.

nyuchandesu