Japan Expo 2014 PART 5 The 1st of July

I’ll try to be consise because nobody wants to know about the day before the important day 🙂 But bear with me. I deeply apologise any French ppl here or anybody with a strong opinion about this country because I’m soo skipping any sightseeing I did that day.

It was great, France is very nice, my hostel was great, Paris at night is so pretty etc.

That’s all.

The day before the expo starts, exhibitors can enter and set up their stalls. I was giddy just thinking about seeing any Berikyuu posters. I slowly changed from a sister/friend the people I went with knew, to the Nyuchandesu I am deep down.  In practice it all boiled down to me spazzing around, squealling and screaming like a crazy person randomly.

The empty hall of Japan Expo was a really nice sight to see but I just looked for one thing only. And I found it.

Trying to look normal. Just conceal the excitement….

…. screw that! ~    enftiogjmtlbv,d;fk4iefncdmdmdm droool :D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wandered around I talked to any Japan Expo staff I could find to know everything about the following Berikyuu events. That I got a cold shoulder is a tiny bit understatement. I mean they were VERY helpful and nice but overall acted like it was so strange to be into a group this hard.

For example I talked with some staff members from the signing systems to make sure that as an exhibitor I can’t attend a signing. It took half an hour and many phone calls to tell me that I could only attend the drawing session with the Japan Expo ticked I would have to buy just to be a part of the drawing.

The man I talked with looked at me and said:

Is it really that important to you? *doubtful look*

I wanted to scream : Yes it’s THAT important! It’s more important that you could even imagine but am I really the only obsessed person you’ve met working for Japan Expo for two years? Seriously? No weird looking people? Are you blind?!

And it wasn’t just this guy. I talked to many staff members that day and the following day just before the Japan Expo started. I asked various complicated questions and made sure I understood everything. I probably made them sweat and cry just a bit 🙂 I really forced them to step up with their English.

And I can’t stress it more. They were extremely nice (yet not always informed) and always trying to give me all the info I wanted even if that meant using silly preschool gestures for queueing which was hilarious.

I learnt the basic French phrases to be polite to them before jumping straight to English so don’t judge me.

But most of them reacted to me the same way.

Is it really that important to you? – kept on reapeating itself and made me doubt myself. Is it really “normal” that this is extremely important to me?

It was the day before I met any fan mind you so I only had the Japanese wotas picture in my head and nothing else to compare it to in real life. Would people be more reasonable/laid back about Berikyuu? Less panicky and eager than me? Not very likely but the staff’s reaction stuck to my head.

I took pictures of empty halls.

I wished I had internet connection to post it to people not knowing where to go during Expo 😦

To sum up what I gathered.

– the halls are huge but not as huge as I thought they would be after listening to my sister’s rambling from previous years

– going to the conference before the Berikyuu conference to get the best seats was not an option because for the “vidage” all people need to get out (you can imagine how hard it was for the security guards and the JE staff to explain the whole “vidage” rules with broken English 😀

– the stage for the conference as well as the signing place weren’t far away from my sister’s booth which was very convenient

-being a wota means putting up with non-wotas laughing at you

I need my strenght for the following day.

nyuchandesu

Japan Expo 2014 PART 4 before the flight to Paris

Waiting for the day of my flight to Paris was like crawling through desert towards a fridge full of icy cold water and some Airi photobooks. Difficult.
The closer I got to the date the more panicked I felt. I planned the day since I first saw them on YouTube (which btw was Sakura Mankai by Momusu and Rock n’ Roll Kenchoushozaichi ~Oboechaina Series!~ by MiniMoni). I wanted to be the hardcore wota but the reality hit me hard. And the name of the reality was MONEYZ$. T-shirts, towels, Kingblades, wristbands, posters – all the good stuff that I would love to just put on myself to express how much of a fan I am at heart (but I learnt that it’s not the only way). There was no way I would afford any of that. I was so happy that at least I could meet them.
I had to improvise. Airi’s colour is pink so I bought anything pink to wear I could get. I’ve written Team Berikyuu on a T-shirt and decided on borrowing my sister’s pink wig (which as it turned out later was a brilliant idea).
Another step was learning the chants and discovering all the songs that I might have missed out like B-sides or any album songs. I didn’t want to be surprised by any song. I put everything I could find on my mp3player on a constant loop. I was ready to force myself to listen to them even if I didn’t like them but I surprised myself. I loved them all! I haven’t been listening to either C-ute or Berryz Koubou recently. But the songs were really good!Especially Yuuwaku no Kyuujitsu by C-ute and I’m so cool by Berryz Koubou.
I imagined the last week to be all about preparing myself but it was so hectic thanks to my job, my friends, my flatmates and family. I had nightmares and trouble falling asleep. Every second of every day was filled with thoughts like:
What if I miss the flight?
What if they change the venue and I won’t know about it?
What if I’ll meet them and just freeze speechless?
What if I won’t be accepted by the fans?
But there was no time to think it over because of all the other build-up stress.
The saddest thing was that nobody really understood what I went through.
I talked with some of my friends about the concert but how much can you really say without being riddiculed?
The usual was:
There’s this group I really REALLY like and thought that I’d never ever see them live because they’re from Japan but this year they’ll perform in France and it’s as close as it gets.
I had different reactions. The most predictable was a polite “Good for you COUGH weirdo COUGH” but one of my collegues (now I don’t think that “friend” suits her best) frowned when I showed her the video and said that the girls look way too young and that I might not be a pedo but definitely support them in this way.
Can you hear it? Yes, it’s the sound of my jaw hitting the floor.
That’s perhaps why I cried myself to sleep during those days and hoping that I’ll meet peaple who feel the same I do. The people who understand what it means.
Buckle up my dear readers because it’s gonna be a very emotional report from now on. Nothing you would have expected from your old/snarky/pervy/Nyuchandesu you know.

nyuchandesu

Japan Expo 2014 PART 1 All the scenarios

Back in 2010 I made a post https://nyuchandesu.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/i-got-pwned/

Because, yeah I got pwned by my sister who went to Japan Expo and when they announced that Morning Musume was coming it was too late for me to purchase the ticket as my sister had everything already booked. Soo poor me. Every other year I swore I’d go with her and every other year it was a money issue (I was still a poor student at the University or just started my working career striving to make the ends meet) The photo above is a dramatic reenacment of me saving up for the trip.The next scene titled “selling my kidney on eBay” was too drastic to show here

Finally with year 2013 good news came. My financial status was better and I promised myself that in 2014 I would go with my sister to Japan Expo (why am I so persistent to go with her? She knows the venue, more or less knows the city and would book all shit 😀 yey for lazy me).

We had to buy the tickets, book the hotel much much earlier without any news of guest of honour. But my guts told me that somebody form H!P would come. I mean, it’s the 15th anniversary of the event right? I had different scenarios in mind:

1. Morning Musume – that was the most probable option. They are more trendy again and seem like a great guest of honour. Sayumi! And argh… I’m not familiar with the rest. I mean, I am but not as much as I would be with the 2010 crew. But who cares. Sayumi!!!! Plus seeing their dances live would be a huge deal for me. They look stunning live! Drool :D~~~~~~

2. C-ute – again? Not very likely. Well, my Oshimen is there (Airir saiko!!!!!) and I know all the members. Chisato is my second favourite in the group, Nakky being the very last (I don’t even know why, not that I don’t like her but I like her the least of all of them)

3. Berryz Koubou – yes yes yes yessss Okey, Airi is my favourite with Sayumi close behind but Berryz Koubou is a group with more members so the experience would be better. And seeing MOMO!!!! She seems to be the most likeable in live performances. She’s just very entertaining with her facial expressions and over the top antics. Yeah, pretty annoying but she’s very responsive and that’s what I look for in a live performance experience. I want to wave at ther until my hand falls off. And then wave the hand with the other hand. (it does make sense, right?)

4. Juice=Juice – oh, dear God please not them. I enjoy their songs but can’t even name any of the members D: I would attend the concert secretly hoping that any other special guest from H!P would appear like Yuko with MM. Fuck, I’d shout more at Makoto than them XD

5. S/mileage – *sigh* I really love you Kanon. And you seriously grew on my Wada for the last couple of months but it’s the same situation as with Juice=Juice. I’m more of an old school wota. Hello Kids and Momusu rock my world.

6. Up Up Girls / Lovendora(I can’t even bother to look up the name) / trainees or any other minor H!P related group/soloist – that was the least likely option. I mean, it’s the 15th anniversary, right? They would like to have somebody a bit more prominent. Haven’t thought about this scenario much.

7. I can’t even write it….. No, it’s too much.

Don’t ask me…

It’s unfathomable….

I can’t……

AKB48

I have nothing against the girls. It’s really nothing personal. They are just rivals to my favourite group and I coulnd’t  imagine myself cheering them on . That would be such a disaster! It’s a very popular group in Japan and it seemed pretty possible that they would have been chosen as the guest of honour. I dreaded this option the most.

8. Somebody I don’t even know or care about – Momoiro Clover? Kyaru Pamyu Pamyu? I wouldn’t attend a concert but hey, at least it’s not AKB48 XD

Not much of a spoiler alert with the title of this post but can’t be too careful 😀

Both Berryz Koubou and C-ute are coming to Japan Expo.

So dreams really do come true, right?

What were your scenarios?

nyuchandesu