Hello Project Official Shop in Akihabara

After the fabulous concert at Nakano Dreams Come True Plaza, me and Aki went to Akihabara to do some Purikura, eat and reach the Hello!Project shop to sell my soul.

We need those in Europe.

For many, it’s routine. For others it’s a celebration. You can guess which it is for me. Merely seeing the sign was an event on its own.

Not to mention passing the doors and riding an elevator. It was INTENSE.

When the final doors opened, choirs of angels started to sing, crowds of elves danced around me holding hands and one single butterfly flew above my head dusting me with glitter while I was starstruck.

Rows of photos, keychains, mugs, flipflops, bags, files, frames and other accessories. I was one heavy breathing away from hyperventilation.

Excuse me, shop assistant-sama! Can you pack this rack of merch and those photos on the wall? No, I mean all of them plus the ones behind you and in the storage room. Plus the costumes on display and the TV playing H!P concerts. Yes, I’m paying with my blood and unicorn milk.

It was fun choosing photos and writing down the numbers on the piece of paper provided by the shop. I bought myself a mug, photos (they give you an extra photo at the desk so I got an Airi freebie), a keychain and a hairband. Aki was there to help me. Birthday message books was there to write in. I couldn’t resist.

It’s a pity that we can’t just order what they want from an official online site. That would be so convenient. No wonder that many of us, me included, can only afford watching scans online. The shipping fee is just too damn high. Please, consider alleviating this problem, ne?~

Nyuchandesu

Hello! Project 2016 SUMMER ~Rainbow Carnival~

For the second concert I was much calmer knowing what to expect. With the random photos and a keychain I bought the day before, I was ready for some friendly wota swapping. I was alone but confident that I can handle it. I entered the tents in front of Nakano Sun Plaza totally blasé. There were many pictures to choose from and I was not surprised to see that most of them were of less popular members. This was totally fine with me since I had plenty of oshis in different groups to choose from. I approached some ppl simply naming the members I was looking for without even attempting at any grammatically nonsensical japanese phrases like “Yamagishi Riko no shashinshuu doko doko onegaishimasu hontou ni desu ne”. It was funny to see how some ppl not having the members I needed, were making extra effort communicating “I’m really sorry but ….” while not speaking English. It was very kind of them and I warmed up to japanese fans after some colder experiences. Some of them wanted to help me and introduced me to other wotas that might have what I was looking for. Soon enough I swapped the pics and the keychain (for Nomura Minami’s <3). It was time for mooreee pictures so I entered the queue again confident in my skills of pointing to stuff and saying names.

Me in the line inside Nakano Sun Plaza

I was extremely proud of myself when Aki came and was super surprised that I managed to swap and buy merch on my own.

IMPOSSIBRU

We changed clothes and I could finally wear my new fancy T-shirt and fit the crowd. Oh, it felt really good.

Seating was far better this time. The very centre at last! Not as close as I’d prefer to be but you can’t have everything obviously. It was decent enough IMO.

Again, fans around me were chilling and I was having none of it. Screw you all, I’m gonna socialise. I started random conversations and creeped some random japanese fans of both genders. Than I spotted some foreign fans and went up to them to again impose my need of talking onto them. This was my last Harocon, probably the last one ever, and I refused to feel left out. I pranced around the venue spreading love.

I won’t get into details of every song or MCs because I honestly can’t remember everything too vividly. The pressure to make the best of every moment was there.

I. MUST. HAVE.FUN.

So I did. I jumped, screamed, cried and danced around to all my heart’s content. The only thing missing was interaction with the girls on stage. I would trade every Harocon for one Otodama Sea Studio experience. The concert didn’t really deviate from a DVD performance. Don’t get me wrong. It was AMAZING and I don’t regret anything. But just a taste of interacting with the girls got me spoiled. Smaller venues with more pure fun and less highly choreographed performances suits me better. I’m hooked on handshakes and eye contact. I can’t be the only one.

nyuchandesu

Hello! Project 2016 SUMMER ~Sunshine Parade~ plus another handshake?!

I wrote a post on December 31st 2015 : https://nyuchandesu.wordpress.com/2015/12/31/2016-here-i-come/

The post was about seeing a Hello!Project concert live. I can’t stress enough how important the experience was for me. It was a goal I set for myself but never truly believed in. One of those bucket list events like: traveling to New Zealand, kissing Benedict Cumberbatch and winning a million dollars. You like to day dream about it but you don’t practice kissing techniques on your elbow (or DO you?).

With more practice, I’ll reach his lips eventually >o<

Before going to Japan, I googled the venue, recognising it from pictures immediately. When you just watch the concerts on the computer screeen, you don’t really focus on the actual place. But there it was, real as ever and looking so surprisingly normal. I still have this a bit underwhelming feeling when the ground itself doesn’t sparkle or the unicorns don’t fly in the sky around a H!P related event. They are merely idols, working for the paycheck among other idols and ordinary people. No big deal.  WHERE’S THE MAGIC?!!

Oh, yes. The magic was right there in front of my eyes. Me and my sister, moved from our friend’s house at Hachioji, to a hostel at Nakano so we walked by Nakano Sun Plaza everyday. It was magic everytime and I took photos at any occasion. Look at this legendary beauty. I saw the sparkles and the rainbow with my heart.

The Hello Project concert was divided into Sunshine Parade and Rainbow Carnival. I had tickets for both. The first to go was Sunshine Parade. I met with Akiko so she could help me buy merchandise. The first time to buy official merchandise. Fans in front of the venue had a tent to exchange the goods but I had none to exchange yet and boy was I ready to spend my hard earned cash on impractical idol stuff.

Usually, I saw merch as scanned pictures on Hello!Online or a small pixalated flyer on a shop Twitter. I had no idea how the process would go. In Otodama, there were desks near the entrance, but at Nakano the selling happened inside. Thank God, because it was freaking scalding hot outside. The queue was long but not impossibly long and as usual in Japan, very efficient with three rows of people moving at the same time. Once inside, I saw a huuuge poster thing with the merch and prices.

I.WAS.IN.HEAVEN.

The most difficult thing was not buying EVERYTHING immediately. Visiting the official Hello!Project shop was still ahead of me. Not to mention the pesky stuff like eating and surviving in Tokyo until the end of my visit *shrugs*.

There was so much I wanted to buy. For me, the bigger the photo the better. Aki was very helpful with translations and answering million times the same question patiently. The queue was almost up the stairs and it was nearly impossible for me to decide. The photos that were the most appealing were the big ones with dates that you could only buy at the venue, that very day. I needed the photos of all my oshis in every group plus some Airi for me, some Nacky and Hamachan for Morningtime. What about the Hello Project bag? Or the random photos? Or the capsules? How could I say no?!

When I told Aki my order she was in shock. I bought a lot that day even though it’s probably nothing when compared to some more affluent fans out there. It was a lot for a casual Japanese fan. The woman at the counter did not care one bit about my face of utter excitement and childlike bliss. She was just happy that Aki translated whatever needed translation and my transaction was done.

Me with not even half of stuff I bought XD Can you see the bliss though? It’s there.

Double bliss right there 🙂 Can you see how ppl in the background just don’t give a damn?

The bliss up close. Still no excitement in the background.

When the time came to line up I was pumped on adrenaline. Again, nobody else was. How I envy them. I’d love to have Hello!Project around me almost everyday to the point of mild boredom. Okay, it has the downsides. I want to be spoiled with H!P >o< We went up the stairs inside Nakano Sun Plaza. The security  asked me some questions that Aki couldn’t answer because she was in a parallel line but they just let me in ignoring my confused look. It was probably something about having a camera, a kitchen knife or anything like that. They looked inside my bag and gave me a bunch of flyers treasure.

Inside the hall, we found our places which were more to the left (for a change) and quite far away to my dissapointment. What was an even bigger dissapointment was a total disinterest of people around me. I really wanted the friendliness. I didn’t travel around the globe to meet  a bunch of people not excited over stuff that I was excited over. The guy sitting next to us was looking bored. There were many people like him, looking antisocial and used to going to concerts like this. The situation was slightly better in the front rows where groups of people prepared for wotageing or at least exchanged jokes and gossip. Those groups looked more like cliques to me and some of them had this vibe from the Tokyo Idol Festival MAGICAL RAILING area, mainly”cross me and I’ll cut you” vibe.

I chose to stick to Akiko and having the time of my life.

The concert started with a cartoonish safety video making me believe that Japanese people may not remember how to use chairs. I looked at Aki not knowing whether to laugh or stay shocked.  But soon the concert started.

(source: helloproject.wikia.com)

1. GOOD BYE Natsuo    Hell, yeah! I love this song so much! It’s so dramatic, energetic and simply good old fun. It requires great vocals and the girls did their best.Some of the girls entered from the side doors but were too far away from me to see properly. Such a pity. But I could see all of them on stage and it felt unreal.  I already saw the outfits online and they were okay. They could be worse and they could be better. I hated the hats. They looked tacky.
2. MC
3. VTR
4. Hello! Massara no Jibun – Hello Pro Kenshuusei   I listened to the song from the opening concert recordings. It was very Hello!Project without anything to make it into my fav list. The title sounds like Hontou no Jibun meets Massara Blue Jeans and Say!Hello!.
5. Watashi ga Obasan ni Natte mo – Tsubaki Factory After TIF, I felt a deeper connection with the girls and had pure fun listening and clapping along to their songs. They are an unexperienced but lovely bunch.
6. Ora wa Ninkimono – Kobushi Factory Yesssss. That’s more like it! I got super excited and jumpy during this one. I went all in with the singing and crazyiness. Kobushi Factory are the best live! You can’t sit still when they perform. The goofiness is contagious.
7. Boogie Woogie LOVE – Country Girls It was my first time seeing Country Girls live and I cheered for Momoko because of my Berryz Koubou sentiment. Aki cheered for Yamaki Risa. It’s a fun song but the performance was very well rehearsed and lacked the liveliness for me. It was like every wave and wink was exactly like on the music video. 
8. Dream Road ~Kokoro ga Odoridashiteru~ – Juice=Juice I’m no Juice=Juice fan since they changed style. I preferred the saxophone days. I cheer for Karin (another alien face). The song is like a strange improvised modern dance number. I don’t buy it. A nice song but doesn’t do it for me.
9. Itoshima Distance – ANGERME Out of all Angerme songs and even S/mileage reportaire, this was one of the least favourites of mine. I was happy to see Angerme live for the first time and I had the time to observe the new member.
10. The Vision – Morning Musume ’16 It was my first time seeing Morning Musume live. My heart was pounding so much. I regret, not having better seats and not getting any special waves or eye contact. I got to see the legend performing and it was amazing. They are such strong performancers. They dance fiercely. It was like watching a well oiled machine. Perhaps, seeing them closer I’d see the flaws, but from far away, it was just perfection. And I don’t even like the song XD
11. Summer Wind – ℃-ute With C-ute as with Tsubaki Factory, there’s the sentiment involved. I had an opportunity to interact with them earlier, to see them up close, to shake their hands. With them on stage, I enjoyed every song far more then Country Girls. Plus, my H!P oshi Airi was performing so it was super special on many levels. It also helps that I luuuv the song 🙂
12. MC
13. Hello Pro Time Machine Corner 1  I WISH – Hamaura Ayano, Ogawa Rena, Kishimoto Yumeno Obviously, I was cheering for Hamachan, for Morningtime’s sake 🙂 All of the girls, did very well although they have nothing on my ultimate oshi-Aibon. 
14. Hello Pro Time Machine Corner 2 Kokuhaku Kinenbi – Nomura Minami, Taguchi Natsumi, Asakura Kiki, Morito Chisaki MINAMI!!!!!! My oshi in a song? I won’t stay mad with the song for too long although I’m not a big fan either. MINAMIIIII!!!!
15. MC
16. Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru – Kobushi Factory, Tsubaki Factory YES! The period when Juice=Juice had fierce and epic songs with an epic groups like Kobushi Factory? Count me in! Tsubaki Factory was there as well, but were obviously outshone by the epicness of Kobushi girls. MINAMIIII again 😀
17. Crazy Kanzen na Otona – Country Girls The sexy vibe doesn’t suit them too well but it’s C-ute’s song after all so who am I to complain?
18. Gashin Shoutan – Juice=Juice  It took me some time to recognise the song. It’s damn catchy but fairly fresh. A good one but not great. With Ups and Downs to choose from, I skipped Gashin Shoutan.
19. Chotto Guchoku ni! Chototsumoushin – ANGERME A good choice for a strong group like Angerme to get a song by another strong group like Kobushi. The growling was done perfectly by Takeuchi Akari.
20. Itooshikutte Gomen ne – Morning Musume ’16 What a surprise! A cute song form MM? Such an odd but wonderful choice. DUUUUU!!!! 
21. Summer Night Town – ℃-ute A cool song that C-ute can pull off really well. It’s an oldie and I love it. 
22. MC
23. Hello! Project Station Dance Club Performance I really want to say awesome things about it but I expected so much more intensity. It was a good performance but I think that the Dance Club had better choreographies and better music in the past.
24. Jouro – Juice=Juice Decent. Easy to forget. Don’t make me say more.
25. MC
26. Taiki Bansei – ANGERME (with 5th generation) OMG! It’s the world’s catchiest song that I thought would be awesome live but I had no idea. It was SUPERB! I jumped, screamed and sung the song with everybody. It was the moment when nobody looked bored and everybody knew the lyrics. Pure happiness. Energy was over the roof.
27. Tokyo to Iu Katasumi – Morning Musume. ’16 DUUUU!!!! I used to be picky when watching them up close, but from my row they looked perfect 🙂 LEGEN wait for it DARY
28. Naze Hito wa Arasoun Darou? – ℃-ute Breathe, don’t cry. Just breathe and stop crying. 
29. Hitorijime – Tsubaki Factory It’s was a new song at the time so I enjoyed it. I still prefer V-u-den’s song with the same title which means that Tsubaki’s song is not THAT great XD
30. MC
31. Samba! Kobushi Janeiro – Kobushi Factory (with Hello Pro Kenshuusei as backdancers) I had a blast with this song at TIF when I was alone and I had double blast here with Aki.
32. Rhythm ga Yonderu zo – Country Girls (with Hello Pro Kenshuusei as backdancers) Okey, with this song my love for Country Girls grew. It’s such a lovely, fun and interactive song!  Super cute.
33. KEEP ON Joshou Shikou!! – Juice=Juice Michael Jackson in da house, ladies and gentlemen. I had mixed feelings about it. Catchy but wacky, and I’m not sure if that’s what they aimed for.
34. Tsugitsugi Zokuzoku – ANGERME (with 5th generation) This couldn’t get any better, right? Bring it on, Angry Germs! 
35. Shabondama – Morning Musume ’16 Well, it certainly can get better and it just did! How many dreams come true can one hope for?! I’m totally in love with this song and just a couple of days before I said that to Tanaka Reina herself XD
36. Arashi wo Okosunda Exciting Fight! – ℃-ute There’s never enough of crying. Happy crying is okay. 
37. MC
38. Utakata Saturday Night! …..and we’re back on the happy train!!! What a way to finish a concert. This song played around Tokyo all the time. It was so much fun.

After the concert ended, I looked at Aki with a face split in half with the stupidiest smile ever. The crowd slowly started flooding out of the doors and I took an opportunity to buy more stuff because very important reasons I can’t disclose but it has something to do with me really, really wanting more stuff so don’t judge me. 

There was something about Juice=Juice new single and a lady with a list was trying to make people sign something I couldn’t quite understand. When Aki explained to me what it was… oh, dude…. I mean…. holey moley….I was speechless. There was a quick handshake event right after the concert with some of the girls from Juice=Juice to promote the single. Aki asked me if I wanted to attend and I think I might have strained my neck by nodding too vigorously. There wasn’t much time, since the handshake already started (remember that I was very busy shopping) and Aki tried her best to fill the pre-order form and spend my money on a single I didn’t really like by a group I wasn’t even that much into. Screw logic. I loooveeee handshakes for a chance to actually meet a H!P member face to face. There were only three members and no Karin for me. There was Sayuki (the Voice), Kanatomo (the I don’t know you) and Yukanya (the Cute One).

Some staff member grabbed my bag and lead me away from Aki who tried to help me translate something I would like to say but the handshake was just too damn fast. The girls were jammed in a tiny room with ppl going down the corridor, going into the room behind a plastic wall for like 2 seconds and pushed out of the room. It must have been the world’s quickest …ekhm…job ever XD

In the meantime, I was the last one to go which made me super, super happy but very nervous. Again, I was to say my standard things learnt at Japan Expo’s handshakes. Some small crowd of girls in front of me, got giddy and decided to go last. I really didn’t want to play any games with them like “No, you go first. No, you do” with my limited japanese so I stayed in front of them, getting closer to the magic door when another staff member was spraying ppl’s hands. It was so damn fast!

I went inside and got starstruck by the girls (scrap anything bad I said about them, they’re so beautiful, warm, idol-like and just amazing at what they do). I was ready to throw my  “I’m from Poland,” and “I’m an English teacher” at them but I got totally blocked by Sayuki who looked at my obviously not Asian face and just screamed (literally, screamed) “THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU!” which you can note lasts more than a second so when I reached Kanatomo’s hand, my face was still turned to Sayuki’s screaming. I think I managed to say something along “Great concert” to Yukanya but I clearly remember her smiling face. She was polite and gentle. Sayuki was just ballistic 😀 She reminded me of Maimi at Japan Expo with her over the top facial expressions. Great experience, so worth the price of the CD (I still haven’t retrieved it from Aki as it was sent to her address :D).

Highlights:

– great songs

-merchandise

-sharing the experience with Aki

– handshake and Sayuki’s screaming

-Harocon DUH

Downside:

-not so great seats which meant no interactions with the girl’s on stage

-fans around that didn’t socialise

-not enough time to interact at the handshake

Overall, It was an amazing concert but so different from Otodama and Japan Expo. If I wanted to rank them Otodama would be first (the intensity, the interactions), Harocon second (the real deal) and Japan Expo third but still better than TIF 🙂

Rainbow Carnival, here I come!!!

nyuchandesu

 

 

 

 

10 best underrated songs of Hello!Project

Yes, finally another countdown. I really like those. Everybody’s busy making their Top of 2014 lists but I thought I’d do something a bit different (and probably do my Top of 2014 list later ==).

Hello!Project has many amazing songs that are rather too old or need a bit more time on one’s mp3 player to gain more acknowledgement among fans. I hope that you’ll find something nice for yourself or relive some good oldies you might have once listened to *sniff*.

The order is completely random.

Smile Bijin by S/mileage

It’s not so old but still there’s nearly not enough buzz around this great song. Lyrics are pretty random. The usual broken-hearted teenage angst. So what’s so ear-catching about it? The beginning. It makes you think of Yume miru 15, which was an EPIC song on its own. I highly recommend it!

subbed by amazing StillCrypticShadow8

I know by Matuura Aya

I’m not a huge Aya fan although I appreciate her amazing vocals and pure idol perfection. She’s just not my favourite. A bit too cheesy with earlier singles and a bit too mature with later ones. However, I know is so catchy that you just can’t help yourself with those Oh yeahs. I’d love to dance with her during a live performance.

Dekoboko Seventeen by W(double u)

Sighs. Aibon, my sweet Aibon. Lyrics combined with the very serious beat do not match at all but so what. I just love this seriousness. Very rare in idol songs. Their voices blend so well together. I’m always happy to watch any newer renditions of this song.

Kuchibiru Kara Ai wo Choudai by v-u-den

Those times when we all thought that v-u-den is the stupidest group name ever. Well, Tsunku likes to prove us wrong. But to get back to the song, again music doesn’t match the lyrics at all. But if you firget about the stupid meaning it’s an epic, aggressive song in which I forget how horrible all three of the vocalists sound.

Sweets →→→live by C-ute

I was never Kanna’s fan (were there any?) and Chisato needed more time to grow on me. Back then, with the LOVE escalation album, she was just a tomboy with a strange face and strong voice. The song was an instant favourite for me not because of the girls but purely because of the catchy melody. It’s really non-explainable.

Renaitte Nani? by Kago Ai

Well, with this one it’s a bit tricky. Aibon is my all time favourite and this might have biased my choice a tiny bit. Would I claim it’s a great song? Yes *coughmaybecough*. Would I claim that the lyrics are meaningful? Kinda *coughNOTcough*. Oh, just give it a try! Isn’t she the most adorable thing ever?!

Da Di Du De Do Da Di by Morning Musume

Don’t look at me like that! I know the title is ridiculous. I know the lyrics are random at best but it’s a really warm song designed for many idols to sing together and just hug and kiss a lot. Solo version of this sing just don’t work well for me. Even Aibon’s version is not so appealing to me. It’s nice but not great.

Do Don Ga Don Ondo by C-ute Erika Umeda (mainly)

*hands up* Don’t shoot! It’s not my fault this song is so unbelievably catchy. It’s silly, it’s nonsensical, it’s Erika Umeda’s disastrous vocals but I LOVE it. We need more of this song live. I bet Chisato would pull it off so well.

Zettai Tokeru Mondai X = ❤ by Matsuura Aya

This song gives me so much good energy. Just imagine yourself jumping with the crowd and chanting GO ON! GOING TO GO! Sheesh, this song is just plain stupid. But it’s pure win. There’s something very infectious about it that makes me smile and want to run and I swear to God I hate running.

with a surprise appearance at the end…

Love da*yo Darling by Kusumi Koharu

Another silly, over the top, nonsensical song for little girls that I really enjoy. It’s the perfect example of the famous Koharu’s spazz. She might be a lousy singer, a mediocre dancer but as an entertainer she’s the one you’re looking for. This is the spazztastic anime-mode-on Koharu that you either love or begrudgingly admit that even Momo is less annoying.

Anything you’d like to add? 🙂

nyuchandesu

 

 

Japan Expo 2014 PART 8 The handshake

*hyperventilation* Okay, just calm down. It’s gonna be fine. Breathe in and breathe out. Like you always do and you’re gonna be oookaay.

Concert or handshake?

Concert and handshake?

Concert or handshake?

Concert and handshake?

Risk the concert or risk the handshake? Decisions, decisions and not much time D:

I asked friends and it seemed that all of them had different opinions on the matter like e.g. “handshake is better”.

Or “standing far away from the front row at the concert is the best”. Or “the first row is the best, are you fucking with me?”.

I decided to play safe and check both lines. First I ran to the handshake line (let me skip losing the NaviGo, finding the NaviGo, losing the JE ticket, finding the JE ticket, missing two RERs  and all the bad karma kicking my ass for the good luck the day before ==).

It was empty. Absolutely NOBODY was there apart from Airi’s lingering smell (the latter part might be my sick imagination). Great, I could be the first one for the handshake.

Or….. I could check the concert line.

Time to find the freaking Live House. I knew it’s gonna be somewhere far far away, over moors and mountains, and pools of lava and woods full of giant spiders but I didn’t expect it to be THAT hard to find. But it was. JE staff (useful as ever) told me I can reach the Live House straight from the Japan Expo hall. I said I was pretty sure I had to go out and around all the halls to find the queue because it’s probably shut by now to prepare for the concert. They said: no, it’s open just follow the correct rabbit…ee… carpet.

I already imagined myself lurking in the shadows of the Live House while girls would have a rehearsal but of course the Live House was closed. (somebody told me it was open not long before that so the JE staff wasn’t so wrong after all). I knew there was long way to go but then I saw one security door open next to the Live House entrance.

Hell yeah. A shortcut. I appeared in the middle of nowhere and felt the wrath of the orange demon (aka the Sun) peeling off my skin.  Soon I met some quite surprised security guards (remember I had my pink wig on. After getting Airi to recognise me the other day I just needed to wear it again at least for the handshake. I just changed a T-shirt into a pink bunny blouse which btw I bought in the kid’s department store ==”).

They showed me the way to the Live House where I met another bunch of amazing/nice/not so nice/neutral people.

For the sake of your naïve view that all people are good (and intelligent) at heart I’ll pass over the rest in silence. Let’s just say we all became friends in the end. Or at least stopped ripping our throats out which in my dictionary is as close to “friends” as it gets.

RainbowSeven (H!O user), who falls into the “amazing ppl” group, prepared the queue tickets and after me waiting in the scorching sun for some hours gave me one with a blessing to go to the handshake and come back to my place.

Of course that would depend on the kindness of ppl around me to allow that. The person in front of me said “fuck you” (sorry, this one negative thing must have slipped) but some people behind me said “No problemo”. One of them was a Japanese guy. I kinda met A WHOLE LOT OF nice Japanese Guys.

Hostel Japanese Guy aka The Japanese Guy Who Got Airi To Sign a Book For Me

Queue Japanese Guy aka Dashuu- san (I’ll explain later)

I ran for the JE expo and found out that without my brilliant shortcut it took me about 20 minutes to go back to the handshake line.

Did I say line? I meant a fucking spiral! ARGH! The stupidity of ppl! They literally made a turn in the line so it started to spiral inwardly resulting in much confusion. Thanks JE staff for not helping. I know you were busy not helping  the concert line. *thumbs up*

But on the bright side I met Chobineko again and about a dozen of new people I might not be able to name.

Firstly I met Julia from Netherlands who I knew from H!O and Facebook (one of people I actually could recognise without asking for a name, thanks God). I met MimiChama from Germany who I saw the day before but never had the chance to talk to). She was preparing a gift for Maasa so thanks to her I could at least write a birthday message 😀 Then I met two great girls from Finnland. We had a nice chat and finally I regained some faith in humanity after meeting the not so nice people in the queue. We even exchanged some candy. I got a Moomin gum which tasted fruity and sweet just like real Moomins would. I think I did the Airi Oishii ~~~~~face. I’m not sure :]

The handshake was about to start in less than an hour and I still felt utterly unprepared for it. I don’t know how it happened but I wasn’t able to form the words I’d like to say to the girls. The language barrier was huge. There wouldn’t be enough time plus I found a somewhat sad truth. I didn’t have much to say to many of them :((

My sister’s friend who speaks Japanese really well taught me some phrases. I’ve written them down but I only had like three of them and much too many idols to speak to D:

Stress kicked in again and my mind was blank.

The line was getting all confused more and more. People were butting in but I really think that most of them just couldn’t find the end of the line which by now was eating its own ass.

I decided to butt in as well because there was no use pretending there’s a line anymore. I mingled with Julia hoping nobody would kick me out which they didn’t.

And then my good karma came back to me. By total accident another amazing representative from Japan was standing right behind me. This time it was a Japanese Girl who I will now call a MaiMaiFan because dear God how she loved MaiMai. I might start thinking that all Japanese people are just pure amazing from now on. Or maybe just wotas? But I digress.

She spoke perfect English and tried to calm me down because I was seriously on the brink of falling off my trolley.

The handshake wasn’t such a big deal for her and she promised to translate for me whatever I’d want. That was so generous of her. But I knew that it wouldn’t work for the handshake. I wanted to say the words and get the immediate reaction. The translator would delay the process. I practiced my phrases with her and decided to stick to them. She said she would say whatever I’d forget to say.

Can you imagine what she did next?

She gave me an extra handshake ticket.

I’ll let you ponder on that for a minute.

I didn’t have the money to buy Airi’s goods that would make me feel more like other fans in the venue beside the towel.

I didn’t have the money to buy multiple CDs to get more handshake tickets.

(I apologise to all the ppl who didn’t have the money to go to France, to meet the girls, to get the premium ticket because it’s unfair to feel bad about myself while I was VERY privileged. It’s just during JE I didn’t feel this way.)

I cried again. And I cried some more. Hell, I’m crying right now. I don’t think that anybody gave me a more amazing gift. Out of the whole JE experience handshake was the most valuable one. And this amazing woman doubled it for me like it was nothing. I felt this emotional the moment I was given the first gift, the Airi’s photo. Those two gifts cannot be compared but somehow they felt similar.

The surprise, the shock, the stress, the happiness, the confusion – all of them contributed to the fact that when the girls arrived and the line started moving I was a total mess. I consider myself a rational human being but those minutes before the handshake I almost went crazy. I was THIS close to jumping up and down, laughing and screaming and rolling on the floor with saliva dripping down my chin.

At the same time I was paralysed by fear because my mind became a sheet of totally blank paper. The Japanese phrases, the preparation, the message I wanted to convey disappeared.

I thought about a great handshake tutorial I once read (http://www.jicchan.com/?p=386 ) <=== AWESOME

The most relevant things for me were: 1. calm down and stop crying, it’s impolite for the girls to see you like that 2.talk about yourself  3. mention something they said on a blog

And magically I did calm down. I was just a couple of people before the girls would hold my hands and my mind started working again. I count it as another miracle of that day. And there were still many to come.

One of them is that a bit behind me in the queue were Morningtime (<===check out his great blog!) with his lovely wife MTSayuRin. They didn’t know it was me while they were filming and taking photos of the girls. Guess who was in those photos as well? This was just too much of a coincidence to not call it a MIRACLE. (I’ll include the photos but not all of them are from Morningtime. Just the best ones :D)

HANDSHAKE EVENT ROUND 1

(all in Japanese, very very simple Japanese mind you)

Me to SAKI: I really liked you in Koi no Jubaku.

SAKI: *surprised face*Oh! Do you like it? (I think she meant the song)

Me to SAKI: Yes!

 Saki was taller than I expected and very gentle. Her hand was soft and she was smiling in a very girly way. She wasn’t forcing anything. Just being herself I think. I really enjoyed her surprised face. It was  a mixture of genuine and idol-like. Plus the hairstyle really suits her I think. It was flawless.)

(partially Japanese, partially English because the MaiMaiFan said Momo would appreciate the English part)

Me to MOMOKO: I like you, yurushite nyan. *cutesy sad face*

MOMOKO:*a bunch of strange faces*

I’m not sure she DID understand me. Her reaction was great but confusing. Like I said something between “I hate you, forgive meow” and “There’s spinach between your teeth, forgive meow”. Just look at her. What the hell was that about? Notice how Saki is smiling at me aaaahh *melting*

(in Japanese)

Me to CHINAMI: By the way, do your best at the concert!

I aimed at a pun. A poor pun really. Chinami ni – means by the way. I don’t think she understood it 😀 I said it really slow, putting much emphasis on the “ni” part. I think she didn’t expect it from a foreigner.

I never thought that Chinami is pretty and looking close I just reassured myself that she truly isn’t XD Yeah, it’s a nasty thing to say but I don’t consider myself to be a beauty either 😀 She was smiling kindly and had a moderate handshake grip. God, holding their hands was a strange experience. I didn’t really want to do it because it felt really unnatural. How many times do you talk this close with somebody’s hand in your hand? But it created the connection and I felt the idol in front of me was all eyes and ears and it felt nice. She did a nice *I understand*  face which I aimed for really.  I was soo happy 😀 She even waved a little at me. Watching the video I noticed that Saki was still staring at me 😀 🙂

 

(in English)

Me to MAASA: Happy Birthday!

Maasa acted just like I thought she would. She was nice but not overly cutesy or hyper. A bit businesslike if you prefer 🙂 They said she was sick that day but I haven’t noticed that. Her grip was normal. I don’t know why but I expected a bone-crashing grip of death *shrugs*. She thanked me for wishing her happy birthday. I know that was kinda lame to say but hey, I knew I’d say something more creative next round 😀

(in Japanese)

Me to YURINA: Yurina! Green Giant is amazing!

Why did nobody tell me it’s a bad idea? >< Okay, she clearly forgave me since I’m a foreigner/wota/in shock apparently 😀 She was super tall and super nice. They all looked so tall to me and looking at the photos/videos I think that’s because I was bending so much. The natural reaction to idols I guess 😀 She had a nice smile but her facial expressions weren’t as nice as other girls’. I think she was intimidated by us or a bit tired. Both most probably. I know she can do so much better. I had a great moment with her during the concert but handshake was plain and simple. Smile, handshake, go.

(in Japanese)

Me to MIYABI: Miyabi! Please do the Miyabeam during the concert!

MIYABI: *does the Miyabeam* Okay!

I was shaking by then that’s perhaps why I yelled her own name at her. ==’ My face which I’m glad you can’t see there but it was something like that:

Again the same energy as from Yurina. Smiling but not putting much energy to it. I don’t say it in a bad way. She just seemed a bit distanced. I liked her hairstyle but up close she doesn’t look any more appealing.

(in Japanese)

Me to RISAKO: Risako! (what’s with the name again == my mind was on overdrive) I’m Polish./I’m an English teacher. (whichever it was at that round. I could say “thank you and I like xxx” but I also wanted to say something about myself.)

RISAKO: *nods politely and smiles*

I yelled Risako at her with a different emotion than to Miyabi. You know that our *cough* relationship is  a bit shaky but because of that I feel close to her. I just got this feeling when she looked at me “THIS is the Risako, the ONE I mentioned so many times, the one I dedicated a video to”. She really is very pretty. But boy oh boy how not interested she looked. She was even more bussiness-like than Yurina, Maasa and Miyabi all combined. Really, she was silent. I don’t even remember if she acted surprised to any of what I said. Her grip was also the weakest of them all. Like she was scared to touch us. Am I the only one feeling that?

(in Japanese)

ME to MAIMI: *pointing to myself* I’m Polish. (this time I’m pretty sure I said it)

Okay, maybe it’s because Risako was so laid-back immediately before but Maimi was super right into your face involved. Her grin was making ME feel nervous but at the same time soo happy.  I regretted not being her fan because interactions with her are extremely rewarding. First thing is that she moves really close to your face and pulls your hand to her. Suddenly I was VERY close to MAIMI’s face and I felt tiny. Her face was like: “NO FUCKING WAY?! POLISH?! THIS IS MADNESS” and I loved for that great reaction. I don’t know if she has any idea where “Poorando” is but hell I hope she understood it’s a country XD

Another great thing is that the amazing JapaneseMaiMaiFan after me clearly said something to Maimi about me. Once I know I’ll tell you but it seems she tried to explain where Poland is XD

Now I’m super curious 😀

Me to NAKKY: Was the pole dancing difficult? (slowly because this phrase was longish for me)

NAKKY: *painful face* Really dificult. *big smile*

I was really glad that I asked that. I’ve read their blog before going to France and both Nakky and MaiMai talked how hard it was to hear negative feedback about the pole dancing. My opinion on the matter was “you’ve crossed the line a bit but I really enjoyed watching it and I think you did a great job”. I wouldn’t say that to them. But I wanted them to have the support even in France. I think she was surprised to hear me speak about it. She responded to me with actual WORDS (only Saki did that too) not just facial expression. Those were great too. I was happy for the reaction.

I don’t have the video to show the array of great emotions that passed her face but there’s something else. You can see how Airi was already observing our conversation and reacting to it! I haven’t seen that back then focused on Nakky but re-watching the video makes me notice more things. Just look at Airi.

 

She’s a pro at this. She could have just looked around and sigh but she actually got involved.

I knew that Airi will be next and it felt like a dream. There was just everything I wanted to tell her.

my phone number, shoe size, her perfect eyes and lovely teeth, my love for her, the weather outside, that I’d lick her face anytime etc.

Well, I couldn’t do that but I blurted out what I wanted to say the most.

(in Japanese)

Me to Airi: Thank you for your autograph from yesterday. (I’m Polish.  – I’m not sure I managed to say that real quick. )

Airi, sweet Airi. The look on your face was recognition. It had to be. I think you remembered me from the day before. I really hope you did.

She was so happy and energetic and sincere. There are no words to describe it. There’s this special aura about her. My dreams came true that moment. I was full of emotions by the time my hand touched hers. She had a delicate brittle hand. Her smile was big and toothy. I think I fell in love  with her even more. I wish I could remember every second, every word I said but the fact I spoke was a miracle on its own.

(in Japanese)

Me to CHISATO: Bokura no Kagayaki is great!

CHISATO: *smiling* Thank you!

I apologise for the quality of the caps from now on. They’re not from Morningtime that’s why they’re so shitty 😀 Chisato was smiling brightly. I haven’t noticed anything special about her. Her voice is powerful and I rank her quite high in my personal favourites.

(in Japanese)

Me to MAIMAI: I’m Polish!

MAIMAI: *confused smile*

I was rushed through her unfortunately so I think she might not heard me properly. I felt bad for her because there weren’t many MaiMai fans in France. The year before there were a lot of MaiMai shouts during the concert but this year perhaps because of Berryz Koubou I felt that they were left out. The same for the Captain. She’s a pretty up close even more than in PVs.

It was the end of round one for me. I felt utter bliss. Like running the marathon. I looked around and saw ppl crying, flush and as happy as I felt. The feeling of belonging no matter the amount of merchandise you own was amazing. For a split of a second I thought to myself: I told them everything I wanted to say so maybe it’s better to give away this second handshake opportunity? Yeah, it was a silly thought. I looked at the girls  and the thought evaporated. I want to see them up close one more time!

By the time JE staff decided to organize the queue (FINAlly!). You won’t guess who was right in front of me. Yep, the Queue Japanese Guy. Hell yes. Now I had another person to help me with any translation plus we could run to the Live House together. Unfortunately his English was non-existent. the nice girl behind me knew some basic Japanese phrases so with many gestures and silly faces we managed to communicate.

(if you know Japanese pls forgive me. I write the conversation here just for the lolz :)))

ME: Laivu Haus doko doko? *hand to forehead and look around*

That was so funny XD He nodded and said a string of Japanese phrases I understood as yes, I know where it is

ME: *running motion* Ishonii? *pointing to him and me*

He looked at me really confused.

ME: Run? *running motion but more exaggerated this time*

QUEUE JAPANESE GUY: Oh. Dashuu? *running really fast motion*

I didn’t understand him because really, if you don’t know the word “run” in English how come do you know “dash”?! But then I thought that’s because of the “R” in “Run” and  we laughed together. He pronounced “DASHUU” in such a funny way. So he became Dashuu-san in my mind 😀 I tried to ask him for more translations. I wanted to say to the girls to do more tap dancing during concerts (you can already imagine how I tried to communicate TAP DANCING to Dashuu-san). He told me some phrases but there was no time to say them as the queue was moving really fast and I decided to stick to the ones I already knew.

HANDSHAKE EVENT ROUND 2

(the honourable mentions only. It all boiled down to basically switching between I’m Polish. / I’m an English teacher. / Do your best during the concert. for SAKI, YURINA, MAASA, MAIMI, MIYABI, RISAKO, NAKKY. I received the appropriate smile/surprise/thank you so much for coming)

(all in Japanese this time)

Me to MOMOKO: I’m a preschool teacher. (I wanted to say that to her because I knew she had the papers to teach in preschool as well. I teach in preschool but not only there but that’s the quickest I could say it 🙂

MOMOKO: *surprised face and a smile*

Me to CHINAMI: I’m a preschool teacher. (I don’t know why I repeated myself >< but I got a similar reaction to Momoko’s)

Again, I knew Airi was close. The special moment. The last occasion to be this close to her. I think I finished my interaction with Maimi as soon as I could and rushed into words.

(in Japanese)

Me to AIRI THE GODDESS: I’m your fan. I’m Polish. I’m an English teacher. Please sing Wakkyanai (Z) more.

(I’m not sure how many of those I managed to blurt out because Airi interrupted me. I got a feeling she was half listening to me politely but wanted to say something to me.

(in ENGLISH Goddamit, in the purest English accent ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

AIRI to me: What’s your name?

sdjipfo9ijr golkfdbn n ,xvkasfae iopr peopdc,;xdc,gkofr…………………………………..

I’m gonna cherish those words forever. It’s not “I love you”, “Please, visit me at my hotel at midnight” or “Come with me to Japan, beautiful foreigner” or even “We’ll come to Poland next year” but it was a CONNECTION. A CONNECTION she initiated! It may be normal for her to ask fans for their name. Is it? Does she do it all the time? I’m not sure. For me it was the greatest thing ever. I can’t find a good picture to represent how my face looked like but I think I was crying.

A person behind me from JE staff was already pushing me to Chisato but I was still holding Airi’s hand.

Me to AIRI THE PERFECT IN EVERY WAY: Nyuchandesu!

I know it means “My name is Nyu” but it represents much more to me; my twitter account, my blog and this part of me who is a total Airi lover. I said the words in my cutest voice along with a slight tilt of the head and Airi smiled brilliantly at me.

*sigh* that was pure WIN.

I managed to say to MaiMai that her pole dancing was great and she understood this time which I appreciated. She was slightly surprised but not as much as Nakky was the first time. Still, it felt nice to finally get the message accross.

It was the time to DASHUU indeed. Concert, here I go!

nyuchandesu