I just returned to my hotel from my last evening in Japan. Let me just say that my friend Hiro has been a true saint on this trip. And even before that. He has been instrumental in making sure I had a great time here. He introduced me to so many other fans., showed me some of the post-show wota hangouts. And all the while he has done a great deal to make sure Meetan knew I was her big California fan who had been sending her letters and gifts. So I really wanted to take him out for a big night of dinner and drinks before I left Japan. And then, just when I thought he could do no more to make my latest to Tokyo so awesome...
ZOMG!!! An autographed Uchiwa from none other than Hatakeyama Chisaki, complete with sweat stains from her futsal match that night! Accordine to Hiro, she even asked why I wasn't at her event. Awwwwww? I so wish I could have been there! Chaki is so awesome! If you ever get a chance to see SDN48 perform, you will know what I am talking about.
Okay, the big story for this post is obviously about Morning Musume. I had the opportunity to attend the last show of the weekend at Nakano Sunplaza. And it didn't dawn on me until I arrived that this was Reina's birthday show. ZOMG x2, another birthday show? And for my favorite member of H!P no less. This was surely going to be great. But before I get to that, i had another new experience in Japan. One that I have been wanting to do every time I have come here. And no, it isn't a visit to Kabukichō. It was...
Tokyo DisneySea, yatta!!!
You may or may not know that back in the old days I used to be an employee of Disney. Part of my family lives in Orange County, CA and I still have family members employed by the company. So Disney holds a special place in my heart, even at my adult age. I have been to Disneyland probably a hundred times in my life. So I wanted to get a glimpse of a part of Disney that was unique to Japan.
The moment i passed through the gates and into the facility, I knew this place was special. Wow! What a beautiful park! Once again the Christmas decorations were already up, adding even more beauty to the occasion. I must have taken a hundred or so pictures of this place. Oh, and just about every female in the place was wearing minnie Mouse ears. I was dying, they were all so cute!
The rides...well, it is Disney. They focus more on themes and detail rather than thrills. And I felt myself getting very sentimental while I was there. The Christmas music played a big part of it. But I think a lot of it had to do with Disneyland being a big part of my youth. Couple that with this being my last day in Tokyo and I am surprised I didn't break down and cry.
Hi Goofy!
Anyhow, thanks for indulging me for that moment. I just want to point out that there is never a shortage of great things to do in Tokyo. Okay, let's get down to business!
Morning Musume "Nine Smile" Tour at Nakano Sunplaza...Tanaka Reina Birthday Special
After a full day of rest I headed over to Nakano. I wanted to get there early because the Tokyo shows have a tendency to run out of merchandise, and I wanted to make sure i didn't get stonewalled like last Spring. It turned out that all of Reina's tour shirts were sold out, as well as her 11/08/09 photo. Drats! But wait...There was a new shirt on the board, one that just came out for this weekend...
I have seen the birthday shirts before and always admired them. And now I have one! It is hard to believe that Reina is no longer a teenager. It seems like yesterday when she was a spry thirteen year old cutting her teeth with MoMusu. And look at her now, a gorgeous and sexy adult. Also, great Engrish! The front of the shirt says "This is my twentieth birthday and want to thank everybody!"
While I waited for Celestia I decided to take a walk around Nakano. There is a new restaurant that opened in the mall across the street. And for the grand opening these guys showed up...
I don't know about the Michael Jackson guy, but the Jack Sparrow was almost a dead ringer for Johnny Depp, albeit a little tall! That said, nobody was better, or hawter for that matter than this girl...
ZOMG x3!!! It is the famous Tanaka Reina cosplayer!!! She is soooooo adorable. Actually, when you get really close to her she looks less like Reina. But from 20 feet away? I could have sworn it was actually Reina! That girl is so awesome! The things I would do to spend a few minutes "quality time" with her! But alas, on with the show...
I met Celestia, and we headed in to the venue. This is the third time she and I have gotten together for a concert. Hi Celestia! It was awesome to see you again! There were also a few people there from JPH!P and Hello! Online in attendance. I got to meet Pete, who attended Eurowota 2009. It was his first time in Japan seeing Morning Musume, so he was having a blast! Our seats were in the 5th row, far left. There were advantages and disadvantages to this. Since the first two rows don't go to the sides we were actually in the third row. And whenever one of the girls danced to the far side, they were practically on top of us. that made it easier to get some one on one face-time with the girls. And since we were right next to the speakers, it made the show sound even more intense and loud! The disadvantage was that we watched much of the show in "semi-profile". But we could see 90% of the stage and the video screen, so all was cool.
The show opened op with 3,2,1 Breakin' Out into How Do You Like This Japan? and wow! The show was already off to a breakneck pace. The girls were wearing cowhide costumes, and Koharu and Gaki were immediately dancing over to our spot to rev us up. At one point Risa looked directly at us and waved, but I think that was more at Celestia, who was decked out in Risa-green!.
After a rockin' VTR, it was time for the new single. Kimagure Princess was alright, it was funny to watch them sing with the sped up voices, heheh! What was more impressive were trhe jeans and chaps the girls were wearing. And to make it even more fun, after the song the girls were talking about their outfits. And in the process there was plenty of turning around and showing it off from the rear! It was like "Look how cute my butt looks in these" That was great!
I loved Nanchatte Renai live! I think it may be my favorite single from this lineup. After that there was plenty of playacting for Genki+, a song I had totally forgotten about and really like. LinLin was near us for most of this song, and had a priceless look on her face the whole time. I am honestly bored of Ame on Furanai, so thankfully they did an abridged version. Sukiyaki is one of my favorite MM songs. Risa and Koharu did a duet on it in similar costumes to those worn for GuruGuru Jump last spring. I enjoyed it of course, but would have really loved if the entire group performed it.
The rest of the unit songs consisted of Eri/Aika on Haru Beautiful Everyday, which had the throngs of Eriwota in a frenzy. Ai and Reina performed the High-King B-side, which was fine. I enjoy any moment when Tanaka is onstage. Finally Sayumi came out and solo'd the first part of Aruiteru. I honestly don't care for that song, but for some reason I enjoyed it live. Sayu's voice was cracking through some of it, so I guess it was a good idea to have the rest of the group come out and "save" her for the rest! And poor Sayu! Under the bright lights you could really see how bad her skin is getting.
Celestia reminded me of how much she didn't like Aki Urara. And Shouganai Yumeoibito I had seen before. But I was really anticipating the Sakura/Otome Gumi set of Sakura Mankai and Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee!~ Those were my two favorite songs from those shuffles. And to me Yuujou was the best performance of the 2008 Winter show, the first live H!P concert I ever attended. I loved that the audience had their pink fans for the Sakura Gumi song so they could play along with the girls. And I thought it was even cooler that the Sakura Girls kept using the fans through the second song. It was really hawt, and on my shortlist of favorite performances of the night.
Dekai Ucchu ni Ai ga Aru never gets stale to me, and everyone had their "smileys" from the tour logo. At the end they perfectly formed the happy face logo at the center of the stage, so cool! The "Coupling Medley" was most of the recent B-sides. And the best part had to be during Gaki's solo in Bonkyu Bonkyu Bomb Girl, where she changed a line to yell "Happy Birthday" at Reina, much to her shock! By the way, when JunJun came over to our end of the stage I noticed her legs are even more impressive than Aichan's. I get so used to seeing skinny legs on idols (Hello Reina) So I find it sexy when they have such muscles in their thighs and calves.
Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari was great, and might have been my favorite performance. They did a new version of the song. And while I had trouble understanding any of it it was still cool to watch the rest of the groups' antics on stage when one of them was soloing. I also thought it was cool that the stage would turn the members' color when it was her turn. The main set ended with two songs I am getting bored of, Naichao Kamo and the neverending Resonant Blue. But now it was time for some real action...
"Reina, Reina, Reina, Reina, Reina!"
The Reina encore chant commenced while the entire venue began to fill with blue light. Since the Reina Birthday Committee handed me blue glowsticks and mine were beginning to dim, i freshened up! It was quickly back to business as usual with Songs. I was waiting to see if Reina would react to the sea of blue, but she took it in stride and kept focused on the song. She of course thanked everyone during the closing MC's, and what would a MM show be without Love Machine? Fun version, mainly becasue it closed the show...
Or did it? The Reina encore chant resumed in full force. Celestia gave me a quizzical glance, and I responded "Hey, the doors aren't open yet" And after a couple of minutes out popped Reina. Hell yes, double encore!
She did a five minute solo MC talking about turning 20. I think deep down she is really sad that she technically isn't a lolli anymore. She said something to the affect that she hopes her fans don't abandon her because she is getting older. Awwww, Reina my dear that will NEVER happen as far as I am concerned! She also kept saying she wanted to perform one more song for us, but sadly that didn't happen. I guess they had nothing queued up in the DAT player! She thanked everyone one last time and that was it. I tried to get her attention as she went off stage right in front of me, but alas she didn't turn.
Celestia and I went out for a post show meal and reminisced about the show. It is so cool that she gets to live here and see so many shows, while I have to fly across the globe to get there. She laughed about that. "Geez, you are here often enough, are you sure you don't live here?" Hehe, maybe one day. After dinner we headed back home, separating at Shinjuku Station where we head in different directions. i always get a little sad when that happens. Awww, hopefully I will see you again this Spring Celestia! Heck, you know I'll be around!!!
This ends my reporting from Japan as my plane back to California is scheduled to leave this afternoon. But as always I will do one more summary post when I get home. It was another wonderful time spent here in Japan, one that I will never forget!
CK in Tokyo
