Saki-chan Part 3

Last night (2009.4.30 18:30) was the latest Shimizu Saki solo event at Pacific Heaven. She sang two songs: kioku no meiro, and himitsu no utahime. There were some cute moments where she said she was nervous on stage.
When she first entered the stage she was carrying a tiny black dog in her arms.
For the first segment, a quiz sheet was passed out to the audience with questions about the captain. See how many you can get right.

Shimizu Saki♡ Examination
1. Saki's hight has been measured recently!! So, how many cm tall is she?
A. 152.8, B. 153
2. Who did she share a room with at the hotel in HAWAII?
A. Natsuyaki, B. Tokunagayaki
3.What is the name of her dog?
A. Cocoa, B. Kurumi
4. What should Saki do with her bangs for the May 2nd concert in Niigata?
A. Raised, B. Not raised
5. Currently, what is here favorite color?
A. Light blue B. Yellow
6. Which is she better at?
A. Early to bed, B. Early to rise
7. Recently, she has been drinking too much...
A. Strawberry milk, B. Water
8. What color is her current wallet?
A. Gold, B. Silver
9. Current shoe size?
A. Small, B. Medium
10. How many supportive emails did she receive from the other members of Berryz Kobo?
A. 2 messages, B. 4 Messages
(Answers at the end of the post.)

During the Q&A session, Saki-chan was asked to sing acapella her favorite Berryz song to dance to. She then did a short rendition of Anata Nashi de wa Ikite Yukenai.
Her singing performances were great, lots of energy, sprinkled with very cute moments and some wotagei. Her clothing was jean shorts and her current tour t-shirt, along with a matching yellow and white wristband.

Answer key: ABBBBABABA
By the way, no one at the event professed to score 10 out of 10. My score was a paltry 5.

Momoko's Number 1

So today, I attended the afternoon concert of Berryz Kobo's latest concert: 09春ツアー～そのすべての愛に～, sitting in row 11 of the 1st floor. Because yesterday was Momoko's 17th birthday, after the encore, the concert hall was beaming with pink glow sticks, except for a portion of the seats who were using white glow sticks that spelled out the number "17". With my prime seat, I had the privilege of filling in part of the number 1. Seeing the expression on Momo's face during the last song was priceless.
As for the rest of the concert, It was generally great. The A Capella/ beat box rendition of "Gag 100kaibun" was awesome in its execution. This song continues to progress in its performance evolution. Maasa on beat box was great. Only wish they would have extended the song to the "No nyu~" portion.
The costumes for "Happy Stand Up" featured backpacks with laser guns attached, which made for an interesting visual. Being shot by Captain is a new dream of mine. Miyabi also displayed her "Miyabeam" during the opening MC.
I though the soccer skit dragged on to long, and the transition to the following song 'Merry Go Round" was slightly awkward. Also, there are always some songs I would have liked to have heard, including "Tsukiatteiru", "Munasawagi" and "Jubaku", but the setlist was overall pretty strong. I had been pining for "Happiness" since the last shows, so that was a plus. Too bad I can't attend the tour when it heads to Hawai'i.

Waseda Bakuon

Taken from when I went to see the Waseda Bakuon 2008 last fall. Above is the performance from Berryz Kobo's "Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance", and below is for Maeda Yuki's "Tokyo Kirigirisu". Gotta love the wotagei. Comming up soon is the Graduation concert for Elder's club, which should be fun. Center section seat!

Comic Market 2008 Winter

I went to Comiket today, wanted to find Noto Arisa's Dojinshi, but couldn't find it. The layout of Big Site was crazy. Personally, being my first time, I was surprised to see the game and music dojinshi booths. Couldn't find anything that I wanted. Hoped for some IM@S goods, but couldn't get any. Cosplayers were interesting, as were the photo idols' booths. I don't know if it will help my report, but it might. Saw someone selling a novel about an wotageishi, but didn't pick it up. Next week is Nakano Wonderful Hearts.

Top Ten

I love top ten lists, especially around this year-end season. For today, I present my top ten songs of 2008 as of today:
1. 行け行けモンキーダンス - Berryz工房
2. Happy Stand Up - Berryz工房
3. 大声ダイヤモンド - AKB48
4.ニコニコ流星群
5. ロッタラロッタラ -Buono!
6. 空色デイズ spiral chiptune mix - Nakagawa shoko with 8bit Project
7. Resonant Blue - Morning Musume
8. ﾎﾟﾘﾘｽﾞﾑ - Perfume
9. １６歳の恋なんて -安部なつみ＆矢島舞美
10. 記憶の迷路 -High King

Shimizu Saki Solo Event

Tonight I went the the Shimizu Saki Solo event at Pacific Heaven. Unlike NKSK's event, I had number 47, so I couldn't grab a front row seat. Instead, I got a seat four rows from the stage and at the far right. Although I'm more of a Berryz fan than a ℃-ute fan, I though Nakki's singing was more interesting and exciting. During song performances, Shimizu seemed to focus on the cieling rather than playing the crowd. Also, the fans more mostly content to clap along. Still Saki-chan did a respectable job. Also, unlike the solo events earlier this year, there was no Makoto as emcee.
Dressed in jean shorts, wool boots, and her purple t-shirt from the current Berryz concert tour, Captain Berryz did three songs, two talk segments, and the hand-shaking event. The first song performed was 会いたいけど. Then she had a "CM Talk" where she explained her reasoning for consceptualizing the CMs for the HP-Summer DVD Magazine. Her next song was いいことある記念の瞬間, which proceeded a rapid fire Q&A session. She was asked what here favorite country was ("Japan"), what kind of candy the members of Berryz Kobo would be, and some other questions I can't remember. To finish, she sang 夏 Remember You.
After that there was the Hand-shaking. I said something to her in English and she responded "Nice to meet you, thank you" in a very cute English voice.

NKSK

Today I went to Nakajima Saki's solo live. It was in the small resturant Bellow Up front's offices. Out of 90 seats, I was able to enter second, so I got a prime seat right in the front, only a few feat from Nakky. Her set list opened with Dekkai and included akai furijia by Melon, and Magokoro no Michi by Viyuden. She sounded great and did a good job. Super fun. I just wish I could remember to ask a question when shaking her hand. Oh well.
Slowly I'm becoming a Nakky fan, she did the talking part in Tokkaiko Junjou when I went the the Namida no Iro event, and now seeing her do some solo singing live, I'm becoming more enamoured. Don't know if I'll be giving up Berryz though. Haven't even been to a full Cutie concert. guess I wait for the fall.
On that note, what is up with the discrepancy between the Cutie and Berryz tours next season? Cutie circut goes on much longer and hits more cities than BK. Also, no dates within the urban Tokyo for Berryz or C-ute, closest it Hachioji or Yokohama. I wonder if C-ute has surpassed Berryz. And why Gumma. Of course, Berryz has a bus tour in Nagano that I would like to go on. But I'm broke from the regular concerts.