Takeru Festival 8/9
When we were let in they notified us that they had a photo exhibition furthest in the back on the first floor.
The whole floor was by the way decorated with pictures of different CMs and TVs were playing most of them as well.
The TV playing Fit's and the LUMIX one was the most popular by the looks of it.
The entré was also filled with those large flower stands that you can see on TV. I checked and most of them were from various magazines and companies Takeru has done CMs for.
I think there might have been one or two personal ones but I couldn't recognize the kanji and therefore I'm guessing it wasn't any of our boys.
The photo exhibition was huge life-size pictures of the CM posters and then pictures that Takeru had taken himself.
Amongst the pictures were pictures of animals, city landskape and of course AMUSE members.
No Haruma, but Doori, Takuya and Kento was amongst the featured ones.
So I was seated on the third floor, on the 9th row, dead centre.
I was expecting to not see him at all, only the big screen but I could see him good enough without too much effort.
Most people on the third floor were eqipped with small binoculars to see better, not that it was that necessary seeing the huge screen in the background which showed close-ups anyway.
(my seat)
Before the start they were playing AMUSE artists' music in the background while continuously repeating that no photography was allowed. Stupid Japan!
Most people arrived to their seats like 10 minutes before the show was scheduled to start but some people dropped in the very last second.
I couldn't see another westerner there but there might have been Asian foreigners there. Hard to tell. Most seats were taken but few were empty.
The show started with TakeDebi showing up on the screen doing the whole "Are you ready to start!? Do you want to meet Takeru? Are you really ready? Doesn't seem like it! Scream more" routine. When we finally got around to the "Scream for Takeru to come out!" part we were told he wasn't sure he wanted to come. And when asked why he said "I don't know if I should go for formal wear or causal wear". Lmao. Trust Takeru to hesitate about what to wear. So we got to decide for him. We had gotten an uchiwa earlier with a red and a white side and we were told to hold up the colour representing "formal" or "casual" depending on what we wanted him to come out with. To count the votes 5 small boys, probably around 10 years old (Aspiring AMUSE members?) came out and counted by checking the audience with binoculars. The result came out and it was decided he should come in casual wear! (Which was what I wanted him to come in. Formal wear isn't that fun, right? I doubt any show voted him to come in it).
So then of course he was getting ready back stage and therefore we got to watch a slide show of called "Takeru no Omoide" (Takeru's memories) of pictures from his childhood and then from middle school, high school and of course pictures from all his dramas/movies. His baby picture and the Mei-chan one got the most screams (I screamed for ROOKIES).
Then the band started playing a ballad and Takeru came out and there were screams like woah. He was wearing a oversized knitted white/grey/black shirt and black jeans and was sporting a ponytail. I'm not kidding you, a ponytail. And it was hot. The song was never introduced but it was "よく来たね" (Yoku kita ne) - Bank Band.
Let me take the time to say that Takeru MUST have taken song lessons 'cause we all know exactly how he sounded in PuriPuri and Den-O and this was FAR MUCH BETTER. It's not even comparable. The whole time I sat there wondering why his voice wasn't breaking and why it wasn't as nasal as I predicted. Don't take me wrong, I love him to death but singing isn't his strong side. But I seriously thought he could maybe actually have pulled off doing the real singing in BECK with the way he sounded in most of the songs! I mean give him a studio and some time and he could actually beat most JE artists at singing. If that is something to brag about.
He then continued with Masaaki Sakai's "さらば恋人" (Saraba Koibito) and ROCK'A'TRENCH "My Sunshine". For those of you who remember the latter one was the theme song for Mei-chan so when the band started to play it the crowd went mad. I no longer doubt the popularity of Mei-chan amongst the fans. Although I do still think ROOKIES is his best drama so far :3
After those songs he had his first talk corner. He basically thanked everyone for coming to his not-longer-a-birthday-party, cue everyone shouting "Happy Birthday" at him. His pleased smile I cannot. He then talked about the survey they sent out before the event asking everyone to answer questions about what they wanted him to do or to sing at the event. Then he presented the Top 10 songs people had answered. Couldn't write down the whole list but the top 3 was:
1: "Climax Jump" - AAA
2: "キセキ" (Kiseki) - GReeeeN
3: "ほんとのきもち" (Honto no Kimochi) - Takahashi Yuu
Then he told us he'd only sing one song out of the 10 and to choose he'd use a digital roulette. Basically they had the 10 songs spinning around on the screen and when we all shouted stop (at Takeru's count) it'd stop on a song and he'd have to choose that one.
The song he ended up having to sing was "青いベンチ" (Aoi Benchi) - Sasuke (however now more known for the Tegomass version). He jokingly asked if we were Tegomass fans and a whole bunch of fans screamed at loud. lol. It was a bit to high for him but he only sang the first verse and the chorus.
He also had a list of 10 songs that wasn't from the most picked songs but songs that seemed they'd be fun to sing. Didn't have time to write them all down but in the end the song picked, again by roulette, was "ガラガラGO！" (Garagara Go!) - BIG BANG. Cue me being all excited and flailing around while most of the Japanese fans were like "What IS this song?".
Then, if someone remembers Q10 at all you'll maybe remember the song 18 (OHAKO) sung in the drama.. like once? Can't really remember it at all. That was also requested but Takeru said he couldn't remember the dance anymore but SURPRISE SURPRISE they had the PV to show us all! So we basically saw the PV where Takeru was dancing with someone else (I'm such a bad fan) while the real Takeru sat commentating on how bad it was. It was fun.
Then he told us about a request from a girl in Fukushima about what she wanted him to do. And it was to play the guitar. He was complaining about how he hasn't practised enough but he then sat down and played "SQUALL" - Fukuyama Masaharu. He was actually good at playing the guitar and I loved the song even though it was the first time I heard it.
Then it was time for the audience choice again. This time we got to choose from two songs "最愛" (Sai Ai) - Fukuyama Masaharu or "いとしのエリー" (Itoshi no Eri) - Southern all Stars. The small kids came out again and it was determined that he'd sing "Sai Ai". This was seriously the best song for me. Takeru was SO into it and sang with all his heart and it was beautiful and I could seriously pay to get a single out of this. I was so close to crying I'm telling you. When we voted I just randomly picked a colour 'cause I hadn't heard any of the songs but I'm so happy it was decided to be this.
He then talked about our top choices for favourite moments out of all his works. First up was;
The Top 3 moments that had made you laugh.
1. HT DVD where Haruma and Takeru is on the boat and starts their random sketch about the ship's captain.
2. Chubaw Desu Yo appearance
3. Meriengue no Kimochi (where Takeru meets the TsunDere girls)
The Top 3 moments that made you squeal.
1. Kiss scene in Q10
2. Hug scene in Fuyu no Sakura
3. Takeru's apperance on Tensai Doubutsuen.
The Top 3 moments that moved you. (These we got to see, in reverse order, on the screen).
1. ROOKIES - graduation scene
2. Ryoumaden - Farewell Izou-scene
3. Ryoumaden - Prison scene
Takeru then talked about that he'd randomly missed a call from Ichihara Hayato the day before and since ROOKIES had been re-aired yesterday he called him back since he hardly ever hears from him now. Takeru then did an AMAZING monomane of Hayato basically just asking Takeru how he was and saying they should all get together again 'cause it's been such a long time etc. But the monomane was SPOT ON and everyone had a good laugh about it.
Then it was time for
The BEST 3 scenes out of all categories.
3. Mei-chan : The scene where Mei is crying on the beach and Takeru comes out and comforts her.
2. BECK : The live scene in the rain
1. Q10 : The kiss scene
We also got to see these scenes.
After that the word "ANNOUNCEMENT" flashed on the screen and we got to see a CM for the new HaruTake DVD.
After which there was a recorded message from Haruma asking us if we were having fun and what not.
During this Takeru changed clothes. He came back out with a short sleeved blazer over a black v-neck t-shirt. Still with a ponytail! He then talked about the experience and how Japanese people seem to be popular over there. His manager even got to sign autographs.
Then it was time for "Takeru's Choice". He had picked a song by himself that he wanted to sing. It ended up being "8月6日" (Hachigatsu Muika) - Takahashi Yuu. A drawn PV was showed in the background while he was singing AND playing the guitar. After listening to the original I think he had slowed the pace down a bit for his performance. He once again seemed to be concentrating VERY HARD during this and was singing really seriously.
He continued with "歌うたいのバラッド" (Uta utai no baraddo) - Saitou Kazuyoshi.
He then said we were closing in on the end of the event and everyone started to scream that it was to early for that and that we wanted more and everything close to that. So he was like "Isn't it time that you stood up and sing together with me instead?" so we did. And from there he did a medley of :
・"そばかす" (Sobakasu) - JUDY AND MARY
・"タッチ" (Touch) - 岩崎良美
・"KISSして" (KISS shite) - KOH＋
・"1/3の純情な感情" (1/3 no junjou na kanjou) - SIAM SHADE
・"シーソーゲーム" (Seesaw game) - Mr Children
He was jumping around like crazy during this trying to get a slightly boring audience to sing and dance along with him. He seemed to be enjoying himself a lot at least.
Then he said the forbidden words "This will be the last song" and then "let's sing it together". Which we so did. "キセキ" (Kiseki) - GReeeeN.
Then he did the whole thank you all for coming you have been great I hope to see you again soon etc and went off stage. However, even before he left the stage the audience started to scream for an encore. Which he teased us about when he came back on for the encore. The encore was made out of the earlier, not chosen "いとしのエリー" (Itoshi no Eri) - Southern all Stars and "SIMPLE" - Mr.Children.
Then it was over for real and he took a bow together with the band and went of stage and the staff turned on the lights and it was time to leave.
- - -
To summarize this was a whole lot better than I feared. Takeru was really really good at singing most of the songs and he seemed to have practised really hard. He was also all smiles all the time and kept jumping around barely containing his excitement. Typical Takeru-like if you ask me. It was amazing seeing him in the flesh and I think I can die happily now. For real.
My goods.
The whole floor was by the way decorated with pictures of different CMs and TVs were playing most of them as well.
The TV playing Fit's and the LUMIX one was the most popular by the looks of it.
The entré was also filled with those large flower stands that you can see on TV. I checked and most of them were from various magazines and companies Takeru has done CMs for.
I think there might have been one or two personal ones but I couldn't recognize the kanji and therefore I'm guessing it wasn't any of our boys.
The photo exhibition was huge life-size pictures of the CM posters and then pictures that Takeru had taken himself.
Amongst the pictures were pictures of animals, city landskape and of course AMUSE members.
No Haruma, but Doori, Takuya and Kento was amongst the featured ones.
So I was seated on the third floor, on the 9th row, dead centre.
I was expecting to not see him at all, only the big screen but I could see him good enough without too much effort.
Most people on the third floor were eqipped with small binoculars to see better, not that it was that necessary seeing the huge screen in the background which showed close-ups anyway.
(my seat)
Before the start they were playing AMUSE artists' music in the background while continuously repeating that no photography was allowed. Stupid Japan!
Most people arrived to their seats like 10 minutes before the show was scheduled to start but some people dropped in the very last second.
I couldn't see another westerner there but there might have been Asian foreigners there. Hard to tell. Most seats were taken but few were empty.
The show started with TakeDebi showing up on the screen doing the whole "Are you ready to start!? Do you want to meet Takeru? Are you really ready? Doesn't seem like it! Scream more" routine. When we finally got around to the "Scream for Takeru to come out!" part we were told he wasn't sure he wanted to come. And when asked why he said "I don't know if I should go for formal wear or causal wear". Lmao. Trust Takeru to hesitate about what to wear. So we got to decide for him. We had gotten an uchiwa earlier with a red and a white side and we were told to hold up the colour representing "formal" or "casual" depending on what we wanted him to come out with. To count the votes 5 small boys, probably around 10 years old (Aspiring AMUSE members?) came out and counted by checking the audience with binoculars. The result came out and it was decided he should come in casual wear! (Which was what I wanted him to come in. Formal wear isn't that fun, right? I doubt any show voted him to come in it).
So then of course he was getting ready back stage and therefore we got to watch a slide show of called "Takeru no Omoide" (Takeru's memories) of pictures from his childhood and then from middle school, high school and of course pictures from all his dramas/movies. His baby picture and the Mei-chan one got the most screams (I screamed for ROOKIES).
Then the band started playing a ballad and Takeru came out and there were screams like woah. He was wearing a oversized knitted white/grey/black shirt and black jeans and was sporting a ponytail. I'm not kidding you, a ponytail. And it was hot. The song was never introduced but it was "よく来たね" (Yoku kita ne) - Bank Band.
Let me take the time to say that Takeru MUST have taken song lessons 'cause we all know exactly how he sounded in PuriPuri and Den-O and this was FAR MUCH BETTER. It's not even comparable. The whole time I sat there wondering why his voice wasn't breaking and why it wasn't as nasal as I predicted. Don't take me wrong, I love him to death but singing isn't his strong side. But I seriously thought he could maybe actually have pulled off doing the real singing in BECK with the way he sounded in most of the songs! I mean give him a studio and some time and he could actually beat most JE artists at singing. If that is something to brag about.
He then continued with Masaaki Sakai's "さらば恋人" (Saraba Koibito) and ROCK'A'TRENCH "My Sunshine". For those of you who remember the latter one was the theme song for Mei-chan so when the band started to play it the crowd went mad. I no longer doubt the popularity of Mei-chan amongst the fans. Although I do still think ROOKIES is his best drama so far :3
After those songs he had his first talk corner. He basically thanked everyone for coming to his not-longer-a-birthday-party, cue everyone shouting "Happy Birthday" at him. His pleased smile I cannot. He then talked about the survey they sent out before the event asking everyone to answer questions about what they wanted him to do or to sing at the event. Then he presented the Top 10 songs people had answered. Couldn't write down the whole list but the top 3 was:
1: "Climax Jump" - AAA
2: "キセキ" (Kiseki) - GReeeeN
3: "ほんとのきもち" (Honto no Kimochi) - Takahashi Yuu
Then he told us he'd only sing one song out of the 10 and to choose he'd use a digital roulette. Basically they had the 10 songs spinning around on the screen and when we all shouted stop (at Takeru's count) it'd stop on a song and he'd have to choose that one.
The song he ended up having to sing was "青いベンチ" (Aoi Benchi) - Sasuke (however now more known for the Tegomass version). He jokingly asked if we were Tegomass fans and a whole bunch of fans screamed at loud. lol. It was a bit to high for him but he only sang the first verse and the chorus.
He also had a list of 10 songs that wasn't from the most picked songs but songs that seemed they'd be fun to sing. Didn't have time to write them all down but in the end the song picked, again by roulette, was "ガラガラGO！" (Garagara Go!) - BIG BANG. Cue me being all excited and flailing around while most of the Japanese fans were like "What IS this song?".
Then, if someone remembers Q10 at all you'll maybe remember the song 18 (OHAKO) sung in the drama.. like once? Can't really remember it at all. That was also requested but Takeru said he couldn't remember the dance anymore but SURPRISE SURPRISE they had the PV to show us all! So we basically saw the PV where Takeru was dancing with someone else (I'm such a bad fan) while the real Takeru sat commentating on how bad it was. It was fun.
Then he told us about a request from a girl in Fukushima about what she wanted him to do. And it was to play the guitar. He was complaining about how he hasn't practised enough but he then sat down and played "SQUALL" - Fukuyama Masaharu. He was actually good at playing the guitar and I loved the song even though it was the first time I heard it.
Then it was time for the audience choice again. This time we got to choose from two songs "最愛" (Sai Ai) - Fukuyama Masaharu or "いとしのエリー" (Itoshi no Eri) - Southern all Stars. The small kids came out again and it was determined that he'd sing "Sai Ai". This was seriously the best song for me. Takeru was SO into it and sang with all his heart and it was beautiful and I could seriously pay to get a single out of this. I was so close to crying I'm telling you. When we voted I just randomly picked a colour 'cause I hadn't heard any of the songs but I'm so happy it was decided to be this.
He then talked about our top choices for favourite moments out of all his works. First up was;
The Top 3 moments that had made you laugh.
1. HT DVD where Haruma and Takeru is on the boat and starts their random sketch about the ship's captain.
2. Chubaw Desu Yo appearance
3. Meriengue no Kimochi (where Takeru meets the TsunDere girls)
The Top 3 moments that made you squeal.
1. Kiss scene in Q10
2. Hug scene in Fuyu no Sakura
3. Takeru's apperance on Tensai Doubutsuen.
The Top 3 moments that moved you. (These we got to see, in reverse order, on the screen).
1. ROOKIES - graduation scene
2. Ryoumaden - Farewell Izou-scene
3. Ryoumaden - Prison scene
Takeru then talked about that he'd randomly missed a call from Ichihara Hayato the day before and since ROOKIES had been re-aired yesterday he called him back since he hardly ever hears from him now. Takeru then did an AMAZING monomane of Hayato basically just asking Takeru how he was and saying they should all get together again 'cause it's been such a long time etc. But the monomane was SPOT ON and everyone had a good laugh about it.
Then it was time for
The BEST 3 scenes out of all categories.
3. Mei-chan : The scene where Mei is crying on the beach and Takeru comes out and comforts her.
2. BECK : The live scene in the rain
1. Q10 : The kiss scene
We also got to see these scenes.
After that the word "ANNOUNCEMENT" flashed on the screen and we got to see a CM for the new HaruTake DVD.
After which there was a recorded message from Haruma asking us if we were having fun and what not.
During this Takeru changed clothes. He came back out with a short sleeved blazer over a black v-neck t-shirt. Still with a ponytail! He then talked about the experience and how Japanese people seem to be popular over there. His manager even got to sign autographs.
Then it was time for "Takeru's Choice". He had picked a song by himself that he wanted to sing. It ended up being "8月6日" (Hachigatsu Muika) - Takahashi Yuu. A drawn PV was showed in the background while he was singing AND playing the guitar. After listening to the original I think he had slowed the pace down a bit for his performance. He once again seemed to be concentrating VERY HARD during this and was singing really seriously.
He continued with "歌うたいのバラッド" (Uta utai no baraddo) - Saitou Kazuyoshi.
He then said we were closing in on the end of the event and everyone started to scream that it was to early for that and that we wanted more and everything close to that. So he was like "Isn't it time that you stood up and sing together with me instead?" so we did. And from there he did a medley of :
・"そばかす" (Sobakasu) - JUDY AND MARY
・"タッチ" (Touch) - 岩崎良美
・"KISSして" (KISS shite) - KOH＋
・"1/3の純情な感情" (1/3 no junjou na kanjou) - SIAM SHADE
・"シーソーゲーム" (Seesaw game) - Mr Children
He was jumping around like crazy during this trying to get a slightly boring audience to sing and dance along with him. He seemed to be enjoying himself a lot at least.
Then he said the forbidden words "This will be the last song" and then "let's sing it together". Which we so did. "キセキ" (Kiseki) - GReeeeN.
Then he did the whole thank you all for coming you have been great I hope to see you again soon etc and went off stage. However, even before he left the stage the audience started to scream for an encore. Which he teased us about when he came back on for the encore. The encore was made out of the earlier, not chosen "いとしのエリー" (Itoshi no Eri) - Southern all Stars and "SIMPLE" - Mr.Children.
Then it was over for real and he took a bow together with the band and went of stage and the staff turned on the lights and it was time to leave.
- - -
To summarize this was a whole lot better than I feared. Takeru was really really good at singing most of the songs and he seemed to have practised really hard. He was also all smiles all the time and kept jumping around barely containing his excitement. Typical Takeru-like if you ask me. It was amazing seeing him in the flesh and I think I can die happily now. For real.
My goods.