KanJuni/Kimi-kun
Time for more concert talk, this time KanJuni and Kimi-kun!
KanJuni, I LOVE YOU
We hit for the first and last KanJuni shows at the end of March, with seats in the first row of stands right next to the main stage for one of the shows (the other show we were 9th row, which ain't too shabby either!)
We also had BRAND NEW UCHIWA for this show, partly 'cause we ♥ uchiwa parties and partly 'cause with seats that good we needed to level up. We also just like to make sparkly things.
Before the show started we could see the occasional junior poke his head out from backstage, only to disappear again as soon as the first squeal was heard. One of them seriously looked confused, as though he'd meant to come out of a completely different door and had somehow made a mistake.
As soon as the show started, so did the fanservice.
- Random chibiko: SO MUCH LOVE. We were getting love from kids we don't even know the names of, but just about everyone on stage looked up at us (usually more than once) and waved, blew kisses, smiled, or just looked surprised at us.
- Kiriyan: Every time he came around he smiled and waved, and gave love specifically to Alyson as well. It's obvious that he remembers us and is happy to see us at shows, which is pretty awesome in and of itself!
- Junta: He did the smile and wave thing to all of us, and seems to have realized that we think he's pretty awesome as well.
- Yukito: Oh Yukito. We remember when you were tinier than me, and looked like Matsuda Seiko, and when we referred to you as "The Girl", and how you used to blush when we called your name, and now look at you! Now when you see us you just kinda roll your eyes and laugh at us! We're so proud of how much you've grown up! now please don't ever get hot 'cause holy shit that would be awkward
- Jo-chan: Whenever Jo-chan came by he waved ecstatically with both hands, like HI GUYS DO YOU REMEMBER ME I REMEMBER YOU PLEASE LOOK AT ME YOU LOOKED AT ME OMG SQUEEEEEEEEE! Which, frankly, is absolutely adorable.
- Senzaki: We seem to have gotten through to Senzaki that we don't hate him (in fact, we think he's pretty awesome). So finally he smiled and waved a couple of times, and even laughed at us once or twice (especially after we yelled TAKE US TO THE JUNGLE when he ran by, after he said during the MC that that's where he'd take his hypothetical girlfriend on a date).
- Kunta: Kunta saw Laura's uchiwa and his face lit up like you'd just given him a bag full of his favorite candy.
- Marcy: It took a long time for Marcy to find us - not until the curtain call at the end of the show. But we were SO LOUD in cheering for BAD, BOYS, and Veterans that he was looking around to find us and when he did, he flipped the fuck out. And once he found us, he never stopped looking at us! Alyson started a shadow boxing match with him, and they kept that up until Big Muro came up behind Marcy and punched him to get his attention.
- Big Muro: He found us about when Marcy did (seriously, we are damn loud when we try to be), and apparently both Laura and I pointed at him and jumped at about the same time and he did it back at us.
- Richard: Whenever Richard ran by our seats, all four of us yelled out RICHAAAAARRRRRRRRRD!!! and he'd turn around so fast we started to worry he'd get dizzy and fall off the hanamichi or something. But we still didn't stop yelling!
- Matori: Matori needs to stop with the Tacchon HEY LADIES look at us.
Basically we got love from everybody. Everybody that is, EXCEPT Daichi, Bun-chan, and Hama-chan. Which is kinda (T_T) 'cause Daichi and Bun are my favorites, while Hama-chan is Dani's. Oh well, we'll get them to notice us eventually!
Oh yeah, we've added to our KanJuni densetsu. At one point all the juniors were spread out on the hanamichi and various stages, but Bun-chan was the only one up on the main stage. But that was no problem! Bun-chan OWNED that stage. It was HIS. Daichi tried to move in on his turf, and Bun-chan CHASED HIM OFF. That stage was BUNCHANISTAN, and Bun-chan was the Archduke. Rather similar to something like this. Also, the capital of Bunchanistan is Bunchantinople.
And that was from the first show. The second show, with our seats further back in the stands, was also great. Not so much from a fanservice perspective (though we did get Hirano to choke back some laughter at us when we were all linking arms and swaying back and forth during a ballad), but just because we could actually concentrate on what was going on with the show!
Oh, and we've also come to terms a bit with Yuma. Still dislike the whole debut thing, still probably going to refer to him as The Lonely Vampire, but he really seems to be trying (which he didn't use to do). Also him coming out after BAD and looking absolutely miserable to be stopping them, and then BAD standing with him with expressions of it's alright, don't worry.... and then BOYS came out and stood with him too.... that was sweet.
KIMI-KUN SQUEEEEE
I didn't really intend to see 4/5 shows that Kimi-kun did down here in Osaka. It just sorta..... happened. I only balloted for two! And I hit both of those, and then Sayo mailed me to say that they had an extra ticket..... and then later another extra ticket showed up. So, um, yeah. Oops!
I also had the hardest time explaining to my coworkers that yes, Kimi-kun was having a solo concert, and YES he will be singing at it. I know he's not the greatest singer in KanJani, but he's not Uchi* terrible either.
As I went four times, this could get really confusing if I tried to talk about each show. So I'm not gonna even try. What follows is a list of the highlights.
- My seats were mostly stands and one time in the arena (right next to the center stage/hanamichi corner, AND the aisle that Kimi-kun came through in a cart!)
- 4/2, evening had BOYS making an appearance. 4/3 afternoon was half of 7West. 4/3 evening (didn't go to this one, so I'm guessing) was prolly Junta. 4/4 afternoon was the other half of 7West, and 4/4 evening was Kiriyan.
- Kimi-kun consistently messed up in the opening song (WONDER BOY) and would just stand there for a second laughing at himself. Oh I love you, you stupid boy!
- He wrote a new song with Shouta, called Chocolate! ...I wonder if we'll ever get to see 三兄弟 perform it?
- He also did Ame-chan and Purin!
- When introducing Chocolate, Kimi-kun talked about the songs he'd written, and how they all deal with food. And then he went on to name them but didn't remember Mikan until the final show!
- There was a black ranger conte, where Kimi-kun was sent back in time to whenever Momotaro is supposed to have happened. Veterans made up the rest of the cast - the old man and old woman (Bun, Kiku), inu (Kunta), kiji (Marcy), saru (Bun and Kiku, again), an oni (Big Muro, Muro-chigai).
- SO MUCH VETERANS TORTURE. Kimi-kun made fun of Marcy mercilessly ("How old are you? Same as Ohkura? WHAT?! You're OLDER?! Oh man, GANBARE MARCY!"), stalled during the conte so Kunta had to keep talking, made Bun-chan repeat shimoneta until he wanted to die (holy shit embarrassed Bun is CUTE), and generally made an asshole of himself. Oh Kimi-kun. ♥
- During one show Kimi-kun's pin mic was giving him some problems and Big Muro came out to help him try and fix it (it seemed to be tangled underneath his outfit) but that didn't work, so Kimi-kun disappeared backstage. But only after calling Kunta up onstage and giving him a microphone and basically saying THEY'RE YOURS, KID. Kunta got all nervous and did his best deer in the headlights monomane. Damnit Kunta, THAT WAS YOUR CHANCE! You should've done the いらっしゃいませ thing so we could all squeal KUNTA-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA like we practiced at the KanJuni concert!
- The final song of the concert was Onigishi, which (a) never fails to make me tear up, (b) is a really hard song to start an encore call after. And at the show his mom was at, Kimi-kun was crying by the end of the song.
- We got to see Kicyu twice - the first time was a normal version, with Shouta appearing on screens behind Kimi-kun, and the second was a really really hot remix that Kimi-kun did by himself.
- Kimi-kun also covered the other members' solos, after they were introduced in a VTR. Mamoritai, Watashi Kagami (completely butchered, and just the first line), Sayonara, Wanshan Ronpin (also just the intro), Ryo's solo from Spirits (sorry, can't be bothered to look up the title right now), and Babun.
- For all of the shows he did three encores, even telling us the third time he came out that the staff were talking in his ear through the headset all flustered 'cause "Are we doing a song? Wait, what song? I guess Zukkoke?" Which Kimi-kun seemed to find amusing to no end.
- The final show we got him to do a fourth encore (after much complaining about how exhausted he was), which was Cool Magic City.
- I got into an argument! More on this later.
- The show where we were in the arena I got love from KanJuni again! (Hirano tried no to laugh at me when I put my uchiwa/penlight down on the seat and started copying his furitsuke. The kid I like in Shadow West grinned and waved at me. Yukito laughed and waved at me. Arimoto-kun rolled his eyes and laughed at me. Senzaki did the 'sup head-nod thing. Jo-chan was all DO YOU STILL REMEMBER ME?! We all yelled for Richard again, and he saw me at the end of the line and grinned and waved again.)
- Also in the arena, I could see Bun-chan find me from the center stage when I had both Kimi-kun's and his uchiwas out (scanning crowd, scanning crowd, stop and stare at me, scanning crowd).
- Oh yeah, and when we were way back in the stands, Kunta saw Laura's uchiwa AGAIN and got all excited.
- There was a VTR with Kimi-kun dressed as a girl and harassing his younger brother.
- Whenever he talked about another KanJani member and people squealed, Kimi-kun stopped and corrected everyone "Is this called 'Nishikido Ryo Yacchaimasu'? Nooo, it's YOKOYAMA YU YACCHAIMASU!"
- At the beginning of the encore in the 4/2 concert there was a HAPPENING. When Kimi-kun came back out onstage, there was somebody sitting in seiza on the center stage. At first everyone around me thought it was Kimi-kun's brother, but then Kimi-kun kept asking who it was.... The kid didn't have a mic or anything so we couldn't tell what he was saying until Kimi-kun got close enough that his mic picked up both of them. The boy said something about it being an accident, and that he'd entered Johnny's.... Kimi-kun was just as confused as the rest of us and handed him off to the staff, who escorted the kid out of the building. And I have yet to find ANYONE who knows what exactly was going on.
I think I've covered most of the things from the shows.... if not, well, I can always post more later.
SO. I GOT INTO A FIGHT.
At one of the shows there were two girls sitting in front of us with some of the worst concert manners I have ever encountered.
Let's take this one point at a time, shall we?
Uchiwa. First of all, their uchiwa were oversized. Second, they held them both UP over their shoulder-height and OUT in front of them, so they blocked the whole arena for anyone sitting behind them.
The first time they did this, I did what I always do: Lean forward, tap them on the shoulder, and say we can't see. For most people this gets them to move.
These girls didn't do anything.
Sitting. It rapidly became apparent that they weren't there for Kimi-kun. They weren't even there for Veterans. They only stood up when all of Kansai Juniors were out on stage.
I understand going to shows to see KanJuni - hell, I've done it multiple times (sorry Tackey, sorry Tsubasa). But sitting through the show is just flat-out rude to everyone involved.**
Talking. They talked through the MC. They talked through all the songs where the chibiko weren't out. THEY TALKED THROUGH ONIGISHI. WITH KIMI-KUN CRYING AND HIS MOM IN THE AUDIENCE. They talked in a normal voice, throughout the show, not bothering to whisper.
And then, in the encore, they had their uchiwa out blocking the whole arena, and again I asked them to let us see. Not only did they ignore me, they put their uchiwa up HIGHER, blocking things even more.
I was pretty fucking pissed. So I reached out pulled one of the girls, then the other, physically back into their seats.
When the song ended, they started to pack up, despite everyone knowing there would be another encore because the chibiko wouldn't be coming out again. While they were packing up, the first girl was glaring up at me, and I was grinning down at her.
She complained that I pulled her. I pointed out that we couldn't see.
Laura very politely and diplomatically said that there are rules for concerts, for example, you keep your uchiwa at shoulder level so you're not a meiwaku to the fans behind you.
The other girl looked up, rolled her eyes, and in the snottiest voice she could possibly go for said SU-MI-MA-SEN-DESHITA.
The first girl told me Bun-chan was kawaisou for having me as a fan.
I told her poor Goku was motto kawaisou. And then I told them to kaere.
I was rather satisfied to see that they completely tripped over some other fans on the way out and fell over.
After they left, the girls next to me told me how glad they were that I'd done something, 'cause they hadn't been able to see either. And the girls behind us as well. In fact, EVERYONE around us was happy about it.
And then I rocked out to Zukkoke.
And then we walked out of OJ Hall singing BEST FRIEND, BEST FRIEND TAISETSU NA HITO. 'Cause what else do you do after you have a fight where KanJani is involved, however tangentially?
_____________________________________
* Honestly, Uchi is not a good singer.
** People who have to sit for medical reasons excepted, naturally.
KanJuni, I LOVE YOU
We hit for the first and last KanJuni shows at the end of March, with seats in the first row of stands right next to the main stage for one of the shows (the other show we were 9th row, which ain't too shabby either!)
We also had BRAND NEW UCHIWA for this show, partly 'cause we ♥ uchiwa parties and partly 'cause with seats that good we needed to level up. We also just like to make sparkly things.
Before the show started we could see the occasional junior poke his head out from backstage, only to disappear again as soon as the first squeal was heard. One of them seriously looked confused, as though he'd meant to come out of a completely different door and had somehow made a mistake.
As soon as the show started, so did the fanservice.
- Random chibiko: SO MUCH LOVE. We were getting love from kids we don't even know the names of, but just about everyone on stage looked up at us (usually more than once) and waved, blew kisses, smiled, or just looked surprised at us.
- Kiriyan: Every time he came around he smiled and waved, and gave love specifically to Alyson as well. It's obvious that he remembers us and is happy to see us at shows, which is pretty awesome in and of itself!
- Junta: He did the smile and wave thing to all of us, and seems to have realized that we think he's pretty awesome as well.
- Yukito: Oh Yukito. We remember when you were tinier than me, and looked like Matsuda Seiko, and when we referred to you as "The Girl", and how you used to blush when we called your name, and now look at you! Now when you see us you just kinda roll your eyes and laugh at us! We're so proud of how much you've grown up! now please don't ever get hot 'cause holy shit that would be awkward
- Jo-chan: Whenever Jo-chan came by he waved ecstatically with both hands, like HI GUYS DO YOU REMEMBER ME I REMEMBER YOU PLEASE LOOK AT ME YOU LOOKED AT ME OMG SQUEEEEEEEEE! Which, frankly, is absolutely adorable.
- Senzaki: We seem to have gotten through to Senzaki that we don't hate him (in fact, we think he's pretty awesome). So finally he smiled and waved a couple of times, and even laughed at us once or twice (especially after we yelled TAKE US TO THE JUNGLE when he ran by, after he said during the MC that that's where he'd take his hypothetical girlfriend on a date).
- Kunta: Kunta saw Laura's uchiwa and his face lit up like you'd just given him a bag full of his favorite candy.
- Marcy: It took a long time for Marcy to find us - not until the curtain call at the end of the show. But we were SO LOUD in cheering for BAD, BOYS, and Veterans that he was looking around to find us and when he did, he flipped the fuck out. And once he found us, he never stopped looking at us! Alyson started a shadow boxing match with him, and they kept that up until Big Muro came up behind Marcy and punched him to get his attention.
- Big Muro: He found us about when Marcy did (seriously, we are damn loud when we try to be), and apparently both Laura and I pointed at him and jumped at about the same time and he did it back at us.
- Richard: Whenever Richard ran by our seats, all four of us yelled out RICHAAAAARRRRRRRRRD!!! and he'd turn around so fast we started to worry he'd get dizzy and fall off the hanamichi or something. But we still didn't stop yelling!
- Matori: Matori needs to stop with the Tacchon HEY LADIES look at us.
Basically we got love from everybody. Everybody that is, EXCEPT Daichi, Bun-chan, and Hama-chan. Which is kinda (T_T) 'cause Daichi and Bun are my favorites, while Hama-chan is Dani's. Oh well, we'll get them to notice us eventually!
Oh yeah, we've added to our KanJuni densetsu. At one point all the juniors were spread out on the hanamichi and various stages, but Bun-chan was the only one up on the main stage. But that was no problem! Bun-chan OWNED that stage. It was HIS. Daichi tried to move in on his turf, and Bun-chan CHASED HIM OFF. That stage was BUNCHANISTAN, and Bun-chan was the Archduke. Rather similar to something like this. Also, the capital of Bunchanistan is Bunchantinople.
And that was from the first show. The second show, with our seats further back in the stands, was also great. Not so much from a fanservice perspective (though we did get Hirano to choke back some laughter at us when we were all linking arms and swaying back and forth during a ballad), but just because we could actually concentrate on what was going on with the show!
Oh, and we've also come to terms a bit with Yuma. Still dislike the whole debut thing, still probably going to refer to him as The Lonely Vampire, but he really seems to be trying (which he didn't use to do). Also him coming out after BAD and looking absolutely miserable to be stopping them, and then BAD standing with him with expressions of it's alright, don't worry.... and then BOYS came out and stood with him too.... that was sweet.
KIMI-KUN SQUEEEEE
I didn't really intend to see 4/5 shows that Kimi-kun did down here in Osaka. It just sorta..... happened. I only balloted for two! And I hit both of those, and then Sayo mailed me to say that they had an extra ticket..... and then later another extra ticket showed up. So, um, yeah. Oops!
I also had the hardest time explaining to my coworkers that yes, Kimi-kun was having a solo concert, and YES he will be singing at it. I know he's not the greatest singer in KanJani, but he's not Uchi* terrible either.
As I went four times, this could get really confusing if I tried to talk about each show. So I'm not gonna even try. What follows is a list of the highlights.
- My seats were mostly stands and one time in the arena (right next to the center stage/hanamichi corner, AND the aisle that Kimi-kun came through in a cart!)
- 4/2, evening had BOYS making an appearance. 4/3 afternoon was half of 7West. 4/3 evening (didn't go to this one, so I'm guessing) was prolly Junta. 4/4 afternoon was the other half of 7West, and 4/4 evening was Kiriyan.
- Kimi-kun consistently messed up in the opening song (WONDER BOY) and would just stand there for a second laughing at himself. Oh I love you, you stupid boy!
- He wrote a new song with Shouta, called Chocolate! ...I wonder if we'll ever get to see 三兄弟 perform it?
- He also did Ame-chan and Purin!
- When introducing Chocolate, Kimi-kun talked about the songs he'd written, and how they all deal with food. And then he went on to name them but didn't remember Mikan until the final show!
- There was a black ranger conte, where Kimi-kun was sent back in time to whenever Momotaro is supposed to have happened. Veterans made up the rest of the cast - the old man and old woman (Bun, Kiku), inu (Kunta), kiji (Marcy), saru (Bun and Kiku, again), an oni (Big Muro, Muro-chigai).
- SO MUCH VETERANS TORTURE. Kimi-kun made fun of Marcy mercilessly ("How old are you? Same as Ohkura? WHAT?! You're OLDER?! Oh man, GANBARE MARCY!"), stalled during the conte so Kunta had to keep talking, made Bun-chan repeat shimoneta until he wanted to die (holy shit embarrassed Bun is CUTE), and generally made an asshole of himself. Oh Kimi-kun. ♥
- During one show Kimi-kun's pin mic was giving him some problems and Big Muro came out to help him try and fix it (it seemed to be tangled underneath his outfit) but that didn't work, so Kimi-kun disappeared backstage. But only after calling Kunta up onstage and giving him a microphone and basically saying THEY'RE YOURS, KID. Kunta got all nervous and did his best deer in the headlights monomane. Damnit Kunta, THAT WAS YOUR CHANCE! You should've done the いらっしゃいませ thing so we could all squeal KUNTA-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA like we practiced at the KanJuni concert!
- The final song of the concert was Onigishi, which (a) never fails to make me tear up, (b) is a really hard song to start an encore call after. And at the show his mom was at, Kimi-kun was crying by the end of the song.
- We got to see Kicyu twice - the first time was a normal version, with Shouta appearing on screens behind Kimi-kun, and the second was a really really hot remix that Kimi-kun did by himself.
- Kimi-kun also covered the other members' solos, after they were introduced in a VTR. Mamoritai, Watashi Kagami (completely butchered, and just the first line), Sayonara, Wanshan Ronpin (also just the intro), Ryo's solo from Spirits (sorry, can't be bothered to look up the title right now), and Babun.
- For all of the shows he did three encores, even telling us the third time he came out that the staff were talking in his ear through the headset all flustered 'cause "Are we doing a song? Wait, what song? I guess Zukkoke?" Which Kimi-kun seemed to find amusing to no end.
- The final show we got him to do a fourth encore (after much complaining about how exhausted he was), which was Cool Magic City.
- I got into an argument! More on this later.
- The show where we were in the arena I got love from KanJuni again! (Hirano tried no to laugh at me when I put my uchiwa/penlight down on the seat and started copying his furitsuke. The kid I like in Shadow West grinned and waved at me. Yukito laughed and waved at me. Arimoto-kun rolled his eyes and laughed at me. Senzaki did the 'sup head-nod thing. Jo-chan was all DO YOU STILL REMEMBER ME?! We all yelled for Richard again, and he saw me at the end of the line and grinned and waved again.)
- Also in the arena, I could see Bun-chan find me from the center stage when I had both Kimi-kun's and his uchiwas out (scanning crowd, scanning crowd, stop and stare at me, scanning crowd).
- Oh yeah, and when we were way back in the stands, Kunta saw Laura's uchiwa AGAIN and got all excited.
- There was a VTR with Kimi-kun dressed as a girl and harassing his younger brother.
- Whenever he talked about another KanJani member and people squealed, Kimi-kun stopped and corrected everyone "Is this called 'Nishikido Ryo Yacchaimasu'? Nooo, it's YOKOYAMA YU YACCHAIMASU!"
- At the beginning of the encore in the 4/2 concert there was a HAPPENING. When Kimi-kun came back out onstage, there was somebody sitting in seiza on the center stage. At first everyone around me thought it was Kimi-kun's brother, but then Kimi-kun kept asking who it was.... The kid didn't have a mic or anything so we couldn't tell what he was saying until Kimi-kun got close enough that his mic picked up both of them. The boy said something about it being an accident, and that he'd entered Johnny's.... Kimi-kun was just as confused as the rest of us and handed him off to the staff, who escorted the kid out of the building. And I have yet to find ANYONE who knows what exactly was going on.
I think I've covered most of the things from the shows.... if not, well, I can always post more later.
SO. I GOT INTO A FIGHT.
At one of the shows there were two girls sitting in front of us with some of the worst concert manners I have ever encountered.
Let's take this one point at a time, shall we?
Uchiwa. First of all, their uchiwa were oversized. Second, they held them both UP over their shoulder-height and OUT in front of them, so they blocked the whole arena for anyone sitting behind them.
The first time they did this, I did what I always do: Lean forward, tap them on the shoulder, and say we can't see. For most people this gets them to move.
These girls didn't do anything.
Sitting. It rapidly became apparent that they weren't there for Kimi-kun. They weren't even there for Veterans. They only stood up when all of Kansai Juniors were out on stage.
I understand going to shows to see KanJuni - hell, I've done it multiple times (sorry Tackey, sorry Tsubasa). But sitting through the show is just flat-out rude to everyone involved.**
Talking. They talked through the MC. They talked through all the songs where the chibiko weren't out. THEY TALKED THROUGH ONIGISHI. WITH KIMI-KUN CRYING AND HIS MOM IN THE AUDIENCE. They talked in a normal voice, throughout the show, not bothering to whisper.
And then, in the encore, they had their uchiwa out blocking the whole arena, and again I asked them to let us see. Not only did they ignore me, they put their uchiwa up HIGHER, blocking things even more.
I was pretty fucking pissed. So I reached out pulled one of the girls, then the other, physically back into their seats.
When the song ended, they started to pack up, despite everyone knowing there would be another encore because the chibiko wouldn't be coming out again. While they were packing up, the first girl was glaring up at me, and I was grinning down at her.
She complained that I pulled her. I pointed out that we couldn't see.
Laura very politely and diplomatically said that there are rules for concerts, for example, you keep your uchiwa at shoulder level so you're not a meiwaku to the fans behind you.
The other girl looked up, rolled her eyes, and in the snottiest voice she could possibly go for said SU-MI-MA-SEN-DESHITA.
The first girl told me Bun-chan was kawaisou for having me as a fan.
I told her poor Goku was motto kawaisou. And then I told them to kaere.
I was rather satisfied to see that they completely tripped over some other fans on the way out and fell over.
After they left, the girls next to me told me how glad they were that I'd done something, 'cause they hadn't been able to see either. And the girls behind us as well. In fact, EVERYONE around us was happy about it.
And then I rocked out to Zukkoke.
And then we walked out of OJ Hall singing BEST FRIEND, BEST FRIEND TAISETSU NA HITO. 'Cause what else do you do after you have a fight where KanJani is involved, however tangentially?
_____________________________________
* Honestly, Uchi is not a good singer.
** People who have to sit for medical reasons excepted, naturally.