Eesh.
It rained today. All day.
Ueshima-sensei put our feelings into words best: 「全部終わっちゃうから空も泣いているかな」 (Everything's ending today, so I guess the sky is crying as well)
It really felt like that. A dreary, depressing day that was marked by a little light of fun as Dream Live 7th drew to a close and we left the arena.
Maeraku
--I had a very nice seat, I felt. I was on the side quite near the stage, so while I couldn't see the hanamichi or center stage well, the main stage was very much within my view.
--1st cast's chat this time was...a contest! A contest to see...which was worse, Souta's Inui Juice or some Inui Juice Arai made for the show! Of course, to determine this, someone had to test it, but who? Souta zeroed straight in..............on Tuti :D Nagayan seemed very pleased with this fate and ran around behind Tuti, clapping and squeezing him on the shoulders while he accepted the drinks XD While Arai's was just VILE, Souta's follow-up was not that bad, he said. They then felt they needed a second opinion, and Souta looked around............... "KIKUMARU. YOU DRINK IT." So Nagayan was gotten back at for his earlier smugness when Tuti had to drink it XD He came to the same conclusion. TakiEiji also drank some, and Souta ended it by mixing the two and downing the whole thing: 5th cast's juice was definitely worse XD
--This was the first show I actually started crying at (tears streaming down the face, not just getting teary-eyed). During Destiny, of course. I bought tissues before the show, though, thankfully :D
--I was excited about Mamo and Shunri being the guests, but the most fun thing was hearing how Banchou and Ryuuko met, because Banchou felt the need to drag out Ryuuko during his chat here and talk XD It was...really adorable :P Apparently during the audition, Banchou didn't have any "specialty" thing he could do to impress the panel, so he just decided to do a bunch of sit-ups. But he needed someone to hold his feet down while he did them, so he had to choose some stranger from the other auditioning people, and he said he was just drawn to this one kirakira guy who.......turned out to be Ryuuko :P And that was the first time they met, geez XD Ryuuko then came out and told him to close his eyes, so he did after some hesitation--and then Ryuuko whipped out a sharpie and drew on his Tachibana dot in permanent ink XDDDDDD Banchou was not pleased :D
--During the last part of FGKS, Tuti and Nagayan are up on the main stage together, and there's a new part to the song where you shout "FIGHT ON GET ON KEEP ON" (not "stand up" though) in quick succession, and today during this part, Nagayan leaned close to Tuti's ear here and was screaming it at him while Tuti flinched XDDDD
--I'm pretty sure I would've noticed this before, so it MUST have been the first time they did it, but at the end of On My Way, when all the 1st and 5th cast guys get together in pairs and hug and stuff...today they formed an EIGHTEEN-MEMBER CHORUS LINE and did high kicks and everything at the end of the show XDDDDD OH BOYS.
Senshuuraku
--You knew this was coming ;-;
--.......NOT EVEN GONNA LIE I HAD THE BEST SEAT. BETTER THAN THE ONE IN KOBE EVEN. Well, not better than it so much as...better BECAUSE I'd already had that Kobe senshuuraku seat. At Kobe SSR I got to see them all up close from right beside that center stage, and here, at the final senshuuraku of the final Dream Live of TeniMyu...I got to be in a seat that had a 100% clear view of every part of the stage, not blocked by anything. I could watch who I wanted whenever I wanted, and from reasonably close. Any closer and I would've had my view blocked by taller people. I could not have possibly chosen a better spot if I'd had the chance. This? Went a long ways towards making this again the best show ever and leaving me...satisfied, I suppose.
--As you may know, Shitenhouji A AND B both ended this show. It was funny, because in the opening video sequence where everyone's introduced, the character cards for Shitenhouji had both actors on at the same time :D It was exciting~ However, I really don't think they used this double cast to the best they could. They pretty much just split it down the middle, with A taking the first half Shitenhouji songs and B doing the second half, and then for the final few songs they all came on together :D
--After Baba sings Yudan Sezu ni Ikou, there's a short Seigaku corner where they all tease Tezuka before Ryuuki tells him that he couldn't have made it this far without Buchou, and Baba gets all emotional and says, "Everyone--I'm honored to have been your captain!" At senshuuraku, though...instead of saying "Everyone"/"Minna", he said their names one by one (characters) and it was just...really simple, and yet very solemn and final ;____;
--JAPANESE FANS FUCKING FREAK ME OUT WITH HOW NATURALLY THEY CAN SYNCHRONIZE THEMSELVES WITHOUT ANY FOREPLANNING. CASES IN POINT:
1) During several of the Rikkai numbers earlier at maeraku, a few fans (maybe 10, 15?) scattered across the stadium (of 12,000 mind you) broke out these HUGE bright orange glowsticks that I swear you could've landed a plane with, they were SO fucking bright. It was weird looking out across the stadium and seeing them. However, at senshuuraku? When Kami no Ko started up, I SWEAR A GOOD THOUSAND OR SO PEOPLE HAD THEM AND LIT UP THE FUCKING STADIUM WITH THEM WAY BRIGHTER THAN IT SHOULD'VE BEEN. It was the most amazing thing I've seen in I don't know how long. Just...so MANY BRIGHT LIGHTS COMING ON ALL AT ONCE. GEEZ.
2) During Closed Eye, Taito goes out on the hanamichi and sings, no news there. However, at senshuuraku, after every verse of the chorus, you could here these few people around the stadium screaming something. It was very very faint at first, but very obvious nonetheless, because it was very rhythmic and always there right as his voice died away. Then, it got louder and louder as more people caught on to it and repeated it, until at the very end of the song, practically the whole stadium was shouting, "Taito!" during the pauses in his song. If the huge grin on his face from the viewscreen was any indication, it made him very happy :) He deserved it, too--that boy kicked ass during this show, I'm serious.
3) This? This was the creme de la creme. There are 2 short breaks for quick changes at the end. Once, before Season (so everyone can change from their casual clothes into gakuran/school uniforms), and a second time right after Season and before FGKS (so they can change back into their tennis outfits). During this time, the stage is dimly lit and the theater is still mostly dark, and generally at times like this, the audience starts clapping and shouting "Encore Encore Encore!" to bring the guys back out faster (faster? They're already going as fast as possible :P). Today, though, at this second encore, everyone knew what was coming next, probably because most of the people there had been to at least one before. Or maybe the people who started it knew. Whatever the case, it started out small and weak, and then grew as before: "Fight on! (Fight on!) Get on! (Get on!) Keep on! (Keep on!) Step up! (Step up!)" louder and louder and louder until the entire audience finally understood the order to say it in (a bunch of us thought it was without echos, then we caught on -- or rather, about half of us said the call part, and the other half did the repeats, naturally), until all 12,000 of us there were shouting it at the top of our lungs gearing up for the final leg of the show. BEST. FEELING. EVER.
--During the 1st cast portion today, nothing really all that big got discussed XD The biggest things were: MoriEiji and Souta were the ones who originally thought up the moves to Victory(you know, where they form the letters). They then showed them to Ueshima, who liked the idea and decided to use it in the show. It's kind of amazing that it stuck all these years, as 5th cast perform the song (with those moves) in DL7th. Also, this show was...........KITAMURA EIKI'S TENIMYU GRADUATION SHOW XDDD Because he never got to graduate technically, having only been in St. Rudolph :P So they had a cute mini "congrats" moment since it was his graduation :P
--I think I psyched myself out regarding crying. So much so that...while I wanted to cry and feel all that emotion I felt at BuriMyu, I couldn't. Not at the parts I expected to cry at, at least--while I cried at maeraku, I was pretty okay during Destiny this time. However, that being said...I cried ;__; I cried, for example, when Ryuuki stepped up to give his final goodbyes and thank-yous with the rest of 5th cast and choked after 5 words, sobbing ;_; I cried when the cameras lingered for too long on Shouta, who (along with Ryuuki) was crying the hardest only halfway through the show. I cried when Konomi walked down the hanamichi because, while I don't really like Konomi, it struck me that without him, I would not be there, I would not have all these memories and reasons to be crying, I would not have my life be the amazing thing it is without him. And that made me cry for reasons I can't really pinpoint (aaaand great, crying again now :P). And I cried, perhaps the most unexpected--right when FGKS started. As exciting and happy as that song was, just when I started getting into it, all I could think was: "...This is the last FGKS. This is the last time I'll be here singing FGKS with these guys. I'll never have this opportunity again" and then I was gone ;_;
--Back to "weepy boys," yeah: Shouta was just a mess. He looked about like this the whole time through Saigo no Golden Pair:
(from the Final Match 2 where he cries when he and Tsuji have to tell each other their goodbye messages)
I was impressed his singing didn't seem to be affected really, but...yeah, you could see in his face he was taking it pretty hard ;_; At the very end, they ran back up to the main stage, and Shouta paused halfway there while Tsuji went on ahead. When Tsuji turned back around, Shouta said, "Oishi, let's play again sometime!" and Tsuji paused, then nodded, returning: "Definitely. Doubles...and the Golden Pair are the best!" (usually they just say "Doubles is the best!" together) ;__________; GOD DAMN YOU TWO.
--Shirota was the unexpected guest, called in at the last minute. I've never seen the guy in person but have always been impressed with his voice, so...it was quite nice that he sang something: Yume wo Tsunagou, a song which he'd been unable to sing properly the last time he attempted it because it had been 2nd cast's graduation, and he had just lost his shit ;___; He did it perfectly and beautifully this time, though. I'll admit, I was kind of miffed they'd called in a guest even when they'd said they weren't: because I felt it took away from the focus on this cast, but...I'm still glad I got to hear such a beautiful song.
--And he brought someone with him: Konomi Takeshi himself! Who brought Ueshima a nice big bouquet, too~
--Earlier in the show, Seigaku introduced themselves and thanked everyone (which was when Ryuuki became incoherent and Shouta's waterworks started), and later on all the rest of the Rivals did it as well, with double-cast members introducing their partners if they weren't there.
--Speaking of things I didn't expect: Hosogai to be just absolutely a MESS, and Kenn to be.........perfectly fine XD; Not even tearing up! Yeah, Hosogai just really broke down during Season, especially when Kubobe tried to keep things light ;____;
--Because this was the fucking senshuuraku to end all senshuurakus, there was no way they were going to kick us out after On My Way, the "official" end. But everyone had already said their thanks during the show, Ueshima had given a speech, and everyone had given their goodbyes before at the end of Final Match 2, so...they just had everyone come out on stage--out onto the hanamichi even, all the way to the center. And when I say "everyone"? EVERYONE. 1st and 5th cast, Shitenhouji A and B, Rivals, Ueshima, SHIROTA, AIRU (who wasn't even supposed to be there), and the support cast! You know me--you know who I watched like a hawk through my binoculars XD
One thing that really struck me, though, was...how Shouta reacted to it all. I don't think he could handle being in the middle of that big happy group right then, especially in front of so many people, and after waving with a forced smile to a bunch of people from center stage, he quietly slipped back down the hanamichi to the main stage. No one was even on the main stage, every single cast member was crowded on the center stage or at the front of the hanamichi, so it was quite glaringly obvious that Shouta randomly was all alone on the main stage, wiping at his eyes with a DL7th towel. And he stayed that way for about 5 seconds before Tsujimoto immediately came jogging down the walkway and just planted himself beside Shouta, not saying anything, just standing there and keeping him company while everyone else talked and waved and smiled at the fans. They stayed up there, just the two of them, all alone away from everyone and freakishly obvious for a relatively long time (probably not that long, but in front of 12,000 people? 10-20 seconds is a LONG TIME). I'm not sure why they did that, but...it just really struck me as so very, very sweet, that Tsuji would leave the group to just keep Shouta company when he was having a hard time with ending the show. Tsuji himself was not immune to the emotion, and while he didn't start crying from what I could see, his voice definitely cracked and he was visibly having a hard time keeping himself under control. But that he realized he was stronger and offering Shouta a shoulder was...just, no words ;_; Tuti and Nagayan were all over the place (well, Nagayan was XD You know Tuti is not Mr. Social), and so...I just kind of ignored them. I ignored Tuti and Nagayan in favor of T2. Yikes o___o (I think it just shows how special they are to me now, though ;__;)
Ugh, it's midnight. I have a headache from crying, and I have work in the morning. I need a WEEK to catch my breath from all this.
Final Match 2 will be torrenting in the morning :) Get ready~