(no subject)
We (my hotel roommate and I) got there around 7:45/8:00 and we were trying to figure out where the line started. We asked one security guard and she pointed us in the direction of another security guard. We'll call him Bob. So good old Bob directed us to the line.
Yuca and I were number 22 & 23 in line. Not 22/23 in line for the Nikkatsu booth. 23/24 for the entire convention. So we waited and waited and waited. 5 hours to be exact. But we met so many fangirls. There was one from France (winky-chan) and one from London (Shepa) and several women that came all the way from Japan to see Sho-chan!
So that first 5 hours in line wasn't too bad because there were so many other fangirls that I got to meet. Then the doors opened at 1PM and girls started running... yes RUNNING to get to the nikkatsu booth. Somehow I started as the 23rd person in line at the ENTIRE convention and over 50 people somehow appeared magically before me in line at the booth. Girls I didn't even see in line, so they had to have been waaaaaaaaay back here.
The workers at the nikkatsu booth kept trying to tell us all that we needed to form a line and all these people kept coming and waiting at the front-ish area of the line. Yet another clue that something bad was fixing to happen. So it's 1PM and there's like 100-150 fangirls crowded into this 6ftx30ft area. There was this girl behind me who had her boobs pressed against my back the whole time, and she kept standing on her tiptoes and sticking her head on my shoulder. She pushed my the entire time.
How long is 'the entire time', you ask? Well, Sho was set to come out and give us a "personal greeting" at 2:45. So it was almost 2 hours in line being pushed and shoved by other fangirls. But it was worth it because I was going to get to see Sho-chan. -_- ...
At about 2:30 a man came on stage and informed us that the situation (i.e. too many fangirls pushing/shoving) was too dangerous and that there was no way they could bring Sho-chan out to greet us. Then he told us that Sho would stand at a glass window and wave to us at 2:45. The glass window was one level up from where we were standing, so we were all happy that we would get to see him (well, SOME of us were happy. Some "fans" were not...)
Then the man informed us that they would not give out tickets until 3 so we had to leave the booth area until then. He told us to leave. Leave. Leave. like 30 times. I was stuck somewhere towards the middle, and I would have left if it weren't for the people behind me pushing me forward. The guy with the tickets tells you to leave, you should leave. But nooooo, there were groups of girls who felt the need to completely give American fans a bad name.
So when they saw that there was no way we were going to leave, they decided to give out the tickets before Sho came out. so they started handing out tickets, telling people they would stop if the pushing didn't stop. The pushing didn't stop. The handing out of tickets did. Now, they told us that they had already given out all the tickets. Between 10-30 tickets were actually handed out to people waiting at the booth. I read in several places that they were supposed to give out roughly 200 at the booth. So what happened? I have no idea -_-
So after they were done, some people were really disappointed, stood around bitching, etc., I headed over to the area below the glass window where Sho was going to appear. Some girls in front of me had a poster of Arashi that she was going to hold up. Seriously? I think Sho knows what he looks like. Why would you hold that up when there are people behind you trying to look UP to see something...
-_-
We stood around staring up at the glass window for about 20 minutes. Some really lovely ladies behind me were screaming the whole time, "JUST BRING HIM OUT! BRING HIM OUT, GOD!". lovely behavior...
Well, this is where Bob makes his reappearance. He thought it was hilarious that there were like 200 fangirls down there watching him so he kept like poking his head out the door and acting like Sho was coming and then when the person came in the door and it wasn't Sho he would laugh hysterically. He did this the whole time for about 20-30 minutes. I thought it was funny/entertaining because everytime a not-Sho person came through the door there was a huge, "Awwwww~"
Some other people didn't think it was funny. One girl gave him the finger. There with Sho's management, etc., watching. More lovely behavior. But still not the worst of the day xD
Then this guy from this website: http://black20.com/ came and stood right next to me and started making fun of us pretty much. He was right next to me and even stuck the microphone under my face I think. I didn't answer any of his questions though because he was being a jerk. So I'll probably show up on that site looking super grumpy xD...
So around 3:00-3:10 the door opens and finally Sho comes out. I can't really give a proper description of him. I always hear how absolutely gorgeous he is in person. But, really he looks the same in person as he does on tv. Don't get me wrong because he's gorgeous on tv, so he was gorgeous in person. His face was really surprised when he saw us. He looked kind of awkward/embarrassed to be up there waving at us. But he did smile a bit at us as he waved. He was wearing a suit and he waves... like a president. His hair also looks different. I think he might have changed it a bit. So then we started singing A.Ra.Shi and he held his hand up to his ear like, "Whats going on?" and then when he realized what we were doing he said, "Oh~ Sugoi~" (expert lip reading xD) So when we got to the A.ra.shi~ a.ra.shi~ for dream part he did the hand movements with us and smiled. It was so cute <3 He waved for about 10-15 seconds before leaving again. Best 1 minute ever xD It's hard to say what kind of impression he gave. I think his aura seemed really approachable/normal.
So I wasn't too disappointed that I didn't get tickets. I got a peak at Sho and thats what I came for. So then I found Yuca again and we were trying to decide what to do. Sho said he wouldn't be at the panel, so we decided to skip that. We met up with andrea/angela/nelly and we had Korean/Japanese food. I had some kind of seafood/udon nabe thing xD It was okay but I burned my tongue it was so hot.
Then we headed over to the director's guild theatre and got ready to see Sho on the red carpet. We got there and there was a stand-by line. It was basically for people who didn't get tickets to stand in line waiting in case people with tickets didn't show up. So we decided to wait in that line. for another 2.5 hours. But I was having fun fangirling and we met even more cool fangirls in the line.
At about 8:05 we heard all this screaming and a white like escalade/limo thing goes by and the lights are on and we see Sho inside. Now we were RIGHT on the curb and the car passed like 5 feet away from us.I would have been really happy about this except some psycho fan was running ALONGSIDE the car pressing her Sho uchiwa against the window. And poor Sho. Poor poor Sho. He had a look of utmost terror on his face. I'll always remember that terrified face.
We didn't get into the premiere in case you were wondering, but none of us are way disappointed about it (by 'us' I mean the group of people I was with). We got to see Sho-chan and we all had so much fun just talking/hanging out.
But I think those few fans with horrible behavior undoubtedly gave Sho/the japanese a bad impression of American fans. I can honestly say that right now the chances of Arashi having a concert in the U.S. is like -200%. The behavior of some of the fans disgusts/disappoints me. I understand that they were excited. We were all excited. But what did that girl hope to accomplish by attack his MOVING vehicle. What? that terrified look on his face means that now he wants to marry you? congrats... seriously... I'm sure that left a great impression.
I also got interviewed by some people from NTV so I am kind of hoping that I don't end up on News Zero xD
When I think about if the $500+ I spent coming here is worth it, yeah... it really was. I got to see Sho. (I'm now left with this really sad "I'll never see him again" feeling xD... seeing him definitely gave me a high). But even more, I had so much fun fangirling with everyone. For the most part, I love the fangirls as much as i love the fandom <3
EDIT: SHO WAS NOT COMPLETELY HORRIFIED BY THE NAUGHTY FANS BEHAVIOR. IN FACT, DESTINI SAID THAT HE'S REALLY HAPPY ABOUT THE LARGE FANBASE HERE. PLEASE SEE HER TWITTER (http://twitter.com/shoatnycc) FOR MORE INFO ABOUT HIS REACTION TO FANS.
Yuca and I were number 22 & 23 in line. Not 22/23 in line for the Nikkatsu booth. 23/24 for the entire convention. So we waited and waited and waited. 5 hours to be exact. But we met so many fangirls. There was one from France (winky-chan) and one from London (Shepa) and several women that came all the way from Japan to see Sho-chan!
So that first 5 hours in line wasn't too bad because there were so many other fangirls that I got to meet. Then the doors opened at 1PM and girls started running... yes RUNNING to get to the nikkatsu booth. Somehow I started as the 23rd person in line at the ENTIRE convention and over 50 people somehow appeared magically before me in line at the booth. Girls I didn't even see in line, so they had to have been waaaaaaaaay back here.
The workers at the nikkatsu booth kept trying to tell us all that we needed to form a line and all these people kept coming and waiting at the front-ish area of the line. Yet another clue that something bad was fixing to happen. So it's 1PM and there's like 100-150 fangirls crowded into this 6ftx30ft area. There was this girl behind me who had her boobs pressed against my back the whole time, and she kept standing on her tiptoes and sticking her head on my shoulder. She pushed my the entire time.
How long is 'the entire time', you ask? Well, Sho was set to come out and give us a "personal greeting" at 2:45. So it was almost 2 hours in line being pushed and shoved by other fangirls. But it was worth it because I was going to get to see Sho-chan. -_- ...
At about 2:30 a man came on stage and informed us that the situation (i.e. too many fangirls pushing/shoving) was too dangerous and that there was no way they could bring Sho-chan out to greet us. Then he told us that Sho would stand at a glass window and wave to us at 2:45. The glass window was one level up from where we were standing, so we were all happy that we would get to see him (well, SOME of us were happy. Some "fans" were not...)
Then the man informed us that they would not give out tickets until 3 so we had to leave the booth area until then. He told us to leave. Leave. Leave. like 30 times. I was stuck somewhere towards the middle, and I would have left if it weren't for the people behind me pushing me forward. The guy with the tickets tells you to leave, you should leave. But nooooo, there were groups of girls who felt the need to completely give American fans a bad name.
So when they saw that there was no way we were going to leave, they decided to give out the tickets before Sho came out. so they started handing out tickets, telling people they would stop if the pushing didn't stop. The pushing didn't stop. The handing out of tickets did. Now, they told us that they had already given out all the tickets. Between 10-30 tickets were actually handed out to people waiting at the booth. I read in several places that they were supposed to give out roughly 200 at the booth. So what happened? I have no idea -_-
So after they were done, some people were really disappointed, stood around bitching, etc., I headed over to the area below the glass window where Sho was going to appear. Some girls in front of me had a poster of Arashi that she was going to hold up. Seriously? I think Sho knows what he looks like. Why would you hold that up when there are people behind you trying to look UP to see something...
-_-
We stood around staring up at the glass window for about 20 minutes. Some really lovely ladies behind me were screaming the whole time, "JUST BRING HIM OUT! BRING HIM OUT, GOD!". lovely behavior...
Well, this is where Bob makes his reappearance. He thought it was hilarious that there were like 200 fangirls down there watching him so he kept like poking his head out the door and acting like Sho was coming and then when the person came in the door and it wasn't Sho he would laugh hysterically. He did this the whole time for about 20-30 minutes. I thought it was funny/entertaining because everytime a not-Sho person came through the door there was a huge, "Awwwww~"
Some other people didn't think it was funny. One girl gave him the finger. There with Sho's management, etc., watching. More lovely behavior. But still not the worst of the day xD
Then this guy from this website: http://black20.com/ came and stood right next to me and started making fun of us pretty much. He was right next to me and even stuck the microphone under my face I think. I didn't answer any of his questions though because he was being a jerk. So I'll probably show up on that site looking super grumpy xD...
So around 3:00-3:10 the door opens and finally Sho comes out. I can't really give a proper description of him. I always hear how absolutely gorgeous he is in person. But, really he looks the same in person as he does on tv. Don't get me wrong because he's gorgeous on tv, so he was gorgeous in person. His face was really surprised when he saw us. He looked kind of awkward/embarrassed to be up there waving at us. But he did smile a bit at us as he waved. He was wearing a suit and he waves... like a president. His hair also looks different. I think he might have changed it a bit. So then we started singing A.Ra.Shi and he held his hand up to his ear like, "Whats going on?" and then when he realized what we were doing he said, "Oh~ Sugoi~" (expert lip reading xD) So when we got to the A.ra.shi~ a.ra.shi~ for dream part he did the hand movements with us and smiled. It was so cute <3 He waved for about 10-15 seconds before leaving again. Best 1 minute ever xD It's hard to say what kind of impression he gave. I think his aura seemed really approachable/normal.
So I wasn't too disappointed that I didn't get tickets. I got a peak at Sho and thats what I came for. So then I found Yuca again and we were trying to decide what to do. Sho said he wouldn't be at the panel, so we decided to skip that. We met up with andrea/angela/nelly and we had Korean/Japanese food. I had some kind of seafood/udon nabe thing xD It was okay but I burned my tongue it was so hot.
Then we headed over to the director's guild theatre and got ready to see Sho on the red carpet. We got there and there was a stand-by line. It was basically for people who didn't get tickets to stand in line waiting in case people with tickets didn't show up. So we decided to wait in that line. for another 2.5 hours. But I was having fun fangirling and we met even more cool fangirls in the line.
At about 8:05 we heard all this screaming and a white like escalade/limo thing goes by and the lights are on and we see Sho inside. Now we were RIGHT on the curb and the car passed like 5 feet away from us.I would have been really happy about this except some psycho fan was running ALONGSIDE the car pressing her Sho uchiwa against the window. And poor Sho. Poor poor Sho. He had a look of utmost terror on his face. I'll always remember that terrified face.
We didn't get into the premiere in case you were wondering, but none of us are way disappointed about it (by 'us' I mean the group of people I was with). We got to see Sho-chan and we all had so much fun just talking/hanging out.
But I think those few fans with horrible behavior undoubtedly gave Sho/the japanese a bad impression of American fans. I can honestly say that right now the chances of Arashi having a concert in the U.S. is like -200%. The behavior of some of the fans disgusts/disappoints me. I understand that they were excited. We were all excited. But what did that girl hope to accomplish by attack his MOVING vehicle. What? that terrified look on his face means that now he wants to marry you? congrats... seriously... I'm sure that left a great impression.
I also got interviewed by some people from NTV so I am kind of hoping that I don't end up on News Zero xD
When I think about if the $500+ I spent coming here is worth it, yeah... it really was. I got to see Sho. (I'm now left with this really sad "I'll never see him again" feeling xD... seeing him definitely gave me a high). But even more, I had so much fun fangirling with everyone. For the most part, I love the fangirls as much as i love the fandom <3
EDIT: SHO WAS NOT COMPLETELY HORRIFIED BY THE NAUGHTY FANS BEHAVIOR. IN FACT, DESTINI SAID THAT HE'S REALLY HAPPY ABOUT THE LARGE FANBASE HERE. PLEASE SEE HER TWITTER (http://twitter.com/shoatnycc) FOR MORE INFO ABOUT HIS REACTION TO FANS.