TMR New Year Party 12 in Budokan - Day 2! 1.2.12
And we're back for Round two!
Now with extra twitteryness!
I made sure to arrive on time for the opening of the doors on day 2, because I wanted a longer, clearer look at the Twitter party!
As you probably know, Takanori wanted to connect the world to his New Year Party, and he chose to do it via Twitter.
From the moment the venue opened (and possibly before, but if so no one would see but him and his staff) tweets addressed @TMR15 and including the hashtag #NYP12 were displayed on the main screen inside.
A lot of the tweets were pretty basic things like "I'm so excited!" or "My seat is in $section$ the view is $adjective$" and so on, but there were also some pretty interesting and creative ones here and there. Also, major theme was New Year's goals, since He had asked people to do so.
On our end, the English-speaking internet fandom banded together to make our voices heard!
I wasn't 100% sure it would work, but as I got to my seat and saw:
@TMR15 DO A BARREL ROLL! #NYP12
from cozindustries
I loled and immediately began tweeting about all the English-language tweets I saw.
I think everyone concerned got a tweet to such effect, but if you were tweeting too and I wasn't tweeting back to you, comment and I'll try to remember if I saw you :3
While all the tweets I saw go up on screen were either in Japanese or in English, there were occasional "blank" tweets that I suspect might have been in some other character set, like Korean or Cyrillic or something, that just wasn't surviving the display system. Who knows?
My best tweet that went up was @TMR15 (￣▽￣)tits please(￣▽￣)b #NYP12
At the ~20 minutes to go mark, the very special announcements began!
Normally, any concert will have an announcement about the rules, things like "no filming", "don't throw things at the stage", and so on.
Here, though, the announcement was read by Takanori himself (though he introduced himself and signed off as SNSD; I thought it might mean he'd copy K-Pop instead) in a very special voice 8D
In addition to the actual rules, he specified all sorts of extra things, like "If you break any of these rules, the organizer, sponsor, mastermind, in other words, Nishikawa-chan, will ABSOLUTELY NOT be held responsible". Also, "No Faxing", and "Follow the staff's instructions, at least as long as you're in here. When you leave you can ignore them, but while you're here you should really listen to them".
Best of all, he expanded the "don't throw things" part in a lot of detail, specifying that "bottles, towels, food, laser pointers, RICE SCOOPS..."
(right at this moment, @TMR15 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ #NYP12 by ruby_moon_1x2 appeared on screen *ahem* you spanker)
...chopsticks, faxes, pictures of faxes, faxes of pictures, any paper, especially ESPECIALLY the Fan Club sign up forms placed on each seat..." should not be thrown at the stage.
I missed part of the list because I was laughing too hard XDD
Also, the usual rule about turning phones off was changed to "Turn off all cameras and recorders, I don't care if its tape or digital just turn it off, but don't turn your phones off because I want you to TWEET!! TWEET FOR YOUR LIVES until I tell you to stop"
After this uproarious announcement, there were some tweets from IKUO that were apparently SUNAO, Shibasaki, and Hasegawa-san tweeting with Red's phone ^^
At 5 minutes to go, the twitter party ended as Takanori's voice told us to turn our phones off. So I did.
Overall, it really worked to Turbocharge the atmosphere, at least for part of the audience.
I could hear some people sitting behind me express confusion as to wtf twitter even is o.O so clearly the 21st century hasn't reached *everybody*.
Soon enough, the lights went out and we got started!
From my new perch in the middle of the arena (almost exactly the geometric centre of the seating area, actually) I could see things I hadn't before.
Most prominent was the roof!
Yesterday, the second balcony overhead blocked my view of the shrine-like roof! that crowned the red pillars. The lights reflecting off the stage and up to the roof made for some interesting shadows on the ceiling of the Budokan itself, too.
Very pretty :)
Since I was mostly lined up with the middle, I had a better view of the main screen and looked at it for the videos more than the side screens.
The taiko's appearance out of the floor panels was more dramatic this way, viewed straight-on.
Drum. Drum drum drum. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE
Since the crowd was largely the same as the previous day's crowd, we were able to keep up with the complexifying rhythm for a bit longer, but certainly not for the whole thing. It mostly turned into an encouraging support clap at a fraction of the taiko-ist's pace.
The other members ninja'd in and Takanori popped out of the ground just at the end of the Taiko performance, ready to kick it off with UTAGE.
Today, He'd revised the IRF11 outfit so that it was closer to complete than previously, and he compensated by taking off a whole layer between every song ^-^v
Of course the arm bands remained, and I was glad because I'd missed them yesterday.
FLAGS and The party must go followed, in order, just as electrifying as ever.
Between songs, Takanori was of course stripping, and also shouting rapid-fire streams of words to get us jumping!!!!
Three all-too brief songs in, he thanked us for coming while facing us in his oh-so-tantalizing partially-chest-exposing red "armour", then dashed away to change.
The recap video was the same as for day 1, so I will skip it here.
I was actually relieved that it was the same video since it gave me a chance to recheck things I'd forgotten while writing the first report 8D
After a jaunt through six months of Strawberry Times with Jay Kabira, the lights came back on.
Takanori strolled back on stage in his Warlord outfit, which I could now see faded from silver to sky-blue lower down. And, even though it mostly hid his legs, I'm pretty sure he still had his boots under it since I could see the toes :3
EDIT: He's tweeted a picture of that outfit from his Kyoto show, here. Probably due to the lighting difference between Budokan's stage and his dressing room, it looks bluer in this pic but it was very silvery on stage.
Takanori: Thanks for coming to party with me again!
He then started talking about 2011 and went through the SUJ figures again, but slowed down as he clearly didn't want to repeat himself too much from the previous day and sounded a little sheepish when he did.
Tamanori: It's harder the second time, isnt it?
Takanori: What? No, no, I'm doing fine! And where did you come from?
Tamanori appeared on the screen to much lols and cheering XD
Takanori: You shouldn't have just come out like that! You've ruined the surprise.
Tamanori: For who? Everybody saw me yesterday.
Takanori: Not at all! Not everyone did. Who here wasn't at yesterday's party?
*About 1/3rd of the crowd raises their hands*
Takanori: SEE? You ruined the surprise for them.
Tama: Speaking of ruining things, you totally blew my cover and everyone knows who I really am now.
The crowd lauged knowingly as Takanori feigned innocence and pretended Tamanori was OF COURSE "just" a talking kagami mochi.
(According to the tweets I've seen, it's Ishikawa Akihito doing the voice; he's also the guy in the AKB video. Note that I'm not sure what exactly is supposed to have given him away, but I think it's probably got to do with All Night Nippon references I missed since I've only ever heard a few episodes of it)
In any case, after a bit more crowd-pleasing banter, but no accusations of oggling, they got down to business~
First up, the fail stories!
The stagehand came out to deliver the written stories, and stayed careful out of Strawberry's reach to do so.
Takanori made him get a bit closer and then a bit closer, until he was near enough to get a swipe in at the guys face :p
Takanori: The problem with knowing my staff so well is they know exactly how far my strike range goes.
The first story was from a 15 year old girl who had embarrassed herself by mistakenly thinking the name of an actor in a Georgia Coffee CM was actually "Georgia".
Letter-as-read-by-Takanori: My friends played along, so I thought it was true for months and only just now realized my mistake! I really want to forget this story in 2012!
The second one was about a guy who'd managed to get fired from SEVEN different part-time jobs in 2011.
Takanori: I like that word, "unemployed". It's so simple, such a short way to describe what you do. Hehehe.
Letter-as-read-by-Takanori: Most of the time, it was my own fault. I skipped shifts, or showed up late. Once I showed up four and a half hours late for a five hour shift! My boss' exact words were "Either you quit now, OR YOU DIE".
Takanori was impressed that he even managed to -get- 7 different jobs in the space of year.
Takanori: That's great, getting to try so many different things, that's like doing something new every month or so. Wow...
Next, the complaints section!
It was pretty similar in theme to the day before, this time coming from a mother who "accidentally" let her 4-year-old watch IENOMI, specifically the episode where Takanori was pretending to spank his guest with a rice scoop. Now, the kid likes to play with the rice scoops in the kitchen by running around yelling "SPANKING! SPANKING!"
Takanori put a lot of energy into reading the "SPANKING!" part exactly as an excited four year old would XDDD
He apologised only slightly, mostly arguing instead that it was the parent's own fault for letting their kid watch his LATE NIGHT not-for-kids show in the first place.
Tama: Speaking of that show, I have a complaint about your boy band.
Takanori: Oh, yes, the boys I'm recruiting through IENOMI. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not trying to make a new EXILE. I'm not going to add members until they outnumber the audience. *lauhgs*
Tama: See, the thing is, remember that one guy who said he had a job doing lighting at concerts?
Takanori: Yes?
Tama: He's actually here tonight. And I don't mean in the crowd, I mean he's working the lights at your show, right now.
Takanori: Ehh!
Crowd: *gasp*
Takanori: That's great! That's really cool actually! But how do you know?
Tama: Oh I ran into him while I was out for a smoke and he introduced himself.
The crowd guffawed at this slip of the mascot's character XD
Takanori: Since when do you smoke? You don't have arms, how can you smoke? You just hold it in your mouth the whole time?
Tama: Uh... yes. I'm just cool that way.
Then it was time for congratulations!
One was for an upcoming wedding, arranged so that the new couple would have the same wedding anniversary as the bride's parents.
Incidentally, she was at the live with her mother instead of her fiance ^^
Takanori thought this was just wonderful and wished them a good one for every year to come, with 10 000 people to join in on the word CONGRTULATIONS .
Next was a guy who was about to become a first-time daddy!
Takanori read the letter and discovered that the baby was a girl, due January 29th. So of course, the mom-to-be was in condition for a concert so dad was at the live alone. Also, he was wearing a STRIKES BACK IX shirt.
Takanori: I guess that's good, you'll never be able to take your daughter to the men's show, so its good that you're okay with coming to my shows alone.
Tamanori joined in for a bit of mens-show related teasing, too.
Then 10 000 people congratulated the guy~
And that was that.
Next, it was time for the requests!
Once again, it was brought out by Taabo-kun!
Takanori: Why THANK YOU Taabo-kun! You're such a reliable and hardworking mascot, unlike someone else we know.
Tama: Hey!
Taabo: *waves*
Takanori: Yes, he's a hard worker! By the way if anyone has PR events they need a mascot for, let us know. Right now his mostly working with my fan club manager, so talk to her if you want to book a Taabo-kun appearance. They both work hard, him and my fan club
In any case.
The first request was a sobering one, from a fan who had lost both of her grandparents within months of each other last year.
She was shown on screen while Takanori read her letter, and clearly crying.
The song requested was Tashika na koto, by Oda Kazumasa
(there doesn't seem to be an official PV)
She requested it because it reminds her of grandparents, and is comforting to her.
Takanori: I've been in mourning myself, as I have family that died recently, so when I saw this request a few days ago I thought it would be fitting.
(Birdnote: After the live, he announced he was going on a twitter hiatus to mourn his uncle. I think this means a different uncle recently died, and this isn't from the family death last summer, but I've no idea what qualifies as "recent" for the mourning practices He and his family follow. There is a lot of variation across regions and customs)
Their cover involved two acoustic guitars and a bit of keyboard at the chorus.
There was no drumming or bass, but IKUO came out to provide some absolutely heart-rending harmonies.
Words can't describe how beautiful it was.
We gave them a sincere wave of applause.
Takanori thanked Ohshima-san again for taking his vacation days to be there at the concert.
(I've been informed that this is Oshima Kousuke, who has a history of working with Takanori ^^)
When the keyboardist left, Takanori kept talking about him.
Takanori: He plays so beautifully, but he looks like, well, he looks like that. Isn't it surprising, that he can play such sweet and pretty pieces despite looking like that? Don't you think so, Shiba-chan?
Shibasaki: I think you shouldn't judge people based on their appearance.
Crowd: OH SNAP *lololol*
Takanori: *hangs his head for a second*
Shibasaki: *laughing* Sorry 8D
Takanori: Forget it... 8D;
The next cover was a repeat of Lucie wa Moon Face.
I now know that it is, actually, the theme song of Chokotto Night Nippon, so the connection makes rather more sense.
I found it more enjoyable the second time, and of course anything performed by Takanori and his family servants bandmates is always great!
In the closing, we were again told that this talk would be on Chokotto (as indeed part of it has already aired!) and he got us to record the title call again.
Having since heard it, I know they add in the opening chords of Lucie wa Moon Face over the audience applause. It turned out pretty cool!
Takanori dashed... or well, walked swiftly if stiffly in his big puffy robes, offstage, following his bandmates who had decamped before the radio call.
Things went dark, and Tamanori presented us the AKB video again.
(Details skipped because it's exactly the same video as yesterday)
I'd been hoping he might have a different cosplay for day two, but no such luck ^^;
What's worse, from the middle of the crowd I couldn't avoid doing the gestures... and replaying to the chorus lines... and im so ashamed
ITS THOSE THIGHS OF HIS they put a spell on me and I can't help it!
Takako did a better job of the dance on day two, and in particular He nailed the hand signs, 1-10-3-4 for "itoshisa" that he struggled with in the backstage vid. This got him a burst of cheers mid-song.
He stayed onstage after the other dancers, to pose in that outfit for us, too ^^
Can't complain about +that+, just about the fact that I had to head that atrocious song.
When he left us, we got to watch part two of the 2011 recap, Shoushuu Riki through Rock of Ages.
When he came back in his IRF11 outfit - now magically back on his body -, the smoke was slowly filling the stage for maximum effect.
We make revolution is a really great entrance track~
Immediately after they began rocking out to 独裁 - monopolize
I got to enjoy Takanori's legs more from this angle than I had the previous day 8D
He was still taking off pieces of outfit between songs, which I also enjoyed very much.
IMITATION CRIME and LIAR'S SMILE were equally awesome, with much thigh action to enjoy 8DD
Likewise for Out of Orbit, by which point he had removed or undone enough layers to show his Strawberry armour, with all its seed-like dots and that open patch in the front exposing his delicious stomach.
Afterwards, he slowed down again only to speed up with WORDS!
Takanori: Being here at Budokan always reminds me of the past. There was a time when I had no friends, no one I could trust. I really didn't trust other people at all. But that was a long time ago, and now I can come here every year. That's all because of you guys!
We cheered, and he directed the cheering by calling the different sections out.
Takanori: Wow, you really do whatever I tell you, don't you? My crowd is super-duper M tonight!
Obviously, he enjoyed this fact very, very much 8D
When he had us good and whipped, he threw away the top of his armour to leave only the black halter top thing underneath!
Time for Naked Arms!
His arms were not -quite- naked since he still had all the straps on them, but who can complain about that 8DD
This and SWORD SUMMIT were as energetic and hyper and clashing as always, full of crowd jumps and shouts and headbanging members and zoomy zippy Turbo!!!
He then addressed us one more time, giving time for his keyboardist to come get set up. First he thanked the crowd profusely for being at his party, again.
Takanori: I truly grateful for my supporters, even though sometimes I don't know how to keep up with you people. I'm just a singer and yet people do so much for me. Well, I say "just a singer" but according to wikipedia I'm an actor and a voice actor, seriously wikipedia calls me a voice actor
He laughs, but its true. He is. We all know about Gundam SEED!
Takanori: And sometimes, my news gets posted on wikipedia faster than my staff can put it on the official website. Sometimes I wonder if I should just check wikipedia myself to keep up :p. But that's wiki, and it has its own problems.
When everything was set up right, he led us into Heart of Sword
At least half the song was audience-sung, as he went from one side of the stage to other and pointed the mic at us ^-^
So sweet, and so powerful, given... everything.
I was sad to see him run off, despite knowing perfectly he'd soon be back for the encore.
After just a few minutes of Turbo calls, he did indeed come rushing back, now wearing a t-shirt with the hotpants at the bottom of his IRF outfit.
Takanori: 2011 was a hard year for a lot of people. As an individual, there isn't much else I can do but what I'm already doing, which is to keep touring and singing to bring happiness and energy to as many people as possible. Whenever you feel down, whenever you have problems, please, think of me. Think of this loud idiot in hotpants, think of this crazy little idiot on the stage, and I'll make you feel better. OK?
(He was using "baka" in a self-deprecating but affectionate way, if that makes sense)
And so he burned himself further into our brains with a fantastic performance of Black or White?
followed, as the previous day, by LEVEL 4
He does what he does so very, VERY well ^-^
and despite his remarks to the contrary, he does everything else perfectly well too!!
Takanori: Since there's nothing else I can do but sing, I MAY AS WELL SING IT!!
With that shout, he stripped off his shirt for the finale: WHITE BREATH
He should never wear a shirt for that song, ever 8D
To be perfectly honest I barely noticed anything but the Strawberry flesh running back and forth on stage 8DD
I think the other members were moving around too but... *distracted*
The end of the song went out extra long, with much dancing and spinning from the members, who were showing off.
In particular, SUNAO was spinning around in circles and doing a silly dance XD
They joined hands for the final bow, and it was a LONG one!
All the more time to applaud them~
At the very very end, with all the members gone, Takanori alone (with his nipples) addressed us one last time.
Takanori: Thanks again for kicking off 2012 with me. As you know, Live Revolution 11-12 is going to last until spring, and I'm pleased to announce that I've managed to book two concerts in Miyagi!! I'm going to take all your energy to them! The final will be in Miyagi!!
He proudly announced the dates, and then was visibly struck by a thought.
Takanori: Oops. Those dates are wrong, I just remembered Miyagi's not the final. Uhm forget what I said.
^^;
Takanori: Only one last thing to say! You know what it is! SO SAY IT WITH ME!
10000 people and one Strawberry shouted in unison: SEE YOU AGAIN!!
After he left, the screens showed a brief announcement of the *real* final, which as you probably know by now is being held in Tokyo.
I doubt I'll go, I just don't see myself running off to Tokyo in the midsts of all the other travel I have planned this year, but in any case a lot of people at Budoukan clearly ARE planning to go because there were lots of cheers~
Good for them! Good for Him!
That concludes my NYP12 experiences.
I'll be seeing him again very *very* soon though~
Happy New Year all!
Now with extra twitteryness!
I made sure to arrive on time for the opening of the doors on day 2, because I wanted a longer, clearer look at the Twitter party!
As you probably know, Takanori wanted to connect the world to his New Year Party, and he chose to do it via Twitter.
From the moment the venue opened (and possibly before, but if so no one would see but him and his staff) tweets addressed @TMR15 and including the hashtag #NYP12 were displayed on the main screen inside.
A lot of the tweets were pretty basic things like "I'm so excited!" or "My seat is in $section$ the view is $adjective$" and so on, but there were also some pretty interesting and creative ones here and there. Also, major theme was New Year's goals, since He had asked people to do so.
On our end, the English-speaking internet fandom banded together to make our voices heard!
I wasn't 100% sure it would work, but as I got to my seat and saw:
@TMR15 DO A BARREL ROLL! #NYP12
from cozindustries
I loled and immediately began tweeting about all the English-language tweets I saw.
I think everyone concerned got a tweet to such effect, but if you were tweeting too and I wasn't tweeting back to you, comment and I'll try to remember if I saw you :3
While all the tweets I saw go up on screen were either in Japanese or in English, there were occasional "blank" tweets that I suspect might have been in some other character set, like Korean or Cyrillic or something, that just wasn't surviving the display system. Who knows?
My best tweet that went up was @TMR15 (￣▽￣)tits please(￣▽￣)b #NYP12
At the ~20 minutes to go mark, the very special announcements began!
Normally, any concert will have an announcement about the rules, things like "no filming", "don't throw things at the stage", and so on.
Here, though, the announcement was read by Takanori himself (though he introduced himself and signed off as SNSD; I thought it might mean he'd copy K-Pop instead) in a very special voice 8D
In addition to the actual rules, he specified all sorts of extra things, like "If you break any of these rules, the organizer, sponsor, mastermind, in other words, Nishikawa-chan, will ABSOLUTELY NOT be held responsible". Also, "No Faxing", and "Follow the staff's instructions, at least as long as you're in here. When you leave you can ignore them, but while you're here you should really listen to them".
Best of all, he expanded the "don't throw things" part in a lot of detail, specifying that "bottles, towels, food, laser pointers, RICE SCOOPS..."
(right at this moment, @TMR15 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ #NYP12 by ruby_moon_1x2 appeared on screen *ahem* you spanker)
...chopsticks, faxes, pictures of faxes, faxes of pictures, any paper, especially ESPECIALLY the Fan Club sign up forms placed on each seat..." should not be thrown at the stage.
I missed part of the list because I was laughing too hard XDD
Also, the usual rule about turning phones off was changed to "Turn off all cameras and recorders, I don't care if its tape or digital just turn it off, but don't turn your phones off because I want you to TWEET!! TWEET FOR YOUR LIVES until I tell you to stop"
After this uproarious announcement, there were some tweets from IKUO that were apparently SUNAO, Shibasaki, and Hasegawa-san tweeting with Red's phone ^^
At 5 minutes to go, the twitter party ended as Takanori's voice told us to turn our phones off. So I did.
Overall, it really worked to Turbocharge the atmosphere, at least for part of the audience.
I could hear some people sitting behind me express confusion as to wtf twitter even is o.O so clearly the 21st century hasn't reached *everybody*.
Soon enough, the lights went out and we got started!
From my new perch in the middle of the arena (almost exactly the geometric centre of the seating area, actually) I could see things I hadn't before.
Most prominent was the roof!
Yesterday, the second balcony overhead blocked my view of the shrine-like roof! that crowned the red pillars. The lights reflecting off the stage and up to the roof made for some interesting shadows on the ceiling of the Budokan itself, too.
Very pretty :)
Since I was mostly lined up with the middle, I had a better view of the main screen and looked at it for the videos more than the side screens.
The taiko's appearance out of the floor panels was more dramatic this way, viewed straight-on.
Drum. Drum drum drum. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE
Since the crowd was largely the same as the previous day's crowd, we were able to keep up with the complexifying rhythm for a bit longer, but certainly not for the whole thing. It mostly turned into an encouraging support clap at a fraction of the taiko-ist's pace.
The other members ninja'd in and Takanori popped out of the ground just at the end of the Taiko performance, ready to kick it off with UTAGE.
Today, He'd revised the IRF11 outfit so that it was closer to complete than previously, and he compensated by taking off a whole layer between every song ^-^v
Of course the arm bands remained, and I was glad because I'd missed them yesterday.
FLAGS and The party must go followed, in order, just as electrifying as ever.
Between songs, Takanori was of course stripping, and also shouting rapid-fire streams of words to get us jumping!!!!
Three all-too brief songs in, he thanked us for coming while facing us in his oh-so-tantalizing partially-chest-exposing red "armour", then dashed away to change.
The recap video was the same as for day 1, so I will skip it here.
I was actually relieved that it was the same video since it gave me a chance to recheck things I'd forgotten while writing the first report 8D
After a jaunt through six months of Strawberry Times with Jay Kabira, the lights came back on.
Takanori strolled back on stage in his Warlord outfit, which I could now see faded from silver to sky-blue lower down. And, even though it mostly hid his legs, I'm pretty sure he still had his boots under it since I could see the toes :3
EDIT: He's tweeted a picture of that outfit from his Kyoto show, here. Probably due to the lighting difference between Budokan's stage and his dressing room, it looks bluer in this pic but it was very silvery on stage.
Takanori: Thanks for coming to party with me again!
He then started talking about 2011 and went through the SUJ figures again, but slowed down as he clearly didn't want to repeat himself too much from the previous day and sounded a little sheepish when he did.
Tamanori: It's harder the second time, isnt it?
Takanori: What? No, no, I'm doing fine! And where did you come from?
Tamanori appeared on the screen to much lols and cheering XD
Takanori: You shouldn't have just come out like that! You've ruined the surprise.
Tamanori: For who? Everybody saw me yesterday.
Takanori: Not at all! Not everyone did. Who here wasn't at yesterday's party?
*About 1/3rd of the crowd raises their hands*
Takanori: SEE? You ruined the surprise for them.
Tama: Speaking of ruining things, you totally blew my cover and everyone knows who I really am now.
The crowd lauged knowingly as Takanori feigned innocence and pretended Tamanori was OF COURSE "just" a talking kagami mochi.
(According to the tweets I've seen, it's Ishikawa Akihito doing the voice; he's also the guy in the AKB video. Note that I'm not sure what exactly is supposed to have given him away, but I think it's probably got to do with All Night Nippon references I missed since I've only ever heard a few episodes of it)
In any case, after a bit more crowd-pleasing banter, but no accusations of oggling, they got down to business~
First up, the fail stories!
The stagehand came out to deliver the written stories, and stayed careful out of Strawberry's reach to do so.
Takanori made him get a bit closer and then a bit closer, until he was near enough to get a swipe in at the guys face :p
Takanori: The problem with knowing my staff so well is they know exactly how far my strike range goes.
The first story was from a 15 year old girl who had embarrassed herself by mistakenly thinking the name of an actor in a Georgia Coffee CM was actually "Georgia".
Letter-as-read-by-Takanori: My friends played along, so I thought it was true for months and only just now realized my mistake! I really want to forget this story in 2012!
The second one was about a guy who'd managed to get fired from SEVEN different part-time jobs in 2011.
Takanori: I like that word, "unemployed". It's so simple, such a short way to describe what you do. Hehehe.
Letter-as-read-by-Takanori: Most of the time, it was my own fault. I skipped shifts, or showed up late. Once I showed up four and a half hours late for a five hour shift! My boss' exact words were "Either you quit now, OR YOU DIE".
Takanori was impressed that he even managed to -get- 7 different jobs in the space of year.
Takanori: That's great, getting to try so many different things, that's like doing something new every month or so. Wow...
Next, the complaints section!
It was pretty similar in theme to the day before, this time coming from a mother who "accidentally" let her 4-year-old watch IENOMI, specifically the episode where Takanori was pretending to spank his guest with a rice scoop. Now, the kid likes to play with the rice scoops in the kitchen by running around yelling "SPANKING! SPANKING!"
Takanori put a lot of energy into reading the "SPANKING!" part exactly as an excited four year old would XDDD
He apologised only slightly, mostly arguing instead that it was the parent's own fault for letting their kid watch his LATE NIGHT not-for-kids show in the first place.
Tama: Speaking of that show, I have a complaint about your boy band.
Takanori: Oh, yes, the boys I'm recruiting through IENOMI. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not trying to make a new EXILE. I'm not going to add members until they outnumber the audience. *lauhgs*
Tama: See, the thing is, remember that one guy who said he had a job doing lighting at concerts?
Takanori: Yes?
Tama: He's actually here tonight. And I don't mean in the crowd, I mean he's working the lights at your show, right now.
Takanori: Ehh!
Crowd: *gasp*
Takanori: That's great! That's really cool actually! But how do you know?
Tama: Oh I ran into him while I was out for a smoke and he introduced himself.
The crowd guffawed at this slip of the mascot's character XD
Takanori: Since when do you smoke? You don't have arms, how can you smoke? You just hold it in your mouth the whole time?
Tama: Uh... yes. I'm just cool that way.
Then it was time for congratulations!
One was for an upcoming wedding, arranged so that the new couple would have the same wedding anniversary as the bride's parents.
Incidentally, she was at the live with her mother instead of her fiance ^^
Takanori thought this was just wonderful and wished them a good one for every year to come, with 10 000 people to join in on the word CONGRTULATIONS .
Next was a guy who was about to become a first-time daddy!
Takanori read the letter and discovered that the baby was a girl, due January 29th. So of course, the mom-to-be was in condition for a concert so dad was at the live alone. Also, he was wearing a STRIKES BACK IX shirt.
Takanori: I guess that's good, you'll never be able to take your daughter to the men's show, so its good that you're okay with coming to my shows alone.
Tamanori joined in for a bit of mens-show related teasing, too.
Then 10 000 people congratulated the guy~
And that was that.
Next, it was time for the requests!
Once again, it was brought out by Taabo-kun!
Takanori: Why THANK YOU Taabo-kun! You're such a reliable and hardworking mascot, unlike someone else we know.
Tama: Hey!
Taabo: *waves*
Takanori: Yes, he's a hard worker! By the way if anyone has PR events they need a mascot for, let us know. Right now his mostly working with my fan club manager, so talk to her if you want to book a Taabo-kun appearance. They both work hard, him and my fan club
In any case.
The first request was a sobering one, from a fan who had lost both of her grandparents within months of each other last year.
She was shown on screen while Takanori read her letter, and clearly crying.
The song requested was Tashika na koto, by Oda Kazumasa
(there doesn't seem to be an official PV)
She requested it because it reminds her of grandparents, and is comforting to her.
Takanori: I've been in mourning myself, as I have family that died recently, so when I saw this request a few days ago I thought it would be fitting.
(Birdnote: After the live, he announced he was going on a twitter hiatus to mourn his uncle. I think this means a different uncle recently died, and this isn't from the family death last summer, but I've no idea what qualifies as "recent" for the mourning practices He and his family follow. There is a lot of variation across regions and customs)
Their cover involved two acoustic guitars and a bit of keyboard at the chorus.
There was no drumming or bass, but IKUO came out to provide some absolutely heart-rending harmonies.
Words can't describe how beautiful it was.
We gave them a sincere wave of applause.
Takanori thanked Ohshima-san again for taking his vacation days to be there at the concert.
(I've been informed that this is Oshima Kousuke, who has a history of working with Takanori ^^)
When the keyboardist left, Takanori kept talking about him.
Takanori: He plays so beautifully, but he looks like, well, he looks like that. Isn't it surprising, that he can play such sweet and pretty pieces despite looking like that? Don't you think so, Shiba-chan?
Shibasaki: I think you shouldn't judge people based on their appearance.
Crowd: OH SNAP *lololol*
Takanori: *hangs his head for a second*
Shibasaki: *laughing* Sorry 8D
Takanori: Forget it... 8D;
The next cover was a repeat of Lucie wa Moon Face.
I now know that it is, actually, the theme song of Chokotto Night Nippon, so the connection makes rather more sense.
I found it more enjoyable the second time, and of course anything performed by Takanori and his family servants bandmates is always great!
In the closing, we were again told that this talk would be on Chokotto (as indeed part of it has already aired!) and he got us to record the title call again.
Having since heard it, I know they add in the opening chords of Lucie wa Moon Face over the audience applause. It turned out pretty cool!
Takanori dashed... or well, walked swiftly if stiffly in his big puffy robes, offstage, following his bandmates who had decamped before the radio call.
Things went dark, and Tamanori presented us the AKB video again.
(Details skipped because it's exactly the same video as yesterday)
I'd been hoping he might have a different cosplay for day two, but no such luck ^^;
What's worse, from the middle of the crowd I couldn't avoid doing the gestures... and replaying to the chorus lines... and im so ashamed
ITS THOSE THIGHS OF HIS they put a spell on me and I can't help it!
Takako did a better job of the dance on day two, and in particular He nailed the hand signs, 1-10-3-4 for "itoshisa" that he struggled with in the backstage vid. This got him a burst of cheers mid-song.
He stayed onstage after the other dancers, to pose in that outfit for us, too ^^
Can't complain about +that+, just about the fact that I had to head that atrocious song.
When he left us, we got to watch part two of the 2011 recap, Shoushuu Riki through Rock of Ages.
When he came back in his IRF11 outfit - now magically back on his body -, the smoke was slowly filling the stage for maximum effect.
We make revolution is a really great entrance track~
Immediately after they began rocking out to 独裁 - monopolize
I got to enjoy Takanori's legs more from this angle than I had the previous day 8D
He was still taking off pieces of outfit between songs, which I also enjoyed very much.
IMITATION CRIME and LIAR'S SMILE were equally awesome, with much thigh action to enjoy 8DD
Likewise for Out of Orbit, by which point he had removed or undone enough layers to show his Strawberry armour, with all its seed-like dots and that open patch in the front exposing his delicious stomach.
Afterwards, he slowed down again only to speed up with WORDS!
Takanori: Being here at Budokan always reminds me of the past. There was a time when I had no friends, no one I could trust. I really didn't trust other people at all. But that was a long time ago, and now I can come here every year. That's all because of you guys!
We cheered, and he directed the cheering by calling the different sections out.
Takanori: Wow, you really do whatever I tell you, don't you? My crowd is super-duper M tonight!
Obviously, he enjoyed this fact very, very much 8D
When he had us good and whipped, he threw away the top of his armour to leave only the black halter top thing underneath!
Time for Naked Arms!
His arms were not -quite- naked since he still had all the straps on them, but who can complain about that 8DD
This and SWORD SUMMIT were as energetic and hyper and clashing as always, full of crowd jumps and shouts and headbanging members and zoomy zippy Turbo!!!
He then addressed us one more time, giving time for his keyboardist to come get set up. First he thanked the crowd profusely for being at his party, again.
Takanori: I truly grateful for my supporters, even though sometimes I don't know how to keep up with you people. I'm just a singer and yet people do so much for me. Well, I say "just a singer" but according to wikipedia I'm an actor and a voice actor, seriously wikipedia calls me a voice actor
He laughs, but its true. He is. We all know about Gundam SEED!
Takanori: And sometimes, my news gets posted on wikipedia faster than my staff can put it on the official website. Sometimes I wonder if I should just check wikipedia myself to keep up :p. But that's wiki, and it has its own problems.
When everything was set up right, he led us into Heart of Sword
At least half the song was audience-sung, as he went from one side of the stage to other and pointed the mic at us ^-^
So sweet, and so powerful, given... everything.
I was sad to see him run off, despite knowing perfectly he'd soon be back for the encore.
After just a few minutes of Turbo calls, he did indeed come rushing back, now wearing a t-shirt with the hotpants at the bottom of his IRF outfit.
Takanori: 2011 was a hard year for a lot of people. As an individual, there isn't much else I can do but what I'm already doing, which is to keep touring and singing to bring happiness and energy to as many people as possible. Whenever you feel down, whenever you have problems, please, think of me. Think of this loud idiot in hotpants, think of this crazy little idiot on the stage, and I'll make you feel better. OK?
(He was using "baka" in a self-deprecating but affectionate way, if that makes sense)
And so he burned himself further into our brains with a fantastic performance of Black or White?
followed, as the previous day, by LEVEL 4
He does what he does so very, VERY well ^-^
and despite his remarks to the contrary, he does everything else perfectly well too!!
Takanori: Since there's nothing else I can do but sing, I MAY AS WELL SING IT!!
With that shout, he stripped off his shirt for the finale: WHITE BREATH
He should never wear a shirt for that song, ever 8D
To be perfectly honest I barely noticed anything but the Strawberry flesh running back and forth on stage 8DD
I think the other members were moving around too but... *distracted*
The end of the song went out extra long, with much dancing and spinning from the members, who were showing off.
In particular, SUNAO was spinning around in circles and doing a silly dance XD
They joined hands for the final bow, and it was a LONG one!
All the more time to applaud them~
At the very very end, with all the members gone, Takanori alone (with his nipples) addressed us one last time.
Takanori: Thanks again for kicking off 2012 with me. As you know, Live Revolution 11-12 is going to last until spring, and I'm pleased to announce that I've managed to book two concerts in Miyagi!! I'm going to take all your energy to them! The final will be in Miyagi!!
He proudly announced the dates, and then was visibly struck by a thought.
Takanori: Oops. Those dates are wrong, I just remembered Miyagi's not the final. Uhm forget what I said.
^^;
Takanori: Only one last thing to say! You know what it is! SO SAY IT WITH ME!
10000 people and one Strawberry shouted in unison: SEE YOU AGAIN!!
After he left, the screens showed a brief announcement of the *real* final, which as you probably know by now is being held in Tokyo.
I doubt I'll go, I just don't see myself running off to Tokyo in the midsts of all the other travel I have planned this year, but in any case a lot of people at Budoukan clearly ARE planning to go because there were lots of cheers~
Good for them! Good for Him!
That concludes my NYP12 experiences.
I'll be seeing him again very *very* soon though~
Happy New Year all!