232. Lovecen Presents V6 Live Tour 2015 ~ Since 1995 - Forever ~ Concert Report 09.19, 09.20, 09.21
So here's my report. It's taken me forever, partly because I went to the concerts at the beginning of my trip instead of the end like I usually do, I was super busy running around every day, and then when I got back it was straight back to work where everything is horrible, plus jet lag killing me. Basically what I'm telling you is I'm a garbage human being who's really great at starting things but gets overwhelmed and can't finish them without Herculean effort.
Anyway, I've done my best to divide the report so it's easier to read: first with my seats, then the first half of the show, the MCs, then the second half and encores. If any of the girls I went with want to chime in with stuff I missed in comments, please feel free <3 I hope this is sort of helpful for those of you who didn't get to go this year for whatever reason. It's gonna be great on DVD! Don't forget there's gonna be a broadcast of the concert on 12/6 on WOWOW, preceeded by a broadcast of "Hard Luck Hero" and "Hold Up Down"! I'm curious how different the broadcast will be from the DVD (if it will be at all). If nothing else, I hope the DVD comes out quickly, because I'm jonesin hard for it. This is a really, REALLY well-produced show, and I'm just so happy with everything about this whole tour.
Photo posts of goods will come later. For now, enjoy the words!
My seats! Saturday were my FC seats, second floor, right next to the walkway. Sunday and Monday we got Lawson tickets in the standing section since they were the only ones under $250. My feet hated me for it but it was worth it (we'll get to why later (unless you follow me on tumblr and already know why)). I didn't manage to get a picture of my Monday seats since there were too many staff around me, though we were just one section over, slightly further from the stage.
Saturday
Sunday
Monday (thanks to my lovely and wonderful friend for sending me this~)
Oh, and since it's on my public twitter, here's the Lovecen trucks.
and while I'm here, here's some extra pictures of yours truly, the raging narcissist: Outside Yokoari on Monday, with Maa-kun on the Lovecen truck
So you know how most concerts start out with the intro video? None of that this time. Instead, a piano version of "Wait For You" plays and illuminates their silhouettes on stage in front of the screen. The piano version is really gorgeous and I really hope we get a physical copy of the new version (not just the DVD card one). With the special "Wait For You" intro, all they do is the opening part, and then get everyone fired up for "MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE."
"MFTP" they dance on the main stage and do the intro, the first verse, the chorus, and then another chorus. It was so fun to see it done in concert! During the Monday show, Inocchi talked about how he messed up during it for the first time since they've done it (he was like "we've done it however many times, but I messed up for the first time tonight"). He said how, because of the fans to the right of him, he got messed up and didn't lift his leg over Ken's head in the last part of the chorus, and then tried to do it really quick when he realized he'd gotten screwed up. Ken was like "I THOUGHT I MESSED UP! because I didn't feel your leg go over my head" and Inocchi was like "it was those fans on that side over there!" (pointing to the fans stage right, because the two of them were standing near that side during the MC). Poor Inocchi, statistically, you were bound to mess up sometime. They also talked about how Nagano messed up when they were doing FNS.
After a short version of "MFTP," it's apparently time to kill everyone in the audience with "Supernova." It's the new choreography (which I have to say, I'm not a super huge fan of :\ especially since the first time I saw it was in concert with the pole dancing and yeah, how you gonna top that?). During the "gotta gotta havin a good time" breakdown, they do this really sweet thing with the lights. So what they do is, remember the ropes from "VOLTAGE" during the "VIBES" con where they get themselves tangled up in them and dance with them? It's like that. They have green lights shine down on them as a spotlight (with a blue outline around the edge) and as it's each member's turn to sing, the spotlight spins around them. They then do shit with their hands and like, split it like they did with the ropes during "VOLTAGE." It's hard to explain but it's a really sweet effect. It looked coolest from our seats the first night on the second floor but it's also neat from slightly further back in the arena.
They do the whole dance for "air" that they always do which always kills me (it also kills me that they put "air" after "Supernova," what a bunch of dicks), only this time, with the stage, right, it had six blocks that move up and down, and as each member does their solo parts, the member is up on the blocks in the back singing as the other four do the dance on the other four blocks on the level below them (but still up above the stage). During Maa-kun's "yeah yeah yeah yeah" part, he's standing in the center on the very back on top, snaps his fingers, and a sparkler comes up on the screen from the bottom and as his voice echoes, it explodes into a gorgeous gold firework. It's a nice touch.
After that, they start to make their way around the arena to the center stage and do "太陽があたる場所." During Monday's show, Maa-kun got tongue-tied and messed up singing the first part of the first verse ♥ They only do the first verse, bridge and chorus of this (they cut a lot of songs short during this concert because holy fuck, so many songs to do) before they cut to the "la la la"s and have everyone sing along. Saturday night, they encouraged us to sing louder and sang the whole thing one extra time so we'd get louder. Sunday night, Maa-kun said we sang beautifully, and Monday night, we had to get slightly encouraged but still sang it well and loud. Go team.
They go to the stage in the back of the arena and do the first verse and chorus of "Can Do! Can Go!" There's not much to say about this one aside from the fact that it's just super cute ♥ (also nice to hear V6 sing it again instead of Juniors on Shokura for a change).
After this, they're back on the center stage to do one of my favourite songs, "SPOT LIGHT." This one is just SO FUN to sing along with with the motions they have the crowd do with them and it's also just such a fun performance. Monday night, the ladies in front of us were total dancers in that they were just losing their minds and dancing their fool heads off with V6 the whole time. They really got into it during "SPOT LIGHT." Really, though, the song is just as fun in concert as it looked on the single DVD.
For the next song, they're back to the main stage to do one of my FAVOURITE SONGS EVER, "Good Day!!" They have a really cute background on the screen for this one, but I can't really remember what exactly it was D: Either way, the dance is just so fun and they look like they're having such fun doing it. Saturday night, iirc, Okada lifted Inocchi up a little, Sunday felt him up, and then Monday night totally picked him up and lifted him off his feet. IRIC, they only do the first part of "Good Day!!" before they move on to everyone else's favourite, "HONEY BEAT."
So yeah, "HONEY BEAT" happens and everyone is stupid. I forget what each member did, but I remember them all making faces different nights and during Sunday's (?) MC, Inocchi giving Maa-kun shit for trying to look so cool and cute during it. They don't do the whole song, but we get the first verse, the chorus, and then the end parts so we get plenty of chances to do the furitsuke with them (and can I say, I forgot how awkward it is to try do to "HONEY BEAT" with uchiwa (well, assuming you're not trying to hit the poor person next to you with them or block the people behind you)).
After "HONEY BEAT" is the first short MC. Every night, Inocchi was like "IT'S SO HOT! Aren't you all hot?" Saturday night we were all like "YES GOD IT'S SO HOT" and the other nights we just agreed with them. Every night, too, they had us all fan them with our uchiwa and I gotta say, it really did cool down the arena some. Way to put our fangirly powers to good use, Inocchi. So most of this MC was the same every night, just bee tee dubs. Inocchi would ask Okada if he was doing well/if he was feelin it, and Okada would act like the awkward idiot he is and be like, "don't worry, everyone -- I'm feelin good!" and make these stupid, exaggerated faces because basically, he's a giant dork. After Okada Stupid Faces Hour, Inocchi would say something about how it's been 20 years and would segue into talking about the ages of the fans. First he'd ask who was in their 20s, and most of the arena would respond. Next was their 30s (Saturday night, Maa-kun (and I think Inocchi?), said how we were all sexy now that we're in our 30s. Fuck yeah we are). Next was their 40s, and the women in their 40s have that subtle refinement (he literally used "wabisabi"). Next 50s, for which a few women responded, and when they did, Inocchi went "wow, you're so charming! Here I thought you were 20!" and Maa-kun went "bro, you're a genius!" Next 60s, and they got a few Saturday. Sunday night it was so funny because this older lady was standing a few over from us up in the standing section and she was the only lady to respond to "who's in their 60s?" and when she called out "me!" she immediately realized she was the only one and went "OMG JUST ME?!" and got all embarrassed, poor lady, it was so cute. Inocchi was like "it might be unbelievable, but let's see -- anyone in their 70s?" and they got a few Saturday night and I think maybe one on Monday, but no one on Sunday if I remember right. Saturday they had a lady in her 80s at the concert. Every night, Inocchi would go up to 90s, and every night no one would respond, but he'd always go "it's ok, I heard them in my heart." Then he'd ask how many people there were in their teens, and they'd get a good few, and then be like "HUH? Are we OK?" Ken was like "We're old men, you know!" Then they'd be like "but there's ages lower than that -- where are all the kids?!" and a bunch of adorable little "here"s would ring out. Sunday they had a whole section of kids, it sounded like, so they had them do call and response a couple times, it was adorable. Then they'd call out for the dudes, and there were quite a few each night. Sunday and Monday, we were behind this one same couple, and the dude had an uchiwa and penlight and knew all the songs and choreography. That guy was great. I wanna be their friend. Last was the staff, who'd call out from all parts of the arena, and on Saturday (or was it Sunday?), they had them call out from backstage twice (they didn't get as energetic a response the second time). And then Inocchi was like "all of us together, we're gonna make this a great show."
Anyway, after that, they'd basically just leave it up to Kamisen for the rest of the MC while Tonisen went to change, but they'd tell us how it's their 20th anniversary concert and they've got a lot to sing, including songs from Tonisen and Kamisen, and that's basically when they'd go change.
So Sunday night was adorable because Tonisen went down to change and literally no one in Kamisen said anything and Go started laughing his adorable little laugh. I swore to myself I'd try to remember what happened during Kamisen's MCs, but I have just totally forgotten. Lots of talk about "wow it's been 20 years" and this and that. OH! They did talk about how when they're in their dressing rooms, they just naturally kind of end up sitting together as Tonisen and Kamisen.
After Kamisen's MC, Tonisen come out to do "Honey" and each night, there was like, this massive hug-off, particularly between Go, Ken, and Inocchi. Sunday night, Ken was the last to go back down to change and instead of just going and giving everyone a hug, he jumped up on Maa-kun's back and rode him around for the first part of the first verse (pretty much right up until the chorus). Y'all, it was literally the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. Nothing is ever gonna top that (unless Ken does it again, which, knowing Ken, is entirely likely). So Tonisen does "Honey" and it's great because the song is great and Tonisen is great.
After that, it's time to get serious again, though. Everyone goes to the center stage and in the center stage, there's an empty chair under a spotlight. Everyone is around it in a big circle around the edge of the stage (the stage is round, obviously) and singing "涙のアトが消える頃" while the stage slowly rotates. The lights for this one were really gorgeous -- they have a ring of lights suspended from the ceiling (flat lights, not like light bulbs like in Go's Sekubani solo) that move up and down, so in the later parts of the song, they'd be hanging down about midway between V6 and the ceiling, and they can also move in waves, so some would be higher and others as they rotated around them and it created a gorgeous effect. At the same time, they'd have lights reflecting from the bottom of the stage and the lights would basically split. I really do have to give it up to whomever designed their lighting this tour, they really earned their pay (my nephew's a lighting designer and that shit is hard, so I really commend them).
After that, there's chairs lining the stage from the center to the outer ring of the arena and they do "GUILTY" only this time, everyone is sitting down. For Go's "yo baby, I feel so guilty" and "baby, just hold me tight" he's got a red spotlight on him. They only do the first verse, chorus, rap, and then the breakdown and last part. I'm for real -- the "GUILTY" dance on chairs is pretty sexy, and they do it really well.
After this, Tonisen slip out and Kamisen are all back on the main stage and do "キミノカケラ." I remember from Saturday and Sunday that the background of this on the big screen is mostly the lyrics, and on the monitors around the arena, everyone is in black and white instead of in colour. Moody. I really can't say much beyond that except that this is a really beautiful song to hear everyone sing live. I already liked this song a lot but hearing it live -- my feelings.
Next is everyone's favourite, "will," which never disappoints. I want to say everyone was on the blocks as they moved but I can't be sure. I'll correct myself on all these things after I go to the Yoyogi shows.
After this, it's back to the center stage for your favourite and mine, "Break the Wall!" They have the crazy coloured lights again for this one. During the instrumental part of the song, they had a green light that spread out around the arena and basically divided top and bottom, it was REALLY IMPRESSIVE. A lot of the lighting during the actual song was a lot like what we saw on the Sekubani tour, but they used a lot more lasers and shit this time. At the end of the song, V6 walk back to the main stage and as they reach the end of the walkway, they turn around and shine laser pointers up at the back ceiling of the arena (Inocchi messed his up Saturday night, poor thing). Also, this is one of the few songs they actually did the whole song of (bless ♥)
So basically, everyone is wiped after this, so it only makes sense that this is where they have the first MC.
Saturday:
So after panting and apologizing for being so exhausted, Inocchi asked us all to take a seat and was like "IT'S HOT." and then I think Okada? went "I'm hot, too" (in the temperature sense), and then they all joked with him like "oh, yeah, you're so hot~". They talked about how it's their 20th year and this and that. They said something about how they've danced a lot, and how Leader is totally fine and OK, and Inocchi was like "it's amazing, though, he's 44!" and how it surprised him.
After that, they pimped out the "SUPER Very Best" editions on sale at the con. Inocchi said how they have 45 singles on it and a lot of old songs and stuff. And how this year they did 24 Hour TV and were together for a long time (Ken agreed), and then he mentioned how they're doing another "Gakkou e Ikou!" SP this year and everyone clapped. And then Inocchi just had to make us all feel super old and say "so 'Gakkou e Ikou!' ended 7 years ago, and there are probably people in the audience now who've never known 'Gakkou e Ikou!'" (i.e. they weren't alive when GeI was on the air). Thanks for that, Inocchi.
After this, they talked about how Ken's gotten more and more averse to people touching him. So like when the choreographer or someone will grab his arm and bring him over to where they want him to be, Ken doesn't like that and he'll want to swat their arm away. Inocchi asked if it was OK if the other members touched him and he was like "...yeah, that's fine. It's just people I don't know."
They talked about some other stuff after this but I honestly forget what, but after THAT was my favourite part of any and every MC: so they were talking about Ken being Ken and how they haven't really changed in 20 years and theyr'e still themselves, and they bring Go into it because Go just hasn't been talking up to this point. And Go's talking about how he's glad they have Ken because Ken helps him out. So Go had to return a thing and call someone on the phone and get his money back, so he gave the phone to Ken and have Ken just pretend to be him and do it for him. And the funniest part is they're talking about how when Go will give the phone to Ken or Ken gives it to Go, it's always difficult when the voice changes so dramatically (from Ken's to Go's or vice versa).
And continuing on the subject of Ken, Okada talked about how Ken has a lot of wise sayings/good words to say to him. Like earlier, he told Okada he has confidence in him. Inocchi was like "THAT'S AMAZING! Wait why was he even saying that?" and Okada talked about how he was worrying and overthinking things and this and that, and Ken said that it'll be fine because Ken has confidence in him. Everyone was really impressed and all "that's so nice!" And Inocchi said how they're an amazing group.
So after this was my second favourite part of any MC: a mystery note Inocchi found on his seat at "Asaichi" before they went on air. It read:
"To Inohara-kun,
"Relax. You've got that winning smile on again today! Japan's morning starts with 'Asaichi'!
(Read the bottom)
From The World's Ken :)"
So what had happened was Ken was filming for "Minna no Shuwa" amd after it was done, found himself in the "Asaichi" studio when no one was there and he took some pictures of himself going around doing stuff. Oh god, this is gonna be amazing on the MC collection on the DVD, but he was like, in the studio, then at everyone's desks, then in Inocchi's chair. The pictures were hilarious, but my favourite part was Ken going "OK, next! OK, next!" and having the staff flip through the pictures on the screen (HIS VOICE IS SO CUTE). The pictures were hilarious, y'all, we were D Y I N G. Ken made sure to remind us all at the end that no one else was in the studio with him, but he got their manager to take the photos for him.
I forget what they talked about next, but after that, Inocchi asked Nagano what's been up lately, and was like "other than talking with Sakamoto-kun ... probably nothing, right?" But Nagano said no, he'd been touching Okada's butt. And then Inocchi told the audience how Sakamoto and Nagano messed up during the "二人恋人のように" part in "Supernova" because they'd accidentally turned to face one another instead of facing away. Then he said how Nagano and Sakamoto were so into the dance and it was SO CREEPY TO HIM and then they'd been singing during the Kamisen part in "一夜だけのSupernova" and he was the only one not singing. I honestly forget what all they said after that because I was laughing too hard (they're so hilarious, I've missed them so much).
After everyone regained their composure, Inocchi and Okada pimped out "SUPER Very Best" with the DVD card for the special version of "Wait For You" that they sing at the beginning. Inocchi also warned us that they're gonna be releasing more and more singles, so look out! and then they all laughed like "look out for what?" and Inocchi apologized because he's exhausted. And then they asked us if we were ready and all that and went back to change for the second half of the show.
Sunday:
Sunday, Inocchi was wiped again, and was like "are you sweating?!" and Tonisen were like "yeah, it's so hot!" Nagano was like "it's hotter than yesterday!" and Inocchi asked us all if we'd bought towels and made sure to remind us that they're also selling t-shirts, so get one of those, too. Also, he thanked us for getting so excited with them and said "おおきに" and was like "that's Osaka's version" and told Okada he hadn't spoken in Osaka-ben at all and so he went "ほんまおおきに" and Inocchi said he'd never heard that before. Okada and Nagano then proceeded to speak to one another in high-pitched voices in Osaka-ben, all "we've been together for 20 years" "that's right~ we'll always be together~."
They talked again about how it's their 20th anniversary and this and that, and also mentioned how they made the video screens bigger for this tour.
So this is where they started talking about Hey! Say! JUMP and Okada said he likes Inoo-kun. Inocchi reminded us all they did 24 Hour TV with JUMP and how Tonisen is used to always being around people younger than them because they're always with Kamisen, but Kamisen isn't, so it was totally new for them to see Okada all the time being like "they're so cute. Chinen is so cute~" Okada said Daiki is cute, too, and everyone gasped and was all shocked (everyone except me. I clapped a lot because DAIKI IS THE CUTEST). Inocchi said he got a text from Daiki right after 24 Hour TV was over that he was going to do his best to get Kamisen to be into him.
They talked some about Go and Aiba working together, and how Aiba thought Go was nice and that kind of thing. He said how he'd done "Tensai Shimura Doubutsuen" with him and how Aiba sent him a text the day afterward. Only Go sent a reply while he was asleep that was intended for someone other than Aiba (his girlfriend, basically) and Aiba sent him a reply like "yeah... hey, sempai, I think this was meant for someone else." This is when Inocchi mentioned how the members don't know Go's phone number/address for texting. Ken's like "really?" and Inocchi asked him if he knows and he's like "I don't. I've never really thought about it. I figure if I don't, I don't." Okada was like "every time we find it out, he changes it." Go said that's not how it is, and he just changes it cos he feels like changing it. Inocchi asked him if he's changed it since Aiba texted him, and he said probably. "So are you gonna tell Aiba your new one?" "Probably not."
They talked a little more about kouhai, but I forget what all they said. Inocchi asked Nagano if he ever goes out with kouhai, and he said he doesn't really. He went out to eat with Tsubasa, but it'd been like, 10 years since then, and Inocchi talked about how they haven't really mingled a lot with the other groups. Okada was like "Inocchi probably has the most out of all of us." He goes out to eat with them, too, like with Matsujun and Murakami and gets drunk and apologizes. Maa-kun was like "it's fine to go out and get drunk with your kouhai" and Inocchi was like "you go out and get drunk a lot." Ken was like "yeah, after concerts, he totally does." Maa-kun was like "I do?" and Ken was like "yeah, on the shikansen coming back." Inocchi swore he was drunk in the dressing room. Nagano was like "yeah, we all went and got bento and all he got was snacks for the train." This next part was my favourite: so Ken was like "after the concert, we went to a conbini in the neighbourhood and Sakamoto-kun went straight for the beer cooler." Inocchi was like "yeah, after we get done with work, sometimes he'll come over and on the way, he'll absolutely stop at a conbini, and he gets an entire six pack. I get so worried about him like, IS HE OK?! and then I figure, oh, it's probably fine, that's just his beer for the week, AND THEN THE NEXT DAY, HE'D ALREADY DRANK THEM ALL!" Ken was like "he drinks too much!" I missed what Maa-kun said in response because I was literally falling over laughing (MY PRECIOUS LITTLE LUSH, LET'S BOTH DRINK TOO MUCH TOGETHER)
After this, Ken accidentally admitted he and Go had showered together, and was liek "WAIT, NO, I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!" and everyone got all scandalized and made fun of him. It was a total accident on Ken's part and he accidentally walked in on Go and they talked about how nicely he washes himself. Okada I guess washes himself the same way? It's hard to describe without you being able to see the pantomime. Inocchi talked about how Osaka-jo Hall has a huge tub and asked who'd gone in it, and Okada said he and Go had together. Go said he didn't realize Okada was in there and he was in the shower room and Okada was in the tub and he walked out of the shower and for whatever reason through there was an old man in the tub but it turned out to be Okada. Nagano chimed in after this all "Go came back to the dressing room with a huge grin on his face, all, 'I was in the bath with Okada!'" Inocchi said how he and Maa-kun had bathed together before and how when Maa-kun gets in the tub, he does the really old man "aaaaaah~" sounds, only he does it like two or three times and not just once. Ken said how girls really don't do that (Ken, honey, you should have heard me when I got back to my room and off my feet for the day. Girls definitely make those sounds). Inocchi asked Nagano what he thought about him and Sakamoto-kun together and he was like "eh." Ken was like "are you just quietly angry?" and Nagano was like "nah, just like 'huh, ok.'"
After this, they talked more about how Ken doesn't like people he doesn't know touching him. Ken was like "we were rehearsing one of the songs we were gonna sing on 24 Hour TV and Nakajima-kun got really into the song and everything and touched me and I really hated it." Inochi was like "you're terrible!" Okada was like "he was doing his best!" and Ken was like "I didn't say anything, I just thought it!" When he's in dance rehearsals, he also hates it when the choreographer will grab him and bring him over to where he needs to be. He was like "just call me over and I'll come. You guys are fine, though. But with Nakajima-kun, I was like 'HUH - oh, I hate this' but then I just smiled at him."
They didn't talk about a whole lot after that -- mostly just "we've danced a lot, and we've got more dancing to do, so are you ready?" Inocchi had us stand up, stretch out our arms, and then Ken started a whole calisthenics class, having us roll our necks and do proper streching and stuff, and Maa-kun was like "how did this end up happening at a V6 concert?" Ken was like "you gotta, cos otherwise you'll be stretching, all *waves* 'Inocchi! Inocchi!' *pretends to pull a back muscle*" (I do have to say, it was REALLY nice stretching because the standing section life is really, really hard).
Monday:
Inocchi and Maa-kun started out talking about how they're really sweating and they really danced a lot this time. Inocchi asked Maa-kun how he's doing and Maa-kun was confused, but Inocchi was like "well, you really got into 'Honey Beat' and [mimes Maa-kun's faces and shit]" and Maa-kun was like "I just got into it..."
The main thing I remember from this MC was them talking about standby time before the concert. Inocchi said how Ken gets ready really early and he agreed. Okada said how Ken and Go change for the show like an hour before the show and what's up with that. Go said he changes for the show really, really early. Inocchi asked why, like was it to get himself in the mood for the show and Go was like "yeah." Ken said how Go had changed for today's show an hour and a half beforehand. For Sunday's show, he'd changed two hours beforehand. Also, he didn't eat apparently? Tonisen tend to change later than Kamisen. Nagano said how he'd just barely made it today. Inocchi then went "That Sakamoto Masayuki, we were waiting before the show and there was like 10 minutes left and he still wasn't there and I was like 'is he OK?' What was up with that, Masa?!" Maa-kun was like "I'm always late. I change like 3 or 4 minutes beforehand." Everyone gasped and Ken was like "wow, that's cutting it really close." (I screamed a lot because I also don't change until the last minute) I forget what all they said after this, but I do remember they kept calling him "Mssa" and it was hilARIOUS to me.
Next, they moved onto talking about doing "Stomp" for 24 Hour TV and Ken said he still remembered his part from it so Inocchi had him do it agian for everyone. Inocchi was like "YOU FORGOT, THO! SEE!" cos Ken messed up apparently.
I forget what happened after that, but I remember Inocchi pointing out how Nagano messed up one part in "GUILTY" and they all made fun of him for it.
And since they were talking about messing up, this is where Inocchi was like "so, we have these songs we've been doing for 20 years, right? Like 'MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE.' Well, tonight, for the first time ever, I messed up during it. Because of the fans on this side *motions stage right* they were all into it and I was all into it, and the part where Ken kneels down and I swing my leg over him--" and Ken interrupts him like "YEAH YEAH YEAH! At that part, I always feel your leg go over me, and this time I didn't feel it at all! And then I was like, wait, maybe I messed up???" Inocchi was like "I thought about doing it real fast but then I might have hit you" and Ken was like "yeah, that's dangerous." Inocchi kept going all "IT'S ALL THESE FANS OVER HERE'S FAULT! COME ON!"
Inocchi was all "we've been doing some songs for 20 years and I'm sure there are ones we've never messed up on!" Go was like "no way" and Inocchi was like "yeah, I'm sure we have before." He then went on to talk about how on the summer FNS, Nagano messed up during one of the songs. I could hardly make heads or tails out of the next part because they were literally all yelling over one another about messing up and mostly just yelling at Inocchi. Ah, stupids <3
Inocchi talked about how he'd been watching old V6 videos since it's their 20th year and remembering a lot of stuff, things they'd done, "oh, that's how it was/it was like that," that kinda thing, and how they have more songs to sing after this, more dances to do, and are we ready for the second half? Then they had us stretch again like we did the night before, with Ken leading us (seriously, this was SO WELCOME after standing for hours and hours).
Hey, look at you, you made it all the way through that! Good for you!
After this, they go back and change and the second half of the show is the "Thank You Symphony (39交響曲)."
The VTR starts out with some stuff about the universe, then about the world's population, then Japan's population. Then statistics about the odds of two people on the opposite side of Japan being able to meet, and then the odds that everyone in V6 would be able to meet. Then it calculated how many fans V6 has been able to see in concert, then the amount of time they've spent with one another. From what I've read of other reports, the number actually changes each day to include the previous day's concert in the totals. Then it says -- in English -- "Thank you for all you do for me. The Thank You Symphony" and changed back to Japanese to be "いつもありがとう。 39交響曲"
- The First Movement -
The first song in the symphony (which is, I should point out, a really, REALLY well done medley of all the songs they sing in the second half, plus some other songs they don't sing also mixed in) is "Orange." Remember in the "Musicmind" con how they came down from the top of the arena? They don't come out from the top, but they do come out from behind the screen on a moving platform, so the effect is kind of the same. They only sing the first verse and then the chorus, but it was still enough to make me want to cry (I LOVE THIS SONG A LOT OK).
Next was "COSMIC RESCUE" which is always great every time they do it. It was really only the intro and chorus, IIRC, but it's still great.
After that, they faked us out with the intro to "Sexy.Honey.Bunny!" They all line up and Maa-kun gets ready to do his "Sexy!" and right as he's about to say it, one of the other members jumps in and does it first. IIRC Ken jumped in the first time on Saturday night, Nagano first on Sudnay night, and Nagano again on Sunday.
Instead of Sekubani, they went next to MY ETERNAL JAM, "IN THE WIND"! They only did the chorus, but THAT'S OK, THEY STILL DID IT! ALL MY VOTES PAID OFF!
After this, they tried to do the Sekubani intro again, and again Maa-kun got punked. Saturday was Ken, Sunday night it was Go the second time, and then Monday was Inocchi!
After that was the intro and chorus of "愛なんだ" which, yeah, OK, it's played out in music shows, but it's cute in concert. They basically remixed a lot of the songs this time, so it was extra fun. I think this first part was just the rap.
- The Second Movement -
When they start the second movement, they do the intro to Sekubani again, and this time, Maa-kun looks around, half-suspicious, half-dejected, and when he realizes no one's gonna jump in, he actually does his "Sexy!" (and murders me in the process), and then they do the song.
After a short version of Sekubani, they do the chorus of "愛なんだ."
Next is "kEEP oN." starting from the part before the chorus, and they splice it up a bit, IIRC. Saturday night, Maa-kun COMPLETELY forgot his "Sunday Monday 朝まで" part and there was just nothing (except the wave of embarassment you could feel emanating from him) (I laughed, I'm not gonna lie to you guys, it's hilarious when he forgets his lines). They definitely did the "la la la" part, I remember that.
After this was a short version of "WAになっておどろう" (mostly just the hook and the "la la la"s). Not much to report other than my feelings about it (I taught the song to my preschool students and one of them can't really speak but learned the whole chorus really quickly and loves dancing around to it and I sing it to him when he gets upset to help calm him down so I was overcome by F E E L I N G S).
The last part of the second movement is a short version of "バリバリBUDDY" during which they definitely do the whole ending and everybody dances along with it and then it wipes V6 out because it really is a good workout.
Next is the second VTR. This one shows how many concerts V6 have done (each time adding to the total), how many hours they've spent doing concerts, how many staff have worked with them on their concerts. Next was ones about V6, like the percentage of Nagano going out to eat in the local area after concerts (100%), the amount of times Ken hasn't talked in concert (pretty much 0%), and the amount of times Inocchi's gotten fired up/worked up in concerts (about 100%). I was all there with my feelings and ready to cry about the miracle that is V6 and then they hit me with the stupid of Ken and god dammit, V6.
After the second VTR, they come back out for
- The Third Movement -
They sing all of "メジルシの記憶"
And I won't lie to you, this is where I forgot basically everything that happened Saturday night. SO! What happens is Maa-kun first comes out on the top of the arena stands (F block), Inocchi opposite him on the other side of the arena (we couldn't see Inocchi Friday but we could see Maa-kun, so we all started freaking out about who was where). Ken was in A block, Go was up in the second floor stands, and Nagano in C block. Saturday night, Okada walked around the second floor stands and came over to us. He really takes his time shaking hands and smiling and saying hello and stuff. When he got to us, he was singing his part, so he didn't say anything, but he looked me dead in the eye, nodded, and shook my hand. The girl behind us (we were next to the walkway, so she was first row stands behind us) whipped out a sign that said "congratulate me on my wedding" so he spent time congratulating her and missed all my friends who came with :( Sad day. (PS DID I MENTION I ACTUALLY SHOOK OKADA'S HAND AND NOW HE FOR REAL KNOWS I EXIST Okada you're so sweet to me every concert ;____;)
Sunday night, I did not realize the stand for where Maa-kun was going to be singing was like 5 people away from me so when he came out, I was completely taken by surprise. I rushed over and when I got there, I was right in front of him and, yeah, I completely lost all feeling in my body, I lost the ability to breathe, and I thought I was going to shuffle off this mortal coil right then and there. I may have gotten out a feeble "Maa-kun" while trying to get him to look down and wave at me, but no dice. I tried to say something -- ANYTHING -- to him as he turned to go down the stairs, and I reached out to try to touch him, but I couldn't get any words out and my hand was shaking so violently, I never got even close to him. As he went down the stairs, I stumbled back to my spot by the rail and basically fainted on it (my friend I was with asked if I was OK and I shook my head and went "no..."). V6 are literally the only people in this world who can render my completely speechless. This has happened twice now. I will be kicking myself for both incidents until the day I die.
After Maa-kun went down the stairs, we waited for Inocchi to come back up them. I positioned myself near the last couple girls and called out to him as he walked by. He turned, saw me, smiled (HIS RADIANT, ADORABLE, SWEET, PURE, BEAUTIFUL SMILE) and grabbed my hand and locked fingers with me until he was practically out the door BLESS YOU, INOCCHI
Monday night, we knew someone was going to be in our block, possibly Ken (we were in A block), so we positioned ourselves behind some other girls, giving us a less optimal view of the stage but closer to Ken and where the real action was going to be. Ken came out and sang, and we knew he doesn't like people touching him, so no one touched him, and he's also never looked at anyone really in the eye that I've seen in concerts (he looks around but never really at you. He sees you, but you never have a moment). He's a very, very tiny man. We stayed positioned for Nagano to come back up the stairs and out the door behind us, and Nagano, blessed, beautiful person that he is, turned around when I called out to him, smiled, and touched my hand for a moment on the way out.
So, yes, all I remember of "メジルシの記憶" was everyone going around the arena and singing and how I've now managed to see every member of V6 from a distance of 1 foot or less.
After this, everyone is back down on the main floor for "ジャスミン" (another very short version).
Next is "野性の花" (another short version).
Affter that is a suuuper short version of "蝶" and by super short, I mean really only like, half the chorus.
We got another super short version of "GENERATION GAP" (the really short chorus).
After this was "本気がいっぱい" with the requisite "hey!" part done 5 or 6 times.
Next is "Believe Your Smile" with the intro, chorus, and the "whoa whoa whoa"s. During all these, they're basically just circling the arena.
- The Fourth Movement -
First is "over." I can't remember if they did the entire entire song, but it was a decent length version of it.
Next is "愛のMelody" with, of course, all the good parts for the furitsuke in there.
After that is the intro and the chorus of "Darling."
Last in the fourth movement is my jam, "スピリット" (thank you, fellow fans, for voting for it, too <3)
- The Fifth Movement -
For this one, they're on the main stage in a circle with the spotlight on them.
First is "君が思い出す僕は 君を愛しているだろうか" and they start of with the chorus a capella and then slowly bring the piano into it. I swear to fucking god, if anyone else tells me V6 can't sing, I am going to beat them over the head with a recording of this version.
Next is a really short version of "Timeless" which is as beautiful in concert as it's been on music shows.
After that is my favourite song they've released the past couple years, "Sky's the Limit," followed by "ROCK YOUR SOUL" and if you went to the OMG con and remember how when they shot off the pyrotechnics and you could feel the heat of the flames from the back of the arena, I can confirm they're as hot this time as they were last time.
Last was "TAKE ME HIGHER."
After this was the last VTR, about the distance between V6 in concert, in meetings, in their dressing rooms, and it ended with a clip from August 1996 where they read notes to one another. I only really remember Go's, Maa-kun's, and Okada's. Go's was something about "Pになっちゃいました" or something and it only sticks out cos I was like "wtf?" Maa-kun's was about how he was glad to debut and be Leader but it's definitely not only just him in the group and that he'd do his best for everyone. Okada's was about how if it's the 6 of them, they can overcome anything, he thinks. The background music was "出せない手紙" because they really want to tug at your heartstrings nad specifically want to murder me (DO THEY HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT SONG MEANS TO ME (this was the song that hooked me into V6 for good))
- The Fifth Movement -
Of course started with "出せない手紙" and yeah, I had to hold back tears every night (I'M SO GLAD MY VOTES WORKED). They only really did the chorus, but that was still enough to make me too fucking emotional to live.
After that was all of "UTAO-UTAO" and a short version of "ありがとうのうた"
Last was a short version of "Wait For You" and ugh the dance the D A N C E. Everything about that song is perfect.
Last was their MCs where they individually thanked us all, talked about how grateful they are that they've managed to get to 20 years, how they didn't think they'd get to 20 years, and that as long as we'll have them, they want to keep releasing music and doing concerts for us and hope we'll continue supporting them in the future. I want to find reports of what they said each night, but I'm so behind on posting this right now that I can't make myself do it -- I just want to get this posted. I'll post those in a separate entry if I do.
Last, Inocchi talks about how they wrote the next song to express their feelings to the fans and they all chill on the platforms (which are on different levels) and sing the full version of "此処から".
After everyone's chanted "V6!" a bunch, Maa-kun, from behind the stage, will go "MAAAAADE IN! JAPAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" (can I say how glad I am that he just owns that now. What an awkward little panda <3) and they do "MADE IN JAPAN" with the dance on the main stage and then go to the center stage and do "Change the World." This is when they throw out the signboard and stuff. A girl in our section caught one Saturday night from Inocchi, and he drew his little self on them and it was super cute. We wanted to get a picture with it, but they started herding us out of there pretty quickly before we could ask.
After the first encore, they of course come back out to do a second with "BEAT YOUR HEART."
Monday night, Ken didn't do his goodbye kiss after the second encore, so we knew something was up. Sunday night, the other people in the arena were all cheering SUUUUPER super loud for V6 come back out for a third, but they didn't. Monday night, though, everyone was even louder than on Sunday and Okada, from behind the stage was like, "what do you want~?!" and everyone screamed out "ONE MORE TIME!" again and we did that a few times and then they came back out and did a special encore of "ミュージック・ライフ." V6 went all around the arena (not up the stairs but on the main floor level), down on the floor through people and close to the stands. At one point, someone handed Okada their toddler.
At the end, they shoved Ken back out a few times so the rest of them could go back below the stage first, he did his goodbye kiss (like he always does) and that was it.
And now we're through! For my Yoyogi report(s), I'll fill in any gaps , tell you about stupid things they did, try to remember more from the MCs, and not take an entire month to write the damn report. See you next week!
Anyway, I've done my best to divide the report so it's easier to read: first with my seats, then the first half of the show, the MCs, then the second half and encores. If any of the girls I went with want to chime in with stuff I missed in comments, please feel free <3 I hope this is sort of helpful for those of you who didn't get to go this year for whatever reason. It's gonna be great on DVD! Don't forget there's gonna be a broadcast of the concert on 12/6 on WOWOW, preceeded by a broadcast of "Hard Luck Hero" and "Hold Up Down"! I'm curious how different the broadcast will be from the DVD (if it will be at all). If nothing else, I hope the DVD comes out quickly, because I'm jonesin hard for it. This is a really, REALLY well-produced show, and I'm just so happy with everything about this whole tour.
Photo posts of goods will come later. For now, enjoy the words!
My seats! Saturday were my FC seats, second floor, right next to the walkway. Sunday and Monday we got Lawson tickets in the standing section since they were the only ones under $250. My feet hated me for it but it was worth it (we'll get to why later (unless you follow me on tumblr and already know why)). I didn't manage to get a picture of my Monday seats since there were too many staff around me, though we were just one section over, slightly further from the stage.
Saturday
Sunday
Monday (thanks to my lovely and wonderful friend for sending me this~)
Oh, and since it's on my public twitter, here's the Lovecen trucks.
and while I'm here, here's some extra pictures of yours truly, the raging narcissist: Outside Yokoari on Monday, with Maa-kun on the Lovecen truck
So you know how most concerts start out with the intro video? None of that this time. Instead, a piano version of "Wait For You" plays and illuminates their silhouettes on stage in front of the screen. The piano version is really gorgeous and I really hope we get a physical copy of the new version (not just the DVD card one). With the special "Wait For You" intro, all they do is the opening part, and then get everyone fired up for "MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE."
"MFTP" they dance on the main stage and do the intro, the first verse, the chorus, and then another chorus. It was so fun to see it done in concert! During the Monday show, Inocchi talked about how he messed up during it for the first time since they've done it (he was like "we've done it however many times, but I messed up for the first time tonight"). He said how, because of the fans to the right of him, he got messed up and didn't lift his leg over Ken's head in the last part of the chorus, and then tried to do it really quick when he realized he'd gotten screwed up. Ken was like "I THOUGHT I MESSED UP! because I didn't feel your leg go over my head" and Inocchi was like "it was those fans on that side over there!" (pointing to the fans stage right, because the two of them were standing near that side during the MC). Poor Inocchi, statistically, you were bound to mess up sometime. They also talked about how Nagano messed up when they were doing FNS.
After a short version of "MFTP," it's apparently time to kill everyone in the audience with "Supernova." It's the new choreography (which I have to say, I'm not a super huge fan of :\ especially since the first time I saw it was in concert with the pole dancing and yeah, how you gonna top that?). During the "gotta gotta havin a good time" breakdown, they do this really sweet thing with the lights. So what they do is, remember the ropes from "VOLTAGE" during the "VIBES" con where they get themselves tangled up in them and dance with them? It's like that. They have green lights shine down on them as a spotlight (with a blue outline around the edge) and as it's each member's turn to sing, the spotlight spins around them. They then do shit with their hands and like, split it like they did with the ropes during "VOLTAGE." It's hard to explain but it's a really sweet effect. It looked coolest from our seats the first night on the second floor but it's also neat from slightly further back in the arena.
They do the whole dance for "air" that they always do which always kills me (it also kills me that they put "air" after "Supernova," what a bunch of dicks), only this time, with the stage, right, it had six blocks that move up and down, and as each member does their solo parts, the member is up on the blocks in the back singing as the other four do the dance on the other four blocks on the level below them (but still up above the stage). During Maa-kun's "yeah yeah yeah yeah" part, he's standing in the center on the very back on top, snaps his fingers, and a sparkler comes up on the screen from the bottom and as his voice echoes, it explodes into a gorgeous gold firework. It's a nice touch.
After that, they start to make their way around the arena to the center stage and do "太陽があたる場所." During Monday's show, Maa-kun got tongue-tied and messed up singing the first part of the first verse ♥ They only do the first verse, bridge and chorus of this (they cut a lot of songs short during this concert because holy fuck, so many songs to do) before they cut to the "la la la"s and have everyone sing along. Saturday night, they encouraged us to sing louder and sang the whole thing one extra time so we'd get louder. Sunday night, Maa-kun said we sang beautifully, and Monday night, we had to get slightly encouraged but still sang it well and loud. Go team.
They go to the stage in the back of the arena and do the first verse and chorus of "Can Do! Can Go!" There's not much to say about this one aside from the fact that it's just super cute ♥ (also nice to hear V6 sing it again instead of Juniors on Shokura for a change).
After this, they're back on the center stage to do one of my favourite songs, "SPOT LIGHT." This one is just SO FUN to sing along with with the motions they have the crowd do with them and it's also just such a fun performance. Monday night, the ladies in front of us were total dancers in that they were just losing their minds and dancing their fool heads off with V6 the whole time. They really got into it during "SPOT LIGHT." Really, though, the song is just as fun in concert as it looked on the single DVD.
For the next song, they're back to the main stage to do one of my FAVOURITE SONGS EVER, "Good Day!!" They have a really cute background on the screen for this one, but I can't really remember what exactly it was D: Either way, the dance is just so fun and they look like they're having such fun doing it. Saturday night, iirc, Okada lifted Inocchi up a little, Sunday felt him up, and then Monday night totally picked him up and lifted him off his feet. IRIC, they only do the first part of "Good Day!!" before they move on to everyone else's favourite, "HONEY BEAT."
So yeah, "HONEY BEAT" happens and everyone is stupid. I forget what each member did, but I remember them all making faces different nights and during Sunday's (?) MC, Inocchi giving Maa-kun shit for trying to look so cool and cute during it. They don't do the whole song, but we get the first verse, the chorus, and then the end parts so we get plenty of chances to do the furitsuke with them (and can I say, I forgot how awkward it is to try do to "HONEY BEAT" with uchiwa (well, assuming you're not trying to hit the poor person next to you with them or block the people behind you)).
After "HONEY BEAT" is the first short MC. Every night, Inocchi was like "IT'S SO HOT! Aren't you all hot?" Saturday night we were all like "YES GOD IT'S SO HOT" and the other nights we just agreed with them. Every night, too, they had us all fan them with our uchiwa and I gotta say, it really did cool down the arena some. Way to put our fangirly powers to good use, Inocchi. So most of this MC was the same every night, just bee tee dubs. Inocchi would ask Okada if he was doing well/if he was feelin it, and Okada would act like the awkward idiot he is and be like, "don't worry, everyone -- I'm feelin good!" and make these stupid, exaggerated faces because basically, he's a giant dork. After Okada Stupid Faces Hour, Inocchi would say something about how it's been 20 years and would segue into talking about the ages of the fans. First he'd ask who was in their 20s, and most of the arena would respond. Next was their 30s (Saturday night, Maa-kun (and I think Inocchi?), said how we were all sexy now that we're in our 30s. Fuck yeah we are). Next was their 40s, and the women in their 40s have that subtle refinement (he literally used "wabisabi"). Next 50s, for which a few women responded, and when they did, Inocchi went "wow, you're so charming! Here I thought you were 20!" and Maa-kun went "bro, you're a genius!" Next 60s, and they got a few Saturday. Sunday night it was so funny because this older lady was standing a few over from us up in the standing section and she was the only lady to respond to "who's in their 60s?" and when she called out "me!" she immediately realized she was the only one and went "OMG JUST ME?!" and got all embarrassed, poor lady, it was so cute. Inocchi was like "it might be unbelievable, but let's see -- anyone in their 70s?" and they got a few Saturday night and I think maybe one on Monday, but no one on Sunday if I remember right. Saturday they had a lady in her 80s at the concert. Every night, Inocchi would go up to 90s, and every night no one would respond, but he'd always go "it's ok, I heard them in my heart." Then he'd ask how many people there were in their teens, and they'd get a good few, and then be like "HUH? Are we OK?" Ken was like "We're old men, you know!" Then they'd be like "but there's ages lower than that -- where are all the kids?!" and a bunch of adorable little "here"s would ring out. Sunday they had a whole section of kids, it sounded like, so they had them do call and response a couple times, it was adorable. Then they'd call out for the dudes, and there were quite a few each night. Sunday and Monday, we were behind this one same couple, and the dude had an uchiwa and penlight and knew all the songs and choreography. That guy was great. I wanna be their friend. Last was the staff, who'd call out from all parts of the arena, and on Saturday (or was it Sunday?), they had them call out from backstage twice (they didn't get as energetic a response the second time). And then Inocchi was like "all of us together, we're gonna make this a great show."
Anyway, after that, they'd basically just leave it up to Kamisen for the rest of the MC while Tonisen went to change, but they'd tell us how it's their 20th anniversary concert and they've got a lot to sing, including songs from Tonisen and Kamisen, and that's basically when they'd go change.
So Sunday night was adorable because Tonisen went down to change and literally no one in Kamisen said anything and Go started laughing his adorable little laugh. I swore to myself I'd try to remember what happened during Kamisen's MCs, but I have just totally forgotten. Lots of talk about "wow it's been 20 years" and this and that. OH! They did talk about how when they're in their dressing rooms, they just naturally kind of end up sitting together as Tonisen and Kamisen.
After Kamisen's MC, Tonisen come out to do "Honey" and each night, there was like, this massive hug-off, particularly between Go, Ken, and Inocchi. Sunday night, Ken was the last to go back down to change and instead of just going and giving everyone a hug, he jumped up on Maa-kun's back and rode him around for the first part of the first verse (pretty much right up until the chorus). Y'all, it was literally the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. Nothing is ever gonna top that (unless Ken does it again, which, knowing Ken, is entirely likely). So Tonisen does "Honey" and it's great because the song is great and Tonisen is great.
After that, it's time to get serious again, though. Everyone goes to the center stage and in the center stage, there's an empty chair under a spotlight. Everyone is around it in a big circle around the edge of the stage (the stage is round, obviously) and singing "涙のアトが消える頃" while the stage slowly rotates. The lights for this one were really gorgeous -- they have a ring of lights suspended from the ceiling (flat lights, not like light bulbs like in Go's Sekubani solo) that move up and down, so in the later parts of the song, they'd be hanging down about midway between V6 and the ceiling, and they can also move in waves, so some would be higher and others as they rotated around them and it created a gorgeous effect. At the same time, they'd have lights reflecting from the bottom of the stage and the lights would basically split. I really do have to give it up to whomever designed their lighting this tour, they really earned their pay (my nephew's a lighting designer and that shit is hard, so I really commend them).
After that, there's chairs lining the stage from the center to the outer ring of the arena and they do "GUILTY" only this time, everyone is sitting down. For Go's "yo baby, I feel so guilty" and "baby, just hold me tight" he's got a red spotlight on him. They only do the first verse, chorus, rap, and then the breakdown and last part. I'm for real -- the "GUILTY" dance on chairs is pretty sexy, and they do it really well.
After this, Tonisen slip out and Kamisen are all back on the main stage and do "キミノカケラ." I remember from Saturday and Sunday that the background of this on the big screen is mostly the lyrics, and on the monitors around the arena, everyone is in black and white instead of in colour. Moody. I really can't say much beyond that except that this is a really beautiful song to hear everyone sing live. I already liked this song a lot but hearing it live -- my feelings.
Next is everyone's favourite, "will," which never disappoints. I want to say everyone was on the blocks as they moved but I can't be sure. I'll correct myself on all these things after I go to the Yoyogi shows.
After this, it's back to the center stage for your favourite and mine, "Break the Wall!" They have the crazy coloured lights again for this one. During the instrumental part of the song, they had a green light that spread out around the arena and basically divided top and bottom, it was REALLY IMPRESSIVE. A lot of the lighting during the actual song was a lot like what we saw on the Sekubani tour, but they used a lot more lasers and shit this time. At the end of the song, V6 walk back to the main stage and as they reach the end of the walkway, they turn around and shine laser pointers up at the back ceiling of the arena (Inocchi messed his up Saturday night, poor thing). Also, this is one of the few songs they actually did the whole song of (bless ♥)
So basically, everyone is wiped after this, so it only makes sense that this is where they have the first MC.
Saturday:
So after panting and apologizing for being so exhausted, Inocchi asked us all to take a seat and was like "IT'S HOT." and then I think Okada? went "I'm hot, too" (in the temperature sense), and then they all joked with him like "oh, yeah, you're so hot~". They talked about how it's their 20th year and this and that. They said something about how they've danced a lot, and how Leader is totally fine and OK, and Inocchi was like "it's amazing, though, he's 44!" and how it surprised him.
After that, they pimped out the "SUPER Very Best" editions on sale at the con. Inocchi said how they have 45 singles on it and a lot of old songs and stuff. And how this year they did 24 Hour TV and were together for a long time (Ken agreed), and then he mentioned how they're doing another "Gakkou e Ikou!" SP this year and everyone clapped. And then Inocchi just had to make us all feel super old and say "so 'Gakkou e Ikou!' ended 7 years ago, and there are probably people in the audience now who've never known 'Gakkou e Ikou!'" (i.e. they weren't alive when GeI was on the air). Thanks for that, Inocchi.
After this, they talked about how Ken's gotten more and more averse to people touching him. So like when the choreographer or someone will grab his arm and bring him over to where they want him to be, Ken doesn't like that and he'll want to swat their arm away. Inocchi asked if it was OK if the other members touched him and he was like "...yeah, that's fine. It's just people I don't know."
They talked about some other stuff after this but I honestly forget what, but after THAT was my favourite part of any and every MC: so they were talking about Ken being Ken and how they haven't really changed in 20 years and theyr'e still themselves, and they bring Go into it because Go just hasn't been talking up to this point. And Go's talking about how he's glad they have Ken because Ken helps him out. So Go had to return a thing and call someone on the phone and get his money back, so he gave the phone to Ken and have Ken just pretend to be him and do it for him. And the funniest part is they're talking about how when Go will give the phone to Ken or Ken gives it to Go, it's always difficult when the voice changes so dramatically (from Ken's to Go's or vice versa).
And continuing on the subject of Ken, Okada talked about how Ken has a lot of wise sayings/good words to say to him. Like earlier, he told Okada he has confidence in him. Inocchi was like "THAT'S AMAZING! Wait why was he even saying that?" and Okada talked about how he was worrying and overthinking things and this and that, and Ken said that it'll be fine because Ken has confidence in him. Everyone was really impressed and all "that's so nice!" And Inocchi said how they're an amazing group.
So after this was my second favourite part of any MC: a mystery note Inocchi found on his seat at "Asaichi" before they went on air. It read:
"To Inohara-kun,
"Relax. You've got that winning smile on again today! Japan's morning starts with 'Asaichi'!
(Read the bottom)
From The World's Ken :)"
So what had happened was Ken was filming for "Minna no Shuwa" amd after it was done, found himself in the "Asaichi" studio when no one was there and he took some pictures of himself going around doing stuff. Oh god, this is gonna be amazing on the MC collection on the DVD, but he was like, in the studio, then at everyone's desks, then in Inocchi's chair. The pictures were hilarious, but my favourite part was Ken going "OK, next! OK, next!" and having the staff flip through the pictures on the screen (HIS VOICE IS SO CUTE). The pictures were hilarious, y'all, we were D Y I N G. Ken made sure to remind us all at the end that no one else was in the studio with him, but he got their manager to take the photos for him.
I forget what they talked about next, but after that, Inocchi asked Nagano what's been up lately, and was like "other than talking with Sakamoto-kun ... probably nothing, right?" But Nagano said no, he'd been touching Okada's butt. And then Inocchi told the audience how Sakamoto and Nagano messed up during the "二人恋人のように" part in "Supernova" because they'd accidentally turned to face one another instead of facing away. Then he said how Nagano and Sakamoto were so into the dance and it was SO CREEPY TO HIM and then they'd been singing during the Kamisen part in "一夜だけのSupernova" and he was the only one not singing. I honestly forget what all they said after that because I was laughing too hard (they're so hilarious, I've missed them so much).
After everyone regained their composure, Inocchi and Okada pimped out "SUPER Very Best" with the DVD card for the special version of "Wait For You" that they sing at the beginning. Inocchi also warned us that they're gonna be releasing more and more singles, so look out! and then they all laughed like "look out for what?" and Inocchi apologized because he's exhausted. And then they asked us if we were ready and all that and went back to change for the second half of the show.
Sunday:
Sunday, Inocchi was wiped again, and was like "are you sweating?!" and Tonisen were like "yeah, it's so hot!" Nagano was like "it's hotter than yesterday!" and Inocchi asked us all if we'd bought towels and made sure to remind us that they're also selling t-shirts, so get one of those, too. Also, he thanked us for getting so excited with them and said "おおきに" and was like "that's Osaka's version" and told Okada he hadn't spoken in Osaka-ben at all and so he went "ほんまおおきに" and Inocchi said he'd never heard that before. Okada and Nagano then proceeded to speak to one another in high-pitched voices in Osaka-ben, all "we've been together for 20 years" "that's right~ we'll always be together~."
They talked again about how it's their 20th anniversary and this and that, and also mentioned how they made the video screens bigger for this tour.
So this is where they started talking about Hey! Say! JUMP and Okada said he likes Inoo-kun. Inocchi reminded us all they did 24 Hour TV with JUMP and how Tonisen is used to always being around people younger than them because they're always with Kamisen, but Kamisen isn't, so it was totally new for them to see Okada all the time being like "they're so cute. Chinen is so cute~" Okada said Daiki is cute, too, and everyone gasped and was all shocked (everyone except me. I clapped a lot because DAIKI IS THE CUTEST). Inocchi said he got a text from Daiki right after 24 Hour TV was over that he was going to do his best to get Kamisen to be into him.
They talked some about Go and Aiba working together, and how Aiba thought Go was nice and that kind of thing. He said how he'd done "Tensai Shimura Doubutsuen" with him and how Aiba sent him a text the day afterward. Only Go sent a reply while he was asleep that was intended for someone other than Aiba (his girlfriend, basically) and Aiba sent him a reply like "yeah... hey, sempai, I think this was meant for someone else." This is when Inocchi mentioned how the members don't know Go's phone number/address for texting. Ken's like "really?" and Inocchi asked him if he knows and he's like "I don't. I've never really thought about it. I figure if I don't, I don't." Okada was like "every time we find it out, he changes it." Go said that's not how it is, and he just changes it cos he feels like changing it. Inocchi asked him if he's changed it since Aiba texted him, and he said probably. "So are you gonna tell Aiba your new one?" "Probably not."
They talked a little more about kouhai, but I forget what all they said. Inocchi asked Nagano if he ever goes out with kouhai, and he said he doesn't really. He went out to eat with Tsubasa, but it'd been like, 10 years since then, and Inocchi talked about how they haven't really mingled a lot with the other groups. Okada was like "Inocchi probably has the most out of all of us." He goes out to eat with them, too, like with Matsujun and Murakami and gets drunk and apologizes. Maa-kun was like "it's fine to go out and get drunk with your kouhai" and Inocchi was like "you go out and get drunk a lot." Ken was like "yeah, after concerts, he totally does." Maa-kun was like "I do?" and Ken was like "yeah, on the shikansen coming back." Inocchi swore he was drunk in the dressing room. Nagano was like "yeah, we all went and got bento and all he got was snacks for the train." This next part was my favourite: so Ken was like "after the concert, we went to a conbini in the neighbourhood and Sakamoto-kun went straight for the beer cooler." Inocchi was like "yeah, after we get done with work, sometimes he'll come over and on the way, he'll absolutely stop at a conbini, and he gets an entire six pack. I get so worried about him like, IS HE OK?! and then I figure, oh, it's probably fine, that's just his beer for the week, AND THEN THE NEXT DAY, HE'D ALREADY DRANK THEM ALL!" Ken was like "he drinks too much!" I missed what Maa-kun said in response because I was literally falling over laughing (MY PRECIOUS LITTLE LUSH, LET'S BOTH DRINK TOO MUCH TOGETHER)
After this, Ken accidentally admitted he and Go had showered together, and was liek "WAIT, NO, I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!" and everyone got all scandalized and made fun of him. It was a total accident on Ken's part and he accidentally walked in on Go and they talked about how nicely he washes himself. Okada I guess washes himself the same way? It's hard to describe without you being able to see the pantomime. Inocchi talked about how Osaka-jo Hall has a huge tub and asked who'd gone in it, and Okada said he and Go had together. Go said he didn't realize Okada was in there and he was in the shower room and Okada was in the tub and he walked out of the shower and for whatever reason through there was an old man in the tub but it turned out to be Okada. Nagano chimed in after this all "Go came back to the dressing room with a huge grin on his face, all, 'I was in the bath with Okada!'" Inocchi said how he and Maa-kun had bathed together before and how when Maa-kun gets in the tub, he does the really old man "aaaaaah~" sounds, only he does it like two or three times and not just once. Ken said how girls really don't do that (Ken, honey, you should have heard me when I got back to my room and off my feet for the day. Girls definitely make those sounds). Inocchi asked Nagano what he thought about him and Sakamoto-kun together and he was like "eh." Ken was like "are you just quietly angry?" and Nagano was like "nah, just like 'huh, ok.'"
After this, they talked more about how Ken doesn't like people he doesn't know touching him. Ken was like "we were rehearsing one of the songs we were gonna sing on 24 Hour TV and Nakajima-kun got really into the song and everything and touched me and I really hated it." Inochi was like "you're terrible!" Okada was like "he was doing his best!" and Ken was like "I didn't say anything, I just thought it!" When he's in dance rehearsals, he also hates it when the choreographer will grab him and bring him over to where he needs to be. He was like "just call me over and I'll come. You guys are fine, though. But with Nakajima-kun, I was like 'HUH - oh, I hate this' but then I just smiled at him."
They didn't talk about a whole lot after that -- mostly just "we've danced a lot, and we've got more dancing to do, so are you ready?" Inocchi had us stand up, stretch out our arms, and then Ken started a whole calisthenics class, having us roll our necks and do proper streching and stuff, and Maa-kun was like "how did this end up happening at a V6 concert?" Ken was like "you gotta, cos otherwise you'll be stretching, all *waves* 'Inocchi! Inocchi!' *pretends to pull a back muscle*" (I do have to say, it was REALLY nice stretching because the standing section life is really, really hard).
Monday:
Inocchi and Maa-kun started out talking about how they're really sweating and they really danced a lot this time. Inocchi asked Maa-kun how he's doing and Maa-kun was confused, but Inocchi was like "well, you really got into 'Honey Beat' and [mimes Maa-kun's faces and shit]" and Maa-kun was like "I just got into it..."
The main thing I remember from this MC was them talking about standby time before the concert. Inocchi said how Ken gets ready really early and he agreed. Okada said how Ken and Go change for the show like an hour before the show and what's up with that. Go said he changes for the show really, really early. Inocchi asked why, like was it to get himself in the mood for the show and Go was like "yeah." Ken said how Go had changed for today's show an hour and a half beforehand. For Sunday's show, he'd changed two hours beforehand. Also, he didn't eat apparently? Tonisen tend to change later than Kamisen. Nagano said how he'd just barely made it today. Inocchi then went "That Sakamoto Masayuki, we were waiting before the show and there was like 10 minutes left and he still wasn't there and I was like 'is he OK?' What was up with that, Masa?!" Maa-kun was like "I'm always late. I change like 3 or 4 minutes beforehand." Everyone gasped and Ken was like "wow, that's cutting it really close." (I screamed a lot because I also don't change until the last minute) I forget what all they said after this, but I do remember they kept calling him "Mssa" and it was hilARIOUS to me.
Next, they moved onto talking about doing "Stomp" for 24 Hour TV and Ken said he still remembered his part from it so Inocchi had him do it agian for everyone. Inocchi was like "YOU FORGOT, THO! SEE!" cos Ken messed up apparently.
I forget what happened after that, but I remember Inocchi pointing out how Nagano messed up one part in "GUILTY" and they all made fun of him for it.
And since they were talking about messing up, this is where Inocchi was like "so, we have these songs we've been doing for 20 years, right? Like 'MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE.' Well, tonight, for the first time ever, I messed up during it. Because of the fans on this side *motions stage right* they were all into it and I was all into it, and the part where Ken kneels down and I swing my leg over him--" and Ken interrupts him like "YEAH YEAH YEAH! At that part, I always feel your leg go over me, and this time I didn't feel it at all! And then I was like, wait, maybe I messed up???" Inocchi was like "I thought about doing it real fast but then I might have hit you" and Ken was like "yeah, that's dangerous." Inocchi kept going all "IT'S ALL THESE FANS OVER HERE'S FAULT! COME ON!"
Inocchi was all "we've been doing some songs for 20 years and I'm sure there are ones we've never messed up on!" Go was like "no way" and Inocchi was like "yeah, I'm sure we have before." He then went on to talk about how on the summer FNS, Nagano messed up during one of the songs. I could hardly make heads or tails out of the next part because they were literally all yelling over one another about messing up and mostly just yelling at Inocchi. Ah, stupids <3
Inocchi talked about how he'd been watching old V6 videos since it's their 20th year and remembering a lot of stuff, things they'd done, "oh, that's how it was/it was like that," that kinda thing, and how they have more songs to sing after this, more dances to do, and are we ready for the second half? Then they had us stretch again like we did the night before, with Ken leading us (seriously, this was SO WELCOME after standing for hours and hours).
Hey, look at you, you made it all the way through that! Good for you!
After this, they go back and change and the second half of the show is the "Thank You Symphony (39交響曲)."
The VTR starts out with some stuff about the universe, then about the world's population, then Japan's population. Then statistics about the odds of two people on the opposite side of Japan being able to meet, and then the odds that everyone in V6 would be able to meet. Then it calculated how many fans V6 has been able to see in concert, then the amount of time they've spent with one another. From what I've read of other reports, the number actually changes each day to include the previous day's concert in the totals. Then it says -- in English -- "Thank you for all you do for me. The Thank You Symphony" and changed back to Japanese to be "いつもありがとう。 39交響曲"
- The First Movement -
The first song in the symphony (which is, I should point out, a really, REALLY well done medley of all the songs they sing in the second half, plus some other songs they don't sing also mixed in) is "Orange." Remember in the "Musicmind" con how they came down from the top of the arena? They don't come out from the top, but they do come out from behind the screen on a moving platform, so the effect is kind of the same. They only sing the first verse and then the chorus, but it was still enough to make me want to cry (I LOVE THIS SONG A LOT OK).
Next was "COSMIC RESCUE" which is always great every time they do it. It was really only the intro and chorus, IIRC, but it's still great.
After that, they faked us out with the intro to "Sexy.Honey.Bunny!" They all line up and Maa-kun gets ready to do his "Sexy!" and right as he's about to say it, one of the other members jumps in and does it first. IIRC Ken jumped in the first time on Saturday night, Nagano first on Sudnay night, and Nagano again on Sunday.
Instead of Sekubani, they went next to MY ETERNAL JAM, "IN THE WIND"! They only did the chorus, but THAT'S OK, THEY STILL DID IT! ALL MY VOTES PAID OFF!
After this, they tried to do the Sekubani intro again, and again Maa-kun got punked. Saturday was Ken, Sunday night it was Go the second time, and then Monday was Inocchi!
After that was the intro and chorus of "愛なんだ" which, yeah, OK, it's played out in music shows, but it's cute in concert. They basically remixed a lot of the songs this time, so it was extra fun. I think this first part was just the rap.
- The Second Movement -
When they start the second movement, they do the intro to Sekubani again, and this time, Maa-kun looks around, half-suspicious, half-dejected, and when he realizes no one's gonna jump in, he actually does his "Sexy!" (and murders me in the process), and then they do the song.
After a short version of Sekubani, they do the chorus of "愛なんだ."
Next is "kEEP oN." starting from the part before the chorus, and they splice it up a bit, IIRC. Saturday night, Maa-kun COMPLETELY forgot his "Sunday Monday 朝まで" part and there was just nothing (except the wave of embarassment you could feel emanating from him) (I laughed, I'm not gonna lie to you guys, it's hilarious when he forgets his lines). They definitely did the "la la la" part, I remember that.
After this was a short version of "WAになっておどろう" (mostly just the hook and the "la la la"s). Not much to report other than my feelings about it (I taught the song to my preschool students and one of them can't really speak but learned the whole chorus really quickly and loves dancing around to it and I sing it to him when he gets upset to help calm him down so I was overcome by F E E L I N G S).
The last part of the second movement is a short version of "バリバリBUDDY" during which they definitely do the whole ending and everybody dances along with it and then it wipes V6 out because it really is a good workout.
Next is the second VTR. This one shows how many concerts V6 have done (each time adding to the total), how many hours they've spent doing concerts, how many staff have worked with them on their concerts. Next was ones about V6, like the percentage of Nagano going out to eat in the local area after concerts (100%), the amount of times Ken hasn't talked in concert (pretty much 0%), and the amount of times Inocchi's gotten fired up/worked up in concerts (about 100%). I was all there with my feelings and ready to cry about the miracle that is V6 and then they hit me with the stupid of Ken and god dammit, V6.
After the second VTR, they come back out for
- The Third Movement -
They sing all of "メジルシの記憶"
And I won't lie to you, this is where I forgot basically everything that happened Saturday night. SO! What happens is Maa-kun first comes out on the top of the arena stands (F block), Inocchi opposite him on the other side of the arena (we couldn't see Inocchi Friday but we could see Maa-kun, so we all started freaking out about who was where). Ken was in A block, Go was up in the second floor stands, and Nagano in C block. Saturday night, Okada walked around the second floor stands and came over to us. He really takes his time shaking hands and smiling and saying hello and stuff. When he got to us, he was singing his part, so he didn't say anything, but he looked me dead in the eye, nodded, and shook my hand. The girl behind us (we were next to the walkway, so she was first row stands behind us) whipped out a sign that said "congratulate me on my wedding" so he spent time congratulating her and missed all my friends who came with :( Sad day. (PS DID I MENTION I ACTUALLY SHOOK OKADA'S HAND AND NOW HE FOR REAL KNOWS I EXIST Okada you're so sweet to me every concert ;____;)
Sunday night, I did not realize the stand for where Maa-kun was going to be singing was like 5 people away from me so when he came out, I was completely taken by surprise. I rushed over and when I got there, I was right in front of him and, yeah, I completely lost all feeling in my body, I lost the ability to breathe, and I thought I was going to shuffle off this mortal coil right then and there. I may have gotten out a feeble "Maa-kun" while trying to get him to look down and wave at me, but no dice. I tried to say something -- ANYTHING -- to him as he turned to go down the stairs, and I reached out to try to touch him, but I couldn't get any words out and my hand was shaking so violently, I never got even close to him. As he went down the stairs, I stumbled back to my spot by the rail and basically fainted on it (my friend I was with asked if I was OK and I shook my head and went "no..."). V6 are literally the only people in this world who can render my completely speechless. This has happened twice now. I will be kicking myself for both incidents until the day I die.
After Maa-kun went down the stairs, we waited for Inocchi to come back up them. I positioned myself near the last couple girls and called out to him as he walked by. He turned, saw me, smiled (HIS RADIANT, ADORABLE, SWEET, PURE, BEAUTIFUL SMILE) and grabbed my hand and locked fingers with me until he was practically out the door BLESS YOU, INOCCHI
Monday night, we knew someone was going to be in our block, possibly Ken (we were in A block), so we positioned ourselves behind some other girls, giving us a less optimal view of the stage but closer to Ken and where the real action was going to be. Ken came out and sang, and we knew he doesn't like people touching him, so no one touched him, and he's also never looked at anyone really in the eye that I've seen in concerts (he looks around but never really at you. He sees you, but you never have a moment). He's a very, very tiny man. We stayed positioned for Nagano to come back up the stairs and out the door behind us, and Nagano, blessed, beautiful person that he is, turned around when I called out to him, smiled, and touched my hand for a moment on the way out.
So, yes, all I remember of "メジルシの記憶" was everyone going around the arena and singing and how I've now managed to see every member of V6 from a distance of 1 foot or less.
After this, everyone is back down on the main floor for "ジャスミン" (another very short version).
Next is "野性の花" (another short version).
Affter that is a suuuper short version of "蝶" and by super short, I mean really only like, half the chorus.
We got another super short version of "GENERATION GAP" (the really short chorus).
After this was "本気がいっぱい" with the requisite "hey!" part done 5 or 6 times.
Next is "Believe Your Smile" with the intro, chorus, and the "whoa whoa whoa"s. During all these, they're basically just circling the arena.
- The Fourth Movement -
First is "over." I can't remember if they did the entire entire song, but it was a decent length version of it.
Next is "愛のMelody" with, of course, all the good parts for the furitsuke in there.
After that is the intro and the chorus of "Darling."
Last in the fourth movement is my jam, "スピリット" (thank you, fellow fans, for voting for it, too <3)
- The Fifth Movement -
For this one, they're on the main stage in a circle with the spotlight on them.
First is "君が思い出す僕は 君を愛しているだろうか" and they start of with the chorus a capella and then slowly bring the piano into it. I swear to fucking god, if anyone else tells me V6 can't sing, I am going to beat them over the head with a recording of this version.
Next is a really short version of "Timeless" which is as beautiful in concert as it's been on music shows.
After that is my favourite song they've released the past couple years, "Sky's the Limit," followed by "ROCK YOUR SOUL" and if you went to the OMG con and remember how when they shot off the pyrotechnics and you could feel the heat of the flames from the back of the arena, I can confirm they're as hot this time as they were last time.
Last was "TAKE ME HIGHER."
After this was the last VTR, about the distance between V6 in concert, in meetings, in their dressing rooms, and it ended with a clip from August 1996 where they read notes to one another. I only really remember Go's, Maa-kun's, and Okada's. Go's was something about "Pになっちゃいました" or something and it only sticks out cos I was like "wtf?" Maa-kun's was about how he was glad to debut and be Leader but it's definitely not only just him in the group and that he'd do his best for everyone. Okada's was about how if it's the 6 of them, they can overcome anything, he thinks. The background music was "出せない手紙" because they really want to tug at your heartstrings nad specifically want to murder me (DO THEY HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT SONG MEANS TO ME (this was the song that hooked me into V6 for good))
- The Fifth Movement -
Of course started with "出せない手紙" and yeah, I had to hold back tears every night (I'M SO GLAD MY VOTES WORKED). They only really did the chorus, but that was still enough to make me too fucking emotional to live.
After that was all of "UTAO-UTAO" and a short version of "ありがとうのうた"
Last was a short version of "Wait For You" and ugh the dance the D A N C E. Everything about that song is perfect.
Last was their MCs where they individually thanked us all, talked about how grateful they are that they've managed to get to 20 years, how they didn't think they'd get to 20 years, and that as long as we'll have them, they want to keep releasing music and doing concerts for us and hope we'll continue supporting them in the future. I want to find reports of what they said each night, but I'm so behind on posting this right now that I can't make myself do it -- I just want to get this posted. I'll post those in a separate entry if I do.
Last, Inocchi talks about how they wrote the next song to express their feelings to the fans and they all chill on the platforms (which are on different levels) and sing the full version of "此処から".
After everyone's chanted "V6!" a bunch, Maa-kun, from behind the stage, will go "MAAAAADE IN! JAPAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" (can I say how glad I am that he just owns that now. What an awkward little panda <3) and they do "MADE IN JAPAN" with the dance on the main stage and then go to the center stage and do "Change the World." This is when they throw out the signboard and stuff. A girl in our section caught one Saturday night from Inocchi, and he drew his little self on them and it was super cute. We wanted to get a picture with it, but they started herding us out of there pretty quickly before we could ask.
After the first encore, they of course come back out to do a second with "BEAT YOUR HEART."
Monday night, Ken didn't do his goodbye kiss after the second encore, so we knew something was up. Sunday night, the other people in the arena were all cheering SUUUUPER super loud for V6 come back out for a third, but they didn't. Monday night, though, everyone was even louder than on Sunday and Okada, from behind the stage was like, "what do you want~?!" and everyone screamed out "ONE MORE TIME!" again and we did that a few times and then they came back out and did a special encore of "ミュージック・ライフ." V6 went all around the arena (not up the stairs but on the main floor level), down on the floor through people and close to the stands. At one point, someone handed Okada their toddler.
At the end, they shoved Ken back out a few times so the rest of them could go back below the stage first, he did his goodbye kiss (like he always does) and that was it.
And now we're through! For my Yoyogi report(s), I'll fill in any gaps , tell you about stupid things they did, try to remember more from the MCs, and not take an entire month to write the damn report. See you next week!