Sengoku Musou event
I did, sometime last year, promise to write up the last day of my October trip … and slacker that I am, I went off to Japan *again* without doing so. I've also promised to write up at least the weekend portion of that trip, so I really should get this bit done first, though it's going to be somewhat perfunctory.
Originally I had planned on seeing Stereopony at the Shibuya AX venue that evening (Oct 16), but when a Game City email from Koei dropped into my mailbox telling me that Okiayu and Kamiya were going to be in a Sengoku Musou event that same day, those plans were chucked. Asked gokumew2 if she wanted to go see the guys on stage and she said sure and applied for the tickets for us. We ended up with 23rd row, far left side for the afternoon show and 8th row seats, dead center, for the evening show.
Admittedly, although Koei USA has loaned Y-Con copies of the American releases of this series, for our game room, I've never seen Sengoku Musou, let alone played it. Gorgeous character designs, though. Unsurprisingly, I'm particularly fond of Okiayu's half-clad, fur-wearing shamisen-wielding warrior's look. Purty. So I went into the event w/no expectations other than that I'd hopefully get to hear Okiayu sing. Plus, the guest list for the show was impressive: Kusao Takeshi, Midorikawa, Kusogi Jyurouta, Kamiya, Okiayu, Shindoh Naomi, Takemoto Eiji and a handful of others (most of the cast belong to Aoni Productions, amusingly). Seeing Kusao, Shindoh and Midorikawa together makes me feel all nostalgic for my very first seiyuu event, the Studio Pierrot 25th anniversary celebration(where the first two were MCs; the latter a guest).
The event was held at the Pacifico, though seating was on the first floor only. Seemed weird to see the balcony devoid of screaming fangirls. And yes, despite this being a game seemingly geared to guys, the audience was all women. Heh. It followed the standard format of introductions, mini-dramas, singing and talk corners/games. Not being a fan, nor understanding much (will I ever? Probably not unless I step up my studies), really only the singing appealed, especially since it got us on our feet. Nothing much memorable about the first show, and then we discovered that due to the stage configuration, our 8th row seats for the second show were 4th row. Heh. I do love the Pacifico. My flaming red hair was hard to miss, oh yes.
Second show was the same as the first, except for different songs, which means that Okiayu's rockin' shamisen song was the first one up -- and he did an awesome job, as always (I do love hearing him sing, definitely). Disconcertingly, Kamiya ended up staring in our general direction during more than one segment. And I do mean staring, intently. We were tempted to wave back or something, just to confirm, but never did, alas. And for the encore … well, Kusao (as Sanada Yukimura) came into the audience and stopped right behind us to deliver a speech. And I do mean *right* *behind*. He was a few inches from our seats. Thank heavens the camera men managed not to catch too much of me (I had nightmarish visions of being splashed across the giant screen in full technicolor!), but yeah, you can see us on the DVD.
Managed to catch Okiayu's eye during all the waving after the final speeches, which made me feel warm and fuzzy (though again, the hair was hard to miss -- bless red hair dye!). We stuck around after the curtain went down, since the speakers played an amusing exchange between Okiayu and Midorikawa which drifted just a wee bit into BL-ish territory. Even the male staff were cracking up.
And when we made it back to Mew's place, I checked Twitter to see Okiayu commented on seeing one of his handlers from San Francisco in the audience. Heh. Lead to a small exchange of Tweets, with an assist on the Japanese from Mew. Definitely a nice way to wrap up a trip. ^_^
Next up: whence obsession?
Originally I had planned on seeing Stereopony at the Shibuya AX venue that evening (Oct 16), but when a Game City email from Koei dropped into my mailbox telling me that Okiayu and Kamiya were going to be in a Sengoku Musou event that same day, those plans were chucked. Asked gokumew2 if she wanted to go see the guys on stage and she said sure and applied for the tickets for us. We ended up with 23rd row, far left side for the afternoon show and 8th row seats, dead center, for the evening show.
Admittedly, although Koei USA has loaned Y-Con copies of the American releases of this series, for our game room, I've never seen Sengoku Musou, let alone played it. Gorgeous character designs, though. Unsurprisingly, I'm particularly fond of Okiayu's half-clad, fur-wearing shamisen-wielding warrior's look. Purty. So I went into the event w/no expectations other than that I'd hopefully get to hear Okiayu sing. Plus, the guest list for the show was impressive: Kusao Takeshi, Midorikawa, Kusogi Jyurouta, Kamiya, Okiayu, Shindoh Naomi, Takemoto Eiji and a handful of others (most of the cast belong to Aoni Productions, amusingly). Seeing Kusao, Shindoh and Midorikawa together makes me feel all nostalgic for my very first seiyuu event, the Studio Pierrot 25th anniversary celebration(where the first two were MCs; the latter a guest).
The event was held at the Pacifico, though seating was on the first floor only. Seemed weird to see the balcony devoid of screaming fangirls. And yes, despite this being a game seemingly geared to guys, the audience was all women. Heh. It followed the standard format of introductions, mini-dramas, singing and talk corners/games. Not being a fan, nor understanding much (will I ever? Probably not unless I step up my studies), really only the singing appealed, especially since it got us on our feet. Nothing much memorable about the first show, and then we discovered that due to the stage configuration, our 8th row seats for the second show were 4th row. Heh. I do love the Pacifico. My flaming red hair was hard to miss, oh yes.
Second show was the same as the first, except for different songs, which means that Okiayu's rockin' shamisen song was the first one up -- and he did an awesome job, as always (I do love hearing him sing, definitely). Disconcertingly, Kamiya ended up staring in our general direction during more than one segment. And I do mean staring, intently. We were tempted to wave back or something, just to confirm, but never did, alas. And for the encore … well, Kusao (as Sanada Yukimura) came into the audience and stopped right behind us to deliver a speech. And I do mean *right* *behind*. He was a few inches from our seats. Thank heavens the camera men managed not to catch too much of me (I had nightmarish visions of being splashed across the giant screen in full technicolor!), but yeah, you can see us on the DVD.
Managed to catch Okiayu's eye during all the waving after the final speeches, which made me feel warm and fuzzy (though again, the hair was hard to miss -- bless red hair dye!). We stuck around after the curtain went down, since the speakers played an amusing exchange between Okiayu and Midorikawa which drifted just a wee bit into BL-ish territory. Even the male staff were cracking up.
And when we made it back to Mew's place, I checked Twitter to see Okiayu commented on seeing one of his handlers from San Francisco in the audience. Heh. Lead to a small exchange of Tweets, with an assist on the Japanese from Mew. Definitely a nice way to wrap up a trip. ^_^
Next up: whence obsession?