11.03 Tokyo Instore Events
First of all, Zeal Link in Shibuya is really fucking hard to find. I’m not sure I would’ve managed to locate it if I’d been looking for it by myself so thank you to Alice for being my tour guide and for giving me a ticket to the event!
We arrived at Zeal Link early so hung out at the store for a while, watching the new PV on the TV. Took pictures of some of the chekis and band photos up and also Mejibray's costumes for the "Raven" PV were there, but I'll post that in a separate entry.
When it was time to go downstairs to get seated for the event, a staff called people in by numbers and you’d show them your ticket as proof then go down the stairs. All the seats were taken and I moved to stand at the side since that seemed like it would afford me a better view of the guys which it did.
This was a two part event. The first part was a talk and then you could get a personal item signed by the members. I received a ticket for each event and then a piece of paper to write a question on. Alice and I were joking about asking about underwear since the last event she was at was full of perv fans asking about underwear (apparently Hiroki has panda underwear), but I asked what pajamas they wore. Then realized during the event that a much better question would’ve been asking which costume was their favorite. It was too late and my question didn’t get picked anyway so it didn’t matter.
The guys walked by right in front of me to get to their seats. So much pretty!! They seem to follow the same order for seats at in store events. Hide-Zou, Tsunehito, Asagi, Ruiza, and Hiroki. I hoped there would be a repeat of the Treasure Box event where Ruiza practically face planted into Asagi’s lap to check out his tights (prompting Asagi to look rather violated, then he jumped when Tsunehito leaned over to check out his tights too) but alas. Not this time.
They did the talk first. I can’t remember much of what they said, just talking about the tour, thanking people for coming to see them, talking about the album release. I was also struggling with listening comprehension so a lot of what was said went over my head. It didn’t help that a staff member was playing D music in the background and Ruiza was speaking more quietly than usual so it was kind of tough to hear the guys. Every so often they’d sip their water and poor Tsunehito was clearly overheating in his dress since he kept fanning himself with his hands.
Then it was time for questions. I can only remember three and couldn’t understand the other.
One question was about the features of their costumes. Each member, starting with Hiroki, took turns standing up and describing their costumes then would turn around so we could see front and back views. I can’t remember what they said about the costumes but Hide-Zou was amused about something and the other guys teased him a lot.
A perv fan asked Asagi if he could take off his jacket. The gist of his response was that he could but then he’d be like Hiroki (who always takes his clothes off) so that made everyone giggle.
There was a cute part where Ruiza was laughing so hard that he pulled his knees up to his chest, feet coming off the ground. It gave me a nice view of his thighs and stomach. Plus it was adorable!
Another question was about what each member’s favorite part of the PV was. Hiroki said that his was when Asagi picks him up and carries him. Asagi started laughing at that so there was some talk about that moment.
I couldn’t understand what Ruiza’s response was.
Asagi said his favorite part was when Kircheis was frozen and Dreizhen reaches out to lay a hand on the ice. Asagi held his hand out in demonstration while talking.
Tsunehito said his favorite was when little Carbuncle is walking with Dreizhen and holding his arm then it shows adult Carbuncle doing the same thing.
I think Hide-Zou said his favorite moment was when he gets his rapier.
After the talk was over, fans who didn’t have tickets to the signing left the room. As I was waiting to get my flag case signed and watching fans go up to the members, it dawned on me that I would soon be face to face with them. I would have to speak soon. Cue a serious case of nerves!! My stomach was churning by the time I moved to the front row of seats. Only the girls (and occasional bow) were separating me from the band. I watched the guys while I was waiting and they were all so sweet. They had time to talk to each fan and they were obviously happy to do it. They’d listen and smile then have some time to talk before and after signing whatever item the fan asked them to sign. As I waited I kept running through what I wanted to say to each member. Watching a girl get her flag signed made me reconsider getting just the flag case signed but I decided to get the case signed after all.
My tickets which for some reason had to give to a staff member. I was bummed about that, I really wanted to keep them. Took the picture at least though.
There was another moment of panic when it was time for me to stand and get closer. Approach the table and stand right in front of Hiroki. My heart was beating and I know I was smiling nervously as I presented him with my flag case and asked him to sign it. He smiled and asked where to sign so I said anywhere was fine. Then I commented that we had similar hairstyles since both of us had short, curly hair that day. Hiroki laughed and fluffed up his hair. I mentioned I was teaching English in Saitama so he looked impressed and called me “sensei” then complimented my Japanese so I properly responded with まだまだです！(Basically, “not yet” as in my Japanese isn’t good enough. That’s the standard response to compliments so you don’t sound arrogant)
Soon after I had to move on to Ruiza. I got tongue tied trying to compliment his rose ring, laughed at myself, apologized for my bad Japanese, then managed to properly compliment his ring this time. Ruiza smiled when I got the words right. I told him I liked the blue in his hair and he grinned and touched it. Such a cutie.
I stayed the longest at Asagi’s spot. First I told him he has beautiful hair so he smiled and thanked me then fingered his hair. Next I asked him to please take care of himself so he smile and said がんばります！Then I started babbling about how I studied abroad in Shiga last year, how it was really stressful but listening to D always made me feel better. I’m not sure how coherent I was but I just wanted him to know how much D means to me. I wish I could have had more time with the guys but I’m sure every fan thought the same.
At Tsunehito’s table, I first told him he was beautiful. He laughed and thanked me. I honestly can’t remember what I said to him besides that I was teaching English so he said “teacher?” in English. I remember my nervous response of yes.
By the time I got to Hide-Zou, my brain was so fried. I felt bad that I didn’t know what to say to him although I did manage something but it was probably stupid since I can’t remember what I said to him. Then the woman making sure people weren’t hogging the members waved me along with an insistent hand on my back. Hugging my flag case to my chest, I left. I felt pretty good since I hadn’t sounded like too much of a moron, all of them were very sweet, and they each complimented my Japanese.
After the event, I hit up a Saizeriya since I was really craving pizza. Then after that I tried to do some shopping but just looking and considering buying a scarf sent me into a panic attack about money. So I gave up, left Shibuya, and went to Shinjuku Tower Records to see if I could get into the in store event there since that was a cheki session. My panic attack was still continuing so I kept debating if I should try going for it or not. My friend encouraged me to do it so finally I worked up the courage to ask a staff member about how I could get a ticket for the event. She walked me over to a table where people were lining up to get in. So I waited in the bigass line, filled out an order form, went back to the bigass line to wait. Then I paid for the album at the desk and got my tickets so yay everything worked out. At first I was only going to get one version of Kingdom but reading that buying all three came with a slipcase I decided I might as well go for it.
Since I got three albums, I got TWO chekis. A group cheki and then a me + member of my choice cheki. I saw some girls with four of five tickets for chekis so geez, what’d they do sell a kidney to be able to get so many photos with the guys? Because the Tower Records event wasn’t a talk, it was just a cheki shoot, the guys came out and sat down in their chairs or stood. Asagi, empty chair, Ruiza. Tsunehito behind Asagi then Hide-Zou and Hiroki next to him. A TV in the corner was playing the new PV while we waited for the guys to come out. Group cheki was first and I was beaming as I walked up to them, so happy I could see them again. I sat down between Asagi and Ruiza and got my picture taken then turned to Asagi and again asked him to take care of himself. We smiled at each other and I happily thanked the guys then left to wait for my two-shot. At first I planned to get my picture taken with Tsunehito since he’s my main muse for when I write D. When I saw girls standing in Asagi’s cape though I knew I had to get my picture with the vampire king. I handed over my ticket to the staff member then approached Asagi. I told him his costume was beautiful and he smiled and thanked me then bowed a little. He held out his arm so I could stand in his cape. I was surprised by how much taller he was than me! I tilted my head towards him like I was trying to lay my head on his shoulder (didn’t though) since this might be my only chance to get this close. I thanked him again after the picture was taken, collected my cheki, took one last long look at the guys, then headed out.
We arrived at Zeal Link early so hung out at the store for a while, watching the new PV on the TV. Took pictures of some of the chekis and band photos up and also Mejibray's costumes for the "Raven" PV were there, but I'll post that in a separate entry.
When it was time to go downstairs to get seated for the event, a staff called people in by numbers and you’d show them your ticket as proof then go down the stairs. All the seats were taken and I moved to stand at the side since that seemed like it would afford me a better view of the guys which it did.
This was a two part event. The first part was a talk and then you could get a personal item signed by the members. I received a ticket for each event and then a piece of paper to write a question on. Alice and I were joking about asking about underwear since the last event she was at was full of perv fans asking about underwear (apparently Hiroki has panda underwear), but I asked what pajamas they wore. Then realized during the event that a much better question would’ve been asking which costume was their favorite. It was too late and my question didn’t get picked anyway so it didn’t matter.
The guys walked by right in front of me to get to their seats. So much pretty!! They seem to follow the same order for seats at in store events. Hide-Zou, Tsunehito, Asagi, Ruiza, and Hiroki. I hoped there would be a repeat of the Treasure Box event where Ruiza practically face planted into Asagi’s lap to check out his tights (prompting Asagi to look rather violated, then he jumped when Tsunehito leaned over to check out his tights too) but alas. Not this time.
They did the talk first. I can’t remember much of what they said, just talking about the tour, thanking people for coming to see them, talking about the album release. I was also struggling with listening comprehension so a lot of what was said went over my head. It didn’t help that a staff member was playing D music in the background and Ruiza was speaking more quietly than usual so it was kind of tough to hear the guys. Every so often they’d sip their water and poor Tsunehito was clearly overheating in his dress since he kept fanning himself with his hands.
Then it was time for questions. I can only remember three and couldn’t understand the other.
One question was about the features of their costumes. Each member, starting with Hiroki, took turns standing up and describing their costumes then would turn around so we could see front and back views. I can’t remember what they said about the costumes but Hide-Zou was amused about something and the other guys teased him a lot.
A perv fan asked Asagi if he could take off his jacket. The gist of his response was that he could but then he’d be like Hiroki (who always takes his clothes off) so that made everyone giggle.
There was a cute part where Ruiza was laughing so hard that he pulled his knees up to his chest, feet coming off the ground. It gave me a nice view of his thighs and stomach. Plus it was adorable!
Another question was about what each member’s favorite part of the PV was. Hiroki said that his was when Asagi picks him up and carries him. Asagi started laughing at that so there was some talk about that moment.
I couldn’t understand what Ruiza’s response was.
Asagi said his favorite part was when Kircheis was frozen and Dreizhen reaches out to lay a hand on the ice. Asagi held his hand out in demonstration while talking.
Tsunehito said his favorite was when little Carbuncle is walking with Dreizhen and holding his arm then it shows adult Carbuncle doing the same thing.
I think Hide-Zou said his favorite moment was when he gets his rapier.
After the talk was over, fans who didn’t have tickets to the signing left the room. As I was waiting to get my flag case signed and watching fans go up to the members, it dawned on me that I would soon be face to face with them. I would have to speak soon. Cue a serious case of nerves!! My stomach was churning by the time I moved to the front row of seats. Only the girls (and occasional bow) were separating me from the band. I watched the guys while I was waiting and they were all so sweet. They had time to talk to each fan and they were obviously happy to do it. They’d listen and smile then have some time to talk before and after signing whatever item the fan asked them to sign. As I waited I kept running through what I wanted to say to each member. Watching a girl get her flag signed made me reconsider getting just the flag case signed but I decided to get the case signed after all.
My tickets which for some reason had to give to a staff member. I was bummed about that, I really wanted to keep them. Took the picture at least though.
There was another moment of panic when it was time for me to stand and get closer. Approach the table and stand right in front of Hiroki. My heart was beating and I know I was smiling nervously as I presented him with my flag case and asked him to sign it. He smiled and asked where to sign so I said anywhere was fine. Then I commented that we had similar hairstyles since both of us had short, curly hair that day. Hiroki laughed and fluffed up his hair. I mentioned I was teaching English in Saitama so he looked impressed and called me “sensei” then complimented my Japanese so I properly responded with まだまだです！(Basically, “not yet” as in my Japanese isn’t good enough. That’s the standard response to compliments so you don’t sound arrogant)
Soon after I had to move on to Ruiza. I got tongue tied trying to compliment his rose ring, laughed at myself, apologized for my bad Japanese, then managed to properly compliment his ring this time. Ruiza smiled when I got the words right. I told him I liked the blue in his hair and he grinned and touched it. Such a cutie.
I stayed the longest at Asagi’s spot. First I told him he has beautiful hair so he smiled and thanked me then fingered his hair. Next I asked him to please take care of himself so he smile and said がんばります！Then I started babbling about how I studied abroad in Shiga last year, how it was really stressful but listening to D always made me feel better. I’m not sure how coherent I was but I just wanted him to know how much D means to me. I wish I could have had more time with the guys but I’m sure every fan thought the same.
At Tsunehito’s table, I first told him he was beautiful. He laughed and thanked me. I honestly can’t remember what I said to him besides that I was teaching English so he said “teacher?” in English. I remember my nervous response of yes.
By the time I got to Hide-Zou, my brain was so fried. I felt bad that I didn’t know what to say to him although I did manage something but it was probably stupid since I can’t remember what I said to him. Then the woman making sure people weren’t hogging the members waved me along with an insistent hand on my back. Hugging my flag case to my chest, I left. I felt pretty good since I hadn’t sounded like too much of a moron, all of them were very sweet, and they each complimented my Japanese.
After the event, I hit up a Saizeriya since I was really craving pizza. Then after that I tried to do some shopping but just looking and considering buying a scarf sent me into a panic attack about money. So I gave up, left Shibuya, and went to Shinjuku Tower Records to see if I could get into the in store event there since that was a cheki session. My panic attack was still continuing so I kept debating if I should try going for it or not. My friend encouraged me to do it so finally I worked up the courage to ask a staff member about how I could get a ticket for the event. She walked me over to a table where people were lining up to get in. So I waited in the bigass line, filled out an order form, went back to the bigass line to wait. Then I paid for the album at the desk and got my tickets so yay everything worked out. At first I was only going to get one version of Kingdom but reading that buying all three came with a slipcase I decided I might as well go for it.
Since I got three albums, I got TWO chekis. A group cheki and then a me + member of my choice cheki. I saw some girls with four of five tickets for chekis so geez, what’d they do sell a kidney to be able to get so many photos with the guys? Because the Tower Records event wasn’t a talk, it was just a cheki shoot, the guys came out and sat down in their chairs or stood. Asagi, empty chair, Ruiza. Tsunehito behind Asagi then Hide-Zou and Hiroki next to him. A TV in the corner was playing the new PV while we waited for the guys to come out. Group cheki was first and I was beaming as I walked up to them, so happy I could see them again. I sat down between Asagi and Ruiza and got my picture taken then turned to Asagi and again asked him to take care of himself. We smiled at each other and I happily thanked the guys then left to wait for my two-shot. At first I planned to get my picture taken with Tsunehito since he’s my main muse for when I write D. When I saw girls standing in Asagi’s cape though I knew I had to get my picture with the vampire king. I handed over my ticket to the staff member then approached Asagi. I told him his costume was beautiful and he smiled and thanked me then bowed a little. He held out his arm so I could stand in his cape. I was surprised by how much taller he was than me! I tilted my head towards him like I was trying to lay my head on his shoulder (didn’t though) since this might be my only chance to get this close. I thanked him again after the picture was taken, collected my cheki, took one last long look at the guys, then headed out.