NYCC Report a.k.a the one in which we run into Sho in Times Square a.k.a. WHAT ARE THE ODDS!?!
Well,
mildmodern_girl and I are back from NYCC and let me say it was AMAZING. So incredible in ways that I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD OR COULD BE. I'm going to try to record it all here but I'm sure I'll miss something and have to keep editing. Also I'll have to add pics later, since I'm not on my own comp.
Thursday:
After a slightly confusing/frustrating morning and a fairly relaxing bus ride,
mildmodern_girl(Jess) and I arrived in NYC around 2:15. Our plan was to stay with a friend in Brooklyn (L), but because she was stuck at work until 7:30 we had a lot of time on our hands to wander around. Since I had recently been on a trip to NYC I suggested that we head to the hotel I stayed at last time, because it was nearby and had paid lockers I thought we could put our luggage in.
So, we're hoofing it up 8th ave in Times Square. While we're waiting to cross over Little Brazil street I notice that there's a white van parked in front of us on the opposite curb. We start to cross the street and I think "Wow, that's a lot of fancily dressed Asians getting out of that--"
And out of the van not FIVE FEET AWAY FROM US STEPS SAKURAI SHO!!!!!!
I KID YOU NOT! SAKURAI CHESTO MAXIMUM NEWSCASTER SHO
Jess and I froze in the middle of the cross walk:
Me: That's Sho...
Jess: What?
Me: It's Sho!
Jess: It's Sho!
Out of probably utter shock and knee-jerk fangirlism I called out "Sho!" And he looked up at us and stared looking completely confused. Probably because he wasn't expecting to step out into NYC and have some random girl call out his name. Beside me Jess waved at him. And then we all just stared at each other.
I took a step forward, but Sho's bodyguard (A tall black dude who you can see in some of the other photos) stepped up and shook his head and finger at us. So there was another staring stand off, Me + Jess + Sho + Bodyguard.
Finally we decided we should probably cross the street so we started moving again. But not wanting to miss the moment I looked at Sho and yelled "Arashi no Daifan desu!" so that he could hear and he nodded slowly at us and watched us cross, still looking incredibly (and adorably) confused.
Once we got to the other side of the street we realized that Sho and his entourage (which consisted of quite a few people) weren't leaving so we decided that we'd stay as long as they did. We didn't want to be creepy fans, so we didn't scream, we didn't take pics, and we didn't stalk them. We just stood to the side and watched while they all unloaded and got ready.
Sho took his time looking around at the buildings. He reached back and one of the assistants immediately put a camera into his hand which he used to snap random pictures including one of the hotdog vendor next to where we were standing. Another assistant gave Sho's make up a touch up. After a few minutes Sho and his entourage grouped up, crossed to the opposite corner, waited for the light to change (during which Sho got his camera again and snapped some shots of Times Square), crossed over 8th avenue and headed down the way we had just come.
We waited until they were out of sight to properly FREAK OUT and then call everyone we knew who would even be remotely interested. (And some who weren't, but seriously COME ON WHAT ARE THE ODDS!?)
Sho looks exactly like he does on TV!!!! Except kinda teensier... He was in what looked like a suit with a slim black coat on top, and his hair was smoothed down (instead of fluffed up like it was for the events on Friday). He was just... Sho. And he was five feet in front of us, looking at us, in our faces, on the street, in New York City...
Sorry, I'm still in shock.
Afterwards we continued to the hotel, where we found out that the lockers had switched from paid to free but for guests only. Walked to another luggage locker place which was closed, and finally dragged ourselves to the closest McDonalds to rest, and eat. (All the while pausing every five minutes to yell "HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN!" "I DON'T EVEN KNOW!!!" and flail.)
Later we headed down to find and explore the convention center, so we'd have a good idea of what to expect on Friday. Then we met up with L at her job and took the subway to her place. The rest of the night was filled with delicious hand-tossed pizza, Soul Caliber, YouTubing, and Uchiwa Making.
Friday:
We woke up at 6:30, threw on a bajillion layers in preparation for waiting outside, and made out way to the Convention center. However when we arrived we found out that the building was open and that there was an indoor waiting area. We also ran into four other Arashi fans (one of which both Jess and I knew from High School, crazy!) I think one of the Comic Con staff noticed out Arashi fangirl supplies (uchiwas and magazines) so she came and took a picture of us. (Later we saw that she was part of the Yatterman staff, because she was taking pictures at all of the Yatterman events and was in the skybox with Sho during his appearance.)
After getting in line we also met up with the Sho Brigade and rainawallis !! You ladies were all awesome and I'm so glad to have met you! rainawallis thank you so much for keeping us updated with what was going on on the press side of things!
The doors opened at 1 (during which Blair Butler from G4tv's attack of the show was filming next to us, so cool!!) and of course everyone ran to the booth. To be honest, NYCC didn't really do a good job of preparing to direct the crowd. The Yatterman "booth" was practically a card table with some pamphlets on it. There was no tape or ropes to distinguish where a line should form so everyone ended up smooshed into one big mob. We stayed that way for two hours! And then after they announced that Sho wouldn't be coming down (Which at that point was a given, since there was no way they could have gotten him into the booth. Unless they lowered him from the ceiling Dream'A'Live style) and instead would be in the Skybox, they expected that we would all leave. But most of us still wanted to wait for tickets! And of course, the ticket hand out was... yeah. I'm sure everyone already knows by now.
Sho's appearance though, was fantastic! It was such a smarter idea to put him into the skybox. That way everyone could SEE and there was no reason to push. Once he finally came out he looked so surprised and then pleased. He waved to everyone and then looked even more shocked when he heard us sing A.RA.SHI. And the hand movements! Just, great.
The experience at the theater seemed a bit more organized. By the time we arrived there were already 70 people in the no-tickets line. While we waited we were chatted up by a nice (and probably bored) security guard. Also some camera crews came and made sweeps of the crowd so I'm sure a lot of us will end up on Japanese tv. It kind of sucked that we waited in the cold and didn't get in, but as it has been said Grady (a.k.a. Pink Suit dude) was extremely apologetic and explained that they had originally intended to have 150 tickets available for fans, however last minute tickets requested by just about every official group involved in the film and it's promotion ate up most of those seats and in the end only 20 fans got in (not counting contest winners).
Still, watching Sho's arrival was great. It was so cool that they lit up the inside of the stretch limo so that everyone could see, and Sho himself was sitting facing the window, looking out at the crowd. Crazy sparkly uchiwa girl aside, I think it went very well. Mostly everyone stayed in their place while screaming and waving their signs and uchiwas. Sho himself looked shocked again by the number of people but then quickly started smiling. It was cute.
After we were positive we wouldn't get into the premier. Jess and I got some food, made our way back to L's place, and slept until noon the next day. (Considering we had been standing in crowds or lines for over 7 hours on Friday) The rest of the weekend consisted of laziness, a trip into Chinatown (yay Mr. Tea), more video games, playing with L's cat, and a last minute trip to Kinokuniya.
In my opinion, the weekend was a great success. We got to see Sho Sakurai 3 times in 2 days! And the first time from only 5 ft away!!!!! It probably goes without saying but, having that happen on Thursday made the entire weekend better. Even when we had been waiting for hours outside of the theatre Jess and I would look at each other and start flailing because, OH MY GOSH WE SAW HIM IN PERSON!!! FACE TO FACE!!! WHAT ARE THE ODDS!?!?!? (Jess informs me they're about 8,310,212 to 1, more or less.)
I know some people are complaining about the actions of some fans, but overall I think as American fans (and as non-Japanese fans in general) we made a really good impression. We showed Sho as well as the accompanying staff that he and Arashi do have a dedicated fanbase here, but we didn't go crazy and try to stalk him, or destroy property because we didn't get what we wanted. It seemed like almost everyone stayed respectful and enjoyed what we were able to get. (Some fans were so respectul of Johnny's Ent. rules that they even tried to correct the Yatterman booth guy when he said we could take pictures of Sho!) My hope is that Sho shares his experiences with the rest of Arashi, their management, etc and we get one step closer to having a concert in America!!
mildmodern_girl and I are back from NYCC and let me say it was AMAZING. So incredible in ways that I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD OR COULD BE. I'm going to try to record it all here but I'm sure I'll miss something and have to keep editing. Also I'll have to add pics later, since I'm not on my own comp.
Thursday:
After a slightly confusing/frustrating morning and a fairly relaxing bus ride,
mildmodern_girl(Jess) and I arrived in NYC around 2:15. Our plan was to stay with a friend in Brooklyn (L), but because she was stuck at work until 7:30 we had a lot of time on our hands to wander around. Since I had recently been on a trip to NYC I suggested that we head to the hotel I stayed at last time, because it was nearby and had paid lockers I thought we could put our luggage in.
So, we're hoofing it up 8th ave in Times Square. While we're waiting to cross over Little Brazil street I notice that there's a white van parked in front of us on the opposite curb. We start to cross the street and I think "Wow, that's a lot of fancily dressed Asians getting out of that--"
And out of the van not FIVE FEET AWAY FROM US STEPS SAKURAI SHO!!!!!!
I KID YOU NOT! SAKURAI CHESTO MAXIMUM NEWSCASTER SHO
Jess and I froze in the middle of the cross walk:
Me: That's Sho...
Jess: What?
Me: It's Sho!
Jess: It's Sho!
Out of probably utter shock and knee-jerk fangirlism I called out "Sho!" And he looked up at us and stared looking completely confused. Probably because he wasn't expecting to step out into NYC and have some random girl call out his name. Beside me Jess waved at him. And then we all just stared at each other.
I took a step forward, but Sho's bodyguard (A tall black dude who you can see in some of the other photos) stepped up and shook his head and finger at us. So there was another staring stand off, Me + Jess + Sho + Bodyguard.
Finally we decided we should probably cross the street so we started moving again. But not wanting to miss the moment I looked at Sho and yelled "Arashi no Daifan desu!" so that he could hear and he nodded slowly at us and watched us cross, still looking incredibly (and adorably) confused.
Once we got to the other side of the street we realized that Sho and his entourage (which consisted of quite a few people) weren't leaving so we decided that we'd stay as long as they did. We didn't want to be creepy fans, so we didn't scream, we didn't take pics, and we didn't stalk them. We just stood to the side and watched while they all unloaded and got ready.
Sho took his time looking around at the buildings. He reached back and one of the assistants immediately put a camera into his hand which he used to snap random pictures including one of the hotdog vendor next to where we were standing. Another assistant gave Sho's make up a touch up. After a few minutes Sho and his entourage grouped up, crossed to the opposite corner, waited for the light to change (during which Sho got his camera again and snapped some shots of Times Square), crossed over 8th avenue and headed down the way we had just come.
We waited until they were out of sight to properly FREAK OUT and then call everyone we knew who would even be remotely interested. (And some who weren't, but seriously COME ON WHAT ARE THE ODDS!?)
Sho looks exactly like he does on TV!!!! Except kinda teensier... He was in what looked like a suit with a slim black coat on top, and his hair was smoothed down (instead of fluffed up like it was for the events on Friday). He was just... Sho. And he was five feet in front of us, looking at us, in our faces, on the street, in New York City...
Sorry, I'm still in shock.
Afterwards we continued to the hotel, where we found out that the lockers had switched from paid to free but for guests only. Walked to another luggage locker place which was closed, and finally dragged ourselves to the closest McDonalds to rest, and eat. (All the while pausing every five minutes to yell "HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN!" "I DON'T EVEN KNOW!!!" and flail.)
Later we headed down to find and explore the convention center, so we'd have a good idea of what to expect on Friday. Then we met up with L at her job and took the subway to her place. The rest of the night was filled with delicious hand-tossed pizza, Soul Caliber, YouTubing, and Uchiwa Making.
Friday:
We woke up at 6:30, threw on a bajillion layers in preparation for waiting outside, and made out way to the Convention center. However when we arrived we found out that the building was open and that there was an indoor waiting area. We also ran into four other Arashi fans (one of which both Jess and I knew from High School, crazy!) I think one of the Comic Con staff noticed out Arashi fangirl supplies (uchiwas and magazines) so she came and took a picture of us. (Later we saw that she was part of the Yatterman staff, because she was taking pictures at all of the Yatterman events and was in the skybox with Sho during his appearance.)
After getting in line we also met up with the Sho Brigade and rainawallis !! You ladies were all awesome and I'm so glad to have met you! rainawallis thank you so much for keeping us updated with what was going on on the press side of things!
The doors opened at 1 (during which Blair Butler from G4tv's attack of the show was filming next to us, so cool!!) and of course everyone ran to the booth. To be honest, NYCC didn't really do a good job of preparing to direct the crowd. The Yatterman "booth" was practically a card table with some pamphlets on it. There was no tape or ropes to distinguish where a line should form so everyone ended up smooshed into one big mob. We stayed that way for two hours! And then after they announced that Sho wouldn't be coming down (Which at that point was a given, since there was no way they could have gotten him into the booth. Unless they lowered him from the ceiling Dream'A'Live style) and instead would be in the Skybox, they expected that we would all leave. But most of us still wanted to wait for tickets! And of course, the ticket hand out was... yeah. I'm sure everyone already knows by now.
Sho's appearance though, was fantastic! It was such a smarter idea to put him into the skybox. That way everyone could SEE and there was no reason to push. Once he finally came out he looked so surprised and then pleased. He waved to everyone and then looked even more shocked when he heard us sing A.RA.SHI. And the hand movements! Just, great.
The experience at the theater seemed a bit more organized. By the time we arrived there were already 70 people in the no-tickets line. While we waited we were chatted up by a nice (and probably bored) security guard. Also some camera crews came and made sweeps of the crowd so I'm sure a lot of us will end up on Japanese tv. It kind of sucked that we waited in the cold and didn't get in, but as it has been said Grady (a.k.a. Pink Suit dude) was extremely apologetic and explained that they had originally intended to have 150 tickets available for fans, however last minute tickets requested by just about every official group involved in the film and it's promotion ate up most of those seats and in the end only 20 fans got in (not counting contest winners).
Still, watching Sho's arrival was great. It was so cool that they lit up the inside of the stretch limo so that everyone could see, and Sho himself was sitting facing the window, looking out at the crowd. Crazy sparkly uchiwa girl aside, I think it went very well. Mostly everyone stayed in their place while screaming and waving their signs and uchiwas. Sho himself looked shocked again by the number of people but then quickly started smiling. It was cute.
After we were positive we wouldn't get into the premier. Jess and I got some food, made our way back to L's place, and slept until noon the next day. (Considering we had been standing in crowds or lines for over 7 hours on Friday) The rest of the weekend consisted of laziness, a trip into Chinatown (yay Mr. Tea), more video games, playing with L's cat, and a last minute trip to Kinokuniya.
In my opinion, the weekend was a great success. We got to see Sho Sakurai 3 times in 2 days! And the first time from only 5 ft away!!!!! It probably goes without saying but, having that happen on Thursday made the entire weekend better. Even when we had been waiting for hours outside of the theatre Jess and I would look at each other and start flailing because, OH MY GOSH WE SAW HIM IN PERSON!!! FACE TO FACE!!! WHAT ARE THE ODDS!?!?!? (Jess informs me they're about 8,310,212 to 1, more or less.)
I know some people are complaining about the actions of some fans, but overall I think as American fans (and as non-Japanese fans in general) we made a really good impression. We showed Sho as well as the accompanying staff that he and Arashi do have a dedicated fanbase here, but we didn't go crazy and try to stalk him, or destroy property because we didn't get what we wanted. It seemed like almost everyone stayed respectful and enjoyed what we were able to get. (Some fans were so respectul of Johnny's Ent. rules that they even tried to correct the Yatterman booth guy when he said we could take pictures of Sho!) My hope is that Sho shares his experiences with the rest of Arashi, their management, etc and we get one step closer to having a concert in America!!