関ジャニ∞ ソロ Concert 2006 冬: 安田
It’s the day before the concert and I’m too excited to think or do anything. How am I supposed to do any actual work today knowing full well that tomorrow I’ll be seeing Shota?! I’m so excited and, like with SOb, I have no idea what to expect. How thrilling! It’s Sho-chan so I have no doubt about the quality. It’s going to be a fabulously awesome show! I just know it. (.^_^)b
I’m really looking forward to hearing him play the guitar without anything else accompanying it. Will he dance too? Will there be a VTR? What covers will he do? Will he debut any new songs he’s written? Does he do improv songs? o(^_^o)(o^_^)o
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WARNING
This report might contain lots and lots of fangirling because I’m like that. (.^_^) I tried to keep the emoticons to a minimum though.
This report is also kind of long so you may want to get a snack or something before you begin reading. (.^_^) I don’t intend for them to be... I always plan on just a page or two and then they end up being chapter length. LoL! Before long, I’ll have enough chapters for an actual novel. Hahaha!
~*vVv*~
GOODS
UCHIWA
I had no idea what to put on my uchiwa. Here’s a close up. Since they weren’t selling them at the concert, I wasn’t even sure they would be allowed. renchan5 kindly suggested “YO, kachin! YOUR MOM.” However, I finally decided on this design. I’ve wanted to make a T-shirt with this on it but I don’t know how to silkscreen and I couldn’t find the super sparkly material that shimmers and shines with the slightest movement to substitute for the silver part... For the uchiwa, I used black sequins for the eyes and a silver paint marker for the rest. I also used foil/prism origami paper for the blue hearts. The glitter is glitter glue. The sticker with his name is just in case, you know, I forget who I made it for... because that’ll totally happen, right?! LoL! Maru! ’s is going to be on the other side. His side has a name sticker too. (.^_^)
OUTFIT
Yes, I’m going to include this section. I like to choose different outfits when I go to concerts. I don’t really have a lot of chances to try and pretty myself up. I like to take advantage of the situation. However, I wasn’t really in the mood to get really dressy so I chose this. I put in my blue earrings and painted my nails too. The pictures aren’t that good so you can’t see that I French tipped them with silver glitter very well... I also added a stripe of green for OTP love. (.^_^)
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VENUE
The Shochikuza Theatre is very tiny. It seats about 1,003 people and even from the 3rd tier, it’s possible to decently see the stage. I had 2nd tier seats. The venue is located about a minute from Nanba Subway Station’s exit 4.
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PRE-SHOW
I actually finished my uchiwa rather early so I got a decent night’s sleep. Yea! I woke up early too so I didn’t have to rush or anything that morning like I usually do. LoL! On the train ride down, I multitasked and wrote some of my Christmas cards. (.^_^)v
Once in Osaka, I stopped by an okonomiyaki restaurant that my friend and I frequent for some ebi okonomiyaki. Tackey&Tsubasa’s “カッコつかないTonight” was playing too. (.^_^) After eating, I bought some omiyage for a couple of my students and then got in line to enter the building. The sign above the door was changed to show the two shows. There was also a poster. The line was rather quick and I soon was inside. I’m surprised they didn’t check bags. Anyway...
I was pleased to see that I could buy all of my goods at the same time that day, which meant I wouldn’t have to wait in line each time. Yea! Oh! The T-shirts were so awesome! I wanted to buy one but I knew I would never actually wear it. Here are some pictures of them that I stole from auction websites: Maru! front, Maru! back; Shota front, Shota back; Hina front, Hina back. Shota designed his himself. I think they all did... (.^_^) I just notices that Maru! ’s has a mountain with a circle around it. LoL!
After buying goods, I quickly sent a spazzy fangirly txtmsg to renchan5 before finding my seat. Oh! It was a great seat! I could see the entire stage quite well and was close enough to see people clearly. I’m telling you, any seat in the Shochikuza is a good seat! (.^_^)b Since I was in the 2nd tier, I also had the advantage of having stadium seating so I didn’t have to worry about tall people in front of me. Yea!
There was about 5-10 minutes to bounce around in anticipation before the concert finally began...
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SETLIST & COSTUMES
0. OVERTURE
1. OPENING MEDLEY (white painter outfit with random black lines and colors)
-- Dive
-- Do You Agree??
-- ∞SAKAおばちゃんROCK
2. INTRO/GREETING
3. V.WEST MEDLEY
-- Fighter
-- Believe My Story
-- Let’s Go! Let’s Go!
4. DANCE
5. ミセテクレ (neon pink outfit with neon green lightning bolts)
6. 愛のかたまり(suit with hat)
7. 未来の向こうへ (suit)
8. ヤジルシ↑ (colorful top)
9. 関風ファイティング (new red/gold outfit)
10. miniMC
11. みかん
12. 君と僕
13. MC
14. 無限大 [Okinawan]
15. ∞レンジャー [acoustic]
16. 人様の光
17. Eden
18. BAD BOYS & OSSaN INTROS
19. JR.S’ MEDLEY
-- イセイジン
-- CHANCE
-- ABC123
-- ???
-- OSSaN
20. 見上げてごらん夜の星を (yellow/blue outfit)
21. CHRISTMAS SONGS
-- Can You Feel This Christmas
-- 10年後の今日の日も
22. Act Show (black pants, black vest)
23. ???
24. 大阪ロマネスク
25. アメちゃん
26. プリン
27. 口笛の向こう
28. 好きやねん、大阪。
29. ENCORE (tour T-shirt)
-- 無限大 [acoustic]
-- 関風ファイティング
30. FINAL FAREWELL
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 1
Fangirls were chanting variations of “Shota,” “Yasu” and “Sho-chan” -- I chose the latter -- in a varied rhythm so it ended up sounding like “YasushoTasushoYasusho!” The show was about to begin at any second. Where would he appear first?
The lights dimmed, the curtain went up and the opening chords from Shota’s electric guitar filled the venue. An enlarged black silhouette of him was cast onto the red screen from behind, much like the full group outline in the beginning of Another’s ANOTHER.
The crowd screamed cries of delight as Shota rose from the hanamichi trapdoor in a cloud of smoke like the rock star he was that day. His outfit was... interesting. Imagine a white version of the 8Ranger suits. Now, add a random pattern of black lines. Then splash some colors on the torso part and orange on the left leg. His outfit reminded me of a baby white tiger that made a mess with paints someone left on their back porch.
He jammed on his guitar for a few stanzas before segueing into “DIVE.” At that point, the red curtain was dropped to reveal all of the Kansai Jr.s dancing their little hearts out, especially CE-kun. No, I’m not biased at all! On a staggered raised platform in the very back of the stage was OSSaN playing the backup band.
For this song and the next song, “Do You Agree??,” they were bouncing around and pumping up the crowd. Shota had been lowered by this time so he could run all around too. Oh my! There was so much energy pouring forth from the very start of the show. I was jumping up and down with all of them. His “Do You Agree??” line was almost as raspy and sexy as ‘Kura-chan’s. The Jr.s had been singing the song up to this point.
At the end of that song, he shouted out something before he continued with “One! Two! Konnichi one two~!” and went into “Obaachan Rock.” As usual, I threw down my uchiwas because they just get in the way of the dancing and Shota probably already realized that we were all there to see him anyway! Hahaha! Shota chose to go up and down the hanamichi and cause all of the fangirls to yell out in happiness. I couldn’t see the hanamichi that well, so, I watched CE-kun who was, as usual, completely into the dance.
Shota gave a brief greeting to all of us and delved into what was referred to as “old numbers.” He played the opening strands of V.WEST’s song, “Fighter,” and I squealed in glee. For “Believe My Story,” he went to the side of the stage without the hanamichi and sang into the microphone that a junior wearing a black outfit with gold trim had placed there. Next was “Let’s Go! Let’s Go!”
It was so awesome being able to hear these old songs live! I’d only seen old clips from youtube up to that point. I knew “Believe My Story” from a clip that had ‘Kura-chan drumming and looking totally adorable. But, that’s a different entry... This report is about Sho-chan!
Shota began break dancing in the middle of the black stage to pounding rock music with a super catchy bass line. A slanted wall slid in from one side. When he’d finished dancing, he ran to it, ran up the wall and did a back flip off of it. Kakkoe~e~! (>_<) It was so freakin’ sweet! The rest of the Jr.s danced their intros and he and BAD BOYS then did blackflips off of the raised platform before he ran off stage.
The opening notes to “Misetekure,” a song I adore to pieces, blared and everyone was gathered on the back platform. Shota reappeared in the middle of them wearing a hooded jumpsuit. This time, it was neon pink with neon green lightning bolt designs. His face was covered by the hood. He bent to the right side slightly and dramatically tore the hood away from his face with his hand to reveal the cutest, biggest, heart melting Cheshire cat grin ever! OMG! [nosebleed]
He then dove right into the dance and the beginning raps. Shota did an excellent job singing this as a solo song. His raps were perfect. He nailed Ryo’s parts. He made Subaru’s parts his own and at the end of one of the lines did a neat note change scale thingie that I thought was just so freakin’ cool. (♥_♥)
Oh! Just when I thought this rendition of the song couldn’t get any better, at the “you don’t cry~” after the second rap section, it switched to a BGM remix. The lights were switched off and black lights were turned on in their place; turning him into a bright moving mass of pink. His gloves were black so his hands weren’t visible. As for the Jr.s, though, the only things visible on them *were* the green gloves on their hands.
At one point, they lifted Shota and turned him in the air, making it appear as though he was floating amongst glowing green hands. There were also sections where they would make patterns or he would be in front and the hands would make designed arcs behind him. In one section, he was standing in the middle doing arm movements but because you couldn’t see his actual hands and only the green hands doing the exact same motion, it looked like all of those were his hands floating around. The best part was when he was standing in back and the Jr.s arced their arms around before diving alternately to the left or right onto the ground. SUTEKI~!
Somewhere near the end, probably just before the person quickly pulled the hood back over his face when it fell down, he switched with a body double so when the stage darkened and he began singing “Ai no Katamari” from some unknown place in the theatre, it was quite a surprise. A spotlight revealed him to be standing on a small platform in the 1st floor aisle directly in front of my seat.
He had changed into a black suit, patterned shirt and a black hat. He held the hat down over his face while he sang the first lines a cappella. From there, the music began and he made his way to the stage. This song was quite pretty. At a couple parts, the tune reminded me of another KJ8 song... “Tabibito?”
Anyway, CE-kun and the other Jr.s were dancing backup in black pants and black dress shirts while wearing red accenting pieces. At the end of the song, Shota pulled off the hat and threw it to the right. Ah~! What is it with JE boys and cool hats and cool hat throwing?! (.^_^)
“Mirai no Mukou e”’s opening strings played and he walked to a lone microphone stand in the middle of a sea of stars made from itty bitty spotlights. The image was so beautiful. His voice was beautiful. I became a huge fan of the song.
What song did I hear next?! “Yajirushi!” Kyaa~!! o(^O^)o Of course I *had* to sing along!
Somewhere in between songs, he had taken off his jacket because he was just in the colorful dress shirt and black pants. The Jr.s, on the other hand, weren’t quite so lucky in the costume department. They were so green and pink and hideous... There are no words to describe the eyesore. BAD BOYS’ outfits weren’t too bad but the others... poor things... LoL!
Shota and the Jr.s were all onstage wielding the sharp pointy Arrow-kuns, moving them up and down in the air. While Shota was singing the main parts, he was standing near the front of the stage with his arms around some of the Jr.s. The others, including CE-kun, had the younger Jr.s sitting on their shoulders along the edge of the circle. As the stage turned, they switched positions with the younger kids standing on the upper parts of the older Jr.s’ legs like pair skaters often do.
The middle of the stage rose into three tiers where he and a couple of the Jr.s were standing. Those Jr.s were given ‘Kura-chan’s rap in the songs and, well... Their voices still haven’t changed so it kind of wasn’t the same. (.^_^) After the rap, they continued singing and descended the steps while still waving the Arrow-kun’s around in the air.
Shota walked down the hanamichi at this point for a quick costume change. As “KanFuu Fighting” began, he ran back up the hanamichi, still fussing with the shirt of his “KanFuu Fighting” costume. He made it to the main stage just in time to say, “Xie xie!” He was so cu~te during this song! His dance movements were really sharp, big and crisp. I loved watching him dance to the refrain and chorus parts. Boro boro... Boro boro... Heh heh!
Most of the Jr.s were onstage for this song. Partway through, a couple came out wearing Judo outfits. One of the really young Jr.s came out wearing a wrestling mask and wrestling briefs. He and Shota were fighting. During one of the choruses, he “hit” Shota and Shota pretended to be in pain while dancing.
Honestly, I was actually paying more attention to CE-kun during the last half of the song. (>_<) He and Junta came out wearing bright blue kendo uniforms and were doing kendo drills. First, CE-kun held up his kendo stick horizontally over his head and Junta was repeatedly striking it. When it came to CE-kun’s turn, Junta pulled away causing him to fall forward. Hahaha! They kept messing around like this until the chorus.
I adore watching the dance to this song! I think it’s the added twist and turns with the footwork. Anyway, the image of tons of people on a stage dancing to this song was forever emblazoned in my mind. I’ll learn the entire dance soon. (.^_^)
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 2
Wah~! OMG! So, he had performed a ton of my favorite songs and the show was still only beginning! How could this show possibly get any better? It did... oh, it did...
The Jr’s all left the stage and Shota went to the area on the hanamichi where he had originally started the concert from. A mic stand was set up and his acoustic guitar was all ready for him. He thanked everyone for coming to his concert. He was just grinning and even let out his own cry of delight about everyone being there before singing the next two songs, which he’d written.
While he sang “Mikan,” pictures were shown on the screen that had been lowered with the song lyrics at the bottom. They were drawn by him and were rather abstract. The first picture was the shape of a person and their heart. The second picture resembled a manatee with a red heart. After those, I switched my attention back to Shota because I couldn’t look at both really easily.
At the end of “Mikan,” he went directly to the next song, “Kimi to Boku.” His voice and face held so much emotion while he was singing this song. The melody and lyrics were lovely. “Kimi to issho ni, boku to issho ni, futari issho ni... asa kimi no negao mitai kara, kimi yori hayaku okiru... (Together with you, together with me, together us two... I want to see your sleeping face in the morn so I’ll wake before you...)” [blissful sigh] At the end of the song, he yelled out that he’d made a mistake with the words and of course everyone laughed.
Shota made his way to the center stage where a chair, four guitars and a music stand had been set up. He told us all to take our seats. He went in search of water before announcing that KJ8’s 5th single was released that day. He asked whether everyone had bought or reserved the CD and most of the people raised their hands.
He then asked who was wearing his bracelet and people raised their arms to show off their wrists. He mentioned that he was wearing the red one because it was Subaru’s idea. The audience gasped in shock and he agreed that it was kind of a rare gesture. He said that Subaru had looked a little embarrassed and then proceeded to imitate the exchange. He shuffled quickly to where he’d been standing, made the motion to exchange and said, “Hey, let’s switch,” before scuttling away. Hahaha!
When he asked what everyone’s favorite song off of the new single was, they said, “Propeller,” and he thought it would be “KanFuu Fighting.” It’s mine, Shota. (.^_^)
The members of KJ8 e-mailed him to wish him luck. ‘Kura-chan sent him a fist emoticon in what I’m guessing was a “Fighto!” message. Hina told him to do his best because if he messed up the rest of them were screwed. YokoKimi-kun had called him from the filming location and told him to do his best. Ryo sent a mail asking Shota what he was. He then left a ton of space and at the bottom wrote, “You are Yasu ♥.” I guess Ryo doesn’t use the heart emoticon too often. Aww! Sassy Ryo is a sweetheart! Subaru had written that heartfelt message to Shota through the exchange diaries. Maru! didn’t send anything. Shota said he was probably too busy thinking about his own upcoming solo show.
Some of the audience asked about his sister and he replied that she and his mother sent a letter. Someone asked about his niece and he said in a sort of exasperated voice that babies can’t send txtmsgs. Hahaha!
He took a seat and pulled the special Okinawan sanshin/guitar hybrid over his head. He mentioned that this was a new Okinawan mix of a song. The lyrics were posted on the screen but I still didn’t recognize the song at first until it got to the refrain. It was such an interesting sound and fit rather well. He messed up a little at one part, corrected himself and chuckled briefly in embarrassment -- “Setsunasa...tte “yasashisa” ya ne!” At the end, he just grinned. He was so cute at the end of songs. (.^3^)
On the screen behind him, about 10 songs were listed. They included “Samurai Blues”/”Propeller,” “Tabihito,” “8Rangers [acoustic],” “Itsuka, mata...,” “Mou Kimi Igai Aisenai,” “I LOVE YOU,” “Hitosama no Hikari,” “Kawa no Nagare no you ni,” “Yozora no MUKOU” and other songs I can’t recall. He wanted us to choose what would be sung next. Everyone was calling out songs so he had us raise our hands. He chose a girl sitting in the side seats and delivered the microphone to her. She chose “8Rangers [acoustic].”
Shota agreed and ran back onto the stage. Before singing, though, he decided to show a couple of backstage pictures. The first one was of ‘Kura-chan posing strangely for the camera. The next was of Subaru and Shota. The last one was of Maru! with the top half of his Ranger costume off and being a total goofball. I guess these were taken during the calendar shoot.
The acoustic version of “8Rangers” was awesome. He was so overdramatic . It was hilarious. People began clapping to the rhythm and singing along. He kind of reminded me a little of Hot Sensei #1 mixed with Adam Sandler’s personality during this song. Heh heh. At the end, he held up his hand to have everyone wait a moment before dramatically singing the final “8 Ranger~.”
Everyone raised their hands to choose the next song. I felt like I was in school all over again except this time I wanted to be chosen to give the next answer! He picked a girl on the other side of the 2nd tier and she requested “Itsuka, mata....” However, he didn’t sing that song. He recommended other songs and convinced the girl to change her mind. LoL!
He sang “Hitosama no Hikari” instead. The song was quite pretty. While singing it, stripes of red light were shone onto the ground around him strumming his guitar. He wrote this song while riding the bullet train, I guess.
Next, he called out BAD BOYS to sing “Eden” with him. They came out all dressed in black. After the introductions, he sat on a raised platform with the other guys sitting or standing around the edge.CE-kun was given Subaru’s solo part in the middle of the song. He definitely ganbarimasued. They all did. (.^_^) Honestly, though, this was the only KJ8 song that was sung that day that felt weird without the other members. Heh. (-_-;)
OSSaN was next to be introduced. Shota tried to imitate Hina here with the chatting. I guess one of the guys is in 8th grade. He’s the same age as my students. (>_<) ... No comment. LoL!
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 3
It was then time to get us all up and super high energy again. After a quick DJ Yasuda-esque moriagaraseruing, he left the stage to give way to the Jr.s Medley. Woo hoo!
First up was BAD (“ISEIJIN”), then BOYS (“CHANCE”), then the itty bitty ones (“ABC123”), then another group and finally OSSaN. They were all so adorable! When I heard “CHANCE,” it made me think of the SPIRITS!! DVD. (.^_^) Isn’t “ABC123” a Jackson5 song? Oh... does this mean there’s hope that Hina may sing a Michael Jackson song at his solo concert? o(^_^)o OSSaN cracks me up for some reason. They’re fun!
While they were singing, the platforms were raised to create stairs with CE-kun and Junta wearing those obnoxious lime green outfits. The background was a winter star filled scene. They began “Me Agete Goran Yoru no Hoshi o.” Shota reappeared at the top of the platform. He was wearing the blue/yellow outfit. At the end of it, a lit up shooting star flashed across the backdrop and everyone cooed. The backdrop was then swapped with a really bright “Christmas Party” sign.
As an early Christmas present, Shota sang “Can You Feel This Christmas” and “Juu Nen Go no Kyou no Hi mo.” During the first one, the itty bitty Jr.s, who were dressed in Santa costumes, were sitting in a line at the very front of the stage. He went and crouched next to each of the pairs one by one to sing with them. It was cute! For the second song, he stood in the middle of the stage and I did my best to keep up with the participation dance. I was too busy looking at his smiling face. (.^_^)
While onstage, BAD helped him do a quick costume change. He was having a little bit of a problem with getting his pants off but managed to end up in a white T-shirt, black vest and black pants. As the stage rotated around, he sang “Act Show” and then danced to a number I’d never heard before. He had a couple Koki moments when he kept grabbing at his hood but his dancing was so good! Did I mention the hip rolling in this dance, yet? (*O.o*)
He slowed it down a bit and sang “Osaka Romanesque.” Hearing this made me sad because this was the song that seems to come near the end of their concerts a lot and I didn’t want it to end! Just beautiful, though... It still makes me catch my breath when I see everyone participating with the hand movements for these songs. I think it was during this song that the paper snowflakes floated down from the ceiling onto the stage...
After, the screen came down again and he performed “Ame-chan” and “Purin.” Lyrics and pictures of candy or purin that he’d drawn were shown on the screen. At the beginning of “Ame-chan,” he turned to the audience and gave another heart melting Cheshire cat grin coupled with a peace sign. Wah~! [falls over]
The Jr.s were then all on the main stage dancing and Shota was running all up and down the hanamichi. BAD was wearing the blue shirted outfits. CE-kun kept messing with one of the other Jr.s which resulted in him screwing up the dance. LoL! Shota rejoined the Jr.s to dance along to the rest of “Purin” and had us all sing along.
I never knew there was a participation dance for “Purin!” Oh! It was so cute! During the “Pu~ri~n, Pu~ri~n” part they were holding their hands to their ears. Then during “Iin janai” parts they do the Japanese no-no-no hand wave. I can’t remember the rest but at one point they make the rounded hand gesture for a full belly. I have to find it somewhere! The sight of everyone on the stage was priceless.
“Kuchibue no Mukou” followed. It was more running around chaos. CE-kun and the Jr.s were going around waving their goodbyes. (.^_^)v
Everyone gathered for one last song, “Sukiyanen, Osaka.” Shota pulled out a super shiny, prismatic Eight-kun with Christmas tinsel tails. Brightness of it all distracted me. (☆_☆)
Everyone was singing along and participating to this song. It was really neat! For the talking parts, he thanked everyone for coming to his concert. After the second talking section, Shota stepped on his Eight-kun’s tail, which caused him to stop singing, so the audience helped him out by filling in for him until he regained his bearings. (.^_^) He then had us all sing the last 3 “Yappa sukiyanen” and shouted “Ore no hou ga suki~!” at the very end. Too cute!
They took their bows and the curtain dropped. The show couldn’t be over already! Everyone shouted “YasushoTasushoYasusho!” until we heard the strumming of an acoustic guitar. The curtain went back up to reveal him wearing his SoloCon T-shirt and casual pants.
The screen was down with the lyrics to “Mugendai” and everyone was singing before he even had the chance to prompt us. His face seemed to light up more so, if that’s even possible, and for the rest of the song he changed the “taisetsu na nakama” to “taisetsu na minna!” (♥_♥) He would say, “Ii ne!” and led us when we went astray in the singing. LoL! He also wanted to sing, “kokoro,” instead of “itsushika...” We had the advantage of the lyrics being displayed in front of us though. Heh heh.
We were given a bonus rendition of “KanFuu Fighting” with lots more dancing, singing, smiling and thanks from everyone. He had us all say the “Yossha~!” part which I gladly joined in on.
Once more the curtain fell and again we chanted for him to come back out. The curtain went up and he said, “Thank you so much! The final ‘Mugendai’ moved me so much. Thank you!” while smiling the grin that almost never left his face throughout the entire concert.
~*vVv*~
POST SHOW
After the show, I left the venue in a shiawase daze. I took a picture of the Christmas Tree which were decorated with ornaments made from show flyers.
I had some time before I had to catch my train, so I stopped into the idol shop to buy some pix. There were so many chibiJidai pix of all of them. They were adorable! I bought some ’Kura-chan pix and a hilarious one of YokoKimi-kun and Subaru. KAT-TUN’s “僕らの街で” was playing. Yea!
Finally, I caught a train to go see NaNa2 and then met up with renchan5 to exchange Christmas gifts before she left... I also made her listen to every detail about the concert with wild hand gestures and everything while I drank a mikan flavored chu-hi. (.^3^) Chu~!
~*vVv*~
THOUGHTS
お疲れ様でした、章ちゃん！ホンマにありがとうございました。
It was such an awesome concert! He was the best! His singing, his dancing, his smiling, his guitar playing, his passion... everything was just so wonderful and I wish it could’ve lasted forever. He has such a broad range of styles from acoustic to rock to pop punk to others and I love them all.
The acoustic section reminded me so much of a Jewel concert when it was just her and her guitar. She would take request, banter with the audience, tell stories, impress us all with her musical talent... just like he did.
Also, during the KJ8 songs, it was weird. During the SOb show, it felt a little strange... almost lonely. But Shota managed to make it feel as though they were just his songs all along.
His dancing impressed me so much. And his guitar playing was indescribable.
Wah~! I wish I could see the show aga~in! o(>_<)o
I’m really looking forward to hearing him play the guitar without anything else accompanying it. Will he dance too? Will there be a VTR? What covers will he do? Will he debut any new songs he’s written? Does he do improv songs? o(^_^o)(o^_^)o
~*vVv*~
WARNING
This report might contain lots and lots of fangirling because I’m like that. (.^_^) I tried to keep the emoticons to a minimum though.
This report is also kind of long so you may want to get a snack or something before you begin reading. (.^_^) I don’t intend for them to be... I always plan on just a page or two and then they end up being chapter length. LoL! Before long, I’ll have enough chapters for an actual novel. Hahaha!
~*vVv*~
GOODS
UCHIWA
I had no idea what to put on my uchiwa. Here’s a close up. Since they weren’t selling them at the concert, I wasn’t even sure they would be allowed. renchan5 kindly suggested “YO, kachin! YOUR MOM.” However, I finally decided on this design. I’ve wanted to make a T-shirt with this on it but I don’t know how to silkscreen and I couldn’t find the super sparkly material that shimmers and shines with the slightest movement to substitute for the silver part... For the uchiwa, I used black sequins for the eyes and a silver paint marker for the rest. I also used foil/prism origami paper for the blue hearts. The glitter is glitter glue. The sticker with his name is just in case, you know, I forget who I made it for... because that’ll totally happen, right?! LoL! Maru! ’s is going to be on the other side. His side has a name sticker too. (.^_^)
OUTFIT
Yes, I’m going to include this section. I like to choose different outfits when I go to concerts. I don’t really have a lot of chances to try and pretty myself up. I like to take advantage of the situation. However, I wasn’t really in the mood to get really dressy so I chose this. I put in my blue earrings and painted my nails too. The pictures aren’t that good so you can’t see that I French tipped them with silver glitter very well... I also added a stripe of green for OTP love. (.^_^)
~*vVv*~
VENUE
The Shochikuza Theatre is very tiny. It seats about 1,003 people and even from the 3rd tier, it’s possible to decently see the stage. I had 2nd tier seats. The venue is located about a minute from Nanba Subway Station’s exit 4.
~*vVv*~
PRE-SHOW
I actually finished my uchiwa rather early so I got a decent night’s sleep. Yea! I woke up early too so I didn’t have to rush or anything that morning like I usually do. LoL! On the train ride down, I multitasked and wrote some of my Christmas cards. (.^_^)v
Once in Osaka, I stopped by an okonomiyaki restaurant that my friend and I frequent for some ebi okonomiyaki. Tackey&Tsubasa’s “カッコつかないTonight” was playing too. (.^_^) After eating, I bought some omiyage for a couple of my students and then got in line to enter the building. The sign above the door was changed to show the two shows. There was also a poster. The line was rather quick and I soon was inside. I’m surprised they didn’t check bags. Anyway...
I was pleased to see that I could buy all of my goods at the same time that day, which meant I wouldn’t have to wait in line each time. Yea! Oh! The T-shirts were so awesome! I wanted to buy one but I knew I would never actually wear it. Here are some pictures of them that I stole from auction websites: Maru! front, Maru! back; Shota front, Shota back; Hina front, Hina back. Shota designed his himself. I think they all did... (.^_^) I just notices that Maru! ’s has a mountain with a circle around it. LoL!
After buying goods, I quickly sent a spazzy fangirly txtmsg to renchan5 before finding my seat. Oh! It was a great seat! I could see the entire stage quite well and was close enough to see people clearly. I’m telling you, any seat in the Shochikuza is a good seat! (.^_^)b Since I was in the 2nd tier, I also had the advantage of having stadium seating so I didn’t have to worry about tall people in front of me. Yea!
There was about 5-10 minutes to bounce around in anticipation before the concert finally began...
~*vVv*~
SETLIST & COSTUMES
0. OVERTURE
1. OPENING MEDLEY (white painter outfit with random black lines and colors)
-- Dive
-- Do You Agree??
-- ∞SAKAおばちゃんROCK
2. INTRO/GREETING
3. V.WEST MEDLEY
-- Fighter
-- Believe My Story
-- Let’s Go! Let’s Go!
4. DANCE
5. ミセテクレ (neon pink outfit with neon green lightning bolts)
6. 愛のかたまり(suit with hat)
7. 未来の向こうへ (suit)
8. ヤジルシ↑ (colorful top)
9. 関風ファイティング (new red/gold outfit)
10. miniMC
11. みかん
12. 君と僕
13. MC
14. 無限大 [Okinawan]
15. ∞レンジャー [acoustic]
16. 人様の光
17. Eden
18. BAD BOYS & OSSaN INTROS
19. JR.S’ MEDLEY
-- イセイジン
-- CHANCE
-- ABC123
-- ???
-- OSSaN
20. 見上げてごらん夜の星を (yellow/blue outfit)
21. CHRISTMAS SONGS
-- Can You Feel This Christmas
-- 10年後の今日の日も
22. Act Show (black pants, black vest)
23. ???
24. 大阪ロマネスク
25. アメちゃん
26. プリン
27. 口笛の向こう
28. 好きやねん、大阪。
29. ENCORE (tour T-shirt)
-- 無限大 [acoustic]
-- 関風ファイティング
30. FINAL FAREWELL
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 1
Fangirls were chanting variations of “Shota,” “Yasu” and “Sho-chan” -- I chose the latter -- in a varied rhythm so it ended up sounding like “YasushoTasushoYasusho!” The show was about to begin at any second. Where would he appear first?
The lights dimmed, the curtain went up and the opening chords from Shota’s electric guitar filled the venue. An enlarged black silhouette of him was cast onto the red screen from behind, much like the full group outline in the beginning of Another’s ANOTHER.
The crowd screamed cries of delight as Shota rose from the hanamichi trapdoor in a cloud of smoke like the rock star he was that day. His outfit was... interesting. Imagine a white version of the 8Ranger suits. Now, add a random pattern of black lines. Then splash some colors on the torso part and orange on the left leg. His outfit reminded me of a baby white tiger that made a mess with paints someone left on their back porch.
He jammed on his guitar for a few stanzas before segueing into “DIVE.” At that point, the red curtain was dropped to reveal all of the Kansai Jr.s dancing their little hearts out, especially CE-kun. No, I’m not biased at all! On a staggered raised platform in the very back of the stage was OSSaN playing the backup band.
For this song and the next song, “Do You Agree??,” they were bouncing around and pumping up the crowd. Shota had been lowered by this time so he could run all around too. Oh my! There was so much energy pouring forth from the very start of the show. I was jumping up and down with all of them. His “Do You Agree??” line was almost as raspy and sexy as ‘Kura-chan’s. The Jr.s had been singing the song up to this point.
At the end of that song, he shouted out something before he continued with “One! Two! Konnichi one two~!” and went into “Obaachan Rock.” As usual, I threw down my uchiwas because they just get in the way of the dancing and Shota probably already realized that we were all there to see him anyway! Hahaha! Shota chose to go up and down the hanamichi and cause all of the fangirls to yell out in happiness. I couldn’t see the hanamichi that well, so, I watched CE-kun who was, as usual, completely into the dance.
Shota gave a brief greeting to all of us and delved into what was referred to as “old numbers.” He played the opening strands of V.WEST’s song, “Fighter,” and I squealed in glee. For “Believe My Story,” he went to the side of the stage without the hanamichi and sang into the microphone that a junior wearing a black outfit with gold trim had placed there. Next was “Let’s Go! Let’s Go!”
It was so awesome being able to hear these old songs live! I’d only seen old clips from youtube up to that point. I knew “Believe My Story” from a clip that had ‘Kura-chan drumming and looking totally adorable. But, that’s a different entry... This report is about Sho-chan!
Shota began break dancing in the middle of the black stage to pounding rock music with a super catchy bass line. A slanted wall slid in from one side. When he’d finished dancing, he ran to it, ran up the wall and did a back flip off of it. Kakkoe~e~! (>_<) It was so freakin’ sweet! The rest of the Jr.s danced their intros and he and BAD BOYS then did blackflips off of the raised platform before he ran off stage.
The opening notes to “Misetekure,” a song I adore to pieces, blared and everyone was gathered on the back platform. Shota reappeared in the middle of them wearing a hooded jumpsuit. This time, it was neon pink with neon green lightning bolt designs. His face was covered by the hood. He bent to the right side slightly and dramatically tore the hood away from his face with his hand to reveal the cutest, biggest, heart melting Cheshire cat grin ever! OMG! [nosebleed]
He then dove right into the dance and the beginning raps. Shota did an excellent job singing this as a solo song. His raps were perfect. He nailed Ryo’s parts. He made Subaru’s parts his own and at the end of one of the lines did a neat note change scale thingie that I thought was just so freakin’ cool. (♥_♥)
Oh! Just when I thought this rendition of the song couldn’t get any better, at the “you don’t cry~” after the second rap section, it switched to a BGM remix. The lights were switched off and black lights were turned on in their place; turning him into a bright moving mass of pink. His gloves were black so his hands weren’t visible. As for the Jr.s, though, the only things visible on them *were* the green gloves on their hands.
At one point, they lifted Shota and turned him in the air, making it appear as though he was floating amongst glowing green hands. There were also sections where they would make patterns or he would be in front and the hands would make designed arcs behind him. In one section, he was standing in the middle doing arm movements but because you couldn’t see his actual hands and only the green hands doing the exact same motion, it looked like all of those were his hands floating around. The best part was when he was standing in back and the Jr.s arced their arms around before diving alternately to the left or right onto the ground. SUTEKI~!
Somewhere near the end, probably just before the person quickly pulled the hood back over his face when it fell down, he switched with a body double so when the stage darkened and he began singing “Ai no Katamari” from some unknown place in the theatre, it was quite a surprise. A spotlight revealed him to be standing on a small platform in the 1st floor aisle directly in front of my seat.
He had changed into a black suit, patterned shirt and a black hat. He held the hat down over his face while he sang the first lines a cappella. From there, the music began and he made his way to the stage. This song was quite pretty. At a couple parts, the tune reminded me of another KJ8 song... “Tabibito?”
Anyway, CE-kun and the other Jr.s were dancing backup in black pants and black dress shirts while wearing red accenting pieces. At the end of the song, Shota pulled off the hat and threw it to the right. Ah~! What is it with JE boys and cool hats and cool hat throwing?! (.^_^)
“Mirai no Mukou e”’s opening strings played and he walked to a lone microphone stand in the middle of a sea of stars made from itty bitty spotlights. The image was so beautiful. His voice was beautiful. I became a huge fan of the song.
What song did I hear next?! “Yajirushi!” Kyaa~!! o(^O^)o Of course I *had* to sing along!
Somewhere in between songs, he had taken off his jacket because he was just in the colorful dress shirt and black pants. The Jr.s, on the other hand, weren’t quite so lucky in the costume department. They were so green and pink and hideous... There are no words to describe the eyesore. BAD BOYS’ outfits weren’t too bad but the others... poor things... LoL!
Shota and the Jr.s were all onstage wielding the sharp pointy Arrow-kuns, moving them up and down in the air. While Shota was singing the main parts, he was standing near the front of the stage with his arms around some of the Jr.s. The others, including CE-kun, had the younger Jr.s sitting on their shoulders along the edge of the circle. As the stage turned, they switched positions with the younger kids standing on the upper parts of the older Jr.s’ legs like pair skaters often do.
The middle of the stage rose into three tiers where he and a couple of the Jr.s were standing. Those Jr.s were given ‘Kura-chan’s rap in the songs and, well... Their voices still haven’t changed so it kind of wasn’t the same. (.^_^) After the rap, they continued singing and descended the steps while still waving the Arrow-kun’s around in the air.
Shota walked down the hanamichi at this point for a quick costume change. As “KanFuu Fighting” began, he ran back up the hanamichi, still fussing with the shirt of his “KanFuu Fighting” costume. He made it to the main stage just in time to say, “Xie xie!” He was so cu~te during this song! His dance movements were really sharp, big and crisp. I loved watching him dance to the refrain and chorus parts. Boro boro... Boro boro... Heh heh!
Most of the Jr.s were onstage for this song. Partway through, a couple came out wearing Judo outfits. One of the really young Jr.s came out wearing a wrestling mask and wrestling briefs. He and Shota were fighting. During one of the choruses, he “hit” Shota and Shota pretended to be in pain while dancing.
Honestly, I was actually paying more attention to CE-kun during the last half of the song. (>_<) He and Junta came out wearing bright blue kendo uniforms and were doing kendo drills. First, CE-kun held up his kendo stick horizontally over his head and Junta was repeatedly striking it. When it came to CE-kun’s turn, Junta pulled away causing him to fall forward. Hahaha! They kept messing around like this until the chorus.
I adore watching the dance to this song! I think it’s the added twist and turns with the footwork. Anyway, the image of tons of people on a stage dancing to this song was forever emblazoned in my mind. I’ll learn the entire dance soon. (.^_^)
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 2
Wah~! OMG! So, he had performed a ton of my favorite songs and the show was still only beginning! How could this show possibly get any better? It did... oh, it did...
The Jr’s all left the stage and Shota went to the area on the hanamichi where he had originally started the concert from. A mic stand was set up and his acoustic guitar was all ready for him. He thanked everyone for coming to his concert. He was just grinning and even let out his own cry of delight about everyone being there before singing the next two songs, which he’d written.
While he sang “Mikan,” pictures were shown on the screen that had been lowered with the song lyrics at the bottom. They were drawn by him and were rather abstract. The first picture was the shape of a person and their heart. The second picture resembled a manatee with a red heart. After those, I switched my attention back to Shota because I couldn’t look at both really easily.
At the end of “Mikan,” he went directly to the next song, “Kimi to Boku.” His voice and face held so much emotion while he was singing this song. The melody and lyrics were lovely. “Kimi to issho ni, boku to issho ni, futari issho ni... asa kimi no negao mitai kara, kimi yori hayaku okiru... (Together with you, together with me, together us two... I want to see your sleeping face in the morn so I’ll wake before you...)” [blissful sigh] At the end of the song, he yelled out that he’d made a mistake with the words and of course everyone laughed.
Shota made his way to the center stage where a chair, four guitars and a music stand had been set up. He told us all to take our seats. He went in search of water before announcing that KJ8’s 5th single was released that day. He asked whether everyone had bought or reserved the CD and most of the people raised their hands.
He then asked who was wearing his bracelet and people raised their arms to show off their wrists. He mentioned that he was wearing the red one because it was Subaru’s idea. The audience gasped in shock and he agreed that it was kind of a rare gesture. He said that Subaru had looked a little embarrassed and then proceeded to imitate the exchange. He shuffled quickly to where he’d been standing, made the motion to exchange and said, “Hey, let’s switch,” before scuttling away. Hahaha!
When he asked what everyone’s favorite song off of the new single was, they said, “Propeller,” and he thought it would be “KanFuu Fighting.” It’s mine, Shota. (.^_^)
The members of KJ8 e-mailed him to wish him luck. ‘Kura-chan sent him a fist emoticon in what I’m guessing was a “Fighto!” message. Hina told him to do his best because if he messed up the rest of them were screwed. YokoKimi-kun had called him from the filming location and told him to do his best. Ryo sent a mail asking Shota what he was. He then left a ton of space and at the bottom wrote, “You are Yasu ♥.” I guess Ryo doesn’t use the heart emoticon too often. Aww! Sassy Ryo is a sweetheart! Subaru had written that heartfelt message to Shota through the exchange diaries. Maru! didn’t send anything. Shota said he was probably too busy thinking about his own upcoming solo show.
Some of the audience asked about his sister and he replied that she and his mother sent a letter. Someone asked about his niece and he said in a sort of exasperated voice that babies can’t send txtmsgs. Hahaha!
He took a seat and pulled the special Okinawan sanshin/guitar hybrid over his head. He mentioned that this was a new Okinawan mix of a song. The lyrics were posted on the screen but I still didn’t recognize the song at first until it got to the refrain. It was such an interesting sound and fit rather well. He messed up a little at one part, corrected himself and chuckled briefly in embarrassment -- “Setsunasa...tte “yasashisa” ya ne!” At the end, he just grinned. He was so cute at the end of songs. (.^3^)
On the screen behind him, about 10 songs were listed. They included “Samurai Blues”/”Propeller,” “Tabihito,” “8Rangers [acoustic],” “Itsuka, mata...,” “Mou Kimi Igai Aisenai,” “I LOVE YOU,” “Hitosama no Hikari,” “Kawa no Nagare no you ni,” “Yozora no MUKOU” and other songs I can’t recall. He wanted us to choose what would be sung next. Everyone was calling out songs so he had us raise our hands. He chose a girl sitting in the side seats and delivered the microphone to her. She chose “8Rangers [acoustic].”
Shota agreed and ran back onto the stage. Before singing, though, he decided to show a couple of backstage pictures. The first one was of ‘Kura-chan posing strangely for the camera. The next was of Subaru and Shota. The last one was of Maru! with the top half of his Ranger costume off and being a total goofball. I guess these were taken during the calendar shoot.
The acoustic version of “8Rangers” was awesome. He was so overdramatic . It was hilarious. People began clapping to the rhythm and singing along. He kind of reminded me a little of Hot Sensei #1 mixed with Adam Sandler’s personality during this song. Heh heh. At the end, he held up his hand to have everyone wait a moment before dramatically singing the final “8 Ranger~.”
Everyone raised their hands to choose the next song. I felt like I was in school all over again except this time I wanted to be chosen to give the next answer! He picked a girl on the other side of the 2nd tier and she requested “Itsuka, mata....” However, he didn’t sing that song. He recommended other songs and convinced the girl to change her mind. LoL!
He sang “Hitosama no Hikari” instead. The song was quite pretty. While singing it, stripes of red light were shone onto the ground around him strumming his guitar. He wrote this song while riding the bullet train, I guess.
Next, he called out BAD BOYS to sing “Eden” with him. They came out all dressed in black. After the introductions, he sat on a raised platform with the other guys sitting or standing around the edge.CE-kun was given Subaru’s solo part in the middle of the song. He definitely ganbarimasued. They all did. (.^_^) Honestly, though, this was the only KJ8 song that was sung that day that felt weird without the other members. Heh. (-_-;)
OSSaN was next to be introduced. Shota tried to imitate Hina here with the chatting. I guess one of the guys is in 8th grade. He’s the same age as my students. (>_<) ... No comment. LoL!
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 3
It was then time to get us all up and super high energy again. After a quick DJ Yasuda-esque moriagaraseruing, he left the stage to give way to the Jr.s Medley. Woo hoo!
First up was BAD (“ISEIJIN”), then BOYS (“CHANCE”), then the itty bitty ones (“ABC123”), then another group and finally OSSaN. They were all so adorable! When I heard “CHANCE,” it made me think of the SPIRITS!! DVD. (.^_^) Isn’t “ABC123” a Jackson5 song? Oh... does this mean there’s hope that Hina may sing a Michael Jackson song at his solo concert? o(^_^)o OSSaN cracks me up for some reason. They’re fun!
While they were singing, the platforms were raised to create stairs with CE-kun and Junta wearing those obnoxious lime green outfits. The background was a winter star filled scene. They began “Me Agete Goran Yoru no Hoshi o.” Shota reappeared at the top of the platform. He was wearing the blue/yellow outfit. At the end of it, a lit up shooting star flashed across the backdrop and everyone cooed. The backdrop was then swapped with a really bright “Christmas Party” sign.
As an early Christmas present, Shota sang “Can You Feel This Christmas” and “Juu Nen Go no Kyou no Hi mo.” During the first one, the itty bitty Jr.s, who were dressed in Santa costumes, were sitting in a line at the very front of the stage. He went and crouched next to each of the pairs one by one to sing with them. It was cute! For the second song, he stood in the middle of the stage and I did my best to keep up with the participation dance. I was too busy looking at his smiling face. (.^_^)
While onstage, BAD helped him do a quick costume change. He was having a little bit of a problem with getting his pants off but managed to end up in a white T-shirt, black vest and black pants. As the stage rotated around, he sang “Act Show” and then danced to a number I’d never heard before. He had a couple Koki moments when he kept grabbing at his hood but his dancing was so good! Did I mention the hip rolling in this dance, yet? (*O.o*)
He slowed it down a bit and sang “Osaka Romanesque.” Hearing this made me sad because this was the song that seems to come near the end of their concerts a lot and I didn’t want it to end! Just beautiful, though... It still makes me catch my breath when I see everyone participating with the hand movements for these songs. I think it was during this song that the paper snowflakes floated down from the ceiling onto the stage...
After, the screen came down again and he performed “Ame-chan” and “Purin.” Lyrics and pictures of candy or purin that he’d drawn were shown on the screen. At the beginning of “Ame-chan,” he turned to the audience and gave another heart melting Cheshire cat grin coupled with a peace sign. Wah~! [falls over]
The Jr.s were then all on the main stage dancing and Shota was running all up and down the hanamichi. BAD was wearing the blue shirted outfits. CE-kun kept messing with one of the other Jr.s which resulted in him screwing up the dance. LoL! Shota rejoined the Jr.s to dance along to the rest of “Purin” and had us all sing along.
I never knew there was a participation dance for “Purin!” Oh! It was so cute! During the “Pu~ri~n, Pu~ri~n” part they were holding their hands to their ears. Then during “Iin janai” parts they do the Japanese no-no-no hand wave. I can’t remember the rest but at one point they make the rounded hand gesture for a full belly. I have to find it somewhere! The sight of everyone on the stage was priceless.
“Kuchibue no Mukou” followed. It was more running around chaos. CE-kun and the Jr.s were going around waving their goodbyes. (.^_^)v
Everyone gathered for one last song, “Sukiyanen, Osaka.” Shota pulled out a super shiny, prismatic Eight-kun with Christmas tinsel tails. Brightness of it all distracted me. (☆_☆)
Everyone was singing along and participating to this song. It was really neat! For the talking parts, he thanked everyone for coming to his concert. After the second talking section, Shota stepped on his Eight-kun’s tail, which caused him to stop singing, so the audience helped him out by filling in for him until he regained his bearings. (.^_^) He then had us all sing the last 3 “Yappa sukiyanen” and shouted “Ore no hou ga suki~!” at the very end. Too cute!
They took their bows and the curtain dropped. The show couldn’t be over already! Everyone shouted “YasushoTasushoYasusho!” until we heard the strumming of an acoustic guitar. The curtain went back up to reveal him wearing his SoloCon T-shirt and casual pants.
The screen was down with the lyrics to “Mugendai” and everyone was singing before he even had the chance to prompt us. His face seemed to light up more so, if that’s even possible, and for the rest of the song he changed the “taisetsu na nakama” to “taisetsu na minna!” (♥_♥) He would say, “Ii ne!” and led us when we went astray in the singing. LoL! He also wanted to sing, “kokoro,” instead of “itsushika...” We had the advantage of the lyrics being displayed in front of us though. Heh heh.
We were given a bonus rendition of “KanFuu Fighting” with lots more dancing, singing, smiling and thanks from everyone. He had us all say the “Yossha~!” part which I gladly joined in on.
Once more the curtain fell and again we chanted for him to come back out. The curtain went up and he said, “Thank you so much! The final ‘Mugendai’ moved me so much. Thank you!” while smiling the grin that almost never left his face throughout the entire concert.
~*vVv*~
POST SHOW
After the show, I left the venue in a shiawase daze. I took a picture of the Christmas Tree which were decorated with ornaments made from show flyers.
I had some time before I had to catch my train, so I stopped into the idol shop to buy some pix. There were so many chibiJidai pix of all of them. They were adorable! I bought some ’Kura-chan pix and a hilarious one of YokoKimi-kun and Subaru. KAT-TUN’s “僕らの街で” was playing. Yea!
Finally, I caught a train to go see NaNa2 and then met up with renchan5 to exchange Christmas gifts before she left... I also made her listen to every detail about the concert with wild hand gestures and everything while I drank a mikan flavored chu-hi. (.^3^) Chu~!
~*vVv*~
THOUGHTS
お疲れ様でした、章ちゃん！ホンマにありがとうございました。
It was such an awesome concert! He was the best! His singing, his dancing, his smiling, his guitar playing, his passion... everything was just so wonderful and I wish it could’ve lasted forever. He has such a broad range of styles from acoustic to rock to pop punk to others and I love them all.
The acoustic section reminded me so much of a Jewel concert when it was just her and her guitar. She would take request, banter with the audience, tell stories, impress us all with her musical talent... just like he did.
Also, during the KJ8 songs, it was weird. During the SOb show, it felt a little strange... almost lonely. But Shota managed to make it feel as though they were just his songs all along.
His dancing impressed me so much. And his guitar playing was indescribable.
Wah~! I wish I could see the show aga~in! o(>_<)o