関ジャニ∞ ソロ Concert 2006 冬: 丸山
I wonder what Maru! will do tomorrow to show off his personality and style... It’s around 3 in the morning. I should get some sleep but how can I when I have a date with Maru! tomorrow?! o(^_^)o
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WARNING
This report is the result of a person who loves KanJani8 very much. In fact, even though it seems as though she pays attention to only one, she actually adores all of them. Thus, there may be lots of fangirling. Also, there is a hint or two at yaoiness but it’s hardly a sentence so even if you’re squeamish about that kind of stuff it shouldn’t be a problem.
As usual, get some snacks. Again! I planned for this to only be a quickie report but there was so much I wanted to describe! I blame Part 2 and the beginning of Part 3. (>_<)
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GOODS
UCHIWA
As usual, I had no idea what to put on my uchiwa. I was playing off of his new catchphrase “TEKISA~SU!” sounding like the state Texas. I’m from Michigan so this one says, “MISHIGA~N!” Yes, I’m a dork. LoL! I wonder whether he got the joke. I traced my hand with a silver paint marker, colored it in and outlined it with silver glitter glue. The words were cut out from sticker paper for easy peel&sticking. Then I coated it all with lots of glitter. Foil origami paper was used for the hearts and mirror beads were glued on. With the solo concerts, I wanted to do something different for each of them. I doubt I’ll ever use any of them ever again but they’re fun to make! I wonder what I should put on my next one... hmm...
OUTFIT
Like I mentioned before, I like to take advantage of the concert situation and attempt to pretty myself up. I wasn’t really in the mood again to get really dressy though so I chose this. I painted my nails too! Yea!
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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. And yes, I just copied and pasted this from my other report... (.^_^) LoL!
~*vVv*~
PRE-SHOW
I actually woke up in a really foul mood. I could feel the onslaught of a cold coming on. My nose was stuffy on one side and my throat was all tickly. I didn’t feel good at all! I just wanted to curl back beneath the covers and sleep but when I turned off my alarm and went to pull my covers back over my head, a flash of orange from my nails caught my eye. Maru!’s smiling face popped into my head. How could I forget?! (T.T)
It was “M”-Day! No, not Mothers Day, not Moderator day, not Monday, not Midnight Madness Day, not Masochist Day, not “M”-pose Day -- It was the day that I was going to go see Maru!! (.^o^)/
I dragged myself from my futon, guzzled a vitamin C drink, got ready and ran out the door. I had to complete a few errands before heading down to Osaka. I managed to get everything finished and was soon on the subway train to Nanba. A salaryman, who was in the same car as I was, would’ve been very handsome if he hadn’t been chomping on his gum with the vigor that he was. Hahaha.
Since I officially dubbed the day as “M”-Day, I went to McDonald’s for lunch. The grilled chicken sandwich was delicious!
I went to the theatre about 10 to 15 minutes after they’d opened the doors and I was able to walk right in. All of my goods had been purchased previously, so I went directly to the floor my seat would be. I picked up a flyer. I checked my cellphone and found that I had some time to spare. I checked the Kura’mas page and saw that he’d updated about a bazillion times since I’d last checked. (>_<) Okura, love, I can’t keep up! I quickly skimmed his entries -- he’s too cute! -- and checked the time again.
20 minutes to go. Like a good little worker who’d taken a weekday off, I pulled out some worksheets and began checking them. My students crack me up on these. LoL! I was trying to get through them as quickly as possible and got about half way done before the buzz to signify that the show was about to start went off.
I put my papers away and looked around the theatre. There were so many people! One girl in the section to my right, had a “Please wink!” uchiwa. The girls sitting directly to my left were holding penlights. The 5 seats directly in front of me were empty. A family of little kids and a baby were in the row in front of that. In the row before that one, which was also the very front row, were some men who were probably fathers or relatives of some of the people in the show. Or, maybe I’m just stereotyping Maru!’s fanbase. LoL!
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SETLIST & COSTUMES
I took the “Shonentai Medley” info from other reports. I originally had it listed as a “Random Medley” without the titles. I figured out the titles of the Jr.s’ songs from the end of this week’s Honjani. I should go back and change it in my other report(s) too but I’m too lazy... (.^_^)
0. お前がいる {V6} (white coat)
2. CHRISTMAS MEDLEY
-- Jingle Bells
-- あわてんぼうのサンタクロース
-- Christmas Eve
-- サンタが町にやってくる
-- 赤鼻のトナカイ
-- 雪が降ってきた
3. MC and JR.S’ INTRO
4. ジャージー牛乳(red pants, green velour coat with white trim)
-- New York, New York
-- Summertime (orange tracksuit)
-- Greedy
-- SHONENTAI MEDLEY
**** ABC
**** STRIPE BLUE
**** 封印LOVE
**** Baby Baby Baby
5. まいったね、今夜 {少年隊} (black pants, red shirt)
6. Back to Back {少年隊} (black pants)
7. JR.S
8. ACT SHOW [握手しよう ver.] (blue/yellow outfit)
9. MC2
10. ココニイルコト
11. BROTHERS’ and TOP KIDS MC
12. DJ Maru!
13. JR.S’ MEDLEY
-- イセイジン: BAD
-- CHANCE: BOYS
-- ABC: Little Gangs
-- Miss you tonight: TOP kids
-- 買い物ブギ: OSSaN
14. KANJANI8 MEDLEY (blue outfit)
-- 浪花いろは節
-- 大阪レイニーブルース
-- 好きやねん、大阪。
-- ∞SAKAおばちゃんROCK
15. KJ8 VTR
16. 関風ファイティング
17. SIGN OF DREAM {Magical Summer Theme}
18. Go Now to the World
19. STANCE
20. モナコブルー {関ジミ３}
21. ??? (bellhop outfit)
22. Name of Love
23. 愛って？ {V.WEST}
24. ENDING (white pants w/ black piping, black USA flag shirt)
-- ミセテクレ
-- ブギウギキャット
-- １０年後の今日の日も
25.ENCORE 1 (tour shirt, orange hoodie, jeans)
-- VTR message
-- みんながいる
-- 関風ファイティング
26. ENCORE 2 (tour shirt, jeans)
-- 好きやねん、大阪。
27. FINAL FAREWELL
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 1
Some of the audience began clapping and chanting “Maru!! Maru!! Maru!!” I couldn’t help but translate it in my head and started giggling because it sounded as though everyone was chanting, “OK! It’s good! OK! It’s good! OK! It’s good!” All everyone needed to do was start making the arm circle over their heads. LoL!
The lights switched off, a drum roll rumbled and all of the fangirls leapt to their feet with little screams and squeals. The curtain rose and tiny beams of white light were directed from the back of the stage towards the audience from a low angle.
Maru!, wearing a long white coat with black accents, rose from a trap door in the middle of the stage. The light behind him shadowed his figure and he was just a ghost of Maru! with light bursting out from around him. His sweet voice filled the tiny theatre.
“Omae ga iru... omae ga iru kara... mada iku ze... ishi ni kajiri tsuite mo...”
The light behind him rose up and away and the stage was flooded with bright lights. The “Xmas Party” sign, which were two rings of red and green and lit up words, and white curtains were lowered into place.
The music cut from the “Omae ga iru” fanfare and into an up tempo Christmas medley. First up was “Jingle Bells.” CE-kun and the Jr.s brought out gift props to place in the corners of the stage. BAD was wearing white pants and shirts with sharp black blazers.
Maru! walked towards the area in front of the aisle away from the hanamichi and began “Aretenbou no Santa Claus.” He was jumping up and down like a goofball and had us sing along. (.^_^)
At the beginning of “Christmas Eve,” he was handed his bass guitar and he began playing. Another one of the Jr.s brought out an orange mic stand and he did a small bass solo on the hanamichi with some smoke and wind billowing upwards during “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”
Maru! saw that one girl’s “Please wink!” sign and winked at her! いいなぁ～!
He returned to the main part and for the last song, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” The stage began to rotate and the middle platform rose and fell as he sang on top of it. The stage stopped after one rotation and the start of SMAP’s “Yuki ga futte kita” began.
He walked towards the hanamichi and exchanged his bass for a yellow sign ball and Sharpie. The back screen showed an ECU of him signing a ball while he stood on stage with the pen, signing the actual ball. The message he wrote was outlined and pulled away to be displayed for a bit longer as a lone image before it was replaced by various pictures of a famous light festival. He ran up and down the hanamichi. I couldn’t see him very well so I watched CE-kun dance his little heart out. [pats pet on head] Maru! returned to the main stage and, after giving it a tiny kiss, tossed the ball gently into the middle section of the audience. He and the Jr.s moved all around and tried to get us all pumped up. He ended the song with a “Pa~n!” or two.
Once the song was over, the image behind him changed to a pink “MARUYAMA RYUHEI | SOLO CONCERT | 2006 WINTER.” He introduced himself -- “Hello, I’m KanJani8’s Maruyama Ryuhei” -- and thanked us all for coming. He then told us to take our seats. We were all a bit confused but complied... well, I was a bit confused at least. LoL!
At this point, the people in the row in front of me still hadn’t arrived yet so I kind leaned over the back of the seats to get a closer look at Maru!. Maru!’s quite handsome.
Once he was sure we were all seated, he got ready to shout out another “Pa~n!” One of the girls yelled out for him to include “purin.” He laughed and agreed. There were a few moments of anticipation and then Maru! and a bunch of girls shouting out, “Purin ga... PA~N!”
Maru! wasn’t finished yet though. He continued with another “Pa~n!” and another and another and another and then a “Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa~n!” While saying the last part, he did a little jumpy dance back and forth before “pa~n”-ing himself into exhaustion. He collapsed into a small heap on the ground and the Jr.s came rushing back onstage. They helped him up and he whimpered, “pa~n...”
He thanked them and moved onto the introductions. First up was BOYS. They each took turns to say what the letters meant in their name -- Bokutachi wa Osaka Yankee Shounen desu. The last guy said, “Shounen desu” in a really deep voice and Maru! pointed out that he’d changed and had him demonstrate the high pitched voice that he’d been using before. Hahaha. After Maru! and they all checked to make sure their flies were zipped, BOYS ran off stage for standby.
Next up was OSSaN. Maru! whispered something to them before having us all shout out, “Ossan!” The four boys replied, “Dare ga Ossan ya?!” After telling us all their names, which I promptly forgot (>_<), they too ran off stage.
Five people were left on stage -- BAD, 2 Jr.s and a random guy wearing a black tracksuit with green and orange piping. BAD was jumping around, hoping to be picked when finally Maru! agreed. CE-kun jumped with glee and skipped over with Junta following. They were still wearing the white pants, silver tank top and black blazers. What the hell did CE-kun do to his hair?! Did he get a perm?! (>_<#) Sorry, where was I...
CE-kun skipped over and stood next to Maru! with Junta on the other side. Their heights made a lovely incline so they sung in order a PSA, “Ding. Ding. Ding!” After a bit of talking, they exited.
Maru! finished introducing the final two Jr.s before they exited. At this point, the late people sauntered in and took their seats in the row in front of me. It was kind of distracting so the next time I looked at the stage, Maru! was wandering around the stage in a small daze, wondering about a presence that he felt. The final Jr. in the tracksuit was shadowing his movements across the stage.
He finally noticed him and they sort of just stared at each other until Maru! introduced him as that owner of “Jersey Milk.” He took off the white overcoat, which got a lot of “kakkoi~i”s from the audience -- to reveal red pants and a green velour coat with white trim. Around his neck, he had a red and white cord wrapped like a scarf. He said it was like a snake before setting up the next part of his variety show.
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 2
A black and white “3, 2, 1” film countdown flickered on the screen. A montage of the New York skyline began as did the beginning tune for “New York New York.” The lights went back up and Maru! began singing in English with a really really good accent.
Maru! stood in the middle of the stage with 4 or 5 of the itty bitty Jr.s while singing. It was so cute! On the screen, the words were displayed in a Blackadder font as more pictures of New York were shown.
After the intro song, and me getting over my shock of hearing Broadway showtunes at Maru!’s concert, the lights dimmed again. This time, the screen displayed images of “a city that wasn’t New York, but a city next to it called, ‘New Jersey.’” In New Jersey, there was a Jazz bar named “Jersey Milk” where boys wearing tracksuits gathered.
A spotlight illuminated a table in the back of the stage to my left where the BAD Jerseys, wearing white tracksuits, were seated. They were quite rowdy and mentioned things about “Jersey Juniors.”
The “Jersey Milk” owner, ITO, came out carrying a blue crate of single serving milk cartons and set it down on the table. One of the BAD members got up and pushed him away. ITO fell to his hands and knees in the middle of the stage.
The BAD Jerseys raised their cartons with a loud, “Kanpai!” CE-kun was standing on a chair with one foot on the table and his arm in the air. They froze in this position and the stage rotated them counterclockwise towards the area kiddy corner from where they began.
ITO looked up forlornly and wondered, ‘There is a rivalry between the OSSaN Jerseys and the BAD Jerseys... In the past, there was an old folklore that an Orange Jersey wearing man who knew Jazz would come and save everyone!’
The OSSaN Jerseys entered the store wearing blue tracksuits with white stripes down their legs and white 19s (18?) on their arms. Another set of Jerseys wearing army green tracksuits were with them. The BAD Jerseys immediately stood up from their table and walked towards them.
“Oh, it’s ossan...” they said.
“Who’re you calling ossans?!” the OSSaN Jerseys snarled. “We’re OSSaN!”
A bass line began in the background and they faced off, circling around “West Side Story”-style. They exchanged insults before the true scuffle began, which actually looked more like each of them trying to hug each other and the recipient resisting.
ITO tried to break them up but was pushed once more to the ground. The OSSaN Jerseys and the BAD Jerseys froze in their embraces as ITO looked up to the sky and cried out.
A loud gong sounded and a figure wearing an orange tracksuit came running down the hanamichi. The orange tracksuit had yellowish orange fringe down the sides of the legs, an 8 on the arms and a big sparkly “RYUHEI” on the back.
Maru! stood there for a moment and looked around in wonder.
“Where am I?” he asked. He turned towards “Jersey Milk” and saw everyone standing in a line.
“Who are you?” they asked before rapidly raising their arms and introducing themselves in turn. Maru! began clapping and had everyone do the same. At the very end, he ended it with flourish and asked again more firmly, “Where am I?”
The others tilted their heads to their right and asked in a mocking tone, “Who are you?”
Maru! raised his hand and introduced himself in the same quick manner the others had before. He ran up to everyone and tried to get them to do Jazz with him. He stood between one of the OSSaN Jerseys and BAD Jersey CE-kun and wrapped his arms around both of their waists in an attempt to pull them closer together.
“OSSaN Jerseys, BAD Jerseys,” he coaxed. “Let’s sing Jazz together!”
They all vehemently refused. Maru!’s face turned sad. He began to pout and stomped to the corner. There, he turned into a toddler and threw a temper tantrum. He stomped his feet, flailed his arms and fell to his knees with a loud wail. Sobbing, he threw himself to the ground with his feet to audience. He continued to flail and kick his legs.
“I wanna sing Jazz!” he cried.
He sat up with a pitiful, kicked puppy face and slumped onto the steps leading into the aisle. He pulled the hood of his tracksuit over his head, hugging his knees to his chest.
The OSSaN Jerseys took pity on him and one of them was sent over to tap him on the shoulder. Maru! jumped with a little whimper and looked up at him.
“Let’s sing Jazz,” the OSSaN Jersey said.
“Really?!” Maru! jumped to his feet and gleefully clapped his hands. He gave a peace sign and a smile combination that rivaled Shota’s during “Misetekure” and joined the others on the other side of the stage.
The four OSSaN Jerseys stood in a row with the zippers to their tracksuits open at various heights. Maru! pointed at them while singing, “Do, re, mi, fa...”
He decided he didn’t like that though and zipped each of their tracksuits up to their necks. OSSaN Jersey #3 decided he didn’t like that and re-unzipped it while Maru! was fiddling with OSSaN Jersey #4. Maru! noticed and tsked like a mother fussing over her children. He went and wrapped his arms around OSSaN Jersey #3 from behind and rezipped the tracksuit and also zipped the bottom of their tracksuit pants. Once he was satisfied that they were all ready, he took his place in the middle and looked out into the audience.
“Music,” he purred in English. “Start.”
The lights dimmed into a purplish hue and the slinky music to “Summertime” began. He and the OSSaN Jerseys sashayed from side to side in a smooth, if not overly cheesy, manner while snapping their fingers. In the back, a suit and hat wearing quartet rose on a platform, “Ooo”-ing into a single microphone. Maru! looked over and gave them a thumbs up.
The BAD Jerseys had snuck back into “Jersey Milk” to watch them all. They whispered amongst themselves before skittering off.
The sexiness that was Maru! singing in English lasted for a little longer before the music ended and they were no longer in JazzLand. They tilted their heads back and let out a slow sigh of happiness. Their eyes were closed and their lips wore faint smiles of bliss.
“Do you now understand?” Maru! drew out lazily. The OSSaN Jerseys nodded, thanked him and then left.
He noticed the BAD Jerseys standing off to the side and smiled knowingly. BAD Jersey CE-kun was pushed forward. He gave a deep bow and apologized for before. The others joined him and nodded in agreement. ForgottenName BAD Jersey #2 stepped forward and enthusiastically pointed a finger at his nose. Maru! just nodded his head and looked at the BAD Jerseys standing before him.
“It’s more than just swaying back and forth,” he said seriously. “That’s probably what you think, isn’t it?”
To prove how much they wanted to do it, they had to do a little hop and say, “Do-do-do-do~!”
However, they didn’t when he wanted them to. He understood that it was embarrassing but they had to do it. BAD Jersey CE-kun and everyone couldn’t keep a straight face through Maru!’s little speech. Finally, after they’d all refused, he played a little Batsu game.
“Look to the right... look to the left... look up... look down...” he sang. ForgottenName BAD Jersey #2 lost and stumbled to the center of the stage. Maru! did the little skip first. Then #2, lacking grace completely, did his version. Everyone laughed.
“Are you ready?” Maru! asked the BAD Jerseys. Everyone nodded their agreement. Maru! gleefully shouted in English, “Music start!”
The lights dimmed again and the four BAD Jerseys lounged against the table while Maru! sang, “Greedy.” The suit quartet was present once more and together they all sang. Part way through the song, the BAD Jerseys stood and began doing step aerobics dance movements with the chairs. BAD Jersey CE-kun slid towards the front of the stage. BAD Jersey Junta crossed the other way while raising his arms in Ultraman poses. The other two found their places in the line.
Maru! went to join them in the spotlight and sang with such passion. Then, the spotlight dipped down, causing him to lean forward. The spotlight dipped down again and he went onto his knees. It dipped again and he sat on his hip. Once more it got smaller and strayed to the very edge of the stage and he sprawled forward to catch it. The spotlight moved to another part of the stage and Maru! got up to chase it. It wouldn’t stay in one area and he stomped his foot.
“I’m over here!” he shouted. He sulked. “Fine, I get it!”
He walked over to BAD Jersey CE-kun, put his arms around his shoulders and put his face close to his in hopes that the spotlight would stay on him that way. They stood like that until the music ended. BAD Jersey CE-kun twisted away after doing some weird movement with his head.
The BAD Jerseys were super excited afterwards as was Maru!. The OSSaN Jerseys rejoined them. The two groups went back to eyeing each other a bit warily before grudgingly exchanging compliments. Maru! had to work to get them to finally reconcile and end their feud for the love of Jazz.
ITO stared up starry eyed with joy. “I’m so happy!”
Maru! came up to the groups with black hats and said, “Now that we’re friends, let’s all have a Jazz Party together!”
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 3
The two groups cheered, took the hats Maru! offered and they all began a Jazzed up medley of Shonentai songs. “ABC” had them working with the hats a lot during the dance such as scooping the hats downward in an arc or holding their hats to their heads while looking down and kicking their feet back. “STRIPE BLUE” had them dancing with and twirling batons along with the hats. Maru! ducked beneath the platform that’d been raised and the Jr.s took over for “Baby Baby Baby.” These versions of the songs were actually really catchy, especially the first one.
Maru! was raised up from behind the original platform wearing a sharp looking black suit and a red button down shirt. Bass strings set the rhythm and brass sounds started the next song, “Maitta ne, konya.” It had a swing feel and the dance was awesome with lots of intricate footwork and hand movements. A bolt of light flashed across the back of the darkened stage and the Jr.s ran to create an open V formation with him in the center.
A beat. Maru! lost the suit coat. Another beat. He switched a pose. Another beat. Another pose. Another beat. Another pose. More beats in rapid succession. More poses in rapid succession. The stage flooded with light and in a swift movement, he dragged his hand across his chest to tear his red shirt open showing off the bare skin underneath. My hands covered my gaping mouth. How the hell did it go from Spirit Fingers Ragtime to this?! His hair was hanging slightly in his eyes and his face was intense and serious. His gaze was really really smoldering. (O.O)
They were all dancing a super sexy dance to a song, “Back to Back,” with a very catchy hook. The movements were crisp, sharp and in perfect unison. There was a really neat dance step during the refrain where they would do three quick turns to their right and then... I don’t remember. But, oh, the arm movements and the dancing in general! At one part, all of the Jr.s were dancing with Maru! just standing and singing in all of his alluring glory. Kya~!
Lights swung up into the audience and their outlines were gathering towards the back of the stage. The lights went back down. Out sauntered Maru! and company MOD squad style completely shirtless. All of the fangirls in the audience squealed in embarrassment, shock or appreciation. My eyes got even larger and I couldn’t help but squeak, “Oh my god... Maru!...” (@_@)
A beat. They hit their formation marks, raised one fist into the air with the other in front, and went right back into their nosebleed inducing dance. Mabushii... mabushisugi ya...
As he danced, he had a “C’mon... I already did half the work for you” look in his face. Kya~! I couldn’t handle it. Seriously... too much... too much skin... too much sweat... Wah~! [falls over] It’s hard to imagine what being in the front few first floor rows during that number would’ve been like.
The dance ended way too soon. They reached their final pose and Maru! turned to walk lazily towards the back of the stage, which flashed bright white lights. More lights swung up to blind us all. As a side note, when Hina visited Maru! during the MC of the first show that day, I guess he imitated part of the dance a couple of times and kind of laughed about it with Maru!. Anyway...
To douse our racing hearts, when the lights were lowered, the remaining shirtless underage Jr.s continued into the next number of Jr.s’ dance solos. BAD and BOYS were first. CE-kun and Junta did backflips before running off stage to put some more clothing back on. Then all of the other other Jr.s came out for their solos. The poor itty bitties were wearing the Carnival worker outfits again.
Maru! reappeared in the middle of the aisle wearing the blue and yellow outfit and raised a huge hand. “Hey, everyone, let’s shake hands!” The music was “ACT SHOW” but he’d changed “Act show! Act show!” to “Akushu shiyou! Akushu shiyou!” or “Let’s shake hands! Let’s shake hands!” On the screen, the words “Akushu shiyou” were stamped in red over the “Act show” lyrics. Haha! You’re clever, Maru!.
He went and began shaking hands with everyone. It was really neat because he made sure to look every person that he shook hands with in the face. Maru! returned to the stage and ran across it and down the hanamichi, slapping hands with the lined up Jr.s as he went by. CE-kun! What were you wearing?! He had on a pair of white pants and a purple shirt that glittered with every movement he made. Oh... my eyes! My eyes! It was too sparkly, even for me~. (>_<)
Attaching the giant hand to a stick, he raised it to some of the 2nd row seats for them to shake. The Jr.s also ran up and down the aisles to shake people’s hands. The song ended and it was time for the MC.
He quickly apologized to the second and third floor seats for not being able to shake hands with them during the song. One girl yelled out, “It’s OK!” A Jr., who was celebrating his birthday that day, brought out some water and a towel for him. The crowd began chanting, “Iki! Iki! Iki!” He looked like he was about to say something but changed his mind and appeased the audience by finishing it off. I wanted to shout out, “Oso~i! (You’re drinking too slo~wly~!)” but I wasn’t sure whether it’d be appropriate.
When he finished, he looked at the bottle, pouted and said, “Thanks. Now I don’t have any water for the rest of the MC. Happy now?!” However, part way through, the same kind Jr. brought him out another bottle of water.
Maru! spoke about how it was really great that it was a solo concert because usually all of the snacks were gone before he had the chance to eat any. He listed all of the yummy desserts that were offered from purin to cakes. However, it was sad because the dressing room was lonely. He said something about the shower room and Yoko (not in the same sentence), but I didn’t really catch it.
Next he discussed his weight. His heaviest was 70 kg during the summer specials. While taping his special drama, he was working out a lot and dropped to 60-something kilograms. In the duration of the three days of his solo concert, he’d dropped to 59 kg! Congrats, Maru! but don’t lose too much...
He talked some more. I don’t really remember the MC too well. My brain was worn out from concentrating on the “Jersey Milk” play. Then a platform rose up and a guitar was brought out. He sat down and put his feet up on the platform too. The way he was sitting caused him to create an “M” with his legs and the audience yelled out. He started laughing and asked what was so funny. He leaned back and covered his eyes with his arm in amusement.
Someone shouted out a request and he made that weird sad mask face that he’d done on Suka*J before. He made a weird moaning, howling sound. Everyone laughed and asked him to do it again. He tried but started laughing part way through.
He said something about how he and Shota sang the song he was about to sing, “Koko ni iru koto,” during his KanJuu days. He began singing. Lyrics were posted on the back screen as he sang. He flubbed the opening but did his best through the rest of it. He struggled a little bit at the end of the song but did quite well and did his best. It was a nice song and I enjoyed listening to him singing. I liked how it wasn’t perfectly polished.
He brought out the itty bitty Jr.s brothers and chatted with them. The older one shouted, “Pa~n” instead of his name during the self introductions. The oldest one said he was in 8th grade. The little one said he was a 6th grader. The older one was hogging the mic and the little one held out his hand to speak too. When asked how they entered Johnny’s, the little brother handed it back to the older one. I guess they were scouted out in Thailand. Maru! then mentioned something about them wearing skirts and the older brother said that they weren’t skirts but pants. Maru! apologized. There was a bit more talking and they brothers left the stage. Those two were a bit... erm... saucy? Is that the right word? Bratty? Maybe that one’s better.
TOP kids were brought out for their part. They missed their cue coming out so Maru! had to repeat himself. When coming out, TK#2 tried to do a leap in the air and ended up landing on his butt. Poor thing... Maru! chided him gently and then made sure he was OK. When TK#3 introduced himself, he and Maru! wrapped their right arms around their faces and shouted, “Chekera!” Maru! wanted all of them to do it except TK#2 didn’t. They redid it for a 2nd time and they all managed to shout out “Chekera!” I shall take this moment to point out again how painful these outfits in particular were to look at.
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 4
“Stand up please kudasai.”
It was time for us all to get riled up. He had the 3rd tier shout out “Pa~n!” He then had the 2nd tier shout out “Pa~n!” Next was the first floor. Then, all together, we shouted out “Pa~n!” The people in the seats in front of me were looking around in wonder and started laughing.
The Jr.s sang their medley. I think this was the part where CE-kun was wearing the white shirt with the blue granny sweater that’d actually torn at one of the summer specials I went to... Anyway, after everyone sang their medley, two stairways were pushed onto the stage with a gap between them.
The opening to “Naniwa Iroha Bushi” began and everyone cheered. A rolling platform with Maru! was pushed into the area between the stairs that had been set up. The orange flag with his name written down it was set up behind him and Jr.s were everywhere.
He was wearing the blue outfit from the fall tour and looked so happy and handsome. The stage began rotating and everyone was dancing and everyone was singing. He walked down the stairs and messed around with CE-kun a bit before taking center stage.
“Osaka Rainy Blues” was next. At the beginning of the first speaking part in “Sukiyanen, Osaka,” Maru! grabbed his stomach and winced. “Ooo... I gotta go to the bathroom...” He ran off stage, leaving the Jr.s to dance and introduce themselves. When BAD had their turn, CE-kun did a cutesy little pose.
People began screaming to my right and there was Maru! on the 2nd floor! He waved and shook hands with people. He even went all the way up to the back few rows. He returned to the entrance and we all shouted, “Yappa sukiyanen!”
“A one! A two!” CE-kun shouted. The audience joined in to finish, “Konnichi one two!” Another cheer arose from my left and there was Maru! on the other side of the 2nd floor! Oh my! There was so much going on because on the screen, the other members were shouting, “Ganbare~!” to Maru!. ‘Kura-chan was too adorable and of course didn’t say anything. Wa~! Where do I look?! Do I watch the VTR? Do I watch CE-kun?! Do I look at Maru! who’s actually partially hidden by the fangirls?! Dou~ shiyou~?! Chaos! Chaos! It’s all chaos!
The song ended with another VTR of KJ8 coming on the screen. “The next song is ‘KanFuu Fighting!’ Enjoy!’” They’re replaced by the PV and Maru! appeared on a platform center stage wearing the red outfit. The other Jr.s were wearing various renditions of white and lime green outfits. CE-kun and Junta joined in on the song partway through in their lime green outfits. During the speaking parts, he said a message that I couldn’t make out too well over the music. He also had us do the “Yossha~!” part which I always will gladly partake in. At the very end of the song, Maru! did a weird dance move that made me laugh. I wonder how Hina will perform this song.
From here, it went into the Magical Summer theme, “SIGN OF DREAM.” I adore this song! Midway through, he stepped onto the hanamichi and pulled out a cellphone. He punched a few buttons and on the screen the message he’d written appeared. He pressed another button and “Message Sent” text appeared. Aww! I think Maru!’s smile during this song was priceless. He looked so happy.
The music switched to “Go Now to the World” and he had us all shout “Pa~n!” I also adore this song. He walked around the center stage with Jr.s behind him doing the jumping from side to side dance step. He climbed up the platform stairs to the very top and a green curtain was pulled up. BAD sang, “STANCE.”
“Monaco Blue” was next and I had the same “huh?” reaction as when ‘Kura-chan sang it at the SOb concert. The green curtain dropped to reveal Maru! in the Eden bellhop costume. He moved on to what I’d heard was debuted in the new tour. His dancing style wasn’t really jerky enough for this song but he did well.
The lights dimmed and he moved towards the center of the stage. A fog machine covered the stage with a fluffy mist, making Maru! look as though he was walking on clouds. The screen behind him displayed lyrics, flower petals and stars floating through the sky. I didn’t recognize the song but when he began the “akete yuku asahi no hou... jiyuu to iu tori ga tobu yo...” I realized it was “Name of Love.” Aww... this was a beautiful rendition...
After “Ai tte,” the opening to “Misetekure” blared and I squealed. Purple watery affected lights turned on the floor and the smoke lifted into the air. Maru! did a quick costume change and returned wearing a white pants with black stripes down the side and a black T-shirt with the USA flag on it! He had his orange microphone stand and dove right into the rap. BAD BOYS danced back up and BAD sang Ryo’s parts.
During the chorus, Maru! leaned forward with the mic stand and lifted it from the ground in a rockstar fashion. From here, the music continued to “Boogie Woogie Cat.” He was bouncing all around the stage and on the hanamichi and getting us to clap along to the rhythm and yell out with him.
Then, it moved into “Juu nen go no kyou no hi mo.” He thanked us all for attending and began singing. The Xmas Party sign was down and he was standing on the platform area. Jr.s were wearing all white outfits. I flubbed the participation dance horribly because I was too distracted by Maru!’s smile.
While he was singing, the curtain began to fall. As soon as it touched the ground, the chanting for him immediately began.
It didn’t take long for the curtain to go back up. He said he had made a message for us. On the back screen, pictures from previous concerts and song lyrics written in his hand writing were on the screen. The music for “Omae ga iru” began. Maru! rose from the same place he started from. He was dressed in the concert T-shirt, jeans and an orange hoodie sweatshirt. He began to sing the new version with special lyrics.
喜ぶ顔を思い浮かべて少し奮発して買ったプレゼント
(yorokobu kao o omoi ukabete sukoshi funpatsu shite katta PURESENTO)
待ち合わせはここ、いつもの場所で暖かいぬくもり、感じてる？
(machiawase wa koko, itsumo no basho de atatakai nukumori, kanjiteru?)
ここにいることでふくらむ僕の夢 一人じゃきっとたよりないこの夢
(koko ni iru koto de fukuramu boku no yume hitori ja kitto tayorinai kono yume)
Partway through, he had to stop because he’d started crying. He bent his head down and held his hand to his face before collecting himself and continuing.
今日は明日へつながっているんだ やるしかない潰れてられない
(kyou wa asu e tsunagatteirunda yarushikanai tsubureterarenai)
みんながいる そばにいるから この場所で幸せ噛み締め歌うよ
(minna ga iru soba ni iru kara kono basho de shiawase kamishime utau yo)
”Thank you everyone...”
時には落ち込むことだってあるさ だけど悪いことばかりじゃない
(toki ni wa ochikomu koto datte aru sa dakedo warui koto bakari janai)
出会いそしてずっと支えてくれた心からありがとう
(deai soshite zutto sasaetekureta kokoro kara arigatou)
“Thank you so much!”
みんながいる みんながいるから まだいくぜ 石にかじりついても
(minna ga iru minna ga iru kara mada ikuze ishi ni kajiritsuitemo)
みんながいる みんながいるから まだいくぜ 信じた道を進むよ
(minna ga iru minna ga iru kara mada ikuse shinjita michi o tsutsumu yo)
“This was so much fun! Thank you so much!”
The song finished, he gave a watery smile and Maru! asked, “How about one more song?”
We cheered and got ready for another performance of “KanFuu Fighting.” Before Maru! could begin singing, though, a cheer erupted from the audience. I was a bit confused and looked to see what had caused the commotion. Walking down the hanamichi was a tiny person wearing a blazer, pink scarf, colorful shirt, knee length jean shorts and a pair of brown knee high boots. Who’s this? It looks like a girl... ‘cept the hair’s kind of short... OMG! It’s Shota! He was also wearing glasses.
Next to show up was Hina wearing jeans, a T-shirt and green hat. A few moments later, a small figure wearing... Oh, I can’t even remember the outfit... and a really colorful knit hat came shuffling down the aisle. I thought it was Ryo at first but it was actually Subaru. Maru! fell to the ground on stage with a huge smile on his face. When he stood up, everyone gave him a hug and Subaru tried to grab his crotch. Hahaha...
They sang. The guys kept ruffling Maru!’s hair. The curtain went back down but we weren’t about to leave just yet. We kept chanting for Maru! to come out. The opening notes to “Sukiyanen, Osaka” began and silver streamers burst through the air. He had taken off his orange hoodie sweatshirt at this point.
The guys stayed for the second encore too. It was funny because everyone was dancing and then there was Subaru just kind of standing there and blinking at everyone with a bemused look on his face.
Maru! ran down the hanamichi and shook hands with everyone. He then walked back through the aisle and asked everyone to be nice as he tried to fight his way through. He began singing the song in a funny voice. He gave us another “Pa~n!” and then started to sing the entire song using only the word “Pa~n!” We all joined in and ended up just shouting “Pa~n!” until the very last moment. LoL! The Jr.s just kept dancing as Maru! jumped around the stage. In lieu of the final “sukiyanen!” we shouted “TEKISA~SU!”
We still weren’t satisfied and called for him to appear once more. He came out and said, “Thank you.” His friends sitting in front of me tried to get his attention but I don’t think he could see through the bright lights and they said, “Sa, we’ll talk to him later.”
He said, “Thank you!” and talked about how grateful he was for everything. We all shouted out our own thanks, waved and ended with one last “Pa~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~n!”
~*vVv*~
POST SHOW
The curtain fell for the last time and I couldn’t move. I simply stood there and stared at where, just a few moments before, Maru! had been. Wow.
Fans on the first floor were grabbing some of the streamers as mementos. I wanted one but I would’ve had to jump over the balcony and I doubt that would’ve been the smartest thing to do.
Finally, I gathered my things. The train ride back was long and quiet. I put my ticket stub into my book of ticket stubs and flipped through it. There’re so many! So many memories... (.^_^)v
Shiawase...
~*vVv*~
THOUGHTS
丸!、お疲れ様でした!こちらこそ、ありがとうございます!
Maru! had an awesome show. It’s so interesting to see what kind of style the guys take on for their solo shows. He put a lot of work into this show and it felt really sincere. At the end when he had to pause, I could feel my own eyes misting over and I *never* cry at concerts. Just ask renchan5... (;_;) He could’ve been acting, as anyone could, but I doubt it 100%.
Urayamashi~i, Maru!... Is this your dream, Maru!? You’ve worked so hard to get here. What was it that you said, 8 years? 9 years? that you’ve been working? It must feel so good knowing that all of that hard work has had actual results.
What do you think about when the curtain goes down, Maru! ?
I just love “Minna ga iru.” I found the words at some websites and romanized it. The first stanza was what was written on the screen during the special message. Also, I think the first line was what was written on the sign ball. The “koko ni iru koto” was the title of the song he sang during the MC. The “hitori ja kittota yorinai kono yume” was what he wrote to all of us on his cellphone. Also, if you have V6’s original version, you can just listen to that and replace those lyrics with these.
Maru!’s an exceptional dancer. For every song, he was just dead on. I also loved when he spun around three times at the end of songs. Plus, I was 4th row, dead center on the 2nd tier so as he was dancing and performing on the main stage, it felt as though he was just staring in my general direction. Also, the people in front of me refused to stand up so it was just empty space between me and the stage and I couldn’t see anyone really in my peripheral vision. At times, it’d felt as though it was a private show, just for me! (*^_^*) I felt a bit self conscious though and I admit it was a bit unnerving when it felt like they were looking at me... Ah~! Handsome boy... I don’t know what to do... [runs] LoL!
I also managed to go to the show without knowing what was going to happen at all. I was surprised by everything and that made it so much more fun. Yea!
Hina, you have two tough acts to follow~!
~*vVv*~
WARNING
This report is the result of a person who loves KanJani8 very much. In fact, even though it seems as though she pays attention to only one, she actually adores all of them. Thus, there may be lots of fangirling. Also, there is a hint or two at yaoiness but it’s hardly a sentence so even if you’re squeamish about that kind of stuff it shouldn’t be a problem.
As usual, get some snacks. Again! I planned for this to only be a quickie report but there was so much I wanted to describe! I blame Part 2 and the beginning of Part 3. (>_<)
~*vVv*~
GOODS
UCHIWA
As usual, I had no idea what to put on my uchiwa. I was playing off of his new catchphrase “TEKISA~SU!” sounding like the state Texas. I’m from Michigan so this one says, “MISHIGA~N!” Yes, I’m a dork. LoL! I wonder whether he got the joke. I traced my hand with a silver paint marker, colored it in and outlined it with silver glitter glue. The words were cut out from sticker paper for easy peel&sticking. Then I coated it all with lots of glitter. Foil origami paper was used for the hearts and mirror beads were glued on. With the solo concerts, I wanted to do something different for each of them. I doubt I’ll ever use any of them ever again but they’re fun to make! I wonder what I should put on my next one... hmm...
OUTFIT
Like I mentioned before, I like to take advantage of the concert situation and attempt to pretty myself up. I wasn’t really in the mood again to get really dressy though so I chose this. I painted my nails too! Yea!
~*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. And yes, I just copied and pasted this from my other report... (.^_^) LoL!
~*vVv*~
PRE-SHOW
I actually woke up in a really foul mood. I could feel the onslaught of a cold coming on. My nose was stuffy on one side and my throat was all tickly. I didn’t feel good at all! I just wanted to curl back beneath the covers and sleep but when I turned off my alarm and went to pull my covers back over my head, a flash of orange from my nails caught my eye. Maru!’s smiling face popped into my head. How could I forget?! (T.T)
It was “M”-Day! No, not Mothers Day, not Moderator day, not Monday, not Midnight Madness Day, not Masochist Day, not “M”-pose Day -- It was the day that I was going to go see Maru!! (.^o^)/
I dragged myself from my futon, guzzled a vitamin C drink, got ready and ran out the door. I had to complete a few errands before heading down to Osaka. I managed to get everything finished and was soon on the subway train to Nanba. A salaryman, who was in the same car as I was, would’ve been very handsome if he hadn’t been chomping on his gum with the vigor that he was. Hahaha.
Since I officially dubbed the day as “M”-Day, I went to McDonald’s for lunch. The grilled chicken sandwich was delicious!
I went to the theatre about 10 to 15 minutes after they’d opened the doors and I was able to walk right in. All of my goods had been purchased previously, so I went directly to the floor my seat would be. I picked up a flyer. I checked my cellphone and found that I had some time to spare. I checked the Kura’mas page and saw that he’d updated about a bazillion times since I’d last checked. (>_<) Okura, love, I can’t keep up! I quickly skimmed his entries -- he’s too cute! -- and checked the time again.
20 minutes to go. Like a good little worker who’d taken a weekday off, I pulled out some worksheets and began checking them. My students crack me up on these. LoL! I was trying to get through them as quickly as possible and got about half way done before the buzz to signify that the show was about to start went off.
I put my papers away and looked around the theatre. There were so many people! One girl in the section to my right, had a “Please wink!” uchiwa. The girls sitting directly to my left were holding penlights. The 5 seats directly in front of me were empty. A family of little kids and a baby were in the row in front of that. In the row before that one, which was also the very front row, were some men who were probably fathers or relatives of some of the people in the show. Or, maybe I’m just stereotyping Maru!’s fanbase. LoL!
~*vVv*~
SETLIST & COSTUMES
I took the “Shonentai Medley” info from other reports. I originally had it listed as a “Random Medley” without the titles. I figured out the titles of the Jr.s’ songs from the end of this week’s Honjani. I should go back and change it in my other report(s) too but I’m too lazy... (.^_^)
0. お前がいる {V6} (white coat)
2. CHRISTMAS MEDLEY
-- Jingle Bells
-- あわてんぼうのサンタクロース
-- Christmas Eve
-- サンタが町にやってくる
-- 赤鼻のトナカイ
-- 雪が降ってきた
3. MC and JR.S’ INTRO
4. ジャージー牛乳(red pants, green velour coat with white trim)
-- New York, New York
-- Summertime (orange tracksuit)
-- Greedy
-- SHONENTAI MEDLEY
**** ABC
**** STRIPE BLUE
**** 封印LOVE
**** Baby Baby Baby
5. まいったね、今夜 {少年隊} (black pants, red shirt)
6. Back to Back {少年隊} (black pants)
7. JR.S
8. ACT SHOW [握手しよう ver.] (blue/yellow outfit)
9. MC2
10. ココニイルコト
11. BROTHERS’ and TOP KIDS MC
12. DJ Maru!
13. JR.S’ MEDLEY
-- イセイジン: BAD
-- CHANCE: BOYS
-- ABC: Little Gangs
-- Miss you tonight: TOP kids
-- 買い物ブギ: OSSaN
14. KANJANI8 MEDLEY (blue outfit)
-- 浪花いろは節
-- 大阪レイニーブルース
-- 好きやねん、大阪。
-- ∞SAKAおばちゃんROCK
15. KJ8 VTR
16. 関風ファイティング
17. SIGN OF DREAM {Magical Summer Theme}
18. Go Now to the World
19. STANCE
20. モナコブルー {関ジミ３}
21. ??? (bellhop outfit)
22. Name of Love
23. 愛って？ {V.WEST}
24. ENDING (white pants w/ black piping, black USA flag shirt)
-- ミセテクレ
-- ブギウギキャット
-- １０年後の今日の日も
25.ENCORE 1 (tour shirt, orange hoodie, jeans)
-- VTR message
-- みんながいる
-- 関風ファイティング
26. ENCORE 2 (tour shirt, jeans)
-- 好きやねん、大阪。
27. FINAL FAREWELL
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 1
Some of the audience began clapping and chanting “Maru!! Maru!! Maru!!” I couldn’t help but translate it in my head and started giggling because it sounded as though everyone was chanting, “OK! It’s good! OK! It’s good! OK! It’s good!” All everyone needed to do was start making the arm circle over their heads. LoL!
The lights switched off, a drum roll rumbled and all of the fangirls leapt to their feet with little screams and squeals. The curtain rose and tiny beams of white light were directed from the back of the stage towards the audience from a low angle.
Maru!, wearing a long white coat with black accents, rose from a trap door in the middle of the stage. The light behind him shadowed his figure and he was just a ghost of Maru! with light bursting out from around him. His sweet voice filled the tiny theatre.
“Omae ga iru... omae ga iru kara... mada iku ze... ishi ni kajiri tsuite mo...”
The light behind him rose up and away and the stage was flooded with bright lights. The “Xmas Party” sign, which were two rings of red and green and lit up words, and white curtains were lowered into place.
The music cut from the “Omae ga iru” fanfare and into an up tempo Christmas medley. First up was “Jingle Bells.” CE-kun and the Jr.s brought out gift props to place in the corners of the stage. BAD was wearing white pants and shirts with sharp black blazers.
Maru! walked towards the area in front of the aisle away from the hanamichi and began “Aretenbou no Santa Claus.” He was jumping up and down like a goofball and had us sing along. (.^_^)
At the beginning of “Christmas Eve,” he was handed his bass guitar and he began playing. Another one of the Jr.s brought out an orange mic stand and he did a small bass solo on the hanamichi with some smoke and wind billowing upwards during “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”
Maru! saw that one girl’s “Please wink!” sign and winked at her! いいなぁ～!
He returned to the main part and for the last song, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” The stage began to rotate and the middle platform rose and fell as he sang on top of it. The stage stopped after one rotation and the start of SMAP’s “Yuki ga futte kita” began.
He walked towards the hanamichi and exchanged his bass for a yellow sign ball and Sharpie. The back screen showed an ECU of him signing a ball while he stood on stage with the pen, signing the actual ball. The message he wrote was outlined and pulled away to be displayed for a bit longer as a lone image before it was replaced by various pictures of a famous light festival. He ran up and down the hanamichi. I couldn’t see him very well so I watched CE-kun dance his little heart out. [pats pet on head] Maru! returned to the main stage and, after giving it a tiny kiss, tossed the ball gently into the middle section of the audience. He and the Jr.s moved all around and tried to get us all pumped up. He ended the song with a “Pa~n!” or two.
Once the song was over, the image behind him changed to a pink “MARUYAMA RYUHEI | SOLO CONCERT | 2006 WINTER.” He introduced himself -- “Hello, I’m KanJani8’s Maruyama Ryuhei” -- and thanked us all for coming. He then told us to take our seats. We were all a bit confused but complied... well, I was a bit confused at least. LoL!
At this point, the people in the row in front of me still hadn’t arrived yet so I kind leaned over the back of the seats to get a closer look at Maru!. Maru!’s quite handsome.
Once he was sure we were all seated, he got ready to shout out another “Pa~n!” One of the girls yelled out for him to include “purin.” He laughed and agreed. There were a few moments of anticipation and then Maru! and a bunch of girls shouting out, “Purin ga... PA~N!”
Maru! wasn’t finished yet though. He continued with another “Pa~n!” and another and another and another and then a “Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa~n!” While saying the last part, he did a little jumpy dance back and forth before “pa~n”-ing himself into exhaustion. He collapsed into a small heap on the ground and the Jr.s came rushing back onstage. They helped him up and he whimpered, “pa~n...”
He thanked them and moved onto the introductions. First up was BOYS. They each took turns to say what the letters meant in their name -- Bokutachi wa Osaka Yankee Shounen desu. The last guy said, “Shounen desu” in a really deep voice and Maru! pointed out that he’d changed and had him demonstrate the high pitched voice that he’d been using before. Hahaha. After Maru! and they all checked to make sure their flies were zipped, BOYS ran off stage for standby.
Next up was OSSaN. Maru! whispered something to them before having us all shout out, “Ossan!” The four boys replied, “Dare ga Ossan ya?!” After telling us all their names, which I promptly forgot (>_<), they too ran off stage.
Five people were left on stage -- BAD, 2 Jr.s and a random guy wearing a black tracksuit with green and orange piping. BAD was jumping around, hoping to be picked when finally Maru! agreed. CE-kun jumped with glee and skipped over with Junta following. They were still wearing the white pants, silver tank top and black blazers. What the hell did CE-kun do to his hair?! Did he get a perm?! (>_<#) Sorry, where was I...
CE-kun skipped over and stood next to Maru! with Junta on the other side. Their heights made a lovely incline so they sung in order a PSA, “Ding. Ding. Ding!” After a bit of talking, they exited.
Maru! finished introducing the final two Jr.s before they exited. At this point, the late people sauntered in and took their seats in the row in front of me. It was kind of distracting so the next time I looked at the stage, Maru! was wandering around the stage in a small daze, wondering about a presence that he felt. The final Jr. in the tracksuit was shadowing his movements across the stage.
He finally noticed him and they sort of just stared at each other until Maru! introduced him as that owner of “Jersey Milk.” He took off the white overcoat, which got a lot of “kakkoi~i”s from the audience -- to reveal red pants and a green velour coat with white trim. Around his neck, he had a red and white cord wrapped like a scarf. He said it was like a snake before setting up the next part of his variety show.
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 2
A black and white “3, 2, 1” film countdown flickered on the screen. A montage of the New York skyline began as did the beginning tune for “New York New York.” The lights went back up and Maru! began singing in English with a really really good accent.
Maru! stood in the middle of the stage with 4 or 5 of the itty bitty Jr.s while singing. It was so cute! On the screen, the words were displayed in a Blackadder font as more pictures of New York were shown.
After the intro song, and me getting over my shock of hearing Broadway showtunes at Maru!’s concert, the lights dimmed again. This time, the screen displayed images of “a city that wasn’t New York, but a city next to it called, ‘New Jersey.’” In New Jersey, there was a Jazz bar named “Jersey Milk” where boys wearing tracksuits gathered.
A spotlight illuminated a table in the back of the stage to my left where the BAD Jerseys, wearing white tracksuits, were seated. They were quite rowdy and mentioned things about “Jersey Juniors.”
The “Jersey Milk” owner, ITO, came out carrying a blue crate of single serving milk cartons and set it down on the table. One of the BAD members got up and pushed him away. ITO fell to his hands and knees in the middle of the stage.
The BAD Jerseys raised their cartons with a loud, “Kanpai!” CE-kun was standing on a chair with one foot on the table and his arm in the air. They froze in this position and the stage rotated them counterclockwise towards the area kiddy corner from where they began.
ITO looked up forlornly and wondered, ‘There is a rivalry between the OSSaN Jerseys and the BAD Jerseys... In the past, there was an old folklore that an Orange Jersey wearing man who knew Jazz would come and save everyone!’
The OSSaN Jerseys entered the store wearing blue tracksuits with white stripes down their legs and white 19s (18?) on their arms. Another set of Jerseys wearing army green tracksuits were with them. The BAD Jerseys immediately stood up from their table and walked towards them.
“Oh, it’s ossan...” they said.
“Who’re you calling ossans?!” the OSSaN Jerseys snarled. “We’re OSSaN!”
A bass line began in the background and they faced off, circling around “West Side Story”-style. They exchanged insults before the true scuffle began, which actually looked more like each of them trying to hug each other and the recipient resisting.
ITO tried to break them up but was pushed once more to the ground. The OSSaN Jerseys and the BAD Jerseys froze in their embraces as ITO looked up to the sky and cried out.
A loud gong sounded and a figure wearing an orange tracksuit came running down the hanamichi. The orange tracksuit had yellowish orange fringe down the sides of the legs, an 8 on the arms and a big sparkly “RYUHEI” on the back.
Maru! stood there for a moment and looked around in wonder.
“Where am I?” he asked. He turned towards “Jersey Milk” and saw everyone standing in a line.
“Who are you?” they asked before rapidly raising their arms and introducing themselves in turn. Maru! began clapping and had everyone do the same. At the very end, he ended it with flourish and asked again more firmly, “Where am I?”
The others tilted their heads to their right and asked in a mocking tone, “Who are you?”
Maru! raised his hand and introduced himself in the same quick manner the others had before. He ran up to everyone and tried to get them to do Jazz with him. He stood between one of the OSSaN Jerseys and BAD Jersey CE-kun and wrapped his arms around both of their waists in an attempt to pull them closer together.
“OSSaN Jerseys, BAD Jerseys,” he coaxed. “Let’s sing Jazz together!”
They all vehemently refused. Maru!’s face turned sad. He began to pout and stomped to the corner. There, he turned into a toddler and threw a temper tantrum. He stomped his feet, flailed his arms and fell to his knees with a loud wail. Sobbing, he threw himself to the ground with his feet to audience. He continued to flail and kick his legs.
“I wanna sing Jazz!” he cried.
He sat up with a pitiful, kicked puppy face and slumped onto the steps leading into the aisle. He pulled the hood of his tracksuit over his head, hugging his knees to his chest.
The OSSaN Jerseys took pity on him and one of them was sent over to tap him on the shoulder. Maru! jumped with a little whimper and looked up at him.
“Let’s sing Jazz,” the OSSaN Jersey said.
“Really?!” Maru! jumped to his feet and gleefully clapped his hands. He gave a peace sign and a smile combination that rivaled Shota’s during “Misetekure” and joined the others on the other side of the stage.
The four OSSaN Jerseys stood in a row with the zippers to their tracksuits open at various heights. Maru! pointed at them while singing, “Do, re, mi, fa...”
He decided he didn’t like that though and zipped each of their tracksuits up to their necks. OSSaN Jersey #3 decided he didn’t like that and re-unzipped it while Maru! was fiddling with OSSaN Jersey #4. Maru! noticed and tsked like a mother fussing over her children. He went and wrapped his arms around OSSaN Jersey #3 from behind and rezipped the tracksuit and also zipped the bottom of their tracksuit pants. Once he was satisfied that they were all ready, he took his place in the middle and looked out into the audience.
“Music,” he purred in English. “Start.”
The lights dimmed into a purplish hue and the slinky music to “Summertime” began. He and the OSSaN Jerseys sashayed from side to side in a smooth, if not overly cheesy, manner while snapping their fingers. In the back, a suit and hat wearing quartet rose on a platform, “Ooo”-ing into a single microphone. Maru! looked over and gave them a thumbs up.
The BAD Jerseys had snuck back into “Jersey Milk” to watch them all. They whispered amongst themselves before skittering off.
The sexiness that was Maru! singing in English lasted for a little longer before the music ended and they were no longer in JazzLand. They tilted their heads back and let out a slow sigh of happiness. Their eyes were closed and their lips wore faint smiles of bliss.
“Do you now understand?” Maru! drew out lazily. The OSSaN Jerseys nodded, thanked him and then left.
He noticed the BAD Jerseys standing off to the side and smiled knowingly. BAD Jersey CE-kun was pushed forward. He gave a deep bow and apologized for before. The others joined him and nodded in agreement. ForgottenName BAD Jersey #2 stepped forward and enthusiastically pointed a finger at his nose. Maru! just nodded his head and looked at the BAD Jerseys standing before him.
“It’s more than just swaying back and forth,” he said seriously. “That’s probably what you think, isn’t it?”
To prove how much they wanted to do it, they had to do a little hop and say, “Do-do-do-do~!”
However, they didn’t when he wanted them to. He understood that it was embarrassing but they had to do it. BAD Jersey CE-kun and everyone couldn’t keep a straight face through Maru!’s little speech. Finally, after they’d all refused, he played a little Batsu game.
“Look to the right... look to the left... look up... look down...” he sang. ForgottenName BAD Jersey #2 lost and stumbled to the center of the stage. Maru! did the little skip first. Then #2, lacking grace completely, did his version. Everyone laughed.
“Are you ready?” Maru! asked the BAD Jerseys. Everyone nodded their agreement. Maru! gleefully shouted in English, “Music start!”
The lights dimmed again and the four BAD Jerseys lounged against the table while Maru! sang, “Greedy.” The suit quartet was present once more and together they all sang. Part way through the song, the BAD Jerseys stood and began doing step aerobics dance movements with the chairs. BAD Jersey CE-kun slid towards the front of the stage. BAD Jersey Junta crossed the other way while raising his arms in Ultraman poses. The other two found their places in the line.
Maru! went to join them in the spotlight and sang with such passion. Then, the spotlight dipped down, causing him to lean forward. The spotlight dipped down again and he went onto his knees. It dipped again and he sat on his hip. Once more it got smaller and strayed to the very edge of the stage and he sprawled forward to catch it. The spotlight moved to another part of the stage and Maru! got up to chase it. It wouldn’t stay in one area and he stomped his foot.
“I’m over here!” he shouted. He sulked. “Fine, I get it!”
He walked over to BAD Jersey CE-kun, put his arms around his shoulders and put his face close to his in hopes that the spotlight would stay on him that way. They stood like that until the music ended. BAD Jersey CE-kun twisted away after doing some weird movement with his head.
The BAD Jerseys were super excited afterwards as was Maru!. The OSSaN Jerseys rejoined them. The two groups went back to eyeing each other a bit warily before grudgingly exchanging compliments. Maru! had to work to get them to finally reconcile and end their feud for the love of Jazz.
ITO stared up starry eyed with joy. “I’m so happy!”
Maru! came up to the groups with black hats and said, “Now that we’re friends, let’s all have a Jazz Party together!”
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 3
The two groups cheered, took the hats Maru! offered and they all began a Jazzed up medley of Shonentai songs. “ABC” had them working with the hats a lot during the dance such as scooping the hats downward in an arc or holding their hats to their heads while looking down and kicking their feet back. “STRIPE BLUE” had them dancing with and twirling batons along with the hats. Maru! ducked beneath the platform that’d been raised and the Jr.s took over for “Baby Baby Baby.” These versions of the songs were actually really catchy, especially the first one.
Maru! was raised up from behind the original platform wearing a sharp looking black suit and a red button down shirt. Bass strings set the rhythm and brass sounds started the next song, “Maitta ne, konya.” It had a swing feel and the dance was awesome with lots of intricate footwork and hand movements. A bolt of light flashed across the back of the darkened stage and the Jr.s ran to create an open V formation with him in the center.
A beat. Maru! lost the suit coat. Another beat. He switched a pose. Another beat. Another pose. Another beat. Another pose. More beats in rapid succession. More poses in rapid succession. The stage flooded with light and in a swift movement, he dragged his hand across his chest to tear his red shirt open showing off the bare skin underneath. My hands covered my gaping mouth. How the hell did it go from Spirit Fingers Ragtime to this?! His hair was hanging slightly in his eyes and his face was intense and serious. His gaze was really really smoldering. (O.O)
They were all dancing a super sexy dance to a song, “Back to Back,” with a very catchy hook. The movements were crisp, sharp and in perfect unison. There was a really neat dance step during the refrain where they would do three quick turns to their right and then... I don’t remember. But, oh, the arm movements and the dancing in general! At one part, all of the Jr.s were dancing with Maru! just standing and singing in all of his alluring glory. Kya~!
Lights swung up into the audience and their outlines were gathering towards the back of the stage. The lights went back down. Out sauntered Maru! and company MOD squad style completely shirtless. All of the fangirls in the audience squealed in embarrassment, shock or appreciation. My eyes got even larger and I couldn’t help but squeak, “Oh my god... Maru!...” (@_@)
A beat. They hit their formation marks, raised one fist into the air with the other in front, and went right back into their nosebleed inducing dance. Mabushii... mabushisugi ya...
As he danced, he had a “C’mon... I already did half the work for you” look in his face. Kya~! I couldn’t handle it. Seriously... too much... too much skin... too much sweat... Wah~! [falls over] It’s hard to imagine what being in the front few first floor rows during that number would’ve been like.
The dance ended way too soon. They reached their final pose and Maru! turned to walk lazily towards the back of the stage, which flashed bright white lights. More lights swung up to blind us all. As a side note, when Hina visited Maru! during the MC of the first show that day, I guess he imitated part of the dance a couple of times and kind of laughed about it with Maru!. Anyway...
To douse our racing hearts, when the lights were lowered, the remaining shirtless underage Jr.s continued into the next number of Jr.s’ dance solos. BAD and BOYS were first. CE-kun and Junta did backflips before running off stage to put some more clothing back on. Then all of the other other Jr.s came out for their solos. The poor itty bitties were wearing the Carnival worker outfits again.
Maru! reappeared in the middle of the aisle wearing the blue and yellow outfit and raised a huge hand. “Hey, everyone, let’s shake hands!” The music was “ACT SHOW” but he’d changed “Act show! Act show!” to “Akushu shiyou! Akushu shiyou!” or “Let’s shake hands! Let’s shake hands!” On the screen, the words “Akushu shiyou” were stamped in red over the “Act show” lyrics. Haha! You’re clever, Maru!.
He went and began shaking hands with everyone. It was really neat because he made sure to look every person that he shook hands with in the face. Maru! returned to the stage and ran across it and down the hanamichi, slapping hands with the lined up Jr.s as he went by. CE-kun! What were you wearing?! He had on a pair of white pants and a purple shirt that glittered with every movement he made. Oh... my eyes! My eyes! It was too sparkly, even for me~. (>_<)
Attaching the giant hand to a stick, he raised it to some of the 2nd row seats for them to shake. The Jr.s also ran up and down the aisles to shake people’s hands. The song ended and it was time for the MC.
He quickly apologized to the second and third floor seats for not being able to shake hands with them during the song. One girl yelled out, “It’s OK!” A Jr., who was celebrating his birthday that day, brought out some water and a towel for him. The crowd began chanting, “Iki! Iki! Iki!” He looked like he was about to say something but changed his mind and appeased the audience by finishing it off. I wanted to shout out, “Oso~i! (You’re drinking too slo~wly~!)” but I wasn’t sure whether it’d be appropriate.
When he finished, he looked at the bottle, pouted and said, “Thanks. Now I don’t have any water for the rest of the MC. Happy now?!” However, part way through, the same kind Jr. brought him out another bottle of water.
Maru! spoke about how it was really great that it was a solo concert because usually all of the snacks were gone before he had the chance to eat any. He listed all of the yummy desserts that were offered from purin to cakes. However, it was sad because the dressing room was lonely. He said something about the shower room and Yoko (not in the same sentence), but I didn’t really catch it.
Next he discussed his weight. His heaviest was 70 kg during the summer specials. While taping his special drama, he was working out a lot and dropped to 60-something kilograms. In the duration of the three days of his solo concert, he’d dropped to 59 kg! Congrats, Maru! but don’t lose too much...
He talked some more. I don’t really remember the MC too well. My brain was worn out from concentrating on the “Jersey Milk” play. Then a platform rose up and a guitar was brought out. He sat down and put his feet up on the platform too. The way he was sitting caused him to create an “M” with his legs and the audience yelled out. He started laughing and asked what was so funny. He leaned back and covered his eyes with his arm in amusement.
Someone shouted out a request and he made that weird sad mask face that he’d done on Suka*J before. He made a weird moaning, howling sound. Everyone laughed and asked him to do it again. He tried but started laughing part way through.
He said something about how he and Shota sang the song he was about to sing, “Koko ni iru koto,” during his KanJuu days. He began singing. Lyrics were posted on the back screen as he sang. He flubbed the opening but did his best through the rest of it. He struggled a little bit at the end of the song but did quite well and did his best. It was a nice song and I enjoyed listening to him singing. I liked how it wasn’t perfectly polished.
He brought out the itty bitty Jr.s brothers and chatted with them. The older one shouted, “Pa~n” instead of his name during the self introductions. The oldest one said he was in 8th grade. The little one said he was a 6th grader. The older one was hogging the mic and the little one held out his hand to speak too. When asked how they entered Johnny’s, the little brother handed it back to the older one. I guess they were scouted out in Thailand. Maru! then mentioned something about them wearing skirts and the older brother said that they weren’t skirts but pants. Maru! apologized. There was a bit more talking and they brothers left the stage. Those two were a bit... erm... saucy? Is that the right word? Bratty? Maybe that one’s better.
TOP kids were brought out for their part. They missed their cue coming out so Maru! had to repeat himself. When coming out, TK#2 tried to do a leap in the air and ended up landing on his butt. Poor thing... Maru! chided him gently and then made sure he was OK. When TK#3 introduced himself, he and Maru! wrapped their right arms around their faces and shouted, “Chekera!” Maru! wanted all of them to do it except TK#2 didn’t. They redid it for a 2nd time and they all managed to shout out “Chekera!” I shall take this moment to point out again how painful these outfits in particular were to look at.
~*vVv*~
SHOW part 4
“Stand up please kudasai.”
It was time for us all to get riled up. He had the 3rd tier shout out “Pa~n!” He then had the 2nd tier shout out “Pa~n!” Next was the first floor. Then, all together, we shouted out “Pa~n!” The people in the seats in front of me were looking around in wonder and started laughing.
The Jr.s sang their medley. I think this was the part where CE-kun was wearing the white shirt with the blue granny sweater that’d actually torn at one of the summer specials I went to... Anyway, after everyone sang their medley, two stairways were pushed onto the stage with a gap between them.
The opening to “Naniwa Iroha Bushi” began and everyone cheered. A rolling platform with Maru! was pushed into the area between the stairs that had been set up. The orange flag with his name written down it was set up behind him and Jr.s were everywhere.
He was wearing the blue outfit from the fall tour and looked so happy and handsome. The stage began rotating and everyone was dancing and everyone was singing. He walked down the stairs and messed around with CE-kun a bit before taking center stage.
“Osaka Rainy Blues” was next. At the beginning of the first speaking part in “Sukiyanen, Osaka,” Maru! grabbed his stomach and winced. “Ooo... I gotta go to the bathroom...” He ran off stage, leaving the Jr.s to dance and introduce themselves. When BAD had their turn, CE-kun did a cutesy little pose.
People began screaming to my right and there was Maru! on the 2nd floor! He waved and shook hands with people. He even went all the way up to the back few rows. He returned to the entrance and we all shouted, “Yappa sukiyanen!”
“A one! A two!” CE-kun shouted. The audience joined in to finish, “Konnichi one two!” Another cheer arose from my left and there was Maru! on the other side of the 2nd floor! Oh my! There was so much going on because on the screen, the other members were shouting, “Ganbare~!” to Maru!. ‘Kura-chan was too adorable and of course didn’t say anything. Wa~! Where do I look?! Do I watch the VTR? Do I watch CE-kun?! Do I look at Maru! who’s actually partially hidden by the fangirls?! Dou~ shiyou~?! Chaos! Chaos! It’s all chaos!
The song ended with another VTR of KJ8 coming on the screen. “The next song is ‘KanFuu Fighting!’ Enjoy!’” They’re replaced by the PV and Maru! appeared on a platform center stage wearing the red outfit. The other Jr.s were wearing various renditions of white and lime green outfits. CE-kun and Junta joined in on the song partway through in their lime green outfits. During the speaking parts, he said a message that I couldn’t make out too well over the music. He also had us do the “Yossha~!” part which I always will gladly partake in. At the very end of the song, Maru! did a weird dance move that made me laugh. I wonder how Hina will perform this song.
From here, it went into the Magical Summer theme, “SIGN OF DREAM.” I adore this song! Midway through, he stepped onto the hanamichi and pulled out a cellphone. He punched a few buttons and on the screen the message he’d written appeared. He pressed another button and “Message Sent” text appeared. Aww! I think Maru!’s smile during this song was priceless. He looked so happy.
The music switched to “Go Now to the World” and he had us all shout “Pa~n!” I also adore this song. He walked around the center stage with Jr.s behind him doing the jumping from side to side dance step. He climbed up the platform stairs to the very top and a green curtain was pulled up. BAD sang, “STANCE.”
“Monaco Blue” was next and I had the same “huh?” reaction as when ‘Kura-chan sang it at the SOb concert. The green curtain dropped to reveal Maru! in the Eden bellhop costume. He moved on to what I’d heard was debuted in the new tour. His dancing style wasn’t really jerky enough for this song but he did well.
The lights dimmed and he moved towards the center of the stage. A fog machine covered the stage with a fluffy mist, making Maru! look as though he was walking on clouds. The screen behind him displayed lyrics, flower petals and stars floating through the sky. I didn’t recognize the song but when he began the “akete yuku asahi no hou... jiyuu to iu tori ga tobu yo...” I realized it was “Name of Love.” Aww... this was a beautiful rendition...
After “Ai tte,” the opening to “Misetekure” blared and I squealed. Purple watery affected lights turned on the floor and the smoke lifted into the air. Maru! did a quick costume change and returned wearing a white pants with black stripes down the side and a black T-shirt with the USA flag on it! He had his orange microphone stand and dove right into the rap. BAD BOYS danced back up and BAD sang Ryo’s parts.
During the chorus, Maru! leaned forward with the mic stand and lifted it from the ground in a rockstar fashion. From here, the music continued to “Boogie Woogie Cat.” He was bouncing all around the stage and on the hanamichi and getting us to clap along to the rhythm and yell out with him.
Then, it moved into “Juu nen go no kyou no hi mo.” He thanked us all for attending and began singing. The Xmas Party sign was down and he was standing on the platform area. Jr.s were wearing all white outfits. I flubbed the participation dance horribly because I was too distracted by Maru!’s smile.
While he was singing, the curtain began to fall. As soon as it touched the ground, the chanting for him immediately began.
It didn’t take long for the curtain to go back up. He said he had made a message for us. On the back screen, pictures from previous concerts and song lyrics written in his hand writing were on the screen. The music for “Omae ga iru” began. Maru! rose from the same place he started from. He was dressed in the concert T-shirt, jeans and an orange hoodie sweatshirt. He began to sing the new version with special lyrics.
喜ぶ顔を思い浮かべて少し奮発して買ったプレゼント
(yorokobu kao o omoi ukabete sukoshi funpatsu shite katta PURESENTO)
待ち合わせはここ、いつもの場所で暖かいぬくもり、感じてる？
(machiawase wa koko, itsumo no basho de atatakai nukumori, kanjiteru?)
ここにいることでふくらむ僕の夢 一人じゃきっとたよりないこの夢
(koko ni iru koto de fukuramu boku no yume hitori ja kitto tayorinai kono yume)
Partway through, he had to stop because he’d started crying. He bent his head down and held his hand to his face before collecting himself and continuing.
今日は明日へつながっているんだ やるしかない潰れてられない
(kyou wa asu e tsunagatteirunda yarushikanai tsubureterarenai)
みんながいる そばにいるから この場所で幸せ噛み締め歌うよ
(minna ga iru soba ni iru kara kono basho de shiawase kamishime utau yo)
”Thank you everyone...”
時には落ち込むことだってあるさ だけど悪いことばかりじゃない
(toki ni wa ochikomu koto datte aru sa dakedo warui koto bakari janai)
出会いそしてずっと支えてくれた心からありがとう
(deai soshite zutto sasaetekureta kokoro kara arigatou)
“Thank you so much!”
みんながいる みんながいるから まだいくぜ 石にかじりついても
(minna ga iru minna ga iru kara mada ikuze ishi ni kajiritsuitemo)
みんながいる みんながいるから まだいくぜ 信じた道を進むよ
(minna ga iru minna ga iru kara mada ikuse shinjita michi o tsutsumu yo)
“This was so much fun! Thank you so much!”
The song finished, he gave a watery smile and Maru! asked, “How about one more song?”
We cheered and got ready for another performance of “KanFuu Fighting.” Before Maru! could begin singing, though, a cheer erupted from the audience. I was a bit confused and looked to see what had caused the commotion. Walking down the hanamichi was a tiny person wearing a blazer, pink scarf, colorful shirt, knee length jean shorts and a pair of brown knee high boots. Who’s this? It looks like a girl... ‘cept the hair’s kind of short... OMG! It’s Shota! He was also wearing glasses.
Next to show up was Hina wearing jeans, a T-shirt and green hat. A few moments later, a small figure wearing... Oh, I can’t even remember the outfit... and a really colorful knit hat came shuffling down the aisle. I thought it was Ryo at first but it was actually Subaru. Maru! fell to the ground on stage with a huge smile on his face. When he stood up, everyone gave him a hug and Subaru tried to grab his crotch. Hahaha...
They sang. The guys kept ruffling Maru!’s hair. The curtain went back down but we weren’t about to leave just yet. We kept chanting for Maru! to come out. The opening notes to “Sukiyanen, Osaka” began and silver streamers burst through the air. He had taken off his orange hoodie sweatshirt at this point.
The guys stayed for the second encore too. It was funny because everyone was dancing and then there was Subaru just kind of standing there and blinking at everyone with a bemused look on his face.
Maru! ran down the hanamichi and shook hands with everyone. He then walked back through the aisle and asked everyone to be nice as he tried to fight his way through. He began singing the song in a funny voice. He gave us another “Pa~n!” and then started to sing the entire song using only the word “Pa~n!” We all joined in and ended up just shouting “Pa~n!” until the very last moment. LoL! The Jr.s just kept dancing as Maru! jumped around the stage. In lieu of the final “sukiyanen!” we shouted “TEKISA~SU!”
We still weren’t satisfied and called for him to appear once more. He came out and said, “Thank you.” His friends sitting in front of me tried to get his attention but I don’t think he could see through the bright lights and they said, “Sa, we’ll talk to him later.”
He said, “Thank you!” and talked about how grateful he was for everything. We all shouted out our own thanks, waved and ended with one last “Pa~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~n!”
~*vVv*~
POST SHOW
The curtain fell for the last time and I couldn’t move. I simply stood there and stared at where, just a few moments before, Maru! had been. Wow.
Fans on the first floor were grabbing some of the streamers as mementos. I wanted one but I would’ve had to jump over the balcony and I doubt that would’ve been the smartest thing to do.
Finally, I gathered my things. The train ride back was long and quiet. I put my ticket stub into my book of ticket stubs and flipped through it. There’re so many! So many memories... (.^_^)v
Shiawase...
~*vVv*~
THOUGHTS
丸!、お疲れ様でした!こちらこそ、ありがとうございます!
Maru! had an awesome show. It’s so interesting to see what kind of style the guys take on for their solo shows. He put a lot of work into this show and it felt really sincere. At the end when he had to pause, I could feel my own eyes misting over and I *never* cry at concerts. Just ask renchan5... (;_;) He could’ve been acting, as anyone could, but I doubt it 100%.
Urayamashi~i, Maru!... Is this your dream, Maru!? You’ve worked so hard to get here. What was it that you said, 8 years? 9 years? that you’ve been working? It must feel so good knowing that all of that hard work has had actual results.
What do you think about when the curtain goes down, Maru! ?
I just love “Minna ga iru.” I found the words at some websites and romanized it. The first stanza was what was written on the screen during the special message. Also, I think the first line was what was written on the sign ball. The “koko ni iru koto” was the title of the song he sang during the MC. The “hitori ja kittota yorinai kono yume” was what he wrote to all of us on his cellphone. Also, if you have V6’s original version, you can just listen to that and replace those lyrics with these.
Maru!’s an exceptional dancer. For every song, he was just dead on. I also loved when he spun around three times at the end of songs. Plus, I was 4th row, dead center on the 2nd tier so as he was dancing and performing on the main stage, it felt as though he was just staring in my general direction. Also, the people in front of me refused to stand up so it was just empty space between me and the stage and I couldn’t see anyone really in my peripheral vision. At times, it’d felt as though it was a private show, just for me! (*^_^*) I felt a bit self conscious though and I admit it was a bit unnerving when it felt like they were looking at me... Ah~! Handsome boy... I don’t know what to do... [runs] LoL!
I also managed to go to the show without knowing what was going to happen at all. I was surprised by everything and that made it so much more fun. Yea!
Hina, you have two tough acts to follow~!