Thursday, March 3, 2016

Recap: Morning Musume 16' feat. Anime Matsuri X Part 1


Hello~ Just as a small introduction to this post, I will be talking about seeing Morning Musume 16' at Anime Matsuri X during February 26-28th 2016 in Houston, TX. This was my first AM, first Houston area convention, and first time meeting an idol group.

Before we get further into details, I want to apologies for attending Anime Matsuri X during this rough time of corruption and accusations toward this convention. Yes, I admit to falling for the "this is a once in a lifetime thing!1!!" and going despite the controversy around this convention. However, I believe Morning Musume 16', along with Aika, were well taken care of by their own management and did everything in their power to keep them safe. I'm sorry to the people who had trust in me and who I offended by attending. I risked attending AM despite controversy, threats toward me if I attended, and so on. I hope those people can forgive me. If not, I understand and I probably won't be forgiving myself anytime soon.

Now that is out of the way, lets get on to business! Just as a fair warning, this won't be just about Morning Musume 16'. I will be talking about meeting fellow MM fans, performing at Galaxy Girl Paida's LIVE, and little extras that happened in-between the Morning Musume 16' activities. Lets get started!!

Friday

I arrived in Houston around 4:00 AM with my best friend that graciously went out of his way to come pick me up (you know who you are). So after about 5-6 more hours of sleep, we headed out towards the con. I was dropped off by my friend's friend who was also going to the con but him and my best friend had to go find and set up the hotel room. So I stood in line waiting for the vendor hall to open.

About an hour later upon arriving, the hall was opened and I rushed in line to the AM Merchandise Booth to get the Morning Musume 16' exclusive goods. It wasn't until another hour or so later when the merchandise finally arrived at the booth and they began selling.

SO THEN ABOUT ANOTHER HOUR LATER (your getting the point by now), I finally reached the booth and got both the T-shirt and muffler. I personally dislike the design of the towel but lowkey in love with the muffler. I also received my raffle ticket to enter in the Sunday general attendee autograph signing. My only problem, why was the raffle ticket better designed than the t-shirt? (LOL)

Now it was time to wait for the Morning Musume 16' Q&A. I ended up getting there about an hour and 30 minutes before the start where the Opening Ceremonies crowd was still in line. I decided to take this opportunity to charge my phone and practice my dance performance for Galaxy Girl Paida's LIVE. I lining up about 30 minutes later and ended up as the first general attendee in line for the event! Not even a few minutes later, MM fans came running in and sitting in line. We all started chatting, listening/singing to MM music, and talking about other idol groups as well! I'm horrible at remembering names, but one fan was talking to me about AKB48 and how all these mass graduations are getting ridiculous and I honestly couldn't agree more. Paida ended up joining me about 10 minutes before the doors opened and we just kept fangirling and getting hyped about everything. Also, huge shout-out to the volunteer member who kept being so funny and chill. You the real MVP fam~ A few minutes before letting us enter, the volunteer announced that they will be letting us sit on the carpet floor of the room AKA your gonna end up being hella close to the girls

After letting us in, I semi-rushed my way to the closest spot along with Paida. We ended up sitting in the Suzuki Kanon cheering section and ended up freaking out about it. The girls haven't even came out yet and were already being total weebs about everything! Then, after Berry Risa and a volunteer laid down basic rules for the Q&A, I lost my spaghetti. They came out, i lost all my spaghetti and cried my eyes out screaming for my #1 oshi, Sakura Oda. GUYS SHE ACTUALLY WAVED AT ME AND I WAS SO HAPPY!! I couldn't stop crying and at this point, I didn't care if they were gonna answer my question. I was happy just to be in their presence!

We get started with the Q&A and were having a blast listening to their answers and getting our ear drums damaged with the mic malfunctions. They began letting individual members chose people at a certain point. When it came to Eripon, she didn't know exactly who to chose. I'll just give you a dialogue rundown of what went down
  • Eripon: Ehhhh...... Hi!! -waves-
  • Everyone: Hii!! -waving back-
  • Me: Daisuke!!
  • Eripon: Eh, daisuke? -looks over at me-
  • Me: -LOSES SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS-
  • Eripon: Ehh! D-Don't cry!!
Eripon called me and I just lost it. If you attended the Q&A, you knew how bad it was LOL. After gathering myself, I got up and told them "I've been waiting 7 years to meet Morning Musume. I've been a fan ever since I was 11 years old". I just also want to apologize to the volunteer, Berry Risa, and anyone attending for my ugly uncontrollable sobbing that made it hard to understand what I said. I really don't know what came over me, so Yurushite Nyan!

The question i asked the girls was "Would you support overseas idols?". This question was inspired by Paida because she is also a local idol, along with some other overseas idols attending, and myself. There has been a recent rise in overseas idols in Japan and just wanted to know how MM felt about it! Eripon said that being an idol fan herself, she would like to see more foreign idols. Miki then answered (IN ENGLISH!!11!) that she wants to see a combination of overseas and Japanese idols. A lot of people were really supportive of my question and me just getting up there. I was so happy that the rest of the Q&A was just a blur. However, because I love you and I just want to relive myself doing this, here is the full Q&A! (Please remember to support the girls by purchasing the DVD when its released)
~End of MM activities for the day~

After the Q&A, Paida and I wandered around the convention and began getting ready for her LIVE tonight. I was going to be performing One and Only alongside her and Martha from Kira Kira Entertainment. We received word that her original opening act, Cookie Nyan, may not be able to do her opening act duties due to uncontrolled circumstances. I ended up volunteering myself to performing as the opening act for Paida. I was super nervous and only had a hour to rehearse and pick out two songs. I ended up choosing and performing Green Flash by AKB48 and Love Machine by Morning Musume.

During my first song, I was lit until the second rapping verse and my confidence went down hill. I didn't feel proud and I just felt like i embarrassed myself  in front of A LOT of people. Despite it, something inside told me to keep going. I moved on to Love Machine and that is when i felt the most energy and excited. I don't know what happened or what came over me to feel this. I just felt a soar of confidence, power, and enthusiasm like I never had before. I believe what happened that night is that I finally broke out of my shell. When I look back at it, it was the best i've ever performed singing wise. It's a feeling I hope many others can feel one day.

After my opening performance, Paida came out and K I L L E D it. I was so proud of her with her singing, dancing, and overall the idol aura she gave off that night. It's something I hope to aim for one day. We heard the wotagei chants, clapping of hands, and some even singing along to certain songs. It was a magical night I will never forget in my performing history. It's a night where we realized our dreams and goals. So I want to personally thank those who attended that performance Friday night, cheered us on, and inspired us to keep going with our idol activities. I also want to thank Paida for always being talented, amazing, and there for me even when I screw up big time, especially during her LIVES. Please check out their amazing YouTube channels for more of their content!
https://www.youtube.com/user/narutohatesyou512https://www.youtube.com/user/CherriPaidahttps://www.youtube.com/user/ohmarthacoleman
Afterwards, I headed back to the hotel and crashed. That is really all it for Friday. The thing is, this is only the beginning! My poor soul wasn't prepared for Saturday.

So I tried writing all the days in one huge blog post but I then noticed that blog posts on here have limits. I know i promised one huge post but I will be breaking it up into 3 parts now! Thanks for reading so far! I will be posting the next part (Saturday) tomorrow! See you soon~

Part 2
http://milkykittychu.blogspot.com/2016/03/recap-morning-musume-16-feat-anime_4.html?m=1

1 comment:

  1. STAFFU SENPAIII!!! You must have been near me in line at least at some point. That volunteer and I had a little shtick going on, which was totally hilarious. He made waiting in line enjoyable! :) Also, you weren't a blubbering mess when you asked your question at all! It was adorable. haha And it's hard to keep your emotions in when you get to see them/talk to them for the first time, I think! :)

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