Not long after touching down in Japan Krotch and I made our way to Harajuku to meet up with Alita so I could choose / buy my ticket for Koharu’s graduation concert. Because of the incredibly crappy exchange rate (recession sucks) I only had ￥135,000 in my pocket instead of the ￥150,000 I was expecting to have and after looking over all the tickets available for some time I’d decided on 5th row, middle / right side seat for ￥120,000. That was until Alita and Krotch pointed out a 3rd row middle / left side seat for the same price. After having this brought to my attention I snapped it up pretty fast, even with the shop owner repeatedly checking that I want to spend that much on a ticket and soon found out that I had seat number 20 which was over to the left of the stage. Semi satisfied with my purchase the only things I had left to worry about was ① I’d misplace my ticket before the concert and ② I’d get some incredibly tall, or incredibly wide Japanese guys stood in front of me which would make it hard to see even though I was only 3 rows back from the stage… After continuously fretting over not being able to see properly I was pleasantly (understatement) surprised once I got to my seat!

Krotch and I meet up with Bex Bissell and TerryXX at the concert venue before we all walked into the hall together to find our seats. None of us were sat together so I preceded to make my way down to the front of the venue before being unceremoniously and forcefully yanked backwards by my backpack!!! <_< Mr Japanese Usher Guy was not happy that I was making my way down to the realms of the epic seats so I had to show him my ticket to prove I wasn’t trying to get something I wasn’t entitled too. After seeing my 3rd row ticket he told me to continue. Yeah…in your face wanker! Making my way further down to the front I got a bit confused with what I was looking for and stood in a daze for a brief moment. When I eventually snapped out of it I realised the reason for my confusion was because 3rd row was in fact 1st row because of the camera set-up. Here’s how it worked; 1st row seats had been removed so that they could install a track for a dolly and camera, plus have space for 4 other cameras on tri-pods. 2nd row seats had been covered so nobody could get in the camera / camera operators way or trip over the cables. Doing this meant there was a barrier of seats between the wota and the stage and thus 3rd row was now bumped to 1st row (or front row if you want to look at it like that). This meant I had front row…

FRONT ROW BABY!!!1

I was so excited I dumped my bag and went to tell the guys and Bex Bissell came down to check my seat out for himself (much to Mr Japanese Usher Guys disapproval). Just before the concert started I did start panicking about the possibility that the cameras might get in the way but the stage was high and the seats were slightly tiered so I was looking straight over the top of them…AWESOMES! The only time they would get ‘annoying’ was during the graduation speeches although luckily they kinda worked to my advantage as well – I’ll review the graduation ceremony in a separate post. 5 minutes before the concert started I cracked open my green glowsticks and glow bracelets then really started to get nervous. There was no way I wasn’t going to be noticed by the members and I felt some incredible pressure to make sure I gave my all in each and every song. Problem was I not proficient with the dances and only know a handful of the chants. Oh crap…! Oh well, on to the concert review ^^

All song titles in red as a homage to Koharu *salutes*

01 – 3,2,1 BREAKIN’ OUT – I was a bit dubious about them opening the concert with this song but by gum it was good! The tempo / style made the atmosphere really genki and I was smiling my head off thanks to it. Actually, this song made me forget that I was actually attending a graduation concert lol. Most of the members noticed me in this song with Risa finding me not long after it started ♥ Needless to say I was already enjoying standing at the front and it had only just begun!

02 – How Do You Like Japan? ~Nippon wa Donna Kanji Dekka?~ – As mentioned before this is my favourite MM / H!P song and I immediately got even more pumped up when they started singing it. In this song Ai kept staring at me, which I don’t actually mind, but it got to the point where I’d look at her to see if she was looking at me, which she would be. We’d then end up sharing some awkward eye contact which was very off putting <_< Also, during the verses of this song they do this clap thing which the audience have to join in with and at one point I had Aika right in front of me doing the claps (that’s doing…she didn’t have them…) I was scanning around the girls when I made eye contact with her and she smiled at me so I looked away with disgust <_< I knew it must’ve shown really well as I’m crap at hiding my emotions so I looked back feeling a little guilty and she was looking at the floor all upset… Me being me I let out an evil laugh then started looking around the rest of the girls again lololololololol.

VTR – This was pretty good and showed the girls in generation batches although for some reason Jun and Lin we’re in one generation with Aika and Koharu together in another. Koharu was the MIRACLE bitches!!! Her and Aika weren’t in the same generation… >_<

03 – Kimagure Princess – This wasn’t much different to how it is performed in the PV which is not a bad thing but just means they don’t go around the stage that much so there’s no crowd interaction. The outfits are pretty cool and the basic chanting during it is great – something that even I can do! Throw in butt rubbing and boob thrusting and all in all it makes for a great song ^^

MC – Ok, I haven’t been to many concerts but since when has there been enough girls and kids attending for Morning Musume to address them? I don’t remember them doing this at the Platinum 9 Disco concert so it must be an incredibly recent thing. Saying that I’ve also never seen so many girls in the Hello! Project shops as I did this trip. This could only mean that Morning Musume is getting more popular and is loosing that ’scary male fans’ image so hopefully this’ll mean bigger and better things for them. Fingers crossed!

04 Nanchatte Renai – I always get confused with this song when it starts as it sounds so similar to SYO lol. I love the dance to this song and was glad that the Wota had come up with some chants for it, even if it’s just shouting the members name after they sing their lines. They sang a shortened version which was disappointing as Risa and Eri didn’t get to sing their solo lines. It’s their 40th single dammit (and is great to boot) so they should’ve sung it in it’s entirety!!!

05 Genki+ – OH…MY…FUCKING…GOD! This song was unbelievably amazing! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! I would pay ￥120,000 just to see them perform this one song again – private performance mind you ; ) I was cheering so loudly and vigorously during this song my arms were in major pain afterwards. Totally worth it though! This is one to look out for when the DVD is released ♥

06. Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou? Chinese version (All members) – I just knew this song was going to be wank when I found out it was to be sung in Chinese and all I can say is thank god everyone other than Jun and Lin didn’t have any solo lines in it! It sounded really stupid and I’m hoping that now they’ve had their fun with it it’ll be omitted from the next million concerts *prays* The only good thing to come out of it was Risa’s harmonising “ooooooooh’s”. Man they were funny to watch ^^;

07. Sukiyaki (Niigaki Risa and Kusumi Koharu) – This was the one song I was looking forward to the most but I have to confess that I was ever so slightly disappointed with it. Not because of the performance as Risa and Koharu were hilarious during it (really REALLY funny) but because there were no chants for it and as I don’t know the dance I couldn’t join in. The outfits were horrible and in my opinion happen to be the worst during the whole concert which is a shame because for once the rest were really good. They are bright and funny though, which I suppose fits the song really well.

MC – Here I’m pretty sure Jun Jun is talking about a time where she was travelling on a bus when an old woman fell asleep on her shoulder. As she didn’t really know quite what to do in the situation she asks Risa, Eri and Lin how they’d deal with it. The whole time Jun Jun’s explaining this to the other three / audience Risa’s translating her poor Japanese in the most tactful of ways which Eri thanks her for lol. They then demonstrate how they’d each deal with the old lady – with Jun Jun playing the role of the old lady – which was very funny, especially when Jun Jun has to put her head on Lin Lin’s shoulder but complains because she’s too short lol.

08. Haru Beautiful Everyday (Kamei Eri and Mitsui Aika) – Before I said that I only “quite liked” this song but after watching it live it’s grown on me a lot. Even with Aika having a very prominent part in it what with it being a duet. Don’t get confused by thinking that I’m starting to like her though as I still think she should’ve graduated instead of Koharu… <_< I’m hoping someone can help me out as I want to know what the Wota chant over the sugoku suteki suki yo bits? I understand the second of the three words is the members name – with Eri’s being Eririn – but what’s the other two words? Also, what do the Wota chant when they hop scotch? At this point in time I was just yelling random sound-a-like crap so knowing my luck I was probably insulting them in some way… *whistles*

09. Kioku no Meiro (Takahashi Ai and Tanaka Reina) – Ai-chan…on a circular platform…in a hot outfit (complete with furry fedora) …singing and dancing sexily = DEAD! Oh dear god this song was sooooooo good ♥ The outfits are epic and the dancing is incredibly sexy so what more could you want? Maybe Eri instead of Reina but beggars can’t be choosers *shakes finger*

10. Aruiteru (Michishige Sayumi → Morning Musume joins in halfway) – Sayumi can’t sing for shit but I feel that she did exceptionally well during this song considering her aptitude for being tone deaf. On a personal level I also didn’t feel so defunct because I got to participate more as I actually know the lyrics!

♪ NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA, NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA! :P

11. Aki Urara – This song is pretty decent live and I’m glad they picked this one over the other, more slower, ‘b’ side of Nanchatte Renai. The only downside was that as I’ve never seen it performed live I didn’t know the dance at all. If I had attended more concerts I would’ve been slightly better off but at this time I had to just bop along as I didn’t know what else to do. FAIL!

12. Shouganai Yume Oibito – I was looking forward to this song as I wanted to see the pair-ups when one member ‘holds’ another from behind and they do the little thrusting action ^^; Risa didn’t put much effort into it though which was a slight disappointment, but I’m gonna put that down to the fact that she was paired up with Lin Lin and not someone more thrustworthy (like Eri *wink wink*) Other than that it was performed really well.

MC – Sayumi and Reina took this MC but I don’t know what it was about. The pair of them saying “OOOOPS” was pretty funny so if anyone wants to explain that part to me it’ll be most appreciated ^^

13. Sakura Mankai (Takahashi Ai, Niigaki Risa, Kamei Eri, Mitsui Aika and Linlin) – Man this song was awesome with everyone other than Aika sounding fantastic ♥ The only thing that ruined the song for me were the “L-O-V-E lovely *insert member name here*” chants which were way too slow for my liking and kinda unnecessary. I did, however, like the pink fluffy fans that were integral to the dance and found it incredibly funny that some male Wota had their own versions of them so they could join in. I don’t know why I found it funny though, what with the things that go on in that nation <_<

14. Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu ni Naranee!~ (Michishige Sayumi, Tanaka Reina, Kusumi Koharu and Junjun) – I mentioned in a previous post that I had never heard of this song before seeing it on the Nine Smile set list, so I watched 30 seconds of it on You Tube with a view to popping my Yuujou cherry at this concert. I did manage to abstain which I’m glad I did as this song is so rocky it’s fantastic.

♪ Hi Hi HiHiHi, Hi Hi HiHiHi, Hi Hi HiHiHi, YOU CAN DO!

During this song Sayumi was encouraging me to join in which was pretty awesome although she didn’t really need to as I was dancing and singing for all my worth lol. Sayumi also did the YOU CAN DO! point to me which was mega epic and I hope it was caught on camera ♥ I wonder if she remembers me from the Nanchatte Renai events?

15. Dekkai Uchuu ni Ai ga Aru – For this song they used the huge smiley faces as props so the Wota joined in with their mini ones that came with the part 2 t-shirts. Unfortunately I had already ordered my Risa part 2 t-shirt from Hello! Store USA before I knew I was going to Japan so I had to half ass it – and look lame at the same time – by pretending that my glowsticks were a smiley face <_< It was a fun song to join in with as the dance was pretty much geared towards crowd interaction and at one point Ai was stood up on the circular platform in front of me making sure I was getting the dance down properly lol (again with the staring). Ai-chan’s a good one-on-one teacher so needless to say I picked it up pretty fast ♥

(Start of Coupling/with medley)

16. Please! Jiyuu no Tobira – Not a fan of this song but I joined in with all the chants as best as I could. The chanting is probably the best thing about the performance so…moving on *whistles*

17. Handmade CITY – I refrained for listening to a fan recording of this before the concert so when I heard it live all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. We Will Rock You mashed together with Handmade CITY = OMGWTF~EPIC WIN! I’m still ever so slightly disappointed that they didn’t perform the song in it’s entirety but I think I will get over it eventually as what they did produce was so god damn good! ♥ Another thing to look forward to once the DVD is released.

18. Odore! Morning Curry – The transition from HMC to Odore! was so unique I actually didn’t think that they were going in to this song. I love Odore! so felt compelled to join in with the dance – especially the chorus parts lol. Risa was grinning at me at one point so I probably looked like a complete and utter prat. Nothing new there though… ^^;

19. Bonkyu! Bonkyu! BOMB Girl – Just before they start this song they do this immensely awesome 50’s style rock ‘n roll dance which Risa totally OWND in every possible way. So much so that I can’t wait to see it again when it’s released. Actually, it’ll probably be the first thing I look at when I get hold of the concert and if Risa isn’t focused on during this part it will be a serious miscarriage of justice. That could be seen as me being biased but in my opinion you have to give credit where credit’s due. Risa >>> Ai >>>Eri at 50’s Rock ‘n Roll dancing. FACT!!!

(Coupling/with medley ended with Bonkyu! Bonkyu! BOMB Girl again)

* When Morning Musume walked off stage after this Risa gave me one of her trademark awesome smiles and waved at me all excited. I was stood next to two male Risa Wotas but they actually said she did it to me and not them ^^ Risa ♥♥♥ *

20. Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari (Full version, Jun Jun → Lin Lin → Mitsui Aika → Kusumi Koharu → Michishige Sayumi → Kamei Eri → Tanaka Reina → Niigaki Risa → Takahashi Ai) – I read the translations of this song when they were posted up on H!O but I couldn’t remember much apart from Lin Lin saying that she wanted to be Sub-Leader lol. During the song they change the lighting to reflect the colour of the member who’s singing at the time which was pretty darn cool (simple things and all that…) But the best thing that happened during this performance was when Risa ends her part with “makuru de” she over exaggerates it and did it directly at me! Death by Risa x_X ♥

21. Naichau Kamo – God I hate this song <_< If there was a competition for ’song most likely to be skipped on the dvd’ this would be the hands down winner! The choreography is so freaking over the top that even though they’ve performed it so many times they’re always out of sync with each other which makes it look both shite and retarded. To go away from the concert I saw one of the original outfits in the Hello! Project Petit Museum and I have to say that the leather jacket isn’t half as skanky as I thought it was in real life. Such a pity they look like 80’s prostitutes in the PV…

22. Resonant Blue – Eri’s bat shit crazy dancing skills never fail to make me laugh during this song lol. I joined in as best I could with the dancing although I seemed to be the only one in my area shouting out Risa’s lines @_@ I’m the foreigner so it’s my god given right to be weird!

Encore

23. Rainbow Pink – Everyone in the audience cracked red glowsticks and started doing KO-HA-RU chants instead of EN-CO-RU which was great ^^ Turning around and seeing the whole place glowing red was a pretty amazing sight and I can only imagine how Koharu must’ve felt when she came out on stage. I love this song but never ever thought I’d get the privilege of seeing it live so needless to say I feel incredibly lucky to have experienced this ♥ After the song Koharu decided to give Sayumi her HUGE pink bow headband as a memento but made a such a hash up of getting it off of her head (hair pins yo) and even more of an issue putting it on to Sayumi’s that it was freaking hilarious to watch XD All this was going on directly in front of me which was awesome!

KO-HA-RU Chants *throat started to give up at this point*

Graduation Speeches (I’ll make a separate post for them)

24. Furusato – I didn’t have any real expectations or desires for Koharu’s graduation song but I will admit that I was surprised when she started singing Furusato. In my opinion she should’ve gone out with something cracky, something like ‘Sayonara, See You Again, Adios, Bye Bye, Cha Cha’ lololololol. I bet she wanted too but was DENIED!

25. SONGS – They all huddled up and did the “ikkima-SHOI” before this song which was absolutely awesome as fans never get to see that other than on the backstage dvds. The performance was high tension, more than likely because they were on a high after the sadness of the graduation speeches, but it didn’t beat Platinum 9 Disco version. I do enjoy the song though so it wasn’t like I was disappointed or anything.

Final MC – I don’t know what was being said by Risa so I won’t try and explain, but damn she was talking fast! Usual end of concert affair with them introducing themselves. Reina went on for a little bit about something or other then briefly realised this was the closing MC and not one of her corners yet carried on regardless lol. I was gutted that they didn’t do the “Minna…Oyasuminasai” like they did the night before so I might have to download that fan recording for that alone T_T

26. Love Machine – For Love Machine the audience changed from red glowsticks to white glowsticks which again was a pretty impressive sight to behold. I absolutely love the dance to Love Machine so was very happy to see this live and in my opinion it was a really good choice of song to end with as it left me on an awesome high ♥

* Koharu came back out on stage without her mic to thank all the fans ♥ It was at this point in time that it dawned on me that this was the end for her (with regards to Morning Musume) and I did start to well up slightly ;___; *

♥♥♥

Leaving the hall I was buzzing with excitement but at the same time I was on a real low T_T I went to the merchandise stand and bought some more goodies in the hope that that would perk me up a little, then went to wait for the others to make their way out before leaving. Upon exiting the venue we were greeted by a load of Wota lining the entrance who were collecting used glowsticks and cheering everyone that came out. This was a pretty surreal experience and I didn’t know how I was supposed to react to all the cheering so just bowed politely to them (was this the correct ‘procedure’?). When we got to the end of the line of people one Wota looked at me, pointed and bellowed “OH SAIKOU!” lol. At the time I actually had no idea what that word meant so didn’t know if I should be offended or not, but according to a load of people I should be extremely happy with that ^^ I just wish I could acquire the same type presence in Japan as gordo has but that isn’t going to happen soon as I can’t be there as much as I need too. I hope that I am getting some kind of reaction from the Japanese Wota though and fingers crossed that it’s good.