^yeah, that's highly likely
Thanks Ange. Yes, you could tell they put a lot of effort in translating the songs. The songs still flow nicely and the dance routines match the lyrics.
Part 2
04-07-09We arrived at out hotel at midnight. I was exhausted from the heat, emotions and the amount of walking. As a result it hardly got any sleep. In addition, I hadn’t been eating properly and was surviving on energy drinks. As a result, I was sick as hell the next morning. I had to get over it, because today was another AKB filled day and it was going to be the day with the most crowd.
We got into the expo surprisingly easy, even quicker then the first day. I spotted the Nihongogo crew just in front of us. We browsed through various stands and shops and we scored some free curry ramen, which was the tastiest thing I’ve eaten since we arrived in Paris. After eating my stomach settled down. Like yesterday, we noticed the MASSIVE line for Clamp. I’m not into manga/anime at all, but it was nice to see how the variety of the Expo worked out. Some groups had no idea who AKB48 are and other groups did not know what Clamp and Glenat are. In addition, there is also a group of hardcore gamers who spend the entire day playing Tomb Raider on PS1, haha, seems like a waste of time.
We went to the info shop to gather some info on AKB48’s signing session. I bumped into DarkScorpion, Happosai and Ani_Max from Nihongogo and they filled me in. I decided to spend more time at the expo and the various concerts and did not bother trying to get in the signing session. I did pick up Himawari 2nd stage at the JE Live shop!
Next event was the AKB48 conference! I was nice and early and sat down. As soon as I sat down an announcement was made: “here they are!” I was like, wow that’s fast. “The stars from Battlestar Gallactica!” D’OH! Haha. Seriously, there were more guys here than at the AKB48 concert, haha. Anyway, we sat through it and hoped to get to the front when it ended. It went ok, we managed to sit in the center of the 2nd row! Now it was waiting to see who would be there. I was worried because they only put like four bottles of water on the desk. But! I was lucky! Many favorites showed up. Sayaka, Nonti, Matsui, Miichan, Sasshi and Kitarie ! Quite a line-up.
I tried to make eye contact with some of the girls. I didn’t really work out with Sayaka and Nonti, but I got some smiles and a wave from Matsui <3! I was blushing my ass of. Sasshi got all exited every time some said ‘hajimemashite,’ that was cute. If you’ve seen the first AKBingo episode of 2009, you may remember Nonti having and ‘on mode’ and ‘off mode’. She was in ‘off mode’ for quite a while, haha:
The idea was that you could raise your hand if you wanted to ask a question. The girls would pick someone and a translator would help is needed. However! No English! DarkScorpion was the first to ask a question, but his mic didn’t work. He ran over to the staff to explain his question:
Halfway through I gathered up enough courage to raise my hand, but I didn’t get picked. No problem. I got some attention from Matsui, I was in heaven haha. The final question: “Why did you sing in English in French, we wanted to hear the songs in Japanese!”. Kitarie said something like “What a horrible question, we tried so hard” and the guy who asked the question got booed, haha. But everything had a nice atmosphere.
That was that. Bye bye for now!
Up next was the most tricky part of the day. Puffy AmiYumi was scheduled before AKB48. Our plan was to be as close to the front as possible at the Puffy show, so we could make our was to the front for AKB48. So we headed to the live house where there was a small line already. We sat down and, just like yesterday. The AKB members walked by. This time my friend was ready with his camera. I yelled KUUMIN!!! With success!
We were standing 8th row for Puffy. I got their latest album so I knew a couple of their songs. Of course, I’d seen them in shows like downtown and stuff, so I was exited to see them. They performed with a live band, with an excellent lead guitarist. He was great to watch, very energetic and made a connection with the crowd. Puffy’s MC started. They started out in French, but very soon they gave up and went like “You guys like Japan right, so it’s ok if we talk in Japanese?” The crowd said ok and they went on with a very sloppy MC. They didn’t know what to say or who was going to speak. A couple thing about the Puffy show; they can sing very well, they sound good together. Their songs lack variety, it was cool to hear them, but the concert was long enough. Finally, it seems like Ami and Puffi hate each other haha. They are like two front women who fight for attention. I don’t think they even looked at each other once. Well, whatever, the concert was cool and it was time for AKB48’s 2nd concert!
We managed to get to the FRONT ROW! YES! Our plan had worked perfectly... or didn’t it? We saw quite a few people leaving and we got nervous. 10 second later, security popped up telling us to clear the concert hall. WHAT!!! NO FUCKING WAY!! There were some other pissed people, but there was no choice. We had to leave the area. Of course, there was a MASSIVE line of AKB48 fans already at the entrance of the hall. No!!!
We had to come up with some sort of scheme. If we had to go to the back of the line we were doomed, no chance of a good place for the concert. We lurked around the exit area of the live house for a while to come up with a plan. Let me explain the situation: From the expo to the live house there was a passage, which was divided into three parts: exit (we), press (some people), entrance (completely packed, well into the expo hall). After a while I decided I was not there to make friends (except S48 / Nihongogo members) and that we were going to be rude in the true French way. No offense, there were some nice Frenchies and the expo crew was friendly and helpful, but we honestly encountered a LOT of rude French people. This was the plan: we would sneak into the press line and sit down, as to not be spotted by the security and crew. We slowly made our way forward through the press line and sat down next to the entrance line. We waited for the right moment and cut in line! We got some angry faces, but no one made a big deal out of it. The doors opened and we ran like hell. The crew tried to stop us and said no running. Yeah right, haha. We managed to get like 7th row, which really as the best we could do considering the situation. Besides, I think we were the only people in the Expo who got to see Puffy AND AKB48 from a close distance. I was happy everything worked out.
No AKB48 concert review this time, it was pretty much the same as the first time. Nonti introduced herself as Carla Bruni (France’s First Lady) and got MASSIVE boos, haha. The other members were surprised at the amount of booing and Nonti said (in English) “I am so sorry”, haha. Another amazing performance. During Sakura no Hanabiratachi I got tears in my eyes.
No matter what happened, my day was a massive success being able to see Puffy, AKB48’s show and being up close during the press conference. We went to the are for the second signing session where we met up with Kaito and Kyoby again who looked horribly depressed, They had some train problems and missed everything they wanted to see (MEG, Kanon, not so good place at AKB48’s 2nd show). I felt bad for them. The girls for the second session were: Matsui, Nonti, Kasai. Sasshi, Moeno, Kitarie and Sayaka. Happosai and Ani_Max were first in line, lucky bastards haha. Many interesting stuff happened here. Kaito yelled at his oshimen, Nonti and she smiled and waved at al of us. We were standing to the left of them. I managed to get some waved and smiles from Matsui again <3. This is where I met Blu-Cherri properly for the first time
she called out for Sayaka, but she was way on the other side. DarkScorpion was facing the front of the stage and he interacted with Sasshi, she did a part of her ‘wota dance’ as seen in AKBingo. Sasshi really shines in a off-stage environment. Afterward all various forum members met up and talked for a bit. Actually, behind us we could see Puffy again, which was nice. They are much prettier in real life as well.
Anyway, I said goodbye and had one last look at the expo. This guy sums up a lot of the crowd, cosplaying, bunny ears and playing DDR as if his life depended on it.
On our way back we met the guys behind Resident Evil: the Darkside Chronicles. Funny how they are neat, tidy ad friendly and make games about gore and zombies, haha.
This is it as far as the Expo’s concerned. Hope you liked my little review, feel free to ask any questions you might have. I will write a little review on each of the girls and the impression they gave me. Some girls were quite different from what I expected!
Topic: [Event] JPH!P X AKB48 @ Paris Japan Expo 2009 (Read 60507 times)