Just got back. Two nights on the bus in a row is a bitch x___x *dead* There were some other foreigners there! *waves* They said they were from another forum, so I ended up spending most of the day with them, which was nice. As a group, the wota generally seemed less afraid to approach us, so we talked to quite a few. And again, the number of girls was higher than other H!P concerts. I did a count as usual, I lost count after a while. Nice to see a healthy number of kids too. Anyway, a breakdown of the concert:
01. That's the Power
I was iffy on them starting with this one, but it turned out really well. The outfits were very tropical and kind of Iroppoi (we've seen the live pictures of these) and they worked really well with the song. Kanna has cut her hair shorter again (kind of above her shoulders) and she gets a lot of spotlight with this song. Hell all of the girls looked absolutely amazing. Saki and Airi both had different hairstyles finally, and especially Airi looked beautiful. Her hair was pulled back and very curly/frizzy, not a look she's had before. With her bangs gone, it really highlighted those evil, evil eyes of hers :p
02. Ooki na Ai de Motenashite
Same old, always a concert winner. I noticed Maimi's started singing in a different key for a lot of this song, she imitates Airi and actually does it quite well. The music also sounded a little different, especially the beginning felt way more up-tempo.
-- MC --
Girl's introductions. Same old.
03. Soku Dakishimete
Another solid concert winner, same as usual. Nothing terribly special stands out about this time.
04. Time Capsule
Basically exactly the same as the last concert, with the girls sitting on the steps again. Starting to lose its charm for me now.
-- MC [Gesture game] / Umeda, Yajima, Nakajima, Arihara --
They've been doing different gestures for each one. This time we got to see Kanna doing things from school, and Maimi doing animals, while Saki had to guess. Kanna got the harder subject, so she sucked terribly and Maimi won.
05. Bokura no Kagayaki / Umeda, Okai, Arihara
Erika with the two shorties was great, haha. I'm not a huge fan of this song, and the dance was... well what dance? Kinda boring too.
06. Natsu DOKI Lipstick / Yajima
Outfit change for Maimi, she was the only one who got one (not even Airi). Maimi is definitely being pushed as a sex symbol now, it was evident throughout the whole concert. The dance for this was nothing special either, until she hit her two dance solos. Especially the second one, it's nuts. At one point, she even kinda humped the floor O.o This was by far one of the better performances of the whole concert, but she was really out of breath by the end. I would watch the whole concert again just to see this performance, she's amazing.
-- MC / Suzuki, Okai, Hagiwara --
Cutie Gals have lost their charm, what with only one of them still being in elementary school now. Airi and Chisato went on and on about the troubles of Junior High, and they spoke a little English. Especially Airi was showing them the difference in how to pronounce words. The examples we heard were "listen" (which she pronounced perfectly) and "morning" (which sounded terrible from both girls, haha). And then Mai pretending to be confused because the girls have moved on without her and are studying things she doesn't know. They promised to go on "forever", at which point Mai asked them what "forever" means :p
07. Wakkyanai (Z)
Outfit change. White, almost cheerleader-ish outfits with skirts that spun up whenever the girls even breathed. Which was great with the tapdancing, which, by the way, was amazing. These girls always do something a little different that, for me, sets them apart. They were all really good! A nice way to shake up the song too, which was getting kinda boring.
08. Shiroi Tokyo
Mai sang a lot of this song O.o The dance was also slightly changed, but it was great to hear this song again, especially so recently after Otome Gokoro. They highlighted some of the less popular girls with this song, Maimi and Airi didn't really sing that much.
09. As One
Same old, great dance. I love this one.
-- VTR --
The girls eating sushi for five minutes. That's it. Can you dig it? God, boring. Some parts were amusing. Maimi ate about half the restaurant, but otherwise... well how much do you like to watch girls eat? That'll tell you how much you'll enjoy this.
10. EVERYDAY YEAH! Kataomoi
Same old. I believe there was a costume change here, to a blue polka dot outfit.
11. Endless Love ~I love you, more~
Same old again.
12. Disco Queen / Nakajima, Hagiwara
I feel these two are the two weakest singers in the group, but they nailed this song, it was one of the better performances of the night as well. The dance is kinda silly, but these kids are tiny, I wasn't expecting very much. I felt this was the first time that Saki really grabbed the crowd by herself. Usually she's just there and does her thing in her little corner, but she was the main part of this song and she grabbed the audience and she held them. She's a great little performer.
13. Tsuugaku Vector / Suzuki
There was no dance O.o They put a mic out, Airi sang into it and clapped occasionally. This song was just all about the audience clapping. Once or twice Airi ran her hands up the mic stand O.o but that was it. Sad, but her voice is amazing. Way better than her last solo, which was boring.
-- MC --
I don't even remember what this was.
14. Sakura Chirari
Same old. The flower dance move in the middle is back, thank god.
15. Massara Blue Jeans
Pretty much exactly the same as the last concert, right down to the "kochi!" part. I never really noticed that only Maimi and Airi sing the chorus of this song.
16. JUMP
Poor girls, having to sing this at the end of the night. Great as usual.
-- ENCORE --
KYUUTO! KYUUTO! Haha.
17. YES! Shiawase
I hate this song, so I'm sad they ended with it. But what can you do? It's happy and upbeat. I think I saw Saki almost crying at one point, which was a little strange. These kids get way too emotional.
All in all, I think this concert was better than their first one. But definitely Maimi was a stand out this time. Erika was kind of.... just there in the background. Even when she was dancing, I felt there wasn't much energy in her this time around. I honestly barely noticed she was even there. Don't know what was up with her, if she wasn't feeling well or something, but she was almost invisible. Kanna, Chisato and Saki also got a bigger push, which was nice. But it was definitely Maimi and Airi's concert.