JPHiP Forum
The PIEHOLE => H!P News and Releases => Topic started by: J-Triumf on July 08, 2013, 10:00:05 AM
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New convention debuting this year, from the people who run the Paris show:
http://japan-expo.org (http://japan-expo.org)
And look who's listed as one of their first guests!
(http://i.imgur.com/9CxxTqQl.jpg)
First Reina, now Kikka too coming to the Bay Area!!!! :panic: :w00t:
M. Bison "Yes Yes!" Widescreen HD reupload (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ALwKeSEYs#ws)
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You lucky bastage!!!! AWE YEAH XD
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LETS DO THIS.
(http://i.imgur.com/vbtool.jpg)
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KIKKA'S TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO THE US, AW YEAH. :jphip: Have fun, guys!
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A bit of an update that looks both kinda grim and still hopeful...
The Japan Expo website still hasn't officially announced Kikka yet, despite the convention being now less than a month away. We inquired about her at JE's booth at J-Pop Summit, where the fans they were giving away mysteriously excluded her name this time. The booth guy couldn't give us a definitive answer other than to "stay hopeful". On the other hand, the posters lining the booth still featured Kikka as the last of their main guests.
I guess we'll find out the truth soon, but this is cutting things pretty close and could prove to be a headache to anyone who has already registered. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
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GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE! KIKKA HAS FINALLY BEEN CONFIRMED FOR JAPAN EXPO!
and you totally read this in Farnsworth's voice
http://www.japan-expo.org/nws-1380-en-you_kikkawa_at_japan_expo.html (http://www.japan-expo.org/nws-1380-en-you_kikkawa_at_japan_expo.html)
She's listed as a special guest and "official reporter"...I wonder how that's gonna work...
吉川友 第1回Japan Expo USAのSPECIAL GUEST & OFFICIAL REPORTERに決定!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm1KEjhoPIc#ws)
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I guess I'll be reporting on that official reporter, then.
How meta!
LETS DO THIS
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AWWWW YEAH LET'S FUCKING DO THIS. :jphip:
Now I just need to decide if I want to splurge on Sac-anime. :panic:
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Schedule is up! She's got shows on Friday and Sunday, and autograph sessions all three days!
https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-you-kikkawa-all-her-schedule-during-japan-expo-usa/558313714227550 (https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-you-kikkawa-all-her-schedule-during-japan-expo-usa/558313714227550)
August 23rd (Friday)
3:00～3:45
Live
Place：Main Stage
4:15～5:15
Sign Session
Place：Signing room #3
August 24th (Saturday)
11:45～12:30
Panel
Place：Hall Stage
1:45～2:45
Sign Session
Place：Signing room #3
August 25th (Sunday)
11:00～12:00
Sign Session
Place：Signing room #3
5:00～5:45
Live
Place：Main Stage
During Japan Expo USA, Kikka will be the official reporter so you can expect her to cover several events. Then you can check all the coverage on the official facebook page of Japan Expo USA.
LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY NOW! And I finally registered only today. :P So besides me, Slack, and Rayle, who else is going? kitaoji? Dracil? Any other local lurkers? Time to get hyphy for this!
Also, it seems the convention closes at 7 each day...anyone wanna make plans for post-show meals or karaoke? I'm kinda familiar with the area (used to hang out a lot down there) but it's been years since I've really done anything out there besides shopping at Fry's. :nervous
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I'm really on the fence about Friday - the earliest I can leave work is 2pm and it's about a 20 minute train ride to Daly City BART...
That said, if rides can be arranged, Saturday and Sunday will happen! I haven't registered yet, but if we can work something out (I can meet you at Castro Valley or one of the South City BARTs) then I'm in!
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I'll be going if I can get press - otherwise I'm still unemployed and broke as a joke, yo.
But that area is more my stomping grounds (San Jose moreso, but I can find my way around SC) and for karaoke/meals...depends on what you want. SJ Japantown is pretty nice and has really good food, but it's a bit of a drive/lightrail ride away. Gamba Karaoke in SJ is pretty much the best karaoke box in the south bay, but it too is pretty far from the convention itself. What's around there...there's a Bennigans close by, a strip mall with a movie theater and some decent places (never tried the sushi place there myself when I worked in that area, but I've heard good things), and great america too.
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^ I was just telling Slack recently about the Mercado where the In-N-Out is, but yeah, even that place might require driving despite looking close by. Everything's fairly spread out over there...Great Mall, SJ Japantown, Mitsuwa, etc.
I'm really on the fence about Friday - the earliest I can leave work is 2pm and it's about a 20 minute train ride to Daly City BART...
That said, if rides can be arranged, Saturday and Sunday will happen! I haven't registered yet, but if we can work something out (I can meet you at Castro Valley or one of the South City BARTs) then I'm in!
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I live right by the SSF BART, so I can pick you up there (or anywhere along that part of 280, really, since we're kinda in the same area) if you want. I'm gonna be driving down to the convention and back for all three days, 45-minute travel times be damned. :P
Now I gotta see if I can get Friday off; I was originally gonna work that day since I'm always done by 11:30, but that might be cutting things close now that I think about it. I might as well show up as soon as possible.
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Psh, you urbanites. 45 minutes isn't a long drive. :P I'm used to 25+min minimum drives to get out of neighborhood space, much less reach my destination. Then again, I'm also used to $2-3 gas prices. :lol: :nervous
Nonetheless, I am willing to drive people out to places to hangout afterwards. I can seat 3-4 people besides myself in my car.
Amazingly, the panel lineups for both Japan Expo and Sac-Anime kind of pale in comparison to AOD. (Much less Fanime. Damn, Fanime's panel lineup was boss. Now I'm sad I missed it.) There's just a general lack of fandom panels. Kind of sad, but I guess Japan Expo is more like the Jpop Summit than a purely fan-built convention.
Despite the allure of the Sinclair/Sinterklaas panel, there's not enough overall action in the morning worth taking a full day off. I'll go for a half day on Friday. (Not touching that autograph line, so I should be fine.) That is, unless Press requires something done in the morning. Really, potential extraneous Press work is the only thing making me hesitate on scheduling anything. That is, assuming I get Press. :nervous
I'm doing a Crayon Pop cosplay on Day 1, (WHEEE TROLLING) a BONA-FIDE BOY!GEKIKARA WITH THE JACKET AND EVERYTHING cosplay on Day 2, and trying to decide if I want to do a Firefly cosplay on Day 3, or not cosplay at all, since there'll be the J*Deez live and panel. Might be better to just dress stylish, there. (Hell, I'll probably just do the similar get-up as the one I did for Union Square.) Help me decide, people.
Aaaand I get to pick which two I want to reprise the next weekend at Sac-Anime. :panic: (Gekikara is definitely happening again, so I gotta pick one of the other two, since I'm not doing Friday for that con.)
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Whatever you choose, we are going to redo the Sunglasses Brigade for the concert on Sunday. :P I'm really not going to attempt Friday - too much chaos in the office.
Santa Clara is at least 20 degrees warmer than the City, so maybe I'll swap out the Maachan birthday t-shirt for the Riho birthday t-shirt and see what happens.
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Yeah, but don't forget it's indoors this time around, so there might be A/C coldness.
Aw yeah. 8)2 INDOORS SUNGLASSES BRIGADE. WATCH OUT, WE MIGHT HAVE TO TURN UP OUR COLLARS. XD
I also noticed that there's an wotagei panel on Saturday. They're going to teach the Romantic Ukare Mode wotagei for Sunday, aren't they? :P
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I've actually been talking to the people running that panel. It's supposed to be a Dempagumi.inc fan panel and they have no idea why JX changed the name, and they've requested it be moved to Friday 10AM for obvious reasons (the current time conflicts with Dempagumi.inc's final concert which means the hosts would probably be in line instead lol). They also plan on handing out call books for them.
Because I've spent months practicing and memorizing calls (basically as soon as they were announced), Dempagumi.inc is my #1 priority at Japan Expo (there's a conflict with their autograph session and You Kikkawa's Friday concert), but I will be attending You Kikkawa's Sunday concert so maybe I'll see you guys around. :) I'll probably be with my fairly sizable group of friends too, and I think a lot of us really want to see her Romantic Ukare Mode too. :P
If anyone wants to mess around and do some wotagei after JX closes down each day I'd be down for it too. *pokes Rayle*
Also, I saw on another forum that someone will be bringing these:
(http://i.imgur.com/ee9t1Iql.jpg)
I'll be bringing these (http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2715/t3an.jpg), though I'll only be using what's in the bag (which can be used to identify me and some of my friends). The stuff on the left is for lending out to people around us at the concerts.
(http://)
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KIKKA'S HERE! :w00t:
(http://picroda.jphip.com/hp/jphip31418.jpg)
https://twitter.com/UpFrontLink/status/370641712755916800 (https://twitter.com/UpFrontLink/status/370641712755916800)
Interesting that she flew into the San Jose airport; I would've expected SFO since it's bigger, but then again San Jose does make more sense since it's like a 10 minute drive to the convention center. :lol:
No press passes, unfortunately, but I still plan on having a good time with everyone! Who else is ready?
We need to teach her some Bay Area English... 8)
Rafael Casal - Bay Area Slang Top 100 (The Grinch song) @rafaelcasal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq0ZDnshYkU#)
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So I'm doing a half day tomorrow, and full days on Saturday and Sunday.
My plan is to bring my own lunch on all three days, leaving dinner open to eat out, so let's talk about the nights after the con closes. I am totally up for driving people to the San Jose Night Market on Saturday and the San Jose Japantown on Sunday. I have maps and shit printed out and everything. Again, I have room for 3-4 people besides myself in my car.
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This is the first time I'm learning about this Night Market and its status as "the official JX afterparty" (http://nightmrkt.com/2013/08/19/night-market-is-the-official-japan-expo-after-party/). :lol: I was considering checking out the karaoke place Tris suggested that night, but I guess we can discuss things further once we meet up; I can be another potential driver, able to fit four passengers as well.
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^ I'll call you in the morning :) And yes to the karaoke.
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Arrived in Santa Clara this evening and checked in, watched some TV and headed out for dinner at the famous Orenchi Ramen restaurant.
Just as we were heading out, we saw Kikka in the lobby! We waved hi to her and she waved back. :heart:
Dinner was excellent. Possibly the best ramen I've ever had in the US.
About to go to bed soon so we can line up in the premium ticket line and get in early.
I sincerely hope the autographs aren't as ridiculously strict as their policy says.
The "one autograph per guest per artist for the entire convention" rule on their site is bullshit.
I can understand how it would be necessary at a 200k attendance con like they have in France, but this one is going to be nowhere near that big.
What's the point of this if the autograph sessions are scheduled to be an hour long each?
If they stick to this, they'll have guests sitting around for half an hour doing nothing.
Ridiculous.
And yes, due to factors I don't want to talk about, we have no press passes this time.
Good news is that at least 1000say have still agreed to do an interview with us!
Look forward to that later!
In any case, I'll be around all weekend, so let's get together and do something!
J-tri and Tris have my contact info, so let's represent JPHiP!
Karaoke sounds like an awesome idea! Let's do it!
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Kikka is really cute, very sweet girl. The interview will be up later to get the full story on what she said and how she was - but very sweet is a good descriptor. And pretty as hell.
As for the other people we met...well, you'll have to wait to find out! (They were SERIOUSLY awesome though. For real. So awesome.)
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Just when I thought my lack of sleep was gonna ruin my ability to fully enjoy things, I managed to wake up just in time for a great finale to quite an interesting weekend!
I'll be posting a more in-depth recap eventually...if I can remember everything from the first two days properly. In the meantime I really need to catch up on rest! :imdead:
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Here's a video of Kikka doing wotagei to Ally and Sally's cover of Dempagumi.inc's Mirin's solo single Remocon Disco. It's like all the best parts of my experience at JX all rolled into one. Also, good to see you Rayle. I saw another guy with a jphip shirt as we were leaving the con on the last day, but I don't really recognize anyone else but Rayle.
http://ojou-sammy.tumblr.com/post/59326681586/kikkawa-you-doing-wotagei-at-the-japan-expo-usa (http://ojou-sammy.tumblr.com/post/59326681586/kikkawa-you-doing-wotagei-at-the-japan-expo-usa)
Edit: Forgot this pic too
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BSjDkgVCEAAR3sq.jpg)
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^
http://youtu.be/qKCWOItxWiQ (http://youtu.be/qKCWOItxWiQ)
My brain is just buzz-fucked right now. But I will have my recap up at some point.
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Hi~ boinsie from JPlop here. It was great meeting you h!ppers and getting to hang out and share in the Kikka glow. ^^ The whole convention experience was honestly better than I could have possibly hoped for it to be. I can't wait for next (?!) time (!!!?!?!!!). :twothumbs
(I won't steal any of the regular users' thunder by posting my experiences here before they get a chance to recoup, but if you want to make the trek I've rambled a bit about stuff over at Jplop (http://www.jplop.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6038&start=180#p120027)... ^^;;; )
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We've gotten several interviews that Tris-chan and I are going over and writing up for the JPHiP.com front page.
There's tons of pictures to go through and post, as well as videos that need to be edited and uploaded.
edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that on Saturday our press passes finally came through! Woohoo!
Right now it's late and I've had far too little sleep in the last few days.
And there's still sooooo much to write. :banghead:
But yeah, in the coming days we should be posting our interviews and articles about Japan Expo USA.
There's also going to be a giveaway of some Kikka stuff! ...once everything else is in order, anyway.
If you were there and would like to contribute, just PM me or better yet email me at slack@jphip.net .
(Or if you're Rayle, just submit directly to the site)
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Slowly gathering my thoughts for my recap, but for now, know this:
The best guest at the entire con wasn't Kikka, Dempagumi, or even Sadamoto.
It was motherfucking Gamushara Ouendan.
吉川友ちゃんJAPAN EXPO USAで応援して貰った～☆ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jo9fjtnksw#ws)
吉川友ちゃん伊達政宗の兜をかぶって日本を応援してみた！ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axhdH-ovl2M#ws)
SPOT THE MEMBERS:
JAPAN EXPO USA2013 吉川友ちゃん物販ブース (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lkqq0SgYjU#ws)
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Damn, can you believe it's been a week already???
I understand some of y'all are still recovering, so I'm not surprised at the lack of recaps. As for me, I've been reluctant to post for two reasons:
1. My memory's still a bit fuzzy regarding the first two days due to the lack of sleep I had during that time, and I haven't gotten around yet to retracing my steps via the schedule.
2. I honestly feel a bit guilty about not being able to put my all into doing everything I could've done to fully enjoy the weekend (not interacting with Kikka more, passing on buying a shirt, etc.), again owing to the aforementioned lack of sleep back then.
But don't get the wrong idea, though. I still had a great time meeting up with everyone and bonding over Kikka, and above all else I still got to see her live and up close multiple times, snagging some autographs (seriously, Rayle, thank you for convincing me to go for a third autograph, even though I still feel a bit guilty for taking credit for your origami work :nervous) and a two-shot along the way as well as enjoying two awesome performances from her. Hell, I was even the first one Philippe approached for post-concert commentary on Sunday! All of that are more than most can say and helps make up for me not being able to go to Atlanta last year.
And really, all things considered, I'm glad I was able to salvage that weekend via that Sunday show. Kikka's English MC segments, the singles medley, and the Momusu/H!P covers were so much fun to keep up with--I just love how hyped up we all got once "Romantic Ukare Mode" came on.
As for the rest of the convention, it was still interesting enough that it wasn't a one-act experience for me. Gamushara Ouendan were definitely memorable. Despite the weirdness caused by their ages, J*Deez were cute and really good with their dances...and I swear if I hadn't known better I would've thought they were from here in the Bay Area rather than Japan. Even though they were difficult to keep up with, Dempagumi was interesting to see in action, though for a non-fan like me the fact that they opened with "Sabotage" is akin to the Eagles opening a concert with "Hotel California" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VApKbScpMuY&t=6m). :P
And despite all the ups and downs regarding press passes and the confusion regarding autograph ticketing, the only real complaint I have with the convention is how the premium passes were handled. Honestly they felt a little overpriced and the non-removable non-replaceable wristband system was just stupid. But I guess I'm fine with paying that much if it means supporting JX for its first year to help ensure that it sticks around in the future.
Maybe I'll post a more detailed recap later...or just wait for others' recaps and just build off of those. :lol: But yeah, JX was good, and hanging out with fellow H!P fans again was even better. I hope we can do it again sometime...especially you locals, we should keep in touch for any possible future get-togethers, whether idol-related or otherwise.
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I'll do a minor recap without touching on the subject of the actual interviews - those are coming, I promise!
Saturday: Met up with Slack to grab press passes, then went to see Kikka doing two-shots at her booth upon purchase of a thing. I got a One for YOU CD and posed (awkwardly) with her. I wasn't thinking straight so I just did v-signs instead of the jphip sign :( She recognized Slack though, and he confirmed that he and I were friends. We also talked a little bit to Yaz about our press pass troubles from earlier in the week - Yaz has SERIOUSLY mellowed since I saw her at AX '09 and Berryz in Seattle (when was that, '10? '11? I can't even remember.) She was really nice and I bumped into her a few times over the weekend.
Anyway once the Kikka goods line was over, we all got in for a picture with her. She told us to say "Kikkake wa...YOU!" with her, but I don't think we did it very loudly because she tried to teach us what to say a second time. Then she went back behind the curtain for the signing!
I got lucky in that after her line was done, they let people in who didn't have a ticket. So I got my CD signed. Also, I didn't say it before, but Kikka is seriously gorgeous. Like so pretty it's hard to look at her. So she said thank you, and I said I loved her music, and she said thanks again. Then Rayle noticed that J*Dee'Z's line was empty so I went over there to get autographs from them. I felt (and still feel, kinda) weird about how young they are, but they were REALLY cute. I asked about their dancing with Aigasa Moe (who is in AKB48 Team 4 now...I know I know, I can be dual fandom people! It's allowed!) and shook hands with each girl as I went by. Ami noticed my nails, which I did special for the con :wub: So My weird feeling went away nearly instantly because anyone who loves my nail art is automatically the best.
After autographs we had some time before the interviews, so we went to in-n-out, because it's the best. Then when we got back I realized that double onions on my burger makes for not good interview breath, so Slack was kind enough to give me an (unused) toothbrush. Thanks Slack!
Then we interviewed Kikka, took some pictures. She, as I said, is really sweet and SO goddamn pretty. Interview to come :)
After THAT we wanted to see if we could interview anybody else...I wanted to interview J*Dee'Z in particular because so cute and also nail art lovers :wub: What can I say, I'm easily won over. We were lucky enough to get one with them! And they were ADORABLE. Seriously adorbs. They were very nervous, very sweet, and laughed a lot. And after the interview and pictures, they showed me their own nails and continued to exclaim over mine. Did I mention the best? Because they're the best....well, second best. The best was right after.
Sarah (our fabulous liason between the talent and press) got us a last minute interview with...GAMUSHARA OUENDAN!!! THESE guys are the best. Hilarious, super high energy, and they remembered our names for the rest of the weekend. I cannot WAIT to post up that interview, it's seriously the best one I've ever done. Better than Momusu by far (and that's saying a thing!) You guys will love it, for real.
Then I went home because tired! So tired! And other people went out. And I'll post about Sunday later.
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Kikka interview is up!
Details on the giveaway TBA.
http://jphip.com/jphip-interview-kikkawa-you-japan-expo-usa/ (http://jphip.com/jphip-interview-kikkawa-you-japan-expo-usa/)
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ORSM! Seems like she's still as lovely as ever. :lol: Almost consider her a part of the family now, haha
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So let's talk about Sunday, which was madness day! At least for me. Got to the con late (thanks flat tire!) and missed out on Kikka signing and two-shots :( Stupid car.
Then we went upstairs to find out our 1000say interview had been pushed back to 4:45! 15 MINUTES BEFORE THE KIKKA CONCERT! Noooo! So we spoke to Sarah and she said she would try to gt it moved up for us. We sat around for a little bit, discussing whether we should try to get any other interviews. Then Kikka walked out to go downstairs while wearing a signboard. That was our cue to leave. When we went downstairs we saw her rush off towards the main stage area, and J*Dee'Z followed after shortly. I stopped them to show them my new nails (cause I did 'em the night before. Hey man, if nail art is what gets you in good with the talent, you do nail art :lol:)
Then we went to lunch at a wraps place I used to go to when I worked in the area. Memories~
When we got back it was a bit of a whirlwind: Slack went upstairs to network while the rest of us saw the J*Dee'Z concert. It was SO good! They're a little rough, and don't how how to talk to the audience between songs, but the singing is good and the dancing is amazing. Also because they recognized me I got tons of smiles, pointing, waving, etc. And Ami, who seemed really nervous in the beginning, smiled and waved at me and seemed okay for the rest of the show. I felt like a proud big sister :wub:
After that I picked up some gifts for the idol talent from my friend Jenny's shop, Sugar Clay Cafe (sugarclaycafe.com (http://sugarclaycafe.com) - she also did gifts for Berryz, so if you want to have something from the same place Berryz/Kikka/J*Dee'Z does...) and ran upstairs to give them to J*Dee'Z and Kikka before our interview. Kikka we only got to give it to her from afar (it seemed like she was coming over to thank us but her manager then called her away) but J*Dee'Z got them in person and seemed super grateful! They wore the rings in some photos with Kikka too, so yay advertising lol.
After that was our interview with 1000say! Interview footage to come, but I will say that API and NON were adorable (and API had awesome nails. I'm obsessed with nails, I know), MAN was very thoughtful with his answers, and MICHELLE was off in space somewhere.
After THAT...it was time for Kikka's concert! Others will have better write-ups than me, but I will say she was very cute, sang really well, and was very discrete with people needing to turn up the mic :lol: She sang all of her hits and some album only/b-sides too. I admit I'm now TOTALLY enamored with Zutto Zutto Zutto Suki Da - it was my favorite by far. She also really went all out in Sweetie, which was pretty cool to see. She said a lot in english which was really cool, and whenever she had trouble she asked a member in the audience to translate for her (which was probably the highlight of the concert, for them AND us!) It was really cute. At the end we called for an encore and she came out and did a repeat performance of Kikkake wa YOU! for us.
Then, after many hugs and awesome things, I went home.
All in all I'd say it was a successful weekend, especially considering how last-minute the press passes were. The media staff were nothing short of amazing, the talent and their managers were really cool, and I got to go home with some awesome swag. I would absolutely recommend buying something from EACH of the artists that attended JX, because in meeting them and seeing them perform we were able to see how hard they work - they deserve the support!
Big thanks to J-Triumf, Rayle, and people whose forum names I don't know (you know who you are!) for hanging out this weekend, spazzing over idols, and making the whole experience at least 100x more fun than it would've been otherwise. Special thanks to Slack for making sure we got our press passes and being an awesome interview partner for not one, but two events so far! And to our photographer (whose forum name I don't know and I don't want to give his real one just in case...) for putting off other events to hang with us and make sure our pictures were awesome. You guys are the best.
Can't wait for our next event! Otakon vegas, anyone...?
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I'm doing my super detailed recap as articles for the front page. I already submitted my first post, but it's not showing up. is there anything I need to get it reviewed and published?
Also, I completely exacerbated my sickness by doing Sac-Anime anyways and currently feel like the worst. Oddly enough, that means I'll probably get out the next posts sooner. :lol:
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No recap yet, just felt like sharing my favorite cosplay from the convention. They even had a soundtrack going on! :rockon:
Initial D cosplay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7SYjil67Ko#)