AKB Quest III: Ms. Minegishi Goes To Washington

At this point it’s starting to become kind of a routine for me.

Stock up on glowsticks (green for Team K; yellow for Team 4) and stuff ‘em in the bag.

Come up with some homemade signage that will obnoxiously grab the attention of the celebrities in question (as well as passers-by).

Pack an absolute minimum of clothing and necessities in order to travel as light as possible. This was, quite literally, a one-night trip, so all I needed was a change of clothes in a backpack.

Then stay up all night and leave the house at 4 a.m. so I could catch the first flight to Baltimore, a nonstop trip that would land me there in the middle of the afternoon.

The promo poster for the show.

SMTown NYC Day 1: Into the New World

ARE. YOU. READY?!! AY ... KAY ... BEE ...... oh wait

It should have been no surprise that Koreaboos on the East Coast are pretty much like Koreaboos on the West Coast, except with a better public transit system. With enough transfers and rail tickets, I could pretty much take the trains and subways from Newark, NJ (cheap place to stay) all the way to JFK International Airport just to greet GIRLS’ GENERATION.

This also meant making an appropriate fan sign:

BAAAHAHAHA JUST KIDDING

That’s more like it.

Outtakes From Seattle: The Lost Berryz Tapes

In my digital life, there are 3 files I keep triple backed-up at all times: (1) video footage of my AKB48 interview in New York, (2) video footage of my AKB48 interview in Los Angeles, (3) the audio recording of my Berryz Kobo interview in Seattle. A couple of the AKB video clips can found on my n00bTube channel. But here, for the first time ever, is what number (3) sounds like.

The City of Dreams.

Momo Is Still missing_maiha

It’s been just two months since I penned the legendary Berryz Kobo interview, the ultimate idol love letter and pinnacle of my life’s work as a stupid ass wota. And while I rarely second-guess myself as a writer—therein lies the path of self-doubt and madness—there is at least one thing I would have done differently.

Why did I make the Maiha paragraph so depressing?! D:<

You have to understand why I did this. I owed it to myself, as well as all the olsk00l fans (i.e. whoever was an actual fan of BK when she graduated, and therefore can legitimately miss her), to find out What The Hell Ever Happened To Maiha Ishimura. It was one of the great unanswered questions of the fandom, because the Japanese entertainment magazines are too shallow to ask it, and the other interviewers in Seattle probably didn't know about it. So I had to ask.

The answer isn't what anyone would have wanted to hear, of course. Losing ties with old friends/co-workers just happens sometimes, and it's not something you can easily paint in a positive light. But what I did wrong with the interview piece, in my rashness, was to cut out What Momoko Said Afterward.

Silently Judging Other Wota

Some lingering thoughts on Seattle …

People people people WHOA WHOA WHOA.

Idol-chasing at conventions invariably means interacting with other fans. Some of them are nice. Some of them are … less nice. I have already openly expressed my disapprove_face.jpg about the ones who felt entitled to BOTH Berryz autograph sessions, even enlisting a relative/friend//homeless-guy-hanging-out-by-convention-center to stand in line for a 2nd Priority Ticket at the H!Store just so they could circumvent the “ONE PER PERSON” rule.

It’s like, yeeeeees I understand you love Berryz Koubou SOOOOO MUCH that you want to see the girls as much as possible, but when you double-book, you’re occupying a space in line that could have gone to a curious new fan. Aren’t you supposed to be recruiting new converts? Like someone who MAYBE just wandered into the concert last night and now wants to get to know them better? But now they won’t, because Mister or Miss Greedy is standing in line ahead of them.

BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT.

What I meant to talk about was interacting with fans while waiting in line for things. LOL! Anyway, it struck me just how many layers of Berryz fandom there are. It’s like an onion … everyone smells kinda funny and after a while you just start crying. Okay, wrong metaphor. In any case, here is your Anthropological Field Guide to Berryz Koubou Fans IN AMERICA:

Love and Pop at LoliCon / SNSDcon / Pacific Media Expo

THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED.

Dateline: Friday, November 12, 2010 well actually, Saturday November 13 by then
12:30 am

Another late-night violin practice session. Nights before conventions always get a little bit hairy because that’s when I actually have to choose my repertoire and polish it up, instead of chewing through scales and etudes like I usually do.

(Except the night before Anime Expo 2010 where I stayed up watching ANGEL BEATS! instead of prepping interview questions for AKB48 LIKE I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE.)

Pre-convention rehearsal also means having conversations with myself that go something like this:

“Hay so I herd u like mudkips you do a pretty decent version of ‘Gee’ by Sonyeoshieedaehh Shoujo Jidai SND48 HOT KOREAN CHICKS.”
“Yeah, I think it’ll go over pretty well, especially since Pathetic Pacific Media Expo is supposed to be all about ‘general [East] Asian pop culture’ (even though 80% of the attendance is still anime dorks).”
“It would be even cooler if you added one of their more recent songs like ‘Oh!’, don’t you think?”
“Buuuuut I have to be at the con in 12 hours (and spend 6 of those hours sleeping).”
“Oh come on, you already know how it sounds, you just have to know how to play it.”
“Let me see what I can find…”

>> Google for 'snsd oh sheet music'
>> Download
>> Sight-read
>> skritch skritch skritch [fingering] [bowing] [expression]
.... .... .... 30 minutes later .... ....

OPPA OPPA I’LL BE I’LL BE DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN