So yeah on my last day in Japan, I went to Makkun’s i-magination live in Osaka. My very first Makkun’s concert! It was held in Umeda AKASO, a small live house near Umeda station that made me ask for direction 10x before giving up and google-map it on an internet cafe. ^^;

I can’t think of who would be interested in reading this report other than omo, but anyway writing it~ xD

There should be about 600 people in the free-standing live. I thought I was so lucky for getting an entry number #6 which usually means front row …….but apparently there were 150 FC, 100 class A, and 100 class B tickets before the normal number. So mine’s actually #356 orz.

It only took 30 mins to let everyone in. Makkun’s new album i-magination was playing during the waiting. I spent the time observing her fans, who mostly wore Makkun’s old live shirts or Jam’s. As expected most of them are NOT young. I’m sure I was one of the youngest ^^;

At 6pm sharp, the live begun.

Makkun started appropiately with the album opening Starting Over, followed by energetic Wagamama no Cho. Damn I’m SO amazed how she looks younger and younger every time I see her. ^^;

After briefly welcoming us to the live tour, she sang the first “old song”, Shu-AKA-.

I’m impressed with how close Makkun is to her loyal fans (those who keep coming to her live). She calls them veteran, and she does recognise them, pointing to some and said “ah, you again!” ^^;

Makkun also asked if there’s any first-timers, and very few (including me) responded. She was quite surprised lol. It really felt more like an old school reunion, with warm welcome to new people (or old fans who just had the chance to go *cough*).

Band intro made me giggle. Makkun’s band members are all young bishonen, as opposed to Nana’s uncle group. I recognised Macaroni☆ rightaway cos he’s really cute THE Animelo guitarist. The other guitarist IMAJO is one of Psychic Lover. Bass Tabokun looks more girly than Makkun ^^; and there’s Jun (keyboardist) and Kyoichi Sato (drum).

4 songs from the new album followed. I particularly like Pure DIAMOND. Makkun said that Jounetsu no Cantare was a song for her female fans. Surprisingly there were quite many of them –two exhibits stood in front of me lol.

When the intro to Koishimasho Nebarimasho started, I screamed my lung out. ;A; Freaking awsm!! One thing about Makkun’s concert is that the older the song is, the fans get crazier.

The surprise got much better with Futari. Srsly ancient from 2nd album V-sit. The last time she performed it was… 14 years ago? I was like 7 lol.

Futari started the ballad section, since she followed with an equally sad Regret from the new album. For some weird reasons I love Makkun’s slower ballad more than her rocker side. I’d cry if she sings Wasuregusa.

During the MC, Makkun said she did lots of cover songs. The moment she mentioned Masami Kobushi album, we screamed like crazy. ^^; Apparently she just wanted to promote Self Satisfaction, a cover album of songs she wrote for others. Aww no Cutie Honey for me. T__T She then did Fuyu no Himawari from the album.

HAPPY PLACE was definitely a fan favourite. ♥

Another self plug for Gundam tribute from Lantis album, before performing DREAMS (Gundam X OP). Almost made me want to get the CD, but hey it was my last day, I’d be surprised if I still have enough cash.

Towel song was Never die!!! Kyaa. I was expecting Shuffle, but Never die was totally fun.

Closed the setlist with Divine Love, a cover from JAM Project song which she also composed.

After a short encore break, Makkun performed the best ballad of the day: Flower. At one point, the song brought tears to Makkun’s eyes… and actually to the big guy next to me too. ^^;

The 2nd encore started with MC session of each band member.
- Macaroni☆ was looking for a wife, so Makkun asked if anyone in the crowd wants to marry him. Surprisingly(?) some male fans responded! Makkun went LOL on stage.
- Tadakun got loud cheers, mostly guys shouting “kawaii yo!” .. understandable, really.
- It was Jun’s birthday! Makkun and everyone sang Happy Birthday to him ♪ though only me pronounced it properly *runs*

Megami ni Naritai was another great choice, but Key was totally an unexpected nostalgic song from 5th album Her-Day. The concert really ended with THE ultimate Makkun song: Rinbu Revolution. Finally I got to hear the full original version, better than the Minorin duet one lol.

Setlist

1. Starting Over
2. ワガママナチョウ (Wagamama na cho)
MC
3. 朱 -AKA- (Shu -AKA-)
4. TO DIE FOR xxx
5. Pure DIAMOND
MC
6. 情熱のカンターレ (Jounetsu no cantare)
7. その時誰もが女神となる (Sono toki daremo ga megami to naru)
8. 恋しましょ ねばりましょ (Koishimasho nebarimasho)
MC
9. 二人 (Futari)
MC
10. Regret
11. Good-bye Good luck
MC
12. 冬の向日葵 (Fuyu no himawari)
13. HAPPY PLACE
14. 乙女心無限 (Otomegokoro mugen)
MC
15. DREAMS
16. PHASE
17. 虹色Shooter (Nijiiro Shooter)
MC
18. Never die
19. Divine love

ENCORE #1
20. Flower

ENCORE #2
21. 女神になりたい ～for a yours～ (Megami ni naritai)
22. Key
23. 輪舞-revolution (Rinbu-revolution)

Makkun performed all songs from the new album except Miracle Upper WL, which might be kept for her birthday live 2 weeks from now, when a “secret guest” will appear (not really a secret huh). Shimoda Asami and Faylan are confirmed guests. Damn it’s nice to be Makkun, surrounded by young girls. ( ;A; )

There were only 3 different live goods. THREE. Makes me wonder, when will Nana make me save this much money? I guess never with her 25 types of goods orz.

I got the pink limited shirt, cos the blue one sold out. ^^;

All in all I was really happy with my first Makkun experience. Will definitely go again if I have the chance.

(Eternal Blaze starts at 1:42)

To be honest, she looked really constipated suffering, especially when she tried to reach the high notes. If I’m not blind, she sweated a bit too much (or it was really hot?), and her face turned a bit red.. ^^;;;

The show was Animax Musix Countdown, held in May this year. It’s a good try and I actually like it, tho I think it lacks the usual overwhelming spirit. I’d say Endoh did a better job to convey the power.. tho May’n version definitely much superior than Iwao Junko’s wtf-bossa version.

..but still, nothing beats the greatness of the original~!

The highlight this week would be the NHK Music Japan Shinseiki Anime SP that will have 2 segments.

The first one will be aired this weekend, August 16th (Sun) 24:10 in the general channel.. only 43 minutes cos MJ is still a stupid digest music TV show, but I’m happy with the fact that this might be a sign that NHK starts to acknowledge anison musicians!

The order of the performances is still unknown, but they already announced what songs will be aired first on the website. The real treat will be aired on August 24th (Mon) 23:30 in NHKBS2 (satellite channel).. means HD quality~! This 2nd segment (hopefully!) will include all 17 songs performed by the 8 artists.

Here’s the full set list. Songs in red will be performed in the first segment.

1. May’n - Iteza Gogo Kuji Don’t be Late, Diamond Crevasse

2. Kuribayashi Minami - Precious Memories, Shining Days

3. HIMEKA - Ashita e no Kizuna, Sousei no Aquarion

4. SCANDAL - Don’t say lazy, Shoujo S

5. angela - Spiral, Shangri-la

6. Ishikawa Chiaki - Uninstall, First Pain

7. Chihara Minori - Tomorrow’s Chance, Paradise Lost

8. Mizuki Nana - DISCOTHEQUE, Zankou no Gaia, Pray

..oh well, can’t get any bigger than this pic, but you know how she looks like in that Animelo 2008 costume anyway: hawt.

The set list is mostly predictable, tho I’m a bit surprised Minorin and Nana were allowed to sing non-animu songs in an anison event lol. And oh, May’n song choices is getting old, yawn.

I’m probably more eager in watching SCANDAL girls pulling off K-On ED than the other performances (well cos I’ve better options to watch the rest).. Anyway, I’m saving the comments for the show airs!

Oh btw, I found the group photo of MJ artists really fascinating in a lot of ways..

- For some reasons most of them look rly tired, and Nana’s face looks awsmly huge.
- Minorin’s uneven eyes exposed to the max. And what’s with the exposed thighs? Well, not that I’m complaining..

- Ishikawa Chiaki is the only one without trendy knee-high boots.. generation gap? xD
- The SCANDAL girl standing between Minorin and Nana scared the shit outta me.
- As expected from angela, both atsuko and katsu look crazy in a formal group photo.

- The stools are a bit tall, but everyone seems to have no problem sitting on it nicely.. except Nana that looks like she’s really desperate to touch the floor with her feet like the others..

Well, I wouldn’t say this photo is exceptionally good, cos something is definitely wrong if Kuribayashi Minami looks the best amongst all. *runs* But I really like the feeling of this photo.. let’s hope some kind souls will upload the show next week!

CD

Shooting Star is a fine typical J-pop to start the album, but Fuyu no Knife had this weird Mikuni-goes-salsa tune I can’t say I like. I began to lose hope, but Tsubomi changed my mind. It’s a nicely-paced Mikuni-ish ballad that brings out the best in her. More people should listen to this song but I don’t think anyone watch Blue Dragon lol. Friends follows next, slightly boring, but after this track the album continues to please me until the end.

I tend to like the songs Mikuni wrote herself because it usually means another slow-paced, quality ballad I’m a sucker for, say tomorrow or Bird. Heavenly brings us full version of Ano Hi ni Kaeritai (shorter track was in Minamikaze single) and Kimi no Coat.

One thing about Mikuni’s album.. can’t avoid redundant songs. As much as I love it, Tegami was Bird’s coupling. AND Tegami ~Chapter 2~, sort of the acoustic version. We also get album remix of Chain and I~jaNAI!? (both was one single). Add Asian Lovers (tour) version of Naked.. Well doubles are fine, as long it’s not another Sore ga Ai deshou (a.k.a ZOMG-I-has-quadruples).

LOL @ bonus track, Nezumi wa Kome ga Suki, Jap version of the overrated Mandarin song Lau Shu Ai Da Mi. I think Mikuni’s cover is one of the better ones. Then the album nicely ended with Epilogue~Arigatou no Uta~, a minute of “thank you” acapella from Mikuni, befitting the 10th anniversary theme.

DVD

Asian Lovers Tour
Video and sound quality varies depending on the place.. some were terribly bad that I had to deinterlace the frames before resizing them. Anyway.

Shanghai fans welcoming Mikuni in the airport.. aw~

Is it just me or Mikuni looks more attractive now?

21 June 2008 @ ARK Live House, Shanghai

Check out the screen, it’s Chinese lyrics of Sore ga Ai Deshou! Sound quality is pretty good so here’s a short clip of it (that’s all we got btw).

Charity?

Zomg megane moe~~ *faints*

1 October 2008 @ Langham Place, Hongkong

3 October 2008 @ ACG, Guangzhou
You know you’re in China when fans took out camera instead of penlight… orz. Apparently it was an anime/game convention, which explains the vast number of people there.. sound quality was notably bad here.

4 October 2008 some-venue-name-I-can’t-read @ Guangzhou
Her actual personal concert, sound quality is slightly better but still hurts my ears pretty badly. She sang Karenai Hana in Chinese. Here’s sound clip:

LOL @ her “Ni Hao” times three.
Since 下川みくに becomes 下川美娜 in Chinese, she introduced herself as Xia Chuan Mei Na (Mandarin) or Ha Cyun Mei No (Cantonese) depending on the cities.

12 Dec 2008 @ Y17, Taipei
The best sound quality, the best fans too, just look at those penlights! They responded to Mikuni’s MC in Japanese too. GJ, Taiwanese fans!

Also GJ for making Mikuni cry.

I found the “China” (中国) fireworks amusing.

21 Dec 2008 @ HI-TEC, Hong Kong.
See, that’s why you need an Ultra Orange ready, Mikuni will come to your side!

24 Dec 2008 @ some Anime Fair in Macao
I nearly fell off my chair seeing this. xD DFC in a Santa costume!! On Christmas Eve!!

Full costume~~ Lucky Macao bastards.

Is that how a girl should sleep on a public place?

31 Dec 2008 @ Guangzhou again
Bigger venue this time, she even brought some dancers.

Happy New Year!

PV and TV Spots
I skip the Full Metal Panic! videos.

I~jyaNAI?! PV..

..is yummy.

Tsubomi PV. Is that Suara? LOL.

10 Years Ago ~Sou sou, Egypt ni mo Ikimashita
Mikuni went to Egypt. 10 years ago.

Totally look like a tourist!

Get your hand off my Mikuni! She was quite chubby back then, huh, should be about 18 years old. 1000x cuter than 18-yo Hirano Aya. xD

「これ何？」 She asked what the hell was that? That’s… Koshimizu Ami!

Shimokawa Mikuni Photo Book
10-minutes-long slide show of hundreds of photos. Most of them are from Asian Lovers Tour so I didn’t bother saving them. Here’s few that I found interesting.

I~jyaNAI?! photoshoot. No comment.

Signing her own board in HK.

We all know it’s not about the Hung Hom Station.. xD
..srsly she’s now leading the top list of my megane moe girls.

Clearer view of the fact that all Guangzhou people are cameramen.

Service, service!

The last feature is audio commentary that I couldn’t bother finish listening to. Um, if you think Nana is boring when she talks by herself (she gets better lately though), Mikuni is about 100x more boring. ^^;

CDJapan is offering 10% discount for this Heavenly CD+DVD so now is the best time to get it if you haven’t. Overall this is a very good buy for Mikuni fans.. especially if you have some glasses fetish. I do.

This has been sitting on my draft for days, since I’m pretty busy with Chihaya, er I mean work. I was even late to know about the Kadokawa comedy award breaking news, but I won’t post anything on that stupid dodgy show unless Tomachan wears nice kimono in the actual awarding this weekend.

Back to Akasha, beware that I might speak like a crazed Makkun worshiper below. Have I told you that I actually have more Makkun’s CD/DVD than Nana’s? ^^; Though Nana wins if I count the duplicates.

Songs

As usual, all songs are composed by Okui Masami herself, so most fans will enjoy these.. after gettig over the raeg: all songs from the latest 2 singles are included without any remix -_-; So much effort after postponing the album release for months?

I’m surprised she opened the album with an instrumental Theme of Akasha.. IIRC she only did this in her earlier albums, like before the year 2000. LOL @ the misleading first gong, reminds me of PRIDE OF GLORY before it turns to a spiritual hymn.

LOVE SHIELD kicks off awesomely right after. It shouldn’t be wasted in a D-rate PS2 game. LOVERS and Shape of Myself can make a good anime OP too. Probably that’s what Makkun needs now, a decent tie-in to bring her back under the spotlight. Though to gain new fans Makkun must stop singing the 90s style (lol Venus).

Always love Makkun’s ballad. Shuushoku really stands out, way more than the album title-song Akasha which is rather bland. I’ve had my praise on Melted Snow before.

BLUE~Noble Flame~ started off weird (not as weird as Orange), but I like the fast-paced vocals. And I still don’t like INSANITY nor TOTAL ECLIPSE.

Preview the tracks here.

15th Anniversary & Birth Live ‘08

The real catch of this album IMO, since her live DVD are not really available to public, even in Japan I’ve never seen a brand-new Makkun DVD and had to resort to second-hand stores.

This is a digest though *sobs* so each song only got about 2 minutes, except one special song near the end. Explains how they fitted 22 songs in less than an hour..

The songs selection is awesome and surely nostalgic, befitting to commemorate the anison goddess’ 15th anniversary. The live was held on the usual Ebisu LIQUIDROOM.

1. TRUST ~Session Mix~
2. Rinbu-revolution

RE-VO-LU-TION! This song to Makkun is like Eternal Blaze to Nana, I guess, the one that made them big, always the highlight of the show, and also what got me really into them.

3. REINCARNATION -Self Cover Ver.-
4. Jama wa Sasenai

Another classic favorite~
I hate this auntie costume that makes Makkun looked.. her age? Too bad, knowing she wears nice stuff in Animelo..

5. M.M Family
6. Sayonara
7. White Season

8. It’s my life

The only song from Masami Life (latest original album at that time) that was performed though that’s the album’s logo displayed on stage. So much for expecting -w- or Wasuregusa.

9. zero-G-
10. 蜜-mitsu-

Love this song. I secretly wish Endoh (he starred on the PV) will jump out from the VIP seats and come up stage lol.

11. WILD SPICE
12. Dare yori mo zutto..

What’s an anniversary live without the very first single? I srsly laughed when she dances the old style. ^^;

13. Moonlight Angel ~Ashita ni Mukatte~

What a nice surprise! This is originally a song she wrote for Kouda Mariko (another lovely girl from the past), though she already sung her version in Gyuu.

14. Olive
15. Key

16. Wonderful Days
17. DEPORTATION ~but, never too late~

18. Souda, zettai.

The fans really know their stuff by heart, they started screaming in the first second of the song! ^^; Glad to know she still has these awesome bunch of people.

19. INSANITY
20. DEVOTION

Song started off a cappella, then instruments slowly kicked in after a minute.. it’s so good that I recorded this version. In the middle of the song, she got emotional and cried.. a little unexpected since she usually keeps her rocker image strong.

EN1. Shuffle -Self Cover Ver.-

She should have worn this for the whole concert!

Birthday Surprise 1: Cake.

LOL honestly she didn’t look surprised at all. Cake was small and not interesting so I upload that epic cocky face instead. xD

Birthday Surprise 2: ??

Now that was a surprise. King Records’ Big Producer: Ootsuki P, the guy responsible bringing Makkun to where she is now.

EN2. Birth

An obligatory birthday song, based on experience watching her other birthday lives (’00, ‘02, ‘03, ‘04, and now this).

Also, she will turn an unbelievably 41 next week, and will celebrate it in the annual live.. damn, I hope I can have the chance to watch her personal live before she gets too old.

ENDING.

Thank you (for your support) until now <3
And.. from now on, yoroshiku~

Idiotic comments Notes

Macaroni☆. Some may recognize him for composing songs for Makkun before.. or the Animelo guitarist.

JOE/IMAJO. Part-time GAR band Psychic Lover guitarist, part-time crossplayer.

Bassist Yamada.
…
I don’t get it. Why all Makkun’s band members are young pretty boys?! While Nana have to put up with a bunch of lesser-looking old men?

And..

LOLWUT MAY’N?

I’m flying back tonight, so this is the last report when I’m still in Japan~ xD

So, I was lucky to get a ticket for May’n Act last night, May’n’s first concert tour ever.. though not lucky enough, since tonight’s event is the one getting into DVD.

- I arrived about 6 pm (the concert started at 7), and I was surprised seeing the number of girls there.. quite a lot for a female anime singer.

- BLITZ only fits less than 1500 people, but it was full house. The first floor was a free-standing. I can say the arena audience were divided into the crazy few hundreds who were rocking to her songs near the stage (including me), and the rest who enjoyed the concert in the back.. that’s why I could sneak in quite front though my entry number was 1000+ Another reason to love small hall is that we were really close to the stage.. plus, most Japanese are short so I got the advantage lol.

- The concert was nicely opened by Welcome to My Fanclub’s Night! Sheryl IS on stage!

- Not a lot of people brought lightsticks, so I stood out and she noticed me a couple of times. I only used one long-lasting blue for most songs, and two ultra orange for Iteza and Lion.

- When Iteza’s intro got played, it suddenly became extra cramped up front, but there were no pushing.. and thankfully it’s winter now or the smell would kill my nose first.

Billboard~

- In the first MC, she talked a lot about her favorite subject.. yeah, you guessed it right: taiyaki! It always amuses me when an idol is obsessed with food like taiyaki or curry (Nana) and can’t stop talking about them.. ^^; May’n even said we must be energetic because of Tokyo’s delicious taiyaki..

- Acoustic version of Diamond Crevasse was really a-ma-zing. Now *this* is the reason to get the DVD later..

- I still think May’n☆Space doesn’t really suit her voice, but it was fun live with the special movement for us to follow, spelling M-a-y-n S-p-a-c-e. What’s funny was the audience complained that it was hard, because of “too many alphabets”.. learn some English, people! ^^;

- May’n informed us about her mini-album ranked 2nd in Oricon weekly chart, though almost everyone seemed to know that already. She also told us how she went into auditions since she was very young, and finally got a debut at the age of 15, and now that she’s able to stand on the stage.. everything could happen because of our support.. (I’d say it was Macross, but well). She cried a bit during that time too.

- There were no usual “encore!” shouts.. for May’n it must be “BU-CHO-U!” xD

- Because May’n came out with the 3rd costume for the encore, I knew there would be another encore (to promote the shirt lol), and there was! She asked us what song we’d like to hear for the “real last song”, as expected everyone went “I-TE-ZA! I-TE-ZA!” so there was, the second Iteza Gogo Kuji Don’t be late!

- All songs from May’n Street were sung. Also all Macross songs, only Sheryl’s originals though, so no Triangler or Aimo.. making up a total of 13 songs and 4 encore. (See setlist below)

Wasn’t going to get any goods, but I bought the T-shirt she wore in the encore anyway (there were 3 types in total).. maybe when she gets damn famous later, I can auction this for a high price?

Set List

show

So here’s some background story: Remember this Animelo 2008 Digest video? I posted the same clip to youtube later on. I don’t really check it after a while, except if I needed to show it to someone.

.. until last week I received a fanmail.

At first me and this girl (from her PMS writing style, I believe I’m not dealing with a trap) exchanged mails normally, just like any fangirls blabbering about our idols. She sounded like a sweet and genuine ALIPRO fan who also respect Nana.

I even went along with her story about Yells: Katakura Mikiya had serious accident at that time and that’s why Arika was upset/cried and only asked for a few lines so she can take care of him (because she believed they are “together”).

Not only there’s no proof at all (on the accident; I don’t want to know ALIPRO’s sex life), I reckoned in Animelo that Katakura didn’t look like he just recovered after getting hit by a truck. Note that I will gladly apologize if this was true.

I may be ignorant, but she looked cheerful enough to me.

Then she apologized about the ruckus her cousin started in my youtube video comments. I was like, what comments?

So I checked the youtube comments.. oh boy, looks like it’s been hit by a shitstorm. All nice posts about Nana are marked spam or at least given many thumbs down, even an insignificant comment like “Nana is so beautiful”. Weirdly enough, “Arika-sama is so cute!” gets many thumbs up. (Both opinions look wrong to me, because Minorin is the beautiful one, heh. Anyway, you get my point.)

Also said was Nana wears skimpy stripper outfit that is harmful to kids who watch Animelo. She’ll be shocked to see how everyone there was basically.. kimo-ota. Not to mention both Nana and Arika often wear similar goth-loli outfit that don’t match their age, like those from Animelo 07.

..is it just me, or they looked like they’re having fun, not bitch-slapping each other?

Tell you the truth, I actually believed it was her sister/cousin that trolled my youtube page. I mean, it’s youtube. You must be a serious loser to create clones there to reply your own posts. But then I know that she actually is the same kid who called j1m0ne a 2-years-old funney poaster few months ago.

I went back to re-read the youtube comments with more attention, and now at least five of them look like clones to me, because:
1. Similar speech patterns and arguments: “OMG Arika-sama is a goddess. Nana is a bitch, wait don’t get me wrong, she’s a cute bitch.”
2. Some flamer accounts have been closed.
3. If you browsed through other Nana/Animelo videos, you can identify the trolls.

So I decided to bluff her that I’m able to check the IP address of whoever marked spam or gave thumbs to the comments, since I’m the mighty video owner. What she replied (in panic?) just got herself busted.

I wonder if the people who were spaming and giving the thumbs down was my childish little sister? She also uses my computer and does dumb things like that. So if it was our IP address on there, then it was her, and I’m sorry.

And she added this, which may be funnier than any KaneTomo blog post I’ve ever read.

I think why my family(the kids in it anyway) are like this is because we were brought up with very strict rules? To tell the truth, I actually am half Hawaiian princess, my great ancestor was King Kamehameha.

..and I’m the Queen of England? I literally LOL’ed so hard in that early morning until my neighbor’s dog barked me to shut up.

Obviously I never replied her since.

PS. If *you* read this, check your Yells lyric book, Nana didn’t get the most part, actually it was May’n. But don’t start calling her mesu buta, ok?

Screenshots (a.k.a hard proofs!):
Emails: Katakura’s accident. It’s my sister/cousin.
Youtube: War start. Long war.

..lol I’m actually being mean. But this is teh intarwebz so sue me.