A Johnny's fan's experience attending an =LOVE Budokan concert
On March 2nd, I had my first meeting with the =LOVE girls at the idol mecca, the Budokan!! A long-held dream!
I've actually been aware of =LOVE for about 5 years, since before 'Boku Kuri,' and I thought Hitomi-chan was cute. It feels nostalgic now to remember being surprised by her hiatus. Those who know, know—Hitomi-chan looks like Kitayama-kun, right?
I was already following their streams, saving their photos, and watching their YouTube videos, but this time, my dad, who is a fan of underground idols, got into =LOVE and joined their fan club on a whim, which led to a sudden opportunity to go to a live show. (By the way, we are both Maika fans, but Hitomi is still cute, too.)
To put it simply, I've fallen into the =LOVE swamp!!
It was so much fun that I just want to soak in the afterglow. It was a 3-hour show that made me think, 'I'm so glad I went,' and it was truly the trigger! Though, if you include the excitement and the lingering feelings, it was even longer!
As someone who has been a Johnny's fan for over 10 years, please let me share some things that surprised me or that I thought were great at the =LOVE concert.
The Kameko (camera fans) are interesting
This =LOVE concert was my first time seeing Kameko in action, and they are seriously interesting. I knew they existed and often saw their photos, but I felt a strange sense of awe realizing, 'Oh, this is what it's like to have them at a live show!!' (lol)
Even before the members said, 'It's time for Kameko time,' the penlights in several blocks would all turn off at once, plunging them into darkness (a view I could only see because I was in the nosebleed seats).
When I looked at the photos the Kameko uploaded from the concert I actually attended, they were completely different!! That view definitely existed at the Budokan, and there were members I hadn't been able to see myself, so I was like, 'Wow!' I understand how the Kameko feel. I want a Maika-chan that only I can see.
Lots of female fans
It really felt like, 'This is exactly what they mean when they say fans resemble their idols!' (lol)
Maybe it's because Mirinya's fans wear RoseMuse, but they were like older sisters in miniskirts, and Kiara's fans had a strong, almost 'jirai' (landmine) style, carrying small backpacks. Maika-chan's fans were walking around showing off their uchiwa fans, and they had this core strength that was just so Maika. (Personal opinion)
I definitely got the impression that there were a lot of girls, so I was grateful that I didn't stand out even though it was my first time attending.
Also, the fact that everyone had their own way of enjoying the show made it feel comfortable. There were people holding binoculars, people with message uchiwa, and people copying the choreography—it was very free! It's so fun to be at a live venue!!
'The moment Saiki Maika is born'
Sashihara-P mentioned this as a highlight for music shows, but the moment it started, Maika-chan came out to the center alone, and the second she started singing, 'When I looked up at the dazzling sun,' I was truly trembling...
For Maika-chan, who has to do this three times in front of nearly 10,000 spectators, to hit the notes perfectly, have such vocal power, and convey emotion during the most important parts of the song—it was truly moving, and I couldn't believe she was just a girl a little older than me.
It wasn't just 'Trigger' x2; there was also 'Shukipi,' 'Natsumatsuri,' and 'Mayonaka Mermaid.' Maika-chan, as a main vocalist, had quite a heavy burden, and even though it was toward the end of the show, she sang with sparkle until the very end, which was so cool~~
Maika-chan acts tough, but she practices enough to be confident in herself (from the Fukuoka concert making-of on YouTube) and can pull it off perfectly on stage. Is Maika-chan a genius...? I just want to say, 'Go ahead and play your high-pressure cleaning game as much as you want' (TT).
My first hardcore fan chant
Speaking of otaku! It's the 'Gachi-koi' (serious love) chant, right??!?!
As an otaku coming from the Johnny's fandom, I've always wanted to do the Gachi-koi chant (Johnny's doesn't have that kind of call culture), so it felt like a dream come true and was super fun!!
I had confirmed in advance that there would be a Gachi-koi chant during 'Dairiri' and that 'Dairiri' was included in the setlist, but the moment that intro played and Mirinya said something like 'Let me hear your feelings!', I couldn't think about anything other than the part before the last chorus (lol).
An equal relationship
When Hitomi started saying 'I have something I want to tell you all (paraphrased)' before '=LOVE', I almost flipped out... The otaku next to me kept muttering 'An important announcement...' so...
In the end, Hitomi's greeting before the national anthem was super moving, and even though I'm a first-timer, I thought, 'The otaku and =LOVE are always in an equal relationship...' and I cried my eyes out. What side?
I want the feelings idols have for their fans and the feelings fans have for their idols to be connected equally—Hitomi-chan is such a super idol for saying that.
In a tour without Nagisa, the otaku, and of course the =LOVE girls themselves, must have had so many different feelings, but thank you for completing the tour despite all that (TT).
I think I'm weak for girls who are good at these kinds of greetings... Kitayama-kun is also an idol who repeatedly tells his fans, 'Thank you for choosing to like Kis-My-Ft2 out of all the idol groups,' and 'May your tomorrow be a bright one'so... (I'm overthinking it).
There are no bad people among those who are good at these kinds of greetings, and even if they were a bad person, if they are someone who can say things like that, I'd want to believe in them.
So, my first time seeing =LOVE properly triggered something, and I've officially made my live event debut. I've become an otaku!!
Kis-My-Ft2 shows no signs of having any live events scheduled, and even though Kitayama-kun seems busy with stage plays, I keep getting rejected for all the tickets. Maybe it was just meant to be that I'd get hooked now.
Besides that, there are things different from Johnny's events, like calling the 'heavens' (nosebleed seats) and the raw photo culture, and I've already got one foot in the door and it's fun (lol).
Also, I really respect the management for making a playlist of the day's setlist public as soon as we left the Budokan and reached the nearest station. (Can you learn from them, MENT??)
I'm already fully prepared to attend Ico-Noi-Joy, so Maika Sasaki-chan and Hitomi Takamatsu-chan, please go easy on me from here on out ^^