A friend I met for the first time in years while traveling had already been converted to Hello! Project, and we hit it off immediately

I attended the Osaka performance of Morning Musume '23's autumn tour, "Neverending Shine Show," on Saturday, October 14th.
I will be sharing some spoilers about the tour content.

It was my first time attending an autumn tour, and when I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in years, I found out they had been studying up on Hello! Project in bits and pieces. We were able to talk quite naturally about things like, "Former ANGERME member Takeuchi-san is..." or "Tsubaki's Onoda-san is..."

What is this?

It seems like wild Hello! Project fans are everywhere in other circles too!

I thought I had tickets for the afternoon show, but it was the evening show.

I arrived in Osaka in the morning by plane.
I had put the plan to see the afternoon show into my schedule app.
But when I checked my ticket before arriving at the venue, I realized, oh, the time is different...

I had made a massive misunderstanding; it was a complete mistake.
I mean, I'm the one who put the wrong time in the schedule app—that's just like me!


The one I got was the evening show!!!

It couldn't be helped.
Since I had time, I went to the hotel to drop off my luggage, ate some takoyaki, and set off again.
I also apologized to my friend.

When I entered the venue, there was "Aoyama Tailor"!

I wanted the employee ID card merchandise, so I went in early and took a picture while it was empty.
The Aoyama corner was very crowded after that, so I'm glad I went in early.

When buying merchandise, there was a trouble where the staff's terminals couldn't read the app's QR code properly, possibly due to network issues, so I waited for a while.
A woman who seemed to be the leader was giving instructions to take orders verbally, secure the items, and calculate the total with a calculator. Watching from the sidelines, it looked tough to have to operate manually and visually like that...
They were very adaptable.

For me, I only bought one employee ID card, so checking was easy, but it must have been much harder for those buying multiple items.
Buying merchandise had always been smooth before, so this was my first time encountering such trouble.

To the merchandise staff, thank you for handling the situation despite the sudden trouble.

At the live concert, my excitement was through the roof.

I was so hyped from the start, thinking, 'This song first!?'
I was basically in a state of constant excitement, thinking, 'Wow, they're doing this song!! Yay!!'
The first costumes were cute with their reddish-pink plaid, and even cuter when they took them off to reveal light pink underneath.


There were more costume changes than in the summer tour, the set was a bit more complex, and I could really feel the depth.
I became a Hello! Project fan last year, so this was my first experience.
So this is what a solo tour concert is like.
It felt fresh to see a stage with height and a three-dimensional feel.

However, I was in the back of the first-floor side seating, and my corrected vision of 1.0 with glasses reached its limit.
Even after taking blueberry supplements, the members' facial expressions were blurry, so I used binoculars from time to time.


I watched Sakura Oda's dance movements when she wasn't singing and thought they were nice, and when I looked at the feet of several members, I realized they were dancing in incredibly high heels.
Since I wasn't in the family seating area, I didn't watch them that closely, but I enjoyed my first 'solo' Morning Musume '23 concert.

Things I felt while watching Sakura Oda

Since it was her final tour, the songs that started with her solo parts were impressive.
I watched while imagining that the setlist for this tour must have been chosen based on songs that hold special meaning for her.

During the MC, she pretended to shoot the audience with a 'Bang!' and seemed happy to see the damage it caused.
I'm happy that she was enjoying herself so innocently.
I'm sure they'll do it even if you're not from Osaka, as long as a member does it.
When Ako Yumigeta said she wanted to do it too and went 'Bang!', the girl from Aichi next to me fell over even more dramatically than the audience.

The graduation songs felt like a stage show similar to a Takarazuka troupe member's farewell performance.
There were scenes where they made eye contact with other members, and I couldn't help but imagine how heart-wrenching it would be to see that at the very, very end.

Takarazuka is currently the subject of a different topic, but... a top star's farewell performance is special.
It's surprisingly warm, and the show includes scenes that feel like farewell gifts, where they make eye contact with the troupe members, sing and dance together, and scenes with the troupe are carefully prepared.
A special show just for the final performance is also created for the graduation.
Just as the director intends, there are more scenes designed to make the fans watching cry.
It feels similar to that.


Looking at the MV released yesterday, she is wearing white clothes, just like someone graduating from Takarazuka.

Adding a Takarazuka fan's perspective, Takarazuka has two theaters.
At the final performances at the Takarazuka Grand Theater and the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, the graduates enter the dressing room in the morning wearing white.

Especially in the case of a top star's graduation, the entire troupe comes out to make the dressing room entrance a grand event, or rather, it's turned into a kind of event.
Those belonging to the troupe and even unofficial fan club members basically wear white.
I've never seen it, but I've heard that the slippers and loungewear used in the dressing room also become white.

I've secured my ticket for the Yokohama Arena graduation concert, so I'll be supporting her until the end!

I felt the difference from Juice=Juice

Compared to the Juice=Juice autumn tour I went to in September, I felt that in the Morning Musume concert, there were more parts where they changed the choreography to incite the audience, even though there was actual choreography, and more scenes where members waved to the audience during the instrumental parts of songs.

I wondered if this was just the personality of the group or the concert.
Juice=Juice might be more about thoroughly executing what has been decided.

↓ A record of when I felt spiritually fulfilled once in September

There was someone nearby who kept calling out incessantly... what a shame.

But there was a male fan nearby who kept calling out the names of several members, and honestly, it was annoying.
I thought, 'I didn't come all the way to Osaka to hear your voice!'
He was saying things like 'Sakurai!', 'Oda! Oda!', 'Da!!', and I wondered, is 'Da' even a call?!
People around him were looking back with 'Huh?' expressions, and that was the only disappointing part.

Meeting a friend I haven't seen in a while after the concert

We met in a different circle, and I feel like it's been about five years since we last met.
I think it was before my job changed significantly.
I was able to stay overnight in Osaka, so we met for the first time in a very long time.

I had told my friend that I had become a Hello! Project fan and was going to Osaka for a tour.
But as we talked, she said that several other fan friends from different circles had been evangelizing Hello! Project to her, telling her to watch it even if she didn't get hooked (like 'Megane no Otoko no Ko').

I was surprised that she knew that former ANGERME member Takeuchi-san is a calligrapher, that ANGERME's Kawamura-san is a tuna dismantling expert, that Kawana-san loves frogs, and that Hashisako-san loves reptiles.
We talked about how many Hello! Project members have unique talents!

It's a miracle that I could have a conversation mentioning "Takeuchi-san" by name with someone who isn't even a Hello! Project fan.

She also said, "It's amazing how people who like Hello! Project are pretty knowledgeable about members of other groups too!" but I'm sure that happens in other fan communities as well.

Do you know how insane the information supply is for Takarazuka?

In my experience, it's the same with Takarazuka; you end up learning about stars from other troupes, classmates scattered across different troupes, and performers from each class.

This is because of the interactions in original programs and projects on the CS channel dedicated to Takarazuka, and the fact that there are two monthly magazines (Kageki and Takarazuka GRAPH), sothere is a constant supply every single day and monthwithout fail.

Also, there is even an interview program calledTakarazuka Cafe Break, so you gradually end up knowing them.
There is also a huge amount of past footage, so I used to enjoy finding current top stars and upperclassmen appearing in mob scenes or roles with only a few lines when they were still underclassmen in past works.
No matter when you start liking them, the environment is set up for you.

Although there are no official personal blogs or social media, the theater company puts out so much information that the more you know, the more you understand their relationships and growth, and you just can't help but fall in love with them!

The episode that I think really made me fall for them is the one about Nozomi Futo-san.
Back when Ranju Tomu-san was the top star of the Flower Troupe, there was a special program about her on the Takarazuka channel.
I recorded everything during the free CS broadcast period.

Former Snow Troupe top star Nozomi Futo-san (who also appeared in the Imperial Theatre's Moulin Rouge), who admired Amami Yuki-san, had an episode revealed where she would talk to her in her diary during her student days, ending her sentences with"Amami-san, does that ever happen to you too?"and the diary from that time was shown.


If you take it the wrong way, she's a bit intense, but it had maximum destructive power.
She really loved Takarazuka, and a diary, you know.
Isn't Daimon (Nozomi-san's nickname) just too cute!
Everyone who saw this must have fallen for Daimon, right!

After eating meat, we chatted away at a cafe, laughed a lot, and hung out again the next day.

Eating Akashi-yaki and heading to Awaji Island

We had time in the morning, so we went to Mos Burger for breakfast.
When I asked if they were doing a collaboration, they told me to pick whichever one I liked and gave me this.

It's not set up at all, it's just the plain card.
The Nishinakajima-Minamigata branch didn't seem very enthusiastic, and the other customers had normal cards.
Is this really okay, Mos Burger?

While waiting for my friend at a bookstore, I found a book by Tsunku♂ and his autograph.
Displaying it at a bookstore in Shin-Osaka Station means people from all over the country will see it, not just those in Osaka; he's a strategist.

If they use the same strategy, maybe bookstores inside major Shinkansen stations have autographs on display too.

I got my Hello! Project fix in the morning and went to Akashi to eat Akashi-yaki.
It was delicious!
I've eaten it several times, but it's one of those delicious foods I'm glad I discovered as an adult.

The sea! A boat! Great weather!
Last year, while returning from Okayama where I traveled for a TMR national tour with another friend, we got off at Akashi Station, ate Akashi-yaki, and went to Awaji Island.
It's definitely delicious and fun, so my actions have become a pattern.

The tourism potential of Hyogo Prefecture is truly wonderful.

However, perhaps because the sea was rough, when I was outside, spray was splashing onto my glasses and face.
I couldn't see ahead because of the salty water droplets!

Takanori Nishikawa would get wet too, and I didn't want the paint to peel, so I put him away immediately.

Compared to the videos and photos I took when I went to Awaji Island last year, the water surface was quite choppy, so I think it was due to the state of the sea.


My goal was the hot spring, but the connection between the boat and the bus was bad, so I waited a while before heading there.


The hot spring was great!
Matsuho no Yuis the name of the place.
It seems like you could go there on foot or by bike, but it was located in a place where you have to climb the final hill with sheer willpower to reach it.

The view of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and the Seto Inland Sea from the open-air bath is beautiful!
It was reasonably empty, the price wasn't high, and it's nice that it's so reasonable.
I want to come again.

Repeating mistakes on trips.

Well, while I was relaxing,
I missed my flight home...

I'm so sloppy with these things!


There were various factors like the connection between the boat to Akashi and the bus on the island, but it was a scheduling error.
I had no choice but to book a Shinkansen ticket using the EX app.
Ah, I've added another mistake to my record of trips.
Next time, I'll book the Shinkansen for the return trip or book a later flight.

Since I have never been to Shikoku in my life, I wanted to feel something, so I bought a drink that felt like Shikoku.

You might have noticed if you've seen me playing with the Takanori Nishikawa figure a few times, but I lost the bangs part of Takanori Nishikawa somewhere before the Inazuma Rock Fes.
Since then, I have been presenting him in a forehead-exposed version.

I made a series of mistakes, but overall it was fun.
I like the food and flavors of the Kansai region, so I'll go west again!