Year of the Sheep

Hey guys!

It's that time of year again.
Time for hot drinks from vending machines, and Oden and bringing out the Kotatsu table from the loft/storage area. Yeah, it's getting colder, but it's also getting close to the end of 2014, and ringing in the new year of 2015.
Which, for those whom do not take note of, will be the year of the Sheep.

Here in Japan, and I am pretty sure all over Asia, sell anything and everything that has the new year's Zodiac animal on it. From Hello Kitty to a simple drawing of a sheep, you can find all that you are looking for. Post cards, plush toys, and calendars.

Why am I talking about this. Well one, I like animals and stuffed toys, and two I enjoy learning Chinese Zodiac. Have always been interested in the West and Eastern zodiacs calendars.
And for me, I was born the year of the Metal Sheep. So, I think it would be great to celebrate the year with great hope that things will work out for me.

I have no idea what my goals or hopes are, but I know I'll figure them out before New Years.
This year was much better than last, but it has also been slowly falling apart in front of me.
The loss of many items from my grasp, and that just not getting what I wanted. Like someone really doesn't want me to have it all. I don't know. I personally just feel like this Fall and Winter have been crap for me.

So, I just pray for good things to come my way, and pray my mom is watching over me.
I don't really do anything to hurt anyone, and I am a big believer of karma. If you take action for the good of others and yourself, then life shall be good and reward you.

Also a lesson I have learned this semester. Don't do anything that you know that you do not like. This also includes internships. I tried to apply for a internship, but was rejected and to please my Dad, took on a internship that I knew I wouldn't like. It's like applying for a Job you know you'll hate, but you know you have to eat? I kick myself for giving up on an internship, and focus on my studies.
I am now down to my internship and one class. Which for me, is pathetic, and not what I do. So, next semester, I will not be doing an internship, and focusing on graduating. This is what I want, and though my Dad wants me to get a good paying job, he's not the one going to school, and going off to work.

Kids! Please take my advice to heart.
Do not, for anyone, anything you know you will have any drive for. Don't take an internship, if you do not have an desire for it. Do not study a field that you have no interest in. Do not do anything, else you deeply passionately want to do it. If something fills you up with joy and fire, and it's something you will cross oceans and move mountains for, then by all means, do it!

For years, I have tried living my life for me, and my parents. And as much as I tried making it balanced, to make everyone happy, it still blew up in my face. You'll never win, if you try to give the other team one point. It's not exactly how it works, and I wish I knew this before I moved here. Before I made the choices I did. I tried so hard to please everyone, and make everyone happy. And in the end, I am the one who has to live the life someone picked for me, the price of my decisions. And no, I'm not happy. And it kills me that is where I am.

Find your Zodiac animal, get a push toy of that animal, and keep it close. Treat that animal, like you would treat yourself, and make sure it's happy. Because that animal is you.
Love your family and friends, but don't let them push you in ways that make you unhappy. That's my weakness. I can't say no to family or friends.

Well, that's it for today. I'll see you guys around.
じゃ、待ってね。

-Nihongochick2

Alice in Asia signing event in Ikebukuro

When I tell this to myself, I still cannot believe it.
It's like I'm dreaming, and everything I want is gifted to me with a red bow.

Well, minus the red bow, things did come. After a shitty 2 months, I have earned my one day.

I am moving into a nice apartment by myself, which is something I have been wanting for many years.
And, the Alice Nine signing event.

I will mostly focus on Nao, because he's my favourite member. I'm biased,... so sue me.

I met Hiroto, and I finally introduced myself and told him my name. I was on a role, until he started talking back. That's when things got interesting.
I told him that I enjoyed the Singapore live, and he was happy about that. Asking me if I was able to go. I said yes, and he told me the photo book has lots of memories from the tour. I smiled and had no idea what to say back. So, I just told him thank you very much.

Next was Nao. My heart was racing, and I was just wanting to get it over with, but allowed to say all that I wanted. I greeted him, and after saying hello, he said, "Nao desu!", as he does sometimes.
I was a little caught off guard, but just smiled and responded with, "Arisa desu!".
Which made him smile and happy. He said that my name was nice, and started signing my book.
I told him that I went to Singapore and enjoyed the live a lot. He was happy about that, and after that I forced myself to tell him I liked him. In Japanese too. I want him to know, that I am his fan. That I may talk to the other members, but I am loyal to him.
He looked up at me, as I was saying the words, and knew I had something to say. He and I did have moments of talking over each other, or talking at the same time. After I said that I like him, he was a little shocked and happy, and grabbed my hand to shake it. We looked into each other, and smiled. I was so happy, and just wanted to keep holding his hand forever.
He noticed I was wearing the Valentine day parka, and he was commenting on how it was warm, or something. I couldn't catch what he was saying. But, I was just so happy that he was shaking my hand and then touched my parka.
He then told me that he will wait for me at the FC live. Which makes me sad, because I don't have a ticket and I don't know if I can go.

He was the major highlight.

Fast forward to after my friend went through meeting the members.
She was just as pumped and excited as I was. Went spent a good amount of time to collect ourselves, and talk about what happened.

She told me what happened when she met Nao.
She told all the members that she couldn't go to the Singapore live, but would have loved to. When she was talking to Nao, she also added that her friend, me, was able to go.
Nao responded with, "Oh yeah, I remember she was just here. I was just talking to her. I like her, I think she's fun/interesting"(I don't know word for word)

My good friend has been telling Nao about me, "her friend" for over 2 years, and he has only been told about me, but never met me. This year was the first time I have finally met Nao.
Today was the third time(or 4th) time meeting him. And second time telling him that I like him.
So, he knows!

So, for him to tell my friend, "Oh yeah, she was just here. I like her."
I fell to the floor and just couldn't believe what had just happened. That she just told me that, and I pretty much have been freaking out all day.

And to be honest, I know that he likes me as a fan and person. Nothing romantic. ^_^ And that's all that matters anyway. That he knows I exist, and for him to like me back is a bonus. And I am at peace. I have made it pretty far.

But to hear that your favourite member likes you, and thinks your interesting is awesome. I love it.
I wasn't wearing anything special, and in fact I was pretty dirty. I looked like a bum, or I think I did.
But my point her being, I was finally myself. I wasn't putting on a mask, and mostly just saying what was true in my heart. I dressed like myself, and felt comfortable that way.
And that made the guys comfortable too. Nao was happy to know that a foreigner likes him, and Tora was laughing that I wanted to know more about his tattoos.
And I had a deep "thank you" session with Saga-sensei.

It was perfect.
I have been dealing with a depression, gained weight, and lost all sense of control over my life.
But things are slowly working out, and coming out okay.

If life is throwing lemons at you, it means to make lemonade and wait for the big good thing to come.

For me, it was to see the Alice boys again and to hear that Nao likes me too *^^*

-Nihongochick2

Update: Alice Nine's 10th Anniversary and FC -FAREWELL- Live and Trip

Hello!

Should be studying and working on my Japanese summary, but fuck that shit, I love to do things I shouldn't be doing.


So, I'll update you on Alice Nine shit! *rolls*

So, Alice Nine had their 10th Anniversary live on August 23rd. I was lucky to go, and enjoy the emotional live that it was. My favorite songs were played, and it rained. yay! Who cares if we get sick, we are having fun with Alice Nine.

I also screamed Nao's name as loud as I could, and I am pretty sure that it echoed through the area xD
I mean, I would scream and hear my voice come back to me. And at one point, I heard Nao stomp once. I am not sure if he was doing it as a sign that he hears us, since he does that almost every time I've seen them live. So, I want to believe he stomped on one of his bass drums to let us know he hears us calling his name. ^_^ *warmfuzzyfeelings*

We cried, laughed, and screamed in pure delight as the boys were making out with each other a lot. I mean a lot. xD At one point, during the song, Shou was singing, and I was singing and listening, but there was a muffled sound and no lyrics. I thought, "wait, there are supposed to be lyrics at this part of this song, Shou what are yo-...oh" *sees he was making out with Hiroto*


So!
Since I'm in ClubAlice, and honestly happy that they are getting rid of it. Wasting $50 for nothing really. :(
So, Alice Nine decided to have one last FC live and FC trip.
I am going to try my best to go to both.
And if I can, I'll write up reports on what happened on my adventures.

Until then, hope you guys have a good Fall season!

-Nihongochick2

Alice in Museum; Saga-Sensei

 

     So, for my next report, I'll cover Saga's event. 

If I can be honest, it was definitely a informative and interesting event, out of most. Nao's event was great, and it was similar to a mini-live, than a seminar. Tora's....I'll get to Tora later. 

Saga's event started on time, and with Saga talking about himself and his experience in Asia, mostly China. Talked about the food in China, and how hard it was for him to eat. He was very good at explaining the hot pot they tried when they were in Beijing. (Pardon me, if I made a mistake with this)

He talked about how he ate a lot of food at the hotel, and ate the food that Japanese fans brought for him, in his hotel room. Poor Saga. I got this feeling that Saga is not someone who is that open to trying new foods, or foods he's not familiar with. I won't say he's picky, since he did eat out of an ash tray once, and he tried bee larva. However, China made him nervous, and I can tell by the food he ate. Instant ramen, and McD's. 

So, after that, Saga was left alone, after talking to the announcer. He sat on a stool, and looked out towards us. I would say 70-80 fans showed up. A little more than Nao's event, and less than I expected. 

So, he was sitting and staring at us, how a teacher is left to lecture a class, and he just jumped right into it. He pointed out all his bass guitars, which are ESP brand. Three on his left and three on his right. He pointed out his main guitar, which has the worn down sticker. He explained why the sticker looks like that, and it was from the years of playing and rubbing his arm on it. Later, a fan asked him this through the forms that we could have filled out, and he mentioned it was just from the years of playing. 

He talked about his main guitar the most, and said that he uses it for most songs, while the white bass guitar he has, is mostly used for softer songs and ballads. He has two red, and one white bass guitar, the second red guitar, without the sticker, he called it his substitute guitar.

He did talk about the guitars to his right, our left, that those were only used incase of major problems that happen. 

I can't rewrite all that he talked about, because my memory isn't that great. Though, I felt like I should have taken notes, because I felt like I was taking a music class with him and all Saga fans. xD

He started off talking about how he got into playing the bass. He mentioned he knew nothing about the bass. "Seriously, I don't know!" And rubbed the fret and neck of his guitar randomly, and he mentioned that. He would just play random chords and notes to make sound. He was not really into it, until years later, and I would say about 10 years ago.(I can be wrong that he may have said that)

He talked about how and why he has his guitar rested at a certain length, and how long he has his strap. And he showed the two different examples of both extremes. He shoved his guitar up to his chest, and everyone giggled at how awkward it was, and he simply just said it wasn't cool to him. He did say it was simple to play, but he doesn't like it.

He also had his guitar down past his knees and said he liked this the most, but he can't perform with it that low. So what he does is he measures the length with one inch of his forearm, and rests the body against that, allowing his wrist to strum and pick at the strings freely. 

He went over the strings and chords, and this is where I felt like I was in music class, talked about D major, and B, and explained with examples, with playing a few songs. But he ended up forgetting a song that uses B, and he sat there staring at the ceiling trying to remember, which left us all silent, and him just saying, 

"Crap! I forgot." And he said, "Well, let's move on." And he moved onto his next topic. 

He went over chords and different songs that used those chords. He played Kaisen Zenya, and talked about the bassline and he played the into of The Gazette's song Agony, to also use as a example to his point and topic of basslines. 

He did talk about a lot of detail topics and he was really good about keeping a flow onto the next topic. Like, he went from fingering, to picking and using his fingers to pick. He was really good at this. I could tell he was prepared to talk about himself, his bass, and what he does. 

There was a corner section after he talked about all that he wanted to say, and he started answering some fans question. 

One fan asked him to make his favourite pose, or a pose he thinks his cool, and please explain why. 

"BAKA!" Everyone laughed, but he got up and he made a random pose, having his left arm in front of his face, and legs spread apart. He said that would be cool to do it for the Shooting Star PV, and that all the girls would fall in love with him over it. xD He even did a voice of a female fan who was fawning over "Saga-Sama", and he just does what he can to look cool in the music videos. 

One fan asked him, out of Alice Nine's songs, which is his favourite bassline, and which bassline does he hate or is hard for him. 

He couldn't think of any that he liked, and that he doesn't like difficult songs, but he did end up saying he like RAINBOWS bassline, and said it was simple for him.  (I love the bassline of Rainbows so I squeaked on the inside and was happy he said that)

"You know, because I'm an idiot(I can't remember difficult songs)"

I liked this question.

"How do you practice and how often do you practice and what is your method?" 

He stood there and said, "Practicing is boring, and I usually don't want to practice." Which I totally relate with. "But I hold my bass guitar when I'm watching TV," and he explained that it helps him keep his fingers familiar with fingering and he was will just finger and just do that for while. 

He got a lot of really good questions from fans, but I can't remember them all. 

He was asked what he calls his guitars. Ex. Wife or love?

He said he doesn't call them his wife, but "Tomodachi", and he numbered them off.

"Friend number one, and two..." That got us laughing as well. 

He went on talking about tuning, and he pointed out that his guitar has a lever on the back that he can pull on, and he usually thinks retuning is a pain in the ass, so he just keeps the lever at a certain position. And he will freak out if he sees that he pulled on the lever on accident or he sees it came down from its position. He will just get anxious during the live and think, "what should I do, what should I do!?" but he does do most of his tuning on his own. Because the guy that is supposed to help Saga, ends up helping Tora the most.

But he did give the main message that it's all part of the job, and that he makes mistakes, and he's not perfect. He didn't say that, but that's the vibe I got from him. He was just explaining that he's not really professional. I got a positive message from this lecture. 

And as soon as he was told that his time was up he stood on stage looked at us and said, 

"And that's it!" 

Again, as much I'm not interested in bass guitars, I did walk away inspired to keep trying and keep practicing the guitar. Because Saga made it come off that he still doesn't know what he's doing, and that's part of his job. He's the idiot but genius of this band, and he made all of us comfortable and explained to us using easy to understand language, along with showing us examples. 

He played two songs. 

Shining and Kaisen Zenya

If Saga did another lecture on music, I would go in a heart beat. 

And not to mention he's a very entertaining teacher, AND you walk away with actually learning something. 

This is why I call him Saga-Sensei. ^^b 

And I think I'll call him that from now on. 

If you have any other questions, please comment below.

-Nihongochick2

Alice in Museum: Nao x VOCALOID

 So, let me just remind you again, I am Nao biased, and for me, this was the main event I wanted to see. I apologise if I go off talking about something that isn't entirely related the the event, but it will be related to Nao.

Okay, on with it then.

I was not prepared at all for this. I brought my heels, incase I ended up far away and I couldn't see, but with my number, (as you can see) I got pretty damn close. Which means I couldn't hear for a good couple of hours. It also means Nao isn't the most popular member in the group, but I am okay with this. Out of all the events, Nao's event had a nice comfortable group of fans. It was big enough that he wasn't talking to all of us, but small enough that most people could see.

So, we lined up at 12, and were let in my small groups. Again, not many people showed up, witch is good for Nao fans, and a little sad I guess for Nao.
I was able to stand behind to girls who were right in front of his bass drum.
How it  was set up was that Nao's drum set was in the middle of the room. So no one sitting, and Nao was going to be in the middle of us. I don't know how many people were there, I would say possibly 50-60 fans were there for Nao. But I feel like I'm being generous hehe
There was the same guy who introduced the members and also informed us on what will be happen during the event. Many times, he warned us that it will get loud, and that we should step back a little. I was like, "Meh, whatever, I can't hear anyways." hahaha mistake

So, it started late.
It wouldn't be a Nao event if it started on time, so we were all aware of this.
He was announced, and he came out wearing the costume you all saw yesterday. He was coplaying a Vocaloid character, that I don't know because I don't pay attention to Volcaloid characters. I know Gackt has one, but that is it. Nao's costume was XL and it still pretty small, and Nao looks super skinny already. So, to me I'm surprised.

So, he came out, got up on a small platform and scream hello to everyone.
"KONNICHWA!" And we all clapped and cheered for him, saying hello back. He picked up the mic and introduced himself and the event. Started talking about what he was going to do, was two covers for vocaloid songs, and a couple of Alice Nine songs.

Vocaloid Song cover (Sorry, I didn't catch the name)
GEMINI FULL VERSION
開戦前夜
Thousand Cherry Blossoms by Hatsune Miku (Nao's version, as he said it himself xD)

So, after explaining what was going to happen, Nao put the mic down, and put his ear pieces in. Buuuuut, there was a problem, and sadly the staff had to help him fix it.
He was like, "what?" and so the staff had to get him a different chord for something to connect with the computers. While he was waiting for that, he picked up the mic again, and said, "Question time!" Shoved the mic into a girls face, and said, "GO!"

Poor girl was taken back and left shaking her head no, that she didn't want to. But he was pretty persistent.
"What's your name?" He asked, and she said her name, and finally made up a question about his drum set. He was happy about it, and went on explaining.

"This is my maple drum set, and it is the first one I got a while ago. The drums are made of maple." He went on explaining the technical parts of it.
"This one is older, and my other drum set is else where. But next year, I'm thinking of getting a new drum set." We all went "Eeee?" in shock, and he started laughing, and nodded his head. "I'm still thinking about it though."

The staff came back and he was able to start drumming.
Before he did, he looked at the girls in front of me and pointed out the big cymbals, and told us "these are loud, so please be careful." They, and myself, nodded our heads in agreement and he went on.

He was so cool. I was in heaven. I couldn't believe I was standing so close and watching him drum. I didn't know what to do with myself. I stood as still as I could, but after seeing a few fans moving their heads to the music, so did I.
Just the way he was drumming, and how much he was concentrating made him look so much cooler. Even with the fact he was cosplaying as a character, he was so cool. There was one male fan there too, and he was also just as excited and impressed with Nao.

As cute and happy looking, Nao be in PVs and photo shoots, and every where else, he is just so amazing. The concentration, and the way he moved. So fluid and well rehearsed. I want to say he really knows the ins and outs of his drum set, and his style. He knows what he's doing. Which makes him even more professional. But I was looking at his face, because I'm creepy, and he did look angry. But I do that too when I'm concentrating on something, or trying to focus on listening to someone. It's not that I'm mad, I'm just focused on what is happening. And for me, I understood what he meant by that, when he told us. "I may look angry when I'm drumming, but I'm not mad." It's hard to explain or even reassure people when I tell them that, but yeah. I get it. It's just how our face muscles react and tense up.

So, Gemini.
Dear god, I love this man. I want to hug him, he made my day. The full three songs of GEMINI!!!
You have no idea how much I wanted to hear it live, and when it was shortened at the All Girl's Live, I felt like it was them just cheating.
And I think Nao was also trying to make a point. Because at the All Girls Live, Shou asked Nao, "Do you remember this song?" (Like can you play it?) and Nao did look a little insulted that Shou asked that, because he nodded his head and said "yeah!" (like of course I do!)

So, this was him proving it, and he proved it well. He not only played it, he sang Shou's high solo part too. Again, this man is just love and awesomeness in one cute Japanese man package. We were all impressed, but he didn't stop. After Gemini he went straight into Kaisen Zenya, and rocked that out too. We were all bobbing our heads and just watching him sweat and pound on the drums and rock out.
This is one of the many things I love about this man. He is so cool, and I just died watching him play. I can't say too much, or I'll get into trouble with other Nao fans hahaha ^.~
But yes, we were all cheering and applauding his skills and that fact he went non stop on these 4 songs.

"It's hot!" and he started wiping his face with his hand towel and he was panting and tired. But he did go. You go man! You did good!
Then it was time for questions.
"Any one have questions?" One girl rose her hand and screamed yes.
"Yes? Okay, You!"

"What's your favourite food?" We all started laughing, and Nao started laughing too. Like out of all the questions, it's almost like the colour question xD

"I like eating vegetables, and I went on a vegetable diet, recently." We all went "eeeeeh?" and he nodded his head and laughed.

There were a few fans that asked about his drum sets and his style of drumming, so he was excited about this questions. The one male fan wanted to ask a question, and he tried getting Nao's attention, but Nao didn't hear him. I felt a little sad for him. Because, being the only red headed white girl there, I could have easily grabbed Nao's attention, because he did glance at me, probably wondering if I was going to ask a question. I don't know xD But he did his best to look around for more people with questions.
He did explain why he has his drums set up in a certain way, why it goes from his snare, then small to big. He does that because it's easy for him to move quickly and not have to memorise where his drums are, when it's a straight swift move.
He also covered tapping on his snare drum, along with beats and other drum related styles of drumming. (Sorry, I didn't catch all of this)

After questions, the lights went down, and the Birthday song started playing. A staff member came out holding a cake, and Nao was like, "What? What's going on?"
Looking over seeing the staff member, he started giggling. And we all sang happy birthday to Nao. The candles weren't lit.
"I'm going to eat this backstage by myself!" Everyone started laughing, and cheering. It was a chocolate cake, if you haven't seen the photo of it.

After the Birthday song he did the last song which was Hatsune Miku's Thousand cherry blossoms song, and he commented that he worked hard on this song, turning it into Nao's version.
After he played the last song, he was over his time and needed to end the event, so we can all get ready for Saga's event.
Nao got up on his stool and screamed into the mic, "Thank You!" but he lost his footing, he fell backwards off his seat and landing butt first on the ground, and everyone started screaming, and I couldn't stop laughing. He looked around as everyone was asking him if he was okay, and he grabbed his ankle, and screamed.

"IT HURTS! IT HURTS!"We knew he was okay because he was also laughing, but he looked as shocked as we all did. He definitely looked surprised, and had this look of, "What just happened?", on his face He got himself up from the ground, he walked and got himself up on a solid non-movable stand, and screamed thank you once more.

"ARIGATOUGOZAIMASU!"

We clapped and cheered as he waved at us, and we all waved back. Watching him walk backstage, and we made sure he was okay.

The poor guy, he did a great show though, and he was seriously the high-light of the day.
My love for Nao has been restored for many reasons, and I'll explain why in my report for the Cho Alice9 Channel.
But, Nao just made me so happy. As soon as he walked in, my fears and nerves were gone, and I was so excited to see him.

So, after Nao's event, most fans ran up to the Museum. I got a spot near his side of the large poster, and waited for him. It was a good while, (because I suck at keeping time) before he got up to the museum. 

He walked in, and I was just speechless. I didn't know what to do, I wanted to say his name, but I was just so excited to see him again. A girl called out to him, and waved, and he waved back. I took this chance to wave, and he looked up and saw me and waved back.  *cue the fangirl squeals*

He walked around, and took notice all the displays and event went up to the music racks, and surprised a few fans there. I didn't see it, but I can guess he took a pair of headphones and pretended to rock out the songs.

His last stop was the poster. He went up and was handed a pen. Both staff of Alice Nine and Tower Records wanted to getting pics for their twitter feed. 

However, Nao took a long time figuring out where to put his signature, and started moving his body up and down for a couple of long seconds and just humming out. 

"Uggggggghhhh, here?" The staff was like, anywhere is fine. So he signed on the black, so you can't see it. xD

And then the staff told him he had to date it. 

"It's 2014,....it's the 3rd, right?" 

Staff: "Yeah,"

"And it's August, right?" Nao, you must have a phone or something. He was just being funny. And after each signing, his scarf would fall, and he would dramatically, flip his scarf back, like he was important and what not. It was funny the way he flipped it back, because it was thin and floated back more than flipped. 

He got in front of his face, and posed twice. After the photos were done being taken, he told us to enjoy the museum. More like screamed it. We all cheered and clapped at this, and he started walking out. And that was it. 

I hope he has another event, just him and his fans. I'll be there in a heart beat. 

my next report will be on, Saga-Sensei. 

-Nihongochick2

Alice in Museum Event: Hiroto X Velvet Lounge

So!
Let's get started about the Alice in Museum events, 2014, for their 10th Anniversary.

Let me start with when Shou came up to visit the museum first.

I got to the Museum early for many reasons. One, free AC.  Two, I had a problem I needed to talk to the staff about. While I was waiting in the Museum I was standing against the wall and playing with my phone, when a group of girls screamed out, "Shou-kun!?"
This got me, and everyone around to look up and see Shou walking up to a table full of tour Tees, and he smiled at them and put his hand up in prayer, and in away saying, "pardon me, I'm just looking."
This made a lot of fans scream and flock to him, like lost puppies, and following him around while, he was looking at posters and all the displayed items.
I didn't follow him around, because I wasn't too interested, and I doubt I would have been able to see him very well anyway. I actually started laughing at how stupid the fans were being. So, Shou and his event guest, who was a very well known photographer, were talking and looking at all the posters and fliers. At the end of his visit, he went up the large poster, that was in the entrance of the Museum and signed it. (You all saw the photo's on twitter, and else where)  And everyone clapped and said bye to Shou, and he waved bye and walked out through a secret passage. Which was the Tower Records employees only entrance.

Now, onto Hiroto's event.
Not gonna lie. It was great. It was funny. We all pretty much giggled through out the event. Not because Velvet lounge accessories are funny, but the owner and creator was making fun of Hiroto.

Hiroto connected his computer up to this large screen in the middle of the stage, so we could see what he wanted to show us. As he talked to us, and introduced himself, he mentioned that it had been awhile since he had done another fan event, like the single members event.

"Tadaima!" and everyone shyly responded with, "welcome back!" which made him laugh at how slow and responsive we were to him. And then he called out his guest, who I caught him name as Yuki(?) if anyone knows, please write a comment below.

So, Yuki, the guy who co-owns and creates a lot of the Nine Lable items, came out and greeted us and Hiroto. Hiroto eventually asked him why he was wearing sunglasses, because Hiroto was only wearing his trendy and fashionable black clothes and hat. In which Yuki said,

"Yeah! Well, I can't be like you with your trendy hat and make up, so I wear the sunglasses." Which Hiroto smiled sheepishly. "You weren't wearing make up earlier, and then when it came for you to do your event, you got all dressed up(what's up with that?)."

I'm sure Hiroto had an explanation for it, which I am sorry to say, I forget what he said. But they moved on to talk about the items, because all the events were one hour long. However, Hiroto being Hiroto and loves talking, went on talking about stuff, and it was Yuki who kept reminding him, "Yo, Hiroto, we don't have time. We only have an hour."
But they started off talking about how Hiroto found Velvet lounge, which Aki(SID) introduced the brand to Hiroto.

Yuki's only comments were that Hiroto does buy a lot of stuff from them, and Hiroto loses all of their stuff at lives. Or breaks them. Which made us laugh. Hiroto laughed too, and all the girls screamed out, "Cute!" Hiroto, however, still has the first ring he ever bought from them, which was around $200. And he really takes care of that ring, but he did mention at lives, he will get really pumped up and point his hand out to the crowd, and as he does that, his rings will go flying off into the crowd. Leaving Hiroto feeling guilty and shocked, but laughing all the same.

The first item was "Feeling", and Hiroto and Yuki started talking about. Yuki went into talking about this item, which was nice, and refreshing to hear his opinion. Hiroto wanted him to talk more about it as well. Yuki said that it was fairly difficult because of the way that it functioned.
The silk ribbon and the snake heart pendent, and how it was all meant to have meaning symbolism.
After talking about the ribbons colour, and how they are meant to give off the band's image, Hiroto got up and wanted to go into detail about the snakes head. However, I was lost as to why he wanted to talk about the snakes head, I didn't know how it was going to tie into what Yuki was talking about, and I'm sure Yuki also didn't get where Hiroto was going. I'm sure Yuki knows Hiroto more, and sensed him getting distracted by details.

"Hiroto! We only have an hour!" Hiroto looked at Yuki, and ran back to his computer, from the large TV display, and clicked on the next item. Everyone started laughing and calling Hiroto cute. Hiroto was smiling too, I am guessing he was a little embarrassed that he was going off on tangents. Poor Hiroto, and this goes on for the whole event.

The next item of discussion was "Shooting Star", the ring that was released last year.
I don't know why, but they didn't go into too much detail on this item. Meaning they didn't talk too much about it. Hiroto did talk about it, and how much he did want to make a ring like it.
Yuki madea quick wit comment. haha this man earns my respect.

"You are all about the trends and fashion, Hiroto. This ring proved it to me that you only care about fashion." (that was paraphrased) In meaning, Hiroto wanted to make a cute and trendy ring, that was the reason why it was made. Hiroto and Yuki commented on Shou's hand model-ing, which Yuki made the comment.

"Shou's grinning and proud of this. I saw him back stage and he was grinning a lot over his use in the Velvet lounge advertisement." Hiroto and everyone started laughing. So, Yuki wasn't out to make Hiroto look bad, but targeted Shou too. Then we moved onto the 10th Anniversary items.

The started with the gem bracelets, which I personally love the blue stones and design. It looks like something I would wear. Yuki made comments about the different stones and detailed designs. The stars and other piece. (I didn't catch what he called the other design. Circle, maybe?)
"All these items main shape is stars." Hiroto smiled and nodded his head. Yuki said he didn't really mind it, but it was a lot of stars in all of the items.

Hiroto got from his computer again and pointed to the blue gem bracelet, made from turquoise, and pointed to the black on some of the random pieces and looked at us on amazement.

"Look at how detail Yuki was, and how pretty it is." He was talking about the black patterns, and Yuki starts laughing.

"Hiroto, it's turquoise. That's what it does. I didn't make that." Everyone started laughing as Hiroto went back to his computer. I don't want to think Hiroto is stupid, he isn't. But I think he was just too excited and happy to being talking about his own personal designs and items that he may have forgotten. But let me remind you, Hiroto is the only person I know that also doesn't know Harry Potter. So it's possible that he just simply didn't know.

All the girls started crying out, "CUTE CUTE!" Which Yuki looked out to the crowd and started laughing.

"He's cute isn't he? He's very cute." And started calling Hiroto cute as well. Hiroto stood at his computer and just laughed it off, looking at little focused on clicking on the next image with was the star bracelet. This was more interesting than the gem one, because Yuki was also interested in it. So, he said, "Once again we have the stars as the main design." Which he he said with the feeling of like, as typical of Hiroto to design stars.
Hiroto was proud of all of these items, the  bracelet and the rings, plus the necklaces.

Yuki talked about the red Star on the bracelet and asked Hiroto why it was red. And at one point it was pink, but Hiroto didn't like it, and turned it red. And Yuki pointed out something that I didn't notice which was that it's adjustable, and you can make the bracelet fit your wrist. Which I, along with everyone else, was happy to learn about. I think it's a cool feature to add, since I know not everyone is the same size.

The next item was the "Shinning" necklace, which is the cross pendent and moon with stars. Hiroto does love crosses and moon with stars. And Yuki said this was the most detailed and the diamond in the middle was another detail that he thought added to the piece.

Someone mentioned that when the items were shown to all the members of Alice Nine, Tora couldn't see the stars that are aligned on the sides of the cross. Since it was too narrow and Tora is blind. But, Tora picked it up and thought, cool. This the stars pointed out to him, and Hiroto and everyone was shocked that he couldn't see it. But it shows how small the details are.

They didn't talk about the rings, because it's the same design as the bracelet. Yuki wanted to talk about the Time Machine necklace. I got the hint that Hiroto was very proud and happy with the Shinning necklace, and Yuki was proud of the Time Machine necklace.
Yuki explained that it was to represent the 10 years of Alice Nine and made the clock highlight the 10, and shaped into the moon. And it was also arranged to show 11 and 12, meaning the time will keep going. And Yuki was proud. He had to work on it, and I'm proud from him too.
He said it was the hardest piece he had worked on because of the clock, but he likes it because of how it all ties together for Alice Nine.
I don't know if I didn't catch it, or that maybe  Hiroto wasn't too interested in, but he was just not too into talk about it as much as Yuki was. Don't get me wrong, Hiroto was talking about it, and how it does celebrate Alice Nine's 10 years.

Then, we got on the topic of Shou modeling these items, and how little clothes he was wearing, and the poses he was making. Yuki called them "erotic" and almost pornographic. He said that Hiroto was there during the photoshoot, standing behind the camera man, saying, "good, good!" "That's good Shou, keeping going." Which, in Japanese can also be said during sex. So, Yuki started joking that Hiroto was groaning them out to Shou, and he kept doing it through out the photoshoot.
Hiroto tried explaining himself, but realised he was in trouble.
So, he rolled with it, and he started groaning them out into the mic, I was close to blushing and falling out of my chair. I was laughing and just it was too much for me.
And apparently, Hiroto was saying those things to Shou, and Shou finally looked at Hiroto, and asked him to stop. Everyone was laughing it was too much.

They went back to talking about the necklaces, and finished it up with how they really enjoyed working on them, and then it was Question corner time.
I am sorry to say, but this part I forget most of the questions.

But the question about Shou's posing came up again, and everyone noticed and knew how strange it was for Shou to be shirtless and posing in such ways, for just wearing accessories. Hiroto knew it, Yuki knew it, and they realised the fans noticed too. So, it was talked about for a little bit more.

Finally, after Yuki left the stage, and we all said thank you, Hiroto was left to leave us with announcements for the Anniversary live, and the Museum.
He said that there were some songs on display that you can listen to, but there were only 4, two were SEVEN, twice. So he asked us what we wanted to listen to.
One fan screamed out Yami ni Chiru Sakura. Which got everyone to start laughing.
And he asked for more requests, and I got the courage to ask for Time Machine. And he fucking heard me. I was thinking he wouldn't but after we quieted down, he looked at all of us, and he was like "Time Machine? You guys really want to hear those songs? Then we will work on it." And left us with that.

 

It was over all a good talk, and fairly interesting and entertaining. 

-Nihongochick2

Alice Nine: SHINING SIGNING EVENT

PLEASE DO NOT RE-POST OR STEAL MY PHOTOS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. STEALING AINT COOL YO! IF YOU WISH TO TRANSLATE OR RE-POST, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I WILL BE POSTING THIS ON MY OWN TUMBLR, TWITTER, AND OTHER SOCIAL WEBSITES AROUND. PLEASE AND THANK YOU

* [ ] = my inner thoughts and commentary
* ( ) = translations

 So, I'm gonna skip to the part when the event started. Since you don't really need to know what happened earlier. (I woke up, got dressed, blah blah) But I guess it is good to know that I was wearing Nao's FC shirt to this event, because I had a problem with another shirt, so I was left with Tsuyoshi. Not that I'm complaining but I had another outfit in mind. But the Tsuyoshi shirt does  have a part in my story Okay, now for the good parts. I met up with Ashleigh(Pandomi) and our Japanese friend, and we made it to the event building and go in line for the first hour. Shou and Saga. All three of us got into Shou's line first, because I wasn't too sure what I wanted Saga to sign yet, so I was holding back a bit. Waiting in line, and getting our personal items ready, so we can give them to the staff, tell the staff where we want the members to sign, and just make our way through the line quickly. Won't lie, Shou's line was massive compared to Saga's, which barely had any people in it. [ ugggh, I so regret not going to meet Saga during the first hour] I had my kanji textbook out, which the staff was worried that I was studying and not paying attention to the event. Or so Ashleigh thought.


It's upside down and not on the page I told the staff where I wanted it.

 

So, Shou signed my Kanji Textbook. What happened between the line and after the signing? Well, this is what happened, and I'm now cringing at the moment and how awkward it was. It wasn't my fault, or I don't think it was. We all know that Shou has been practicing and studying English. Me being American, what a great opportunity to help him practice. Since last year at the SHADOWPLAY poster event he tried practicing with me, but I just completely wasn't prepared or ready, let alone told he was going to speak English. So, I walked in seeing Staff fuss over the textbook [ I didn't know why, but later I figure it out] and Shou is starting to sign. "Hello", I said expecting him to look up and just smile and try responding in simple English. Yeah, that didn't happen. Shou froze and stared at my book like a deer caught in the headlights look. "ugh,....konnichiwa" as he started handing my book back to me. Wow. Just wow. Okay, so I switched over to Japanese. But let me comment here. I seriously thought I broke him. Who knew a simple English greeting would break the "Prince Charming" of Alice Nine. And for that, I'm sorry. But, if there is a next time that I get to meet him, and I speak Japanese and he speaks English I am going to get frustrated. I'll just tell him. "NO! NO! NIHONGO DE!" (Speak in Japanese)

Some of you are probably sitting at your computers going, "Awe, poor Shou-kun, he's so cute", or thinking, "awe, I want him to get a little flustered when I speak English to him". As someone who deals with this a lot, trust me, it gets old very very very quickly! >.<

After the moment of awkwardness, I told him "I like the new single, and I love Kurayami", which he then started smiling in relief that I may be speaking Japanese to him, but he was smiling and he said thank you. "Kurayami!" and gave me a thumbs up. I gave him a thumbs up back, and walked out. I am sorry, he may be "Prince Charming", but he is awkward as fuuuuuucccck  >.<

The next person for me was, *drum roll* NAO-CHAN!!! So, this wasn't actually my own personal item, but I asked Ashleigh if it was okay that I helped her get a CD signed for her. She allowed me, and so I was getting a CD jacket signed. As the two of us got in line, and Ashleigh's Japanese friend went off to meet with another friend, we both waited in Nao's line. I was more nervous meeting Shou, than I was for Nao. And the whole time I was trying to keep calm and breath, and tying to figure out what to say. Ashleigh, and many of my friend's advice was, "tell him you love him." And every time they told me that, I would cringe on the inside at how stupid that sounded. To me in English, the "L" word isn't something you say simply to the person you like or admire, right? I know to Nao, he doesn't care, but to me I do, and trust me, this didn't quite work out the way I thought. Ashleigh went first, saying she'll tell him that I'm coming in after her. I saw her saying it, but she added more than she told me. "She's your number 1 fan, and she's coming after me." Nao smiled and looked at Ashleigh and whispered, "待ちます" (I'll be waiting).

So, I handed the CD jacket to the staff and waited my turn. I watched Ashleigh and Nao talk actually, they made me wait inside the cubical area, which is kind of weird since I thought we were meant to allow fans some privacy to the member. And as soon as it was my turn, I said hello in Japanese, and he said hello back in Japanese and asked me where I wanted him to sign it. Seriously, I had nothing to say, I drew a blank of what to say, I wanted to say I like the new single, and I believe I actually did say that, since he said thank you in Japanese. But, then I took a gulp and said, "I love You", at that moment I cringed inside and seriously wanted slap myself for saying that.

[Why would you say that? What is going through your head? Just why?]

Nao's answer to my "confession" was, "サンキュー"(slang and informal way of saying, Thanks) without even looking up. Which trust me, did exactly what I wanted to do to myself, and slap my face.

It's whatever, and I'm trying really hard not to over think it. So, I'll move on. After he was done signing he looked up finally and with both hands handed the jacket back, and smiled his cute smile, and started talking about the new album. He said that there will be something really exciting coming out with the album, so please look forward to it." Just so happy and over joyed that he was looking at me, I smiled stupidly and nodded my head, and responded back saying, "yes, I can't wait." Which he then said thanks and waved me good bye.

 I walked out and was about to run to catch up with Ashleigh so I could tell her what happened, but I was just smiling like a girl in love. xD I'm so helpless.

And the while I got in line to meet Hiroto next, I just couldn't stop smiling. No, I didn't cry and I personally don't think I will, because I'm too happy to cry. It's like my heart has been released from a cage, and I'm allowed freedom finally. I have met him once, and I have no regrets, except for the love confession bit. It was a long wait to meet Hiroto, so Ashleigh and I spent the whole time talk and making our ways through the line. Ashleigh went first, and she was getting her トレカalbum(trading card album) signed, and it's mostly of Hiroto. I understand how she was nervous showing him that, because she has a lot of his cards, as for me, I have a small collection compared to hers, but I still have a few cards of Nao, and it's still growing. He was really happy to look through it, and in fact most of the members took their time to look through the personal items that fans brought in.

Again, I was waiting near by, and was able to watch Hiroto look through my friend's album and it was really cute to see him be in awe over it. He looked through each page and made comments on certain cards that he noticed. So I was getting my one and only red electric Squire Fender guitar signed by Hiroto and Tora. And what does Hiroto have in his lap, his own guitar xD hahaha I thought it was weird, and Ashleigh was like, "But he doesn't feel comfortable without a guitar with him." Okay, I did question it, but we'll move forward. I still found it weird. So, I told the staff where I want it signed, on the white pick guard, and please be careful with handling it. The staff asked me something, and I just told them, just be careful but it's okay. The Staff placed my guitar gently in front of Hiroto and he was just in awe.

"Oh!" He reacted and his eyes looked like they lit up with excitement. I was so happy to see him smile and get excited from seeing a guitar. He asked me where I wanted it signed. "ここに” ("Here" *pointed to the white part*) "白？"( "the white?" *Hiroto pointed at my guitar*) I nodded my head and asked him please do. He smiled and was still in awe with my guitar, and he was starting to ask me questions that flew over my head and I tried my best to keep up. This is what I expected him to do. I expected him to sign it, and then hand it back to me. Nope. He took his own guitar off his lap, and my thinking was maybe he doesn't want them to hit each other. He handed his guitar over, which a staff member took hold of his newer white guitar, and he picked up my red guitar and started playing.

Me: "あれ？" ("huh?" *standing in shock and actually getting a little possessive of my guitar*) And I was thinking, "No! It's not in tune!", but I was in too much shock to tell him that. He continued to play with my guitar and even started stroking it. o.0

"いいですか？" ("is it okay?" *Hiroto nods his head*) "本当？" ("Really?" )
 Hiroto: ”いいよ” ("it's fine" Hiroto started strumming and picking at my guitar again) He really liked my guitar, and was so happy to sign it. Again he asked me a question that I couldn't get, and I answered, "ちょっと..."(depending on how you read the moment, it can mean a little, or "sort of...no") which made Hiroto and all the staff laugh. Which, I have to say, I'm okay with looking stupid at that moment, as long as it got me out of there. But, I did want to stand and keep talking to him, and engage in conversation over my guitar, but I knew there was a lot of fans waiting. But Hiroto didn't care, he gave every single fan more than plenty of time to talk. So, not only did I get Hiroto to sign my guitar, but he played my guitar too. But then again, it's like giving a chocoholic chocolate. Duh they're gonna love it. xD

 Next was Tora. And after making my way through the line, Ashleigh went first, and I was after her. I handed my guitar over, and the staff started complimenting my guitar. "it's really pretty", I was like okay thanks, but I want him to sign here. The staff understood and handing it over and placed in front of Tora. I shit you not, Tora was just as excited to get my guitar as Hiroto was. "Wow, what a nice guitar!" He was seriously checking out my guitar.

 [^////^ I feel like maybe I was pimping off my guitar to these guys. ]

 And was just looking it over, and noticed how clean it was, and how nice it looked, or where he was going to sign. He didn't know that it was my guitar yet, but I could tell he wanted my guitar. He seriously wanted to meet the person who owned this guitar. Much to his amusement, amazement, or disappointment, I walk up to him and say "こんにちは" (Hello). He looked at me with a smile and said hi back.

[that's a first for me, he always says, いつもありがとう(thanks always) as a greeting. I really should know better next time. I was getting guitarists to sign my guitar, but didn't think they would start drooling over it.]

 Besides, what my mom told me when she gave me this guitar that a Squire is the perfect beginners level electric guitar, what is so damn special about this guitar? It's known as a low quality guitar. I don't get it.

[ It's not that great of guitar let me just put it that way ]

 Anyway, Tora looked at me like, "please explain your guitar to me." Me? Yeah, totally didn't want to tell him because I knew I didn't have much time. I'll try next time, but there were a lot of fans outside. So, he asked me where I wanted him to sign it, and I pointed to the corner [ please look at Picture for reference*] and said, "here". He pointed too, and I said, "yes please." He then responded with, "オッケー" (cute way for Japanese kids to say, "okay") and started signing. I then started telling him that I like the new single, which he stopped looked at me and with a smug smile and said "ありがとう" ("thanks"), and looked down to finish signing. After he was done, I hurried to tell him that I look forward to the upcoming lives. He then said, "では待った"("until then I'll be waiting"), and we both waved bye.

 [xD Just a thought, maybe he was trying to pick me up and be like, "I like you, let's date!" I'm kidding, but it's rare for Tora to treat non-Tora fans fondly. I don't know, the truth was that Tora was in a really good mood that day, so let's take that as the reason he was being nice to me ^.~b JOKES! I LIKE JOKES PLEASE DON'T KILL ME]

 Nao: Part 2 This was going to be my second time meeting Nao, and have him sign something for me.



[ Hopefully all Tora fans will know that I like Nao, and will not make a move on your boy >.< I promise]

 I stood in line, and despite Nao's line being short, it took a long time to get through, because the members were giving everyone plenty of time, except for Shou. Sadly, he had too many fans, that they were pushed through. And as I got to the front of the line, I showed the staff my トレカアルバム(Trading Card Album), and pointed to where I wanted it signed. The woman understood and handed it over to another staff woman. I was nervous, of course! >.< Afraid what he would think of my small collection. I watched Nao talk to a girl who asked him to sign his name in "romanji" (ex. Nao) and then to do his regular signature. He was happy to please her, and grant her wish. He was so cute and attractive, I seriously have no idea how I was able to survive the next 30-60 seconds with him, but I did. I feel like it was longer than that, but still not long enough. He waved the girl good bye, and the staff gave him my album, and he picked up and was like, "oh! Wow, so cool."(in Japanese). He was flipping through the first page and that's when I walked up to him. "ただいま" (I'm back). He looked up at me, and was shocked even more.

"おお、二回帰りました" (You're coming back for a second time) and like a kid he looked down at my album and back up at me, and smiled.

"すごい、すごい！”　
"GOOD!" Yeah, he broke out his Engrish, and started saying, "Good", "wondafaru". And he was pretty pleased with it. I seriously couldn't answer I was laughing too much. He was just so cute and too much.

[Pause* by this time, I got a little hot, so I unzipped my hooded jacket, which does show off my Tsuyoshi Tee]

 He looked through it, and was just so amazed, and I said, "seriously, I like you." in Japanese. He may or may not have caught that, since it did softly say it and was cut off a bit, but it's fine. I seriously don't care. He kept looking through all my trading cards and stickers of Tsuyoshi, he even flipped very quickly through Tora's page. I did gasp when that happened, but he then closed it back to the front page, and got ready to sign it. He asked me where to sign it, and I said there, on the inside front cover. And I was about to say something else, but he kept telling me over and over again, "GOOD", "VERY GOOD" xD hahaha And when he was done signing, he stopped and had this look of, "I thought I saw something", and went back to look at the page with my three Tora cards. He looked at them, and then back at me. I then, over dramatically like the drama queen I am, stepped back and covered my eyes and yelled out. "ああ、だめですね！恥ずかしい！" (Aa!, not good. This is embarrassing!") Which, I could hear him say,

"いや、いいよ!"( "No, it's fine.").

 I started laughing smiling and he smiled back at me and gave me this really kind and gentle look. He looked happy to see me again, and then he saw me off, buy waving bye, and I did the same. I personally feel like that was a lot better than the first time. Even though I did break out my over dramatic acting skills, but it was a lot more fun than the first time. I have no idea what his expression was when I covered my eyes, but I'm sure he was amused, that I just started doing that. I am now laughing at my stupidity. Wow. hahaha

 Last, but not least, Saga. Saga was the last, and definitely the quickest. I had him sign my guitar. It took a long time for him to come out for the last hour run through, and I was being pushed out. He was tired and I could tell he was still doing his best. I feel bad that I waited so long to meet him, and so I told him, I like the new single and I am going to the all Girls live. He said thank you, and told me, "待っている"("I'm waiting") and I was pushed out and my guitar was shoved into my hands. And that was it.

  The end. It was a lot of fun, and trust me, I may have made it more interesting for Nao and Hiroto xD hahahaha I do want to meet Nao again. But if this would be my last chance and time to meet him, I have no regrets. xD hahaha not even my oscar winning performance. Gee, I'm so weird. Even Ashleigh mentioned that. "He's probably really happy to have really interesting fans." And that's putting it lightly. Okay, I've written a lot, and I have homework. I hope you liked my re-telling/ report on the event.

-Nihongochick2

On the Eve of War: Alice Nine's Valentine Day Live (Before Supernova was released)

Do I go to a lot of lives?

Yes, and yet, it's not enough.

 I really deeply wish I can go to the All Girls Live in April. I would love to celebrate my B-Day with the Alice Men. I don't care if Nao throws his drum stick at me or not, or doesn't even see me. I just want to go and enjoy the day with them.
I want to see them and want them as my B-day gift. <3 ( Just like last year)

But I guess I'm asking for too much, since they were my Valentine this year. I didn't give any chocolates, since a certain someone keeps telling me that I'm not allowed to. >.>

Not mentioning any names, but yeah. The live was great! Not only did they perform all the new songs, except for Shooting Star, they also played old songs too.

 Jewels was one of them, and I was really happy that I stood on Tora's side this time. I usually stood on Hiroto's side because of Ashleigh. However, since I was kind of on my own, I decided to stand on Tora and Saga's side since I have been wanting to watch Tora and Saga. They were amazing. Tora is so easy to get a reaction from. xD

If you smile, he smiles and laughs and starts getting excited, which means he runs around in circles on his side of the stage and head bangs like crazy. It's great! Maybe he's only like that on his side, because he knows his fans are on that side. The new album is a mix of dubstep and techno which I really don't like when it's mixed with rock, but Alice Nine pulled it off. ^^ I think when The Gazette did that, it came off too much. I don't know, I don't like metal and techno mixed together. It's like mixing too much of a good thing into a bad. xP

 I really liked one song, but I don't remember it's name :( So, I have to wait until the album comes out to find it again. And that's it. ^^ I know I didn't go into detail, but there wasn't anything new except for the songs, and for me to talk about songs I've only heard once, is hard to explain. just wait for the new album, I believe it will be really good, and everyone will love it!

-Nihongochick2

Alice Nine's Christmas Live: 2013-25-12

So, I don't have too many photo's to show or prove of my lovely night I spent with Ashleigh. But, you have to trust me, that the Christmas live was an awesome way to spend the holiday season. Since I thought, and knew, I was going to be doing nothing on Christmas this year away from my Family. I wanted to do something, and I wanted to go to. I'm horrible at memorizing set list order, so please bare with me.

 They had the same set list for Heaven's Door tour. (Probably the boys are too tired, from recording and making music, to try and mix it up every single live) With the exception of one or two songs, being different from the set list before.

Heart of Gold

Rumwolf Give me a second to talk about Rumwolf, because that song left an impression on me. I've always hear it on my iPhone, but to hear it live is totally different. It wasn't until the chorus, that I finally realized that it was Rumwolf. The intro was fun to watch, especially Tora. He just threw his whole body into the intro, and banging his head and then looking up at the crowd on his side, and just looked like he was having so much fun. It was amazing, and I don't really think I'll forget how Tora just put everything into performing this live. He's always given 100%, but this time, he was putting 150% Everyone was performing amazingly this time. They seemed really happy excited to perform in front of everyone. During one of the songs, Saga was moving up to the front and Tora was stepping back. Both obviously wasn't too aware of how close they were. So, they obviously bumped into each other. They both looked at each other, and just laughed it off, and even turned their guitars into guns and started shooting at each other (oh boys~). Hiroto has a somewhat new habit? During the fist pumping of some songs, he likes to bounce his leg, and that leg can go up and up. He's made out of rubber or something. Shou of course, was doing great with performing and singing all these great songs. They did perform a few more songs from GEMINI, but I am terribly sorry to forget one of the songs.

 Next was 閃光 Always a good song to get your blood pumping, and your fist while screaming, "Hey" or "What" at the stage. My personal favorite, or one of my new favorite song from this year was SHADOWPLAY I adore and despise this song. I love it,  but when it comes to singing it at Karaoke, I just get my tongue twisted into a knot. But that's why I'm learning Japanese, so I am can understand Anime without the subs, read the original manga, and sing Alice Nine songs. Shadowplay has this part, where Shou ends the section before a moment break with instruments. 伝えたいんだ, which is one, out of three that I've been working on nailing. I would think that would be the easier part, but rapping in himitsu is easier than trying to say those three phrases in Shadowplay. I ramble though, and what I want to say is that I fucking nailed it during the live. I take pride that I can sing a good handful of songs at these lives.

 KING&QUEEN Another song from the album, GEMINI, and it was a lot of fun. I remember the interviews, that were translated into English by the lovely alicerainbows, about this song. How they wanted Tora to write a dance metal song. And it is a song that you can dance to, and just pump your fist like their is no tomorrow. It was amazing. The members this time were performing like normal, and I have noticed that some songs, that they haven't played in a while, they tend to stay in one spot and focus on playing the song, because it's been awhile for them to play it without making mistakes. Everyone stars yelling "COME ON COME ON COME ON!" and pulling their towels off from around their necks to start waving it around like crazy. Shou pulled out his towel, and keeps the fans screaming the phrase, "COME ON!" until it was time to start AFFECTION I love this song live. It's so much fun, and it gives me a chance to swing a towel around in the air. How often do you get to do that, without being judged by a random family member that catches you doing it? Not very often enough.

Scarlet Scarlet is a song that a lot of fans still don't know how to react or move to. Me, being American and growing up with a lot of modern western dances, I just let my hips and body move with the song. I noticed that my friend Ashleigh was doing the same. There is no right or wrong. I mean, Saga and Hiroto head bang to this song, and the fans don't. So, it's one of those songs that allows freedom to move the way you wish. I move my hips and bounce my head with the bass and drums. However, I am guessing that the Japanese fans don't want to do that, so they all were just standing and watching the members perform. I love this song, and I can't help but just move to it. It is a very sexy song, and I just get excited when I hear it. (Yes, I totally just wrote, excited)

 虹の雪 Ugh, so this can be described with one feature. Tears. I can't help but be touched by this song. It takes a lot for me to cry, and trust me, I was too happy to be at this live to just start crying. I, however, have been dealing with a shit year, and this song and Waterfall has been helping me feel better. Listening to Shou sing this song is great, and they did great lighting effects. The lights faded from purple and blue to just blue, and at the climax, a bright white light was shined on Shou and only Shou. It was very beautiful how it was all set up.

 birth in the death Hello World I must talk about this song. Saga changed some of the words to the poem at the very end, and started talking about Alice Nine, and spoke about the 9th and 10th Anniversary. He said that all of us, the fans included, will go on for 10, 20, 30, even 40 years as a band, and will continue on. I was the only one screaming and getting excited by Saga's words. He just made me so happy that they plan on being grandpas, and still be in Alice Nine. Alice in Nursing Home! xD joke, I'm kidding. But, Alice Nine has taken me without me knowing, for 5 years. This is my 5th Anniversary as an Alice Nine fan, and I can't believe how long I have been in love with these men and their art. I owe them so much, because they have helped me so much these past 5 years, and continue to help me to this very day.

  Daybreak 

Le Grand Bleu 

開戦前夜 Let me comment. This new song live, is just *keyboard smash* amazing, and even my other friend, who has been a fan for as long as Alice Nine has been a band, said she likes where Alice Nine is going and loves all the new songs. I liked this song when I first heard it one NicoNico, but Exist has grown on me more now.

The Arc G3

-MC- (This MC was nice, but I have to say the MC in Osaka was funnier) All the members came out. Shou was saying that the manager bought them Santa hats, but they were too small, so Shou gave them away to random lucky fans, who were in the front, because the hats were light weight and didn't fly very far when thrown. Shou gave the last hat to Hiroto, since he has a great arm in throwing stuff, and asked him to do it. Hiroto rolled it up, but of course used it to collect Shou's sweat, and then threw it pretty far. Made it to the far second and third row. Shou started talking about Chirstmas, and they all started singing "Silent Night" in Japanese. Ashleigh and I didn't know the Japanese lyrics, so we sang it in English. xD After that, they performed Merry Christmas to U, and Ashleigh was in tears. I let her explain her feeling on this song, and for me, it made me feel at home. This song didn't make me miss my family, or my Mom. This song made me feel like my mom is still here with me, and I could feel the love. It's cheesy and catchy and reminds me a Hallmark's Christmas chick-flick xD After they performed the song, Shou started talking about Christmas and the song. This time around, Shou and Saga kept talking, to the point that Tora and Hiroto just sat down. I couldn't help but notice Tora though. He is so used to talking, that he looked bored and excluded from the MC, since it was really a few minutes before they got to him. I believe someone has already translated the MC, so I won't repeat.

  Exist 

華 

すべてへ

 And that was the whole live. After the live, there were announcements, and we all know. New single: SHINING New Album: Supernova Alice Nine is keeping up with the beautiful fantasy of stars and the galaxy. Wouldn't be surprised if their new look is them dressed as Aliens xD (Which Tora made a comment about that during one of the MC's. He called Hiroto green or something, saying his skin was green and he was a 宇宙人 [うちゅうじん] (Space Alien) but I don't know if that completely connected. )

 One last thing. Shou stopped in between songs, and stared at Ashleigh, myself, and another group of foreigners in the crowd. There was a girl from Spain, two kids from Finland or Norway(I am so sorry, I don't remember and I couldn't hear it when they told me :( please forgive me) and he was looking at all of us, and was telling us that he was happy that we were there with them. He was thanking us for being their fans, and Alice Nine is happy to have fans all over the world.

One day, Alice Nine will have a world tour. This is something that I hope happens. I understand that all of you can't travel to Japan, and the frustration of being stuck and reading live reports like mine, is the only thing you guys have. I am sorry that my reports aren't so great, but I do my best to share my stories, and hope that you guys feel like you are included with my adventures.

I want all ALICE NINE FANS to have the chance to see them live, and to experience how much fun their lives are. I have been to a few concerts in my time( a short time, but I have been to a few) and Alice Nine is the most entertaining and the most fun I've been to so far. <3

 And that's it! That is my live report. :) Hope you enjoyed it. Let's go forward my fellow Number Sixes! Let's be Number Six for 20, 30, 40 years!!!!

-Nihongochick2

Alice Nine Halloween Live: 2013-10-19

Okay, as promised, I am writing a report on Alice Nine's Halloween Live.  Not meaning to sound rude or harsh, but if I'm sharing my things, I expect people to respect me and my stuff. I'm trying to do something nice, please be nice back. So, I ask that if you are going to re-post this live report, PLEASE CREDIT ME!!! Okay, now that that is out of the way, let's start with the live report. So my day started early, around 6-ish. Got up, did my hair and make up, and went to my Japanese Art history class field trip.(School first, play later) A little after 12, I got on a train(5 min ride away from Shibuya, where the live was taking place). A lot of things worked in my favor today. Met up with Ashleigh and another friend, Chi-yow, and walked over to the live venue. We got there a little late, since there was a good long line already forming.

 

There were only 4 items made for this live, but we soon found out that they were still selling old goods from previous lives. So, god damn, that ruins your "Goods" list. Well, I stuck to mine, and got three Halloween goods and two Anniversary packs.

 








The mug was the "trading" item. You bought mugs to try and get the tiny sticker that was inside. So, some girls walked away with three or four mugs. I only got two, one for me, and one for Alison as a late B-day gift. I was lucky to get Tsuyoshi in my mug. So, I didn't need to trade, but girls, and maybe a few guys, were walking around trying to trade stickers. It wasn't as crazy as the anniversary live, but it was fun. (Ashleigh was Alice in wonderland, and Alison wore a gothic outfit to fit with the Halloween theme) Okay, now that we bought goods, waited for more friends to show up. We stood in the windy cold, and decided to eat dinner. While we were doing that, I was talking to a friend and what the set list would be like. I told her it's a Halloween live, it should have dark and heavy songs. For example; Yami ni chiru sakura, or scarlet, or G3 and so on. She agreed, and was getting excited from my thoughts and us looking through Alice Nine's whole discography. We got back to the theater, and more people showed up in costume. I didn't dress up because I've been too busy to worry about a costume, but I did my best to have Halloween themed items.

 

 The live started after 7:30(that is common. Alice Nine is never on time)

The lights dimmed, and some background music started playing. The curtains opened up, revealing the stage and all the instruments on display. Fans started clapping and cheering for the members to come out. First was Nao, and his costume was made of random stuff from a Halloween store. He had back and orange cat ears, and a black tale. He wore a plaid skirt(?) with knee high shorts, along with purple and black striped tights. He was very cute, since he was also waving around a light up pumpkin wand, and wearing his very popular pumpkin glasses. His costume screamed, "Nao-shi!".

 Then Saga came out, everyone cheered, and I'll be honest, I didn't even see who it was, until he went to take his place near the bass. Then I realized, "Saga". He wore the classic Joker outfit, but he called himself, "Bakatono". Tora came out next, and all I could see was his right side of the face, which was skeleton make up. If you have ever seen Hocus Pocus and remember the guy who was singing at the Halloween party, that was half of Tora's face. And he wore a twin tail black coat, very similar to Sebastian from Black Butler. Next was Hiroto, he came center stage, tipped his top hat and bowed deeply to the crowed. He looked exactly like his Vampire cosplay for the Wink Up interview last year, only a little darker. Then Shou came out. He was dressed as a General or high ranking military officer, with dark make up. He was pretty hot actually, and even him waving his cane around made it even better. (Just saying)

 First Song: The Arc This was the best way to start a Halloween live. It was amazing, and everyone really got into it. Not too much fanservice, but a lot of head banging, and this is one of my favorite songs from the album, "9". I always enjoy this song, have even been practicing it at karaoke. I can tell that, either Shou or Saga like this song, because they've been performing it all the lives that I've seen this year. So, it wasn't too surprising that they put it on the list. Yes, lots of hair flying, head banging, and screaming. Tora and Hiroto did their guitar solos together in the center of the stage, it is still interesting to see these guys wearing actual Halloween costumes, and watching Shou dance in a military outfit is just.... (^_^) it's love.

  Rainbows: I don't know what to say personally about this, other than, we all know it. xD It was awesome and amazing to watch, more interaction with the members started with this song. Shou danced around, and Hiroto ran to Tora's side of the stage to play with him. Saga walked away from his platform next to Nao, and started showing off to the crowed, but after the first song, the purple blazer was too hot for Saga, so he took it off and rolled up his sleeves. Yes, he was wearing the green vest. I mean classic joker costume. I love this song, and my friends told me that Shou was singing to Tora, but scared his away by going "Boo" to him, and Shou did a good dramatic lean back(?). It was entertaining to watch.

 Drella: Yes, it's not a Halloween live with out the classic, "Drella". I was so happy. I seriously didn't expect this song. So, yes, I was jumping and screaming as loud as possible. I was singing along with Shou, and just headbanging until my next started to hurt. It was amazing to hear this song live. It really was a bonus to all the good things that happened today. The way they played it was awesome, I think I even heard Shou trying to say, "are you ready..", but he was a little muffled. But it was beautiful that all my favorite songs were being played as this live. This song really captured the essence of dark beauty, and the feeling of a classic Vampire flick(NOT TWILIGHT!!!!) for the Halloween live.

 White Prayer: Not my all time favorite, but I have learned to love this song over the years, and hearing it live is always a pleasure. I enjoy it, and how the members perform the older songs, is always a pleasure for the fans, and the members. It's like we are all going back and re-living the memories. Shou was of course amazing, and everyone jumped and danced along. (Okay bare with me, this is were songs will get mixed and miss placed) There was a short MC with Shou. He commented on all the costumes and how great we looked. He mentioned that there were a lot of Alice's and Anime cosplays. (I will say there were a lot of Little Red Riding Hoods too).

 暁: I feel bad for writing this, but I had trouble remembering the name for this song. It took me longer than it should. I knew the song, but not the title. Fail. Anyway, it was performed with such passion and love, that I have to say was better than when they performed in the PV. That is my opinion, but Shou sang with so much passion with this song, it was almost like, "What, is this the same song?". That's probably why it took my awhile to remember the title. (Back in the days when they cosplayed the characters from that German anime xD Golden years I say)

 Eraser: My friends broke down crying, and so did a lot of Japanese fans. One Tora fan, in front of me, just cried the whole time into her towel. It was such a sweet song to go back on. I just watched the girls in front of me comfort each other, and cry through the whole song. I love this song. It's such a happy song, and it makes you feel lighter and at ease. I know my friend said that they were extremely happy to hear it live. And I know Tora and Shou and the rest of the members were happy, and so many feels were felt that night. xD

Kowloon -Nine Heads Rodeo Show-: Another fast paced and heavy song to get people from sobbing happy to growling out and headbanging in a hurry. But yes, I think many of you can start sensing a good theme and pattern with the choice of songs. (Bet you Saga and Shou just picked songs at random xD trolls). But in all seriousness, Akatsuki was for an anime, fans saw similarities of FF with Eraser, and The Arc's lyrics are that of a girl fighting for her life/ similar to an anime. So, Kowloon is one of those good dark songs that would fit with a Halloween themed live. Simply,... so much headbanging and growling.

 Affection: Come on come on come on! Yeah, this was fun. Shou made us do the towel twirl, and lots of jumping. These lives are a major workout. If you see yourself going to an Alice Nine, be prepared to work out. xD I can't say a whole lot for this song, it was fun.

朱い風車: Just like the Count down live, we did the same thing. We all listen to Tora strum on the acoustic guitar and just like the count down it was played the same way. More funk and guitar based than it's original recording. I really like this version of it. We all held hands and started sing the chorus, however, someone ruined the mood. Saga stopped playing with the rest of the band, but he jumped on Nao's drum set and stool a drum stick. He started bothering Nao, and beating on the drum set. This was a song that was to show Alice Nine's fans unity and the power and beauty of what you saw from the Count Down live DVD. That "feeling", was lost a soon as all the fans started laughing instead of singing. Some were singing, but most were laughing. I couldn't help but laugh, and it really lost the emotion that Shou was aiming for with us singing the chorus. But after Saga stopped being a dork, we got back singing and holding hands. It was great and beautiful feeling, of all Alice Nine fans, Japanese and gaijin, hand in hand, and singing the chorus together. I did get a little emotional, while we were singing together.

Daybreak: We pulled out our lights, and Shou pretty much made us sing the song. He sang most of the harder parts, but made us sing the rest. By the way, the whole song is the hard part. I have trouble singing the song, and so does Ashleigh and she's amazing at singing. I sang the parts that I knew, plus the English "I want nothing else, if only you were here!" part. Yeah, the American can sing the only English in the song. orz Another MC with Shou: He kept mentioning anime cosplayers, and him being otaku, he then talked about Shingeki no Kyojin. He then asked if we wanted to hear the theme song.

The Theme song to Shingeki no Kyojin: Opening theme I guess I don't watch the anime, so I don't know the song. But it did sound really good. I know that Alice Nine is having fun. So I say, listen to the theme song, and imagine Shou singing it. I'll let you guys decide. But a lot of the fans were really excited that they decided to do a cover of the song, and perform it for the live. It made me wish I knew more ;^; I'm not that otaku, I guess.

Senkou 閃光: Awesomeness in one song. It was powerful and awesome, and everyone was just so happy and having fun. All the members where getting pumped and Tora was singing along with Shou and the fans. It was the good feel song that brought me back to Alice Nine, and a song I actually knew.

 闇二散ル桜: YES!!!!! YES on so many levels, YES!!!! This was the song I have been waiting for, and I stood there listening to Tora play with his guitar and slowly start the intro to the song. I was breathing heavily and as soon as the intro started, so did my screaming and constant throwing of the hands. I lost control at this song. I was so pleased and excited for this. Halloween live, yami ni chiru sakura needed to be played damn it. I mean, why wouldn't they? The strobe lights were a mix of light pink and deep red. It was so beautiful to watch, and as Shou got to the climax, he fell down to the ground, on one knee, and we all screamed. I was thinking, "NO! THAT'S NOT THE WHOLE SONG, FINISH IT!" And Shou jumped back up and finished the song. I would have cried, because this song was got me to respect Alice Nine more as a band. This song sold me to Alice Nine. This was 5 years ago, when I finally discovered Alice9, and all I remember seeing them being "girly idols", I wasn't sold. But when I finally heard yami ni chiru sakura, I finally told myself, "Yes, this is it. This song." And that was when I sold myself to the devil and gave up my rights a human to be a fangirl forever. You get what I mean, and this song was performed as the "Another version", from the Niji no Yuki single.

G3:  Another Yes song after the great and wonderful Yami ni chiru sakura. I was over the moon by now, and just having a blast. This song, about half way through, Shou stepped off the stage, and trust me, that was when every started screaming and reaching out to touch him. He didn't get far towards me, because fans and fangirls blocked his way, and was getting grabbed at. He kept singing and turned back towards the stage, but stopped to pay a fan a visit and hit them with one of her costume toys, playfully. I missed the magical moment that Hiroto kissed Tora. I was too busy jumping, head banging, and watching Shou, that I missed it. Apperantly there were sparks. I don't know, but it was really magical.


Encore/MC: I can't translate what they talked about, word for word. But Tora and Hiroto came out first, wearing the devil horned towels and the Tees. They talked about costumes and how visual kei it was. I couldn't catch it all. But eventually got to the point of calling out Nao. Nao comes skipping out, and waving his pumpkin wand. Wearing his favorite pumpkin glasses, he pretty much went on talking to Hiroto and Tora. He explained that he was a cat creature, and a very special cat. (Yes he was ;] ) Tora grabbed Nao's black cat tail, and Nao pretended to be hurt. He then started flirting with Tora, and started getting really close with Tora. Almost rubbing on him. It was a moment for all ToraxNao fans, I was seriously cooing out and screaming inside. <333 The love and lust those two have for each other. Tora: "Hiroto, help me!" Tora did feel really uncomfortable, but he was smiling. (You can't hide your love for Nao.) Hiroto just ignored the two for a second, but turned around to find Nao getting all close and flirty. He started laughing, and caught Nao's attention again. Though, Nao changed the subject to the goods.

Nao: "Hiroto, the Tee is cute"

Hiroto: "Oh, that's great".

Nao explained that he plans on wearing it everyday all year round, he did mention that Halloween everyday through out the year. Hiroto was surprised by this, and asked him if he was serious. Nao being Nao said of course, and added, "I'll wear it everyday without washing it". (I love band tees, but that's a bit extreme Nao) Hiroto finally got asked about his costume, and they asked why he didn't have teeth. He then became "shocked", and brought out his fangs from behind the speaker on his side. He put them on, and showed them off to the audience, which everyone cheered and started going "ooo"

Saga came out and asked about his costume, which I heard a few fans that he was the Joker, and he said, "That's right, I'm the Bakatono". Everyone laughed. Shou started sneaking around behind the drum set and stage, and came up behind Saga. "You're the vocalist Shou". He kept calling Saga, Shou. Shou started talking, but I kept watching Saga and Nao, and Saga took a few gulps from a paper cup. Then he started bleeding, and posed as being dead. Which of course we all started laughing, which distracted Shou and he was talking about. He was like, "What? I didn't say anything funny...*turns to find Saga*

Oh..." It was prop blood that Shou was probably wearing as well.  Nao was offered the same cup by Saga, and he was seriously downing the whole cup. Shou asked Nao what he was drinking, and with a full mouth Nao answered, "Coka cora". Everyone started laughing and watched Nao down more from the cup. Shou pretty much commented that he needs to finish everything in the cup because they're staring the encore soon.


Red Carpet Going On: Do I really need to say more. You all can already guess how awesome this was. Fast, head banging, and Saga walking off stage and playing majority of the song in the audience. Which, once more, fans started rushing hope to get a touch of him. He started down the same isle that I was on, but stopped and just made his way the opposite direction away from me. I got back into jumping and listening to the song, and watching the rest of the members on the stage.Hiroto kept kicking and doing a large stomps with his left leg, which I thought looked funny and cool at the same time. Finally, Saga made it to my side again, and so many fans were jumping and dancing with him. He did start walking down towards me, but he only rushed passed me, doing short and fast side ways skips down the isle. xD I didn't reach for him, I was afraid of hitting him actually, but I did get to see him. I was being pushed by my friends in hopes they could touch them, but I held my ground a bit. I didn't want to be pushed onto him. That would have ruined things completely. I believe fans want the members to come out more, and run around in the crowd. Well, if I had been pushed onto him, it would have been the end of that, and they wouldn't come out again for a while, because the red headed gaijin couldn't control herself. Let's just not go there. Let's have safe fun. :)

Heart of Gold: Another fun song to keep the blood pumping, and me singing along with Shou. My voice was wearing out from all the screaming earlier. But I don't care, I pretty much love the song, and keep singing and jumping alone with everyone else. Tora sang along, and Hiroto sang out the "Keep your heart" part. It was great. None of the members did much service, that I could tell. Last was

春夏秋冬 I screamed once more, and hugged my friend. Next to Yami ni chiru sukura, shunkashuuto is my second favorite song. I felt like I would never hear this song live. I believed that Subete E took it's place. I was so happy, I seriously couldn't contain myself. I screamed and so did my friend. We both wanted to hear this song live, and we seriously enjoyed it the best we could. Hiroto went behind Nao, and kissed him one the cheek, while playing with the fake blood. He put some on Nao, and then on himself. Saga, Tora and Shou stayed in the front and we all enjoyed the night's last song. After the song, which I seriously should have cried that I was hearing it live, but not one tear came out, Shou said a few words and thanked us for coming and make this live amazing and fun. After they left the stage, the lights turned back on and everyone was leaving the theater. After the live, each person who came, got a free cookie. Just one cookie, and it has one of the characters on it. It's by random, so you can imagine some fans stood outside and tried trading.

 

I got Chiko, and my friend Alison got Tsuyoshi. Oh well, I guess my luck is back to normal. I feel bad eating it, but I can see this going bad, and I would hate throwing it away. So, I'll probably just eat it. I hate wasting food. xD And that's it for Alice Nine's first Halloween live. It was fun, it was great. There were tears, laughs and blood. :D I hope that they make it into an annual thing. I love dark and heavy songs, heavy rock and metal are my favorite genres, so for me, this was good. This was my kind of a live. ^_^b

-Nihongochick2