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