[Report] Kansai Johnny's Jr. Spring Special Show 2015 - March 31st - Part 1
>>> Introduction <<<
>>> Part 1 (2) <<<
>>> Talk Parts <<<
>>> Part 2 <<<
>>> Encore <<<
I had started to write a "normal" concert report when I listened to my audio recording of the show once again, remembering how much fun it was and thought "This deserves more than just words."
So I changed my plans and decided that since I have recorded the show and since for once the quality is not too bad compared to my previous attempts, why not share the audios of the songs in addition to writing some personal comments? Hopefully it should be a bit more interesting than just text as well ^^
So, the whole thing is going to be divided into five posts: two for the songs before the talk part, one for the talk part (a skit by Joichiro, Ryûta and Richard, a Kansai Junior themed quizz and the MC), one for the second half of the show and a last post about the curtain calls, the reason why tears were shed and what happened until I left the venue.
By the way, I don't think it can be heard well through the recording but the audience that evening was the best ♥
I think it was the first time I hear such warm and enthusiastic cheers throughout the whole show, which really surprised me in a very good way of course. Like I said in my introduction post, I didn't know it would be Tôma's last stage but this definitely is the kind of thing that made me think "Something special is going on tonight..."
After the opening greetings from Tôma and Kôji, the curtain rose on the lovely stage. It was not that sophisticated but I thought it had a very nice a refreshing atmosphere. On each side was a little balcony with black and white stairs leading to the main stage and an illuminated "Kansai Johnny's Jr." sign above the entrance to the backstage.
The back part of the main stage was lifted and Bunichi, Ryûta, Tôma, Ryûsei, Daigo, Kôji and Ren were standing at the top. They were all wearing the same similar looking shiny costume only with different colors: Ren was pink, Ryûsei red, Daigo orange, Kôji dark blue, Tôma light blue, Ryûta purple and Bunichi yellow. Each of them was holding a white or a pink long piece of cloth that was attached to the front of the lifted part, and Gang Star members were dancing in the front area wearing white suits.
As a Daigo biased fan, the first thing I did was to try to spot him and when I thought I had, I was like "Oh so he is wearing red? I was expecting him to be the orange one..." Which, as I just wrote above, he actually was. But the thing was that Daigo and Ryûsei looked alike SO much. Like when did that happen??? I don't remember they looked alike that much during the MaiJani con in 2013!
I could easily tell who was who from my seat even if it was quite at the back of the venue, but these two: impossible. There were so many moments during the show I thought I was looking at Daigo and nope, it was Ryûsei. And what made it worse is that they were pretty much always together! One of them seriously need to change his haircut, dye his hair or grow much taller than the other x)
Anyway, I absolutely LOVE Happy Happy Lucky You!! (although now it reminds me of that evening and gets me teary-eyed) so it was a very good song to start the show ♪
[Bunichi x Ren]
[Ryûta x Tôma]
These pairings were quite unexpected, especially the first one, but it was nice to see something new! And can I say how much I love Bunichi's singing voice? ♥
[Kôji x Daigo x Ryûsei]
The three boys arrived from the back of the venue on the hanamichi with some of the younger Junior following them. Kôji, Daigo and Ryûsei were each riding, or I should say pushing the front part of a fake motorbike. Butsukacchau yo is A LOT of fun so the boys on stage were all hyper, although it looked like Kôji, Daigo and Ryûsei were having some difficulties to control that heavy looking half-motorbike and dance at the same time x)
The Fresh Junior corner introduced by Joichiro was three songs long: Lady Diamond (For some reasons I don't like listening to that song but love to hear it live), Original Smile and Ashita ni mukatte.
Actually, younger boys were also on stage so it wasn't only the newly entered ones. The seven of them who got introduced in MaiJani were dancing in the center front area of the stage though.
And speaking about the MaiJani fresh boys, Nishimura Ryûsei who had caught my eye with his awkwardness (I mean that in the best way possible!) unfortunately wasn't there that evening...I thought maybe he had left already but I saw he was in the newest episodes of the show, so I guess he had something else only that day. Too bad for me...
The medley was great, the boys were all cute and adorable, I wanted to go on stage to kidnap Michieda Shunsuke and Kawakita Shô, but I was a little tiny bit disappointed the "real" Fresh Junior weren't properly introduced. At least the youngest ones got a spotlight in MaiJani but I would have loved to know more about the older boys who were there as well.
And on a side note, I was very very happy nobody sat down or left to go to the toilet when the Junior corner started. That happened two years ago during the MaiJani con and it made me feel bad for the boys...I don't know, I think it's really rude and it would never cross my mind to do that ^_^;
[Obviously Ryûsei centered :3]
I don't remember when exactly the staging changed but there were now two big movable white stairs and Ryûsei was singing at the top surrounded by Junior like Taisei or Iori.
[Obviously Daigo centered :3]
I had no idea what the dance moves for this song were but who cares, I loved the performance ♥ (Biased? Me?)
I have quickly translated the part when Daigo made Shun and Shô come to the center of the stage to reveal a secret:
[00:41] (Daigo) The first one is Kobuki-kun. What's your secret?
(Shun) My secret is that I believe in Santa Claus.
(Daigo) It's fine to believe in him! Because he does exist!
[00:54] Next is Kawakita-kun. What is your secret?
(Shô) On days like today when I'm performing, I rince my hair twice! By the way, I use Lux's Super Rich!
[01:08] (Daigo) Your hair is really smooth, indeed! I think it's a good thing!
(Shô) I did it yesterday as well!
(Daigo) Really? You're so cute! I want you as my son! (We all do, Daigo, we all do.)
The staging was similar to the one from the MaiJani con with the boys standing/sitting on stage/on the stairs and dancing all together during the chorus. And as I was watching them, I felt like a mother proud of how well her boys have grown in two years ♥ x)
Aaand what a better way to end this first part than with one of my favorite Johnny's song ever ♥
>>> Part 1 (2) <<<
>>> Talk Parts <<<
>>> Part 2 <<<
>>> Encore <<<
I had started to write a "normal" concert report when I listened to my audio recording of the show once again, remembering how much fun it was and thought "This deserves more than just words."
So I changed my plans and decided that since I have recorded the show and since for once the quality is not too bad compared to my previous attempts, why not share the audios of the songs in addition to writing some personal comments? Hopefully it should be a bit more interesting than just text as well ^^
So, the whole thing is going to be divided into five posts: two for the songs before the talk part, one for the talk part (a skit by Joichiro, Ryûta and Richard, a Kansai Junior themed quizz and the MC), one for the second half of the show and a last post about the curtain calls, the reason why tears were shed and what happened until I left the venue.
By the way, I don't think it can be heard well through the recording but the audience that evening was the best ♥
I think it was the first time I hear such warm and enthusiastic cheers throughout the whole show, which really surprised me in a very good way of course. Like I said in my introduction post, I didn't know it would be Tôma's last stage but this definitely is the kind of thing that made me think "Something special is going on tonight..."
After the opening greetings from Tôma and Kôji, the curtain rose on the lovely stage. It was not that sophisticated but I thought it had a very nice a refreshing atmosphere. On each side was a little balcony with black and white stairs leading to the main stage and an illuminated "Kansai Johnny's Jr." sign above the entrance to the backstage.
The back part of the main stage was lifted and Bunichi, Ryûta, Tôma, Ryûsei, Daigo, Kôji and Ren were standing at the top. They were all wearing the same similar looking shiny costume only with different colors: Ren was pink, Ryûsei red, Daigo orange, Kôji dark blue, Tôma light blue, Ryûta purple and Bunichi yellow. Each of them was holding a white or a pink long piece of cloth that was attached to the front of the lifted part, and Gang Star members were dancing in the front area wearing white suits.
As a Daigo biased fan, the first thing I did was to try to spot him and when I thought I had, I was like "Oh so he is wearing red? I was expecting him to be the orange one..." Which, as I just wrote above, he actually was. But the thing was that Daigo and Ryûsei looked alike SO much. Like when did that happen??? I don't remember they looked alike that much during the MaiJani con in 2013!
I could easily tell who was who from my seat even if it was quite at the back of the venue, but these two: impossible. There were so many moments during the show I thought I was looking at Daigo and nope, it was Ryûsei. And what made it worse is that they were pretty much always together! One of them seriously need to change his haircut, dye his hair or grow much taller than the other x)
Anyway, I absolutely LOVE Happy Happy Lucky You!! (although now it reminds me of that evening and gets me teary-eyed) so it was a very good song to start the show ♪
[Bunichi x Ren]
[Ryûta x Tôma]
These pairings were quite unexpected, especially the first one, but it was nice to see something new! And can I say how much I love Bunichi's singing voice? ♥
[Kôji x Daigo x Ryûsei]
The three boys arrived from the back of the venue on the hanamichi with some of the younger Junior following them. Kôji, Daigo and Ryûsei were each riding, or I should say pushing the front part of a fake motorbike. Butsukacchau yo is A LOT of fun so the boys on stage were all hyper, although it looked like Kôji, Daigo and Ryûsei were having some difficulties to control that heavy looking half-motorbike and dance at the same time x)
The Fresh Junior corner introduced by Joichiro was three songs long: Lady Diamond (For some reasons I don't like listening to that song but love to hear it live), Original Smile and Ashita ni mukatte.
Actually, younger boys were also on stage so it wasn't only the newly entered ones. The seven of them who got introduced in MaiJani were dancing in the center front area of the stage though.
And speaking about the MaiJani fresh boys, Nishimura Ryûsei who had caught my eye with his awkwardness (I mean that in the best way possible!) unfortunately wasn't there that evening...I thought maybe he had left already but I saw he was in the newest episodes of the show, so I guess he had something else only that day. Too bad for me...
The medley was great, the boys were all cute and adorable, I wanted to go on stage to kidnap Michieda Shunsuke and Kawakita Shô, but I was a little tiny bit disappointed the "real" Fresh Junior weren't properly introduced. At least the youngest ones got a spotlight in MaiJani but I would have loved to know more about the older boys who were there as well.
And on a side note, I was very very happy nobody sat down or left to go to the toilet when the Junior corner started. That happened two years ago during the MaiJani con and it made me feel bad for the boys...I don't know, I think it's really rude and it would never cross my mind to do that ^_^;
[Obviously Ryûsei centered :3]
I don't remember when exactly the staging changed but there were now two big movable white stairs and Ryûsei was singing at the top surrounded by Junior like Taisei or Iori.
[Obviously Daigo centered :3]
I had no idea what the dance moves for this song were but who cares, I loved the performance ♥ (Biased? Me?)
I have quickly translated the part when Daigo made Shun and Shô come to the center of the stage to reveal a secret:
[00:41] (Daigo) The first one is Kobuki-kun. What's your secret?
(Shun) My secret is that I believe in Santa Claus.
(Daigo) It's fine to believe in him! Because he does exist!
[00:54] Next is Kawakita-kun. What is your secret?
(Shô) On days like today when I'm performing, I rince my hair twice! By the way, I use Lux's Super Rich!
[01:08] (Daigo) Your hair is really smooth, indeed! I think it's a good thing!
(Shô) I did it yesterday as well!
(Daigo) Really? You're so cute! I want you as my son! (We all do, Daigo, we all do.)
The staging was similar to the one from the MaiJani con with the boys standing/sitting on stage/on the stairs and dancing all together during the chorus. And as I was watching them, I felt like a mother proud of how well her boys have grown in two years ♥ x)
Aaand what a better way to end this first part than with one of my favorite Johnny's song ever ♥