MAR Sub goes to a 2-Shot event! (Koko ga Rhodes da, Koko de Tobe! 05/30/2015)

Hi guys! Its me again, Lens! I'm back for another report on a 48G event. This time, it won't be another handshake event report but rather, a 2-shot report from the "Koko ga Rhodes da, Koko de Tobe!" 2-shot event in Tokyo Big Sight.

It was a memorable experience for me since I met a looot of great people. We hanged out, chilled together, experienced an 8.5 Magnitude earthquake together, got stuck on an island because all the train stations shutdown together, and ate dinner on a konbini because we can't find an open restaurant together. Special mention to the Aidol and UKN staff that hanged out with me even though I was like the noisiest, most corny person ever. It was really fun. I hope to meet with you guys again soon!

Note*
-Everything is in japanese unless stated otherwise


How It All Started

One day AIDOL.Mayuyu decided to post a 2-shot application guide on the Aidol website,  That's how it all started. So If I were to blame someone why I had to spend that much money for this day, I would blame him (loljk). But seriously, when they posted it and announced that they'll be going on a 2-shot event on a May 30th, I figured I should try it since it is in the middle of our summer break. The next thing I knew, I already got like 14 members. The AKB Chara-ani lottery system is addictive. Like really.

This is my line up for the 2 shot event.

The only thing I regret doing was applying for the not-so-popular members in the first round. So if you're going to try it in the future, Prioritize popular members first like Sayanee or Mayuyu. They get sold out in the first round.

*Spoiler*
Okada Nana didn't attend the handshake event so it was replaced with a blank ticket instead.


The Day Of The Event

I woke at 5am since getting late would probably be the worst thing that can happen to me in a important day like this day (SPOILER: I was still late). I quickly took a shower, ate some instant ramen,, shaved then went off.

I met a buddy from the AIDOL Chat in Shimbashi Station at Around 7:45am even though our meetup time was supposed to be like 7:30. Sorry ShaiHH. Rode the Yurikamome train line to Kokusai-Tenjijo-Seimon station, then we walked our way to Tokyo Big Sight. We arrived at around 8:20am, which was early in my perspective since like the start of the first slot was lke 9:30am. We stopped by Family Mart to buy some hair wax cause I'm not satisfied with my natural hair that day, then went on to get our tickets stamped. What we didn't know was the line for the ticket stamps was really long that it took me like an hour and a half to get done. While waiting in line we saw familiar faces roaming around with other foreigners. Turned  out to be AIDOL and other subbers. Our chat with them at least ate some waiting time away. I was about 30 minutes late for Mio and the last thing I would want to do was run because it'll mess up my appearance. I had no choice. I ran and queued up for my first 2-shot picture.

-Photo dump. How it looked inside.-

 




Slot 1: Tomonaga Mio and Kitagawa Ryoha

First off, I set my phone camera to HDR mode so that not only will I get to keep an awesome processed picture, but I get to keep 2 split-second shots for each pose.

While I was waiting in Mio's line, of course I had to check the line beside me (like what I always do).
On her left there's Motomura Aoi and Moriyasu Madoka. Aoi is cute in person and Madoka was really classy-looking. On the other side there's Tashima Meru being her usual jolly self. After waiting for about 20 minutes, Its my turn already. She was wearing a school uniform in which I had mixed emotions with. The good thing is that it suits her a whole lot, she was really stunning and cute. The negative side is it makes her look really young. I wonder how my family will take this picture.

1st pose:

Mio: Thank you for coming!
Me: Good morning
Mio: What pose?
Me: Uhm. This *points at eyes*. Your cashew nut eyes.
Mio: Ah! Okay.

2nd pose:

Mio: Then?
Me: Ahhh. Heart?
Mio: Okeee~



That was an okay start. I was happy with my early pick with Tomonaga Mio since I think she's the type to get grumpy when she gets tired, so a later slot would probably be a bad slot for her. After coming back to my senses, waking up from Mio's hypnosis, I realized I only have about 5 minutes till Ryoha's cutoff time. I ran again to Ryoha's line which was in the opposite end of the convention center. Luckily there were only a few people left in Ryoha's lane and got to get inspected before the cutoff. Saaafee~ I didn't get to see her neighbors since I was rushing. Then my turn came:

Ryoha: Good morning! Thank you for coming. What pose?
Me: Tsundere pose.
Ryoha: What do you mean?
Me: *pouts*
Ryoha: *pauses for a few seconds*
Ryoha: Ah wakatta!



She's really cute. That's all I can say. I didn't get to talk to her besides saying thank you and good luck. The staff only gives you about 2-3 seconds to shake hands before throwing you out.

Slot 2: Miyawaki Sakura and Matsuoka Natsumi

While finding Sakura's line, I already saw Matsuoka Natsumi's line so slot 2 went pretty easy for me.
I didn't see much around Sakura since I prequeued pretty early and finished quite fast. When I got near enough to see her I was stunned. She is really pretty in person, it made me question life. Like how could something this perfect exist. It may sound quite exaggerated but really, she shines really bright.

Sakura: Thank you for coming! What pose?
Me: Ahm. *Blanked Out*.
Sakura: ??
Me: Peace sign?
Sakura: Okay!



So it ended there, I told her I'm from the Philippines and wished her goodluck for the upcoming SSK.
Man I should have had her pose the "bunny" pose. Since she is wearing Alice in Wonderland costume anyways.

After Sakura I went straight to Matsuoka Natsumi's line which had a surprisingly short line. After a few minutes my turn came.

Matsuoka: Thank you! What pose?
Me: Pinky swear (yubi kiri)
Matsuoka: Haiii~

I was expecting her to like have her pinky finger touch mine but then she just put up her pinky then looked at the camera.



She's really cute especially in her police outfit. I should watch her more. She is my neighbor's kamioshi after all and I completely understand why.

In this slot I actually finished everything in about 20 minutes so I had more than an hour to fool around. Went to the AKB Cafe inside the venue and got an "Okada Nana Fries" and a "Kojimako Fruit Drink". While finding seats, I found the gaijins that I met earlier. Stayed with them during my off time for the whole day and they were really nice people. I'm thankful.


Slot 3: Minegishi Minami and Nishino Miki

Everything else got pretty much the same at this point, just queuing and waiting, so I'll go straight to the point. Minegishi Minami had a decent line, or at least it doesn't seem to look long.



We greeted each other and then she asked for a pose, I told her "Peace pose". And so she did. The staff kinda messes up the picture and exited the Phone. During our off-time Miichan is apologizing for the extra wait because of the staff.
And so, after taking a picture.

Miichan: Thank you!
Me: You're very pretty! I'm from the Philippines!
Miichan: Peru? Aaah! Thank you, come back again..

Oh okay, I'm from Peru now. What I didn't like in the picture is she slightly covered her face with her fingers. But oh well, stuff happens. Moving on.

Nishino Miki's lane isn't too far from Miichan's lane. Her lane is quite long and I was surprised and happy for her. So again, waiting and just browsing till it got to my turn. At this point, I was running out of poses to do. Like the normal poses, I don't think they want to be bothered with stuff that needed explaining (or more like I don't want to be bothered explaining something in japanese). I'm next and I was slightly panicing since I don't want to do the usual peace and heart pose so I copied the guy in front of me and did a big heart over my head, or like what my friends call it, the Pseudo-mentaiko. *plus a bonus derp photo

 

We didn't get talk that much, after saying thank you to each other I was quickly dragged out. And I was supposed to compliment her dancing too and how I love her energy.

Slot 4: Tashima Meru and Tanikawa Hijiri

Already saw Meru earlier during my queue with Mio so I didn't have trouble finding her. She has a short line that's why she spends quite some time with the people lining up for her. I queued up with AIDOL Yukirin or Sou-chan in her slot. AIDOL Yukirin went in first and how I love his reaction when Meru was still holding his hand after taking a picture and semi-interviewed him. He was ecstatic afterwards.



After taking the picture, she semi-interviewed me as well. Like where am I from and did I go to Japan just for the 2-shot. She said she was happy and it ended well.. Meru is pretty in person, and matured looking. I always see her as this annoying little kid that tends to mess everything up.

Next up would Tanikawa Hijiri. Finding her was a bit tricky since Team 8 members only had one slot assigned to them.The moment I saw Sakaguchi Nagisa herself, I know Hijirin was nearby. And she is. Team 8 members are energetic. Hijiri tries so hard to wave and stand up and communicate with the people taking pictures with her.

Pretty normal stuff, greet take a picture and then say thank you. I asked for the Team 8 pose and thank god its exactly what I thought it was. She kinda did a Mion on me too. She held my hand tight and told me to please come back again. OH I WILL.




Slot 5: Yokoyama Yui and 1x Blank Ticket

Yokoyama is my former kamioshi. I was pretty excited while lining up on her. I heard that she is pretty so-so and kinda boring so I tried to not get my hopes too high. When my turn came she greeted me with a really big smile with a wave, asked for my hand and shook it (which was weird since the proper process was to take a picture THEN you shake her hand). She looks stunning in her Kimono outfit. She's milky white and really really beautiful. Then we proceed to take our picture. After the picture I expected to have another handshake and will try to tell her that she is one of my oshi and i'm really glad to meet her. But she just waved at me leaving me hanging for about 2 seconds. Well she is  nice and pretty and smiling so I guess she's forgiven.



After Yuihan, I decided to not take a break and try to find someone to spend my blank tickets on. I didn't expect it to be that difficult. The only members that I can use the blanks on is the members with stars above their name. If the star is in the back of her sign, it means she accepts but currently not in this certain slot. And if one member does accept, you have to wait 30 minutes before you can queue. Well then, better find someone fast since it'll be 30 minutes before the cutoff time as well.
I started waaay in the other side of the convention center and scouted all the HKT members. Most of them has their star sign in the back so that's a no-go for me. I skimmed every possible member from the HKT side up to the SKE side which is in the complete opposite side of the venue. When I reached the end, I heard one girl enthusiastically greeting and thanking her fans. She was so loud (in a good way) and so she caught my attention. Saw AIDOL Mayuyu lining up so I lined up too.



Yes, Its Tani Marika. She was so white and pretty. I actually noticed her beauty even way back before during her early days in HKT, but her face is always mostly covered with her hair. She is probably the only one who initiated the conversation with me with a "where are you from?" after taking the picture. I told her I'm from the Philippines and she asked why am I good in Japanese, and if I did study. She thanked me after and asked me to come back again.

Slot 6: Kojima Mako, Murashige Anna and 1x Blank Ticket

Here we go again, with Kojimako. Well considering that I still had that bitter aftertaste of that handshake experience last month, I wasn't really motivated to queue on her line anymore. But then thinking positive. Its her birthday and with the recent preliminary results and her not ranking, I thought she might be a bit nicer to the people. In which she is. She is smiling brightly when I entered, she happily asked what pose do I want and I told her.

1st pose:

Kojimako: Hello! Thank you! What pose?
Me: Will a "Yubi Kiri" (Pinky swear) be okay? *showing my 2 pinky fingers touching*
Kojimako: *looking at my hands* Okay.

2nd pose:

Kojimako: *looks at me, expecting me to tell the next pose with a slight smile*
Me: Heart?
Kojimako: Okay.



I greeted her happy birthday right after the pictures and she thanked me with her usual smile.

How was the experience? Its was unexpectedly nice. One thing that I noticed that, it feels like she doesn't really want to be there, it IS her birthday after all. Who wants to spend the whole day taking pictures with strangers. I noticed it during the heart sign. I did it first and she just did hers. Not matching mine nor asked me to match hers. She just wanted things to get over which is expected and okay since its her special day. I'm still a Kojimako oshi even with everything that happened.

Next up is Murashige Anna which had a short line. I wonder why. I had trouble thinking of a post while queuing up for her. I know people already asked her to do the Mentaiko pose like a million times already. I watched the people in front of me and tried to get some ideas on poses. In the end, I ended up with mentaiko *facepalm*



She thanked me with her usual genki-ness and waved at me as I was being escorted out.

Now, I still have 2 more blanks remaining. I decided to spend at least one in this slot just to make sure I don't waste any tickets.



I chose Oshima Ryoka. I like her dancing and she reminds me of a childhood crush during my high school days. Also with the recently trending AKBingo clip about her, Mogi and the fried Cicada, I decided to go with her. She is really small and thin. She looked tired before a person enter but instantly cheers up once the next person is already in. I told her I like her dancing and I support her. She thanked me and waved me goodbye.

Slot 7: Shimazaki Haruka and 1x Blank Ticket

Paruru.. I.. I didn't know what I was getting into when I applied up for her. I know she'll be salty but then with the recent happenings and the photos that circulate about how her 2-shot is being done, I actually lost my motivation to take a picture with her. I still queued up though, pretty early too. I was 3rd in her line, close enough to see the barrier or what they call "The Great Wall of Paruru". She arrived  15 minutes late but I guess people wouldn't complain. She IS Paruru after all. She is petite and really really gorgeous. She entered with a slight smile and looked at everyone in the line. The first one got in. What surprised me is that its unexpectedly close, closer than the normal tables even. I guess Paruru was in the mood that day. Either that or the 2 policemen, 2 OJS48 officers and about 4-5 staff inside her booth made her feel safer. Eitherway,  Lucky~. As per normal, Paruru doesn't really say goodbye, but she does smile at the next person entering which is pretty much a big deal. We are talking about PARURU here.



Of course I got ushered without any kind of conversation. Weird enough, it is still very satisfying. I'm kinda tempted to go to her lane in the next event.


As for my last Blank Ticket...



I used it on none other than Uonome herself. As per request of a classmate. She is nice and cheerful even though its in a late slot. I asked for a heart pose since I can't bothered to think of anything else anymore, I'm super tired at this point. Really haggard looking too. After taking the picture:

Juri: Thank you!
Me: Thank you. My friend is a big fan of yours (in which I thought would be better I said its me)
Juri: Thank you! *in japanese*, Where are you from? *in english*
Me: I'm from the Philippines
Juri: Thank you! *in english*

Then when I was already outside her booth checking the picture and getting my bag, she shouted "See you again!!" in a strong japanese accent which made me smile and really happy. She is smiling widely and waving too. That's probably rude to the customer she is with that time since he is in the middle of explaining their pose, but who cares. She tried to remember an english phrase just to tell it to me before I go. That's something.

Slot 8: Tano Yuka and the 2-shot event aftermath

Everybody is already packing up by this time so I wanted to finish early myself. I queued really early and I was like 2nd in the line. Tano was late and she arrived on a bike saying "Jaaa~n" when she showed herself. That's probably one way to regain some energy. She was thin, like really thin, she doesn't have puffy cheeks anymore, its concaved. She was really energetic so it went on nicely.



Nothing more than the usual thank you and waving goodbye. With that, my 2-shot experience has ended..

Or so I thought,,. After resting a bit, Japan was hit by a magnitude 8.5 earthquake and caused the event to stop.  Not only that, we weren't allowed to leave the building until everything is checked. So I decided to just hang out with my gaijin buddies until everything goes okay. I ended up joining them in their quest of finding food in the middle of the night while waiting for the train stations to go back up, had a wild goose chase hunt finding other possible gaijins in the area, had free intant noodles, and other fun stuff.

So yeah, I guess it ends here. I might revise this so check this often, I wrote this very quickly since I might forget some of the stuff and wanted to document it as soon as possible.

Please don't forget to leave a comment and check the blog spot for awesome subbed 48G videos!
See ya guys again on the next event!