Café du Monde

Sonntag, 6. März 2016

Kiryūin Shō ひとりよがり 5 ~ Live at Nippon Budōkan

Last year I made the decision to spend Christmas in Japan and another reason to go in December was the solo live of Kiryūin Shō at Nippon Budōkan.
There was a great crush on the tickets and it wasn't possible to get some, either via fanclub lottery or at the regular ticket sale.
But there's always a plan C and so I asked my friend Aya to buy some FUCKING EXPENSIVE tickets via online auction.

When Aya sent me that picture via LINE that she got the tickets I almost cried and I was so happy! Michi and I arrived on 13th December in Tokyo.
Tuesday morning we met with Aya at Tully's Coffee for breakfast and she handed over the tickets.

Since 2011 Kiryūin Shō is holding a solo one man live once a year, mostly it's around Christmas time. I have never been to his solo live so I was very excited!
I'm a big big fan of Golden Bomber and vocal Kiryūin Shō is my favorite member.

Ootd:

sweater: Tally Weijl

blouse: Tally Weijl

skirt: d.i.a.

tights: Ma*rs

boots & overknees: eBay

I chose that sweater with 'Kiss me' print 'cause it's one of Kiri-chan's quotes at his blog and some time ago he used it at lives introducing himself.
After preparing Michi and I made a brief stop at the smoking area 'cause I was too nervous and then we left Hamamatsuchō area for the Budōkan.

In front of the Budōkan were a lot of people and the row for the merchandise was kind of never ending. I wanted to try to get some after the live so Michi and I had enough time left to walk around, to watch the people and to talk.

the selfmade banner *lol*

While the fans at a Golden Bomber live wear casual band shirts or cosplay the people were more dressed up.

picture from Juns Twitter

When I was standing near the parking places I notized a guy taller than me who was passing by. He wore dark clothes, leather jacket, nerd glasses, face mask and a cap which showed half blonde x half black hair. First I thought maybe a cosplayer but no cosplayer could be THAT perfect and my eyes focussed him some steps and then I was sure: it was Utahiroba Jun, bassist of Golden Bomber.
A few hours later I saw that picture on his Twitter. My heart stopped beating!

Michi discovered some less cosplayer dressed as High & Low Shō and asked for a picture. Some girls were walking around with snacks and we got some. Very nice!

At 05.30 p.m. the doors opened. The organisation was perfect, there were different rows for arena, 1st and 2nd stand and we quickly found our seats at 1st stand.

Dead on time the lights were dimmed and the shadow of Kiryūin appeared on stage. After a shy bow and amid the applause of the crowd he started with the song Sayonara Fuyumi.
The lyrics were shown on the big screen and sometimes the ballads were illuminated beautiful.

After a few songs Kiri-chan gave us a welcome. I have to say that I was first a little bit doubtful. Golden Bomber lives are always funny, full of energy and very entertaining.
So I wondered if he is able to achieve something alone on stage just with his singing?
He is!!!!

This little guy fascinated all people just with his warm voice! I started to cry at the piano medley and I heard a lot of people sobbing around me, too.
And there were another surprises like picture slide shows, the usual QVC shopping channel show with a confused Kiri-chan (he always mistook the prices) and also a 3D show with using our cards we found at the beginning on our seats.

While Kiryūin performed HEN he jumped into the arena and was running through the seats. Also he passed the 1st and 2nd stand so we were able to feel close to him.

☆ SETLIST ☆

01. Sayonara Fuyumi [さよなら冬美]
02. Mou bandoman ni koi nante shinai [もうバンドマンに恋なんてしない]
03. Fudanshi [腐男子]
04. Mou aenaku naru nante [もう会えなくなるなんて]
05. Yogisha [夜汽車]
06. Reue
07. Kimi ga inai ma ni [君がいない間に]
08. Kataomoi de ii [片想いでいい]
09. Hisou [悲愴]
10. 「a」
11. Piano Medley
・Sayonara Sayonara Sayonara [さよなら、さよなら、さよなら]
・Ano Subarashii Asa wo mou ichido [あの素晴しい朝をもう一度]
・Gomen ne Aishiteru [ごめんね、愛してる]
12. Isogashikute yokatta [忙しくてよかった]
13. Love Days
14. Life is allright [らふぃおら]
15. Ashita no Show [あしたのショー]
16. Haru ga kuru mae ni [春が来る前に]

~ Encore 1 ~

17. Oh My Love!
18. HEN
19. Hirogaru Sekai [広がる世界]

~ Encore 2 ~

20. Nakanaide [泣かないで]

That evening overwhelmed with emotion! Kiryūin is a respectful artist, very kind and charming and after the live I loved him much more than before (if it's possible xD).

I tried to get some merchandise, I was one of the first in the row after leaving the hall but the bag charm I wanted to have was sold out, of course!

So I just bought a towel from the last year and also a black Tamiya shirt. I didn't like the design of this year. But all in all I was the happiest person all over the world and even the tickets were expensive as fuck it was worth it!

Bye!

*live pictures by natalie.mu

Dienstag, 1. März 2016

SuG Europe Tour 2015 ~ Berlin

When SuG announced their schedule for the Europe tour 2015 I was in Japan and I totally freaked out. Since I became into Japanese music that band was one of my favorites and I was happy to get the chance to see them live.
Unfortunately I wasn't in Germany when the ticket release started but fortunately I have really good friends: GooF bought the regular ticket for me and Senja the VIP ticket. Thank you so much, girls!

To be honest I didn't have a focus on their last songs and albums since Lollipop Kingdom which was released in 2012. But I LOVED that album and I couldn't imagine that they have changed a lot so I was excited to see them.
In Japan at Tower Records I searched for CDs and became a little bit shocked first when I saw their new looks.

On 3rd December I got free and Senja and I had a chilled day to prepare ourself for the concert. Senja is writing for the j-music category of a website so I was happy that she also wanted to visit the live and we had sooo much fun together!

Senja did my hair, as always, and she really is the best hair dresser ever...ever...EVER! I also played a little bit with hair chalk in my bangs that day.
While dressing up we tried to listen to the latest album of SuG called BLACK. I didn't like that style of music so I hoped that they also wanted to play older songs.

Ootd:

shirt: Ghost of Harlem

top: H&M

shorts: d.i.a.

belt: d.i.a.

tights: Ma*rs

boots & overknees: eBay

My outfit was some kind of rokku. I don't own rokku clothes but GooF gave us a bag with some shirts and dresses so Senja and I chose some for our style. I really loved that Ghost of Harlem shirt. Thanks, GooF!
Lovely Senja looked fantastic, of course!

Senja and I wanted to do some purikura but it was too late so we just went eating at Japanese restaurant Makoto before we were on the way to the location Maschinenhaus at Prenzlauer Berg.

At the location waited some less people but there was a Christmas market around and it was very annoying! I hate Christmas, I hate the smell and a lot of people were asking stupid questions like 'What are you waiting for?' or 'Why do you look like that?'.

Highlight (or better call it lowlight) of the day was a nerd wearing a Tamiya shirt. I was so done! But also we met some nice people and one of them I persuaded to participate at the VIP event.
Via Twitter we got the news that the band was in a big traffic jam so they arrived very belated and we waited some hours x___X

The VIP member were able to enter the location earlier and we got a laminated VIP pass and a special DVD.
Then we waited again and finally SuG appeared! They all looked cute and even they had a lot of stress on the way they all were in a good mood.
Some fans asked stupid questions and poor band member had to answer them. Most interesting question to me: 'Will you play ☆Gimme×Gimme☆ ?' and they answered with 'Maybe!'
It's one of my favorite songs!

After that speed question round every VIP member got a picture with the band. I was one of the last and the guys gave me an enthusiastic 'Hi!'.
I wanted to stand beside my favorite member Yuji but Chiyu and Takeru took me in the middle. While taking the picture something happened...behind my back oO

After I took place left in front of the stage (first row, of course) and waited for Senja. I was not interested in tour merchandise. It was really not that interesting.

Then the live started. Senja had to do pictures at the first 3 songs and then we enjoyed the concert together. As I feared they played a lot of songs from their album BLACK and the new single SICK'S but yesssss! ☆Gimme×Gimme☆ also and it was just great like hell!

☆ SETLIST ☆

01. street g♥thic
02. MISSING
03. HELLYEAH
04. ☆Gimme×Gimme☆

愛を止めないで ~I Love Me Don't Stop~

I Love Me Don't Stop- (愛を止めないで ~I Love Me Don't Stop~) - See more at: http://www.generasia.com/wiki/No_Music_No_Weapon#sthash.bhnYCFlp.dpuf

Ai wo Tomenaide -I Love Me Don't Stop- (愛を止めないで ~I Love Me Don't Stop~) - See more at: http://www.generasia.com/wiki/No_Music_No_Weapon#sthash.bhnYCFlp.dpuf

05. Block Party MonstAr
06. SICK'S
07. JUICY
08. Mujōken Kōfukuron
09. dot.0
10. CRY OUT
11. heavy+electro+dance+punk
12. Koakuma Sparkling
13. LOVE SCREAM PARTY

~ Encore ~

14. SLVS
15. gr8 story

All in all the live was okay. Takeru spoke surprisingly good English but he and Chiyu were a little bit...strange. They always touched Senja's and my head when they passed by or stood in front of us. Nobody knows why oO
That really pissed us off!
Takeru told us on stage that some live scenes will be recorded while the Europe tour and they wanted to make a PV out of it. Their new single 'Smells like virgin spirit' will be released in March with a new mini album. So let's see!

It was a really great day and I had a lot of fun with Senja but SuG...I don't know if I will visit a live of them again. They didn't infected me with excitement.

So I was looking forward to my last 2 concerts in 2015, Kiryūin Shō on 15th December in Tokyo and An Café on 22nd December in Kobe ^^

bye!

Sonntag, 28. Februar 2016

Gyaru replicas and similar clothes in our shops

Have you ever been frustrated about that you want to have Gyaru clothes but you don't have the possibility to go shopping in Japan or the Gyaru sales are too expensive for your wallet?
Don't be sad, just be attentive!
Why? Well, I like that style since 2011 and in that couple of years I was surprised how many Gyaru items you can find in our European shops that are really similar with expensive Japanese brands.
I would like to show you some examples I collected.

brand: d.i.a (right)

brand: Tally Weijl

Not exactly the same but similar in color and style is that top I bought at summer sale for around 10,- EUR.

Me wearing the Tally Weijl Top. I really love it and even it's a few years old it's perfect for summer styles with tanned skin like in old Gyaru times.

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brand: Ma*rs

brand: Tally Weijl

Nearly perfect Tally Weijl copied the Ma*rs coat so on the first sight you won't see any differences between the original and that one.
I bought it in Winter sale 2012 for around 20 EUR.

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brand: d.i.a.

brand: New Yorker

This romper is one of the popularst copies and a lot of Gaijin Gyaru own it. It's a more simple version of the d.i.a. one but very similar.
I bought it new but from a German clothes sharing website for 8,- EUR. The pre-owner didn't know about Gyaru style. So if you have luck you can still find that beautiful romper.
In store the price was around 20,- EUR, much more cheaper than from d.i.a.

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brand: Garula

brand: H&M

Maybe as you know Garula is / was one of my favourite brands 'cause the styles were always wearable, casual but also sexy.
I'm so sad about that the brand doesn't exist anymore (since 1st February 2016).
I bought the shorts in spring 2015 at H&M store for around 20,- EUR. The only difference between the Garula one is that the 'copy' is high waisted.

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brand: Liz Lisa

brand: Tally Weijl

This time I didn't buy the 'copy' 'cause I own the original dress from Liz Lisa but I was very suprised when I discovered that dress at Tally Weijl's summer collection two years ago.

As you can see the the back view ist nearly the same!

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brand: Garula

brand: H&M

That knit top reminded me a little bit of a Garula top. Yeah I know, it's not exactly the same and it's half-armed but similar in style.

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brand: d.i.a.

brand: H&M

Sorry, the picture of the original is really bad and you can't see that the knit pattern and the color is very similar.
I bought that knit cardigan two years ago at H&M and exchanged the ordinary buttons into typical gold buttons for the d.i.a. style.

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brand: Garula

brand: New Yorker

I saw the cardigan a few weeks ago at New Yorker store. The price is around 20 EUR and because I own the 'original' one of Garula I realized very fast that this is a more simple but very similar version.
You can create a lot of styles with that thing and I really recommend this cardigan.

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brand: Liz Lisa

brand: Jumex

This is a simple version of Liz Lisa wedges but very cheap. I bought them for around 10,- EUR.

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So it was just a smaller list and I wanted to show you that you can also buy 'brand' clothes in Europe for the perfect style.

Maybe at some websites like Kleiderkreisel (for the German ones) you can still find these 'replicas' or maybe you know a lot of other examples for copied Gyaru clothes.

Keep an eye at the Japanese fashion and store websites of your favorite brand and in your town, in your shops.

bye!

Sonntag, 11. Oktober 2015

Golden Bomber live in Niigata

One week after our last live in Osaka we went from Tokyo to Niigata to see ゴールデンボンバー for the last time this year.
We were excited like hell 'cause it was the first time we had fanclub seats and we expected that they're much more closer to the stage than a regular.
But everything is better than no seat >.<
Also I was a little bit nervous 'cause I had to pick up the tickets directly in Niigata at the ticket window.
I hoped everything will work well.

The day before I went to Yu House in Shibuya for having extensions so I was happy to sleep a little bit longer, I didn't have to make up my hair *yay*.
Btw, I can recommend this place. Two years ago I had extensions from Arujyansu and I was disappointed.
Now the hair quality is much more better and also the staff is more service-oriented.

After a chilled breakfast at Tully's Michi and I went to Tokyo Station and took the Max Toki Shinkansen. I recognized that I had exactly this trip when I first saw my band in 2012 but I left the train one station before, in Nagaoka.

my present (middle)

When we got off the train the girl who had a place next to us (she wore Jun birthday hoodie and had other asccessoires so that there were no doubts that she's on the way to the live, too) recognized my Tamiya-shirt and started talking to us.
Our low level Japanese and her baby English weren't a good combination to start a small talk *lol* but she was very kind, asked us for our favorite member and gave us a card as present.
We waited for her other friends and she asked us to have lunch with her but I first wanted to have my ticket so we thanked her and left for the Toki Messe.

After a 30 min. walk we arrived at the convention center. We had some time left before the ticket counter opened so first I searched for a smoking place and then something to eat for Michi, she was hungry like hell!
Fortunately there was a conbini in this center.
Without problems I got my tickets just with showing my passport and my fanclub member card and I felt very assured.

In Niigata weren't a lot of good cosplayers. Hopefully next year we will see much more. But this Kenji was really impressive...he had the original Kenji haircut with that awful hair color xD

As you can see my friend Michi really loves Kenji *lol*. This one was awesome, too... he was taller than Michi and got black hair. I guess she loved him, ha ha...

And I got shocked! We met this two guys on Saturday in Osaka. After asking for a picture I tried to chat with the Shou and told him that I was in Osaka, too and he answered in fast Japanese and I was like ???
LOL but he also asked for a picture with me. Eight days later it came into my mind that I missed my chance to ask him other things *sigh*...

And my highlight (beside Shou-cutie) was a small bubble soccer group with Ramos Jun and Kiri Yona. I was so happy and of course, we had to take a picture.

I swear, the bubble soccer thing was the best that the guys ever made and I'm still laughing about that even it's from the last tour.
When I ever will cosplay again I want to do this fucking awesome shit! xD

When we were taking pics somebody asked us in Japanese if we're able to speak English. I was totally confused and so we met Erin, the one and only foreigner we have ever seen at a Golden Bomber live.
We hung around the center and talked a bit.

One hour before the live started the doors opened. I was excited about our seats. Block B first row seemed to be not that bad.

Juns view from the stage

our view

And really... the stage was so close that I was able to see Kiryuuin's beads of sweat *meow*! Michi and I had no people in front of us and so we had enough space to do furitsuke.
I was so happy that I started more enthusiastic than at the other lives. I guess too much... after 'Lola no kizu darake' my neck fucking hurts *lol* but I didn't mind and continued dancing.
This was really the best live ever ever EVER!

The guys were so relaxed on stage. Michi and I decided that we will go next year only to lives at smaller towns.
After 'Memeshikute' it rained golden glitter and it was the first time I catched some by myself ^^
As last encore they played 'Masashi' and that was really overwhelming to me.
Michi and I were satisfied and happy after the live. We took the last train to Tokyo and I was happy but also very sad because this year I won't see my band again.
See you next year, Golden Bomber!

I want them Q__Q

Bye!