Held at Makuhari Messe, this is 74 Okubun no 1 no Kimi e's last national handshake, meaning this is the last time people could use their Okubun handshake tickets. Even so, it was surprising that not a lot of people went. I was actually expecting the whole venue to be crowded because of the other handshake reports I've read.
These three tickets were supposed to be for Aanya, Jiina and Maichan. Aanya, however, is not participating in the event so I was lost as to which lane I should choose.
Before entering the venue, we had to exchange one of our handshake tickets to the mini live ticket wherein they would print the section where you would be standing. I saw that there was a section for females only but I decided to go the ordinary lane because my friend was a guy and I thought we could stay together during the mini live. Unfortunately, we got different sections and mine was the horrible C row, the farthest one. I regret not going to the female area because I could not see the stage very well.
For just one handshake ticket, the mini live was worth it. They performed around five full songs plus a long medley and they played party games such as relay and ball catching games among others. The most interesting part was the karaoke battle wherein some judges choose whose performance was better for every round. It's rare for me to hear the girls sing live so I enjoyed it a lot. Eighty percent of the performances were horrible since only a few girls could actually sing decently such as Rikoppi and Jiina. I was looking forward to Maichan's song since she's a pretty decent singer but she did not perform so I was a bit disappointed. The most tragic one was Mao's performance. She could barely hit a note and I swear I was praying for it to be over soon because I felt so sorry for her.
After the mini live is of course, the handshake event. The first slot is reserved only for those who are holding the mini live tickets. The mini live ticket serves as your first handshake ticket.
Here are the lanes for that day.
Lane 1 - Sashihara Rino
Lane 2 - Yabuki Nako, Motomura Aoi, Murakawa Bibian
Lane 3 - Kodama Haruka, Sakaguchi Riko
Lane 4 - Miyawaki Sakura
Lane 5 - Anai Chihiro
Lane 6 - Tanaka Natsumi, Tanaka Miku, Iwahana Shino
Lane 7 - Tashima Meru, Tomonaga Mio
Lane 8 - Tomiyoshi Asuka, Matsuoka Hana, Yamauchi Yuna
Lane 9 - Matsuoka Natsumi, Yamamoto Mao, Hokazono Hazuki
Lane 10 - Mashiro Ui, Wakatabe Haruka, Moriyasu Madoka
Lane 11 - Ueno Haruka, Kojina Yui, Shimono Yuki
Lane 12 - Yamashita Emiri, Komada Hiroka, Ota Aika
Lane 13 - Fuchigami Mai, Kurihara Sae, Tanaka Yuka
Lane 11: Yamashita Emiri, Komada Hiroka and Ota Aika
I decided that aside from Maichan's and Jiina's lane, I would visit Emiri's lane. I'm including my conversations with the girls based on how I remember them. All are in Japanese but the italicized ones are either in English of Filipino.
Yamashita Emiri
Me: Nice to meet you. I'm from the Philippines.
Emiri: As I've thought! You looked really Filipino when I first saw you from the back.
I was planning to ask her if she's been to the Philippines but she talked a lot until the staff pushed me to P-chan.
Komada Hiroka
Me: P-chan! Congrats on the elections.
P-chan: Thank you so much! Please come back again.
I don't know much about P-chan so I just congratulated her because she got a pretty good rank.
Ota Aika
Me: ...
Lovetan: ...
Me: You're beautiful.
Lovetan: Thank you.
Me: ...
This was so awkward. I felt that she was a bit salty as she was putting only one hand on the table so my mind kind of went blank. Perhaps it's because of her tsundere character or maybe just tired for that day OR just tired of the whole 48 thing since it's been rumored that she's going to announce her graduation soon.
Lane 12: Ueno Haruka, Kojina Yui, Shimono Yuki
Ueno Haruka
Me: Nice to meet you
Harutan: Thank you! You're so cute.
Me: I'm from the Philippines.
Harutan: Oh? Thank you so much!
(Apparently
Kojina Yui
Jiina: Philippines?
Me: Yeah.
Harutan: Ooohhh.
Jiina: Wow! Thank you!
Me: What shampoo do you use?
Jiina: Ascience!
I've been observing Jiina as I was waiting for my turn and she has this diva look when she's not interacting with fans but when a fan talks to her, her eyes lit up like an angel. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing but she's still my oshi regardless. It's also nice how she confirmed if I'm from the Philippines since apparently, Harutan didn't understand me. For my question, I've been dying to ask her this since I need a good shampoo here in Japan!
Shimono Yuki
Shinamon: Thank you for coming!
Me: Shinamon! I really love you.
Shinamon: Ah! I love you too. Thank you!
Me: Bye bye!
Shinamon: Bye bye!
The last time I remember, Shinamon was sporting a short hair and now, it's growing beautifully. It really suits her.
Lane 13: Fuchigami Mai, Kurihara Sae, Tanaka Yuka
Fuchigami Mai
Me: Nice to meet you. You're my oshimen.
Maichan: Really? I'm so happy. Thank you so much. I love you.
Maichan was so lively compared to the other girls. She looks at you with puppy eyes to show that she's interested in whatever you're saying. It's not just me but she does this to other fans as well. I could see why she has a lot of fans. This line was also longer than the others such as Madoka's, Miku's and Natsu's lanes but of course, it's not a good basis since this is a national handshake event. Nevertheless, I'm sure of one thing. She has a relatively good number of fans so it's not really impossible for her to rank well in sousenkyo.
Kurihara Sae
Me: I'm from the Philippines!
Sae: Really?
Maichan: Philippines? Wow!
Tanaka Yuka
Me: Yuutannn!
Yuutan: What is the language of Philippines?
Me: Filipino. (I used Filipino instead of Tagalog because Filipino is our national language. The difference is that Filipino uses borrowed words from English and Spanish.)
Sae: Tagalog! Salamat po! Salamat po! (Thank you! Thank you!)
Me: Thank you!
This is actually the most fun lane. The girls were interacting and it felt like all three of us were having a conversation. Saechan probably learned some Filipino words from Emiri but it was so cute how she was shouting, "Samalat po!"
Overall, it was a so-so experience for a first timer like me. The conversations were generic because of the limited time and because again, it's my first time. But then again, being considered as "national idols," I'm not expecting to be able to establish a fan-idol relationship wherein they would recognize me and have decent conversations during handshake events unless I spend tons of money.
Will I go again? Yes, definitely. Will I spend more that what I usually spend for singles? No.
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