Report: Teacher Teacher Individual Handshake Event Part 1 (October 21, 2018)

Teacher Teacher 10/21 individual handshake event is the first election single HS event I've attended. Considering that this is an election single HS event, I was expecting the crowd to be as much as Keyaki or Nogi national HS events. Fortunely, that wasn't the case although there are more people than usual AKB48 individual HS events.

I will divide this report into two parts. The first one will be the actual handshake with the members I have applied for while the second will be about other things, which I will specify later on.

Slot 2 - Sato Minami

My first handshake of the day was Sato Minami. The application for this event was before I became a Satomina oshi through Produce 48, so I did not originally apply for her. Fortunately, I was stupid enough to apply for Fukagawa Maiko, instead of Fuchigami Mai. So, I got an extra ticket, which I can oshimashi or use for other members, whose slots are not yet full.

Since the application was before Produce48 and Satomina was still a relatively unknown member, it was not surprising that even though she only had two slots, they were not sold out. Interestingly, there were a lot of people, including me, waiting to oshimashi for her. Note that oshimashi is only accepted 30 minutes after the start of the session.

Me: Satomina! I'm a fan of you and Kang-chan.

S: Thank you! Let's support Kang-chan.

Me: Please sing Boombayah.

S: Wahh? Now? Wait a second! *starts singing AND dancing*

Staff: Mamonaku.

Me: Thank you! You're super cute.

S: *while laughing* Thank you for coming!

I'm definitely coming back for her again.

Slot 4 and 6 - Komiyama Haruka

My next handshake was Komi. I got eight tickets for her and used six for this.

Komi: Ah! Hisashiburi!

M: Hisashiburi! Eh? You remember me?

K: Of course I remember you!

M: Ehhh? I'm so happy. You look cool today.

K: Yayy! *does the Team K pose*

I tried imitating it but failed so when I was able to fix it...

K: Yes, yes. That's it!

Komi does the cross-handshake with me and started swaying our arms.

M: You know, the overseas Komi election committee was set up by ***?

K: Ah! I know her, I know her! She always watches my SHOWROOM.

M: We'll try our best again next year.

K: No, no. It's okay! But thank you.

M: Your costume today is so cool but you're still cute.

K: Right! I'm a police!

Staff: Mamonaku.

M: Romance kenju....?

K: Banbanban!

We both shot each other three times.

M: Bye bye!

K: Come again, okay?

M: I'll come again later.

I'm just really happy that Komi still remembers even though I only meet her a couple of times a year. And every time I do, she gives the vibe that she's having fun talking with fans. I've never had a disappointing Komi interaction and this is probably the best so far, since it was pretty long.

She was also my last handshake for the day.

K: Ah! The cute girl! Okaeri!

M: Komi, please arrest me.

K: *grabbing my wrist one bye one* Arrest! Arrest!

A: Haha! Thanks for arresting me.

Staff: Mamonaku.

A: Bye bye!

K: Bye bye!

Slot 4 - Fuchigami Mai

The last time I met Maichan was during the last album's signing session. It was pretty long and we talked in 80 percent English, so I figured I'll try doing in again this time. Unfortunately, I only had ten seconds so there wasn't anything remarkable.

Maichan: Thank you for coming.

Me: Uhmm. I can't speak Japanese.

Maichan: What language?

Me: English.

Maichan: Ah! Thank you.

Me: I will bring my friend next time I meet you.

Staff: Mamonaku.

Maichan: Really? Promise?

Me: Promise! Bye bye!

Me: Bye bye! See you!

As usual, Maichan's such an adorable girl. She's very energetic and gives her 100 percent.

While I was lining up for her, I was given the chance to bask in the glory of seeing THE Miyawaki Sakura and Yabuki Nako before they become full-time IZ*ONE members, as it was their last handshake event, if I recall correctly. I was especially surprised with Nako because she looked beautiful (and not just cute) with her newly dyed hair. Meanwhile, Sakura is, as usual, a goddess and looked pretty much the same as the last time I saw her.

Slot 5 - Kojina Yui

It's been a year since I last met Jiina so I wasn't really expecting her to remember me. So I just decided to speak English with her just to see if we can hold a decent conversation.

J: Arigatou!

M: Jiina, can you speak English?

J: Hmm. A little!

M: You're so beautiful.

J: No, no, no! You are beautiful.

Staff: Mamonaku

J: Thank you for coming!

M: See you!

J: See you.

The only non-generic thing about our conversation is that she actually said "no" when I told her she's beautiful. I mean, we're talking about narcissistic Jiina here.

Just a tip. If you really have something to tell to your idols, try speaking Japanese because speaking English will waste a lot of time if your idol is not that fluent.

Slot 6 - Murashige Anna

Same with Jiina, I tried using English with Aanya because whenever she realizes I'm a foreigner, she would insert a lot of English words even though we're mostly speaking in Japanese.

A: Arigatou!

M: Aanya, can you speak English?

A: Hmm. So-so.

M: Haha. That's so cute.

Staff: Mamonaku

A: Oh! Thank you, thank you! You are so nice.

M: Bye bye!

A: See you!

During the times I met Aanya, she's super bubbly, energetic and exerts a lot of effort, even more than Maichan. But for some reason, it seemed to me that Aanya was down and tired, even though she only had one or two slots for the day. And it wasn't just during my handshake. I've been observing her interactions while I was lining up and it didn't feel like the usual Aanya. I'm just worried that she's losing her motivation as an idol. She didn't even participate in the election. I hope she regains her popularity back, especially that she's getting some attention from Sakura's fans.

So that's the end of the first part of my handshake report. For the second part, I will be including extra content, such as meeting some members when you donate for Dareka no Tame ni, Janken with some NGT48 members, photocards, birthday booths and so on.