Day 4: Tokyo Idol Festival 2日目
As usual, I went to the local joint for breakfast. This time I was feeling a little fatty so I went for the tomato cheese sauce cutlet. It was really yummy and was served, as usual, with a salad and miso soup. The bulk of the things I wanted to do at TIF were actually during the first day, so I took things a lot more easily. At the entrance they were handing out free energy drinks, so I grabbed one and tried it. It wasn’t half bad, considering my distaste for energy drinks normally. I headed straight for the goods section and bought some more stuff, mostly KOTO stuff I couldn’t get the day before and stuff for friends. I was then on my way to the internal shopping mall behind the Gundam statue when I figured I’d watch the Loop performance at Festival Stage at about 1220. Their music was really mediocre but they were still fun to watch. After that I did some souvenir shopping for my family since the mall was pretty big with a good variety of shops.
Next up was a bit of time in the Hot Stage, starting at 1330. The first performance was passmo, who were really cute and fun on stage. By 1400 I was able to push myself to the front of the stage without knowing who was next. It ended up being BiSH, who I actually did want to see just to show support on behalf of a friend. They repeated the same song over and over again about 5 or 6 times, non-stop with no breaks. The crowd (especially in the front) was really intense and I ended up getting shoved into participating in all the bowing, waving and arm holding motions with all the other fans. It wasn’t too bad after the first couple times since I knew what to expect, and at that point I was able to actually have quite a bit of fun. Plus, glasses girl (I don’t know their names) flipped me off, so she’s good in my books! Babyraids JAPAN was next, and was yet another group with a fun performance but really mediocre music. There was a fan next to me who had asked me who my favorite group was. When I told him it was Morning Musume he got really excited and happy that an overseas fan was at TIF who was familiar with MM. He told me his favorite group was Babyraids, so I politely told him their performance was great.
At 1510 was the performance I was really there for. It was a collaboration between a bunch of different performers who would be performing to various famous songs. Truthfully I was only there to see Mari Yaguchi and Tsuji Nozomi, both of whom I had never actually seen in person. I was ESPECIALLY excited since both of them were integral members of Morning Musume back when I first started being a fan. Much to my pleasure, all of the songs were actually Hello! Project songs: Koi no Dance Site by Morning Musume (which meant that I got to see the original, real life sexy beam...which made me cry from happiness), Jankenpyon by Mini Moni (it was exceedingly silly and cute) and Love Machine by Morning Musume (words cannot describe how ecstatic I was to see this and Koi no Dance Site performed by one of the ORIGINAL members, something I never thought I’d ever see in all my life). It was an absolute blast and all the performers who participated with Marippe and Non-chan were exceptional. I also want to point out that Marippe is so freaking smol and cute I absolutely adored seeing her finally! I was also happy that Non-chan totally still had it, after being a mom and being involved in other things in her life other than performing. What an amazing pleasure and fun time that event was!
Leaving on a high, I headed over to the Dream Stage at 1620 because I misread the schedule thinking that callme would be there but instead it was -petit pas!-, who was actually really fun and exciting so I still had a good time. Being hungry after all the excitement, I headed inside to grab some edomae tendon. I have it all the time back home but figured I’d see if it was any different in Japan. The eel tasted better than back home, but otherwise it was the exact same. No regrets though, that meant I enjoyed it. With nothing better to do, and callme not performing for a while, I figured I’d just hang out at the Dream Stage for a while and see whoever performs starting at 1740.
First up was Pikarin. She was really exotic and strange. She had two backup dancers who were dressed in morbid attire in order to support Shiina Pikarin. There was a lot of head banging and interesting interaction but overall her performance was oddly satisfying and cool. The only thing I didn’t like was that she finished the last part of her song off-stage and never came back out to say thank you or even tell us what else she would be participating in at TIF. I thought I would be the only one insulted and confused by this, but the fans were all mumbling ‘maji de?’ and didn’t look very happy. It was immensely disrespectful, in my opinion.
Moving on, Aoyama Saint Hacha Mecha High School went up with a really strong performance and decent music. Definitely somebody I’d be willing to check out on my own time. Yamaguchi Kassei Gakuen was up next, who was very unimpressive as a whole, especially compared to what I had seen up to that point.
Finally, at 1830, was callme. I actually managed to push myself to the very front railing between each performance before this, so I had a perfect position. By now I’ve forgotten all the songs they performed, but I do remember that they did Step by Step. Their performance was even more amazing then I thought it would be. Their really heavy talents shined beautifully, and their performance was flawless. It was quite the sight and my only regret was that I didn’t see more than just that one performance of theirs at TIF. Absolute perfection from my favorite indie idol group.
Winding down, I figured I’d see a couple more groups before heading back. I noticed that The World Standard would be at Festival Stage. I knew nothing about them but since I had helped with interviewing them, I felt it was my obligation to watch them. Silly, I know, but I went anyway. At 1845 when I got there, Moso Calibration was performing. They were really solid overall, and I rather enjoyed them. The World Standard followed after, and they were honestly mediocre as a whole. Their performance was kind of weak and the music was meh. They’re only saving grace was their super cute outfits.
Overall, I was extremely satisfied with everything I got to do. I got to see a lot and enjoy a lot. I wasn’t too hungry so instead I headed back inside to grab a mango smoothie, which was tasty. I finally got to meet a friend who thought the smoothie looked good and got one himself. We chatted, caught up and hung out for a while before finally going home and going our separate ways. I was exhausted and tired, but once again thanks to my excessive water drinking I was fully-hydrated despite the heat. I instantly passed out when I got back to the hotel. The next day would be the day, out of the whole trip, that I would be most excited for: Hello! Project Summer Concert!