>>>It Really Happened, Terrible Banquet of Kenichi Ito ~Second Volume~ (hontou ni atta kowai utage)
We woke the next morning, Haruka broke it to me that due to more family issues she'd be returning to Tokyo alone (as would we), and the Utage was in jeopardy for her. More mishaps in Osaka! We checked out and headed back on the subway... this time for a bit of DA Family history. For breakfast we went to the Hokkaido Ramen House, T.M.Revolution's preferred Ramen House. The place was coated wall to wall with posters, articles, clippings and memorabilia of TMR - including fanart and purikura from his fans also. It was insane crazy awesome. We all ordered curry ramen, and while we waited, Haruka chatted it up with one employee - a middle aged woman who was big on TMR. Haruka bragged as per usual that I had ties (not really!) to TMR's American performances, that I had a Tofu Records Street Team badge (which to Japanese means STAFF), and I'd promoted him and gotten hugs from him in America. The waitress freaking thought I ruled, and pulled out an autograph board, which she had me sign with my autograph! She kept looking at the article about TMR at Otakon on the wall and acting very happy. I wish I'd had the Weekly Oricon with me in it to show her! We exchanged name cards and she gave us stamp cards with Takanori-kuma stamps on them, so if we got enough stamps we got a free meal. How nice, but I doubt I will even be back to Osaka enough times to fill it up! We rushed to the Shinkansen (bullet train) in Shin-Osaka station, Haruka parting with us for her express to Yokohama. We boarded some crappy SUPER EXPRESS TO TOKYO Shinkansen - which instead of being super express, was more like super retarded snail. It stopped about 20 times on the way into Tokyo - what should have been a 2.5 hour ride became a 4.5 hour ride. We boarded at 12:30.. utage began at 5:00... yeah, we almost got pretty badly fucked. From Tokyo Station where it would drop us, we still had to ride the Yamanote JR Line to get to Uguisudani. We made it into Tokyo Cinema Club with enough time to get drinks, settle into our seats, and attempt to relax. No photos, no before live fun! I chatted it up with my friends, who had some front row seats going on! How chill is that! Haruka arrived AS the Kowai video began. Poor thing was sick, too ;-;.
To give an example, I will explain one of the questions I fully understood. Hiro discussed cell phones - they can take photos, video, watch TV, send email, surf the net... what could be done to improve cell phones? Around now Ken asked who didn't have a cell phone and totally scared the only person to raise their hand by demanding to know why (Japanese fans revere Kenichi and DA, etc, as gods - being spoken to directly is terrifying and amazing in one clean cut). The ideas began. Mizue had brilliant ideas - like a cell phone that could print, and a cell phone that charged itself with solar power. We all applauded and cheered his brilliance. Kenichi's ideas were... a phone with a juice spicket, and a very tiny cell phone (he drew something so small we could hardly see). We kind of blinked and went "Eh?" to his ideas. After we rejected his juice phone he threw a fit, slamming his pad onto the ground and pouting, glaring angrily at all of us. He did this total three times, each time after we rejected his stupidity - by the third time it was obvious he just wanted a laugh (which I can understand, his ideas weren't making us laugh, just rotting our brains!).
There was a break, during which Haruka returned home (poor sick Haru...), and I moved up to the balcony with Bec and Monica. Bec was also feeling sick. Oh, the mishaps!!! After a few minutes, the banquet began again. More of his video about the haunted shrine played, which ended a bit short and after it was a video of the E-Machine live from a few days ago! I felt a little bad that my tall gaijin self was almost blocking the camera's view of the stage - yet it was cool to see my stupid gaijin head in the video. Ken came back out with Tohru and Mizue, and immediately jammed down to End of Summer, one of my favourite Kenichi songs despite it being only a month old. Similar to Solo Live, he had us sing the English- "Love experience, End of Summer!" - etc. He then went right into umareta ano basho e -TRIAL PRODUCTION-, which I am happy about because the non-trial production one is pretty boring. He talked to us a bit in here, and got my hopes up the smallest bit that he'd play some of his Iceman songs (a dream of mine!), saying he felt nostalgic and wanted to play some songs he wrote a while ago. This actually meant Don't Stop the Radio - the first song on his first solo single ever - followed by... S.W.E.E.T.! I freaked - he's NEVER played S.W.E.E.T. live before, and I could see all the fans down below squealing along with me. For his dance, he grabbed each bottom side of his suit and flapped his arms like a bird, bobbing his head back and forth. He looked like a big, red headed, awkwardly skinny turkey that had been in a car accident when it was a toddler. Oh wait.... he IS all of those things. Hayuk.
Before leaving, he reminded us to hold on to our little sticker cards, because if we bring them to the next banquet in October, we get a treat! Of COURSE Kenichi! Wouldn't miss it for the world. :D After we went outside, I found out Kenichi had thrown a pic where I had been sitting, and my friend in the seat next to me caught it. She was like, "You would have caught it, why did you move!" I felt a twinge of "Yeah, why DID I move?", looking at the really cool new SEXX pic (that says MAKE A HAPPY!), but I decided I'd been happier with my friends in the balcony than I would have been in my off center, kinda bad seat on the stage floor. Thus, I returned home, doing my homework on the long ride from Ikebukuro to my place of residence in Kasumigaseki, Kawagoe, Saitama. I didn't care even when some man told his daughter I was a bad person for sitting down on the floor of the train. Look dude - if I am a bad person for being exhausted from an amazing weekend, and yet I am still doing my homework, because I am in college, because I'm not wasting my life, because I'm a good student, then I kind of wonder about you and how your girl will turn out with that kind of attitude against foreigners! And you thought I didn't understand you. I came home - had some ramen
for a late dinner - and fell asleep in bliss, only to relive it all - Daisuke
twice and Kenichi once, for my class the next morning. And over and over
again, and in this report also. What more can be said? Thanks, dudes, for
the best weekend I've had in as long as I can remember.
Players:
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(continued
from 
This
time Ken went to a different scary place in Saitama, a very creepy old
shrine, but to what purpose was too complicated for me to understand. Yet
it was super stupid as per usual - Kenichi, I love you. It ended to the
James Bond theme again - and Ken stepped out in a silvery black, sparkly
suit, with some pretty nice bling bling around his neck! Actually when
he originally attempted a dramatic appearance, he couldn't open the curtain
and kind of stumbled out - this was a mishap weekend for him also, aw.
He introduced himself, and asked us if we were feeling sick, we were being
very quiet! It's true - we were - and I wondered if everyone had come from
Osaka that day and had Shinkansen troubles. Poor Kenichi. He sat down to
continue his story from last time - what do to about Iggy? Iggy and Ushiro
no Kenichitarou argued for a while before hiring Edward Elric from Hagane
no Renkin Jutsushi/Fullmetal Alchemist (whom Kenichi loves and calls Eddy-chan)
to help Iggy clean up her act. Ed turned her poo into gold. How... helpful?
Kenichi couldn't stop laughing at himself during this. When he was done
his story, he went on and on a about FMA for a bit - he is an anime dork.
He then introduced all his band members - Mizue, Tohru, and Hiroaki - no
Kaori on drums, she is busy with a musical. Hiroaki, the keyboardist, has
a new project with King Records, and was happy to announce so. They he
held a game show for the other three, which came with a cute little song
every time a round began and ended. The point of the game way that Hiroaki
discussed a topic, and the three contestants had to come up with a draw
on a paper pad their best idea in response. About ten or so questions got
asked the entire span of the first half of the banquet - but Kenichi never
won. In fact, his ideas were downright stupid.
Together
they played Believe me Heart to Heart
acoustic style, and also covered two songs, Blue
Hearts and Pride,
acoustic style as well. All in Japanese - did I make him paranoid?
After
S.W.E.E.T. he did ma ka fu shi gi!!,
another song he hadn't played since the Solo Live. As during the Solo Live,
he jiggled pretend boobies in his hands, making squeezing and fondling
motions on his own chest. It was about this song that Monica turned to
me and said "Wow, Gin, he really does all that weird stuff you say he does!"
Of course, would I lie? >:D He played my favourite, iroai
~IROAI~, to which I rocked out hard, from the balcony. Really,
the balcony is a fun place to be - especially since Ken's staff (including
Tanipi who runs his web sites) sit up there. Next time I should try to
mingle, right. He went on with another nostalgic, last played in March
song, The Last Night (singing
those long, drawn out notes in a very silly way), and finished up with
the song he usually begins with, SEASON.
Set
List - It Really Happened, Terrible Banquet of Kenichi Ito ~Second Volume~
(hontou ni atta kowai utage)
