Berryz Seven, Solo San

Happy 7th Anniversary Berryz Koubou, I am glad to have spent the days to celebrate with you. For me, it’s been a bit over three years since I’ve fallen in love with Berryz and Japanese music in general, and to put forth that this discovery changed my life is something I can say without hesitation. I’ve also been blogging over the past three years, although sparingly, it’s been fun sharing my stories and opinions on something I am so passionate about.

A big thanks to all of those who made this trip possible. To say that I had a great time would be an understatement. Once again, the wota, friends, the staff, everyone involved, thank you.

Berryz Koubou's Seventh Year Anniversary; 8Shot

The photo makes sense with that little bit of a background tied to it, tho I was told that Berryz themselves were a little bit puzzled by the 3 finger pose. This is where things kicked off, after early morning meet up and a five or so hour bus ride to Izu, we were taken to an orchard estate on top of a very large, steep hill. Berryz greeted us and we had a toast to start before going in to get our pictures taken. Berryz looked stunning in their dresses, I felt a bit underdressed actually, as did others, but no matter. As with Hawaii, Chinami takes a spot right behind me, I think the photo turned out well.

Later that evening we’d check into our hotels and have dinner before heading out to the live concert. In the morning we did some strawberry picking, a special gift to Berryz. Followed up was a group shot along with some fun interaction with the girls and then moving on to the fan meeting where things would wrap up with a handshake. I had an excellent time meeting my girls again.

Captain

For the tour photosets, Captain had on some huge glasses. Cute, but kinda dorky, haha. Her longer hair also contributes to a new look of sorts.

Captain put together the live concert, which had a looser feel than usual, which is part of what made it great. One thing I like about Berryz is their lack of perfection. These types of events, really give a feeling, however slight, that you really are getting to know the girls and not just some actor of sorts. It was nice to see Captain, kinda more leadery, but still having a lot of fun.

Momoko

Momo was the same as always. She’s really a unique kind of idol, and as I’ve said before it seems people either love her or tire of it. I just say keep on keepin’ on Momo. After the group shot, because Risako was feeling sick that morning, Momo had her own little interaction session alone. She really has a personality and presence that can stand on it’s own, yet works well in the groups she’s in. She gave me a cute and animated handshake, as if she was genuinely happy to see me.

Chinami

Lucky number 7. Wow. There’s so much I could say, but as I’ve done in the past, I’ll try and exercise some constraint, heh. After the group shot, we were led into some rooms where groups of Berryz would come and give us a little presentation / interaction along with prizes to a select few. Maasa and Chinami came together, my two favorite Berryz mind you. At the end of their presentation, Chinami revealed what their prize would be. Chii had specially decorated an item, a bag of, ah, I already forgot what it’s called. Some tomato looking stuff you can put on curry &c.

Gift from Chii to Me

To reward the prize, Chinami picked a random seat. She turned around and said she’ll first start on the right side of the room, in the back (I was in the front on the left, so you could probably imagine my feeling of pending disappointment at this point). Because however, it was their seventh anniversary, she said she will pick the person seventh from the right and seventh from the back. As they were counting the seats from the back, I realized that they were in my row and when they finally stopped on me, I was totally surprised and excited! I was chosen by Chinami! Lucky!

I stood up and moved to the front of the room and of course Chinami, genius as she is, had to throw out some English during the exchange. “I’m Chinami,” “Thank you,” “Delicious.” As she was saying thank you for the second or third time, lol, she moved in close, hand raised in an attempt to give me a high five. I had then raised my hand too, before the staff had stopped her, lol. Ah, she was so excited, and so was I! We ended up giving each a remote high five a couple of times, haha. It was just great!

At the handshake later that evening, Chii continued where she left off, with some more thank you’s. OMG Chinami’s voice is so sugary syrupy sweet, haha. What an awesome experience. I’ll not downplay how happy it made me feel.

Maasa

Aww, Maasa was hurt before the concert and couldn’t dance on stage, tho she was still Ms. King MC as per usual. As the concert started up with Heroine ni Narou ka, she kinda looked sad on stage, sitting in a chair, doing the upper body motions to the song, singing her parts butting nothing else. As things moved on however, the girls would go over to her and dance and such, especially Chinami who gave her a few bumps and bops on the head. They were all having a good time in the end.

Miyabi

Miya seemed a bit more active than what I usually remember of her. Her voice is still in top shape and she’s a really well rounded idol. During the fan meeting she won the little DO-RE-ME tournament thing they were doing. She was given a trophy and then Yurina took pictures of her holding it to give to some of the audience. She was having a lot of fun with it.

Yurina

Kumai had a couple of mess-ups during the concert, which continues to contribute to the view of a bit of an absent minded personality that I’ve seen in her as of late. Now, that is not a dig, it’s great actually, her personality and stage presence are ever growing and not going unnoticed.

Risako

I say that I’m pretty good at reading people, but it’s more than a possibility that my reading is off a little in this case. That said, Risako continues to send me all sorts of subtle messages when she looks my way, followed by a smile and or what not. During the concerts or whenever, it’s quite amusing as she’s half way coy with it. During the handshake, the way she looked at me was, ah, I don’t know. She was looking so deep and intently, lol. As I’ve said before, we just kind of click on some level, then again, maybe it’s all in my head. Anyway, good show.

As I told all of Berryz when I had the chance: See you in Seattle!