洋hiromi水

Seeing her live alongside the others (I wasn't very close but I did see everybody fairly well), I realized how extremely skinny she has become. Now I'm not one to comment on the girls' bodies, but it really makes me worry. I know people have been worried about her for a while, but to me she always looked skinny, but the SAME skinny. She didn't change, so I think that's just her body. Now she looks like she has actually lost more weight, and I feel like she didn't (couldn't?) give the 100% energy she usually gives. And when watching her next to the others, who are all skinny themselves, seeing them look big next to her... I don't want to point out any specific moments, you can see for yourself in the footage. I see Japanese comments on her weight, complimenting her for being so skinny and looking like a Manga character, and that has me worried even more. I do hope she feels well and if she doesn't, that she gets the support she needs. That being said, she's amazing and I look forward to seeing what 2024 brings for her!

First of all, definitely Ayumi. I knew she was a good dancer, of course. BUT seeing her live on stage is a completely different experience. Ayumi knows exactly how she has to move so that everyone in the hall can see every detail of her dance. I was seated on the left side of the stage, I'd say somewhere in the middle, so I wasn't super close to the girls. Still, I felt like I could see every little dance move Ayumi made clearly. It was impressive! Also, I've never been a huge fan of Ayumi's singing, I always thought her singing was okay, but I always wondered why she got so many lines. Now I know: It's her stamina. Every delivered line sounds good. Her voice doesn't waver and she never sounds out of breath.

 

Then Maria. Those heels!! She moves like a movie star on stage in those heels. She looks so, so good and she knows how to serve the fans with winking, waving and smiling in all the right moments. Also we know that Maria is always the one to jump highest, right? She's still doing that, and seeing her having the highest heels out of everybody (Eripon had high ones as well) while doing it was impressive. And she delivered 100% in the Moonlight Night performance.

 

Also, Rairi. It's unbelievable that she's only been around for such a short amount of time. She has everything: the charisma, the voice, she knows how to move, and she also got a lot of cheers from the crowd. I can't wait to watch her grow!

 

Akane. It's so interesting because Akane does get a bunch of lines, and when I listen to them on a recording, I always think she sounds good. But hearing her live, she sounds REALLY good. I cannot explain the difference, maybe somebody who knows more about acoustics or whatnot can explain it. But Akane is a really good, stable singer and I hope she'll inherit many lines from Mizuki.

 

Eripon. I would actually say that she is now the second best dancer in the group right after Ayumi. I know Maria gets a lot of praise for her dancing, and she is really good, but I felt like Eripon is kinda like Ayumi and knows how she has to move on the big stage for people to properly see the dances. And her singing impressed me, as well. You can't tell at all that she was a weak singer once. She doesn't have that many lines, but she hits every single one perfectly. I can't wait to see her as a leader.

 

Haru-san. She's just so cute because she's obviously still kind of shy and awkward, but she has such potential and already gained a lot of fans I think. Haru-san always got big cheers and many people called out "ganbare~" for her. She is a good singer and delivers her lines well. She doesn't stand out in the choreos, which I think is an achievement because she's new and doesn't have as much experience in dancing. It's fun to watch her grow and I can't wait until she gains some confidence as an idol, because I think she will surprise us all.

 

Everybody else was of course amazing as well, but these few members surprised me. Of course Mizuki was absolutely stunning through the entire show, she has such a kind aura to her, and her performance was impressive. Geta was also super cute, she looks like she's enjoying herself on stage and already has some confidence in performing. And as a Mei-chan fan, I of course was mesmerized by her performance. She's exactly how I pictured her on stage, genki and smiley and just looking like she's having so much fun. And Mei's singing was super strong (that Wagamama line!! Oh my god!!), but I already knew that.

The organization of the goods sales was horrendous. My friend and I were at the venue 30 minutes after the goods stand opened up in the morning, and there were already hundreds and hundreds of people lining up for it. We expected that for Mizuki's grad of course. The problem was everything else: the goods stand was somewhere inside the arena and fans had to line up on narrows stairs and in a gym hall that was way too small. So it was super croweded, and honestly, if it hadn't been in Japan where everybody behaved properly, it would have also been kinda dangerous. I don't know how many goods stands there were because I didn't get far enough to see them, but it couldn't have been many, because we moved like 5 metres in one hour. Most people around us also gave up and left. Because the main problem was: To be able to buy the goods, you had to use an app and order them beforehand. You then get a QR code that you show to the staff and pay there. BUT the app didn't work because there were too many people trying to access it. As far as I heard, it didn't work for most of the people standing in line. We also ended up leaving and went to Karaoke instead. We came back two hours before concert start because it said on the tickets that there would be another goods selling point in the Arena, only for people with concert tickets. But when we arrived, staff was already informing everybody that the goods were basically sold out and that people who line up now would never get anything. So all in all, it was a disaster.

 

I ended up getting my goods though, because we got through on the app sometime during Karaoke and my friend stumbled across a goods stand when she went to the toilet during one of the Mizuki calls. Apparently they build it during the concert to sell leftover goods? I don't know. She did get everything though. So for the last part of the concert, I finally had my Momusu pen light to cheer the girls. Before that I had to use an Angerme pen light my friend brought as an emergency one in case we couldn't get any.   It had Mei-chan's green so that was fine, but it didn't have Mizuki's pink, which kinda sucked at Mizuki's grad concert.

 

Everything else was great though. Once the arena opened, they easily moved everybody inside and there was enough space for everyone. They had lots of toilets, some food and drinks to get, coin lockers, etc. Yokohama Arena is a pretty cool venue. It's also super easily accessible because it's just a few minutes walk from Shin-Yokohama station, which is a Shinkansen station, so people from all over Japan can get there kinda easily. Another fun fact: many bars and restaurants around the arena blasted Hello Project music to get the fans to eat there. It felt like a little matsuri oh, and experiencing Japanese security for such a big concert was interesting. Coming from an European point of view, where you can only carry a little bag that they check thoroughly and where they also check your body and clothes, it was pretty funny: I came with a huge backpack full of shoes and clothes and stuff, because I left for a different place after the concert. All they asked me was if I carried any dangerous goods. I said no and they let me in.