AKB48 in Paris: First Europe, then the world

AKB48 rocked the Old World in July 3 and 4. Specifically in Paris, France, at the annual convention Japan Expo.

During two days, our favorite idols made the European fans happy and they showed the world that AKB48's limit is the sky.

While the most popular AKB48 members stayed in Japan cheering the "Giants" baseball team and going to different shows to promote Namida Surprise, the less popular - but still loved - ones took their luggage to land in Paris. These girls included Sayaka, Nonti, Miichan, Kasai, Meetan, Mocchi, Cindy, Rie, Sasshi and others. Some research students and Love-tan went to Paris but couldn't perform due to the French labor laws that forbid minors to work (*shrugs*).

Concerts, conferences and signing events were part of the menu but, one of the greatest things was the fact of fans being able to record and taking pictures. Looks like at first it wasn't allowed to do so but in Europe, Europeans rule. So take out your cameras, it's time to film!

The concert was the same both days and included:

Aitakatta
10 Nen Zakura
Namida Surprise

Glass no I love You
Kinjirareta Futari
Nage Kiss de Uchiotose!
Himawari

Bingo!
Oogoe Diamond
Sakura no Hanabiratachi


Although it's pretty easy to find the videos on Youtube, we'll help you giving you some links.

This is a pretty good edition of Aitakatta, but we recommend you this one (first day):

[This user, called occy95, uploaded amazing videos with tons of "Sayaka shots" (we are eternally grateful for that), so every Sayaker must add these vids to their favorites!]

Aitakatta was a great start. We wanted to meet you, Europe! :)


Then it was 10 Nen Zakura's turn. I began to like this song before seeing it in Paris (I disliked at first, though) but I must say I love this song after Paris (XD). It was touching.


"Sayaka shot"


I still don't like Namida Surprise but when it comes to cheer AKB, I can even do the choreography... Namida Surprise, the third song they sang.


"Sayaka shot"

Then came MC and girls babbled in French! It sure required a great effort. French is 1000 times harder than English (in every aspect, IMO). It was basically a little presentation of every girl, some words in French, her name and nick.

We'll show you two videos: the first one is the most complete and has great close-ups (Sayaka). The second one is not that good but I like it because it's taken from far and we can see what we missed in the other video close-ups (Sayaka jumping at every French word she said XD).

I asked a French fan what he thought of Sayaka's French. He said it was pretty good, perhaps the best among all the girls. Oh, our baby is a multilingual sweetie.

After the MC came the units! Since this is SaeYaka Paradise we are going to focus in Himawari (Team K in Paris version). Himawari is one of the best AKB48 songs, it's powerful, touching and captivating. Its outfit is simple and marvelous at the same time and guess what... Sayaka is amazing in there.



This time the unit was formed by Nonti, Meetan, Sayaka and Mocchi. Himawari girls from before (Nonti and Sayaka in H1 team 1, Meetan in H1 team 2, and Mocchi in Shibuya AX 2009).


"Sayaka shot"

Notice how great Sayaka looks in jeans ;)

After Himawari, our girls ran from the stage to change clothes but before they presented the next song:

BINGO! As the girls began to sing the fans heard something was wrong with the song... Eh? What? English?!!!! Yea, AKB48 worked hard to entertain you! They made a special Bingo version in English and guess what: I didn't sound bad. (*thumbs up*)



This video is from the first day. Try to catch when Sayaka and the other Himawari girls arrive to the stage. They came running and looks like Sayaka actually never finished dressing up o_O She never managed to put her tie correctly until it fell off and her skirt was notoriously open in front. If it weren't for that little button (?) holding the skirt on the waist... OMG.
Sayaka looked terribly uncomfortable, though. I loved she showed her legs like that but I'd have preferred seeing her relaxed and not worried about the clothes. At least she had her hot pants on ^^;

Bingo! finished but Sayaka's clothing torment didn't stop there. It was time to sing Oogoe Diamond (in English, too!)



Here is a second day version with decent audio. Sayaka's English is awesome.

Now, this is an excellent recording from an excellent position:


Oogoe Diamond, second day

Thankfully, after the song was over, Sayaka was able to escape from the stage to get dressed again.

Sakura Hanabiratachi was the last song of the girls in France. I think if I had been there I would have cried my ass off thinking of how wonderful they are and how sad is the moment to say goodbye. This song also surprised everyone with the chorus sung in French. Delicate detail ^__^

Here is a video from the first day, you can see our Sayaka coming back to stage without necktie but with her skirt properly closed.


"Sayaka shot", second day

Then conferences came and many lucky fans got their stuff signed and shook hands with the girls. We surely feel envy, but we feel happier for them and the girls!

This might be a small step for other artists, but it's a great step for the AKB48 world :B

In other traveling news, it's been told AKB48 would be going to New York in September. Great, it's impossible for me to save money by September. Agh.



I beg for a tour in South America!



This is how AKB will take over the world. You cannot resist!




Media sources:

- The pictures we used are owned by Chris CB Photographie. You can find more AKB48 Paris pictures on his website: http://www.chriscb.org/

- For more Paris good quality videos, we recommend visiting this Youtube user: WeeReZ31

Senbatsu election: We have a real winner?

As you read in the previous entry, the Senbatsu election is over and we, Sayaka fans, can be relaxed now (I can finally stop taking those sleeping pills, for God's sake).

Akipi kept us in is nervous status for a while, praying for a positive result for Sayaka (we knew Sae was safe). But not only us, every non Atsuko or Yuko fan was worried to die. I wonder if Akipi is going to pay our future visits to the psychologist, even more, I wonder if he's going to pay the doctor of every AKB48 member, from the always triumphant Atsuko to the girl who ranked the lowest.

Before hitting these pathetic and dark details, I'll give you more detailed information about the election final (if you want to know previous details, you can check here).

The girls who ranked from from 21 to 30 are the called "under girls", they get the single b-side and, as it has been told now, they will get a PV, too. Their votes ranged between 1,050 and 1,352.

Our under girls are:

30 - Matsubara Natsumi
29 - Matsui Rena
28 - Katayama Haruka
27 - Sashihara Rino
26 - Hirajima Natsumi
25 - Masuda Yuka
24 - Ohori Megumi
23 - Takajo Aki
22 - Yonezawa Rumi

Despite the "popularity" fact, we can say these girls are luckier than the senbatsu themselves, since they are less and they will still get a PV. That's to say, more camera time for each one (should I add, too, that they will probably get a better song since lately the AKB b-sides are way better than the a-sides?).

The "senbatsu girls" are the ones who got from spot 1 to 21. They got between 4,630 and 1,355 votes.

21 - Kuramochi Asuka
20 - Oota Aika
19 - Matsui Jurina
18 - Miyazaki Miho
17 - Urano Kazumi
16 - Minegishi Minami
15 - Sato Yukari
14 - Miyazawa Sae
13 - Kitahara Rie
12 - Akimoto Sayaka
11 - Ono Erena
10 - Kasai Tomomi
09 - Kashiwagi Yuki
08 - Sato Amina
07 - Itano Tomomi
06 - Kojima Haruna
05 - Takahashi Minami
04 - Watanabe Mayu
03 - Shinoda Mariko
02 - Oshima Yuko
01 - Maeda Atsuko


No surprises on the first places. Perhaps it's interesting how Mayuyu ranked higher than Takamina, and how Takamina ranked better than Haruna.

Now, the big surprise for me was how Sayaka ranked higher than Sae. We know Sae is way more popular...

What do senbatsu girls get? The same as the other ones. A song, a PV. And oh, a big relief.

A SAD MOMENT

The senbatsu announcement was made during an special event. The girls called one by one, everyone looking to the biggest chair, with a "1" on it. They said some words, they moved. Some of them cried, probably trying to release all that stress increasing week after week.

"Because I think it was important to take whatever results might have come from this election and move in a good direction with them, I feel like I caused everyone a lot of worry and asked a lot of unreasonable things. I want to do my best with everything I've got. Thank you very much," said Sayaka in her speech turn.

She feels she caused troubles. Somehow, she feels she put us on a trouble with this election. The rest of the girls must feel similar.

I don't see fun on seeing the girls cry. This event was probably the most denigrating one they've lived, from my point of view.

THE REAL WINNER

Now you're gonna say the winner is, hands down, Maeda Atsuko. Excuse me if I differ. I don't see why none of these girls should feel like a winner right now. After all this, after making them feel like this. I don't think they took this like fun, it was their popularity being exposed after all. They're idols, that's the business. But let's no forget they're human, we like it or not.

The winner here is Mr. Akimoto, Akipi, pockets full of money and the certainty he can control his idols and thus, his idols' fans.

Sometimes I think I could smack you, Akipi. But then I think you invented this after all, you chose Sayaka. You can't be that bad. Now please, don't ever do something like this again. I beg you.

THE SUN AFTER THE STORM

Now, let me tell you what I feel like the happy (still worried) Sayaka fan I am.

I was very negative about this, I know. I thought Sayaka was lost. Not because I didn't trust her, but I didn't trust the Japanese fans. But thankfully, they proved me I was wrong and that they still deserve all my respect. My apologizes, Japanese fans.

Thank you to everyone who voted for Sayaka. I don't know if you did it because I whined so much, or if you did it because you thought she deserved a new opportunity, but thank you very much for trusting her. She won't disappoint you. I bet my life she won't.

Thank you overseas fans, too. Your support, our support, I know she feels it. We are the best fans around the world. Thank you guys. Everyone. No matter what others might think, being outside is not easy and is sadder that being inside Japan. That's why I think we are so special.

I'm happy, I'm happy because Sayaka must be bursting in happiness right now, and thinking of her smile makes me feel the happiest person on the earth.

Congratulations, Sayaka. You're the best.



See? Don't get me wrong, inside the grumpy bitch you see on me, there is a girl who loves AKB no matter how much they make her suffer.

-Ange.-



Sayaka quote translation: Hana. (thankies!)
Pictures: http://natalie.mu, http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/ and http://news.livedoor.com/

SaeYaka Senbatsu!!!!!!!

SAYAKA IS SENBATSU AGAIN AND I CAN'T BE HAPPIER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thank you to all her fans who voted!

she deserve this more than anybody >.<

CONGRATULATION TO OUR GIRLS!

Heiwa.

RESULTS: In which unit you'd like to see Sayaka?

Thank you for voting in our last poll: In which unit you'd like to see Sayaka?

This time the result is very surprising for me! Really!

Let's check the results:

Junai no Crescendo: 2 (4%)
Kuroi Tenshi: 2 (4%)
Temodemo no Namida: 2 (4%)
Itoshisa no Defense: 3 (6%)
Itoshiki Natascha: 4 (8%)
Kinjirareta Futari: 6 (12%)
End Roll: 8 (16%)
Oshibe to Meshibe to Yoru no Chouchou: 23 (46%).


Ladies and gentlemen, the most of you want to see Sayaka in OshiMeshi!!!!

I guess the general feeling would be seeing Sayaka as Meetan, right? Although some people said they'd like to see Sayaka as "the victim" XDD.

Well, so far Sayaka in OshiMeshi is just an impossible dream but we can help our imagination a little...

Idea and Photoshop artwork by Heiwa©

Thanx for voting and see you soon in a new poll!

Sayaka ranked #23, Sae ranked #10

Today go out a new senbatsu list and...
Yes, this time Sayaka dropped one place u.u
But you know what? I STILL HAVE FAITH!
Sayaka, you can do it!!!!
Please Japanese Sayaka fans, help her because we can't do anything being so far T___T is all in your hands!

Heiwa.

Keep voting for our queen!

Necktie, necktie, necktie....!

In the previous entry we talked about Mariko recording a CM and Sayaka possibly recording with her.

Today, again in her blog, Mariko wrote about the recording and posted a revealer picture...



Necktie! Man suit! OMIGOD. So Sayaka was, effectively, recording a CM. Otherwise, why dressing like that?

For the moment, I can only think on Mariko's banner in the Acom Cash One campaign, where she wears a man suit and, if not wrong, exactly the same necktie.

Enjoy the picture.


(Ange's fantasies become true one by one...)