Nico Nico Cho Party: Day 2 and Goodbyes!!

Hello all!!

Thank you for the feedback on my last post! I really appreciate it. I'm glad people are still reading even though it's taken me so long to write these.

Ok!

The last day of Cho Party, Ari and I slept in until almost noon. Having barely slept the day before, plus all of the excitement and the time difference had finally caught up to us I guess. There were no emergency emails from Sato and we didn't have to be at Makuhari Messe until call time at four.

Around midday we were finally dressed and headed to Makurhari Messe. I had three goals: see Berryz Kobo perform, and to catch Yakko(☆) and Manako(☆) at the odottemita booth, and to meet up with another odorite named Miho＊* (☆)


Miho and I have followed each other for about as long as I can remember. We both love Hello! Project. She was actually on stage at the Aru Aru City booth the day before, but I didn't recognize her because she was cosplaying. She later tweeted me asking if I was at the Aru Aru Booth because she thought saw me in the audience! I'm such an idiot!!

We agreed we would try to meet at the Odottemita Booth at around the time when Yakko and Manako were on stage to teach Viva Happy.

It was fun, they make a great team!!!

But through all of this I couldn't find Miho....

And while we were at the odottemita booth, Berryz had already performed. I missed them both!! I wonder if Miho was at the concert...

By the time Yakko and Manako's slot was over we decided to head back to the hotel to rest and eat before call time. We had just left the main hall and were only a short walk away to the hotel when a woman came up from behind us.

It turned out she was a Nico viewer who watched our videos regularly! She asked us to take a picture with her son. She said "Welcome to Japan!" bowed and hurried off. Ari and I felt so grateful. That was probably one of the highlights of our trip.

We ended up not getting any rest at the hotel so we just headed of Makuhari Messe when it was time. This time we mostly waited around backstage because the only time we'd be on stage was for the encore. Ti☆in! had also disappeared somewhere for almost three hours so we had to find some way to entertain ourselves....

Mica showed us how you eat chicken nuggets from McDonald's in the Philippines. With rice!

 The second day felt more of a day to just enjoy the show so I watched a good portion of the show from the audience including Mica's solo (which was amazing!!)

This day I was able to take pictures with...

Tadanon!(☆)

Torasan!(☆)

MARiA(☆)

And I am extremely embarrassed to say that I have no idea what this group called themselves. I just know that Penta(☆), Lilia(☆),  Mariyan(☆), Wata(☆),Yakko and Manako are in it, they're performance was superb and I had to get a picture with them.

However Penta wasn't present when it was time to take the picture...

But she did walk up to us and ask us to sign Cho Party's brochure next to out promotional pictures. (Some of the members in this picture are holding a copy of one) For anyone wondering, Penta is just as adorable and sweet as you would imagine her to be.

With Mii(☆)

With Ti☆in! and Musumen(☆) minus Aoi

With Yappi(☆) and Tama(☆) they're such talented musicians!!

The show was incredibly long, (over five hours!!) By the time we were called to the stage for the last number I wondered if the audience was tired. But almost everyone was standing and cheering still! It was pretty impressive! And even though it was after ten they still called for an encore!

The encore was probably the most fun I had at Cho Party because they sang a sort of extended version of "Skill". There was a huge tub of hot water involved!

There were fun surprises even for us performers! These hearts fell from the sky.

Mine had ripped so Fine gave me his. 

Ari later revealed to me that the one he gave me was one that she had picked up from the floor and handed to him. This depressed me a bit for some reason. 

Mii gave Ari and I these as a gift!!

After the show there was a final kanpai. And then it was finally time to wish everyone a goodbye. I certainly almost cried when Sato said he had to leave early and wouldn't be accompanying us to the airport.

We spoke with Melochin(☆) a little bit. Many things happened in the conversation but at one point he said "you dance, I sing" and he broke out into Happy Synthesizer. This was mostly embarrassing because Ari and I had completely forgotten the choreography as we hadn't done it in almost three years. But we got two fun pictures out of it.

So, so, so blurry. Melochin is the only one who looks good but he still sent it to us Forever grateful.

Then we did a five point star!

Melochin is indeed very sweet and patiently spoke with us for quite some time.

We were able to say goodbye to Miume(☆). She gave me hug and then said I smelled nice at which point my heart dropped into my stomach.

As I said goodbye to Yappi,  he told me that I didn't have to greet everyone before I left, just a few people, but knowing that there's a HUGE chance that I may never see them again made me feel inclined to at least say goodbye to as many people as I possibly could.

After we greeted as many people as humanly possible, Ti☆in!, Mica(☆), Ari and I finally headed back to hotel. There it was finally time to wish Ti☆in! goodbye as well since the chance we'd see each other again before our flight was pretty slim. There was a real feeling of accomplishment and gratitude and we were all pretty satisfied with our experience at Cho Party. So when we finally said goodnight and parted ways I didn't feel the need to cry.

The next morning there was a little bit of time before we had to catch the bus to the airport so Mica, Ari and I went to the mall one more time for some souvenir shopping.

On our way back to the hotel to wait for the bus, something hilarious happened!

I spotted Ti☆in! walking down the street and became suddenly overwhelmed with excitement. So I called them...rather loudly. 

They looked extremely surprised and almost confused but waved and continued. 

Later, it even came up in their after Cho Party broadcast. Fine in particular didn't know how to feel about it because he'd felt a sense of closure the night before only to see us again the next day.

I probably shouldn't have yelled their name in the streets, that had to have been slightly embarrassing...

But we also ran into Musumen which was exciting! They were a little less confused to see us and wished us a good trip!

I definitely said I would talk about how we met Musumen but there really wasn't much to talk about....I can definitely say they're a fun bunch and I was particularly grateful when Kimagure Prince(☆) said he remembered my Kiss Me Aishiteru dance cover. In return I told his that I loved his Suki Suki Beam Shiawase Beam cover and we danced a small portion of it together in remembrance which was exciting!!

Overall my experience at Cho Party was fulfilling and eye opening. One thing that I realized about Cho Party is that for the most part there really is no gap between the audience and the performers. It felt like a stage created by Nico Users. At any moment any  teenage girl sitting in front of her laptop half way around the world could decide, "I love this and I want to do this!" and actually do it. When Guilty Hearts was on stage, everyone backstage was glued to the tv screen or in the back of the hall cheering just like the audience; just as enthusiastically. There was no competition or bitterness. It really was a party and everyone supported each other. We were all gathered in the same place, celebrating the same thing and that's what was the most fun about it. That's probably why I loved participating in the encore parts the most. That's probably why even after five hours the audience showed no sign of fatigue. So if you're reading this entry and think, "it's so far away, I could never do that, I'm here to tell you that you most certainly can!" Just by expressing the same enthusiasm as everyone else you can do it!

Anyways, thank you all so much for reading about my experience at Cho Party! I left out quite a few smaller anecdotes but if there's anyone at all that you'd like to hear more about please let me know in the comment section. Otherwise this is my last entry!

Thank you so much for your patience and support!

Ki Mo

Nico Nico Cho Party: All day Tech!!/ Meeting Odorite

More Cho Party coverage!!

Ari mentioned that my last blog post was a bit scant in how I felt as things were happening. So this time I'm going to take much more time with it! Tell me what you think!

Thank you for waiting!

The 25th of April was tech for most of the show.

First thing in the morning Ari and I headed to find breakfast!

The main street 

SEGA game store!

Ki ♡

Ari☆

We ended up going to another coffee shop that we found in what looked like a HUGE office building (?) No one stopped us so we walked right in!

Both times Ari and I went to a cafe, bossa nova music played in the background as opposed to the New York styled jazz or indie music I'm used to hearing at Starbucks.

I liked it!

For some reason, many buildings weren't as well lit as I'm used to seeing in the U.S., especially in the mornings.

At first we weren't even sure the office building was open.

I guess if the windows are big enough you only need the natural light coming in.

Maybe they're saving on electricity?

Ben&Jerry's!! (Food again)

At breakfast Ari and I talked about various things but something amazing came up in conversation. I'll write a separate post about that!! (It's something I think the YouTube community can really benefit from so please look forward to it!)

After breakfast it was straight to Makuhari Messe for tech!

By this day the stage had finally been completely built and everyone would have a chance to rehearse on it.

This was also the first day we met most of the odorite we'd been dreaming of meeting for years!

The first group we recognized was Pupuppi and Tatsuki from ARSMAGNA! 

Sato let us peak into their tech on stage. (Papa! lol )
They weren't in costume but we recognized the dance right away!

They were rehearsing with full lights, the music was booming and I was completely awestruck!!!

I couldn't even imagine what the hall would like like once all 6,000 seats were filled.

 Ti☆in! arrived shortly after we did. As soon as they got themselves settled we began to rehearse the choreography for the Opening Act and Tell Your World. By now it was mid afternoon and most of the performers who were scheduled to tech that day had arrived.

Including Guilty Hearts!!!!

 I was so excited, I couldn't stop grinning.  But eventually it got so noisy that we had to move to the spacious hallway to continue.

As rehearsal went on, it was interesting to notice small things about Fine and Tsurutei that I hadn't expected.

In their dance covers Fine seems to be the person that most viewers' eyes are drawn to. I'm pretty certain he makes the majority of the choreography and so seems to be the leader of the two. In conversation however, Fine was much more reserved than I would have expected.

Tsurutei was definitely more comfortable when talking to us and actually has a very bright personality. And while Fine did make a lot of the decisions for drafting our formations, if he ever hit a block,  Tsurutei wouldn't hesitate to make a suggestion which Fine would quickly agree with.

Basically, their roles are much more balanced than I thought they would be.

In the middle of rehearsal something behind us caught Ari's eye. We turned around and Melochin was dancing (flailing) behind us! He's pretty silly!

I freaked out and said, "Uso!" (no way!) which earned a few laughs.

Melochin recognized us from our Happy Synthesizer cover. I was so happy!!!

Ti☆in! and Melochin chatted for a bit, Melochin went off somewhere and we finished rehearsing.

When we returned to the rehearsal room the room, it was completely packed and buzzing. The four of us found an unoccupied table and claimed it by stationing our bags there. We dispersed  for a bit and I was left at the table by myself. Having nothing to do I scanned the room for performers I recognized.

Pupuppi and Tatsuki were at a table behind us to the left, Ry☆ (twitter☆)  and Miume ( twitter☆)   chatted at the furthest table in front of us, Ushi Dorobo members occupied the table to the left of them, MAZDA practiced in the mirrors, Mica found a few musicians to practice Japanese with and I didn't know what to do with myself.

I decided that I had to try and talk to as many people as possible!

I was able to talk to Pupuppi (twitter☆) and Tatsuki (twitter☆)  first!  Dressed simply in rehearsal wear, Pupuppi were all still quite stunning!!

There manager (?) promised us a picture together on the day that they were all in costume.
She was really nice.

Tatsuki was really sweet and easy to talk to. I remember he always appeared comfortable around us and would acknowledge us every time he saw us during the day! 

They were really excited when I told them that Ari and I often watch their videos.

I didn't really know what to do after that....

 I saw Ti☆in! greet Guilty Hearts  across the room and had an idea!

But I guess Ti☆in! noticed me watching them (by myself....alone) so after greeting Guilty Hearts they headed towards me and sat down.

I told them that I really wanted to meet Guilty Hearts but I was extremely nervous. They surprisingly replied "Us too!"

It was almost evening by the time we finally got on stage to tech some of the encore numbers that all performers would be present for. The stage manager gave us directions pretty quickly but Ti☆in! tried to stay close and make sure we always knew what was going on. (Thanks guys!!!)

This was also around the time we met Mii from Dancing Dolls (twitter☆).

Mica had suddenly called Ari and me over and said "This is Mii! She speaks English!"

Mii's English pronunciation was so good, I was sure she wasn't originally from Japan. I also didn't recognize exactly who she was for the majority of that day....


Mii would occasionally turn to talk to a petite, colorfully dressed, girl who later introduced herself to us as MARiA  (twitter☆). Ari had an "Aha!" moment and recognized her from her LAMB (video☆) video with Miume and  Kamen Rider 217  aka Niina. (twitter☆)

We all got along right away. First impressions! MARiA has an open, friendly face  and loves fashion.  Mii is surprisingly mature for her age yet still very cute and enjoys Kpop!

Mii and MARiA really enjoyed my Ben&Jerry's top. They spent quite some time pointing to the different flavors of ice cream on my shirt, asking me to translate it to Japanese. They really wanted to find half-baked for some reason...

At some point while practicing entering and exiting the stage for one of the encore numbers, we ended up near Ry☆ and Miume.

Ti☆in! thankfully took initiative and introduced Mica, Ari and me.

To be honest, I was so shocked I hardly remember that first encounter. Mostly, Ari and I just tried not to completely embarrass ourselves. Miume asked us if we like Guilty Hearts. We said, "of course!" and made the Guilty Hearts sign. It was also pretty hard to to talk to them over the loud music, bright lights and cameras swinging around us. I managed to ask Ry☆ if he was wearing colored contacts. He said, "Yes, they're yellow.". Shortly after we gave up trying. 

I don't remember what time we finally got on stage to tech Tell Your World, only that it was several hours after the original designated time and most of the other performers had gone home.

We had only found out the day before that  we were going to be the encore performance!

I was shocked. It was more than we could have asked for!


We blocked our entrance, formations and exit once before running it with the Nama band.

It felt absolutely amazing! I remember thinking, " We're all moving really well together! All of our hard work has finally paid off!"

I was a little sad when they said we could leave the stage...

Mii was staying in the same hotel as us so she, Mica, Ari and I walked back together.

She asked us if we we would help her with her English homework.  The entire ordeal was pretty hilarious. Japanese English textbooks are surprisingly hard.

Somehow, "argue" "insist" and "claim" all translated to the same word. (?) And we couldn't explain what the function the phrase, "in the first place" was...

I translated a section of Mii's blog where she talks about it here→☆.

We talked and exchanged videos with each other afterwards. It was at this point that I FINALLY (embarrassingly)  found out that Mii is a part of Dancing Dolls, a group that I am actually very familiar with.

We hung out until it was a little after midnight and promised to walk around Choukaigi together before calling it a night.

And that concludes our third day in Japan! 

Next I'll be talking about Cho Party Day 1 and what Choukaigi was like!!

Please look forward to it!!

Also, if you have any requests on people or events I should talk more about, please let me know!

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Ciao ♥