On: Visiting the AKB48 Theater and Shop

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently traveled to Tokyo and spent some time completely freaking out in Akihabara (ok, so it wasn't that bad, but like, Akihabara is the the holy ground for any AKB48 fan and coupled with the Hello!Project shop that's also in Akiba, I was having the time of my life, haha). I visited Akihabara twice and it was only on the second visit that I gathered enough courage to head to the 8th floor of Don Quijote in order to see the AKB theater in person.

My younger sister headed up with me and one of the first things I noticed (aside from all of the AKB promo decorating the outside of the building), was that there are images of the various AKB CD covers plastered on the walls which you can see when you're taking the escalator up (or down!). There are tons of covers and they're all HUGE! It was really neat for a fan like me and definitely built up the anticipation I had to get to the theater itself.

On: AKB49 Musical Renai Kinshi Jourei

From left to right: Suda Akari (SKE48), Owada Nana (AKB48), Miyazawa Sae (SKE48), and Kojima Mako (AKB48)

Y'know those moments when you should be doing homework, but stumble across something really awesome that you just HAVE TO WATCH? Ok, maybe you don't actually have to do it, you can put it off until after the end of the semester, but life is short and I love musicals so I screwed myself over on schoolwork and just watched the AKB49 Musical Renai Kinshi Jourei.

So, some quick background on this before we jump in. AKB49 is a manga series and is largely considered an "official" manga title of the super mega Japanese idol group AKB48. Of course, it's a bit AU because a lot of the stuff that happens in the manga wouldn't happen in real life but it's a neat concept, similar to the "official" anime, AKB0048 (which I quite liked and still wish we could delete the last 5 or so episodes because that was a silly way to end the anime and there was so much potential for something greater~!! I should type up a separate post about the anime...) Anyways, the stars of the musical are Miyazawa Sae who play the male lead, Minoru Urayama; Suda Akari as Ai Okabe, who plays the main antagonist; and Owada Nana and Kojima Mako, who both play the female lead Hiroko Yoshinaga (they take turns portraying her character throughout the stage's run). I watched the version with Owada Nana as the female lead.

Now for a quick synopsis: Minoru always wanted to be a great baseball player, but due to an injury, he was forced to give up his dream. One day, while in class, he founds out that the girl (Hiroko Yoshinaga) he likes is a huge AKB48 fan and that she plans to take the audition to become a trainee. Deciding that he wants to help support her, Minoru decides to become Minori Urakawa and also audition to become a trainee. When the staff members announce who has passed the audition and Hiroko's number is called, Minoru decides his job is done and turns to take his leave. Right before he leaves however, his number is called and next thing he knows, he's a trainee of AKB48 alongside Hiroko!