#kousuke atari

Kousuke Atari - Hana

For the closing ceremony I arrived at the venue 45 minutes earlier than schedule since I wasn’t gonna risk losing my usual spot which I have now dubbed as ‘the lucky spot’. When I arrived, Kousuke Atari was doing his performance. About Kousuke, he is a self-trained musician, and performs in the difficult shima-uta (island-song) style of his hometown. He had a really gentle voice and one can feel calm when listening to him sing, and feel the nostalgia hit. Most of his songs were Japanese, but there was one song that he sang in Chinese, which surprised and impressed me. While his singing was not my cup of tea, but that did not mean I couldn’t appreciate it, and judging from his facial expressions, he was clearly feeling it. Respect to this man. For those who appreciate slow music, this man is the one for them.

After his performance, they showed us the highlights from Day 1 and Day 2, and man did I go all hype when Naachan appeared in the video sequence lmaooo. Aki and Austin then came out and called for all of the artists who had come. The first one was ZIPANG (whose concert I attended on Day 2 for a little while), then Himika Natsume, WIN=W1N (whom I will say had a really cool T-shirt by the way), 0TU1, ToumeinaKankei SampunSanjubyo, Sorgenti (whoooo!), Banzai Japan (yaayyy!), Yoyogi Jyoshi Ongakuin, KiREI (YASSSSSS!!! Okay, I will not hide the fact that I immediately screamed Hanapii’s name, and seriously what luck was bestowed upon me that they stood close to me *seriously this spot really is the lucky spot*), Kiiyama Shouten, *Chocolate Bomb!!, cosmic!! (they stood closest to me ohmygodohmygod *pant pant*). When cosmic!! came out I remember I cheered for them and I think that caught Hanapii’s attention and she spotted me and started waving heartily! She’s just so amazing! I love her so much! After cosmic!! Harupiii came in (whooo!!) and since they needed more space for other artists to stand on stage, KiREI members had to scoot closer to cosmic!! members when Riona was called in. Right when Kousuke was entering the stage, Mianyan saw me and waved at me too! OH GOD! At this point it was really hard to focus elsewhere since the girls were standing so close! Not to mention the cosmic!! boys were also having a blast and started dancing so close to me pahahaha! I tried to film elsewhere but my body seemed like it had its own brain and it was right! Cuz when I focused back on Hanapii, she looked at me again, waving and giving the heart finger as she was leaning forward. Funny yet endearing thing was, Chori-chan next to her followed along and now she saw me too! I loved the fact that when she really realized it was me, she tapped Hanapii’s arm and pointed at me. Oh for goodness’ sake, my heart couldn’t take this much happiness (I’m tearing up as I’m writing this down TvT)!

After all the artists were in, it was time to call the organizers and the important people for photo taking and some speech (I feel bad I didn’t focus on this). Soon after there was a countdown, and five seconds later, the confetti blower started blasting. But here’s the thing I didn’t realize it was there, and I don’t think KiREI members knew either cuz poor Hanapii was startled more since the blast was right in front of her (^w^”). The hype was exhilarating; all the high tension from the artists, the audience and the beat of the blaring music, it was all just so great to be there! Then Hanapii once again turned to me and waved, and I knew I had to use this chance to communicate with her. With just one hand I tried to convey that I was really grateful they came here, and that I was sad that they were about to leave (I used my finger to trail a tear on my cheek lmaoo and she clapped her hands together while nodding). I should mention it was so cute that she kept responding with the same hand gestures that I gave to her. I should also mention that one of cosmic!! members, Tomi started to dance vigorously, and I just couldn’t help but laugh considering our small distance lololol. I kinda wished that I talked to their fangirls to ask more about them ahahah. After a while the artists on stage were called down to the floor, to interact closer with the fans. Sorgenti came first and man Hiroshi’s smile was so wide it was so cute! Trust me when I said my heart was beating so hard even though I wasn’t expecting anything (more like I didn’t want to hope much in order to avoid disappointment lmao). BUT! KiREI members actually came to my side first! HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS HOLY! As I said before, I CAN’T HANDLE THIS MUCH HAPPINESS!!! Chori-chan was filming with her phone while Hanapii and Mianyan focused on interacting with the fans, and I was so joyful Hanapii took a few seconds to once again look at my camera (gosh I love her!). And Chori-chan had so much fun immortalizing the moment in her Instastory lolol!

Next, *Chocolate Bomb!! came and I’m really a sucker to good-looking people cuz I got enticed by their flawless looks (^v^”). They trotted past me and right behind them was Hiroshi (Sorgenti) and he was walking straight at my way and started passing some tickets (I honestly don’t know what it was) and I thought he was gonna give one to me too but he ended up giving it to the people around me lolol. After going around passing the tickets he came back at my area and looked straight at my camera. I thought he would put some distance between us, but holy crap! He came so close that I was like “Chikai! Chikai! Chikai desu! (Too close! Too close! You’re too close!) But hey, I got lucky to get nice shots of him, yeeeee! From up-close, you could tell that this guy is a chill guy and fun to hang around with. After Hiroshi, the Banzai Japan girls came and I’m glad they did since I really liked their cheery energy. They didn’t really reach me cuz another girl group came in, ToumeinaKankei (for short). They were SERIOUSLY close that I thought in panic, “Girls, girls, too close! Please think about your safety! You don’t know what kind of maniac could be lurking around here!” At least what I respect about these girls were the fact they went to every bit of every corner to reach out all the audience on the floor, making them feel appreciated to be there and for that I was really touched. The girls from Banzai Japan did the same, but with an extra level, in which one of the members crouched in front of two little girls next to me, so there was barely a distance between us and again, I was like “Guuurl, please be careful!” while flutteringly took pictures lolol. Soon after, the cosmic!! members went back on stage and noticed me and started posing for me, SO ADORABLE AND COOL! I need to mention that I STILL HATE MYSELF FOR GETTING BAD QUALITY PICTURES OF THEM (I’ll learn how to use DSLR cameras better after this)!

Okay, by now the artists were slowly climbing back on stage one by one and made their way to the backstage stealthily and I thought that was enough pictures and videos for the night. I couldn’t really see KiREI members since they were being blocked by other artists but I was content with that and I hoped they could get some rest real quick, and wished for their flight to be safe (I didn’t know when their flight was, and I assumed it would be on the next day lolol). So, while at that I was enjoying myself with cosmic!!’s funny antiques and random dances. Just when I thought nothing was gonna surprise me anymore, and I seriously did not expect this because I’m just a regular visitor who happened to really like Hanapii, she totally surprised me by peeking in between Harupiii and Riona, AND THEN STARTED WAVING AND GIVING ME THE FINGER HEART SIGN!!! I swear I’m not making this up, you can actually find this scene in a video on YouTube (I’ll share the gif here). And I don’t care how much I’ve said it, I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!! Right then and there I just, I just cried, like there was no way I couldn’t use my towel right then and there. But before letting the waterfall happen, I responded back to her as much as I could until it was time for them to go. I had to leave the crowd and just took a bit of time to take a breather. I then ran to the backstage to see there was already many people gathering and all the artists had a group photo. Knowing that there was no way I could squeeze my way into the crowd I left the venue. Honestly, I don’t know how to end this report, cuz that’s how it ended. I only remember that I walked to the exit with tears and tried to keep it low.

I will say that, my experiences with KiREI were so much more fun and exciting than my experience with AKB48. I know, to be fair, I spent more time with KiREI and even had direct conversations with them for 3 days straights, in comparison to AKB’s limited one-day visit. If I had to put the satisfaction in numbers, I’d say my experience with AKB48 was 70-80%, while with KiREI it was around 150%, mainly because of the eye contacts with the members during performances and the way they interacted with me during the meet-and-greet sessions. Chori-chan and Mianyan were very very sweet and charming and I wish I interacted with them more. But that’s just how I roll I guess, the first person who charms me will get me first lmaooooo. I will never forget that first and only wink that Hanapii gave to me which had indefinitely fished me towards her and forever turned me into her fan. So, as a KiREI fan, I’m here to spread their name as much as I can, considering they’re not a mainstream idol group, and they deserve more recognition. I know it’s not easy to follow an underground idol group, but it’s not impossible. Especially when they’re going to perform in Mini Tokyo Idol Festival in Bangkok on October. So please follow their Twitter accounts and discover the other 11 members who are attractive and charming in their own ways. Follow them on Twitter, Instagram, watch their Showroom, subscribe to their mail services, go to their live performances, buy their merchandise, but most importantly, show them your support and appreciation and spread their motto “I want to make everything beautiful”.

I’ll make it easy, here are some links for you guys (Their Instastories are LIFE). KiREI: Twitter || Utaten (Mail services) Tanaka Hana: Twitter ||  Instagram Konatsu Mia: Twitter || Instagram  Miyadera Miho: Twitter ||  Instagram