#u:ask

My original post, made 17 April 2016, is here with several translation errors.

On the 14th of April 2016, an earthquake struck Kyushu’s Kumamoto region at 9.26pm Japan time, where Faneru lives. This was the magnitude 6.2 foreshock.

ASK was the first one to update us on Faneru’s status, with a tweet 12 minutes after the earthquake.

ASK: Because I think many of my followers will probably be worried, I decided to tweet. Faneru-kun is safe. Please do not worry.

Kogeinu retweeted this tweet, and also tweeted himself. 

Kogeinu: It seems that my friends who live in the area are safe.

Kogeinu: This time there are quite a lot of aftershocks

Gero tweeted some time after. His tweet has since been deleted but was preserved in my original post: ふぁねるは大丈夫。 皆さんも無事でありますように

Gero: Faneru is alright. I pray that everyone stays safe as well. ASK: Daijoubu, daijoubu~

After the quake, clear and nero, who are also from Kumamoto (but are now based in Tokyo), tweeted as well. 

nero: I was able to contact my family in Kumamoto. Some bruises and scratches were suffered, but everyone is alright, so I am relieved. Thank you for your concern! ASK: That’s a relief.

clear: My friends and family from Kumamoto are alright!! Thank you everyone for worrying!!!! 

ASK later tweeted again, some two hours after his first tweet.

ASK: Also, somehow, my earlier tweet about Poppo-chan* being safe got so many RT and favourites, it’s pretty funny. That guy is provoking the earthquake by saying “Another big (earthquake) came    ( ՞ਊ ՞） “. If a super-huge one comes, I think it’s probably his fault.  

It was especially funny because in the days leading up to this period of time (and even after), ASK had been super inactive on Twitter, with mainly automated bot tweets on his account. But he came back just to reassure fans that Faneru was safe, which got an outpouring of reactions (910 RTs, 1.4k Favourites). 

Then he dived into wiseman mode, somewhere near 1am.

ASK: During 11 March (2011′s earthquake) I felt this way as well, but those who are not near the affected areas, stop looking at the news and rest early. Because there’s school and work tomorrow as usual.

ASK: Besides those in the relevant professions, we can only offer help to those affected in the ways that we are able to. First of all, what we can do is to make sure society returns to normal by continuing with our everyday lives.

ASK: Why do I feel like an older brother character

On the 16th of April, two days after the foreshock, the main quake struck Kumamoto at 1.25am, with a magnitude of 7.0.

roro, a fellow utaite who is also a Kumamoto resident and friend of Faneru & ASK, was the first to tweet.

roro (2.10am): I got in touch with Faneru-kun over LINE. He’s safe.

roro (2.40am): The problem where ASK-san is sleeping, so he can’t spread the news that Faneru is safe.

roro (2:57am): Faneru-kun is playing ping-pong...! Aomofu (2:58am): That fellow’s carefree, huh.  

roro tweeted again in the morning as well.

roro (8.08am): The Kumamoto residents, myself and Faneru-kun, are safe, so please do not worry!

In ASK’s absence, Aomofu took over. 

Aomofu (2.53am): Because ASK-san is sleeping, for now. Faneru-kun is alright! Though I think ASK-san will definitely talk about it in the morning when he wakes up! For now! ASK (9.20am): ASK was sleeping soundly LOL

ASK: No, it’s not a time to be laughing. For now, roro-niki and Poppo-chan are alright! At times like this, LINE is really convenient.

ASK: Somehow Faneru sent me LINE messages like “I came to play ping-pong”, but I wonder if it was because of the earthquake?

A few more tweets...

nero: I’m keeping in touch with my friends and family in Aso, and I’ve confirmed they’re all safe, but it’s still a worrying situation... But every time I contact them, they encourage me to not worry as they are alright, so I will stay strong and do my best! Everyone else, please stay safe.

clear: Actually, my younger sister’s family house is in Masushiro, but it seems that it cannot be lived in anymore because it’s tilting...

clear: They used chairs to write SOS on the grounds of a national high school but... as expected, there don’t seem to be enough relief supplies (´•_•`)

roro: Getting the Earthquake Early Warning while taking a dump is the worst (the worst)

*Poppo-chan: Gero’s nickname for Faneru, which has been collectively adopted by all of Faneru's fans and friends. It dates back to 2012 - the full name is Hatomune Tenshi Poppo-chan (Pigeon Chest Angel Poppo-chan).

ASK, 180405 (Olympic nicoradio) Asamack, 180513 (After CGS 2018) Asamack, 180602 (Asamaru’s birthday + Raft) (1) Kogeinu Housoukyoku, 180705 (with Gom) Asamaru, 180709 (Summer and yukata) Kogeinu Housoukyoku, 180712 (with Asamaru, Mi-chan, Dasoku) AsEver, 180805 (Getting ready for Natsucomi) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Kogeinu & Asamaru, 180809 (Utaren & Nostalgia) AsEver, 180818 (Fuyucomi plans) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Kogeinu Housoukyoku, 180726 (with Glutamine) Asamaru, 180827 (The Lemon Matsuri, for fyeahkosan) Asamack, 180830 (Asamaru’s 11th Anniversary, for fyeahkosan) (Twitter) Asamack, 181110 (Kyushu) (1) Asamack, 181124 (Vacationing) (1) (2) AsEver, 181213 (Fuyucomi Announcement) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Asamack, 181225 (Asamack’s 2525) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) AsEver, 181227 (Preparing for Fuyucomi) (1) (2) (3) Asamack, 190114 (Asamack Family Are Together Again?!) AsEver, 190118 (Neverending Fuyucomi Story) (1) (2) Asamack, 190125 (CGS 2019 and more) (1) (2) Asamack, 190203 (The Next Asamack Family Holiday) Asamack, 190209 (Asamack returns?!) (1) (2) (3) (4) AsEver, 190210 (Three Yumamiyas and One Aomofu) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Asamack, 190220 (ASAMACK RETURNS + Circle formation) (1) (2) (3) (4) Shakemii ft. Stungun, 190224 (We tried to get 1000 viewers) Geroyaday, 190226 (Episode 0) Stungun, 190227 (Totsumachi)

I woke up at like 6pm the day before and hadn’t gotten my letters written yet so I did not sleep (: Caught one of the first trains to Tokyo Big Sight and at 6:30am lined up for the West Hall where all the music stuff is, and sat down to write the rest of my letters to rogero cras...... The girl next to me had a 96neko towel and merch

At 10:00, we were finally let into the hall!! I was pleasantly surprised to see that rogero cras’ table was almost RIGHT next to the entrance!! I headed straight there but there was already a line building so I was nervous about getting ASK’s necklaces..... From where the line initially was, I could only really see ASK! He was in that same skull shirt from CGS~ I caught a glimpse of koge too but he was in a hat and mask.... 

They ended up moving the line to a better place (i think they did not expect that amount of people right away) and gero managed the beginning of the line while a helper organised the rest of us! Koge and ASK manned the table, handling a line each. I ended up in ASK’s line! Gero joked around with us telling us that this was his part-time job and fanned us a little, he was really cute!! They were being SUPER efficient and I was so worried about stock and having the right amount of money because I was going to be getting so many items (for both me and a friend) that I was sooo frazzled and shaky when it was finally my turn LOL AND ASK IS SO ATTRACTIVE AND TALL AND WAS LOOKING RIGHT AT ME AND SPEAKING TO ME SO GENTLY.......... MY BRAIN WAS COMPLETELY ZAPPED...... I shoved eight letters at him and tried to explain that my friend gave letters too and he went through them looking a little surprised? I don’t know if it was because we both included mami or because of the sheer number LOL but he took them quickly and then i bought almost the entire table of goods..... I felt like a crazy person but he spoke so gently the entire time it’s still in my mind??? HE’S REALLY SWEET.... As i was pointing at everything I wanted, I was also partially distracted by koge’s voice right next to me;;;; It was really weird to hear this voice that I was so familiar with so clearly..... Anyways I think ASK quickly realised I was a foreigner because he said a number in English (asking how many of something I wanted) and when I left shoving the goods into my backpack he said thank you in English as well and I gave a surprised thank you back!!

I then rushed off to find High and Low as fast as possible because I was done with the first table unexpectedly quickly but their table was a lot harder to find..... I ended up losing my passcase+house key in my own idiocy which delayed me even more..... I only realised once I finally located their table, so i looped around and I looked for it a bit and went to lost and found but it wasn’t there, so I gave up and returned to line up.

THEIR LINEUP WAS OUTSIDE, LOOPING BACK AND FORTH.... it took me a full hour?? But that’s expected of such a powerhouse circle LOL.... halfway through, i heard squealing and turned around to see two girls fangirling super hard and one was almost crying omg.... they were wearing 96′s merch so I assume they just saw her and I smiled.... i was luckily in 96′s line!!! It seemed they were taking it a lot slower than rogero cras and were taking the time to talk to everyone so I felt a lot calmer.... I asked for what I wanted and then fumbled with the money a bit and then stood there for a beat too long because I wanted to say something to her but had nothing because I didn’t prepare myself beforehand;; She was so cute though!! she was also wearing a mask and had dyed her hair a light purple! She was also sooo calm I didn’t get a good look at touyu because I was so focused on her LOL I was so sad to leave I wanted to talk to her.......

But I really did have to go because I was getting increasingly worried about my keys..... I combed the area I was wandering earlier over and over again and kept checking with lost and found as well to no success.... As a result I got to pass by rogero cras a whole bunch of times HAHA i hope they didnt notice...... When their table started to slow down, I went up to gero asking if I could get their signatures because koge said the day before on his stream that it might be possible, but he told me no ;-; and he said sorry to me in english?! then i returned to on-and-off searching for my keys and resting because I was Dead Tired

After they sold out, I missed them giving away the poster but quickly went up to koge who was free (ASK was talking to someone else but I didn’t even get a look at who) and told him  「 “お疲れ様でした！！」and then realised I had nothing else and ran away LOL.... i heard him laughing a little in confusion as i left.

I stayed all the way past the douijn halls closing (4pm) til 5 to wait for all the lost and found to be gathered, and in a last-ditch attempt enquired one last time.... AND RETRIEVED MY PASSCASE!!!! OVERALL A GOOD DAY!!

- Talked about his favourite utaites; he said he has too many, but he named Gero as one of them (didn’t catch the others). commenters asked about Tourai!

- Quite a lot of people asked after Faneru/brought Faneru up in their comments; he ignored them (naturally). 

- I asked him if he would do a livestream with Kogeinu (since Kogeinu’s just started a dedicated livestream channel); a number of commenters echoed the sentiment after that! 

- Aomofu was watching too! Once in a while she would comment on the stream lololol

- Someone/some viewers asked him to imitate Kogeinu - he didn’t :( 

- At some point he tried to call Kogeinu? but Kogeinu didn’t pick up.

- Then he called Aomofu, and they proceeded to host the livestream together (A x M). It was so cute to hear them dissolving into laughter as they recalled some memories ;;______;; 

- He mentioned access, the Japanese band, quite a number of times during the livestream. Viewers asked him what he thought about other bands, and his favourite bands: names I can remember are PENICILLIN, Dir En Grey, surface, access. (he’s a huge fan of surface, from what I’ve gathered) He also said he liked Malice Mizer (!), the visual kei band. 

- Aomofu added that access became more well-known after D. Gray-man. (access sang the OP, Doubt and Trust) Can you imagine how delighted I was to hear DGM mentioned in the livestream?! :D 

- ASK talked about anime and games he likes. I didn’t recognise any of the titles, and I was also on the car when he was talking so I didn’t pay full attention.

- He also talked about Chang Gero Sonic! He asked if we were going, if we’d bought tickets, and he said he’d performed last year too. He also said it was thanks to Gero that he had the chance to perform again with Team Nicorai. Quite a few of us requested that Nicorai perform GOLD at the concert! He said to look out for the schedule/timetable of the concert :D

- He said he might do a livestream of him at karaoke next time. We were all very excited. He also said he doesn’t know when his next namahousou will be, prompting many of us to say “until the next Olympics/until 4 years later!” etc etc lololol even Aomofu was so amused.

- The stream ended up lasting a total of 3 hours, from 9.30pm JPT to 12.50am JPT. His viewers were all asking “don’t you need to sleep? it’s late” wwwwwww. I have no idea why he decided to impulsively do a livestream on a Thursday.

Gero started a livestream sometime during ASK’s too! 

-  Hinted at a possible Chang Gero Sonic 2019, if I’m not mistaken.

- Many people asked him to do a collab with Meychan. His collab with Meychan was hilarious so I can see why they would request for one