(if you want to see what the actual pictures turned out to be like, go check either my Twitter feed or, if you know me personally enough, my Facebook - I'm not publicly putting out my face here on this blog for privacy reasons...)
As I mentioned in my previous post, Marine Messe is actually pretty close to where I'm staying. Since I was feeling a bit lazy though, I took a bus halfway and then walked the rest. The event venue was a little smaller than Makuhari Messe, and the number of people obviously less (but still in their thousands), but you'd expect that for a sister group-only event.
Unfortunately, the morning started off with a little hitch that threatened my entire day. Just like the AKB48 handshake events, you pass through an ID check for each member's lane before taking a photo with that member. One difference, however, is with the ID check requirements. There is no receipt that you need to bring along (in fact, you're not even given a receipt in the delivery mail), so it is just your photo ID (again, my passport) and the tickets. This time, though, the tickets have your delivery address printed on it. And it was this little detail that caused problems.
When I went to line up for my first member in the morning, surprisingly, the security staff was questioning my ID and would not let me through. The issue was that they were put off and confused as to why I have a Japanese delivery address when I showed them an Australian passport. At first, I tried the "well, the AKB48 handshake event was fine with regards to ID so why not this? (after all, the same company, Chara-Ani, organises both events)" argument but they didn't buy it. So they told me to go to the main Chara-Ani support booth off to the side of the venue. When I got there though and asked the staff at Chara-Ani what the issue was with my ID, they checked it out and said it was fine. No issues whatsoever, so I went back to the lane and told the staff that Chara-Ani checked it and was okay with my ID. In the end, I managed to get through and back into the queue, lining up for my first member. To avoid any further issues that day, I later went back to the booth after my first member and got my tickets formally validated (stamped) and explicitly approved by Chara-Ani. In fact, a few other overseas fans (judging by how recognisably familiar their language to me was, Hong Kong fans to be exact) also had similar issues that day.
There actually was no real issue; like the AKB48 handshake events, Chara-Ani only technically requires the photo ID holder to match the name on the ticket. The address itself is not really necessary for validation (unless you somehow did not bring a photo ID - which should not apply for most foreigners going to these events anyway). Having a quick peek at the security staff's ID check guide though, for some odd reason, they highlighted the ticket's address as requiring validation (when Chara-Ani does not really specify this as a necessary requirement on their website, for any handshake/2-shot event). The only conclusion left is that the staff were less experienced than the ones at the AKB48 event.
That theme continued throughout the rest of the day. You notice this difference through various elements: their attire (suits and business dresses for the security attendants, green and black overcoats for the rest of the organisation staff at AKB48; casual, young hires wearing nothing but a black vest for HKT48) and, according to various members' Google+ posts after the event, inconsistent application of the rules. Some lanes were a little lax with regards to what poses one could make with the member, others were stricter (for example, no touching). Needless to say, the entire organisation and professionalism of the security staff that day was left somewhat wanting. Probably attested to the difference between AKB48 holding larger events for a longer period of time, and HKT48 having only just started holding these sorts of events.
One thing that they did provide during the event that was not only popularly visited, but also incredibly necessary, was a free phone charging booth. Which essentially consisted of a bunch of tables with lots of power ports attached to them. The area got fairly crowded, but most people just left their phones there to charge while heading off somewhere else.
The process, like normal handshake events, was simple. You line up, pass the ID check and, ensuring your phone is in camera mode, hand it to the staff. Whilst in the lane booth, you get a fairly short handshake and conversation with the member while you (or both) pick a pose (restrictions on poses notwithstanding) and the staff takes a photo. Afterwards, you check whether the photo is okay (i.e. not blurred) and if it is, you're escorted out.
So what about the members themselves? Today, I was to take photos with six members. Short comments as follows:
Chiyori Nakanishi. Team H. 9am.
Being the comedian and variety stalwart that she is, she was loud, lively and fairly eccentric. Given that this was Chori, I asked her to do her (infamous) Yosui Inoue gag pose, which she did. (As for me, I just did some horribly silly face...). In terms of comedic value, definitely one of my more unique photos of the day.
Haruka Kodama. Team H. 10:30am.
Haruppi seemed a little reserved today, but still nice and obliging enough. Picked a more cutesy (and generic) love heart pose. For some strange reason though, when I checked the photo, she didn't look too impressed. Oh well.
Haruka Wakatabe. Team H. 2pm.
The surprise of the day. When I went into the booth, as soon as I told her (as I did for the other members that day) I was from Australia, she seemed a lot more surprised and genuinely curious. Attempted to start a fairly meaningful conversation too, but I was feeling a bit worried that the impatient staff might begin to snap (in fact, I really wanted to talk a bit more with her). Someone on Twitter asked me to do a funny pose with her (Dragon Ball's Fusion Dance, to be specific). To be quite honest, I was thinking whether Wakaharu would even know about it but as soon as I showed her how to pose, she seemed happily accepting enough. Thus resulted in a quirky, yet unique (and definitely fun) photo.
Yuki Shimono. Team H. 3:30pm.
Cinnamon was certainly nice, welcoming, happy and cute enough. Tried an even more cutesy (and girly) pose with her. Needless to say, she looked cute but as for me, well... try imagining guys acting girly and you get the idea.
Anna Murashige. Team H. 5:30pm.
Aanya was in her usual self - that is, not her loud, crazy self (refer to my handshake event post and you get the idea). Still very active and welcoming though. When asked for a pose, I just did what the majority of people would have chosen: her mentaiko gag pose. Except mine turned out to be a little crooked. Must be the angled arms.
Sakura Miyawaki. Team H. 5:30pm.
Missed out on her last Sunday, so it was great that I finally got to meet her today. Expressed a bit more surprise that I came from Australia (relative to other members) and she was fairly lively otherwise. Also awfully came rather close to me when it came to take the photo, the staff not caring too much about it either. Another thing to note: her handshake was rather firm and tight. Pretty great experience with Sakura.
I also managed to line up for the manager's (Mitsuru Ozaki) booth and, after introducing myself and saying a few words, got a photo with him. Good to have a picture with the general/theatre manager for completeness' sake.
Did I enjoy the day today? Aside from that morning's scare, I definitely enjoyed it. Two-shot events are rare in this day and age in this fandom (if I could have gone to the 1830m photo event and got a photo with Akarin, I would've been over the moon for example), so this was something quite special. Still, even if it was just HKT48, it was another memorable fandom event nevertheless. Certainly, photos are something you can physically "take home" with you to reminisce over, too.
I only had six members today, which meant I could leave by 6pm. I also had a fairly generous 3 hour break in the middle. For lunch, I decided to head out to a famous ramen haunt in Hakata called Ichiran. You sit in a fairly confined booth with nothing but curtains around you, whilst a lone hand serves you your bowl from beyond the booth. I went for a spicy tonkotsu ramen, which was delicious - slightly thickened pork bone soup, slightly harder but chewier noodles (as per Hakata style) but altogether really nice. I also ordered a side of soft-boiled egg, because a ramen just isn't complete without one.
Dinner was back at Canal City, this time going upstairs to their Ramen Stadium floor - a collection of different ramen-ya made famous through regional ramen competitions across Japan.
Tonight, I tried ็งใกใใ.
They made a seriously good tonkotsu ramen. Slightly less thickened soup than at Ichiran, but just as slurp-inducing and flavoursome. Accidentally ordered an extra egg (great!) and extra spring onion (not as great!) but it didn't matter too much.
After the ramen dinner, I went around exploring the mall a bit. Curiously, they have a full-featured (airsoft) gun store with a vast array of gun models that would make the NRA weep with joy.
Slightly less concerting was the little anime figurines displayed alongside the guns in the glass shelves...
Breakfast: Chocolate honeycomb donut from Mister Donut
Canned coffee of the day: Georgia European Vintage (4/5)
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