#I usually dress very wenchy

[darlingfella]

Maidenless behavior? Why not dress up as one?

(He/They)

[wooleeza]

C3AFA SG2017 B-Pro Meet and Greet Session

Alright, I have to apologise for the delay here. RL caught up with me and I got distracted by other awesome Kakki-related situations… *cough* photobook *cough* but in case anyone is still interested, here’s my account of the Meet and Greet experience. (This is woefully lacking in details compared to my account of the Stage Q&A, no thanks to my procrastination… time is indeed a merciless memory-eating monster!) Still, long post ahead, for those who are still interested in reading this account.

I headed to the Meet and Greet venue along with Wenchie and Yolanda to join the queue to enter the room. I was truly amazed by the zeal of some of the fellow fans, who were decked out in cosplay (someone was dressed as Cup Noodle King Noctis!) or wielded merchandise from both Kakki’s and Tosshi’s past live shows. In comparison, yours truly only brought a handmade gift for Kakki, which I was allowed to place in a collection basket (we were not allowed to personally hand the gifts to the artistes.) After the verification was complete, we were ushered into the meeting room – there must have been at least 70 people or so, and we were all standing as close to the stage as we could. Thankfully, someone in the audience requested for us all to be seated on the floor, so that we could all get a good view of our beloved seiyuus. Thank you to that brave soul who spoke up for all of us! (C3AFA – please keep the comfort of the fans in mind too! >.<)

We all waited with bated breaths as the MC introduced herself (I honestly don’t remember her name) and asked if we were all ok if the entire M&G were to be conducted in Japanese. More than half the room went ‘Yes’, and I was among the few moaning “Nooooo!”, so she agreed to translate what she could in summary. I heard from some other attendees that her translations were pretty accurate, but I had hoped for more translations to be honest because I only understood less than 10% of what was actually said! She reminded us of the ground rules that no photography or recordings of any sort were allowed, which we all pretty amiably agreed to. Anyway, we were all waiting anxiously for Kakki’s and Tosshi’s arrival.

Kakki entered the room first, and frankly my mind went blank at the sheer beauty of the man up close. How could any man be that pretty!? He smiled and waved at us before taking his seat on the mini stage.  Then Tosshi arrived… or rather sneaked his head around the doorway and lingered there. (So cute!) The fans screamed louder so that he would enter the room, after which he walked in and joined Kakki onstage.

The MC told us to cheer loudly to welcome them both (which we were already doing), and then for inexplicable reasons launched into telling us the history of B-Project. I know it’s meant to promote the show, but really, this segment could have been covered during the stage event or presented in a more enjoyable manner. (Take note, C3AFA!) Sensing the mood drop in the room, Kakki decided that it was his turn to play up the tension at this point, so he flopped facedown onto the table, where the cordless mike was placed, claiming that he was too tired to hold up the mike now as it was post-lunch. Tosshi told us to cheer louder to wake him up, but Kakki said that it wouldn’t work – the cheering would be a lullaby to him. He demanded for a glass of beer instead. Then, he made a big show of taking out a bottle of eye drops from his pocket and squeezing the tears into his eyes. At this point, he realised that there was no tissue nearby. Tosshi decided to play up the tension even more by ripping off a small section of paper from a sketchpad on the table, and pushed it into Kakki’s face! Amid the fans’ laughter, the MC requested for a tissue packet to be passed to him, and fans were beginning to take out tissues from their bags, (bad move, MC!) until another member of the staff placed a packet on the table for Kakki. (Honestly, I wonder what would have happened had I lobbed my tissue packet at Kakki. XD Anyway, I decided to maintain respectable behaviour!)

The MC continued the history segment, but her mike began to sputter in volume so she had to switch over to one attached to the lectern at the side of the stage. Tosshi and Kakki got hold of her cordless mike and took turns testing it by vocalising “Aaaaaaa~” into it loudly. They declared rather raucously that there was nothing wrong with the mike, so the MC tried using it again and tested it by blowing right into the mike. Tosshi and Kakki visibly cringed at this treatment of the microphone, much to our collective amusement.

After that tedious history segment was done, the session became more free form. Tosshi again commented that everyone in the room actually understood exactly what the MC had been saying (in English) except for him. He expressed feeling bad that the session had to be conducted in Japanese on his account, but everyone assured him that it was all “daijoubu!” The MC then asked them about their recording experiences, and Tosshi shared that they are all familiar with one another and the characters by the time they record the songs, so it’s usually very smooth. However, there was one occasion where he was distracted because of a long nose hair (hanage) he had. After that revelation, the word “hanage” became a running joke throughout the rest of the M&G.

Next, the seiyuus were to compete against each other in a drawing contest. If the answers were wrong, or if the drawing was not good, then that person would be the loser for that round. They were to answer questions about Singapore and sketch their answers out, while the fans were not allowed to shout the answers out but could give them hints through gestures. When asked for their pre-battle words, Kakki said that he would show us his own unique style, while Tosshi claimed that he would produce works of art. The first question was “Singapore is also known as the ________ City.” which meant that they were required to draw a lion, but both of them thought that they were to draw the Merlion instead. As they began their artwork, some fans said that there was no time limit stated and that there should be a time limit, which the MC eventually acceded to. The seiyuus were given a time limit of 30 seconds and some fans began to count the seconds down. Kakki seemed somewhat annoyed by this and said, “Hey, you guys are really noisy!” in a good-natured tone. Tosshi then took up his mike and blasted, “Uruseiii!” which caused the fans to cheer even louder. The countdown continued regardless. When the time was up, they revealed their answers and both of them actually drew really good Merlions! Kakki isn’t known to be good at art, but that Merlion was a pretty good representation. Tosshi’s artwork was indeed impressive. However, the answers were wrong, since they only had to draw a lion! At this point, Tosshi quickly flipped his sketchpad over (to the page he had partially torn off to wipe Kakki’s face with) and began sketching a lion in record time. It was a great sketch too! To everyone’s amusement, he had also added nose hairs to his creation.

The next question was “Singapore has a famous dish known as Hainanese __________ rice.” which required them to draw a chicken. It was really funny to see all the fans suddenly begin flapping their arms, so the seiyuus got the hint immediately. As they were concentrating on their drawing, the MC suddenly made an announcement in English that someone had been caught taking photos and recording the segment, and said that this person had to immediately delete the information from her smartphone. Everyone tensed up the moment this happened, and Kakki’s expression turned very grave. He picked up his mike and personally reminded us that photos and recording was not allowed, and the mood visibly dropped in the room. We were fairly quiet after that, so the MC tried to lighten things up by commenting on the sketches they were making. She said that the drawings were indeed unique to the style of both Kakki and Tosshi. At this point, some fans shouted out “Hanage!” which finally lightened the mood again, and Tosshi obligingly added nose hairs to the chicken he was drawing. When both of them had finished drawing, Tosshi revealed his chicken, which was all kinds of impressive, even with the nose hairs added! The man truly has an artist’s eye. Then laughter erupted through the room when it was Kakki’s turn to reveal his chicken, which was… recognisable. *facepalm* I truly have no other words to describe its appearance! It was a rather tragically hilarious representation of the fowl in question.

Obviously, Tosshi won the quiz round, so Kakki had to do a forfeit of saying mushy words to us. We all held our collective breath as he said something along the lines of “You are mine. I won’t hand you over to anyone.” Ahhh that voice!! My Japanese isn’t good enough to understand those words the moment he uttered them, but dammit I was dying from just hearing that soft tone live. We all cried out in sheer bliss after hearing that. The MC cheekily asked if we wanted to hear more from him, but before the clamour rose any higher, quick-thinking Kakki said that he believed we all wanted to hear Tosshi instead. ((Frankly, I came just to hear you, Kakki!)) His hand forced, Tosshi obliged the crowd (after shouting “Uruseiii!” again) with a line that went something like a tsundere “If anyone hurts you, I will kill them.” Yes, he sounded really badass and possessive! After the mushy lines were said, Tosshi was presented with a jar of Ya Kun Kaya spread (coconut jam), our local pride and joy, as his prize. They were both adorably clueless about what it was until the MC told them about it, after which Tosshi proudly waved the gift in his hands.

We had been told prior to the meet and greet that pre-signed gifts would be given out to selected participants, but had no idea how the process would be like. At this point, the MC revealed that 4 people out of all those present would get the gifts, which were small boards bearing Kakki and Tosshi’s autographs. The clause was that we had to win against them in a rock-paper-scissors contest. We were all quite confused as the MC explained the rules but we eventually understood how to play. All participants were to stand. Kakki was to go first, and anyone who managed to beat him (not tie or lose!) would remain standing while the rest had to sit down. Tosshi would go next, and the same rule would apply until only 4 participants remained standing. I managed to beat Kakki (rock vs. scissors), but not Tosshi (scissors vs. rock). T_T After Tosshi’s round, there were a fewer than 10 left standing, so the contestants had to defeat one another until only 4 were left. At one point, there were just 5 players left and I honestly felt bad for the last girl who came so close and yet so far! The boards were given out to the winners and I managed to take a picture of one of the boards when I exited the room later. Those lucky girls! Good on you for winning those boards!

After the high of the jankenpon, the MC announced that it was time for Kakki and Tosshi to say goodbye, to which all of us let out distressed noises. Nonetheless, it was indeed time to bid farewell. Tosshi said his thank yous first, saying that he had not expected to travel to Singapore to promote the anime at all, and he now wants to learn English from Kakki. Kakki said that they really depended on fans outside of Japan to spread the word about B-Project, so he asked us to continue our support and to help them promote the anime as well. Then the MC said that as a parting gift, the seiyuus would personally hand us merchandise as we fans exited the room, which we were all really happy about. Both Kakki and Tosshi left their seats on stage and headed over to the table by the exit, where they would say their thank yous individually to each fan. We were told to line up in an orderly manner and instructed to “please do not to touch the artistes!” Wenchie and I both laughed at that, because we had talked about an imaginary scenario earlier where we would have a mock fight, and push each other in such a way that I would fall on Kakki’s lap while I shoved her at Tosshi, and that if she fainted I would instruct Tosshi to give her mouth-to-mouth. Oh well, there went our devious plan out the proverbial window! We decided to hang around in the room as long as we were allowed, so I basically gawped at Kakki the whole time while he distributed the merchandise, looked into each fan’s eyes and said very sincerely, “Thank you very much.” He’s just that beautiful up close. When it was my turn, I was honestly tongue-tied, but eventually managed to stumble out, “I’ll see you at Kirafes!” and his expression turned incredulous for a second (coz getting tickets for that is war every year!) and I certainly hope he wasn’t turned off by that bold statement! (What can I say, Kakki? I’ve only been obsessing over you for this entire time! T_T) Then I had to look away to receive my gift from Tosshi as well, and my farewell to him was a lot less awkward. He said “Thank you” to me, and according to Wenchie, he also said “Bye bye” to her, which made her really happy. Then we had to leave the room, but I lingered near the doorway to keep staring at Kakki until the staff told us that we had to move away, after which they closed the door.

The B-pro merchandise that we were given comprised a colourful tote bag (I honestly don’t know the anime well enough to recognise the symbols on it), a file, 2 character badges and 2 phone accessories. I managed to get a Momotarou phone accessory among them. <3  Someone traded one of the character badges with me, but the ones I now have are pretty cute. I’d kill for a Momotarou one though!

Final thoughts:

Kakki and Tosshi were really gracious and infused the entire stage and M&G experience with lots of smiles and humour. Kakki is smaller in person than I thought he would be, but I guess they all look much larger on TV. I’ve probably said this ad nauseum by now, but he’s really, really beautiful. I simply couldn’t stop staring the whole time. His voice is so magnetic too – it was magic hearing it in person. I’m almost glad he can’t draw well, because it just proves that he’s human after all! XD Tosshi is really cute – a pint-sized gentleman with an unexpectedly big voice, and I am really impressed at how multitalented he is.

This has been mentioned before by xpeppermin, but I feel it must be reiterated here – fellow fans, please treat your idols with the respect they deserve. It really wasn’t pleasant to see Kakki and Tosshi bothered by the revelation that they were being recorded, and that their photos were being taken when the rules explicitly stated that no photography and recording was allowed. I understand your ‘hunger’, but you’re doing so at the expense of everyone else, which is really selfish behaviour.  Kakki didn’t have to remind us personally, but the fact that he did showed the degree of his annoyance. That tone brooked no disobedience. Also, from what I understand, Tosshi is an extremely private person, so such experiences must be very traumatic for him. He didn’t even understand what had been happening until Kakki spoke up. Also, as I’m not active on Twitter, I was not aware until later that some fans even stalked Kakki at the airport and during his outing at the USS. This is really beyond even what is considered unacceptable. They’re human too – please respect their need for privacy. After all, I really really hope that they will both come to Singapore again. Let’s keep the fan meets wholly pleasant for them so that they would want to come again, which is what everyone wants, isn’t it? Do not hurt the chances of this happening by behaving so self-centredly. Please put yourself in the place of the idols, and do not do anything that you wouldn’t like done to yourself.

For what it’s worth, I really enjoyed my overall experience. I arrived with no expectations, having had no prior experience of any such events, and left with awesome memories to last me till the next time. While I do wish that there had been more time for idol-fan interaction (e.g. getting them to answer written fan questions, or perhaps a group photo with all of us present), I was more than satisfied with what I got. Just like in the song “I Could Not Ask For More” (Sara Evans):

I could not ask for more than this time together I could not ask for more than this time with you And every prayer has been answered Every dream I've had's come true Yeah, right here in this moment Is right where I'm meant to be Here with you here with me

Thank you, Kakki and Tosshi, for coming all the way to Singapore from Tokyo, to spend these few hours with us here in Singapore. Kakki, I’ll never forget the few seconds where our eyes met and we held each other’s gazes as you very sincerely said, “Thank you very much.” Those few moments across the whole of eternity belonged solely to us. In that moment, I encountered the most present you. Truly, I could not ask for more. I only wish I could have said in return, “Thank you for sharing the best of you with me.”