faded_lace (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
faded_lace) wrote2014-07-23 10:33 pm
faded_lace) wrote2014-07-23 10:33 pm
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Back from the Sexy Zone summer concert!
Back from Saitama Super Arena! Man, going to two concerts in one day is exhausting… and I feel lame for not seeing the third, too! I'm going to write a full report about both shows as soon as possible, but for now, I wanted to touch on just a few things I'd promise to report back on.
First and foremost, the penlights. It seemed that fans were going more with this (also found here) campaign than any other I've seen, so turning their penlights on to green or yellow before the show began, then switching to whatever they wanted after the first song, and then again for the encore. I'm bad at estimating, but when I first noticed the penlights before the first show began, I was amazed and moved almost to tears. It definitely was not everyone by a far cry, but I'd say there were at least 1,000 out of the 25,000 people there who turned their penlights to yellow or green. There were maybe slightly more in the first show than in the second show, but not by a whole lot.
Secondly, the balance. I think due to the Kobe shows being 3-member, there wasn't a lot done to change that for these shows. Marius and Sou were often onstage but not a part of the choreography, walking around the catwalk or standing off to the side of where Fuma, Kento, and Shori were dancing. The show was definitely worse than a usual concert in terms of time that only Fuma, Kento, and Shori were onstage, again probably because of the Kobe shows (plus the new single), but basically, my assessment is that while it could have been better I'd say Marius and Sou were truly treated as members of Sexy Zone (doing the same thing as Fuma and Kento; either included in the choreography or running around the catwalk the same as them) maybe 1/3 of the time, were onstage but not treated as equals 1/3 of the time, and were flat-out offstage 1/3 of the time. That's sort of rounding out that Marius and Sou were included in Kono Te wo Tsunagou, Don't Stop Sexy Boyz, and Gamushara, but… it's not like those songs were Sou or Marius solos, or even duets, since it was mostly juniors. On the other hand, Kento, Shori, and Fuma each had two solo sections probably amounting to about 5 minutes per person, so… there's really no fairness there. Kento did 4 solo songs including his new one, while Shori and Fuma each did 3. Marius and Sou had no solos, but were included together with juniors in three songs, but not really featured above the juniors in any way (basically at the same level as the juniors). It could have been worse, and I understand that the Kobe preparations were seriously playing into it, too, but it could definitely have been better.
Thirdly, news. Fuma said in the second show that they would try to "create a chance to meet again" this summer, as some sort of release event or something. However, only he, Kento, and Shori were standing on the stage when he said it, and he said something about "in this form." I'll be the first to admit that I am no native Japanese speaker, and there are often phrases that the context is obvious to a Japanese person while it sounds vague to me, but the immediate implication I took from it was "as the 3 of us" rather than 5. I'm worry that they'll have more single-related events as 3, and that we haven't see the end of this despite what Johnny's is saying on the phone.
But right now I'm really exhausted-- I've been up 18 hours and I need to go to sleep before I pass out. I'll probably be able to share the news a little more lucidly once I've gotten a decent night's rest, so for now, over and out. I don't want to sound like a pessimist-- the concert was definitely worse in terms of balance than every previous Sexy Zone concert I've been to (Summary 2012, New Years 2013, Spring 2013, Sexy Second 2014), but it definitely could have been a lot worse. I got to see all five members sing, dance, and perform, and that's the most important thing in the end.
And it does help that our seats were amazing (arena right next to the catwalk and front row lower stands) and Reia mouthed "thank you" at me when he saw me ♥ I also got waves from Matsuda Genta, Matsukura Kaito, Tamamoto Fumito, and Anderson Casey, and something that looked like a side-eye from Jinguji XD; So that brightened my mood a bit~
First and foremost, the penlights. It seemed that fans were going more with this (also found here) campaign than any other I've seen, so turning their penlights on to green or yellow before the show began, then switching to whatever they wanted after the first song, and then again for the encore. I'm bad at estimating, but when I first noticed the penlights before the first show began, I was amazed and moved almost to tears. It definitely was not everyone by a far cry, but I'd say there were at least 1,000 out of the 25,000 people there who turned their penlights to yellow or green. There were maybe slightly more in the first show than in the second show, but not by a whole lot.
Secondly, the balance. I think due to the Kobe shows being 3-member, there wasn't a lot done to change that for these shows. Marius and Sou were often onstage but not a part of the choreography, walking around the catwalk or standing off to the side of where Fuma, Kento, and Shori were dancing. The show was definitely worse than a usual concert in terms of time that only Fuma, Kento, and Shori were onstage, again probably because of the Kobe shows (plus the new single), but basically, my assessment is that while it could have been better I'd say Marius and Sou were truly treated as members of Sexy Zone (doing the same thing as Fuma and Kento; either included in the choreography or running around the catwalk the same as them) maybe 1/3 of the time, were onstage but not treated as equals 1/3 of the time, and were flat-out offstage 1/3 of the time. That's sort of rounding out that Marius and Sou were included in Kono Te wo Tsunagou, Don't Stop Sexy Boyz, and Gamushara, but… it's not like those songs were Sou or Marius solos, or even duets, since it was mostly juniors. On the other hand, Kento, Shori, and Fuma each had two solo sections probably amounting to about 5 minutes per person, so… there's really no fairness there. Kento did 4 solo songs including his new one, while Shori and Fuma each did 3. Marius and Sou had no solos, but were included together with juniors in three songs, but not really featured above the juniors in any way (basically at the same level as the juniors). It could have been worse, and I understand that the Kobe preparations were seriously playing into it, too, but it could definitely have been better.
Thirdly, news. Fuma said in the second show that they would try to "create a chance to meet again" this summer, as some sort of release event or something. However, only he, Kento, and Shori were standing on the stage when he said it, and he said something about "in this form." I'll be the first to admit that I am no native Japanese speaker, and there are often phrases that the context is obvious to a Japanese person while it sounds vague to me, but the immediate implication I took from it was "as the 3 of us" rather than 5. I'm worry that they'll have more single-related events as 3, and that we haven't see the end of this despite what Johnny's is saying on the phone.
But right now I'm really exhausted-- I've been up 18 hours and I need to go to sleep before I pass out. I'll probably be able to share the news a little more lucidly once I've gotten a decent night's rest, so for now, over and out. I don't want to sound like a pessimist-- the concert was definitely worse in terms of balance than every previous Sexy Zone concert I've been to (Summary 2012, New Years 2013, Spring 2013, Sexy Second 2014), but it definitely could have been a lot worse. I got to see all five members sing, dance, and perform, and that's the most important thing in the end.
And it does help that our seats were amazing (arena right next to the catwalk and front row lower stands) and Reia mouthed "thank you" at me when he saw me ♥ I also got waves from Matsuda Genta, Matsukura Kaito, Tamamoto Fumito, and Anderson Casey, and something that looked like a side-eye from Jinguji XD; So that brightened my mood a bit~