Tuesday 7 February 2012

D Talk and Handshake

Today's post is another Japan write up!

Since I bought the A- and B-type package of D's latest mini album, I got a ticket to a fan event. 

Huang di ~Yami ni umareta mukui~
皇帝(ファンディー)~闇に生まれた報い~
A- and B-type. A-type comes with the PV, and there was also a making-of dvd included in the package.


Happily my stay coincided with my friend's, who is a big fan of D. As I wrote last time, we had fun shopping together in Harajuku. The next day was the event! 

The event wasn't until the evening, so before that I did a bit of shopping in Shinjuku. There was a time sale in Marui One, but I didn't get anything. However, I did go back to Closet Child for something that had caught my eye before.... here's a teasing picture!

Sometimes my camera takes super-clear pictures!
Pretty lace~

I wore my new Emikyu jsk and vintage lace collar blouse, plus a lot of perfume! According to our old friend Novala Takemoto, who likes perfume a great deal, eau de parfum does not fade, whereas eau de toilette quickly loses it's scent. Therefore I always buy/ask for eau de parfum, but it seems to fade anyway. I bought some with me to touch up before the handshake! I wear Paul Smith Rose, a simple rosy scent. Any readers know of a good rose perfume? I'd like to try another one next time!


The event was held in a community centre in Yotsuya. It seemed like a funny venue, but the auditorium was really quite nice, and luckily huge enough to accomodate the many fans.

Seeing the other fans was great fun for me, and very interesting. We were 80 or even 90% Lolita! A mix of sweet, classic and gothic outfits, tending to be fairly toned down. I did see a harlequin bonnet though! Although it was probably 99% girls, there was a good mix of ages. I noticed a slightly incongrous girl who looked rather like Xiaxue sitting in the front row. I'm sure it wasn't really Xiaxue but maybe this girl caught her appearance on NHK's Tokyo-Kawaii TV and admired her style. Everyone was nice, and I met a very sweet lady who spoke good English- we've talked on twitter a little since!   

It was quite a long wait to get in. First we queued outside to get numbers then we waited inside for our numbers to be called. When we were let in the staff stamped our flyer with a little dragon stamp. I've mentioned before that my year is dragon (this year) so it's a really lovely momento!

He's quite a cute little dragon!

On the left the questionnaire, on the right the flyer/ticket

Once seated we were given the little form above to fill out. The top box is for your question, and the bottom box is where you write what you'd like each member to say. Unfortunately I couldn't read it at the time and didn't fill it out! At least I got to keep it.

The event was called a 'talk and handshake'. The talk part was the band answering questions. They came on stage wearing their suits from the PV, and very nice they looked too. I had expected them to be wearing street clothes and no make-up. I wouldn't have minded either way I suppose!

They all sat down behind a desk in the usual sort of way, and a staff member with a rather alarming hat (huge, electric blue, woolly, bobble on top) sorted through the little questionnaires and asked them some of the questions. 

I'm afraid neither I or my friend could follow much of the talk, but evidently HIDE-ZOU was being the star that evening. He took off his jacket and did one-armed push-ups at one point!

Although we couldn't follow it closely it was nice to see the band smiling and laughing so happily, and all the talk was very jolly! It was nice for me since I arrived in Japan after the tour was finished and so didn't get to see a live. 

I think the talk lasted half an hour or so? Next up was the handshake! Oh, I feel nervous now just thinking about it. We went up row by row. A lot of people brought presents and letters. The first person I shook hands with was HIROKI. He said "Hello!!" very brightly in English! In fact the others all said "Thank you" in English, which I thought was ever so sweet of them. But perhaps I liked "Hello" best.

Ruiza's fringe needed cutting and the way he looked through it, blinking, was very cute! I wished ASAGI a happy new year, and when he replied voice was so refined and gentle. Tsunehito kept touching his eyelashes during the talk. I suppose he was checking that they were fastened on properly. 

They are all wonderful I think, and I'm really happy that I had the chance to go to that fan event! I can't wait to see D again!

D are having a European Tour this year! Here are the details:

[D Europe tour schedule]
Date / Venue / City / Country

04/20 Replugged Club, Wien, Austria
04/22 Feierwerk, Munich, Germany
04/24 Legend54, Milano, Italy
04/27 Poste à Galene, Marseille, France
04/28 TGS Ohanami, Toulouse, France
04/29 Apolo2, Barcelona, Spain
05/01 Divan Du Monde, Paris, France
05/02 Melkweg, Amsterdam, Holland
05/04 Werkstatt, Cologne, Germany
05/05 Charlatan, Gent, Belgium
05/06 Knust, Hamburg, Germany
05/08 Gloria, Helsinki, Finland
05/09 Plan B, Moscow, Russia

I just copied and pasted from the OHP, so please check here it in case there are changes after this!

Thanks for reading,

Sapphira

xxxxx

10 comments:

  1. I never listened to D's music, but your report is interesting and I didn't know that useful tip about parfume :D

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    Replies
    1. Before I went to the event, I searched for write-ups about previous D fan events but I couldn't find anything. I think non-Japanese don't often attend these things. I'm very honoured that you enjoyed the report, as I think it might be one of the first written in English!

      As for the perfume, here is the translated essay I read:
      http://theosakakoneko.blogspot.com/2010/02/lets-talk-about-perfume.html

      It's a shame that this blogger doesn't update anymore, she translated many fascinating articles. However if you go through the posts there are more essays from that collection which you may find of interest.

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  2. wooow that was nice!! it's so cool when the artists we like talk to us :D
    I hate the same parfum! *-* I love the scent <3 great choice ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are perfume twins! Yes, I was so glad to meet them again. I wonder if they remember me from the live in London? Probably not XD but they are very kind.

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  3. They will be here in May, but I don't think I'll manage to see them live since it's in another city and I work on the morning of the day they'll be on stage D: D: D:

    I like Chanel nº5 [duh], it's very rose-y - but too much of any rose-scented perfume gives me one hell of a headache.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually hadn't thought of Chanel No.5, though it should have been the first to come to mind!

      They won't come to London this time sadly, so I also don't know if I can see them. It would be nice to go to a European concert since it will be smaller and more personal. I'm considering going to Paris but I'm not sure yet. What a shame we might miss them!

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  4. I know two very good places to purchase some fragrance oils :D It's the same as a perfume, except for the fact you are wearing oil and unlike perfume the scent doesn't fade.


    The first one I would like to suggest is "The Goth Rosary"
    http://gothrosary.com

    They carry an assortment of 24 different scents. You can purchase a 1oz vial, a 2oz vial, and roll-on-oil vials which contain 1/3oz and only cost 11,95 dollar. They also carry a rose scented oil. And I really recommend "Tea and Sympathy". It smells of black tea and roses. Not to sweet or overwhelming at all. The goth rosary also sells sample vials so you can try them out yourself for only 2,99 dollar a piece.

    They also sell toiletries, incense, soy candles, perfumes, and rosary styled jewelry. All of their products are 100% organic, vegan and are not tested on animals. Not to mention Anti Sally's exquisite service. She was friendly and quick in answering my questions and sending my package. Along came a business card, a handy form with a list of FAQ, a free piece of soap and three sour candies ^^


    The second one I would like to recommend is "VampFangs"

    They sell a bunch of gothy stuff including veneers and custom fit vampire and werewolf fangs. But of course I am here to tell you about their assortment of scents :P

    Their assortment is not as large as Goth Rosary's. But so far the scents I have purchased from them all smelled very nice and didn't fade until I took a shower the next morning. They do not offer sample vials, though. Their scents come in one size vials of 1/4 oz and they cost around 15 dollars. Their service is quick and you can choose the shipping method ,yourself.

    I hope this was helpful ^^ Just a question, is there a way I can purchase that cute glittery nail polish set somewhere online? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to purchase one of those in The Netherlands.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Naomi, thank you so much for your answer! I really love the idea of a fragrance oil and I want to try it out! I'm having a lot of fun looking through the websites you recommended. Actually I'm quite tempted by the fangs...

      I will ask my friend about the nail polish set and let you know!

      Thanks again for your lovely advice <3

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    2. Thank you so much. I really liked the look of the nail polish. I hate the way regular nail polish always starts to chip off after the day you've applied it. But I am really liking this subtle glittery look.

      I own a pair of the subtle fangs myself. They are very comfortable and stay put all day long. The secrets lies in the fact they use a sort of clear resin instead putty to mold the fangs. It tastes a bit minty, but the funny taste will wear off after a while. They also match the average color of a tooth perfectly :)

      If I received one euro for each time someone asked me if my fangs are real... I would've worn them every day and I would be a millionaire by now XD

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    3. Hi Naomi! Sorry for the delay- I have found where you can buy the nail set online:

      http://web3.sasa.com/SasaWeb/eng/product/viewProductDetail.jspa?itemno=105503704052

      Hope that's helpful, apologies once again xx

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