MCZ Trans America Tour – Finally Meeting Them

I’m writing this as soon as I had somewhere to sit and have time to actually write this after the concert. To start off…

OH MY FREAKING GOD! THEY’RE THE MOST ADORABLE GROUP OF IDOLS I HAVE EVER SEEN!

Now on to the “Momoka Length” Story.

I pretty much got to the venue around 7 a.m.  so it was pretty early. The line was already pretty long, but I’m glad I managed to get in line. Passed out the custom pins I designed, met some really kind Mononofu who gave me items in return or just gave them to me, and met up with some fellow nofus. Security is really strict about how we lined up and the barricades so movement was pretty limited.

I think around 10 or 11 a.m., the girls showed up. I climbed to the first step of the fence that separated the line from the sidewalk just so I can call out to the girls. I called out to Furuya first since she was the first one I saw and wanted to show her my support. I then screamed out Reni’s name when she came out. Once they were out of sight, the line went back to normal but I started to cry. I cried for about five minutes just for 5 seconds of visual on the girls. Not even 5 seconds of visual. But wow… Just knowing I’ll be seeing them up close in person was mind boggling and just had me let out the tears. The only thing that got me worried was if I can carry the presents in one piece with people moving in and out of the barricades.

So entrance for VIP came, and I was nervous. When the time to go in was nearing, I was freaking out, saying “I can’t do this! I really can’t do this!” despite the other nofus encouraging me to keep going. I checked in, got separated due to baggage check and got to my spot which was saved by a few people up front. It wasn’t exactly the spot I was hoping for but it was a good spot throughout the show. One of the takanofus helped me get my shirt and towel while we watched his spot before the lines got long. Apparently he was told to buy me a GigaLight by a Momonofu who I am truly thankful for for the evening.

VIP session started and the girls came out. I started crying once I saw Reni. Like… if you could imagine a Goddess descending down from the Heavens to greet you, that was how awestruck I was. Adorable, quirky, just full of energy and smiles. Oh, how I love her. -w-

The thing was that during the preshow, the girls were sitting on the opposite side of the stage which was pretty bad on my side. But then the believable yet unbelievable happened. The two takanofus with me, Alberto and Chase, were literally screaming their hearts out for her, and the tall dekonofu in front of me ducked so Reni can see. I just continued crying since I was so shocked and happy. The two were just so happy to be acknowledged while I was being held up by one of the fans behind me to keep me steady. It was AMAZING.

So after the presentation, as I was starting to recover, it was time for the fans to be called up to show how to do the overture. (Please note my heart is freaking pounding as I write this because OH MY GOD). The thing was that only USA fans were to be called up. First thing I heard was my name being called.

“TAMMY! PICK TAMMY!” was just being screamed around me as the nofus I was outside with were pointing at me. I was still crying but I was told to go up anyway so I did. I was still crying on stage. I saw the girls getting closer and one of the nofus was trying to help me get closer but I just lost feelings in my legs and cried on the floor.  People were still cheering me on to be strong but it just made me cry even more.

But I heard an unfamiliar voice speaking to be in English. I didn’t know who it was since I didn’t really meet a lot of girls that I talked to long enough to remember their voices or faces. I looked up to find Reni looking at me with a smile on her face. I pretty much cried harder and tried to run away but my legs gave out so I was just on the floor crying. She was pretty much trying to find ways to comfort me despite me being terrified of being so close to her. It was hard looking at her since I’ll end up attempting to run away again. I was petrified but I found her taking my hand and trying to bring me to my feet. I just couldn’t say or do anything. I only gave her short looks since I was that nervous.

She pretty much brought me to the center of the stage to do overture. I just couldn’t help but to internally smile to myself when I heard her speaking English. Shall I say it was adorable? The way she said “Overture. Penlights. Wave, okay? Follow the words.” My voice just couldn’t come out when I was doing the overture. I was too concerned with how close she was to me to even notice the words were changing and messed up a few times. I couldn’t help but to notice how… motherly she was as we did it. She kept looking at me and saying what to do and say, making sure I was okay. It felt like I wanted to faint just because she’s so gentle and sincere about it.

So after the overture, we were told that those who were up on stage with the girls could take a large group photo with the audience in the background. So as we were getting ready, Reni tried to converse with me as I was still trying to calm down. She kept saying “Don’t cry. Smile smile. Be happy. Ah. You like Chocolat? Where are you from?” I told her I was from New Jersey which isn’t very far but the way her eyes just glistened as she spoke “Wow. New Jersey. Thank you.” made me want to faint.

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH WHY ARE YOU SO PRECIOUS, ALMIGHTY?! USING ENGLISH AGAINST ME LIKE THAT!

I even noticed we were doing the Z pose so I gave her one of my penlights but I realized it didn’t work under light so I tried to switch it for a brighter one. She pulled away with a smile and said “It’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t worry.” So we took the photo but I tried my best to smile just for the sake of Reni not being so worried. I started crying again and the girls tried to make me happy and I tried my best to tell Reni about the gifts I had prepared for her. The other fans brought it up to the stage and she just smiled that perfect smile of hers. I then took out the Stitch shirt I bought since I knew she loved Stitch and she was happy. She just kept smiling at me and got a little close while saying “I love you”…. That or “I love it” lol. Staff had to take the bag with the t-shirts I designed so hopefully they got it. I’m just glad I managed to get the photo next to her so hopefully people would stop bothering me about getting a photo with her and the gifts safely reached her hands. I just had this tingly feeling course through my arm whenever she held my hand.

And then group photos. I was placed in the front on Momoka’s side but as everyone was lining up, I was still crying. Kanako tried to get my attention to make me smile but I was still crying. Imagine Kanako leaning towards you poking her cheeks telling you to smile. That’s adorable. But everyone tried to find a way for me to smile so the tamanofu who was with me said something about Kanako’s forehead. She responded “Deko is shiny” with everyone so I laughed a bit. Momoka even offered me a smile where I tried to smile back while wiping away my tears. I still cried after the photo was done.

About a few hours past and the main show was starting. Apparently they hung up the overseas banner a dekonofu made for everyone at the 3 venues to sign so that was an amazing feat for him! They started off with some dancers where they were dancing to “Sakura Sakura” to represent spring. And then boom! The girls were out and Yume no Ukiyo no started playing.

I pretty much screamed my heart out the majority of the time. And after what happened, I just couldn’t take my eyes off Reni. I would look at other members sometimes but my focus was mainly on Reni since her expressions were just way too cute and funny to ignore. The setlist was pretty nice but the bass just sent my entire body vibrating throughout each song. Throughout the live, a few of us tried to get her attention by screaming as loud as we possibly could. But the thing was: we noticed she looked in our general direction a lot. I couldn’t help but to smile and give her the peace sign every time.

And then out of nowhere, they sang “Ano Sora he Mukatte”. So many of us were freaking out since it was finally our chance to yell “SEKAI NO MOMOCLO NUMBER 1!” I couldn’t even cry because of the preshow using up all my tears for the day. But that wasn’t the deal breaker. When it started off, it was perfectly normal, we chanted, the girls sang and dance. But then there was the second verse.

Usually Reni would start with “Kira Kira…” but I didn’t hear it at all and it sounded strange. And then I realized “THEY’RE SINGING THIS PART IN ENGLISH! THIS IS SO AWESOME AND ADORABLE!” It was truly amazing how these girls took the time to learn these lyrics in a different language so it’s a nice touch to the tour.

And so the Encore came…

Girls came out and sang My Dear Fellow. I was pretty happy since I liked that song quite decently. What was weird was that Kanako had a softball and threw it to the back of the audience. And then later the girls went backstage to get something and threw it to the crowd. Reni had one aimed close to us and threw it like a frisbee. I didn’t catch it but it landed on the ground so I picked it up. Little did I know that is was signed by all 5 of them… I flipped in the middle of the song when a fan pointed it out. Another happy memorable moment! I was really happy so when the girls were getting ready for “Nippon no Egao Hyakkei”, I quietly called for Reni and pointed at the coozie she threw at us. Just seeing her smile was so precious.

After about 3 songs for the Encore, we called for another one. I already lost my voice after shouting for the first encore. So the girls came out and I noticed one of their most famous positions: “Hashire!”. The crowd went wild and I really enjoyed dancing along. I was so happy when they turned off the lights for the final chorus.

After the show finished and the girls bid farewell, all of the USA Mononofus were chanting “Please cone back! Please come back!” for a future performance. Of course, the girls did stay a little longer saying they promise to be back in the future, especially Reni who held her pinky out.

IF THE ALMIGHTY PROMISES, IT’LL HAPPEN!

They then left with their final goodbyes but Reni came out a bit to scream “WE LOVE NEW YORK!” so I replied by screaming “WE LOVE RENI-CHAN!” with my broken strained voice since I could barely scream by then.

So as the girls left, we pretty much remained in the venue. Someone near me wanted to start a “Sekai no MomoClo Number 1!” but was a bit too quiet. Yet for some reason, I just started screaming it followed by a few other fans until the entire venue just exploded with “SEKAI NO MOMOCLO NUMBER 1! SEKAI NO MOMOCLO NUMBER 1!” It went on for a while until management said the show was over so they pretty much tried to kick us out.

Once I got out, a lot of us spotted Kawakami and Furu-chan who were talking to some fans. I wanted to tell Furu-chan about the shirts and talked to her about it. She was pretty happy when I told her I had a shirt for her and Kawakami in the pink bag meant for the members and told her we hope they come back in the future. I then went to Kawakami who quickly recognized me by shouting “Ah! Reni-chan!” which made me laugh a bit. I thanked him and asked him for a back slap. I wanted it done before the pre-show but he wasn’t really around so why not after the show? Let’s just say it really hurt and one of the things I had to check off my “bucket list”. Thank you, Kawakami! Thank you, Furu-chan!

The night pretty much ended having dinner with some nofus who attended. I met some more people there and took photos with them. And I even shook their hands with the one that held Reni’s to spread the love. We exchanged Twitter follows, took some photos and ate until it was time to go.

THANK YOU NOFUS FOR BEING SO KIND AND FRIENDLY TO THIS CONCERT NEWBIE! I’LL NEVER FORGET THIS! AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PREVENTED ME FROM JUMPING THE FENCE AND MAKING ME GO UP TO MEET THE ALMIGHTY TAKAGI! I’M TRULY GRATEFUL!

And now photos of what I received throughout the day!