AKB48 to perform Free Concert in Washington DC

[Shoujo Q]

Ayaka Umeda is in Diva, she was also in the 7th gen Musume Auditions. So sad because I remember rooting for her hard core. Kinda glad now she didn't get in, cause to me she isn't exactly pretty. (She probably failed the forehead test, if you know what I mean.) <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... R#>/8o.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='8o' />



Oh and Ichikawa Miori, that's Lemon! Her catchphrase is, "Fresh Lemon ni naritai no~"

[Cyrene]

[quote name='eri' timestamp='1332887465' post='122239']



Questions:

One of the girls had almost accentless English (I think Maria Abe) - half?



[/quote]





That's Hirata Rina! She's full Japanese, but was born and raised in Arizona. I love her so much, she's like the total little sister of the group to me.

[eri]

[quote name='Cyrene' timestamp='1332905165' post='122263']

[quote name='eri' timestamp='1332887465' post='122239']



Questions:

One of the girls had almost accentless English (I think Maria Abe) - half?



[/quote]





That's Hirata Rina! She's full Japanese, but was born and raised in Arizona. I love her so much, she's like the total little sister of the group to me.

[/quote]



Eh? Wtf? She's a native English speaker or she lived in the US for a few years when she was super young? If the former, she totally downplayed her English then, playing dumb like she couldn't string together a full sentence and forgetting English words...which would be incredibly annoying <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... nfused.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



Edit, Okay I just 2channeled this info.

2ch says she was born in the US but moved immediately to Japan until she was 4. Then, from age 4 until her auditions (age 13?), she was raised in the US.

Edit 2: Other random gossipy sites online say she never even left the US and was there all the way until her auditions. This basically means she is Japanese-American, who should be a native English speaker.



WHICH MEANS SHE IS FLUENT IN ENGLISH? AND WAS PLAYING DUMB FOR THE AUDIENCE TODAY TO SEEM CUTE(R) AND "MORE" JAPANESE?! I'm totally baffled. Her English was very good but definitely not native level today.

[Cyrene]

Yes, she is fluent in English. Sometimes her English is weird, but I think it's just because she's trying to speak Japanese and English at the same time. And I think NERVES played a big part of it because she is still a Kenkyusei and has never performed here in America. Heck, I think this is the first time she actually spoke at a "big" concert.



I would visit her G+ page to watch her videos. She isn't playing dumb, that's trashing her <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... pyeyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':puppyeyes:' />. Did you know that she even thinks in English over Japanese? (Yes, I'm a big Hillary fan.) The only "fake" thing she does is her high pitched Japanese voice, but that's a big cultural thing.

[eri]

It isn't bashing her to ponder why a native English speaker was lisping slow-paced, semi garbled English to an audience in the US...and doing things like cutely freaking out when she forgot key English words and so on.



Most of the audience would not know she could speak English - it was never mentioned during the concert or in her profile. The whole thing is totally bizarre in retrospect.



I will just wait for a bootleg youtube video to pop up and reassess the weirdness. Maybe you're right - just nerves? I would probably sound confused and shakey too. She seems awfully young.

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1332895320' post='122251']

Ayaka Umeda is in DiVA, she was also in the 7th gen Musume Auditions. So sad because I remember rooting for her hard core. Kinda glad now she didn't get in, cause to me she isn't exactly pretty. ((Fuggly Hair!)

[/quote]

You do know that hair is something that can be styled and changed, right? :D



And she is not ugly. I didn't like her much at first, but she's definitely become much better in my eyes.



And also, eri, on the subject of Hillary, I've seen this happen with lots of idols and celebrities who go to Japan, where they grow up using English instead of Japanese, and then a lot of the time when they go to speak English after learning Japanese, they've just forgotten certain words because of lack of use or their thought process while speaking has changed so much that they slip up a lot and don't get words or pronunciations right. Especially for a lot of idols, at this point in their life, they're so young that they literally haven't even had that many years to speak English fluently before being thrust into a career in a country where their "second language" becomes their primary language as a necessity.



By the way, this event was a ton of fun, and as usual, meeting up with people was much more fun than the concert itself. I ended up meeting with Usako, Jet and Bobo from the old days, Ruby, Pi Kago, peachgirl, furuya, and a few other great people from the forums that made the 14 hour drive and pain-in-the-ass trip worthwhile. Also got a bunch of free swag and good memories!



The girls were gorgeous and fun to interact with at the concert. I made so much direct eye contact with Takajo Aki that it was actually making me feel uncomfortable at times, but I loved every second.

[Tsujiji]

[quote name='eri' timestamp='1332887465' post='122239']



Questions:

One of the girls had almost accentless English (I think Maria Abe) - half?



[/quote]



That's Hillary (Rina Hirata). She moved to Arizona when she was younger and then moved back to Japan.



[quote name='eri' timestamp='1332887465' post='122239']

Why is Ayaka Umeda at the center of everything for this show? She seems like a crappy version of KARA with that hairstyle. Not a fan.

[/quote]



We were joking that they tried to send over a knock off Tomochin and hope half the audience wouldn't notice. All joking aside. Ayaka is actually pretty awesome though~ <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />





[quote name='eri' timestamp='1332887465' post='122239']

Who is the super adorable one with the Kago buns? I forgot her name and can't tell from the photos but maybe Miori Ichikawa? I love her. I want to put her in my pocket and feed her cookies.

[/quote]





You are correct~! That's Lemon~ ♥ And she's an angel. ( Kanyon's even parodied her in the past~ )









I'll make a for real reply tomorrow. Just got in from traveling not too long ago and my bed is summoning me. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... smooch.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='=3=' /> The concert was really amazing though. I wish they'd come here more often.



(edit) Newtype neat me to the answers by a minute. Now I just look like a jerkoff double answering everything. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[Shoujo Q]

[quote name='The☆AEUGNewtype' timestamp='1332996227' post='122341']

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1332895320' post='122251']

Ayaka Umeda is in DiVA, she was also in the 7th gen Musume Auditions. So sad because I remember rooting for her hard core. Kinda glad now she didn't get in, cause to me she isn't exactly pretty. ((Fuggly Hair!)

[/quote]

You do know that hair is something that can be styled and changed, right? :D



And she is not ugly. I didn't like her much at first, but she's definitely become much better in my eyes.

[/quote]



I think you've been brainwashed. I know it happens once you get absorbed into a fandom far enough. I'll pray for your soul and light a candle along with the millions of others.



Glad you had fun though. I hope Berryz coming is nearly as fun!



Oh and Usako, we beat you to the answer like, yesterday.

[eri]

[quote name='The☆AEUGNewtype' timestamp='1332996227' post='122341']



they've just forgotten certain words because of lack of use or their thought process while speaking has changed so much that they slip up a lot and don't get words or pronunciations right. Especially for a lot of idols, at this point in their life, they're so young that they literally haven't even had that many years to speak English fluently before being thrust into a career in a country where their "second language" becomes their primary language as a necessity.



[/quote]



Hmm that sounds convincing but it is SO WEIRD. Well, I'll drop it.



I've been WAITING for everyone to finally post their thoughts on the show. Damn you 7pm'ers from far away <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... lleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rolleyes:' />



Thanks to everyone for confirming that my new obsession is Lemon. Time to do some internet stalking.

[Cyrene]

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/ichikawa+miori



Basically one of the cutest Team 4 members EVER.

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='eri' timestamp='1333035568' post='122349']

Hmm that sounds convincing but it is SO WEIRD. Well, I'll drop it.

[/quote]

Just as a point of example of what I mean, for the hell of it, take Hillary:



She is currently 13 years old and has been in AKB Kenkyuusei for a year, and was probably doing idol training/practice type stuff for another year before that, so lets say she's likely been speaking more Japanese than English for at least 2 years, if not more.



That would also mean that if you take the time between when she started speaking English (I think most kids learn to speak at around 3 years old or so, at least saying basic things,) and when she started speaking Japanese more often, she would have had around 8 years maximum to practice English, and what 11 year old kid do you know that speaks English as well as most late-teens/early-20's people do? They can definitely have a good grasp of the language by that age, but probably not too vast of a vocabulary or full understanding of the ins and outs and subtleties of the language.



And like I said, I've also noticed other half-breed girls from other idol factions with these same kinds of problems. Hell, even Mika was doing it back in the days with MiniMoni. She wasn't too bad with it, but you'd notice it sometimes on TV appearances and stuff.

[tsukinobyouin]

[quote name='eri' timestamp='1333035568' post='122349']

[quote name='The☆AEUGNewtype' timestamp='1332996227' post='122341']



they've just forgotten certain words because of lack of use or their thought process while speaking has changed so much that they slip up a lot and don't get words or pronunciations right. Especially for a lot of idols, at this point in their life, they're so young that they literally haven't even had that many years to speak English fluently before being thrust into a career in a country where their "second language" becomes their primary language as a necessity.



[/quote]



Hmm that sounds convincing but it is SO WEIRD. Well, I'll drop it.



[/quote]



It's actually fairly common for people who are bilingual but don't have much opportunity to use their first language. My uncle was born and raised in Bolivia, came to the states in his late teens/early 20s. He's now been here like...40+ years? When he speaks English, he's fluent but speaks kind of slow and with an accent. When it comes to Spanish, he forgets major words all the time xD I would imagine it's more difficult for Japanese-English speakers because the two languages are so different.





Anyway, it sounds like you guys had an awesome time! I wish I could have gone up to DC just to meet up with everyone :/

[freezingkiss]

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1332895320' post='122251']

Ayaka Umeda is in DiVA, she was also in the 7th gen Musume Auditions. So sad because I remember rooting for her hard core. Kinda glad now she didn't get in, cause to me she isn't exactly pretty. ((Fuggly Hair!)

[/quote]



She's better looking than Aika and Koharu and everyone after 6th gen. Oooh I went there. She's awesome, and she's gorgeous wtf, she's very pretty.

[Noa]

[quote name='freezingkiss' timestamp='1333066281' post='122382']

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1332895320' post='122251']

Ayaka Umeda is in DiVA, she was also in the 7th gen Musume Auditions. So sad because I remember rooting for her hard core. Kinda glad now she didn't get in, cause to me she isn't exactly pretty. ((Fuggly Hair!)

[/quote]



She's better looking than Aika and Koharu and everyone after 6th gen. Oooh I went there. She's awesome, and she's gorgeous wtf, she's very pretty.

[/quote]

You must be looking at someone different than the rest of us.

[eri]

[quote name='Cyrene' timestamp='1333041423' post='122354']

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/ichikawa+miori



Basically one of the cutest Team 4 members EVER.

[/quote]





1. My tumblr is on there near the top and apparently, I actually posted her photo (with proper attribution) without knowing who she was. I think I posted it just thinking she was cute.



2. Are the double buns only a DC-special? What a shame - she doesn't have her hair like that in any other photos!

[Shoujo Q]

So I guess they'll be streaming the Washington D.C concert on their YouTube channel on April 1st, 20:00-23:00 JST, Which I think is 8PM EST.

[Shoujo Q]

You know I mean 8am and 8pm. (So it's on now and will be on later)



I guess they are having a liveish google+ interview type thing too, which isn't live but whatever. Marty Friedman is there too. As well as lots of subtitles!

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='Molly' timestamp='1333066582' post='122385']

[quote name='freezingkiss' timestamp='1333066281' post='122382']

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1332895320' post='122251']

Ayaka Umeda is in DiVA, she was also in the 7th gen Musume Auditions. So sad because I remember rooting for her hard core. Kinda glad now she didn't get in, cause to me she isn't exactly pretty. ((Fuggly Hair!)

[/quote]



She's better looking than Aika and Koharu and everyone after 6th gen. Oooh I went there. She's awesome, and she's gorgeous wtf, she's very pretty.

[/quote]

You must be looking at someone different than the rest of us.

[/quote]

I would beg to differ. Sorry for the pic spam, but seriously.















Her facial features have a bit of a not-Asian look to them, I think she may be part mixed, so unless you're just being overly judgmental because she doesn't have a super-Asian face, I don't know how you can deny that she is good looking :P And when she was in full stage makeup at the concert, seeing her in person was something to behold. And I also used to really not like her and didn't think she looked very good, especially because a lot of images from before 2011 make her look pretty bad, but a lot of these girls used to look really bad, but as they get older they just look better and better, same as with most idols.



And yeah, I saw Marty posting some stuff on Twitter and Facebook about how he was going to interview them for something and wanted to get some questions from fans to ask them. I'll have to check that out, but its lame it'll only be available for a short time. I imagine it'll probably be ripped/recorded by someone, though.

[Noa]

I can deny she's good looking because she looks like a pterodactyl.

[Shoujo Q]

Give a few years and maybe some stress lines and she'd make a perfect Klingon. No makeup needed for that one.

[Melon]

I'm gonna side with AEUG and say ya'll be crazy because she's pretty.

[Shoujo Q]

Agree to disagree. Moving on.



Anyone else watch the concert? I think I spotted Usako in the audience, but I can't be 100% sure.

[eri]

I missed the streaming concert.



Can I ask a stupid question? They were lip-syncing right?



Agree to disagree on Umeda. She's got that huge-nose look that has been very trendy in Japan for a few years now because it makes people look more "half" <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... mellow.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':mellow:' /> But not my type <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... popper.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':popper:' />

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='eri' timestamp='1333501260' post='122617']

I missed the streaming concert.



Can I ask a stupid question? They were lip-syncing right?

[/quote]

I don't think it was 100% lip synched, at least on certain people and certain songs. I'm pretty sure Takamina did BIRD live (and maybe other songs,) but most of the other songs besides the stage songs have 10 people singing at once so you can't really tell.



And the streaming concert is up on H!O...

[AEUGNewtype]

I just finally got around to watching the concert video, its pretty good. The part with Marty Friedman is kinda funny, but fairly disposable stuff. The concert is really well-filmed and good quality, though. There are a few crowd shots, but its pretty much all of the people in the first 2 rows in the center, but there are 2 or 3 really clear shots of Usako and one shot that zooms right in on me while Akicha is doing her introduction, but I didn't really see anyone else in any of the crowd shots. The audio of the rip is a little off-sync, but I don't really care much. The video is of the 2nd concert, also, if anyone was wondering.

[AEUGNewtype]

Just for eri, since she said she never sees Lemon with her hair in buns like she had at the concert.



I don't know if her real hair is in these buns/fuzzy things, but its the same idea, and super cute :) from an issue of UTB:

[eri]

I just want to feed her biscuits and pat her head. She's so cute!