Berryz Koubou NARUCHIKA 2015 (Bangkok)

Berryz Kobo Naruchika 2015

Berryz Koubou (Berryz工房) recently held a fan event in Bangkok Thailand on 3rd Feb 2015. Kitty has been wanting to see Tsugunaga Momoko aka Momochi up-close for a very very long time. As travel plans for watching Berryz in Japan has been scuppered time and again, them coming down to Thailand is a good opportunity due to proximity and costs. One budget airline travel will just set you back 200SGD (or even lesser) as opposed to the long haul trip to Japan.



Announcement made for the Naruchika event was done somewhere in end December 2014. Pre-order tickets were out on 10 Jan 2015. Asked one of Kitty's Thai friends to help purchase them. Ouch, Kitty has a hand in transferring funds to an overseas account. Its not a pleasing experience with the bank rates and currency exchange. Once tickets were secured, its just a matter of travelling to Thailand. That itself is quite a problem as the event will be held over a weekday. Juggling leaves and Kitty unfortunately has to go alone since most of Kitty's "nakamas" were working. Besides, this would be one of the most convenient times to see them before they go on a hiatus.

The Entry Pass

Travelling to Thailand itself is an eye-opening experience. Will explain in detail of Kitty's adventure in future posts. For the moment, these photos will tell you more about the Naruchika.

Queuing up at the venue

Event tee!

Berryz fans

Some event exclusive photosets. My oshi Momoko~~

Front view of the event tee

The venue is at Muse Thong Lor. You need to take a taxi or (one of those crazy motorcycle rides) to reach there. Kitty's nearest BTS train station is Ekkamai and its a long distance to the venue. Close to 1.5KM.

You see the distance! Not near nee

There were goods sold at the event. Most notably their event T-shirt and event exclusive photosets. Kitty's thai friend, Ms Kwanny (who incidently one of the admins for Hello Project Mobekisuju FB page) recommended to reach the venue 2hrs early. Well that was some piece of good advice as the crowd actually swelled very fast upon reaching.

Kitty was surprised that the venue is quite small. Understandably, its Kitty's first time entering a livehouse. Also, due to the ticket number, Kitty is that close to the stage! Well its no surprise too as Naruchika is the abbreviation of two Japanese term Narudake Chikakude, which somewhat means "being close as possible. Fans of these events can expect a very close experience with Hello Pro members performing.

At 6pm, the event starts! One by one, members of Berryz Koubou appeared. The first member to walked out was Yurina Kumai. WOW! She's a giant! XD But she is also very very pretty. When Momoko appeared, Kitty was escstatic! Haha, she sports her classic twintails and the way she speaks is classic Momoko.

In the middle of the event, they held a giveaway session. Each Berryz member brought their own personal items (T-shirts, towels and photosets) and each of them are signed. They would each pick a random number in a box. Any audience whose number on their ticket corresponds to the number in the box, would win a prize. Gahhhh, Kitty has no luck! The timing of the Naruchika event also coincides with the annual Setsubun event. In Japan, there is a tradition where people will throw beans to ward off demons when spring sessions beckons. So the audience acts as though they're demons and Berryz threw those beans at us. Miya threw and hit my lightstick though.

Kitty was also glad that Berryz performed that classic song Maji Bomber. That one is the first Berryz song Kitty had in his mp3. The time when Momoko wasnt the irritating Momochi hehe. They belt out those "fun songs" like Monkey Dance, Cha Cha Sing and Genghis Khan. Also classics like スッペシャル　ジェネレ～ション. The full setlist below (credits from a certain Thai fansite)

1. Romance wo Katatte
MC
2. Happiness ~Koufuku Kangei!~
3. Dakishimete Dakishitmete
4. Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi (Miyabi, Risako, Yurina)
5. Tomodachi wa Tomodachi Nanda! (Saki, Momoko, Chinami, Maasa)
MC
6. Loving You Too Much
7. I Like a Picnic
8. Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance
9. Special Generation
10. Dschinghis Khan
11. Maji Bomber!!
12. Cha Cha Sing
Encore
13. Towa no Uta
MC
14. Yuujou Junjou oh Seishun
End

After the event, Berryz took photos with all of us. And there's a high touch session after the event! Haha, Kitty was used to having this during AKB concerts, never for a Hello Pro one. This one is a welcoming surprise.

Scene outside the venue after the event

Some happy wotas

Kitty also waited outside the venue for sending off Berryz. The Japanese wotas in attendance were an awesome lot. Seeing that I wore Momoko's shirt, they gave me Momoko photos. Kitty experienced this before at other idol events, notably TIF 2014. Their culture of sharing their love for the idols brings a smile to my face. Finally the Berryz members went out. The crowd was very orderly as we waved goodbye to them. Hehe, Kitty took a video, you can see the sending off here.

In conclusion, Kitty proclaims that every Baht spent on this event is totally worth it! You have a very close encounter with Berryz, you have exclusive goods, you have them performing songs you wanted to hear, you have a high five encounter and also no restrictions to say good bye. So, its no surprise that I'll give this a:

Awesome Level:
★★★★★ stars　
(VERY VERY WORTH IT!!!)