It’s 10:30 AM. The date is May 30th, 2015.

After an 18 hour Journey to Japan, and about 4 hours sleep, It’s officially the day of DEATHRABBITS 1st. ONEMAN, and the sun is BLAZING!

Quick checks of the official DEATHRABBITS twitter account indicate that all 300 tickets have sold… meaning the ONEMAN is 100% Sold Out. The staff have even asked people to not to turn up at the door trying to buy tickets, as none will be sold on the day. It’s starting to set in just how big of a deal DEATHRABBITS are starting to become in Japan in a very short 18 months.

(*1 & 2 Shameless self promition!)

After eating some Breakfast (Conbini food bought the night before), and showering/doing our hair, we made our way out from Sangenjaya to Shibuya. We picked such a place to stay on purpose, as it was direct to Shibuya.

(3*: The station we used every day~)

As said before, the sun was literally blazing, which was unusual as it was pouring with rain the day before. I heard from people later on that such weather is unusual for the end of May, but they seemed happy that it was so hot! We got lost in Shibuya trying to find our way to “Club Asia” (It’s very hard to find!), but luckily right in front of the Starbucks at Scramble Crossing there were 3 VERY cute girls offering to help foreigners find their way around Shibuya.

(*4: A picture of said Starbucks!)

After about a 10 minute search and some chit chat, we finally made it to Club Asia. We said our goodbyes to our kind new friends, and set in search for fellow admin Masato-San. We quickly found him in the line and made our first greetings. He’s simply the nicest guy you could ever meet, and helped us to communicate with Japanese fans when it was too much of a struggle for us.

(*5: club asia!)

Outside the venue were a few surprises! DR Japanese fans had put together a lovely shrine of flowers and balloons to celebrate the very first ONEMAN, and to ferel happy about Buchou being kicked out haha… TK Dance (Yuzu and Karin’s dance school) also paid to have a special flower display put outside of the venue to support their fellow classmates!



(*6, 7, 8, 9 & 10: It’s all so wonderful!)

As the time was around 3:15 by this point, we let the staff know we had arrived to the venue. This was because we actually had an interview with DEATHRABBITS themselves before the ONEMAN! We were a little early, so they asked us to wait a little longer, which of course we were happy to oblige. This brought us to the front of the queue where we got to know some of the Japanese fans that seem to be at EVERY live (yes, including the fan with Long hair that everyone overseas is obsessed with!). Amy decided to hand out some of the Business cards we had made to advertise the Fan Club, and everyone was so nice to her. We can’t thank you all enough for how you treated us that day.

(*11 & 12: Fans really seemed to like these, and Amy looking all cute and stuff in her Concert outfit and her Bear MARY!)

We brought along with us a special book designed by me and Amy on behalf of DEATHRABBITS Fan Club, documenting DR’s history from the beginning until now. We also left space in the book for fans to sign with their names and leave messages to the group. I can confirm that ALL pages assigned for fans to sign were completely filled by the end of the night… but more on that later!

The book made it’s way down the line passed between fans, and we properly got to meet the staff members Goro-San and Mina-San who would be letting everything happen that day. Goro-San is such a cool guy with great English, and Mina-San was a stylish lady who’s English was pretty much perfect!

We were then invited inside to do our interview. We had taken a lot of questions from fans and submitted them to the DR staff to pick and choose the ones they liked the best.

Me and Amy were then lead upstairs, and it finally set in what was about to happen… we were about to meet DEATHRABBITS! We got upstairs to where the merch tables were held, and we just happened to have a very brief meeting with the girls’ families! Of course, we tried to be polite and respectful and bowed to them.

In a separate room to the side of the merch hall, DEATHRABBITS were waiting to be interviewed by us! They even kept shouting things out to us in English from inside the room. Once Buchou was ready adjusting his mask (to hide his face, of course!), we were allowed inside.

This had to be one of the best things we ever got to do while in Japan. Buchou and the girls were SO polite to us, and greeted us in English and Japanese! They REALLY seemed to love the Fan Club T-Shirts we were wearing, making comments such as “Sugoi!” and “Kawaii”. We let them know they were designed by a member of the Fan Club (Thank you again JunLin Arts!!!). They were COMPLETELY shocked to hear we had travelled all the way from the UK to come JUST to see their ONEMAN!

The staff allowed us to hand over the Fan Club T-Shirts that were paid for by Fan Club members. They were so shocked to receive them, and seemed so grateful when it was explained to them that other Fan Club members had actually paid for the shirts.

(*13: The shirts we gave to Emi, Yuzu, Karin and Buchou!)

We also handed over the Chocolate that was bought for the girls (Special British chocolate paid for by Fan Club member Jerome Schlue), and we also handed a gift over to Buchou… his first question about it was “This is Alcohol?!”, and he shouted “YEAH!” when the gift was confirmed to be Alcohol. What a cool guy! We also gave surprise gifts to the DR Staff, which they really seemed to love. We were too happy!

Finally, it was time for the interview! As we had a limited time, only 4 questions could be asked, but we think they were probably some of the best questions asked by fans, and the answers honestly felt so natural… I have been an idol fan since 1999, and I’ve seen so many interviews where the idols answers were COMPLETELY acted/scripted, but I honestly feel that DEATHRABBITS answers were the most natural, unscripted answers possible. We really appreciated this!

I’m sure you’re all dying to know the questions and answers to the interview, so we won’t keep you waiting any longer:

Question 1 - Amy: If you ever have the chance to perform overseas, where would you most like to perform?



Emi: Hawaii!



Yuzu: Thailand!



Karin: London! (Everyone slightly cheered at this haha~)



Buchou: Europe!





Question 2 – Peter: Have you ever seen Buchou without his mask on before?



Emi, Yuzu, Karin: NO! Never!



Peter: We’ve heard he’s quite the Ikemen (Handsome/Cool guy)!



Emi, Yuzu, Karin: …Really?



Buchou: Disgusting… my face?… My face is handsome?



Emi, Yuzu, Karin: … (Everyone laughed about this)





Question 3 – Amy: If you had to eat ONLY one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?



Emi: Strawberry!



Yuzu: Gyoza!



Karin: Macaroon!



Buchou: Sushi!!!





Question 4 – Peter: Is there any message you would like to send to your fans inside and far outside of Japan?



Emi: I will try my best to perform overseas, so please continue to listen to DEATHRABBITS!



Yuzu: I want overseas fans to come to our lives in Japan if possible, but of course I would like to perform overseas, too. I will try my best!



Karin: I will do my best to perform overseas!



Buchou: To me, it doesn’t matter where we play in the world, I just want to have fun all over the world with DEATHRABBITS!



(Buchou then showed what he meant by forming a globe with his hands and saying the word “Earth!”, to which the girls copied him haha~)

After all was said and done, we thanked them and the staff for the amazing oppurtunity we had just had… But we had a surprise opportunity, taking a personal picture with DEATHRABBITS!

(*14 & 15: We were told to do the DEATHRABBITS “Thumbs Up” pose for the first, and we all pulled a silly face for the second!)

I hate my face in these, but it was so fun!

Emi, Yuzu, Karin, Buchou, the staff and their families were the nicest people ever, and it makes me happy to support such a group!

After we said our goodbyes to everyone, we were lead back outside and met back up with Masato-San. He suggested it might be a good idea to hand out some more business cards to fans, so the three of us worked together to help advertise the Fan Club properly. As my Japanese was limited, Masato-San really came through and helped me to communicate with other Japanese fans. It was surprising how many people recognised me and Amy from Facebook and Twitter, and how many people talked to us first saying such!

(*16 & 17: SO MANY FANS!!!)

At around 4:25, the doors opened and everyone was allowed inside.

(*18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25: Fans happy to enter the venue!)

We were all given a special ONEMAN snack item (pictured below), and a DEATHRABBITS Point card.



(*26 & 27: A FREE snack… tastes just like a Cheeto/Wotsit, but on a MUCH larger scale! It seemed to be another product wrapped in DR packaging haha… and of course, the point card you get stamped every time you buy merch!)

The Japanese queueing system is a little different to the west. First, when you go inside you stand in one line to show your ticket INSIDE the venue (here in the UK it’s checked generally on the way inside), and then you must also buy a drink ticket. This is known as a “drink charge”, and as far as I know, it is unique to Japan. It is generally around 500 Yen, and the ticket you get can be exchanged for something like a bottle of water at the bar inside the venue. You seem to be able to redeem this before, during and after the live, so it is interesting.

(*28: Drink Ticket!)

Then, we wanted to buy DEATHRABBITS merch… the system for this is also different. Unlike in western venues, where it is every man for themselves, an orderly queue is formed, and everyone waits their turn in a single file… I actually liked this a lot better. Because of doing the interview and handing out cards, I thought there would be no chance of getting any merch we really wanted to get… in the west, of you’re in the venue so late, you will 100% lose any chance of getting the item you want to buy. But, me and Amy managed to buy every single piece of merch we wanted to buy!

(*29: I forgot to take any pictures of the merch stall, so this will have to do ^^;)

I had so much stuff with me that I simply had to leave the venue to find a large coin locker to put my stuff inside. Coin lockers are EVERYWHERE in Japan, so if you are loaded down and have things to do, please feel safe in using them. They are safe and cheap!

(*30 Coin lockers!!!)

On the downside, I had to repay the drink fee to re-enter the venue, which sucked a little bit, but at 500 Yen, I felt I could justify paying such a charge. Around this time, we also talked to some Japanese fans, including Ma Oka, who happens to have translated a great deal of the DEATHRABBITS songs for our very own fan club! I also managed to meet Yagi who is DEATHRABBITS artist, and I even met DEATHRABBITS very own composer “Tetsuya Kobayashi”! I told him how amazing his music was, and he seems so happy to hear it. Everything felt unreal. Japan is simply amazing.

And then, it was onto the live itself, as it was about to begin!

End of Part 1.

In Part 2, I will review the live and talk about hanging out with Japanese fans at the After Party!

- Peter O’Hanlon (Admin)

Credits:

*1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14 15, 26, 27, 28 & 29: DEATHRABBITS Fan Club

*3: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tokyu-railway-den-en-toshi-line-Sangen-jaya-station-north-entrance.jpg

*4: http://sushiday.com/archives/2012/11/26/japan-day-8-bowls-the-size-of-your-head/

*5, 6, 9 & 10: https://twitter.com/JinDRaholic/status/604512335206580224

*7 & 8: MurakamiMasato

*16: https://twitter.com/mcz_teru/status/604544827837935616

*17: https://twitter.com/apuapu/status/604548224435634176

*18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25: Svetlana Yagi

*30: https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/clubasia/@35.658883,139.695572,3a,75y,232.45h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sdzKCBiglqoSDGQetw2RQhQ!2e0!4m7!1m4!3m3!1s0x60188caa3c0bd781:0xc0596b7b84a6892a!2sclubasia!3b1!3m1!1s0x60188caa3c0bd781:0xc0596b7b84a6892a