Event Report: Wake Up, Girls! FINAL TOUR -HOME- ~PART III KADODE~ Kumamoto
This is an event report from 5th Jan 2019 archived from my Wordpress blog. You’ve probably already read it. I’ll add photos later.
Writing this on the plane back to Tokyo from what I would consider a treasure-filled three days in Kumamoto. I will never forget this weekend and I genuinely dread having to go to school tomorrow.
My flight to Kumamoto was on the day of the live itself, a 0710 flight from Haneda Airport bound to arrive in Kumamoto Airport at 0910. My plan was to head straight to bed as soon as I got home since I’d have to wake up at 3 AM to get to the airport in time. Much to my dismay, the blend of excitement over finally being able to go see Yoppi at Kumamoto, and the anxiety over the fact that if I’m unable to wake up in time I won’t be able to go see that, had me awake all night and I ultimately gave up trying to go to sleep at around 2 AM. Made myself some fried eggs (Yoppi’s favourite food her mom would make her, from her song Watashi no Ki), got ready, and headed to the airport without a second of sleep. Unsurprisingly, I was already dying when I got to the airport but for some reason I just couldn’t close my eyes. Afraid I wouldn’t be able to get any sleep in-flight, I asked some friends over what to do in order to die in the flight immediately.
The answer was simple: down a can of Strong Zero.
Thus, I grabbed a 500ml can of Apple flavoured Strong Zero (青りんご for 青山) at the nearest convenience store, and downed it in one go right before boarding the plane. Little did I know, turns out that was the same amount of alcohol as three cans of beer. I was so dizzy I bumped into people while boarding the flight, and while I did die when I got to my seat, I felt so nauseated and needed to go to the bathroom so often I basically only got 45 minutes of sleep.
I only recovered after arriving at the venue. What a terrible experience. Never doing that again.
In order to fully enjoy Kumamoto, I decided my only option was to go the ultimate TO route and buy 48 tickets in order to maximise my chance of getting front row. I was completely expecting to not be able to sell the extras, but I did! Thank god. Had to go around turning those tickets into money as soon as I got to the venue. I was still a bit tipsy, and one of the buyers even asked me if I was ok and was genuinely worried. WUGners sure are nice.
Thanks to Surname and Dalmo, I didn’t have to worry about buppan either. They helped me get what I want earlier on. God bless.
Finally, it was time to enter the venue.
Since most of the songs were the same, I’m not gunna write both separately, but I will mention when something is Afternoon or Night exclusive.
My seats were:
Floor 1, Row 3, Seat 31 for Afternoon
Floor 1, Row 6, Seat 19 for Night
Since there was no Row 1, afternoon was basically second row. It was two seats away from the aisle which kinda sucked, but at least I was super close. As for Night, it was right next to the left aisle, which turns out to be the best thing to ever happen, which I will talk about later on.
The live started with a message from Katayama Minami and Nanase Yoshino, both talking to each other about Kumamoto. Nanase offers to give Katayama recommendations for places to eat at. Katayama, surprised at how much Nanase knows about Kumamoto, asks where she got all this info from. Turns out Nanase knows someone from Kumamoto, who goes by “Aoyama Yoshino”. The conversation cuts into a phone call between Nanase and Aoyama, but for some reason Aoyama sounded more like Guri than herself… talking with her mouth full, and being completely uncaring of the conversation. They then continue on talking about how they should visit historical places in Kumamoto and how it’s important for everyone to visit Kurokawa Onsen and Hitoyoshi Onsen (LOL). Nanase then talks about how since this is the first WUG live in Kumamoto, she wished more people could come and see Kumamoto earlier. Katayama then ensures Nanase that it’s not too late, and since it’s KADODE, they still have plenty of chances to show everyone how great of a place it is. “KADODE is not a harbinger of end times, but rather a gate that leads to a new path.” Suddenly, they get another voice message from Aoyama, telling them to shower themselves in Kumamoto cuisine, breathe Kumamoto’s freshest air, and to not forget a single second they spend there, and to definitely come visit again, in the sleepiest, most uncaring Guri voice possible. Katayama then asks Nanase if they could come visit Kumamoto one more time even after the live is over. Nanase agrees, to not visit just as friends, but as family.
“Ikuzo, Ganbappe, Wake Up, Girls!”
All of a sudden, Oota-san’s voice appears out of nowhere, screaming his otaku screams, to which everyone laughs their arse off. He shills how Yoppi is back in Kumamoto and how happy she is over it. He asks if we got ready for the live by eating Yoppi’s favourite Kumamoto foods. He does a spot check on us, and he shills some goods, mentioning how “that specific WUGner” wearing the tour T-shirt, parka, and the windbreaker is wearing the perfect armour. Finally, he asks us if we brought with us our love for WUG, to which the crowd screams as loud as possible.
We then hear random rambling from WUG backstage. I don’t particularly remember what they were saying, but it was pretty random. They do the “Ikuzo, Ganbappe, Wake Up, Girls!” ritual real quick, after which Oota-san comes back to scream at us about how WUG-chan is all fired up. We start chanting “Wake Up, Girls! Wake Up, Girls! Wake Up, Girls!”
They show up in sillhouettes behind the stage curtains. The curtains fall with a bang, and we’re greeted with WUG themselves, wearing the 暴君 outfit, ready to perform their first song.
M01. 少女交響曲
That was so unexpected. Now it makes sense why they ended all of the Part II Lives with this song. They were trying to connect it together with Part III. Pretty cool if you think about it. Also, Yoppi was holding back tears with the biggest smile on her face. People in the back probably didn’t notice but being so up close it was really obvious how teary eyed she was. It must be so overwhelming for her. Kumamoto Shimin Kaikan. The biggest hall in all of Kumamoto. A place she has so many memories at. She’s finally standing there as WUG, looking at a sold out venue. It’s so amazing and I’m so thankful and happy for her. I almost cried looking at her.
M02. 素顔でKISS ME
Source: 初！熊本！あいり (2019 01 08)
Is it just me or did I never notice how people mix during the first instrumental? It was so loud and it was amazing and I wish I knew about it before lmfao.
MC1. Introductions
They introduce themselves and talk about how they’re all glad that they’re performing in Kumamoto. Mayushii tells everyone how if you start your year by screaming UWAAAAH, good things will happen this year, to which everyone screams, and then tells us that she made it up on the spot. BAMBOOZLED. Kayatan talks about how tasty dagojiru is during both sessions, and Yoppi talks about how we were all turned into vegetables during the start of Afternoon because of how nevous she was. She then tells us about how recently she had a dream where she was at Kumamoto stop and they were doing their introductions and when she welcomed everyone to Kumamoto, she was greeted with booing. She knows that it would never happen, but it got her even more nervous, and it made her feel like she was in hell. The audience was filled with laughter it was so funny. We then scream that we love her, to which Yoppi responds with how there will never be another chance again so everyone should boo at her. Wihtout hesitation, the entire audience starts booing at her. I will never forget this moment. I boo’d Yoppi at a WUG live in her hometown.
M03. 7 Girls War
HOLY SHIT. I didn’t think it would actually happen but everyone screamed 「熊本おかえり！よっぴー」 for Yoppi’s part, and the way Yoppi’s face brightened up hearing it, it was beautiful. God bless. I furicopied my heart out for this song as I always do.
M04. 言の葉 青葉
Beautiful. Is there anything more to say about this song? All I can do is just stand there and watch how gorgeous they are and how wonderful their singing is, while furicopying, of course.
M03. 7 Senses
Not many people did 「熊本おかえり！よっぴー」 for Yoppi’s part for this song, but when everyone screamed 「まゆしぃ！」 after Mayushii’s 「よ！」, Mayushii’s face brightened up too because there was never a Mayushii call in either 7GW or 7 Senses, but WUGners actually made it happen. WUGners truly are awesome, and it’s wonderful how obvious the girls make it when showing how happy they are. Oh yeah, Yoppi and Aichan did the USA dance in between too.
M04. 雫の冠
Beautiful. Is there anything more to say about this song? All I can do is just stand there and watch how gorgeous they are and how wonderful their singing is, while furicopying, of course.
TIE-UP CORNER
Only at Night, after 雫の冠, does Mayushii quickly mention that it’s now time for the Tie-up corner. Did she probably forget to in the afternoon?
M05. 僕らのフロンティア
I have been waiting for this song for so long. It’s one of my favourite WUG songs and it gives me the motivation to do pretty much anything. I furicopied so hard to this. One thing I don’t like about the live version is how everyone screams HAI during the instrumental before the chorus. I really appreciate the serene feel of the song and that call is really irritating. A movement against it is building up on Twitter though, which gives me hope for the future.
M06. One In A Billion
The calls for this song are so much fun because of how short but impactful they are. Screaming ONE IN A BILLION with WUG is always fun. This song is so good.
M05. One In A Billion
I actually didn’t even notice they skipped 僕らのフロンティア when they opened with this song! I was way too immersed into how good this song is.
M06. 恋？で愛？で暴君です！
Finally! I get to see this song again. It’s the song that got me into WUG and I love it so much. Fun fact, during Yoppi solo event, a certain something happened and it became a normality for Yoppi oshis to scream よしのー instead of オレモー for this song, and it made me really happy that a lot of people finally got the memo and did it too, or maybe my renban and I were just really loud with the よしのー calls. I was also really confused as to why they wore this outfit during Afternoon but never properly performed it, but at least we still got it at Night. Still wish I could see it twice...
MC2. Outfit Talk
They talk about how long it’s been since they last wore the Renai Boukun outfit and take their time to appreciate how cute of an outfit it is. In the Afternoon, they actually forget they last wore it in Shanghai and say Los Angeles multiple times and then correct themselves later. After this little exchange, everyone but Yoppi gets ready to leave but she quickly stops Mayushii and Nanamin, asking them to stay. With that, we enter the Kumamoto special corner.
SPECIAL CORNER
They start by asking asking everyone if anything comes to mind seeing these three specific people. That’s simple. If you’ve watched that Yonayona stream you’d know that these three are WUG’s チーム西日本. Yoppi being from Kumamoto, Mayushii from Osaka, and Nanamin from Tokushima. According to Yoppi, they’re also known as 飛行機組. Ever since before they debuted, until even after all their training camps and the Wonfes introduction, for those two years, these three were be the ones that would have to take the plane to Tokyo for events and training. At Night, Mayushii mentions that she still has the purikura they took together, which Nanamin remembered, but Yoppi, unsurprisingly didn’t, but later screamed “YES YES YES I REMEMBER”, in fact it was supposedly Yoppi’s idea to take it as チーム西日本. But these three aren’t the only ones that had to finally leave their homes behind for their dreams. Their kouhais had to as well. And since there might never be a chance again for them to do so, they perform their next song.
M07. カケル×カケル（チーム西日本）
Source: 7日だけどあけおめ@まゆ
The HAIs and claps were INSANE. Everyone was SO HYPED. RGR’s best song… performed by WUG? Unheard of! Some people even yettaiga’d! It was awesome. Yoppi did Mocchi, Mayushii did Hayamari, and Nanamin did Acchan. It was pretty well thought out, leader did leader, centre did centre, and Nanami did Nanami lmao. At Night, some people did some gachikoi call during the opening instrumental which I couldn’t quite catch, but it was fucking awesome as well. Furicopied so hard, screamed so loud, and clapped excessively. I was dead by the end of it, and I’m sure everyone else was too.
"I'm no longer afraid."
After that energetic performance, Mayushii talks about how they always end up having to follow along with Yoppi’s antics, and sarcastically mentions how she’s everyone’s beloved leader. Yoppi butts in with an “of course I am”. They ask if we saw カケル×カケル coming and if we were surprised. No fucking shit we were god fuck that was amazing. Yoppi talks about how the lyrics of the song has elements that really speak to her and that she’s been wanting to perform it herself, so she took her chance and did so. They then cut into the reading live section, mentioning how this song talks about “home” a lot.
Yoppi: Everyone, welcome to Kumamoto! How did all of you get here? By plane? By train? By walking? Thank you all for coming, whether near or far. The story we are about to tell you is about three girls with hometowns, just like all of you.
Nanamin: Yoppi, who are you talking to?
Mayushii: Talking to yourself?
Nanamin: You’re always like that.
Yoppi: No I’m not. Anyway, the three of us, standing here like this, feels really nostalgic doesn’t it. Here in Haneda Airport.
Nanamin: I wonder if that restaurant is still there! The one we always went to!
Mayushii: That bibimbap place?
Nanamin: Yeah!
Mayushii: If I recall correctly, it was upstairs. I know the way without even looking at the map.
Nanamin: I know right?
Yoppi: We sure did go there often.
Nanamin: We’re here!
Mayushii: That was fast.
Yoppi: My favourite bibimbap is gone!
Mayushii: You’re right!
Nanamin: Eh? I wanted to eat that too…
Yoppi: That nostalgic taste… not being able to eat it again...
Mayushii: But that smaller sized regular bibimbap is still there.
Mayushii: I can’t believe it’s been this five years since then.
Nanamin: It feels like it was just the other day.
Yoppi: During our training camps, we would regularly do airport rushes!
Mayushii: We would often run down staircases carrying up our luggage.
Yoppi: Yeah! That really stressed my body out!
Nanamin: Running while screaming over how we won’t make it.
Yoppi: And didn’t we often study for our tests?
Mayushii: Yeah!
Nanamin: Yeah!
Mayushii: If you think about it, we were at that age when entrance exams were right around the corner. Our centre exams were at the exact same time too.
Yoppi: I’d read out questions to you too.
Mayushii: Yeah, you didn’t understand the questions but you’d read them out regardless.
Yoppi: Yeah. We’d even talk about our school teachers.
Mayushii: And often hearing complaints about teachers I don’t even know!
Yoppi: Yeah! Nanamin and Mayushii did this a lot.
Nanamin: Yoppi, you’d do it too! You’d often talk about your choir teacher!
Yoppi: No I didn’t! (Shut up, she’s here today)
Mayushii: She did.
Yoppi: And Mayushii, didn’t you often study in the plane too?
Mayushii: Yeah I did. I’d listen to music while doing so though.
Nanamin: Music?
Mayushii: Yeah, in-flight radio. The anisong section had a personality I really liked! Not to mention, i☆Ris songs would play sometimes too.
Yoppi: I used to listen to §Rainbow so much! I’m getting flashbacks from back then all of a sudden… YUU-CHAAAAN!
Mayushii: What about you Nanamin? Did you listen to anything while on the plane?
Nanamin: Hmm.. let me think…
Yoppi: It was quite a while ago.
Mayushii: She was probably asleep.
Yoppi: You’re right, this is Nanamin we’re talking about.
Nanamin: Oh yeah! Yuzu!
Mayushii: Oh, you were awake.
Nanamin: Is that so strange?!
Yoppi: Speaking of, who was it that-
Mayushii: Ah! The last flight to Kumamoto is leaving soon!
Yoppi: Eh?!
Nanamin: It’s already this late?
Mayushii: Yoshino, dash! Speaking of, I need to leave soon too.
Nanamin: Me too.
Mayushii: Let’s go.
Nanamin: Yeah.
Mayushii: Alright, see you next week!
Nanamin: See you Yoppi!
Yoppi: You guys too! Bye!
Yoppi: I separate with them at baggage checking. The sounds of the airplanes echoed quietly. I headed to the gate. Five years ago, the feelings I felt in this place, were happiness and confusion around finally being able to go home. What I feel in this place now, are happiness and loneliness. But strangely, despite that loneliness, I find myself smiling, and that’s probably because I realised I have a place to call home. Kumamoto, the place I was born and raised, the place my friends and family built for my heart to call home. While it feels like a far away place, under this vast blue sky that these airplanes fly, it’s in a very close place. I’m no longer afraid.
Nanamin and Mayushii leaves the stage, and Yoppi gets into position.
Yoshino's Letter
After that energetic performance, Yoppi talks about how in the Afternoon they did a reading live, but for Night, she wrote a letter to everyone, which she wrote at 3AM the night before. She’s super awkward before starting to read the letter and it’s so cute, you could tell she was really nervous.
With a slow, piano-only version of the Polaris instrumental playing in the background, Yoppi begins reciting her letter.
Everyone, how are you? I’m fine. The Kumamoto stop is finally here. My first gaisen (凱旋). Are you all enjoying it? Did you eat all the delicious food? Have you fallen in love with Kumamoto? This city that you all came to love, this city where I was born and raised...
I used to hate it.
I’m sure there are plenty of people that know about this. All the frustration that built up ever since I started these activities, all the way until I moved to Tokyo, I can still remember vividly. An everyday life of succumbing to unfairness, and most of it was because I lived in Kumamoto. I was always extremely busy back then, and I never noticed just how many people were working hard for me. The resentment just kept building up, and before I knew it, everytime I’d come back to Kumamoto Airport after work, “I’m back… again…” was all that would come to mind.
In front of WUGners, I always wanted to remain cheerful and fun. So, I would throw all my pointless frustrations at my mother, and made her shed plenty of tears. All that she would do for me, from driving me around, to the bento she would ready for me every morning. I would never thank her, and all that would come out of my mouth were curses. I caused her so much trouble.
I’m so sorry.
Present day, four years have passed since I moved to Tokyo. I can’t get used to it at all. I don’t know any good restaurants. The train system is extremely difficult. For that, I am so thankful for Kumamoto that not only do most train stations only have one platform, but that I know where to get the best monja, which I told everyone about, and I know where to get the best pasta too, but I’ll keep this one a secret. I think to myself that these things exist in Kumamoto, and it makes me glad.
The pointless feelings I held, the frustrations, disappeared as the pointless feelings they were. That was my move to Tokyo.
What should have been obvious was never obvious to me. I terribly regret having ever hated this place that was always by my side. I have a place to come back to, a HOME. I will never, ever forget that.
But that’s not all, I have another HOME that I hold dear to me, and that’s Wake Up, Girls! Nanase Yoshino, who helped fulfill the dream I’ve had since primary school. The members, who are not only my greatest rivals, but my greatest companions. The pleasant staff, who supported us to where we are today. And the greatest family one could ever wish for, WUGners. Thank you all for showing me sceneries I would have never been able to see on my own. Thank you for showing me so many different HOMEs. Thank you for raising me up to where I am now.
Thank you, so, so much.
I don't want to regret a single second until March. I want to show as much gratitude as my heart can handle. I hope that every moment we spend together can be like treasure to you.
If I write any further, I won’t have anything to say in the final MC.
Finally, thank you all for coming all the way to my beloved Kumamoto.
5th of January, 2019. Aoyama Yoshino.
Pin drop silence. Not a single light could be seen. Yoppi’s eyes were glistering with the tears she was holding back. Faint sobs could be heard from around the audience area, mine included.
After reading the letter, Yoppi tells us about how you should never hate your own home, and that we should hold dear everything that brought us to where we are now. She then introduces the next song, while expressing her gratitude.
I cried so much while she read the letter. While she writes about Kumamoto, it’s extremely similar to my hometown of Kagoshima, which is incidentally right next to Kumamoto, and it echoed in my heart so vibrantly. Every single word she said, I could relate to. Being able to stand in front of so many people, and even her own friends and family who were there as guests, and recite this letter, she really is a strong person. I respect her so much.
M08. わたしの樹
Source: お正月明けはよぴの日@かやたん (2019 01 06)
Yoppi sings alone in front of her mic. Visuals of Kumamoto play in the background. Rivers, birds, trees, temples, occassionally pictures of Yoppi herself. I couldn’t take it. People normally talk about how something “made them cry”, but they don’t actually cry, they teared up, or their heart felt heavy, feelings like that. But I actually cried. I don’t know how many years it’s been since I cried like this. I’m asthmatic, and I was actually having trouble breathing. Just thinking about how Yoppi is finally getting to sing Watashi no Ki, a song that she poured her love for Kumamoto and her childhood into, in Shimin Kaikan, a venue in Kumamoto where she holds so many memories, it must be overwhelming for her. She was tearing up as she sang it, and in the night session, she actually choked on her own words and started sobbing. It was actually so painful. I couldn’t hold back my tears at all. The screams from the crowd… 「頑張れ！」「よっぴー！」... everyone started waving their penlights blue as well. She quickly got a hold of herself, and continued singing, but stronger than any song I have ever heard her sing in my life. It was Yoppi at her maximum potential. I’m sobbing just typing this. The images are so vivid in my head. Blurry, but vivid. What I saw in that moment was an angel. An angel named Aoyama Yoshino, and it was at that moment that I realised, I am so glad to be born a Yoppi oshi. The clapping after that god tier performance only got louder and louder. That was the second longest applause at any WUG venue I’ve been to, only topped by Morioka’s special corner.
V01. INTERLUDE
A slower, lighter version of the TUNAGO instrumental played while they showed pictures of Yoppi. From her childhood, all the way to her time in WUG. Pictures of her as a baby, pictures of her school life, pictures of her performances from when she was younger, off shots of pictures she’s posted on her blog, off shots from WUG events, all pictures we have never ever seen before. After that, handwritten messages from each member to Yoppi were shown. I don’t remember the details, but they were from heart to heart and it was beautiful.
The screen goes blank, and they come back on stage wearing the new Memorial outfit.
M09. HIGAWARI PRINCESS (PRINCESS Yoshino ver.)
They changed up this song completely! They use umbrellas instead, with the princess umbrella being pink with a golden rod while everyone else’s were white. The dance was changed as well to match this. Parts where they would pass the stick around turned into them passing the umbrella around while the princess walked under it with the current holder. It felt so fresh, and I’m so glad I got to see Princess Yoshino one last time. Also, at Night, she shouts “みんな、笑って！” to get everyone to smile because everyone was soaked in tears after that special corner. I thought that was really nice of her. God bless her.
M10. 16歳のアガペー
THE SCREAMS WHEN THIS SONG CAME OUT. This is one of my favourite WUG songs. Holy shit, screaming YOPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII at Kumamoto felt SO BLOODY GOOD. What’s cool was that a lot of people read between the lines and screamed Yoppi too even if she weren’t their oshi, which was extremely thoughtful. I can’t say this enough but god bless WUGners. I furicopied like there was no tomorrow and even did all the spins. At Night, there was an Aichanfag that screamed AICHAAAAN during her solo, but we’re used to that at this point.
MC4. New Outfit, New Song
They talk about their outfit and how while we’ve seen it before but this is the first time they’re showing it to everyone. Everyone screams for them to spin. In the Afternoon, Myu takes one for the team and does her ballet spin for us. She then mentions how she is the princess for the day to which Yoppi gets angry and calls her names, to which Myu responds with “I don’t want my princess status stolen by anyone else” in the most ojousama voice she can put out. After that exchange, Mayushii starts shilling some other event goods, and then starts explaining the outfit and MEMORIAL. She talks about how there are four new songs each by a different composer from MONACA and that they will be performing one of those for us today. Yoppi then tells us to try and guess who the composer is.
And the name of the song is...
M11. 言葉の結晶
Source: お正月明けはよぴの日@かやたん
In the Afternoon, there was a group of Monaca oshis sitting by us, and as soon as the first beat dropped, one of them screamed “恵一！！！” which was fucking hilarious. How the hell did they know with that little information? Regardless, this song, the entire performance was amazing. It was so different from anything WUG has ever done before. The song had so many elements that just make you go holy shit, and the dance seemed so sophisticated it’s surprising how they managed to pull off dancing the entire thing while singing. It really felt like this was the product of six years of their hard work, and to think this is the first song they unveil. How mind blowing will the next three be?! I’m not going to explain anything else about the song in case people don’t want to be spoilt. The one complaint I have is that during the instrumental part everyone at the back starts clapping which was pretty annoying when I’m trying to enjoy the new song. A lot of other people feel the same way, including Minyami.
MC5. Last Spurt
They ask us how the new song is, to which everyone responds with loud screams of approval. They talk about how difficult the song is, and how it’s much much harder than any other song they’ve ever done. They then tell us that this song was composed by Hirokawa Keiichi, and the group of Monaca oshis sat near us screamed because they were right lmao.
Mayushii then tells us that it’s now time for the last spurt, and that it’s going to be a hell of a ride.
M12. Beyond the Bottom
I’m sure you all know this but this is my favourite WUG song. The lyrics strike my heart so hard and everytime I see this song live I just can’t wave my penlight. I can’t help but stand there and gaze at them, appreciating their powerful voices and goddess tier performance. Also, I never had the chance to talk about this so I’ll talk about it now. The dance for this song has a lot of elements of them “pulling each other up”. I don’t really know how to explain because I’m not very familiar with storytelling through dance, but the biggest example is when they sing “change your mind, my friend”, the six members singing behind the one singing that line stand diagonally two by two and pull each other to each others positions. I feel like the diagonality expresses vertical positioning, one being on top of the other, and them pulling each other to each others position symbolises how they sacrifice each other to pull the other up. I think it’s really cool, and I’ll think about talking about the song lyrics and dance in more detail some other time.
M13. タチアガレ！
It’s tachiagare. It’s been performed so much and everyone and their mom has seen it there’s nothing to talk about, other than the fact that Yoppi’s solo felt a lot more powerful than usual.
M14. TUNAGO
You wouldn’t think that a slow song like this would be performed after the likes of Beyond the Bottom and タチアガレ. But believe me when I tell you that this song is just as powerful, at least from the context of a WUGner. Although TUNAGO was the theme for 4th Live Tour and the Solo Event Tour, I think it was extremely fitting for today too. In this Final Tour, we’re connecting each member’s roots together, and carving the path to SSA. It was extremely apt for them to perform this song at Kumamoto, which serves as an important point for this tour, being the first stop of Part III, as well as Yoppi herself, as the path she’s walked for the past six years has finally connected and materialised itself to her first performance in her hometown as WUG, and that while it may be the final tour, it’s only the beginning of her story.
Also, I can’t believe I remembered the steps of the「手を繋ごう」part. I haven’t seen this song since… WUG 4th Omiya I think, which was the first proper WUG live I’ve been to. Memories from those times flashed in my head and it just felt really emotional.
After they performed TUNAGO, they said their thanks, and left the stage. Wait! I didn’t get my moneys worth yet! WAKE UP, GIRLS! WAKE UP, GIRLS! WAKE UP, GIRLS!
ENCORE
After what feels like hours of chanting “WAKE UP, GIRLS!”, they finally come back on stage. This time wearing the awesome KADODE shirts with the lovely SHIFT skirts.
E01. Polaris
I was wondering why they didn’t perform this. So glad they it happened in the encore. Sitting so close to the stage, I could clearly see Mayushii’s face light up like the stars of Polaris when everyone switches their penlight to red during her solo. Yoppi also gave my renban and I a LOT of responses during this song in both afternoon and night.
E02. 地下鉄ラビリンス
FINALLY. THIS SONG IS SOOOOO FUN. WE SCREAMED SOOOO HARD. THE UH HAIS WERE INSANE. Fun fact, during the 「ぜんぜんぜん 乗りこめないよ」 part, a lot of people screamed 「オレモー！」 because it was a running meme that day over how many people missed their flights and a couple of people actually spent upwards of 70k yen just to get flights on day to make it to the live. In the middle of the song, Aichan, Myu, and Mayushii legit RUN to the second floor, while the remaining four stay on stage and do call and response for the “rap” part. They said the line, and we repeat the line. It was super fun! After that, the remaining four also walk past the aisles. This is where I got what is probably one of my best responses ever. I was sixth row aisle seat for Night, and thanks to whatever stroke of luck, Yoppi passed by that aisle. She spotted me, waved towards me from the fourth row, kept waving at me, and at sixth row she waved at me from literally 5 cm away, and kept waving at me until the seventh row, after which she gave other people waves. I got the longest wave ever, holy shit. My renban was so frustrated he wanted to switch places with me for when they walk back. Yoppi didn’t even look at him! GET FUCKED IDIOT. Yappari Yoppi loves me.
MC5. Final Messages (Afternoon)
Source: 夢だね(虎>ω<)美海 (2019 01 09)
They talked about 地下鉄ラビリンス and then shilled some announcements, and continued on to their final messages one by one.
Myu talks about how it was her first time on the second floor during this tour, and how even people not her oshis changed their penlight colour to orange for her, and that made her really happy. While she talks about how the entire year of 2018 she spent thinking about WUG and WUGners, someone from the audience screams オレモー！ to which she responds wiith オレモ and continues to talk about how she’s so glad that she was able to come to Kumamoto.
Nanamin talks about how the little things that make her realise she’s in Kumamoto, like the changes in dialect, help her enjoy Kumamoto a lot. She talks about how performing songs like Kotonoha Aoba, TUNAGO, and HIGAWARI PRINCESS in Kumamoto made her happy considering the fact that those were songs that were mainly based in Tohoku but they were able to connect (繋ぐ) those songs together all the way to Kumamoto, and make tons of new memories.
Minyami talks about how she can’t believe it’s already 2019, and how during the new years vacation they didn’t do any practice and instead everyone (almost) went back to their hometowns, and Yoppi bothered her at her home, and how when they thought about how WUGners will be going all the way to Kumamoto while thinking about WUG in their respective homes made them feel really glad. She then casually mentions how the number of people in blue were a lot more than usual (you’re damn right they were), to which Yoppi responds with “you don’t know that, maybe they’re wearing the 継続して欲しいにゃん shirts” (which was actually true). She then finishes with how it’s their first time in Kumamoto and how warm Yoppi’s home is.
Mayushii talks about how Part III has finally begun, and that the theme of the live is to get people to feel what HOME is like, and especially Kumamoto, where the corners were thought up by Yoppi and you can feel Yoppi’s love towards her home a lot. She then talks about how WUG might be based in Sendai, each part of the FINAL TOUR is in various different places, and they want these places to all feel like they’re our homes as we go to each stop.
Aichan talks about how it’s her first time in Kumamoto, and that while she lived in Sendai, she always thought of Kumamoto as an extremely far away place. Now that she’s finally here, she feels like it’s a lot closer than she thought and that she was able to understand that there’s lots of things that she can do for the place, and even though she’s physically far away, everyone’s hearts are still connected. She finishes by expressing how glad she is that her first experience in Kumamoto was with WUGners.
Kayatan talks about how Yoppi was originally the one to bring up the idea of going to everyone’s hometowns for a tour. In response, Yoppi tilts her head, making Kaya go “right?”. Yoppi then finally remembers and mentions how long of a time ago that was. Kayatan then talks about how when Yoppi came to Iwate for the Morioka live, she was really happy over how Yoppi experienced Iwate a lot, and because of that she was determined to experience Kumamoto to its fullest when she’s finally here. She then talks about the reason that she’s able to work so hard today was not only thanks to WUGners, but thanks to Yoppi as well.
Yoppi talks about how everyone says such nice things and how happy she is over that. She talks about how the moment she joined WUG she’s wanted to perform with everyone at Kumamoto, and how the earthquake that happened two years ago made her feel even stronger about this. She wants the context of WUG to not be exclusive to Tohoku, but rather it should be spread to all sorts of different places, and so being able to perform so many different WUG songs in Kumamoto makes her extremely happy, and how glad she is that one of her biggest dreams have finally been fulfilled. She then expresses her surprise that she is standing in 市民会館. She talks about how this was the place she performed a really mundane role in some random music concour during her primary school. She talks about how surprised she is over it and how when she was told that they were gunna perform at Kumamoto she imagined it would be a much smaller venue and had all these different halls in mind that she would love to go to but when she was told it would be 市民会館 her jaws literally dropped. She believed that there was no way that it would be full but WUGners proved her wrong. She expressed her thanks, and then mentions how there is still one more wish she wanted granted. What brought her to where she is today, is choir, and that she wants to perform a choir with everyone. She throws a tantrum over it and everyone responds with “really? Do we really have to?” and casually gets into formation. They then perform that one song they didn’t perform despite having worn the outfit, in acapella.
E03. 恋？で愛？で暴君です！（合唱）
It was BEAUTIFUL. It was only the chorus part that was performed, but it was so mindblowingly amazing I wish they performed it in full. I really wish I had the linguistic ability to describe it to you but it’s impossible to put into words. They really are talented.
Yoppi then talks about how happy she is that her dream was finally fulfilled and it gave her a huge smile on her face. Wait, smile? SMILE?! IT’S HERE.
MC5. Final Messages (Night)
They talked about 地下鉄ラビリンス and then shilled some announcements. They announce the title of their Final live, 「想い出のパレード」, and talk about how they thought of the title together during their uchiage and it really made them think about how difficult of a language Japanese is, and how they looked up all sorts of different kanjis and turned into chuunis. After this, they continued on to their final messages one by one.
Myu talks about how this Kumamoto live ended up a huge success thanks to Yoppi’s hard work. How Yoppi can honestly express herself from the bottom of her heart really made her believe that Yoppi truly is the leader of WUG. She then talks about how difficult the new song is to perform but be prepared for there are three more new songs and they fully convey how much WUG has grown as a unit.
Nanamin talks about how she cried listening to Yoppi recite her letter, and during わたしの樹 when all seven of them sing at the end, she cried so much that she lost her sight (I was too focused on Yoppi to even notice this orz). Listening to Yoppi talk about her mother, she remembered how much she wants to see her own mother and talk to her about today. While Yoppi might be the leader of 底辺ズ, if Yoppi were really 底辺 she wouldn’t be a part of 底辺ズ, and that they aren’t really 底辺ズ! (This made so little sense we were all laughing so hard). Myu then mentions how Nanamin called Yoppi haphazard (行き当たりばったり) in her message during the interlude, to which Nanamin added that if anything that’s Yoppi’s strong point. Finally, she says that thanks to today she was reminded of how much she loves Yoppi.
Minyami starts by talking about how she wants to talk about Yoppi but if she did she’d end up in tears. In fact, she was already about to bawl as she said that. Yoppi also makes a crying face at her, and they both start crying while looking at each other. Minyami says she really wants to talk about her, to which Yoppi responds with a go ahead. According to Minyami, people that can speak their weaknesses are really strong, which is why she thinks that Yoppi is really strong. Being able to recite that letter and even going as far as to telling everyone about her nightmare where she gets boo’d by everyone, Yoppi just blurts out all of that. But if it were Minyami, she would never do it. Yoppi being able to speak her heart like that really makes Minyami glad that she’s the leader. She then talks about how Minyami’s mother is in the audience right now and she’s probably crying as well. Her mother always said that she wanted to go to a live outside of Kanto after seeing everyone elses mothers come from all over Japan to see their daughters perform in Kanto, so she went out of her way to come to Kumamoto. She talks about how being able to feel family ties like that is all thanks to Yoppi, and the fact that so many people came all the way to Kumamoto to see them perform is thanks to Yoppi as well.
Mayushii talks about how after hearing everyone else talk about Yoppi, it made her want to talk about her too, but she won’t, because it would end up really long. Yoppi sarcastically mentions to her that there’s time, so she does anyway. She talks about how Yoppi has troubled her quite a lot, but it’s only because Yoppi trusts her a lot. She talks about how Yoppi always talks about how much she doesn’t understand herself, but she’s probably the one that understands herself the best. She’s able to turn all her weaknesses into weapons, but she does it all unconciously, and how unfair that is. She talks about how close to a miracle it is that she’s able to do these things and get people to follow along with her, and that their trusts and bonds were built thanks to Yoppi in a way as well. So while everyone makes fun of her by calling her a klutz, she;s still the leader. She then says she’ll talk about her more later. Finally, she says that the 門 (gate) of 門出 (kadode) is not a gateway to the end, but rather a doorway to new beginnings.
Aichan talks about how she’s glad that her first live, and first job of 2019 was at Kumamoto. She talks how she learnt a lot from Yoppi today, that you only realise the good things about your hometown after you leave. She also talks about how when Yoppi was talking about her negatives, Aichan thought about how she would never say it like she did. She talks about how it’s difficult for anyone to talk about their weaknesses, and that Yoppi is really strong for being able to do that and that everyone is following her as a leader because of this. (I’m going to be honest, it really felt like Aichan was pulling this shit out of her ass, I felt no love in it and I have no idea why. For one though, Aichan didn’t look at Yoppi once while she was talking about her. It’s just so weird…)
Kayatan starts puzzled as to what about Yoppi she should talk about, and that there’s so much she wants to talk about and she wants to talk about it with Yoppi herself. She then talks to Yoppi about how back then she would often share hotel rooms but recently because they’re all in single rooms now they haven’t really had deep conversations much. She talks about how she was able to feel Yoppi a lot today, and how because Yoppi was the leader, she never had to work as much (sarcastically). Minyami then reminds her that during the first couple of days as WUG, for a very short period of time Kaya was made the interim leader, after which Kaya adds that that position was taken away by Yoppi (sarcastically). She makes fun of Yoppi a lot like this, and then talked about all of the good qualities Yoppi has that makes her a great leader.
Finally, Yoppi. Thanks to Animate Times, the (partial) transcription of Yoppis final MC is documented, so I’ll just translate that while adding the extra undocumented stuff in. Before she started talking though, Mayushii forcefully brought Yoppi to the centre of the stage.
Did you all have fun at my hometown of Kumamoto? Your’re all so loud! Everyone’s so wonderful, they say so much nice stuff about me, but it’s not true. I just can’t hide anything! Whatever it may be about, I want everyone to hear it. But, despite that, there’s still a feeling behind my head of not wanting to say anything (laughs). There hasn’t been any recently, but during watashikais and stuff the more you oshi me the colder my behaviour will be towards you (which explains EVERYTHING, Yoppi never hated me feelsgoodman). Everyone was being tested!
But today, I wanted to properly convey my feelings, which is why I wrote that letter. During the first 2~3 years as WUG, I would always think to myself that I will never come back to Kumamoto. I always regretted being born here, and I would even attack my mother asking her why she would birth me here, and thinking about it now I regret it a lot. But, after leaving Kumamoto did I realise how warm everyone was, and how pointless of a thing I’ve done. I want all of you to feel the warmth of Kumamoto, and impart it to future generations.
I’m! So glad to have met all of you! (audience screams オレモー) You all say such nice stuff to me but I too have something I want to say (言いたいことがあるんだよ)! 好き好き大好きめっちゃ好き! (Yeah, she said めっちゃ instead of やっぱ lol)
Standing here, I am reminded of my childhood when I was chasing my dreams, and finally having my dreams fulfilled, standing here with the members that I love, and the staff that are sobbing at the back there, turn the audience lights on! I can’t see everyone’s faces! (apparently according to some people on twitter the staff were laughing their ass off when this happened) Being surrounded by so many people and having my dreams fulfilled, I am extremely extremely happy!
Part III has finally begun, and we’ll be going at it with all our hearts, so everyone! Please live!!! Thank you all so much for today!
She then remembers that she forgot to talk about something, and starts talking about how this hall is a 聖地 to her, and that if this place didn’t exist she would never have been able to become a seiyuu, which is why she wants to fulfill her final dream of doing a choir with everyone here. They repeat the Afternoon process of exchanging words of unmotivation but ultimately get into position and start singing.
E03. 言の葉 青葉（合唱）
This brought back memories of the special corner at Morioka. It was so beautiful. I’m glad they picked this song, as it means so much as a WUGner, and it means so much to them as WUG too. As they said during their MC, being able to take all these songs that were originally written with Tohoku in mind, and bring it to such far away places and still be able to increase its sentimental value is an extremely wonderful thing. Thank you, WUG.
After this Yoppi talks about how glad she is that she could finally sing this song, as a choir, at Kumamoto, and it put a huge smile on her face. Wait… smile? Masaka...
E04. 笑顔！極上！スマイル！
NANDAKA CHIGAU
SHAAAAASHIIIIN
TEEEE MITAAAAAAA
SHIMAUUUUUUU
NATTAYOOOOOO
TAIGA FAIYA SAIBA FAIBA DAIBA BAIBA JAAAA JAAA
HOUSAKU HOUSAKU
HIIIIIROI
SUUUUGOOOI
NIII KITEEEE
KITE NEEEE
TORA HI JINZOU SENI AMA SHINDOU KASEEEEEN
*fast claps*
They say their thanks, Nanamin waves at me in the Afternoon, and they leave the stage. At Night, before leaving, Mayushii says that Osaka’s next, and asks if everyone is ready. As someone not going to Osaka, I remained quiet as everyone around me screamed. FeelsBadMan.
V02. Post-Live Video Message
With a music box version of Kotoba no Kesshou playing in the background, a small video message from WUG played. In Afternoon, it was them saying how their gunna put in their all for Night, and at Night it was them thanking everyone for coming to Kumamoto, and since Osaka is next, everyone should get ready.
After the live was over and everyone was getting their stuff ready, I screamed with all my heart.
「公式さん！WUG熊本公演！開催してくれて！ありがとう！」
「よっぴー推しに生まれて良かった！」
Everyone screamed, and a lot of people screamed back 「オレモー！」which was awesome. A lot of people screamed 「WUG最高！」 afterwards too and every time someone screamed the crowd roared. We found our way out of the hall, back into reality.
And that was the end. Thank you WUG. Thank you Yoppi. Thank you for showing me what is most likely the most beautiful stage I will ever see in my life. I will never forget this day. 5th of January 2019 will forever be marked on my calendar as the turning point of my life. I’m so glad to be born a Yoppi oshi. I have been saying since the end of November that now is the best time to be a Yoppi oshi, and this live only further strengthened my opinion. I can’t wait to be back in Kumamoto, and I hope the next time I’m back it’s for Yoppi Solo Live. I will always, always support you Yoppi. You’re the only one that matters. Ganbappe!
POST-LIVE BLOGS
Nanami
Firstly, I want to say my thanks for Kumamoto ☆
Yoppi, Mayushii, and me, the three of us Team Nishi Nihon performed Kakeru x Kakeru!
Ranga-chaaaan...!
Our debut felt exactly like the lyrics of this song…
But honestly, this song reminds me less of our past time, but makes us think about the present and what’s to come
It makes me feel sympathy, that’s the kind of lyrics they are （´-`）.｡oO
I wonder if Ranga-chan feels the same way??
Everytime I listen to this song I feel like hugging Ranga-chan with all my heart!
That’s the kind of song Kakeru x Kakeru is to me (*^^*)
The reading live written by Mayushii is our story from 5, 6 years ago.
We would go to Tokyo every week by plane, and we would always head to Haneda Airport together on our way back.
Since we’ve all moved to Tokyo now, it felt really nostalgic and that made me happy! ◎
WUG based in Tohoku, and the three of us from West Japan ^^
Kumamoto, Tokushima, and Osaka tomorrow as well
With the three of us, I’m sure we can bring WUG to West Japan with all our hearts!!
And that makes me really proud （＾ν＾）
Source: 大阪行き新幹線Nanaminn
Kaya
And the first event of 2019 was, WUG Tour Kumamoto!
It’s been a while since we last wore the Boukun outfit!
Also, we wore the new outfit that is being used in the cover art of our Best album that comes out on the 23rd of January for the first time ♪
How was it?
It uses a lot of lace and it’s so cute 💕
Patches and chokers too 💕
With that said, Kumamoto is our leader Aoyama Yoshino’s hometown ☆
She would always talk about how much she wants to go to Kumamoto with everyone! ♪
Her feeling of wanting to make it a success really echoed within us, and made me want to be as supportive as possible.
Everytime I sing the「祈り捧げるよ」part of BTB, what I’m thinking at that moment is different, but today, I prayed for Yoppi, who moved to Tokyo all the way from Kumamoto and is working hard everyday, to have all her future dreams come true ☆
There are people that are already working despite it being right after New Year’s, but came today instead of resting a little bit more!
Everyone, thank you so much!
Yoppi, otsukaresama! ☆
Source: お正月明けはよぴの日@かやたん
Yoshino
Ohayoppi---! It’s me, Aoyama Yoshino. How are you all? Tokyo’s really cold today!
This time, there only one thing I want to talk about! Den! HOME Tour Part 3 KAKODE has finally started!! Den! And the first stop, Kumamoto is finally done~~!!! Including the preparation period, I was sooooo nervous. Thanks to that, I see such weird first dreams. Lmao. But thanks to all of you! It was a success!!! Yay!!! 🎉🎉🎉
It’s finally calmed down a bit so I can write down my thoughts, but just the thought of everyone walking the streets of Kumamoto has me all excited! It makes me want to boast about everything I saw, and I’m sure Kumamoto WUGners feel the same way! ☺️☺️
Things I never would have guessed leaving an impression on people, makes me so glad 🙆♀
Something as normal as the taste of dagojiru, which is as normal as that feeling of entering your bed when you’re sleepy. It made me so surprised.
And this! Everyone was wondering what this was at the conbini and it made me so surprised. Is this only sold in Kumamoto? They show that Rakunou Mothers commercial so often on TV!
(Sorry for the sudden selfie)
And with that came the Kumamoto live! 🐻 Since the setlist is a secret for now, I’ll talk about the special corner.
In Kumamoto, Yoppi, Nanamin, and Mayushii formed チーム西日本 (Team West Japan) and covered カケル×カケル by our kouhai unit, Run Girls, Run! Ever since I head this song for the first time, I’ve been wanting to sing it in West Japan. I did the Mocchi part, since we’re both the leader~~◎ There’s a uniqueness to her singing and I love it. Fufu.
We might not be able to meet for some time
I hold my empty hands tight saying
Wait for me, don’t forget me
These lyrics pierced straight into my heart.
After that, in the afternoon we did a チーム西日本 reading live written by Mayushii, and at night I read everyone a letter.
After which, I sang my solo song わたしの樹, which was written with my hometown in mind.
I am glad to have been able to sing this song at Kumamoto.
I am so glad to have been able to sing it as all seven of us.
WUG-chan all talked about how I’m so strong, but in reality I am so weak, but being able to turn these weaknesses into a weapon was all thanks to WUG. On the other hand, everyone being able to hide their weaknesses is stronger! It’s wonderful!!
I am always of no help to anyone, I really am haphazard, I leave my actions to my emotions, and whatever I can’t do I immediately pass to someone else.
But, I was able to grow stronger thanks to WUG! Thank you for making me stronger.
はーーー好き。好き大好きやっぱ好き。
まじでわたしが生まれた理由みんなに出会うためなんだよなあ…？
俺と一緒に人生歩…んでるんだよなあ…？はぁ運命。
(Yoppi doing gachikoi, talking about how she loves everyone and the reason she was born was to meet everyone, and that she wants to walk her life with every- wait, she already is, and it’s fate.)
All of our feelings will be conveyed during this tour! Get ready!
And then, our new song 「言葉の結晶」
P-Professor Hirokawa~~~ Explosion~~~~!!!! The deeper you read into Tadano-sensei’s lyrics, the more complex it gets, but it’s the truth. It was the first time in my life having to erase my feelings and record and perform like this. This song has a lot of messages, and I want to do my best and improve the performance for this song until I’m happy with it.
There is a short version uploaded right now, but please listen to the full version! Although, currently you can only hear the full version at a live!!!!! ◎
Also, this time, I called all my elementary, middle, and high school friends. What all these friends have in common, is that they supported me in fulfilling my dream, and I’m so glad I was able to finally show them that my dream was fulfilled! This was how I showed my gratitude.
The person that wrote the final message in the background video for わたしの樹 came too! 😭✨ I cried so much… I layed down and cried lol.
Kumamoto ended with the staff, and me, crying our hearts out. A lot of things that could only have been done in Kumamoto have been fulfilled, and it was all thanks to everyone!!! Thank you so much!!!
After that, we did an uchiage with all the staff and the members. Everyone kept saying: basashi is great, karashi renkon is great, taipien is great, amakusa daio is great, akagyu is great… they kept saying how tasty all of Kumamoto’s cuisine were and seeing that made me sooooo happy!! I had a huge smile on my face that screamed “Right? Right? Eat more!”, and I probably said that out loud too lol.
Seeing WUG-chan eat like this after so long made me so happy!
Did you all get to eat good food too? Did you all have fun?
I’m so proud, to have been born here, and be able to meet all of you. I’m glad.
Source: 今週の総括・*・:≡( ε:)よぴ237。
