Sato Ryuji [RECEPTION] Tokyo Memorial Event report (.....sort of)
man where do I begin
It’s my first time attending these type of solo events so bear with me :’D Please also take all this with a pinch of salt because a) it’s been almost a month and as much as I will never forget this day, my memory is still a little fuzzy, and b) major fangirling happenage. If anyone has any other questions besides what was discussed here, feel free to drop an ask and I’ll try my best to answer them :)
The slot I got was at 9:30am on the 12th February in Tokyo. The event for this day was held at the Zendentsu Hall, which holds about 400-500 people. It is also located somewhere near Ochanomizu (heh heh that location...)
So once we were there, we were supposed to get in line to enter the lobby area, where ticket checking will commence. The event this time uses an e-ticket so we’d have to have our mobiles ready with the ticket page for them to check. Once we were done with our tickets, there was another table where random lots were spread out, face down, for us to pick one and that determined our seat.
I got the A row, 3rd seat which was like 2nd row from the stage (the first row was named XA). I WAS ALREADY PANICKING BECAUSE A) I DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING PLANNED TO SAY AND B) OBVIOUSLY BEING IN FRONT MEANT YOU WERE CLOSER TO THEM AND YOU WOULD BE THE FIRST FEW FOR THE HAND-OVER/HANDSHAKE EVENT SJKSJKDJFK
MC: Ishikawa Kento
So I’m gonna go in order of the events that happened:
Talk event
Secret event (although this part, I’m just guessing lol)
Handshake/ hand-over event
Talk Event
We start off with Ishikawa-san introducing himself as the emcee, opening the event and welcoming everyone present that day. He then introduces Ryuji and he walks out from the side of the stage (mind you, looking all sleepy and blinking his eyes blearily wwwww). So .....if you’re a Ryuji fan, you know how so very well the boy loves to mumble. So, yes, he mumbles his introduction as he characteristically comments how early it was (xDD) and thanks us for being there with him.
So this is the part where we go through the book together and Ryuji (attempts to) share his thoughts on each individual picture or shoot. This was all done via presentation slides, as seen from the above picture. Of course, it being butts early in the morning and Ryuji, being Ryuji, mostly failed to get through this part with ease xD He mostly stated the obvious things at first (like with the library shoot, he was all “ah, books. books.... more books... I already have a book in my hand, yet I seem to be searching for something”) until Ishikawa-san was all like “please further describe the picture ^ ^;;” and while he did in fact get serious for a bit, he eventually admitted he had not much clue of what to say (lmao smh I swear).
When it came to the Goth loli pictures he straight out skipped most every one of them (”tsugi... tsugi... tsugi...” LMAO). Okay well, he did talk about the first photo at least. But the pointer person, basically the person who was controlling the slides (let’s call him “pointer-san” for now), pauses on one of the pictures, reluctant to let Ryuji skip without talking about any one of them and straight up ZOOMS INTO his face, forcing him to talk about the shoot (xD). Yes, Pointer-san was the highlight of this segment, bless Pointer-san They basically zoomed into a couple of pictures so there was no escape for Ryuji not to speak about it. There were times however where after zooming into the pictures, Pointer-san had troubles zooming out so they took some time, to which Ryuji thought they were doing it on purpose and was all “next... next.... yes, nEEXXXTT” (hahahaha!!)
After the talk session, we moved on to the Q&A corner which I’m not going to delve into unfortunately because of my limited japanese :’D Trust me I would very much butcher it instead. I would say, however, that they were all very interesting questions I never would have thought of myself! If anyone has any links of translations from tweets or whatsoever, feel free to let me know and I’ll insert them here :D
Secret Event (???)
After the talk, Ishikawa-san then led us to the next part where apparently there was a special present one of us from the audience would be receiving. The present would be something of Ryuji’s possession and he would randomly choose the lucky winner via our seating arrangement.
The special present for our slot was a necklace HAKUEI-san gave Ryuji (which he was wearing that day). Ryuji chose someone (albeit after taking so SO long to decide whilst sitting in yankee position) from the H row, 3rd Seat, and the reason being was he’d went out to eat with HAKUEI-san some days earlier. The lucky girl was ushered up on stage and Ryuji removed his necklace to put it onto her wrist.
Handshake/Hand-over event
So once everything was done, it was finally time for the handshake and hand-over event. (Okay so this is where my limited japanese fails me because one of the crew people was talking waaaay too fast ^ ^; but I think) They first asked if anyone was in a rush, and that they would like to go first, to which most of the girls who responded were actually from the further back row. So they were allowed first before the first row of guests had their turn. Basically, there were 2 tables: One of which to place our belongings, and the other one where the actual handshaking and handing over will occur.
So basically, with the event, you get three books with special covers only the people who went for the event would get, plus a special bromide. I think there were basically 6 different special covers? 1. The school boy look 2. the one with the traditional paper umbrella 3. the one in the library 4. the one with the sofa 5. the white prince and then 6. the white-sweater nekomimi one (correct me if I’m wrong).
So basically you go up to him once it’s your turn, shake his hand, say what you need to say and he hands you the books. He basically shakes you with both his hands (*instant death*) in a gentle, almost feather-like touch (not gonna lie, I even froze a little).
Ryuji’s appearance
He was wearing a white shirt (or possibly a tank top) underneath, with a khaki coloured coat over it. And some reeeaaallly really long pants that seemed to sweep the floor (smh this kid wyd). His typical signature look imo (basically as seen on the first picture above). It was pretty casual compared to the first 2 Tokyo events + Osaka’s. I’m pretty sure he had brown contacts on too. It was the nice sort of brown that wasn’t too light or too dark but it was obvious enough that they were contacts ww I couldn’t see his shoes but for one split second while he was adjusting his pants, I saw heels???? Kind of like these ones from that one show he was in??
Although I’m not entirely sure about this! They were definitely heels of some sort though because they were making so much noise while he was walking around ww His hair was styled similarly to most of his event days, slightly permed. However, for this day, he had his bangs pinned up (kill me, kill me now). So it sort of looked like Shion’s character in Fourze, except instead of a headband, his front hair was pinned up.
So prior to the day I went, I’ve been reading reports for the first 2 events in Tokyo and apparently Ryuji was down with the cold? To which was pretty visible even for this day because he was still coughing quite a bit and even had to pause for a few sips of water at times ):
Some FAQs I’ve gotten from some friends (LOL)
Yes, his hands were indeed soft (people mentioned how warm they were but I think that might just be because he wasn’t feeling well? LOL I DON’T KNOW)
Yes, he was as beautiful up close as he is in pictures
Um... no unfortunately I wasn’t close enough to smell him (but other people apparently said he smelled nice? lol)
Yes, his skin was pika-pika but I wouldn’t say it was flawless :X
Yes, it was a blessing to witness that glorious, wide forehead in person
Yes, it was just like staring straight into the sun
Unfortunately I was too distracted and blinded by the person himself to notice whether he was wearing any earrings orzzz
Yes, he has my soul and he can gladly keep it I don’t know how I am still alive
And finally, no, I do not think he is as tall as people made him out to be sorry wwww (although, yes I am pretty short but I came up to his eyes/nose at least so xD)
(Some more personal notes lol otherwise you can stop reading here)
You can really see/tell how patient he is with everyone during the handshake. I’ve seen reports of how he really looks at you and pays attention to what you have to say, and I can 100% vouch this is 100% true ww He was really gentle with the way he holds your hands too. And if you could, I really recommend reading users’ reports of their handshake segment because most of them were cute wwwww (in terms of Ryuji and the audience). It wasn’t anything special for my turn but it definitely was something I would remember and take to my grave xD Funny side story: 2 days before my trip (also the first day of Reception’s Tokyo event), I too had caught a cold and was worried as hell I’d somehow pass on my cold to him if I hadn’t healed on time. Once I read the reports that day I was all “WELP... NEVERMIND” LOL I ended up healing faster than he did though :’D
If you’re ever planning on going for one of these, really, my #1 advice is: know what you want to say and talk fast. I’m not even kidding, they’ll legit usher you away if you’re taking way too long :’DDD (also, it saves you the embarrassment of stuttering like an idiot so)
Below are the book covers I got :3
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to the underworld where he’s sent me _(:3
Tokimeki Memorial 30th Anniversary Pop-up in Animate Akihabara
[Running 5.20 - 6.2 2024]
Displays
On the 7th floor of Animate's "building 2". Buildings 1 and 2 are connected though so its easy to find. If you're heading up the staircase with ads for the Pop-up you're in the right place.
Since coming back to Akiba after years it's been interesting to see how the Animate store has expanded so much. Fun Fact, this building used to be a toranoana (rip)
I went the first day of the Pop-up, even though it was around an hour before closing it still had a lot of people coming in and out. A lot of old otaku and newer fans wanting a photo with their favorite character
This event started up right after the Tokimeki anniversary live this past weekend, theres been a lot of Tokimemo promo lately.
Saki Nijino standee was given the special spot under the tree, she's one of the most popular heroines of the original game but I wonder if they'll change whose under the tree each day.
Goods
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Gratte Collaboration
Available on the second floor, you can choose what character you'd like printed on a cookie or drink. I got shiori black coffee and shiori cookie...
you can also get a random coaster and I got Ayako!
You can't actually eat in there since its meant to be take out only. I tried. so hard. to keep the shiori drink art in tact but immediately gouged her eye out...
The cookie is pretty yummy but super hard, as soon as you take a bite she kinda melts though I did get the dye of her uniform all over my hands
