Yes, the new Fall TV season is upon us, and KTS TV had their big advertising event down at the Volunteer Center this last weekend.
While the posters for the shows change, the rest of the fest remains pretty much the same from year to year. So, I didn't have all that much interest in this event, outside of wanting to know who the bands would be. I had to work most of Saturday, but I did have about 30 minutes free between 3 and 4 PM, and the Center is just a 5-minute walk from the English school (I had to go to a bookstore to get the latest English newspaper for the school, and that was in the opposite direction, which shortened the time I could spend here).
The bus is new, and advertised "Duffy, the Disney Bear." Duffy is the one driving.
It was a nice day (rain in the early morning, and the following night, but nice right now), and people bought festival food from the stalls along the yard perimeter.
Lots of people surrounding the stage to watch the interview with the HKT48 girls. I missed the actual stage show, and most of the interview was taken up by the MC not shutting up, or people from the audience fawning over the girls. Regardless, HKT48 is the sister group for AKB48, based in Hakata (northern part of Kyushu). They're pretty popular down here, and have their own radio show that I sometimes am forced to listen to because I'm not allowed to change channels on the radio.
The MC looks like someone in his family died.
Freeza was over in the food court, advertising some stall that had a tie-in to the DBZ TV series.
He was accompanied by Majin Boo.
I didn't see Gokuu, Vejita or Gohan, so I guess this was a "bad guys rule" day.
You know that someone's going to try to step on that tail.
Waiting for whoever in the audience is talking to hurry up and ask the stupid question...
Inside the Center, more activities were taking place up on the second floor. One consisted of tables where the kids could make cat toys out of yarn.
There was a costume display for one of the TV dramas. No idea which one, because I don't have a TV.
Same show.
Same show. At least the actors dress well.
Nearby was a virtual reality booth where people could experience the monster world of Gegege no Ge Kitaro. The lines both days were over an hour long. But, on Sunday I was able to see a bit of a wide screen monitor that apparently showed what the people with the visors were seeing. Looked unworldly, alright. Be fun to try on a visor, if I don't have to wait so long for it. But, this is NOT your father's Neko Musume...
Also in the same room was the Super Famicom video game featuring the Kagoshima mascot characters fighting ala Street Fighter. I'd written about the game designer before, and I'd seen him at a different event at least a year ago with the same game. Looks like he's finally gotten some recognition, and permission to sell copies of the game.
They need a stronger projector, or to turn the lights off in the room
Back outside. This is Sunday now. I'd taken photos of the schedule boards on either side of the main stage, so I knew who was going to be on stage and when. The problem was, I'd never heard of a couple of the groups before, and didn't know if I cared enough to find out. So, at 2 PM, before the first one was to go on stage, I headed out the door to walk down to the center. This is "Hand Drip" (I assume it comes from the popularity in Japan for single cup hand-made coffee at certain coffee shops). They're kind of a pop boy band, with one of the guys playing acoustic guitar. Nothing worth recording.
The audience loved them, anyway.
While they liked rap-style posturing, they didn't really sound like hip-hop. The guitar and vocals were a bit too melodic for that, but I went into the building to find a quiet corner to sit down and read manga, and I have no idea if they broke into J-rap or not.
Hand Drip was followed by a comedic duo, Miki, that were billed as "guest MCs". They got big laughs by running around the stage to let people take their pictures, then telling everyone to stop that. It doesn't take much to impress people here. After finding out who they were, I went back inside to keep reading.
Finally, at 3:40 PM, White Jam went on stage. They consisted of a male and female singer, and the DJ in the background. The male vocalist spent the first part of the song bragging about the band, then the women came out to keep bragging. It was very much in the rap vein, but the music itself was more love song/pop. Again, nothing I felt like recording. The audience loved it, though.
The last band up was Berry Goodman. I'd seen them last year - they did bad Japanese rap. I left before they went on stage this time. But, there were quite a few people in the audience holding Goodman banners or wearing Goodman t-shirts, so, yeah, the audience loved them.
I knew what to expect from previous KTS Days over the last few years, and I wasn't really expecting much this time. And that's pretty much what I got. Up at Amu Plaza, they've had Aisu-paku, their promo for over-priced ice cream products, for the last week. I'd rather spend the money on Baskin-Robbins, which is in the food court in the basement of Amu Plaza, so I didn't bother going there this weekend. Overall, a slow two weeks. But, I've got a lot of other things going on to keep me busy, so that's ok. And there will be better stuff coming up as we get closer to Halloween and Christmas.
No comments:
Post a Comment