A couple of COTD FANs and I also had the amazing opportunity to attend Otsuki Kenji's talk event, "Nohohon School" (オーケンののほほん学校). http://www.loft-prj.co.jp/schedule/plusone/61963
Guests:
NARASAKI (COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS, Tokusatsu)
三柴理/Mishiba Satoshi (Tokusatsu's pianist, Thunder Poison Viper)
RIKIJI (Oblivion Dust, Tokusatsu's support bassist)
Even though we couldn't understand most of the event, it was still a pretty cool experience.
Before the show, I thought I was late because the line I saw earlier disappeared. I took the elevator to the venue and I got to see a glimpse of Otsuki Kenji sound checking with the guests! I sneaked a few photos before I was told that I wasn't supposed to be there. eh heh heh...
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| sound check |
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| NACKIE! |
My friends and I were a bit nervous since we don't know much Japanese and weren't sure what to expect from the event.
The show was like an intimate interactive fan club event- almost like a live podcast! Sometimes Otsuki Kenji would shout something and the audience would shout back in unison- it seemed like a recurring thing to do throughout the event. Oken sang, played guitar (along with NARASAKI), and interviewed guests. He shared some funny photos of himself and rare video clips of Tokusatsu lives. "Oi! Oi! Oi!" (With the help of a Japanese fan-) It was announced that Tokusatsu is rereleasing (remastered) versions of three of their old albums (Omuraiza, Natsuban, & Wata Ippai No Ai Wo!) and doing a tour in July! (Their old indie label was closed, so it was difficult to buy their albums before. You can pre-order them on HMV.) It was funny and cute how they presented it- they did a countdown and drum roll and showed it through funny drawings of themselves in a sketchbook. I'm surprised that Oken doesn't have his own TV talk show or do MC appearances- he's very entertaining. Or maybe he does and I don't know much about it...? During NARASAKI's interview, they briefly discussed the recent COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS concert and his new work with Sadesper Record on the anime, Anonymous Noise.
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| Anonymous Noise poster I found in Shinjuku |
After the show, I got to hang out with some Twitter COTD FANs! They drank while we waited outside for NARASAKI to get a photo and autograph. The wait was very long and the fans joked that Oken and the guests were all having fun drinking. Otsuki Kenji left the building quickly while wearing a medical mask to avoid fans. I waited as long as I could, but I didn't want to deal with catching the last subway train or trying to get an expensive taxi ride back to my AirBnb by myself (kinda far). Fortunately, one of my COTD FAN friends got me NACKIE's autograph for me! :) THANKS SO MUCH! I'm really thankful that we got to see NARASAKI perform a little bit again, see Otsuki Kenji for the first time, and hang out with more COTD FANs!
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| STICKERS! |
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| By the time I got to my AirBnb, NACKIE came out. A COTD FAN friend took this funny photo for me. |
