OrePara 2013 event report
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This year’s OrePara was a special one because it would be the last performance for Iwata Mitsuo, aka Micchan.
OrePara 2013 Kobe
This year I decided to fly into Kansai instead of taking the night bus. It cost just a little over $100 roundtrip. The only catch was that I had to fly out of Narita with is a real pain in the butt to get to. Kobe was incredibly cold last year but it was surprisingly warmer than Tokyo this year (all things relative, of course). Since it was Micchan’s last performance this year, his goods sold out rather quickly.
My seats for the first day were 8th row to the left, and for the second day I was third row to the left. As usual, the event started off with the OreParap. It was cute because Iwata started singing the last “saa hajimeyou” a bit too early. He made the same mistake both days in Kobe. XD
OnoD was the top batter for the first day. He wore a suit and had his dancers with him. His set list included: Kiss Kiss Kiss, DELIGHT, Ascending&Descending, Kimi Nashi de, and Monochrome no Niji. There was much dancing during the first two songs. During the instrumental part for Kiss Kiss Kiss, OnoD slowly blew a kiss which had the audience screaming. OnoD also talked about how they had to retake the fruit eating scene in the PV a few times so he kept having to eat pineapples. ^^; This year, each of the performers sung one of Iwata’s songs as tribute and OnoD sang Kimi Nashi de, a song that he’s mentioned many times that he really likes. The song is very nice and with all the emotion it definitely made me wibble.
The event ended with the usual performances of Galaxy Bus and Nemuru Mono tachi he. Continuing from last year, it seems to have become customary to specify certain groups of people to sing Nemuru Mono tachi he.
For the second day, OnoD was second after SuzuKen. He sang Kiss Kiss Kiss, Tori no Yume, Kimi Nashi de, “Arigatou,” and Monochrome no Niji. After Kiss Kiss Kiss, OnoD announced that today would be Yuka’s last performance this year. Apparently due to a schedule conflict, she wouldn’t be able to perform at Ryogoku. Anyway, I was very satisfied with this set list since finally we’ll get OnoD singing “Arigatou” live on DVD! I love the song but it’s always sung on the first day of OrePara which means it wasn’t recorded on DVD. OnoD of course sang it for Micchan and it nearly had me in tears.
Since all the performers were singing one of Iwata’s songs, Iwata in turn sang one song by one of the others. He sang OnoD’s Daisuki on the second day of Kobe, complete with the dance and everything. Similar to last year, they had a little skit and out came OnoD in a dog costume, and Suzu as the father and Morikubo as the mother. XDDD OnoD’s mentioned several times that he’s the pet dog of OrePara. So cute! Apparently he’s named Mosu and when Iwata called him over he excitedly did so and pretended like his tail was wagging. At the end of the song, Iwata sang “M-I-T-S-U-O Mitsuo!” instead of “Daisuke.”
This night’s performance of Nemuru Mono tachi he turned out to be a really special one for my friend and I. They were having smaller groups singing the lines (boys, people from Shikoku, people in their 30s and up, etc) and Iwata actually requested for all the foreigners to sing! Of course my friend and I jumped up and down frantically. Morikubo noticed us and stood in front of us, cheering us on the entire time. It was bliss. Needless to say, I think we’ll be on the DVD, LoL.
Every night after Galaxy Bus, there was a video message from a past guest. On the first day it was Terashima Takuma and on the second day it was OLDCODEX.
OrePara 2013 Ryogoku
Finally, Ryogoku! After Kobe, you definitely can feel that Ryogoku is the main event. For the first day, I was up on the top floor in the left corner. It’s actually not bad being on the top floor because you have a very clear view below. On the second day I was 5th row in the arena. It’s the closest I’ve been since the first year I went and had first row seats. XD
As usual, it started off with the OreParap. OnoD was second and his set list comprised of: Kiss Kiss Kiss, Manatsu no Spica, Kinmokusei, Kimi Nashi de, and Monochrome no Niji. There was only one dance song this night. The dancer who replaced Yuka was Tomo. She was actually in the Kiss Kiss Kiss PV too, and in the scene where Mika is feeding OnoD a piece of pineapple, she was on the other side pretending to be disgusted that OnoD didn’t give her any attention. They reenacted the scene on stage. XD Apparently Tomo ad-libbed that gesture and the director really like it, haha.
Iwata’s MC was funny because he talked about bumping into the Mosu Boy in Akihabara. He didn’t recognize him at first because Mosu Boy was wearing a suit. Mosu Boy was very embarrassed that Iwata was telling everyone about this. ^^;
On the last day, OnoD was third in the lineup and sang Kiss Kiss Kiss, Netsuretsu ANSWER, Shitta Junai 1,chu,3!!, Monochrome no Niji, and Kimi Nashi de. I kind of figured that he would sing Netsuretsu but I don’t think anyone imagined he would sing Shitta Junai. It was a very good surprise. The vocals by Chihara Minori were played over the speaker. Kimi Nashi de this night was extra special because Iwata came on stage and the two sang the song together! It was all sorts of amazing. For the final line, instead of “sayounara,” OnoD sang “arigatou.” It was very emotional, and you could tell that even OnoD was on the verge of tears.
This night would be Iwata’s last OrePara performance. There were no jokes or surprises. After Galaxy Bus, some fans in the front row of the seating above arena held up a banner that read “Micchan arigatou.” That had Iwata tearing up. The staff also brought out four cut-out boards of Iwata. Apparently they had it somewhere at the venue and fans could write a message on it. I didn’t know about this, or else I would’ve written something too. =( The video message for the first day was from Kaji Yuuki, and on the second day it was Hirakawa Daisuke.
As you can imagine, Nemuru Mono tachi he dragged on for a while since it was going to be the last one sung with Iwata. Before the song started, Suzu requested of Iwata to allow OrePara to have the song as its official theme. Iwata of course agreed. This night, Morikubo did the foreigners a favor by picking on them to sing. X3 Thanks! There were two Chinese OnoD fans in front of me, and some fans from Taiwan in the first row. Morikubo also messed up when OnoD had the people from Shikoku sing. He was captivated by the number of people singing and missed his line. ^^; You don’t see him make mistakes like that often, hehe. It was very emotional at the end. The three guys all took off their OrePara tshirts and gave it to Iwata. Cue the screaming since OnoD and Suzu were wearing tank tops under their shirts. XDDD (Don’t worry– This will be on DVD. >D) An instrumental version of Galaxy Bus was playing in the background and the audience started singing near the end. It looped a second time after the four host members left the stage and again the audience sang along. It was quite moving. Iwata later tweeted that they could hear us singing from backstage. I’m glad our voiced reached him! I think the cameras were still rolling at that time and if they were then and I really hope they include it on the DVD.
My friend and I were determined to do the “OrePara saikou!” thing this year so after the event we hunted down the cameraman in the lobby and waited in line. Our message was in English so hopefully they’ll decide to use it. ^_~ Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that Morikubo apparently memorized the dance for Kiss Kiss Kiss. He danced part of it on stage during the talk portions, and admitted he danced backstage while OnoD was singing. XDDD
The end of the year really is all about OrePara and doesn’t feel complete without it. It’ll be interesting to see how the things will turn out now that Iwata won’t be part of the event. We’ll miss him!
