Orange Horizons

Anime Expo 2008 (Part 1) – Shokotan

Alright, earlier on, I mentioned that cameras weren’t allowed into the concert. But hey, that didn’t stop some people from sneaking cameras in. So we actually have some shaky camera footage of parts of the concert. I’ll link them to the corresponding songs later on. Sadly, they have been taken down. Let’s get started shall we…

Shokotan’s concert (Shoko Nakagawa) was held at the Nokia Theatre, right next to the convention center (her first concert in the US!). Those who did not have pre-ordered tickets could get free ones from the convention center at around 11:30 or so. I believe seating started around there too, but since the tickets had assigned numbers, it didn’t really matter when you got there, as long as you arrived before showtime (1:00 pm).

My ticket for the show.

It’s hard for me to visually describe the inside of the theatre, so I don’t think I’ll try (perhaps this may help). I’ll just mention that there were two giant displays on either side of the stage. They were used during the concert as a mix of live footage and music videos. A few songs were played while everyone was being seated. I remember one of them being “pretty please chocolate on top.” Being in the JJ row was kind of unfortunate, since I was rather far from the stage. But at least the seat number was smack in the middle, so Shokotan was directly in front of me.

Those who know a little about Shoko know that she likes to cosplay, and there was a lot of it at this concert. I think it’s best to organize what happened based on what she was wearing during the concert.

First Outfit – Ah… can’t find a picture of it!

Sorry, but I really can’t find a picture of it anywhere. Anyways, I don’t remember if she did multiple songs while wearing this one, but she definitely sang 1/2 by Kawamoto Makoto, since she wore the same outfit as the one in her music video.

Second Outfit – SOSOSOS

It’s pretty crazy, but she changes outfits in only a few minutes time, and it all turns out great! She sang a song from Sailor Moon and also from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (well look at the outfit, duh!). I can’t remember if there was another cover that came before or after the Sailor Moon one, but there was a song after Hare Hare Yukai. In fact, she asked us to sing and dance along with her for the third song.

Songs Performed:

• Moonlight Densetsu
• Hare Hare Yukai
• Sukashikashi Pan Sukoshi Hen

My reaction when she did the Hare Hare Yukai dance: “WAH! SWEET!”

Third Outfit – Mmm… Rei…

Well, looking at the image, what do you think she performed?

Songs Performed:

• Cruel Angel’s Thesis

Fourth Outfit – Tokyo OWNlympics

Sorry about the quality, that’s as best as I can do for now…

The first song she sang is going to appear as the theme song in the Tokyo Onlypic 2008 Special, which to my knowledge, is some movie screening in August. Technically speaking, the single for this song isn’t even out yet. In the music video, she was basically competing in an international idol contest, set in an Olympic Games format. At the end of the video, she scores a 9.88 and places first overall. What’s funny is that China gave her the lowest score compared to the other judges (a 9.85 I think). Was it an intentional poke at China? Who knows. She then sang her debut single, a song from her appearance in Hakaba Kitarou, and the most recent single to be released.

In the song from Hakaba Kitarou, she says “mero mero” a lot. The first thing I thought of when I heard that was melon-pan. So, for the rest of the song, I decided to sing “melon melon, melon melon, melon-pan” in the chorus. ><

Songs Performed:

• Shiny Gate
• Brilliant Dream
• Kimi ni Meroron (Anime Clip)
• Snow Tears (Music Video)

Fifth Outfit – Yoko!

This was the one that I was waiting for. First, we saw a small trailer of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in English (can’t say I liked Kamina’s voice =/). Obviously, Sorairo Days was performed. She also performed Tsuzuku Sekai, which is the theme song for the upcoming Gurren Lagann movie.

Songs Performed:

• Sorairo Days (Concert Audio Only)
• Happily Ever After
• Tsuzuku Sekai (Concert Audio Only)

Encore!

As an encore song, she sang one of her favorites, which happens to be from one of her favorite shows, Dragonball.

Songs Performed:

• Romantic Ageru Yo (Music Video)

I don’t remember this, but did she sing Calling Location, or was the music video shown? I remember hearing the song from the concert, but I can’t remember when.

Closing Thoughts

Well, in my opinion, this concert itself was worth the AX08 entrance fee. Sadly, I couldn’t go to her panel or her autograph session. It was definitely a fun concert, and I think she has one more fan now. ;D

Phew, that took a while to type. I really am slow. I think I’ve sat here for over an hour… I need sleep.

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Cosplay images from Shokotan’s blog (there is also an English version).
Credit for the concert videos go to MomoUraKinRyuu, Nazgulkiller, and Spokeydokey00. Thanks a lot for the ninjaness!
If any images or videos have broken links, then they may have been taken down.

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Part Two – Cosplay »

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