Shoko gives all the behind-the-scenes details of =LOVE’s Baseball Event (SHOWROOM ENG SUB)
Today, I’m just going to take it easy and chat. It’s so hot. It’s so hot, and I haven’t turned on the AC, but until a little while ago, uh, I had the window open. But it’s a bit too noisy for a stream, so I closed it. I’m wondering if I should start using my AC today. But if I turn it on today, I feel like it’s game over for July and August. I think I’ll just stick with this for now. Alrighty. I was actually thinking of starting the stream around 9:30, even if the game was still going, and yeah, it ended right around 9:30 on the dot. Alright. So yesterday, we got to perform live at HamaSuta, at an event… we got to be a part of it, so… I thought I’d take my time and talk all about that. Yeah. “Your bangs look great.” They’re a little… a little sweaty, but oh well… You know. Suto-chan. Thanks for the… bear. Thank-you-beary-much. Thank-you-beary-much. Thank-you-beary-much. Thank-you-beary-much. Thank you very much. That’s right. Where should I start? Okay, first off, I guess I’ll go in chronological order. First, we had rehearsal in the morning. Yep. We had rehearsal, and man, it was so hot. Even though it was the morning, it was still super hot. One thing that made me go, “oh, so that’s how it works,” was… the field has these stripes of light green and green grass, and I realized that’s what we use for our marks. I realized they use them for other marks too, not just the standard positions. Yeah. Well, for the rehearsal… oh, but even during rehearsal, oh, right! During rehearsal, they told me about the, uh, bullpen car…? I found out that I’d be making my entrance on the bullpen car. Yeah, that’s when I found out. I had no idea. I was so surprised. “I get to ride in the bullpen car?” I thought. And it’s true, come to think of it, the members of AKB48 the day before I remembered they were on it too. So that’s when it clicked, like, “Oh yeah, you’re right.” Yeah, it hadn’t even crossed my mind. They hadn’t told me, you know. So I was like, “Whoa, that’s awesome!” That’s what I thought. I watched the first day of the event. And the third day’s game is on right now, actually. Yeah, I have it on. But since it was already 9:30… Right, and 9:30 was cutting it really close. We could only make noise until 10 PM. So for us to do our full setlist, the game had to end by 9:30… that was the deal. Yep. Anyway. So, the rehearsal… well, for the rehearsal… after we went over the changes and how things would be, I got the chance to practice for the high-fly catch challenge. Right. I was so nervous, thinking I wouldn’t get to practice at all. But they said I could get some practice in. So, I got to practice. At first, I was totally off, like, “Oh, so that’s where it is.” It went up so high I couldn’t even guess where it would come down. Yeah, so I was like, “Oh, okay, so that’s how it is…” But I managed to catch the last two! How many throws was that, I wonder? In practice. I can’t remember. But I caught the last two, and I was so relieved, like, “I got it!” was what I was thinking. Uh-huh. I’m not sure if they were filming the whole time, but… someone got video of the two successful catches. I’m thinking I’ll post it tomorrow or… Tomorrow… I’m going to forget, aren’t I? Yeah… I hope I can post it then. Because I’m still frustrated about it. It really stung… I remember yelling “Ow!” And for some weird reason, I’m sore right here. I have no idea why, but it’s a muscle ache. Yep. Yeah, so I thought I had it down. But during the actual event, you only get two chances. And I thought I only got one try, so I was dead set on catching the second one, but… Well, I couldn’t catch it. Anyway, I’ll get back to that later. Okay. My body is so sore. And I have no idea why. I practiced throwing and I practiced catching, but… somehow I’m still sore. It’s not like I’m sensitive enough to be affected by using a different glove or anything, I just don’t know. My muscles are just sore. Yep. Yeah, I was definitely nervous. I guess I was nervous… I might’ve been all tensed up. So… right, after the morning rehearsal ended, we came back, and it was time for makeup. For my makeup, well, it was that thing… The one I just posted on my Story. Yep. I’ve gotten a lot of BayStars merch from so many people as gifts. So yeah. The hairpin… Oh, there’s a bug. Ugh, this is the worst… It’s ‘cause I had the window open. Oh, it went over there. No, it’s not a cockroach or anything like that. It’s not a roach, so it’s okay. It’s not a stink bug, either. I’m not sure what kind of bug it is, though. Anyway. So. Ummm. Right, so I did my makeup. I’ve kinda lost track of the order of events. Hold on a sec. Oh, I deleted it earlier. Umm, umm, umm. Right, then we had to film a TikTok, and a photoshoot, and then I had practice for the ceremonial pitch. And for the ceremonial pitch practice, I got coached by none other than Ishida Yutaro! Yay! You know, from the interview I did for Monthly BayStars, uh, when I talked with Yamamoto Yuta, I had met him once before. So this was the first time seeing him since then. Yep. It’s in Monthly BayStars, so please check it out. He coached me. It was in, like, an indoor practice area… yeah, and there was this sloped part that simulates the pitcher’s mound. And since HamaSuta is bigger than I expected, wider than this… you know, bigger than the indoor practice facility. So, they had me practice from a bit farther away, a little farther than the actual distance. And I got to practice. I’d throw, someone would catch it, and, um, standing next to me, he would give me pointers like, “Try doing it more like this.” Yeah. He told me to aim a little higher, because my throws tended to go to the left. Right, so since the batter was Kajiwara, he told me to be conscious of aiming a bit more to the right, and to aim a little higher. When I had been practicing on my own, I was also aiming for about 18 meters, I’d measured out 18.44 meters on my phone and drawn a line, like “around here.” Yeah. I’d been doing that, so I was thinking, “Yeah, this feels about right.” Right. And just like that, I got to practice throwing a whole bunch of pitches. Usually, you see, when I throw, my dad acts as my catcher, and he’ll throw the ball back to me. But during this practice, after I threw, the catcher would toss it to Ishida, and then he’d hand it to me. That’s how we practiced. Right, but my body just reacted out of habit. Because I’d always just been receiving… I was so used to getting the ball back directly that I was like, “Oh, wait, that’s not right.” That kept happening. But then he showed me, like, “It’s like this.” He threw a ball to show me his form. And wow, it was so incredible it didn’t even make sense. You know, you don’t really get to see a pitcher’s throw from the pitcher’s perspective, right? Watching a pro’s pitch from right there… I was just like, “This is unreal.” It was just so incredibly fast. I’m sure he was holding back on his speed, but… still. His pitch was on a whole other level. It just went whoosh. It was amazing. So amazing. “I get to see this from here?” I thought it was incredible. Yeah. It was amazing. It was just… whoosh, straight as an arrow. The ball just carried all the way. I was just thinking, “Wow, he’s incredible.” Yeah. It’s hot in here. Oh, right. Anyway. Later. I’m trying to tell this in chronological order, so… I have BayStars nails. Yep. Right. So, he helped me practice, and we took a picture together, so I’ll post it tomorrow or something. And then, and then. “How long?” Oh, but it wasn’t that long, not for hours or anything. I didn’t practice for hours on end or anything. Yeah. But I was so glad he coached me. Like, um… It’s mentioned in Monthly BayStars, how he gave me some pointers for the first pitch but in that article, it was just in the room you see in the photo, kind of like, “Do it this way”… we weren’t actually throwing, it was more like just showing me the motions, Yeah, it was kind of like visualization practice. But this time, he coached me as I actually threw. It was such a rare opportunity. I’m so grateful. Phew. Phew. Good night. Right. So, I was just there until it was time to go on. I was there the whole time, right up until my appearance. I didn’t get to see my group members. I thought I’d be able to go back to the dressing room. But from that point on, I didn’t get to see them at all. Then, at the last minute, they were like, “Okay, time to move.” “First, let’s head to the bullpen cart.” Right, so we went over there, and I had to wait for a bit. Then my manager got a call on their phone. And they were like, “Here, it’s for you.” I took it, and it was like, “Hello? Shoko?” It was the members. They were like, “This is amazing! Do your best!” And, “You can do it!” Yeah. Then they put me on speaker and were like, “Good luck!” “Do your best!” All the members were cheering me on. Yeah. Oh, really? Hitomi was the one who called first, and then… they put it on speaker. They all told me to do my best. I was so happy. Hitomi-chan mentioned that on her SHOWROOM. That’s right. It was so reassuring. They had all been cheering me on so much already, but… at the very last minute, I started thinking, “Oh, I’m not going to see them before I go on.” I was feeling a little down, but then the call came. I was so incredibly happy. They’re all so sweet. They’re just so, so sweet. Mhm. Yeah. So, they cheered me on and we hung up, and I was in the bullpen… just waiting for a bit. It was like, “Just a little longer now…” Thump, thump. That’s how I was feeling. My manager took a picture of me then, and that’s the one I just posted. On both Instagram and Twitter. I was so, so nervous. But I don’t know, maybe I wasn’t as nervous as I thought. Yeah. I wonder if it’s because I was performing right before throwing the pitch. Yeah. Right. So anyway, I was so nervous that I started worrying I’d mess up the moves for “Natsumatope.” The opening line, “What kind of encounters await?” I practiced that part over and over. From the side, you know? Like… For “Ano Ko Complex,” the intro is like, “ten-teru-run-ten?” “teru-run-ten?” It goes “te-ru-ru-run-run.” But for “Natsumatope” “Now, nobody knows yet.” And for that part, you crouch down and do this hand motion. You crouch down and sit. Right. The hand movements are a bit… they’re kinda similar, but a little different, you know? They’re different, but, I don’t know… maybe because I was nervous, I almost did the move for “Ano Ko.” I kept almost doing it like this. I mean, they’re not that similar. But I guess they kind of are. I was thinking, “Wait, how does it go?” right up to the last second, watching the rehearsal in my head. But I managed to do the “encounters await” part without messing up. Yeah, I was really worried about that. Yeah. Then I made my entrance in the bullpen cart. My heart was pounding. I could see the other members coming out, and I was so happy. I thought, “I finally get to see them!” Yeah. They were all waiting for me with big smiles. I felt so relieved. And from there, I gave my speech. Right. I haven’t really done much MC-ing before, especially in such a high-pressure situation. It’s different from a concert, you know? I guess I don’t do it much at concerts either. I mean, I don’t have assigned MC parts. I don’t really get to talk much during our live shows, throughout the whole thing, and usually all I say is, “It’s photo time!” Even at our concerts, I’m the one in charge of the photo time segment. Yeah. Like, “Okay, everyone on the left side!” So it had been a while since I had to do any real MC-ing, and I was in charge of… leading the “Ose Ose Yokohama” chant with the team’s cheering squad. Yeah, I was super nervous. I ended up saying something a little different from what I’d planned, but… I’m sure it was fine. Yeah. And then, the “Ose Ose Yokohama” chant. Was I a little off? The stadium echo made me nervous. I was worried I was a little out of sync. “Ose Ose Yokohama.” Yeah, with everyone. I was so happy we could get everyone hyped up before the game started, and… My cue was, “Cheering squad, please begin!” It’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime chance, having the band start playing on my cue. Mmm. Seriously. Yeah, I was so happy. Yep. I’m so grateful. To the cheering squad, too. They helped =LOVE get the stadium hyped up. And then, after that, it was “Natsumatope.” “What kind of…?” “What kind of…?” From down low, from down low. “What kind of encounters await…” But this version of “Natsumatope” was different; we surrounded the pitcher’s mound, and we’d all spread out on cue. Yep. It was a special stadium version of the performance. And then… and then… and then! Finally, it was time for the ceremoni…al pitch. I totally messed that up. The ceremonial pitch. Right. I was just so, so nervous. I was thinking, “Oh man, it’s happening, it’s happening, it’s happening,” as I stood there. I exchanged the mic for a glove and ball with one of the diana members, and it was finally time. The catcher was Matsuo Shion and the batter was Kajiwara Koki. They were, um, the ones assigned to do it with me. Saying it like that makes it sound like I chose them, but that’s not what happened; they were just the ones assigned. Right. All that was left was to throw the ball. Just throw it. And I think I managed to do it without it bouncing. I was so focused on not letting it bounce that… the throw might have had a bit of a high arc, but who cares? I was just so happy it made it there. I was like, “YES!” That’s how I felt. It was a little off, you know. It veered a bit to my right. But hey, he caught it without a bounce. So I’d say that’s a win. Yeah. I was so concerned about my form during practice, but… after I threw it, I was like, “Wait, was my form okay?” you know? That’s what I was thinking. Yeah, the advice I got was to aim to the right. My throw was naturally a little to the left, so I was supposed to aim right. And that was supposed to make it go straight, I think. It still went a little off to the side, though. But oh well. I’d say it’s acceptable. Well, it was a one-shot deal, so… Yeah. I only got one throw, so the fact it didn’t bounce… I was just so happy. Yeah. Right. But then I saw the pictures the fan photographers took. I was hoping there was at least one cool-looking shot of me, so I ended up saving a ton of them. Yeah, I saved so many… Yep. And this is the actual ball! Ta-da! I’m so happy! Isn’t this incredible? And get this, they gave me the glove, too! I never thought I’d get to keep it. I was like, “Oh, I have to give this back.” But then… what? I was so confused. I was like, “Huh?” you know? But this thing… I can barely close it… oh, it does close a little. I think I might have sore muscles from practicing with it too much. Yeah, so… they let me keep it. So happy. I even thought I might have to give back the ball. Yeah. But between the glove and the ball, I thought with the ball… “Maybe they’ll let me keep this?” “Or do I have to return it?” That’s what I was wondering. But I was sure I had to return the glove. But then… What? Right? That was my reaction. They let me have them. I’m so happy! It’s almost too good to be true, isn’t it? Yes! This is such a great memento. I wonder how you’re supposed to display a glove, though. I really want to put this on display. Like for a ball, you can just put it in a ball case or something. What’s it called… a display box? You know those cube things? So I’m trying to figure out how… how I should display this one. I got to keep it. I’m so happy. Thank you so, so much. It’s insane, isn’t it? Oh, they make cases for gloves? I want to get one. I should probably keep it in a case. I want to, but I’m all out of shelf space. I’ll have to figure something out. I’m just so happy. Yeah. And, you know, I already have my =LOVE merch on display, in this super tiny space. I’m so thrilled. I never imagined I’d get to keep them, so I was just ecstatic. So after that, everyone else headed back to the dressing room, but I had the fly ball catch in the bottom of the second. Right, so I didn’t go back. I waited out on the field for the catch. My heart was pounding the whole time. I was just standing there thinking, “I am absolutely catching this.” And, uh, off to the side, Chapy was holding a net, waiting with me. Yep. And Aki-san from diana was there too, telling me, “It’ll probably land around here.” She was there to support me. Yeah, so she waited with me. I was determined. Chapy’s net… his net is for catching the ball if I miss it, with the net. I was thinking, “There is no way I’m letting Chapy catch it,” but… it’s harder than it looks. I told myself it would land deeper than I thought, but it landed even deeper than that. I was already thinking “deep,” but it was even deeper than the “deep” in my head. Yeah. So I’m a little bummed about it. Well, personally, anyway. Mhm. Umm… But, you know, I practiced so hard for the first pitch and threw it without a bounce, so I told myself it’s fine. I was bummed, though. I was really bummed, but yeah, I just had to accept it. But still, it was so… Oh, but the glove for the catch was a really soft one. Not this one. It was already nicely broken in. Yeah. So I was able to close it, but… I guess my timing was either too early or too late. But personally, I really thought it went in. For a second, at least. But looking at the fan photos, it didn’t really go in all the way. I guess my timing was just off. Yeah. In my mind, I thought it was a close call, but looking back, it wasn’t even close. How embarrassing. Mhm. Yeah. The fact they even ran a replay check was just mortifying. I’m honestly so glad they just dropped it. Not that they were going to do anything else, but yeah. But everyone was so nice about it. I saw so many tweets saying “That counts!” You were all so sweet. Like, “Just getting to the right spot was amazing!” So kind. And wow, I really heard everyone’s reaction. The big “Ooooh” and then “Aaaaw.” I heard it so perfectly. That whole “Ooooh… aaaw” from the crowd. It made me even more frustrated, though. But just the fact that everyone was watching me and reacting like that… That alone made me happy. Oh yeah, I could hear all of you loud and clear. Yep. Right, if I had caught the ball, the beer would have been 1.5x bigger, right? The beer everyone was drinking would’ve been upsized, but… Um, sorry about that. I was shouldering the hopes of 30,000 people, but… yeah… my apologies. Right. Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up, for those who didn’t realize. Yep, that was the deal. So that’s why I was properly bummed. Yep, I was genuinely frustrated. I was super, super bummed out. The 1.5x beer deal? Yeah, it’s always 1.5x bigger or something, like an upsize, or an extra helping… They have a lot of deals like that. After that was over, I finally got to go back to the members. And after that… Yep. So, uh, the moment I walked into the room, all the members… well, our dressing room had a terrace-like area? Everyone was out there. And our manager told me, “Everyone’s been saying they can’t wait to see you.” And I was just… so happy. It made me so happy to hear that they were all waiting for me. Oh, yeah. Oh, hang on. Thanks, Paul-san. Thanks for the bear. Oh my gosh, a bear, thank you! Thank you so much for the bear. This one right here. Thank you for the “Dai Nippon” gift. Right, so hearing that the members were waiting to see me it, uh, really warmed my heart. I went out to the terrace thinking, “I couldn’t wait to see you all, too,” and everyone was so sweet, saying things like, “You were amazing!” They’re all just so sweet. I mean, really. They were all just so incredibly kind. Yep. It was such a kind and gentle world. Yeah. After that, I felt a lot more relieved, and, uh… from then on, I was with the other members the whole time. And that was that. Yep. We cheered from the terrace for a bit, and then in the bottom of the fifth… I love this. we went to do the baseball dance. You can actually see the game pretty well from backstage, since there are a ton of monitors. So we were watching it from there. “Hit it, hit it, hit it, knock it out of the park!” “Fly into space and become a burning star!” I mean, really… Being able to dance to that song with everyone was amazing, but also back in the dressing room… it made me so happy to hear the other members singing “Hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it.” I was just like, “Aww, they’re all singing along.” “Do all the BayStars fans know the dance for that?” I think so. I’d say a lot of them know how to dance to it. They play a video of the players dancing on the monitors, and there are also behind-the-scenes and making-of videos on YouTube. Right. I was just so happy that we could all dance together. We nailed the dance. Yeah, ‘cause it’s a dance contest segment. So yeah, I think most people can dance along. Yep. Then we went back. The seventh inning. I forget where we filmed that TikTok, but… The seventh inning. The lucky seventh. And then it was “Oh, oh, oh, DeNA BayStars!” I know that song by heart. I’ve been doing it since my Kids Cheer days. The, um, what do you call it, the outro? Or I guess the bridge. The dance for the final part changed after they became the DeNA BayStars. It did. It used to be like this, but then it changed to this. Right, but for the parts with lyrics… I’ve danced to that so many times. Ever since I was little. Yes, please check Twitter for photos from my Kids Cheer days. Please check X. Right, and for this one too, all the members were singing, “Oh, oh, oh, oh!” I’m sure they’ve all memorized it by now. You know, since Anna-chan always sings the Carp song at karaoke and stuff. So everyone knows that one, but… I’m sure now everyone has learned the BayStars’ fight song. They’ve all perfected it. Yep. They’re perfect now. Mhm. It made me so happy to hear them singing it backstage. Everyone was singing it a bunch. And dancing along. Even the rehearsals were really fun. For this BayStars dance… this is a first for me. I was the best one at it. I’m never the one who knows the choreography best on the first day. Um, so it was fun. Yeah. It was really, really fun. But still, for things like the timing and which way to turn… I went in planning to learn it properly from the instructor. I mean… Or rather, I did learn it from the instructor. Right, so I approached the rehearsal just like any other member. I’d teach the members… oh, actually, they’d ask me things like, “What comes next?” Right, and when they did, I’d say, “Oh, it’s like this.” “Oh, wait, sorry, this part might start on the left.” Usually, what is it… with idol dances, we hold the mic in our left hand, so we usually dance with our right hand, but for this one… what is it… it’s meant for the audience to dance along, so it’s probably mirrored? You dance with your left hand the whole time. And you start with your left. This part, right? This one is from the right, but this one is from the left. Yeah. Right. So I was like, “Wait, this is with my left, too?” “Huh? Is this my left hand?” There was a lot of that. I definitely thought, “This might be a little different.” Right, so we split into a group of four and a group of six, on the first and second base sides. It was during the bottom of the fifth and bottom of the seventh innings. And so, the groups of four and six would switch places for each one. Right, so at first, we were in the group of four. After the first one, at the end of the fifth inning… Um… After the fifth inning was over, the six members in the other group… were like, “Hold on, the diana girls walk way too fast!” That’s what they said. You know, we have to exit the field quickly, and they were like, “They’re too fast, we can’t keep up!” Yeah. So, we switched for the next one. Then, when it was our group of four’s turn… we were told, “Okay, we need you to clear out faster than last time.” They asked if we could run a little faster. So, we had to hurry off the field. Ugh… we sprinted off, and when we got off the field… I realized that even though I started behind Sanatsun, I somehow ended up in front of her. Yeah, so after we got off, she told me, “Shoko, you’re so fast!” That’s what she said to me. That’s how much of a dead sprint it was. Everyone, everyone was running for real. The diana members were so fast, we were saying, “You probably can’t even be on diana unless you’re a fast runner.” They were all seriously fast. Everyone was sprinting. I think they’re all probably just really fast runners. They’re fast, they have stamina, the whole deal. That’s what we were talking about. Yeah. But I was really, truly happy and had so much fun dancing to the BayStars songs with the members. And then, after that, was the post-game concert. Um… Wait, is there a panda here? When did the panda get here? Thank you. I didn’t even notice the panda. Oh no. I didn’t read out the panda gift, did I? Oh no. I’m sorry. I wonder who sent that. Thank you for the panda. Thanks a-panda! My apologies. Aruto-san, Aruto-san, thank you so much. Aru… Aruto-san. Thanks a-panda, thanks a-panda, thanks a-panda. Thank you. Aruto-san. Right. So, um, in between… during a break from the game… hmm? Was it during a break after the game? I also got to film a TikTok with Starman. He was so cute. Just way too cute. It was just posted on TikTok a little while ago. Please go check it out. He was so adorable I didn’t know what to do. It was just so comforting. Pure bliss. I mean, the whole time, during the breaks between innings… all of the mascots were just so cute, it was insane. Seriously insane. My favorite part? His kindness. I’d actually already seen on TikTok that Starman can dance. I had seen videos of him dancing. I was like, “I get to dance with Starman?” That’s what I was thinking. We ended up dancing to “Tokubechu Shite” together. I was so happy. Right, he was wearing his “Ose Ose Yokohama Idol Series” outfit. He usually just wears a uniform, but this time it was an otaku costume. “I didn’t get to take a picture with Starman.” Oh, I know, right? Yeah. Even while we were filming the TikTok, Kiara said she wanted a picture with Starman, but… as soon as we finished, it was like, “Okay, on to the next thing!” Yeah. So we couldn’t get one. But he was just so, so cute. I’m just happy that it’s preserved as a TikTok. And we filmed one with Chapy during a break in the fly-ball catching event, so please look forward to that. Starman comes out between every single inning, you know? So he’s a very busy guy. Starman is a hamster. As in, “Hamster Man.” Please don’t call her “that thing with a name like Kiara.” It’s Kirara-chan. “Kirakira” Kirara-chan. Her name is Kirara-chan. S- S- S- Sta-Sta-Starma… Kirara-chan. Right. And then, after the game. During the game, you know… After we finished our part in the Lucky Seventh, we all went back and kept cheering. The whole time. Just thinking, “They have to hold on!” And when Irie came up to bat, we all sang along to his entrance song. Oh, and for Miyazaki’s entrance song, too. We all sang “Namida Kareru Made.” For Irie’s song, they actually show the lyrics on screen, but… I realized I really want to memorize them. The lyrics. Because if I’m watching Irie himself, I can’t follow the lyrics, and if I’m reading the lyrics, I can’t watch him. I thought I’d finally be able to sing it, but I didn’t know the words… I only knew the very beginning. Yeah. I know the first part, the very first part, but after that I have no idea. I had to look at the lyrics. I’m definitely going to memorize them now. I swore that I would. But I was so happy I got to sing along for the first time. I was so, so happy. I mean… Irie was the starting pitcher on Opening Day when I went, but… they have this whole group singalong thing now, and I think this was my first time there since they started putting the lyrics on screen. Or maybe it wasn’t the first time? I don’t know. I might just be unconsciously singing the first line every time. Sekaijuu no dare ni kitto… Yeah, I’d been wanting to join in on that. Exactly. Food… as for food… Uh, the IkoRamune? I had the =LOVE Ramune. They brought us some rice gyoza too, but I never really got a chance to eat. Well, it’s not that I didn’t have time, I was just so into the game… that I didn’t eat. I kind of just forgot to. That’s basically what happened. Yep. Surprisingly, yeah, I didn’t eat. So. So, so, so. Okay, the main event. The post-game performance. I was just thinking, “They have to hold on, they have to hold on.” I was just thinking that if they held on, they’d win. And we got to perform the entire set! For a while there, I was worried, like, “This might be bad…” I thought we were running out of time, but then partway through, I realized we were gonna make it. Yeah. After 9:30 PM, depending on the time, we’d have to start cutting songs— that was the system we were working with. And if we passed a certain time, the whole thing would be canceled— that was a possibility, too. So my heart was really pounding. I mean, we didn’t know how many songs we’d get to do, but I was determined to perform the full set. Right. So I was thrilled we got to do all of them. Yep. First up was “Tokubechu Shite.” The second verse is really popular on TikTok right now, so I was hoping that even people who don’t know =LOVE’s music would realize, “Oh, they’re the ones who sing this song!” The first song, “Tokubechu Shite.” That was the one. Mmm-hmm. And after that… “I’ve been preparing for so long…” “Look at me.” It was “Choutokkyuu, Tousouchuu.” The “Wait, wait, what should I do?” part of this song is used a lot on TikTok, and I’d even seen some BayStars fans using it, so I was really happy we got to sing it. And then. “Let’s share a kiss that melts in the factory…” Something like that… “Oh! Darling,” “Oh! Darling.” Ta-da! Whoops, it’s a bit wrinkly. “Odarin.” This is the towel we were waving for “Odarin.” Oh, and get this—we started from the second verse. “Don’t tell anyone.” “It’s a secret, even from my best friend.” It was our first time ever starting with the second verse, so I’m incredibly grateful. When we were first planning the setlist, I heard all the songs were going to be the short versions, and I knew a song where you wave towels would be super fun, so I absolutely had to include “Odarin.” With or without the “Takiwaki Shoko” chant—though I’d be over the moon to have it— I just wanted a song where we could wave towels. I was determined to put “Odarin” in there. Then the other members were like, “Don’t you want to do the Takiwaki Shoko chant?” They were saying things like that, and offered to ask if we could do the full song. Yeah. So, we couldn’t do the full version, but we got to start from the second verse, which was a first for us. I’m so happy. I was so, so happy. Getting to hear the “Takiwaki Shoko” chant at HamaSuta. I think the lyrics were up on the big screens, too, so I’m just incredibly happy. Yeah. Oh, right, and since we have a hamburger collaboration, too… The “Okisugi Hamburger”… It’s the best. I’m so happy. Yeah, I just really wanted to include a song where we could wave towels. So it had to be “Odarin.” I was so glad. You all were probably thinking, “Huh? The second verse?” That might’ve been what went through your head, but… we got to include the Takiwaki Shoko part. That was so fun, right? Thank you. “Odarin.” Yeah, I was also really happy we got to wave the towels for that one. You know, this towel… on its release date? The 17th? It came out that day, and I went to the BayStore at Yokohama Station, but they told me they only had the hand fans. I did get a hand fan. I got the fan, but they told me that was all they had. I bought the fan and a copy of Monthly BayStars. They told me the towels were completely sold out. I was like, “What?” I couldn’t believe it. And I went super early, too. Not right when they opened, but maybe two hours after, I went around noon. And, um, they were sold out. “Whaaat?” I was so shocked. I was thinking, “Maybe they just don’t have any in stock today?” or something. I thought maybe they’d have more tomorrow, but I knew that was the only day I could go. So… I was like, “Huh?” “You mean you don’t have this towel?” I actually asked them that. Yeah. But since we waved them during “Odarin,” they gave me one. Oh, the keychain? I don’t have it on me. But the second I found out I couldn’t buy one on the 17th, I ordered it online. Wait, the jersey, the jersey, the jersey! I haven’t ordered the jersey. I’ve gotta buy the jersey. The jerseys are made-to-order. That’s right. Oh no. I forgot. I’ve gotta order the jersey. Yeah, so I ordered the other stuff online. I was worried they’d sell out online, too. But I’m glad I managed to get this. I wonder if they had any at HamaSuta. Yeah. I mean, it’s a special collab, so… I had to get it. “HamaSuta sold out instantly that day, too.” Oh, so they did. Thank you, everyone. Can you still get them online, I wonder? You can still buy them online, so please do. I’m sure a lot of you wanted to use one on the day of, though. Yeah. Right? As for me, I’m looking forward to my merch arriving in the mail. Hehe. The jersey… I’m gonna forget about the jersey. Oh no. I won’t forget. Anyway, Tonbodama-san, thank you for the balloon. Thank you for the balloon. Thank you for the balloon. Thank you for the balloon. Thank you for the balloon. Thank you so much. Tonbodama-san. Thank you for the balloon. Thank you for the two-minute tower! Okay. I’ll let you all know when it arrives. But yeah, I’m glad I got the towel. The one we waved, this towel. I’m so happy. Thank you. “Jersey size?” I usually get a size M. What size is this one, I wonder… Yeah, I always get an M. Because my family wears them too. Oh, this one’s an S. The one for the event was a size S. Yep. It was. Okay, so that covers things up to “Odarin.” After “Odarin,” we did, uh, “Seishun ‘Subliminal’.” “Seishun ‘Subliminal'” has that line about the “baseball club’s voices echoing.” So yeah. We just had to include “Seishun ‘Subliminal’,” you know? We did. And then… Next up was “Zettai Idol Yamenaide.” “Zettai Idol Yamenaide.” And from there, into “=LOVE.” For our song “=LOVE,” there aren’t many solo parts, so… we figured it’d be easy for us to move around freely. So we moved all over the stage. Yeah. The fireworks were incredible, right? Behind us. You know, that was another one of my dreams. I’d seen so many artists perform at HamaSuta, with the fireworks going papapa, papapa, papapa… and I’d always thought, “I want to perform in front of those.” That was my dream. So, I was just so, so happy. As for the sound, well, I knew there would be fireworks, so I wasn’t surprised. I think they were reflected in some glass somewhere… on a door or something. I could see those fireworks… even though I was facing forward, I could see their reflection as they went off behind me, and I was so hyped. I really was, so incredibly hyped. Ah, I really thought, “This is a moment I’ll never forget.” And then, we finished our set with “=LOVE.” Thank you all so much. The light sticks… really… You know, HamaSuta is usually all blue, blue, and white from people’s phone flashlights. It usually ends up being a sea of blue. But yeah, it looked just like one of our concerts. Yep, I saw a ton of yellow, and I spotted people waving towels, too. My family really stood out, too. My family stood out so much. I don’t know if they just seemed to stand out because they’re my family, but… Yeah. I ended up right in front of them a lot during the performance. Yeah, I could tell it was them. I saw them. I could see them perfectly. Like, I saw my brother holding up his phone like this… I could see at least that much. Yeah, I could see them. I tried to send them a look, but I don’t know if they caught it. They had to have, right? I mean, they were probably only looking at me, right? Well, maybe not. So, yeah. I had such an amazing time. Oh, and I was the one who did the closing remarks, too. Yep. It was originally supposed to be another member, but they were like, “Shoko, you do it.” So they let me do it. I was just so, so happy. Ah, yeah. I was truly so happy. We got to perform as a group, and since I’d been saying it was my dream for so long, having everyone there to see it happen… I was so happy. And thank you to all of you, too. Everyone who came, everyone who watched the stream, and everyone who was checking social media to see how it was going. Thank you so much. It was a dream I’ve had for so long, so to be able to make it come true like this, I’m just so incredibly happy. You all celebrated with me, and my fellow members celebrated with me, too. And to think that this might have been a chance for BayStars fans to get to know =LOVE… makes me really happy. Right, right, right. Um, it might be too late now, but for today’s… I retweeted it and put it on my Story, but today’s Sanspo has a little article about the first pitch ceremony. If you can, it might be late, but please check it out. And then, the Monthly BayStars… ta-da! I managed to bring it home without creasing it. I’m on the cover! I didn’t know I was going to be on the cover. It’s always like this with me. I had no idea about the cover. I thought it was just for my column inside. So when the announcement came out the day before…? When it was announced on the 16th, the day before it went on sale, I was like, “What?” “The cover?” That was my reaction. On social media. Yep. =LOVE’s, um, =LOVE’s BayStars… I have a column series called “BayStars =LOVE,” and this is a special edition. I mean, I’m on the cover, and there are so many pages. I have another… another one– The moment you turn to the next page, it’s just BAM. One, two, three, four, five, six. Six pages. Plus, um, what do you call it? The players’… what is it? A player feature… it changes with every issue. They have a section for that. Yeah. And that section features Ishida Yutaro, and I’m in there, too. It’s on the next page, so you’ll see it when you open it up. Please, everyone, go get a copy. I’m on the cover. I’m so happy. I mean, we’ve had covers with all of =LOVE before, but… I don’t think I’ve had a solo one, have I? Wait, have I? I’ve been on the back cover for Monthly BayStars before. I had that honor. But this time, I’m actually on the front cover! Ah, I don’t know… Part of me feels like, “Is this really okay?” but… you know, since it’s a baseball magazine and all. Still… Oh wait, I was on the cover of Yama Nobori Walker, wasn’t I? So this is my second time. Sorry, my mistake. That’s right. Yep. So this is my second time on a cover. Ah, I can’t see. Okay. Ahh. Everyone, please check it out. I’m just so, so happy. I was so happy on the 16th, then happy again when this came out on the 17th, and the 18th has been such a happy day, too. It’s all so overwhelming. I was totally basking in the afterglow yesterday. I couldn’t get to sleep until around 5 AM. I was determined to wake up by 9 AM today, but it got to be 5 AM and I was like, “Wow, the sun’s coming up…” I realized I’d only get four hours of sleep. And in the end, I woke up at 8, so I only slept for three hours. Crazy, right? I was just soaking it all in, looking at everyone’s posts on social media. I saw tons of posts using the Takiwaki Shoko hashtag. I didn’t take a nap today, so I’m probably a little out of it. So please, everyone, go get a copy. Um… You can get it online, too. Please do. It’s got lots of stuff about =LOVE in it, too. Yep. And tons of photos. Oh, and there’s a giveaway where you can win a signed board. You should totally enter if you can. So, yeah. You should get one to read, one to save… though I guess you wouldn’t carry one around. But I’d be thrilled if you got a bunch, even one to carry! And when you get a copy, use the hashtag “Beisuta.” That’s “Beisuta” without the star symbol from the logo. Please post with the hashtag “Beisuta,” no star. I’d really appreciate it. Azuma-san. Azuma-san. Azuma-san. Thanks, Shiro. Thanks, Shiro. Thanks, Shiro. Thanks, Shiro. Thank you all. When you get one, let me know by posting “I got it!” And I’d be super happy if you added the Takiwaki Shoko hashtag too. Please and thank you. I really hope everyone gets a copy. Um, what was I saying… At the BayStore in Yokohama Station, they had the magazine right next to the towels and other merch. That made me so happy. So, so happy. Yeah. Truly. They had it by the register at the stadium store? That’s awesome. It is. On top of that, the BayStars gave us so many souvenirs. I even got a game ball. Ta-da! This one was actually used in a game. Probably a foul ball or one that got batted around. You can totally see the scuff marks on it. Can you see? It’s got dirt all over it. It’s amazing, right? Look. Oh, you can see it right here. It’s really clear on this spot. It makes me so happy. So I got this. And they gave merch to all the members, too. Some matching stuff… I got a pink hat, I think I posted about it before. and a few of the other members got the same one. As souvenirs. Well, not so much souvenirs as they were presents we received. Yeah. We all got different things. We ended up matching. Yep. So much stuff. Oh, right. What were we waiting for then? While we were waiting for something… I forgot to mention the most important part. I actually met Manager Miura! Isn’t that insane? I can’t believe I forgot something so important. I can’t remember what we were waiting for, but… yeah. I was wondering if he was going to walk past us. So I moved off to the side, and then he, um… my phrasing is weird… he came to see me. My Japanese is so weird. I don’t know if “came to see me” is misleading or not, but… yeah. We even got to take a picture together! Ahh. I’m so happy. I really am. Oh, it was before the game, of course. During the game would be crazy, right? Everyone would be like, “Where’s the manager?” So, it must have been when we were getting our makeup done. Or maybe right after makeup. After we took our group photo, maybe? Right, I’ll post the picture. I think I’ll post it tomorrow. It’s just incredible, isn’t it? So happy. I was so, so happy. The BayStars arranged it as a surprise for us. It was just insane. I was like, “Wait, what?!” It’s been since IkoNoiJoy. That’s right. The first time I’ve seen him since IkoNoiJoy. It’s just crazy. Yep. I was just overwhelmed with happiness. No wonder I was up until 5 AM just basking in it all. I kept looking back at the photos. Thinking, “Which picture should I use?” “This is the one where Manager Miura is smiling the most.” “Maybe I’ll use this one…” I really, truly felt like the luckiest person in the world. I’m so happy. Yeah. That’s right. It really is. More than anything, the fact that the BayStars won and broke their losing streak just made me so incredibly happy. Everything just turned out perfectly. I threw the first pitch without a bounce, achieving my goal, and since the BayStars won, none of the songs from our post-game concert got cut. It was the most perfect outcome possible. With how it all turned out, it was just the best. Oh, right, I forgot something else really important. And what’s more… Listen to this. You know how we leave the stage after the concert? Well, as we were leaving, all the members got to high-five Andre Jackson! Isn’t that crazy? He was like, “Nice!” I was just like, “Whoa!” Yeah, and for Sanatsun especially, since she’s the same age as him. She’s always saying how most people are younger than her, so when she found out they were the same age and their birthdays are close, she was just all, “Andre Jackson!” That’s how excited she was. Yeah. That’s what happened. So, yeah, earlier I was messaging with Sanatsun, and we were like, “Let’s go to a game, let’s go.” She said, “Let’s go when Jackson’s pitching,” and I was like, “Oof, tickets for a starter are gonna be tough…” That’s what we were saying. She said to go on a day he’s pitching. So tough! I mean, it might not be as hard as for some other pitchers, I guess. Compared to a reliever, it’s probably not that bad. If you try getting tickets the day of, or the day before. Yeah. But he’s a starter, so yeah, my first thought was, “That’s tough.” But still, seeing all the members get excited about the team I support, and having fun, or saying they’re happy to see me having fun… It made me so glad to have members like them. They’re such warm-hearted members, really. I wrote about that in Monthly BayStars, too. I wrote about the members, and about all of you fans. Please be sure to get a copy of Monthly BayStars. And, you know, I hope this makes =LOVE fans like the BayStars even a little bit, and get a bit more interested in baseball. And I hope BayStars fans got to know =LOVE a little, and maybe thought, “I’d like to go to their concert sometime.” Yep. Because next up, ES CON is waiting for us. Takamatsu Hitomi. Takamatsu Hitomi’s turn at ES CON is coming up. If this event made you think baseball is fun maybe some of you will want to go to ES CON, too. For all you =LOVE fans, I mean. You know, after I took Hitomi to a BayStars vs. Nippon-Ham game… We went to ES CON last year, and she became a Nippon-Ham fan. And I was like, “Not the BayStars?!” But she got into baseball, so it all comes full circle. That made me really happy. I’m so excited. Really, really looking forward to it. Yeah, that’s what kicked it all off. So I’m glad I took her with me to ES CON. I’m glad I invited her. That’s right. The Carp are in the same league, so they’re our rivals, but… I want to help An-chan’s dream come true, too. I was reminded of that again. Yeah. It’s my dream to throw the first pitch… and it’s An-chan’s dream too. Hmm. They’re totally our rivals, but I want An-chan’s dream to come true. Seeing my own dream come true, and how happy the members were for me… it made me want to be there when my members’ dreams come true, too. Yeah. But I’m absolutely praying… that it won’t be against the BayStars. ‘Cause that would just be so awkward. Definitely not that. Seriously. “Complicated” wouldn’t even begin to describe it. That’s the one thing I need them to promise me. Yep. So yeah, that’s the deal. Right. It would make me so happy to see more and more of the members’ dreams come true. But first up is ES CON. Yep. Hana-chan isn’t a Lions fan, is she? Uh, probably… I don’t know, I don’t think so. I don’t know. But I’m sure she knows they’re from Saitama. I mean, come on, it’s Saitama. Risa said she wants to throw a pitch too, didn’t she. She did. I really hope we get to work with the BayStars again in the future. It was such a truly happy day. We had rehearsals since the morning, so the entire day was just pure bliss. Yeah. So, you know, the kameko took tons of pictures. The ones who are always taking photos of the players, you know? There are some whose work I see pop up sometimes, and I was pretty happy they took pictures of me. I bet they’re Yokohama fans. They definitely are. Seriously, all your photos are so good, from so many different angles. There were so many great shots I just kept saving them, I saved so many I can’t even keep track of which ones I have anymore. And I’m pretty sure I saved the same one multiple times, so now I have no idea which ones I should post. There are just so many… it’s a great problem to have. I’m dealing with a very happy problem. How many do I have now? I wonder. A ton. There are a ton. I mean, seriously, a ton. That’s all I keep saying. Let’s see… So, here… Ummm. And, here. Doot doot doot… umm… Okay, of the ones I’ve saved, there are 352. Three hundred and fifty-two. That I’ve saved so far. Although, there are probably some duplicates in there. There might be, but yeah, 352. So I’m just like, which ones should I even post? That’s where I’m at. Yep. “Isn’t your storage full yet?” Oh, it is. It is. It totally is. But I’m not deleting any. Not even the duplicates. Though I probably should try and clear some out. My storage is happily full. Yep. I mean, so many different people captured the very same moment. So I’m really like, “Which one should I post?” That’s where my head is at. Yeah. It’s a memory I’ll cherish forever. Everything that happened today. You were worried, weren’t you? I’m on until midnight. I’m planning to stream until midnight. I hope I’m not forgetting anything. I was a little worried if I’d covered everything. But I think I’m good. Oh yeah, I posted a picture on Twitter today. Uh, the one of me on the monitor… I asked my family to take a picture just like it, because I really wanted a shot just like that. A picture of me on the big screen. When was that taken, I wonder? It’s a photo from when we were dancing on the field during the game. I figured if I asked for that picture on SHOWROOM, all of you would try to take it. And then I’d have fewer photos of me in person, so… I asked my family to do it. Yeah. The super emo photos. But at the time, I didn’t know I’d be riding in the bullpen car. Yeah, so I wasn’t planning on posting a third and fourth pic. I thought I’d just post the first two, but… it turns out I got to ride in the bullpen car! That was from the fan appreciation day, the fan fest, right? I think it said 2005 on it? Oh, 2005. I would’ve been four. I was. From the fan fest. I also have that picture of me in the bullpen car from back then. It looked like this. Talk about peak emo. Thank you very much. Yeah, when I told Risa I was going to post it, she was like, “So emo…” “‘It’s so, so, so, so emo.'” So, so, so, so emo, she said. Yeah, and I was so surprised when Sashihara-san retweeted it. I was so happy. And she was so fast, too. Like, right after I posted it. Almost immediately. I’m so grateful. So happy. So, so, so, so emo. It’s great, isn’t it? I’m so thankful. I’d love it if you all could like and retweet it, too. Those super emo photos… it’s kinda wild, right? I mean, you don’t often get the chance. To do something like that. How do I put it… to recreate a photo from the past like that. It’s not something you can just do anytime. giggles I’m so happy. It’s one of my favorite posts. Super emo, right? That picture of me with player Uchikawa might be a little hard to recreate, though. Yeah, probably not. Did I mention that? Oh yeah, I talked about it yesterday. You know, watching back the videos everyone took for me… right when I was about to throw the ceremonial pitch, the announcer said, “This is the moment a dream comes true.” I was so happy that the stadium DJ, Mickey-san, said that. Hearing it at that moment, I was like, “Oh my god, my dream is coming true.” That’s what I was thinking, and watching the video back now, I just thought, “Wow, what lovely…” “…words he said to me right as I was about to throw.” I was so happy. As for the stadium DJ, Mickey-san… back in February, at the BayStars’ training camp in Okinawa, we actually did a talk show together. That’s who he is. He was our MC back then, too. Yep. That’s right. And we were together at the fan fest, too. It honestly made me so happy. But I’m glad I didn’t end up with a tear-stained face. I’m so glad the pictures from right when I threw don’t show me crying. I really, really mean that. I was on the verge of tears, but I told myself it’d be a disaster if I cried then. You know? Thank goodness. “It’s enough to make you cry.” “I cried for you.” Thank you. Thank you all so much for being there to see my dream come true. Yeah. Also, in the photos the kameko took of the moment I threw… you can see the other members behind me, you know, praying. They all told me they were nervous, too. And it’s true, I remember being nervous when Iori threw her first pitch. Yeah. I’m so glad it all turned out well. I’ll definitely be nervous when Hitomi throws, too. What felt so typical of =LOVE to me was… how do I put it… the way they were all just quietly watching over me until I threw. That felt so much like =LOVE, and I loved it. I was just… so, so happy. Thank you. Right? So =LOVE-like, isn’t it? The way we all are together. It wasn’t like, “Go, go, go!” It was just… “It really is a wonderful group.” It truly is. I’m so glad. To be in this cur— I’m so glad I’m in this group. “I just recently discovered =LOVE, but you’re all so cute…” “…and I love your songs.” Thank you so much! Please get to know more and more about =LOVE. chuckles You were happy because I looked like I was having fun? I had so much fun. The whole thing was fun. I really mean it. Yeah, we spend more time together than our own families. The members, I mean. We really do. You know, it’s rare to have an experience like this. It was a high-pressure situation, for sure, but a different kind of pressure than a concert. My whole family was watching, and my friends even took the day off work to come see me. It was almost overwhelming how many people were there for me. I was seriously like, “Is it okay for something this amazing to happen to me?” That’s what it felt like. After the event, and, yeah, after I finished pitching… I got so many messages. I’m afraid I’m going to spend all day today basking in the afterglow again. What time do I have to be up tomorrow? I was honestly wondering if I’d be able to wake up this morning. Though actually, I don’t think it was that early. Yeah. I mean, since I only got three hours of sleep today… I’m pretty sure I’m going to get sleepy eventually. It’s a wonder I woke up at all, right? I was so sleepy. I thought, “Man, I’m sleepy,” but it turns out I was only sleepy in the morning. After that, I was fine. But I know I’ll get sleepy again once I take a bath. I should take a bath soon. Yeah. chuckles “I was basking in the afterglow so much that I even dreamed about the first pitch.” That’s awesome. That’s the best. I’m surprisingly a morning person, you know. Not even surprisingly, it’s just my normal now. I’m not sleepy right now. Yeah, really. That’s what’s scary, that I’m not sleepy now. But that’s why I figure I’ll probably get sleepy after a bath. I probably slept so deeply I didn’t even dream. Slept like a log. “I had to sleep, so I put on the radio and fell asleep.” “Just bought the Monthly BayStars?” Thank you so much. So fast! Talk about taking action. For those of you who don’t live in Kanagawa, you can buy it online. You can get it on Amazon and places like that. “In my dream about the first pitch, I was the catcher.” The best. Thank you. I wonder if I threw a good pitch for you to catch. The “me” in your dream, I mean. When you get it, please post about it with the hashtag. “You should.” “I bought today’s sports paper, too.” Thank you. That makes me so happy. It really does, doesn’t it? When everyone leaves Hamasuta at once, that’s what it’s like. Yep, that’s how it is. You can’t even cross at a crosswalk you think you’d definitely be able to make. You have to wait for the light to change like twice before you can cross. Yep, it’s always like that. Kanda Station, too, huh? “There’s room in the back!” “I was running for the last train and a BayStars fan cheered me on.” That’s so nice of them. Yeah. I know, right? “I was able to get the burger!” Thank you so much. I heard that the lines were super long, so I’m just filled with gratitude. Oh, I just said the same thing twice. Anyway. Thank you. Yeah. It makes me happy. I’m so happy that everyone is eating it, the one from our YouTube video, you know. I’m so glad that the burger we came up with on YouTube made it to all of you. Yeah. “The person next to me on the train was a ‘Shokora’.” Oh, wow. “I heard the staff calling out ‘=LOVE, two!’ a bunch of times.” I know, right? When I went, I heard them calling out “=LOVE, two!” too. laughs My order was, “=LOVE, two!” That made me so happy. After that, I kept hearing them call out “=LOVE,” and I was so happy thinking, “Oh, everyone’s ordering it!” chuckles And on top of that, by sheer coincidence, I was at the same table where we filmed the YouTube video. The seat was open, and I was like, “Whoa, this is where we filmed it!” That’s what I was thinking. chuckles “I’m so excited for ES CON I can’t sleep”… isn’t that a bit much? That’s in September, you know. You’re not going to be able to sleep for like three months. Are you gonna be okay? Yeah, I happened to be at the same table. That made me happy. It really did. I was thinking, “This is where we filmed.” You’d laugh if you saw me sitting there, right? But there were two fans of Maika at the next table. I didn’t say anything, so I don’t think they noticed me. Probably not. They came over around the time we were finishing up, and the table had been empty until then. Yeah. Then, I saw their post on social media. And I was like, “Oh, that was them!” That’s what happened. Yep. That’s the story. Oh yeah, the birthday merch order deadline is tomorrow. The order period, I mean. For anyone who forgot, please order soon. I surprisingly don’t get noticed much. Oh, the game event ends on the 20th. And the applications are open until the 22nd. I messed that up. For the IkoNoiJoy Puzzle game, it seems the deadline for those with points is tomorrow. My apologies. The burger… hold on. The burger… The burger is… I did post about this, didn’t I? It’s until the 29th. Yep, the 29th. Oh, I see it in the comments now. The burger is available until the 29th. Not the 30th, the 29th. It’s until Sunday. There’s still a bit of time, so if you’re in the area or planning to visit Yokohama, please give it a try. You can get it for takeout, too. My nails are still BayStars colors, you know. And they even have stars on them. They’re the best. My nails, yeah. Nails. But I’m actually pretty happy with this length right now. They’re just going to grow out anyway. Aren’t they cute? You know, even if I get them done a little longer, I always end up cutting them before my next appointment. So I’m thinking maybe this is the perfect length. These two fingers are a little shorter right now, though. They’re pretty much flush with my fingertips. They’ve grown a bit. They’ve grown out a bit, but the pink part of my nail has gotten longer, so I had them cut super short this time. They’ve grown a little, huh? They didn’t snag on anything, though. They were much longer before. Yep. Cute, right? BayStars colors. There are stars, too… you can’t see them… it’s blurry… so blurry. I kind of like this sound. ASMR… It’s cute, isn’t it? I’m so glad I got BayStars nails. I mean, I’ve always matched them to our tours until now. I’d match them to our outfits and stuff. But since we happen to not have a tour in June—the final was in May, and we have extra shows in July—June was free. I thought, “Oh, I’ll match them to the BayStars!” And so I did. Now I’m wondering what color to do next. I haven’t decided on anything for August and on. Maybe for an event? Like TIF? I’ll have to think about what to match them to next, I guess. Yeah, I don’t know yet. Anyway, let’s talk about something else… Yes, let’s. Not that I have any topics right now, though. I’m sure one will come up. I give my nail artist a general idea of what I want. I tell her, and then we discuss it as she works… that’s how we figure it out. Yep. I usually bring in a few reference photos for the vibe. And pretty often, she’ll try something and I’ll be like, “Oh, actually, that’s not quite it.” So they end up being surprisingly simple. I considered adding more things, like rhinestones. I thought about maybe adding yellow rhinestones, but they had stars, so I asked for those instead. They’re pretty, right? Hope you had a good day at work. Thank you for witnessing the moment my dream came true. I matched my hair, my eyelash extensions, everything to the BayStars. I prepared everything for yesterday. We seriously had a tour every single month, so I was getting my nails, hair, and lashes done every month, too. But since June was tour-free and we just had this event, I thought, “This is perfect!” Any other news will be announced officially, and I’ll retweet it and all that. I don’t think I’ve ever done blue before… It’s cute. This blue part is that, you know… magnetic polish… I said this already, didn’t I? I already said this, didn’t I? I can never remember what I’ve said and what I haven’t. Just tell me if you’ve heard it before. But then again, some of you might not have been watching then. What color should I do next? My nails… For summer, I think I’ll keep my hair light, but I’m not sure what to do for fall. Is my birthday in 20 days? Whoa. That’s crazy. My birthday is coming up fast. Please celebrate it big with me! I’m turning 24… Well, I guess there’s not much difference between 23 and 24. I feel like turning 25 is when it’s going to hit me. Oh, that’s right. My oshi just turned 24, too. Yep, we’ll be the same age. I’m always following in their footsteps. That’s right. The odds of my dream coming true on my oshi’s birthday are insane, right? I was so happy about that, too. This ball I threw… it’s from my oshi’s birthday. Isn’t that wild? It’s an “Oshi’s Birthday Ball.” Isn’t that insane? It was the best day ever. Like, the absolute best day. Totally. The best. The “Oshi’s Birthday Ball.” That’s right. It makes me so happy. It’s all thanks to the good karma I’ve built up. Yeah, it must be that. I’m glad I built up good karma during Hana Tayori. It’s so cool that the date is engraved on it, right? It’s crazy, right? And I even got a game ball. I must have built up a ton of good karma. Yep, I built up a ton of good karma. I was holding all my good karma like this. Here and here. Right? “Make it special”… is that what this is about? I think I might have said this back then, too. Nako-san congratulated me on her radio show. Well, not so much congratulated… her just reading my name was a gift in itself. Mmhmm. “You’ve built up too much good karma.” That’s right. My oshi even cheered for me on her radio show. She rooted for me. Saying how awesome it was. It’s just insane. The absolute best. Oh, and here’s another thing I forgot to mention. Gosh, I’ve forgotten to mention everything, haven’t I? I forgot to mention it all, but… uhm, anyway… After it was decided I’d do the ceremonial pitch, so many people helped me out. My dad acting as my catcher was one thing, of course, and my friends helped too, but… well, it wasn’t a serious injury, not serious, but at one point my shoulder gave out a sharp twinge. And I was like, “Oh no, this might be bad.” A person who teaches baseball… no, not to me, just someone who teaches baseball, like for little league, they gave me some pointers. On how to throw and all that. Yeah, like how to move so it doesn’t hurt, or, “Oh, if you raise your arm this high, it’s fine.” So, I had a pitching coach come to one practice session, and he helped me out. That’s right. I thought I was raising my elbow about this high, but it was actually way down here, and throwing like that really hurt. Yeah, I was like, “This is bad.” This is really bad. The moment I’d throw, I’d go, “Ow, ow!” So he showed me, “If you throw from here, it won’t hurt,” and we started with drills like slamming the ball on the floor. Yeah, it had to be higher than I thought. In my head, I’m throwing from here, but what I thought was this high was actually down here, so I had to feel like I was aiming way up here just to get my arm to the right height. Something like that. So I even got some coaching from a pitching coach. My dad was on the baseball team back in the day, too. I practiced so much, and the more I practiced, the more nervous I got. Yep. I got so much support from everyone around me. But when my shoulder started hurting, I honestly had no idea what to do. I was like, “This is really bad.” Like, “It hurts, and there’s not even a month left.” I just kept thinking, “What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?” So from then on, I started… shoulder training. My shoulder strength… it wasn’t enough. Like, normally… how can I put this? When I’d just practice the motion without a ball, it didn’t hurt. But holding the ball, the weight made it hurt. So to be able to withstand that, I did, uh… what do you call it? Some kind of resistance band training. You know, with the rubber bands… going boing, boing like this. Doing exercises like that to build strength. I was doing shoulder workouts. Yep. Yeah. I was told that if I kept that up, I wouldn’t be able to dance anymore. And that really got to me. “You won’t be able to dance if you keep doing that.” That’s what I was told. So yeah, once I started focusing on throwing from up here… it became muscle memory, and it hasn’t hurt since. It made me realize how important that is, and I’m so incredibly grateful. Yeah. It made a huge difference. Yeah, I practiced so much, and all that practice really paid off. Mmhmm. It really, really did. I know there have to be things… like, where I go, “Oh, I forgot to say that!” There are so many, I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting. Yeah. If I remember anything else, yeah, I’ll tell you. Anyway, the stream is ending in about ten minutes. It’s always after it ends, when I’m scrolling through social media, that I’m like, “Aww, I should’ve talked about that!” You know that feeling? It’s like that every time. Happens every single time. Right? Yeah, that’s just how it goes. I guess so. Please pray that I can sleep well tonight. I don’t know when my next stream will be yet, but… I’ll tell you then. If I remember. Hey, did I forget to read anyone’s Tower gift? Everything’s so bunched up now. It was easy to spot when it was just one or two, but… Did anyone send one and not get their name called? “You forgot Sakiho-san’s Tower.” A Tower… the standard one, right? Sakiho-san. I am so sorry. I wonder when you sent it. My sincerest apologies. A do… ku… a bear? Oh, a dorayaki! Is that what this is, a dorayaki? Sakiho-san, tha… thank you for the little bear! Thank you, little bear, thank you, little bear! Thank you, Mr. Be-be-bear! Thank you, little bear! Thank you so much. Sorry for the delay. Sakiho-san. The one with the matcha ice cream on top, right? Thank you so much. Sorry for the delay. I’m glad you’re still here. Thank you. Okay, I think that’s everyone. Oh, right! The New Era collaboration… the collab cap. They’re reselling the canceled orders. “I forwarded it to my friends who couldn’t buy one.” “Forwarded”? You mean “shared”? “I shared it.” That’s right. I thought there was no way I could get one from the canceled stock. I hope you can get one. “I’m skipping the mad dash, trusting that Shoko will just give me one.” “Can I trust that I’ll get one too?” Well, it’s important to have faith. There’s always a chance, you know. So they’re reselling canceled orders, huh. I know, right? It’s probably going to be a mad scramble. The sale for the canceled caps. Or not “canceled,” really… I don’t know, maybe it’s from people who chose convenience store payment and didn’t follow through? I’m not sure, though. You guys are incredible, really. It’s just… truly. Really amazing. How fast everything sold out. Yeah, I wear New Era caps a lot myself. So when I heard about the New Era collab, I was thrilled. I really want you all to snag one. If you try your best, I’m sure you can get one! Also, about the BayStars jerseys with the =LOVE logo on them… The jerseys are made-to-order. So, everyone, if you’d like… I know jerseys can be a little pricey, but… Yes, please consider it. If you’re a fan of both the BayStars and =LOVE. You should definitely get one. “September 6th was your debut anniversary, right?” September 6th? What was that? Our debut anniversary. “I’m buying one of the made-to-order ones.” “I think I’m going to start stanning the yellow and white mascots.” Chapy and Bart. You know that Shisa-painting workshop I did in Okinawa? Well, the character I painted was the yellow one, Chapy. Go ahead and check out my posts from Okinawa again. It was Chapy. They’re just too cute, right? I wonder why they’re so cute. So incredibly cute… I mean, I usually get my dose of cuteness from Cinnamoroll, you know, when we perform together at shows. But seeing all those different mascots up close this time… I just melted. I really did. They were just too cute. My heart just squeezed. It really did. They were just way too cute, weren’t they? So cute I couldn’t even handle it. “On my way back from HamaSuta,” someone wrote. Or have you already made it back? Oh, not yet. Get home safe. Unfortunately, the team lost today. They have a six-game series from tomorrow… wait, the six-game series isn’t from tomorrow. It started on the 17th, so there are three games left, one more series. Starting again tomorrow. Right. I’ll be cheering them on. They have to win the series. They just have to. I doubt many people will get this reference. If they don’t win the series, the soul won’t come back. I feel like hardly anyone knows what I’m talking about. See, there’s this BayStars drama series. A drama about the BayStars. Ah, yes, “Oh My God!” That’s it. It’s one of those… uh, how can I put it… The plot of the drama actually changes based on the BayStars’ wins and losses. It’s a short drama. Right, so right now, there’s a character whose soul has been taken, and if the team doesn’t win this series… yeah, her soul is gone, and it won’t come back unless they get a winning record. That’s the gist of it. I wonder what’s going to happen with San-san. You know? I’m really hoping her soul comes back. So that’s the situation. Right. Alright. So, it’s 58 past the hour, so I think I’ll wrap up. I’ll read out the rankings. Everyone, please be sure to check my social media! Time for the rankings. 13th, Shizu-san. 12th, Jun-san. 11th, Wa-chan. 10th is Yoshin-san, 9th is Surasura-san, and 8th is Rinapi-san. 3rd, Shihocha-san. 2nd, Aruto-san. 1st, Suto-chan. 4th, Sakiho-san. 3rd, Azuma-san. 2nd, Tonbodama-san. And in first place, Paul-san. Thank you so much. I’ll read the next ones in a bit. In the second row, Kohei-san, Bandana-san, Kevin-san, Nekomiya-san, Yukina-chan, Ebi-san, Rob Roy-san, Chabashira-san, Hekky-san, Haru-san, Ta-kun, Tako-chan, Occhan, Yukibou-san, Hiroshi-san, Fukunokami So-san, Kashimi-san, Haven-san, Trash-san, Andromeda Yuki-san, Harady-san, and Chibitanku-san. Thank you all. Thank you for all the stars, gifts, and comments. And for the Ariga-Panda, Ariga-Kuma-chan, Arigatou-Kuma-chan, Arigatou-Kuma-chan, Ariga-Balloon, Ariga-Balloon, and Arigatou-Kuma-chan, thank you so much. Everyone, please be sure to check my social media. I filmed a TikTok with Starman. We filmed a video to the song “Suki na Tokoro.” Please be sure to check it out. So, with that, please be sure to pick up a copy of Monthly BayStars, too. Please do. And with that… To everyone who came to HamaSuta yesterday, to everyone who watched the stream, and who kept up on social media, thank you so much. I’ll do another long stream again soon. I’m glad I could take my time and stream for you all today. Thanks for hanging out with me. Let’s do our best again tomorrow. Just get through tomorrow, and then it’s the weekend. Thank you so much. Good night. Please get lots of rest. You all take care of yourselves, too. So grateful. Thank you. For watching this long stream. Good night. Bye-bye. You should all get plenty of sleep, too.
2025年06月19日
瀧脇笙古 Takiwaki Shoko
Subtitles are AI generated