MNL48 celebrated two events last January 13, 2018: the seitansai for the January birthday celebrants, and the Seijin Shiki or Coming of Age celebration for members turning 20 this year. It is very unusual for MNL48 to hold back-to-back events because the logistics of it can be quite bothersome, seeing as they’re still renting Movie Stars Cafe for their shows. But that’s not the only thing unusual about this event.
Japan’s Coming of Age day is usually celebrated by those who have reached – or will reach – the age of majority (20 years old) between April 2 of the previous year, and April 1 of the current year. MNL48 instead, chose presented members who will turn 20 this year, regardless of the traditional period followed by the Japanese.
Second, it felt strange to celebrate the Seijin Shiki in a country that does not celebrate it in the Japanese way, meaning there are no ceremonies at the temple or local prefecture houses. No speeches given to the celebrants, no elaborate parties afterwards.
However, those things do not mean that the event last Sunday was out of place. In fact, I had more fun than I expected, seeing as it is a double-event and the girls were getting pretty good with their talking skills.
Also, it gave MNL48 another opportunity to shoot and sell new photo-cards. Event-exclusive photo-cards had always been a thing of mine, and despite not really being active in the trading scene, it was fun trading for that one photo-card you’ve been really keen on having.
But before we get to the Seijin Shiki, we must first talk about the January seitansai. Prior to the announcement of the Seijin Shiki, some fans had the sense that only a few people will come for the January seitansai. Most people’s wallets post-holidays are barren, especially after MNL48 did a barrage of new photocards and merchandise in the final two months of 2018.
Obviously, MNL48 had other plans, and the second event was announced barely a week before the date. To say that we were surprised would be an understatement. Sometimes I wish HHE will learn to announce their events sooner, like a month before. I don’t think it is a good idea for them to stress their fans’ finances to the breaking point with these lightning announcements.
Anyway, this month, it is the turn of Jan, Grace, Cassey, and Aly to take center-stage. Because there will be another event after this one, the program started early.
For the second straight month, it is the girls who took over the speaking duties. Sheki, in particular, got things going during the seitansai. The reigning Center showed that her skills are not limited to singing and dancing, but also hosting as well.
Like the previous seitansai, there were games, but they were properly timed to avoid dragging the program. For me, the special highlight of this month were the video messages. The messages from their families and fans as well as pictures from their childhood (with the exception of Grace whose video showed only a message from her parents), lent an emotional touch to the proceedings. Bear in mind that none of these girls are actually my oshimen. But going to these monthly seitansai has started to feel like routine.
I honestly don’t know if I can keep up with this set-up once the Theater is finished and First Stage is up and running. But those worries are far off in the future, and at the moment I’ll be enjoying my shows as much as I can.
Although somewhat modified, the seitansai still generally followed the structure of the previous ones so I’m not going to devote a lot of time into it. But I really do need to talk about the one thing that utterly failed that day: the food. Well, not exactly the food itself, but the delay in serving it.
MNL48 seitansai events hold the distinction of having food served during the performance. It isn’t optional, but rather included in the price of the ticket. This is the fourth seitansai so I was surprised that by the time the seitansai was over, half of the attendees (including me) haven’t received their meal yet. I am thinking that the kitchen wasn’t aware that the seitansai began earlier than scheduled (11 AM as opposed to 12 noon). But that’s barely an excuse in an event that should have been coordinated better. I personally liked the food, and it was still hot when it was finally served (just before the staff started rearranging the event area), but boy, were we hungry.
Another point of concern was that there was nobody from the staff directing us to fall in line outside MSC once again for the Seijin Shiki. Some of the fans were already outside while some were still roaming around the event area. The two events were technically separate and had two tickets unless you went for the “bundle” which I did. But most fans went to both.
I don’t mind falling in line again (we already had numbered tickets anyway), but I do not recall anyone informing us that we had to for the second event in the first place. Gotta work on that HHE.
The seats were replaced with mono-bloc chairs and although we were supposed to be seated depending on the number on our tickets, we were allowed (or tolerated) to transfer to a gap somewhere. That’s how Youko and I managed to seat at the front. I rarely get to sit at the front-row because it is really hard for me to arrive very early like some of the hardcore MNLoves. But this time, it was a great chance as well as an awesome experience to be in front. Also, by some luck a lot of the folks in front were wotas, so Youko, Kome, and I were able to chant to our hearts content. I consider that a huge thing as many of MNL48’s fans are new to the culture. Besides, nothing pumps the blood up like some good old “taiga, faiba”.
The outline of the program itself isn’t remarkable as it feels like just a variation of the seitansai program. But the actual proceedings was fun. The girls namely Kay, Lara, Brei, Dana, Hazel, Dani, Faith, Sayaka and Jem (Princess was supposed to take part, but was unable to due to poor health condition), did the whole event in traditional Japanese attire.
Just like the seitansai before it, the Seijin Shiki featured very interesting and funny moments from the girls who have improved their public speaking by leaps and bounds. This is basically the first time I saw Hazel and Dana in a special event, and they did not disappoint as they literally had fun during the talk sections and the games. Dana in particular, was trying to hide during the games. Hazel also dropped a certain “bomb” (which I would refrain from repeating here) upon which the crowd erupted both at the joke and her audacity.
Performing in Japanese attire must have been difficult for the members, but they looked really pretty in it. Since I was sitting in front, I had the rare opportunity to be seen directly by Kay as she performed mostly in front of me (their blocking, not because I was there). Let’s just say I went home really, really happy.
New event means new merchandise, and there were plenty of both the seitansai sets and the seijin shiki sets to satisfy the hoarder in us. Both events also have their own cheki with your oshimen and for the seijin shiki, the bundle included a photo-album and two photo-sets. I preferred the MNL48 photo book but since I had to choose among the teams, I went for Team L’s. As luck would have it, I got the photo-cards that I wanted: a close-up shot and a half-body shot of Kay. I had to sacrifice the Sayaka to get the remaining Kay so that I can finally have all three.
The post-holiday period is supposed to be a time when people are short on money, but it didn’t seem like it last Sunday. If HHE suddenly decided it wants your last centavo, they could have done so by creating Limited Edition super-rare hologram photo-cards. I’m betting we’ll be seeing people buy by the bulk just to get them.
Since I availed of the cheki bundle, I had my second cheki with Kay. Obviously if I have known there would be a cheki session available, I would have dressed more properly, but the image turned out just fine and I was satisfied.
All in all, MNL48’s double event last Sunday was worth the price of the tickets. I really hope we see something more regular. Or at least, give the fans more time to prepare.
MNL48 Producer Paolo Kurosawa 
Post-event feast.
