Last Sunday, MNL48 held the Seitansai for November birthday celebrants. Held for the second straight month, the celebrants are Kay, Gia and Coleen from the members, and Laney and Vira from the Kenkyuusei.
I’ve been following Ishiyama Kaede ever since someone informed me that a former auditionee for Morning Musume’s 9th generation (my favorite generation) joined the MNL48 auditions. Kay’s determination and discipline were laid bare for the world to see: she managed to go from being full-figured, down to an idol-like body and she managed to do it in three months.
Kay is not only a strong performer, but also a good captain, with Team L arguably being the strongest team out of the three. Kay is a very special member for me, and she is one of only five people I’d be willing to pay the price for the Cheki bundle (which goes for PhP 1,600.00).
The “cheki bundle” I bought featured a T-shirt of your favorite idol, one photo-card, and one cheki. It says a lot that I would buy a t-shirt that won’t ever fit me just so I can have that close-encounter I’ve been waiting for. But given the memories it gave me, I consider the money well-spent.
I would assume that by this time, the wallets of the fans are running really low on ammunition. What with people buying 10, 20, 30, and 40 copies each mall show. Many fans are already on “handshake” mode as they’ve decided to tighten up their purse strings so that they’ll have enough to unleash on November 25. But there were still fans who shelled out quite a lot especially the Seitensai photo-cards which are limited to the celebrants only.
The Seitansai program itself is very much a carbon-copy of the October event. It does seem for a time that the program felt a bit dragging towards the end. Maybe in the future, when MNL48 will make a proper Seitansai in the Theater, that they can do away with these games. They are interactive and can be fun, but it can also feel dragging towards the end.
There’s also something to be said about the hosting abilities. Not all of the girls are skilled enough to host. I barely felt Gia, even though Kay was good with the mic (she is Captain, after all), she didn’t speak much during the games (she had a really good message afterwards though). KKS Laney did some pretty interesting ad libs at first, but when the program dragged on, it just became a bit annoying. You do get the sense that for at least the KKS, they’re really trying to get our attention, and I can view that as a positive. I just think that they really need to read the atmosphere.
Talent Management Head Gio Medina once again saved the MC part by stepping in and offer some support to the girls. Now, if I was in their shoes, I would be very terrified to see Nanay Gio come in and save us from an awkward situation, but the girls seem to draw strength from his presence.
If you managed to read the official press-release of the event, then yes, I was asked to give Kay her birthday message. I think it was because I was the first guy who bought her cheki bundle. Now, I have stage fright and I’m not really sure about what to say. I spent most of the time leading up to the birthday wishes segment thinking of what I should say, and frankly, I forgot everything I said. But the gist of it was that I wanted Kay and the rest of the girls on the stage (which included the senbatsu) that we, the fans, know what they’re going through, and that we appreciate their efforts, and that we are looking out for them (not the exact words, but that’s what I’m supposed to say, anyway). I ended it with my wish for a brighter future for her and for MNL48.
The highlight of the event is – as always – the performances of the celebrants and the members with a format virtually unchanged from the first one (senbatsu performance, celebrants performance, and then a joint senbatsu-celebrant finale). But at this point, you get the feeling that MNL48 should be performing more songs. I know they only have three official songs at this point, but it won’t hurt to prepare at least a small set of four or six. I won’t mind giving up the food, if the money alloted to it can go towards new songs.
A normal Seitansai by a 48 group is a regular Theater performance with a special MC dedicated to the celebrant. I’m not sure if the group will maintain this dedicated seitansai event, or if they will eventually follow the standard practice of the 48 Groups. I personally lean toward the latter as having a full-show can prevent any awkward or dragging moments. Maybe we can still include some interactive segments, but hopefully they are kept to a minimum, or done in a way that it won’t feel forced.
It seemed to me that the number of people who came to the November Seitansai actually increased. I’m not 100% sure, but there were people who were in the regular ticket area. Last month, that place was barren. Hopefully we get more people coming on the December Seitansai as it will include one fan favorite – Faith.
Handshake event is upon us, and hopefully the event will be successful. MNL48 will finally follow the foot-steps of its sisters in the long-standing tradition of handshake events. The girls had a taste of it during the handshake event when they were still aspirants, but this is the real thing, and I hope all of us will go home happy this Sunday.
