Untitled Bangya

For information on how to do Hitchcock satsueikai, or if you’re nervous about your first ever vkei live in Japan, check out these other posts!

Hitchcock satsueikai

Guide to vkei lives

Now onto cheki yoyaku (reservation) !!! I’m going to be quite repetitive on certain facts, so be ready. This is specifically for in-person pick up at the venue. Their online store does not ship internationally so pick up is the only way. It also does not accept foreign credit and debit cards, (update: my friends told me their international credit cards were accepted!) but that won’t be an issue for cheki pick up. You can only reserve to pick up cheki at a live you are attending. You will pay directly at the goods table after the live and NOT online!

Steps:

At the time of writing this, it's January 4th and Yoi had his host-themed birthday live back on December 26th (his real birthday being December 31st). It was located at Shimokitazawa ERA!

Upon arriving at the venue, I had met up with my friends and made new Hitchcock friends that same night 💜 Anyway, I'm not sure what the band was doing but we all entered the venue super late and I believe the live started late as well. I had an S ticket and was able to grab 4th row with Mia! The S ticket section was blocked off from general admission, but everyone wanted to be on shimote for Yoi, so it was a bit crowded. However, there were only 5 rows total in the S section, so we had a perfect view of the band!!

There was a black curtain covering the stage and colorful lights along with a disco ball that was slowly spinning in the venue. The background music was definitely what I'd expect to hear in a night club too 😂

When the live started and the band walked on stage OHHHH MY GOD GUYS I lost it. They were all in suits and dressed up as hosts. Karasu wore a suit with hair extensions styled into a ponytail. He was even holding a phone to his ear. Kou wore a black suit and was pretty laid-back. But YOI??!?! By now I know you've all seen his photos, but he went in for tight jeans with a belt that had a huge buckle at the front, a white fur coat, a leopard-print button-up with a white blazer jacket, a longgg chain hooked on the left side of his pants, boots, and sunglasses. It was literally perfect LMAO 

If you didn't already know, Hitchcock has light sticks that we use for furi for certain songs. Each member has their own color, and you can change colors on the light stick by clicking the button at the bottom. Some songs we use the red light while other songs we use our favorite member's color. Since it was Yoi's birthday event, Karasu told us to use the purple light for the whole show. 🥺💜 

(Karasu red, Yoi purple, Kou yellow.)

During one of the MCs, staff played a popular host birthday song, and Yoi had to pop open two little champagne bottles while the fans sang along. It was hilarious!! After opening the first bottle, Yoi threw the cork into the audience and it smacked someone in the face. I'm sure she's okay, but I wonder who got the cork in the end lololol for the second bottle he struggled a bit, but got it open in the end. His precious smile you guys 😭 

The last song for their mainset was 一人ぼっちの歯ブラシ, but it was Yoi singing and playing the acoustic guitar. The other members left the stage and all the spotlight was on Yoi!!! He has a beautiful voice. Speaking of which, S ticket holders got a CD of Yoi singing as a present. I haven't listened to it yet, but I really need to asap!!!! After Yoi finished and left the stage, we immediately called for encore. They played their new song, ちゅうぜつ, which is their gyakudai song and has a bass solo. Literally a perfect and chaotic way to end the live!

After the band finished I rushed to the merch table because they were selling a special Yoi non-alcoholic champagne bottle. It was limited to S ticket holders only but just 10 were available!!! I was able to grab the first one for Peruchan and immediately take photos of it 😂 my broke ass couldn't get one myself so this belongs to Peruchan.

Afterwards, I fixed my hair and makeup for satsueikai. I took a 15 second video and a cheki with Yoi. I was super excited since it was my first ever video with him AAAAA!!!!! I captured his precious laugh and smile on video 😭

If you ever see Hitchcock live, you'll see how serious Yoi is on stage, especially if there's a theme. That man will act and be in character, but once it's meet and greet time he is the sweetest ever!

I had a wonderful time. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed my report!!!

Please keep in mind that this information is based on personal experiences. Each band might have a slightly different system, but the buying process at the merch table is generally the same. This will give you a general idea of what to expect at a live. Not every band does satsueikai.

I will discuss satsueikai that are done at lives only and not discuss the in-store process in this post.

*You’ll need CASH to pay for these events. Get them yennies ready.*

撮影会 aka “satsueikai” are photo sessions! These photo sessions happen after the live performance, and you have to buy a separate ticket from the band’s merch table in order to participate. Larger bands like the GazettE do not offer these photo sessions. These are for minor/do-minor bands like Hitchcock, Jigsaw, Shingeki no Awake, Garakuta, Mathilda, Zombie etc.

Not every band offers satsueikai so be careful and check in advance.

The most common type of photo sessions are 2-shots. This refers to photos where it is just you PLUS one member of your choice. 

2-shot = you + 1 band member

5-shot = you + 4 band members

6-shot = you + 5 band members

Some bands will only offer 2-shots, while others have the options of 2-shot and 5-shot.

Occasionally, when there are two bands performing together (two-man), both bands will hold a special group photo session (you + all members from both bands). They will announce it on their SNS if that is the case.

Bands will either offer photos by polaroid (cheki) or personal cell-phones. It depends on the band or which price you pay for (more on that later).

Please check your favorite band’s official website and Twitter for satsueikai information.

When buying a satsueikai ticket from the merch table, you’ll want to say the member’s name and how many tickets you want to buy. 

“(band member name-san) no satsueikai ni-mai wo kudasai / onegaishimasu” 

(two photo sessions with __-san, please.)

If the band offers a 5-shot and you’d like to do that instead then you can say something like, 

Let’s use Jigsaw as our first example, followed by Hitchcock. Jigsaw always posts on their Twitter if a live will have satsueikai or not, because they don’t always do it. They’re also the type of band who only offers cell-phone photos, minus the super rare cheki occasions.

Jigsaw offers EITHER a 2-shot or a 5-shot for 3000yen. You must choose one.

Their other option is a 2-shot AND 30 second video together for 5000yen.

You cannot do a 5-shot with a video. 

In this situation, use the same phrase I mentioned above to buy a ticket. Sadly, Jigsaw doesn’t have photos on their goods table to just point at (lol). When buying their satsueikai tickets, it will be numbered. Listen closely to staff when they call out member names and ticket numbers so you know when it’s your turn. When your number is called out, return the ticket and hand over your phone to take a picture.

Next is Hitchcock! Their system is different.

Hitchcock only offers 2-shots unless there’s a special event they announce on Twitter.

The nice thing about Hitchcock is that they have photos of all their merch options on the table, so if you struggle with Japanese, it’s easy! And they offer satsueikai at every live! Depending on the event, they may change locations of where the satsueikai is held (which they’ll post the address on Twitter). Other than that, it usually happens at the same venue they play at.

The photo above is their satsueikai system. You can refer to the tickets by color. For Hitchcock, you do NOT state the member’s names, only the type of ticket you want. And they will stamp the tickets with an expiration date meaning you don’t have to use it that same night. 

The grey 1000yen ticket is a cell-phone photo ONLY. You have a short time to speak with the member and you cannot request a pose. When it’s photo time, staff will take the ticket from you along with your phone so have the camera open and ready. 

The blue 3000yen ticket is a cheki (polaroid) photo! You’re allowed to request a pose and you have a slightly longer time to speak with the member of your choice. But this cheki will not be signed.

The red 4000yen ticket is a cheki (polaroid) photo! You’re allowed the same as the blue ticket except it also includes a written date, autograph, and personalized message from the member. 

Using the same phrase I taught previously, you can replace “name” with the specific colored ticket. 

“aka no san-mai wo kudasai / onegaishimasu.” (3 red tickets please.)

You’re probably wondering how to do Hitchcock satsueikai when you don’t have to choose a member from the beginning. It’s easy: just join the line for the member you want a photo with! So if you’re struggling to decide, you have a bit of time.

Staff will prepare these tall folding walls/curtains for each member and then they’ll attach a photo of the member on the outside. You line up according to which member you want. The fans in line will also be holding a laminated photo sign for that member and each time a new person joins the line, the fan before them will pass the sign to the newly-joined person. The person holding the sign signals the end of the line.

I hope this information helps everyone! Please let me know if you have any questions or need further explanations. 

Thank you!

In the morning, Peru and I met up to go to Tower Records together. Usually for in-store events you're able to buy CDs and receive the in-store tickets in advance, but this time it wasn't allowed, so we had to buy everything the day of the event. We were worried about CDs selling out, so we made sure to show up at least an hour early. It was good that we did, because by the time the event started all the CDs were sold out!

This specific Tower Records was located in a mall, so after buying our CDs, we stopped by a pet shop to see the adorable kittens and puppies. There were so many of them and the majority of them were born in September! I know buying animals from pet shops isn't great, but that's a topic I won't get into here. 

Anyway, after seeing the adorable fur babies, we went to fix up our makeup and waited for the event to start. We ended up seeing the members walking around the mall by themselves too. First we spotted Tsuki, then Yoi, and lastly Karasu. I had no idea where Kou was but we weren't trying to find them lol; it was all a coincidence. It was definitely entertaining to say the least. We did our best to avoid them when we did spot them though, and we got plenty of laughs from it.

The in-store event began at 1pm and everyone had to line up inside the store. It was a bit awkward because it was a very small location, so all the fans took their 2shots and spoke with the members in the same area. But I was so focused on speaking with Yoi that I didn't notice the other girls and their conversations so it was fine. I needed to focus and savor the moment as much as possible. 😂

Since I bought three CDs I was able to take three 2shots; it also gave me extra speaking time. It was really nice having a longer conversation with Yoi and it was really easy to follow along since we spoke about food. I asked him about sweets and he asked me if I've ever eaten natto LMAO (I haven't tried it yet.)

But guys, I had completely forgotten to compliment Yoi on his new lip piercing and his nails! Recently he and Karasu went to get gel nails done at a salon; Yoi got this purple gradient color and it was really pretty. But I didn't notice it until staff was telling me to leave!!!! 😩 a shame!!! I'm sorry, Yoi!!! You looked fantastic that day with your slicked back hair and piercings and nails!!! 

When Peru finished her 2shot session with Karasu, we immediately headed back towards the train station to go to Urawa, which was where the live house was located.

We started at 1 pm, finished by 1:40 pm, then ate at Denny's by 3 pm, then had the live at 6 pm. Overall I was tired and hungry, but it was worth it for Hitchcock lolol

Now the live…Y'ALL THE LIVEEEEE!!!

I had an excellent view of Yoi the entire time (thank you Peru our HC QUEEN) and the setlist was sooo fun. But holy shit, I was so hot and sweaty after they played their new song “Abortion”. I lost count of how many times we did gyakudai during it. It felt like it was never going to end! During that song, Yoi basically climbed onto all the girls in the first few rows and every time fans jumped to him he would grab them and pull them to add to his bangya pile 😂 it was kind of difficult joining when I had to run from the back of the pit so I hope next time I'll be closer to the stage for easier access. 

They played Akai Crayon and AAAAAA!!!! I love that song live and it's been a while since I've heard it. Just sooo soooo good. My mind is honestly blank now. Apart from the above, I just remember that the live show was fun and I was constantly headbanging or jumping. 😂 I can’t wait to attend their final on December 5th, but thank goodness I see them on the 2nd too. I'm soooo ready to member call like crazy and just have a bunch of fun. December is going to be a great HC live month overall.

Thanks for reading!

Occasionally, bands will offer FREE lives. There will still be advanced tickets available that you can buy; however, if there's a band you're interested in or you just happen to not have any plans when there's a free live, they're the best to attend!

The free tickets will be for toujitsuken. Therefore, you enter last, after all advance ticket holders.

Please read this post about entering live houses for further information.

But don't be fooled, you will still have to spend something. Every live house requires every attendee to pay a drink fee, which is usually ¥600-700 yen.

In my experience, I've never showed up for a free live or same-day entry and been denied entry. So for that, I think everyone is okay! But depending on how popular the band is, many people may be attending. If that's the case, you'll most likely be stuck at the back of the live house where it can be a bit cramped and crowded. This is the only negative aspect that I’ve noticed. But hey, you get to go in for free.

If you're attending a live that ISN'T free, then you'll have to pay their toujitsuken price along with the drink fee.

Toujitsuken is usually more expensive than pre-bought tickets.

For example, if there’s a live on 10/20:

The A ticket will cost ¥5000 during the sales period of 9/28-10/19

Toujitsu ticket ¥5500; you pay upon entry

(above prices EXCLUDE drink fee)

On average toujitsuken will be an additional ¥500, but sometimes it's even more. 

B tickets will cost the same as A tickets. The difference in letters just states when you bought the ticket, however, S tickets are most important, think of it as VIP tickets in the western world. A ticket pre-sales are first followed by B, etc. If there are S tickets available then those would be sold first and A tickets second.

If you don't have a ticket, I recommend arriving to the venue 20 minutes early so you can join the toujitsuken line! That way you're not necessarily the VERY last person. But you’re still the last group to enter.