Field Report for 2nd Gen KKS Theater

So I had the opportunity to watch all 3 2nd gen shows this weekend (including my longest ever 9 hour waitlist queue for their Shonichi on Friday) and I thought of sharing a lil bit of their general awesomeness for everyone.

1. “I don’t know who they are.”

Yep, I know the namelist of the performers are already out…  and there’s plenty of videos on the net that has highlighted the 2nd gen members from the audition stage up till now, but nah, I certainly did not refer to any of them and went into the shows like writing on a fresh page.

2. “Omg…. so many cute girls!”

Certainly my BIGGEST surprise of the first show. “SO MANY CUTE GIRLS ON STAGE!!!!” If you’re like me and was just expecting at the bare minimum, a decent show with many cute girls, I think nobody will be disappointed in who Aki-P and JOT have chosen for the lineup.

3. “They….. trained well.”

This being their very first live performance, I’d say they did admirably well in terms of stamina, strength, dedication and to a certain extent, spirit.

In this Shonichi stage, they have to perform a full setlist with 12+ songs, countless costume changes and different timings to catch on;  and for the most part, it continued without much of any major disruption. There had been a couple of off-times or obvious mistakes by the members but they were generally forgiveable and not a majorly disruptive distraction (unlike a dangerous wardrobe malfunction).

I thought they trained well for the most part in the singing and dancing, and the harder challenge here was actually to put up a good show that the audience will be happy with.That was where the inexperience with the live audience interaction came in.

Sometimes the MC conversations with the audience felt a little awkward. They were obviously trained for (but not used to) dealing with live crowds but you could generally feel that there was an underneath sentiment of “I’m gonna do my best! and keep the energy up!” that pulled them out of the awkwardness. And they did made it out somehow.

4. “Ahhhh….. I can’t do a member call because I don’t know their names!”

The next thing you’ll probably say to yourself if you’re a fan who likes to join in the mix and fan calls.

So, thanks to my friend, @infzer0, who kindly tweeted and told me who the members are, I present to you this simple DIY unit song member guide. Orientation is as viewed from the audience point of view.

1. Tenshin no loli (as I like to put it)

Rahel(Left)———–Nadila(center)———–Cindy/Cinvia (Right)

(Calling Cindy seems more popular though)

2. Pajama Drive

Thalia (or Tata)———–Rona———–Dellia

3. Junjou Shogi

Yona/Noella———–Acha(Alicia)———–Noella/Yona

Honestly I couldn’t really pay any attention to either Noella or Yona becausemy attention only covered Acha (because she is so hot in her costume) and Lydia. So I don’t know who stands where.

4. Temo demo no namida

Vieny———–Nadhifa

4. Kagami no naka no Jean D’ Arc

Uty———–Niichan———–Hanna———–Ikha———–Natalia

(still unrefined because none of us still know how to call for Natalia (Na-ta-li-a?))

5. “The mixes are …”

It’s a pain to try to describe this, so I will try to let you imagine it.

1. First of all, view this—> Here is a video of one of my favourite mixes from Passpo and their fans:

2. Now try to combine their Passpo mix into for JKT48…(or all the other 48’s for that matter)

3. Make it less united

And for a certain unknown part of the fan section, 4. Shout for the Gen 1 members (as the Gen 2 members are singing)

And there you have it.

*I do understand that there can always be personalized mixes which are formed according to the cultures and most of the chants were generally easy on the ear and fun. A great example is JKT fan’s rendition of the Heavy Rotation mix with the united claps at certain sections. But at the end my 3 shows here, I somehow just felt disappointed that there was lesser and lesser unity and a certain amount of trolls uncontrolled (including screaming at the top of your lungs like it was a black metal concert).

5. “Wow…. a handshake session at the end!”

It went okay. There weren’t any particular incidents and the girls felt sincere in giving out a proper handshake with both hands, though just a bit inexperienced. The most exciting part was when everybody received a personalized (and random) thank you message written by the performers and handed out by the last member at the end of the line.

6. Lastly…

It definitely is enjoyable. Now, I can also watch how they grow and gauge it to gen 1’s growth too. It’s a fulfilling thing, watching their development. I haven’t had as much fun in a Pajama Drive stage in a while!

Also, it seems very likely that the core members of this 2nd gen (Trainee) team will form the bulk of the next team K-4, and in time, into the idols we will learn to adore. So if you are keen on seeing your next generation of JKT48, do come and watch their theater! (I’ll try to say a little bit more about the members in my next post.) Till then, stay well folks!