♡ Hyper Japan // Nocturnal Bloodlust ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

It has been, now, over a month(?!) since Hyper Japan and I am still feeling it all. It's also the summer holidays here in the UK, and my work hours have dropped dramatically (YAY for term time children!) yet all I would like to do, is sleep. Besides the hours I have had at work, I have been so, so, so lazy with stuff - I've literally just eaten, slept and watched TV series, oops.

Hyper Japan is, now, the one and only convention I do these days, and every year it is very up and down with its organisation skills. Last year, their organisation was as good as it could be for a last minute venue change, where as this year, it just seemed very... "splot we're here, deal with it" kind of attitude. But anyway.

Before Hyper Japan, on the Friday (15th July) Saph and I went to a gig in Camden Underworld - more particularly, we saw Nocturnal Bloodlust - who are a deathcore/metalcore band from Japan and holy shit... they were just... they were seriously amazing. Besides seeing LOST ASH at Hyper Japan last year, seeing this band was near the top of my list and wow. They honestly blew me away during the live! I was lucky enough to get a V.I.P ticket, but it was kinda disappointing because all we got to do was walk past, and have a handshake with the band members - and I know this probably sounds extremely whingy of me, but in the past, a meet and greet was a little bit than just a handshake - especially when it was £20 extra for just that?! Best meet and greet for me (besides LOST ASH shhh) was SCREW back in 2012, because for that little bit extra money, they did photographs, handshakes, signatures AND a Q&A slot... so yeah guys, sort it out there.

ANYWAY. The live was amazing, and there was even a death/mosh circle pit! Not a literate death circle, but Saph did want to go and throw herself in it... me? Not so much. I have to admit, in the past, I would have been up front, as close to the centre as possible but this time around, it was nice to be at the back and away from the................. squishing. All in all the set was amazing, and they played quite a lot of songs, and a encore. 10/10 would go see them live again. It was just so energetic, and the surge of power from the band, well. Just epic. I got some brilliant goodies - two cd's and a photoset, whilst Saph got a poster.

Moving on to the next day - where I must admit, I wasn't too achy but I did have blocked ears - the bane of being RIGHT next to a bass speaker during a gig... and my ears didn't unpop all weekend so I felt extremely old, yelling at people and saying "FUCKING SPEAK UP, SERIOUSLY" yes, that's what I said, and I regret nothing. We managed to wake up at 9am (WOW, CHECK US OUT) and get to the venue just before midday - which to us, it's nice because we were able to do things at our own pace, and our own leisure.

We are so cute together, shhh~

Normally, I don't stop and listen to bands that are performing - unless they are someone I like? - but this year, it was Saph's turn to be happy as larry, as CHARISMA.COM were performing, and I'm not going to lie. I was hooked. They are super catchy and really know how to get the crowd going! I was also lucky enough to meet them afterwards! They are both super cute, and easy to talk to!

This duo wasn't the only lovely people I met up with - I was able to hang out with Toni, and Milly, and meet Saph's boyfriend Tom, and some of Saph's friends too! It was just nice to hang around with people, who enjoy the same things I do, and not feel............... ridiculous?!

The second day was just as hot as the Saturday - I honestly hate the warm weather, I am just NOT a warm weather type of person... pft. But we managed, and we had just as much fun as we did on the Saturday. I can't really tell you much else about the weekend - it was literally; food, friends and fun! What more could we ask for?!

What was nice about this year, was everything was spaced out, so no one was crushed together, but the whole event did feel slightly... haphazard? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy everything about Hyper Japan in general, but this year, it definitely felt different. I can't quite put my finger on it with why, but I just have that niggle. Oh, and the fact that the venue has a glass ceiling. Glass ceiling + hot weather = grumpy and sweaty people. Cries.

Before I finish off - I didn't purchase as many goodies as usual, but nothing really grabbed my attention, besides what is pictured above! Annnnnnnnd, an amazing friend of mine managed to catch Caqui's pick from the gig! She caught a couple, as well as found a couple on the floor - so I was lucky to nab one from her! I do like collecting guitar picks from gigs...

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ Hyper Japan Weekend w/ Waifu ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

Around the same time every year, Hyper Japan holds its annual summer shindig of kawaii cuteness (yes I know they are the exact same words in different languages but shhh they go together) that is Hyper Japan. There is food to tantalise your taste buds, a gaming section to bring out your competitive streak, performances from artists that appeal to all and lots of yummy, scrummy stalls that sell a variety of things from tasty sweets, the latest fashion and a hoi palloi of music, movies and so much more!

It's not unusual now for myself and Saph to make plans for HJ every year now (even though I've decided not to go to the Christmas one this year unless it really, really, really appeals to me) and this time around we added Roxy to our little fold ♡ We all met up on the Friday, made our way to our hotel in Stratford, freshened up and then headed out to eat some delicious food. I /w a s/ intending on taking the others to Eat Tokyo (fffiiinnnaaallllllyyy) but when we arrived... the queue was around a mile long *inserts gross sobbing here* and so we had bubble tea in Chatime first and then headed into Taro's for dinner instead. Again, like usual, we ordered way too much (even though it was amazeballs) and had to roll back to the hotel... dangit.

**I see you creeping there Roxy... dammit!**

On the Saturday, we all had to get up super early as Saph was going to perform in the fashion show during the event and could only do the rehearsal that particular day.... at 8am. Roxy and I went into Costa to have breakfast and a major caffeine boast to help us out and of course, we couldn't resist taking some snaps! This one was my favourite of them all;

After breakfast and queuing for... about 30 minutes - which is quick - we got our wristbands and on our way in! Now, the 02 arena is effin' massive, I swear it took about 15 minutes before we actually reached the HJ area! Seriously, it was massive altogether and I just... whew so much walking was done over the weekend!! The area was packed with an array of stalls, entertainers and other things but it wasn't so tightly packed together so it actually felt nice to be able to move around freely and not feel claustrophobic.

I did have a super proud best friend moment watching Saph walk in the runway like omg best moment ever! She looked like that she had fun and it was super fun watching her! There were so many awesome outfits during the runway show but here are a few that don't look so blurry and they are just group shots really so yeah;

The main reason I wanted to go to Hyper Japan was because my absolute favourite band had travelled across from Japan to perform! I have adored LOST ASH since the day they debuted and when I heard that they were coming to the UK... I honestly thought that I was having a heart attack, I was so shocked but happy at the same time! I was lucky when I saw that they were having a meet&greet and that I hadn't missed it, so off I queued (and shook nervously) and just wow, they were so kind and easy to talk to! And I managed to get a picture with them... twice! One at the meet&greet on the Saturday and one at the meet&greet on the Sunday - and yes, I went to both of them like a loser and they recognised me because of my hair! Score!

Watching them perform live... just ugh and wow! I honestly cannot describe in the right words how I felt watching them perform both times during the weekend. It was electrifying and so surreal, I still pinch myself to the day  wondering if it was real, if the whole experience was real and that I didn't dream it all! On the Saturday, I was in front of Sai (bassist) and on the Sunday, I managed to get in front of Show (guitarist) and it was so awesome to see from different perspectives! I did get some pictures, but you know when you shake so much, most of them come out blurry?! Well... here are a few of the decent ones;

 

It was super fun and I would love to see them live again... if they weren't disbanding now *ugly sobbing* but I look forward to their future projects!!

I didn't actually eat a lot during the event, just bits here and there from different places dotted around the 02, but we did all get shaved ice as a treat and omg it was feckin' delicious I tell you! I had the strawberry flavour and they put a tiny bit of condensed milk onto it and it honestly brought the whole thing together... 10/10 would eat again!

Pretty much the entire weekend was walking around, gawping at pretty items on stalls, purchasing quite a few items, seeing lots of live performances, catching up with friends and watching Saph work the runway on the Saturday and Sunday... that was it. It doesn't sounds very interesting but it honestly was jammed packed from the moment we arrived. And I loved it. I, hands down, adore this convention more than MCM because of how friendly everyone is, how warm and inviting the atmosphere is and just for having some really good stuff all in one place.

Oh and before I forget... here is what I purchased! It's nothing compared to what Saph got! She couldn't get everything in one picture nor would it really fit on the bed jfc woman, what am I to do with her seriously?! As you can see I put it into two piles - the goodies and the LOST ASH merchandise;

I loved hanging out with my two potato queens, and I loved seeing everybody all over again! There is nothing I would change about the weekend whatsoever and I am grateful to be able to experience it with the most important people in my life. I'm still holding out for a Diamond Lash stall again though! A girl can dream!

Thanks for reading

xoxo