Let’s roll back to 2020 when COVID-19 was at its peak and everything in the world was looking glum and depressing. On the other hand, STARTO (formerly Johnny’s) was trying their best to keep up with the pandemic and the restrictions, and they held a lot of online concerts instead through Family Club online. That was definitely not glum and depressing – on the contrary, it was bright and motivating!
One of the concerts I watched was Ae! group’s “Johnny’s DREAM IsLAND 2020→2025 ~Daisuki na Kono Machi Kara~” (Johnny’s DREAM IsLAND 2020→2025 〜大好きなこの街から〜), thanks to a friend suggesting we’d watch it together, as a way to introduce me to them. At first, I was not too keen on getting to know (yet) another group but I wanted to support the livestreams and have something to look forward to during the trying times.
Ae! group had just recently been formed in 2019 and was to me quite a new group overall. Not only was I not familiar with Kansai groups in general, but the only member I had heard about was Suezawa Seiya, thanks to a fellow Swedish STARTO fan. We’re off to a great start – one out of six members down. How was I going to even survive the livestream?
Turns out, I survived, enjoyed it at the time, slightly confused at times, but remembered nothing. Except, I learned who Kojima “Kojiken” Ken and Kusama Richard Keita were.
Three out of six. Halfway done, we’re getting there.
Despite the lack of recognition, I did show some initial interest in Masakado “Massan” Yoshinori and Sano Masaya. Mainly because of their faces, I have to admit.
Although, I was still unable to actually point them out among the members, even with the help of Member colors. Maybe the lack of information available online didn’t help but I guess I wasn’t quite ready to commit either. So, Massan and Masaya went into oblivion.
So, at that time in 2020, I decided that Ae! group was not my kind of group and that I would just casually keep up with them. Ultimately, that meant the remaining three members went into the void, and not even their member colors made it to my brain bank of STARTO information.
Still three out of six members. Could be worse.
Fast forward to January 2023 when Japan’s borders had finally opened again and people were finally let into the country. Needless to say, I had booked my vacation the moment the borders opened. Actually, I did book my hotel before the borders opened, in case they opened. Luckily for me, they did.
Aside from my trip being filled to the brim with various STARTO related events, one that would be a turning point was Ae! group’s “THE GREATEST SHOW-NEN “Gachi de Never-ending na Story.” (THE GREATEST SHOW-NEN “ガチでネバーエンディングなストーリぃ！”) Was I ready to face Ae! group again and give them another chance? Of course I was. There’s rarely a stage play involving STARTO that will disappoint you, and my biggest concern wasn’t even understanding the Japanese. I had blind trust in my “fluent” idol Japanese to get me through the show – and everything else in Japan. My biggest concern was remembering the members.
Once again, three out of six members. I’ve done worse. I’ve remembered Hey! Say! JUMP as ten members in their prepubescent years.
The remaining members I had to remember, or at least recognize before the show were Massan, Masaya, and Fukumoto Taisei. Easy, right?
A resounding no. My poor facial recognition and facial memory did not fail me and behaved as usual, to my great demise. I guess I had to go into the play blindly then.
Before the play, I had spent the day roaming Harajuku and Shibuya, like one usually does when you’re on the hunt for all the good related to your precious bias. That meant I had a few bags to carry and take care of. Thankfully, photos do not weigh much so it wasn’t a hassle. On the other hand, I still had to remember to carry the bag – which I completely forgot about when I went into a 7-ELEVEN to withdraw some money from an ATM.
You guessed it. I forgot the bag with all my newly bought, second-hand, precious merchandise.
Which conveniently also had my ticket for the show.
Thankfully, the theater was close to the convenience store, although it was still a short, intense power walk with my short legs, and after a few minutes, I could walk out of 7-ELEVEN with my bag in hand. Phew.
Did it make me forget to buy the pamphlet? Maybe. Did I still manage to look remotely interested in the big, gorgeous poster outside the theater? Yes. At least I hope so. I did get a few concerned looks because I did not possess an acrylic stand or a plush-keychain.
Then there was time to watch the stage play with the six members of the group, set in a fantasy RPG-game… or so I thought.
It was indeed a fantasy RPG-game but with a twist. Spoilers will be ahead, so continue at your own risk.
The twist is that Seiya is actually a player, while the others are NPCs in the game. At one point during the story, Seiya freezes, indicating that something went wrong with him in the real world. The remaining members decide that they need to help Seiya, as he is supposed to go to a job interview later.
How are mere NPCs going to help a living, breathing human in the real world? Don’t ask me but his Wi-Fi did some great magic apparently.
Kojiken, Richard, Massan, Masaya, and Taisei each turn into various household appliances. Before you go “Oh no, that’s weird,” let me tell you that they come out fully dressed as their respective household appliances – a smart speaker, a standing light, a Roomba, a pop-up toaster, and a clothes iron. Now, you can go “Okay, that IS indeed weird.”
Weird but absolutely adorable.
After the show was over, I left the venue with a few things in mind that stood out:
- “Oh God, Seiya is so tiny but so talented. As expected of Seiya.“
- “Masa..kado? Ya? Who’s who?”
- “I do not remember them being this good at singing.”
- “Whoever the orange guy is, he is pretty. Like, HE IS SO PRETTY? LIKE, UNFAIRLY PRETTY?”
It turned out that Taisei had caught my eye, Massan and Masaya were still a slight mystery to me, except that I now knew who they were once they were in member colors. Improvement, right..?
January 2023, we’re still at three out of six members.
(Don’t tell Seiya but Taisei was so much prettier than him back then… still is…)
The show left me with a good impression of the group, and thankfully, in three years, a lot had happened and there was a lot more information available online and accessible to learn more about Ae! group.
I did a quick dip into them as a group but even so, I still wasn’t fully sold. It might have been the fact I saw Hey! Say! JUMP in Fukuoka for the 15th anniversary Dome show the day after or maybe Travis Japan’s debut concert at the end of January in Nagoya. A lot happened and Ae! group was still not a priority.
Between January and May, I spent most of my time focused on Travis Japan, and when Ae! group announced their nationwide tour – Aa!!!!!! To Odoroki Zenkoku Tour 2023 (Aッ!!!!!!と驚き全国ツアー2023), I did what any fan would do: I balloted.
Did I hit?
Of course, I didn’t.
I only balloted for Yokohama shows so my friend could go with me or in the case I couldn’t come, she would be able to go with someone else. I didn’t even think of balloting for the Tokyo shows.
Maybe it was just fate telling me “Ae! group isn’t for you Sabina, focus on someone else instead,” and I did. I also completely forgot, once again, that Taisei was a part of Ae! group. He simply remained as “that pretty guy from the stage play in orange.“
The joke’s on me though. Come my May trip, I got the chance to attend one of the Ae! group shows in Tokyo. The Tokyo Garden Theater was a lot bigger than I initially thought. I almost didn’t find the entrance.
In preparation for this show, I had, once again, asked a friend to help to get me a little bit more familiar with the group. This time, it did help. At least a little.
I could remember their names and member colors. I also did watch a fair share of YouTube videos from the channel to get to know them a little bit more. I was still slightly confused about whether I would be able to tell Massan and Masaya apart.
“If he’s tall and looks like a big puppy, it’s Masaya!” and to me, that doesn’t say a lot. Everyone is tall to me. Even Chinen Yuri, and that alone says a lot.
Once they got their instruments in hand, it was a lot easier.
While I don’t remember a lot of details from the show, which is a common occurrence for everything I attend (it took me seven shows to remember Rinne’s play), there are a few things that really stood out.
Ae! group had improved so much since I saw their DREAM ISLAND, and even though I knew it from the stage play, it was another thing to experience the full on-stage, band, and idol show. I just love concerts so much.
Seiya, as much as I was amazed by his incredible performance during GachiNeba, it was nothing compared to his performance in Aa!!!!!!. My love for their song “PRIDE” was taken to new heights, and the performance alone was worth going to show.
I was left stunned and impressed by their performances of “RAM-PAM-PAM”, “Kimi no Kareshi ni Naritai” (君の彼氏になりたい), and “Party-Aholic“, as I wasn’t quite familiar with that side of them. In my mind, they were just another funny Kansai group. Oh boy, how I was wrong.
Let’s be real, to make me fall is easy. You only need a few ingredients: a smile, personality, hands, arms, and abs.
I’m a simple girl. I fall for simple things. It takes more for me to stay but I fall for simple things. Remember how I said I liked Massan because of his face? Yeah. Simple things.
There was a flash of abs and intriguing choreography in the show, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t 👁️👁️ at this point.
Of course, the actual performance ability, singing and dancing, was amazing as well but it’s those little details that stick with you.
While being mesmerized by Seiya on stage might be the easy way out, my subconscious did not choose the easy way out. Instead, my mind focused on the boy I barely could remember the name of.
My subconscious had picked out Taisei, again, and holy cannoli, he was so pretty. I got flashbacks from the January trip, and I had to admit to myself that he was, indeed, still pretty.
A friend told me he was the smart one in the group but also had an arsenal of various gags and jokes that most people did not find funny. I joked to her that I would probably find his jokes funny because that’s just my humor. Did I? I definitely did.
He did his signature Wiper! gag and that had me snorting out loud, and my non-existent abs hurt from laughing. It was so silly but I loved every second of it. Another point to Taisei, I guess.
Sometime during the concert, I also remember thinking “Oh for God’s sake, can you stay still so I can appreciate your beauty!!”, because he was running around with his bass.
During their song “Boku Blues” (ボクブルース), I could hear the improvement since January, and I was captivated to the point of tears. I sincerely hope we’ll get this concert on a disc in the future.
After the concert, I was slightly conflicted about whether my subconscious was right about being interested in Taisei, or if I was just high on the concert adrenaline. That being said, I let my feelings rest a little bit and wrote about the concert in the most objective way I could.
Once the concert report was done and published, it left me a little empty. I couldn’t quite settle with my feelings. There was something that was missing, and it wasn’t the lack of concert goods in my hands. The tour shirt was safely stored in my wardrobe along with the previous “STARTING NOW 413” tour shirt. Now you might ask, why do you buy their shirts when you’re not even a fan? Well, once again, I’m a simple girl, and those shirts? They’re gorgeous and fit me perfectly. When it comes to uchiwas, I hadn’t even picked a favorite so I didn’t want to buy one and end up regretting it.
So what was missing? In my mind, I thought it was the obsession that was missing. Usually after a show, I obsess over the show and my bias until I feel I am satisfied. After seven shows of Rinne, all I could think about was Rinne. Head empty, only Rinne.
I did not quite have that with Ae! group. Not yet at least. It was as if I had left the experience at the writing table once I was done with the report.
Not yet.
It wasn’t until a few days after my report was finished and done that I had a gut feeling. I looked back at my work, and I knew there was something missing, and it was not the obsession.
It was me being in denial again. Over, and over again, I keep denying I like someone while everyone around me keeps telling me: “Sure, Sabina, you don’t like him, sure.”
Yeah, I was sure. I didn’t like Taisei. I just found him pretty and funny.
Sure, Sabina, sure. You might as well tell everyone how much your cat loves Genta – which is a complete and utter lie.
Then there was a magazine shoot for D;J+ and while I had bought it for 7 MEN Samurai, I was absolutely captivated by Taisei. Have you ever seen someone with such a stunning side profile?
Answer is: Fukumoto Taisei.
That was when I told my best friends about this recent “crisis“. I couldn’t get him out of my head, and that’s when you turn to your friends for support. They encourage you, in every way possible, and when I tell them “Hey, I think I like this guy”, they send me a bunch of photos and whatever to further fuel the crisis. Even so, I wasn’t quite ready to embrace yet another bias but is one ever ready? You don’t pick a bias, they pick you.
All I could say was “Look at him, he’s SO PRETTY.” But was that the end of it? No. Of course not.
One morning, I got a message that said “By the way, did you know that Taisei’s buff? :3”, fully accompanied by a set of photos showing off said buff body. My response? A lukewarm: “Oh… That. Okay.”
It took me a full, busy workday to fully comprehend the message I got. Remember the simple ingredients? A smile, personality, hands, arms, and abs.
Suddenly Taisei ticked all those boxes and I was more than aware of it. At this point, I was fully aware that I was falling deep. I sent my friend a message and just told her “I have a crisis.”
From that point on, there was no return. I’m a simple girl after all. Before you all ask, yes, it was the abs.
It made me run to Pinterest, type his name in, and I was gone. My gallery went from 0 to a solid 200 in the span of just a few hours. From experience, I knew there was no reason to deny it any longer. I had no reason to not say it out loud.
Fukumoto Taisei stole my heart and I was completely in love.
Things definitely didn’t slow down after that. A friend kindly introduced me to their shows, and their past concerts that I hadn’t seen, and even to this day, I still haven’t caught up on everything. I talked about the obsession before, and it was here. This intense, deep dive into something new, exciting, and unknown is what I personally call “obsession.”
I have a lot of love to give, and the immense joy I feel whenever I watch my biases on screen is second to none. There’s nothing better than coming home, sitting down, and enjoying just a few seconds of happiness. I obsess over the little things that can make my day a little brighter, a little funnier, and help me escape into a state of delusions. That’s how I make it through the day. That’s how I draw inspiration and motivation. Whoever it is that I’m “obsessing” over, they are my driving force to keep on pushing, to keep being myself.
While catching up on their various shows and variety programs, I realized that they did record GachiNeba and aired it on TV which meant I could re-live the whole play again. With some slightly improved vocabulary, I rewatched the whole play, and realization hit.
I fell in love with a clothes iron. Taisei was the one dressed up as a clothes iron.
How ironic.
I fell for the one I couldn’t even remember the name of. The one I thought was “just pretty”. The one with jokes that more often than not fall flat because the audience is not quite appreciating the utter brilliance. The one who apparently has a smile rivaling the sun.
There are countless things I could list about why and how but at the end of the day, I don’t know if I actually have words to explain it. After all, this path wasn’t one that I intended to do my journey on. By falling for Taisei, I slowly ended up finding the rest of the members endearing and lovable too.
Finally, I could remember and recognize six out of six members. All of them.
There was no more confusion about who was who, and I could finally say that I actually knew the group. Do I know everything there is to know? Definitely not, and I probably never will. But did I pick up Kansai-ben and further confuse my already, somewhat, not so stable Japanese? For sure.
Then again, I only needed to know “福本大晴” so I could go through the depths of online second-hand stores and get my hands on the merchandise I felt the need to own.
Maybe I was doomed from the start, and maybe I should have just listened to myself when I thought “he’s pretty, I should check him out more.” If I did, maybe I wouldn’t have gone through a whole crisis of whether I actually liked him or if I was still high on the concert adrenaline. Maybe, just maybe, I should listen to my friends when they tell me I am in denial. But where’s the fun in that?
Usually, every year has me focusing or falling for a new bias, and 2023 is definitely Taisei’s year, and what Ae! year it’s been so far. It’s been a good year when it comes to idols. Get it? “Ae” means “good” in Kansai dialect… (come on, Taisei would be proud of me!)
Here’s to the seriously never-ending story of me and my love for a clothes iron.
One thought on “How I fell in love with a clothes iron”