I went to this concert with Ren (aka Omi). We spent the day shopping in Amemura, and then met up with two Japanese friends at a bread store. Ren was in full Lolita gear, and I was more aptly dressed for a Dir en grey concert, yet fangirls and a random schoolgirl in a train station took our pictures. People at Umeda station are more of the sheltered type I guess, and everyone stared. As we neared the venue, more and more Lolitas and cosplayers boarded the train. Two American guys on the train saw us and asked us a million questions. Once we arrived, there were swarms of cosplayers and Lolitas... in fact, I only saw a few that weren't one of the above. They began calling groups by ticket numbers; Ren and I had different numbers so we split up. They made us check all our bags, and confiscated all recording devices at the door (although I got my camera in by putting it in my skirt pocket). It was a standing room with bars to separate sections, and once everyone got in, we managed to find Ren and get a place center that wasn't too far back.

The lights dimmed in a few minutes, and almost immediately, the choruses of "Mana-samaaaa!" began. They came out in their Beast of Blood outfits. I'd only wished that I knew more of Klaha's songs (I was more of a Tetsu + Gackt era Malice fan) and at that point I had only heard Gardenia, and a few of the older songs Klaha had re-done. For some songs they all played their instruments, there was a support drummer also, who they kept pretty hidden. He wore a kerchief and white face paint, and would leave stage when they didn't need him. For other songs the whole band would do a choreographed dance, and Kozi sang some too. I'd have to be honest, though, they didn't play a LOT. Yu~ki seemed to be the only one playing an instrument at some points. For a few songs, two of them would whack these synth drums while Klaha sang, and the remaining member (Yu~ki or Kozi) would play their respective instrument. Most of the time there was the organy music playing in the back. They are more fun to watch when they're doing other things though. They talked a lot too (minus Mana, of course) and Kozi and Klaha did little comedy acts.

At one point, they did a game where they split the audience into two teams (Yu~ki's team and Kozi's team). Klaha would scream "beast blood!" (although it REALLY sounded like "gray splat", it took me a while to figure out what he was saying) and the audience would have to scream it back to see who was the loudest. Mana was the cheerleader. I think my team (Yu~ki's team) won. After that, they played Beast of Blood, which had just recently been released. Then they left like it was the end of the show, but it wasn't of course. After 5~10 minutes, they came out in their Gardenia costumes and played Gardenia. Well, everyone but Mana... he pranced around the stage throwing fake flowers and sticking them in the other's instruments. He also did the cha-cha thing and hand claps. He left the stage after the song and came back with a teeny-tiny white guitar and they did one or two more songs. Then they started throwing large amounts of picks into the audience; Mana's from a teddy bear. Then they left, and the lights went on, and it wasn't even 9 when it ended. Really much too short. Most of the fans stayed around for longer, scrounging around for picks that hadn't been grabbed.

Once we were able to get out of the auditorium, we went outside to check out the tour goods. The line was extremely long, and we did see a few other English-speaking people. They were selling: Tour pamphlet (3500 yen) postcard sets (2000 and 1500 yen), posters (1500 yen), pass cases (3000 yen), pick sets (500 yen)... and Moi-meme-moitie had posters, letter sets, and other overpriced goodies. I ended up getting a poster and a pick set. We filled out their enquettes, and said our goodbyes. There were some random indies bands (although none I've heard of) handing out their flyers on the way back to the train station. I ended up in a large pack of elaborate cosplayers and Lolis on the train, which gradually lessened with each train switch... but to see the stares of passersby! The night the freaks come out in Osaka. Definitely not something you see every day.