Greetings and salutations, fellow Rodeo Boys and Girls! Today I’m bringing you a different kind of post, because I realized that after almost 13 years of maintaining this site, I’ve never introduced myself. Some of you know me elsewhere (Twitter, most likely) and some of you have met me in person, but most of you know me only through the posts I make. And since I haven’t shared any personal insights in, well, forever, that leaves who I am a bit of a mystery.

So, who am I? And how did I become so dedicated to GRANRODEO? Come take a stroll down memory lane with me…. ああ、懐かしい! So very nostalgic.

昔、昔…

A long time ago, in this here universe…

I’m April, and I currently live in Japan with my two Norwegian Forest Cats Len and Tyr. That’s Len as in Tsukimori Len, which may give you a clue as to my GR beginnings, if you’re familiar with the Neoromance line of otome games and Kin’Iro no Corda in particular. I’m a former Army brat, so have lived in Germany (born there!), the U.S., Turkey, and Japan. Age-wise, I am between KISHOW and e-zuka, so no spring chicken. I first came to Japan in 2000 with friends, but didn’t really click with the country until my second visit in 2003. Somewhere in that time frame I became a huge seiyuu fan (many have known me for being an Okiayu Ryotarou fan in the past), which meant an appreciation of seiyuu character songs and anison in general. And a desire to see live events.

In 2004, I made a conscious choice to go see a TeniPuri live rather than the summer Neoromance live, thus delaying my capitulation to Taniyama Kishou’s voice by a few months. But sometime around the end of that year (I think), I saw a ripped video of the performance and found myself flailing at my computer screen, needing to know RIGHT THAT MOMENT who the fuzzy haired, tight pants-wearing man with the angelic voice was. To say I was hooked instantly was an understatement. This video also brought e-ZUKA and Takita to my attention, as they were in Bloody Ruby, the Neoromance house band. And so an obsession was begun.

Shortly after that explosive introduction came the anime Sukisho, featuring 「Daydreamin’」, an absolute favorite of mine, and then the「Warrior」single. The same month 「Warrior」 came out (8/2005), I was fortunate enough to see 2Hearts live in Yokohama, getting me in front of e-ZUKA and Takita live for the first time. Later that year, the announcement that e-ZUKA and KISHOW would be forming a band had me giddy with anticipation. I admit, I didn’t hear 「Go for It」until much later, so 「Infinite Love」was my first GR song. Instant and infinite love, indeed.

When 2007 rolled around, I preordered their first CD, 「Ride on the Edge」and started what turned into a years’ long stalking of the official website to see if I could catch a concert. Alas, I always went to Japan in summer and so kept missing tours. Fast forward to August 2008 and a Gurren Lagann seiyuu event. My friend had gotten us good tickets, so I had a close-up view of KISHOW going face-first into his 33rd birthday cake, thoroughly coating his face and hair. Followed by Konishi Katsuyuki and Onosaka Masaya feeding him frosting from their fingers (the latter of which got cut from the official DVD, alas). Color me charmed!

A bit of an aside here: since 2001 I had been working for a San Francisco-based anime convention. One of the perks of the job was early entry into Comiket (courtesy of one of the event founders), which meant I was generally able to run around the industry room and get tickets for seiyuu events before the general public was let in half an hour later. Where this comes into play is that less than a week after the cake face-planting, I had a ticket for a Yojimbo video game handshake event with KISHOW. I almost didn’t make it in, since I brought the wrong day’s ticket with me, but the Comiket exec was kind and slipped me in surreptitiously and gave me another ticket. Kismet, definitely.

I had another ticket at the same time for a greeting with Takahashi Hiroki. I zipped through that line and headed to KISHOW’s line. Since I had ticket #10, they sent me to the booth, and a couple of minutes later, I was face-to-face with KISHOW, my small hands in his soft, warm ones. To say he was surprised to see me was an understatement. I was so starstruck. After we exchanged hellos, I managed to get out that I’d been at the Gurren Lagann event the week before and enjoyed it a lot to which he said thank you. We only had 30-60 seconds, so all too soon staff were shooing me away. I hurriedly brought up the birthday cake he’d done a dive into and gave him a thumbs up, which made him laugh. One of those laughs that makes you weak in your knees. Staff really did shoo me away then, but KISHOW made the moment last by waving me off and saying “またね！” (See you again!). I still remember what he was wearing: black and silver striped tank top, loose shirt over it and sunglasses. かっこいい！Too cool by far. Last fall at his book event, I told him we’d met 17 years before at a handshake event. He was utterly mystified!

It would take another eight months before I’d see him — and e-zuka! — again. In the mean time, I bought 「Instinct」and enjoyed it. Come April of 2009, I attended a Neoromance Angelique event with the same friend as at the Gurren Lagann event. And finally, I heard them play 「Infinite Love」! That same week I also met my friend Nancy, who’s been to a number of GR live shows me with. A banner week!

2010 rolled around and I was back in in Japan in February for Rocket Punch 4, which was in the middle the ROLLING the SCAR LEMON tour. I assume I went to Rocket Punch because it was easier for me to get tickets. My seat was second row in front of the hanamichi (runway), which meant I was super close during their set. KISHOW had a pair of lips tattooed on his neck, which elicited illicit thoughts of climbing over the seats in front of me. Did I forget to say the show was on Valentine’s Day? If I could’ve manifested heart eyes, I would have.

They played the following songs:

Brush the Scar Lemon
シャニムニ
21st Century Lovers
カナリヤ
Infinite Love
Theme of “ROCKET ★ PUNCH!” (encore with everyone)
僕たちのAnniversary (encore with everyone)

I fell head over heels for 「21st Century Lovers」, especially KISHOW’s wordless vocalizations. And I was amused that he said since it was a Neoromance event he supposed they should sing 「Infinite Love」. Heh. Five songs were not enough and I just knew I had to get to a full live.

It would take me another year and a half for that, and you’ll need to wait for part 2 for that story!