SYLPH 2012/03

Just announced in the latest issue of SYLPH was the release of the next DGS Hibiki tankoubon volumes! Vol.3 will be relesed on March 22nd, and vol.4 on April 21st. Both will retail for 630 yen. There will also be a big announcement included with the comics.

The next issue of SYLPH will include a bonus booklet featuring DGS Hibiki illustrations by Iwasaki sensei, as well as her comments on drawing the illustrations. This month’s issue was supposed to include the concluding chapter of the DGS Hibiki manga but they were not able to fit the entire chapter in one issue so next month’s issue will be the real end.

Now for the main topic at hand, Christmas is just around the corner! I’d like to organize a project to send letters and fan art to Kamiya and OnoD for Christmas, similar to the DGS4LO Fan Project earlier this year. Rules are the same, so let’s show the boys our support!

The premise
Send fan letters and/or fan art to Kamiya Hiroshi, Ono Daisuke, and/or the DGS staff. All letters and art will be sent together as one package to Bunka Housou and addressed to Dear Girl ~Stories~.

What is allowed
Letters and art only. Sorry, no presents.

DEADLINE
All letters and art must be received by DECEMBER 12, 2011.

Guidelines

• Only fan letters and fan art will be accepted.
• Letters can be addressed to Kamiya, Ono, or any DGS staffer.
  If you will be writing to more than one person, please write them as separate letters.
• Please HANDWRITE letters, if possible.
• The boys and staff only understand Japanese, though perhaps they also understand simple English.
  It is recommended that letters be written in Japanese, but letters in any language will be accepted so feel free to write in whatever language you feel most comfortable. It’s the thought that counts!
• Do not write anything that could be considered rude or too personal.
  ie. No marriage proposals.
• Please draw art on standard-sized paper.
• Keep all art PG.
  Any fan art that I consider inappropriate, such as those with BL tones, will not be accepted.

Submission

• Letters and art will be accepted via postal mail only (no email).
• All letters should be sealed in an envelope and mailed within a larger envelope.
• Art can be mailed as-is without being sealed in an individual envelope.
• Write your name (nickname is OK) and country on the envelope with the letter/art inside.
  If you are only submitting art, please include your name and country somewhere on it. (The back is fine.)
  Please do not include your address, except on the outer envelope you are mailing everything in.
• Please write your email address under your return address so I can let you know when I’ve received your letter/art.
• Clearly mark on all letter envelopes who the letter is addressed to.

Wanna join?
If you are interested in participating in the project, please contact me (hibiki <at> boyscloud <dot> net) with your name, address, and what you will be submitting (letter and/or art). I will respond with my address for you to mail everything. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thanks!

12►

This year’s CharaHobby took place on August 27-28 at Makuhari Messe. Friends and I overnighted the night before in order to get good spots outside the seating area of the main stage. Let’s just say Friday night kind of sucked. It rained and rained and rained. We only had to endure it for about 4 hours though since the staff let us into the building at midnight. Still rather sucked because these three girls behind us kept talking and laughing out loud all night long. Couldn’t sleep a wink! >_< All the effort was worth it though because my friends and I were able to get front row on the right side of the stage, same as years past. The moment we got there, the main screen showed a commercial for the DGS4LO event DVD, which made a few people scream with delight. After securing our spots, I went to register and change into my HiroC cosplay.

The DGS recording was the second event of the day. Usually Chanko chan is the one who does the maesetsu (introduction before the main event) but this year it was Yagihashi kun, aka Yajuuhashi kun, all by himself. You can tell he was a bit nervous, hehe. After he was finished, my goodness, the screams/cheers as Dear Girl wa Nemuranai started playing on the speakers and Kamiya and OnoD did the title call from backstage. It only intensified when they came out on stage. Every year the number of people who come to watch the recording increases dramatically. Kamiya immediately pointed out that there was a Dear Boy front and center outside the seating area. OnoD did his “mosu” call and asked everyone if they were genki, going by section (right, left, center, seating area). At the end he yelled out, “Buppan genki??” (“Buppan” = sales booths.) There was silence for a second but then the staffers at the Animate booth which was directly facing the stage started cheering. It was funny.

As is tradition, Kamiya and OnoD were wearing the Hibiki jumpsuits. You could see that they were wearing the Charinty Charinty tshirts they made on the inside. Kamiya was worried that this being the 4th year DGS has had a public recording at CharaHobby, people would be tired of them and barely anyone would come and thanked the large crowd for coming to see them. He then explained that they shirts they were wearing were photographed by Kamiyama Chikin sensei, and added in that he’s never met him. OnoD then said that Sensei came twice and his personality the second time compared to the first time was quite different, to which Kamiya said he wouldn’t know (since he’s never met him).

After the opening, they went right into the shikakuteki (visual) portion of the show and screened digest footage of the DGS4LO event DVD. It was great reliving the memories and I can’t wait for the DVD’s release! (The event report can be found here.) Next was a big announcement! With the AniSama theme playing in the background, OnoD announced, “We are now taking early reservations for Kamiya Hiroshi’s Birthday 2012 ‘rainbow’!” (This year’s AniSama is titled “rainbow.”) Kamiya was all, “But my birthday is in winter…” The project was to plan for what they’d do for Kamiya’s birthday next year and out came a large Ono Note (big black paper pad with “Ono Note” written on it in DEATH NOTE-like fashion) from under the table. The staff brought out a couple of boxes, one with A written on it and the other with B. Inside box A was paper with either “HiroC” or “OnoD” written on it. Inside box B was what they would have to do. Kamiya was the first to go and he pulled “HiroC ga” from box A. OnoD was going to pull from box B but Kamiya immediately insisted that he’d choose himself. He pulled out a piece of paper that said “nurunuru ni naru (will become slimy/slippery)” on it. The crowd laughed. Of course Kamiya was not happy with this result. Next up was OnoD. From box A he pulled out another “HiroC ga.” From box B he pulled out “kekka shiawase ni naru kara subete yurusu (will be happy in the end so all will be forgiven).” Kamiya didn’t understand what this meant so OnoD explained that if it’s funny everyone will laugh and Kamiya would be overcome with feelings of happiness, which is why anything they do to him will be forgiven. Once again, Kamiya was  not very content. Next was Kamiya’s turn to pick again and before saying so, he said that only “OnoD” is left inside the box, and indeed he picked an “OnoD ga.” Kamiya pulled out a paper from box B and after reading it, put it back, picked out another, and put that one back in the box too. OnoD protested and Kamiya finally pulled another out and read it: “OnoD ga sunege wo soru (OnoD will shave his leg hair).” Kamiya said that it’s something OnoD always does and went to check by pulling up one of OnoD’s pant legs. Surprise! OnoD forgot to shave his legs, LoL. But apparently his leg hair was really thin. In the end they looked at all the papers that were inside the box, which included, “will go far away,” and “neoki dokkiri (surprising someone by waking them up),” among others that I can’t remember. Kamiya then checked box A and the last paper inside was another “HiroC ga,” to which he yelled out, “Hey! My name’s in here 3 times! This is unfair!!!” Haha, so cute. They started thinking of what should be written in the Ono Note and Kamiya was all combining the different choices into one. OnoD grabbed the Ono Note and wrote, “HiroC to OnoD ga kekka shiawase ni naru (HiroC and OnoD will be happy in the end).” Kamiya questioned why OnoD is included in it and covered up OnoD’s name so it’d only read “HiroC ga kekka shiawase ni naru (HiroC will be happy in the end).” In any case, since it’s been written in the Ono Note, I guess we can expect some more chaos next year for Kamiya’s birthday.

Next they showed another video, this time of the photo session to take photos for the Charinty Charinty tshirts. As the video started, Kamiya went backstage. The video was hilarious! Kamiya was dressed up as Kamiyama Chikin sensei with a large afro wig and sunglasses. He greeted OnoD by pinching OnoD’s nipple. ^^;;;;;; While they didn’t directly show it, there were screams as OnoD took off his shirt to change into the OnoD Mercury tank top. As Kamiyama sensei and OnoD Mercury were walking to the photo shoot area, the camera was recording them from behind and Kamiyama sensei was rubbing OnoD Mercury’s butt the entire time. XDDDDD Tons of laughter from the crowd. When OnoD’s session was over, he went to give Kamiyama sensei a handshake but Kamiyama sensei pinched OnoD’s nipple instead. ^^;;; For Suwa san’s photo, they (= OnoD) really threw a bucket of water on him. XD Only after that did they start the photo session. For Yagihashi kun, he pretended to bite the panel board.

After the video, OnoD explained that they really do do all that crazy stuff on the show, and then he noticed that Kamiya was gone. When he tried to call him out, out came Kamiyama Chikin sensei with his afro, sunglasses, camera, and wearing Kamiya’s Photogenic You tshirt and rainbow patterned pants. XD It was hilarious, and let me remind you that Kamiyama sensei talks like an okama. OnoD pointed out that the shirt he was wearing looks to be more tight-fitting than it did before. Kamiyama sensei explained, “It’s a Jr. L!” (The smallest size.) This drew a large “Eeehhhhh~” from the crowd as they were all surprised that he could even fit into that size. He wanted to take some photos of OnoD and prepared to throw a bucket of water on OnoD. OnoD ran away but finally stood still. Kamiyama sensei pretended to throw the water on OnoD, twirled the bucket in a circle at his side, etc. In the end, the bucket was actually empty but he did a good job of making people believe there really was water in it. He took a bunch of photos of OnoD with the audience in the background. Wonder if they’ll upload some of them onto the mobile website. Oh, and Kamiyama sensei did rub OnoD’s butt on stage, though not for as long as he did in the video shown earlier. OnoD was taken by surprise and immediately jumped a bit, running away.

When the photo session ended, Kamiyama sensei went off stage and left OnoD all by his lonesome. Text on the screen signaled OnoD to buy time, so he did what he did at the DGS event and asked, “Arena genki? Shimote genki? Kamite genki??” etc. Kamiya came back on stage and it was time to record the Dear Voice. Of course it was the ever popular “bi-chiku bi-chiku bakyun bakyun!” Since it’s hard to figure out on the radio, OnoD showed the audience the hand motions for it. For the “bi-chiku bi-chiku” part, you have your hands in a fist close to your chest (bottom of your hand facing forward) and do an up-down motion with your fist twice (one for each “bi-chiku“) as if you were turning something. Then for the first “bakyun,” your right hand becomes a palm and thrusts forward. For the second “bakyun,” your right hand goes back and your left hand (in a palm) thrusts forward. We practiced a few times before the actual recording. OnoD practiced with everyone, and then called out for just the girls, and then just the guys. There were actually a lot of guys and they gave it their all. XD Both Kamiya and OnoD were surprised. Then OnoD had Kamiya do it. For the recording, they had the audience do it once with Kamiya, and then once with OnoD.

Probably from yelling out “bi-chiku bi-chiku bakyun bakyun,” Kamiya’s microphone started acting strange and the volume wasn’t as loud as it should be. A staffer brought him a regular microphone (they usually use headset types). At the end, they made another big announcement: They were going to release a new single and the OP/ED songs for the show will be changing in October! The CD, titled Smiley Time,  will be released on November 2nd and Kamiya teased us by saying, “And this is the jacket cover!” but on the screen it was just a square with “Now Printing” written on it. ^^;; Apparently Kamiya hasn’t started recording yet but OnoD has. OnoD said that the opening song makes you think, “Oh, DGS is starting,” but ending song makes you think, “Huh? Is this really the ending?” All the ending songs up until now have been slow ballad-like melodies but I guess the new ending will be more upbeat or something? Looking forward to hearing it!

Kiseki was already playing in the background and Kamiya and OnoD thanked the audience for coming. And with that, the public recording for this year came to an end. The show will air on September 10 and photos will be uploaded onto the mobile site after its broadcast. Can’t wait!

After the recording, Chanko chan and Yagihashi kun were at the Bunka Housou booth to take photos with fans. They sat in front of the Namaste senpai outfit display and there was a chair between them for people to sit and have their picture taken. There was a huuuuuuuuge line that snaked and went outside the door! Unfortunately it was so long that I wasn’t able to take a photo with them but when they had to go, Yagihashi kun went around and shook hands with everyone in line. He’s nice. ^^ Luckily on Sunday, the DGS crowd was mostly gone and I was able to easily take a photo with them. The chair that was in the middle the day before was gone so I was just going to stand next to Chanko chan on his left but then Chanko chan offered me his knee to sit on. XD I asked them if they were ever going to do a public recording overseas but it seems there are no plans at the moment. (Well, even if there was, I doubt they would tell me. ^^;) Here’s to hoping that they will have one some day!

At the ASCII Media Works booth, they had on display some Gotouchi DGS Hibiki created by the staff of the show. There was a long line to take photos of them. At the Bunka Housou booth, they had the QR code to download mobile wallpapers of the illustrations Kamiya and OnoD drew of each other on the show. Luckily my friend had gotten the URL earlier and emailed it to me so I didn’t have to line up. (It was the same line to take photos with Chanko chan and Yagihashi kun.) They also had on display some photos of the DGS Farm, including a photo of Yagihashi kun and his mom, the new farm caretaker, and photos of listener-submitted Gotouchi DGS Hibiki and the Namaste senpai outfit that Kamiya wore for the DGS4LO event. Unfortunately my Gotouchi DGS Hibiki that was read on the show was not on display and they only showed ones by people inside Japan. I guess they were worried about copyrights for the Statue of Liberty or something. ^^;

For DGS goods, I bought Kamiya and OnoD’s tshirts, and the hand towel. I wouldn’t use the letter set if I bought it so I skipped out on it. The DGS Hibiki goods are up for order online at Dengekiya but the tshirts are not on sale yet. They should be available at the Chou! A&G Shop at a later date.

The annual DGS public recording was at CharaHobby on Saturday. I’ll try to have a report up soon but in the mean time, the big announcement was that the show will have a new opening and ending song in October and a new single, Smiley Time, will be released November 2nd!

At KAmiYU in Wonderland 2 in Osaka on Sunday, it was announced that Kamiya would be releasing his first full album on December 14th! The album will include 10 songs, including For myself and Nijiiro Chouchou. The limited edition will include a DVD and retail for 3990 yen. The regular edition will be 2940 yen. The announcement can be found on the Kiramune website.

Also, if my ears did not fool me, I’m sure I heard OnoD narrating the promotion video for Gundam AGE at today’s Gundam.info stage at CharaHobby, and also as the character Wolf Eniacl! There still has not been an official cast announcement but rumor has it that Kamiya will be in the series.

The recording will be held on Saturday, August 27 at 12:30PM. CharaHobby will take place August 27-28 at Makuhari Messe halls 1-3. Advanced tickets will be 1300 yen for one day, or 2200 yen for both days. Tickets at-door will cost 1500 yen.

As usual, you can apply for seating at the recording by sending a postcard to the show, applying via SYLPH, and/or applying via AnimeloMix. Applications will start June 22 and the deadline will be July 21. There will be 400 seats available.

We can expect new CCP goods, I’m sure. =)

Yesterday was the Dear Girl ~Stories~ 4 Lovers Only event at Pacifico Yokohama. It rained practically all day. As expected from Ono “Rain Man” Daisuke. I didn’t get to sleep until 2AM because I was working on organizing the letters and art for the project. Thank you to everyone who participated!! I’ve posted some photos in the gallery above. I only had a black marker so all the colored parts were written with Gundam Marker, haha. (Please don’t mind the fact that I wrote “Yokohama Pacifico” instead of “Pacifico Yokohama.” >_> It was 2AM.)

Anyway, I woke up at 5:30AM and was out the door before 6 in order to line up for goods by 8. There were already lots of people by the time I got there. Waited for four hours for them to start selling goods. During that time it would rain off and on. Sometimes the rain would come very suddenly. Other times it was sunny and bright out. Whenever it’d get sunny, I imagined it was because Kamiya “Sunny Man” Hiroshi gave OnoD a good kick in the butt. ^^; They finally did start selling goods at 12 and I bought pretty much everything except Suwa san’s tshirt and the Neko Masshigura Hibiki Kan. I also bought the Hibiki drama CD and received a clear file of Kamiya and OnoD as a bonus. (My only reason for buying it. ^^;) There were no purchase limits. FYI, some goods from the event, including the pamphlet and tshirts, will be on sale online. The pamphlet has a lot of great photos, including ones of Kamiya and OnoD holding swords. They looked like yakuza. XD Going for the dirty agent look, maybe?

After buying goods, I had lunch with friends and got back to the venue a little after 4PM when doors were supposed to open. There was a very long line to get in. …And it was rainy and windy. We finally got in though and my friend and I went to our seats in the 24th row (aisle). We had a great view of the stage. I got ready with my towel and all. I had changed into the Ono Daisuke produce tshirt during lunch. For tshirts this time they had girls’ and men’s sizes. I bought the girls’ M size and the length of the shirt was perfect, but the part where the sleeve connects under your armpit was a bit tight. I was able to exchange the Kamiya shirt for an L size but OnoD’s shirt was already sold out by the time we got back, and of course I was wearing the one I had bought so I wouldn’t be able to exchange it anyway.

The stage had a large monitor at the top, an upper stage, stairs on both sides, and then the main stage below. Beside the stairs were the letters “DGS4LO” that lit up and the stairs were also lighted. There were video cameras so I think it’s safe to assume the event will be released on DVD. After some time, the lights went down and music for Dear Girl wa Nemuranai began playing. Out came Kamiya and Ono from the upper stage! The event had begun. During the opening they also sang My Dear Girl! and there were dancers. Kamiya and OnoD also danced too! It was sooooooo cool~! Props to the choreographer. After the songs, they welcomed everyone and explained that the event had four parts: Live, radio, Hibiki, and video. The first part was live and there would be more of it later. I must also mention that Kamiya was wearing shoes with plush bear faces on them. XDDD The audience yelled out, “Kawaii~” and OnoD chuckled and said, “Hiroshi… Kawaii…” and immediately got punched by Kamiya. XD

The next corner was radio. They relived some DGS moments on stage. First up was Duriangelion!! A table with half a durian and a bottle of Vittel came up from under on the upper stage. Kamiya and OnoD ran up the stairs and then couldn’t get any closer. Whenever they tried, they would run away because of the smell. OnoD put on some gloves as BGM from Evangelion started playing. He took a spoonful and went up to Kamiya with it. Kamiya reluctantly ate it and after a second made a face and went for the Vittel. OnoD tried some too with the same result, except he didn’t drink any water after. Kamiya explained that during RE:BRIDGE, the durian didn’t taste as bad as the first time, and that this durian was like the one from the first time, meaning it tasted really bad, LoL. Next up was Namaste senpai! A mannequin wearing traditional Indian clothing came up on stage. As usual, Kamiya went to find Namaste senpai, leaving OnoD on stage by himself. But that’s OK! They had practiced this on last week’s show of DGS and OnoD said the exact same things he did then, such has having sung 53 songs, etc. There was a plan on Twitter and mixi for the third row to be silent like how it was on the radio, but I guess everyone couldn’t help themselves since the third row also cheered. OnoD was going to start his “next song” when Namaste senpai came out to teach OnoD a new yoga pose that would be good for his throat. The monitor showed an illustration for how “Ono Dai san” should pose, which was drawn by Namaste senpai. It was sort of an orz pose and on the side it said “Japanese dogeza.” OnoD did the pose in front of Namaste senpai and then tried to pull on Namaste senpai’s clothes, which earned him an “Indian Kick.” OnoD fell over. XDDD The next drawing shown on the monitor was a face with their tongue sticking out. Namaste sensei yelled at OnoD to pretend like he was licking his boots. OnoD kneeled down center stage and stuck out his tongue. The monitor showed a close-up on OnoD’s face. So funny! Namaste sensei finally “went back” to India. During the whole time, Kamiya kept adjusting the mustache and finally just took it off, saying it was detachable. ^^;

After that, the staff put a table in the center of the stage and Kamiya and OnoD sat down. Movie time!! They showed some video footage of DGS recordings. Some of the video they showed were Mote*Sta from Kamiya’s birthday (Temuko, LOL), OnoD trying to get the smell out of Yagihashi kun’s sock, drunk Kamiya and OnoD, pulling the table cloth from the table, and Kamiya getting scolded by Louis the 53rd. I really wish they would put all this footage on DVD. Hilarious stuff! You can tell they really enjoy recording the radio show.

Next was the Hibiki portion of the event. At first they led everyone on to believe that they were going to do a public recording at the event, but it turned out to be a skit. There was a semi-transparent screen put up on stage and HiroC and OnoD were supposed to change into their Hibiki jumpsuits, but it kept on being something else, such as school girl uniforms, Ononita, Hamashou, and Mario and Luigi. (It wasn’t actually Kamiya and OnoD wearing the costumes, which is why the semi-transparent screen was there to cover their faces.) Finally they got into their jumpsuits and Kamiya and OnoD came back out on stage, and out came Yusa Kouji wearing the Teraikemen eye mask. He couldn’t read his script with it on. XD He explained that their mission was to get a girl who had cooped herself into her room because there was nothing to look forward to in life and it was HiroC and OnoD’s mission to get her to come out.  They tried one-shot gags and that didn’t work, so Black Hibiki came out. Okiayu and Yonaga were both wearing really nice black outfits. Okiayu looked SO. GOOD. Like, wow… I’ll take this look over his flowery shirts any day. ^^; They had a contest to see who could get the girl to come out. The girl apparently likes animals so they did some animal imitations, with Kamiya as a squirrel, Yonaga as Yonagappa, and Okiayu as a stink bug. That still didn’t get the girl to come out. Teraikemen Shireiken then mentioned that she also likes anime, so HiroC said a line in Izaya’s voice, and OnoD a line in Shizuo’s voice. That of course got a big cheer from the crowd. Still, the girl wouldn’t come out. I don’t remember what they had Black Hibiki do but of course the girl didn’t come out then either. Lastly, Ikemen Shireikan said that the girl likes music. Cue DIRTY AGENT with all four guys singing. This 4-person version was so cool!!! After the song, the girl finally came out. Mission success!

After the little skit, they had a corner where there the teams were divided up between Hibiki and Black Hibiki. They were given a theme and Yusa would decide whose answer was best. The winner would get a prize. The first theme was pick-up lines. Okiayu was up first and said, “Feed me curry to my heart’s content. ^^;; He really does like curry… OnoD’s line was, “Please wipe my armpit sweat now and forever” or something like that, LOL! Yonaga’s line was “Love injection,” which is a line by the Japanese comedian Tanoshingo. Kamiya was last and said, “I’ve got money” while doing the money gesture with his hand and having a doyagao facial expression. It was hilarious. The winner for this round was Kamiya. XD Yusa’s reason was, “Money is everything.” The next theme was a lne from a dependable man. Kamiya raised his hand up first but Yusa called on Yonaga, saying it’s not good to be greedy. ^^; Yonaga said, “I’ll make cucumber!” which was decided as not being goo enough so they’d make Yonaga go again after. ^^;; Next was Kamiya and again he said, “If it’s money, I’ve got lots” while making a doyagao. LOL! Okiayu’s line was, “No matter how old you get, I’ll continue to lead you by the hand.” Everyone swooned over this line, including Kamiya and OnoD. XD OnoD’s line was really weird, something like, “Vocal cords are the part of the human body that wear out last. I’ll maintain them forever.” The cast then laughed at him saying that he’d be the first to lose his job. XD Last was Yonaga again and this time he said, “I’ll support you forever!” Okiayu was decided the winner for this round. The last round was to yell out their grudge. OnoD said, “I shave my legs every event but never get a chance to show them off!” LOL. XDDD He showed them and wow… So white and clean!! XDDD Next was Kamiya with, “Actually, I don’t have much money. *cry*” LOL!!! So cute~ XD When he went back to his seat, OnoD pretended to give him some change. Okiayu said, “I recently gained 3kg.” Yonaga kun grumbled, “Call me up for the main part of the radio show already!!” LOL. Poor guy. Yusa decided that Black Hibiki was the winner and their prize? Dear Girl Samba started playing in the background and out came the Men’s Maid!! XDDD Okiayu and Yonaga were surrounded by them and they came in really close and touched and rubbed various places, LOL. Yusa thought Hibiki did a very good job too so he had the Men’s Maids come out again to do the dance around Kamiya and OnoD. As they left, Kamiya got up, pointed back where the maids were running away and yelled, “He touched me!!!” LOL. OnoD was all, “One of them touched my knee with their ‘Silicon Valley.’” LOL!!!!!! Wow, to think the name of my hometown would come up here and be used in that kind of meaning. XDDDD (I’m from San Jose, California, the capitol of Silicon Valley.) Of course they couldn’t let only one person get away unscathed so Kamiya and OnoD moved the podium, put a chair in the middle of the stage and made Yusa sit down. Out came the Men’s Maid for a third time. XDDD Alas, it was time to say goodbye to the guests and everyone, including Kamiya and OnoD, went off stage.

They started showing CDDG (Countdown Dear Girl), which they made to look like CDTV with the CG characters and all. It was a countdown of the best DGS scenes (with video!). At #5 was OnoD’s “maguro ippon tsuri,” which was from last year’s CharaHobby public recording. #4 was when the Frenchmen came to do an interview and OnoD did his French one-shot gag about the Eiffel Tower. That got a chuckle out of the Frenchmen. XDDD At #3 was the Hamaween Party. They had a video comment from Hamaween and you couldn’t see UchiP’s face cuz he was too tall. XDDD (What’s funny is that on the train home, the monitor on the train showed a commercial for HamaShou’s upcoming live. ^^; How timely.) #2 was the first celebration of Kamiya’s birthday on the show, Kami*Sta! And they actually showed the footage of them in Kamiya’s house!! It was 98% mosaics though, LOL. XDDD You could only see Kamiya’s face, maid!Suwa san, Nyanko Sensei, and some objects inside the house. They even showed when OnoD climbed into Kamiya’s bed and then got kicked. XDDD It was so hilarious. Lastly, #1 was Haman Memorial. The look on Kamiya’s face when Sakakibara’s voice started playing was priceless. XDDD

Kamiya and OnoD came back out on stage and in the middle was a large, red king chair. A while ago they led everyone to believe they were going to do a public recording, but now they really were going to! And it would be aired on May 7th– Yup! OnoD’s birthday episode!!!!! They had OnoD sit down in the chair while a staffer put a Teraikemen eye mask over his face and headphones playing  Tyurya Tyurya Birthday over his ears. OnoD said it was really loud, but it was that way so they he wouldn’t hear Kamiya explaining the plan to the audience. Kamiya called out to OnoD to check if he could hear and OnoD didn’t react at all, which meant that he couldn’t. Kamiya then explained that they were going to trick OnoD into thinking that MamaD was guest on the show. And who would be playing the role of MamaD? On the upper stage, the middle part came up to reveal Taitem lying down on on his side with his head propped on his head in a RED CHINA DRESS. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kamiya laughed hard too. He didn’t know Taitem would appear in that outfit, and apparently the dress was Taitem’s personal belonging. XDDDD His legs were so smooth. XDDD After finishing the explanation, they took the headphones off OnoD and Kamiya started asking the guest some questions. The used a voice changer on Taitem’s microphone and it was actually kind of hard to make out what he was saying since it was so high, but Kamiya repeated the answers. Even OnoD at times made a “what are they saying?” face. ^^; The first question was for how long they’ve known OnoD, to which Taitem replied “OnoD’s entire life.” Of course that immediately got OnoD thinking. We learned that OnoD dressed up as a girl for the sports festival when in 6th grade (they said that this is probably when OnoD started becoming interested in cross-dressing XD), that MamaD found a photobook of Kawashima Naomi while folding OnoD’s futon, and that OnoD once researched about how to befriend a beetle. There were some other things too but these were the most funny. Of course by the end of it, OnoD had an idea of who it might be, but Kamiya told him to not say who he thinks it is yet since for the last part, they’re going to have the person touch OnoD. I think OnoD also thought it could have possibly been his older brother because at one point, he asked, “Ani?” Anyway, Taitem came down from the upper stage and patted OnoD on the head, then on the shoulder, and then took OnoD’s hand and made him rub his butt, legs, and belly. XDDDDD At the end, Kamiya asked who OnoD thought it was, and OnoD said that at first he thought it might have been his mom, but now that he’s touched the person, he was all, “It’s a man, isn’t it!” The crowd tried to trick him by going “Ehhhh~~~?” which did confuse OnoD a little bit. Kamiya told OnoD to hurry up and make a decision, and to say who he thinks the guest is. OnoD yelled out, “Taitem!” to which the crowd went “Ooooh~” I think it would’ve been better if they didn’t do that though because it totally gives it away. Oh well. Kamiya let OnoD take off the eye mask and see who the guest was. The moment he did, he burst out laughing at seeing Taitem in a red China dress. XDDDD Though the guest wasn’t MamaD, they actually did call up MamaD to find out stuff about OnoD, so all the stuff that was said really is true. XDDD OnoD was surprised his mom knew about the photobook, LOL. They brought out a huge birthday cake with 33 candles, and the audience sang Happy Birthday. OnoD looked like he was going to cry. (OnoD’s manager posted a photo of OnoD and his cake, with Yusa’s hand wiping his mouth, up on TwitPic.)

The last part of the event was the second live portion. They sang a medley of the ED songs (Kienai Omoi ~Dear Girl~, Tsuki no Mane, Kiseki). I was really happy to hear Kiseki live since it’s one of my favorite songs. So pretty. Kamiya said they want to end the event on a high note so they sang Party Flight and Netsuai S-O-S!. The crowd joined in for Party Flight. At the end, they ran off stage, and before stepping off, Kamiya blew a kiss. XD But they had run off the wrong part of the stage and had to go back to go out the right way and Kamiya blew four kisses. Kyaa~ XD

There was no announcement that the event was over and people started chanting “encore.” After a long while, Kamiya and OnoD took to the stage again, this time wearing the shirts they had designed. They said some messages for the audience and almost teared up hearing Kamiya. He talked about how after the natural disasters that they were wondering if it was okay to continue to hold the event, but in the end they decided to hold it, and that Kamiya feels that was the right choice because they could then see everyone’s smiling faces. Kamiya is so good at talks. You can tell he really cares about the fans and that he speaks from the heart. I can’t help but respect him for that. Lastly, they said that they usually can only use tools to deliver their voice, so they put down their mics for a second and yelled out “Arigatou gozaimashita!” It was so touching. ;__; Now it was time for the final song, and of course it was the first song they ever recorded for the show, Say Your Name! ~Dear Girl~. Near the end, heart-shaped styrofoam floated down from the ceiling. Luckily I was able to catch one of them. After the song, Kamiya and OnoD left the stage and a video with Prologue as the BGM started playing on the monitor. It was a compilation of photos taken during the four years DGS has been running. Very moving. Now whenever I hear the song, I think of this movie and the event. It makes me kind of sad because it reminds me of how I felt when the event was over. I wanted it to last forever, but alas, all good things come to an end. At the very end, the screen showed hand-written messages by Kamiya and OnoD. OnoD’s said “arigatou” and Kamiya’s said “kore kara mo yoroshiku.” And that was the end of the event. It was scheduled to be 2.5 hours but ended up being 3.

I wonder when the DVD will be released. I’ve been to a lot of events but this was definitely one of the most memorable. I sincerely hope they’ll have another event in the future, and at a bigger venue. I’m sure there were a lot of people who wanted to go but weren’t able to get tickets. I was very fortunate to have gotten tickets through the lottery. In any case, Dear Girl ~Stories~ is now into its 5th year. I think we can expect many more unforgettable DGS moments in the future. We love DGS!!

Update 5/8: Corrected a few things in the report.

First up, the furoku!
As mentioned on last week’s DGS, upcoming issues of SYLPH will include straps as bonuses. July’s issue (to be released 5/21) will include a rubber strap of HiroC, OnoD, and Nyaa san. The August issue (to be released 6/22) will include a figure strap of HiroC, and the September issue (to be released 7/22) will include a figure strap of OnoD. The figure straps are similar to those included in previous issues. Aren’t they adorable? =)

Next, as with every DGS public recording, the 4 Lovers Only event in April will feature new tshirts! Each will retail for 2500 yen. Kamiya’s tshirt design reads “Experience Heart Strength & horse?” in reference to this year’s birthday episode where he started writing “経験 (keiken/experience) and it somehow turned into “馬 (uma/horse).” OnoD’s tshirt is “We <3 DG,” following up on his “I <3 DG” design, and Suwa san’s tshirt is “Do Glasses Sadistics.”

As for DGS Hibiki goods, they’ll be selling the following:

• HiroC/OnoD netsuke straps – 500 yen each
• Goods Set 4 Lovers Only – 3500 yen
  Includes a tumbler mug, 2 earl grey tea bags, a ticket and photo album, and a set of HiroC/OnoD teru teru bouzu straps inside a large shopper bag
• Neko Masshigura Hibiki Can Premium – 800 yen
  Milk and melonu-flavored caramel candies inside a cat food-like can
• Long Poster (2-poster set) – 500 yen

The event is just over a month away. So exciting!

Lastly, I mentioned it on Hibiki’s Twitter account, but the release of the DGS album, Stories, has been delayed until April 6th due to the large earthquake on March 11th.

The premise
Send fan letters and/or fan art to Kamiya Hiroshi, Ono Daisuke, and/or the DGS staff. All letters and art will be handed over at the Dear Girl ~Stories~ 4 Lovers Only event in April.

What is allowed
Letters and art only. Sorry, no presents.

DEADLINE
All letters and art must be received by APRIL 17, 2011.

Guidelines

• Only fan letters and fan art will be accepted.
• Letters can be addressed to Kamiya, Ono, or any DGS staffer.
  If you will be writing to more than one person, please write them as separate letters.
• Please HANDWRITE letters, if possible.
• The boys and staff only understand Japanese, though perhaps they also understand simple English.
  It is recommended that letters be written in Japanese, but letters in any language will be accepted so feel free to write in whatever language you feel most comfortable. It’s the thought that counts!
• Do not write anything that could be considered rude or too personal.
  ie. No marriage proposals.
• Please draw art on standard-sized paper.
• Keep all art PG.
  Any fan art that I consider inappropriate, such as those with BL tones, will not be accepted.

Submission

• Letters and art will be accepted via postal mail only (no email).
• All letters should be sealed in an envelope and mailed within a larger envelope.
• Art can be mailed as-is without being sealed in an individual envelope.
• Write your name (nickname is OK) and country on the envelope with the letter/art inside.
  If you are only submitting art, please include your name and country somewhere on it. (The back is fine.)
  Please do not include your address, except on the outer envelope you are mailing everything in.
• Clearly mark on all letter envelopes who the letter is addressed to.
• Contact me (hibiki <at> boyscloud <dot> net) when you are ready to send and I will give you my address.

Wanna join?
If you are interested in participating in the project, please contact me (hibiki <at> boyscloud <dot> net) with your name, address, and what you will be submitting (letter and/or art). Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thanks!

He turned 36 on January 28. This week’s episode of DGS was part 1 of Kamiya’s birthday special. Two words: Real Hibiki. =) Next week’s episode is supposed to get really crazy. Looking forward to it!

SYLPH 2011/03

A huge announcement was published in this month’s SYLPH (released 1/22).

Dear Girl ~Stories~ Birthday Disc 2010 Kamiya Hiroshi Seitansai Radio CD will be released February 24. A tokuten DVD will be included which includes

Shitajiki

Dear Girl ~Stories~ THE MOVIE on it! The two-disc set will retail for 4700 yen. Pre-orders open tomorrow, January 23.

This month’s issue of SYLPH does not include a chapter of DGS Hibiki but came with a DGS Hibiki shitajiki (pencil board). April and May’s issues will both include DGS Hibiki furoku. April’s issue will come with body painting stickers of DGS logos and such, and May’s will include an uchiwa (fan).