CHOROMATSU!!! You did so good! I would love to see you dance more! đŸ’š

The first ask was a leftover from the last concert, and Jyuushimatsu ran the camera over to Choromatsu, reading it off as his wig gets some last minute adjustments.

His eyes light up immediately. “You really think so?!” Jyuushimatsu jokingly makes the camera nod, and Choromatsu smiles. “It was really interesting to work on, actually!” He points over to where a certain someone is talking to a photographer about poses. “Karako mentioned wanting me to partially choreograph it because she’s not really used to wotagei and we managed to hybridize her style and mine, and I’m really proud of it! There’s more to it– the company posted the full dance shot to their channel, and–” he makes a gleeful little noise, hands clasped​ in front of his chest (because his hair’s getting worked on, he can’t bow, and it’s killing him). “Thank you so much!”

On That Halloween Creep

Members of the official fanclub were sent a link as a membership perk, one that they can distribute as they see fit. If you aren’t a member, you likely got the link via a blog post? But how you got here is minor. What’s major is that you’re getting access to behind the scenes footage as it’s happening. They’ll be open to questions this stream, too!

All six boys are in a room of blue and green screens, dressed in their vampire best, with a few scattered staff members, photographers, and artists.

Jyuushimatsu is the first one to pop up in front of the camera, fangs bared, hands up. “Bwah!!” He laughs, “Hey, everybody!” He wiggles his fingers, putting on a mockingly creepy tone. “Welcome to he mansioooooon.”

Ichimatsu laughs quietly from behind the camera. “Give em another good blaaah.”

Jyuushimatsu, tongue out, shouts “Blaaaaargh!” He motions for the camera to follow him. “We got a good camera to stream with! We’re doing last minute promo shots for our Halloween single!” Leaning in to the camera, he mock whispers, “We recorded this song the day before the Wonderland concert. The whiplash from creepy to cute was crazy! Come on, let’s go bug everyone!”

((Halloween and general asks are accepted not just for the boys, but the Girlymatsu staffers!

As the light harpsichords of another song starts up, Osomatsu gets himself center stage, the others getting into place around him. “We’ve got one more song before we wrap this whole things up, friends and foes, and it’s a good one! We want to thank you for being so good to us, keeping us afloat and all that jazz, and to thank everyone for being here for so long.” Osomatsu gives a quick bow, the others following shortly after with their own shouts of thanks.

((One more song reference for this event: Karikeiyaku no Cinderella by Ebichu!))

Amid swirling rainbow lights and loud cheers (P! I! N! E! P-I-N-E, MATSUMATSUMATSUMATSU!) the boys dashed back out into the audience to get up close and personal, the tone unrelentingly cheery.

It was actually an apology, but one delivered with a smile. They’re sorry that Wonderland has to come to a close for now. It’s been fun, real fun, but it hasn’t been real. You need to head back! But, no need to worry, because their songs can always bring you back here for at least a little while.

The world is rough, especially for dreamers, but they’ll always be a safe haven for their fans whenever they need them. Just keep an ear out, and you’ll find your way back, back to flower filled fields, to heart shaped ballrooms, to tea parties and checkerboard kingdoms. The card guards will keep watch over your hearts, they promise, because you’re worth protecting.

As the song finishes, the boys take their bows and head offstage. (They wind up at a few more of the rides before they’re taken back to the Banderole dorms, and more than a few pictures are taken of their expressions on the more frightening rides.)

All in all, the day felt longer than expected, but it was thoroughly exhausting, the kind of exhausting that leaves you feeling content once it’s all over.

This event may be over, but…

Halloween is on its way. They’ve got to get to work!

[She had meant for it to be given to Oso alone at an appropriate time, but someone in the back must’ve misheard and delivered it to him right on stage!] He gets a little package with a handwritten message inside: “A little treat to help with all your running around! (I promise it won’t make you tiny!) ~Vanillanon ❤️” And nestled under the letter is an adorably decorated wonderland cookie made specially with his character in mind!

Osomatsu breaks into a grin, skittering over to a camera and holding the cookie up. “Look at this shit. This is adorable, this is so cute I kinda don’t want to eat it. But, hey, if I don’t, they will, so! Thank you! I’ll eat this after the show so I don’t gunk up the works. You and all my other fans deserve me at my best, right?”

“Whoa.” Choromatsu looks horrified. “Did you just put off eating a snack? With a responsible reason for doing so?!”

“Um.” Osomatsu shrugs. “Yeah?”

The other five immediately begin murmuring to each other about how terrifying it is to have an eldest brother who behaves responsibly.

“Hang on, hang on, I am not consistently responsible! You take that back!!”

There’s a little tag inside with pretty pen work stating ‘Eat me!’ It’s a little confusing when there’s no treat attached, but then you see the small script underneath: (and I don’t mean the cookie~)

You’ve started a minor tousle over the note, friend. The boys are still as touchstarved and thirsty as ever. At least their costumes keep glowing, they were made much more sturdy than when they first started!

I have a question for the Queens! Do you find it difficult ruling together, or do you feel there’s a bit of a rivalry between you?

Jyuushimatsu tilts his head. “Can we be honest?” Ichimatsu nods, and Jyuushi speaks up again. “That was all pre-recorded! They’ve got their own concerts today, actually. Movie magic!”

“Jyuushimatsu-niisan, this isn’t a movie!” Todomatsu still ruffles his hair. “But, yeah, they’re not here, sadly. It’d be super cool if they were, though, right?”

After some murmured agreement, Choromatsu speaks up. “They probably would have a hard time ruling side by side, wouldn’t they? They bicker a lot; if it’s anything like our fights, nothing would get done.”

“Perhaps different points of view like theirs would make for a successful partnership!” Karamatsu manages to twirl to his feet somehow. “Dark and light, polished and cozy, passionate and calm! It could make for a very powerful alliance. Hm?”

No response. Next?

Osomatsu stands up, ruffling and only partway messing up Kara’s hair on his way to center stage.

“So, uh. I’m up!” A few stray whoops make him smile and loosen up a tad, attempting to pop the collar of his festival happi. “This ad campaign has two goals. Number one, show that this,” he points to the screens above, showing a snazzy new smartphone slowly rotating to show off all angles, “is so user friendly that anyone from any era can manage to navigate it, including this old geezer.” He laughs, “I’ve got the face of a millennial, the tech knowledge of a baby boomer. I hate myself and the economy’s my fault. Number two!” Osomatsu gets that telltale childish whine of his, “I can do more than old soul influenced stuff! Niichan can be modern and trendy! I’m hip, ok?!”

There’s a burst of laughter from behind him, the audience joining in soon after, and the band decides to have mercy on him. He’s going to give a quick “pthbbt” to his brothers and get to work.

((This time, the song is Mitchie M’s Ohedo Julia-night!))

The performance hall is soon filled with synths and bass, and Osomatsu barely sucking at rapping at all, good for him! What’s also good for him is the lyrics, sprinkled with puns about the phone’s features, but it’s subtle enough to not make the whole shebang nothing but a musical ad.

In it, he paints a picture of an old timey weekend rager, where noblemen are throwing their money around like there’s no tomorrow, silk and flowers as far as the eye can see. His head’s swimming with the smell of perfume… and the wall-to-wall crowd of gorgeous people.

The crowd is dancing, the music loud, and he’s caught right in the middle of it all, watching the whole party right from the epicenter. The colors swirl around him, and he catches a certain someone’s eye.

He decides, well, the party’s a bit much. He’ll distract everyone looking for him, and sneak outside with you for a bit, if you want! Oh. Oh, shit, um. Hey, merchant who’s throwing the party, what’s. What’s up? No, we’re not leaving yet, but it’s really sweet that you were worried, so let’s. Let’s go back in!

Even that couldn’t spoil this evening. He’s dreamt of this kind of bash for ages, he’s living it up and so are you! He’s determined to make this night an evening to remember forever, and he’s getting the audience as pumped as possible, jumping and waving their lights like drumsticks, and he dashes out into the audience for that final chorus, a glowing fan waving and twirling from one hand.

As the song picks up again, “By the way, still a corporate shill, here are all the specs the song implied.” One last burst of music as it rapid fire flicks through the details; HD photos and videos, panorama shots, one year of free music streaming and antivirus protection, secure browsing, and cloud storage. Osomatsu takes a quick bow, “Thank you very much!”

The transition between cheering for Choromatsu and screaming for Karamatsu is strangely smooth. He approaches the front of the stage, fixing his glowy, glowy leather jacket and waving.

As the sun begins to set, soaking the scene in orange, he finds his words. “Music… is a magical thing.”

His brothers all groan. Oh, no, he’s gonna monologue.

“To make that magic as strong as possible, one needs to listen to it in the best conditions possible, yes? No need to worry; your musical protector, Karamatsu, is here to ensure that everything sounds as beautiful as possible!” He sounds like he’s attempting to be confidential about this. “You’ll be able to hear just how well they work using this song as a test. The instrumentation contains a wide enough range for you to make sure your treble and bass are well balanced, and…” With a grand sweeping gesture towards his brothers, “not only does this song capture my highs and lows, but it also contains some stunning harmonies, kindly and lovingly woven into a tapestry of song by my brothers!”

Ichimatsu scoffs, “Way to make us look like garbage for not including everyone else more, Shittymatsu.” As the others start to grumble over the same realization, Karamatsu hollers for the song to begin.

((Your song reference for today is My Cherry Pie by Sasaki Ayaka!))

The whole song contains all sorts of good, retro schmaltz. The horns, the pianos, the strums of the guitar, it’s all terribly catchy. Karamatsu, in his rockabilly finest, headphones around his neck, immediately begins dancing like he was a rejected extra from West Side Story. A talented reject extra, but a reject extra all the same.

The song starts off delving into his deeper range, and the blue boy is tickled pink with how much he’s strengthened and widened his range over the past year. It’s audible in the way he sings… and, well. Emphasized by when he crows, “Yes! I am perfect!” before edging up to a more tenor-ish range.

The song centers a corny message, but a universal one: music is powerful, and can take your heart on a journey. To the past, the future, to another place, into another person’s mind. It can remind you of your past, tell you new stories; it can repeat what you already know, or show you something new. Joy, anger, sadness, love and hate! Music is in everything, and that fact makes him happy day in and day out.

The other five Matsunos are a smidge less grumpy by the time their harmonies come into play, almost as proud to show off as Karamatsu is, fighting to keep their laughter at bay as Karamatsu peacocks along the edge of the stage, reaching out for fans’ hands, aiming for Jagger but landing roughly around “rooster who’s just been cast in Grease.”

He dashes out into the audience, accidentally sliding down the last few feet of the path. He takes it in stride, singing that dramatic, slow solo on his knees like he completely, totally meant to do that. He hopes that this magic will never fade, because it’s what keeps our spirits alive!

He ends strong, with a dramatic turn away… And a decisive whip of his head toward the audience on that final beat. “Thank you, thank you!”

Ah, what exquisite pain that was. Look at that proud smile on his face, he’s so satisfied with what he’s done. Kinda makes you not want to ruin his fun.

As the brothers dogpile their praise on Ichimatsu, hair ruffles and hugs flying left and right, Osomatsu comes to a realization.

“Guys? Where’d Choromatsu go?”

A spotlight flashes toward the back of the audience, Choromatsu standing in the back with a group of people he’d befriended and helped during his underground wota days. His almost magical girl-like outfit was glowing green, how could anyone miss him?

“It’s only polite to do your wotagei in the back! You’ll hit less people, and you won’t obstruct the view of the stage! That’s rule number one!”

“But.” Jyuushimatsu tilts his head like a confused puppy. “But it’s our concert, why are you back there?”

Choromatsu holds up his penlights, each decked out with a matsu at the end. “I’m advertising for these penlights! They have flashlights, emergency glowsticks, lanterns, UOs, and penlights like the special edition ribbon ones for this concert. They knew I could show then off best with some help from my friends back here. I’ll be up there soon, no worries, but…” He smiles a little bashfully. “I went back on the forums for the first time in years, and the company asked me to write the mix and help with the wotagei for this one. I promise, you guys can come up with it for every other song of ours, but I just did this so it’d be orderly! Oh, also,” he holds his lights high again, “I know I’m not everyone’s favorite, but the footage from this concert will be in all of our commercial campaigns, so if you could light your lights up in green, or white if you don’t want to go green, then it’d make it all look even better! Ok?” The audience responded with a sea of clicks as their lights changed (save for a few more stubborn fans, but they were few and far between).

((The song reference (and wotagei reference, actually!) is Love Balloon by Silent Siren! Check out the Lumica CM and all its variants here!))

It begins with a burst of guitars and drums, Choromatsu and his companions moving in near perfect synchronisation just like old times. His endurance has gotten so much better than it was when he first started as an idol; before, he was audibly winded halfway through a song, but now? He’s jumping and waving around, singing without strain or trembling. He sticks to the choreography until the first chorus.

After that, he leaves it to them, walking through the aisles and rows of seats, pumping the lights up and down, swaying them side to side, offering an alternative routine for concertgoers in tighter arrangements. He’s still happily singing about living in a moment that makes him dizzy with happiness, makes his blood rush and his heart sing as the people around him shout along. (The mix he’d written has call and response parts that make it all the better to experience live, honestly.)

He makes it onstage just before the last chorus, dancing along to the keyboard solo before shouting for the audience to jump with him. The stage and crowd are a veritable sea of green and white, bouncing along with him as the lights go off, nothing but lights to be seen until the last few chords play out, providing a poster-ready image of Choromatsu, matsu penlight held aloft, in front of hundreds of lights matching his own.

Everyone feels connected, together, like part of a whole. It’s perfect. Choromatsu smiles with glassy, almost teary eyes, and bows with a shout.

“Everyone, thank you so much!”