To say that yesterday was an amazing experience would be an understatement, but then again every live that I’ve attended with these boys are amazing, you truly have to see them live to be able to grasp the awesome-ness that is jejung, yuchun and junsu, they are truly just that good live.
June the 7th marked the return of JYJ to the land of the rising sun. Anticipation were high as fans in Japan were not able to see them perform since the Avex fiasco last year, you can practically feel the excitement buzzing as fans gathered and lined up outside the venue. My boyfriend and I arrived at Ryogoku Kokugikan at about 10 am and met up with a friend of mine and her fiancé, and by the time we arrived there was already a loooooong line of people, ahhhhhh as expected all this for our JYJ ＼（＾. ＾）／!
Kurumi and I actually met last year during thanksgiving live and bonded over our love for jejung lol,(backstory! She actually got to know jyj/thsk through jejung and yuchun during their colours days, said they were like a more talented version of tackey and tsubasa, funny thing was she had heard of thsk before but didn’t know who thsk was until then hehe) since then we promised to attend their shows together whenever they come over to Japan if we can help it ♥
There were really a lot of people, I see girls (and a few boys!) carrying jejung fans, cute homemade ones, there are those with jiji on them so adorable, and professional looking ones (later I found out that they’re giveaways from wcjj, but by the time we came it was gone…sigh too bad), just so many of them! Looking around, I also saw a few girls wearing Minnie ears and xiah shirts, one even carried a ‘soar junsu’ banner, so all three of them must’ve felt the love of the fans that came.
There was also some carrying the bigeast towel from A-Nation last year as well as those wearing jyj shirts, carrying jyj fans, it was a really good mixture groups, lots of fanboys attended too. Also I was surprised to see that they were selling merchandises, because I didn’t actually expect them for this concert, but nevertheless managed to snag a t-shirt (it has a big heart in the middle and fighting Japan written on it) and a phone strap.
As we mingled around, I found out that a good chunk of people there were without tickets, they came in hopes of actually obtaining one or to just support the boys and hoping to at least catch a glimpse of them. It’s really too bad that they were not able to perform in a larger venue, for so long fans here are yearning for them to come and perform but it can’t be helped… JYJ must know that they still have a lot of people here waiting for them so I hope that these fans and others as well will be able to see them the next time they do come.
Anyways, immediately after entering the venue, we can see the circular stage, the first thought that came to my mind was that it was so small! My second thought was ‘oh my god so close’, it was a really intimate setting. My boyfriend said that the place would be really good for an acoustic or band concert, it got me imagining a jyj concert with a liveband in this kind of intimate setting, how great would that be?
The seating was really…unique, we get to sit on the floor (but in the end everyone ended up standing anyways). The venue started to fill up and before you know it, from the floor to the upper seats, it was fully packed. It was in that moment that it hit me, oh god this is really happening, they’re really here, they’re back, and I kind of teared up a bit, I’m sure everyone know this… this concert for it to happen it hasn’t been easy, and I think everyone in that hall felt the same, thought the same, finally. Finally. It’s happening. They’re here. They’re back.
Lights off, red ocean on, cue music . Yes. JYJ is back and they’re here to stay, we will make sure of that.
The intro felt like it went on forever (or at least that’s how I felt lol), I was so excited to see them, everyone was too if the screams are any indication, and I must say the green lasers are really a pretty contrast to the ocean of red. At first I thought I was seeing things, but amidst the glaring red ocean, you can see spots of green lights here and there, you can tell how jejung fans are going all out that day.
The dancers came out first. Three glass boxes came out from the stage as the intro to empty starts playing, by this time the girl next to us was actually crying (my boyfriend handed her a tissue /pats him). Then lo and behold, yuchun jumped out in front of us, sparkly blue suit and all, well hello there nice surprise. Yuchun it’s been a while, you look and sound so good ! He really does, his ‘girl I swear’ is really sexy. I wanted to reach out to him >.<!
He looked better than I last saw him, so for a moment I was kind of mystified in a way. The girl before kept on calling for yuchun, we know where your heart lies now hahah. Yuchun’s voice for me is severely underrated, while he is not the best singer and may sometimes be a hit or a miss, yesterday he was really good. His voice was beautiful during fallen leaves, and his notes during in heaven were a dose of gorgeous smokiness. And this boy sounds really good in English songs, I don’t know there’s just a certain oomph in his voice (kind of like jeje with Japanese songs, fits him perfectly like a glove). Though he (and jeje) tends to get a bit shouty during get out, I guess they were just super excited, his eff you during get out was amusing though, boyfriend laughed outright after.
Then I looked to my side and saw my baby, jejung ♥ My eyes were stuck on him then, he really has improved dancing wise, we used to make fun (out of love peeps, jejung baby is a favourite of both of us) of his dancing, my boyfriend sees him as an awkward dancer while for me it was a mixture of adorable and clumsy and sexy in that lazy way lol, but this time I can honestly say that his moves are sharper and on point. Go jejung!
When he moved in front of us I was positively dying. Dying. I wanted to tell him to never leave us again and just stay, stay in Japan jejung, stay here T.T Oh his English surprised me! He sang the lyrics really clearly and I can catch it and understand them, so jejung, thumbs up, good job baby. Improved so much on dancing, improved on English as well, here have a gold star. Baby also did a lot of adlibs, I absolutely love his adlibs on ayy girl, oh jejung you have my heart, his voice is like warm honey to me.
He also did these little growls which are not that obvious unless you’re really paying attention (or maybe they are?) XD but oh god my heart, jejung what you do to me… When he did the intro to fallen leaves, I got goosebumps, I really do, it was simply beautiful, it was haunting, his voice echoes throughout the entire hall. And oh how I adore his high notes, they’re always so raw with emotions. Here jeje have another gold star.
While baby was beyond gorgeous he looks thinner since we last saw him, what happened to all that muscles jeje hmm? Oh a funny tidbit, there was this moment where I was distracted for a while cause this man in front of us was waving to jejung frantically, then all of the sudden he yelled jejung ganbatte, and my boyfriend answered with yeah go jejung! Ah… fanboys you gotta love them. And may I also add that the baby looks really happy yesterday? Like ridiculously happy, he was all smiles and laughs, it was just a treat to see him light up so much like this.
Junsu as usual was amazing, even in THSK I always find him to be the best dancer out of all of them, and he really did not disappoint at all. You can see how he puts his all, his moves are fluid, precise and sharp just my god junsu are you for real? As in the first half was mostly uptempo and upbeat songs, junsu was completely on his element, those hips… When they’re not on jejung, my eyes automatically gravitate towards him.
In fact there were moments when they stayed completely on him. This boy, when he is on stage, he’s just…surreal, he really is born to perform. And then the ballads came, oh su how your vocals improved tremendously, I think he must’ve gained more singing experience through his musicals. Su sings like his life depends on it, and the result of that is just pure passion. Just gorgeous. Junsu’s voice is just beyond amazing, and su is one of those singers that in my opinion whom you can feel his emotions through his voice, he projects them so beautifully. This I think goes the same for jejung and yuchun, which is why when you see and hear them live, they just tug your heartstrings especially during their ballad numbers.
They sang a lot of upbeat songs, a number of English songs from the beginning album and their Korean songs. Before this concert I was curious as to whether or not they’re going to sing any Japanese songs, maybe a surprise new composed song or two, but well maybe next time. The setlist was pretty much the same as all the other tour stops, without their solos (too bad, from the fancams I was looking forward to them…for various reasons :3), yuchun 6 minute untitled song and a few others. It could be because they did not have enough time to showcase those songs, as jejung cheekily mentioned a few times.
I have to say I’m super impressed by their stamina, the boys sang a series of upbeat songs right after empty back to back, and not once did they look out of breath or went off tune. There was a few moments of mishaps, courtesy of our very own clumsy jejung, I was actually expecting this cause of the stage size, he accidentally bumped into yuchun a few times and once yuchun even subtly moved him back to his own place cause jejung was at his, so cute T.T And junsu once again showed how much of a perfectionist he is on stage by avoiding these mishaps (
)/
From the ments you can tell that jejung really does feel at home here, his Japanese is flawlessly fluent, as a foreigner living in Japan I can attest to how difficult it is to master the language, and even when you do you still retain that accent with you, and jejung he sounds local! He interacts with the audience the most and the fans here adore him for that. Yuchun mumbles a lot, and cause sometimes when they talk people scream so I can’t really listen to him properly (add to the fact that I’m standing next to a yuchun fan so whenever he talks she calls him, it’s cute though her ‘yuchuuun’ and she’s very sweet).
Junsu did not really talk much, I was waiting and looking forward to your oyaji gags su! He seemed almost shy, jejung teased that yuchun and junsu’s Japanese are decreasing lol maybe that’s why. Stay here su, we can learn more Japanese! I think one of the moments which struck the fans the most was when jejung said we are not his fans but his family ♥ This boy just has a way with word, honestly if it comes from anyone but him it would come off as fake but you can tell from the way he says it he really does meant it. Thank you jeje, we feel so loved. And you can also tell how much Japan means to them by how they look at their audience, people say our eyes are a window to our soul, and jyj eyes from my view and the screen speaks volumes.
And I love love the interactions between them and their dancers! There was this moment in ayyy girl where the two girl dancers approached jeje and su, the crowd went crazy (I wonder how they’d react if the boys did their solos XD). The audience in the hall were a really supportive and energetic bunch, the energy is just… I don’t know how to explain it you have to be there to feel it. They sang along, jumped (or at least tried too, very difficult to do T-T) and by the end of the day my ears were ringing and my throat went really sore.
I think my favourite performance for yesterday had to be fallen leaves, in heaven, mission and ayy girl (last choice may seem to be a bit weird to some people). Fallen leaves, I wasn’t a fan of the song when I heard it on track, but listening to it live, it’s just so breathtaking. In heaven, first of all, jejung you are an amazing composer, please do keep making songs like this, the audience loved this song, they really do.
Their harmony, and their voices they just blend so well together, and the climax… it actually drove people to tears, it really is that good, they are really that good. Mission is just, from the moment jejung jumped out in front of us to the end of the drum beat, I loved it, every second of it, they looked good, they danced really well and they sound good. What more can you ask for? Ayyy girl like fallen leaves was not a favourite of mine, though while I still can listen to fl, I can’t bear listening to ayyy girl at all. Watching it live was a pleasant surprise, they actually managed to pull this song off and make it really good.
Jejung said he was worried that not many people would come because they were away for so long, I don’t think he should be concerned about that, the fans are here, and they’re here to stay.
People really do love them, they never did stop, no one wanted to leave after it ended, many cried when jyj left the stage. Everyone was just so happy and thankful that they came and performed for us, we all have waited so long, and I don’t think we’d be able to let go at this point. The concert ended at a high note, and we left with a bittersweet yet hopeful feeling. Oh and I got myself a junsu ball ♥
Credits: lovemayalove142