Shokotan Fever Breaks Out In Los Angeles

10.07.2008 by Mike 'The Intercontinental Otaku' Aguirre

If American Otaku didn't know who Shoko Nakagawa, a.k.a "Shokotan," was before July, 5 2008, they sure do now. Japan's hottest idol made her American concert debut at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California, that, along with the Los Angeles Convention center, was the site of Anime Expo 2008. Fans started lining up two hours early to get in to the 1:00 PM concert. A quick survey of the crowd found an array of fans with various degrees of knowledge about Shokotan and her career. While most fans had heard the song "Sorario Days," the opening theme to the Anime "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann," they were not familiar with the rest of Shokotan's work. One fan hadn't even heard of Shokotan before arriving at Anime Expo. She quickly downloaded some of her songs from the internet and decided to go. "Her songs sounded cool and happy, and I've never seen an idol perform before so it's something new I'd like to experience," stated the excited fangirl. There were a few die hard fans in attendance, however, such as Ami Kamiyama, a bilingual fan who keeps up with Shokotan's blogs. "My cousin from Tokyo told me about Shokotan last year. I have her Big Bang and Anime Cover albums on my iPod. I'm GIZA excited to see Shokotan live for the first time!" stated Kamiyama, referencing Shokotan's famous made-up slang.



As the lights in the Nokia Theater dimmed, the crowd of over 4000 fans roared. The music kicked in, Shokotan emerged from the darkness and began singing "1/2," the 2nd opening theme of Ruroni Kenshin, cosplaying as Kamiya Kaoru from that series, no less. After the opening number, an excited Shokotan greeted the crowd, "Hello America! Thank you! Please enjoy my first American concert, and please enjoy my cosplay!" The excited crowd cheered on as Shokotan went backstage to quick change into another costume for her next number. The audio and video display in the Nokia Theater was top-notch, as each number Shokotan performed was especially choreographed to go along with the video for that song, presented on two giant screens on the left and right sides of the stage. The live video faded in and out seamlessly with the pre-recorded video shots, and Shokotan was always on the mark to match the poses in the video just at the right time in the live performance. Some attendees said it was like watching a music video come to life!

Some notable concert highlights include:

* Shokotan teaching the audience the meaning of some of her commonly used slang. "Giza means 'very' and giganto means 'very very.' So I love you Giza much!" she shouted enthusiastically, supported by cheers of "Aishiteru Shokotan!" and "Shokotan daisuki!" from the audience.
* Shoko introducing one of her self-made manga characters, "Sukashi Kashipan Sukoshi Hen," a sentai ranger with an affinity for cookies. Some of her drawings of the character were shown on the screen, followed by a live appearance of the character, complete with backflips!
* A special animated message from Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Using old footage from the Eva TV series, seiyuu Yuko Miyamura reprised her role as Asuka and dubbed in a new message to interact with Shokotan (cosplaying as Rei Ayanami). "Shokotan, what are you doing in Los Angeles... ano baka! Do your best to give a good performance!" In response, Shokotan broke into her rendition of " Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis" (Cruel Angel's Thesis) the instantly recognizable opening theme to Evangelion, which was received by thunderous applause and screams from the crowd.

The concert ended with Shokotan performing the aforementioned "Sorario Days" while Cosplaying as Yoko Ritona, which seemed to be popular with the many fanboys in attendance. At the concert's end, otakus with glow sticks in the first few rows were para para dancing to the music. Shokotan's performance proved so infectious that this reporter even noticed Nokia Theater ushers getting in on the act! "Y'all looked like you were having such a good time I wanted to join in!" said Shauntae Phelps, who has been working as an usher at the Nokia theater since it opened late last year. "I ain't never seen anything like this," Phelps stated.

With a mixture of popular Anime themes and her own quirky and catchy melodies, American Otakus learned first hand what all the fuss was about in Japan. Shokotan made quick work of the crowd and soon had the entire audience eating out of the palm of her hand. Judging by the the standing ovation and calls for an encore, it was safe to say that the Anime Expo crowd enjoyed Shokotan's performance Giza much!