Sega Saturn Digital Circus

Event	Sega Saturn Digital Circus
Location	Port Messe Nagoya
Date	1997.11.16
Time	10:00 - 18:00
Cost	Free
Guests	Okada Junko (岡田純子) Makishima Yuki (牧島有希) Konno Hiromi (今野宏美)

Report version 0.8 by Hitoshi Doi, 1997.11.17
(some additions by Joe Petrow)

I just happened to be in Nagoya on Sunday November 16, so I went to the Sega Saturn Digital Circus event. It was held in the Port Messe Nagoya, near the port which is quite far from Nagoya station.
[Makuhari Messe and Big Sight are far away from the center of Tokyo too..]

We (Joe was there too, as he wanted to take a break from his complete circle tour of the Yamanote Line) arrived at the Port Messe a little after 9:00, and all of the tickets to the Sentimental Graffiti event were gone. (;_;) They had passed out the tickets at 9:00, and there were only 100 tickets per session (2 sessions).

But we lined up and went into the event at 10:00. There wasn't that much of a line, probably around 100 or so people. The event was held in a pretty small room. One side of the room had a small stage, and the other side had lots of Sega Saturns, where the people got to play the various games.
[I didn't go to the games side, but Joe looked at some..]

About 50 or 60 separate game systems set up, most of them in the back of the main area, but a few more around the entrance (I turned away all comers in All Japan Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua.)

By far the biggest crowd was the one surrounding Sentimental Graffiti. Yes, there is a real game that you can actually play now, if only just at this Sneak Preview. But the crowd around it was so thick that I could only catch fleeting glimpses.

There were various 30 minute events on the stage, and people were able to freely go sit in front of the stage to watch them. The only exception was the Sentimental Graffiti seiyuu event, as they roped off the front of the stage for people with tickets. But since it was only 100 people, it was pretty easy to see the event from outside the roped area.
[The distance was around 7 to 10 meters from the stage, for the first row behind the rope.]

So I just watched the events from the first row behind the rope. They didn't say anything about pictures, videos, recordings, so I took pictures (but only 5 rolls), recorded it on MD, and had Joe take the Hi8 video. [Almost complete coverage! (^_^;)]

The Sentimental Graffiti events were talk shows with Mr. Kubota (producer of SG), Okada Junko (Adachi Taeko), Makishima Yuki (Hosaka Miyuki), and Konno Hiromi (Yamamoto Rurika). The events flowed as follows.

seiyuu introductions
short talk about the game
quiz corner/presents
future plans
final message (in character voice)

There were life-sized stands of the three characters on the stage.

11:30 session

Okada Junko

Although she was raised in Iwate, Junko was born in Nagoya, and lived there until she was 5. She came to Nagoya the day before and went around to the places that she used to live. There was a red train that Junko rode when she was little, and she looked for that. She was very happy when she found it and took a lot of pictures.

Makishima Yuki

Yuki is from Hyougo, so she passes by Nagoya all the time on the train, but this was the first time that she stopped at Nagoya. She went all over with Junko, and had a lot of fun.

Konno Hiromi

She flew into Nagoya the day before from Hokkaidou. Since her character (Rurika) lives in Nagoya, she was looking forward to coming to Nagoya (her first time her).

about SG

The game will come out in January 1998. They talked about "going out" with Rurika, Taeko, and Miyuki. One of the date locations with Rurika was Meiji Mura. When the player goes on dates with a girl, the other girls start getting lonely and will call the player.

quiz corner/presents

Only the 100 people who had tickets were eligible to participate in the quiz/presents. The girls picked a number and the person went on stage to answer a question. If he answered correctly, he got a signed telephone card.

Junko: There are two famous castles in Nagoya, Inuyama Castle and Nagoya Castle. Which one did Yuki and I go to yesterday?
A: Nagoya Castle.

Yuki: I changed my hair style many times since my debut. How many times? 5? 7? 14?
A: 7 times.

Hiromi: One of Rurika's siblings appeared in the drama, which one?
A: Older brother.

Junko: I used to live in Nagoya. Until what age did I live in Nagoya?
A: 5 years old.

Yuki: I'm famous for having a strange sneeze. What kind is it? A very powerful one, a very cute one, a funny one.
A: A funny one.

Hiromi: I had never been to a concert, so I rented a video and studied a two-guy group for the concert. Which group was it? Kinki Kids? Bz? Saruganseki?
A: Bz.

[For some of the participants, the microphones didn't seem to be working too well whenever they gave a wrong answer, so they got a second chance.. ^_^;]

future

There will be a Sentimental Graffiti (Usagi Gumi) event on 12/14 at Animate Yokohama.

There will be a Sentimental Graffiti (Usagi Gumi) event on 1/11 (next year) in Fukuoka.

There will be a Sentimental Graffiti (Usagi Gumi) mini live on 1/17 (next year) in Melpark Hall.

14:00 session

Okada Junko

I went to visit the house where I used to live, and everything was the same as before. I was very happy.

Makishima Yuki

This is my first trip to Nagoya, and I found that the people here speak similar to those in Kansai, so I was happy.

Konno Hiromi

It's getting cold in Hokkaidou, but it's warm in Nagoya, so I was happy.

about SG

Hiromi found some parts of Rurika were just like her. One of the date locations is a game center called AG Square, which has fighting games and crane games. Hiromi likes those games too, so she enjoyed doing these date scenes.

Yuki talked about one of Miyuki's happy endings. Miyuki makes a yukata and wears it in the middle of the winter, even in the snow, and says, "I want you to see this." Then the boy hugs her, and after that.. [have to play the game]

It's possible to "reject" the girls in this game. If the player rejects Taeko, Taeko rushes to Tokyo and asks him the reason. The boy explains, and then Taeko says, "I understand, you like the pretty city girls.. I'll go back to the country."

There is no way to end the game by making all the girls happy. 11 of the girls will end up sad.

quiz corner/presents

Junko: What is it title of Taeko's song?
A: Nichiyoubi no Oka.

Yuki: What color is Miyuki's swimsuit? White? Brown? Blue?
A: Blue.

Hiromi: How tall is Rurika? 166 cm? 165 cm? 152 cm?
A: 165 cm? (one cm shorter than Yuki)

Junko: Taeko is very good at cooking, Junko is not very good at cooking. But there is one thing that Junko can make. What is it? Live snapper? Beef stroganoff? Mackerel cooked in miso?
A: Mackerel cooked in miso.

Yuki: There is a phrase, "aketekudasai ?? no setsunasa no tobira wo". What number goes in there?
A: 12.

Hiromi: What prank did I play recently? Dig a trap? Froze my mother's favorite cake? Wrote a manga in my younger brother's text book?
A: Dig a trap.

future

There will be more Sentimental Graffiti related events in the future.