Wotagei Guide for AKB Concerts.

NOTICE:
new version here

     A guide I made for people who want to learn how to wotagei, in preparation for the upcoming AKB48 'live' at AFA X in 2 weeks! By no means is it compulsory for you to learn it. This is a guide for those who want to learn it. 


1.1 - What are Wotas?
     WOTA (ヲタ), pronounced as OO-TA, are fans of Japanese Female Idols. The name originated from the word OTAKU, which are fans of anime and manga. WOTA was once known as 'Idol Otaku', but to differentiate themselves from the normal Otaku they changed the name slightly to 'Wota'.

1.2 - What is Wotagei?
     If you watch an idol concert, be it AKB48, Hello!Project, Tokyo Girls Style etc etc, you would have probably noticed some form of cheering or dancing from the audience. That is Wotagei. Wotagei (ヲタ芸) refers to a type of dancing and cheering gestures performed by Wota. These involve jumping, clapping, arm-waving and chanting (not the type of chanting by priests or monks though). There are more extreme forms of Wotagei, but luckily for you Wotageis for AKB48 are limited to chants, cheers and hand movements.

1.3 - Why Wotagei?
     In Japan, the concerts are very different from those in the west. Audience participation is just as important as the singer/band/group performing. It's the same reason why you don't see the "sea of lightsticks" in western concerts, but they are a staple in Japanese concerts and events. And the Idols and Wotas take audience participation to a whole new level with Wotagei. It adds to the atmosphere of the concert.

2.0 - The MIX
     The MIX are those chants you hear being shouted by the Wotas in lots of AKB songs. They are always shouted during the instrumental parts of the song and never overlap with the girl's singing. MIXes are only shouted in upbeat songs, so you don't shut them during a ballad or slow song. There are many newer variations but these 3 are the main and most important ones. You can hear all 3 mixes in The Overture MIX video.


MIX 1: Yosh iku zoh!!! Tiger, Fire, Cyber, Fiber, Diver, Viber, Jya Jya!!!
     The first MIX is used for almost all of AKB48 songs (except the slow ones of course), and is mostly shouted at the beginning of the song. MIX 1 ends just before the members start singing. You can hear it here.

MIX 2: Moh iccho iku zoh!!! Torah, Hii, Jinzou, Sen-ii, Ama, Shindou, Kasentobijokyo!!!
     MIX 2 is used in the 2nd instrumental in the middle of the song. The only exception is in Ponytail to Shushu where you shout MIX 1 and 2 in the first instrumental, but you still shout the 2nd MIX in the 2nd instrumental. It is never used by it's own and is always after MIX 1.

MIX 3: Moh iccho iku zoh!!! Chape, Ape, Kara, Kira, Rara, Tusuke, Myahottusuke!!!
     The third MIX isn't used much, but is still important. The reason why it isn't used much is because it is only shouted during the 3rd instrumental of a song, or in a song with a long 2nd instrumental, and few songs have those. Songs with MIX 3 include: Beginner, Ponytail to Shushu, Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara, Wagamama na Nagareboshi, Shonichi, Kodoku na Runner

2.1 - The overture MIX

hai! hai! hai! hai! hai! hai! ahhhhhh hai! hai! haihaihaihai! Tiger, Fire, Cyber, Fiber, Diver, Viber, Jya Jya!!! Torah, Hii, Jinzou, Sen-ii, Ama, Shindou, Kasentobijokyo!!! Chape, Ape, Kara, Kira, Rara, Tusuke, Moyhontusuke!!! A! K! B! fourty eight! soresoresoresore!

3.0 - Name calls
     Pretty simple but is one of the most important parts of wotagei. All you gotta do is shout out the name or nickname of the member you support during her solo or duet line. The reason why I said "name or nickname" is because for some members you don't shout the nickname but the name of the member instead. For example, Maeda Atsuko's name call is "ACCHAN!", but for Takahashi Minami, it's "MINAMI!". This is used for members with nicknames consisting of 4 or more syllables.

4.0 - Calls
     In some songs you shout out certain stuff at certain points of time. Some examples:

Skirt Hirari: "sekai de ichiban suki na no" at the same time the girls sing it.
Oogoe Diamond: "suki!!" together with the girls when they sing it (sukitte kotoba wa saikou sa).
RIVER: "Got it!", "RIVER!!!!" and the whole chant in the beginning together with the girls.
10nen Zakura & Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru: at the start you shout "OGS". Lots of people make the mistake and shout "fourty-eight", this is wrong.
Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara: "daisuki" and "yoroshiku" same time as when the girls sing it.
Namida Surprise: "3, 2, 1, GO!" same time as when the girls sing it.
Heavy Rotation: "I want you, I need you, I love you" etc. after they sing it.

4.1 - Other shouting stuff
     Just the normal "HAI! HAI! HAI!", "HEY! HEY! HEY!", "ooooOOOO Hai!" and "SORE SORE SORE" stuff

5.0 - Hand MovementsS
     This one is a little tricky. There are 3 main movements for this.

Furicopi: For this, you just copy the member's hand movements.
Kecha: This is the tricky one. Generally the movement is both hands sweeping upwards towards your oshimen. HERE IS A EXAMPLE. Usually done when the song slows down.
Lightstick movement: You guys should know this. Just wake your lightsticks according to the beat.