I’m interested in attending a Universe event. What types and ranks of women tend to attend? Also, do connections made at these events ever develop into long-term relationships? I’d love to hear from anyone who has attended.

I’m Saito, the columnist ♪ This is based on the Tokyo scene, but the events are pretty interesting. They seem to fall into two broad types. ◆ One-on-one format Most of them had around four to six men and eight to ten women. It was kind of like a matchmaking party, with about ten minutes to talk to each person. Haha. You don’t know the other person’s relationship type or class, so I think it’s 100% about chemistry. Once, I met a Gold woman who was absolutely wonderful in terms of personality and everything else. For some reason, though, we never made it to a second meeting, which really showed me how deep the class-ranking system can be. There were even some Secret women mixed in, so it was a good way to sharpen my eye. I dated a Black woman I met there, and she was Black-level enough to also be a member of the salon. There were also finalists from Miss World and the like. The odds are only a few percent, but every now and then, truly incredible women show up. Haha. On the other hand, I’ve heard a “rumor” that many men do nothing but negotiate discounts, which makes women wary of them. ◆ Party format Around 40 people took part. (There may have been even more.) Well... it’s tough unless you’re proactive. Haha. Just like the women, the men came from all sorts of classes. Black-registered men can make offers to anyone at any time, but Gold-registered men seemed to monopolize the higher-ranking women they normally couldn’t approach, making it difficult for anyone else to get near them. Haha.

I’m a lost man in my 60s. About six months ago, I attended a standing, free-form event held in western Japan. There weren’t any specific categories for the women. Since the women’s profiles had been shared beforehand, I was able to narrow down my choices after seeing that there were women of various ranks and relationship types. But there were also women who had just had their interviews that day and hadn’t been announced in advance, which left me a little confused in my head… lol I learned that you have to act as early as possible on the day, or before you know it, you’ll be thinking, “Huh? There are a lot fewer women now…” 😅 I was also very interested in seeing what kinds of men would attend, so I got to know some of the other male participants and ended up staying until the very end. Fortunately, a woman appeared who had been waiting because she really wanted to talk to me, and we’ve continued seeing each other since then.

I’m Seattle, a male member. Some events are limited to members with Dating Types C or D, so read the listing carefully before applying. Just like with an offer, if you click, it can develop into a long-term arrangement. The odds of finding someone you really like are lower than with an offer, but there are more people involved, so the chances may not be that bad. At free-standing buffet-style events, ending up without a match means wasting your time, so it’s best to approach the people you’re interested in as proactively and as early as possible.