67 posts tagged “arashi”
PHEW! I had totally forgotten about 紅白歌合戦 until 15mins ago, when I started to clear space for the impending JE Countdown download. So, frantically I switched on the tv and checked the 紅白 website to check up if I have missed Arashi already. Mika Nakashima was singing, so, I was just 6 songs from Arashi! PHEW! Choohh lucky.
Mika's fringe was odd...and her dress made her at least 5 years older. Oh well....I still prefer NANA Mika.
And then, YUZU! With my favourite song aitai, supposedly written for his father. I really liked the contrast during their performance. The stage looked really grand with bright lights and royal-looking decorations. But there they were, two man in front of standing mics, singing and playing the guitar. They looked so bare. I loved their harmony. XD
Now, waiting for Arashi! I'm kinda sad that I missed TOKIO though. =S Nvm...Kobukuro is after Arashi, so at least I have 2 groups to watch. My wish fulfilled! Them, on tv!
[EDIT]
HAHA! My gf saw me camping in front of the tv. "Are you watching this?" he asked, refering to the enka-looking singer on tv.
"No, mine is coming up in 10 mins. I'm gonna watch for 5 mins and you can switch channels after that."
"Arashi?"
haha!! I was totally beaming when they appeared!
My gosh, I loved their costumeS. The first one was red...at first I thought it was pink, a shade deeper than Kitto Daijyoubu's. Demo, I think it's red. I liked how during Happiness they started to go wild a la concerts. Jun even leaped (literally leaped) off the stage and go up close to the audience, shaking hands, smiling, bowing...KAWAII...like an over-excited kid at his birthday party. At that moment, it felt like an Arashi concert. Sasuga Arashi! Maybe it's just me, but compared to the other perf I saw (Mika Nakashima, Yuzu, Koda Kumi), the camera shoots seemed to become more wild and excited along with Arashi, with a lot of wide zooms and sudden close ups.
But the thing I loved most was right before they started singing Believe. As Happiness ended, they went to the upper stage, where they were engulfed by thick smoke. At first, I was going to throw the remote control because it seemed like they were going off stage just like that. But no. After the smoke dissipated, they emerged again! This time, in line with Believe, they had changed into silver suits! And as the camera panned from above, I couldn't spot their red costumes. O.o I didn't even see any holes in the ground. They changed really fast, like within..3~4 secs! haha.. Concert-trained! But it was strange that they only sang one song after the costume change. =S
So, all in all they sang A.RA.SHI, Wish, Happiness and Believe in a medley.
As Nino said after the perf, it'll be great if they returned next year!
Oh, during the short talk, a male fan actually shouted out to them, and Nakai-san was like, other than female fans, Arashi has a lot of male fans too. True ne! That's our Arashi for you. They have the substance besides the face. =)
I had a late Christmas celebration with my Arashi family (excluding dear Mrs Ohno who has left for Indonesia) today at the KTV. And it was basically an Arashi matsuri! SantArashi came to the room and piled on the table tons of un/official photos, keychains, calculators, photobooks, the 5x10 Best clips dvd, My girl singles, newspapers detailing Arashi's claim in the Oricon charts, fanclub letters, fanclub anniversary gift, My girl photobook and many more. XD I think this ktv session was wasted as we spent like 30% of the time squealing over all the Arashi goodness on the table.
I went in late and was told that my friends were in Room 39, all the way at the back. But as I headed for the back, it felt wrong as it seemed to be leading to the storeroom/toilets. At that instant, I heard an Arashi song. Yes?No?. So I turned back and walked towards the source of the song, one of the ktv rooms, and wanted to head right in. But as I reached the door (which was mainly transparent glass), I saw that the people inside weren't them. I hesitated, and then looked around for Room 39, and found them, bringing them them news that the people next door were sing an Arashi song. I wondered if they saw the My girl photobook I was carrying by my side when I walked past their room. XD In between songs, during the brief periods of silence, we opened the door and eavesdropped on what the other room was singing. All Arashi songs!! HAHA it was so fun picking up bits and pieces of the song and guessing its title! So, confirmed! Arashi fans they are. Still in a very high mood, I suggested popping over to say hi. XD But in the end, I didn't want to disturb them and so settled for singing as loud as possible in hopes that they will catch on what we realised. And when I went out to order a drink, I brought the My girl photobook along. XD
Later, as we flipped through the pages, we realised that some songs such as Niji, wasn't listed. So, after a lot of hesitation, I went over to ask. Ok, it really was an excuse to say hi. But I really wanted to sing Niji!! I walked over, looked in, and turned away immediately. Because I saw a mini Sho uchiwa in a clear box file, facing right at the door!!!!!!! HAHA! But with the company of Angel, I knocked onto their door and asked about Niji. In the end, we started to exchange songs. We had managed to find some newer songs eg Ashita no Kioku, and had wrote them down on a piece of paper, which we shared with them. XD And then we exchanged cyber contacts, talked abit about our ichibans, and left. It turned out that they had purposely put Sho's uchiwa at the door. LOL! And they heard us singing Carnival Night Part 2. Gosh!
I had recently experienced some not-so-friendly Arashi fans, the first time in the past 4 years, but today's incident helped me get over the disappointment. Arashi does bring people together. =)
[EDIT] Their account here.
I just heard that Arashi's gonna be this year's Countdown's MC again.
Well, who else but the group that made this their year?
YES! That means alot of Arashi this year too!
Photos from Day 2, on the way down from the onsen ryoukan, we saw the beautiful Mt Fuji up close! Our dear driver (omg I totally like him! He's quite cute, in a boy-next-door kind of way too!) stopped by the roadside so we could take a photo (the first one). The second one was taken in the car.
I had a greta time today, because it was day-off and I managed to explore Tokyo by myself! The first destination is the JE shop at Harajuku, of course. I had planned to leave the hotel at 9 so that I can reach the shop at 10 latest. However, I was too tired and overslept, so I left the hotel at 10 instead, worried that I'll have to wait for a long time before I can enter the shop. However, when I reached the place, I saw some construction work going on at the area where the lengendary queue was supposed to be at. So, I looked around for the queue somewhere else. Demo, I found none! "No gosh, could they be closeed!? Isn't it supposed to be opened all year round?" I wondered. It's quite amusing, really, that having a long queue is expected as the norm for a visit to the JE shop. I mean, every single time I went there, I had to take a ticket and wait for 30min~1hr, and that was when I reached at around 9.30~10. So, since I eached at 1030 today, I should have to get into the queue too ne?
I wandered into the alley leading up to the JEshop, and found it open!
NO QUEUE!
And the inside was quite empty, with only about 10 people scattered around.
It started to get a bit crowded at around 11 but I managed to get out of the shop in an hr's time, and mainly because I was lingering around for more photos, not because I had to struggle to have a look at the walls and to reach the cashier.
So, how many did I buy this time round?
Just 68!
Compare that to the hundreds that I usually leave the shop with.
I think it's because only one new photoshoot had been released since my last trip there, and that one (My Girl) isn't really flattering. So, I just bought a few of My Girl's and bought some older ones for friends...Also bought YamaP's for wina, our dear dear friend who never forgotten us, and a few of Ryo's. XD I think majority that I bought are for friends! And some for donation to the Arashi concert screening next Jan.
Took this from the JE shop. No Arashi? Someone once told me that JE groups only release calendars up to their 10th year, as in the case of Kinki. Could it be true?!
Following that, I went to unofficial idol shops. I've seen them many times before but was also too intimidated by the huge faces plastered all over the entrance. I was afraid of the fangirl stigma! Demo this time round, I saw fanboys of female talents browsing too (one was even browsing posters of Oguri Shun!) so I just mustered my courage and went in.
The first one didn't have photos, but more of goods. And I left with the above, in multiple copies. Those are metallic, opo-up stickers. I really like the top right sticker from the top piece. You can't see it but it reads, in small font, 'Don't give up, and your chance will come'. I think this is really encouraging, and also reflects Arashi's road to fame. There was a period after their debut that didn't work out too well, but they made it through. I was reading Nikkei Entertainment and here are some interesting points:
- "Arashi 5x10 All The Best! 1999-2009" is a mega hit with 1.36 mil copies sold
- Starting from "Believe", every single release entered into Top 5 ranking
- The Disney campaign had an economic impact of about ¥4,500mil (about SGD70,827,612)
- Auction prices for a pair of the tickets to the event reached ¥450,000 (about SGD7,000)
The second idol shop I went todidn't have much photos, so I bought some mini posters instead. Which is stupid because I don't really put up posters. I have like 10 Arashi con posters still rolled up and lying at the bottom of my wardrobe. Demo, those are really too nice!! Maybe I'll donate them. Will see how later. I'm kind of odd but although I love Jun smiling, I also dig his melancholic look.
From there, I started to get normal stuff instead. Like accessories, clothes, socks yada yada..."No more idol goods!" I said. And I managed to stop myself from entering into the few idol shops I saw on the way. Demo, I gave in after a while and went into this one that was located on the 2nd floor. There were some renovation works going on at the store next to it, and as I walked past it, there was a loud sound that frightened the wits out of me. T.T The scare was worthed it though. Because, I bought a lot of unofficial photos!! I remember the first time I went to Harajuku with a fellow fan living there, and she brought me into one idol shop. We were wondering how such shops can survive because the photo quality is not as sharp at the official ones although they are selling for the same price. However, the ones I bought today were surprisingly clear! I bought like...60 plus, and there was a promotion whereby you get one free large photo for every 10 small regular ones you buy. So I got 6, and they are so so so clear!!!
I think I'm odd but I like photos of odd Arashi just as much as I like photos of cool Arashi.
Well, you know there is something very wrong with you when you proclaim yourself to be fans of idols who do this:
Oh, that's just playful member love?
How about the following?
Remember, they are IDOLS, as Nino always reminds.
Like the costume aren't enough, they had to get touchy on stage, in front of thousands of people and hidden cameras that will ensure this moment gets captured and stays on for a long while.
No, this is not just to relive that historical moment, but also to act as a wet weather plan!
And, they are all PROUD OF IT.
Ok, if you still think I'm normal, what about this:
Yeah, they are bakas, they are gay. But they are also the most kakkoii dudes that worked to where they are now.
I went to Shibuya following that and was surprised that the advertisement panel that previous showcased Arsahi's AU posters now had Maki's Docomo poster instead. T.T Was sorely disappointed, but when I finished my shopping at Tsutaya and headed back to the station, I saw it! Can you spot it?
They got "promoted"!
I bought Park Yong Ha's new single at Tsutaya, as well as Mao-chan's 「僕の初恋をキミに捧ぐ」, novelised. There was this promotion for Arashi photobooks there. There was the A to Z photobook, the 365 Days with Arashi photobook, AAA photobook, Arashi Is Alive photobook, Kiiroi Namida photobook and the out-of-stock Freestyle and Yatterman photobooks. O.O It's so crazy how popular they are now. I remember someone in the neighbour emailing publishers to republish one of the older photobooks in 2008, and received a reply that it's not possible for them to do so. Demo, 3 years later, along with Arashi's boom, our wish has come true. =)
[ADD ON]
HAHA, finished this post just in time to watch Himitsu no Arashi-chan!! YAY!
I'm glad they sang it live. Well, you have to sing live at something like FNS deshou!? But Sho went a bit shaky in the bridge part of Ashita no Kioku...XP Overall, it was well delivered! And everyone looked so happy, especially Nino lol.
Omg...the harmony when he sang together with Arashi was great!
In the first part, when Ohno, Aiba and Jun were singing, the camera didn't focus on Oh-chan! Poor camera planning!
I heard that DBSK went on it too. And Kinki KIds, Smap, T&T, TOKIO, NYC Boys.. Can't wait for the full episode to be up for download!
In celebration of Ohno's *ahem*th birthday, let's do a test!!!
Diagnostic criteria for 312.31 Pathological Gambling
A. Persistent and recurrent maladaptive gambling behavior as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
(1) is preoccupied with gambling (e.g., preoccupied with reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping or planning the next venture, or thinking of ways to get money with which to gamble)
(2) needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement
(3) has repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop gambling
(4) is restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling
(5) gambles as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)
(6) after losing money gambling, often returns another day to get even ("chasing" one's losses)
(7) lies to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling
(8) has committed illegal acts such as forgery, fraud, theft, or embezzlement to finance gambling
(9) has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, or educational or career opportunity because of gambling
(10) relies on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gamblingB. The gambling behavior is not better accounted for by a Manic Episode.
- As taken from my "Are You OK? Mental Health In Singapore" elective lecture notes on the topic "Addictions".
Let's do change some words to suit our purpose better:
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: Note that the creator of these guidelines is herself a fangirl who views writing as an acceptable form of schizophrenia.
Diagnostic criteria for A.RA.SHI Pathological Fangirling
A. Persistent and recurrent maladaptive fangirling behavior as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
(1) is preoccupied with fangirling (e.g., preoccupied with reliving past fangirling experiences, planning the next merchandise/official release purchase, or thinking of ways to get money with which to fund fangirling activities)
(2) needs to fangirl with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve the desired excitement
(3) has repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop fangirling
(4) is restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop fangirling
(5) fangirls as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)
(6) after spending all pocket money/pay on fangirling, often borrow from tomorrow to get continue ("chasing" idols)
(7) lies to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with fangirling
(8) has committed illegal acts such as forgery, fraud, theft, or embezzlement to finance fangirling
(9) has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, or educational or career opportunity because of fangirling
(10) relies on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by fangirlingB. The fangirling behavior is not better accounted for by a Manic Episode.
SO, ARE YOU DIAGNOSED WITH PATHOLOGICAL FANGIRLING?
Two papers down, two more to go. For tonight, I will indulge in my final ・°°・(>_<)・°°・。 ウエーン episode of You're Beautiful. Episode 15, was....not as exciting as I hoped. Maybe the one week in between had washed away whatever sadness I felt during the last scene of episode 14. Instead of feeling sad for MN and TK when the scene continued in episode 15, I didn't feel much until SW came into the picture. He was standing behind MN, who was crouched on the floor crying. And he was just there watching her, like he was struggling between going to comfort her and staying hidden since he had got to more excuse to protect her, with her rejection in episode 15. It's like, she's just in front of him, but she's so far away.
I don't get the Japan shooting, really. They just needed to go overseas so that the real MN can be swopped with the fake one. I felt that that was the whole purpose of the trip. They could have made better use of it though... What I did enjoy about episode 15:
-
Shinwoo FINALLY told Mi Nyu (to avoid confusion later) that he knew about her true identity right on the first night at the rooftop. Like, finally! I'm glad he finally let it out for a true closure to his feelings. There's no more what-ifs, because now she knew everything, and yet still rejected him.
-
Someone saved the day by being upright and morally correct! Our poor leads got to know that the song was written for Mi Nyu's mother, not Tae Kyung's mother. YES!
-
When Tae Kyung got to know that, he went into the recording studio and did what Tae Kyung would do! Force his mother to face the truth and drive some sense into her.
-
Mi Nam at the airport, where Reporter Kim pulled off his coat to reveal that he is actually a....MALE! Haha! The Mi Nam back looked really nice. =P But I was quite disappointed with the glimpse of Mi Nam we saw. From Manager Ma's descriptions of him and that short scene in episode 14, plus the one at the airport of him sleeping on the airport seats, I had expected a really cool Mi Nam. How cool? Cool enough for me to go kyaaaa over although I know he is actually Park Shin Hye disguised. But what I saw was actually more kiddish and... reminded me of Mi Nyu in the episode with the supermart scenes, where Tae Kyung was imagining her saying the line that got cut off.
-
The scene of Mi Nyu and Tae Kyung in Japan where she left him. Tae Kyung grabbed her hand, as all Korean leads do. But Tae Kyung, as we've established ages ago, is a twist to the typical Korean lead. So, I had expected him to grab her a second time when she let go of his hand... But he didn't. Still, I like that scene because JGS did such a good job at holding back his tears, it was heart-wrenching to watch. I think this is better than the scene where he cried after being told by his mother how much she lost because she gave birth to him.
I'm gonna get withdrawal syndromes after tonight. =(
Oh, yes, Happy birthday riida! You old man!
From sanspo
嵐１０年ぶり全員でドラマ「最後の約束」
人気グループ、嵐が来年新春放送のフジテレビ系スペシャルドラマ「最後の約束」で１０年ぶりに５人フルメンバーの共演を果たすことが１０日、分かった。
ビル占領事件にたまたま居合わせた５人が、予想不可能な事態に立ち向かうヒューマンサスペンス。リーダーの大野智（２８）、櫻井翔（２７）、相葉雅紀 （２６）、二宮和也（２６）、松本潤（２６）がそろうドラマは、デビュー直後の９９年に放送された同局系「Ｖの嵐」以来。今回のドラマのために撮影された ポスターは１０年の成長を感じさせるオトナの雰囲気だ。
最近は単独でドラマ、映画、舞台に出演し、それぞれの演技力が高い評価を受けてい るほか、グループでのバラエティー番組は老若男女に人気。先月２８日発売のＤＶＤ「Ａｌｌ ｔｈｅ ＢＥＳＴ！ １９９９－２００９」がこの日までに音楽 ＤＶＤ史上初の５０万枚を突破するなど飛ぶ鳥を落とす勢い。
「１０年分の経験と想いを大切にしながら、お芝居をしたい」と大野、松本は「若干恥ずかしさもありますが…（笑）、５人そろって撮影する日が今から楽しみ」と話している。
I continue my discussion about the brillant money-making strategies that many tv stations have. Upon seeing how popular our Arashi is - really, it's not hard to miss, with them making news every other days on Oricons and Con reports - the brilliant FujiTV decided, "I must get my share of the cake!". And I'm thankful for that, just that with so all five of them in one drama, where will the spotlight fall? Who will be the lead and who will take the supporting role? For it's quite difficult to give everyone an equal part. It being a special drama, I suppose it'll be a short one? *shrugs* My bet is, Nino and Ohno/Jun as lead and the rest as supports. Whatever the case, this is something I will definitely watch. Oh the goodness of all five boys squeezed into one small tvbox.
Ok I take back my previous words of My Girl being Arashi's usual fare. No wait. I'm perfectly fine with Arashi's usual fare. I'm in love with Arashi's usual fare. Their attempts at different styles ae good too but no matter what, Arashi's defined by their usual fare of warmth and sense of thanks.
I finally watched the PV! Had wanted to download it but my HD's almost full and don't have space to spare! =( It's strange but my heart soured while watching the PV....when Aiba discovered the letter from their mom saying she will continue to look over them from that house. And then the boys decided not to move out and to stay with their mom...Touching! Add the melody to it and you get a potent mix of Arashi goodness! But I felt that Aiba's role there should be taken over by maybe Nino or Jun...Aiba should be the excited one! lol
I refused to be spoilt by boys our via radioshows this time round.
And I'm glad I decided so.
Just listened to the cd and....my gosh. I shuffled the songs and the first one that came up was
スーパーフレッシュ Super fresh.
Super fresh, just like them, who's always fresh and brings us new feelings and ideas.
The song itself is superfresh! I love love love the melody. It didn't catch me right away, but there were bits of it that made the song different from others...it's not the type which you can roughly guess how the melody for a particular line will end, as is possible with many pop songs. It's so addictive! And such a light, happy feeling....in fact, when I shut my eyes I can imagine us on a boundless grassland, with flowers and butterflies all around. Everyone's smiling, just smiling. Is this supposed to be a fuyu song? It feels spring to me. And surprisingly, it felt like a korean pop to me...
The next song that caught me was the instrumental of
時計じかけのアンブレラ.
LOL I can imagine them bull-fighting in this.....latin-y piece. I really love the instrumental for this! I listened to the actual song later and while I liked it as well, somehow I just prefer the instru more.
And next up was the title track
マイガール
Surprisingly, it didn't really stick. It's all very Arashi...the usual style. Btw, I've only watched ep of My Girl....I'm wondering if I should continue...hmmmm
Gf just came back from Hong Kong and he bought me these!
Although I've got them all (the LE ones), I'm still very happy! But they came a bit too late because I had alreayd opened my Japan version ones. ARGH Shouldn't have done so...aniwaes, these are HK, REs. One good news, because my 5x10 is the LE one, so now I have the RE too! And the hidden track yay!!
He said these are all that's available of Arashi in the store. YAY! Arashi IS doing well ne.
Oh, and my stamps arrived! Will be sending letters to the radio shows using these stamps!
Aniwaes, I'm currently scouting for friends to go to SS501's con together! Anyone interested??
