It's like Japan is trying to make up for my crappy week by making me happy. ;__;<3
Oh, man, yesterday I had the flu and it was so miserable. Between bouts of throwing up and just wishing I could die already and being unable to sleep for more than 20 minutes in a fitful doze at a time and just about blacking out if I so much as tried to get up to go to the bathroom and being unable to concentrate enough to watch TV and only being able to lay curled up on my side so that I wouldn't get quite so nauseated... it sucked. A lot.
But, I am better now thank god and it's like Japan decided they wanted to cheer me up! So, boyband tardery post.
Every once in awhile, I start going through my pile of subbed TV shows to watch. O-one of these days I might actually get caught up and then can start watching my other JE-related videos. ;__;
I've been dragging my feet on the subbed GRA episodes because I watched the first several episodes once already raw and I doubt that the subtitles were going to help much. I find the quiz format rather painful, especially when combined with denying them food (jeez, it's like Japan is trying to give them eating disorders) and whispering the answers in Aiba's "ear" never quite gelled for me. I was only too happy to see that go.
But I am determined to get everything watched eventually. I want my knowledge of Arashi to be as scary as possible, so I will perservere!
GRA #01 [2007.10.20] - premiere sp/raw tuna + pickled foods (part 1)
This episode was better than I remembered it being, actually. Mostly because Jun spends practically the whole episode scolding Aiba for abusing his position as host or not being descriptive enough or for being dumb. ....or going :D :D :D at him because Aiba's talking with his mouth full or inhaling food or just being generally adorable.
But also, I think Sone is more adorable every time I see her and watching this tiny little thing just inhale the food (while Arashi sort of stares at her) is kind of hilarious. Also, Ohno and Matsui-san's relationship is even more adorable with subtitles. ♥
Arashi no Shukudai-kun #34 [2007.05.28] - Suzuki An [here]
I watched this episode raw back when it first aired and read the translated/summarized bits of it, so not much was really a surprise this time around, but it was just as much fun as the first time. Even though I disliked the comedians part of the show (I don't really get Japanese comedy and it felt like a waste of their guest, even if there were parts that were greatly amusing), it was just super-fun having someone as adorable as Suzuki An on the show. She's worked with both Nino and Jun before, you could tell they both really liked her a lot and it was interesting to see her take on both of them.
The "Well, of course." look on Nino's face when she said that there are a lot of differences between Nino and Jun (like who would ever comare Nino to Matsujun, ew XDD) was hilarious, as was her thoughts on both of them--Nino looks like he's not thinking anything (like he just goes with whatever, she clarifies) and Jun looks like he has a "hard aura" around him, meaning he's hard to approach. But there are times when he's really kind, too.
And then. as;lfja;slkjlj Sho says, "He's the tsundere type?" And An-chan agrees cheerfully, "Ah, I think he's the tsundere type!" And Aiba says, "You understand 'tsundere type'?" and Jun just sort of quietly agrees with all of this and I am kind of dying at the whole thing. I'm kind of dying because it's so true.
This episode is also remarkable because it's one of the few where I actually really liked the food segment, even more than I liked the second half of the show. Maybe it's because An-chan is so cute and it's obvious that the guys are all doting on her or maybe it's just that I really, really don't get Japanese stand-up comedy. Even with subs, I'm still wondering how on earth this is funny. Is it something with the language that's lost in translation? Is it just a cultural thing? Are they just being really polite when they're laughing?
It seems a shame to waste such a cute guest on a segment like this, but I swear that I recognized these clothes on the guys from a much earlier episode (except I'm not crazy enough to go and check, just that I vaguely recall swearing I saw Jun in that same pink shirt from an earlier episode) so it was before Shukudai-kun got a better grip on what kind of show they wanted to be/what were some good ideas for various segments. (And also confirmed that they tape multiple shows on a single day, which I'd assumed because it's easier, except I'm surprised they didn't make everyone go change clothes first.) Anyway, I forgive the lame second half because of that.
But mostly because the first half was so cute. The delayed reactions to the spicy foods! The look on Ohno's face when he's forced to eat habanero-sama and it's too spicy for him! The way Jun tries to lie through his teeth that he's already tried it! The way he twitches when he's forced to eat habanero-sama and it finally hits! The way Sho reacts when he eats it and practically collapses on the couch! The way Nino is a devious little shit and says, oh, he already tried them before the show when he was ranking them! The way Jun goes GODDAMMIT, THIS PROGRAM IS SERIOUSLY IDIOTIC! when they force him to eat habanero-sama! a sd;fljkasl;d I love them all.
Also in this episode, they talk about how Ogura-san used to be in a band as well, back when he was in college, called Memory of Future. And that was actually kinda cool, but, naturally, the rest of Arashi takes the opportunity to bring up that Sho used to be in a band, too. Because he liked X-JAPAN's music and was in a band called Zeus and a;sldjfaslkj I love how much shit they give Sho over that.
And I still miss Aiba's floppy blond hair. *sigh~*
....that wasn't as long as I originally intended, but this week's Shukudai-kun and GRA came out, so I went with those instead. (Y-yknow. Several days ago. Still! Within the same week! That totally counts as being on top of stuff!)
♥ - This week's Golden Rush Arashi #20 [2008.03.08] was... not 100% must-see, but it's definitely getting really cute and the guys always look really gorgeous on the show, so I find it easy to watch for 20 minutes a week while taking random caps of the adorable faces that they make in the episodes. This week it's infomercial-type items and you can tell that Jun's kind of cranky about it and Nino looks TOTALLY THRILLED to be there, but it's still really cute.
Even if whatever they did to that corn and tofu mix looked utterly gross.
The episode was totally worth watching for Jun's "Dun wanna." being super adorable when they tried to make him show off one of the items, though.
Mostly, though, none of them seem particularly into it. You'd think Jun would like cooking stuff, but even he kind of phoned it in. It got a little better in the second half when Sho started doing stuff and it's not the kind of boring that was like the early episodes of the show (I still think these episodes are getting surprisingly watchable) and I don't know if it's because they just weren't into this week's segments or if they're just so busy that they're getting tired. (I kind of lean towards the latter, actually.)
Which reminds me of a conversation I had about GRA and Himitsu no Arashi-chan and how I'm wondering what's going to happen--are they going to have THREE shows a week? Is one of the shows getting replaced? I was thinking about it and Himitsu no Arashi-chan is on the same station (FujiTV, I think?) as GRA and it's also in prime time (I think?) and it sounds almost EXACTLY like GRA's format. So, I don't think the show could replace Shukudai-kun since that's on... what? TBS, I want to say? Since Shukudai-kun has the same staff as D no Arashi (or at least they have the same director, they've mention Hino-chan--I think is his name?--in both shows and they seem to really like him/be kinda close with him), I'm sure whatever show will eventually replace Shukudai-kun (it's hard to believe there are over 70 episodes now!), it'll be on that station and in that same kind of format. But Himitsu no Arashi-chan and GRA being on the same station and in the same slot and with the same kind of format....
I'm kind of torn about the idea. On the one hand, GRA has 20 episodes now, which isn't a lot, but it should be working better by now. (Unless Japan thinks it is working, it's hard to tell because English fans don't necessarily like the same things Japan likes.) Yet, it has made a lot of progress, I don't want all that progress to be lost with scrapping that show and starting up a new one. On the other hand, if this image is any indication of what Himitsu no Arashi-chan is going to be like, well, MAYBE I CAN GET CAUTIOUSLY ONBOARD. Goddamn, you guys, can I have you? Just for a little while? I promise I'll put you back in relatively the same condition as I found you in....
I would theoretically like three shows a week for them, I don't want to give up GRA just yet and Himitsu no Arashi sounds possibly interesting, but... I'm not sure I want them to have three shows a week, because, jeez, they're already doing so much as it is! (I don't see any GRA episodes listed past #23 on the 2008 calendar, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. And 23 episodes for a show does seem awfully short...)
ANYWAY. I have to admit. When they were throwing around the blue ball full of ice cream, you could see the show almost start to have fun and then even that was boring/forced, I was kind of sighing to myself a little. I mean, even when they had the camera paused on Sho's face before he did his intro bit, he looked SO BORED (which made me laugh because it was so blatant) and you know things are bad when Sho thinks this is boring. XDDDD But! There are some cute moments! Sho and Nino sitting at the front like little audience members was cute and the Ohmiya being really close moments (with Ohno leaning on Nino's shoulders) and those are, like, the two or three moments of the entire show that Nino's not cranky.
The highlight of the episode for me was when they got Sho to uncork the bottles of wine and I was kind of seriously cracking up at the look on Sho's face when he did it right. Like WHOA THAT'S AMAZING like he is thinking: FINALLY. SOMETHING THAT HE CAN ACTUALLY WORK IN THE KITCHEN.
His VICTORY FACE is so, so hilarious, especially because everyone else is all: YAY! YAY! SOMETHING SHO CAN DO, TOO! YAY!
And then they went and played At the Hop in the background and I just. a sdlfkjals;kjljs I love the sound guys on this show so, so much. ALSO, NEXT WEEK LOOKS AWESOME. I'D LIKE THE EPISODE NOW, PLZ.
So, worth it if you're a hardcore Arashi fan, but if you're sort of on the fringes, you can skip the episode without feeling guilty.
♥ - I also watched Arashi no Shukudai-kun #74 - [2008.03.10] which is the second episode with the cornstarch mix. And maybe I'm just being overly negative, but... I don't know, this episode didn't quite work as well for me as the last one. It kind of feels like they're running out of steam or trying too hard or repeating themselves too much or something, which is why I kind of think that maybe this week's GRA was phoned in as well. I don't blame them, they kinda have to be overworked as hell. (I'd kind of rather see them bring back some of the older stuff again--c'mon, a game of pictionary with Sho's retarded drawings would be great for the LOLZ again, you guys!)
THAT SAID. I still loved the hell out of this episode because a) the guest was cute and b) Jun's dignity being in tattered, tattered remains, and c) Aibajun OTP forever. While I think it was a bit soon for another cornstarch mix episode, I'm NOT GOING TO COMPLAIN when Nino just brings the thought up for NO REASON WHATSOEVER, other than "it's been awhile, right?" that Jun should be in the nipple t-shirt and Aiba just RUNS RIGHT OVER with the scissors. Just. a sd;flkjasl;kj that's classic Nino/Jun right there and some of the most awesome Aiba/Jun, like, ever.
Because it's not just that Aiba's cutting holes in Jun's shirt, it's that it TAKES A MINUTE for Jun to remember, oh, hey, Aiba's trying to cut holes in my shirt and is really, really inside my personal space, maybe I should be objecting to this? and be all NO WAIT DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME before he skitters away. Like, it doesn't even register when Aiba waltzes right into his personal space and starts ~*touching*~ him in rather suggestive places. He's totally okay with it.
Until he remembers, oh, right, THIS ISN'T THAT KIND OF HAPPY FUN TIME and skitters across the vat to get out of range while Aiba keeps griiiiiinning at him and trying to talk him into letting them cut holes into his t-shirt. (Nino practically giggling in the background the entire time makes it that much funnier.) And, of course, because it's Aiba, Jun is rather quickly talked into it. Seriously, if you want Matsujun to do something, all you have to do is sic Aiba on him and give him a minute. No matter how embarrassing or random it is, Aiba will con him into it. That's not telling or indicative of anything whatsoever.
Plus, it was super-cute when Jun was standing on the opposite side and Aiba's all I'LL COME OVER THERE WITH YOU THEN and Jun was all NO IT'S DANGEROUS I'LL COME BACK OVER THERE and I swear I couldn't have not tinhatted through that entire scene if I'd tried. Aiba had to get really touchy-feely with Jun, really inside his personal space to cut the holes into his shirt and Jun just stands there like he's used to this. ♥♥♥
And then Aiba goes back down to the ground (after Jun has this look on his face like he's wishing death upon them all) where everyone else is and slips on the floor with SCISSORS IN HIS HAND (or maybe he'd put them down by then, since he seems to have lost them by the time he stands up again) and I know I should have been worried for him, but I was kind of busy laughing my ass off over it. That was INSTANT KARMA for you right there. That's what you get for destroying Matsujun's dignity, Aiba.
So, once again, Jun gets himself stuck in the cornstarch mix despite that he actually does pretty well running on the stuff and his problem is that he's running too hard/too much all at once to keep up, he exhausts himself and can't pull himself up at the last minute when he's sinking. At least he buys Sho enough time to get an answer, so, you know, you can consider his attempt at the whole thing a success. XD
Oh, and, I love that you can clearly see what a little bastard Ohno is as soon as he and Ogura-san sit down and Nino's up on the cornstarch mix, he's fighting down a smirk and you knew he was going to take forever to get to the answer. And then SURE ENOUGH. Oh, and! When the guest first smacked the cornstarch mix it was SO HILARIOUS that she nailed EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM with the spray from the sides. That's talent right there!
So, definitely worth watching, the guest was cute and there was some great fanservice that made me super-happy, but... well, I'll be okay without the cornstarch mix for awhile, too.
♥ - It's been awhile since I remarked on any particular scans, despite that I still collect them (I keep telling myself I'll go through them more thoroughly later, like when I finally make myself some new icons, which will be any day now, really), but between the Arashi 2008-2009 school calendar (lady_gemma's scans are here and here or up on morningberryz's vox account here and a few more here) and the Cooking With Arashi book (which you can see here), I've been kind of flailing madly.
The 2008-2009 school calendar:
→ There were a couple of gorgeous Aiba/Jun images (here where they're back to back and in dress shirts and I want one so badly and there's another one where Jun's got his hand on Aiba's shoulder and they're leaning reeeeeeally close together) and there's not a whole lot of fanservice with them in official photoshoots because Jun seems to be really careful about anything that's "permanent", I swear. But these images were just. asldfkjaslkja nnnggh so so pretty and flail-inducing.
→ Aiba and Nino being dorks! Arashi playing Jenga and with oversized cards! SO CUTE. Arashi trying to be hardcore gangsters and failing so hard! So much cuteness!
→ There's also an image of Jun with THE BEST HAIR EVER. There's a group shot (which is in lady_gemma's scans, but I can't find uploaded anywhere else yet) which has Sho in a WHOLE NEW LEVEL of gay sweater wearing (which you wouldn't think was possible even for Sho, but it is SO GAY) and Jun has THAT HAIR and Aiba's wearing a purple suit and Ohno's wearing a shiny silver shirt under a flannel shirt and Nino's wearing a shiny gold suit with a bow tie and it is possibly the greatest group shot I have ever seen.
It makes no sense whatsoever! There is absolutely no rhyme, reason, or theme to it at all! It's HILARIOUS.
→ There's an image of them all sitting on a couch where you can really see Aiba's outfit (or in this one, too) and... w-wow. Those are some really damn big rings there, Aiba. I entertain myself with these things, shut up. (But you know Aiba's not the type for giant rings like that, so clearly someone has been grooming him. *beams*)
The Cooking with Arashi book:
→ For the book, they each took a bunch of candid Polaroid pictures and had a two page spread with them scattered across the pages. (You can find them all in this post.) Now, it's a bit of a depature for Arashi in that they're a little bit dorky and a little bit touchy-feely/gay, which surprised me a lot. It's shocking, I know.
And I'd seen that one of Ohno/Jun snuggling (and, oh, god, they're so cute, why won't you write me more decent Ohno/Jun fandom??), but the rest of them were new. They're all really fun, too! Of course, naturally I went to look at Jun's page first, because, you know, that's what I do. And I was looking at the pictures he'd taken and I just-- I had to laugh.
GO ON AND GUESS who, like, half of Jun's are of.
Seriously. If you take out the nature photos with no one in them and only look at the pictures with people in them, MORE THAN HALF have Aiba in them. I lol'd so hard, that's NOT OBSESSIVE AT ALL, WHY ANYONE WOULD THINK THAT JUN IS ALWAYS WATCHING AIBA OR HAS A CRUSH ON HIM, I DON'T KNOW. It's totally just coincidence that Aiba happens to be in the direction he's looking more than half of the time! Aiba just pops up out of nowhere and should really stop that! There's nothing signifigant at all!
→ Ohno's pictures are totally dorky and--to the surprise of no one--focus on Nino a lot. Including a shot of Nino's butt. ....all right then.
Nino's photos were actually surprisingly well-balanced, I think he got a good mix of just about everyone in there. (Sho and Aiba got a decent mix as well, but I expected that of them.) I did lol at the picture of the watermelon with Ohno's photo on top of it for no reason whatsoever that I can tell.
→ However, there is totally nothing funny about Nino trying to stick a whole orange in his mouth and looking like a dork while doing it. (Oh, god, ILU, Nino.) Or Aiba looking like he might really try to eat that whole thing at once. JESUS, AIBA, SMALLER BITES, YOU'RE GOING TO CHOKE OTHERWISE.
→ You know, for once, the food actually looks really good! I'm hoping someone will translate the recipes sometime. ♥
But, I am better now thank god and it's like Japan decided they wanted to cheer me up! So, boyband tardery post.
Every once in awhile, I start going through my pile of subbed TV shows to watch. O-one of these days I might actually get caught up and then can start watching my other JE-related videos. ;__;
I've been dragging my feet on the subbed GRA episodes because I watched the first several episodes once already raw and I doubt that the subtitles were going to help much. I find the quiz format rather painful, especially when combined with denying them food (jeez, it's like Japan is trying to give them eating disorders) and whispering the answers in Aiba's "ear" never quite gelled for me. I was only too happy to see that go.
But I am determined to get everything watched eventually. I want my knowledge of Arashi to be as scary as possible, so I will perservere!
GRA #01 [2007.10.20] - premiere sp/raw tuna + pickled foods (part 1)
This episode was better than I remembered it being, actually. Mostly because Jun spends practically the whole episode scolding Aiba for abusing his position as host or not being descriptive enough or for being dumb. ....or going :D :D :D at him because Aiba's talking with his mouth full or inhaling food or just being generally adorable.
But also, I think Sone is more adorable every time I see her and watching this tiny little thing just inhale the food (while Arashi sort of stares at her) is kind of hilarious. Also, Ohno and Matsui-san's relationship is even more adorable with subtitles. ♥
Arashi no Shukudai-kun #34 [2007.05.28] - Suzuki An [here]
I watched this episode raw back when it first aired and read the translated/summarized bits of it, so not much was really a surprise this time around, but it was just as much fun as the first time. Even though I disliked the comedians part of the show (I don't really get Japanese comedy and it felt like a waste of their guest, even if there were parts that were greatly amusing), it was just super-fun having someone as adorable as Suzuki An on the show. She's worked with both Nino and Jun before, you could tell they both really liked her a lot and it was interesting to see her take on both of them.
The "Well, of course." look on Nino's face when she said that there are a lot of differences between Nino and Jun (like who would ever comare Nino to Matsujun, ew XDD) was hilarious, as was her thoughts on both of them--Nino looks like he's not thinking anything (like he just goes with whatever, she clarifies) and Jun looks like he has a "hard aura" around him, meaning he's hard to approach. But there are times when he's really kind, too.
And then. as;lfja;slkjlj Sho says, "He's the tsundere type?" And An-chan agrees cheerfully, "Ah, I think he's the tsundere type!" And Aiba says, "You understand 'tsundere type'?" and Jun just sort of quietly agrees with all of this and I am kind of dying at the whole thing. I'm kind of dying because it's so true.
This episode is also remarkable because it's one of the few where I actually really liked the food segment, even more than I liked the second half of the show. Maybe it's because An-chan is so cute and it's obvious that the guys are all doting on her or maybe it's just that I really, really don't get Japanese stand-up comedy. Even with subs, I'm still wondering how on earth this is funny. Is it something with the language that's lost in translation? Is it just a cultural thing? Are they just being really polite when they're laughing?
It seems a shame to waste such a cute guest on a segment like this, but I swear that I recognized these clothes on the guys from a much earlier episode (except I'm not crazy enough to go and check, just that I vaguely recall swearing I saw Jun in that same pink shirt from an earlier episode) so it was before Shukudai-kun got a better grip on what kind of show they wanted to be/what were some good ideas for various segments. (And also confirmed that they tape multiple shows on a single day, which I'd assumed because it's easier, except I'm surprised they didn't make everyone go change clothes first.) Anyway, I forgive the lame second half because of that.
But mostly because the first half was so cute. The delayed reactions to the spicy foods! The look on Ohno's face when he's forced to eat habanero-sama and it's too spicy for him! The way Jun tries to lie through his teeth that he's already tried it! The way he twitches when he's forced to eat habanero-sama and it finally hits! The way Sho reacts when he eats it and practically collapses on the couch! The way Nino is a devious little shit and says, oh, he already tried them before the show when he was ranking them! The way Jun goes GODDAMMIT, THIS PROGRAM IS SERIOUSLY IDIOTIC! when they force him to eat habanero-sama! a sd;fljkasl;d I love them all.
Also in this episode, they talk about how Ogura-san used to be in a band as well, back when he was in college, called Memory of Future. And that was actually kinda cool, but, naturally, the rest of Arashi takes the opportunity to bring up that Sho used to be in a band, too. Because he liked X-JAPAN's music and was in a band called Zeus and a;sldjfaslkj I love how much shit they give Sho over that.
And I still miss Aiba's floppy blond hair. *sigh~*
....that wasn't as long as I originally intended, but this week's Shukudai-kun and GRA came out, so I went with those instead. (Y-yknow. Several days ago. Still! Within the same week! That totally counts as being on top of stuff!)
♥ - This week's Golden Rush Arashi #20 [2008.03.08] was... not 100% must-see, but it's definitely getting really cute and the guys always look really gorgeous on the show, so I find it easy to watch for 20 minutes a week while taking random caps of the adorable faces that they make in the episodes. This week it's infomercial-type items and you can tell that Jun's kind of cranky about it and Nino looks TOTALLY THRILLED to be there, but it's still really cute.
Even if whatever they did to that corn and tofu mix looked utterly gross.
The episode was totally worth watching for Jun's "Dun wanna." being super adorable when they tried to make him show off one of the items, though.
Mostly, though, none of them seem particularly into it. You'd think Jun would like cooking stuff, but even he kind of phoned it in. It got a little better in the second half when Sho started doing stuff and it's not the kind of boring that was like the early episodes of the show (I still think these episodes are getting surprisingly watchable) and I don't know if it's because they just weren't into this week's segments or if they're just so busy that they're getting tired. (I kind of lean towards the latter, actually.)
Which reminds me of a conversation I had about GRA and Himitsu no Arashi-chan and how I'm wondering what's going to happen--are they going to have THREE shows a week? Is one of the shows getting replaced? I was thinking about it and Himitsu no Arashi-chan is on the same station (FujiTV, I think?) as GRA and it's also in prime time (I think?) and it sounds almost EXACTLY like GRA's format. So, I don't think the show could replace Shukudai-kun since that's on... what? TBS, I want to say? Since Shukudai-kun has the same staff as D no Arashi (or at least they have the same director, they've mention Hino-chan--I think is his name?--in both shows and they seem to really like him/be kinda close with him), I'm sure whatever show will eventually replace Shukudai-kun (it's hard to believe there are over 70 episodes now!), it'll be on that station and in that same kind of format. But Himitsu no Arashi-chan and GRA being on the same station and in the same slot and with the same kind of format....
I'm kind of torn about the idea. On the one hand, GRA has 20 episodes now, which isn't a lot, but it should be working better by now. (Unless Japan thinks it is working, it's hard to tell because English fans don't necessarily like the same things Japan likes.) Yet, it has made a lot of progress, I don't want all that progress to be lost with scrapping that show and starting up a new one. On the other hand, if this image is any indication of what Himitsu no Arashi-chan is going to be like, well, MAYBE I CAN GET CAUTIOUSLY ONBOARD. Goddamn, you guys, can I have you? Just for a little while? I promise I'll put you back in relatively the same condition as I found you in....
I would theoretically like three shows a week for them, I don't want to give up GRA just yet and Himitsu no Arashi sounds possibly interesting, but... I'm not sure I want them to have three shows a week, because, jeez, they're already doing so much as it is! (I don't see any GRA episodes listed past #23 on the 2008 calendar, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. And 23 episodes for a show does seem awfully short...)
ANYWAY. I have to admit. When they were throwing around the blue ball full of ice cream, you could see the show almost start to have fun and then even that was boring/forced, I was kind of sighing to myself a little. I mean, even when they had the camera paused on Sho's face before he did his intro bit, he looked SO BORED (which made me laugh because it was so blatant) and you know things are bad when Sho thinks this is boring. XDDDD But! There are some cute moments! Sho and Nino sitting at the front like little audience members was cute and the Ohmiya being really close moments (with Ohno leaning on Nino's shoulders) and those are, like, the two or three moments of the entire show that Nino's not cranky.
The highlight of the episode for me was when they got Sho to uncork the bottles of wine and I was kind of seriously cracking up at the look on Sho's face when he did it right. Like WHOA THAT'S AMAZING like he is thinking: FINALLY. SOMETHING THAT HE CAN ACTUALLY WORK IN THE KITCHEN.
His VICTORY FACE is so, so hilarious, especially because everyone else is all: YAY! YAY! SOMETHING SHO CAN DO, TOO! YAY!
And then they went and played At the Hop in the background and I just. a sdlfkjals;kjljs I love the sound guys on this show so, so much. ALSO, NEXT WEEK LOOKS AWESOME. I'D LIKE THE EPISODE NOW, PLZ.
So, worth it if you're a hardcore Arashi fan, but if you're sort of on the fringes, you can skip the episode without feeling guilty.
♥ - I also watched Arashi no Shukudai-kun #74 - [2008.03.10] which is the second episode with the cornstarch mix. And maybe I'm just being overly negative, but... I don't know, this episode didn't quite work as well for me as the last one. It kind of feels like they're running out of steam or trying too hard or repeating themselves too much or something, which is why I kind of think that maybe this week's GRA was phoned in as well. I don't blame them, they kinda have to be overworked as hell. (I'd kind of rather see them bring back some of the older stuff again--c'mon, a game of pictionary with Sho's retarded drawings would be great for the LOLZ again, you guys!)
THAT SAID. I still loved the hell out of this episode because a) the guest was cute and b) Jun's dignity being in tattered, tattered remains, and c) Aibajun OTP forever. While I think it was a bit soon for another cornstarch mix episode, I'm NOT GOING TO COMPLAIN when Nino just brings the thought up for NO REASON WHATSOEVER, other than "it's been awhile, right?" that Jun should be in the nipple t-shirt and Aiba just RUNS RIGHT OVER with the scissors. Just. a sd;flkjasl;kj that's classic Nino/Jun right there and some of the most awesome Aiba/Jun, like, ever.
Because it's not just that Aiba's cutting holes in Jun's shirt, it's that it TAKES A MINUTE for Jun to remember, oh, hey, Aiba's trying to cut holes in my shirt and is really, really inside my personal space, maybe I should be objecting to this? and be all NO WAIT DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME before he skitters away. Like, it doesn't even register when Aiba waltzes right into his personal space and starts ~*touching*~ him in rather suggestive places. He's totally okay with it.
Until he remembers, oh, right, THIS ISN'T THAT KIND OF HAPPY FUN TIME and skitters across the vat to get out of range while Aiba keeps griiiiiinning at him and trying to talk him into letting them cut holes into his t-shirt. (Nino practically giggling in the background the entire time makes it that much funnier.) And, of course, because it's Aiba, Jun is rather quickly talked into it. Seriously, if you want Matsujun to do something, all you have to do is sic Aiba on him and give him a minute. No matter how embarrassing or random it is, Aiba will con him into it. That's not telling or indicative of anything whatsoever.
Plus, it was super-cute when Jun was standing on the opposite side and Aiba's all I'LL COME OVER THERE WITH YOU THEN and Jun was all NO IT'S DANGEROUS I'LL COME BACK OVER THERE and I swear I couldn't have not tinhatted through that entire scene if I'd tried. Aiba had to get really touchy-feely with Jun, really inside his personal space to cut the holes into his shirt and Jun just stands there like he's used to this. ♥♥♥
And then Aiba goes back down to the ground (after Jun has this look on his face like he's wishing death upon them all) where everyone else is and slips on the floor with SCISSORS IN HIS HAND (or maybe he'd put them down by then, since he seems to have lost them by the time he stands up again) and I know I should have been worried for him, but I was kind of busy laughing my ass off over it. That was INSTANT KARMA for you right there. That's what you get for destroying Matsujun's dignity, Aiba.
So, once again, Jun gets himself stuck in the cornstarch mix despite that he actually does pretty well running on the stuff and his problem is that he's running too hard/too much all at once to keep up, he exhausts himself and can't pull himself up at the last minute when he's sinking. At least he buys Sho enough time to get an answer, so, you know, you can consider his attempt at the whole thing a success. XD
Oh, and, I love that you can clearly see what a little bastard Ohno is as soon as he and Ogura-san sit down and Nino's up on the cornstarch mix, he's fighting down a smirk and you knew he was going to take forever to get to the answer. And then SURE ENOUGH. Oh, and! When the guest first smacked the cornstarch mix it was SO HILARIOUS that she nailed EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM with the spray from the sides. That's talent right there!
So, definitely worth watching, the guest was cute and there was some great fanservice that made me super-happy, but... well, I'll be okay without the cornstarch mix for awhile, too.
♥ - It's been awhile since I remarked on any particular scans, despite that I still collect them (I keep telling myself I'll go through them more thoroughly later, like when I finally make myself some new icons, which will be any day now, really), but between the Arashi 2008-2009 school calendar (lady_gemma's scans are here and here or up on morningberryz's vox account here and a few more here) and the Cooking With Arashi book (which you can see here), I've been kind of flailing madly.
The 2008-2009 school calendar:
→ There were a couple of gorgeous Aiba/Jun images (here where they're back to back and in dress shirts and I want one so badly and there's another one where Jun's got his hand on Aiba's shoulder and they're leaning reeeeeeally close together) and there's not a whole lot of fanservice with them in official photoshoots because Jun seems to be really careful about anything that's "permanent", I swear. But these images were just. asldfkjaslkja nnnggh so so pretty and flail-inducing.
→ Aiba and Nino being dorks! Arashi playing Jenga and with oversized cards! SO CUTE. Arashi trying to be hardcore gangsters and failing so hard! So much cuteness!
→ There's also an image of Jun with THE BEST HAIR EVER. There's a group shot (which is in lady_gemma's scans, but I can't find uploaded anywhere else yet) which has Sho in a WHOLE NEW LEVEL of gay sweater wearing (which you wouldn't think was possible even for Sho, but it is SO GAY) and Jun has THAT HAIR and Aiba's wearing a purple suit and Ohno's wearing a shiny silver shirt under a flannel shirt and Nino's wearing a shiny gold suit with a bow tie and it is possibly the greatest group shot I have ever seen.
It makes no sense whatsoever! There is absolutely no rhyme, reason, or theme to it at all! It's HILARIOUS.
→ There's an image of them all sitting on a couch where you can really see Aiba's outfit (or in this one, too) and... w-wow. Those are some really damn big rings there, Aiba. I entertain myself with these things, shut up. (But you know Aiba's not the type for giant rings like that, so clearly someone has been grooming him. *beams*)
The Cooking with Arashi book:
→ For the book, they each took a bunch of candid Polaroid pictures and had a two page spread with them scattered across the pages. (You can find them all in this post.) Now, it's a bit of a depature for Arashi in that they're a little bit dorky and a little bit touchy-feely/gay, which surprised me a lot. It's shocking, I know.
And I'd seen that one of Ohno/Jun snuggling (and, oh, god, they're so cute, why won't you write me more decent Ohno/Jun fandom??), but the rest of them were new. They're all really fun, too! Of course, naturally I went to look at Jun's page first, because, you know, that's what I do. And I was looking at the pictures he'd taken and I just-- I had to laugh.
GO ON AND GUESS who, like, half of Jun's are of.
Seriously. If you take out the nature photos with no one in them and only look at the pictures with people in them, MORE THAN HALF have Aiba in them. I lol'd so hard, that's NOT OBSESSIVE AT ALL, WHY ANYONE WOULD THINK THAT JUN IS ALWAYS WATCHING AIBA OR HAS A CRUSH ON HIM, I DON'T KNOW. It's totally just coincidence that Aiba happens to be in the direction he's looking more than half of the time! Aiba just pops up out of nowhere and should really stop that! There's nothing signifigant at all!
→ Ohno's pictures are totally dorky and--to the surprise of no one--focus on Nino a lot. Including a shot of Nino's butt. ....all right then.
Nino's photos were actually surprisingly well-balanced, I think he got a good mix of just about everyone in there. (Sho and Aiba got a decent mix as well, but I expected that of them.) I did lol at the picture of the watermelon with Ohno's photo on top of it for no reason whatsoever that I can tell.
→ However, there is totally nothing funny about Nino trying to stick a whole orange in his mouth and looking like a dork while doing it. (Oh, god, ILU, Nino.) Or Aiba looking like he might really try to eat that whole thing at once. JESUS, AIBA, SMALLER BITES, YOU'RE GOING TO CHOKE OTHERWISE.
→ You know, for once, the food actually looks really good! I'm hoping someone will translate the recipes sometime. ♥