So who can't wait for VS ARASHI after TFP2? WANT IT SO BAD. T__T
.....s-so, guess who has Final Fantasy III now? This is so not going to end well for me. (I did the same thing with the GC--I have about six games for it now that I haven't had a chance to even touch yet because I'd have to unplug the PS2 or my DVD player, both of which are extreme pains in the ass to do, and I'm still working on ToA right now. orz) Because I am totally eying the PW series next.
Anyway. I meant to post this about two weeks ago, but I got distracted with the ficlet a day project (so you can tell a lot of these comments are kind of dated, but I use them for my own reference for what I've seen/haven't seen yet, so you can all deal with it ♥), but I'm going to try to break this up into two posts because it got ridiculously long.
♥ - I have watched the news clip on the Himitsu no Arashi-chan press conference on Wednesday and HOLY SHIT I DON'T THINK I CAN HANDLE IT.
News clip on the press conference and newspaper scans with the ads where Arashi is unzipping for "the secret" and I--
I--
I don't--
I-- I mean--
That poster.
....I think I broke something. .___.
I mean, the previous commercial with the finger to their lips and the pink shirts was pretty awesome and really, really hot (oh, god, Jun why are you so pretty?) but this is just-- a;sldal;skj I can't handle this much awesome!
[edits to add] as;dlfkjasl;kjalskj aatash's translation of the news clip and it's even more hilarious now. I am not sure how it's even POSSIBLE for the show to live up to the promotion of it. I was almost crying during the clip/translation. *flails*
[edits again] And as;dljas;lkjalks the secrets are posted here as well. (Though, these translations are clearer.)
I just-- Whoever thought up the zippers on the posters to have secrets inside (about how the various members are totally fail) is a genius.
WHYYYY CAN'T IT HAVE AIRED YET? Especially since there's no GRA next week and VS ARASHI doesn't start for two weeks yet and this week's Shukudai-kun is an Odoroki SP 4 preview, which means it's a bit of a lull TV-wise for awhile (and, oh, sure, I could use this time to catch up on my backlog, but pfftt) and I WANT MORE RIGHT NOW, PLZ.
♥ - Also, I watched the Hana Yori Dango cast's appearance on Tokyo Friends Park II (because the end of March could not come fast enough and I wanted Arashi's appearance on the show so badly) and I think I loved that one even more than the Yamada Tarou Monogatari one with Sho and Nino. It's just. They're all SO ADORABLE together, the cast really has some great chemistry, and it's wonderful to see Jun so cute and relaxed and playful with the group.
I swear, the appearance just totally cemented my desire to ship Jun with absolutely everyone, though. I already liked Shun/Jun and they were adorable here--giving each other crap about the good lines they each got (when they said something clever/cool on the show, that is) and then the other would turn to the audience and go HE IS A LIAR DON'T BELIEVE HIM.
Not that it's particularly news, either, but. Inoue Mao-chan is the cutest girl in the entire world. I don't know what was cuter, her being fail at so many of the games or the way she patted Jun's head when he was fail at the velcro wall bit. (I could not wait for them to make him try it again in the upcoming Arashi one.) Or when he guessed the song correctly because of the way she banged on the buttons, rather than because he actually heard the song. I-- I've always gotten the impression of siblings off of them when they're not acting, they just totally felt like that to me. But I-- I kind of ship them now. .___. Seriously. They were so cute.
(And I guess they've been really touchy-feely with the movie shooting? I hesitated to ship them because it seems like such a cliche, despite all the chemistry their characters have, but... after this....)
The song segments was really fun--the way they kept cheating to give each other hints or the way Matsuda Shota COULD NOT RECOGNIZE STAND BY ME. Seriously, Shotan, GET OUT MORE. Or the way he turns around when it's Oguri Shun's turn and the host asks, "Does Oguri-kun know it, too?"
"Yes, or else there's something wrong with him."
YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT, SHOTAN, NOT AFTER MISSING STAND BY ME.
There was also so much awesome in this special. During the quiz section (where they have to run on treadmills), the show got questions specified to each of them and the topic of Jun's first questions?
SHOUJO MANGA.
I laughed so hard because I knew about it ahead of time a little, except that it's even more hilarious than I could have imagined. The look of trauma on his face when the host announces that in front of everyone and he's all NO NO NO THEY WERE MY SISTER'S MAGAZINES OKAY?
Because all little boys read their sister's shoujo manga magazines.
Of course.
This is totally undercut by the way he just nails rattling off a list of top ten comic magazine publishers pretty much without even trying.
I LOVE YOU ALWAYS, MATSUJUN. NEVER CHANGE, STAY YOUR GIRLY SELF FOREVER.
I loved the host, too, who said--despite Jun's protests that THEY WERE NOT HIS MANGA, SO--!!!, "But you've still read a lot of shoujo manga, right?"
Jun: ".....................yes. ~_~"
Then, after Jun gets them right, Well, that's to be expected of someone doing a drama remake of a shoujo manga.
Audience: :OOO WOOOOOOW~
Shun: [to the audience] HE IS A LIAR. HE'S NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE.
a;slalskj *ships them all over again*
(Well, at least now I know where Aiba comes into contact with all that shoujo manga that freaks him out.)
And! I remember Jun mentioning that he used to play baseball as a kid, that he was the catcher (....yep, still funny), and I heard Oguri Shun mentioning his baseball team for his plans for this year, that's interesting to think about the two of them bonding over baseball a little. So when the host goes, well, let's have you name four of the top ten best baseball catchers!, and he goes all NO I DON'T KNOW ANY BASEBALL CATCHERS, then proceeds to rattle four of them off like it's nothing.
JUN, YOU LIAR.
The series of arcade games was actually really fun, too! I didn't think they'd make it, especially when Mao-chan got off to a bad start (Jun telling her it was okay! asd;lfkjasl;kj so adorable!) but then the guys all picked games they were good at and just. as;ldfalskjlakjs holy crap SO AWESOME. I loved that they picked Jun for the soccer game. Of course they did.
Of COURSE they pick Matsujun for the game where he has to accurately kick things and OF COURSE he totally nails it. Just goes to show you that Jun has had a lot of practice kicking things.
I'm sure his bandmates will be glad to know that all that practice on them has not gone to waste.
♥ - So, this is probably a coincidence but damn if it doesn't make me think that, well, okay, maybe I ship Jun/Mao-chan just a little.
♥ - I watched GRA #23 [03.29.08] this week as well. And GRA #23, it's the final episode of GRA forever, it looks like? Which actually makes me really kinda sad. I'm excited for the new VS ARASHI as much as the next fangirl, but GRA was actually starting to get really good! It wasn't perfect, but it was totally getting interesting and had some truly cracky moments and this final episode was a blast. I'm also really, really going to miss Matsui-san and Kanna-chan a lot.
I'm also going to miss the bright colors on the show--despite that I don't care for the set design, I really came to like the bright colors and the make up on the boys and the clothes, because they all looked amazing in every episode. ....you can tell by the way I took a lot of gratuituous caps of Jun.
Anyway, so this week on GRA #23, each of the guys is going to do some sort of act. They were fabulous.
→ First up, a magic trick! Splitting the 10000 bill into two 5000 ones! Not a great trick, but not a bad one. So, they're going to teach Jun a different trick, wherein he pulls (an obviously telescoping) large tan pole out of a bag.
I-- I laughed really, really hard. Of course they gave that trick to Matsujun. Of course.
I'm starting to think that perhaps they are doing this on purpose.
Also, I laughed even harder when the one guy dared to question Jun's magic act because clearly that man wanted to die. He died a brave death, though. :<
→ Next was a guy doing impressions with cut-out faces and it would probably have been funnier if I recognized more of the people, I imagine. But it also was totally worth it for the guy using Nino's cut out face and doing an impression of him and for when Nino had to do an impression himself.
The look on Sho's face as the guy was doing Nino was pretty great, too. That look where he seems like he's practically dying of laughter. ♥
→ Kanna-chan teaching Matsui-san her act! And holy crap that is one hell of an irritating voice Kanna-chan does for her regular act! ...have I mentioned that I'm going to miss them? Because I will. ): Their outfits were so so cute on this episode as well!
→ And, in what was quite possibly the best thing ever, they make Sho put on the... special... um... attachments... and it was truly awesome. I'd seen screen captures of it, of course, but that does not prepare you at all for how super, super hilarious it is to see Arashi having bullied him into this musical act and Sho gamely trying to do his best with it.
This is why I'm sad that GRA is ending (even if I agree with the choice), because there was a lot of potential here. And I feel like not enough people gave it a chance despite that it got better. (Still. VS ARASHI cannot come fast enough omg omg omg.)
→ The last one was Ohno's act and it was really super fun for a handful of reasons--one, holy crap they found someone (two someones, really) shorter than Ohno! Two, because you can see what an adorable little old man Ohno is going to grow up to be. Three, man, that was one hell of a long ass act and watching Ohno try to talk and talk and talk at the fast pace it requires is kind of adorable.
And, four... w-well. I've often thought that Ohno was pretty and I'd love to squish him and feed him cookies and all. He makes adorable faces or he's really amazing when he dances, etc. He's so pretty on this show, it's hard not to take ridiculous amounts of caps of him, too.
But there was something about watching Ohno during his routine that was... kind of a strange feeling. I think Ohno is adorable and totally attractive, but I'm not used to this whole feeling of... "Wow, I would hit that so hard. *__*" while watching him. I'm used to this feeling with Aiba! I mean, anyone who doesn't think Aiba is smoking hot needs to never, ever tell me that because I'll think you're crazy in the head. I'm used to thinking Sho is totally hot and that I want to marry him. I'm even sort of getting used to the idea that occasionally I feel the same way about Jun, because he's my favorite and I love him.
....but it's a bit of a new sensation with Ohno. .....it's not entirely unpleasant.
♥ - A-anyway. Arashi no Shukudai-kun #76 [02.24.08] took me forever to watch and I'm not sure why. I'd seen screencaps of the Aiba/Jun moment and heard about the Hentai-Conan thing and saw it was another dilatancy episode, so I was curious, but somehow I just never quite got around to it for awhile.
It was a perfectly fine episode, but... I don't know, maybe the dilatancy thing is wearing a bit thin for me? Three episodes (even if in alternating weeks) is a bit much, I'd have preferred them to be spaced out a bit more.
That said, there were some totally gold moments in the episode. The food was totally gross as usual and AIBA MASAKI DON'T FUCKING DO THAT TO THE FOOD. For a moment I thought the food was still in the midst of its death-throes and was SEVERELY CREEPED THE FUCK OUT, but I went to look at it again and the movement really looks like someone right next to the cameraman (which is where Aiba was) was wiggling it--plus, it's a totally Aiba thing to do, EVEN IF IT REALLY CREEPED ME OUT FOR A MINUTE THERE.
The Sho/Ohno dorkery was totally cute, the hug was SUPER CUTE AWWW--WRITE ME MORE SHO/OHNO FIC, FANDOM, OKAY?--and totally worth it for that right there. (It looks like Ohno's nails--or at least his pinky was still painted?--which makes me wonder if they filmed all the episodes on the same day.)
Also, it's interesting. You can see Nino smiling in the background of the Sho/Ohno hug, like, aww, look at my two cute boyfriends hugging. ♥ But if you ever see Ohno/Jun touchy-feely-ness, I swear that is when Nino gets this >:/ look on his face and acts all pissy. Which is... well, interesting, yes. >:D
Nino and Sho giving Aiba crap about dropping the "Shiodome" name from "Aibaland" was amusing and I'm glad they skipped a lot of the introduction stuff, because it can be cute to see the guest's amusement at trying it out for the first time, it would have made the episode drag, I think.
Aiba explaining everything yet again and then Jun and Nino going LET'S GO HOME NOW and turning to leave, also hilarious! Jun asking if it's okay he can move the cans (for the game while the other person is running on the cornstarch mix) over to the otherside and Sho/Nino going HEY THAT'S NOT FAIR and JUST BECAUSE YOU GUYS DIDN'T THINK TO ASK DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT FAIR. Jun's just thoughtful about these things.
But, of course, my favorite moment was when Sho and Nino wanted a second chance and Jun is all HEY. I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING YOU'RE FORGETTING, IF YOU WANT ANOTHER ROUND. So, Aiba's reaction? To run right over to Jun and put his hands really inside Jun's personal space, even throwing an arm around Jun's shoulders, to which Jun doesn't even seem to blink at, while going HEY, YEAH, MATSUMOTO IS RIGHT~~~
(Add to that, the flashbacks to when Jun had the holes cut into his shirt weren't framed in a totally dramatic and gay way at all, I was kind of "....♥♥♥ ILU Shukudai-kun staff!")
C-clearly, they are a duo that you never, ever want to cross.
Especially not if you're Sho and the rest of your stupid bandmates are within earshot and think this is a TOTALLY GREAT IDEA. I love it, because everyone just totally manhandles Sho and he lets them do whatever they want. Seriously, he's so passive when they bully him into something, he just goes limp and leans into Jun, who holds his shoulders back, while Aiba cuts holes into his shirt, and Ohno holds his arms, and even Nino sticks his hands all up in Sho's personal space.
It's hilarious, they just have to push at him a little and he does whatever they say. He's clearly totally used to it, too. XDDD
(Also, the way Sho is leaning his head against Jun's chest while everyone works on taping up his shirt was totally not hot or anything. I'm certainly not still thinking about it, not at all.)
(Ohno trying not to crack up (and failing) in the background is hilarious, too.)
Finally, "Let's go, Pervert Conan!" = a;sdlfkjaslkj ILU NINO. Forever.
♥ - OKAY. YES FINALLY. TOKYO FRIEND PARK II IS IN MY HANDS.
I think... I think I still prefer the Hanadan cast's appearance, but that might just be because I got a bit more of what they were saying/they were a bit less fail. Not that it's not hilarious when Arashi totally fails at stuff, but I was kind of hoping for a little bit better with them and their prizes. Plus, I saw that VS ARASHI commercial/preview before I watched this and oh my god I want it so bad.
Though, aatash's summary/translation helped clear up a few things, but I generally got the gist of pretty much everything mentioned (oh, man, I'd love subtitles for this, though ♥) and it did bring at least one new thing to light--the way Ohno was suggesting strategies/orders for them, and all of Arashi basically goes YOU'RE AN IDIOT ♥ and follow what he says anyway.
And that's why Ohno is their Leader. ♥
Anyway, of course, right off the bat, Sho makes me love him for wearing the sleeveless jacket during the Step & Go performance and Jun makes me love him, too, for the pastel pink pants. Never change, Matsujun. Never change. A-and the d-dancing... I love them so, so much for the dancing. *__*
................okay. So. One of the first things they do (after the opening Step and Go performance) is the Wall Jump. Where, out of the total clear blue, Jun grabs hold of Aiba's face/hair with the velcro gloves in, ah, a really suggestive way. Naturally, they hurt a lot against your face, so Aiba's all OW OW OW OW and-- asld;fkjasl;kj what? What was that for? Just to make me happy with my tinhat thoughts?
....good to know Arashi still loves me then! o/
(I totally didn't take too many caps of it. ....what.)
It's just. You put Jun in a suit of velcro and what does he immediately do? Go for Aiba with it to scratch it all over his face/hair. That's how you know Jun loves you. ♥
Part of the reason I'm so amused by that (other than the obvious) is that I totally had that conversation with Ho a couple of weeks before it aired. ....m-maybe not quite as clean as what actually aired, there was more discussion of the various places the gloves would get stuck, but I feel happy having called that. XD
And, of course, Nino is also testing out his gloves. On Ohno. Then Nino and Sho dorking out. asdf;lkajs;lkjasl I was barely five minutes into the special and already I love it so much that I want to burst. They cannot possibly love me this much, right? Except they do! I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop! But it never does.
a;sdjkfalsk also, and, oh, man, The Fool On The Hill always makes me think that it's going to be so awkward and uncomfortable to watch--because that game looks seriously so hard--and yet it seems to always turn out to be one of my favorites. It's just so much fun to watch them try to bang on the buttons at the right moment and the peanut gallery going C'MON IT'S SO OBVIOUS or the audience going EHHHH~!?!? like oh my god Nino how can you not know that song and then-- Nino turning to the audience and snapping at them because he didn't know the song made me love him so so much.
A-also. Whoever thought to put Jun on the hill while Nino tried to answer is just. a sd;flkjasl;k I love them, too. And Nino yelling at the buttons for not playing the song (as;dlkfjs seriously that game looks SO HARD) was total LOL, too.
And Ohno! With "I-is it T-tsu--" "IT'S NOT TSUNAMI, STOP SAYING IT'S TSUNAMI." a;sldkfjaslkj LOL.
The arcade games were possibly my favorite--maybe because Arashi was totally kicking ass at the games? Like, you can tell this is a group of guys who really had fun with the games. (Not that a lot of JE groups probably wouldn't have a ton of fun with them, but.) Th-though... they gave the game where you blow darts at balloons to Aiba? R-really, you guys? (I... I guess that's good? It means they're not worried about him anymore, so he must be doing okay?)
Or the game where Aiba would fling the burgers at the little boxes and I swear it looks like they're standing behind the spinning boxes as incentive for Aiba to hit them hard enough to go flying. (It seems like actually they're forming a human wall so that the burgers can bounce off them, since I guess the rule is that you can't touch them with your hands, b-but anything else is fair game? ....I love Arashi so much. Have I mentioned that?)
I was also disappointed that they gave the kicking/soccer game to Sho (despite that, okay, Sho's good at soccer) because it was so super hilarious when Jun did it last time, but I suppose variety is good. And Sho was kind of adorable at it. ♥ Same for Ohno with the flying discs--I would have been SO NERVOUS to play that game!
And and and! Arashi sitting in a circle like a bunch of deliquents while they discuss their strategy on the bridge game. a sd;lfkjas;lkj so fucking cute. Jun being called "sensei"! Ohno just falling down onto the floor when they lost the first couple of times! The total miracle that was pulling that game off! Jun totally staring adoringly at Ohno and Aiba.
The body&mind questions, I think, will probably be more interesting when I can understand more of what they're asking (and it's hard to top asking Jun about shoujo manga, honestly) but it was cute from what I could get of it. (....did... did they just give Ohno a Dragonball question? ad;lskfja;lsk fuck I love this show.)
Oh, and you know what else? The air hockey game is always fun and I would 100% completely seriously watch a half hour of Nino playing that. (Or Nino playing a video game for half an hour, so long as we could see the screen, too. It'd be really kind of fascinating/fun, I think.)
(Seriously, I want VS ARASHI so badly. Nino! Climbing a rock wall! Yes, send the little spider monkey with the weak wrists to climb the wall! Don't send the one who actually works out or who is just built to be athletic or even Matsujun who doesn't always fail at sports. Send the tiny one with the weak wrists and the poor grip strength. Excellent plan. ilu guys forever ♥)
I kind of felt badly for Arashi during the final darts game, because they were failing so hardcore at it, but then... then Ohno decided to give everyone but THE ONE GUY WHO ACTUALLY HIT HIS TARGET ANOTHER DART and I thought, no, no, those idiots deserve to be forlornly stacking their loser prizes in a sad semi-circle.
(At least one of them won the prize he was going for. ♥)
Anyway. I meant to post this about two weeks ago, but I got distracted with the ficlet a day project (so you can tell a lot of these comments are kind of dated, but I use them for my own reference for what I've seen/haven't seen yet, so you can all deal with it ♥), but I'm going to try to break this up into two posts because it got ridiculously long.
♥ - I have watched the news clip on the Himitsu no Arashi-chan press conference on Wednesday and HOLY SHIT I DON'T THINK I CAN HANDLE IT.
News clip on the press conference and newspaper scans with the ads where Arashi is unzipping for "the secret" and I--
I--
I don't--
I-- I mean--
That poster.
....I think I broke something. .___.
I mean, the previous commercial with the finger to their lips and the pink shirts was pretty awesome and really, really hot (oh, god, Jun why are you so pretty?) but this is just-- a;sldal;skj I can't handle this much awesome!
[edits to add] as;dlfkjasl;kjalskj aatash's translation of the news clip and it's even more hilarious now. I am not sure how it's even POSSIBLE for the show to live up to the promotion of it. I was almost crying during the clip/translation. *flails*
[edits again] And as;dljas;lkjalks the secrets are posted here as well. (Though, these translations are clearer.)
I just-- Whoever thought up the zippers on the posters to have secrets inside (about how the various members are totally fail) is a genius.
WHYYYY CAN'T IT HAVE AIRED YET? Especially since there's no GRA next week and VS ARASHI doesn't start for two weeks yet and this week's Shukudai-kun is an Odoroki SP 4 preview, which means it's a bit of a lull TV-wise for awhile (and, oh, sure, I could use this time to catch up on my backlog, but pfftt) and I WANT MORE RIGHT NOW, PLZ.
♥ - Also, I watched the Hana Yori Dango cast's appearance on Tokyo Friends Park II (because the end of March could not come fast enough and I wanted Arashi's appearance on the show so badly) and I think I loved that one even more than the Yamada Tarou Monogatari one with Sho and Nino. It's just. They're all SO ADORABLE together, the cast really has some great chemistry, and it's wonderful to see Jun so cute and relaxed and playful with the group.
I swear, the appearance just totally cemented my desire to ship Jun with absolutely everyone, though. I already liked Shun/Jun and they were adorable here--giving each other crap about the good lines they each got (when they said something clever/cool on the show, that is) and then the other would turn to the audience and go HE IS A LIAR DON'T BELIEVE HIM.
Not that it's particularly news, either, but. Inoue Mao-chan is the cutest girl in the entire world. I don't know what was cuter, her being fail at so many of the games or the way she patted Jun's head when he was fail at the velcro wall bit. (I could not wait for them to make him try it again in the upcoming Arashi one.) Or when he guessed the song correctly because of the way she banged on the buttons, rather than because he actually heard the song. I-- I've always gotten the impression of siblings off of them when they're not acting, they just totally felt like that to me. But I-- I kind of ship them now. .___. Seriously. They were so cute.
(And I guess they've been really touchy-feely with the movie shooting? I hesitated to ship them because it seems like such a cliche, despite all the chemistry their characters have, but... after this....)
The song segments was really fun--the way they kept cheating to give each other hints or the way Matsuda Shota COULD NOT RECOGNIZE STAND BY ME. Seriously, Shotan, GET OUT MORE. Or the way he turns around when it's Oguri Shun's turn and the host asks, "Does Oguri-kun know it, too?"
"Yes, or else there's something wrong with him."
YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT, SHOTAN, NOT AFTER MISSING STAND BY ME.
There was also so much awesome in this special. During the quiz section (where they have to run on treadmills), the show got questions specified to each of them and the topic of Jun's first questions?
SHOUJO MANGA.
I laughed so hard because I knew about it ahead of time a little, except that it's even more hilarious than I could have imagined. The look of trauma on his face when the host announces that in front of everyone and he's all NO NO NO THEY WERE MY SISTER'S MAGAZINES OKAY?
Because all little boys read their sister's shoujo manga magazines.
Of course.
This is totally undercut by the way he just nails rattling off a list of top ten comic magazine publishers pretty much without even trying.
I LOVE YOU ALWAYS, MATSUJUN. NEVER CHANGE, STAY YOUR GIRLY SELF FOREVER.
I loved the host, too, who said--despite Jun's protests that THEY WERE NOT HIS MANGA, SO--!!!, "But you've still read a lot of shoujo manga, right?"
Jun: ".....................yes. ~_~"
Then, after Jun gets them right, Well, that's to be expected of someone doing a drama remake of a shoujo manga.
Audience: :OOO WOOOOOOW~
Shun: [to the audience] HE IS A LIAR. HE'S NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE.
a;slalskj *ships them all over again*
(Well, at least now I know where Aiba comes into contact with all that shoujo manga that freaks him out.)
And! I remember Jun mentioning that he used to play baseball as a kid, that he was the catcher (....yep, still funny), and I heard Oguri Shun mentioning his baseball team for his plans for this year, that's interesting to think about the two of them bonding over baseball a little. So when the host goes, well, let's have you name four of the top ten best baseball catchers!, and he goes all NO I DON'T KNOW ANY BASEBALL CATCHERS, then proceeds to rattle four of them off like it's nothing.
JUN, YOU LIAR.
The series of arcade games was actually really fun, too! I didn't think they'd make it, especially when Mao-chan got off to a bad start (Jun telling her it was okay! asd;lfkjasl;kj so adorable!) but then the guys all picked games they were good at and just. as;ldfalskjlakjs holy crap SO AWESOME. I loved that they picked Jun for the soccer game. Of course they did.
Of COURSE they pick Matsujun for the game where he has to accurately kick things and OF COURSE he totally nails it. Just goes to show you that Jun has had a lot of practice kicking things.
I'm sure his bandmates will be glad to know that all that practice on them has not gone to waste.
♥ - So, this is probably a coincidence but damn if it doesn't make me think that, well, okay, maybe I ship Jun/Mao-chan just a little.
♥ - I watched GRA #23 [03.29.08] this week as well. And GRA #23, it's the final episode of GRA forever, it looks like? Which actually makes me really kinda sad. I'm excited for the new VS ARASHI as much as the next fangirl, but GRA was actually starting to get really good! It wasn't perfect, but it was totally getting interesting and had some truly cracky moments and this final episode was a blast. I'm also really, really going to miss Matsui-san and Kanna-chan a lot.
I'm also going to miss the bright colors on the show--despite that I don't care for the set design, I really came to like the bright colors and the make up on the boys and the clothes, because they all looked amazing in every episode. ....you can tell by the way I took a lot of gratuituous caps of Jun.
Anyway, so this week on GRA #23, each of the guys is going to do some sort of act. They were fabulous.
→ First up, a magic trick! Splitting the 10000 bill into two 5000 ones! Not a great trick, but not a bad one. So, they're going to teach Jun a different trick, wherein he pulls (an obviously telescoping) large tan pole out of a bag.
I-- I laughed really, really hard. Of course they gave that trick to Matsujun. Of course.
I'm starting to think that perhaps they are doing this on purpose.
Also, I laughed even harder when the one guy dared to question Jun's magic act because clearly that man wanted to die. He died a brave death, though. :<
→ Next was a guy doing impressions with cut-out faces and it would probably have been funnier if I recognized more of the people, I imagine. But it also was totally worth it for the guy using Nino's cut out face and doing an impression of him and for when Nino had to do an impression himself.
The look on Sho's face as the guy was doing Nino was pretty great, too. That look where he seems like he's practically dying of laughter. ♥
→ Kanna-chan teaching Matsui-san her act! And holy crap that is one hell of an irritating voice Kanna-chan does for her regular act! ...have I mentioned that I'm going to miss them? Because I will. ): Their outfits were so so cute on this episode as well!
→ And, in what was quite possibly the best thing ever, they make Sho put on the... special... um... attachments... and it was truly awesome. I'd seen screen captures of it, of course, but that does not prepare you at all for how super, super hilarious it is to see Arashi having bullied him into this musical act and Sho gamely trying to do his best with it.
This is why I'm sad that GRA is ending (even if I agree with the choice), because there was a lot of potential here. And I feel like not enough people gave it a chance despite that it got better. (Still. VS ARASHI cannot come fast enough omg omg omg.)
→ The last one was Ohno's act and it was really super fun for a handful of reasons--one, holy crap they found someone (two someones, really) shorter than Ohno! Two, because you can see what an adorable little old man Ohno is going to grow up to be. Three, man, that was one hell of a long ass act and watching Ohno try to talk and talk and talk at the fast pace it requires is kind of adorable.
And, four... w-well. I've often thought that Ohno was pretty and I'd love to squish him and feed him cookies and all. He makes adorable faces or he's really amazing when he dances, etc. He's so pretty on this show, it's hard not to take ridiculous amounts of caps of him, too.
But there was something about watching Ohno during his routine that was... kind of a strange feeling. I think Ohno is adorable and totally attractive, but I'm not used to this whole feeling of... "Wow, I would hit that so hard. *__*" while watching him. I'm used to this feeling with Aiba! I mean, anyone who doesn't think Aiba is smoking hot needs to never, ever tell me that because I'll think you're crazy in the head. I'm used to thinking Sho is totally hot and that I want to marry him. I'm even sort of getting used to the idea that occasionally I feel the same way about Jun, because he's my favorite and I love him.
....but it's a bit of a new sensation with Ohno. .....it's not entirely unpleasant.
♥ - A-anyway. Arashi no Shukudai-kun #76 [02.24.08] took me forever to watch and I'm not sure why. I'd seen screencaps of the Aiba/Jun moment and heard about the Hentai-Conan thing and saw it was another dilatancy episode, so I was curious, but somehow I just never quite got around to it for awhile.
It was a perfectly fine episode, but... I don't know, maybe the dilatancy thing is wearing a bit thin for me? Three episodes (even if in alternating weeks) is a bit much, I'd have preferred them to be spaced out a bit more.
That said, there were some totally gold moments in the episode. The food was totally gross as usual and AIBA MASAKI DON'T FUCKING DO THAT TO THE FOOD. For a moment I thought the food was still in the midst of its death-throes and was SEVERELY CREEPED THE FUCK OUT, but I went to look at it again and the movement really looks like someone right next to the cameraman (which is where Aiba was) was wiggling it--plus, it's a totally Aiba thing to do, EVEN IF IT REALLY CREEPED ME OUT FOR A MINUTE THERE.
The Sho/Ohno dorkery was totally cute, the hug was SUPER CUTE AWWW--WRITE ME MORE SHO/OHNO FIC, FANDOM, OKAY?--and totally worth it for that right there. (It looks like Ohno's nails--or at least his pinky was still painted?--which makes me wonder if they filmed all the episodes on the same day.)
Also, it's interesting. You can see Nino smiling in the background of the Sho/Ohno hug, like, aww, look at my two cute boyfriends hugging. ♥ But if you ever see Ohno/Jun touchy-feely-ness, I swear that is when Nino gets this >:/ look on his face and acts all pissy. Which is... well, interesting, yes. >:D
Nino and Sho giving Aiba crap about dropping the "Shiodome" name from "Aibaland" was amusing and I'm glad they skipped a lot of the introduction stuff, because it can be cute to see the guest's amusement at trying it out for the first time, it would have made the episode drag, I think.
Aiba explaining everything yet again and then Jun and Nino going LET'S GO HOME NOW and turning to leave, also hilarious! Jun asking if it's okay he can move the cans (for the game while the other person is running on the cornstarch mix) over to the otherside and Sho/Nino going HEY THAT'S NOT FAIR and JUST BECAUSE YOU GUYS DIDN'T THINK TO ASK DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT FAIR. Jun's just thoughtful about these things.
But, of course, my favorite moment was when Sho and Nino wanted a second chance and Jun is all HEY. I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING YOU'RE FORGETTING, IF YOU WANT ANOTHER ROUND. So, Aiba's reaction? To run right over to Jun and put his hands really inside Jun's personal space, even throwing an arm around Jun's shoulders, to which Jun doesn't even seem to blink at, while going HEY, YEAH, MATSUMOTO IS RIGHT~~~
(Add to that, the flashbacks to when Jun had the holes cut into his shirt weren't framed in a totally dramatic and gay way at all, I was kind of "....♥♥♥ ILU Shukudai-kun staff!")
C-clearly, they are a duo that you never, ever want to cross.
Especially not if you're Sho and the rest of your stupid bandmates are within earshot and think this is a TOTALLY GREAT IDEA. I love it, because everyone just totally manhandles Sho and he lets them do whatever they want. Seriously, he's so passive when they bully him into something, he just goes limp and leans into Jun, who holds his shoulders back, while Aiba cuts holes into his shirt, and Ohno holds his arms, and even Nino sticks his hands all up in Sho's personal space.
It's hilarious, they just have to push at him a little and he does whatever they say. He's clearly totally used to it, too. XDDD
(Also, the way Sho is leaning his head against Jun's chest while everyone works on taping up his shirt was totally not hot or anything. I'm certainly not still thinking about it, not at all.)
(Ohno trying not to crack up (and failing) in the background is hilarious, too.)
Finally, "Let's go, Pervert Conan!" = a;sdlfkjaslkj ILU NINO. Forever.
♥ - OKAY. YES FINALLY. TOKYO FRIEND PARK II IS IN MY HANDS.
I think... I think I still prefer the Hanadan cast's appearance, but that might just be because I got a bit more of what they were saying/they were a bit less fail. Not that it's not hilarious when Arashi totally fails at stuff, but I was kind of hoping for a little bit better with them and their prizes. Plus, I saw that VS ARASHI commercial/preview before I watched this and oh my god I want it so bad.
Though, aatash's summary/translation helped clear up a few things, but I generally got the gist of pretty much everything mentioned (oh, man, I'd love subtitles for this, though ♥) and it did bring at least one new thing to light--the way Ohno was suggesting strategies/orders for them, and all of Arashi basically goes YOU'RE AN IDIOT ♥ and follow what he says anyway.
And that's why Ohno is their Leader. ♥
Anyway, of course, right off the bat, Sho makes me love him for wearing the sleeveless jacket during the Step & Go performance and Jun makes me love him, too, for the pastel pink pants. Never change, Matsujun. Never change. A-and the d-dancing... I love them so, so much for the dancing. *__*
................okay. So. One of the first things they do (after the opening Step and Go performance) is the Wall Jump. Where, out of the total clear blue, Jun grabs hold of Aiba's face/hair with the velcro gloves in, ah, a really suggestive way. Naturally, they hurt a lot against your face, so Aiba's all OW OW OW OW and-- asld;fkjasl;kj what? What was that for? Just to make me happy with my tinhat thoughts?
....good to know Arashi still loves me then! o/
(I totally didn't take too many caps of it. ....what.)
It's just. You put Jun in a suit of velcro and what does he immediately do? Go for Aiba with it to scratch it all over his face/hair. That's how you know Jun loves you. ♥
Part of the reason I'm so amused by that (other than the obvious) is that I totally had that conversation with Ho a couple of weeks before it aired. ....m-maybe not quite as clean as what actually aired, there was more discussion of the various places the gloves would get stuck, but I feel happy having called that. XD
And, of course, Nino is also testing out his gloves. On Ohno. Then Nino and Sho dorking out. asdf;lkajs;lkjasl I was barely five minutes into the special and already I love it so much that I want to burst. They cannot possibly love me this much, right? Except they do! I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop! But it never does.
a;sdjkfalsk also, and, oh, man, The Fool On The Hill always makes me think that it's going to be so awkward and uncomfortable to watch--because that game looks seriously so hard--and yet it seems to always turn out to be one of my favorites. It's just so much fun to watch them try to bang on the buttons at the right moment and the peanut gallery going C'MON IT'S SO OBVIOUS or the audience going EHHHH~!?!? like oh my god Nino how can you not know that song and then-- Nino turning to the audience and snapping at them because he didn't know the song made me love him so so much.
A-also. Whoever thought to put Jun on the hill while Nino tried to answer is just. a sd;flkjasl;k I love them, too. And Nino yelling at the buttons for not playing the song (as;dlkfjs seriously that game looks SO HARD) was total LOL, too.
And Ohno! With "I-is it T-tsu--" "IT'S NOT TSUNAMI, STOP SAYING IT'S TSUNAMI." a;sldkfjaslkj LOL.
The arcade games were possibly my favorite--maybe because Arashi was totally kicking ass at the games? Like, you can tell this is a group of guys who really had fun with the games. (Not that a lot of JE groups probably wouldn't have a ton of fun with them, but.) Th-though... they gave the game where you blow darts at balloons to Aiba? R-really, you guys? (I... I guess that's good? It means they're not worried about him anymore, so he must be doing okay?)
Or the game where Aiba would fling the burgers at the little boxes and I swear it looks like they're standing behind the spinning boxes as incentive for Aiba to hit them hard enough to go flying. (It seems like actually they're forming a human wall so that the burgers can bounce off them, since I guess the rule is that you can't touch them with your hands, b-but anything else is fair game? ....I love Arashi so much. Have I mentioned that?)
I was also disappointed that they gave the kicking/soccer game to Sho (despite that, okay, Sho's good at soccer) because it was so super hilarious when Jun did it last time, but I suppose variety is good. And Sho was kind of adorable at it. ♥ Same for Ohno with the flying discs--I would have been SO NERVOUS to play that game!
And and and! Arashi sitting in a circle like a bunch of deliquents while they discuss their strategy on the bridge game. a sd;lfkjas;lkj so fucking cute. Jun being called "sensei"! Ohno just falling down onto the floor when they lost the first couple of times! The total miracle that was pulling that game off! Jun totally staring adoringly at Ohno and Aiba.
The body&mind questions, I think, will probably be more interesting when I can understand more of what they're asking (and it's hard to top asking Jun about shoujo manga, honestly) but it was cute from what I could get of it. (....did... did they just give Ohno a Dragonball question? ad;lskfja;lsk fuck I love this show.)
Oh, and you know what else? The air hockey game is always fun and I would 100% completely seriously watch a half hour of Nino playing that. (Or Nino playing a video game for half an hour, so long as we could see the screen, too. It'd be really kind of fascinating/fun, I think.)
(Seriously, I want VS ARASHI so badly. Nino! Climbing a rock wall! Yes, send the little spider monkey with the weak wrists to climb the wall! Don't send the one who actually works out or who is just built to be athletic or even Matsujun who doesn't always fail at sports. Send the tiny one with the weak wrists and the poor grip strength. Excellent plan. ilu guys forever ♥)
I kind of felt badly for Arashi during the final darts game, because they were failing so hardcore at it, but then... then Ohno decided to give everyone but THE ONE GUY WHO ACTUALLY HIT HIS TARGET ANOTHER DART and I thought, no, no, those idiots deserve to be forlornly stacking their loser prizes in a sad semi-circle.
(At least one of them won the prize he was going for. ♥)