Are You Happy? (Yes, I'm happy) in Tokyo (Nov 20, 2016)
As per usual, mostly for my own sake so that I’ll remember/be able to look back more easily. Reports are not my thing so it’s probably incoherent and what not. But after writing about the CNBLUE con in May I really learnt the emotional value of noting things down. (Just imagine if I had been in my right mind after Miyagi Blast..
I got a ticket to the November shows despite having planned to only go in December (because my rationalising was that if I go in November I won’t be satisfied and then I would go again in December and that would be expensive (And I did. Twice. Arena at that - 360 degrees of Arashi. Open path to Sho during Miles Away. *^*)…duh yeah. But. Yeah. No choice. I had to go! XD)
I got an (expensive..) nameless ticket to be on the safe side. Seems they did some checking in Sapporo and Tokyo (mainly arena though), but 4th floor SHOULD be safe. But you never know XD My seat was row 11, the last part of row eleven which wasn’t as bad as I’d thought. Of course you couldn’t see the sunk in part of the mainstage that well, but you could see everything else well. As well as 2 of the big screens on our side :)
I went inside about 1 hour before the show was going to start, went to the restroom (which was unusually speedy), ate the bread I’d bought and set my penlight. I didn’t buy the new one, but used my Japonism one from last year which turned out to work (almost) just as well. Then there was still a good 15 min left and I started getting really restless. :’) THEN, the lights went out. 8D
They started with a pretty long video. A very nice video and all but hey I wanted nama-Arashi and by this point I was ready to burst! ^_^;; But then music started playing and they appeared and the first song was Ups and Downs. I can’t really remember my reaction to the song since I was too excited about the fact that Arashi finally appeared ^^
Second song was, quite surprisingly, the I Seek/Daylight b-side Supersonic, which turned out to be a really good choice after the kind of slow opening number. I, and the people around me, really got our groove on. Then I Seek followed, where I think they boarded the moving stage. When they arrived at the back they got pumped up greeting us and asking if we were happy etc. I think Ohno asked if we were hungry XD I automatically started YEEE…but then the bread I’d just eaten made itself known and, no, I wasn’t really hungry. I was however hungry for some more Arashi!
However, it wasn’t the main opening greeting yet. They did Oh!Yeah! Which got our tension up even more and then they got on the floats. Sho, Aiba and Ohno (new formations!) came our way which I was happy for. (Slightly closer Sho <3) While on the carts they started Love so Sweet (seriously why this song every single time…) and Jun and Nino did something fanservicey on the other side to which the Dome erupted in kyaa-s XD Once the song ended they went into their main greetings. Same, familiar pattern as always <3 Only Sho wasn’t on stage. He’d slipped away to change his clothes and he appeared in a grey, striped (comfy looking) suit once it was his turn. At this point I wasn’t sure whether the others would come back after changing or not, but then the music started and it was indeed Sho’s solo Sunshine. I wasn’t a big fan of the song on CD, but the performance was super cute! The video projected was that of a cute house and (yeah that’s right) sunshine on a sunny day! Everything as just super cute I wish I could’ve just wrapped everything up and taken it home. When the song ended no one else showed up, instead Sho “got a phone call” which meant To my homies was up. This was another song that I didn’t think that much of on CD, but live they made it so, so much better. The members appeared one at a time as it was their time to sing/rap. When they did the video played included photos from their younger days. At the end of the video they’d all gathered and it seemed they were reminiscing and they said something along the lines of having grown up/become adults. As our focus was on the video Arashi had slipped away. I then saw the curtains on our side rustling and being pulled to the side. Something was coming!
And so it did. Out came our dear fivesome in a blue, American-style car (placed on a float). Naturally Jun in the driver’s seat and Sho in the passenger’s seat, with the 3 kids in the back seat playing. This was super precious as they had to film themselves, which lead to fantastic footage. And the set camera at the front was in that selfie angle, so everything was just very, very precious. It seemed like they were having a really good time too. Just goofing around and pleasing us fans. They stopped at the back stage where they “watched” fireworks before continuing. DRIVE might have been the first song where the Japonsim light didn’t work. Like not that it just didn’t follow the pattern, it got turned off :’D The effects were super nice though. More advanced and fine and it made different patterns with different colours. 8)
Once DRIVE was over my penlight was back in action and they did Step and Go which I got very excited about. An old song and a favourite. Yey! They continued goofing around in the car and as the song ended they also reached the main stage. Somewhere towards the end Ohno really got the opportunity to check out Jun's ass..x)They got out of the car but stayed at the side of the stage. Then the music, as well as images from the music video of, Don’t You Get It? started playing and they slowly made their way to the centre as the song progressed. The made it to the centre stage for the end of the song.
They then talked for a bit. Sho assured(?) us that it wasn’t the main MC but they still talked for quite a bit :’) Sho decided to take a survey asking how many of us had bought the album and were familiar and felt the happy (or smth like that). Of course the vast majority cheered as a positive reply for this. Part two was perhaps “those of you who haven’t bought the album, but are somewhat familiar and happened to hit for tickets”. Some people waved at this. Last group: “those of you who haven’t listened/aren’t familiar and were kind of randomly brought here by someone”. A scattered number waved at this to which Sho gave them cred for being brave. (“Tousenshichatta” _>) “Are those of you who aren’t interested having a good time? Our name is Arashi by the way!”
Somewhere here Ohno disappeared and Arashi “realised” and started calling for him. Then we were asked to call for him and the lights went off and a video started playing. A shower scene. Ohno from behind. Defined muscles. Wet hair. The whole package. It was time for Bad Boy, which turned out to be pretty great. It was one of the songs I’d been worried about since I love the song on CD, but couldn’t really picture a performance. But the colours, design, clothes. All were very chill and cool and suited the concept really well. I was really pleasantly surprised. Then there had to be a comic element as well, so there were images of Ohno doing funny faces too.
After Ohno’s solo it was time for TWO TO TANGO. The other members appeared wearing clothes matching Ohno’s. It’s a very powerful song and if I remember correctly (honestly around here everything is kind of blurry) even the dance and moves felt quite powerful. Fukkatsu Love and Aozora no shita, kimi no tonari then followed. And honestly I have no lasting impressions of these, which is kind of sad since I really like both the songs. The then went into Fight Song which was really fun. The song’s and their energy are just fantastic. I think they they went onto the small carts through the audience for a short stretch around here to get to the moving stage at the back. Then they sang Power of the Paradise which is such a liberating song and very fittingly the video played as a background was of a blue sky clouds which I always connect to being gree. Juniors came in with Arashi coloured flags and marched around the mainstage. Arashi then arrived at the main stage and finished of the song before going into the MC.
I don’t remember a lot of the MC tho. I mean, they should’ve talked about more than the following :o Sho started talking about internet news and that Nino’s Nino Taro was a top trending topic (since he’d performed on Shiyagare the night before) and that it was impressive. This led to Nino being made to do PPAP. Nino did it quite gladly and seriously. He said he didn’t want/need cheers/clapping since he intended to do it seriously, and he did! ^^ He got huge cheers. Then they continued with the usual drama/movie/etc promotions. Apparently, the night before, Aiba had been very interested in whether there is a kiss scene in Jun’s movie or not and so he was somehow given permission to ask again. Which he quirkily did. I don’t know if he’d pestered Ohno and Nino about the same thing the day before, but he asked them the same thing when they promoted their movies. Ohno said that “You’d sure like to know huh!? Well there IS!” I don’t know if he was serious or not. It’s always hard to tell with Ohno. And it’s a ninja movie. Nino snarkily and loudly said that his movie DID NOT have kiss scene and that there were just old men (おじさんばかり) in it. Sho promoted both his upcoming New Year’s drama (oh my good the memories and feels when they showed the cm before the concert. Once it’s aired there might or might not be a report about me having been fortunate enough to spend 10+ hours staring at Sho filming for that a cloudy day in October♡) and not least ZEUS (very very excited for that). He gets very excited talking about those two things lately♡. The last one to promote his activities was Aiba. Dear Aiba who has been given the heavy responsibility of hosting Kohaku and leading the White team. He was given a chance to practice by introducing “Matsumoto Jun with Baby Blue”, which was preceeded by a comment that be might be scolded by Jun afterwards.
Jun’s solo Baby Blue‘s performance was pretty plain for him. He came out in white jeans and an orange-y jacket. The first verse was HORRIBLE and I (lovingly) laughed in second hand embarrassment♡. The singing got (slightly) better though. Apparently there were a lot of his private pictures being played in the background, I remember noticing a picture with Oguri Shun as well as some senpais. He finished of his solo on the centre stage.
Then….then…the song I had nervously, but expectantly been looking forward to: Miles Away. I love this song and it is probably my favourite song on the album. It is soooo beautiful and while I was really looking forward to hearing it I was also afraid that I’d be underwhelmed once performed (this happened with Japonesque last year). BUT I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. LIFTS. FLOWY WHITE SHEETS. BEAUTIFUL SINGING. BEAUTIFUL SHO ON THE LIFT CLOSEST TO US LOOKING YES BEAUTIFUL. (Okay, self, let’s calm down. This is an important one to remember.) Once Jun’s solo was over the lights were turned off. I noticed that they’d prepared the lifts but had no idea what was to come. Then the music started playing and my heart briefly stopped. Miiiiles Awaaaay♡♡. While the intro played the lifts were gradually raised and slowly, but surely, I could see Sho appearing closest to us. This is so important. I slightly feel like crying now remembering it and listening to the song while writing this. At the time I didn’t feel like crying but I felt very, very moved and fortunate to be able to be there at that moment. Sho is the one that starts off singing and he did so, so well and it was so, so beautiful. /Everyone did so, so well. That song is a masterpiece directed and produced by the master Satoshi Ohno. (Of course the composer/lyricist is worthy of great praise too.) He really knows his members and their strengths (and weaknesses) because everyone sounds really good in this song./ Everyone gradually joined in with their parts and they created such a magical moment. Somewhere along the way white sheets started flowing around their lifts which only enforced the magical, slightly serene, ambiance. Yeah, having Sho close during this song really was a blessing of its own ♡.
The lifts were lowered and they went on with Hatenai Sora which was nice as always but I was still reluctant to let Miles Away go. Everyone made their way to the mainstage and they continued with Wonder-Love which was really nice! I don’t really remember the performance, but the transition from Hatenai Sora worked much better than I’d have thought.
Then it was time for Nino’s solo. Mata kyou to onaji ashita ga kuru is probably my favourite solo on Are You Happy? and I am happy to say that he didn’t disappoint with his performance. Whoever made Nino realize that while playing instruments for his solo is good in its own way, Nino moving and dancing is even better. MUSIC was great last year and this year he did great as well. While MUSIC was super cute and very Nino, this was also very Nino, but a fierce, sexy version. There was real, powerful, forceful dancing. It was a really good performance and Nino silenced everyone that might have thought that he’s a potato that only plays computer/video games and no longer has any stamina. Fuuu.
After Nino it was Aiba’s turn. He appeared on the centre stage wearing a t-shirt that looked a lot like the official tour t-shirt, but instead of ‘happy?’ it said ‘Amore’. The start of that song still makes me squirm on CD, but live it was kind of cute. It was a very Aiba-like performance. Very cute and a lot of energy. He had a lot of juniors with him and he made them become both a bicycle and something like an escalator band or snowboard.
After his performance a video narrated by Aiba started playing. It was something about being in a world of failed love blabla (or someone said it was like an institution for people who were broken hearted and 失恋 was indeed included ). He introduced the failed Arashi members. Nino was playing video games, Ohno fishing. Sho idk…something about having written many love letters but having no success? OH AND HE PLAYED THE OCARINA. Jun was exercising but fell backwards. What was Aiba’s own problem? This I don’t remember…but he reappeared on the mainstage and the five of them lined up for Seishun Boogie. It was also a really great and entertaining performance, as would be expected from the song Aiba had supervised.
The lights went off after the song finished and the Arashi mascot appeared on the screen (this year he’s acquired a moustache^^) and he asked if everyone was happy (YEEEY!!) and he announced that it was time for a happy medley! And it really was a HAPPY MEDLEY and the energy was so high. All of Arashi really looked like they were having a really good time too which just made me happier. The super penlights were activated again and this time words were written: Happy. Arashi. The songs included in the medley were Happiness, Kitto Daijoubu, A.RA.SHI., Troublemaker, Love Rainbow, Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na mono, Wild at Heart and Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi. Once A.RA.SHI. started I thought about the fact that it might not be included in the encore which would feel strange. But I didn’t linger on that because soon Troublemaker started and man is that a happy song ^^. I think they were scattered (floats, lifts and the moving stage) during this medley and their outfits were really cute and had the Are You Happy pattern on them. The hoodie Aiba was wearing would have been a hit (the parka already was sold out early every day! 翔さんのおかげかな～). As the medley started the staff also brought in a lot of big, cute balloons into the arena which at the end of the medley opened up and POURED out confetti. It was like a confetti waterfall and the stage (and parts of the audience) were full of confetti^^.
They all gathered at the back of the arena on the moving stage. They announced it was time for the last song Ai wo Sakebe. They sang this song going back towards the main stage on the moving stage, thus avoiding most of the confetti mess. They might have said a word or two (they probably did) before waving goodbye and disappearing.
We didn’t have to wait that long for the encore, and honestly Japanese fans need to be more enthusiastic about calling for an encore :’) They came back out and started with A Day in Our Life (Sho rapping was A+ overall but really here he really got a chance to show off) followed by Gori Muchuu. I was pleasantly surprised at the choice of old songs in the encore! Then they did Energy Song and SHO WAS SO PLAYFUL AND LOOKED LIKE HE WAS HAVING SO MUCH FUN HERE …AHHH! He was on a float and came around to our side at the end and he was bouncing like crazy and was urging the audience to cheer even more than they were already doing. It was really nice to see Sho REALLY enjoying himself.
Then they thanked all the juniors, the band and staff before doing rather brief thank yous. Then it rally was the last song. They ended with Daylight…HOW CAN YOU END WITH A SONG LIKE DAYLIGHT THO :o It’s really a song that leaves you wanting for more.
It seems no one thought a second encore was possible because literally everyone started leaving once Arashi had left. I didn’t expect a second encore either since it wasn’t the last day of this Tokyo round. Plus they only did 2 double encores during Japonism (which just happened to be both the concerts I attended!)
All in all it was a really good concert and I since I had a seat on the 4th floor I could really relax (good seats create so much stress and hysteria XD) and enjoy the show. I left the dome feeling very at peace and happy. Something that made me very happy is the fact that Arashi seemed very happy too. Japonism had such a strict concept that they had to adhere to, but this really was a free, happy concept which allowed them to show their playful and goofy sides.
They also really solidified their positions as the best best best best best best. There really is a reason that they are number one (both with me and with Japan). I want to go to a December concert. I am going to try to go to a December concert. I also think I am going to buy some papa pics for the first time since…Japonism ^^;;
