Where did Sarah go? aka Why I am Suddenly a Fangirl
Arashi
DBSK
This entry is for anyone who has read/been reading my entries lately and thought to themselves, what in the world happened to Sarah and why the dramatic change?
It's also my way of showing the world (or my friend list world) why I love these two groups as much as I do. I've had this entry stuck in my head for a while.. kind of sitting there going, "You know, you should write about this.. a lot of your friends who aren't into this fandom are probably wondering what the hell happened."
Obviously this won't appeal to everyone, but seriously, if anything on here gives you even the slightest bit of curiosity, I would be happy to introduce you a little. :)
So... here it is. >_> The longest LJ post I've ever made. If you (you who don't know about this fandom) actually read this, thank you.
I've had this LiveJournal for a very long time. Since 2001. That's my freshmen year of High School. There's a LOT of weird, strange memories in here, and lots of things I can look back on. So, I have a lot of friends from High School and friends I met during High School on my friends list here. That being said, I didn't want to get a new LiveJournal like many other people who converted to this fandom because they felt the friends on their old LJ "wouldn't understand". I just felt there were too many memories on this journal, and I wasn't quite sure I cared enough if everyone on my friends list cared about what I wrote either lol.
Anyway, everyone I've known I'm sure has always known I've been into the Asian culture my entire life. Loved the music, the fashion, the television, the anime, the manga, and more.
Well, it started in 2006. Actually it probably started when TJ said to me one day, "I found this Korean show I think you might like. It's called "Winter Sonata". Let's watch it together some day!" So, if you had anyone to blame, it would be TJ. Anyway, we watched a couple episodes of it, and stopped watching. We also watched half of the Taiwanese drama MARS.
A year and a half later... for some strange reason, a thought popped into my head. "Whatever happened to that one show we were watching? Winter Sonata I think it was called?". I really don't know why I suddenly thought of that, but in some ways, that was my path down the spiral of what is known as JE fandom.
I searched down Winter Sonata and finished it. I enjoyed it, so I looked for some more shows I could watch. I remember after Winter Sonata came the Taiwanese (I think it was TW?) drama The Prince Who Turned Into a Frog. After that I finished MARS and continued finding new shows to watch by linking actors and actresses. One thing led to another and I slowly became acquainted with many Korean and Taiwanese dramas. I think while trying to watch the Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden, I stumbled across many comments saying that the Japanese version Hana Yori Dango was much better.
So I decided to try it out. Now, for most JE fans that I've heard of, this is the show that lured them. Matsumoto Jun, of course being the main lead, who acted his character Domyouji very well, was also one of the more popular members of the boy band Arashi.
Unlike most people, I was not lured into JE, but I was definitely hooked on J-dramas.
Now before I go any further, I'll explain what JE is.. JE is short for Johnny's Entertainment. It's owned by a (what I believe to be) pedophiliac nightmare-looking man Johnny Kitagawa (old man on the left). Despite his... boy loving tendencies, the man has an eye for talent. So what does a pedophile old man with an eye for talent do? Why, create a multi-million yen talent agency for budding young boys.
Anyway, after Hana Yori Dango, I somehow ended up on watching Suppli starring sometimes-extremely-scary-looking Kamenashi Kazuya. Don't get me wrong, the boy can act, but there are some times I find him a bit scary. ^^;
From Suppli, I was then drawn to Nobuta wo Produce starring Kamenashi again and also a slightly retarded looking Yamashita Tomohisa (herein called Yamapi). Now at this point I'm thinking to myself, "Who IS this guy in all these shows?", so I look up Kame and find out he is not only an actor, but in the ever-popular boy band KAT-TUN.
I started listening to some of their music...
After that it was kind of a giant spiral of linking groups to other groups and going from there. I learned that the slightly retarded-looking Yamapi also in Nobuta wo Produce was in the JE group NEWS and got further pulled in from their music.
What exactly was it that enticed me into this boy band world? 3 years ago I would have laughed at the thought of me being remotely interested in a boy band. In High School I would have rather thrown up on myself than been into the Backstreet Boys, Nsync, or 98 Degrees. I dispised them with a passion.
Well... I'm sure the kick start of it was my expansion in interest of music. Without that, I don't think I would have given them a chance.
First of all, boy bands in America and many other parts of the world just don't exist anymore. Everyone wants to go solo, or are going solo. Boy bands in Japan, Korea, and China are still very much alive.
Why do you ask? Asian boy bands are so much different than any other boy bands.
Asian music has already held an important place in my heart. Even though J-pop has the word "pop" in it, there are many things I feel where it differs in American pop. Unfortunately it's not really something that I can explain, but when I listen to them, although the underlying roots are going for the same idea, they sound completely different.
What I heard a LONG time ago, is that in Japan at least, artists are encouraged to write happy and uplifting songs to lift the morale of Japan. (Of course... this is what I remember hearing.. probably 7 years ago) With that being said, if that's true or not, their songs are so much more uplifting to me than any other American band I have listened to.
I can listen to (or watch) Arashi's "Happiness", "We Can Make It", or DBSK's "Balloons". and it just warms my heart. Even if you don't understand the lyrics, I think anyone can understand and feel the same thing that I (and the other fans) feel.
Another thing that draws me to these Asian sensations: They are not stuck to one genre.
Seriously. You'll find just about everything. Pop, techno, rap, hip hop, rock, soul, acapella, you name it.
And their voices are amazing. I would have to say that Junsu from DBSK has about the greatest voice I've ever heard and I worship it with every being of my soul. I really am moved by the amazing music he can make with his voice.
And probably, even more than their huge variety in genres, the groups themselves are AMAZING. The comradery and love between their members is just astounding. It makes you just want to be their friend because it seems so amazing to be around them.
THEY JUST LOVE EACH OTHER SO FUCKING MUCH.
Obviously, since I'm not them, I can't say this for sure, but from watching these groups for a year or so now, I can probably say that if they were offered a solo career, none of them would take it. They are just too attached to each other, and love each other too much to leave. Nino from Arashi left to make Letters from Iwo Jima with Clint Eastwood, and was so homesick to be back with Arashi, I don't think he wants to do another Hollywood film again. (Unless of course the other members can come with.)
AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF... These boys have no shame in being dorky or weird in public. In fact, that's one of the BEST parts!! I mean, HOW MANY TIMES CAN YOU SAY YOU'VE SEEN THE BACKSTREET BOYS DO THIS?
There is NO END to it... and watching these guys go out with their hearts in what they're doing and with the people around them, seeing them interact with each other as they were their 2nd family, seeing them succeed at what they love to do, being able to laugh and have tons of fun while they work, and being overall great entertainers despite their extremely hectic schedule, it really puts a smile on my face.
I don't even think I've really done that well of a job summing up these boys.. I really don't think I've done them justice. There is so much out there, and yet I feel I've already written way too much for my own good.
So I will end this with a thank you. Thank you Arashi and DBSK, for the laughs, the tears, the smiles, and the friends.