My Arashi Introduction Story :D
Hajimemashite! I'm Alison or Eternal_poem in this case! This is my own little story on how I was introduced to Arashi and the whole online fandom scene C:
I think it was only at the end of last year (oct-nov 2014) that I stumbled across a show channel-flicking through Australian TV called 'VS Arashi'. It was fully in Japanese with English subs, and at first I can't say I thought too much of it- I rarely caught the start of the show so I couldn't really understand the structure or who the guests/regulars were at all (I didn't help that the episodes aren't in sequential order when aired, so trying to figure out if the dark haired short man was the same person as the equally-short, blond-haired man on tv the next day was a bit of a challenge :P).
Eventually, I found myself completely hooked to the show. The boys who I gathered to be the 'Arashi Team' were hysterical (and not to mention super adorbs), the guests made me laugh with their over-dramatic reactions and the games were really entertaining and enjoyable, especailly when compared to the decidedly dry poor attempts of 'game-shows' on Australian tv. It also let me practice my Japanese which I've learnt all the way up to the end of high-school and familiarize myself with some Japanese celebrities.
seriously though why didn't I think that these 5 bakas would sneak into my heart xD
Okay, so Aiba, Nino, Sakurai, Ohno and Matsujun had entered my life and taken it over through only my continuous watching of this strange Japanese game show. After high school finished I had a maaaasive summer break filled with absolute nothingness which needed to be filled with anything other than math equations or literary discussions. As Aus tv only shows a few select eps from 2010-2012, I wondered if I could watch some more recent episodes of VS Arashi, so one internet search later I was introduced to the vastness that was Arashi's discography. I hadn't the slightest idea that they would have so many TV shows spanning their 15 year career as a group. I also stumbled across the lj community, which of course I had found a few times before but had completely disregarded as an inferior website to my beloved tumblr, but now had a much greater appreciation and love for, now that I understood more of what people did on it and the whole community scene which is so different to tumblr. Thanks to some of the most beautiful human beings on the planet, I was not only able to watch with subtitles some new episodes of VS Arashi, but I also began watching episodes of their other airing show 'Arashi ni Shiyagare' which I became utterly enthralled with. I learnt more about the members- about their personalities and their quirky relationships with one another. It also let me learn even more about Jap culture which made me so happy ^_^
well, I guess that's one way to say it
So as my summer holidays widdled away, I watched more and more shows before reaching one shocking realization: that my affiliation with Arashi has been around longer than I thought.
Fist of all, during my exchange trip to Japan in 2013, my host-grandfather had given me this rather unusual blue shirt with a lovely picture of a flower on it. Only muuuuuch later would I realize this shirt was from the 2013 24 Hour TV charity-shirt event, a year in which Arashi's Ohno Satoshi teamed up with Kusama Yayoi to design the shirt's image. Both before and after this revelation, this shirt has been very precious to me :)
This shirt! :O
The second connection spans back to 2011. In year 9 Japanese class, I remember if we finished all our work early, our teacher would put on this hilarious Japanese show that we would go absolutely crazy for due its cringe-worthy, romantic and comedic moments. The show? Boys over Flowers of course! After being reminded by a friend earlier this year that that wacky Domyouji was played by Matsumoto Jun I completely flipped out and re-watched the first season along with the second and the movie in a week. Life=made.
Domyouji pls
With my re-established love for Hana Yori Dango came my new-found appreciation for J-pop. Love so Sweet and Wish had me singing out loudly in unison with the TV for every episode and of course I decided then to ditch my disinterest in J-pop in order to discover Arashi's music. Of course, youtube was my original sourcing point, but there was so little there because of JE crackdowns ;_; The songs I did somehow find there I loveeeed, including GUTS and Breathless ^_^ so communities really helped me out after that in sourcing music. Of course, for future albums I've decided to commit to purchasing real copies. I watched my first concert, LOVE 2013 and squealed as if I hadn't recently turned 18. Since then I've been keeping up with new releases and jamming to them in the car and on the way to uni.
After that I've found myself watching heaps of J-drama with Arashi leads and its soo easy to get into. I'll do a future post about which I've seen and what I've thought of them! I want to get into more dramas that don't necessarily star any members but I just don't know where to start! *_*
Kazoku Game blew me away
So yeah that about ends my little story! I know a lot of people always say 'Oh I joined the fandom so late~' having joined 7 years ago... so yeah I must be very VERY new but come on, Australia's the most isolated lonely place so what can I say? ^_&
Thanks for reading!~
I think it was only at the end of last year (oct-nov 2014) that I stumbled across a show channel-flicking through Australian TV called 'VS Arashi'. It was fully in Japanese with English subs, and at first I can't say I thought too much of it- I rarely caught the start of the show so I couldn't really understand the structure or who the guests/regulars were at all (I didn't help that the episodes aren't in sequential order when aired, so trying to figure out if the dark haired short man was the same person as the equally-short, blond-haired man on tv the next day was a bit of a challenge :P).
Eventually, I found myself completely hooked to the show. The boys who I gathered to be the 'Arashi Team' were hysterical (and not to mention super adorbs), the guests made me laugh with their over-dramatic reactions and the games were really entertaining and enjoyable, especailly when compared to the decidedly dry poor attempts of 'game-shows' on Australian tv. It also let me practice my Japanese which I've learnt all the way up to the end of high-school and familiarize myself with some Japanese celebrities.
seriously though why didn't I think that these 5 bakas would sneak into my heart xD
Okay, so Aiba, Nino, Sakurai, Ohno and Matsujun had entered my life and taken it over through only my continuous watching of this strange Japanese game show. After high school finished I had a maaaasive summer break filled with absolute nothingness which needed to be filled with anything other than math equations or literary discussions. As Aus tv only shows a few select eps from 2010-2012, I wondered if I could watch some more recent episodes of VS Arashi, so one internet search later I was introduced to the vastness that was Arashi's discography. I hadn't the slightest idea that they would have so many TV shows spanning their 15 year career as a group. I also stumbled across the lj community, which of course I had found a few times before but had completely disregarded as an inferior website to my beloved tumblr, but now had a much greater appreciation and love for, now that I understood more of what people did on it and the whole community scene which is so different to tumblr. Thanks to some of the most beautiful human beings on the planet, I was not only able to watch with subtitles some new episodes of VS Arashi, but I also began watching episodes of their other airing show 'Arashi ni Shiyagare' which I became utterly enthralled with. I learnt more about the members- about their personalities and their quirky relationships with one another. It also let me learn even more about Jap culture which made me so happy ^_^
well, I guess that's one way to say it
So as my summer holidays widdled away, I watched more and more shows before reaching one shocking realization: that my affiliation with Arashi has been around longer than I thought.
Fist of all, during my exchange trip to Japan in 2013, my host-grandfather had given me this rather unusual blue shirt with a lovely picture of a flower on it. Only muuuuuch later would I realize this shirt was from the 2013 24 Hour TV charity-shirt event, a year in which Arashi's Ohno Satoshi teamed up with Kusama Yayoi to design the shirt's image. Both before and after this revelation, this shirt has been very precious to me :)
This shirt! :O
The second connection spans back to 2011. In year 9 Japanese class, I remember if we finished all our work early, our teacher would put on this hilarious Japanese show that we would go absolutely crazy for due its cringe-worthy, romantic and comedic moments. The show? Boys over Flowers of course! After being reminded by a friend earlier this year that that wacky Domyouji was played by Matsumoto Jun I completely flipped out and re-watched the first season along with the second and the movie in a week. Life=made.
Domyouji pls
With my re-established love for Hana Yori Dango came my new-found appreciation for J-pop. Love so Sweet and Wish had me singing out loudly in unison with the TV for every episode and of course I decided then to ditch my disinterest in J-pop in order to discover Arashi's music. Of course, youtube was my original sourcing point, but there was so little there because of JE crackdowns ;_; The songs I did somehow find there I loveeeed, including GUTS and Breathless ^_^ so communities really helped me out after that in sourcing music. Of course, for future albums I've decided to commit to purchasing real copies. I watched my first concert, LOVE 2013 and squealed as if I hadn't recently turned 18. Since then I've been keeping up with new releases and jamming to them in the car and on the way to uni.
After that I've found myself watching heaps of J-drama with Arashi leads and its soo easy to get into. I'll do a future post about which I've seen and what I've thought of them! I want to get into more dramas that don't necessarily star any members but I just don't know where to start! *_*
Kazoku Game blew me away
So yeah that about ends my little story! I know a lot of people always say 'Oh I joined the fandom so late~' having joined 7 years ago... so yeah I must be very VERY new but come on, Australia's the most isolated lonely place so what can I say? ^_&
Thanks for reading!~