My Arashi
Every Arashi fan has their story. We all have our ways of entering the fandom and our reasons for staying. With our boys celebrating their 10th year, I guess I was inspired to share mine. Sorry it's a bit long.
One day, my older brother told me he found a really cool show, and that it was even better in Japanese. As weird as it sounded, I agreed to watch it with him. Turns out it was an anime, called Full Metal Alchemist. We watched the whole thing together, and we were hooked. We started looking into other anime and manga as well, but I took an interest in the music a bit more than he did. So casually, I started looking into jpop, and I found Utada Hikaru, whom I recognized from her song in Kingdom Hearts. I got into a ton of other artists, primarily Ayumi Hamasaki, but mostly (if not all) were female. These singers inspired me to write again. They made me think about my life, who I am, and how to live positively. They even helped me grow closer to God. So how does Arashi fit in?
I'd heard of Arashi and JE. I watched plenty of dramas with Jun and Nino, and while I respected them as actors, I refused to give Arashi a chance. I hated Johnny's with a passion. Partly because my picture of boybands wasn't a positive one, but mostly, I just didn't get it. Boys, or even adult men, were dancing around in sparkly pink pants with huge smiles on their faces before a bunch of stupid, overzealous fangirls, singing songs about being happy... how fake, I thought. Do they expect us to actually believe that crap? How can they go around pretending life is dandy and wonderful all the time? I like artists who are real, genuine. There was no way a JE group could be anything more than manufactured.
But as it turns out, some of the artists I do like guested on this show called Domoto Kyoudai, which is hosted by none other than a JE group - Kinki Kids. And as much as I tried not to, I started to like them, especially Tsuyoshi. I didn't become a fan, but I started to think that maybe JE artists weren't as bad as I thought.
Still, I avoided them. But one day, my dad rented Letters From Iwo Jima, and I was shocked when I recognized the actor. I looked up the name and found out it was Ninomiya Kazunari from the JE group, Arashi. Interesting.
But it didn't happen until the time Step and Go was released. I heard about their single having good sales. Oh, Arashi. Isn't that the group with Ninomiya and Matsujun in it? I wonder what their group sounds like.
I looked up their songs and saw a familiar title - Sakura Sake. That was a song I had heard before and loved, but didn't know the artist. And oh yeah, they did the themes to Hana Yori Dango. Those songs were pretty good. So I watched the PV to Sakura Sake and thought I'd try one more song. Just one.
It was Kotoba Yori Taisetsuna Mono.
I loved it. And I thought, wow, I've liked all of their songs so far. So much for just one. I thought I'd try looking for a few PVs to download, and enjoyed them all. Then, I heard that this group actually has multiple TV shows, and that some groups had subtitled them. And where were these groups? A little place called livejournal.
So I watched a bunch of them - DnA, AnS, MMA... and I was addicted. I couldn't stop. I fell in love with these dorks, weirdos, idiots, friends... this group of five that was real and genuine.
But right from the beginning, there was one person who stood out to me, and I didn't understand why, at first. Ohno Satoshi was as much of a dork as the rest, he had a great voice and was a great dancer, but I didn't get it. I like how Jun is caring and not at all the jerk I pegged him as. I like Aiba's upbeat nature and silly ideas. I like Nino's snark and complexity. I like Sho's diversity as the smart, cool one and the cowardly fail-man. I like Ohno's talent, sure, but it went deeper than that.
I realized it when I watched my first Arashi concert, Iza Now. He outshines everyone on stage. It made me speechless and blew me away. Was this the same person, the one who never speaks up, who never commands attention, who could slip by unnoticed?
And then it hit me: Ohno is exactly like me in those aspects. Shy when attention is drawn to him. Quiet. Stumbles on his words even if he knows what he wants to say. Except where I was insecure, he could push it all aside and become an entirely different person on stage. It made me think for the first time that maybe, I could do the same thing. Maybe I could push away whatever hinders me and become who I want to be without becoming someone I'm not. At the time, I was starting to consider becoming an English professor, but brushed off the idea because I hate public speaking and was terrified at the idea of standing in front of a classroom and teaching. For the first time, I didn't think "I want to do this," I thought, "I can do this."
Before Arashi, I was starting to grow, mature, find out who I was. But it was Arashi who made me start believing in myself. They gave me confidence, the courage to be myself, and the ability to love who I am. I'm not afraid of what people think anymore. I'm not afraid of my own dreams. I am so happy with who I am.
With their 10 year, I've thought about how they struggled in the same way that I did - they were thrown together suddenly and had to figure out exactly what "Arashi" was. And with the short time I've known them, I think their conclusion was also like mine: they are Arashi, and they are themselves.
I've delved in and out of fandoms, but I've never been as deep as I am with Arashi. They are like my friends, my support group that cheers me on, my inspiration. And I've wondered if, as unimaginable as it is, there will ever be a time when I fall out of the fandom.
But then I watch Aiba dress up in mirrors to become invisible, Sho make faces as he's dangling from a height, Nino snapping sarcastic comments from the side, Jun letting out a goofy grin while smacking the back of his members' heads, Ohno spacing out and giving odd remarks as their odd leader, and I know. As long as Arashi are themselves, I think I'll continue to love them.
One day, my older brother told me he found a really cool show, and that it was even better in Japanese. As weird as it sounded, I agreed to watch it with him. Turns out it was an anime, called Full Metal Alchemist. We watched the whole thing together, and we were hooked. We started looking into other anime and manga as well, but I took an interest in the music a bit more than he did. So casually, I started looking into jpop, and I found Utada Hikaru, whom I recognized from her song in Kingdom Hearts. I got into a ton of other artists, primarily Ayumi Hamasaki, but mostly (if not all) were female. These singers inspired me to write again. They made me think about my life, who I am, and how to live positively. They even helped me grow closer to God. So how does Arashi fit in?
I'd heard of Arashi and JE. I watched plenty of dramas with Jun and Nino, and while I respected them as actors, I refused to give Arashi a chance. I hated Johnny's with a passion. Partly because my picture of boybands wasn't a positive one, but mostly, I just didn't get it. Boys, or even adult men, were dancing around in sparkly pink pants with huge smiles on their faces before a bunch of stupid, overzealous fangirls, singing songs about being happy... how fake, I thought. Do they expect us to actually believe that crap? How can they go around pretending life is dandy and wonderful all the time? I like artists who are real, genuine. There was no way a JE group could be anything more than manufactured.
But as it turns out, some of the artists I do like guested on this show called Domoto Kyoudai, which is hosted by none other than a JE group - Kinki Kids. And as much as I tried not to, I started to like them, especially Tsuyoshi. I didn't become a fan, but I started to think that maybe JE artists weren't as bad as I thought.
Still, I avoided them. But one day, my dad rented Letters From Iwo Jima, and I was shocked when I recognized the actor. I looked up the name and found out it was Ninomiya Kazunari from the JE group, Arashi. Interesting.
But it didn't happen until the time Step and Go was released. I heard about their single having good sales. Oh, Arashi. Isn't that the group with Ninomiya and Matsujun in it? I wonder what their group sounds like.
I looked up their songs and saw a familiar title - Sakura Sake. That was a song I had heard before and loved, but didn't know the artist. And oh yeah, they did the themes to Hana Yori Dango. Those songs were pretty good. So I watched the PV to Sakura Sake and thought I'd try one more song. Just one.
It was Kotoba Yori Taisetsuna Mono.
I loved it. And I thought, wow, I've liked all of their songs so far. So much for just one. I thought I'd try looking for a few PVs to download, and enjoyed them all. Then, I heard that this group actually has multiple TV shows, and that some groups had subtitled them. And where were these groups? A little place called livejournal.
So I watched a bunch of them - DnA, AnS, MMA... and I was addicted. I couldn't stop. I fell in love with these dorks, weirdos, idiots, friends... this group of five that was real and genuine.
But right from the beginning, there was one person who stood out to me, and I didn't understand why, at first. Ohno Satoshi was as much of a dork as the rest, he had a great voice and was a great dancer, but I didn't get it. I like how Jun is caring and not at all the jerk I pegged him as. I like Aiba's upbeat nature and silly ideas. I like Nino's snark and complexity. I like Sho's diversity as the smart, cool one and the cowardly fail-man. I like Ohno's talent, sure, but it went deeper than that.
I realized it when I watched my first Arashi concert, Iza Now. He outshines everyone on stage. It made me speechless and blew me away. Was this the same person, the one who never speaks up, who never commands attention, who could slip by unnoticed?
And then it hit me: Ohno is exactly like me in those aspects. Shy when attention is drawn to him. Quiet. Stumbles on his words even if he knows what he wants to say. Except where I was insecure, he could push it all aside and become an entirely different person on stage. It made me think for the first time that maybe, I could do the same thing. Maybe I could push away whatever hinders me and become who I want to be without becoming someone I'm not. At the time, I was starting to consider becoming an English professor, but brushed off the idea because I hate public speaking and was terrified at the idea of standing in front of a classroom and teaching. For the first time, I didn't think "I want to do this," I thought, "I can do this."
Before Arashi, I was starting to grow, mature, find out who I was. But it was Arashi who made me start believing in myself. They gave me confidence, the courage to be myself, and the ability to love who I am. I'm not afraid of what people think anymore. I'm not afraid of my own dreams. I am so happy with who I am.
With their 10 year, I've thought about how they struggled in the same way that I did - they were thrown together suddenly and had to figure out exactly what "Arashi" was. And with the short time I've known them, I think their conclusion was also like mine: they are Arashi, and they are themselves.
I've delved in and out of fandoms, but I've never been as deep as I am with Arashi. They are like my friends, my support group that cheers me on, my inspiration. And I've wondered if, as unimaginable as it is, there will ever be a time when I fall out of the fandom.
But then I watch Aiba dress up in mirrors to become invisible, Sho make faces as he's dangling from a height, Nino snapping sarcastic comments from the side, Jun letting out a goofy grin while smacking the back of his members' heads, Ohno spacing out and giving odd remarks as their odd leader, and I know. As long as Arashi are themselves, I think I'll continue to love them.