ARASHI 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR 5×20 (DECEMBER 7TH)
To be honest, I couldn’t believe that I actually hit the ballot for their 20th anniversary tour. This was THE tour for me, and not just because it’s their 20th anniversary. It marked my 10th anniversary as a fan, and their 5×10 concert was the first I’ve ever seen on DVD. When my late sister and I went for Arafes, we were awed by the sensation of being there, watching everyone walking by with the concert bags, hearing the sound of cicadas, because we had watched that DVD so many times. We had envisioned ourselves walking down that same path every time, and it was almost eerie how it felt when we were actually THERE.
Ideally, she would be the person I’d take with me for 5×20. Even my friend (whose address I used for my FC) had said that because hitting the ballot for the second time was such an impossible thing to do (we thought), that it felt like this was a gift from her, because I missed Japonism when she passed away. I normally don’t believe in sentimental stuff like that, but it really did feel that way.
When applying, I chose to be contacted by postcard - I thought it meant I would just get a postcard as well as the email, so I was panicking when the friends I balloted with were telling me they didn’t hit, but I didn’t get my results at all. But in the evening, my friend sent me a LINE message saying she got the postcard saying that I had hit. It was surreal, to say the least. I didn’t quite believe it the first time I had hit (for Japonism), and the fact that I’ve hit for a second time… for the anniversary tour? It HAD to be impossible, right? Still, I shakily informed the friends that balloted together with me that we were going after all.
I had balloted for the first leg of Tokyo Dome precisely because I didn’t think I would hit - it’s harder for me to take leave from work in December, and I wouldn’t have gotten my end-of-year bonus yet so money would’ve been tight, but I figured that it was alright, because I wouldn’t hit anyway. But since I did, I spent the remaining months saving as much as I could, while catching up with the songs I’ve missed out on since Untitled came out. (During my personal “hiatus” from fandom, I kept up with their albums and some of the movies/drama, but not their singles or variety shows.)
Since it was hard to take leave from work, I had 2.5 days to spend in Tokyo (not including the travel there and back.) Salwa and I arrived at Haneda late at night on December 6th, and it was long past midnight by the time we reached our friend’s place in Saitama. I think I managed to sleep for about 2 hours before I was up again - besides being anxious and still not quite believing that I hit the ballot, I’m a light sleeper and the fact that it was bright out by 4/5 am didn’t help.
We left early to buy goods, but not as early as we usually would have - we reached Tokyo Dome about an hour before the goods sales started. I was expecting a long queue, but it was surprisingly short - we might’ve been in the second batch of people allowed to enter once the gates opened. When the goods sales started, the line moved pretty quickly. I guess using the app did make everything move more smoothly, as we didn’t have to queue at different booths to buy different items!
the long queue
After we left the queue, we noticed that the place where we bought goods was a second goods area, and that there was a bigger goods area on the other side of the Dome. No wonder the queue was short at ours - the main area had a REALLY LONG QUEUE, that we wondered if we should head there and tell people to go around to the other side. We figured that some staff would probably do that, and so we just shared the news on twitter. We then went to the display thing - what is it called, really? - and took some pictures.
Upon leaving the Dome area, we took a train to Nakameguro to meet with my friend for lunch - we had an all-you-can-eat Indian restaurant which served one of the best tandoori chickens I’ve had (and I’ve had a LOT), although their curries were just alright. My friend handed over our postcard (apparently requesting to be informed via snail mail meant that our QR code came by snail mail, too) and the FC pamphlets since my last visit, as well as my birthday postcard. We walked over to Tsutaya and browsed a bit, and then to the cafe in Traveler’s Factory for drinks. Isabelle and WJ, who were also joining me as companions, came to meet us there - they arrived in Tokyo a few days before us.
After a good chat about and a bit of freaking out over how we can’t really believe our luck, we went down and did some shopping (Isabelle and I are total stationery addicts, and my friend Kishiko is getting into Traveler’s Notebooks, too) before deciding that it was probably time to head to Tokyo Dome. We only remembered that we probably should’ve used the restrooms in Nakameguro when we were already on the way to Tokyo Dome, so we went to the adjacent mall instead, where the queue for toilets were kind of ridiculous. We went up a few floors until we found a floor where the queue wasn’t so bad, so there’s a tip for first-time concert-goers - find a toilet further from the Dome when possible, and absolutely DO NOT wait until you’re in the Dome itself.
It took us awhile to find our gate (even longer thanks to a typo when I was texting my friends the gate number, and I remembered the typo instead of the actual number -_-) but we managed in the end. When we went in, the staff who scanned the QR codes took the paper code I received (which was the same size and printed on the same card stock as their previous concert tickets), and gave us the printed thermal tickets like everyone else. I have to admit to being sad about this, because I was hoping to get to keep the printed paper (it wasn’t like the code can be reused, right?) because it felt more like a real ticket than the one we got. Our seat turned out to be pretty high up - on the third stands, but not as high up as it was the first time I was in Tokyo Dome (that was for Scene, and I sat at the absolute highest row at the third stands). Our view was decent for me, as I was hoping to get a seat where I could view the full stage, but I think a couple of my friends were probably hoping for a closer rather than fuller view. It’s funny but somehow I felt like I was disappointing them, because it was my ticket, even though I know it wasn’t as if I could choose the seats.
Since we came in a bit later than I’m used to - we still had plenty of time before the actual concert, but nearly everyone else were already seated while I usually preferred to get in early - we all started trying to sync our penlights immediately. I did it wrong at first, but even when I remembered that I was supposed to press the button while placing the mark to the one at my seat, perhaps due to the angle, it just didn’t work. In the end WJ had to help out as she had a better angle from where she was sitting.
Maybe it was because I’d been away from the fandom for two years, or maybe it was because we didn’t get as much time to sit and breathe and soak in the atmosphere, or that I was thinking too much about my late sister and wondering if I was really ready to jump back into fandom without her by my side. The closest experience I could think of when the sparkly curtains came down and they started singing Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi was when I went for Kanjani8’s Jukebox tour, and my head was somewhere else for at least half of the show, because I arrived RIGHT ON TIME and didn’t have time to sit down and prepare myself for the concert. Having pretty severe anxiety, I’m pretty used to feeling like I’m having an out of body experience, especially in large crowds, so not being able to “settle in” properly might have been the main reason after all.
They performed my favourite songs, one after the other, and I was mouthing the words to the lyrics and cheering at the right spots and shouting back the right things during Kansha Kangeki, and Oh yeah!, and I was grinning at Salwa and waving my penlight. I had brought a personalised uchiwa for the first time - I made it for Scene but was too shy to use it because everyone in our row just used the jumbo uchiwas, so for 5×20 I just updated it (spent the entire night before my flight to Japan doing that!) - but after Kansha Kangeki, I placed it back in my bag, and only used my penlight. I was probably completely out of it during Step and Go and Kotoba Yori, because the next thing I remember was that the greetings had ended, and they were performing Find the Answer, which I wasn’t as familiar with. That gave me a quick reprieve and let me step back and try to pull myself together, though, which was a good thing. I was still feeling kind of numb (especially compared to Salwa, who was getting emotional as this concert meant a lot to her, too) but I was slowly beginning to feel more present.
One of the things I had noticed when I first saw stage pics on twitter (I didn’t look for spoilers, but I wasn’t actively avoiding them, either) was that it looked very simple, compared to their previous stages. It certainly felt that way for the first few songs as well - even with the Swarovski backdrop that everyone kept talking about on twitter when it was finally revealed, it felt simple, understated, like we were meant to focus on Arashi more than props or screens. It felt right for their anniversary, somehow. But the first few songs had lulled me a bit, I suppose, because then the screen started showing this video, and OH MY AIBA.
It was kind of somber/slightly eerie perhaps, with Arashi all doing their best at being broody/sexy except for Aiba who had dialed up his DoS-ness to the 11, looking so good I wished so bad that my friend Shida was there with me (she joined the FC in January and hit the ballot for November so she will get to see it after all!) Aiba walked around, casting shadows everywhere he went, and the shadows swallowed up the other members, until Aiba was the only one left. Then Aiba appeared on stage, alone, and began singing I’ll be there. The rest of Arashi joined him halfway through, so I figured that this was what they were doing instead of solos for this tour.
After I’ll be there, they performed Meikyuu Love Song, followed by La tormenta 2004, and I had to admit, for the most part I was just waiting to see what Sho was going to write on his belly button sticker that night. Somehow I ended up missing it (despite being SO FOCUSED) but WJ told me it said ZERO.
The next couple of songs (Breathless and Everything), I allowed my mind to wander again, because they weren’t particular favourites of mine. So rather than focusing on the songs I was transfixed by the lights and the screens and the glory that is Arashi performing before us. (Okay during Everything Jun and Nino got kinda snuggly and it was so freaking cute!) The screens were also amazing.
See, our first reaction upon seeing the stage when we arrived was “huh, it’s simple”. And throughout, it was simple - no flying, no special tricks. Just Arashi, and their music, and us. But the screens! The entire stage floor were just screens, and during songs like Everything it was just so beautiful. I’m not sure if those in the arena could see it, but I think at least 1/3 of the time I was too transfixed by the images on the screens. I can’t wait for the DVD to be out, to see it all again.
Then they started on Hatenai Sora which was the closest I got to properly crying, because there were just so many memories attached to this song for me, one of them being the performance in Miyagi. I felt like I was transported back to all the times I listened to it before. And - Aozora Pedal! I knew about Sho playing the piano during this song despite staying away from online reports for the most part, and I don’t know, I thought it was… great? I loved that the crowd was mostly quiet and respectful during this performance and that they all looked so happy to be performing together. I’m a huge Suga Shikao fan, but Aozora Pedal was never one of my favourite Arashi songs because of the arrangement, and I really liked how it sounded with the piano at this concert. Also seeing MatsuJun clapping for Sho really warmed my heart.
Fukkatsu Love and Believe were just like fun times again (lights! screens! Arashi!) and I was so weirdly into Lucky Man, a song that I remembered wishing would be retired forever at one point in their career but now I somehow really love and think they’ve grown into. They introduced the Juniors, and went into Ai wo Sakebe and Natsu Hayate before they started on the MC.
Since I had seen retweets of their MCs and greetings for previous dates, I was mostly looking forward to Ohno’s announcement for this concert, and he did not disappoint. For our concert, his announcement was… the colour of his panties. He said that he wore black panties (and yes, he used the word pantsu/panties) that he had owned for over 10 years. MatsuJun commented that it wasn’t really black anymore, and Ohno replied that if you washed something black enough times, you’d end up with something brown(ish). He even asked us to try doing that.
And of course, Nino’s announcement about his Academy Award nomination, complete with the mini-banter with Sho, as he was the previous Kouhaku host and Sho was to be that year’s host. Nino reminded Sho that if the white team won, Sho would be able to hold the victory flag, an honor that only Ohno and Nino had had among Arashi, since the white team lost when Aiba hosted. Aiba was like, “can I hold it for a bit?” if Sho won, and Sho was like “why?” but also “I don’t mind” and Aiba replied that he just wanted to touch it. IT WAS JUST SO CUTE and I have to be honest, at the time I was almost rooting for the white team to lose just so that Aiba would have company on the “losing” side of hosting Kouhaku. I love Sho-kun (he is my ichiban after all) but Aiba is so precious.
Speaking of Aiba, he also mentioned that he got his birthday present early from Sho - who had given him the same item he gave Ohno, but in a different colour. Apparently Sho tended to give Aiba and Ohno’s presents together, so Aiba got his early and Ohno got his late.
They also talked about the muscle club, and how Ohno recently joined Aiba in training before concerts. Sho said that he could hear Aiba and Ohno in the other room, and asked if they weren’t bothering Jun (who would be in his oxygen tank/chamber thing) but Jun just said that it was already noisy for him because of the white noise inside the chamber. Aiba demonstrated one of the moves he learned during training but pulled a muscle. Sho was like, “are you Kishi?” referring to Kinpuri’s Kishi-kun whose “special” ability was to make his legs/feet cramp at will.
After the MC, they started on MatsuJun’s orchestra bit.
This, too, I had seen retweets about, so I wasn’t taken by surprise. Salwa didn’t know about COOL&SOUL being in the set list though, and she was SO EXCITED. I was just happy that they performed it because I miss the older songs sometimes. Then My Girl (yay!) and One Love (more yay!) which concluded the orchestral bit. During MatsuJun’s solo in One Love, I leaned over to Salwa and said, “he’s REALLY improved!” because he has, and at that moment I felt so proud for him. I really love the orchestra versions of these songs, and wish that they’d release an album of just remixes or acoustic or orchestral versions of their songs.
Ohno started on a dance remix medley thing which included more of my favourite songs (especially Tsunagu and Truth!) before they went on their whole “blast from the past” thing, where they went back to the beginning, starting with A-RA-SHI and performing in the same clothes as their music video, with a special cut of the video showing on screen, interspersing the original PV with the current Arashi. It was like a video version of the 10 year challenge thing, except of course it’s 20 years for them. It really was a trip down memory lane as they went through their hits - or rather, selected hits, as by now they have way too many fan-favourites to fill up a concert, let alone one segment of a concert - ending with their latest single, Kimi no Uta. I was going to state my favourite bit but then I wanted to name all of the songs. I really really really loved the call-and-response for A Day in Our Life; this was always cool, and never fails to impact me, even when I’m watching DVDs or listening to it during Arashi-kais here. Hadashi no Mirai was special in that sense, too. During Trouble Maker, they didn’t do the Sho/Ohno “ha-to-bii-to” moment (because it was a short version of the song) and I have to admit to being the tiniest bit bummed not to see it.
After Kimi no Uta they all said their final greetings, which I won’t expand on much because they’re like the most retweeted things on twitter when it comes to concert reports. While I can only share things from my imperfect memory, I’m sure others have written out their greetings completely on twitter/LJ. The moments that stood out the most for me was when Sho asked us to raise our hands if we loved Arashi. At that point, even though I knew everyone would raise their hands (why else would they be there, right) I felt almost embarrassed by my love for them, because I hardly ever felt this strongly about anyone or anything else. But then Sho asked those who can’t think of anything other than Arashi to raise our hands, and my hands stayed up, because this was truer to how I felt, rather than a simple “I love Arashi.” Because nearly all my fandom friends have moved on - they still loved Arashi, of course, once an Arashian always an Arashian, and all that. But by now Arashi was no longer the thing that meant the most to them, even among fandoms - and there I was, still that person who couldn’t think of anything other than Arashi, even during the years when thinking about them made me sad. But then Sho said that he was the same, and I almost cried. He also talked about how there was 5×5, 5×10, 5×20… and how the first number would never change, and how important it was that that number would never change, which was… a lot of foreshadowing, and it made me wonder what the tone of their speeches would be with this year’s “and more” dates.
Nino’s was morbid and funny - when he said that he always wanted to be holding their (Arashi’s) hands, and even if he were to lose his arms (?) he wanted to always be holding their hands. I know everyone went quiet at this point but I have the weirdest sense of humour sometimes and just went “pffft” trying not to laugh, although that laughter slipped out when Aiba intervened and said “it’s not scary.”
I didn’t cry during 5×20. But I felt very touched by the song - I hadn’t heard it yet or even read descriptions of it, and wasn’t expecting it to sound so similar to 5×10. Musically, I may prefer 5×10, but 5×20 also felt like a much-needed update, and I hope we will get a studio version of it soon.
Arashi’s encores are almost always my favourite because that’s when they really would just go wild and sing the songs I like the most, and this time was no different. They did Fight Song followed by Energy Song, and I would’ve wanted Kanpai Song to follow after that but Pikanchi Double was a good follow-up, too. During Love So Sweet, they played these behind the scenes videos that just felt full of love, including a scene where they took a picture in front of the Dome that very morning when Salwa and I were walking around (our eyes and mouths were probably in perfect “O”s when we saw that), and a scene when Jun was getting up (from his tank?) and Ohno came to feed him by hand. I DIED.
Love So Sweet and Happiness made me remember the years I became an Arashian, and Happiness in particular was such a perfect closing song to me, because the concert that I loved the most before this was Arafes, and they opened it with Happiness, and it felt like I was closing a circle, and finally accepting all the feelings that came with loving Arashi.
