Hello DIGITALIAN People!

Aug 02, 2015 22:59




Only got to watch Arashi's DIGITALIAN DVD last night, thanks to a mishap care of the Philippine customs. I was going on a week without fandom-related social media to avoid spoilers, and it was rough. Anyway, at least I got to watch it on a relaxed Saturday night with my IRL best friends (who have long succumbed to the rainbow pill that is Arashi. I can't believe I used to watch new concert releases alone and screamed my head off by myself. It's definitely more fun when other people are losing their mind along with you! Wish I've had them on the rainbow side since 2006, but better late then never!)

I've only seen it once, so this is by no means an exhaustive account or retelling of the DIGITALIAN DVD (unlike what I did for LOVE). Just thought it would be interesting to note down how I felt about watching it on DVD as compared to how I felt watching the tour live, in the flesh. DIGITALIAN so happened to be the first tour of Arashi that I've ever seen live, which I've already written in great detail about. It's awesome how it's two completely different experiences: first, watching the tour live, from one vantage point, but being enclosed in its charged atmostphere, and second, watching the tour on DVD, with careful editing on your side.

First, I have to get it out of the way, because if anyone is reading this wondering if they should buy/watch DIGITALIAN---GO. BUY IT. WATCH IT. It is Arashi still at the peak of their performing power, on a tour based from one of their best (if not the best) album, with a huge huge huge bonus that is backstage bromance bonanza aka DISC 3. IT IS STUFF THAT LEGENDS ARE MADE OF. DISC 3 WILL REAFFIRM EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER THOUGHT OR LOVED ABOUT THOSE FIVE BOYS. NOT EXAGGERATING. IT WILL MAUL YOU IN THE GUT BECAUSE HOW ARE THEY ALL STILL MAGICAL IDIOTS??? OR EVEN MORE MAGICAL THAN EVER? More on this later, but I just had to say it!

Maybe Jun has talked about this (if not, then maybe it's something I automatically assumed that he thought) but DIGITALIAN, as an album, really lent itself well for concert planning and ideation. Even with just the title, it was easy to imagine what direction the concert would take--futuristic and techno-driven--and they went with it, 100%.

This is where it gets tricky, and where not a lot of fans might agree with me (or care, really): the concert part DVD was an impressive piece of entertainment, as always, by virtue of Arashi's seasoned showmanship and DIGITALIAN's strength as a powerful and cohesive record, but.... BUT. Coming from the perspective of someone who watched it live, the theme doesn't lend itself to DVD-watching as well as it did live. Personally, much of my awe with the tour came with the sound production (DIGITALIAN, I think, is meant to be heard in huge halls and thumping sound systems worthy of Tomorrowland and its ilk), which they delivered on, big-time, in conjunction with the stage and light (including the amazeball uchiwas!) set-up. Somehow, the magic of being in the middle of a dome, immersed in the majestic and full-on HD beats (I'm thinking the start of ASTERISK for this particular example), the amazing(!!!) moving boomering stage that they've debuted for this tour, bathed in lights all around you--it just doesn't come through 100% on the DVD.

You'd probably say, of course, Nina, duh, IT'S NOT GOING TO BE THE SAME WATCHING IT LIVE. But what I'm just expressing here, as an opinion, is that as a theme, DIGITALIAN is a little better experienced live, since it relies on so much novel technology. It's not a concert centered on #FEELS (although that 5x15 medley is incredible) or fan service (which no one should feel bad about because WE ALL GET THE GIFT THAT IS DISC 3), it was more about delivering their vision for that record in concert form--the single-mindedness of which I love. Unfortunately, some parts, as I watched the DVD, sagged just a tiny bit, because the DVD couldn't transmit the bulk of the sensory experience that came with the performances.

Again, disclaimers: 1) yes I'm aware mine is a privileged POV, because I have a comparison point, but I just wanted to share the difference, personally, and 2) my POV doesn't make me think it's a lesser quality DVD release from Arashi than their previous ones. In fact, it's prepostorous to even say that, because if anything, Arashi has been amping up their concert output, down to DVD releases, for a couple of years now. DIGITALIAN is no exception; in fact, it is excellent. There were many things that I loved about the concert part of the DVD, including getting to see that shiver-inducing intro for Hope in The Darkness in so much detail!!! One thing you can't get watching live is seeing their faces at all the right moments, because only editing can make that happen. And the first few songs: just as magical as seeing it live. LIKE, WHOA. Probably their best opening sequence in a concert, to date. Also, this paragraph can't end without mentioning the best solo in the history of ever, aka DISCO STAR. (I WILL NEVER, EVER FORGET CHANTING THAT WITH THE WHOLE OF SAPPORO DOME. IT WAS UNREAL.) Go, watch the entirety of it. It's amazing!

What the DVD gave me, though, was a full picture of how in control Arashi has become. It isn't arrogance, because it's still the five of them we're talking about here, but it's a distinctive measure of confidence that has been on the uptick in recent years. They are so sharply professional and have become such great, competent idols that sometimes, just seeing the expressions on their faces is enough to make me cry. Condescending as hell to think this, but BOYS, HOW YOU'VE ALL GROWN UP. OH MY GOSH. I couldn't have known, almost a decade ago, that you would reach these heights, this sense of completion. I don't even know how to explain this properly. I think this is connected with my disbelief (and bursting pride) that the five of them are such a huge figure for their juniors already, that these kids are outspoken about their admiration, that to them, Arashi is like, legit sempai. In my heart, I'm like, how could they be the seniors already, they're just idiots! THEY STUFF THEIR HEADS INSIDE STOCKINGS! BUT....BUT THEN I SEE THEM LIKE THIS, IN THIS CONCERT, AND I'M LIKE, OH. IT'S BEEN YEARS. IT'S BEEN SUCH A RIDE. JUST. ARASHI, YOU HAVE GIVEN US SO MUCH, AND LOOK AT ALL OF YOU STILL GIVING US SO MUCH MORE. High fives, you bunch of pros. You've fucking made it, and then some.

Just like live, I screamed when Sho says "my fellow Arashians" then onto Ohno's climaxing "and youuuuuu!", crystalline voice welcoming is into the fold. OH MY GOD. Epic song to begin with, epic to watch live, epic to relive in the DVD. I CALLED IT!  SINCE ALBUM RELEASE I'VE BEEN CAMPAIGNING FOR TAKE OFF!!! TO BE OUR OFFICIAL FANDOM ANTHEM. IT IS UNBEATABLE.

So yes, my "disses" weren't written to take away from the superb, almost flawless, production of DIGITALIAN DVD, and the amazingness that is Arashi, because as a whole, the DVD is still highly entertaining and flows so much better than their other DVDs. Also, I can mince my words all I want and analyze unnecessary things, but at the end of the day, it's still an Arashi concert. I will never NOT love an Arashi concert. I will never not be a little (or okay lots) biased when it comes to them. <3

WHICH LEADS US TO WHAT IS FAST BECOMING THE HOLY GRAIL OF ALL BACKSTAGE FOOTAGES: DISC 3. In the future, we will talk about Disc 3 as a separate entity, even though it's technically part of the DIGITALIAN DVD. Because holy shit. HOLY SHIT. I will not even attempt to write about it all, but as a whole, it just really outlines that Arashi has never really changed. I mean, duh, everyone knows that, and it's over-generalizing to keep on saying that, because obviously they have gotten older and have matured. BUT NO. WHAT DISC 3 STANDS FOR IS THAT THE ARASHI OF 2014 IS STILL THE ARASHI OF THE NOW HISTORIC 'NICE FINAL BEAM' BUS RAMPAGE. They might be more even-tempered now and more adult, but man oh man. THEY ARE STILL THEM.

They are still them, and also, THEY ARE STILL GORGEOUS, IF NOT MORE SO. I think 80% of my feelings about Disc 3 have to do with the fact that UNMADE-UP, BACKSTAGE ARASHI IS EVEN MORE BREATHTAKING THAN ARASHI IN FULL-ON IDOL REGALIA. It's so rare to see them with rumpled hair, sleepy smiles, lazy postures (except u Nino hehe), and their everyday clothes that it's such a whammy to realize that they're even MORE ATTRACTIVE this way. IT IS UNREAL, JUST HOW ATTRACTIVE THEY ARE I CAN'T EVEN. JFDKLSFJASLKJFSALKFJAS ALSO A LOT OF SHIRTLESS SCENES AND MONTAGES OF THEM FANBOYING THE DISCO STAR HIMSELF AND THEM MURDERING TAKE OFF!! (SEE EVEN THEY LIKE IT A LOT A LOT A LOT) AND FAKE TAKOYAKI AND FAKE DOZING OFF AND NON-SEXY BATHING AND A LOT OF GIGGLING AND HALF-HEARTED WAVES WHEN THEY KNOW THEY'RE BEING FILMED AND A LOT OF DICKING AROUND WITH THEIR SONGS AND OLD ARASHI SONGS PLAYED FROM SOMEONE'S LAPTOP AND SINGING ALONG AND THEIR SLEEPY SMILES AND JUST.....A LOT. A lot. My heart can't hold it all and my vocabulary is severely lacking for what Disc 3 represents!!!

Just, so much to take!!!! I will probably watch it 100x more, and it hasn't even been released with subs yet. IT IS THAT LIFE-RUINING. I URGE YOU TO TAKE CAUTION WHEN YOU PRESS PLAY.YOU WILL LAUGH AND MAYBE CRY A LITTLE

...I apologize for the caps-abuse. So, yes. That was my DIGITALIAN DVD experience! I CAN'T WITH THESE BOYS I STILL LOVE THEM SO MUCH EVEN NOW, OR EVEN MORE SO NOW.

...and you?

AND YOUUUUUU /Ohno falsettoes
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