Tada ima~:D
I just got back last night, but I miss Japan already...^^; There were times when I seriously wanted to just stay there foreverXD The food was delicious and cheap, the hotels all had air-conditioning (unlike my crappy apartment), there was lots of awesome shopping (thanks to which my suitcases weighed a tonXD), the scenery is beautiful and refreshing, trains are the best way to travel ever, gorgeous temples, peaceful gardens, the buzzing cities and distant mountains...and, of course, my deeply beloved Arashi<3 Long post, so beware...;P
The instant I saw Japan from the aircraft when I was first arriving I was hit with this feeling of jubilation; 'My dream is coming true...' was all I could think, and when we touched down on the tarmac I had to restrain myself from clapping with joyXD Of course, it wasn't all dreams and roses...I boarded the plane to Vancouver after getting up at 5am, and only 2.5 hours of sleep, then 3 hours to Vancouver during which I watched 'Meet the Robinsons' (which is pretty cute). Then I had a 4 hour lay-over in Vancouver during which I tried my best to stay awakeXD Then the 9.5 hour flight from Vancouver to Narita...on which, contrary to what my travel agent promised, there were no seat-back tvs, so I had to resort to reading the Amy Tan novel I brought, then pulling out my PSP to catch up on 3 months of Arashi shows I haven't translated, and thus haven't watched yet^^; More on that later...
Around 7pm Vancouver time I was so sleepy I couldn't watch anything but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't sleep:S I can't sleep on moving vehicles...which really sucks for long distance travel;P Anyway, I finally get to Narita, exchange my rail pass, catch the Narita Express, on which I felt nauseous the whole hour-long trip>_< Plus, the flight was delayed so I was going to be late for my hotel reservation so while battling waves of nausea I was trying to figure out if there was a phone on the train so I could call and let them know. By the time I got to Shinjuku I was half an hour late, and completely exhausted...and when I got into the main station I couldn't find the exit I needed>_< I decided to just try the New South Exit and try to walk around to the East exit, which is what I needed to begin with...bad ideaXD It was 6:30pm and dark (sunset is 6pm), 37 degrees celsius and fatally humid, and I ended up wsalking for 15 minutes before coming to the conclusion I was lost;P I called the hotel and spoke with the dedsk clerk in Japanese and she confirmed my worst fear, I'd gone in the complete opposite directionXD So, pouring sweat and heavy suitcase in tow, I had to make my way back to the train station and try again^^; By the time I got to the hotel it was nearly 7:30, I'd missed the fireworks exhibition at Tokyo Bay, and all I wanted was a decent meal;P But...somewhere inside I was still rejoicing:3
I won't bore you with any more details right now, I have nearly 2.5GB worth of pictures to upload and I'll caption them and provide the site link later if anyone is interested^^ Suffice to say, I had an amazing time...I truly feel I needed this trip, to grow as a person, to prove to myself that I can make my dreams come true, to learn new things about who I am and what I am capable of, to challenge my limits and inspire new goals...:3 I met so many new and wonderful friends, had experiences I will treasure for the rest of my life, and I finally got to see ArashiX3
Which is, I'm sure, what everyone would prefer to hear aboutXD I am so thankful to all those who helped me, I won't name you here but you have my undying gratitude and I hope to someday be able to repay your kindness>_< I was able to go to 4 concerts, the first show on August 22nd in Nagoya, the only show on the 25th at Sendai, the 2nd show the next day at Sendai, and, the one that I had only dared to dream about, the 1st show on Jun's bday<3<3 I will try to keep my reports as coherent as possible but I am still operating on a sleep deficit (the trip back was almost worse, if you can believe itXD) and lately I have a tendency to just follow the flow of my thoughts so details may pop up in odd places and lack in others:S And some things are a little fuzzy because of the overload of emotionsXD
22nd, 1st show, Nagoya
The biggest of the four venues, I think it was around 10 000 people? My seat was stand, east side, pretty far up from the hanamichi, about midway between the main stage and the very back. At 5 minutes after the time listed on my ticket the lights finally went down and everyone cheered in excitement; the stage was set up with little rounded platforms on the sides, a higher one and a lower one connected by stairs, above which were two screens, and in the middle was a large rounded podium covered by a fold down scoop-like roof. When the lights went out rising bassy music played and on the screens and the lighted parts of the platforms words were projected, 'mirai'(future), 'tamashii'(soul), 'group', 'natsu', 'shinjiru', 'yume', 'yuujou'(friendship), 'kansha', etc...then, while this is playing Arashi filters in, standing on the main podium under the closed down roof, which then slowly opens....then the spotlights come on, and they're wearing red and blue spangled outfits and 'Everybody Zenshin' starts playing and we all screamXD Right after the first line fireworks go off and the boys move out on the moving stage, which carries them to the back of the room during the song, and omg is this song ever good liveX3 I couldn't think of a better way to start the concert, so much energy and excitement released all at once<3 Oh, and in the part of the song that's just instrumental they do a shuffling shoulder-jerking kind of dance like the zombides in Thriller, it's funny to watch, then during the last verse/chorus they walk in a circle doing military-style salutes, so cuteXD
Right after Everybody Zenshin ends Di-Li-Li, keeping the tension high;) The boys fan out along the hanamichi and go up on the four lifters on the sides, Nino was the one I was closest to^^ He's even cuter in person, and he puts so much power into his paece symbols and moves, it's hard not to get more and more carried awayXD Towards the end of the song each of the boys does a little greeting, usually starting by getting everyone to yell something;P Jun talked about hoping we'd have a great time and smiled that teasing grin, Nino got us to shout a lot and said welcome and have fun, Aiba wanted shouting too and laughed a lot, so cuteX3 Ohno said 'Hi!' a lot, which we all had to call back, and then said 'Yoroshiku!'XD Sho, who was in the middle of the arena, talked about everyone having lots of fun and then it was time for Kitto Daijoubu:D Midway through the song everyone got down off the lifters and moved back to the main stage, where they took off their coats and everyone except Jun disappeared back stage (there might have been another song here but I'm having memory troubles...) Jun climbed the stairs of the center podium, welcoming everyone to the summer tour of Time, titled 'Kotoba no Chikara'; he talked about how there are various ways words have power, to move us or change us, for good or for bad, and that the way they'd come up with the title was by thinking about what they as Arashi were able to convey to us. He said that he hoped by the end everyone would be smiling and energetic, and then said that the next song was by the most 'peace' of all the members, and to please feel his kindness...upon which the music starts playing for 'Frienship':3 Jun disappears back stage and Aiba and MAD come out...Aiba is so sexy lately, I don't know what it is, but even in overalls and a green shirt he had me eyes glued to him the whole timeXD I especially love the part of the song where he says it's kind of embarrassing and ruffles his hair;P It gives me warm and fuzzies just to think of itXD Then it's time for Sho's solo, at the very back of the arena. The junior boys are wearing black and red suit combos, and there's a red couch set out on the moving stage where they sit before getting up to dance, the whole thins is lit with red lights and Sho spends quite a bit of time facing the east side as he dances^^ After he disappears down the back stairs the music for Jidai starts playing!X3 In time wth the 'Rock!' part of the song one of the boys launches out from underneath the stage with a burst of fireworks, Jun, Nino, Aiba, Ohno I think (I was kind of far here...), and they're all wearing those awesome black and yellow outfits, Jun's has a little skirt-like bit that suits him perfectly with the long hair~<3 Jun and Nino sing the first part of the rap, coming up to face each other for the last part, and (I think it was this concert...or maybe the first Sendai one) when they say 'daiji na no wa jibun no haato' Nino put his hand on Jun's shoulder, it was so awesome!XD Then when it's time for the chorus Sho comes out from the little sliding doors under the main podium and they all dance along, I bought some pics that I'll scan later:3
Then comes Yes? No?, and they do that part where they line up and move their arms in sequence, really cool...lots of green lasers and then they break out the glow in the dark spinning things like in One!XD If I remember correctly the next song is Kotoba yori mo taisetsu na mono, and Jun unbuttons his black shirt so we can all drool over his gorgeous abs....*V* They fan out again, dancing at certain points along the hanamichi...from here it gets fuzzy again...at some point it's time for Nino's solo, he sits at a baby grand piano o the left of the center stage, in a kind of white suit, and he was weraing glasses for all four showsXDD The lights dim, and the screens focus on him playing the piano, during the instrumental part the lights look like rain, it's perfect...and he puts so much emotion into singing it, it's very touching:3 When he starts the last refrain about the rainbow being pretty he takes the glasses off a nd all the fangirls cheerXD then right after is Taiyou no Sekai, Sho comes out to do the call and response as the stage hands hurry to hide the piano;P Then, wearing frilly blue outfits with sparkles and feather boas, they sing WaveXD During Wave Aiba and Jun go on the little carts that run along the upper sides of the arena midway through the stand seats, except Jun only goes on the west side so I was nowhere near *cries*>_< And he always leans over the rail of the cart to gaze at the people nearby when it stops at the end of the seats...X3 But Aiba-chan was really cute, his smile is like the sun...:3 And then they make everyone sit down and they coordinate a giant 'wave' with the audience, which is incredibly fun, especially when it doesn't seem to be coordinating rightXD Then for the next song, Love Situation, Jun and Ohno meet up on the backstage (and in this concert Jun reached around from behind and took Ohno's coat off for him, hot little fanserviceX3), Aiba, Nino and Sho meet on the front, when they take their coats off they're wearing pink rimmed tank tops and pink spangled pants. Jun and Ohno dance together on the back moving stage, doing hand flips and other cool moves, and Aiba nino and Sho sing on the front moving stage, then as the stages get closer together they switch, at one point Aiba nino and Sho all do a move and then fall down on their backs, and usually end up lying there for a few momentsXD
Shortly after that is Hadashi No Mirai, so much fun to sing along toX3 Once it's over it's time for the MC. Today they all teased Nino about the glasses he was wearing for Niji, Sho was asking him why and Nino said he just felt like it;P They also talked about Jun being in the HYD movie, filming starts in January and he was complaining about having to get the perm againXD Then Aiba chimed in and said what if they had Arashi appear at the end of the movie, like the F5XD Everyone cheered, but Jun said that was too many people, so Aiba said he could be Tsukushi...and Jun said it was impossible;P Aiba was like 'oh, it's impossible is it? Impossible ne'...so cuteXD Then Sho said he could be Doumyouji, and Jun said 'sorry, but that's me', so Sho said 'Then I could be Tsukasa', and Jun was like 'It's Doumyouji Tsukasa!'XD The Sho talked about having them as special guest stars, and said Aiba could be someone who gets knocked out by Doumyouji, but Jun said Aiba wasn't the kind of person that should get hit by Doumyouji:3 Nino asked when the filming was again and Jun said January, and Nino said that worked cause it was the only free slot in his schedule;P Then Sho brought up Aiba's butai and asked the storyline, Aiba did a short overview, then asked everyone to come, then asked if Sho was going to come. Sho said he wasn't going to, and Aiba was like 'why? please come!' Aiba asked Sho if he had plans on those days and Sho said he didn't really, so Aiba said 'okay, then you'll come right?', and Sho reluctantly said he might come, so then Aiba turns to the audience and says 'You have to come everyone, Sho will be there too!'XD Then Jun Aiba and Ohno went backstage to change and Nino and Sho talked and Yamataro, how it was ending soon and they only had 5 days of filming left, and that the 9th episode was full of 'heated friendship' from MimuraXD I haven't watched the show yet so I didn't catch most of their references and frankly was trying not to spoil myself...anyway, then Sho brought up the fact that the single Happiness was coming out soon, and that they'd made a PV, to which about a fifth of the audience (including me) yelled out that we'd seen itXD You see, I had the good luck to be watching mezamashi tv that morning, and they played a clip of it^^ Anyway, Sho was shocked that we'd seen it, and said he didn't even know it was done yet, he hadn't even seen it yet but they were showing it on mezamashi tvXD he asked the others if they'd seen in but they all said no...so he talked about how no member had a solo in it, because it was designed to show the closeness and friendship of Arashi<3 After Sho and Nino ot back from changing it was time for Ura Arashi. Jun introduced it, saying it was where they took requests for older songs on the cellphone website, the song today was Ai to Yuuki to Cherry Pie, and the letter was froma girl who'd said she and her friend originally believed that the song meant that someone would love them even if they got fat, but when they met up a few years later they both agreed they must have made a big mistakeXD Apparently Nino insisted that they sing this one, so they did, and after that MAD came out with their coats and Sho introdiced them, then they moved on to sing Life, which is one of my new favorites<3 Shortly after that it was time for Jun's solo....OMG, every time you see it it's like the first time, just absolutely amazing!X3 he comes out walking on the ceiling, upside downO_o As the chanting 'yabai-yabai' in the background plays he slowly strolls forward, then stops and drops down to within arms length of the audience in the arena seats, then flips over and 'walks' back up, goes a little further then drops again, turns and 'walks' forward and up, then when he finally gets to the center stage he drops down doing flips the whole time...my mouth was hanging open in awe and wonder the whole time, I am constantly amazed at what that boy can do...and I'm fully convinced it was his idea too<3 then at the main stage he starts the song, lots of little hand gestures and super cute dancing, and his expressions are just awesome!>_< he has the perfect arrogant sexy smirk, it's impossible to describe, but you really want to just squeeze him<3<3 Hya~:3 And then when it's time for the call and response they lower a rope and he gets pulled back to the main stage, then flies overhead on the main stage during the bridge part of the song...ahh, so perfect, he's a genius!X3 I hope there's a fancam somewhere, it's unmissable:3
Right after Yabai-Yabai-Yabai is Ohno's solo, and as usual he looks like he's dancing on air...it was absolutely mesmerizing to watch him, and when he sings with full voice about 3/4 through he song I got chills...he is a mystery, that boy, just amazing:3 After that...strange creepy music plays and smoke evelopes the centre stage as two silver-cloaked masked figures appear. They dance in a kind of trance-like ritualistic way, then at some point one of them lifts their hand up and a red ball flies out of the audience and soars up, like a fireball. The two dance some more and then cast the fireball towards the main stage where a third silver-cloaked figure appears. As the two walk to the main stage the third calls up fire from the jets along the stage with the same kind of liquid, commanding dancing, then the final two fly out on ropes and get lowered down. The music ramps up and then they pull off their costumes and it's time for Cry for YouX!X3 The hot purple outfits aside, this dance is so sexily angsty, and the fire jets and lasers and smoke make the whole thing so much more dramatic, it may not be quite what I had in mind but it's unbelievably goodX3
More fuzziness...but after some really high energy songs like Sakura Sake they turn down the lights and do their individual goodbyes...>_< I don't remember Ohno or Aiba or Sho's from this one but Aiba asked everyone to come play with them again, and Nino said it was even more fun than usual and thanked everyone, then Jun is last and he said he'd hoped that they'd managed to convey the meaning of 'kotoba no chikara' and that he was so happy to see how everyone's faces changed to bright smiles by the end, and that hoped to see us all again:3 Then he said the next sing was for us, and it was Be With You<3 They all sing in spotlights, so emotionally, Jun's hand gesture where it looks like he's reaching out to take yours gets me every time...X3 As they sing they slowly move down from the individual levels they're standing on until they're all on the main stage together, and then it's Love So Sweet^^ Jun tells everyone to sing along and then silver streamers burst out of the stage showering the first few rows, and only the audience sings the first line of the song, then they fan out along the hanamichi again waving goodbye and saying thank you, before meeting at the main stage again to disappear into the sliding doors under the centre podium. But Jun stayed behind and blew everyone a huge kiss before the doors closed and the music endedXDDD
Then we all did the 'Arashi call', chanting their name and clapping in time, until they came out for the encore:D The encore starts with We Can Make It, with the juniors all waving big colored flags, then after the boys get to the centre stage they lower harnesses from the ceiling and start to play fight songXDD I'm sure you've all seen the fancam by now, it's just so funnyXP Sho is always terrified, and Jun always ends up on his own at one point, jumping and swinging;P The funniest part is when they can't sing because of all the bouncing, and watching the poor juniors who are on the other ends of the ropes getting hauled up and down while trying to keep their sempais in one pieceXD When Fight Song ends the boys all pull out their sign boards and sing Happiness as they walk around waving goodbye and tossing them into the stand seats. That day the girl who was beside me actually touched Aiba's board! But she didn't manage to grab it and it felt down where another girl latched on to it^^; So close:S Then they all collect at the main stage, ask everyone to clap for the juniors, then Jun says 'who did you come to see? We're Arashi!' Well...normally he does, that day his voice died halfway through and he had to start againXD Poor boy;P That's when all five join hands and bow, then they keep saying thank you and goodbye and climb back onto the centre podium and wave as the roof starts to close back over them...ah, that part is always so sad...it really feels like it's only been an hour, way too short, and they're already leaving...>_< We called again but they didn't do another encore:S I heard they did 3 encores in Kagoshima but I neevr got three...^^;
Whew...sorry about it being so long...and I still didn't get all the details>_< At any rate, the songs in every concert are Everybody Zenshin, Di-Li-Li, Kitto Daijoubu, Frienship, Can't Let Go, Jidai, Yes?No?. Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono, Niji, Taiyou No Sekai, Carnival Night 2, Kaze, Oh Yeah!, Hero, Pikanchi Double, Wave, Love Situation, A Day In Our Life, Hadashi No Mirai, Life, Yabai-Yabai-Yabai, Song For Me, Cry For You, A.Ra.Shi, Aozorfa Pedal, Sakura Sake, Be With You, Love So Sweet, We Can Make It, Fight Song, and Happiness, but the order's not quite right....
25th, Sendai
The Hot House Arena is in the middle of nowhere so everyone has to take a bus out there, and when you finally come in view of the stadium it's really exciting:) As usual there were dafuya and girls begging for tickets everywhere, and it was really hot so by the time I got to my seat I was already worse for the wearXD This time my seat was at the very last row, on the very south end of the east side...which meant that I could vwae my hands as high as I wanted since there was no-one behind me, but still...so far^^; But this arena was smaller than Nagoya, maybe 8000 people, so I was closer to the hanamichi than before, even though it was the last row. Today in the MC Jun said Ohno had something to say, and Ohno went on to say that Nino hadn't touched his butt the whole day, and he was really lonelyXDDD Everyone was weirded out by this, and Nino just said nothing while Ohno complained about it, so funny;P So Nino offered to do it now but Ohno said it wasn't the same and refusedXD Then Sho brought up the Happiness PV and said that they had the CMS down now, would everyone like to see?;) We all cheered, so they showed the 15 second one, then Sho said there was a 60 second version too, and they showed that one (which was really long-seeming, I felt like I might have seen the whole PV;P) but he said afterward it was too long for tvXD I never saw it after that so I wonder why they even made it...O_o The Jun brought up how Nino and Ohno do that sliding hands thing in the opening part of the Cm and asked what the heck it was about, and both of them just said it was what they thought they should do, Aiba said it was weird...;P Then talked about Jun and HYD again, and Aiba's butai, then somehow they got on the subject of what Aiba did the night before...which apparently was go for a massage. He said he was really tired but he didn't want to cancel so he went in, and the woman was watching tv but let him have the remote, so he turned down the tv and before he knew it he was waking up from a long napXD He asked what time it was and it turned out he'd been there for an hour and a half, and he was upset and asked her why she didn't wake him, and she said that he'd wanted to sleep so she let him. he askede how she knew he wanted to sleep and she said that she'd asked him and he'd said 'mum mum mum', and Aiba wa like 'that doesn't mean anything!'XD And then he realized that the tv was really loud, even though he'd turned it down before he went to sleep;P And Sho joked that you have to watch out when you fall asleep when getting a massage cause the woman might just start half-assing it with her elbow or something, and they all laughed, but Aiba said he felt really good afterward so she must have done a good job...;)
Then Jun introduced Ura Arashi again, this time the letter was from a girl who said she's the same generation as Arashi so a lot of their songs fit her perfectly, and the line about riding the train everyday, holding the important feelings, laughing and crying had made her think about how she rode the train everyday and lost sight of what the purpose for it all was, for the studying and school and everything, and she felt the laughing and crying part was like when she passed or failed an exam, how it was with hre friends on the train afterwards, and it made her want to try to move forward more conscious of these things. Then, and I honeslty don't know how, they got on to the subject of Chikan (molesters)O_o Nino said he got mistaken for one once and it was awful (I want to hear more! Spill Nino!XD), and Ohno said that he was the victim of one onceO_O Jun asked if the guy thought he was girl and Ohno said he really hoped soXD They asked what had happened and Ohno got Aiba to play him so he could demonstrate, ohno said they were standing facing each other and the man kept swinging his briefcase into Ohno's crotch the whole time while looking right at him...XD Then Jun wondered how the conversation had gone this way, and said now it was more like 'chikan na kimochi kakushikaketa'XDD (The original lyrics are 'daiji na kimochi nakushikaketa' (holding onto the important feelings), Jun's changed it to say 'hiding chikan feelings'XDD)Eventually they sang the song, and it was really nice to hear it live:3 They always sing Ura Arashi sitting down, and ask everyone to do the same, so it's really calming and intimate<3
Then, in Fight Song Aiba's headset came off while he was bouncing around in the harness and he had to apologize to everyone as he got a hand mike from the staff;P Ah, I forgot to mention, Ohmiya spend a lot of time holding hands or walking together in the concerts, it's really cute;P And, of course, Nino touches Ohno's buttXD I don't really remember the goodbyes this time but Nino used the term 'hijou ni tanoshii' (extraordinarily fun) in every concert, Jun is always very serious and sincere, Ohno is cute and calm, Aiba is very sweet and precious, and Sho is very polite. And today they did two encores! After they left at the end of happiness we all called for almost 10 minutes, and suddenly Jun's voice come over the speakers, asking if we were still there?XD We all called back yes, and he asked if we were going to stay to the very end, and we all said yes again, and he was teasing us and saying should they come out again?;P Then Aiba came on and said 'let's go!' Jun said 'let's go?' and Aiba repeated it again, and then they all came out and sang FutureX3
That night a group of us waited across the street from the place where the location bus was waiting for the boys, to see if we could wtch them leave (it was 10pm by this point) and though we waited for half an hour we could only see shadows moving in the bus, then they put up a board so no one could see behind the driver, and covered the windows, so when the bus left no one could see anythingXD But people were peeking out at us from behind the blinds on the second floor window of the arena, so I'm sure they saw us;P
26th, 2nd show, Sendai
Today's show I was at the very south edge of the east block, only about 10-12 rows back from the hanamichi, and only 4 rows from where Aiba went by in the little cart<3 His smiles are to die for, and the way he waves is so endearing...<3 But today my seatmates were kind of a distraction>_< The girls on my right were beyond annoying, whcaking my with their uchiwas, leaning forward so far that I had to crane my neck to see the screen or the centre stage, and when it was time for Jun's solo the one right next to me was leaning the complete opposite direction to try to see Sho off stage in the dark...so I had to crane around her just to see Jun, which really pissed me off. She had no way of knowing which of the shadows was Sho, and it's rude to ignore the person singing, plus bothersome to other fans...anyway, she and her friend were quite annyoing, and on my left, for some unknown reason, was an overweight guy in his mid-twenties dressed in hip-hop clothing who had come with his mother....O_o From listening to their conversation I picked up that he was not a fan, had never been to a concert before, that his mother was an Ohno fan, and apaprently he was just accompanying her?>_< Plus, he reeked of alcohol, and spent the whole concert either standing doing nothing or apathetically toying with a glow stick, which made me think about all the girls outside dying to get in, begging for tickets, and it made me mad:S Ugh. Sorry, just had to vent on that...^^;
Anyway, in the MC Aiba talked about how everyone had gone out for yakiniku the night before, inlcuding the staff it was about 250 peopleO_o And some of the camera men surprised them byt trying to do the sequenced arm moves from Yes?No?XD Aiba wondered why they'd tried to learn it and Jun said surely it's because they admired Arashi;P Then Aiba said they did really well and pointed at the guys and the guys got up and waved and Sho and Jun got mad at them for pausing in the middle of working, but Aiba said it was okay because Arashi hadn't moved so the cmareas were still pointing the right way;P Then Aiba asked what evetryone had done afterwards, and Ohno said he had a steak for dinner, and Jun said he must really like steak cause he had that the whole time they were touring, and Ohno said he loved it, and that he always ate it very respectfullyXD Nino said that after the group dinner he'd run into the staff from Jounetsu Tariku that he'd worked with, and that it was just a coincidence that they'd shown up, but they started talking about doing an episode with all of Arashi!XD And Nino said it was thanks to him that Arashi was getting this chance, and it would be an hour long, but Jun said 'isn't the show only half an hour?', to which Nino replied that he'd told the producers they couldn't have Arashi if it was any less than an hourXDD They all laughed and told him not to act so high and mighty...;P Has anyone heard anything else about this? It would be really cool to see Arashi followed behind the scenes like that:3
I don't remember what Sho and Aiba did after the dinner, but Jun apparently went out on his own to somewhere he wouldn't say...XD Then when they got back to the main stage Aiba mentioned that before the show today he came out a bit early backstage and saw Jun crouched down on all fours looking do0wn at the stage and was really wondering what that was all about, and Jun said he was doing sit-ups;P Jun said he does sit-ups before every show now (and boy can you tell...he needs another semi-nude photoshoot soon, it's unbelievably hot...*W*) Sho and Nino talked about yamataro again (no idea what it was about though...^^;;) and then Sho said he wanted everyone to watch the World Track and Field Championships in OsakaO_o He was pretty insistent about it too, not sure why, but he was really looking forward to it.
When the boys do Ura Arashi there are 5 different colored stools lined up in the middle of the main stage for them, and they sit down before and after they go change...when Sho and Nino came back from changing there was the seat on the end and the seat in tyhe middle left, and Sho made a valiant effort but Nino managed to get the seat on the end first;P Aiba asked what the problem was and Sho said it was embarrassing to sit in the middle, there was more pressureXD They told him it wasn't a big deal and he was about to sit, but then Jun remembered that Ohno hadn't hosted Ura Arashi yet (the one in the middle does it) and so everyone made Riidaa sit in the middle;P Ohno muddled his way through an introduction, at which point Jun had to step in to clear it up, perfectionist that he is;P And the song was Dekiru Dake, the girl who'd written in said the part about being scared of change had struck her. Then Ohno felt too nervous to sing so Jun made everyone wait while Ohno turned around to calm himself, after 30 seconds Ohno turned back around and they all sang, and Ohno's solo parts were really really good:3
At some point during this show Jun touched Ohno's butt tooXD And during Life, when they have to climb onto the platforms beside the main podium Nino and Sho did janken to see who would go o top and Sho lost...of courseXD This was all during the part where ohno was trying to introduce the song and everyone was watching Nino and Sho so Ohno was like 'I guess nobody's listening to me...' but Jun was like 'That's not true', and gave Nino and Sho a look, and everyone quieted down so Ohno could go on;P
Nino talked about it being 'extraordrinarily fun' again, Aiba sked us all to come back and play again, Ohno talked about wanting to try Gyuutan (beef tongue, Sendai's specialty), Sho was polite...but Jun stole my heart>_< In his speech he talked about how he felt so much the love and energy that everyone was giving to them, and that he really felt thatthey were receiving power from us, and he thanked us for it. He said it he believed that in the way that they were absorbing this power they would also give it back to us someday, and that if there is ever a time when we are sad or depressed, to look at them and we'll surely be genki again:3 It moved me so much to hear it from him, these things that I'd been thinking all along...whenever I'm sad or lonely I do watch Arashi, and I do feel happier, and the sincerity with which he said it and the empathy I felt from it made my heart ache. To know that it's a mutual, symbiotic relationship is something precious to me...it makes me think of the line in Life where they say
"omoi doori ni narani tte
kujikesou ni naru toki datte
bokura wa kitto
te wo toriau yo dakara sa
daijoubu, shijite susumu yo"
(saying it won't go as you plan
even times when it seems like it's breaking
we will surely
take each other's hands, therefore
it's okay, go forward believing)
Thank you Jun, for that moment of heart-felt happiness>_<
Although it was the second show of the day and they usually have more encores at the last show, I have no idea how many they had today...because in order to catch the last train back to Shinjuku I had to leave before the end of the first encore>_< You see, the night before I had to wait in line for almost 45 minutes to get one of the busses back to Sendai, they just didn't have enough busses waiting for all of us, and if I had to wait that long again I'd miss the train for sure:S So, After they threw their signboards during Happiness (Jun threw his right to where I'd been sitting the day before!>_< *cries*) I had to literally run out of the arena and down the street to where the busses were waiting, and I wasn't the only one. There were about 3 dozen other fangirls running with me, and there was already a small line-up when I got to the busses^^; But the best part was that I was running out during the chorus of Happiness 'hashiri dase, hashiri dase' (run out, run out)XDD It felt like Arashi was cheering me on, it made me really high tension, and I listened to Happiness over and over on my mp3 player on the bus ride back to the station:D
30th, 1st show, Hamamatsu
I was so unbelievably keyed up this day...>_< I wore a cute purple baby doll shirt I'd bought (because fans like to wear their boy's colors, it's interesting to see what girls show up in^^), a ruffled grey knee-length skirt, black and purple stripey socks, put my hair in pigtails and put on an imitation Nana necklace (because I like Nana and it was the closest I could find to the Saturn necklace). And there was a big sign outside the entrance saying that they would be checking for membership IDs so I was really really nervous>_< I was actually panicking quite a bit, because I tend to over-react to stress...eventually I worked up my courage and made a dash for it, and got in with no trouble...which made me feel a little silly, but the danger was real^^; And they had BokuImo on sale, and though I'd seen it the night before at kinokuniya and decided it was too expensive...today I just couldn't resistXD I can't even play it on my DVD player, stupid region problem...but I wsanted to help with the sales, and I really do want to see Jun in another movie:3 Oh, I hope that rumor about him playing Andre in a production of Rose of Versailles is true, that would be absolutely swoon-worthyX3
Today my seat was about 7 rows back from the hanamichi, 3 rows from where the carts go by, closer to centre stage but on the side of the main stage...and on the west side!X3 Finally, my chance to see Jun up close was coming, and on the day of all days too:3 I even brought my uchiwa that I made at home^^ Well, I brought it to the Nagoya concert too but they said it was too big and confiscated it, so I had to butcher it a little to get it in this time>_< Pics to follow (of the original).
Jun was all smiles, even more genki than usual, and he danced right in my direct line of sight with his unbuttoned black shirt open...*w* Hamamatsu arena is the smallest of the venues, only about 7000 people, so I was even closer than ever, and for that very reason everything about the concert was much more dramatic and evocative<3 I was moved to tears several times...I'd originally thought I'd cry at my first concert, but whether from shock or excitement or the distance between us I didn't get to that point. But seeing them so close, these amazing human beings who work so hard and give so much of themselves, who I turn to for strength and inspiration, who are really just boys my age who go home to families and dirty laundry and pets...it really struck home what I was lucky enough to be witnessing>_< Especially during Life, for the reason I mentioned above, and because I really feel that line
"hito ni wa iienai kanashimi ya
saenai mainichi ga tsuzuitemo
chirabatte iru
kagayaki mo hiroi agereba
mou sukoshi susumeru ki ga shita"
(even if unspeakable sadness and
calmless days follow one after another
if I opened up wider
the scattered radiance
I got the feeling that I could go a little further)
That's what they've given me all this time, the feeling that I can go a little further, no matter how bad it's been or will be. That's what I needed, and still need, the most of anything. It's thanks to Arashi that I have my current motivation and determinations, the great friends I've made, the faith in myself that I had always been sadly lacking...it's hard to put into the words the emotions that swirl around in my heart when I think about this, and I'm sure to some it sounds completely nonsensical or perhaps even irrational, but I'm a person of strong emotions and depths of feeling, and having something in my life that moves me this much is dear to me, I want to do my best, I want the future I am envisioning to become real, I want to keep proving to myself that I am worthy, and capable, of being happy. Thank you Arashi for helping me to grow, for giving me a dream and the drive to chase it, please stay with me from now on as well:)
And there's also the fact that I knew the whole time it was my last concert with them...that alone brought me to the verge of tears^^; That was one of those moments when I really didn't ever want to go home>_< But all I cna do is try to focus on working hard this year at school and my job, and saving up enough time and money to go back next year. If I believe in that I can move forward somehow.
But on to happier things...I'm absolutely certain all of the boys saw my uchiwa with the Canadian flag on itXD And after Aiba read the letter from the Canadian fan and talked about doing a concert here, this is a very good time to be representing;P Plus, I went to his family's restaurant and left a little note asking him to come to Canada, and told his mother I'd come from Canada to see her son and Arashi in concert:3 She asked me which concerts I went to and I said Nagoya and Sendai and she said she went to Sendai too!O_o Amazing, I wonder where she was;P I'm sure Aiba was extra happy that day, knowing she was there:3
And I know Jun saw the other side of my uchiwa, with his name and a little silver crownXD He waved right at me, but he always waves a lot so I don't know if I got any special notice or just acknowledgement^^;
During the MC all the boys talked about Jun's bday, Sho said it was obvious there were a lot of his fans there;P Jun said he was very happy that we were all celebrating it with him, and then Sho suggested we all sing happy birthday:3 It was really fun to sing him happy birthday all together, he was grinning so widely the whole time, and he said thank you afterwards, then Sho said the staff had brough a cake, and they wheeled out this massive white cake covered in fruits, with a little sign that said 'Happy Birthday Jun Matsumoto', with 24 candles, two of which were a 2 and a 4. They challenged him to blow out all the candles in one go. Jun first counted every single candle to make sure there were 24, and they turned off all the lights so we could all see, but then Sho and Nino started saying it erotic, Jun standing there in candlelight in a tank topXDD Jun took a deep breath and managed to blow them all out, even though some of them were stubbornly staying lit;P Then when they turned the lights back on Jun ate a little off his finger and said later they should all eat it together:3 Then he said it was a massive cake and how on earth were the five of them supposed to eat it, Nino said they'd burst their stomachsXD Then Sho brought out MAD to wish Jun happy birthday, and the first guy was awkward and just said 'omedetou', and Jun got all DoS and advanced on him until he ran away and hid behind Ohno, but Jun cornered him, and just when the guy was cowering Jun grabbed him around the shoulder and ruffled his hair and said thank you;P Sho and Nino said it was a good thing it was his birthday, he was in a good moodXD The next member of MAD said 'happy birthday, work hard' really informally, and Jun got mad again and apparently Ohno put the guy up to it because Ohno was scared too and got down on his hands and knees, and when the MAD member did too Ohno bowed his head for him like a parent does for a child, but then he kept going and forced the guy flat onto his stomach and did the same so they were both lying on the floor like little apologetic sausagesXDDDD jun asked what the heck they were doing, and Nino again commented that it was good that it was his bday;P Another member congratulated Jun without incident, Jun mentioned how the 2 on the cake was so melted it didn't really look like a 2 anymore, then Sho asked them to take the cake away, and Aiba commented on their nice outfits (which were white dress shirts wtih green ruffles) and said Arashi had never gotten to wear anything like that (no, Arashi gets much worseXD). When MAD piled into the little section under th podium with the sliding doors Aiba said it was like an elevator, even though it wasn't an elevator, and it really did look like they were taking the cake to another floorXD Then Sho asked Jun about the show the day before, and Jun said his father had come to the show! And that afterwards, in the dressing room, he'd come in and said 'Omedetou MatsuJun';P Everyone said what a nice father, but then Sho was like 'wait, he called you MatsuJun? is that a usual thing?' and Jun said it wasn't usual, he usually called him Jun, but he was probably embarrassed;P Nino asked what his mother called him and it was a little muffled but I tyhink he said Jun-chan...I think^^; Everyone thought that was cute;P Then Aiba brought up the turtles Jun had gotten as a present from Nino at Yokohama arena 7 years ago, and asked how they were doing...Jun said he still had them, that they were very very big now:3 But Aiba was persistent, he said that Nino had given him five of them, and that he thought they were like the turtle version of Arashi, so he wanted to kow if Jun still had all five of them...long awkward pause, and then Jun says he accidentally froze one once, but he warmed it up and brought it back to life, but it didn't last long after thatXD So Aiba says 'so there's four left?'...another pause, and Jun awkwardly says that another one died of old age, it was 7 years old after all, and Sho agrees that it makes sense for it to die of old age, and Aiba muses that it's amazing that here are still 3 of them left after all those years:3 Then they ask Jun for a few words and he said that he was very thankful that we were all there to celebrate his birthday with him, and that he'd wondered if his birthday was on that day precisely so we could all celebrate it together, although it felt weird that people had to pay money for tickets^^; He was very thankful and very happy, and he said he wanted to work hard this year as well:3 Sho asked him how being 24 felt and Jun said not that different from 23;P Sho mentioned how none of the other members got to have their birthdays celebrated like this, and Nino heartedly agreed, ohno chimed in and said he didn't get any kind of recognition, and Sho said it was because it was in November^^; Then he said that when they had winter concerts Aiba got to celebrate his birthday with the fans, and Aiba said he liked that^^ At some point when the other three were changing Sho was asking Nino how old he was now and Nino said 25, and everyone laughed at how surpised Sho was at how old he was, and that fact that he didn't know his own age;P Sho was disappointed, he said that 25 had a special value to it, but 26 was nothing special, so he wasn't happy to be turning 26, but Nino said he didn't think 25 was particularly special...XD When MAD came out to give the boys their coats and get introduced again some crazy fan in the east block started screaming out one of the junior's name, really really loud and hoarsely, and all the members joked that it sounded like is mother, and he must have done something wrongXDD She kept screming and they made him apologize, because she sounded so angry;P For Ura Arashi Aiba did the hosting, and when he introduced it he said it was 'part of Arashi's Johnny's website' as if Arashi were higher in status, and jun called him out on it and Aiba said he just went with how he felt at the time without thinking;P And the request today was from....Sakurai ShoXD Sho said he'd always wanted to do this song, but since it was a Christmas son and they usually only did concerts in the summer they'd never sung it live before. Guessed it yet?....Futari No Kinenbi<3<3 He said it was a treally good song, and they all agreed, and when they sang it it was relaly intimate and warm and fuzzy, and the fact that we were the only ones to ever hear it live was really special:3 Afterwards they all agreed again on how good a song it was and how it was too bad they'd never sung it live before, and Sho laughed about how low it was in some parts, mimicking it with his voiceXD And then next was Life, nakisou~>_<
Oh, I almost forgot, at the end of Love Situation (I think...I remember the outfits and movements and evrything, but I'm not 100% on the song, how sad...^^;;) Jun has already disappeared backstage to get ready for his solo and the other four all gather on the back stage facing the front, Nino and Ohno sitting on the edge of the moving stage beside each other, and Aiba and Sho standing behind them putting their hands on each other's shoulders, then Sho points at the screens at the front and they all look together as the lights go down...very cute:3 Anyway, today it went just as planned, then as the lights started to go down Ohno and Nino leaned in as if to kiss each other, with perfect timing so that the lights went out just as their lips would have touched!!XX333 It was such fun, everyone went nuts, they are too good at that kind of thing...;P
For the goodbyes Nino admitted that he said every show was fun, but that this one was even more extraordinarily fun than usual...;P And Jun talked again about how thankful he was to have everyone there to celebrate his birthday, and that he hoped we'd all be there again next year, (this is where my hear got stolen again) so that we could all have fun together, laugh and smile together, make good memories and forget the unpleasant things, and be able to work hard the next day<3 It's times times like that I feel it's almost a little too uncanny that Jun and I are on the same wavelength...that maybe we're too alike and that if we ever met we'd have a hard time getting along because of it^^; But I really treasure people with whom I can share similar feelings and thoughts, so I'd like to think it wouldn't be that bad...
Then, in Fight Song Jun wrapped his legs around Aiba<3 And there was even less singing than usual, Jun especially wsas really hauling the juniors around, jumping and swinging so genkily<3 The only signboard that came near me was Nino's and it swerved about 3 feet from me and a girl at the end of my aisle pounced on it, I saw her taking pictures holding it later^^; And Ohno's flew up behind the last row and landed on the floor, leaving 4 girls scrambling to get up there and claim itXD Jun didn't even throw one on the west side>_< For the first show they only throw one board, two for the last show...no luck^^; And when they were leaving in the little doors everyone forced Ohno out so he would do the kiss goodbye at the end of Love So Sweet;P
No encores this time either, and they were really quick about getting us out of there, which I was kind of upset about until I got outside and saw the wall of people waiting to get inO_o Seriously, it was half a football field's worht of people shoulder to shoulder, and we were trying to go through them, plus there was only 20min. until entrance time^^; But boy, what I wouldn't have given to be able to get into that show...>_< I saw a girl outside pay 70 thousand yen for an arena ticket from a dafuya...O_o And then try to bargain for more! And sadly the police came and sent the paparazzi photo shops home before anyone could buy any, and they had new shots too!>_< Of course, the police didn't do anything about the dafuya, who are the real problem...:S It was a really bittersweet feeling going back to the station, knowing I was saying goodbye for a long time...but I kept thinking about Life and Happiness and wishing heartily that Jun would go out and have the best birthday of his life<3 I really hope he enjoyed every second of it, that he felt the love and affection of those around him, that he liked his presents and the cake, that he was able to have some time to himself to unwind and savor it:3 And I'm sure he got really drunk, that's my boy!XD I really wanted to see what presents he got...but he was kind enough to talk about it on MS^^ Which I was lucky enough to see on TV!X3 Omg, seeing Arashi live on tv is so surreal, I had my face pressed almost up to the screen drinking it all in;P I loved the outfits, and Jun was even sexier than usual~<3 It was cute to hear about his bday gifts and the Ohmiya butt issueXDD And just like Sho said, the dance is really easy to memorize, and super fun to do!^^ Mm, I have to see it again<3
Speaking of which, I have something to discuss: As I mentioned earlier there are 3 months (well, 4 months now, I wasn't lucky enought to catch MMA or Shukudai-kun on tv:S) of Arashi shows that I haven't seen because I haven't translated them. And frankly, since I start school this week things are going to get even more difficult; so, my question is this: What would everyone prefer that I work on? I can, a) try and do just pure summaries of the 3 months worth of episodes unless there's a part I find particularly worthy or someone desperately wants translated; b) start trying to do summaries of the episodes that come out now (I won't have time to do the whole show anymore I don't think) and give up on the old episodes unless someone desperately wants something done; c) give up on doing whole episodes and only do the funny/special bits of the old and new episodes. I will continue to try to do articles no matter what, they are much easier and faster than episodes, and although I feel bad that it's only helpful for Jun fans like myself it is very meaningful to me:3 And of course, any new songs as well<3 Please let me know what you think, or if you have another suggestion^^ Also, has anyone translated the Happiness single yet (all 3 songs)? I can do that rather easily if not:3 And if no one else is doing MS I'd like to do that too, but I wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes. Feedback time, please drop me a line!:D
There's more to my story, but as you can tell I'm rather long-winded and somewhat scattered (cut me some slack, I flew in last night and I got up today at 8amXD), so if you want to hear more let me know, I might talk more later but it's taken me forever to write this post and I'm sure everyone's bored or blind nowXD Take care everyone, good luck with school and work, and I wish you all lots of Happiness:)
その切なさと美しさは痛みほど愛しい。。。忘れられない思い出になった＞＿＜いまでもその勇気と力が私の心の奥から温かくに沸いて来ている：３もう少し進める気がします。。。
The instant I saw Japan from the aircraft when I was first arriving I was hit with this feeling of jubilation; 'My dream is coming true...' was all I could think, and when we touched down on the tarmac I had to restrain myself from clapping with joyXD Of course, it wasn't all dreams and roses...I boarded the plane to Vancouver after getting up at 5am, and only 2.5 hours of sleep, then 3 hours to Vancouver during which I watched 'Meet the Robinsons' (which is pretty cute). Then I had a 4 hour lay-over in Vancouver during which I tried my best to stay awakeXD Then the 9.5 hour flight from Vancouver to Narita...on which, contrary to what my travel agent promised, there were no seat-back tvs, so I had to resort to reading the Amy Tan novel I brought, then pulling out my PSP to catch up on 3 months of Arashi shows I haven't translated, and thus haven't watched yet^^; More on that later...
Around 7pm Vancouver time I was so sleepy I couldn't watch anything but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't sleep:S I can't sleep on moving vehicles...which really sucks for long distance travel;P Anyway, I finally get to Narita, exchange my rail pass, catch the Narita Express, on which I felt nauseous the whole hour-long trip>_< Plus, the flight was delayed so I was going to be late for my hotel reservation so while battling waves of nausea I was trying to figure out if there was a phone on the train so I could call and let them know. By the time I got to Shinjuku I was half an hour late, and completely exhausted...and when I got into the main station I couldn't find the exit I needed>_< I decided to just try the New South Exit and try to walk around to the East exit, which is what I needed to begin with...bad ideaXD It was 6:30pm and dark (sunset is 6pm), 37 degrees celsius and fatally humid, and I ended up wsalking for 15 minutes before coming to the conclusion I was lost;P I called the hotel and spoke with the dedsk clerk in Japanese and she confirmed my worst fear, I'd gone in the complete opposite directionXD So, pouring sweat and heavy suitcase in tow, I had to make my way back to the train station and try again^^; By the time I got to the hotel it was nearly 7:30, I'd missed the fireworks exhibition at Tokyo Bay, and all I wanted was a decent meal;P But...somewhere inside I was still rejoicing:3
I won't bore you with any more details right now, I have nearly 2.5GB worth of pictures to upload and I'll caption them and provide the site link later if anyone is interested^^ Suffice to say, I had an amazing time...I truly feel I needed this trip, to grow as a person, to prove to myself that I can make my dreams come true, to learn new things about who I am and what I am capable of, to challenge my limits and inspire new goals...:3 I met so many new and wonderful friends, had experiences I will treasure for the rest of my life, and I finally got to see ArashiX3
Which is, I'm sure, what everyone would prefer to hear aboutXD I am so thankful to all those who helped me, I won't name you here but you have my undying gratitude and I hope to someday be able to repay your kindness>_< I was able to go to 4 concerts, the first show on August 22nd in Nagoya, the only show on the 25th at Sendai, the 2nd show the next day at Sendai, and, the one that I had only dared to dream about, the 1st show on Jun's bday<3<3 I will try to keep my reports as coherent as possible but I am still operating on a sleep deficit (the trip back was almost worse, if you can believe itXD) and lately I have a tendency to just follow the flow of my thoughts so details may pop up in odd places and lack in others:S And some things are a little fuzzy because of the overload of emotionsXD
22nd, 1st show, Nagoya
The biggest of the four venues, I think it was around 10 000 people? My seat was stand, east side, pretty far up from the hanamichi, about midway between the main stage and the very back. At 5 minutes after the time listed on my ticket the lights finally went down and everyone cheered in excitement; the stage was set up with little rounded platforms on the sides, a higher one and a lower one connected by stairs, above which were two screens, and in the middle was a large rounded podium covered by a fold down scoop-like roof. When the lights went out rising bassy music played and on the screens and the lighted parts of the platforms words were projected, 'mirai'(future), 'tamashii'(soul), 'group', 'natsu', 'shinjiru', 'yume', 'yuujou'(friendship), 'kansha', etc...then, while this is playing Arashi filters in, standing on the main podium under the closed down roof, which then slowly opens....then the spotlights come on, and they're wearing red and blue spangled outfits and 'Everybody Zenshin' starts playing and we all screamXD Right after the first line fireworks go off and the boys move out on the moving stage, which carries them to the back of the room during the song, and omg is this song ever good liveX3 I couldn't think of a better way to start the concert, so much energy and excitement released all at once<3 Oh, and in the part of the song that's just instrumental they do a shuffling shoulder-jerking kind of dance like the zombides in Thriller, it's funny to watch, then during the last verse/chorus they walk in a circle doing military-style salutes, so cuteXD
Right after Everybody Zenshin ends Di-Li-Li, keeping the tension high;) The boys fan out along the hanamichi and go up on the four lifters on the sides, Nino was the one I was closest to^^ He's even cuter in person, and he puts so much power into his paece symbols and moves, it's hard not to get more and more carried awayXD Towards the end of the song each of the boys does a little greeting, usually starting by getting everyone to yell something;P Jun talked about hoping we'd have a great time and smiled that teasing grin, Nino got us to shout a lot and said welcome and have fun, Aiba wanted shouting too and laughed a lot, so cuteX3 Ohno said 'Hi!' a lot, which we all had to call back, and then said 'Yoroshiku!'XD Sho, who was in the middle of the arena, talked about everyone having lots of fun and then it was time for Kitto Daijoubu:D Midway through the song everyone got down off the lifters and moved back to the main stage, where they took off their coats and everyone except Jun disappeared back stage (there might have been another song here but I'm having memory troubles...) Jun climbed the stairs of the center podium, welcoming everyone to the summer tour of Time, titled 'Kotoba no Chikara'; he talked about how there are various ways words have power, to move us or change us, for good or for bad, and that the way they'd come up with the title was by thinking about what they as Arashi were able to convey to us. He said that he hoped by the end everyone would be smiling and energetic, and then said that the next song was by the most 'peace' of all the members, and to please feel his kindness...upon which the music starts playing for 'Frienship':3 Jun disappears back stage and Aiba and MAD come out...Aiba is so sexy lately, I don't know what it is, but even in overalls and a green shirt he had me eyes glued to him the whole timeXD I especially love the part of the song where he says it's kind of embarrassing and ruffles his hair;P It gives me warm and fuzzies just to think of itXD Then it's time for Sho's solo, at the very back of the arena. The junior boys are wearing black and red suit combos, and there's a red couch set out on the moving stage where they sit before getting up to dance, the whole thins is lit with red lights and Sho spends quite a bit of time facing the east side as he dances^^ After he disappears down the back stairs the music for Jidai starts playing!X3 In time wth the 'Rock!' part of the song one of the boys launches out from underneath the stage with a burst of fireworks, Jun, Nino, Aiba, Ohno I think (I was kind of far here...), and they're all wearing those awesome black and yellow outfits, Jun's has a little skirt-like bit that suits him perfectly with the long hair~<3 Jun and Nino sing the first part of the rap, coming up to face each other for the last part, and (I think it was this concert...or maybe the first Sendai one) when they say 'daiji na no wa jibun no haato' Nino put his hand on Jun's shoulder, it was so awesome!XD Then when it's time for the chorus Sho comes out from the little sliding doors under the main podium and they all dance along, I bought some pics that I'll scan later:3
Then comes Yes? No?, and they do that part where they line up and move their arms in sequence, really cool...lots of green lasers and then they break out the glow in the dark spinning things like in One!XD If I remember correctly the next song is Kotoba yori mo taisetsu na mono, and Jun unbuttons his black shirt so we can all drool over his gorgeous abs....*V* They fan out again, dancing at certain points along the hanamichi...from here it gets fuzzy again...at some point it's time for Nino's solo, he sits at a baby grand piano o the left of the center stage, in a kind of white suit, and he was weraing glasses for all four showsXDD The lights dim, and the screens focus on him playing the piano, during the instrumental part the lights look like rain, it's perfect...and he puts so much emotion into singing it, it's very touching:3 When he starts the last refrain about the rainbow being pretty he takes the glasses off a nd all the fangirls cheerXD then right after is Taiyou no Sekai, Sho comes out to do the call and response as the stage hands hurry to hide the piano;P Then, wearing frilly blue outfits with sparkles and feather boas, they sing WaveXD During Wave Aiba and Jun go on the little carts that run along the upper sides of the arena midway through the stand seats, except Jun only goes on the west side so I was nowhere near *cries*>_< And he always leans over the rail of the cart to gaze at the people nearby when it stops at the end of the seats...X3 But Aiba-chan was really cute, his smile is like the sun...:3 And then they make everyone sit down and they coordinate a giant 'wave' with the audience, which is incredibly fun, especially when it doesn't seem to be coordinating rightXD Then for the next song, Love Situation, Jun and Ohno meet up on the backstage (and in this concert Jun reached around from behind and took Ohno's coat off for him, hot little fanserviceX3), Aiba, Nino and Sho meet on the front, when they take their coats off they're wearing pink rimmed tank tops and pink spangled pants. Jun and Ohno dance together on the back moving stage, doing hand flips and other cool moves, and Aiba nino and Sho sing on the front moving stage, then as the stages get closer together they switch, at one point Aiba nino and Sho all do a move and then fall down on their backs, and usually end up lying there for a few momentsXD
Shortly after that is Hadashi No Mirai, so much fun to sing along toX3 Once it's over it's time for the MC. Today they all teased Nino about the glasses he was wearing for Niji, Sho was asking him why and Nino said he just felt like it;P They also talked about Jun being in the HYD movie, filming starts in January and he was complaining about having to get the perm againXD Then Aiba chimed in and said what if they had Arashi appear at the end of the movie, like the F5XD Everyone cheered, but Jun said that was too many people, so Aiba said he could be Tsukushi...and Jun said it was impossible;P Aiba was like 'oh, it's impossible is it? Impossible ne'...so cuteXD Then Sho said he could be Doumyouji, and Jun said 'sorry, but that's me', so Sho said 'Then I could be Tsukasa', and Jun was like 'It's Doumyouji Tsukasa!'XD The Sho talked about having them as special guest stars, and said Aiba could be someone who gets knocked out by Doumyouji, but Jun said Aiba wasn't the kind of person that should get hit by Doumyouji:3 Nino asked when the filming was again and Jun said January, and Nino said that worked cause it was the only free slot in his schedule;P Then Sho brought up Aiba's butai and asked the storyline, Aiba did a short overview, then asked everyone to come, then asked if Sho was going to come. Sho said he wasn't going to, and Aiba was like 'why? please come!' Aiba asked Sho if he had plans on those days and Sho said he didn't really, so Aiba said 'okay, then you'll come right?', and Sho reluctantly said he might come, so then Aiba turns to the audience and says 'You have to come everyone, Sho will be there too!'XD Then Jun Aiba and Ohno went backstage to change and Nino and Sho talked and Yamataro, how it was ending soon and they only had 5 days of filming left, and that the 9th episode was full of 'heated friendship' from MimuraXD I haven't watched the show yet so I didn't catch most of their references and frankly was trying not to spoil myself...anyway, then Sho brought up the fact that the single Happiness was coming out soon, and that they'd made a PV, to which about a fifth of the audience (including me) yelled out that we'd seen itXD You see, I had the good luck to be watching mezamashi tv that morning, and they played a clip of it^^ Anyway, Sho was shocked that we'd seen it, and said he didn't even know it was done yet, he hadn't even seen it yet but they were showing it on mezamashi tvXD he asked the others if they'd seen in but they all said no...so he talked about how no member had a solo in it, because it was designed to show the closeness and friendship of Arashi<3 After Sho and Nino ot back from changing it was time for Ura Arashi. Jun introduced it, saying it was where they took requests for older songs on the cellphone website, the song today was Ai to Yuuki to Cherry Pie, and the letter was froma girl who'd said she and her friend originally believed that the song meant that someone would love them even if they got fat, but when they met up a few years later they both agreed they must have made a big mistakeXD Apparently Nino insisted that they sing this one, so they did, and after that MAD came out with their coats and Sho introdiced them, then they moved on to sing Life, which is one of my new favorites<3 Shortly after that it was time for Jun's solo....OMG, every time you see it it's like the first time, just absolutely amazing!X3 he comes out walking on the ceiling, upside downO_o As the chanting 'yabai-yabai' in the background plays he slowly strolls forward, then stops and drops down to within arms length of the audience in the arena seats, then flips over and 'walks' back up, goes a little further then drops again, turns and 'walks' forward and up, then when he finally gets to the center stage he drops down doing flips the whole time...my mouth was hanging open in awe and wonder the whole time, I am constantly amazed at what that boy can do...and I'm fully convinced it was his idea too<3 then at the main stage he starts the song, lots of little hand gestures and super cute dancing, and his expressions are just awesome!>_< he has the perfect arrogant sexy smirk, it's impossible to describe, but you really want to just squeeze him<3<3 Hya~:3 And then when it's time for the call and response they lower a rope and he gets pulled back to the main stage, then flies overhead on the main stage during the bridge part of the song...ahh, so perfect, he's a genius!X3 I hope there's a fancam somewhere, it's unmissable:3
Right after Yabai-Yabai-Yabai is Ohno's solo, and as usual he looks like he's dancing on air...it was absolutely mesmerizing to watch him, and when he sings with full voice about 3/4 through he song I got chills...he is a mystery, that boy, just amazing:3 After that...strange creepy music plays and smoke evelopes the centre stage as two silver-cloaked masked figures appear. They dance in a kind of trance-like ritualistic way, then at some point one of them lifts their hand up and a red ball flies out of the audience and soars up, like a fireball. The two dance some more and then cast the fireball towards the main stage where a third silver-cloaked figure appears. As the two walk to the main stage the third calls up fire from the jets along the stage with the same kind of liquid, commanding dancing, then the final two fly out on ropes and get lowered down. The music ramps up and then they pull off their costumes and it's time for Cry for YouX!X3 The hot purple outfits aside, this dance is so sexily angsty, and the fire jets and lasers and smoke make the whole thing so much more dramatic, it may not be quite what I had in mind but it's unbelievably goodX3
More fuzziness...but after some really high energy songs like Sakura Sake they turn down the lights and do their individual goodbyes...>_< I don't remember Ohno or Aiba or Sho's from this one but Aiba asked everyone to come play with them again, and Nino said it was even more fun than usual and thanked everyone, then Jun is last and he said he'd hoped that they'd managed to convey the meaning of 'kotoba no chikara' and that he was so happy to see how everyone's faces changed to bright smiles by the end, and that hoped to see us all again:3 Then he said the next sing was for us, and it was Be With You<3 They all sing in spotlights, so emotionally, Jun's hand gesture where it looks like he's reaching out to take yours gets me every time...X3 As they sing they slowly move down from the individual levels they're standing on until they're all on the main stage together, and then it's Love So Sweet^^ Jun tells everyone to sing along and then silver streamers burst out of the stage showering the first few rows, and only the audience sings the first line of the song, then they fan out along the hanamichi again waving goodbye and saying thank you, before meeting at the main stage again to disappear into the sliding doors under the centre podium. But Jun stayed behind and blew everyone a huge kiss before the doors closed and the music endedXDDD
Then we all did the 'Arashi call', chanting their name and clapping in time, until they came out for the encore:D The encore starts with We Can Make It, with the juniors all waving big colored flags, then after the boys get to the centre stage they lower harnesses from the ceiling and start to play fight songXDD I'm sure you've all seen the fancam by now, it's just so funnyXP Sho is always terrified, and Jun always ends up on his own at one point, jumping and swinging;P The funniest part is when they can't sing because of all the bouncing, and watching the poor juniors who are on the other ends of the ropes getting hauled up and down while trying to keep their sempais in one pieceXD When Fight Song ends the boys all pull out their sign boards and sing Happiness as they walk around waving goodbye and tossing them into the stand seats. That day the girl who was beside me actually touched Aiba's board! But she didn't manage to grab it and it felt down where another girl latched on to it^^; So close:S Then they all collect at the main stage, ask everyone to clap for the juniors, then Jun says 'who did you come to see? We're Arashi!' Well...normally he does, that day his voice died halfway through and he had to start againXD Poor boy;P That's when all five join hands and bow, then they keep saying thank you and goodbye and climb back onto the centre podium and wave as the roof starts to close back over them...ah, that part is always so sad...it really feels like it's only been an hour, way too short, and they're already leaving...>_< We called again but they didn't do another encore:S I heard they did 3 encores in Kagoshima but I neevr got three...^^;
Whew...sorry about it being so long...and I still didn't get all the details>_< At any rate, the songs in every concert are Everybody Zenshin, Di-Li-Li, Kitto Daijoubu, Frienship, Can't Let Go, Jidai, Yes?No?. Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono, Niji, Taiyou No Sekai, Carnival Night 2, Kaze, Oh Yeah!, Hero, Pikanchi Double, Wave, Love Situation, A Day In Our Life, Hadashi No Mirai, Life, Yabai-Yabai-Yabai, Song For Me, Cry For You, A.Ra.Shi, Aozorfa Pedal, Sakura Sake, Be With You, Love So Sweet, We Can Make It, Fight Song, and Happiness, but the order's not quite right....
25th, Sendai
The Hot House Arena is in the middle of nowhere so everyone has to take a bus out there, and when you finally come in view of the stadium it's really exciting:) As usual there were dafuya and girls begging for tickets everywhere, and it was really hot so by the time I got to my seat I was already worse for the wearXD This time my seat was at the very last row, on the very south end of the east side...which meant that I could vwae my hands as high as I wanted since there was no-one behind me, but still...so far^^; But this arena was smaller than Nagoya, maybe 8000 people, so I was closer to the hanamichi than before, even though it was the last row. Today in the MC Jun said Ohno had something to say, and Ohno went on to say that Nino hadn't touched his butt the whole day, and he was really lonelyXDDD Everyone was weirded out by this, and Nino just said nothing while Ohno complained about it, so funny;P So Nino offered to do it now but Ohno said it wasn't the same and refusedXD Then Sho brought up the Happiness PV and said that they had the CMS down now, would everyone like to see?;) We all cheered, so they showed the 15 second one, then Sho said there was a 60 second version too, and they showed that one (which was really long-seeming, I felt like I might have seen the whole PV;P) but he said afterward it was too long for tvXD I never saw it after that so I wonder why they even made it...O_o The Jun brought up how Nino and Ohno do that sliding hands thing in the opening part of the Cm and asked what the heck it was about, and both of them just said it was what they thought they should do, Aiba said it was weird...;P Then talked about Jun and HYD again, and Aiba's butai, then somehow they got on the subject of what Aiba did the night before...which apparently was go for a massage. He said he was really tired but he didn't want to cancel so he went in, and the woman was watching tv but let him have the remote, so he turned down the tv and before he knew it he was waking up from a long napXD He asked what time it was and it turned out he'd been there for an hour and a half, and he was upset and asked her why she didn't wake him, and she said that he'd wanted to sleep so she let him. he askede how she knew he wanted to sleep and she said that she'd asked him and he'd said 'mum mum mum', and Aiba wa like 'that doesn't mean anything!'XD And then he realized that the tv was really loud, even though he'd turned it down before he went to sleep;P And Sho joked that you have to watch out when you fall asleep when getting a massage cause the woman might just start half-assing it with her elbow or something, and they all laughed, but Aiba said he felt really good afterward so she must have done a good job...;)
Then Jun introduced Ura Arashi again, this time the letter was from a girl who said she's the same generation as Arashi so a lot of their songs fit her perfectly, and the line about riding the train everyday, holding the important feelings, laughing and crying had made her think about how she rode the train everyday and lost sight of what the purpose for it all was, for the studying and school and everything, and she felt the laughing and crying part was like when she passed or failed an exam, how it was with hre friends on the train afterwards, and it made her want to try to move forward more conscious of these things. Then, and I honeslty don't know how, they got on to the subject of Chikan (molesters)O_o Nino said he got mistaken for one once and it was awful (I want to hear more! Spill Nino!XD), and Ohno said that he was the victim of one onceO_O Jun asked if the guy thought he was girl and Ohno said he really hoped soXD They asked what had happened and Ohno got Aiba to play him so he could demonstrate, ohno said they were standing facing each other and the man kept swinging his briefcase into Ohno's crotch the whole time while looking right at him...XD Then Jun wondered how the conversation had gone this way, and said now it was more like 'chikan na kimochi kakushikaketa'XDD (The original lyrics are 'daiji na kimochi nakushikaketa' (holding onto the important feelings), Jun's changed it to say 'hiding chikan feelings'XDD)Eventually they sang the song, and it was really nice to hear it live:3 They always sing Ura Arashi sitting down, and ask everyone to do the same, so it's really calming and intimate<3
Then, in Fight Song Aiba's headset came off while he was bouncing around in the harness and he had to apologize to everyone as he got a hand mike from the staff;P Ah, I forgot to mention, Ohmiya spend a lot of time holding hands or walking together in the concerts, it's really cute;P And, of course, Nino touches Ohno's buttXD I don't really remember the goodbyes this time but Nino used the term 'hijou ni tanoshii' (extraordinarily fun) in every concert, Jun is always very serious and sincere, Ohno is cute and calm, Aiba is very sweet and precious, and Sho is very polite. And today they did two encores! After they left at the end of happiness we all called for almost 10 minutes, and suddenly Jun's voice come over the speakers, asking if we were still there?XD We all called back yes, and he asked if we were going to stay to the very end, and we all said yes again, and he was teasing us and saying should they come out again?;P Then Aiba came on and said 'let's go!' Jun said 'let's go?' and Aiba repeated it again, and then they all came out and sang FutureX3
That night a group of us waited across the street from the place where the location bus was waiting for the boys, to see if we could wtch them leave (it was 10pm by this point) and though we waited for half an hour we could only see shadows moving in the bus, then they put up a board so no one could see behind the driver, and covered the windows, so when the bus left no one could see anythingXD But people were peeking out at us from behind the blinds on the second floor window of the arena, so I'm sure they saw us;P
26th, 2nd show, Sendai
Today's show I was at the very south edge of the east block, only about 10-12 rows back from the hanamichi, and only 4 rows from where Aiba went by in the little cart<3 His smiles are to die for, and the way he waves is so endearing...<3 But today my seatmates were kind of a distraction>_< The girls on my right were beyond annoying, whcaking my with their uchiwas, leaning forward so far that I had to crane my neck to see the screen or the centre stage, and when it was time for Jun's solo the one right next to me was leaning the complete opposite direction to try to see Sho off stage in the dark...so I had to crane around her just to see Jun, which really pissed me off. She had no way of knowing which of the shadows was Sho, and it's rude to ignore the person singing, plus bothersome to other fans...anyway, she and her friend were quite annyoing, and on my left, for some unknown reason, was an overweight guy in his mid-twenties dressed in hip-hop clothing who had come with his mother....O_o From listening to their conversation I picked up that he was not a fan, had never been to a concert before, that his mother was an Ohno fan, and apaprently he was just accompanying her?>_< Plus, he reeked of alcohol, and spent the whole concert either standing doing nothing or apathetically toying with a glow stick, which made me think about all the girls outside dying to get in, begging for tickets, and it made me mad:S Ugh. Sorry, just had to vent on that...^^;
Anyway, in the MC Aiba talked about how everyone had gone out for yakiniku the night before, inlcuding the staff it was about 250 peopleO_o And some of the camera men surprised them byt trying to do the sequenced arm moves from Yes?No?XD Aiba wondered why they'd tried to learn it and Jun said surely it's because they admired Arashi;P Then Aiba said they did really well and pointed at the guys and the guys got up and waved and Sho and Jun got mad at them for pausing in the middle of working, but Aiba said it was okay because Arashi hadn't moved so the cmareas were still pointing the right way;P Then Aiba asked what evetryone had done afterwards, and Ohno said he had a steak for dinner, and Jun said he must really like steak cause he had that the whole time they were touring, and Ohno said he loved it, and that he always ate it very respectfullyXD Nino said that after the group dinner he'd run into the staff from Jounetsu Tariku that he'd worked with, and that it was just a coincidence that they'd shown up, but they started talking about doing an episode with all of Arashi!XD And Nino said it was thanks to him that Arashi was getting this chance, and it would be an hour long, but Jun said 'isn't the show only half an hour?', to which Nino replied that he'd told the producers they couldn't have Arashi if it was any less than an hourXDD They all laughed and told him not to act so high and mighty...;P Has anyone heard anything else about this? It would be really cool to see Arashi followed behind the scenes like that:3
I don't remember what Sho and Aiba did after the dinner, but Jun apparently went out on his own to somewhere he wouldn't say...XD Then when they got back to the main stage Aiba mentioned that before the show today he came out a bit early backstage and saw Jun crouched down on all fours looking do0wn at the stage and was really wondering what that was all about, and Jun said he was doing sit-ups;P Jun said he does sit-ups before every show now (and boy can you tell...he needs another semi-nude photoshoot soon, it's unbelievably hot...*W*) Sho and Nino talked about yamataro again (no idea what it was about though...^^;;) and then Sho said he wanted everyone to watch the World Track and Field Championships in OsakaO_o He was pretty insistent about it too, not sure why, but he was really looking forward to it.
When the boys do Ura Arashi there are 5 different colored stools lined up in the middle of the main stage for them, and they sit down before and after they go change...when Sho and Nino came back from changing there was the seat on the end and the seat in tyhe middle left, and Sho made a valiant effort but Nino managed to get the seat on the end first;P Aiba asked what the problem was and Sho said it was embarrassing to sit in the middle, there was more pressureXD They told him it wasn't a big deal and he was about to sit, but then Jun remembered that Ohno hadn't hosted Ura Arashi yet (the one in the middle does it) and so everyone made Riidaa sit in the middle;P Ohno muddled his way through an introduction, at which point Jun had to step in to clear it up, perfectionist that he is;P And the song was Dekiru Dake, the girl who'd written in said the part about being scared of change had struck her. Then Ohno felt too nervous to sing so Jun made everyone wait while Ohno turned around to calm himself, after 30 seconds Ohno turned back around and they all sang, and Ohno's solo parts were really really good:3
At some point during this show Jun touched Ohno's butt tooXD And during Life, when they have to climb onto the platforms beside the main podium Nino and Sho did janken to see who would go o top and Sho lost...of courseXD This was all during the part where ohno was trying to introduce the song and everyone was watching Nino and Sho so Ohno was like 'I guess nobody's listening to me...' but Jun was like 'That's not true', and gave Nino and Sho a look, and everyone quieted down so Ohno could go on;P
Nino talked about it being 'extraordrinarily fun' again, Aiba sked us all to come back and play again, Ohno talked about wanting to try Gyuutan (beef tongue, Sendai's specialty), Sho was polite...but Jun stole my heart>_< In his speech he talked about how he felt so much the love and energy that everyone was giving to them, and that he really felt thatthey were receiving power from us, and he thanked us for it. He said it he believed that in the way that they were absorbing this power they would also give it back to us someday, and that if there is ever a time when we are sad or depressed, to look at them and we'll surely be genki again:3 It moved me so much to hear it from him, these things that I'd been thinking all along...whenever I'm sad or lonely I do watch Arashi, and I do feel happier, and the sincerity with which he said it and the empathy I felt from it made my heart ache. To know that it's a mutual, symbiotic relationship is something precious to me...it makes me think of the line in Life where they say
"omoi doori ni narani tte
kujikesou ni naru toki datte
bokura wa kitto
te wo toriau yo dakara sa
daijoubu, shijite susumu yo"
(saying it won't go as you plan
even times when it seems like it's breaking
we will surely
take each other's hands, therefore
it's okay, go forward believing)
Thank you Jun, for that moment of heart-felt happiness>_<
Although it was the second show of the day and they usually have more encores at the last show, I have no idea how many they had today...because in order to catch the last train back to Shinjuku I had to leave before the end of the first encore>_< You see, the night before I had to wait in line for almost 45 minutes to get one of the busses back to Sendai, they just didn't have enough busses waiting for all of us, and if I had to wait that long again I'd miss the train for sure:S So, After they threw their signboards during Happiness (Jun threw his right to where I'd been sitting the day before!>_< *cries*) I had to literally run out of the arena and down the street to where the busses were waiting, and I wasn't the only one. There were about 3 dozen other fangirls running with me, and there was already a small line-up when I got to the busses^^; But the best part was that I was running out during the chorus of Happiness 'hashiri dase, hashiri dase' (run out, run out)XDD It felt like Arashi was cheering me on, it made me really high tension, and I listened to Happiness over and over on my mp3 player on the bus ride back to the station:D
30th, 1st show, Hamamatsu
I was so unbelievably keyed up this day...>_< I wore a cute purple baby doll shirt I'd bought (because fans like to wear their boy's colors, it's interesting to see what girls show up in^^), a ruffled grey knee-length skirt, black and purple stripey socks, put my hair in pigtails and put on an imitation Nana necklace (because I like Nana and it was the closest I could find to the Saturn necklace). And there was a big sign outside the entrance saying that they would be checking for membership IDs so I was really really nervous>_< I was actually panicking quite a bit, because I tend to over-react to stress...eventually I worked up my courage and made a dash for it, and got in with no trouble...which made me feel a little silly, but the danger was real^^; And they had BokuImo on sale, and though I'd seen it the night before at kinokuniya and decided it was too expensive...today I just couldn't resistXD I can't even play it on my DVD player, stupid region problem...but I wsanted to help with the sales, and I really do want to see Jun in another movie:3 Oh, I hope that rumor about him playing Andre in a production of Rose of Versailles is true, that would be absolutely swoon-worthyX3
Today my seat was about 7 rows back from the hanamichi, 3 rows from where the carts go by, closer to centre stage but on the side of the main stage...and on the west side!X3 Finally, my chance to see Jun up close was coming, and on the day of all days too:3 I even brought my uchiwa that I made at home^^ Well, I brought it to the Nagoya concert too but they said it was too big and confiscated it, so I had to butcher it a little to get it in this time>_< Pics to follow (of the original).
Jun was all smiles, even more genki than usual, and he danced right in my direct line of sight with his unbuttoned black shirt open...*w* Hamamatsu arena is the smallest of the venues, only about 7000 people, so I was even closer than ever, and for that very reason everything about the concert was much more dramatic and evocative<3 I was moved to tears several times...I'd originally thought I'd cry at my first concert, but whether from shock or excitement or the distance between us I didn't get to that point. But seeing them so close, these amazing human beings who work so hard and give so much of themselves, who I turn to for strength and inspiration, who are really just boys my age who go home to families and dirty laundry and pets...it really struck home what I was lucky enough to be witnessing>_< Especially during Life, for the reason I mentioned above, and because I really feel that line
"hito ni wa iienai kanashimi ya
saenai mainichi ga tsuzuitemo
chirabatte iru
kagayaki mo hiroi agereba
mou sukoshi susumeru ki ga shita"
(even if unspeakable sadness and
calmless days follow one after another
if I opened up wider
the scattered radiance
I got the feeling that I could go a little further)
That's what they've given me all this time, the feeling that I can go a little further, no matter how bad it's been or will be. That's what I needed, and still need, the most of anything. It's thanks to Arashi that I have my current motivation and determinations, the great friends I've made, the faith in myself that I had always been sadly lacking...it's hard to put into the words the emotions that swirl around in my heart when I think about this, and I'm sure to some it sounds completely nonsensical or perhaps even irrational, but I'm a person of strong emotions and depths of feeling, and having something in my life that moves me this much is dear to me, I want to do my best, I want the future I am envisioning to become real, I want to keep proving to myself that I am worthy, and capable, of being happy. Thank you Arashi for helping me to grow, for giving me a dream and the drive to chase it, please stay with me from now on as well:)
And there's also the fact that I knew the whole time it was my last concert with them...that alone brought me to the verge of tears^^; That was one of those moments when I really didn't ever want to go home>_< But all I cna do is try to focus on working hard this year at school and my job, and saving up enough time and money to go back next year. If I believe in that I can move forward somehow.
But on to happier things...I'm absolutely certain all of the boys saw my uchiwa with the Canadian flag on itXD And after Aiba read the letter from the Canadian fan and talked about doing a concert here, this is a very good time to be representing;P Plus, I went to his family's restaurant and left a little note asking him to come to Canada, and told his mother I'd come from Canada to see her son and Arashi in concert:3 She asked me which concerts I went to and I said Nagoya and Sendai and she said she went to Sendai too!O_o Amazing, I wonder where she was;P I'm sure Aiba was extra happy that day, knowing she was there:3
And I know Jun saw the other side of my uchiwa, with his name and a little silver crownXD He waved right at me, but he always waves a lot so I don't know if I got any special notice or just acknowledgement^^;
During the MC all the boys talked about Jun's bday, Sho said it was obvious there were a lot of his fans there;P Jun said he was very happy that we were all celebrating it with him, and then Sho suggested we all sing happy birthday:3 It was really fun to sing him happy birthday all together, he was grinning so widely the whole time, and he said thank you afterwards, then Sho said the staff had brough a cake, and they wheeled out this massive white cake covered in fruits, with a little sign that said 'Happy Birthday Jun Matsumoto', with 24 candles, two of which were a 2 and a 4. They challenged him to blow out all the candles in one go. Jun first counted every single candle to make sure there were 24, and they turned off all the lights so we could all see, but then Sho and Nino started saying it erotic, Jun standing there in candlelight in a tank topXDD Jun took a deep breath and managed to blow them all out, even though some of them were stubbornly staying lit;P Then when they turned the lights back on Jun ate a little off his finger and said later they should all eat it together:3 Then he said it was a massive cake and how on earth were the five of them supposed to eat it, Nino said they'd burst their stomachsXD Then Sho brought out MAD to wish Jun happy birthday, and the first guy was awkward and just said 'omedetou', and Jun got all DoS and advanced on him until he ran away and hid behind Ohno, but Jun cornered him, and just when the guy was cowering Jun grabbed him around the shoulder and ruffled his hair and said thank you;P Sho and Nino said it was a good thing it was his birthday, he was in a good moodXD The next member of MAD said 'happy birthday, work hard' really informally, and Jun got mad again and apparently Ohno put the guy up to it because Ohno was scared too and got down on his hands and knees, and when the MAD member did too Ohno bowed his head for him like a parent does for a child, but then he kept going and forced the guy flat onto his stomach and did the same so they were both lying on the floor like little apologetic sausagesXDDDD jun asked what the heck they were doing, and Nino again commented that it was good that it was his bday;P Another member congratulated Jun without incident, Jun mentioned how the 2 on the cake was so melted it didn't really look like a 2 anymore, then Sho asked them to take the cake away, and Aiba commented on their nice outfits (which were white dress shirts wtih green ruffles) and said Arashi had never gotten to wear anything like that (no, Arashi gets much worseXD). When MAD piled into the little section under th podium with the sliding doors Aiba said it was like an elevator, even though it wasn't an elevator, and it really did look like they were taking the cake to another floorXD Then Sho asked Jun about the show the day before, and Jun said his father had come to the show! And that afterwards, in the dressing room, he'd come in and said 'Omedetou MatsuJun';P Everyone said what a nice father, but then Sho was like 'wait, he called you MatsuJun? is that a usual thing?' and Jun said it wasn't usual, he usually called him Jun, but he was probably embarrassed;P Nino asked what his mother called him and it was a little muffled but I tyhink he said Jun-chan...I think^^; Everyone thought that was cute;P Then Aiba brought up the turtles Jun had gotten as a present from Nino at Yokohama arena 7 years ago, and asked how they were doing...Jun said he still had them, that they were very very big now:3 But Aiba was persistent, he said that Nino had given him five of them, and that he thought they were like the turtle version of Arashi, so he wanted to kow if Jun still had all five of them...long awkward pause, and then Jun says he accidentally froze one once, but he warmed it up and brought it back to life, but it didn't last long after thatXD So Aiba says 'so there's four left?'...another pause, and Jun awkwardly says that another one died of old age, it was 7 years old after all, and Sho agrees that it makes sense for it to die of old age, and Aiba muses that it's amazing that here are still 3 of them left after all those years:3 Then they ask Jun for a few words and he said that he was very thankful that we were all there to celebrate his birthday with him, and that he'd wondered if his birthday was on that day precisely so we could all celebrate it together, although it felt weird that people had to pay money for tickets^^; He was very thankful and very happy, and he said he wanted to work hard this year as well:3 Sho asked him how being 24 felt and Jun said not that different from 23;P Sho mentioned how none of the other members got to have their birthdays celebrated like this, and Nino heartedly agreed, ohno chimed in and said he didn't get any kind of recognition, and Sho said it was because it was in November^^; Then he said that when they had winter concerts Aiba got to celebrate his birthday with the fans, and Aiba said he liked that^^ At some point when the other three were changing Sho was asking Nino how old he was now and Nino said 25, and everyone laughed at how surpised Sho was at how old he was, and that fact that he didn't know his own age;P Sho was disappointed, he said that 25 had a special value to it, but 26 was nothing special, so he wasn't happy to be turning 26, but Nino said he didn't think 25 was particularly special...XD When MAD came out to give the boys their coats and get introduced again some crazy fan in the east block started screaming out one of the junior's name, really really loud and hoarsely, and all the members joked that it sounded like is mother, and he must have done something wrongXDD She kept screming and they made him apologize, because she sounded so angry;P For Ura Arashi Aiba did the hosting, and when he introduced it he said it was 'part of Arashi's Johnny's website' as if Arashi were higher in status, and jun called him out on it and Aiba said he just went with how he felt at the time without thinking;P And the request today was from....Sakurai ShoXD Sho said he'd always wanted to do this song, but since it was a Christmas son and they usually only did concerts in the summer they'd never sung it live before. Guessed it yet?....Futari No Kinenbi<3<3 He said it was a treally good song, and they all agreed, and when they sang it it was relaly intimate and warm and fuzzy, and the fact that we were the only ones to ever hear it live was really special:3 Afterwards they all agreed again on how good a song it was and how it was too bad they'd never sung it live before, and Sho laughed about how low it was in some parts, mimicking it with his voiceXD And then next was Life, nakisou~>_<
Oh, I almost forgot, at the end of Love Situation (I think...I remember the outfits and movements and evrything, but I'm not 100% on the song, how sad...^^;;) Jun has already disappeared backstage to get ready for his solo and the other four all gather on the back stage facing the front, Nino and Ohno sitting on the edge of the moving stage beside each other, and Aiba and Sho standing behind them putting their hands on each other's shoulders, then Sho points at the screens at the front and they all look together as the lights go down...very cute:3 Anyway, today it went just as planned, then as the lights started to go down Ohno and Nino leaned in as if to kiss each other, with perfect timing so that the lights went out just as their lips would have touched!!XX333 It was such fun, everyone went nuts, they are too good at that kind of thing...;P
For the goodbyes Nino admitted that he said every show was fun, but that this one was even more extraordinarily fun than usual...;P And Jun talked again about how thankful he was to have everyone there to celebrate his birthday, and that he hoped we'd all be there again next year, (this is where my hear got stolen again) so that we could all have fun together, laugh and smile together, make good memories and forget the unpleasant things, and be able to work hard the next day<3 It's times times like that I feel it's almost a little too uncanny that Jun and I are on the same wavelength...that maybe we're too alike and that if we ever met we'd have a hard time getting along because of it^^; But I really treasure people with whom I can share similar feelings and thoughts, so I'd like to think it wouldn't be that bad...
Then, in Fight Song Jun wrapped his legs around Aiba<3 And there was even less singing than usual, Jun especially wsas really hauling the juniors around, jumping and swinging so genkily<3 The only signboard that came near me was Nino's and it swerved about 3 feet from me and a girl at the end of my aisle pounced on it, I saw her taking pictures holding it later^^; And Ohno's flew up behind the last row and landed on the floor, leaving 4 girls scrambling to get up there and claim itXD Jun didn't even throw one on the west side>_< For the first show they only throw one board, two for the last show...no luck^^; And when they were leaving in the little doors everyone forced Ohno out so he would do the kiss goodbye at the end of Love So Sweet;P
No encores this time either, and they were really quick about getting us out of there, which I was kind of upset about until I got outside and saw the wall of people waiting to get inO_o Seriously, it was half a football field's worht of people shoulder to shoulder, and we were trying to go through them, plus there was only 20min. until entrance time^^; But boy, what I wouldn't have given to be able to get into that show...>_< I saw a girl outside pay 70 thousand yen for an arena ticket from a dafuya...O_o And then try to bargain for more! And sadly the police came and sent the paparazzi photo shops home before anyone could buy any, and they had new shots too!>_< Of course, the police didn't do anything about the dafuya, who are the real problem...:S It was a really bittersweet feeling going back to the station, knowing I was saying goodbye for a long time...but I kept thinking about Life and Happiness and wishing heartily that Jun would go out and have the best birthday of his life<3 I really hope he enjoyed every second of it, that he felt the love and affection of those around him, that he liked his presents and the cake, that he was able to have some time to himself to unwind and savor it:3 And I'm sure he got really drunk, that's my boy!XD I really wanted to see what presents he got...but he was kind enough to talk about it on MS^^ Which I was lucky enough to see on TV!X3 Omg, seeing Arashi live on tv is so surreal, I had my face pressed almost up to the screen drinking it all in;P I loved the outfits, and Jun was even sexier than usual~<3 It was cute to hear about his bday gifts and the Ohmiya butt issueXDD And just like Sho said, the dance is really easy to memorize, and super fun to do!^^ Mm, I have to see it again<3
Speaking of which, I have something to discuss: As I mentioned earlier there are 3 months (well, 4 months now, I wasn't lucky enought to catch MMA or Shukudai-kun on tv:S) of Arashi shows that I haven't seen because I haven't translated them. And frankly, since I start school this week things are going to get even more difficult; so, my question is this: What would everyone prefer that I work on? I can, a) try and do just pure summaries of the 3 months worth of episodes unless there's a part I find particularly worthy or someone desperately wants translated; b) start trying to do summaries of the episodes that come out now (I won't have time to do the whole show anymore I don't think) and give up on the old episodes unless someone desperately wants something done; c) give up on doing whole episodes and only do the funny/special bits of the old and new episodes. I will continue to try to do articles no matter what, they are much easier and faster than episodes, and although I feel bad that it's only helpful for Jun fans like myself it is very meaningful to me:3 And of course, any new songs as well<3 Please let me know what you think, or if you have another suggestion^^ Also, has anyone translated the Happiness single yet (all 3 songs)? I can do that rather easily if not:3 And if no one else is doing MS I'd like to do that too, but I wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes. Feedback time, please drop me a line!:D
There's more to my story, but as you can tell I'm rather long-winded and somewhat scattered (cut me some slack, I flew in last night and I got up today at 8amXD), so if you want to hear more let me know, I might talk more later but it's taken me forever to write this post and I'm sure everyone's bored or blind nowXD Take care everyone, good luck with school and work, and I wish you all lots of Happiness:)
その切なさと美しさは痛みほど愛しい。。。忘れられない思い出になった＞＿＜いまでもその勇気と力が私の心の奥から温かくに沸いて来ている：３もう少し進める気がします。。。