*flails* (AKA AAA Taipei Concert 2008.10.12 report)
*flails some more*
Three encores! And touching, omg the touching all over the place! *___*
Okay, since last night's report has the set list, I'm just going to write about things I noticed and my flailings and the MC (what I could understand of it). ^_^
I basically spent all of today after I woke up writing up the previous couple day's reports, and then spent a while writing postcards in my room. So I didn't go out until a little after 5pm, haha. The plan was to get there early, get goods if there were any good ones, and eat dinner to power up for a night of jumping around. ^_^
At the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station I was waiting for the train to come in and basically said to a couple girls behind me who looked friendly that I was happy to see so many Arashi fans in one place, because there weren't many where I was from. Seriously, people in purple and yellow t-shirts, carrying bags, uchiwa, it was awesome. Also, I didn't mention yesterday, but a number of guys too. The ratio was still something like 1 in 20 or 30, but still. :P We struck up a conversation, and kept going through the train pulling in and getting to the Nanjing East Road station. Found out they were from Hong Kong, and their third friend a Taipei local.
They were really surprised to hear that I came from the US by myself. (Hah, I sometimes can't believe it either. :P) And then I mentioned that my family's from Guangdong and we started going in Cantonese, much easier for me. We talked about getting goods, and my plan to see how the line was, they said that it was pretty fast and invited me to stand in line with them and chat, hee. It was so fast, I must have been there for a couple minutes, got in with my order and got handed a penlight and a poster of all five (a moment of weakness, I'm not sure how I'm going to carry it home, it'll have to stick out of my backpack ^^;;) right away. :O We took pictures of each other and the arena outside, with uchiwa (one gal is a Nino fan, the other one is a Jun fan) and exchanged emails to share pictures. \o/
Followed the gals over to the 7-11 around the other side of the arena, where they were selling boxed sets of Arashi dramas: Ao no Honoo, Yamada Tarou Monogatari, Hana Yori Dango 2, and Bambino. Got a 7-11 hotdog and a sweet bun for 'dinner', pretty tasty actually. Was with them through food, they were waiting for people to find each other and also buy tickets onsite, so a little nerve-wracking, I imagine. And I found out apparently other people figured out the ERA website. >.< Oh well, faxing it in got me amazing seats, so I'm totally not complaining. XD
Incredibly sweet and nice gals, we parted at the gate since we were all in different seating. But yay new acquaintances and possibly new friends via the magic of Arashi, haha.
Okay, going in-- so my seat? Had only one row in front of it before the center walkway to center stage. O.O I had older Japanese fans to my right, a mother and son to my left, and a group of Korean fans behind me. I sneaked a few pictures and video, I'll look later to see if they're any good. :P My row was pretty sedate, but still excited. ^___^
Notes begin! Random bits here and there, please don't expect coherency. Mostly a record of boytouching. XDDDD
- During Love So Sweet, I think when Kaze trio moved in front Nino patted at Aiba's crotch or something, I only saw his hand moving away and heard people screaming. XD Oh, and Jun was spot on for his solo, yay.
- Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono, such a fun song, I love singing along to it. Nino and Jun did one of those "yeah, good job" hand clap/grabs in passing each other. That's the thing with tonight, there was much more inter-member interaction, it was wonderful. ^_^
- Aiba had a pants issue for the first three songs, I think. XD He kept pulling them up, or Nino was pulling at them, or something. Also whoever said Sho sweats the most, I think Aiba is giving him a run for his money. XDDD
- Step and Go was very high. ^_^ And that bit where they zigzag, you know how in Music Station or whatever show Ohno will be reversed for the fans watching sometimes? this time Matsujun was turned around and he and Ohno were zigzagging at each other with huge grins on their faces. fjoarjiag I could see them, I was so close omg. *_*
- The greetings were the same as last night, except tonight Jun tried to say something else in Chinese, it was completely incomprehensible, the whole arena went "Haaah?!" at him and he tried to cover for it by saying "Wo ai nimen" (I love you all). *dies* I didn't buy it but the whole arena screamed for him anyway. XD
- Hip Hop Boogie was fun to watch, and my section went crazy when he went by on the moving platform. It's interesting seeing from ground level, there are people guiding it with ropes as it goes along, I don't think it's people powered like the carts though.
- Jidai. My only thoughts: Aiba is sosohot in this. How does that switch even work?
- Carnival Night was incredibly high. My row was a little quiet but I think I screamed loud enough like a freak to balance it a little. :P Jumped around, waved my "Kiss Leader" uchiwa at anyone who would look, juniors included, flailed with the penlight.
- La Tormenta was hilarious. The first three guys were okay, but then Ohno did this thing where he cast a line, caught something, reeled like hell, and landed a huge fish in his arms and smiled in triumph. XD And Sho, omg Sho. IDEK, he has seriously found the magic in being a fail!dork and working that like nobody else. Because with his intro, he did this weird little arms held out about at hip level bent at the elbows, and kinda wriggled around in a circle that had it's pivot as one leg. So silly, ILU SHO SHO.
- Hadashi no Mirai. We were between Sho and Nino, and Jun passed us by and the fangirls went crazy. Actually, all the members took turns throughout the concert going on all the walkways and paying attention to the folks behind the main stage and so forth, and they came through our section a lot, so the fans would holler and reach for them and wave uchiwas and peace signs and the boys were really wonderful about looking for people and responding. Anyhow, near the end Sho initiated a bit of silliness and Nino just bent over laughing and joining in. :D
- Happiness! So cute. Also when the Yama pair was on our side dancing while Kaze trio was singing, they did silly pufferfish faces at each other. And the very end, when they get in a line doing that Y-thing with their hands and the ending pose, Kaze trio were all together and Nino started them doing a little wave with their arms. XD
8:30 MC start! Sho was all "Sit down please" in English.
- Sho said something? Jodan something? No idea, and something about how he said it in a kakkoi way. The other members interrupted and were like, no one has any idea what you said, look at their non-reaction (I think that's how Ko-chan translated it. :P) So they made him say it again, not that I understood the second time, but he asked didn't he sound kakkoi? And one more time in a lower voice that got the crowd screaming, haha.
- Aiba said the rainbows in Taiwan were pretty, and Nino said that Aiba-chan took a photo.
- Camera focus on an Aiba/Ohno hug! One-armed anyway, it was cute.
- Then Sho said he had something to say (I figured it would be good. XD) An issue with the situation of how the arena is set up. With the performance of Yes?No when they do that thing where they stand in a line and do synchronized arm flailing, this is a new situation where there are guests behind the main stage. And so people can actually see Sho's dancing, and it feels kinda "buhao yisi" as Ko-chan translated, kinda rude or embarassing. ;P Everyone in front looks cool and then there's him in the back. The members called for a demo! *cue screaming*
- Nino said: Sho-chan will show everyone. So they got in line, and it was a bit confusing for a bit as they shifted around, and Nino patted Ohno on the ass, and Aiba poking at Jun about moving or something. They did it, Jun counting them off, and Sho had such a half-assed expression on his face, and slouching at the end bit, it was hilarious. XD Then they did it again angled the other way for people to see, and made Sho stand farther back. They checked the screen for positioning, the first four together, and Sho by himself. XDD He tried to get closer and all four pushed him back, I think Aiba said something in Chinese to that effect. XD Haha, Sho had a terrific pouting face that the camera focused on.
- Then they made him do it by himself, the others squatting to we could see Sho better, all counting him off, and Ohno completely keeled over. XDDDD Sho was very....haha precise. Aiba said he did it like an elementary school student.
- Ohno did a demo, and I think Nino made a comment like what is that? You look like you're doing it against your will (mianqiang was the translation). then he did it again with the camera on, and his expressions were amazing. XD First kinda angry face, then it shifted like clockwork to something neutral/silly. XDDDDD
- So the conclusion is that there's a different feel if all five of them do it. And Sho still feels like it's buhao yisi for the people behind to see him dancing like that. ;P
Next bit is a bit garbled, I didn't catch it all. Jun said in Chinese that they were very lucky to perform here.
- A comment from somebody that the concert's been going very smoothly for Aiba. XD He's all, I'm always too high tension and that causes problems, hehe. But it was kanpeki (perfect?) this time, to the members' laughter. This time he was at an even tension? Nino broke in to scold him and say that they need to stop and give Ko-chan a chance to translate. :P Basically her translation is that Aiba's highest tension at the first song and then it drops over time to an equilibrium point from there. Nino and Jun were all "umai" at her for taking all their babbling and being able to translate it coherently. ^_^
- then language practice! Aiba said something about xiaolongbao, but he said the word weird, and Ko-chan repeated it and he repeated it twice, got the xiaolong part sounding right, but pronounced pao (more aspiration) instead of bao. The audience laughed. And Nino commented that Aiba's very strong, he could say one word and cause the whole audience to laugh (that's what I got from Ko-chan's translation). ^_^
- So as soon as they got from the airport they ate xiaolongbao. And reported that most recently, as a group they ate at least 200-300 of them in one session, which made the whole arena go "EHHHHHH?!" Okay, fine, each dumpling is basically a mouthful, but even so! O.O 8 is enough to get me going, not full but it's a fair bit of meat. Then Sho was all "Otousan ate the most" and Ko-chan translated that Ohno at the most, and all the members caught that and poked at her for not translating right. But she defended herself saying that everyone knew otousan, and when Sho asked us, we confirmed it. :P
- then I think something about determining their apparent ages and how Sho was 30 last time. XD I didn't catch the next bit of dialogue, but what happened was great and squeal-inducing. I don't know how but there was some Kaze-trio tugging, I think trying to get Aiba in the middle to go in front, Nino and Jun flanking him and Aiba resisting mightily and giggling. Aiba wriggled out and ran around the group, and Jun chased him around and then got in front of him! Crowd is seriously screaming lungs out at this point, me included. :D Frogmarched him back to the group, whereupon Aiba strips off his top layer to just be in his tank top, and Nino played with his shirt fringe. They commented on how he was too hot, haha.
- They waved at the people at the very top and behind the main stage, cue screaming. Then they split up to walk around the sides back to the main stage, and cue more screaming. Because Ohmiya were walking together, Nino's arm around Ohno's back, and on the other side Aiba and Jun were walking together and Aiba had his arm around Jun's shoulders. Heee. And Sho was all alone, and he walked a ways and then he stuck his arm out embracing an imaginary partner. *dies and is dead* He does this all the way to the main stage and a big longer, LOL FOREVER ILU SHO SHO.
- then I figured out what I misheard yesterday! Not that they were bringing a song from Japan, but that the song was used in Japan's Olympic news coverage. Kaze no Mukou e. Aiba said Xiexie ni to Ko-chan as she went off, she was really nice and awesome and held her own against the boys, haha. The members ragged Aiba for repeating xiexie ni several times.
MC end!
- Re(mark)able is still cool, the outfits are still weird, though velour maroon pants still look amazing on Ohno and Aiba.
- for Truth, they were on the moving platform, basically right in the middle so I couldn't see a thing in person, looked at the screens. Ohno was shedding feathers, I could see them floating in the air above. XD
- A Day in the Life had more Nino and Sho BFF nonsense and silliness. Sho is really full of dorky energy tonight!
- Yabai Yabai Yabai was amazing to watch up close. That first drop though....he went down really far and touched the moving stage with his hands, his arms bent and his head maybe a foot from it. O.O the rest of it was cool. Ignoring the voice, Matsujun is really a consummate entertainer, he's good at working the crowd and he looked like he was having so much fun this performance, this whole concert really.
- Member intros! Jun did a running cartwheel, came off pretty good. Nino did his card-switching magic again, and finished with his arms up all triumphant when he walked to the back of the stage to sit on the steps. Ohno did his cross-eyed pufferfish thing again, which caused Aiba to come on the stage in giggles. Aiba did a series of backflips, but unfortunately didn't land steady on the last one and ended up sliding out of it into a sprawl on his face. He pounded the stage with one hand in frustration before popping up to do the Hello Goodbye pose. Sho did a hip, hop, dahibit rap, except he added the little silly wriggle for it, little hops, and the other members joined in! Heeee. That went directly into the Dream A Live Overture music with some intense dancing with them and the juniors, very kakkoi and full of energy.
- Asu ni Mukatte Hoeru! Sho and Aiba did a spazzy flaily dance at the ending chorus, so cute.
- Goodbyes: same words as last night. But! Nino bowed when he finished, like a "thank you thank you, look at me I got through it", and when Aiba finished he did a triumphant fist pump of yay I said it all! XD And I caught what Ohno said tonight: "Women hen xihuan Taibei, women hui nuli zai jian nimen" (We really like Taipei, we will work hard to see you again). Jun introduced One Love. Which sounded really good, and Jun *nailed* his solo after the instrumental bridge, he sounded really good and not hardly ducklike at all. XD
People behind me sat after that, and I started chanting "Arashi Arashi". The arena sounded very weak, especially in the center floor sections, but the people in the balconies kept going, and I bulled forward and kept going hoping it would give some encouragement to other quiet people.
And they came out for encore 1!
- We Can Make It! Yay! The crowd screamed so much when they came out, I personally was kinda worried they wouldn't, sure it's the last night but it was such weak chanting compared to yesterday, from where I was sitting. I think I was the only one going for a while, in three or four rows.
- Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi in Chinese, on the platform that rises to the sky! fparkapg Nino and Jun singing their duet part together shoulder to shoulder, and then into each other's eyes, faces centimeters away faoijorag. They had fun with that fanservice. XD Crowd going INSANE. Aiba and Sho did their duet bit and finished with a high-five. Ohno sang his solo part and I could see Aiba sneaking a peace sign into the camera angle, haha.
- Sakura Sake! Heeeeee, I was soooooo high for this, and they came around the walkway a lot. Ohno and Sho did their silly ballet-ppoi exit again. ;P
Another round of calling, and this time the Korean girls behind me really put some voice into it, it was heartening for me too, and after a few minutes they came out again!
- Ohno and Nino came out together behind the others, hee. Backstage molestation fic, anyone? :P
- Jun introduced Nino's drama, starting later this month, and said 'arigato gozaimasu' since they have an opportunity for a single. Then it was Aiba's job to introduce the song, they called for "Arashi" and Aiba answered "Arashi desu" and came forward to talk. XD something about sensei something or other? Anyway, they were all "Kikimasu? Yachau yo!" I think saying that they're going to do it? Wheeeeee Beautiful Days. It's still pretty, I still like the melody and the bit of harmony they've got in it. I like that there aren't really solos, they're singing in pairs and threes, though I think Nino has one solo line after the bridge.
- Then they did Gori Muchuu! Eeeee so fun, very energetic even though I'm sure this was a tiring concert for them.
More calling. This time we called for a while, and got louder over the announcements that the concert was over, and I looked behind me at the Korean girls and there was mutual smiling and getting louder at the calling which gave me more strength to keep calling, hehe.
And they came out for a third encore! So happy! Jun came out saying "Honto ni lasto da yo! Zhen de, zhen de zui hou de yi shou ge!" (Really it's the last one, the last song!" haha, Nino was fiddling with Ohno's pants, because he had suspenders hanging, and he pulled them back up over Ohno's shoulders. Then he covered his eyes and ran around like an embarassed kid, or a girl who'd just confessed and wanted to run away. Ran in circles around Ohno, basically. Then patted his ass. XDDDDD Basically it's like Ohno's this big calm golden retriever watching things with a tolerant amused air and Nino's the bouncy little terrier going crazy and wanting big dog's attention. XDDDD
They did Hero! So fun! ^_______^ And after that, they said baibai and went in and the crowd respected their wishes and didn't call again. ^_^ I packed up to go, tried to take a couple pics but the staff stopped me nicely, and so I went out and wandered over to the goods selling area again, to ponder and take pictures.
Ended up standing near a big vent/table thing next to another girl, who noticed my uchiwa and struck up a conversation about what it meant (she couldn't read the katakana) and from there where I was from, and what TV shows we watched (she streamed from some site online, no downloads). Also she knew all the shows by Chinese readings of the characters, while I explaind that being in English fandom, we used the Japanese readings with romanji, so I mentioned Shukudai-kun and she didn't recognize it by that name. We talked about goods we were thinking about, and fans, and the power of Arashi and coming on their 10th year. Ended up exchanging mails with her, and she got her goods really quick so we walked to the intersection and we took a picture together. Heee another Arashi acquaintance possibly friend. ^_^
It was awesome coming back and seeing all the fans on the trains, haha. I overheard another group of girls who had the most adorable foam uchiwa decorations, one an Aiba fan with Aiba in reindeer costume and another with a cute cute Maou Ohno. They were talking about yesterday's MC, the HYD part, apparently when Jun was doing the shoulder patting for each member, he was announcing their roles, Aiba got Hanazawa Rui (the girls who weren't at the concert heard that and died laughing, commenting that Aiba would be the noisiest Rui), Ohno got one of the others, and he was wavering between Nino and Sho and Nino got the last F4 member, so Sho was stuck with Tsukushi and that's why he sunk to his knees and Jun called Tsukushi before keeling over himself. XDDD Enlightenment!
Also on the train other fans saw my "America kara" side and looked surprised and smiled at me when I made eye contact. ^_^
So tired, I bought a grape juice at a Hi-Life mini-market and couldn't figure out how to open it, the cashier took pity on me when I tried to open the side like I would with a milk carton and pointed me at the hole to punch for the straw, then poked the hole and put my straw in while I was slowly flailing at it and trying to figure it out. ^^;;;
Okay, done! To bed, and on the morrow I will pack, and mail off postcards, and possibly do a last bit of touring around since my flight doesn't leave until 11:30 at night, so perhaps a visit to the bakery museum is in order if it's open (so many places are open Tues-Sun), and to Ximending to use the last of my money if it's not. :P My mom had told me to spend all that I'd changed because it wouldn't be worth anything changed back. :P
*Looks at clock for entry finish time: aofaorijagar 2:05am* Okay dead. Still need to shower. Good night all. ♥
Three encores! And touching, omg the touching all over the place! *___*
Okay, since last night's report has the set list, I'm just going to write about things I noticed and my flailings and the MC (what I could understand of it). ^_^
I basically spent all of today after I woke up writing up the previous couple day's reports, and then spent a while writing postcards in my room. So I didn't go out until a little after 5pm, haha. The plan was to get there early, get goods if there were any good ones, and eat dinner to power up for a night of jumping around. ^_^
At the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station I was waiting for the train to come in and basically said to a couple girls behind me who looked friendly that I was happy to see so many Arashi fans in one place, because there weren't many where I was from. Seriously, people in purple and yellow t-shirts, carrying bags, uchiwa, it was awesome. Also, I didn't mention yesterday, but a number of guys too. The ratio was still something like 1 in 20 or 30, but still. :P We struck up a conversation, and kept going through the train pulling in and getting to the Nanjing East Road station. Found out they were from Hong Kong, and their third friend a Taipei local.
They were really surprised to hear that I came from the US by myself. (Hah, I sometimes can't believe it either. :P) And then I mentioned that my family's from Guangdong and we started going in Cantonese, much easier for me. We talked about getting goods, and my plan to see how the line was, they said that it was pretty fast and invited me to stand in line with them and chat, hee. It was so fast, I must have been there for a couple minutes, got in with my order and got handed a penlight and a poster of all five (a moment of weakness, I'm not sure how I'm going to carry it home, it'll have to stick out of my backpack ^^;;) right away. :O We took pictures of each other and the arena outside, with uchiwa (one gal is a Nino fan, the other one is a Jun fan) and exchanged emails to share pictures. \o/
Followed the gals over to the 7-11 around the other side of the arena, where they were selling boxed sets of Arashi dramas: Ao no Honoo, Yamada Tarou Monogatari, Hana Yori Dango 2, and Bambino. Got a 7-11 hotdog and a sweet bun for 'dinner', pretty tasty actually. Was with them through food, they were waiting for people to find each other and also buy tickets onsite, so a little nerve-wracking, I imagine. And I found out apparently other people figured out the ERA website. >.< Oh well, faxing it in got me amazing seats, so I'm totally not complaining. XD
Incredibly sweet and nice gals, we parted at the gate since we were all in different seating. But yay new acquaintances and possibly new friends via the magic of Arashi, haha.
Okay, going in-- so my seat? Had only one row in front of it before the center walkway to center stage. O.O I had older Japanese fans to my right, a mother and son to my left, and a group of Korean fans behind me. I sneaked a few pictures and video, I'll look later to see if they're any good. :P My row was pretty sedate, but still excited. ^___^
Notes begin! Random bits here and there, please don't expect coherency. Mostly a record of boytouching. XDDDD
- During Love So Sweet, I think when Kaze trio moved in front Nino patted at Aiba's crotch or something, I only saw his hand moving away and heard people screaming. XD Oh, and Jun was spot on for his solo, yay.
- Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono, such a fun song, I love singing along to it. Nino and Jun did one of those "yeah, good job" hand clap/grabs in passing each other. That's the thing with tonight, there was much more inter-member interaction, it was wonderful. ^_^
- Aiba had a pants issue for the first three songs, I think. XD He kept pulling them up, or Nino was pulling at them, or something. Also whoever said Sho sweats the most, I think Aiba is giving him a run for his money. XDDD
- Step and Go was very high. ^_^ And that bit where they zigzag, you know how in Music Station or whatever show Ohno will be reversed for the fans watching sometimes? this time Matsujun was turned around and he and Ohno were zigzagging at each other with huge grins on their faces. fjoarjiag I could see them, I was so close omg. *_*
- The greetings were the same as last night, except tonight Jun tried to say something else in Chinese, it was completely incomprehensible, the whole arena went "Haaah?!" at him and he tried to cover for it by saying "Wo ai nimen" (I love you all). *dies* I didn't buy it but the whole arena screamed for him anyway. XD
- Hip Hop Boogie was fun to watch, and my section went crazy when he went by on the moving platform. It's interesting seeing from ground level, there are people guiding it with ropes as it goes along, I don't think it's people powered like the carts though.
- Jidai. My only thoughts: Aiba is sosohot in this. How does that switch even work?
- Carnival Night was incredibly high. My row was a little quiet but I think I screamed loud enough like a freak to balance it a little. :P Jumped around, waved my "Kiss Leader" uchiwa at anyone who would look, juniors included, flailed with the penlight.
- La Tormenta was hilarious. The first three guys were okay, but then Ohno did this thing where he cast a line, caught something, reeled like hell, and landed a huge fish in his arms and smiled in triumph. XD And Sho, omg Sho. IDEK, he has seriously found the magic in being a fail!dork and working that like nobody else. Because with his intro, he did this weird little arms held out about at hip level bent at the elbows, and kinda wriggled around in a circle that had it's pivot as one leg. So silly, ILU SHO SHO.
- Hadashi no Mirai. We were between Sho and Nino, and Jun passed us by and the fangirls went crazy. Actually, all the members took turns throughout the concert going on all the walkways and paying attention to the folks behind the main stage and so forth, and they came through our section a lot, so the fans would holler and reach for them and wave uchiwas and peace signs and the boys were really wonderful about looking for people and responding. Anyhow, near the end Sho initiated a bit of silliness and Nino just bent over laughing and joining in. :D
- Happiness! So cute. Also when the Yama pair was on our side dancing while Kaze trio was singing, they did silly pufferfish faces at each other. And the very end, when they get in a line doing that Y-thing with their hands and the ending pose, Kaze trio were all together and Nino started them doing a little wave with their arms. XD
8:30 MC start! Sho was all "Sit down please" in English.
- Sho said something? Jodan something? No idea, and something about how he said it in a kakkoi way. The other members interrupted and were like, no one has any idea what you said, look at their non-reaction (I think that's how Ko-chan translated it. :P) So they made him say it again, not that I understood the second time, but he asked didn't he sound kakkoi? And one more time in a lower voice that got the crowd screaming, haha.
- Aiba said the rainbows in Taiwan were pretty, and Nino said that Aiba-chan took a photo.
- Camera focus on an Aiba/Ohno hug! One-armed anyway, it was cute.
- Then Sho said he had something to say (I figured it would be good. XD) An issue with the situation of how the arena is set up. With the performance of Yes?No when they do that thing where they stand in a line and do synchronized arm flailing, this is a new situation where there are guests behind the main stage. And so people can actually see Sho's dancing, and it feels kinda "buhao yisi" as Ko-chan translated, kinda rude or embarassing. ;P Everyone in front looks cool and then there's him in the back. The members called for a demo! *cue screaming*
- Nino said: Sho-chan will show everyone. So they got in line, and it was a bit confusing for a bit as they shifted around, and Nino patted Ohno on the ass, and Aiba poking at Jun about moving or something. They did it, Jun counting them off, and Sho had such a half-assed expression on his face, and slouching at the end bit, it was hilarious. XD Then they did it again angled the other way for people to see, and made Sho stand farther back. They checked the screen for positioning, the first four together, and Sho by himself. XDD He tried to get closer and all four pushed him back, I think Aiba said something in Chinese to that effect. XD Haha, Sho had a terrific pouting face that the camera focused on.
- Then they made him do it by himself, the others squatting to we could see Sho better, all counting him off, and Ohno completely keeled over. XDDDD Sho was very....haha precise. Aiba said he did it like an elementary school student.
- Ohno did a demo, and I think Nino made a comment like what is that? You look like you're doing it against your will (mianqiang was the translation). then he did it again with the camera on, and his expressions were amazing. XD First kinda angry face, then it shifted like clockwork to something neutral/silly. XDDDDD
- So the conclusion is that there's a different feel if all five of them do it. And Sho still feels like it's buhao yisi for the people behind to see him dancing like that. ;P
Next bit is a bit garbled, I didn't catch it all. Jun said in Chinese that they were very lucky to perform here.
- A comment from somebody that the concert's been going very smoothly for Aiba. XD He's all, I'm always too high tension and that causes problems, hehe. But it was kanpeki (perfect?) this time, to the members' laughter. This time he was at an even tension? Nino broke in to scold him and say that they need to stop and give Ko-chan a chance to translate. :P Basically her translation is that Aiba's highest tension at the first song and then it drops over time to an equilibrium point from there. Nino and Jun were all "umai" at her for taking all their babbling and being able to translate it coherently. ^_^
- then language practice! Aiba said something about xiaolongbao, but he said the word weird, and Ko-chan repeated it and he repeated it twice, got the xiaolong part sounding right, but pronounced pao (more aspiration) instead of bao. The audience laughed. And Nino commented that Aiba's very strong, he could say one word and cause the whole audience to laugh (that's what I got from Ko-chan's translation). ^_^
- So as soon as they got from the airport they ate xiaolongbao. And reported that most recently, as a group they ate at least 200-300 of them in one session, which made the whole arena go "EHHHHHH?!" Okay, fine, each dumpling is basically a mouthful, but even so! O.O 8 is enough to get me going, not full but it's a fair bit of meat. Then Sho was all "Otousan ate the most" and Ko-chan translated that Ohno at the most, and all the members caught that and poked at her for not translating right. But she defended herself saying that everyone knew otousan, and when Sho asked us, we confirmed it. :P
- then I think something about determining their apparent ages and how Sho was 30 last time. XD I didn't catch the next bit of dialogue, but what happened was great and squeal-inducing. I don't know how but there was some Kaze-trio tugging, I think trying to get Aiba in the middle to go in front, Nino and Jun flanking him and Aiba resisting mightily and giggling. Aiba wriggled out and ran around the group, and Jun chased him around and then got in front of him! Crowd is seriously screaming lungs out at this point, me included. :D Frogmarched him back to the group, whereupon Aiba strips off his top layer to just be in his tank top, and Nino played with his shirt fringe. They commented on how he was too hot, haha.
- They waved at the people at the very top and behind the main stage, cue screaming. Then they split up to walk around the sides back to the main stage, and cue more screaming. Because Ohmiya were walking together, Nino's arm around Ohno's back, and on the other side Aiba and Jun were walking together and Aiba had his arm around Jun's shoulders. Heee. And Sho was all alone, and he walked a ways and then he stuck his arm out embracing an imaginary partner. *dies and is dead* He does this all the way to the main stage and a big longer, LOL FOREVER ILU SHO SHO.
- then I figured out what I misheard yesterday! Not that they were bringing a song from Japan, but that the song was used in Japan's Olympic news coverage. Kaze no Mukou e. Aiba said Xiexie ni to Ko-chan as she went off, she was really nice and awesome and held her own against the boys, haha. The members ragged Aiba for repeating xiexie ni several times.
MC end!
- Re(mark)able is still cool, the outfits are still weird, though velour maroon pants still look amazing on Ohno and Aiba.
- for Truth, they were on the moving platform, basically right in the middle so I couldn't see a thing in person, looked at the screens. Ohno was shedding feathers, I could see them floating in the air above. XD
- A Day in the Life had more Nino and Sho BFF nonsense and silliness. Sho is really full of dorky energy tonight!
- Yabai Yabai Yabai was amazing to watch up close. That first drop though....he went down really far and touched the moving stage with his hands, his arms bent and his head maybe a foot from it. O.O the rest of it was cool. Ignoring the voice, Matsujun is really a consummate entertainer, he's good at working the crowd and he looked like he was having so much fun this performance, this whole concert really.
- Member intros! Jun did a running cartwheel, came off pretty good. Nino did his card-switching magic again, and finished with his arms up all triumphant when he walked to the back of the stage to sit on the steps. Ohno did his cross-eyed pufferfish thing again, which caused Aiba to come on the stage in giggles. Aiba did a series of backflips, but unfortunately didn't land steady on the last one and ended up sliding out of it into a sprawl on his face. He pounded the stage with one hand in frustration before popping up to do the Hello Goodbye pose. Sho did a hip, hop, dahibit rap, except he added the little silly wriggle for it, little hops, and the other members joined in! Heeee. That went directly into the Dream A Live Overture music with some intense dancing with them and the juniors, very kakkoi and full of energy.
- Asu ni Mukatte Hoeru! Sho and Aiba did a spazzy flaily dance at the ending chorus, so cute.
- Goodbyes: same words as last night. But! Nino bowed when he finished, like a "thank you thank you, look at me I got through it", and when Aiba finished he did a triumphant fist pump of yay I said it all! XD And I caught what Ohno said tonight: "Women hen xihuan Taibei, women hui nuli zai jian nimen" (We really like Taipei, we will work hard to see you again). Jun introduced One Love. Which sounded really good, and Jun *nailed* his solo after the instrumental bridge, he sounded really good and not hardly ducklike at all. XD
People behind me sat after that, and I started chanting "Arashi Arashi". The arena sounded very weak, especially in the center floor sections, but the people in the balconies kept going, and I bulled forward and kept going hoping it would give some encouragement to other quiet people.
And they came out for encore 1!
- We Can Make It! Yay! The crowd screamed so much when they came out, I personally was kinda worried they wouldn't, sure it's the last night but it was such weak chanting compared to yesterday, from where I was sitting. I think I was the only one going for a while, in three or four rows.
- Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi in Chinese, on the platform that rises to the sky! fparkapg Nino and Jun singing their duet part together shoulder to shoulder, and then into each other's eyes, faces centimeters away faoijorag. They had fun with that fanservice. XD Crowd going INSANE. Aiba and Sho did their duet bit and finished with a high-five. Ohno sang his solo part and I could see Aiba sneaking a peace sign into the camera angle, haha.
- Sakura Sake! Heeeeee, I was soooooo high for this, and they came around the walkway a lot. Ohno and Sho did their silly ballet-ppoi exit again. ;P
Another round of calling, and this time the Korean girls behind me really put some voice into it, it was heartening for me too, and after a few minutes they came out again!
- Ohno and Nino came out together behind the others, hee. Backstage molestation fic, anyone? :P
- Jun introduced Nino's drama, starting later this month, and said 'arigato gozaimasu' since they have an opportunity for a single. Then it was Aiba's job to introduce the song, they called for "Arashi" and Aiba answered "Arashi desu" and came forward to talk. XD something about sensei something or other? Anyway, they were all "Kikimasu? Yachau yo!" I think saying that they're going to do it? Wheeeeee Beautiful Days. It's still pretty, I still like the melody and the bit of harmony they've got in it. I like that there aren't really solos, they're singing in pairs and threes, though I think Nino has one solo line after the bridge.
- Then they did Gori Muchuu! Eeeee so fun, very energetic even though I'm sure this was a tiring concert for them.
More calling. This time we called for a while, and got louder over the announcements that the concert was over, and I looked behind me at the Korean girls and there was mutual smiling and getting louder at the calling which gave me more strength to keep calling, hehe.
And they came out for a third encore! So happy! Jun came out saying "Honto ni lasto da yo! Zhen de, zhen de zui hou de yi shou ge!" (Really it's the last one, the last song!" haha, Nino was fiddling with Ohno's pants, because he had suspenders hanging, and he pulled them back up over Ohno's shoulders. Then he covered his eyes and ran around like an embarassed kid, or a girl who'd just confessed and wanted to run away. Ran in circles around Ohno, basically. Then patted his ass. XDDDDD Basically it's like Ohno's this big calm golden retriever watching things with a tolerant amused air and Nino's the bouncy little terrier going crazy and wanting big dog's attention. XDDDD
They did Hero! So fun! ^_______^ And after that, they said baibai and went in and the crowd respected their wishes and didn't call again. ^_^ I packed up to go, tried to take a couple pics but the staff stopped me nicely, and so I went out and wandered over to the goods selling area again, to ponder and take pictures.
Ended up standing near a big vent/table thing next to another girl, who noticed my uchiwa and struck up a conversation about what it meant (she couldn't read the katakana) and from there where I was from, and what TV shows we watched (she streamed from some site online, no downloads). Also she knew all the shows by Chinese readings of the characters, while I explaind that being in English fandom, we used the Japanese readings with romanji, so I mentioned Shukudai-kun and she didn't recognize it by that name. We talked about goods we were thinking about, and fans, and the power of Arashi and coming on their 10th year. Ended up exchanging mails with her, and she got her goods really quick so we walked to the intersection and we took a picture together. Heee another Arashi acquaintance possibly friend. ^_^
It was awesome coming back and seeing all the fans on the trains, haha. I overheard another group of girls who had the most adorable foam uchiwa decorations, one an Aiba fan with Aiba in reindeer costume and another with a cute cute Maou Ohno. They were talking about yesterday's MC, the HYD part, apparently when Jun was doing the shoulder patting for each member, he was announcing their roles, Aiba got Hanazawa Rui (the girls who weren't at the concert heard that and died laughing, commenting that Aiba would be the noisiest Rui), Ohno got one of the others, and he was wavering between Nino and Sho and Nino got the last F4 member, so Sho was stuck with Tsukushi and that's why he sunk to his knees and Jun called Tsukushi before keeling over himself. XDDD Enlightenment!
Also on the train other fans saw my "America kara" side and looked surprised and smiled at me when I made eye contact. ^_^
So tired, I bought a grape juice at a Hi-Life mini-market and couldn't figure out how to open it, the cashier took pity on me when I tried to open the side like I would with a milk carton and pointed me at the hole to punch for the straw, then poked the hole and put my straw in while I was slowly flailing at it and trying to figure it out. ^^;;;
Okay, done! To bed, and on the morrow I will pack, and mail off postcards, and possibly do a last bit of touring around since my flight doesn't leave until 11:30 at night, so perhaps a visit to the bakery museum is in order if it's open (so many places are open Tues-Sun), and to Ximending to use the last of my money if it's not. :P My mom had told me to spend all that I'd changed because it wouldn't be worth anything changed back. :P
*Looks at clock for entry finish time: aofaorijagar 2:05am* Okay dead. Still need to shower. Good night all. ♥