[Arashi] 5x20 tour MC talk and closing speeches - Dec 08, 2018
Went to the Arashi concert on Dec 8 and wrote down a few things about the MC and last speeches from memory. I originally meant to only post this to Twitter but it became much longer than I expected! However, this was all typed on my phone so please excuse any typos.
MC talk was about a lot of ass touching!
Right off the bat, Sho complained that Aiba poked his butt with his mic at the end of Ai wo sakebe. Aiba then explained that Sho had squeezed his butt first (which they reenacted) and thought he was expecting some reciprocation so he did that back. They reenacted it as well and the mic made a big noise BC everyone was quiet and there was no music. Aiba then said he was wondering if it would cause Sho to fart and Sho was like, why would I fart at the end of Ai wo Sakebe?? But then said he'll give it a try lol. And then Nino said, "but if he does fart into your mic, you're going to have to sing into that afterward"... Needless to say, everyone was amused lol. (Bonus note: during the encore, Sho used his mic to poke Aiba's butt back twice!)
Then Ohno piped up and said Jun touches his ass all the time too, to which Jun completely denied and said he has no recollection of this. The others were shocked and Aiba put his hands together like he was in handcuffs and said, "That's really bad if you can't remember! You'll get arrested!" (Presumably for sexual assault lol). Jun then amended that there was one which he remembered, and they reenacted Step n Go, where he grabbed Ohno's ass really hard at the end of the song. Then he deadpanned to the audience, "This is an announcement about touching asses."
They went on to talk about general announcements like they usually do re: upcoming dramas/movies/etc. When it came time for Ohno to make an announcement, he started talking about how he grew a white nose hair which he plucked, but it grew back as a white hair again so he plucked it out, and it grew back again...... Jun interrupted him before he could continue and steered him off the stage treating him like an old man, and the whole time Ohno is protesting that he was sure it happens to other people too.
When Sho asked Nino if he had anything to announce (which he did, about Black Pean DVD) he instead brought up the fact that Aiba did something he shouldn't have. Aiba got super flustered and was like don't announce it!! But of course Nino is a troll and won't shut up and now that the cat was out of the bag Aiba had to explain what happened. At the end of his part in La Tormenta, Aiba's usual route would be to hop down from the stage and dash through the tunnel inside the long runway to emerge near the center stage and resume the dance at the end of the song, but it was always hard to make it on time for him. This time, instead of disappearing under the runway he ducked and ran directly on the runway in hopes that he wouldn't he noticed, but he still caused a commotion because of course fans standing near the runway saw him. He attempted to brush it off and said it was much faster and he at least waved at them while he ran but it was really not something he should have done so he promised not to do it again.
When it came time for Aiba to make his announcement he thanked everyone for watching his drama. Sho urged him to recite a line for the crowd but instead aiba imitated Nino's "Eh? Machiko ga ne?!" line from his Haha to Kuraseba movie. Nino complained that he was turning it into a gag line and Should clarified that he meant Aiba should do something from the drama instead but Aiba never did, boo!
Sho also talked about how manly and cool Aiba was because Sho had forgotten to pick up his mic after he finished playing the piano for Aozora Pedal and only realized when they were changing outfits. He was panicking when Aiba passed by and said casually, "I've got it." Aiba then explained that he figured Sho was bound to forget it with the piano someday so he always checks when he passes by, but since Sho hasn't forgotten it so far he didn't check this time and did a double take when he saw the mic lying there.
The closing speeches were sweet! Sho went first and explained that they started the 5x(insert year) tradition with their 5th anniversary, all the way to 5x20 this year. But more so than the number on the right he cares about the number on the left. The fact that it has stayed as 5 all these years is actually a huge deal because not all groups make it this far intact. He also feels like their fans - both past and present - are the ones who have supported them all this time.
Ohno talked about how seeing the other member's faces alone makes him want to cry now. He went on to talk about how people their age wouldn't still be wearing flashy clothes and singing and dancing on stage. People would normally say things like "what the heck are you still doing at this age?" if they were anyone else, but they're able to do this due to the fans' support even though they're old men now and he's very grateful for it.
Aiba's speech had a lot similes that had to do with winds because he had vowed that Arashi was going to cause a storm around the world when they debuted. He talked about how there has been all kinds of different winds throughout their years -- some were just breezes and at times when they thought they were stirring up a storm, it turned out to be a dud. Even when they had headwinds instead of tailwinds ahead of them and someone was in danger of being knocked over, the other four were always there for him. He also mentioned that there is nothing he's really proud about when it comes to himself, and the only thing he is proud of is meeting other four and spending 20 years with them. The more he talked the more choked up he got and he came close to crying, so he told people to make faces at him lol. He concluded his speech with a quote from Mother Theresa: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
By the time it got to Nino to talk, the first thing he said was, "Old men become more long-winded when they get tired", to which the entire audience cracked up because it was true, their speeches had all been super long so far. His whole speech was about showing gratitude and actually saying thank you to people because we don't say it enough in this day and age. They're able to say it to their fans regularly through these tours, but it would be much harder otherwise. He urged everyone to grow into people who are able to appreciate others and express their thankfulness.
Jun's speech was primarily one of nostalgia and gratitude. He enjoys seeing people carrying or wearing goods from old concert tours because it really brings back those specific moments/memories, and it also amazes him to see that those people had been there with them during those times. He mentioned that there are still lots of things he wants to see and experience with the group and it was all thanks to their supporters, and it led right into the 5x20 song that they had written just for this tour.
One last thing: During 5x20, they showed different snippets from their days leading up to the tour - meetings, rehearsals, etc. - and also some backstage clips from their last few cons in Sapporo and Fukuoka. The most recent clip was from just the day before (Dec 7) when they toured the venue outside and looked at the big Arashi display at Gate 22. They also showed Ohno practicing his solo dance a lot and Sho practicing his piano playing. Jun was understandably in a lot of meetings with staff members. I think what stood out to me the most was one of the rehearsal days when both Aiba and Nino were sick - wearing masks and forehead cooling sheets - but they still had to do a lot of dancing with the rest of the group.
MC talk was about a lot of ass touching!
Right off the bat, Sho complained that Aiba poked his butt with his mic at the end of Ai wo sakebe. Aiba then explained that Sho had squeezed his butt first (which they reenacted) and thought he was expecting some reciprocation so he did that back. They reenacted it as well and the mic made a big noise BC everyone was quiet and there was no music. Aiba then said he was wondering if it would cause Sho to fart and Sho was like, why would I fart at the end of Ai wo Sakebe?? But then said he'll give it a try lol. And then Nino said, "but if he does fart into your mic, you're going to have to sing into that afterward"... Needless to say, everyone was amused lol. (Bonus note: during the encore, Sho used his mic to poke Aiba's butt back twice!)
Then Ohno piped up and said Jun touches his ass all the time too, to which Jun completely denied and said he has no recollection of this. The others were shocked and Aiba put his hands together like he was in handcuffs and said, "That's really bad if you can't remember! You'll get arrested!" (Presumably for sexual assault lol). Jun then amended that there was one which he remembered, and they reenacted Step n Go, where he grabbed Ohno's ass really hard at the end of the song. Then he deadpanned to the audience, "This is an announcement about touching asses."
They went on to talk about general announcements like they usually do re: upcoming dramas/movies/etc. When it came time for Ohno to make an announcement, he started talking about how he grew a white nose hair which he plucked, but it grew back as a white hair again so he plucked it out, and it grew back again...... Jun interrupted him before he could continue and steered him off the stage treating him like an old man, and the whole time Ohno is protesting that he was sure it happens to other people too.
When Sho asked Nino if he had anything to announce (which he did, about Black Pean DVD) he instead brought up the fact that Aiba did something he shouldn't have. Aiba got super flustered and was like don't announce it!! But of course Nino is a troll and won't shut up and now that the cat was out of the bag Aiba had to explain what happened. At the end of his part in La Tormenta, Aiba's usual route would be to hop down from the stage and dash through the tunnel inside the long runway to emerge near the center stage and resume the dance at the end of the song, but it was always hard to make it on time for him. This time, instead of disappearing under the runway he ducked and ran directly on the runway in hopes that he wouldn't he noticed, but he still caused a commotion because of course fans standing near the runway saw him. He attempted to brush it off and said it was much faster and he at least waved at them while he ran but it was really not something he should have done so he promised not to do it again.
When it came time for Aiba to make his announcement he thanked everyone for watching his drama. Sho urged him to recite a line for the crowd but instead aiba imitated Nino's "Eh? Machiko ga ne?!" line from his Haha to Kuraseba movie. Nino complained that he was turning it into a gag line and Should clarified that he meant Aiba should do something from the drama instead but Aiba never did, boo!
Sho also talked about how manly and cool Aiba was because Sho had forgotten to pick up his mic after he finished playing the piano for Aozora Pedal and only realized when they were changing outfits. He was panicking when Aiba passed by and said casually, "I've got it." Aiba then explained that he figured Sho was bound to forget it with the piano someday so he always checks when he passes by, but since Sho hasn't forgotten it so far he didn't check this time and did a double take when he saw the mic lying there.
The closing speeches were sweet! Sho went first and explained that they started the 5x(insert year) tradition with their 5th anniversary, all the way to 5x20 this year. But more so than the number on the right he cares about the number on the left. The fact that it has stayed as 5 all these years is actually a huge deal because not all groups make it this far intact. He also feels like their fans - both past and present - are the ones who have supported them all this time.
Ohno talked about how seeing the other member's faces alone makes him want to cry now. He went on to talk about how people their age wouldn't still be wearing flashy clothes and singing and dancing on stage. People would normally say things like "what the heck are you still doing at this age?" if they were anyone else, but they're able to do this due to the fans' support even though they're old men now and he's very grateful for it.
Aiba's speech had a lot similes that had to do with winds because he had vowed that Arashi was going to cause a storm around the world when they debuted. He talked about how there has been all kinds of different winds throughout their years -- some were just breezes and at times when they thought they were stirring up a storm, it turned out to be a dud. Even when they had headwinds instead of tailwinds ahead of them and someone was in danger of being knocked over, the other four were always there for him. He also mentioned that there is nothing he's really proud about when it comes to himself, and the only thing he is proud of is meeting other four and spending 20 years with them. The more he talked the more choked up he got and he came close to crying, so he told people to make faces at him lol. He concluded his speech with a quote from Mother Theresa: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
By the time it got to Nino to talk, the first thing he said was, "Old men become more long-winded when they get tired", to which the entire audience cracked up because it was true, their speeches had all been super long so far. His whole speech was about showing gratitude and actually saying thank you to people because we don't say it enough in this day and age. They're able to say it to their fans regularly through these tours, but it would be much harder otherwise. He urged everyone to grow into people who are able to appreciate others and express their thankfulness.
Jun's speech was primarily one of nostalgia and gratitude. He enjoys seeing people carrying or wearing goods from old concert tours because it really brings back those specific moments/memories, and it also amazes him to see that those people had been there with them during those times. He mentioned that there are still lots of things he wants to see and experience with the group and it was all thanks to their supporters, and it led right into the 5x20 song that they had written just for this tour.
One last thing: During 5x20, they showed different snippets from their days leading up to the tour - meetings, rehearsals, etc. - and also some backstage clips from their last few cons in Sapporo and Fukuoka. The most recent clip was from just the day before (Dec 7) when they toured the venue outside and looked at the big Arashi display at Gate 22. They also showed Ohno practicing his solo dance a lot and Sho practicing his piano playing. Jun was understandably in a lot of meetings with staff members. I think what stood out to me the most was one of the rehearsal days when both Aiba and Nino were sick - wearing masks and forehead cooling sheets - but they still had to do a lot of dancing with the rest of the group.