concert roulette #032
ONE LOVE. Thank you for your input as to which performance I should select! I was pretty sure of the outcome and it didn't surprise me. With three-quarters of the vote, Arashi Around Asia, 2008 in Tokyo! ♥
I had some woes! Long story short, the caps have subs on them, due to said woes. OH WELL.
We're coming out of Asu ni Mukatte Hoeru and into the last song of the main concert, the last song before encores. The members are together on the center stage and they've just removed their jackets so that four out of five of them are sleeveless. (Dammit, Nino, lose the sleeves!) And since this is coming at the tail end of the concert, they're sweaty and exhilarated and running on adrenaline and amazing.
The meat guns sparkle through the mist.
But first, balloons!
And balloons!
AND SO MANY MORE BALLOONS.
One Love, of course, has the hand choreography. Arm choreography? For me nothing beats full on limbs flying everywhere choreography (my favorite might be [MIGHT BE] Lucky Man for the crazed choreography of JOY) but I am fond of the arm choreography for One Love, especially in concert when they're not dressed like they should be perched on top of a cake.
Caps like this one remind me of just how HUGE Kokuritsu is and how special it is that Arashi get to perform there. ♥
Since this is one of the Hana Yori Dango songs, Jun is featured prominently and gives it a little flirty oomph, although how that is different from every other song Jun gives a flirty oomph is unclear to me. Perhaps he gives it 1% more oomph? IF POSSIBLE.
Anyway he's pretty and sweaty and his neck is shining attractively so all is right with the world.
Ohno's soothing vocals PLUS Sho's happy-making face. <3<3 Also: Maou hair. Every time I cap AAA 2008 (and this is only the second time, and I haven't done it since my VERY FIRST assignment, what) I have to give the Maou hair some love. ♥
Our versions of happiness are all in Nino's palm, I believe it.
No one makes sweaty hair look as good as Aiba. I mean, it's kind of gross, hair that's dark with sweat and sticking to skin and such, but on Aiba it is this very Aiba combination of adorable and sex.
AIBA I AM TRYING TO CONCENTRATE HERE.
NECK AND FOND EYES, AN OVERWHELMING COMBINATION.
AND THERE GOES THE SHO ARM.
Kokuritsu at night during Arashi's last song of the regular concert, balloons and stars mixed in the sky, oh oh oh.
... You know, it was only HERE, now, after all the capping and sorting and uploading, here during the commenting portion, that I realized Aiba is also wearing sleeves. I AM NOT SURE HOW MY BRAIN MANAGED THAT. I think it's another victory of Aiba's body over clothes but how could I not have realized the birthmark isn't visible?? WORRISOME, BRAIN.
arms arms arms
I would not have objected much if they'd just focused on Ohno for the hand dancing, given Ohno's hands. This swirl here with his fingers is particularly effective.
Hey look, this one has arms, too. I am sensing a flaw in this majority-sleeveless-performance: I am even shallower than usual??
I love this I love this, Jun's face starts out as a smirk-singing-FEELINGS-face and then turns into:
A happy-singing-GRIN-face! ♥!
... They do kind of look like they're on a cake, don't they. But they aren't DRESSED like it, so that is all right. ♥
I think one reason I like the hand-waving is it lets them stand still and focus on their singing while staring out at the crowd and not being able to wave... obviously I adore their interaction with the crowd but it's nice to see them serene like this once in a while.
Since they're up on the stage-cake the angle of many of the cameras means their microphones are obscuring their faces... luckily Arashi has five super expressive faces and they are hardly hampered by being mostly covered! I love that one lock of Sho's hair merging seamlessly into his eyebrow, I don't know why. <3
I love that when Nino emotes he doesn't always try to make it look pretty... a lot of times when he's singing and I cap him he looks like he's in physical pain but it makes it seem more real to me, that he's actually putting his feelings into the song. I think I love it even more because I know that he COULD make it look pretty, because it's Nino we're talking about.
I HAVE NO WORDS FOR THIS LEVEL OF HAPPINESS.
Ohno should patent this move. LIKE HE HAS PATENTED MY HEART no I don't know what that means but it feels true. <3<3
SOLO LINES TIME. Nino's shimmery voice starts us off.
His floppy wrist accompanies it. ♥ (Also the combination of romaji and English in the subs somehow cause my brain to read that as "I waited naked in the rain" and that is QUITE THE IMAGE.)
Aiba goes next and STEALS MY HEART with his croon. AIBA I AM TRYING TO GIVE YOU MY HEART, VOLUNTARILY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SNATCH IT LIKE THAT.
As he holds the uuuu of shirazu his right shoulder tends upward as his head angles down and it is just the most endearing thing.
And then right after he lets the note go he looks happy and swings his arms down and I HAVE NO MORE HEART LEFT TO GIVE YOU, AIBA MASAKI, STOP BEING SO WONDERFUL.
And then Sho comes in with his SHO EYES.
I am not even to the !!! and I am already a mess over here, augh. AM I GOING TO MAKE IT.
Jun's solo, and revisiting the theme of ARMS.
Oh here comes Ohno. I don't know if I've talked about this before but when I exercise to Arashi concerts I frequently talk to the tv... that was less embarrassing in my head but ANYWAY, when Arashi are going through and doing their solo lines and they get to Ohno I almost always say OHNO, DO IT and by the sparklegod he always does. I do it most frequently for One Love and Pikanchi Double, I think, where the solos are so great but then Ohno comes in and washes everything away in the glory of his voice. SING TO ME, LEADER. ♥
WHERE DOES HIS VOICE COME FROM.
oh oh they are starting to gather
Three colors...
Four colors...
--and faaaaaaaaaaaaaces--
AND FIVE COLORS, woo, Aiba's red is there at last.
Sho and Ohno (I believe) in a firm grasp of hands while Aiba's rests lovingly on top.
I am so glad to be Arashi's fan. ♥
fajlk;dsf;skjafd;jkaf;dljafsdkj;lfsfda;lkj Aiba's hand lingering on Ohno's.
and then and then
OHNO'S FINGER REACHES OUT.
I THINK THEY ARE TRYING TO DO ME IN.
HONESTLY. HONESTLY.
Meanwhile Jun and Nino have moved together and everyone is walking from the cake to the main stage.
Sho reaches out for Aiba and Ohno is in the middle. I think there could have been a question of which twosome he'd join but Jun and Nino were walking a little faster and our Leader isn't one to keep up. ♥
So he drifts over toward Aiba and leaves Jun and Nino to their cool and yet ADORABLE pairing.
Aiba gets a hand on Ohno's lower back as Jun and Nino sing to each other briefly like the giant dorkfaces they are.
But now Aiba's hand is sliding up Leader's back. (YES I TOOK WAY TOO MANY CAPS OF THESE FEW SECONDS BUT CAN YOU BLAME ME.)
Augh, these people, I love them so damn much.
Aiba scrubbing through Ohno's hair. ♥♥
I feel like they can see themselves on the giant screens, from behind, I mean, and that's why Sho's hand moves to the back of Aiba's neck like Aiba's did on Leader but that is mere conjecture.
Nino certainly seems aware that something's going on back there but if anyone has eyes in the back of their head, it's Nino. I really wish we could see Ohno right now because from the look on Aiba's face and the way Ohno usually reacts to things like having his head molested by Aiba, it must have been ADORABLE. (When is Leader not adorable.)
Sho and Aiba take a turn at dorky singing to each other.
And then Arashi turns to take advantage of the lyrics and say thank you to the crowd, oh, Arashi, oh. ♥
I AM NOT CRYING FROM HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM, SHUT UP.
Also: Aiba's lower half. SO AIBA. ♥!!!
fakj;slf;lskjd this is my favorite cap, I don't know why. I got to this still and was like jfldaf;ljsadfjlkas all over it and capped it and then I kept looking at it and had to cap it again as an outlet for my love?
YEP, EXACT SAME MOMENT, ANOTHER CAP:
I CAN'T HELP IT, IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL.
AHEM MOVING ON because Arashi keep being amazing all over our faces, I can't have a post with just one cap posted over and over.
I love that Ohno and Aiba and Sho gravitate back toward each other. How are they so darling?
Finally Ohno starts to lag behind (I bet he only kept all the way up before because Aiba's arm was behind him, holding him with them, y/n) and so we get Aiba and Sho alone being just as cute as this WHOLE DAMN PERFORMANCE wahhhhhhhhhh I am still not crying, jerks.
Maybe a little.
Finally they break apart reluctantly as Jun reaches his stage and Nino starts to harass/encourage the band.
JUN'S FACE JUN'S FACE
Only from Nino could harassment and encouragement be EXACTLY THE SAME. I don't really know what he's doing but I love it anyway.
FOUNTAIN TIME.
And Matsujun solo time!
*wibbles over Jun*
Aiba is not any less pretty through the fountain. (WHAT IS IT WITH ME LATELY AND CAPPING ARASHI SOAKING WET?)
NINO'S FACE.
NINO'S FACE. Don't you raise your eyebrows at me, young man! (Who am I kidding. I am not kidding anyone.)
Nino is not fooled.
SHO AND HIS ARMS AND HIS SHO-NESS.
Also that part of his body, like, where his back meets the underside of his shoulder... I REALLY LIKE THAT PART. I like it when they wear shirts that show that off.
When I got into this song I had never even heard of Hana Yori Dango (I am pretty sure) and thus I have zero wedding associations for it but reading the lyrics now I can understand why it was paired with Hanadan Final, yep. I AM JUST A BIT SLOW. To me it still sounds like something athletes would march in to at the Olympics?? I DON'T KNOW.
Yes, I needed all three of those caps.
Somehow I feel like the wind wasn't in their plans for this fountain business.
Not that I'd ever complain about wet Arashi.
Enjoy your few seconds longer of not being a drowned rat, Ohno!
I REALLY LOVE THAT THE SHADOW OF SHO'S MIC LOOKS LIKE A MUSTACHE.
This arm/upper back business isn't getting old, and only getting more glistening, too.
NINOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. ♥
Oh I am almost to the end--THANK EVERYTHING SPARKLY AND GOOD--I am so sorry I took so many caps of this, I was overwhelmed.
OH MATSUMOTO JUN. ♥
OH HE WASN'T DONE. Saikou will always make me think of Kaibutsu-kun now and I love it.
"MINNA, BYE BYE!!" fja;dfalkjsf;klsajdfk;lasjf;lksafj;lk always
A last wave from our dear Aiba.
Before Sho catches sight of Ohno and his face starts like this.
And goes to THIS.
BECAUSE OHNO LOOKS LIKE THIS.
And then he kind of trots in Sho's direction, either to escape the water or threaten Sho with it, I don't know, but cuts off abruptly as he gets EVEN MORE SOAKED.
NO ESCAPE, LEADER. ♥
GREATEST. BEST. MOST ADORABLE. MY HEART.
WELL DONE, ONE LOVE. ♥
Song.
... !!! I get to spin for Top, hooray! *phwooooooooooooooooooosh*
Top gets...
Lucky Man! HAHAHA, YESSSSSSSSS. YES. ♥
I had some woes! Long story short, the caps have subs on them, due to said woes. OH WELL.
We're coming out of Asu ni Mukatte Hoeru and into the last song of the main concert, the last song before encores. The members are together on the center stage and they've just removed their jackets so that four out of five of them are sleeveless. (Dammit, Nino, lose the sleeves!) And since this is coming at the tail end of the concert, they're sweaty and exhilarated and running on adrenaline and amazing.
The meat guns sparkle through the mist.
But first, balloons!
And balloons!
AND SO MANY MORE BALLOONS.
One Love, of course, has the hand choreography. Arm choreography? For me nothing beats full on limbs flying everywhere choreography (my favorite might be [MIGHT BE] Lucky Man for the crazed choreography of JOY) but I am fond of the arm choreography for One Love, especially in concert when they're not dressed like they should be perched on top of a cake.
Caps like this one remind me of just how HUGE Kokuritsu is and how special it is that Arashi get to perform there. ♥
Since this is one of the Hana Yori Dango songs, Jun is featured prominently and gives it a little flirty oomph, although how that is different from every other song Jun gives a flirty oomph is unclear to me. Perhaps he gives it 1% more oomph? IF POSSIBLE.
Anyway he's pretty and sweaty and his neck is shining attractively so all is right with the world.
Ohno's soothing vocals PLUS Sho's happy-making face. <3<3 Also: Maou hair. Every time I cap AAA 2008 (and this is only the second time, and I haven't done it since my VERY FIRST assignment, what) I have to give the Maou hair some love. ♥
Our versions of happiness are all in Nino's palm, I believe it.
No one makes sweaty hair look as good as Aiba. I mean, it's kind of gross, hair that's dark with sweat and sticking to skin and such, but on Aiba it is this very Aiba combination of adorable and sex.
AIBA I AM TRYING TO CONCENTRATE HERE.
NECK AND FOND EYES, AN OVERWHELMING COMBINATION.
AND THERE GOES THE SHO ARM.
Kokuritsu at night during Arashi's last song of the regular concert, balloons and stars mixed in the sky, oh oh oh.
... You know, it was only HERE, now, after all the capping and sorting and uploading, here during the commenting portion, that I realized Aiba is also wearing sleeves. I AM NOT SURE HOW MY BRAIN MANAGED THAT. I think it's another victory of Aiba's body over clothes but how could I not have realized the birthmark isn't visible?? WORRISOME, BRAIN.
arms arms arms
I would not have objected much if they'd just focused on Ohno for the hand dancing, given Ohno's hands. This swirl here with his fingers is particularly effective.
Hey look, this one has arms, too. I am sensing a flaw in this majority-sleeveless-performance: I am even shallower than usual??
I love this I love this, Jun's face starts out as a smirk-singing-FEELINGS-face and then turns into:
A happy-singing-GRIN-face! ♥!
... They do kind of look like they're on a cake, don't they. But they aren't DRESSED like it, so that is all right. ♥
I think one reason I like the hand-waving is it lets them stand still and focus on their singing while staring out at the crowd and not being able to wave... obviously I adore their interaction with the crowd but it's nice to see them serene like this once in a while.
Since they're up on the stage-cake the angle of many of the cameras means their microphones are obscuring their faces... luckily Arashi has five super expressive faces and they are hardly hampered by being mostly covered! I love that one lock of Sho's hair merging seamlessly into his eyebrow, I don't know why. <3
I love that when Nino emotes he doesn't always try to make it look pretty... a lot of times when he's singing and I cap him he looks like he's in physical pain but it makes it seem more real to me, that he's actually putting his feelings into the song. I think I love it even more because I know that he COULD make it look pretty, because it's Nino we're talking about.
I HAVE NO WORDS FOR THIS LEVEL OF HAPPINESS.
Ohno should patent this move. LIKE HE HAS PATENTED MY HEART no I don't know what that means but it feels true. <3<3
SOLO LINES TIME. Nino's shimmery voice starts us off.
His floppy wrist accompanies it. ♥ (Also the combination of romaji and English in the subs somehow cause my brain to read that as "I waited naked in the rain" and that is QUITE THE IMAGE.)
Aiba goes next and STEALS MY HEART with his croon. AIBA I AM TRYING TO GIVE YOU MY HEART, VOLUNTARILY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SNATCH IT LIKE THAT.
As he holds the uuuu of shirazu his right shoulder tends upward as his head angles down and it is just the most endearing thing.
And then right after he lets the note go he looks happy and swings his arms down and I HAVE NO MORE HEART LEFT TO GIVE YOU, AIBA MASAKI, STOP BEING SO WONDERFUL.
And then Sho comes in with his SHO EYES.
I am not even to the !!! and I am already a mess over here, augh. AM I GOING TO MAKE IT.
Jun's solo, and revisiting the theme of ARMS.
Oh here comes Ohno. I don't know if I've talked about this before but when I exercise to Arashi concerts I frequently talk to the tv... that was less embarrassing in my head but ANYWAY, when Arashi are going through and doing their solo lines and they get to Ohno I almost always say OHNO, DO IT and by the sparklegod he always does. I do it most frequently for One Love and Pikanchi Double, I think, where the solos are so great but then Ohno comes in and washes everything away in the glory of his voice. SING TO ME, LEADER. ♥
WHERE DOES HIS VOICE COME FROM.
oh oh they are starting to gather
Three colors...
Four colors...
--and faaaaaaaaaaaaaces--
AND FIVE COLORS, woo, Aiba's red is there at last.
Sho and Ohno (I believe) in a firm grasp of hands while Aiba's rests lovingly on top.
I am so glad to be Arashi's fan. ♥
fajlk;dsf;skjafd;jkaf;dljafsdkj;lfsfda;lkj Aiba's hand lingering on Ohno's.
and then and then
OHNO'S FINGER REACHES OUT.
I THINK THEY ARE TRYING TO DO ME IN.
HONESTLY. HONESTLY.
Meanwhile Jun and Nino have moved together and everyone is walking from the cake to the main stage.
Sho reaches out for Aiba and Ohno is in the middle. I think there could have been a question of which twosome he'd join but Jun and Nino were walking a little faster and our Leader isn't one to keep up. ♥
So he drifts over toward Aiba and leaves Jun and Nino to their cool and yet ADORABLE pairing.
Aiba gets a hand on Ohno's lower back as Jun and Nino sing to each other briefly like the giant dorkfaces they are.
But now Aiba's hand is sliding up Leader's back. (YES I TOOK WAY TOO MANY CAPS OF THESE FEW SECONDS BUT CAN YOU BLAME ME.)
Augh, these people, I love them so damn much.
Aiba scrubbing through Ohno's hair. ♥♥
I feel like they can see themselves on the giant screens, from behind, I mean, and that's why Sho's hand moves to the back of Aiba's neck like Aiba's did on Leader but that is mere conjecture.
Nino certainly seems aware that something's going on back there but if anyone has eyes in the back of their head, it's Nino. I really wish we could see Ohno right now because from the look on Aiba's face and the way Ohno usually reacts to things like having his head molested by Aiba, it must have been ADORABLE. (When is Leader not adorable.)
Sho and Aiba take a turn at dorky singing to each other.
And then Arashi turns to take advantage of the lyrics and say thank you to the crowd, oh, Arashi, oh. ♥
I AM NOT CRYING FROM HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM, SHUT UP.
Also: Aiba's lower half. SO AIBA. ♥!!!
fakj;slf;lskjd this is my favorite cap, I don't know why. I got to this still and was like jfldaf;ljsadfjlkas all over it and capped it and then I kept looking at it and had to cap it again as an outlet for my love?
YEP, EXACT SAME MOMENT, ANOTHER CAP:
I CAN'T HELP IT, IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL.
AHEM MOVING ON because Arashi keep being amazing all over our faces, I can't have a post with just one cap posted over and over.
I love that Ohno and Aiba and Sho gravitate back toward each other. How are they so darling?
Finally Ohno starts to lag behind (I bet he only kept all the way up before because Aiba's arm was behind him, holding him with them, y/n) and so we get Aiba and Sho alone being just as cute as this WHOLE DAMN PERFORMANCE wahhhhhhhhhh I am still not crying, jerks.
Maybe a little.
Finally they break apart reluctantly as Jun reaches his stage and Nino starts to harass/encourage the band.
JUN'S FACE JUN'S FACE
Only from Nino could harassment and encouragement be EXACTLY THE SAME. I don't really know what he's doing but I love it anyway.
FOUNTAIN TIME.
And Matsujun solo time!
*wibbles over Jun*
Aiba is not any less pretty through the fountain. (WHAT IS IT WITH ME LATELY AND CAPPING ARASHI SOAKING WET?)
NINO'S FACE.
NINO'S FACE. Don't you raise your eyebrows at me, young man! (Who am I kidding. I am not kidding anyone.)
Nino is not fooled.
SHO AND HIS ARMS AND HIS SHO-NESS.
Also that part of his body, like, where his back meets the underside of his shoulder... I REALLY LIKE THAT PART. I like it when they wear shirts that show that off.
When I got into this song I had never even heard of Hana Yori Dango (I am pretty sure) and thus I have zero wedding associations for it but reading the lyrics now I can understand why it was paired with Hanadan Final, yep. I AM JUST A BIT SLOW. To me it still sounds like something athletes would march in to at the Olympics?? I DON'T KNOW.
Yes, I needed all three of those caps.
Somehow I feel like the wind wasn't in their plans for this fountain business.
Not that I'd ever complain about wet Arashi.
Enjoy your few seconds longer of not being a drowned rat, Ohno!
I REALLY LOVE THAT THE SHADOW OF SHO'S MIC LOOKS LIKE A MUSTACHE.
This arm/upper back business isn't getting old, and only getting more glistening, too.
NINOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. ♥
Oh I am almost to the end--THANK EVERYTHING SPARKLY AND GOOD--I am so sorry I took so many caps of this, I was overwhelmed.
OH MATSUMOTO JUN. ♥
OH HE WASN'T DONE. Saikou will always make me think of Kaibutsu-kun now and I love it.
"MINNA, BYE BYE!!" fja;dfalkjsf;klsajdfk;lasjf;lksafj;lk always
A last wave from our dear Aiba.
Before Sho catches sight of Ohno and his face starts like this.
And goes to THIS.
BECAUSE OHNO LOOKS LIKE THIS.
And then he kind of trots in Sho's direction, either to escape the water or threaten Sho with it, I don't know, but cuts off abruptly as he gets EVEN MORE SOAKED.
NO ESCAPE, LEADER. ♥
GREATEST. BEST. MOST ADORABLE. MY HEART.
WELL DONE, ONE LOVE. ♥
Song.
... !!! I get to spin for Top, hooray! *phwooooooooooooooooooosh*
Top gets...
Lucky Man! HAHAHA, YESSSSSSSSS. YES. ♥