Behind the scenes! - The HnA staff tell us about Arashi
The people at Monthly the Television carried out a thorough interview of the staff who work with Arashi behind the scenes! The staff told us their stories of the reasons behind Arashi’s charm. We’ll investigate the reasons as to why these 5 guys are so well loved and their real faces at the workplace!
Who takes the longest? Behind the scenes on Mannequin
“We inform Arashi of the theme 2 weeks before the episode is to be filmed. They then look through the fashion magazines, tell us what they would like, and we have a meeting about it. Matsumoto-kun takes the longest time. Surprisingly, Aiba-kun takes quite some time too. As for Sakurai-kun, he spends a lot of time stressing out, going, “Oh no, what do I do, what do I do?” (laughs) If an idea strikes Ninomiya-kun, he’s pretty fast. Comparatively, Ohno-kun finishes in the blink of an eye.”
The theme for the clothes during the SPs are decided by the members. During the shopping period, Ninomiya hardly tries on anything, Sakurai keeps a ton of clothing, Ohno heads for the shops besides the clothing stores.
The impetus for “Share House” was the VIP Limousine episode where Ninomiya-kun and Matsumoto-kun visited Becky’s house, the Sakurai-kun and Aiba-kun’s two-man tour and Ohno-kun’s fishing corner. Without the production department intervening in the location filming, it gave forth an unique atmosphere, and it’s interesting how serious conversations can develop from it. We came from the vantage point of wanting that free and easy feeling.
During the filming, Matsumoto takes note of whether the guest’s outfit would look appropriate with or without slippers, and therefore Arashi would wear their slippers accordingly.
For shellfish enthusiast Sakurai, Aiba suggested having a shellfish meal by the sea.
The staff sought information about fishing from Ohno
“Speaking of Arashi-chan, you’d think of the popular corner ‘Mannequin Must Item’. Although it’s just one corner, the scale progressively grew larger, and it feels as if Arashi is driven into a corner. (laughs)” says producer Mr. Mishima. “The person who goes all out for the win, loses, feels regretful and depressed is Matsumoto-kun. (laughs) Although Sakurai-kun and Aiba-kun have lost in the SPs, the two of them did choose their outfits seriously, but the moment they saw all 5 outfits together, they get this feeling, “Ah, I think I blew my chances.” They then get anxious, and during the results announcement, they’d go, “I knew it…” When Matsumoto-kun won at the SP, he said something along the lines of, ‘Maybe I should buy the outfit…’”
The Ohno who eats during the Mannequin location shoots and has a tendency to go off track undergoes a complete personality change during the Fishing segment!?
“We wanted to bring out Ohno’s charm when he’s alone, so we started the Ohno Fishing Club. During the episode where Nakama Yukie-san came as a guest, many viewers wrote in to say that they changed their minds about Ohno-kun’s manliness. Ohno-kun also told us about various fishing information, such as, ‘If you want to catch this fish, this bay would be good. For the sake of TV, this the fish over here do jump, but if you’re considering the season…’”
The Sakurai and Aiba Two Men tour also got rave reviews.
“The proposals for making Sakurai-kun happy came almost exclusively from Aiba-kun. Sakurai-kun, who always takes the lead during Arashi-chan, became the recipient this time round. Actually, Sakurai-kun almost never takes charge during the Share House segment. On the contrary, Aiba often facilitates the discussion. Even when the guest has finished speaking in general, the staff flashes a cue card that says, “Go on,” and keeps the cameras rolling. It’s really great when Aiba-kun is at his wits’ end. (laughs)”
During Yokoyama-kun’s talk, Ninomiya answered that he would like to try out variety shows in the future.
“Even though he seems rather carefree, he gives me the feeling that he’s thinking about various things. That’s the way he is: he doesn’t draw attention to it at all. After listening to Yokoyama-kun’s talk on Share House, I felt that he cares twice as much for variety as compared to the average person.”
What is one side of Arashi that has struck you deeply?
When we held a live performance during the program [T/N: That was the episode where Kuroki Hitomi came onto the show], we had a meeting with Arashi to ask about the set list. When they voiced their opinions, I thought, “That’s Arashi for you.” Even during the rehearsals after that, I was shocked at how they memorized the choreography in the blink of an eye, and they were able to respond deftly choreographer’s instructions. Although it was a 2 hour rehearsal, I felt that they memorized it pretty quickly.” To have seen it in the flesh, I thought, “Wow, Arashi has such a brilliant presence…”
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