Almost 7,000 words. *weeps* If only I could write fic this fast.

[beckerbell]

I know, it's been almost a month since I talked about Arashi at all, since NCIS and Final Fantasy IV and REBORN! caught my attention for so long. But I've missed them a great deal and I've been watching in bits and pieces now and then. What really got me to post today, however, was those new commercials (if you've seen them, you'll know why) and

Comments

[uminohikari]

I-I don't think I've ever read 7000 words without a break before. D:
But this was really awesome meta, and you bring up interesting points. ♥

[beckerbell]

The terrible thing is that I nearly wrote it without taking a break. (Well, there was a break about halfway through, so it was two sittings, I suppose.)

The episodes are just so awesome that I couldn't contain it all. They're so interesting, yes! ♥

[opaquebubble]

Omg. I love you, because you make me love Arashi more.

alkjfljk I hadn't seen the commercials and now I am dead. x_X But I can't see the link to the second commercials and the making-ofs? If that's what the link is? I think it's friends-locked *needs to find cause omg alligator*

But butbutbut. Thank you for expounding on the boating saga. al;kdjfl;kjdkl;jf. Seriously. I watched it...them discussing how to bring it up to the others and knowing almost exactly how it would go over, and Ohno's leader-ness and the whole process of them dealing with the challenge of it. I watched it and I squeed about it a lot and you do such an eloquent job of putting into words what makes it all so wonderful.

I do love the drama in them as well. As much as I like everything to be all shiny happy rainbows and puppies for Arashi, watching them put into circumstances where we get to see the struggling and the frustration and the tempers flaring and people wanting to quit and they get a chance to be so much more real here, that's the real treasure of

[beckerbell]

And I love you as well because you love Arashi and that fill sme with love.

The second link goes to the forgyoza comm (which is an Arashi downloading comm) and it's freely joinable, which is all you need to do to see the posts.

Then they get frustrated between feeling like they're not trying hard enough and feeling like what they're being asked to do is impossible.Yes, that's exactly it! They're asked to do so many things and they can usually handle whatever is thrown at them, that's part of being an idol, which they knew when they chose to stay in this profession. They really do amazing jobs, just trying to watch all of the shows and radio shows and interviews and photo shoots and everything else they put out in a week can make me tired, I can't imagine actually doing all of that. Certainly not without getting frustrated and irritable all the time

[opaquebubble]

akldjf. I never meta anything, I'm usually not that articulate, but ARASHI...they inspire my heart. I just wish I could write them better in fic. I'LL KEEP TRYING. XD

And thanks for the heads-up on the comm! *__*

Basically yes to everything you just said. I sat down last night and watched the G no Arashi where they ride down waterfalls and Sho being so scared and Ohno and Jun teasing him about it the whole time but in a way that so obviously was serving to make Sho more comfortable with the idea/more determined to do it even though he was obviously terrified. la;kjdflj. The shit they put them through and the way they step up to the challenge and come out on the other side all giddy and exhilarated at what they've accomplished...*sighs* I can't wait to see how the boating saga ends! It's going to break me, I think. x_x

[beckerbell]

asdf;lkjasdkj you and me both. I have the worst time writing them in fic (I have yet to write anything that I can stand to reread), but I figure that the more I watch them and read their interviews, the better I'll get. XD

Oh, god, I loved that episode. I watched it a few months back and I will NEVER FORGET THE LOOKS ON SHO'S FACE. The utterly sad, dejected look because he really, really didn't want to go canyoning but they were going to make him anyway. I love that they do get to try all these things, even if they're scared as hell of them at times, because this life they've chosen is rarely easy, but at least they get to do all these things that they'll look back on and have accomplished. ♥

[aoimidori]

I've seen the Aiba/Jun version of the CM like a hundred times since yesterday. Which I don't usually do (I usually watch the commercials like once, twice, never again, except for Tongari Corn CM but that's only because they a;; looked so damn gorgeous in that one) but YOU CAN'T BLAME ME. ♥_♥

[beckerbell]

Usually, I just download the commercials, tuck them away into an obscure folder, and then watch them once on YouTube and be done with them. But these. Good lord, those are some of the straightest things I have ever, ever seen.

And totally not straight out of a shoujo manga scene, including sakura petals raining down on them and soft, breathy shoujo voices. (asd;flkjasdl;j the voice *melts*)

It's. It's a really good time to be an Arashi/Aibajun fan right now. ;__;♥

[aoimidori]

At first I was all "FLAIL ARASHI + YUKIE!" and then I saw it, and was like "Oh okay, that was that" and then the day after "WHAT THERE'S A VERSION WITH AIBA AND JUN ONLY?!" and I watched it, and yeah, totally not straight out of a shoujo manga scene, AT ALL, because as you say, it's really very totally straight. *cough*

Every time I watch it, it ends, and I'd be "againagaiagain!" with shiny eyes.

It's. It's a really good time to be an Arashi/Aibajun fan right now. ;__;♥
IT REALLY IS. ♥

[beckerbell]

Yeah, I was a little disappointed that that was the project they were working on with Nakama Yukie (who knows if they were even in the same room together for that, I'd doubt it), but the commercial was still uber-cute and so I'm not really complaining.

But then. The straight out of a shoujo manga scene commercial came along and asd;lfkjaslkjs I don't care how cute or funny the other ones are. THAT ONE WINS. THERE WERE SAKURA PETALS ALL OVER THE PLACE AND BREATHY VOICES AND TALKING ABOUT HOW BEAUTIFUL EVERYTHING IS. It wins, period. XD

(I just have a fit every time Jun turns to Aiba with that look on his face like ARE YOU SERIOUSLY PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO YOUR VIDEO THAN ME? because asd;fkas oh man. XD)

[blueandflawless]

I adore beyond all imagining the new commercials. Would you mind if I absconded with one of your caps for iconing purposes?

So, ha, yes! Rowing Club!

I love it too, for the same reasons. It's interesting to watch them be genuinely frustrated or angry; sometimes when watching I thought it was some of the most genuine emotion I'd gotten to see from Arashi.

I love that moment in the beginning, the one where you can see the epiphany happening in Ohno's head. He's thinking, "I don't want to leave it like this; we didn't do enough for Hikaru-san." And then it happens: "Hey, they made me be the LEADER. I can make decisions! So fantastic. I have never loved him more

[beckerbell]

I wouldn't mind at all! In fact, I ENCOURAGE IT, especially if it means icons. >:D

You really don't see a lot of genuine negative emotions from Arashi, whether because they deliberately hide that part, because they don't have that much frustration (though, you can see it coming out in interviews and MCs sometimes), or because the shows are deliberately edited to cut those parts out, I'm not sure. But getting to see them being very real here, while still being idols, is wonderful. It's wonderful to see how they all support each other and look out for each other. I love that, even if it's only been, like, a day since one of them started feeling off, as soon as the rest of them notice, they immediately work to fix the problem. Because they want to, because they care.

Something else I found pretty sweet is how they all seem uncomfortable with the idea of competing against each other for "Regular" positionsThat is a really excellent point. You can see the looks of discomfort on their faces as they realize they're going to have to

[blueandflawless]

Thank you! ♥

I love all the boys, truly, madly, deeply, but Nino totally fascinates me (as opposed to giving me warm fuzzies or twitching in my nether regions). He is such an intelligent, complicated guy and I'd never trust him for a minute with my lunch, but he keeps my brain buzzing. I'm sure he's stimulating to have as a friend/coworker!

[beckerbell]

Nino... is very interesting, but very tough to get inside his head, deliberately so. He's really good at deflecting people's attention away when he doesn't want it or not revealing what's really going on in his head, in addition to being really observant and intelligent. It makes it difficult to get a read on him.

Though, I'd trust Nino... for the most part. It's really telling that nobody really seems to dislike the guy, despite all the evil shit the little fucker has pulled, everyone seems to like him a lot. You can tell that Nino is actually a nice guy, he's just... evil, too. XDDDD

[15thmooon]

I love they're new commmercials, god I want to put it on my iPod so I can keep a tiny aiba/jun sakura petals commercial wherever I go.

I'M GOING TO READ THIS ESSAY AFTER I WATCH THE BOATING EPISODES.

I haven't watched it subbed, I know :(

[beckerbell]

....that's actually not a bad idea. *__* Of course, you'll never tear me away from mine now, of course. XD

I tried to wait to watch them, since I'd watched the first couple and it was painful waiting for the next installments, but I couldn't resist, not with being teased with bits and pieces of the awesome in them.

H-hopefully the final episodes will get posted this week and then I TOTALLY RECOMMEND THEM SUBBED. *__*