Arashi Live Tour 2015 "Japonism" 12/17 in Fukuoka - The Concert Experience

Japonism was an album that was made with performance in mind (actually, come to think of it, what Arashi album isn't?), and this year, I had the immense fortune of hitting for amazing arena tickets that just bordered the moving stage's trajectory, so needless to say, I worked Fukuoka into my winter travel schedule, and paid my first ever visit to Yafuoku Dome.

Yafuoku! Dome, under some beautiful, forecast-defying weather on Dec. 17.

I'll skip all the pre-concert drivel, but in short, everything went by without a hitch. I went to the Dome around 3pm to avoid the early morning crowds and shop for my concert goods. It was nice and bright when I got there (see picture above), there was barely any line for the goods, plenty of the venue-limited masking tapes were still available (they hadn't even started limiting the number per person yet), and I got everything I wanted within 30 minutes.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW

Japonism - Arashi Album Review

It's that time of year again. It's Arashi album season. And yes, that means staying up late at night to loop these familiar voices in their new melodies. Fear not though, because our fab five have given us a pretty fine album this time!

As any Arashi fan who doesn't live under a rock might know by now, the new album is entitled Japonism (conception by Sakurai Sho), and its overarching theme? To fuse the beauty of Japanese musical elements into the usual pop/rock/whatever-it-is-that-one-labels-Arashi. Now, the whole fusing traditional with modern thing is something that's totally been done before by other Asian artists (Jay Chou, anyone?), and when it's done right, it can be absolutely soul-shatteringly brilliant. So how did Arashi do?

Arashi Choreography - The Beloved, the Beautiful, the Breathtaking and the Just Plain Silly

Arashi performances are a wonder to behold, whether they're done live in a stadium full of hopping people or in a studio stage with no one but the staff and cameras. So much heart, so much effort goes into an Arashi performance, but of course, what it always boils down to in the end are two things: the song. And the dance.

And boy, do they dance. Over the years, these five boys-turned-men have tried their hands (and perky little butts!) at a broad sampling of dancing styles, from Latin to hip hop, from jazz ballet to straight up breakdance. Go through a string of Arashi performances, and you'll find moves that are contemporary, disco, funk, acrobatic, with a creative sprinkling of experimentation in aerials and traditional Japanese dance. And sometimes, when the day is done and the boys just want to relax, you'll even see the very Arashified version of the "move your body and look dorkily silly" school of dance.  

So here, I've endeavored to list some of my personal favorite Arashi dance moves. I tried to choose from a variety of styles, just to showcase how versatile our fab five are! Please enjoy a wonderful gif-filled Arashi dance selection!

*Warning: Very very gif-heavy!

More and More - Arashi Song Review

It's 2015, fanboys and girls, and Arashi is back with a stunning new single to keep that sparkly spring in our step as we head on into the year of the sheep! 

Yes, I'm talking about Sakura, and no, I still can't quite make up my mind if it's about the flower or the imposter, but at this point I really don't think I care, because it's one hell of a seductive song to one hell of a suspenseful drama, and all that matters now is the whirlwind of pink petals and Toma getting bloodied up alongside Juri and everyone's knees swooshing 360 on the M-ste floor and strings strings strings gliding in a frenzy to trickling piano notes that finally end with Leader's reptilian stare after the upsweep of the last violin.

I really had to choose which song I wanted to flail over first. Did I want to wax my poesy over the agitated tremors of each and every string in Sakura or would I rather dive right down the glitzy rabbit hole of the gazillion little dings and zings and be welcomed to Arashi's Rainbow Wonderland all brassy with more and more?

The Digitalian - Album Review

The Vegetarian Digitalian is finally here, throbbing through our poor fangirl bodies in the form of an inexplicably irresistible mass of geometrically arranged... leaves and fruit.

It's probably a testament to Arashi's staying selling power that this album can still sell well despite the LE cover looking like this:

The Arashi members, just so you know, were all perfectly aware of how similar sounding "Vegetarian" is with "Digitalian" in Japanglish. You can say that this graphic is no accident. No ho... Hah. But all vegetable jokes aside, this album is actually coming at a very special time. Not only is this their 15th anniversary, but The Digitalian is also the successor to what is perhaps the most phenomenally polished and musically riveting Arashi album ever: LOVE. There's certainly a lot to live up to, and after producing something as amazing as LOVE, the standard for their music has certainly been raised, and I think fans will probably be less forgiving of sloppy music from now on.

And yes, I am a huge fan of LOVE, but I am aware that not all people might share my enthusiasm for it, so consider yourselves warned that this post will contain some LOVE/Digitalian comparisons and that everything written here is my own personal opinion, which has no musical or professional authority whatsoever.

Arashi is certainly trying their hardest with this new album. They're going for a "digital" theme, which manifests in a few heavily techno tracks, and a techno elements mixed into other genres here and there. They're doing something pretty new, and very very dynamic. In fact, if I had to describe this album in one word, it'd be dynamic. Movement and action just permeate The Digitalian, which makes it pretty different from LOVE, because LOVE was sleek, mature and had quite a smattering of weighty tracks like "Ai Wo Utaou" and "Yozora e no Tegami." It also showed off some beautifully tender Arashi sounds in tracks like "sugar and salt," "Sayounara no Ato de," "Tears." The Digitalian brings us something decidedly less ponderous. I'd say of the 17 tracks on this new album, only the 3rd and 16th ones, "Tell Me Why" and "Hope in the Darkness" qualifies as having the same subdued/weighty tones as the LOVE tracks mentioned above. The rest of the album is all about action, from the shake-your-shake-your-body "Zero-G" to the five-times exclamatory "Take Off!!!!!"

So without further ado, let's get into the specific songs.

Mukae ni Iku yo (むかえに行くよ) - Arashi Song Review

人混みのなか步く　疲れる街のノイズ
なぜだろう　淚がこぼれた
Through the crowds I walk / the noise of the weary city
And without knowing why / the tears spill out.

Oh Nino, you vulnerable, puppy-eyed ball of melancholy! That shiver in your voice, that little dip as you sing of spilling tears, that brittle tremor, oh, oh! 

This song had me at its first chorus. But it had me in tears at Nino's solo verse.

It's just so delicate, so lilting, so expressive and emotional. Arashi may not have composed the melody or written the lyrics, but their voices are the direct vehicles to our hearts, and it's on these beautifully laid bare voices that the full yearning in this song is delivered, from Aiba's muted velvet tones in the beginning to the wistful cooings of "Uuu, uuu..." that melt softly into the hum of strings at the end. 

Mukae ni Iku yo is one of the more pensive numbers in Arashi's 2010 Boku no Miteiru Fuukei album, and was sung in concert against a background video of two battered robots walking through deserted landscapes to finally find each other in a tender embrace. It is one of my favorite Arashi songs, and the lack of performance videos of it is one of my most often lamented Arashi things.

2014/09/20 Hawaii Blast concert review

A concert staff member greeting guests with
complimentary leis that have an Arashi charm on them!

How do I begin. 

I feel like something in the way I approach Arashi has changed, like I'm not the same kind of fan I was before, like there's this new dimension to my idolization of these five men that has been born of simply seeing them with my own two eyes. 

Jackets to the floor, babes, we're gonna give you some LOVE - Concert DVD Review

Throw'em to the floor, Arashics!

I swear, Intergalactic has just gained at least 80 plays since I watched the LOVE DVD. Yes, this moment has finally come. Some of you who have followed this blog since its early days may know that I am a huuuuge fan of Intergalactic. I wrote a song review on it, in which I flailed so hard I nearly dislocated my ovaries to outer space, because this song is just. that. good. And I think I mentioned even back then (what was it again, November? of last year) that I was expecting some fabulicious costumes and sexy space choreography to party to when this finally got performed in concert.

Hora~! 

Oh wait, was that not a good enough view? Here, have a close-up!

Dance in the starship, babies! God Riida, your hair! I could not stop sighing over your hair (especially since my previous Prince of Perfect Hair MatsuJun decided to go with the sleazeball slick in this concert, poo~).

"Do You Wanna Feel Like Dancing," anybody? - Chibi Aimiya Bromance

This is truly a blast from the past. I'm talking about the pre-debut 1990's here. And it's Aimiya, who are my current obsession. There's just something about this combi that gets me right in the heart; it's something that goes beyond happy bromance; it's a really deep kizuna. These two have known each other and gotten along since their tender teens. They've worked off of each other's personalities since their very first days on air, when they were still young, inexperienced and with undeveloped TV images. Here, remember this little clip?

*note: Japanese parts are all done by ear, and my Japanese sucks, so I may have transcribed or translated incorrectly. Please point out any mistake you see and I shall fix it.

Aiba (loudly): HELLO!!! This is Aiba Masaki! (どうも! 相葉雅紀です!)

Nino: Hello, good afternoon, this is Ninomiya Kazunari! (どうも，こんにちわ。二宮和也です。)

Aiba: Together, the two of us are... (二人合わせて...)

Nino (in cheesy voice): ...Masaki & Kazunari!!! (...マサキand カズナリです!)

Love Wonderland - Arashi Song Review

I have only been listening to this song for less than a day, and yes, I already know that I want to write a review on it. The inner boost I'm feeling from this stylishly funky little number is really 半端じゃない, and absolutely warrants a few hours of sleep sacrificed (yeah, yeah, I know I just finished an exam and I have a fic that needs writing, as well as a gazillion Arashi blog posts I should have written months ago, but as of this moment, Love Wonderland takes precedence over everything).

So love truly, love truly, love truly, lo-oh-ohh!

If you're reading this now, you probably already know that "Love Wonderland" is one of the three coupling tracks to Arashi's newest single GUTS! (set to be officially released on April 30, 2014 but leaks are already out, of course. Ah, fangirl problems, sigh). The A-side, "GUTS!" is a cheerful track built squarely on the theme of "genkiness" and also serves as the theme song to Nino's drama Yowakutemo Katemasu, which I told myself I would watch, but am now probably just going to save for later since I find Riida's to be way more entertaining (because there aren't enough hours in a day to fangirl and keep up with all their activities, too). "Love Wonderland" is the third coupling track, and I personally think it's the best. It's instantly catchy, with an artful retro feel (I can't place a finger on the era, but it sounds like the kind of song you'd dance to in greased-up hairdos and wacky sunglasses), and the boys's voices sound so distinctly like them in all their imperfect glory. I'm also really loving the way the instrumentals crazily twist all over the place but still somehow remain just chic enough to give the song a smooth, polished feel.

So, without further ado...

"Oh baby what's. your. name?"

スーパーフレッシュ (Super Fresh) - Arashi Song Review

Ah, it's been a while since I reviewed Arashi's music and while I have fallen in love with the new songs (Bittersweet, Sync, and Motto, Ima Yori), it's curiously their 2009 track スーパーフレッシュ (Super Fresh) that I find myself humming absentmindedly around the house. So keep your seats, ladies and gentlemen, because I'll be taking you all for a spin back to the past with this post.

My Girl is one of those singles I bought out of loyalty. I didn't think (and still don't think) that the A-side マイガール is anything all that special, but this is one of those instances when loyalty pays off, because both the B-sides (which I had not heard prior to purchasing) blew the socks off my feet and to this day still remain among the top-played on my iTunes tally. Tokei Jikake no Umbrella (時計じかけのアンブレラ)  is one of those impassioned songs that do everything you could ever want a song to do: it punches, it seduces, it sways, it lifts, and as a bonus it has some tough-ass Sakurap tossed in, too. But since my friend nekobot01 has already written her very professional review on it (linked above in text), I will now divert your attentions to the other no less sensational B-side: Super Fresh!

What can one say about Super Fresh after four years of loving it?

It never gets old. Believe me. Some songs come and go, and you can only tolerate them for a set amount of plays before they lose their flavor, and you have to forget them before you can enjoy them again. BUT such a song, Super Fresh is not. I could set it as my morning alarm clock and I'm pretty sure I'd find myself bopping along happily to its beat at whatever ungodly hour I get up at 365 days a year no fail. No lie.

Super Fresh just has this quality to it, a carefree sway in its melody, a playful riff on the steady drumbeat, an unprocessed innocence in Arashi's voices, that all make it such a relatable song. In one word, I'd probably call it "youthful" because it's just abounding with the sort of simple positivity that is so characteristic of those wide-eyed teenagers stepping out into the real world (with Arashi at their backs cheering them on, of course).

So let's countdown 3-2-1!

My Arashi Wish List

Chances are really low that anybody with any power over Arashi's projects will ever see this post, but I'll put it out there anyways. Here are some things I would really really want to see Arashi do, in no particular order (and I might keep adding to this list as I randomly think of more things).

* Do another plot-based PV (like the ones for アオゾラペダル"Aozora Pedalu" and マイガール"My Girl")

I thought it was really cute to see MatsuJun as the encouraging friend who was trying to get the girl to confess to Sho (and that moment when he realizes she's been rejected and he looks at Sho just sitting on the back of the truck; it was like a scene from a dorama, only better because it made my mind jiggle with all those precious Sakumoto fanfic moments...kyaaa!!). And I've always been a sucker for the concept of all five of them as brothers because in my mind, they are kind of like a special family to each other. 

Arashi - LOVE Album Review

I finally got my album in the mail from my trusty old cdjapan.com. I could only get the Regular Edition, because the Limited Edition sold out. Sigh. I kind of wanted that PV of P.A.R.A.D.O.X. but I suppose I'll just have to live with the short teaser version (which, by the way, is already heart-stoppingly smooth and dangerous) and the screencaps that any generous fans may post on the internet.

So now, on to the album.

Intergalactic - Arashi Song Review

Earlier this year, Arashi released their most recent single, Endless Game, which is a pretty solid track, though still not quite close to beating their phenomenal Face Down of 2012 or the 2013 double A-side Calling/Breathless. Arashi's been really into a more synthetic club style recently, adding some techno elements, a very danceable beat and favoring melodies/lyrics that are on the edgy mysterious side. All these singles fall into this category, which makes sense, since they're all theme songs to very edgy, suspenseful dramas/movies (I mean, things like Troublemaker or Love So Sweet wouldn't exactly make for suitable theme songs to dramas like Kazoku Game or Platina Data, ne?). Arashi's pushing into some seriously kakkoii territory, and I'm loving it! I've decided to review one of the coupling songs for Endless Game here, mostly because I actually like it a lot more than Endless Game itself, and also because I am terribly upset that it didn't get performed at the 2013 ARAFES and just thought I'd bring some more attention to it (we all know how coupling songs tend to get lost in the obscurities of time due to not being performed or collected into an album. Sigh). So without further ado, I give you Arashi's Intergalactic. 

The first thing you need to know about Intergalactic is that it is out-of-this-world sexy. From every aspect. It's like everybody involved, the composer, the lyricist, the sound engineers, and most importantly, Arashi themselves, had an ultimatum handed to them: sweep those fans up at warp speed and give them a throbbing hot eargasm in a dark, bad-ass corner of the galaxy. And boy, do they de-li-ver...

リフレイン (Refrain) - Arashi Song Review

I'm still waiting for my copy of LOVE to arrive in the mail, so instead of drumming my fingers on my desk and rewatching old episodes of VS Arashi, I've decided to write a little review of one my all-time favorite Arashi ballads: リフレイン, or "Refrain" in English. It's a track from their 2010 album 僕の見ている風景 (Boku no Miteiru Fuukei), so I've been listening to track for over three years now, and call me sappy, but it still hasn't lost its appeal. This will be a quick one, so please forgive and feel free to point out any errors in my listening. 

In one word, melancholy.

愛を歌おう (Ai wo Utaou) - Song Review

So LOVE was released on Wednesday, and I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive from cdjapan, but naturally, the tracks are already posted on youtube and I couldn't resist listening to them. So yeah, you get the idea of what I've been doing with my spare time for the past five days. The result? Ah-may-zing! I post here a review of the opening number of LOVE, which is aptly named 愛を歌おう (Ai wo Utaou). It's my favorite track in this album by far. 

I'm personally no crybaby, but I could feel a speech-impeding lump forming in my throat when this track surges into its vocal and orchestral climaxes. Whoever composed the melody and the orchestral parts is a musical genius and should stay with Arashi forever and ever. The melody itself has a great shape, swooping and climbing, full of tension and release; and with this musical arrangement, which I absolutely adore, it packs quite a punch in all the right places.

Favorite Arashi Songs

It is always a daunting task to choose a top ten or even a top twenty when you're talking about artists as prolific and as variable in style as Arashi. So I'm not even going to try to limit the number of songs I talk about here. I'll just give some of my thoughts on the songs that particularly stick with me. They're not in any particular order.

But first, I'll digress a little by talking about some playlists I have on my iTunes, because I just need a reason to post pictures of these awfully good-looking boys.

I have a few Arashi playlists on my phone. They're named after members, of course.

Under Arashi Aiba, I have happy songs, things that make me nod my head and smile cheekily like SuperFresh and Everybody Zenshin and most of Aiba's solos. Arashi Aiba is like the boy-next-door who comes over all the time and wants to pick up your mood by making you appreciate all the little things until life is not mundane anymore. Everybody loves Aiba. I have such a soft spot for him, and this playlist is so dedicated. I play it a lot in the morning right after I get up, to remind me that the day is beautiful, and that Aiba is telling me Ganbatte!

Yes, that's right. Hidden inside this tender-faced shonen is a powerful voice that will take you far far away. 

Arashi Ohno is pure magic. It will transform me into a soaring bird. It's because his voice is just so suited to taking flight. It's got such clarity, such power, such precision, that you feel like you are a piercing ray of light shining out of a crystal and shooting straight into the clouds. In this playlist, I have all his solos and I also have songs where his voice picks it up to a different altitude (like movin' on and Monster).

Arashi Nino is a little melancholy, and a little sentimental. It's the perfect soundtrack for a night alone, with only a glass of wine and the distant voices of the streets for company. It's what you're feeling when you enter heartbreak hotel, but it's also what you feel deep down inside for every wasted day you spend hating yourself for not doing more with your life. It's got anguish, it's got sorrow, and it's got tons and tons of regret. Select Nino solos (and some Ohno solos!) and Arashi ballad numbers such as truth, refrain, Akashi and Your Eyes are included.

I was tempted to post the an an pictures, but that would have been "very, very danger."

Arashi Sho is manly, sexy, and full of swag. He wants to get into your face and really make you listen to him. He's the type of guy you want to be rapping in your ears when you need to rough it out in the gym or just when you're just feeling fly. His voice is husky and low but very distinct, and you can hear him chugging out his words with a gruffness that you wouldn't ever imagine to be in a person as polished as he is. But Arashi members surprise us at every turn, don't they? It's part of their charm. The playlist is upbeat with a bit of in-your-face conceit, the type of thing you want to cross your arms and wear your baseball caps sideways for. Think A.RA.SHI, a Day in our Life, Pikanchi, Jidai, and of course La Tormenta.

Arashi Jun is one fine beast. Where Sho is swagger, Jun is slick. Arashi Jun has a futuristic feel. Jun knows how to be smooth and sexy, and he likes to take you for a ride while he's at it. There's something about that nasal voice of his that, when flattened and treated, is the perfect vehicle for a ride into an alternate sci-fi universe. Arashi Jun is something to play when one is dressed in a sleek leather suit and strutting down the street, ignoring all the heads you turn, because, like Jun, we can be vain princesses ;) *smirk* Songs we princesses strut to include Come Back to Me, Face Down, Breathless, Intergalactic, Mada Minu Sekai E, Lotus, and a swoonworthy number called Tokei Jikake no Umbrella.

All right, on to my favorite songs!