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?"

Hidamari no Kanojo (陽だまりの彼女) - Wouldn't it be nice?

Cats! Sun! Sea! Cute-but-totally-not-legal middle school versions of Jun and Juri! Lovey-dovey bike rides in the sun! Mysterious cat lady! Hilarious drunkard brother, and hilariously pathetic boss! And cats! Did I mention cats? I love cats. (As a tangent: I'm completely convinced Riida was a cat in his former life; any aye's in the crowd?)

Warning in case you couldn't tell already: this will be a post of shameless flailing in a sea of tears. I will not even attempt to sound coherent. 

MILD SPOILER ALERT for the content below!

When Arashi Watches Others Dance to Arashi Songs

So I've finally discovered the joys of making gifs! Yeah, yeah, I know I'm late to the party, but I think for a post like this, mere screencaps won't do it justice. So please enjoy!

Warning: this will be GIF heavy, so it might take a while to load for slow internet connections!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NUMBER ONE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First off, we have the 2008.09.24 episode of はねるのトびらSP 短缩铁道の夜, which is some variety show that all five members guested on to promote VS Arashi back in the day when VSA still needed promoting. One of the regular hosts of this show decided to welcome these five super idols by showing off some of his dance moves:

Of course, this comedian gets the due smacks on his wigged head from his team mates, and Arashi's reaction is one of polite amusement. Domyouji himself seems quite taken with the creative license this guy has exercised to help promote their new game show. 

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!

Kyo no Hi wa Sayonara (今日の日はさようなら) - Drama SP Review

I had been looking forward to this drama SP quite a lot. The promotional CM's showing Ohno in the beanie, looking helpless and frail as he lies on a bed or slides into an MRI machine really caught my eye because a) I'm a sucker for 24-Hour TV Specials, and b) I've always thought that Ohno had just the perfect look to star in one of these. He's not an actor with a particularly wide range of facial expressions, but it's something about the weariness in his "default" face, the lazily hooded eyes, the slight melancholy pout, and the tendency to look down at his feet that makes him so suitable to play a quiet boy-next-door character who suddenly finds himself having to deal with the arduous process of dying. Ohno has a good victimized look, which is not to say he's bad at playing villains because he did so beautifully in Maou, but the moments in which he really shines dramatically are the moments where he shows his vulnerability. Even in Maou, the best scenes were when you could see his self-loathing and the hopelessness in his eyes as he tells himself that there is no other way. (shivers). Being a fan of Ohno, I think that people like him not only for his talent, but also for his aura of innocent vulnerability; I know my maternal instincts (yeah yeah I'm only like 23 years old, but I can still have maternal instincts, okay?) tend to crush my ovaries together at the mere sight that dazed little Fishing Riida.

But back to Kyo no Hi wa Sayonara. 

I set aside some time one night to watch it. I locked my doors to ensure absolute solitude, turned off the lights, grabbed a box of tissues and pressed "play." Because hey, no one should ever interrupt the sacred viewing of an Ohno drama.

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. 

Ninomiya Kazunari - Snarky Slacker with a Surprisingly Sensitive Side

Note from HK: Very sorry to all my readers, but a correction has been made to this post regarding the marital status of Nino's parents and his family background. I had previously written that his parents were divorced and that Nino lived with his mother and sister growing up "on the wrong side of the tracks." It has been brought to my attention that there are no first hand sources that state anything concrete about such things. So I have removed that part from this post. To read more about this clear-up in detail, please see this post. 

Now please enjoy the last of the member posts ^.^ Douzo!!


The big joke you'll hear over and over again about Ninomiya Kazunari is that he's looked like he's 17 since he was, well, 17.

Nino in Oct. 2013 (from the PARADOX PV)

See what I mean? Can you believe this guy is thirty? Physically, he's changed the least out of Arashi over the years. And really, Nino doesn't strike me as the type who would be really carefully taking care of his skin or body the way someone like Jun would. Yes, women over the world are green with jealousy at Nino's possession of the fountain of youth, but this is just such a typical Nino trait: to slack off and yet still achieve the best damn results in the end. We've learned to live with it. Sigh. But don't think for even a moment that Nino acts at all like a sweet teenage boy! He's Arashi's snarkiest sharp-tongued little brat, and will point out little mistakes or embarrassing moments of his bandmates on national TV quite frequently. And he gets away with it every time, too, because let's face it, the other Arashi members all know they'll never get the better of him in a battle of wits and therefore hold their peace. Naturally, Nino is very talented, and stands out in Arashi as a songwriter and a brilliant engiha actor. You know how sometimes people say Ohno sings way too well to be in an idol group? Well, you could also say that Nino acts way too well to be in an idol group! This is not to say that idols can't also be excellent singers or actors, but just that in Japan, where idols are expected to do so much (act, sing, dance, host, radio, etc.), it's almost expected that they should be more jack-of-all-trades than really good at one particular thing. But I'm glad that Arashi members are breaking the stereotype here. And Nino, boy, he sure is a character!