One Love

CDJapan's service is getting better and better. Before, my CDs/DVDs arrive 2 or 3 days after the release date in Japan, but recently, I've been getting my packages BEFORE the release date. So, I came home today to find my package with the Time concert DVD, Dream"A"live album and Boku ha imouto ni koi wo suru DVD. Yatta! Can finally watch the concert...and yes, I managed to stay away from the temptation of all the uploads. The painful wait is over. LOL

It's also a coincidence that I decided to take a day off work tomorrow (of course without knowing my package would arrive today), so I get to stay at home and watch it all. Talk about good timing XD

In my local free Japanese magazine that I usually get, one of the articles mentioned Arashi and I thought I might do a rough translation of it. This is my first time translating an article, so please forgive me if some things don't make sense. 

The writer of the article said her recent boom is Arashi. She has heard their songs from dramas but recently she saw them dance and she thinks they're good at dancing. Their dancing is in harmony with each other and you can distinguish each member's personality through each movement. There's no "Look at me, look at me" type of attention-hogging and unlike Kimura Takuya, who makes unnecessarily turns and ruins the harmony, this sort of person who butts in doesn't exist in Arashi.    

The writer is particularly fond of Ohno kun and thinks maybe he's not as good looking as Sho kun or Matsujun, but he's very good at singing and dancing *nods nods* and the biggest reason that he's captivated her is because he doesn't seem like an idol. There might be some people who think why is Ohno kun in Johnny's, but he went to the audition because his mother, who applied for him, said he won't get in anyway. Even though Ohno kun told Johnny san that he wanted to quit, Johnny san half lied to him and made him debut, which looks like Johnny san had his heart set on Ohno kun despite Ohno kun wanting to quit. Although Ohno kun's looks aren't too outstanding, Johnny san must have been able to see the hidden talent inside him. The writer can somehow understand why Ohno kun can be in Johnny's.

Also, the writer mentioned that Ohno kun also demonstrated his sense in the field of art and even opened his own exhibition. There were a total of 150 items, including drawings, photos and objects. She heard that some contemporary art buyers offered high prices for Ohno kun's artworks *gasps* The writer exclaimed how talented Ohno kun is!

She also heard that Ohno kun was able to meet for the first time Lily Franky (an illustrator, author, musician, just to name a few), whom he respects. It seems like Ohno kun bravely asked to become Lily Franky's pupil, who gave consent and allowed Ohno kun to be called 'Franky Ohno'. LOL

***

Arashi sugoi ne! They're really getting popular now. It made me smile when I was reading how the writer was complimenting Arashi. Of course us fans know that they get along really well ^_^ And I agree with the writer that Ohno kun is very talented (possibly the most talented in Arashi) even though he doesn't say as much as the others, and when he does say something, it might sound silly and he'll be laughed at. But nevertheless, Ohno kun will always be our beloved Leader <3 

 

These pics are my favourite scenes from the Takitsuba Premium Live DVD bonus disc, where it shows offshots of them while they were having their concert tour around Japan.

They went sightseeing in Kagoshima and it was part of the photoshoot for the April issue of Myojo. In Kagoshima, they took the Sakurajima Ferry to Sakurajima and visited this dinosaur park.

Kyaaa! I think all of Takki's fans want to be that dinosaur and be hugged by him like that XD

Takki's expression as he was going down the slippery slide at the dinosaur park that is 12.5 metres tall and 50 metres long XD So funny to hear him scream like a little kid as he was going down. He said all his stress was gone when he reached the end of the slide. LOL

Here we have Tsubasa playing with a little girl before boarding the Sakurajima Ferry. The little girl was very cute, but Tsubasa doesn't lose to her at all *wants to poke Tsubasa's cheek too*

Little girl gets embarrassed and turns away while Tsubasa is smiling. He must have been thinking about his baby niece.

Look at the way Tsubasa is looking at the girl~~I like seeing them with kids (especially Arashi in Kodomo no Bangohan) because it makes me think that they're going to be doting fathers *imagination running wild* 

The concert DVD this time is so worth it. 2 concert tours are included (2007 Dame Concert Tour and 2007-2008 Best Tour) and the bonus discs are great with lots of offshots and best of all, the MC collection of the Best Tour, which is more than 1 hour of MC from different venues of the tour!! Saikou!!! It was so funny to watch because most of the time, Tsubasa would be Do-S and tease and make fun of Takki while poor Takki was trying to fight back XD Watching all of it made me want to go to their concert even more!

Received the Freestyle postcard from my friend in Japan a few days ago. I was so glad Johnny's decided to extend the period which you can exchange for the postcard, so I asked my friend to go to JFC to exchange it for me. Even though she's not interested in JE, she went all the way there just to get it for me. She's such a nice friend <3

She also sent me magazine clippings of Arashi from TV Life (the one where Arashi is on the front cover) as a surprise. Little did she know that I already bought the magazine ^^; But it's nice to know that she was thinking of me.

                                                                 Ohno kun's dorky look is so cute!

I don't usually care about ratings, but since Arashi went on Tokyo Friend Park 2 and got a satisfying rating of 19.7%, I wanted to check it out officially on Video Research's site. So as I was looking for it, I found the weekly top 10 TV shows with the highest ratings in different categories. For the week starting 31 March to 6 April, in the top 10 variety shows with the highest ratings, TFP2 ranked No. 3 and further down is Odoroki no Arashi at No. 7! That was a surprise, and it beat the SMAP special just by a bit XD This really does prove that Arashi is becoming more and more popular. The link is Video Research top 10 ratings

I wonder whether there'll be Odoroki SP5, but what other baka experiments can they come up with? XD

Just had to do a pic spam of Takitsuba wearing glasses while they were on their concert tour. They both look so kakkoii in their specs. My theory is guys who are kakkoii look even more kakkoii in glasses, eg. Takitsuba, Nino, Matsujun. LOL

                                                             Why are you so good looking? *hearts*

 

 

 

 

                                                   Tsubasa, please shave. Moustache doesn't suit you.

 

 

                                                      Wonder what secret Takki is talking about. Hehe

誕生日おめでとう！ ヽ(＾∀＾)ﾉ I hope he enjoys this special day, but he's probably got rehersals for Takizawa Enbujou '08. My wish for him is to be happy and stay healthy. Please continue to be your baka self, don't lose your trademark smile that makes all your fans happy just by looking at it and may Takitsuba grow into an even stronger unit.

  

ｷﾀ━━━(≧∀≦)━━━!!

After a hard day's work, I came home to find the package that I've been waiting for has finally arrived. What a nice reward XD My Tensei Kunpu DVD and 2 versions of Takitsuba Premium Live DVDs!! Also got 2 Takitsuba posters (although they're identical) for ordering the first press editions. Hmmm..what am I going to do with the extra poster??

Started watching the bonus disc from Tensei Kunpu and just as the title says, it's about the Freestyle exhibition. And what's good about it is it shows how the exhibtion was put together so we get an inside view. Quite interesting to see the 'making of' the exhibition. The setting was impressive and you get to see a lot more of what was actually there than what was shown on the entertainment news. 行きたかったな～

I know what I'll be busy doing this weekend XD Also looking forward to the Animania Festival. 

Yatta! Finally finished watching 49 episodes of Yoshitsune. The ending was sad and I cried. Takki portrayed Yoshitsune so well and he is so suited to play the tragic hero, although I don't like the tragic part. You can feel how deep the bond was between Yoshitsune and his followers and this was due to the good relationships between the actors. I think this is one of Takki's best works so far.

Just wished that I had watched it before going to see Takizawa Enbujou last year because I had no idea what was going on in the Yoshitsune part. Didn't help that they weren't speaking in modern Japanese either. If I had watched the drama beforehand, I would have known a bit of Yoshitsune's background and it might have helped when watching the Yoshitsune part. *Sighs*

Was watching the making of Yoshitsune right after watching the last episode. Got teary-eyed again when the actors were saying their little speeches on the last day of shooting. One of the actors thanked Takki and Takki looked like he was about to cry. Awwww..*pats pats* I don't think Takki is usually that emotional, so it's probably very rare that we get to see him like this.

 I love this shot of him looking up at the sky.

I'm so glad that he was casted to be Yoshitsune, even though he was worried at the beginning whether he could handle being the main character. Being his fan, I admit I'm biased when it comes to anything associated with him, but after watching the drama, I don't think there is anyone else more suitable to play Yoshitsune than Takki.

A must-watch for all Takki fans and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in Japanese history.     

Received these from my friend in Japan today. Arigatou!

The long-awaited Au catalogue! It's been posted up by a lot of people, but it feels so good to be able to hold it in your hands and look at it up close. Sho kun really suits the school boy look with the tie <3 It was a bit creased in the middle because the postman folded the envelope in half to put it in my mailbox *dies*. But after putting a stack of magazines on top of it, it's now nice and not as creased as before.

Can't get rid of the crease because it was folded too tightly. Never mind. As long as the crease isn't across their faces. LOL

Kakkoii!!!! I wasn't expecting to receive this but my friend included it as a surprise. I thought it was going to be Arashi's Au ad but when I unfolded it and saw Sho kun, my mouth was wide opened. If I was by myself, I would have gone kyaaaaaa!!