words fail me

a note to one mr. sakurai sho.

dear mr. sakurai,
you are too attractive and charming for your own good.  i fear it is dangerous to set such charm loose upon the world.  there is no telling what disasters it could cause.
therefore, please take up residence in my apartment so that the rest of the world will be safely protected from your blinding beauty and dorkish but irresistible charm.  i will cook.

okay, just kidding about that last part.
but seriously, folks... no telling how much havoc that face could wreak. particularly when combined with the deadly DREAM CHANCE FUNK. y'all know the move i'm talking about.  deadly.

i need episode five of The Quiz Show to hurry up and air already. i'm dyingggggg.

PS: reference to Ohno's Air Bass in this week's VS Arashi - epic win.
oh, and Uniqlo has a really cool commercial that makes me want to go shopping there. ;-; BUT I DON'T LIVE IN JAPAN SO I CAN'T.

my impression:
japanese news shows are so SOFT. ._. at least, soft-natured.
american news tv is always like, 'THE WORLD IS GOING TO END! NOW, MOTHERFUCKERS! DOOM, DOOM, DOOM!'
and japanese news shows are always like, 'this is going on, what a shame, too bad, isn't it? let us all be sympathetic and hope everything works out for the best, using the power of emotions and wa and harmony and understanding, and by stating everything in this really nice way, where we just want the world to be a nice place, so we'll use pastel colors in our sets and all~'
which isn't bad, per se.  it's just funny compared to american news, where EVERYONE IS TOO OLD OR TOO BLONDE AND THEIR TEETH ARE TOO WHITE  AND THE SET IS SUPER PROFESSIONAL AND THE COLORS ARE ALL TOO SHARP AND TOO BOLD AND EVERYTHING IS FULL OF SHARP POKEY CORNERS AND IT'S ALL WASHINGTON AND FAST-PACED AND RAWR RAWR RAWR.

can you tell i just don't like news television in general? >.>  not neccessarily news media as a whole, just news tv and talk shows.
the japanese version is probably just a little on the soft-natured side, but i guess i still prefer it.

One more day until a new episode of The Quiz Show AND IT IS GOING TO BE THE LONGEST DAY OF THE WEEK. D;

my last class is today. :\ i'm going to miss my Japanese senseis.  they're both wicked cool. :(  one of them is going to Waseda!  she's going to be in the international student's Japanese department at Waseda!  they're so lucky~ she's a first rate teacher~ and pretty and funny~ lucky~

i just emailed in a paper in a different class... 2 & 1/2 weeks late... better late than not at all?
i feel bad because it was a TERRIBLE paper.  that's part of why i kept putting it off.  like, "damn, this paper sucks, i don't even know what to DO...."
so i feel bad for my poor super-nice ta who has to tell a student that their paper is barely worth a thing because they turned it in so late, AND has to read through such crap. =\
i can picture it now.
"you had a really great idea here... but your writing sucked."
it's true.  i came up with a cool concept as i was writing the paper - i was kind of surprised! - but the paper was so disorganized, i'm not sure it matters. =\

SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER.  it's almost here.  that's all that matters. SUMMER.

Seriously it's driving me so insane about all i can do is make inane vox posts about it. ;-;

vent:

I finally took the time to sit down and watch episode one...

isn't it kind of amazing that Arashi is being referred to as 'kokuminteki aidoru' in japan? well, at least here & there, on at least some shows.  i don't know if everyone does it, but still. kokuminteki = national, of the nation/people.  NATIONAL IDOLS. :D  they are kind of a BIG DEAL.  makes you proud as a fan, doesn't it? <3  like, ah, so happy to see them getting the recognition they deserve. :)  it's like they're all of japan's idols. <3

aaaaah.
after i finish this paper - i'm emailing it in (A WEEK AND A HALF LATE LOL)
i basically don't have a lot left to worry about, school-wise.

i have so much to watch, omg, i can't WAIT to catch up. <3
i just perused only arashi files, nd there are SO MANY GOODIES i can't wait to watch.
the performances for Kimi wa Muteki look SOOOOOOOO COOL. 
I LOVE THE STYLE OMG.  i can't wait to watch.

but i can't watch right now. -_- i'm in class.  watching urusei yatsura in class actully, which is great fun.

i wrote a paper about the political economy of JE for my media class.  i did a sort of substandard job with my citations (cmon, think about it, je + citing... i mean, i used the japanese websites and stuff quite a lot, but a lot of what i know i know from completely illegal fansites, lol.... kind of hard to cite....)
but my professor thought it was really interesting because it was so different from everyone elses' papers.  and i actually developed a fairly interesting insight into the nature of idols, how they're the reverse of the usual gendered gaze.

bah. anyway.  i love spring.

so I was just perusing LJ and all.  Not anything specific or anywhere specific.  Just general JE stuff.  AND.

1. I'm so happy that Arashi ultimately gets along so well, with so much love & respect... seriously.  I know they're human and might still argue a bit at times, or hav cranky morning, but ultimately this dynamic gives them so much more character and depth and charm.  I know that I AM biased, but I still haven't seen any other JE group match up to this. Really any group.  Ever.  There's a REASON Arashi stands out, and I think it's a very good one.

2. The rest of JE.... like if you look at the all the tabloids and rumors about JE that have surfaced in recent times.... admittedly they are RUMORS and not all entirely solid, BUT.  It's kind of amazing, the kinds of rumors that surface about most of JE.  I mean, some of the guys in KAT-TUN for example, have been rumored to do some really, really trashy stuff.  Wtf.  I don't dislike them when i see them on talk shows or whatever, but the kinds of stories that circulate are part of their image, too, and it's just not classy.  Booty calls, whatever.
Every so often Arashi or one of the five will show up there, and if it's about how they have a relationship with so-and-so, fine.  I'm not bothered.  But I've never actually read a story about any one of them getting thrown out of a club at 2 am because they were totally trashed and harassing everyone there.  That would be different.

For whatever reason, Arashi keeps a low profile and a classy image.  They cooperate, help, and respect each other and the people around them.  They're genuinely kind - at least from everything I've seen on TV, and there's enough footage out there...

3.  I kind of actually like that Arashi's dancing isn't as slutty as the rest of JE.  Watching a variety of other Johnny's concert & solo clips, I was just sort of struck with, "wow.... this looks trashy."  It was like I kept coming across Junjun's "W/ME" again and again and again, lol.  Thank goodness Jun only did that once. HA.  I DO think Arashi can dance, and I LIKE how Arashi dances.  I like that their performances are energized, but not trashy or slutty.  Same goes for the music.

I know there's a difference between their "image" as idols and who they really are as individuals, and that's cool and all.  But the fact that they are able to really successfully maintain SUCH a quality image as idols, with such professionalism, and few scandals surfacing... that is really something to respect in my opinion.

I like JE in a way, but I really kind of feel like Arashi is really a cut above the traditional JE image.  I respect a lot of the senpai groups too, like TOKIO and SMAP and V6... but I feel like of the younger groups none of them have as much grace, class, poise, quality, and respect and rainbows and sparkles and whatever as Arashi.  I feel like Arashi fans are a completely seperate breed from much of the rest of JE fans sometimes.  Arashi is like the ideal idol group in my opinion. 

anyway.  I'm interested to hear what other people have to say on this...
Remember that this is entirely my personal opinion, and I'm aware that I could be misunderstanding a lot of things, so... please don't get offended.  I'm generalizing, too, I know.

i'm sure i'm TOTALLY late on this and leaks have been out forever and the single has been released for several days now already...
but having just heard it for the first time, i feel the need to officially declare to the world that i love it and the chorus will be stuck in my head FOREVER. :D
Ohno's solo too <3 ugh i love his voice.  it's such an optimistic song.
and i think i really like Tobira too!  mayowazu ni someday~~~ oh oh oh~~ :D
i was really in need of a mood pick-me-up, and damn this helps a lot. <3
yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy~