ｎｅｃｔａｒ～甘露～

minna, did you all watch Maou??  It was amazing~!

so, I've taken Aiba's genius idea from Himitsu-chan and photoshopped it just a bit, since i didn't see a good cut of it from the show that I could simply screencap.  It makes me want to sing that song in Utada's "Beautiful World" - "kyou wa nisshin cup noodle~"

ANYWAY.

I share the fruits of my crude photoshop labors~ i guess if you want to use this anywhere just credit it?  har har.

 

hahahahha.  for some reason i just find this really, really amusing. xD

Himitsu this week... well, the first half hour of all these annoying giggly ladies and their skin really irked me.  I pray that's the last we see of that corner, much as I love the nurse costumes.

However, they played a prank on Oh-chan by setting of a fake filming of the most ridiculous noodle cm you'll ever see. The other guy in it was on VS Arashi at some point... he's the guy who says Yayakoshii... which they said a thousand times during the fake filming... It was some bizarre commercial that was a pun on "Maou"  - Nisshin Maou noodles (they don't really exist but they were supposed to be really spicy, since Maou = devil)  Ohno was really cute though... and you really got the sense he's very patient and good-natured on set.

Then they gave Ohno the chance to plug Maou, yay.

he did this adorable thing based off of the fake cm:

 

 

 

<---------first the mischevious smile

 

 

then the adorably lame gag <3 --->

 

 

AND they played Truth in the background!!  I'm so excited.  I think it's going to have a bit more of a slick dance/techno vibe than we've heard in the past.  the production sounds full and smooth.  I'm trying to think if it reminds me of anything of theirs in the past and nothing is coming to mind... if you can think of something I'd love to hear it!!  If anything I would say the production style might be similar to Step & Go but the emotion of the song is completely different and you wouldn't instantly say they're similar. Plus it's still really hard to hear.  I'm so excited, I can't wait~~~ there's a line of the lyric you can hear that sounds something like "kanashimi ni tatoe donna owari wo egaite" and i think it goes on to start with "kokoro" and I lose it after that... anyway I think that Kanashimi line is the primary hook of the chorus... and it's really good.  It goes places you wouldn't expect, sort of turns around.  The owari wo egaite bit is cool. I haven't heard Green yet, nor have I heard anything that makes me really excited about it, and though I really enjoy One Love and think it's quite well-done, it was sort of pleasantly underwhelming for my tastes.  Truth, however, will be a song I think I can get really fired up for. 

***edit: you can hear another sample of Truth here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFBMLHyoNok and I think the phrase you can hear at the end of Himitsu-chan must be the opening or the bridge maybe... the sample you can hear in this version is a bit different and a bit stronger, sounds more like a chorus*** 

>>I think the songwriting for Arashi has honestly really gone up in quality in the past year or two compared to their earlier stuff (love it though I do!!!)  some of their older works are a bit forgettable if you're not a fan, but Truth, One Love, Flashback (imo) and a few other DAL songs depending on your opinion, Shiriusu, Koe, Happiness, Step and Go, and... I'm not sure what songs I'd include here from Time, definitely a few, probably Love So Sweet, Kaze, Aozora Pedal, We Can Make it, and Love Situation... all of these are examples of really great pop songs.  I think they've pretty much always had good songwriting for an idol group better than KAT-TUN usually, imo, though it's not anyone in KAT-TUN's fault   and actually some of their earlier songs were really clever (shinchousa no nai koibito anyone?) but I think taking a look at the directin they've begun to take and the ways they've begun to chage... I'm really proud to say I think they're going to be able to stay at the top because of the quality of their songs - it will give them appeal and respect among the public in general, outside of girls who love the because of who they are and how beautiful they are.  This makes me really happy for them. kyaa~~ <<

Guys if you haven't all seen Himitsu-chan or heard a sample of Truth yet you should really look it up!!  Himitsu-chan is now available at d-addicts' tv shows and... I don't know where else. x_x

whooooo~ finally got my single today.

i love this song more and more now... in full quality, i think you notice the song picking up in the middle section... i really didn't notice when i saw the PV. in higher quality audio (after having only seen the PV on crappy speakers) i think the beat is much stronger.  previously all that i remembered hearing was the orchestral, flowing feeling of the chorus.  the beat picks up at the chorus and really holds strong throughout, from there, though.  i love the way the structure of the song really builds, melodies and harmonies.  What's more, it's a bit heavier on the midtones... i like that.  I feel like their pop songs are generally a lot heavier on the low and the high ranges of the sound... not as much in the middle.  It's not neccessarily bad at all - i think that's just a tendency, it's fairly characteristic of how Arashi's pop is produced.  However, One Love, I think, fills out the midranges a bit more, and it's a refreshing touch to the tone.  Actually, this same principal has guided the production of Dream-"A"-Live, I think, and it's part of what impressed me so much with the quality and sophistication of the production.  Also, I think I've mentioned this before, and i can't substantiate it much because I don't have the training, but i think the melody in One Love is fairly unique and probably a little culturally influenced.

(though now that i think about it, the PV may be appropriate for hana yori dango, but it's not really one of the ones I'll watch repeatedly...)

Oh Junjun.  he has a bit of a spotlight in this song, of course.  he will always be jun, but despite that he really sounds good. (XD)  much as i love the boy, i've never been crazy about his vocal tone.  HOWEVER, i am impressed with how he's worked on his breath control and support of phrases.  excellent work, Junjun.  his tone is still "jun", but even that has made some progress.  good work.  yoku dekita.  now keep working.

Ohno of course... sounds amazing as usual.  everyone knows this by now.

as for How To Fly, i really like it.  it has the feeling of 'setting out on a journey' to me.  and i love the little bits of spanish guitar here and there and the rythms... it's quite catchy.  and of course they're all sounding good vocally here too!  all of them shockingly.  oh jun you're lovely but you give me headaches.  problem child.. 

i think the remix... much as i'm not a fan of remixes usually, it's really very cleverly done.  successfully blending quite a variety of styles.  throwing in some walking acoustic bass during WISH, of course, and a little bit of light jazz-style drumming, i think, and then playing with beats and distortion throughout the rest (omg speaking of acoustic bass... flashback is such a great song, guys...)  A lot of messing around with distance and layers in Love So Sweet gives it a really lush feel, and One Love adds in some neat instruments and samples - the brass was a fresh touch.  in the Love So Sweet section i think they played around with the accented beats a bit.  I'd say for a remix, a remix that blends multiple songs no less, it's really, really well done and pleasant to listen to, neither too distracted nor monotonous.  no small feat, honestly, when you think about what involves.

i think it's a perfect ending to handan.  I never really thought about that before, but with the final remix on the LE - at first i was annoyed all you get on the LE is a remix (not really a fan of them usually) but it really does put the handan trilogy of singles in perspective and highlights their continuity.  One love does indeed have the feel of a grand finale.  And i give the production team credit for thinking up the LE remix... it adds a lot of perspective to the single.

If I had to say there was anything i disliked about this single... honestly there isn't much i sincerely dislike.  but on the flipside, i will say i didn't totally, totally love it.  i think it works exceedingly well for what it is... it's skillfully created in that regard, it's musically solid, the performances and prodution are all great.  but it's not instantly my favorite and probably never will be.  Just based on my own tastes, i felt it lacked something... and i could have used a bit of sho-rap. (edit: perhaps not sho-rap... but something to break the song up a bit would have been nice, especially considering the beat pretty much never changes.  i do like me some sho-rap though.) that's part of what goes into my personal favorite Arashi songs.  I'm not going to place it on that high of a pedestal, but all things considered i think it fits its purpose incredibly well and is a solid release from pretty much all perspectives.

to be honest, though i owe handan quite a lot - without it i wouldn't even be familiar with our stormy five - i'm happy to see it go.  i loved the story, i loved the singles, it was cute, the acting was cute, all the actors were cute, etc.  but i like arashi more. hahah.  so i'm happy to see them move on to a point where hopefully they won't automatically be associated with handan and where perhaps people won't always point to jun first.  not everyone does that now, of course, particularly not within the fan community.  but i hope you know what i mean with regards to their publicity - now theres so much more going on for the boys but every now and then there's been a bit of a tendency to point to handan.  understandably, consdering what it's done for them.  i'm just happy to see them move into something new.  however, that said, i'm very thankful for handan and everything it's done, and i don't think Arashi could have a better way of closing that chapter than One Love.  it ties everything together so well.  it truly makes things feel complete.  and i'm really thankful for that.  <3  Couldn't have been done any better.

here's to 22 singles, and 22 more!  love you boys~

i woke up at 8 to watch himitsu-chan, and i HATE mornings.

and tbs doesn't even appear to be listed on keyhole

and tvu can't seem to connect to it for me.

but i know it works somewhere because the people talking in the sidebox of tvu player -

even though they're talking in Chinese and i can't understand it  -

i recognize names like ninokazuki and arashijunsho, and somebody just said 'childminder'.

so i know somewhere, someone is watching arashi on tvu.

THIS IS KILLING ME.... WHAT MUST I DO ACCESS TBS. ;A;

i'm missing it.. i'm going to miss the whole thing... and then i'll have to wait for uploads... and i'm not good with patience...

*dies*

it's a really interesting subject. why the species of the world live where they do, how different ecosystems are constructed, etc etc.  the professor is really cool too, and makes the class interesting.

but the textbook is so bloody dry.  it's nearly impossible to read.  and there's a ton of reading.

shoot me. X_X

YES.  WE ARE A KILOGROUP.

hahahah. or something.

Everyone, look here:

 

as of 1:50 PM, us central time (GMT-5).

May the support for our lovely Stormy Boys continue to grow; let's cause a storm in the world!

Makiokose, A-RA-SHI, A-RA-SHI, FOR DREAM!

my wonderful fellow Arashians, you're all so charming. love you all~

Shameless friend whoring. X)

I swore I would never add them, but finally... I caved and added AIM and MSN.  And I would love to have some flail-buddies.  SO.

AIM: sourringo

MSN/Windows Live/Whatever it's called: sourringo@live.com

YEY.

the picture kind of says it best... 

(from ep. 34 of D no Arashi, kindly subbed by Taiji Project)

ahhhh..'m late.  Sorry, guys.  Sorry, Nino.  I was thinking about this Tuesday & yesterday, but I didn't get my act together enough to post until today~

So, it took me a long, long time after becoming an Arashi fan to truly warm up to Nino.  However, as time has gone on I've really gotten to like the little brat... and because I feel like in the past I've always slighted him a bit, it's time for me to make it up by posting all the things I like about Nino.

~his eyes: haaa~ they's so huge and pretty and... deer-like.  Doe eyes.  His tongue may be poisonous but his eyes are sweet and deep.

~his acidic, impish sense of humor: ...like that one moment in D no Arashi where Aiba was testing how much cream pie would make it through a fencing mask and everyone else was throwing pies in his face.  Nino picked up a pie and said something like he'd count down to one and then go, and Nino said "Three...  two... " *pie*  oh Nineers, you vicious little brat. <3  or during the recent Hana Yori Matsujun, when the woman asked to be picked up and Jun grabbed Nino and asked him what he thought and Nino said something to the effect of, "worst case... internal bleeding."  haaaaa~  Nino's sense of humor remains sharp and fresh as ever.  He says the things we're all thinking on some level but don't expect anyone to say.

~his talent and creativity: the first time I heard Niji I was so impressed.  How much more than that really needs to be said?  I recognized right away when I started listening to Arashi that he had quite a skilled voice... but the scope of his abilities realy goes beyond that.  I'm not really sure how much of his solo material he writes (I think the info is out there somewhere but I'm not sure just now) but he performs it beautifully, and I know he has written something here or there.  And then included in the talent field, of course, is his acting ability.  ...I don't think I even need to talk about that, you understand.

~the charm and presence that he brings to any set: I don't think I'd know how to elaborate on this one even if I tried.  Just watch any Arashi show.  He brings energy to the group and blends perfectly into any environment, always keeping people engaged. 

And yes, we all jest that he is merely growing younger due to his Ohno-elixir... certainly you'd think as much by looking at him... but I think it's becoming more apparent that Nino is growing into quite the dynamic human being, always more impressive than before. <3  Otanjoubi Omedetou, Birthday Boy.  Sorry I'm a little late.

 

I know I'm a bit late on this... oh well. XD  ...I didn't know the set change was for good... I thought it was just for last week's special~ o_0;; I like it though.

I know everyone's cooing (and rightly so!) over the bit with the children but OMG the opening is hilarious too!  xD  Aiba is ridiculous...  He just drags the poor girl with him.  Like, "Can you go right now?  Right now?  Okay, let's go!"

(does this remind anybody of the proposal bit of Arashi no Shukudai's "Tell Me, Arashi" corner, where Aiba's proposal was basically, like, "let's go to the justice of the peace!  Right now!  Let's go!  Let's go get married!"  <3 <3 <3)

(and poor Aiba, ahaha, he got a totally different reaction than Matsujun upon meeting the girl...)

Wow.  The human doll scene was intense.  I thought Keiko was kind of... annoying, but Fumiko (the first one) was just adorable~ <3

Matsujun wins HUGE bonus points for his look here.  I really do like the hair. <3  And something about that shirt.... and the curly hair... and those pants... it seems totally German to me. xD  It's like, I don't really want to use the word "Eurotrash" cause that's not it at all XP, but it's.... classy European casual.  Cute German Soccer-Playing Boy Matsujun. <3 <3 <3 

alksdjf;lakepfoaijds;flkajs;dlkfj [/flails]

 

oh man, you two are SOOOOOOOOOOO cute.

Oh, boys.  LOL.

 

 

Okay, so, shopping with Fumiko. ...if this wasn't the greatest thing ever.

"That's just elastic!"

XD  Matsujun, thank goodness you at least have a little bit of sense.

 

 

If you even TRIED to tell me that you've ever seen anything MORE ridiculous than

<---------------------------------------------------------------------this

you'd have to be lying.  I don't think I'd believe you.

They're CERTIFIED GOOD WITH KIDS NOW.  They're "CHILDMINDERS."  Har har.  Japan's most eligible bachelors, everyone~

 

LMAO, everything will be okay because RIIDA HAS THIS PIECE OF PAPER.

(his "childminder" program certificate.)

Sidenote: doesn't he look good with black hair?  Omg he looks good. <3

Tastier than toast.

 

OM NOM NOM NOM.

<--------------look.

 

told you.

 

OM NOM NOM.

 

 

Seriously.  It's too early in the morning and I didn't sleep last night.  My nerves can't handle beauty this intense right now-------------------------------------->

 

alkjsd;lfkajsd;lkfja;sldkfj

Hahaha, these poor guys.

for all the times the kanji for

'shippai' (failure) flashed across the screen when they were trying to get Koharu-chan to smile..

I think I've got it pretty solidly learned now. xD

 

 

 

Awwwww.... Mama Sho-chan. <3

 

 

 

naptime is MAXIMUM CUTE.

*________*

dondake kyuuto, maji de.

 

 

Mama Ohno------------------------------>

...whose idea was that apron, anyway, lmao.

<3

 

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

WATCHING YOUR OWN CONCERT WHILE BABYSITTING.

*shakes head*

oh man.

 

 

 

 

 Ninomiya:  you were completely worthless this time around.  Snap out of it! D:

Oh wait.  No, never mind.  That's right, he kind of already did a fair bit of work.  Never mind.  Just kidding, Neeners <3

 

so.... this was long and ramble-y... forgive me, I literally did not sleep last night and I haven't seen the sun before noon in... like a week.  @_@ it's not even 9 yet right now.

 

So...  Jikken Kekka:  any doubts I may have earlier had about this show have been completely erased, definitely with this episode if not sooner.

Himitsu no Arashi-chan is fun! :D