I’ve been really neglecting this blog lately, since I have one over at livejournal as well. This is technically my fandom/fandom news journal, so I’ll update with some fandom news.

But anyway, this is WAY late.

UTA NO ONII-SAN. Ohno’s new drama. It looks amazing. TV Asahi isn’t the biggest network or anything, but I’m sure this will still be wonderful.

Plus, Arashi will be singing a song called “Away” for Uta no Onii-san.

That’s only in addition to “Believe” for Sho’s Yatterman.

It looks like a busy 2008 is turning into a busy 2009 for Arashi.

Since my brain and everything is still on Japan time, I’m staying up late (early?) to watch stuff on TVU player~

You know, even though it’s currently 4:45 AM here ><

But anyway, Arashi on Utaban was great!

They kept changing positions so everyone got to harass Nakai :]

And the soumen game was funny!

And of course, TRUTH. The dance was so sexy. But I kept noticing how Nino’s hair is getting long again, and he tucks it behind his ear (like right before his hair grew to fluffy proportions). Nino, cut your hair!!

Oh, and also, Utaban made me think of some important things…

Arashi is amazing

Arashi is cool

Arashi is hot

Arashi is adorable <3

嵐はかっこい

嵐はかわいい

嵐はおもしろい

嵐は私の～～～

jk of course to the last one. Uhm, maybe.

Next is HnA!

So I never posted about the Truth PV preview, so I’ll start with that. It’s all over youtube and whatnot, and everyone’s probably seen it, but…

It looks so dark! And so absolutely perfect <3
I think Nino and Matsujun’s hair looks like it did in the Dream-A-Live album, super gelled and parted to the side. Emo style! :]
It’s kind of funny to watch Arashi trying to look like tortured souls, but I think they work it!
Unlike Taiyou no Namida, where they kind of look overly tortured, and it just looks fake. I mean, Tegomass? Depressed? Yeah right.

And in C-ute’s Tokaikko Junjou, they try to look really tortured as well. At least not for the whole PV, but them giving those pitiful looks to the camera…

Okay, I’ll stop finding videos of depressed pop stars now, and move on to KAZE NO MUKOU E!
OMG ASKGJDJHGF!!!!
First of all, I LOVE the song!
-sings happily- AME NO MUKOU E, OH-OH KAZE NO MUKOU E, WOAH-OH-OH
The PV is pretty simple, just one of those simple in-a-white-room things.
BUT!
It gives us Arashi fans something we’ve been missing for a while now! Clicketh here for spoilers~
And more screencaps:

Oh, and this song has SAKURAP! It’s actually the first new song since I got into the fandom (SUPERNOOB) to have rap since Step and Go. And I kind of didn’t like Step and Go.

Overall, I like the Truth PV (and the song) better, so I’m glad I ordered the LE single with the Truth PV (at least, I think I did…)

Download the preview for Kaze no Mukou e here!

1. Please credit me if using

2. Please don’t hotlink

3. Comments are always appreciated!

Notes:

- The unofficial shop photos are about 3.5 x 4.75 inches, and the official ones are only a small fraction of an inch larger on each side because of the white border.

- The uchiwas are from the official shop

- A lot of my pictures are crooked, and you may have to rotate some of them, sorry ^^”

Official Shop Photos

Ninomiya Kazunari

Sakurai Sho

Matsumoto Jun

Arashi [group]

Uchiwas

I just thought these would be nice to try and scan :]

Unofficial Shop Photos

Bah I haven’t really been online too much (in Japan) but I’ve been keeping up for the most part.

I guess the most I can say for right now is GOOD LUCK TO OHNO!

Let the haters be haters, we just need to show our fan support as much as we can (and of course, everyone has been doing that)

In the past few days, I had a dream about Ohno (maybe I’ll write about that later) and now my mom is getting mad at me because it’s past 11 and I have an important school interview tomorrow. But oh well, this is MEGA IMPORTANT. I just made a wish at 11:11 for Ohno, let’s hope it comes true.

Cross your fingers, everyone!

OMGOMG. I’ve seriously been hoping for this since like… YTM.

I mean, the one minute cameo in Maou didn’t cut it for me. GOD I’M SO HAPPY!

A rumor came around about a drama starring him and Ryo, and it’s TRUE! Announced in today’s paper (at least, today in Japan?), it’s called Ryuusei no Kizuna/Meteor Bonds (sounds like Meteor Garden O_O). I think I should go buy that paper.

Right after it was confirmed, I read something about them being sibling swindlers. Swindlers? I don’t want another Kurosagi. But thanks to this wonderful translation, it’s all been cleared up to me. I’m still kind of wondering why Nino is the older brother, but oh well. He and Ryo are both a bit short, but Nino looks younger. I’m confident that he can pull off a mature role, though.

Oh, and Toda Erika is in it too! As their sister. I, personally, love her, so I’m glad she’s in this drama. I think she’d go well as a couple with either Ryo or Nino (who in my opinion don’t work as brothers at all), but the more single Nino, the better.

ASKSAGHJKDG I’M SO EXCITED!!!! It should be SUPER GOOD. The plot sounds excellent, perfectly dramatic for my tastes. And three GREAT actors. Ahhh, amazing. It’s in the same timeslot as Maou, so I hope it doesn’t suffer in the ratings as much.

So I’ve been in Japan since the 14th (it was the 15th when I arrived, though), and there is a LOT to write about. But one of the most important things (to me, at least) was seeing the Hana Yori Dango movie! So, here are some random observations~

First of all, my dad. My dad, surprisingly, was the one who reminded me of the movie. Not that I wasn’t reminded enough with the signs hanging over all of the Family Marts, but he said to me, “Wasn’t there that movie you wanted to see? Let’s go see it tonight!” I was kind of shocked that he actually wanted to go see a movie with MatsuJun (more on my family and MatsuJun later) in Japanese, when he doesn’t speak it at all. But with the help of our tour guide, we went to a small theater in Kyoto to finally help me achieve one of my Japan goals!

When we arrived, there was a big HYD poster right outside of the theater. Inside, there were more posters in the stairway leading up to the theater. At the front, they had goods in a small glass counter, like where they’d have candy or something at any other movie theater. It was obvious that a lot of the goods were sold out, but there were buttons, keitai rhinestone decorations, One Love single, soundtrack, markers or something with the manga pictures on it, and the program/photo booklet thing. So I bought the photobook (600 yen) and we went into the theater.

I was actually surprised how similar it was to an American theater. It was only a little smaller, probably due to the location. There weren’t many people there, mostly girls, a few who had dragged their boyfriends along. We were obviously the only foreigners in the room.

The Movie

I know there are a few summaries out there already, and I honestly don’t remember the whole thing. But I thought the cinematography was very well done, aside from the greenscreen. They seemed to use it a lot, like when Makino and Domyouji were driving in Las Vegas, and when they were on the boat in Hong Kong, and when the thief jumped on the helicopter. It kind of stood out too much for my tastes. Also, the F4 Jet looked overly fake to me.

As my dad pointed out, I wondered why they had to stay in such a shabby motel. Maybe it had something to do with the movie, but it just seemed out of place.

But, speaking of the motel…

SPOILER ALERT

I LAUGHED SO FREAKING HARD WHEN [highlight for spoiler] DOMYOUJI WAS HIDING HIS ERECTION! That was one of the golden moments in my opinion, because it seems like everyone in the drama is so chaste, Makino didn’t want to sleep with him at first, he didn’t want to sleep with his fiancee, etc. It makes it seem like everyone is a virgin. And speaking of that…

[highlight once again] I was surprised that Makino got pregnant! I mean, did she and Domyouji first do it on the island? It couldn’t be. Probably sometime between when they got engaged and when they got married. But I loved how Domyouji yelled ARIENAITSUNOOOOO!

So all in all, it was a satisfying movie. My dad didn’t like it, but that was because 1) he didn’t understand it and 2) he didn’t watch the drama. I think for fans of the drama, the movie is just perfect. Maybe a bit over the top, because the drama was very intense at times. But it had all of the pointy shoes, apple throwing, ARIENAITSUNOOOO-ing, and nostalgia that a good HYD film needs.

Oh, and also, I was expecting more One Love than I got. At least it wasn’t overplayed, but they just used instrumental versions throughout and the real version during the credits.

Edit: I forgot to mention the extremely amusing clothes. Of course there were the regular Domyouji shoes, but most of this stuff was over the top. Domyouji wore so much leather, and these hilarious red-and-black striped pants. Rui wore EXTREMELY HOT clothes, like a hoodie and jeans. But the best part about the clothes was on the island, where Domyouji wore a jacket that said on the back (I think) “Shut up and listen to me you asshole!” or something along those lines. It was an authoritative statement (perfectly fit for Domyouji) with “you asshole” in it. And also on the island, Makino wore this shirt with like three English letters strung together, and the word PORN. The O is like a sun or an orange or something. So it looks like this:
AFG
PORN
Incredibly hilarious. Of course, no one in the theater was laughing at that, but it really stood out to me. I mean, if they have someone there to help Jun with English, they should avoid those shirts!

Other Arashi news I forgot from before…

So as you know, Arashi is hosting 24hr TV this year.

There’s also an annual tanpatsu drama for 24hr TV, and it was announced a few days ago that the drama will be called Myu no Anyo, Papa ni Ageru. It will air on August 30 (first day of 24hr TV) on NTV. Jun will play a man who discovers he has CIDP, an illness that causes him to progressively lose functioning of his limbs, hence the title (I will give Papa Myu’s legs). His wife is played by Karina. The drama is based on the true story of Yamaguchi Hayato.

I’m excited for this! Although I’d rather have Nino, ’cause he hasn’t acted in a while (aside from that 1-minute scene in Maou). But it’s great that Jun is gonna play such a tragic role, I’m looking forward to his acting :] Prepare to cry, everyone~

Sources: Tokyograph, Arashi_on

Softsubs are up!

http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_63167.htm

Off to watch some Maou (and actually understand this time!)

So it looks like I haven’t written about Arashi here yet… But now is some VERY IMPORTANT Arashi news to share.

Arashi is singing the song for the Beijing Olympics on NTV! It is going to be called Kaze no Mukou e, and released with Truth as a two-sided single. It’s going to be released on August 20. I’M SO EXCITEDDDDDDD! Since it’s a two-sided single, it will really be worth my money. There are two limited editions and one regular edition, I really don’t know which to order! Oh, and I love the CDJapan description:

Twenty-third single release from Arashi and their first dual A-side single in nearly four years! Track “truth” features an explosively emotional and powerful song that appears as the theme song TV series “Mao” starring Satoshi Ono and Toma Ikuta. Track “Kaze no Muko e” features a melodic upper that appears as the theme song for TV series “Beijing” starring Sho Sakurai. Regular edition includes bonus track “Smile” (not appearing on either of the limited editions) plus karaoke versions of all three tracks.