3 posts from July 2008

TTT_TTT This is written by a single mother whose 6th-grade daughter suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukemia in toddlerhood and presently has adenomatous goiter:

The reason why we, mother and daughter, became Arashi fans

Around April of last year, my daughter started to say that Aiba-kun, who appears on a certain animal show, is "cool".
I was anti-Arashi, and so continued to ignore such declarations by my daughter.
And since she never asked me, not even once, to buy her this or that magazine or CD, I figured her interest was merely a passing one.

However, when she saw this particular magazine on display at a store at around October, for the first time ever she wanted so badly to own an idol magazine.
Yes.
By that time, she has completely become an Arashi fan.
Not only that, her favorite is not Aiba-kun, but Sakurai Sho-kun.

But, as expected of someone who was anti-Arashi, I didn't take too kindly to this development.
Still, I did rent their CDs from the rental shop, but only their albums.

So, the reason why even I myself became an Arashi fan...
At that time, my daughter did not have many friends at school, and it seems that she suffered from some light bullying.
It might also be because of her condition, but when the two of us had a huge argument once,

My daughter appealed to me in tears:

"I've tried killing myself."

"But, I've stopped after becoming an Arashi fan."

She said something like that to me.
To be quite honest, I was surprised.
Outwardly she showed no such signs, and was very bright and cheerful.
Certainly she didn't hang out with friends after school and such, but since I thought our relationship as mother and daughter was going well,

I was honestly shocked by her teary-eyed appeal:

"Mama, you don't try to understand me."

It was from then on.
That I seriously began to consider just what kind of group this Arashi is, that my daughter loves so much.
I carefully read the Arashi books I bought her. I read their articles in magazines.
And so "anti" changed to "understanding", and further transformed to "fan".

In a sense, this was quite a stunning turn of events for me.
I mean, to be "anti" is to find everything about something wrong and disagreeable.
But when one tries to "understand" it and becomes a "fan", everything turns to happiness, and one can only look upon it in a positive way.
I think the biggest surprise was my own personal change.

And now we, mother and daughter, are fans of Sakurai Sho-kun, and we've been able to collect all of their albums and several of their singles.
We constantly listen to Arashi songs, whether in the house or in the car.
Not only that, we've also bought several of their concert DVDs, and watch them while going "kya~ kya~" together.
We also went for the first time to their concert the other day, and have come to spend such a lovely and wonderful time together. ♥♥

TTT_TTT I feel like giving everyone a group hug *virtually group hugs everyone*

◦ Tada Shinya wrote the lyrics to Kaze no mukou e! Was happily surprised when I saw his name on the credits. Congratulations Tada-san on your first A-side (and such a high-profile one at that!).

You know...I was so cranky during my junior days...Well, there's the fact that I was young and immature, but I was a junior from 2nd year in middle school to 3rd year in high school, so it was kind of like wasting my so-called youth, wasn't it? There were too many things I couldn't do, like hang out with friends after school at the shopping district --- my friends could do it, but I couldn't. When I leave home in the morning, there'd be fans waiting outside the house, and when I go home from work or school, they'd follow me all the way...I was so cranky about a lot of different stuff. But after I became part of Arashi, I completely stopped minding at all. Instead of thinking, "There are too many things other people can do that I can't," I thought the opposite: "I'm doing a lot of things that other people can't do." I began to recognize the positive side of it. The fans say, "Arashi songs cheer me up," and I think, "I've gotta work hard." Yes, it makes me very happy. It makes me realize that I'd never get to experience any of these if I didn't have this job. That's why I thought, it's no big deal, I should just enjoy the ride despite not being able to do some things. I didn't mind that much anymore. I think that's what changed after I became part of Arashi --- I didn't mind anymore the...restrictions of being famous. As much as possible, I want to keep it real. I'm glad these five particular guys make up Arashi.

You know...I'm what you call a lion at home but a mouse abroad. All along I've thought of myself as just shy (laughs). But about half a year ago I realized, "Am I not really just tough on my own turf?" (laughs). I'm not really shy; I have no problem talking with people I've just met. But, there are only a handful of people whom I can completely open up myself to. That's why, my true colors come out when I'm hanging out with friends I've known for a long time. I can speak my mind with the members too. During our junior days, Matsumoto was like a younger brother to me, but lately the five of us have come to be on an equal footing, haven't we? I feel like I'm saying this all the time, but lately, it's really good with us. Even in the movie, the most fun scenes are the ones when the five of us are together...Yeah, I'm glad I'm with members which can make me feel that way. I mean, setting aside whether we get along or not, or that maybe, just maybe, there's some other group out there where I can feel at home, the fact is that we are that kind of group, and I'm glad. [Arashi 04150515]

Thank you powers that be for reprinting it ♥ Took me forever to tear all 200+ pages...nearly tore the first few ones since I didn't read the instructions at the back ^^; Be careful when you get yours...

 
--- Do you want to further explore newscasting?
Of course, as long as they let me. It's extremely interesting, and there are many times when I think that I'm glad they're letting me do it, but I'm not thinking of specializing only in newscasting. I'm an idol (laughs). I'm in Arashi.

--- If I may venture to ask, is Arashi big right now? (laughs)
A lot of people tell us that, but I really don't know (laughs). I don't know whether we're getting big or not, but I do think it's getting interesting, because I really feel that the other members are doing work that could only be done by them and not anyone else. There are more ways for us to express ourselves, be it Ohno's exhibition, or my being a newscaster......I think the people around us are making it more interesting for us, because things couldn't be done just by ourselves. I think it's only just recently that the general public has come to see that too.

--- Do you feel it in your skin?
Hmmm......well, I don't not feel it, to be honest.

--- When do you feel it?
............I guess when the five of us are together. We'll be talking, and I'd just suddenly look at it from an objective point of view......Matsumoto Jun, Ninomiya Kazunari, Aiba Masaki, Ohno Satoshi --- wow they're in the same room.

--- Like, why are you in the same room, when each of you has gotten big (laughs).
We're still ridiculously goofy as usual though (laughs). But I think it's a good thing.

--- You yourselves have remained the same, yet everything around you is rapidly changing, isn't it. How do you deal with those changes?
The more things around us change, the more important it is for us not to change. If we change, then there would be no point in being us. It's not as if the public just all at once turned to look our way. I think it's more like people glanced in our direction from time to time, and gradually began to see us clearly. I guess it's important not to stray in order not to let go of that attention.

--- During 24HOUR TELEVISION in 2004, Aiba-san read a letter to the members saying, "Let's definitely make our dream of becoming the top come true". What exactly do you think this "top" means?
Hmmm............I wonder. But I think it's not about the numbers. It's not about drawing the most number of people to concerts, or selling the most CDs; I think it's about being loved. It's probably about wanting to be loved by everyone (laughs). It's like, yes, we want to reach the top of the mountain, but when we get there, our fans will also be there together with us. We want to be a group which can make one proud to say that they are Arashi fans.

--- Do you yourself feel proud that you are part of Arashi?
Yes, I'm proud. That has never changed. No, it's not something that I finally thought of just now, and whether everyone knows it or not, indeed, Arashi is precious. [cut, July 2008] ♥

Watched this HanaDan bansen where they showed vintage pics and footage of Kaga Mariko (Domyoji's mom), and O.O Had no idea she used to be such a babe (like a cross between Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot *_*):

☆ Came across this interesting read while searching for something else (somehow this happens a lot...). It's written by a guy who is aspiring to put up his own company in five years. For someone who's not a core fan and probably hasn't read/watched most of their interviews, he sure has got Arashi down pat:

I've been thinking a lot about Arashi of Johnny's lately.
In a good way of course.

I've tried to think about why:

* First...their individual strengths are amazing for such young people.
Idols were usually folks who are older than or the same age as me ---
there was Tanokin trio and Hikaru GENJI in the past,
and now there's SMAP, TOKIO, kinki etc.

I think Arashi is the first male idol group
where all the members are younger than me.

I watch each of these younger guys,
with their strong personalities, doing their thing,
and I go, "Wow~".

Receiving high praise in Hollywood, being a great singer,
being highly-educated and serving as a news commentator,
having the lead role in a drama series, excelling in variety shows.
I think this is the first group since SMAP
where each member is getting to show off his individual talents.

Second...they're also exhibiting their strength as a group!
While having impressive abilities as individuals, they're also showing amazing power as a group.
Arashi no shukudai-kun on NTV is an extremely funny late-night show.
And their songs are really good, especially lately.
They have a lot of great songs, and not ones simply about love or romance or whatnot.
And in my opinion, their singing ability is the best compared with the other groups.

Conclusion:
I am probably greatly impressed by the fact that:

For guys who are younger than me, each of them are fully showcasing their personal talents,
and as a group they unleash a power that amplifies those individual strengths many times over.

The members of other young groups have impressive abilities too,
but Arashi is different in how they use theirs.

I think Arashi makes full use of their individual talents for the benefit of the group.
In other words, I get the strong feeling that all of them consciously bear in mind
that each of their strengths ultimately serve to empower their group to the fullest.
I think each of them clearly understands his role in the group,
and in their given positions show off their individual abilities,
such that 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 is not 5, but becomes 10, even 20.

On the other hand, there is a strong feeling of "Me! Me!"
among the other young groups.
The members' respective roles in the group are unclear,
and it truly feels like they're not getting to achieve their true potential.

Arashi represents the ideal team management for me.