My deal with Ohmiya and Sakumoto

Okay, before any Ohmiya or Sakumoto fans get really mad at me, this is not a post where I call you guys crazy/insane/whatever--I'm not belittling anyone for liking these two pairings. You are free to ship whoever you want. I just really needed to write this out because for some weird reason a lot of Sakumoto and Ohmiya have been appearing on my dashboard on tumblr, and I'll be honest--If I had to be honest about pairings I didn't like all that much it would be these two.

Again, let me get this straight, I'm not saying that you are not allowed to like these two ships, I'm just saying I was never a big fan. So what is this post about? Honestly, it's me trying to work out what exactly it is about Sakumoto and Ohmiya that bugs me. What I mean is, I will say I am not a fan of Sakumiya or Ohba or whatever, but that really just means I don't care about it much. If I see someone shipping it on my dash I think "aw that's cute" and move on. When I see Sakumoto or Ohmiya, more often than not I find myself actually raising my eyebrow and thinking "Uh.... what?" like I just cannot see what the shipper is seeing. And I'm not really sure what brings out this instant negative reaction.

Before I get started, I should probably mention, I am a fan of Matsumiya. Notice how I don't say I "ship" Matsumiya, and that's really because... shipping for me implies that I really want them to be in a romantic relationship and I don't. I mean, I love Matsumiya fic and I don't mind reading about them in a romantic relationship but at the crux of it I just really like how Jun and Nino interact with each other and the situations that can occur when two people like them come in contact with each other. So I am a fan of Matsumiya, I don't necessarily ship them. And really, it's that mindset that has allowed me to be pretty impartial to any and all pairings in Arashi because I like Arashi as a group due to the way they interact with each other.

So... back to the question--why the hell does Sakumoto and Ohmiya bug the hell out of me so much? The thing is when I notice things in their shows, I'm not like "ew gross", I'm fine with it. I enjoy it as much as any fan because Arashi interacting with Arashi is great. It's something about... oh shit, I guess I might be blaming fans here. The thing is.... the way people ship Sakumoto and Ohmiya seems really intense I guess?

Like with Sakumoto--their entire relationship seems to be built on lots and lots of angst and them avoiding each other because of what happens in the past (Jun fangirling Sho like crazy). I'm not a fan of angst, so that's probably why Sakumoto weirds me out a bit. AT THE SAME TIME... I find the idea of Sakumoto hilarious because I find it a bit ridiculous? Again, you are free to like and enjoy them, this is purely me talking about what I think of Sakumoto. And it's hilarious. Like, you'd have to be blind to miss that moment in Sharehouse with Jun and his enormous hover-hand, or even in concerts where Jun was grinding up on everyone during Shake It and then couldn't even touch Sho. I'm not blind, I noticed, and I just find it endlessly amusing. Why? I guess because I'm not a Sakumoto fan in the way most Sakumoto fans seem to be. I'm not seeing angst and unresolved sexual tension, I'm just seeing a whole lot of fucking awkward. A whole lot of sexy awkward (because let's be real, aesthetically Jun and Sho are the hottest pairing there is), but the awkwardness kind of wins out in the end.

With that being said what do I really think of Jun and Sho's relationship? I think they have a lot of respect towards each other, and are both incredibly serious people, which is why it might be a bit harder for them to be as silly and touchy-feely and fluffy as the rest of the members. I mean, with Jun the members are rarely too silly with him except Nino (hi, the bias is showing, yes I know), and occasionally Aiba (if you haven't noticed I also have a huge flag for Kaze trio). Sho and Ohno tend to be a bit more reserved about it, Sho especially and again I think it's just due to their personalities as the more serious two of the group.

I guess the thing that weirds me out is how people can take a relationship that really... is quite stiff and awkward on screen and turn it into something romantic. I'm no genius on romance and in general, romance has always been hard for  me to really grasp, so I guess this type of romance that Sakumoto fans seem to like... just really confuses me and I end up finding it annoying. I guess?

Again, hope I'm not offending anyone or any Sakumoto fans. I'm just trying to work out my own thoughts here.

Moving onto Ohmiya on the other hand--their relationship has always, always, looked like fanservice to me and I think it's because the members themselves tried to push it as such. It's the type of thing that always made me feel a bit reserved about boybands and fangirls, and so Ohmiya has always made me... roll my eyes. When I first got in to Arashi, it was like a bingo board and Ohmiya was the obligatory fanservice slot and I have yet to feel any different.

LET ME BE CLEAR - I realise that pretty much everything is fanservice. I know. But Ohmiya was pushed So. Damn. Hard. They had an entire music station talk that just focused on Ohmiya, This was all during 2005-2007 by the way, they don't do it as much anymore. And let me get this clear, I don't dislike the idea of Ohmiya, and it's not like I hate seeing Ohno and Nino interacting, nah, I think it's as entertaining as the next fan, but I guess due to how much they were pushed I'm just hyper-aware that it's not real and can't seem to suspend reality like I do the rest of the time? And then when I see fans freaking out about every single little Ohno/Nino detail and making screencaps of Ohno and Nino obviously being jealous of "person x" for daring to touch their hubby/lover/whatever... well, I will admit I raise my eyebrows and get a bit weirded out. Although to be fair, you do this with any pairing and I would raise my eyebrows. But I guess I seem to see posts like that more often with Ohmiya so most of my annoyance is aimed at them.

So to sum it up, I don't understand Sakumoto!angst and Ohmiya has always seemed a bit more fake than all other types of fanservice because they tried to push it so hard back in the past.

Wow, that is a load off my chest and has cleared up a lot for me. Now that I know what bugs me about it, I can proceed to stop feeling so annoyed whenever something shows up on my dash. I mean, yes there is always the option to ignore, but sometimes the moment is genuinely funny without the obligatory shipping comments. And I just always felt bad for being so petty about something like this. I guess you can't like everything though. >.<