Arashi - Zero G PV + Making

Alright, so I guess you could say this is the "second part" to my The Digitalian review. You can find the review of the actual album [here], and now I'm going to talk about all the extra stuff and boy do I have a lot to say.

So. Let's get started.



Zero-G PV: 
I was never a fan of this PV. I was the previews, the short vers. and all I can think (and still think) is that the choreography is very awkward and embarrassing. In a way I found it amusing because I was determined not to take it seriously, but fans seemed to insist that the PV was 'sexy' and I'm not sure we were looking at the same thing. I honestly don't think those hip rolls are meant to be sexy at all in the original choreography, but for some reason the PV tries very hard to make them seem sexy by zooming up and having all these effects... and all it serves to do is highlight how half the members can't hip roll to save their lives, and how awkward it all looks. I repeat: not sexy. At all.

I'll talk more about the choreo when we move on to the making of though. For now - the rest of the PV? I mean, minus how awkward it makes the dancing it's alright I guess. The effects with the strings and in the white/black room with the wire furniture I actually quite like - aesthetically it looks nice and is interesting. What they're wearing? Well, they're Johnny's. I'm not in to them for their impeccable fashion sense.

So overall... I guess I'm kind of disappointed. Zero-G had the potential to make a really cool awesome PV that would have blown my mind away, but that didn't happen. Part of this is really due to how they try so hard to highlight the hip movements and be sexy, when it just ends up looking trashy, awkward, and ultimately embarrassing.

What this leads in to though is me talking about the making of so... on to that:

Zero-G Making Of:
So, the making of is 29 minutes and to be honest, I think they talk to much throughout it. I honestly wanted more "making" and less talking, but then we got an amazing gem at the end which totally made up for all the talking. I'll talk about that later though. I guess I'll just kind of summarize video and paraphrase what they're talking about. Also point out some really cute moments regarding Jun because he was just... man this guy. He was so adorable (biased Jun fangirl if you can't tell).

So the PV really likes to switch between showing footage of them filming the PV and then footage of the members talking about various things - mostly the PV/dance and the album, but there are some mentions of Hawaii and their 15th year and what they'd like to do.


Sho talks mostly about how they named the album, originally he'd come up with something like "Human Digital" but no one was interested in that at all, and then "Digitalian" just kind of came up. Ohno (and  Jun too) talks a lot about how Jun sort of had this "idea" in his mind for the song and Ohno kind of tried to stick with that. He mentions later how he kind of wanted a "cute" and "catchy" feeling for the song (READ: SEE NO SEXINESS). Aiba does mention how this is probably the sexiest choreography Ohno has done, but that's not really the point. He mirrors Ohno in saying it's supposed to be a sort of catchy and funny dance. Aiba also mentions the hip rolls and says that they definitely give off the feeling that it's a bunch of 30yr olds doing them (so... at least they are also aware it's not that sexy? xD).

So that's generally what they talked about - or the parts I found interesting that they mentioned. Nino also mentions how he'd definitely throw up if he went on a boat (for Hawaii) and Aiba mentioning at some point that the dance... like it is supposed to be over the top but in a good sort of way. Also, Aiba just being cute in general when he falls over, and saying his ass hurts from sitting on the wire props.

Oh, there also was a moment when Ohno talked about actually coming up with the choreography and how it was slightly more difficult because you have to think of the formation between the 5 of them and how he wanted to focus on that as well - which I think he did a very good job off. I will talk about this later during the actual dance part - but yay for Ohno.

Some other cute things: Jun being a huge dork and always yelling out the "SO TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT" after Sho's solo line will never not be absolutely hilarious. People who do not realize MatsuJun is a super-dork are clearly blind. In general I enjoyed all the little moments where the members were going over the choreography again, or practicing, filming. I thought those were interesting and you really see each of their personalities stand out. I feel like every time they showed Jun he was asking something, clarifying something - he really is a stickler for details.

Nino and Ohno fooling around as always also shows up. At the end, the 5 of them are sitting around talking about how Ohno wants to film a 1-cut take of their dance to show to us fans and Nino trolls him by not showing his face.  Also Aiba has a funny moment here where he's like "Ohno should come up with a closing comment" and then Ohno pushes it on to Aiba and Aiba is adorably (and without embarrassment) is just like "Feels good right?" and Sho's face after that was HILARIOUS. You can tell he just wanted to burst out laughing but he kind of holds it in and Nino (being the little ass he is points this out).

Then they talk more about Ohno's idea of showing the dance in one cut and Nino continues being a brat and is like "Well if we make a mistake can't we just say we're just adding in our own original thing?" and Ohno is like "well... the fans will notice". Oh Nino. Haha.

But moving on to the most awesome part of this making of and the part I'm so glad they added because it actually made me like and appreciate the choreo and realize Ohno did such a good job.

The thing about Ohno's choreo is that the hip rolls and thrusts are hardly the most impressive or interesting thing. What I loved was  how the members transitioned from one formation to the other and all the little detailed movements that follows the beat. Specifically a lot of the shoulder/arm movements, and even the footwork they do that is very much with the beat. That's what Ohno is really good at I find, little movements and this really showed in this choreography. They happened to do this dance on a floor where you could really hear the members footsteps which I think was great because by hearing their footsteps you realized just how to the beat they were and how in sync they were too - so that added and interesting addition to the dance you don't generally get to see in concerts or TV because you can't hear their footsteps. The thing about this dance is that it's actually quite heavy - it has a lot of stuff to it, but it flows together incredibly well. 

This is actually a very detailed and well-thought out choreography and I'm just so disappointed that the part the PV highlighted was honestly one of the least interesting (in my opinion) part of the choreo. Also when you put it all together the hip movements don't look as awkward - but that's also possibly because the boys are much more relaxed and a lot less concerned about trying to look sexy. You can tell they had a lot of fun with this. Especially Jun and Sho who kept calling stuff out. And Oh my god, Jun. It's kind of hilarious because he ends up screwing up the first time and Ohno is just like "MATSUMOTO" and Jun just drags Ohno back to his original position. But the part I love most is how after Jun screws up the rest of the guys just keep going. I think that's brilliant and amusing. Also Jun just really loves the "SO TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT" part even though that's more of a background line than at actual part of the lyrics. What a dork. xD

Them doing the whole dance was just awesome. I really love the choreography for the opening of the song up until.. Nino's solo line I think, and I also love the choreography for all the solo lines, which I thought was quite cool and creative.The thing is - like the boys said throughout the video, this is supposed to be a catchy, cute, funny dance - not a sexy and cool dance which the PV (and the news program) tried to push it to be. Yeah, it's got the hip rolls and hip thrusts, but the choreo has so much more than that and I really do love it at the end of the day. I could watch the dance for Zero-G over and over, and the thing is - I can't even say the same thing for Tokei Jikake no Umbrella (which the more I watch the  more I realize isn't as great as I initially thought) which is supposed to be Ohno's "best". Zero-G on the other hand, I think was very well done and really showcases Ohno's talent in coming up with good and creative dances for the whole group.

So proud of Ohno. *wipes tear from eyes*.

And there we have it - my review of The Digitalian all wrapped up. I have a few more posts lined up after this as well so stay tuned :D