Arashi - Are You Happy DVD [liveblog]

I literally wrote these notes as I was watching it so... bare with me ^^;;

Opening: Nino's giggle after singing his mini song about Aiba is so cute <3

• Live band right on stage, nice!
• Jun has slowly moved from taking 50% of the Penlight to control to like... 95% between Digitalian and now xD
• I am loving how they did the carts, making it see-through but with changeable lights. So nice.

Love so Sweet: I've just hit LSS and this concert does feel very "HAPPY" ^^

• MATSUMIYAAAAA
• Also can I just say - I love how they haven't really edited their voices this time around. THANK YOU.

Member Intro: What is this rad tune the band is playing for their intros? SO HAPPY :D

• How did Sho even say TOKYOOOOOOO for that long? I ran out of breath waiting for him to stop.
• Going from arena to this... they look so tiny even on DVD. Oh dear. 

Thoughts on Sho's Solo: Um. It's nice. I'm not a fan of Sho's solo on the album either so... ^^;;

• The background visuals for To my Homies is so cute ^^
• TENNEN <3333333

Drive: I am laughing imagining Jun actually driving while jamming out to music like this.

• Sakumoto parents w/ Takoyaki gang kids? Sho is the trophy wife.
• Holy fuck the penlight effect for Drive. WHAT A NICE TOUCH. This is already turning in to one of my most favourite performances of theirs, PERIOD.
• Aiba just lying on Ohmiya's laps.
• SERIOUSLY THE PENLIGHTS..

Step and Go/DYGI: Aw the ending of Drive w/ their overlapping hands leading into Step and Go is so cute <3

• JUNTOSSSSSHI. TOUCH THE BUTTTT
• This whole part in the car is SO CUTE
• "Forever feel my soul" is forever one of my most favourite English lines of theirs in a song, WTF
• Junba and Sakumiya <3
• Also whooooa Ohno's voice cracking and going off, whaaat.
• OMG JUN FISHING OHNO <33333
• This honestly just seems like such a fun concert. It's nice after how structured their past couple concerts have been - they finally get a chance to just let go and be super silly.
• Small Matsumiya during DYGI <3

Thoughts on Bad Boy: The opening talk in to Bad Boy is SO CUTE
I like it, but I expected a bit more to it. I expected it to be more intense dancing wise. But I like the mime movements a lot and to be honest, I think the silliness actually matches the overall tone of the concert so within the context of the whole show I don't mind. But dance-wise it is still a bit lacklustre for me. It's not bad, but like I said, I expected a bit more intensity.

Two to Tango -> Fight Song: Ohno really likes adding fluttery hands to his choreos

• Two to Tango looked a lot more interesting in the AYH documentary rehearsals ^^;; (but I also blame the way they're cutting the angles? Like wtf)
• the penlights *___*
• AoKimi is potentially seizure inducing, like... wow flashy lights
• Seriously their carts for this con are so cute <3
• Juntoshi fishing in fight song, omfg that's so cute <3
• THE ENDING TO FIGHT SONG WTF

MC: Sho's boot's that he's wearing for the MC - hot damn.

• I find it so amusing how confident and excited Arashi were for Aiba hosting Kouhaku.

Thoughts on Baby Blue:
This is really life. How long has it been since we've heard Jun's voice completely edited and nasally? I feel like I'm back in 2004 watching this concert honestly with how unedited the sound is. Also, I feel cheated that Jun isn't wearing a hideous baby blue suit, but to be fair he looks gorgeous like this. Also this performance is just so cute with all the pics with Jun and his friends. ALSO ALL THE PICS WITH BABIES. AWWWW. Please let him get married and have kids one day. Jun is so cute. I love him for shit like this. Singing a song like this and showing all his friends and uggggh T-T /bias af. SO CUTE.

Miles Away: MILESSSS AWAY FUCKING MINDBLOWN AND THE WAY THEY ENDED UP FUUUUUUUCK.

• CAN THE CONCERT JUST END RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW? CUZ SO PRETTY *___* 

Wonder Love: Oh damn, Wonder Love is also amazing. Another favourite of this concert.

Thoughts on Maya Kyou:
Oh poor Nino. This is easily the best solo performance of the concert though. Too be we can't see half of it. Especially if you have subs on. To be fair...  think if you have a really big TV and turn the subs off, it's not that bad? xD (No, it's still pretty bad, oh poor Nino). With that being said - and this is the same during Wonder Love as well. I looooved the lighting effects in the back. But you know. I would've also liked to see Nino?

Thoughts on Amore:
Aiba looks so good during this song. Why is he so good looking. Seriously, Aiba during concerts is like... fuck. He's so great. I love him. Stole my damn heart during arena and stealing my heart during AYH. ALSO ABS. Also I love how Aiba does shit like this. I feel like Aiba has joined Jun in the ranks of making super entertaining solos. I'm not even talking dance-wise, but just flat out entertainment and being an absolute blast to watch. What a guy. I love Jun, but Amore is definitely my second most favourite solo performance of this concert. Aw <3. I love how they specifically found fans with Aiba uchiwas to pinpoint on. Seriously this whole performance is so cute. I love this.

Seishun Boogie: Omfg the opening to Seishun Boogie. I love this so much, I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time. JUN SEX NOISES YA'LL. LOOK AT HIS DUMB SMILE AT THE END HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING. I AM DYING.

• I honestly love how silly this concert is. T-T

Happy Medley: Happiness with bongo drums? Never knew I needed this in my life until  now.

• Aw the penlights are spelling out Arashi <3
• More Matsumiya <33333
• This remix with Love Rainbow/Troublemaker is so great. I fucking love this. 

Encore: I seriously love Arashi's costumes for their encore. Could we have Sho and Aiba's jackets?

• MATSUMIYAAAAAA
• MATSUMIYAAAAAAAAAAAAA
• Ugh I can't take all the matsumiya, they're fucking married.
• MARRIED
• I AM SO BIAS I AM SORRY

Final Thoughts

Hands down, one of my most favourite concerts ever. It's so fun. Also - the fact that the sound isn't edited makes it so much better. I feel like I haven't heard Jun be this nasally, or Ohno fuck up in so long. And it's great! I love it. I love hearing Arashi singing again. But going back to how fun this concert was, don't get me wrong, Popcorn, Love, Digitalian, Japonism (dome), all great in their own way but I feel due to their themes (except popcorn), they were often very stiff. ESPECIALLY for Japonism. There wasn't much room to fool around, have fun, but in AYH you actually see the members smiling and laughing during their songs. Definitely a great concert for a great album. Well done Arashi.  

Digitalian Concert - Quick Thoughts

These are literally just random thoughts I have while watching the concert - in point form.

• Ever since the LOVE concert I realized that having the Japanese subs makes watching the concert 50,000x more fun (cause I can sing along).... my download doesn't have the subs. =( Oh well. 
• Jun's heart rate is ridiculous, like how is he alive o_o
• The opening to the concert is so cool =D ommmgggg
• Cool costumes, Asterisk has a pretty sweet dance
• Wonderful... are these guys part of a cool boy band or sassy girl group (SORRY BUT SERIOUSLY THE DANCE JUST MAKES ME THINK THAT)
• Aiba is so fucking precious this guy omg, Disco Star, I can't even. DISCO STAR-SAMAAAAAA - I would've been yelling that so hard if I had been there
• I think... I mean, I love Aiba's solo but there is something about Sho's performance of Hey Yeah!! that makes me like and enjoy the song so much more than I originally did--and I already like Sho's solo to begin with. So. Great for him. Although the speech in the beginning...
• Seriously "Who are your real people" for 友達って何だろう (tomodachitte nandarou) (I think that is what the Japanese on the background screens say). Who gave that a green light? Why couldn't they just stick with "Who are your friends" or if you really want to have the word "real" in there for emphasis... "Who are you real friends" - but "real people"? 
• But shit I really love Sho's solo and ommmg the background video to his solo looks so cool, I actually wish they'd release a separate video just for it
• And I'll admit I do think the opening speech mixed with what his song is talking about... works really well... except not sure why he thought to do it in English--I guess cause it sounds cooler?
• Actually, I think it's entirely due to how awesome the backing video is for Sho's solo that I am so impressed with his performance
• By the way, for anyone who even remembers my review of The Digitalian album, I've gotten over how fucking weird One Step sounds in the album -- don't get me wrong, I've always liked the song but it doesn't weird me out inside the album anymore either
• I never understood why people were so happy they sang Love Wonderland but I think this is like how Intergalatic worked during the LOVE con -- I love the song in concert but outside of it I'm still pretty meh about it. 
• Performance is seriously all different sorts of cute and adorable though
• ...I really wish they would stop putting in the FULL instructions of their next section in to the MC part of the DVD and actually give us the entire god damn MC. DAMN IT.
• Nino's solo is... uh. Yeah. Whatever
• Surprisingly, I like Jun's solo better than Ohno's 
• The thing is Jun's song was never that interesting for me and in terms of performances this has to be his most tone-downed performance since... 2004? But I feel like his dancing has actually improved a lot and therefore, despite being quite toned down, it still ended up being really interesting and entertaining
• Ohno on the other hand is still better at dancing than Jun but... his choreo for his solo was pretty sparse--I mean it had the usual Ohno style of being very smooth and flowy but without much "wow" factor, so I felt like I didn't get much out of it--I could have just listened the song by itself and felt the same.
• I looooove the costumes for Tell Me Why and TRAP (and btw yes the performance was pretty damn awesome, nice choreo Ohno :D)
• The costume change from TRAP to Troublemaker.... how......? 
• How long do you think they had to practice Hope in the Darkness for them to perfect it because daaaaaaaamn o_o
• I feel bad for Sho since he's the bass--he has to move his arm the entire song ^^;; 
• Always like this song but whenever I hear it now I'm going to remember this performance and just get so many feels omg seriously, so freakin' cool!
• Finding it slightly amusing how Ohno is so graceful, Nino looks like he's having spasms, and Sho, Jun and Aiba are pretty much being robots--especially Jun, his face is so serious
• After seeing just how dead serious ALL of them were, it's nice to see them smile again for Zero-G
• And now we're at the 15th year anniversary medley. I won't do every song but some quick thoughts regardless:
• I think it's nice that they wore their BLAST costume for this 
• Also I realized the banners on the side of their hot air balloons has the logos for all their past concerts, that's pretty cool actually
• Jun looks like he's having a blast during Kotoba Yori
• OMG the members with each group of juniors starting from Sakura Sake is so cute! ^_^
• Matsumiya moment during Happiness :D
• I wish they had sang Truth instead of One Love for 2008 =( Haven't heard that song being performed in a while
• I think it says a lot that I.. know the last song they sang was from the album but I do not remember the name at all... it was the song I said was a typical Arashi song. Kimi something? 

Okay, these are my thoughts on the latest concert DVD. Also yes I have watched DVD 3 and this was one of the best things they've done. I loved watching them make takoyaki xD Also copious amounts of Jun, yaaay. But more dressing room shenanigans would be nice--I guess they really don't do shit like that though. 

One thing I really want though is I wish Jun could be on Jounetsu Tairiku. It's the show that did a documentary of Nino in 2006/2007 when he was doing Iwo Jima and Marathon. I want them to do one one Jun when he plans concerts, but I guess they'd never release something like that. Damn it. I love watching him do stuff like that though and I'm glad we got to see more of it recently. I wonder when he started? It can't have been right away.... 2006? 2005? ...2004?! (he was only 21 at that time!!). I really wonder. 

Anyway, enough rambling!

LOVE Concert - quick thoughts/review

The DVD came out when I was too busy to write a review and despite not being a huge fan of the LOVE album, I actually really like this concert and what they did with a lot of the songs. In fact this concert really helped me come to like the LOVE album a lot more. Since it's been so long since the DVD came out though - and because I've rewatched the concert multiple times already so I'm not going to just sit do a live review, but I will sort of speed through the concert and give my general thoughts of what I thought throughout it - and then I'll end off with specific thoughts on each of the solos cause that's always one of the big things about Arashi concerts.

So without further ado - the LOVE concert

Arafes 2013 Review

Arafes 2013 has come out and I realized I haven't really talked about their concerts in a while (not surprising considering how much I post here in general), but I actually have quite a few things to say about both Arafes and I wanted to do a little comparison of the two and what they changed/added etc.

Popcorn DVD - quick thoughts

So. I'm currently in the middle of final exams so I haven't actually properly watched the DVD from beginning to end - also my copy of the DVD hasn't actually arrived yet (it's been shipped but it'll take a couple weeks to get to my place) but I have seen bits and piece and I'll just give some quick first time impressions.

Solos:

• Rakuen - I've never really liked the song that much but Aiba just seemed so happy and energetic during his performance it was kind of hard not to enjoy it. It's definitely made me enjoy the song a lot more
• Fly on Friday - Again didn't like the song much on the album but Sho made this song REALLY fun. I loved the whole call-and-response thing he had going on (which the song really lends itself too) and overall it just seemed so energetic. Also the costume Sho wore (which is something all the members wore) was one of my favourites, and was really cute. Definitely something I wouldn't mind watching over again just by itself
• Two - The performance focused a lot more on Ohno's vocals than his dancing so honestly I wasn't as interested. Obviously he did it very well. One thing I'd like to note though is when Ohno does body rolls.... damn, his body looks so fluid. Like it's made out of water or something. It's amazing - and he did body rolls a lot so.. *__*. Haha. But overall this was a performance that focused more on his vocals as it was very simple so honestly I'd rather just listen to the song. 
• We Wanna Funk, We Need a Funk - ...*snorts*. I'm sorry but there's... just a lot of second hand embarassment I kind of feel from this and it's mostly just due to what Jun is wearing which is this horrendous glittery pimp coat. I am pretty supeficial and I am the type of person that will dislike a performance purely because what they're wearing is crap and this would be it. I didn't dislike it ... yeah, a lot of second hand embarassment. Oh Jun. 
• Sore ha Yappari Kimi Deshita - Boring song on the album, but seeing Nino play the piano is always love and after Jun's solo it was... a very nice breath of fresh air so very enjoyable in concert form. 

So basically as you can see for the solos.. the one's I liked the least on the album ended up being a lot more enjoyable in concert and the ones I loved in the album - I still enjoyed overall but for Jun's mostly.. a bit too much second hand embarassment to really warrant me re-watching it over and over like I did with Shake It or Come back to Me. I love the guy - I love what he can pull of but.... this one was just not my style. And not much you can do for a song like Two - it's like Take me Faraway - I love it for the vocals.

Other parts

• The opening video of them being manufactured is actually kind of creepy... The image of Sho made me think more of Yoko from K8 and yeah... I just found it creepy. Also them popping out of a toy pacakge made me think of N*Sync
• Their opening costumes are hideous and as much as I loved the dance for Up to You I could not get over the hideousness of the costumes
• Super Fresh is AWESOME - I find the choreograph for it so cute
• Cosmos - a song I also wasn't all too impressed with also had a great choreo
• The song after Tsuide Oide I had (surprisingly) actually never heard which really surprised me when it started playing - I now realize it's from the Your Eyes single which explains why I've never heard it. I really like the song though actually now that I have :) 
• The water screen is absolutely amazing and I love how beautiful it is. For all the other amazing stuff they've had in past concerts I've never truly thought "oh I want this in every concert" but the water screen is something I do want in all their next concerts. It's absolutely beautiful and very impressive and it just gives you this sense of "wow...". I bet it costs a lot of money and uses up a ton of water though -_-;;
• The Popcorn-Man video was really, really cute and the boys were just adorable in their costumes. Sho and Jun especially. 
• ...and I think that's about all I can remember for now. If I feel up to it I might translate the MC but I feel like by the time I get around to it subbed versions will be out anyway so maybe there's no point. 

All in all it seemed like a great concert and it always amazes me how they manage to always add in new things that makes each concert just as exciting as the last one. :D I like AraFes more though - and BNMF in Fukuoka Dome will always be my absolute, absolute favourite concert of theirs, next one being Iza! Now.