KAT-TUN 2 Me

This blog won an International Wota award in the “other” genre specific (not h!p or AKB48) category! Yayay! Thanks to anyone who voted for me!

~Celestia~

No, despite the title this isn’t about NewS, but it is news! Hahaha! It’s a double pun, because how many days in a week? 7! And how many consectutive days will KAT-TUN be performing at Tokyo Dome this May?? That’s right, 7!

Basically, they’re breaking their own record on Tokyo Dome performances. Each night will have its own theme too. KAT-TUN, breaking records, just because they can.

AND NOW FOR AN OFFER YOU SHOULDN’T REFUSE *EDIT* Thanks, I think I’ve got this worked out now, but I’ll let you know if the situation changes!

I wasn’t planning on going to a Tokyo Dome concert really, since it’s so large and there are a lot of bad seats out there, but in this situation, I might just have to give in. It’d be nice to find someone who speaks English to go with me. On my end, I’m pretty much positive that I can get tickets. I live in Japan, and I know several ways to go about securing them. On your end, you need to be pretty much positive that you will be in Tokyo on the appointed day with the money (in yen) to pay for your ticket. I’m not sure yet how much that will be, but rest assured that it’s not going to be less than $200. I won’t be trying to make a profit here, just cover whatever I had to pay for the ticket. Also, only females over the age of 18 please, and I can’t make any commitments unless you are sure you can come.  I know it’s early, but any takers???

You know you want to,

~Celestia~

PS. The release date for “Rescue” has been set: March 11th, just 1 month after One Drop. KAT-TUN kind of had a lazy 2008, but 2009 is shaping up to be much busier for them! Incidentaly, I saw the covers to One Drop. They put some kind of fur stole on Jin. It makes him look girly. Reeeeeal girly.

I just wanted to say that I LOVE Arashi’s new single, “Believe”. I’m especially glad since I thought “Beautiful Days” was terribly boring. Like, I can’t remember the melody within minutes of listening to it.

Anyway, I’m really excited for this single now. I’m sure that in the current Arashi favorable climate, anything with their name on it would be a big seller, but this song is really great, so I’m predicting some huge oricon numbers.

You can download it HERE

It’ll sure be a challenge for karaoke fans though.

Yay!

~Celestia~

New singles have been announced for both Arashi and KAT-TUN, my two favoritest boybands in the world!

For KAT-TUN we have “Tactics” the theme for Maru’s new drama “Rescue”. Release date is unconfirmed, but the title is confirmed on Oricon, so I’m sure it’s legit. *EDIT* Oricon has now apparently changed their mind and is saying that the title is “Rescue” *EDIT* I’m surprised that they’re doing two singles for drama themes in the same season (the other being “One Drop” for Kame’s drama). The release dates probably will only be a month apart or so! I guess when it rains KAT-TUN it pours, or something.

As for Arashi, another double A-side: “Believe” the theme to Sho’s movie “Yatterman” and “Kumori Nochi, Kasei” which isn’t actually an Arashi single at all but rather an Ohno solo, the theme to his new drama “Uta no Onii-san”. Release date is March 4th.

I’m glad to see the guys getting so much acting work that they’re obligated to do double A-sides and really close together releases for the themes.

Oh, and speaking of “One Drop”, if you’re interested, here’s a download of the full radio rip of the single along with its two B-sides (DTS and On My Mind). I like all three songs, but I’ll refrain from commenting further until I see the PV.

LINK

As a final note, yesterday I was doing an English lesson about “favorites” with some elementary school 6th graders (about 11 years old). Quite a few of the girls Cited their favorite singers as “Hey!Say!Jump!”. The more I think about it, the more I realize that it was a really good move for Johnny’s to debut them when they did. Your average 11 year old might not be as likely to become a fan of a group of guys in their twenties (though some do, like the 6th grader with the Koki keychain on her backpack), but they’ll line up to become fans of a group of cute teenagers. With HSJ, Johnny’s is recruiting a whole new generation of fans. I can see it in action.

WAAAA!!! I almost forgot. I was surprised and pleased to find out that this blog is nominated for the 2nd Annual International Wota Blog awards in the “other” category. “Other” meaning not H!P, AKB48, or Jrock. I have a feeling that the IW crowd and the regular readers of this blog don’t coincide much, but it’d be cool if you’d vote for me. As a bonus, if you’re interested in checking out some other quality Jpop blogging, any of the other nominees would make a great place to start.

Nominees HERE

Vote HERE

Bye Bye,

~Celestia~

The epic running of the TaNaka.

Fail!

But kind-hearted Yuichi foolishly cartwheels back to help. Never trust a Koki when he’s down.

Jin+Bell #3. Jin+Bell= <3 ?

Pin love! Sharing a cart. Looks like that bell has some competition.

I wonder what lucky girl Jin’s giving this cute smile/ thumbs up to. On second thought, it’s probably Pi, isn’t it?

Bakanishi teasing Nakamaru is a must for these concert encores.

We are K-A-T-T-U-N!

Finished!

~Celestia~

Nerd alert!

Double nerd alert!

I think it’s hilarious how hard Ueda has been working lately to convince everyone of his manliness…

and then he immediately ruins it by blowing a kiss and smiling like this.

Group shot! The victorious KAT-TUN pirates sail off into the sunset.

No Juniors around, so Kame tries to seduce Junno instead.

’sup YamaPi! So cute how happy Jin is dragging him on stage (I tried to take some screencaps, but he just looked demented because he was grinning so hard), and how Pi almost never strays from Jin’s side the whole time he’s there. It’s also cute how YamaPi writes in his blog that they still have sleepovers at each others apartments and stay up all night watching Dragon Ball, but unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of that.

This is exactly what it looks like. Koki walks up directly behind Junno, and Junno rubs his ass on Koki’s crotch. Blink and you might miss it, but it’s definitely there. Slow motion for maximum gayness.

This was practically begging to be made into a .gif.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

End Part 4,

~Celestia~

This Lips performance is too funny with the guys all attacking each other with their microphone spray stuff. Koki and Jin think so too.

I’ve already written about Bakanishi’s hilarious losing battle with his malfunctioning microphone, but still, that shit’s too funny not to mention again.

You just had to touch it, Didn’cha Princess?

Junno takes it like a man.

Nice hat.

Jin+Bell #2

The reign of Taguchi? Screw that! All hail Princess Tat-chan!

Hey guys? Let’s dance!

And with just 1 shot, fangirl casualties are reported in the thousands.

Kame, by being a total manslut, finishes off the rest of the audience.

End Part 3,

~Celestia~

And on with the show!

Dorky-pants Kame. So cute!

Whoa there! Any Junno x Koki fans in the house?

“Please. Kiss. Me.” In English, no less! The only proper response to this is, “OKAY!”

TENGU TIME!! I luv the tengu.

Uh oh. Looks like Kame is having problems getting it up.

But Maru uses his “Hand power” to help. Don’t look at me like that!!! I can’t be the only one who thinks the tengu noses are ridiculously phallic-looking and this whole scene is therefore hilarious.

Tengu are great air musicians.

This is the absolute epitome of “Huh??”

Speaking of “huh?”, does anyone know why the hell this dog is on stage here? It’s never acknowledged. It never shows up again. It’s just…there during this part. One of the juniors playing a joke? The single most random thing to occur during a KAT-TUN concert? Both perhaps?

Hahahaha!!

Oh no! Tengu attack! I love how Kame seems to have narrowly avoided being shot in the crotch.

End Part 2,

~Celestia~

Oh, I’ve had some fun with this.

We start off the concert nicely with “Taboo”, and everyone is practically dripping with sex…except for Kame who decided to chew on a twig. It’s not even a piece of grass, like a farmer might chew on. It’s a small branch with leaves and everything. Oh, but no worries. He redeems himself several times throughout the rest of the concert.

See? 

Jin+Bell shot #1.

Say Jin, your hair is really pretty.

“Like, I know, right??”

Speaking of the overly elaborate costumes, Maru seems to have the outer portion of an entire dead animal attached to his shoulder for no apparent reason.

Junno rallies his mob of loyal supporters  Rise up, and we shall defeat AKame and usher in the reign of Taguchi!!

Cute. Lots of TaNaka love in this concert.

Stop seducing the Juniors Kame! There will be time for that after the concert.

Oh well now look what you’ve done! I told you to wait!

Koki’s internal monologue, “I am such a badass”

Well…maybe not quite ; )

End Part 1

~Celestia~

My QOP DVD(s) are safely watched and in my possession, so I feel like I can finally write about it. Before I get to my favorite performances, a couple of general observations.

-I would unhesitatingly call this KAT-TUN’s best concert tour yet!

-I like that there was actually a little bit of a plot to the concert. Pirates (KAT-TUN), arrive on an island inhabited by hostile tengu, run around and fight with them, steal magic pocketwatch things, sail away. Okay, it’s a simple plot, but more of one than most concerts have!

-There’s something about the way they walk… I have a new theory, that to be a popular member of a Johnny’s group, you have to master the strut. Case in point, out of all of Arashi, only Matsujun really knows how to strut, and look who’s the most popular? Out of KAT-TUN, Ueda glides or skips, Maru’s all elbows and knees, Koki stalks, Taguchi strides and bounds, but only Jin and Kame really know how to strut and swagger. Coincidence?

-Have you ever noticed how elaborate KAT-TUN’s concert costumes are? I mean, you’ve got shredding, braid, buttons, ruffles, glitter, fur, feathers, sequins, and rhinestones galore…and all of that is on any single given jacket. It’s like they were attacked by the contents of a large craft cupboard, but somehow it all works out. Oh, and Ueda is definitely wearing a skirt again for the first costume.

-Jin’s performing is just so damn good when he’s actually trying. During this concert (and the one I watched), he vocally embellishes just about every single one of his lines, adds lots of harmonies where there were none, and he looks excited and happy to be there too. Compare this to most music shows where he looks dead bored and like he’d much rather be home sleeping off his hangover. Sigh.

-I’m pleased with how much more I can notice from watching my own DVD as compared to the low quality footage online. I’d really recommend buying it if you like what you see.

Okay, now my two favorite performances, one from the beginning, and one from the end.

Keep the Faith

Watch Keep the Faith- Queen of Pirates in Entertainment Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
I was really looking forward to seeing this concert performed, and it did not disappoint. High energy, and sexy all over the place. Jin’s hair is beautiful, Ueda is definitely wearing a skirt, Junno’s got another “final fantasy” cape, and you work that pimp cane, Kame! Oh, and Jin really really likes that bell, which I’ll probably demonstrate more in the screencap post.

Crazy Love

The last song before the encore started. It’s so beautiful, and it seems so fitting too! I’m proud of how well all the guys sang. Needless to say, Jin’s big solo line in the middle is amazing, but everyone else did a very good job too, especially Nakamaru on his first solo line.

Next time, probably soon, it will be lots of screen caps, with (hopefully) witty commentary, so look forward to that.

Blissfully,

~Celestia~