KAT-TUN 2 Me

KAT-TUN`s new album came out today! Here`s my non-expert opinion in the form of a track by track review.

Don`t U Ever Stop- Should be no secret that I`m been a big fan of this song right from the first listen. 5/5

Sadistic Love- Intro is great, verses are good, bridge is good, chorus really really needs more punch.  Still, certainly a solid album track in proper KAT-TUN style. 0.1 in bonus points awarded for amusing Engrish. 4.1/5

Rescue- Much like DUES, I`ve already written up my thoughts on this single. In short, this one definetly finds its way into my top 5 favorite KAT-TUN songs of all time. 5/5

Water Dance- Odd beginning. Piano mixed with weird little synthesizer popping noises. I think I don`t quite get this song. It can`t decide if it wants to be a ballad or not, the rap feels terribly out of place, and the chorus is a bit annoying to me. It has its moments, but feels like it`s trying to go in too many different directions at once. 2/5

One Drop- Unfortunately, this is one of those songs that I`ve started to like less the more I listen to it. I mean, it`s not bad by any means, but it`s not one of KT`s best. 3/5

White World- Maru solo. Pretty straight forward pop ballad, but much better than his last solo, which bored the crap out of me. Nothing special or particularly memorable, but I do like Nakamaru`s voice a lot. 2.5/5

Care- Yes, I am among the fan girls who completaly freaked out when it was announced that we would be getting a studio recording of Jin`s solo, Care. Looooove this song! Also, it`s certainly a change to have Jin`s solo be something so sweet. There`s such vulnerability in his voice. 5/5

1582- Strawberry underpants! Lololol. But in all seriousness, a great, dark, sexy solo from Kame. Thank God, because his last solo seriously sucked. Nice use of distorted vocals, `church bell` sounds, violin, and sexy sighing. Catchy chorus too. Might be my favorite new song from the album, in fact. I`m really looking forward to seeing this one live. 5/5

Pierrot- There is a real trend here of improved solos. Koki`s is no exception. I don`t love it, but “Parasite” is one of my least favorite KT songs ever. Still a bit too screamy for my tastes, but at least this one has something resembling a melody. 1.5/5

Hana no Mau Machi- When you hear the opening you think it`s going to be yet another slow Ueda ballad about flowers… and then it turns out to be a somewhat faster than usual Ueda ballad about flowers. Nice, but rather bland. 2/5

Wind- This is Junno`s first solo that he wrote his own lyrics for, right?  Starts out like a ballad and then transitions into some sort of lounge number? The jazz piano is interesting, but other than that, the song doesn`t really stand out to me. 2.5/5

Kimi Michi- This song really reminds me of [un] from the last album. Happy pop certainly isn`t KAT-TUN`s usual territory, so it`s good that they put tracks like this on the album. I like it, even though it`s a bit difficult to convince myself that it`s really KAT-TUN that I`m listening to here, and it sufferes a bit from generic-itis. 3.5/5

Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu- Another unfortunate sufferer of generic-itis. This mid-tempo track feels like filler to me, but maybe I just don`t care for this particular style. 1/5

White X-mas- Lalala lovely. 4.5/5

Neiro- 100% ballad, but with a positive and hopeful feel to it. Feels like a “last song before the encore” candidate. Very pretty. 4/5

Moon- Starts with traditional Japanese instrumentation, and then moves into a tense rock sound, still mixed with shamisen (koto? can`t tell the difference). Now, this is the kind of intense song I want from KAT-TUN. It feels like the theme song for an action thriller set in historical Japan or something. 4.5/5

Overall, I`m having a hard time choosing between this and Queen of Pirates. I`d definetly put it above the second album, but still below the first. I have some issues with the track order though. It seems like they put all the powerful songs first and all the ballady songs last (except for Moon). This makes it so there`s just a big downhill slide in energy level as you listen to the album. Also, all the solos mean that there are far less group songs, so the group songs should all be great. There`s great stuff there, but also the not-so-great. So overall, lots of really good and enjoyable individual tracks, but a bit lacking as a cohesive “album”.

~Celestia~

Boy, this whole SMAP gone wild thing sure is big news here in Japan. The principle of my Junior High discussed it at some length during the morning announcements. It turned into some kind of lecture on not drinking too much.

Anyway, good thing I could care less about SMAP. You KAT-TUN and Arashi boys better be good. I mean, the occasional “pictures with girlfriend” or something is expected, but for God’s sake, don’t go showing any police men your junk, okay?

~Celestia~

My new laptop has arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!

That means that I can get back to regular updates here, probably starting in a day or two. It’s so nice to have a computer again. You don’t realize how much you really use one until you don’t have one anymore.

And in the mean time… Jin did a photoshoot that involved him sprawled on a couch with his hand down his unzipped pants, and no one told me!?!? I thought it was a very high quality photo manipulation at first. I don’t think I’ll post it here though, because that’s shading into not work safe territory.

But damn he looks good.

Gotta go listen to new album previews,

~Celestia~

I know I already posted the video of this part, but GIFs and JPGs are more portable.

And once again, Matsujun’s shirt has found a way to detach itself from his body.

Ohno splashes Nino, who then pretends to be pissed off.

And everybody’s happy again! Tra la la!

Jun slides down the ramp and lands singing….terribly, but it’s still pretty cool.

This whole sliding thing looks so fun. I’m jealous.

Final jump!

Nino wins for altitude, Jun wins best pose, Ohno wins for wearing purple flip-flops, Aiba wins for looking like he`s just standing around in mid air, and Sho is still cashing in on his winnings for his running faces. Yay!

And that’s it ladies and gentlemen! The whole concert. Hope you enjoyed. Remember, comments are love.

~Celestia~

Lots of member-ai during “One Love”.

 ”Everyone put your hands in the middle” somehow turned into “everyone hold hands” 

This picture would have been a lot better if Jun hadn`t insisted on having his hand directly between the camera and his face the whole time.

OhMiya alert!! Kyaaaaaaaaa!

Sho secretly dreams of becoming a speed skater.

Nino and Sho celebrating not losing the “Fight Song” punishment game janken. Sho: “High five? Screw that! It’s hug time!”As a side note, I love how they always seem to get so caught up in the punishment game during “Fight Song” that they mostly forget to actually sing.

Poor Oh-chan, however, did lose the game and had to go in the dunk tank.

Looking cocky pre-dive.

Not so much after.

Then, Ohno’s microphone isn’t working. He`s just having all the luck this concert, isn`t he? Fortunately, he’s sharing a platform with Matsujun who is happy to share until the staff can hand them a new one.

Slowed down for maximum hilarity. Jun announces the fireworks and then startles like a bunny when they start going off.

That’s some hardcore air drumming.

One thing I noticed was that there were quite a few guys in the audience at this concert. Some of them seemed pretty into it. Then I saw this guy….

Everyone else is singing along and swaying with the music, Gramps is sitting there looking utterly stoic and unmoving. LOL and a half.

~Celestia~

2/3 of the way through a concert seems like an odd time to break out the member introductions, but hey, what do I know?

Sucking on his finger is Matsujun’s new second favorite concert move. Second only to ripping his shirt off/open, of course.

Nino does a magic trick.

Then Ohno does some hella freaky thing with his eyes that had me squeaking at my TV in horror.

Aiba-chan, so cute.

And Sho just does rapping which doesn’t make for a very interesting GIF, so we’ll have to move on.

“Oh my God, it’s torch!!!!”

Once again, Sho+Running…

= HILARIOUS faces

Rockin’ out with the guitar player. I like this live band thing.

3, 2, 1 JUMP!

~Celestia~

*Turns out that song is called “Gori Muchuu” (thanks Kristine!). B-side to Pikanchi Double. Talk about pulling a song out of nowhere.

Woo! Fire!!

Look! I made a full set. They didn’t all have a lot of closeups in front of the flames, but I did my best.

You know, the whole waving your arms in line thing isn’t always the coolest, but this one is pretty nice. I think the flames help.

Sho looks back and you can tell he’s barely keeping himself from laughing at their enthusiastic skipping while he’s doing his rap part.

Aaaaaand pose! Not an easy moment to capture. Jun decided to turn around, so he’s out, Leader is singing, and therefore making weird faces every other frame, and Nino is jumping up and down and therefore hopelessly blurry in most frames. Still, I kinda like how this turned out. Okay, excessive commentary over.

Juntoshi moment.

Play rockstar all you want, you’ll still be Matsujun, mega-idol and professional pretty boy. Also, I think he might be getting high of guitar fumes or something.

~Celestia~

So… I’ve done estimates, and I think I can keep my GIF/Screencap series down to 6… I think.

Before I go on with that though, I just can’t wait to show this performance. If you watch one Arashi performance this year, make it this one! (or make it a higher quality copy of this one).

Last performance of the last encore. It’s absolutely pouring (don’t worry, it didn’t start raining until the very end), and the boys just go crazy with this song. What’s it even called? All kanji, hmmm. 5, something that looks familiar, something that may have to do with rain, middle. I could certainly look it up, but I’m feeling too hyper for research.

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They’re coming off a 3 hour concert, so you know they’re exhausted, they’re also soaked, but still, this here is pure fucking JOY. Oh, and LOL at how Jun just doesn’t want to leave at the end. Everyone else is long gone… Matsujun is still shouting stuff at the crowd.

~Celestia~

Check out Aiba’s amazing shoes for his solo. They get a close up, because the cameraman also recognizes how special they are. One side has pink with blue velcro and the other side is blue with pink velcro!

Nino has the cutest smile! As a side note, I think Nino’s hands might be stuck in peace signs permanently soon if he’s not careful. I mean, I know that a lot of girls have fans begging for it, but he flashed peace signs (on camera) 44 times this concert, by my count. LoL.

Funny Riida dance.

Uh oh. Matsujun’s is having a wardrobe malfunction again. Funny how that always seems to happen to him.

Nino backflip pwns everyone else’s little dance solos.

Sho can be so adorably awkward sometimes.

“If I was a girl, this is where my boobs would be”

Some Carnival Night fun, courtesy of Sho and Nino.

Jun basking in the confetti. Aww, Matsujun is always SO happy at concerts.

~Celestia~