KAT-TUN 2 Me

December 4th, 5th, and 6th. Tokyo Dome. Arashi 10th anniversary concert tour.

You can bet your ass I’ll be at at least one of those. Probably two.
Anyone want to come with? I live in Japan, and I’m sure I can get tickets, though how much that’s going to cost I don’ t know yet. Must be 18 or over to apply. Leave a comment if you’re interested.

Oh. By the way, the first 3 concerts of the tour are at the Olympic stadium, but I’m thinking I’ll wait for the Tokyo Dome shows, because that place is soooo fricking huge, I’m worried about getting seats where I can’t see anything. Also, as an outdoor venue, it could be less enjoyable if the weather doesn’t cooperate. That said… if it looks like I can get some really cheap tickets at the very last minute, I might just try it.

And as for the simultaneously announced full singles collection, 10 years worth of singles from A.Ra.Shi to Crazy Moon, plus one new song and other member selected favorites on the first press edition…well, that’s going to be a “must buy” for me. I don’t buy a lot of CDs (just all of the concert DVDs, lol), but I can’t resist a complete Arashi collection in one purchase.

~Celestia~

The Oricon chart for the first half year’s single sales is up. Here’s the top 10.

**1位 : 64.6万枚 … 嵐/矢野健太 starring Satoshi Ohno「Believe/曇りのち、快晴」
**2位 : 55.6万枚 … 嵐「明日の記憶/Crazy Moon~キミ・ハ・ムテキ~」
**3位 : 45.2万枚 … 秋元順子「愛のままで…」
**4位 : 37.7万枚 … KAT-TUN「RESCUE」
**5位 : 35.0万枚 … 遊助「ひまわり」
**6位 : 33.1万枚 … KAT-TUN「ONE DROP」
**7位 : 27.6万枚 … NEWS「恋のABO」
**8位 : 25.3万枚 … EXILE「THE MONSTER ~Someday~」
**9位 : 23.1万枚 … 羞恥心「弱虫サンタ」
*10位 : 21.1万枚 … KinKi Kids「約束」

Over half of the top 10 belongs to Johnny’s! Congratulations! Even more fantastic, both #1 and #2 are going to Arashi (and Crazy Moon is still currently charting in the weekly top 10). I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they managed to repeat their 1-2 finish from 2008 on the 2009 yearly chart as well. KAT-TUN is holding a very respectable 4th and 6th place. Also, we have NewS at 7th, and Kinki Kids at 10th.

~Celestia~

I know I’m a week late, but here’s a review of Arashi’s latest single release, another double A side.

Crazy Moon- Kimi wa Muteki

Song- I’m trying to be objective about this, but the truth is, I would like this song a lot better if I hadn’t heard “Believe” first. This song is like “Believe”’s little brother. It’s not a bad song, but “Believe” was just SO great, that it pales in comparison. The sort of chanting part is kind of lame, but the rest is good. Somehow though, I just can’t get excited about this song.

PV- Wow. A glorified dance-shot PV from Johnny’s. Really?? What are they in a gym or something? The only thing that saves it a bit is the fact that this song has an awesome dance. In fact, I’m tempted to call it Arashi’s best single-paired dance ever!

Ashita no Kioku

Song- Pretty good, as far as Arashi ballads go. I’m not a fan of Arashi single ballads in general. In fact, I can hardly name one that I like.  Their album ballads are better for some reason. Anyway, this one has a very nice melody and background instrumentation, and they put a lot of emotion into their singing. It’s not going to go down as one of my favorite Arashi songs ever, but I’m sure it will fit comfortably around the middle of the list. The only thing that bugs me is the random saxophone at the end. It feels cheesy.

PV- So all of the creativity and artistry that was missing from Crazy Moon’s PV is present in spades in this one. WOW!! This PV is just perfect. The guys are adorable and emoting like crazy, the setting is clean and simple, but with some nice little touches to add interest, and the thing with them taking pictures and the pictures ending up showing something different is really clever. I’m still trying to figure out what it all means, but in the end,  I think it’s meant to be partially up to the viewer to interpret.

Oh, and by the way, Arashi’s next single has already been announced, so look forward to that! I was kind of hoping for an album, but 3rd single of the year is nice too!

~Celestia~