KAT-TUN 2 Me

This video is spliced together from what I got with my camera (which is not a video camera) of the cheering competition at the middle school I teach at’s sports festival. It wouldn’t have anything to do with Johnny’s except….. if you happen to be a Kanjani fan, you might want to check out about a third of the way through (:55 or so).

Online Videos by Veoh.com
The sports festival was really fun, by the way. If you want to see more of the festival, it’s in my Japan journal HERE.

Yeah yeah yeah,

~Celestia~

It’s a sort of double feature today. First up, the long promised “How well do you know KAT-TUN?” quiz. I tried to make it kinda hard. Remember, it’s meant to be done without any outside help. Hope you like it!

And 2ndly, a very special moment that I cut from this week’s Cartoon KAT-TUN. Bakanishi at his finest, I think. Here’s a GIF to give you a preview.

And one minute of pure Bakanishiness.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Lol. Someone was feeling hyper when they filmed this episode. I love how he’s sniggering at himself the entire time, and also his pigeon impression. Well, I’m just glad that Jin seems so happy lately, aren’t you?

Dan dan daaaaaaan!

~Celestia~

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve assembled various clip of Arashi’s members singing in order to look more closely at their individual voices. Arashi presented some different challenges than I had with KAT-TUN (THIS POST). For one thing, I’m afraid that Arashi lip-syncs more often. Also, a surprisingly high percentage of Arashi’s songs either don’t even have solo sections, or they have only one and it goes to Ohno. Finally, KAT-TUN are, on average, much better singers than Arashi. Ohno is better than most, if not all of KAT-TUN, but most of KAT-TUN is better than the rest of Arashi. Anyway, that’s my objective opinion after critically reviewing lots and lots of footage to put together both of these posts. Read both posts, and you can decide if you agree with me or not. Don’t worry about Arashi though. If this were a personality contest, they’d win by a mile. Of course, if this were a sexiness/looks contest I’d have to go back to KAT-TUN, but for dancing it’d probably be Arashi, and I’m getting way off topic here, so I’d better end this train of thought right now.

We’ll go with AMNOS order.

Aiba has the most distinct voice in Arashi. It’s soft, breathy, and somewhat feminine. Personally, I’ve come to really love his voice, but I can recognize that listening to Aiba sing could take some getting used to. However, his voice is very sweet and fits him well, and he’s more often in tune than some of the others. You know how if you get really emotional about something (be it happy or sad) you get choked up and it’s hard to sing and especially hard to sing loudly? I think Aiba’s voice kind of sounds like that all the time. As sensitive as he is, that could very well be what is actually going on. In an interview about his last solo he even said, “While I was recording it I just couldn’t stop smiling, and I think you can hear that in my voice”.
Online Videos by Veoh.com

Matsujun. Sigh. Do you know the pain I went through to make this video? I was looking so hard for clips of him singing that didn’t make me either giggle or cringe. I was only somewhat successful. I’m sorry, but this is the best I can do. I don’t want to be too hard on him, but his nasal tone is just horrible, and he sings off key more often than not. It’s just a good thing he’s so pretty and charming. I will admit that his singing has improved somewhat. Sometimes he sounds like he’s really singing instead of just whining into the microphone. The other reason I can tolerate watching him sing is that he just looks so HAPPY when doing so. He sounds bad, but I can almost forgive him because he’s so darn cute.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Nino is the second best singer in Arashi, after Ohno. I’d also say he’s the most improved. He can harmonize well with the other members, probably because he has a lot of knowledge of music, being accomplished at both guitar and piano as well as doing a lot of song writing. He has good range and his voice is relatively strong, for Arashi anyway. I’ll subtract points, because when he’s off key (not too often) he’s way off key, and because occasionally he gets into an irritating nasal sound, particularly on upbeat songs, though never near as bad as Matsujun, thank God. I really love him when he sings ballads, because he knows how to put a lot of emotion into his singing. That first clip completely breaks my heart. Oh, and I think it’s important to note that he sang that part in “Rock You” (last clip) immediately after making a mad dash all the way across Tokyo Dome with Ohno in hot pursuit.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Ohno is a very good singer, indisputably the best in Arashi. Nice smooth tone, good stregnth and range, and to top it all off, he’s amazingly consistent. He can be throwing crazy dance moves all over the place, but you’d hardly know he’s even out of breath when he opens his mouth to sing. With Ohno, it’s honestly really hard to tell whether or not he’s lipsyncing sometimes. Lipsyncing or live, he almost sounds the same. Naturally, he has a lot of exposed, sometimes almost a’cappella, solo sections in Arashi songs. Can I think of a real weakness? Maybe that his sound is a little safe, meaning there isn’t much of an edge to his voice, but that’s just nitpicking really.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
As the rapper of the group, I neither expect nor require Sho to be able to sing very well. He’s not too bad, but he’s not too good either. His voice pretty much stays in the lower range, and he gets to sounding strained quickly if the song takes him out of that zone. Also, he always seems to sound hoarse when he sings, even when he’s not. Weird. Anyway, sometimes he does melodic raps, like in Pikanchi Double (2nd clip), and his voice is just perfect for that, but I think I’m more comfortable with him staying away from straight up singing.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
And that’s the most work I’ve ever put into an entry for this blog. Weeeeee! Oh, and BTW, I’m totally in love with the new single’s B-side “How to Fly”. Here’s the download. You really should give it a listen, ne? How to Fly- DOWNLOAD

~Celestia~

It’s another post with four shorter posts combined into one to make one super entry!!!

First: I am officially going to a KAT-TUN concert! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!! I’ve purchased tickets to the evening show in Ishikawa on July 20th, and even found someone to buy my extra ticket. To say that I’m excited is a humongous understatement.

Second: KAT-TUN is going to be releasing their second photobook on August 4th. Sweet. I’m not going to decide whether or not to buy it until I see previews. Here’s hoping for lots of shirtlessness and for Kame to stop trying to have facial hair before they shoot it. Seriously. His features are too delicate for that, and it makes him look homeless.

Third: The PV for Arashi’s new single “One Love” has been released. Since this single is the theme for the last installment of the ever-popular Hana Yori Dango, I imagine it will sell pretty well. Let’s take a look.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Very cute. The whole “painting come to life” motiff is cool, if a little CG heavy. Or is it a wedding cake come to life? They look like they’re supposed to be painted, but maybe they’re just supposed to be made of frosting or marzipan? Yummy. Nino’s wearing shorts again. It makes him look more like a little boy than he already does. Tee hee. Anyway, like so many other Arashi songs, it’s nice and sweet, if a teensy bit bland. It’s like frosting! Ohhh, maybe that’s the connection to the PV. Also, what’s with the Irish-sounding music at the beginning? First Milky Way, now Arashi. Is a bagpiping trend about to sweep Japan?

Fourth: It’s back to KAT-TUN for a couple of parting quotes about their new album taken from the Oricon Style. I don’t take any credit for translating these, though I tweaked just a couple of things into smoother English. The full translation can be found HERE

Kame: I like Nakamaru’s voice!
Jin: Me too!
Junno: Me too!
Kouki: Me, not so much!
Maru: Oye! *laughs*
Kouki: Someone has to say it right!?

Maru: In Nannen tattemo, there’s one part of the lyrics that goes “Jinjin, its hot.” and Akanishi sings the line before that. That’s why that “Jinjin” starts sounding like Akanishi Jin’s Jinjin and I had fun recording

The Interviewer asks who does the “chu” at the end of 12 o’clock. Hey! I asked the same question!
Junno: SEE THERE! WHO!?
*All five turn to stare at Akanishi*
Jin: NO! NOT ME!
Junno: But, you sang all the way to the very last
Jin: I DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFINITELY didn’t do it! Really, it isn’t me!
Junno: It’s not me
Ueda: Not me either
Kouki: I didn’t too
Kame: I…. didn’t too
Junno: Kamenash-kun!?
Kame: I… can’t say for sure I didn’t do it… I think. But when did I do it?
Maru: AH I DID IT!
All 5: EH~~~~~~~!?
Maru: I lied.
Kouki: I thought it was Kame though
Jin: If it was going to be done, it would be one of the two of us (Akanishi and Kamenashi)
Kame: But doing a “Chu” is more like me-ish, but I don’t remember how I did it…

I like Jin’s reasoning. It’s like, well, if someone is going to do a kissy sound it’s got to be either me or Kame, and I know I didn’t do it so… And Kame accepts this logic like, don’t remember, but I guess it must have been me, huh? They all find the very idea that it could have been Nakamaru to be completely ridiculous. Ah KAT-TUN’s hierarchy.

Chuuuu,

~Celestia~

My latest little project, which turned out to take far more time and effort than I expected, is a series of short videos I’ve created to showcase each KAT-TUN members’ singing voice. I’ve put together between 3 and 5 clips of what I consider to be some of their best singing out of my video collection. Jin and Kame have 5 because they have many more longer solo sections to work with. Ueda has 3 because his was already as long as Kame’s with only 3 clips. The rest have 4. I am not a professional singer nor am I a vocal expert. However, neither are the majority of KAT-TUN’s listeners, and I know what sounds good and what doesn’t, so I think my opinions are valid. Let’s look at them in KAT-TUN order, shall we?

Kame is very good at tricking you into believing that he sings better than he does. It’s all in that excellent showmanship of his. That’s not to say that he has a bad voice. He’s a much better singer than your average guy, but for being one of the lead singers in a very popular group, he doesn’t have that great of a voice either. He’s learned to work well with what he’s got, and I commend him for that. Also, his singing has improved a lot since his early junior days, so I’ll commend him for that too. His vocal range is a bit narrow and he sounds strained sometimes, but the overall tone and sound of his voice is quite pleasant, which counts for a lot in my book. I think I like him best singing ballads. He has a very sweet voice for them.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
A couple notes on Jin’s: there’s none of that crazy high singing in this, and if you aren’t familiar with the song, he’s the one doing all of the harmonizations in the Harukana Yakusoku clip (the one where they’re in the cage things suspended from the ceiling). I think I’ve raved enough about Akanishi’s voice and how I want to make love to it, so I’ll just let the video speak for itself. If I have to pick a weakness, I’d say lack of consistency.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Next up is Taguchi. Junno’s voice is a bit… problematic sometimes. He’s got plenty of power behind it, and he can hold notes well, but a lot of the time there’s just something off about his singing. He’s really good when he’s good, and almost unlistenable when he’s bad. Of course, there’s only good singing examples in here, so don’t be afraid to listen.
Online Videos by Veoh.com

Koki was the most challenging part of this project because most of his solos are rapping. Thankfully, I managed to scrounge up a few examples of him singing. I think Koki is actually a good singer, but unfortunately, his singing voice is kind of annoying. He just tends to overdo it. I think the clip of him singing Arashi acapella might be the best I’ve heard him sing because he’s not trying to “perform” so much, resulting in a much sweeter sound.
Online Videos by Veoh.com

Ueda, Uepi, Tat-chan, Princess, Uebo, Ueda-hime. He is not only distinguished by having the most cutesy nicknames in the group, but also by having the most distinct voice. I think with Ueda either you love his singing or you hate it. His voice is so very very breathy when he sings quietly, and borderline shouty on the rare occasions when he sings loudly. It’s really more suited to rock than pop. That said, he definitely has his moments of brilliance, he can hold notes well, and his voice blends very well with any of the other members. Also, he sang a lot of Jin’s lines when he was on hiatus in America, and that says something.
Online Videos by Veoh.com

Last as usual, but certainly not least, Nakamaru. Maru has a lot going for him. He has great range, a pleasing and non-offensive tone, and good control. Unfortunately, Kame’s biggest strength (showmanship), is Maru’s biggest weakness. Somehow, when I’m watching, he manages to convince me that he sings worse than he does. It’s because he usually looks so unsure of himself and awkward. Also, I get the sense that he’s hesitating sometimes, like I know he could sing better if he’d just let loose, but he’s holding back. Watch this video of some of his good singing, and I bet you’ll be impressed and maybe, if you are new to Kat-tun, surprised.
Online Videos by Veoh.com

I’m considering doing this for Arashi but the prospect of intentionally listening to lots of Jun solos in search of material is daunting, so I’ll get back to you on that one.

Do Re Mi,

~Celestia~

“Making of” videos are the best. The DUES footage is about 40 minutes long, so I’ve taken the liberty of splicing together the parts that I found amusing for a much more manageable 6.5 minute video. This ‘making of’ isn’t quite as amusing as Lips, but there is tons of great stuff. Best of all, everyone seems awake and cheerful in this one. If you want to see how the PV was made, this isn’t the video for you. If you want to see the boys messing around and being silly behind the scenes, then you’ll probably enjoy this.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Some quick explanations for those of you who don’t speak Japanese. When Kame burnt his hat, the others are complaining about how it (and he) stinks. Oh, and before that they were making fun of his stupid girly socks. When Koki is yelling “Hora!” it’s because he’s so excited that his name is on his water bottle. Later, a group of them are doing a skit and Kame’s talking all weird because he’s bringing back a horrible horrible impression that he does sometimes.

There are two traditions in KAT-TUN “making of” videos. One of them is Koki trying to spin something. First there was the wheel-barrow in Keep the Faith. Then there was the chair in Lips. DUES features his most successful attempt yet, a garbage can. The second KAT-TUN ‘making of’ tradition is Junno falling asleep in a chair. He explains that he’s not tired today, but he’ll pretend to be asleep for a bit to keep up tradition.

Bye-zors,

~Celestia~

I just realized that Jin’s name can be fashioned into a wide variety of puns. Yes, you should be worried.

I’m somewhat opposed to doing the same kind of entry twice in a row, but there were some pictures of Jin from a July magazine posted in a KAT-TUN community that I simply must share but there’s more to this entry than just eye-candy, so I’ll let myself off the hook. I ought to shrink these… but I just can’t.

This picture literally had me shouting obscenities at my computer.

Gold boots aside, another great picture.

Flawless close-up

And now that I’ve fangirled over Jin’s beautiful face, I’ll move on to fangirling over his beautiful voice. His normal speaking and singing voices are both lovely, but his crazy high falsetto is another thing all together. I regretfully acknowledge that there are many better professional singers out there than Jin, but there are very few who have a better vocal range. He can sing from low notes all the way up to notes that are well above the staff. To demonstrate, I’ve just spliced together the two best examples I know of. They come from ‘Never Again’ and the ballad version of ‘Gold’. Now, he may well be lipsyncing this in these live performances (I think not on the first one but probably on the 2nd), but even if he only sang like that in a studio, I’m still hella impressed that he can do this.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
And that, my friends, is what you call pure God-given talent. Rumor has it that one of the tracks on the new album features more of this ability of his. From what I’ve heard in previews so far, I already like the new album much better than their second one, so if that rumor is true, it’s just icing on the cake.

Mmmm cake,

~Celestia~

Here are three shortish things of interest.

#1, a friend drew my attention to this.

Apparently it’s from some hentai manga involving demons, and the girl over there has decided not to destroy humanity because there are too many pretty guys in the world. Johnny’s save the day yet again! She has good taste, doesn’t she, though I wonder if the Jimusho knows about this. I’ve almost worked out who is who in the pictures. I’m thinking that Arashi is Top-sho, middle left- nino, middle right-ohno, bottom left-Jun, and bottom right- aiba, but I’m not entirely sure. For KAT-TUN, I’m thinking it’s top-kame, middle left-junno, middle right- maru, bottom left- koki, bottom middle- jin, and bottom right- Ueda. I’m fairly sure about those actually.

#2 involves NewS again. I was looking at Oricon on Tuesday night, and was shocked to see that NewS’ “Summer Time” was no where to be found on the rankings. I was sure that NewS was releasing a single the week before KAT-TUN, so I didn’t understand how this could happen. NewS released a single and it didn’t even make the top 20 on its first day?!? Did one of them have some kind of major scandal or something? Was it revealed that Yamapi’s favorite hobby is kicking puppies? Did Ryo finally snap under the stress of being in two active Johnny’s groups at the same time and go on a fan-girl killing spree? Turns out they just released the single on Thursday. Don’t ask me why. Singles release on Wednesdays. Everyone knows this.

#3 Features one of Jin’s bestest friends, D-boys member Shirota Yuu. He’s only loosely related to KAT-TUN, so, to make up for that, here’s a recent picture of Jin with Yuu and his brother vacationing in Hawaii. Unofficial photo so, no one report me to the Jimusho, k?

The point of this blurb is that Shirota Yuu played Tuxedo Mask in the Sailor Moon musicals for a couple of years (rofl), and I happened to come upon a really amusing clip of him. I know that the text says, “I’m the Prince. I’m the Prince. I’m a prince of the Earth” but every time I listen to it I hear, “I’m a prince of the ass!”. Not to make fun of Japanese accents or anything, but that shit’s just too funny.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Tsuki ni kawatte!

~Celestia~

Yessssssssss!!! Giving up on the PV being released worked! Like how a watched pot never boils, right? It’s only the 4 minute PV, so I’ve just gone ahead and included the soundless fan-cam version of the beginning. This is EPIC. I hate to use that word, but for a Japanese PV, it really is. Wait. Watch it before I talk about it anymore.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

And the full, 8 minute, version via fan-cam, just so you can see the beginning and the end.

It has been deemed mandatory that any discussion of this PV begins with freaking out about Jin’s hair. I’m serious. In all the Japanese music shows’ reporting about the PV, the headline has something to do with Jin’s hairstyle. So… Jin’shairJin’shairomfgjin’shairhelookslikealotrelfjin’shairhotjinextensionsjin’shair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now that that’s finished, I can move on to the rest of the PV. I’m sure they will explain the plot eventually, (WHAT?? An idol PV with a plot??? YES! A plot!!), but as far as I can tell, KAT-TUN are some kind of mercenaries or perhaps just vigilantes in a futuristic and possibly post-apocalyptic city and they go to a mysterious club which might also be a cult to free the people from the influence of some evil glowing crystals. Their methods involve smashing the crystals, dancing, and wandering around while looking really really hot. Also, time freezes on occasion, the people may or may not be holograms, and strangest of all, they show Jin playing chess, so he is apparently smart in this alternate reality. Weird! The boys are victorious in the end, the happy clubbers dance on, not a glowy glass ball in sight, and KAT-TUN kick open the door and stride out of the club looking as bad-ass as possible. All in a days work, Miss. All in a day’s work. Okay, so that all sounds really stupid when I write it out, but it’s actually very cool. I could probably spend a long time analyzing this and trying to figure out the symbolism, because I’m pretty sure a deeper meaning is intended (if the text after Jin walks into the club didn’t make that clear) but I think I’d rather enjoy it for what it is than try and think about it too much.

So, I know where 90% of Johnny’s PV budget is going…. Like two dozen separate scenes! Special effects out the wazoo! Extras (and lots of them)! Johnny’s PVs have extras how often? Like once in a blue never? The other Johnny’s groups must be jealous. I know I would be if I were them. Heck, NewS is considering selling themselves to raise money for future PVs. SEE!* Arashi just twirled and jumped around in slow motion for their last PV. And then, KAT-TUN gets some kind of mini-feature film.

I can’t wait to see the making of… which is coming out with the album in like a month instead of with the single next week (aaaaaaaaarg!!). I wonder if they’ll show them talking to the extras, the girls in particular, or if they will keep some kind of fence between the females and KT. I hope they don’t mention the name of that girly Kame was dancing with, or she might start appearing on the fan girl’s hit lists.

I don’t know where else to put this observation, but Koki looks like such a school-yard bully when he starts grabbing people’s crystals and smashing them. Like, “nyaaaa! broke your toy!” and then the club-goer starts crying and runs home to his mom or something.

*Okay, so that’s just another crack-sub (by the same person who did the last one), and even though I’m not a fan of NewS, I had to post it. It’s really funny, and I’m amazed at how well the subs match the PV.

I am so frustrated. DUES is due (lol pun) to be released in less than a week, and a high quality version of the PV still hasn’t been aired yet. We’ve got commercials, previews, and even a fan cam version of the whole thing (because they’re playing it inside the Johnny’s stores now), but they have yet to show it on TV. It’s 8 minutes, 8 minutes! long and looks to be all kinds of awesome, but I don’t want to really write about the thing until I can show you a decent version, so I’m stuck. I tend to get rather impatient where KAT-TUN is concerned, don’t I? Well, I finally gave up on the waiting and found something new to amuse myself. I’ve made another OPV. This time it’s all about Jin’s baka-ness, because there are plenty of OPVs of Jin being sexy, but I don’t feel there are quite enough of him being stupid. Some of the clips I used are kind of bad quality… my apologies. I couldn’t find better versions. Hope you can enjoy it anyway. Clips used range from early Junior days to just a few days ago.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Oh, and since Youtube viciously deleted anything and everything Arashi related, I’ve reposted my previous two OPVs on Veoh. Links!
Nino Harassing People

Silly Arashi Dances

Warm wishes,

~Celestia~