KAT-TUN 2 Me

Since I’ve started blogging, I’ve been working on expanding my “blogging skillset” which almost makes me sound professional, doesn’t it? So far, I’ve figured out the basics of screen-caps and OPVs. My next endevor is animated gifs. Here’s my first attempt, a batch from Arashi’s most recent concert tour. It’s just the animations. I haven’t quite mastered special effects or adding text or anything like that yet. Still, I think they look pretty nice. I’ll probably make some for h!p stuff next. Now I just have to figure out how to use photoshop, subtitle things, and if I ever get really really ambitious, design whole websites.

Hope you enjoy!

oooh. tough guys

Sho demonstrates some of the ridiculous lovely “Carnival Night” dance moves

jump my minions! jump!!

could he be any cuter?

Jun-pits! Lol.

What kind of Ohmiya fan would I be if I didn’t include this?

I think Matsujun is the most “gif-able” Arashi member

and whoever would have thought that the sexiest moment of the concert would belong to Nino? Maybe I’m just weak to guys “tsk”ing at me

Nice angst Aiba, but it would have been better if you’d ripped your shirt off too
Sho and Nino’s silly silly dance.

awww. Sakuraiba is Arashi’s 2nd cutest couple

My apologies to anyone with slow internet.

.Celestia

Excuse my language, but it’s about fucking time.

KAT-TUN III- Queen of Pirates, new album to be released June 4th. Lol that it’s queen of pirates. I mean, I know they have a pirate thing going on ever since Kaizokuban, but I didn’t know they were ready to own up to being queens.

Oh KT, you have been making me so very happy lately. <3

~Celestia~

Edit: And minutes later, the tracklist shows up. Credit to kattunlove lj community. Very glad to see that 6 senses is getting a studio release.

I just can’t wait to do a proper write-up on “Don’t You Ever Stop”, so I’ll probably be talking more about dance, PV, costumes, etc later. Right now, I’m just going to comment on the song itself.

As I said in my last entry, I really really love this song. About halfway through the first listen I had a goofy grin plastered across my face and was feeling the urge to dance along with the chorus. Those are both very good signs. Some KT singles, “Lips” for example, took a while to grow on me. Others like “Signal” and “Bokura no Machi de” I never really came to like. This is one, like “Real Face”, was love right from the outset. I can attribute my dislike of “Bokura” to severe Jin deficiency. As for “Signal”, I don’t think light sorts of songs like that suit them very well, so I was a bit concerned when I heard the genre for “Don’t You Ever Stop” would be less “rock” and more “pop”, but those concerns were unfounded. It’s certainly more pop than their last few singles, but still very KAT-TUN, with lots of guitar, intensity, and general loudness. The sound is kind of similar to pre-debut KAT-TUN stuff like “Fight all Night” maybe, but I’m also reminded of Arashi’s “Jidai” and some American BSB or N*Sync, but it’s stronger than those songs. Also, I’m surprised to see they’ve taken some of Morning Musume’s favorite tricks, namely opening the song with a monologue and inserting little sighs throughout. Interesting.

Jin’s just got to have his little “moment” in the middle of the song, doesn’t he? Where the music kind of stops and he says/does something sexy that makes the fan girls scream even more than they already were. The wink/tsking in Real Face, the “Sweety” line in Keep the Faith, now “hell yeah!” in the middle of this.

Speaking of Akanishi, I almost can’t even hear anyone else singing during the chorus (I’m sure the others are singing, I just can’t really hear them), and he has lots of solo lines in the verses as well. Not a bad thing, in my opinion lol. There are definitely some Kame solo lines in the verses and Koki has his little rap section, but I can’t say with 100% certainty that the rest of them are even there. That’s the thing with KAT-TUN. There’s such a huge discrepancy in popularity between KA and TTUN. I read an account where someone was in Japan and they asked a shopkeeper for KAT-TUN stuff to buy for their friend back home, and the shop keeper said, “Okay. Do you want Kame stuff or Jin stuff?” This large popularity gap is, understandably, reflected in the line distribution in their singles as well as focus in their PVs. Now, I love to see lots of Kame and Jin, but having the group be so very…unbalanced worries me a bit. It just seems like kind of an unstable existence, doesn’t it?

Oh, but I’m off on a tangent. Back to the song! Shall I make sales predictions? What the song has going against it is that it doesn’t have any drama tie-in, and that could hurt exposure a bit. On the other hand, they’re KAT-TUN. They will not be wanting for exposure. Also, I’m not sure how much Japan still has their collective panties in a knot over the whole Kame/woman more than old enough to be his mother thing. I’m inclined to think that the worst of that is over, since it has been confirmed that they definitely are not seeing each other anymore. Still, could have an impact. One main thing the song has going for it is that it’s hella catchy. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: Catchiness sells. I think we’ve all seen “good” songs be far outsold by songs with very little musical merit other than a refrain with the ability to lodge itself in your brain for days at a time. Fortunately, I think this song is both good and catchy, a lethal combination when taking in to consideration that it’s coming from KAT-TUN who already have a sizable army of fangirls who will buy the single no matter what. In testament to that, pre-sales were already through the roof when all we knew about the single was the title. Another plus is that there are 4 editions, and if you want all of the solo tracks, which some people undoubtedly do, you will have to buy 3 of them. Also, the highly positive reaction to the radio rip is not limited to my blog. All over the fan communities, people are singing its enthusiastic praise. Based on my observations, the song is getting a warmer initial reception than anything they’ve done since “Real Face”. I can hardly find a word of criticism against it at this point. Honestly, the fan communities are kind of going crazy right now. Anyway, this all adds up to some very promising sales potential. I’d make a conservative estimate of at least 400,000 in the first week, but I really expect them to do even better than that.

This song will be just perfect for a concert, won’t it? I can see it easily working the crowd into a frenzy. Oh how I hope to be a part of that frenzied crowd…

Hell Yeah,

~Celestia~

http://www.savefile.com/files/1517425

Yayayayayay! Here is a radio rip (so not perfect quality, but still not bad) for your downloading pleasure. As for initial thoughts on the song, I think I’ll save those for after I see it performed, so excuse the fangirling, but I’ll leave it at “OMFG I love this song!!!” for now.

 Flails happily,

~Celestia~ 

Okay, okay. Last “Time” clip,at least for a while, but I somehow missed this on my first perusal of the concert. I want to do this soooo badly. It looks insanely fun.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Happy Spring!

~Celestia~

There’s not a whole lot I can say about Arashi’s new concert DVD that hasn’t already been said more eloquently over at Morning Berryz , other than to agree that this is a truly awesome concert, one of the best I’ve ever seen, and mention that the costume designers have truly outdone themselves this time, but there was one particular performance that I felt obliged to share. You see, Matsujun, apparently feeling overheated, decided to rip his shirt open at the beginning of “Carnival Night” and…and… oh sorry. I lost my train of thought there. Actually, it’s a really entertaining performance from all of the guys, and even though it’s not my favorite song, I’d still really enjoy this even if we couldn’t see the sweat on Matsujun’s chest….but we can. And it’s hot.

Can I get a “kyaa!”?

~Celestia~

KAT-TUN’s new song is due to play on the radio in a couple of days with the first live TV performance (already??) a couple of days after that. In the meantime, I’ve been distracting myself with American Wota’s Johnny’s Singles Ranker, but since some of my favorite songs are album tracks or B-sides instead of singles, I just went ahead and made my own lists. I’ve already done KAT-TUN, but here are Arashi, Other (meaning not Arashi or KT), and an overall list. I’ve kept the explanations short so as not to bore you.

Others: I sort of regret that the entire discography of most of Johnny’s groups gets relegated to 5 “other” songs, but Kanjani is too crazy, SMAP can’t sing, I have an irrational dislike of NewS (i’ve got to hate at least one of the groups in the “20 somethings” catergory, right?), HeySayJump is too young, V6 bores me, Tokio isn’t cute enough, and I really prefer groups to soloists or duets. So now that I’ve effectively discredited the entire Johnny’s universe save two groups….

5. Weeeeeek, NewS- Is more of a chant than a song, but consistently gets stuck in my head, and that’s got to be worth something

4. Hakka Kandii, Kinki Kids- Beautiful song, but I like the KT/4 Tops version better than the original

3. Seishun Amigo, Kame/Yamapi- Let’s face it. This really only ranks so highly because Kame is in it.

2. Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana, SMAP- Sweet summer memories and unworldly catchyness

1. Hitoribotchi no Haburashi, Tokio- Such a touching and emotional song. LOVE it!

Now for Arashi! Generally, I like them a lot more than I like their music, but they’ve produced enough music over the years that it’s not difficult to pick out 10 songs that I really enjoy.

10.Rain (Ohno Solo)- I always find myself singing this. Ohno’s voice is awesome, as usual, but it mostly earns this place based on the “gets stuck in my head” factor

9. Pika*Nchi Double- Some of Sho’s best lyrical rapping, especially at the bridge with each member taking turns singing something behind it. That part totally makes the song.

8. Right Back to You- Kick-ass dance, and one of Arashi’s few songs that might almost be considered cool. At least it would if it was still the 90’s.

7. Kitto Daijoubu- Another relentlessly happy song that always puts me in a good mood. I like the section with the individual solo lines.

6. Love so Sweet- This song is so cute. Matsujun’s nasaly solo makes me laugh every time though, especially if he’s singing live. I know this particular single was for his drama, but I’m firmly of the opinion that Matsujun should dance in the front, look pretty, and never ever sing unless he’s being covered by Ohno or at least two of the other members.

5. Pika*Nchi- Very high energy. I like the guitar and how it breaks from the rockish sounding verses to the “dakishimete” chorus.It might rank higher if the star inserted in the middle of the title didn’t annoy me so much.

4. Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi- Cute! I like the triumphant “Arashiiii” part and Ohno’s introduction

3. Sakura Sake- I love to sing along to this one, especially the “Wa-oh!” parts. I listen to this in the morning to wake myself up sometimes.

2. Happiness- Is Arashi defined. Shamelessly happy, shamelessly fruity, and full of “yay!”. It also has my favorite Arashi PV by far.

1. A.RA.SHI- They love the song so very much, and I love them so very much, how could I not also love the song so very much? That, and the “WE. ARE. COOL.!!!” line makes this an easy choice for first.

Are you tired of lists yet? Too bad! Here’s the overall top 20 ranking out of all of Johnny’s (that I’ve bothered to listen to)

20. Love so Sweet- Arashi

19. Butterfly- KT (Jin/Ueda)

18. Yorokobi no Uta- KT

17. Pika*Nchi- Arashi

16. Hakka Kandii- KK

15. Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi- Arashi

14. Will Be All Right- KT

13. Seishun Amigo- Kame/Yamapi

12. Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana- SMAP

11. Sakura Sake- Arashi

10. Your Side- KT

9. Wilds of my Heart- KT

8. Gold- KT

7. Happiness- Arashi

6. Keep the Faith- KT

5. Precious One- KT

4. Hitoribotchi no Haburashi- Tokio

3. A.RA.SHI- Arashi

2. Harukana Yakusoku- KT

1. Real Face- KT

It’s mostly KAT-TUN by the time you get to the top 10, but that shouldn’t be too surprising. As my last order of business, to make this post more kattuny, a bit of Kame eyecandy. Oooh, sexy introspectiveness!

Over and Out,

~Celestia~

And we’re back with part 2!

The next game…is kind of hard to describe. They have to make a bridge from one end of the screen to the other by stopping the bar moving up and down by hitting the red thing with a club. Any part of the bar that’s left hanging off of the already established bridge is lost. That probably made no sense, so let’s just move on to the pictures.

Strategizing. Yes, Matsujun is in fact too good to kneel on the floor with the others.

Just so you can get a better idea of how the game works.

Not enough pictures of Matsujun up in here.

Nino is feeling a bit woozy from staring at the flashing lights for so long. Good thing Oh-chan is there to gently shield his eyes (yes, that’s really what’s going on)

It takes them a couple of tries, but Arashi prevails in the end. In the next game they have to run on treadmills and answer questions. Oh noes! The majority of Arashi members are clinically underweight (according to BMI) or close to it. Instead of making them run on treadmills, perhaps they should feed them some pie?

I took this clip for the cute smile. Only later did I notice the bling. Matsujun really likes rings. Expensive girl’s rings to be precise. Rumor has it that he has recently purchased about $400,000 worth of them, but that’s just a rumor.

Aiba’s pants are falling down, again. Maybe if you ate more pie this wouldn’t happen so often. Ne, Aiba-chan?

What do you mean I’m the only who doesn’t get pie?? Just because I can’t shop for clothes in the little girl’s department like the rest of these jerks…

They won that game too (of course), for they are Arashi and Arashi cannot lose! Only one game left, and it’s air hockey. But what’s this??

Their opponents are cheaply costumed monsters from Power Rangers! Someone ought to tell the producers of this show that Kanjani are secretly Power Rangers, not Arashi.

Matsujun looks happy, but Riida doesn’t have the heart to tell him that Evil Totoro is lurking behind them, ready to eat whoever loses the match.

In a game that takes it down to the match-point on both sides, Arashi finally emerges victorious! This calls for Nino/Jun huggles! The carnivorous totoro looks on in bitter silence. It shall not feast on boyband tonight. It consoles itself with the thought that they are probably all too sweet and fruity-tasting anyway.

I would also like to mention that 5 of Arashi’s 9 points were scored by Nino (2 by Aiba and 1 each by Sho and Jun). None were scored by Ohno, further backing up my MVP and LVP designations.

They win their Disney Vacation with a perfect sweep of all the games. Now, for the bonus round! They have to throw darts at a spinning wheel, and try to win some prizes specifically requested by each of them. The prizes are: fishing stuff, an electronic dj-mixing thing, plush white sofa, some scuba diving equipment, and an obscene amount of playstation games. If you can’t guess which prize belongs to which member, then you don’t deserve to call yourself a fan of Arashi.

“I’d rather be doing this with a blowgun”

The boys aren’t that great at the darts game. Matsujun wins himself his prize, and Ohno wins Aiba his, but all the rest of their attempts result in failure and scrub-brushes. Hey, it could be worse. When KAT-TUN failed at darts, two of them got sent to Hokkaido and someone ended up sniffing horse poo.

Arashi makes a nice stack out of their booby prizes, like little kids playing blocks. Once again, Matsujun is too good to lower himself to ground level.

Jenga!

~Celestia~

We are in a serious KAT-TUN lull right now, and it’s driving me nuts! I know it’s all because Kame and Koki are busy doing like 12 performances of Dream Boys a week or something crazy like that, and I know that soon we will have a new single and all the performances, magazine interviews and such that come with that and a new concert tour in not too long. Right now though….there’s pretty much only the weekly Cartoon KAT-TUN to give me my KT fix, and that’s not nearly enough. I regret that this blog has been so Arashi focused lately. It is not my intent, but they are just everywhere right now, with all their new shows and new album and new concert tour and whatnot. KAT-TUN’s time will come, and soon, but I’ll continue to focus on Arashi for now with this batch of screen-caps taken from Arashi’s recent appearance on Tokyo Friend Park. Basically, they are playing a series of stupid games for prizes, and I’m a sucker for stupid Japanese TV games. For the record, Nino rocks at this. He’s easily Arashi’s MVP when it comes to playing stupid games, but that’s to be expected after all. Our LVP is Ohno…he’d best forget about the games and stick to his strengths: dancing, singing, and being groped by the other members.

First, they perform “Step and Go” but I’m not going to bother with that. On to the stupid games! Seifuku-clad girls explain how this is going to work (they get one of those plaque things for each game they clear and the grand prize is a trip to Disneyland Paris). Moments later, both girls were devoured by the fanged earless Totoro thing over there. No one really cared.

Game 1: Jump on a wall wearing Velcro-covered suits. Arashi thinks that being covered in sticky Velcro is a good excuse to molest each other. Then again, they’d probably think a mild breeze was a good excuse to molest each other.

Jun goes in for a kiss, but Aiba rejects him. How sad.

Nino also rejects Sho’s advances as Ohno looks on in evident concern. Nino, by the way, is the only one to clear this challenge.

A close-up of Sho’s velcro-clad ass being groped by disembodied hands, for your viewing pleasure.

Game #2 is spelling things on a giant keyboard. They finish it just in the nick of time. It’s not very interesting to look at though, so we’ll just move on to #3. One person has to play a certain song by hitting the correct flashing lights (the melody only comes out when the right button is hit) and their partner has to guess the song.

Sho kind of fails, but at least he ends with a fruity pose.

I ask this all too often, but what the hell are you doing Nino?

Nino guesses correctly on the first try, based only off of the one or two notes that Matsujun manages to play. Gloats. Then on his turn, yells at the light and beats it up for not playing right.

Either Ohno is confused, or Nino spit in his eye for still not guessing it right when he managed to play almost the entire song.

On his first try as light wacker, Ohno fails to play a single note, but at least he looks really cute when he’s befuddled.

“Ack! Nino is yelling at me! I hope he’s not too mad to cuddle tonight…”

Ohno makes a series of bizarre faces at Aiba in what I can only assume is an attempt to send him the answer telepathically. His plan fails because telepathy requires the recipient to have a brain.

Aiba nervously fumbles with the headphones for like five minutes while Nino yells at him again. Me thinks that Nino and Reina need to get together and form a support group for overly-competitive idols. He’s seriously shrieking at his teammates this entire game.

A sneak peak at choreography from Arashi’s next single!

Yay! We win! Queer Arashi love circle time!

Next is a series of carnival games of which they have to win at 4, but they won at all 6 of them because they’re just awesome like that. Highlights:

Nino inserts his rod into the hole. (gawd. I did not just write that caption)

Somebody get JunJun in here. I bet she’d know just what to do with all those giant bananas (I’m pretty sure I didn’t write that one either)

OMG blowguns! I’m not kidding, read the subtitle. The Johnnys are training to defend themselves against the crazy fans. Also, Aiba seems to be quite good at blowing things, if you know what I mean. (I swear, I can’t stop myself now)

Seems like a good place to cut off. Expect part 2 in a little while

Keep in touch,

~Celestia~

I posted an entry in Bikkuri project which relates specifically to neither Johnny’s no h!p but addresses more general issues relating to the idol/fan relationship. If you’re interested, link is HERE