KAT-TUN 2 Me

Some tracks from the Cartoon KAT-TUN II You Album have been requested, so here they are. Remember, comments are appreciated if you’re downloading.

3. Splash

4. Bokura no Machi de

6. Key of Life (Maru solo)

9. Samurai Love Attack (Junno Solo)

11. Someday for Somebody (Kame Solo)***

12. Movin’ On

13. Utai Tsuzukeru Toki

Cartoon KAT-TUN 2 You (disc 2)

2. Love or Like

Keep it Real,

~Celestia~ 

The Queen of Pirates concert tour has officially begun! Yay~! I’ve seen pictures of the merchandise, and it’s stunning. I’m going to have to bring a lot of cash with me to that concert… I’ve also heard talk of the several of the guys personally handing sign-boards and uchiwas to fans in the audience. I think I’d just die on the spot if that happened to me. Here’s the fan-reported set list (may not be 100% accurate, all set-lists are subject to change, promotional offer not valid in some locations, see website for official rules and restrictions)

Taboo (I knew it! I knew that would be the opening song)
Keep The Faith
Gold
Jumping Up
No Matter Matter
DUES
12 o’clock
Koki solo
Kame solo
Junno solo
MC
Ai no Comand
Lips
Wilds of my Heart
MC
Father/Mother
Jrs (Kis-My-Ft2, tee hee hee I’m still giggling at that name)
Six Senses
Hell No
Jrs (ABC)
Maru Solo
Ueda Solo
Jin Solo
Bokura no Machi
Signal
MC
She Said
Yorokobi no Uta
Crazy Love
MC

Encore
Real face
Peaceful Days

Encore 2
Our Story ~Prologue~
Harukana Yakusoku

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Almost all of my favorite songs from the new album made the cut, and almost none of them that I really didn’t like are there. I guess there are a few things that I wish were included that aren’t. I was hoping for “Your Side”, but since that’s a B-side and they need to make room for the ballads from the new album, that was kind of a long shot. I also really like “Will Be All Right” in encores somewhere, but overall, I’m really quite pleased with the list. I’m looking forward to attending the concert even more now!

And now some Arashi quotes. Someone at Intl Wota (Ray maybe) once said that from the looks of things Arashi will be together for the rest of their natural lives. Well, interviews about their upcoming 10th anniversary confirm. Source is Myojo. As usual, my commentary in purple to distinguish it from their words. Translations are from HERE

The members were asked to write out a personal time line for their goals in life, and Sho’s last goal was absolutely priceless.

Goal for 2062 (70 Years Old) Arashi Concert
Sho: We will be Arashi, even when I’m 70 years old or 80 years old. It’s life’s work. (Oh Sho-kun, I suddenly love you more)
Jun said something similar with a more modest target year of 2038.

Then when talking together about their future goals as a group. The idea of opening a restaurant together was batted around, and then they moved on to…

Sho: Don’t you want to build an Arashi memorial museum? (some discussion on where they should put it)
Ohno: I want to make a bronze statue of Arashi

Nino: Five of them?

Sho: What kind of pose?

Ohno: This *does triumphant pose* I would totally go to that museum

After agreeing that concerts in 10 years will be no problem…

Aiba: Well then, let’s think about 20 years from now.

Sho: Satoshi-kun will be 47

Nino: Can dance or can’t dance? I think it will be difficult to dance

Sho: What should we do for the concerts?

Nino: Let’s talk!

Jun: A talk show!? Let’s play baseball instead. WTF Jun??

Nino: …But what will actually happen?

Sho: Aside from dancing we should be entirely fine.

Aiba: Of course, if we’re talking about dreams, I want to still be Arashi even when I become a grandpa. (Discussion of how 60 is normal retirement age, but Ohno will have to retire at 63 if Nino and Jun retire at 60)

Jun: I can’t imagine that. I wonder if we will still release singles?… What about “Kitto Daijoubu?”

All: *laughter*

Aiba: They don’t want to hear that from us

Sho: It’s the opposite. They will worry about us like “Daijoubu??” (Note: That means “Are you okay??”)

I swear. They’re going to kill me with their cuteness.

Ya know what’s  interesting? I read an Arashi interview from 2000 with a similar theme. Where will you be in 10 years? 20? etc. They were all still just teenagers then and Arashi had only been around for less than a year. Both Sho and Ohno were convinced that Arashi would have split up before 10 years time (2010), Aiba and Jun didn’t comment about that, and Nino was the only one who had faith they’d still be a group in 10 years, but he figured they’d have split up by 20. Now look at them. Sho and Ohno were the most skeptical, and now Ohno is insisting that they can still dance just fine 10 years from now and Sho wants to hold an Arashi concert when he’s 70. They’ve sure changed their minds a lot over the years, haven’t they?

Lotsa Love,

~Celestia~

So, Nikki has kindly pointed out certain…happenings at the Fukoka Arashi concerts on the 18th and 19th. So as not to screw this up, I’m copying directly from a concert report (LINK). Believe what you want to, but multiple concert reports confirm…  Please note that this happened during an Ohmiya SK skit, so Yuuji=Nino and Taka=Ohno

Yuuji: … alright. Well. For those of you in the parent-child seats, please make sure your child is looking at your uchiwa right now. Nothing but your uchiwa.
Taka: I want to be seme’d today~~~ (He said this. I’m not kidding. Kyou wa semeraretai~~. GOD.)
Yuuji: Okay, okay. [lifts microphone away from mouth]
Taka: [does the same]
Audience: SCREAM.
Yuuji: … [shifts Taka's microphone a little higher]
Audience: SCREAAM.
Taka: [raises face up]
Yuuji: Taka. [grabs Taka's face in his hands and lowers it] I’m not that tall. My face is here.
Audience: SCREAAAM.

(AND THEN THEY KISSED. No, it’s not even an ambiguous, hmmm, maybe they faked it, ’cause all we see is Nino’s back and Ohno flailing and we can’t see lips touching from that angle Time concert kiss, the camera was taking them from the side profile, with nothing blocking their faces, no hidden angles, nothing. Their lips met for a second, and then they broke apart. Ohmiya. KISSED. In Fukuoka Dome, with witnesses. Everywhere. Screaming.)

Jun: [looking absolutely DISGUSTED. XDDD Oh Hime, you just want to join in the fun.]
Sho: Are the parent-child seats alright? Did you really make sure they looked at the uchiwas?
Aiba: What was that Finale Love??
Sho: They kissed, didn’t they? Was everyone okay with that?
Audience: YEEESSSSSS a;lskjd;lf.
Sho: Oh, good.
Aiba: You know, I could hear Leader say to himself, “We did it!”
Jun: Man, our group is so disgusting!!

And during the ending concert MC

 Nino: Yes. So, having turned 25-years-old, my first kiss is with Ohno.
Audience: SCREAAAAM.
Ohno: [frowning]
Sho: Leader, go, say something. [pushes Ohno to Nino]
Ohno: … well. [arm round Nino] We’re going out, so. Look at us with grentle eyes.
Nino: LOL.
Ohno: Gentle. Look at us with gre– gentle eyes. (Only Ohno can slip on his words during a confession. Only Ohno. T^Tb)
Nino: [looks at the camera and does a shy, eheh, hand behind his head.]
Audience: SCREAAAAAM.
Jun: And?
Ohno: And?
Jun: Your drama.
Ohno: Oh. Ah. I’ll be playing the lead role in a drama series, Maou [insert drama promotion].
Sho: And who’s appearing in the first episode?
Ohno: … [embarrassed laugh]
Audience: SQUEEEEEE.
Ohno: [goes up to Nino and puts an arm around again] Nino is.

They just…they just keep upping the ante, don’t they? I mean, it is Ohmiya, so everything must be taken with a large grain of salt, but STILL! That is some amazing fan service right there. I’d write more, but I’m really just left incoherent.

~Celestia~

I have decided to do a “The Voices of Arashi” post, because I think the “The Voices of KAT-TUN” post was a success, but don’t expect it for another week or so because it takes me a while to put the videos together. So, look forward to that, but in the meantime, you can watch this .gif that I made from this week’s Shukudai-kun. Nino takes a bite of cake, then feeds Ohno the next bite, nonchalant as you please. <3

Oh, and I’d also like to mention that Oricon did one of their polls where they asked 500 high-schoolers which men they think are sexiest, and guess who came in 1st place? Akanishi Jin of course! The article said he had overwhelming support from girls, many saying that “everything about him is sexy” and seeming to be drunkenly in love with him.

Back Soon,

~Celestia~

Arashi has announced that they will be having another “Around Asia” tour this fall with stops in Korea, Shanghai, and Taiwan ending with a couple open-air stadium concerts in Japan. Maybe I could go to one of them in Japan, but…open-air…I dunno. I love Arashi, but say it’s torrential rain that day. I’m glad they get to do some more concerts though. Being in high-capacity domes, this tour didn’t have that many shows, and they were complaining about that a bit. Those boys really do love their concerts. See?

Interviewer: Please tell us what you’d like to do in 2008
Aiba: If we could do a lot of concerts in 2008, I’d like to do concerts continuously if space could be provided.

Nino: I’d be happiest to do fun concerts more than last year. The people who come and watch us play the leading role, but we also really enjoy doing it.

Well, the rest of them have all said similar things at one time or another, but it’s pretty much the same, so we’ll move on.

Tomorrow is my favorite member of Arashi’s 25th birthday! Happy Birthday Nino-kins!!!

As long as we’re on the topic of Nino, he announced at one of their concerts that he will be making an appearance in Ohno’s new drama! Isn’t that cute? Ohno had an appearance in Nino’s last drama, and now it’s the other way around.

And now that we’re on the Ohmiya topic that’s so near and dear to my heart, I’d like to show you something kind of interesting I noticed. We all know that they sometimes engage in very deliberate fan-service, such as all the rampant nipple tweaking that’s apparently occurring during the Ohmiya SK section of their latest concert tour, but I find the more subtle Ohmiya stuff to almost be more suspicious. For example, their body language during the Arashi no Shukudai-kun episodes. The interview portions are done on three couches with Nino and Oh-chan sharing one, Sho with the guest on the middle couch, and Jun and Aiba on the 3rd. The couches are large enough to comfortably seat three people, but Ohno and Nino always sit really close together, usually with their knees or shoulders touching. It’s interesting to me, because I highly doubt they’re thinking, “we should sit closer together than we have to every week because the fans might notice!”. It’s just something that they do unconsciously. Aiba and Jun, who share the same sort of couch, space them selves out, but Ohmiya huddle together. Here’s some screen captured evidence taken from the first 3 Shukudai-kun episodes I came across. I swear that I didn’t have to sift to find good examples of this, because that’s how they sit in just about every single episode.

knees touching

This week’s episode. Sho was moved to their couch because there were 2 guests. Notice how close Ohno is to Sho vs how close he is to Nino, and by all accounts, Sho and Ohno get along very well.

JunAiba pics from the same episodes for comparison. Same type of couch, but very different seating arrangement.

Note that they have their own personal space bubbles.

One more because it’s kinda cute.

So… I don’t want to read too much into this. It’s just an interesting observation, and in all likelihood they prefer sitting like that just because they’re sort of touchy people and they’re good friends. Still, it’s just one more thing to consider, and like I said, the fact that they probably don’t even know they’re doing it raises my eyebrow another notch or two.

Do ya think?…nah…but..maybe? No? Couldn’t be…right?

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~

This entry is for a couple random odds and ends that I’ve been meaning to post. But first…

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve figured out a way to acquire KAT-TUN tickets for one of the Ishikawa performances (7/20 or 7/21). The catch is that it’s spendy. What I want to know is if any English-speaking fan close to my own age (22) would want to accompany me. I’ll warn you, it’ll cost you at least $200, probably more. I have never paid that much for concert tickets before, and I swear that never will again, but this may well be my only chance to see KAT-TUN live, and if that’s the price that I have to pay, so be it. The problem is that I have to buy the tickets in a pair, and it’s just too expensive for me to justify paying for two and then dragging along a friend who isn’t even a fan. If you are willing to pay that and you are SURE you will be able to be in Ishikawa, Japan on the designated day, leave me a comment. I’m very serious about this offer, and I’m looking for a commitment here.

Next-

So, have you seen Cartoon KAT-TUN lately? There seems to have been a major format change. No word as to whether or not it’s permanent, but it looks like they’ve built a fairly elaborate set, so it might be. So far we have Ueda working out shirtlessly, Koki looking at weird pictures with some guy, Jin being shocked and scandalized by girls who tell him that they date 3 guys at one time (Jin: I don’t date a girl unless I think I could marry her some day… Girl: Hahahaha! You’re so young. *Jin looks worried and confused*), Junno reading love letters and then writing one…to himself, Kame wandering around asking random people “What is love?” (Baby don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. No more), and, the best part, Maru being horribly horribly embarrassed by the lady he’s interviewing about “adult love”. It’s so fun to watch him squirm. The boys are all separated now though, so I kind of miss them interacting with each other. Here’s a picture about the show.

Finally-

I feel like I’ve been neglecting Arashi lately. Here are some very cute and love-filled pictures to make up for that.Thumbnails, so click for bigger.

Rabu rabu rabu rabu!

Leave it to group whore Satoshi to make a sly grab for Sho’s crotch.

You know how in middle school girls sometimes write, say, “Ashley x Jason= <3″ all over their binders. They left out the =<3 on these shots, but given the theme, I think it’s implied. Also, it really weirds me out when they call Nino “Kazunari”. It’s almost as bad as when they call Aiba “Masaki”.

Damn it Aiba, raise your hand! Someone has to volunteer to be the girl tonight.

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!!

Wow. This entry was all over the place, wasn’t it. I’m working on a sort of project right now, so I promise that the next entry will be more coherent.

Later,

~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 should have known I’d give in and end up doing this… It’s the full album, for your listening pleasure. I would encourage you to buy the full album though, mostly to assuage my guilt for uploading this before it’s even released. Well, I ordered a copy anyway. Oh, and for the record, that is actually KAT-TUN on the cover, not just models of them. They intentionally put them in plastic wigs and special plasticy makeup to make them look like dolls action figures. Kinda weird, but more effort than Johnny’s usually puts into their covers.

There’s a new poll up asking for your opinion about the album. The price of downloading from here is voting in the poll.

KAT-TUN III: Queen of Pirates

Happy Listening,

~Celestia~