I finally made it to an Arashi concert in Japan! I conquered the odds and got myself a ticket to Japonism in Osaka, the day after Ohno’s 35th birthday.
I lined up for goods as early as I could, around 7:45am and waited in the freezing cold for two hours! All for Jun’s concert expectations if you know what I mean.
I left the dome after getting goods and came back at 4, the moment the gates opened. Most of the girls in our queue have their fanclub IDs! I tried to keep it cool knowing my chances of getting kicked out was high.
They let me in!! Imma lost my chill if they didn’t
Please quit reading now if you’re not into concert spoilers.
My seat was on the second floor stands 90degrees to the right of the main stage from the audience’s view. The distance was alright from all the stages, we were in the middle so it was neither close nor far. There were poles on each side of the stage which blocked some of the view of the left side of the second floor but other than that the concert was beyond what I could ever ask for!
They started the show with an anime Arashi, I can’t exactly remember what was going on, I was too thrilled for the concert to begin. Then Arashi came out wearing sparkly gold costume. They were literally sparkling as they danced and sang. All five were dashing. Unfortunately, my brain could not exactly remember the order of the set list and most of the stuff they did. They sang Wild at Heart, Troublemaker all the usual shit they sing on shows and I loved every moment of it. When Yama did the heartbeat part, everyone squealed! I’m not sure which part they started their greetings, they were so hyped when they did it.. Ohchan’s Hiii and Nino’s were the loudest and cutest!!
Nino was the first one to do his solo, it started cute and then it turned into a wink fest with sexy hip thrusts. He was laughing and smiling the whole time. He also did some tap dancing more like slutty dancing actually and whenever he paused he would look at the camera and make a pleased face like what he just did was so amazing. lol Shortly after Nino’s solo, Jun suddenly appeared on the second floor of the main stage lying in a couch. He did a lot of shiyagare style MJ stunts like jumping and rolling on the floor in the coolest way possible. He ended his solo right back in the couch. Lights went out then Nino appeared and sang the first lines of In the Room, followed by Sho and the rest of the members.. They were all sitting in chairs that looked like the ones from Face Down pv. I have no memory of what happened next lol.. ..
They went to different stages during Happiness and with the rest of the songs that came after. I think it was Ohno who first went to our side then Jun, those two were pretty much always together everywhere. There was one part where Aiba rubbed Sho’s hips or was it his butt??? and the audience squealed.
Then at MC, J started looking like a hot mess so he changed first.. he did his solo and did not rest until it was time for MC.. Nino, Sho and Aiba did most of the talking.. they played a game but I was just guessing what they were saying the whole time.. Ohno exited not too long after J. They talked for a while then when J came out he said something about Aiba kaita and everyone laughed… Sho and Nino were both stretching their legs as they were doing the MC. Nino was left with Sho on the stage to promote his upcoming movie and dramas.
Sho did his solo with full concentration on the drums, he hardly looked at the audience. He probably did not wanna mess up like he did the day before. Then an almost half naked Aiba appeared clinging on a big balloon.. his nipples were showing! He landed on the center stage. I love how they styled Aiba’s hair, he looked so damn fiiiiine! His solo was too silly for his own good. The choreography of Mr Funk was kinda the same with Disco Star, he totally went all the way with his hip thrusts which made everyone squeal. He asked the audience to say who he is and we all yelled Mr Funk! Then he changed clothes and climbed up the cloth they had hanging on the ceiling. I’m so confused with all these but hell yeah Aiba, go for it!! He wrapped the cloth around him in different ways and turned his body upside down without a harness! He gave everyone a mini heart attack when he let go of the cloth and made himself drop halfway! Wtf Aiba!! We were chanting Mr Funk while he was doing it. I was so relieved when it was over. He successfully did the dropping stunt though and he looked so proud! He said later that the Mr Funk cheer helped a lot because during rehearsals he could not do it.
The last solo was Ohno’s. It was the best, the longest and the most beautiful in terms of everything among all the solos. It started with a mysterious feel and a very grand intro with him changing masks and switching into different traditional clothes. Remember Amatzukaze?! ahhh Ikr!!! He danced and sang on the center stage. I must say Ohno can be really stupid but when he performs he turns into some magical human being! He was so captivating!
They mentioned in the MC something about Kansai and Osaka during their Jr. days but I didn’t really get it. They performed a cover of a classic Johnny’s song that sounded so familiar but I’m not sure if what I was thinking was right.. They had traditional musical instrument players do the music for them.
My favorite part of the show was when it was almost over. Not because it’s gonna end soon but by the way the stage and the performances were arranged! I really loved the concept for this year’s album, it’s what convinced me to actually come and see their concert this year. I also liked how Jun did not go over the top this year with the concert production and effects. I’m honestly not a fan of Digitalian and Love Concerts.
Did I mention Funky? OMG Jun suddenly appeared right in front of our floor and led the dance for us!!! I felt so ashamed not knowing the dance and Jun was right there! I seriously wanted to squeal but them ladies right next to me were so chill… His arms were more toned and his hair looked so much better than in Hawaii!
There were a lot of adorable chibi pictures too that were shown while they were singing Kimi no Omoi.
A digital timer gets shown from time to time in between perfs that goes through the dates from the present to when Arashi started.. 1999
Ohchan’s speech was too cute, he mentioned his bday was yesterday and he thanked everyone for greeting him.. his voice sounded a little shaky like he choked towards his last words but he managed to just laugh it off lol.. he talked a lot.. Nino almost hushed him..
There were so much fanservice from all the pairings… NinoAi were dancing around with their hands together on the moving stage. Juntoshi were always flirting with each other, Jun shared the mic with Ohno, put his arm around him and pushed their faces very close to the camera.. Sho, Aiba and Nino were all trying to wave at everyone.. Sho was jumpy and his rapping was spot on. He lost so much weight since Hawaii! There was also one Ohmiya moment I could never forget! It was too cute not to share! Ohno kept waving at Nino when they were at the individual corner stages and Nino could not see him at first so he lowered his body and squinted his eyes then Ohno waved harder and instead of waving back Nino turned his back on him! Ohno acted disappointed and of course Nino pretended he didn’t care! You could tell the guys were really in the mood, after the con they all looked like they could still do more!! Jun actually stayed on the stage longer after saying their goodbyes.. he looked like he was hesitating to leave, I was hoping he did that coz he’s gonna let us have it, that extra encore!!! The security staff climbed up the stage the moment Jun left though.. annnnnd it was officially over.
annaxmalina
titsay
gummygunk
germansingergirl
