karened

嵐 ホストクラブ

I figured it'll be fun to have a chronology of the changes in my ichiban hence this post. I never have a long standing ichiban, though for convenience purposes in fangirling and purchases I choose Jun-kun, usually the most kakkoii guy to look at. XP Plus I'm so upset that some arashi fans actually feel very negative (I shall not use the words befitting their feelings) towards this guy, I'm going to love him all the more!

今月の指名は

Memorable quotes

There ought to be a thousand more, but I've forgotten most of them (ironically, since they're 'memorable quotes') so here's all I can remember as of now. Will add more as I recall more/find more in new dramas!

In viewing order, from latest to oldest:

ちゃんと探せば、きっと見つけられる

光。
虹。
家族。
友達。
生きる意味。
生きていく勇気。

 

Because humans are greedy

And I'm human.

First, it was Jun.

Now, it's Nino.

Oh my gosh. I'm so very glad that I downloaded this show!! I had refrained from watching Gantz promo clips, but this one sounded interesting so I risked getting spoilt any further. I'm glad I did.

NinoMatsu in LA SP.



Why not a screencap of Nino/Matsuken?

BECAUSE IT'S THE HOTEL THAT'S MAKING ME EXCITED.

Grand Hyatt!!!

The hotel I always stay at!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<3 Jun, Nino. kyaaaaaa. Who's next?

Maybe Nino stayed at the hotel room I stayed at before!

LOL. I kid myself. He's a Tokyolite for goodness sake. *knocks some sense into myself*

In any case, I'm exhilarated! I guess Hyatt's the only option if they want a place to stay at before the premier at Toho.

ARGH but why wasn't I in Japan during this period!!!? =(

Overtime

The golden age of jdramas.

Oh, how I miss thee.

I was supposed to go back to office today, but work got cancelled (YAY!) so i stayed in and decided to watch one of the dramas that had been sitting on my desktop for ages.

Overtime ~ オーバー・タイム

I downloaded it after rewatching one of my fav jdramas, Long Vacation. Afterall, it was from the same golden age, written by the some scriptwriter, and had a very charming, charismatic and good actor helming the drama. Talking about charismatic, I think many would kill me for saying this: There aren't many charismatic actors out there in the current generation of leads. Charming, cute, suave, good acting yes. Charismatic...not many. Just saying. 

Actually, I have the OST. Strange eh. I've never watched this drama, but I have the OST. As far as I can remember, I heard the theme song playing in the cd shop, and decided to buy it. I must have really liked the song, because I was still a kid back then and was never much into music. So, to buy a cd was a big thing back then. And, finally, years after buying the cd, I downloaded the drama itself....but left it there for months. =(

Today, I finally watched it.

And was touched by the whole show.

It had a mellow feel, and had the...simple, slice-of-life vibe that I think characterised that period in jdrama history. It was relatable and didn't feel too far-fetch.

You know, jdramas nowadays are quite 'strict' in their categorisation. If the drama is not a romance story, the whole thing will only tease us viewers with hints of budding romance that never gets anywhere. But if the drama is a romance drama, it usually goes full-blown and explores little of other themes. But Overtime is different. It's a curious mix of many, such as romance, friendship, making changes...

The ending.

 

Oh, it's been ages since I felt so moved by an ending, and that the ending isn't trying to just tie things up and make viewers happy. It's such a complex feeling at the end. In no way was it a happy ending going by romantic standards. I felt heartache as I watched them hug and say their goodbyes. Yet, it was a happy ending as friends who are so connected with each other, they feel happy when the other is happy, even if it meant taking away their personal happiness. Oh, am I even making sense?

I previously read comments about Overtime being a semi-carbon of Long Vacation. As I watched the first half, I felt so too. The same living together set-up. The plot with the two leads having relationships elsewhere but then developing feelings for each other as time passed. The female lead, Natuski (acted by Esumi Makiko), being vivacous and lively and almost bordering boyish. The male lead, Soichiro (acted by Sorimachi Takashi), being the younger one who is kind of 'herbivorours', and suffering from setbacks from their passion.

Yet at the end, the drama had established such strong characters that I grew to love them so much. So good was the plot development that before the very last minute, I wasn't sure who Natsuki will choose. Because she really loves both, and yet we can't hate her for that. Because she and Soichiro share such a special relationship that goes beyond just romantic love and wanting to be together. Because throughout the drama, there's a sense of realism infused into it, such that the typical 'happily-ever-after', just follow your heart and not your brains, seemed quite out of place.

In kdramas, there's a term called 'noble idiots' used to refer to drama characters who put themselves into pain thinking that what they're doing is the best for the other party. Overtime nearly suffered from it. There was a part, in the final ep where Soichiro lied to Natsuki that he slept with her out of sympathy. That was a rather typical act in dramas, to lie that you have no feelings for the other party just so s/he can move on to what you deem is better prospects. However, Soichiro's act was supported by three things:

1. The fact that he's a very yasashii person, always putting others before self, as established throughout the drama.
2. The fact that he said right at the start of the drama that if his love puts the other party at pain, he'll rather give up the love or bury it deep inside him. And it's not all talk no action. We see that side of him at play when he broke up with his girlfriend, who seemed pained having to date someone who was nice to everyone else.
3. The fact that he made the decision to lie after hearing from Natsuki's friend that she loved both but prefered spending her life with Kuga-san. And he was the one who sought out the friend to find that out.

What these point out is that if Natsuki had named him instead, he would have acted on his feelings and try to keep her by his side. But since she sees Kuga-san as her partner for life, he decided to spare her the pain of having to either stick with him so as not to hurt him or choose Kuga-san but live with the guilt of rejecting him. So, in a way, his act isn;t all 'noble idiot'. Further, since Natsuki knew all along that Soichiro was such a yasashii person, it wasn't difficult for her to believe that he had slept with her out of sympathy. Especially in light of her lack of confidence as revealed when she broke up with Kuga-san.

See how good the plot development is? It's so tight that actions are character driven, and not done for the sake of plot development or creating conflicts.

Oh, and another reason why I love the drama and its characters is because the characters are all so honest about their feelings. of course, they don't go blabbering about their inner thoughts. However, we find that as they interact and grow closer, they open up more and more to particular persons. Not just the leads, but the supporting leads too. We catch a glimpse of their true feelings a bit here and there through their actions and conversations, but towards the end, we're given full scenes of them speaking their thoughts to each other, especially for the two leads. They are so very honest about their feelings, or their confusions about their feelings. They don't beat around the bush and create misunderstandings for each other.

And I love that. I missed that. I love how the plot is driven by character interactions and decisions instead of misunderstandings and hesitation. The latter seems to be the trend in dramas nowadays.

Usually I'll be very disappointed when the main leads fail to end up together, especially when they like each other and so much of my time and emotions have been invested in them, like in this case. However, I'm not exactly bitter about this ending.

Because their love is an assuring one, like the Tokyo Tower - it lights up at sunset, shuts off at midnight only to light up again the next sunset.

(Sorry about the low resolution, but I just love the symbolism in this scene. Oh....the good old days....)

もっと強くならなきゃ

二回目かな、
昼ごはんを食べながら涙が出るのは・・・
でも飲み込んだ。
なぜだろう。
一人だったけど一人じゃない。
だって、私を大事にするお母さんもいるし
十年も知ってる仲間もいるし。
けして一人じゃない。
でもやっぱりさ、
一人で飯をするのは寂しい。
そして恥ずかしい。
友達がないみたいね。
それがいやだ。
新しい知り合いと仲良くなるのは苦手って自分自身よく分かる。
こっちへ来るなって顔か。
つまらない性格か。
分かんない・・・
でも、心配なく。
頑張って行くしかできないから。
だって、私は一人でも映画見ることができる人だからさ。

Adjusted sales

Work habits never die.

1. Arashi – ￥17.163 billion/￥17,163,000,000 (approximately $204,321,424)

2. *group name omited to avoid misinterpretation of purpose* ￥9.431 billion/￥9,431,000,000 (approximately $112,273,808)

Info from here and here

In case some people feel that the result of such sales is partly Arashi releasing 6 singles this year...

3. “Troublemaker” - Arashi : (698,542)
4. “Monster” – Arashi : (696,022)
6. “Hatenai Sora” – Arashi : (656,343)
7. “Løve Rainbow” – Arashi : (620,057)
9. “Dear Snow” – Arashi : (591,207)
10. “To be free” – Arashi : (516,142)

Assuming average cost per single to be 1,300 yen:

Even after removing the sales of the top 2 selling singles...
17,163,000,000 - (698,542 x 1,300) - (696,022 x 1,300)
= 17,163,000,000 - 908,104,600 - 904,828,600
= 15,350,066,800yen

So, taking into account a 'normal release schedule' of 4 singles, 1 album and 1 concert dvd per year + the sales of previous years' releases, Arashi's total sales for 2010 is still about 60% more than the second position. That is so sugoi deshou.

Dome

Met J & M today to pass them some mags and con goods, and we were randomly chatting when we hit the topic of "maybe they will release a separate dvd for Dome!!". And just then, I received an sms from Angel.

That Jun, in Junstyle, said that there'll be a Dome dvd.

*dies* *flails* *throws $ to Johnny-san*

But then, coming home to lj, no such news is floating around...so, I went to search around, and found this (Junstyle 18 Dec):

来週、金曜日ぃ。
12/24、えーーミュージックステーション・スペシャルぅ、出ます。
ぜひご覧ください。
(フーーー)そしてぇ！
嵐のライブＤＶＤ、発売決定ぇ･･、だそうです。
“ARASHI 10-11TOUR SCENE～君と僕の見ている風景～”･･、のぉ、スタジアム。
えーー国立でぇやったぁ、9/3ですね。
9/3にぃ、えーーやったライブを、･･･完全収録、して！おります！
えーー全、40曲、越えの、セットリスト。
国立野外、ならではの、音！光！･･･炎、水、風、を駆使した、圧巻に演出！
風もですか？
フぅっふ
ッフ、風って伝わンの？映像で
････
あぁ～、髪ぃの毛がなびいたりとか、服がなびいたりとか、そうゆことですかね♪
(ッフぅ)えーーこちらがですね、1月の26日に発売となります。
櫻井くんの誕生日の次の日ですね。
はい♪
１月の26日。発売します。
･････
えーーー、ツアーも終わった後で、いち早く、えーー皆さんに･･･まずは国立の映像を見ていただきたいと、そんなふうに、思っております♪
･･･
※BGMがポーカーフェイスになる
ライブＤＶＤ、２枚組だそうです。
1/26発売です。
ぜひぃ、楽しみにしててほしと、思います。

Next week, on Friday.
24 Dec, er... We'll appear on Music Station Special.
Please watch it.
And also!
Arashi's concert dvd, the release has been set.
"Arashi 10-11 Tour, Scene~ Kimi to Boku no Miteiru Fukei"...in stadium.
Er, we had it in Kokuritsu on 3 Sep.
The concert held on 3 Sep is recorded on it in full.
Er in total, the setlist has over 40 songs.
Unique to the open air Kokuritsu, the sound! Lights! Making use of flames, water, wind as the highlights of the show.
The wind too?
Fufu
Can we convey the wind on the footage?
...
Ah~ Like our hair swaying (in the wind), or our clothes swaying (in the wind) huh?
Er, this will be released on 26 Jan.
The day after Sakurai-kun's birthday.
Yup.
26 Feb. It'll be released.
...
Er, we want to...first let everyone see the Kokuritsu footage without delay after the tour ends.
...
*Pokerface plays in the background*
The concert dvd will be a 2-disc set.
It'll be released on 16 Jan.
I hope you'll look forward to it.

Is this the reason?

Because Jun said 皆さんに･･･まずは国立の映像を見ていただきたい/ First let everyone see the Kokuritsu footage

First.

Meaning, they will also go edit the Dome footages and release a Dome version later? Let us enjoy the Kokuritsu one asap while editing the Dome one?

 

It's finally up!

Resolved. I hope.

I informed my senior about that mistake and she was really understanding (I hope not just a front), saying it's ok, because while planning that task, she had already made allowance for potential errors.

=[

I wasn't too convinced at first, and tried reading more into her words, trying to dechiper what she really felt (frustrated? disappointed?)

But then I read the comments to my previous post, and this particular icon made me smile. Remembering them, I started unpacking the con goods I bought. One led to another, and soon I forgot about that whole incident, becoming fully occupied with my con goods. I guess that's what attracts many to Arashi. Or, to idols in general. They are an escape from reality.

At the end of the unpacking?

This.



 I finally put up an Arashi poster! I never opened up any of my con posters (which have been sleeping peacefully at the bottom of my wardrobe, and from which I learnt my lesson hence only buying the group poster this time round), fearing the damage. But this time round, I managed to find a plastic card case large enough to accomodate the poster. All the way from Japan. The storekeeper was surprised when I told him I wanted an A1 one. But yes, it's up. =)

The 3 things at the side were from the UFO Catcher in Japan! I tried really hard to catch them!

Oh, on the extreme left is my grad photo *shows off* LOL kidding. It just happened to be in the frame.

Thanks to all who left me comments. Though I'm not replying one by one, the concern is greatly appreciated! Thanks ne.

Next week will be a better week.

10-11 Tokyo Dome 21/11/2010

I'm dying.

Of happiness.

It was 4.40pm.

At Harajuku.

Only 4 tickets left.

One was at the 2nd level stands.
Another pair was also 2nd level stands.
Last was an Arena.
Block C6.
I have no idea where that block is, and I know that Arena doesn't guarantee a good seat.

But I went for it. Like...30% cheaper than my Friday stands seat. The storekeeper said I was lucky coz that ticket really became much cheaper now.

And then, I rushed to Dome, reaching at 530pm. Found the gate (which was really far from the main gate 22). I saw that Gate 11 was right at the side of Dome so I thought that it was a seat very far left. But no.

When I entered the Arena and saw the board with the blocks' location printed, I nearly died. The block was only 3 blocks away from the hanamichi joining the main and center stage. I went to the seat, and then REALLY died. My seat was only 3 rows away from the left hanamichi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like, so lucky!!!