smile again and again

Almost a year into the hiatus announcement, and I think the fandom is doing FINE. Some of us have accepted things as they are, some are still scared, most of us are sad however else we feel about it, but they’ve been throwing announcement after announcement that it’s sometimes hard to stop and catch our breaths! At least, that’s my observation from my tiny corner of the fandom. I haven’t been that active in a long time, and I’m mostly just lurking and talking to the same fandom friends I’ve been talking to since forever.

Who would’ve thought that we’d wake up to a world where Arashi is on social media. And another Jetstorm around Southeast Asia – skipping my country, of course, but I can’t blame them, especially if they’re going by data like CD sales figures or even things like which countries their shows are aired. (I wish Gem TV is available here!)

 

I was in Japan when they did their first YouTube Live, announcing the Jetstorm countries (and teasing about a Kokuritsu concert as well as one in Beijing next year) – I kinda felt like a terrible friend because I was streaming it on my phone while trying to hang out with my friend Kishiko (sorry, Kishiko!) Not that I was really listening to it (I didn’t have the sound on, so I could talk to my friend, but I was still distracted by the feed at times.) I ended up catching up on the contents of the feed by reading fans’ reactions on twitter. I also missed their IG live, but did manage to watch it after.

 

Turning Up is so different from their previous songs, and yet is still so very Arashi, I love it so much. I don’t think I’ve ever automatically loved a single of theirs so quickly, not since Troublemaker. It’s so catchy, and the PV is amusing, and the dance! Can a dance be catchy? Because that’s how it felt, like you can’t help but move along when you see them dance. That night, watching it for the first time, I felt an intense love for this manband, while also feeling terribly anxious all over again when I think that from 2021 onwards I wouldn’t have these moments again.

 

So – yeah. The highs and lows of being an Arashian trying to celebrate the now, while being extremely aware of the clock ticking down to December 31st, 2020.

 

I booked myself a seat in the bus of Arashians heading to Singapore for their Jetstorm event, but backed out in the end, because I was just back from Japan and it felt financially irresponsible to just go to Singapore on a whim. Now I kind of regret not going, although I don’t regret spending the day with friends instead 😀 And I lived vicariously through the reports of the girls who went.

 

I managed to stream Best Artist in real time and spent the night watching it – the live performance of Turning Up was more fun than I expected it to be! I didn’t get to watch FNS until the day after, because I got home late that day.

 

And… I think we’re caught up! I ended up not balloting for the Tokyo leg of the Arashi Exhibition, and I fear that it means I wouldn’t be going at all, unless they start doing the exhibition out of Japan. I’ve lost track of all the new 5×20 goods and will need to be caught up soon, especially since I am the kind of fan who is VERY interested in having an online visual reference place for all their past merch. I guess that’s a project I could take on in 2021…