The Digitalian concert is simply the coolest of all the concerts I’ve attended. Arafes’12 was the best, because I’m biased, but Digitalian was the coolest. And while none of the DVDs really live up to the real thing, I can’t help but think that the gap is even wider with Digitalian. After all, those fanlights – among other things – need to be experienced in person! (more…)
Blast was Arashi’s first international concert since 2008, but it was also the first that I couldn’t even dream of going – a flight to Hawaii would cost me more than thrice the price of a Japan return flight. Not to mention the fact that the fanclub tickets were sold as a tour package, making it way above my budget. It’s the only concert I didn’t ballot for since becoming a fan. But I kept up with the news, of course – I knew people that were going for both days, and read their reports, and their tweets. There were so many reports about Blast in Hawaii that by the time this DVD came out, I felt like I’ve already watched it. (Of course, all the news coverage and the NHK documentary helped.) (more…)
Arafes’13
I’m glad that I chose to watch this, instead of skipping to LOVE. I had somehow remembered this as being not that different from Arafes’12, but its small differences was enough to make it equally fun to watch.
For the 2013 Arafes, Arashi split their concert into different segments, each produced by a different member. Their concerts had always been produced by Jun before, and I always loved the way everything flowed, from the beginning til the end. This time it’s a bit different, but the different parts still flowed well into each other, so I’m sure that MatsuJun still took care of the overall planning. With each member planning different parts, though, we get to see their distinctive styles – Sho’s segment was rap-heavy, for example, while Jun’s was a whole big DJ MJ thing, and Nino’s was just pure fun. Each of them brought something else to the table, and when seen as a whole everything just seems BIGGER somehow, which is just like how Arashi is as a group, I guess. (more…)
Arafes 2012
Arafes 2012 is my favourite concert DVD, but I’m biased because (1) this is the only DVD of a concert recorded at the same venue and date I attended, and (2) Arafes’12 may just be my favourite of all the concerts I’ve had the luck to see live. The Arafes concerts came as a kind of surprise – before it, the Kokuritsu dates had been part of Arashi’s regular tour. But since the stadium was scheduled to be torn down / renovated for the 2020 Olympics, Arashi confirmed that they would be performing in Kokuritsu for two more years, and that it would be a special “Arashi Festival” for fans. No Johnny’s Juniors or back-up dancers, even – just Arashi, and the fans. (more…)
Kokuritsu concerts. What is it about them? The energy level is just on a different scale, somehow. It’s like that with the Beautiful World DVD.
I haven’t seen this concert in awhile, and haven’t listened to many songs from the album, so it was surprising how easily it all came back to me. Beautiful World is one of my favourite albums, and I had forgotten that until now. “Niji no Kakera”, “Summer Splash”, and “Mada Minu Sekai e” were songs that I had in my Arashi playlist for a long time. “Kono Mama Motto” was one of my favourite Sho solos, even if I wasn’t keen on the performance. “Jyanakute” is very high up my favourite Aiba performances, and “Hung Up On” is my favourite Ohno solo, although right now “Akatsuki” is a very close second. But the best thing about Beautiful World is the “accent dance” before “Mada Minu Sekai e”. (more…)
For some reason, two DVDs were released for the Scene tour – one for the Kokuritsu concert, and one for the Fukuoka Dome concert. Whatever the reason, I remember being glad for the Dome version, because at that point in time the last couple of DVDs were of Kokuritsu concerts. The Dome version was really worth getting even if you already had the Kokuritsu version, because it comes with interviews/comments from Arashi, and the LE includes the PV for “Mada Minu Sekai e” as well as the making, and a video of Arashi going on a training camp of sorts. (more…)
Arashi’s tenth anniversary concert is the most memorable one to me, because it’s the first of their concert DVDs I’ve ever watched. Before, I knew of the members through their dramas, and I know some of their songs for the same reason, but I never really watched them as a group. But my friend Shida was an Arashian, and she had come over with the DVD and we watched it together, and… it wasn’t really a life-changing experience, or anything like that, but I remember it well, because that was in April 2010, and by June in the same year I was completely an Arashian. What a difference a couple of months make. (more…)
Arashi Around Asia 2008 marks the second AAA tour, and the first time for Arashi to perform at Kokuritsu Kyogijo Stadium. The year was also marks the first of their five-dome tours, which I think we’re so used to now that we take it for granted. At least, I think that’s the case for me. At this point, Arashi was becoming “stable”, and fans were beginning to expect these things from them. But 2008 was the beginning. (more…)
Around the time I was most active in the fandom, Time was always referred to as THE concert, the one where fandom was “at its peak”, the one that brought in a huge influx of new fans into the fandom, the one that signals to Arashians, the dark days are over. I wasn’t really a fan of them back then, so I wouldn’t know about all of this. But this is Time‘s significance to me, personally – I had almost gone to their Yokohama concert.
I wasn’t quite yet a fan, but I liked MatsuJun enough that I wanted to see Arashi live. And when I was accompanying a friend buying an Otsuka Ai ticket at one of those ticket shops (resellers really) I saw tickets for the Yokohama show and I was just very tempted. In the end, I didn’t buy the ticket, but now that I’m a total Arashian I kept wondering how things would’ve turned out if I did go. Would I have been an Arashian much earlier? Or might I not have become as obsessed with them? I can only guess at the answers. (more…)
It’s such a pity that we won’t see more of the ONE summer tour than the 20 minutes included as a bonus in the Arashic LE, because that 20 minutes is FABULOUS. It was 2005, almost all my concert favourites were out, and the moving stage finally made an appearance. Arashi used it to full effect, of course – what I wouldn’t give to have been one of the fans in the arena back then.
The cut given from the LE showed very short clips of the solos, and the full performances of some of my favourites, like “Subarashii Sekai” and “Yes? No?”. The stage was less flashy than the dome in Iza, Now, but the production improved further. In Iza, Now, I noticed that Arashi seemed more at ease compared to the earlier concerts – by this ONE concert, they exuded even more confidence on stage, and are much closer to the Arashi they are now.
嵐TV 