Sakura Storm

I can't believe it took a hiatus announcement for me to blog again. I have not blogged about Arashi for a long time. Reason, life. But it also proofs that I take Arashi for granted every day, not knowing I will be losing them so soon. On Sunday, 27th of January, it went on just like any other day. What I did not remember was that Arashi is my muse. My motivation in life. So I updated myself on anything new from them like I usually do every few hours. And then I saw the most shocking news ever. Arashi will be going on hiatus from the 31st of December, 2020. I remember my initial reaction. I was surprised I wasn't as shocked as I thought I would be. Maybe because deep down I knew something like this will happen sooner or later. And they couldn't have picked the most perfect timing for the announcement. They are in their 20th year, with Tokyo 2020 next year, for us all to prepare ourselves for whatever dark void is coming afterwards. Because a world without Arashi is a w...

Title:「untitled」 Artist: 嵐 Release date: 2017.10.18  Arashi has released another original album in October, per usual, and they went for the Power of the Paradise + Everything cover that look more like singles than an album. I'm still trying to grasp the fact that it has been a year since Are You Happy? , which was not that long ago. Dang, time goes fast when you're an adult. When they first revealed the album title as "untitled" I literally thought it was because they have not yet revealed the title just like what everybody else thought until they confirmed it and I flipped. I can still remember my absolute disbelief when reality hit me. Titling something untitled is like naming something unnamed. It is the lamest of the lamest titles you can ever think of. It is even worst than that lame-ass hot mess ayumi hamasaki naming her albums five and six, with the 6 x's! What happened to awesome titles like The Digitalian ?? And don't g...

*immense shading alert!* Recently, there were news about the bitch army, AKB48, surpassing Ayumi Hamasaki's total sales, gaining the top spot as the best-selling female artist in the history of Japan. Firstly, it is definitely not history . Secondly, it is definitely not artist . I know Oricon only counts physical CD sales (national) to determine general sales, and they don't give crap whether they are solo or a group, but let me tell you why this is wrong on so many levels. I mean, I do support the whole CDs-only thing, but idols are not artists, so what the heck are they saying? Ayu did most of the work on her own, as an artist in general. She produced, composed and written her songs. She create concerts in her own way. That's an artist. What did AKB do? Yeah, you could argue they "worked hard". But, bitch, everybody works hard. It's just whether your efforts had any meaning. And Ayu, she is definitely a legend in her own right. She totally deserve he...

  Our youngest Arashi turned 34 years old yesterday. Fans took to social media to congratulate our beloved MJ on his birthday on 30 August, and Jun himself seemed to enjoy the celebrations. He himself has looked through fans' messages too. He said it on Arashi's blog. He actually revealed quite a few things on his message, like an album and the tour ! Also, this: And if you haven't heard Matsumoto-kun no Uta yet, here it is! (Chinese subbed) Happy Birthday, Jun! I've said again! I wish you all happiness, hope you're stress free and most importantly, as you say so yourself, wish you stay healthy and... Arashi loves you very much, never forget that!

I've mentioned in my "How I turned from idoling ayu to Arashi"  post that it was Mizobata Junpei who got me into Japanese dramas. Although I've seen a few before I found Junpei, it was him who actually started my J-drama craze. One of the very first dramas I saw was Hanazakari no Kimitachi e . Although Junpei only had a small supporting role in it, it led me into the three main stars of the drama, Horikita Maki, Ikuta Toma and Oguri Shun. Long story short, I fell in love with them and it just started spreading from there. I started watching all three's individual starring works, and Horikita Maki became the first Japanese actress I love. She remain very important to me to now. With the recent news about her retiring from the entertainment industry, it did brought me sadness, and my tears did well up in my eyes a bit. I will miss her dearly. The Japanese entertainment industry lost yet another great talent. But I also feel great for her, and I resp...

Title: Are You Happy? Artist: 嵐 Release date: 2016.10.26 Okay, I disappeared again. I'm sorry, it's life. But Arashi gave me motivation to write again. And who would miss an opportunity to talk about Arashi's album of 2016! First of all, Happy New Year! I know I'm late into saying this but, let's hope 2017 will be a year full of greatness. Even though we won't because Trump is new POTUS and this world is ending.  2016 was a year full of many ups and downs. And I felt like there were more negative things that have happened than positive things. You know, what's with the UK unexpectedly changing PMs and the US getting a new president. And not just the whole world is going apeshit right now. The Japanese entertainment industry is crashing too. So many things have happened. What's with SMAP disbanding. Actors and actresses having scandals... leaving the industry... passing away even... yeah you know what I'm talking about. But great achieveme...

Title: Japonism Artist: 嵐 Release date: 2015.10.21 You know what Arashi is good at with their albums every year? Getting better and better with one after the other. And this year is no exception. They once again release an album filled with absolute amazingness. And, well, seeing as it sold over 820,000 copies in its first week, what else do you want me to say? But really, this album is gold, I'm telling you. The theme, the outlook, the content and everything is on point. When it was first announced that the album was to be called Japonism , I knew straight away that it's going to be very interesting. And Ohno and Nino are the star vocalists here. They sound so good in this album. This year Arashi focuses on the theme of 'Japan' and 'Japan viewed from the outside' and something like that. And puts out new and fresh sound for people to hear. They released three versions of this album. All worth buying of course. Darn it, they know how to sell! Oh wells,...

The difference between Nino's birthday and Jun's birthday is so close it's amazing. So that I can write a long post on Matsumoto Jun, similar to what I did with Nino not long ago. This is basically an excuse for me to write about Jun. Haha. Matsumoto Jun is no longer the ginger-haired dude from the drama that got me into Arashi, Shitsuren Chocolatier . He is also no longer the permy-haired rich kid, Domyouji Tsukasa, from Hana Yori Dango . To me, he's just the super dorky, hilariously kakkoii, concert master, of the absolutely fabulous group, Arashi. And to me, he always has been. I always sees Jun as an older brother to me. It's weird, because I never see Jun as a lover or a friend sort of way. He has always been my big brother. Which is why everytime I see Jun kiss a girl, I cringe. Like "Ew, Jun, not in front of me, please" kind of cringe. But maybe it's a good thing since there are the members who have made me fall for them... like Nino and Oh...

I finally watched it. After months of waiting. Forty something minutes, lots of money and energy later, then took over six hours to finish all three discs, I finally watched Arashi's THE DIGITALIAN Tour , and... a lot of Arashi backstage crack. I think I'm still hungover on this DVD. But I did find out one thing. I found out why many fans were making such a huge deal out of Aiba's solo, Disco Star . It was hilarious. Just watch the DVD and you will know what I mean. I am not gonna be bothered with the name of the backstage clip on Disc 3 (is it "supinterian"??? I don't know), but it was the best thing ever. I felt like I was actually there with Arashi. Like I was having fun with these bunch of friends while they were doing a concert. They were so full of crack I'm telling you. I mean, we even saw a clip of Aiba showering . What's not to love about that? Also, Ohno trolling Aiba during his solo and imitating Sho's English intro during his solo wa...

Ninomiya Kazunari is not normal. If you put him along with other people the same age as him, he will look out of place. Like, just put him in the age 20's category because no way he's over 30. Wait, I think I may have his youth power too. Maybe when I'm over 30, the same thing will happen to me. But then again, he look great with the rest of Arashi, so maybe he's alright afterall. XD I knew of Nino since I was 10 years old. I was still in England. Was still in primary school. Watched Letters from Iwo Jima and BAM, fell in love with the guy. I had been (sort of) following him since then, and watched some of his dramas and movies along the way. But I wasn't, like, obsessed, you know what I mean? So I didn't know about Arashi. Weirdest thing was that I only knew he was in Arashi after I looked up the group. Which was kind of creepy actually. Other than the fact that Sho and Jun caught my attention when I was watching Arashi's older shows, Nino w...

Title:「LOVE」 Artist: 嵐 Release date: 2013.10.23 I've been busy with work and some other crap that keeps happening to me that I nearly forgot about this blog. I haven't posted anything this month so the first idea that comes into my mind is to do an album thoughts post, because you know, I have made a promise. Well, sort of. Anyway, this time is, of course, the album that was released previously before THE DIGITALIAN , Arashi's twelfth album  LOVE , which is of course, an absolute killer album, if you didn't already know.   This album was released after all members were finally into their 30's, and it is the beginning of the show of their maturity. Because I'm saying this now after a year and a half since the release so this probably wouldn't be as effective as if I did this back then, so this time I really couldn't be bothered to go on about my experiences with the album when it was first released. Okay, maybe I will go on a little bit. Since...