お誕生日おめでとう！

松潤、２７歳のお誕生日おめでとう！！
プレゼントまだできないんだけど。。
この一年にもがんばろうね。
健康もちゃんと気をつけてね！
嵐でも、自分でも、
松本君のしたいことと夢へ行ってください〜
嵐のように、幸せになるように、一生懸命走ろう！！

Happy Birthday MatsuJun, Jun-kun/Jun-chan, JunJun
and all those other nicknames you have.
My most favourite member next to Nino. <3<3<3
You've turned 27 you old man. *laugh*
Keep going one more year, do all the things you want to do,
try all the things you want to try.
Have fun working with Arashi - don't tire yourself.
Continue working out that body of yours :)
Propose to Mao a couple years down the road

:)

Normally I have some sort of present.. currently.. I am still working on Jun's present. *sigh*
This particular thing is giving me lots of trouble.
Honestly, these two....... *shakes fist at a certain couple*

half
the reason I'm taking so long is cause I want this to be one of the
best drawings I've done, ever, next to that recent picture of Nino I
drew for his birthday ^^

*gets working*

(x-posted from my LJ)

Himitsu-chan [2010.08.26]

**spoilers alert :P**

This was my ranking (just looking at  the mannequins)

1) #5 - 2) #2 - 3) #4 - 4) #1 - 5) #3

The actual results?

1) #4 - 2) #2 - 3) #5 - 4) #1 - 5) #3

so I got... 2/3 wrong, in fact I mixed them up.

Who do the clothes actually belong to?

1: Aiba - 2: Ohno - 3: Jun - 4: Sho - 5: Nino

I feel so bad for Jun. But it's true, when you just see the mannequin what he picked looks really plain but when I actually saw him wear it I wanted Aiba to lose. Actually though, I thought Sho's was Jun's. I was happy cause I was like "yes, there is no way Jun is going to be last" but he still was. Poor guy. I feel so bad, he looked so bumbed out when they were cutting the ribbon to reveal the bus. But honestly, when Jun actually WEARS that outfit it doesn't look so bad anymore. And in the photoshoot he looks really cute xD It was just too plain, not ugly, just plain =(

My opinion on each mannequin?

1 (Aiba's): I can totally tell it's Aiba's. I never agreed with Aiba's fashion sense too much. It's too.. out there. It's not really ugly persay I just don't agree with it. I mean, overall, the balance is all very nice it's just... if I saw my boyfriend wearing that I'd probably tell him to go and change. On Aiba though, it doesn't actually look that bad. The rainbow leggings do bug me a bit though... but honestly aside from that it's eh. Not really for "summer" but as just co-ordinated clothing it's alright.

2 (Ohno's): It's simple. I love simple. I love Ohno, Ohno wears simple. It looks good on him. A bit too colourful but overall, very nice and something that I would like to see someone wear. I also like it when people wear layers. And the shoes are nice. :) I really like the shoes he picked. I can't say much, I don't have anything wrong with Ohno's clothing. I basically love the entire thing, I just would never wear it myself xD

3 (Sho's): As I said, I thought this was Jun's at first. Glasses, hat, vest, a total Jun combination. But I was wrong and I am so sad I was wrong because this SHOULD HAVE BEEN JUN's. >.> (the Jun fan in me is severly butt-hurt). But as I said before, I don't like those styles of hats and I don't like thick-rimmed glasses. When people WEAR them I don't mind but just seeing it on a mannequin is kind of.. ."eck" to me. But it still, overall, looked really nice and well put together. Very balanced (like Aiba's :D). But when Sho wears it.. eh... eh... I kind of wanted him to be last..... -_-;; Sho doesn't actually look good in what he picked :P

4 (Jun's): There is  nothing wrong with this outfit, it's just too damn boring. Honestly it looks like a professional bowler uniform or some teenage kid who works at a gas station. It's not UGLY, but compared to the other 4, this doesn't really stand out or garner much attention. It's just too plain. D: Maybe a bit more colour.. a different design for the over-shirt... nicer looking pants? I don't know, it was just too plain. But seriously, when Jun actually wears this it doesn't look so bad.

5 (Nino's): Seriously, I like Nino's the most. I dont' know why girls freaked out when he took off the first layer and was wearing that... thing (yeah, I dont' know fashion/clothing names). It didn't look that bad did it? o_o and the shorts ARE cute. The shoes do bug me a bit though. But overall I thought it was the nicest, even when Nino wore it. The colour balance is nice (all light and airy) and layers (I have a thing for layers) were so nice. I mean it was casual, and well-balanced. Seriously I don't get why everyone thought he would be last o_o;; Sho and Nino's positioning shoulda been switched >.<!!

phooey. I feel so bad for Jun, losing twice. What he picked this time wasn't even bad... wanted to give him a hug at the very end when they were sending the bus off. His voice-cracked when he was announcing it. :P I wonder why he doesn't wear shorts though. Seriously if Jun paired off his top with a pair of khaki's his mannequin probably would've gotten a lot more votes. O_o Does the guy not like shorts or something? *sigh* If they ever do this again, I really, really hope he gets first place. >.<

Inoue Mao - Exile 2010

Eh.. I don't know if there are any fans of Mao-chan in my neighbourhood but I was asked to translate one of her magazine articles and I did (I posted it on my LJ as well) but I guess I'll post it here to since they both relate to 'fandom' and this is supposed to be my 'fandom' blog. ^^;;

 (sorry for page stretching >.<)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanting to know an entertainer’s ON
and OFF’s

Mao Inoue ON/OFF

For two months is the plan to untie
the ropes of popular female actresses. For our 21^st appearance is
Inoue Mao whose recent image shows the strong impression of having suddenly
become very adult-like. Going halfway into her 20’s, this actress’s career has
gone on for more than 15 years. Has the image of being an actress, when she was
small, continued, remaining unchanged? Also, has she changed along with her age? We’ve  asked about everything!

＊＊＊

An
 actor’s road is endless

When
I watch dramas or movies, regarding the show, I become greedy

 

――As a child
actor, and later, with your career packed as an actress, Inoue-san. On your
own, when did you decide “I’m going to continue on
this path!”

「[Acting]
was something I had always been doing so there’s no exact moment that could be
called “this time”.
Also more than thinking, “I want my future to be
like this”, I wanted the moments happening
now to be fun. I was the type who thought you couldn’t waste your time. It was
a feeling that flowed naturally with no particular hesitations. 」

 ――Has there
been a time when work was too busy and you thought you couldn’t go to school or
“I want to play more!”?

「Since
I was small, on top of my basic personality (laugh) I hated to lose so I’ve
always gone between my double-life in school and as an actress and have become
accustomed to that rhythm [of life]. Therefore, I’ve been able clear it cleanly」

(A/N: I
did a very literal translation but I think she means clearing the obstacle of
work taking over her private life as a child)

 ――If you do
that, you must be good at separating your ON and OFF?

「That’s
right. Although, during my school days, while commuting to school, when I was
with classmates it felt like I naturally switched into OFF [mode]. But now, all I
have is work to concentrate on so how I’m going to change [my ON and OFF’s] might become a problem. 」

 ――On your
last work “I’ll Give My First Love to You”¹
you played a middle-schooler, now in “My
Darling’s a Foreigner²” you play
a company worker, as an adult actress your roles have grown suddenly. Don’t you
feel things such as confusion?

「I
thought that marriage would be a long way off so, somehow, it’s a strange
feeling.  I’ve thought this myself as
well but others around me have been seriously saying “Mao
has turned that age to start thinking about marriage”(laugh).
But I’m already 23 so getting married isn’t such a strange idea. It’s just, I
was told by the original author [of the story], Oguri Saori-sensei³
,“Having such a young girl play my
role is a bit embarrassing!”(laugh).」

 ――In the
movie, Oguri-san also appeared didn’t she. What was it like acting in front of
the real person?

「I
was definitely doing it, so there was the nervousness of needing to make a work
[Oguri-san] would be happy with. This time though, there was no need in trying
to re-create [her] outer-appearance so I didn’t worry to that extent. I acted
while thinking about being able to let out Oguri-sensei and Tony’s smiles.

 ――Acting as Tony, is Jonathan Sherr’s
first time in a movie. Did you give him any sort of advice?

「I think that as long as you have fun it’s fine, but Jonathan is the type
who seriously thinks about his own abilities so Director Ueda and the staff,
everyone, had something to say. Things like　“You don’t have to worry so much”. But if
someone said the word“appropriate”[Jonathan] would get mad. He’d say“It’s not appropriate, it’s suitable”(laugh)」

(A/N: this
is a pun on the words適当 and適切, both of them basically mean the same thing but there are slight differences that don’t really make it in
the English language)

 ――You want to see the real Tony don’t you. (laugh).

「Of course (laugh). Jonathan is quite the “boke⁴” character and so when he
makes bad jokes, everyone attacks (tsukkomi⁵) him (laugh). This
filming site is really warm, it really feels like we’re acting within an
atmosphere like that of a real family.」

 ――Marriage is nice isn’t, haven’t you also thought so?

「I
have thought about it (laugh). Before I didn’t want to get married and aimed to be a
hard-working career women but lately I’ve had the desire to get married or, I
should say, this movie has influenced me in wanting to get married (laugh).
It’s like, if I could ever meet a person whose always happy, by my side,
encouraging me and so on.」

 ――If you do get married, will you continue working?

「I
wonder……. I don’t like being half-hearted so, I think, if I continue, I’ll
continue, if I stop I’ll completely stop 」

 ――You will completely stop?

「Ye-ah……. There are
still a lot of things I want to do though so right now it’s something I can’t
even think of. It may also depend on my partner and the age I get married.」

 ――The things you want to do are…?

「An actor’s road is endless isn’t it? When I see dramas or movies I think
things like“I want to
act this type of character” or “I want to
act with this actor”. It’s greed.」

(A/N: greed is the literal translation of the word貪欲, but what
Mao means is when she see’s movies and what not, she wants to do more, such as
act with that person, or do that sort of role… not “greed” per say but
something close to wanting as much as you can have)

 ――And a person you’d like to act with is?

「Morgan Freeman⁶ etc…」

 ――That’s quite high-class

(A/N: シブイis the word used to describe
refined tastes… so in this case I couldn’t think of a proper synonym and used
the first word that came to mind…)

「From a long time ago, I’ve always liked experienced people (laugh). If
it’s a Japanese actor, Nishida Toshiyuki⁷ or Mikuni Rentarou⁸
etc. Therefore, earlier, when I was able to act with Nishida-san I was
extremely happy! 」

 ――As expected, you like being an actress don’t you.

「Being able to experience different people’s lives is very fun. Also, I
like the feeling of having to complete something starting from zero. Using
everyone to make something, completing it and giving joy to lots of people. I
think, somehow, it’s a wonderful job.」

 ――It looks like “marriage/a retirement declaration” are going
to have to wait for the time being.

「That’s right. Definitely not any time soon (laugh).」

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

¹ -「僕の初恋キミに捧ぐ」or “I’ll
Give my First Love to You” is the movie Mao did with Okada Masaki that came out
Oct.2010 in theaters and was recently released on DVD

² – 「ダーリンが外国人」or “My
Darling’s a Foreigner” is the movie Mao just did (based off a manga) recently
starring Jonathan Sherr, released in theaters recently

³ – Oguri
Saori (or Saori Oguri in Western culture) is the author/manga-artist of the
manga that the movie “My Darling’s a Foreigner” is based off of.

⁴ – “ボケ”or “boke”
is the term used in Japanese comedy to represent the person who always
does/says stupid things (Arashi-fans, Aiba or Sho could be considered the
“boke”)

⁵ – “ツッコミ”or
“tsukkomi” is the term used in Japanese comedy to represent the person who
insults/hits the “boke” character and points out his/her mistakes (Arashi-fans,
this would be Jun or Nino)

⁶ – Morgan
Freeman, if anyone doesn’t know (I’d be surprised) is a very popular and
well-known American actor. One of his more known, recent works would be Dark Knight (Batman)

⁷ – Nishida
Toshiyuki (62) is a famous Japanese actor whose is probably more known for all
the NHK Taiga dramas he’s starred in

⁸ – Mikuni
Rentarou (87) is very famous, acted in many, many movies, won awards, huge
Japanese actor

 ----------------------

I am open to requests by the way ^^ 

Music Lovers [2010.08.22]

This was awesome. An hour long mini-Arashi concert with one of the best/funniest interviews ever. 

Songs they performed are (I think this was the order)

- Moving On 

- Troublemaker

- Medley (Happiness, Believe)

- Yurase Ima, wo (guys only)

- A Day in Our Life (guys only)

- Fight Song (guys only)

- Refrain (SO BEAUTIFUL OMG)

- Summer Splash (end credits only D=)

and during the interviews they asked questions regarding 'Who is the most OO', really funny. They were rated by 100 girls, Kuroski Meisa and themselves <3 Haha. Poor Aiba got bullied a bit. and Nino got bullied at the very end to. They did this special portion where they performed just to a bunch of guys and it was so cool. They looked like they were having lots of fun singing to the guys and the guys looked like they were having a huge amount of fun too. It's nice to know guys like Arashi so much. Haha. 

and the performance of Refrain at the end was so beautiful and cool and nice and.. kyaa~ *fangirl squeal*. It was a really cool episode. People should see it =) I laughed really hard watching it. ^^;; 

Shiyagare 2010.08.21

And going with my last post about posting more.. THIS

If you people have not seen this episode yet you HAVE to see this. This will be one of those episodes that will go down in history as a MUST WATCH (much like MMA: Boat Club, DnA: Mole/Fish searching etc. etc.). You cannot miss this episode. I'll give you a brief summary after watching it earlier this morning (thank you uploaders). ^^ Funniest Shiyagare episode I have seen yet. TOKIOsempai with Arashi is so much love it can't even be contained in this world.

*ahem* - summary

Starting off you have the members guessing who the guest will be. Straight of the bat Sho mentions  TOKIO and the other members start guessing which member. They name-drop Yamaguchi and say definitely not him. Then someone (forgot who) insists that it must be Matsu-nii (Matsuoka the drummer) but... they're wrong. The two guests from TOKIO are... Kokubun Taichi and Joushima Shigeru (riida).

This episode may be confusing to some but Joushima is also referred to as "Riida" because he is the "riida" of TOKIO. Anyways. The earlier talk portion is about how no one knows anything about Joushima so the whole "rumor" segment is basically just information on him. What he does on his spare time, how he disguises himself, the weird stuff inside his wallet. Basically - what you learn from this... Joushima Shigeru is more of a mystery than Tsuyoshi from Kinki Kids.

Then the three points - what is TOKIO going to teach Arashi? The True Heart of a Johnny's.

1 - Johnny's Rules
Basically they start of talking about different rules such as until when do they stop calling a sempai KUN (it mostly seems to start from Higashiyama/Shounentai) and then it continue on to... putting names on your underwear? YES - they start talking about whether the members put their names on their underwear, in which they all say no. Then the TOKIO members talk about their dorm lives (because back then, JE used to be like Korea and the boys used to live in dorms until just before Arashi joined), and then Taiichi finally shows Arashi his "souveigner" that he brought them. What is it? New pairs of white, fresh briefs with each of their names written on the band. Even better - they put them on right there on stage for everyone to see xD

2 - Cooking
Jun and Taichi have a cooking contest to see who can cook the best chahan. You reall get to see Taichi showing his real cooking skills while Jun is just kind of bumbling along :P But both of their dishes look really good. :) The Arashi members can't stop talking about Pork-Kimchee Chahan. Haha. I don't like kimchee but they really made it sound/look good. Who won the competition? Gotta watch to find out.

3 - Johnny's Games
This is by far the best part of the show. The Arashi-members play INTRO-DON, a fun game where you hear the intro of the song and have to guess what song it is. You get to see a test of how good the Arashi-members memories are, and guess what? They prove to be pretty fricken good (as they all seem to remember the choreo to every single song pretty damn well). Of course some TOKIO-sempai teasing ensues (where the all do NOT know the hit song Sorafune xD) and some Aiba-bullying as well. So much love <3

seriously - WATCH this episode. You really don't need to understand whats going on, just watching is enough.

SUCH a hilarious episode. I'm terrible at summarizing and what not but seriously - great episode, NEED TO WATCH.

*re-watches for the nth time xD*

久しぶり～

So, aside from my review of Boku to Miteiru Fuukei... I haven't really done much on my vox since I left for Japan have I?... err.. ok - checking back I actually did post a lot more than I thought I did, but ANYWAYS.

and I feel bad. I was going through some old posts (mostly my majority of un-finished drama reviews ^^;;) and I felt like I should really start posting here again. All my fangirling stuff, my album/single/drama reviews and what not. I would love to review NatsuNiji but I think I'll do that when the drama ends because I have a love/hate relationship with that drama.

To sum it up - I was in Japan for a year on an exchange program and came back.. recently. About two weeks ago and have thus been.. kind of out of things. But my time in Japan was great. I didn't experience any Arashi concerts but being able to watch their TV shows on TV, live, every week is good enough. Being able to see them on M-Sta, Utaban and Heyx3 live without needing to wait for uploaders is awesome. I made lots of friends, ate lots of food and had lots of fun. It's an experience I will never forget (it was one year of my fricken life for god sakes) and I wish I didn't need to come home.

but I came back. And i promise I will be more active on my vox from now (or as active as I was before I left.. which was pretty active in my opinion.). I still update my LJ as much as possible, not garunteed daily anymore but as often as possible. And so all my fangirly things will likely appear on my vox. Which means I need to get my scanner going cause I need to scan in some fanart and show you the depressingly small amount of drawing I did in Japan (because I had no time whatsoever).

and I really need to fix my banner xD Nino isn't 26 years old anymore is he?

Anyways, as I said.. try to keep my fangirling here. I got rid of my Arashi-schedule and probably won't put it back up but I'm sure everyone in my neighbourhood will start seeing more of my posts.. every.. couple of weeks, at least once a month :)

Boku to Miteiru Fuukei - review

 my little album review. Taken from LJ and EDITED

[edited as of 2010/08/20]

..

1 - Moving On (3.5)
[I've grown to like it. I think as an opening song it's really good. The chorus, as I said is catchy as hell and that's what grips me to this song. I doesnt' make a spot on my playlist but when I listen to the album as a whole I always feel very energized and eager to hear this song again.]

2 - Muda Ue Wo (2)
[Eh.. my opinion hasn't changed. I don't like this song. That doesnt' mean I dislike it but.. it's just not my style. If I hear it I don't mind and i certainly never skip this song but it's not something I would listen to alone. I applaud them for trying something so dark though]

3 - refrain (3.8)
[I've grown to like this. I wont' give it the rave reviews everyone else seems to be giving this song but it's good. Surprisingly, it has managed to worm its way onto my playlist so congratz. I don't really care about lyrics - so skip that - but the melody, the tune, at first it seems boring but after listening to it over and over I find it is a very catchy song. It's not as fast as other songs I prefer but somehow it still pulls me along. Also I find the sound of the song very relaxing.. someone said it reminded her of rain. I agree, when I hear this song i think of a dark, rainy night and empty streets with a single street light shining.... I can imagine a PV for this song xD]

4 - Troublemaker (3.5) - IN THE ALBUM
[I have a love-hate relationship with Troublemaker... especially in this album. This song is catchy as hell but one-to-many listens and i get tired of it. In the album.. somehow it doesn't seem to fit to well either in my opinion. It's just a bit too upbeat sounding to match with songs like Refrain etc. etc. Nevertheless as a single it's a good song but not a preferred one. ^^;; Catchy as all  hell but like I said - one-to-many listens (and karaoke runs) makes me tired of hearing this]

T.A.B.O.O (4.5)
At first I thought this song was alright. Then I grew to like it and now I positively love this song. I think, after Yume de mo Ii Kara it's my most favourite Sho solo. It's hot, sexy, sizzling (the lyrics are just downright dirty)... and it's catchy as all hell. The chorus.. the lines, the way it's sung. Everything about it just makes me want to sing along with it. The rap is a bit lack-luster, sounds... very bland. ^^;; I like rap with a bit more of a tune, like in Kitto Daijoubu or Sakura Sake. But overall - hot and sexy and cannot wait for a con performance (in which I imagine a half-naked Sho looking like how he did in his CUT shoot from 2008)

6 - Circus (4.8)
[I said this was my most favourite song and then I heard Gift and for some reason this song was forgotten in my review. And then I heard it again. Gift might be my most favourite ballad but for up-beat - Circus is brilliant. My two most favourite songs tied back-to-back. It's dark, but not as dark as Mada Ue Wo and it's catchy and gives you this mysterious, magical feel. Like you're on a drug high going through some twisted, colourful, carnival-esque hallway, spinning around and.. being high xD. It's mysterious. I imagine darkness along with the colours.. like a sub-dued image. Damn, I'm going way out with the imagery, but this is a GREAT song. Catchy, mysterious, dark, just the right amount of everything to make a perfect song <3 ]

7 - Gift (5)
[My last review was a bit uncomprehensible due to the massive fangirl attack I had after hearing MatsuJun's voice singing the first time and sounding beautiful while doing it. A lot of people don't seem to like Gift or they just fly by it but THIS is my most favourite song of the single. It's beautiful. Not too slow to be boring and just... wonderful to listen to. It's calming, soothing. I picture them standing somewhere high (maybe in the sky?), singing their hearts out like how they sang 5x10, surrounded in whites and the faintest hint of soft blue... *sighs wistfully* - a beautiful song]

8 - Everything (4)
[I've always liked Everything and I think it actually suits the album well. Better than Troublemaker does - or maybe it's the placement that this song is in? Who knows, but even as a single I like this song. It's refreshing. The PV of this song is pretty much how I picture the song except.. maybe a bit more grass and meadows and sunshine. But it's a beautiful song, catchy, up-beating, up-lifting yet with a slight hint of maturity.. (ie - doesn't sound like Kitto Daijoubu crack xD), I want to say it's my most favourite single in this album but I feel like I'm betraying Monster]

Come back to me (4 - and you read that right)
Let me set this straight - synthesized songs? Not my style. Not my style at all. That's why I hate K-POP but.. FU#$ this song is so catchy, oh my god. From the minute you hear the beginning line "1, 2, 3 I will set you free" i'm completely hooked and I don't know why. I just can't help singing along and bobbing my head to it. The only thing that I don't like is the part when he does the "crowd-shout" thing and when he raps. ^^;; At first I would skip those parts, now I just kind of... tune out of them, sometimes I laugh. yeah - one thing.. this song makes me laugh, HARD. Sometimes I just burst out giggling when I sing along. But not my favourite solo - despite my rave reviews and the fact that I gave it 4/5 - the parts that I dislike are a really big negative in terms of "favourites". The 4 really doesnt' mean much because I have a bias for solo songs xD Especially for MatsuJun solo songs *cough* yeah - i have no ears - shoot me now. 

10 - My Girl (3)
[When i first heard the song in My Girl and saw the PV, I liked it. It was a sweet song, catchy enough and what not but aside from being a theme song it's pretty lack-luster. Generally I like theme songs so it's always no my playlist but I dont' really react when I hear it. It's just a song... I don't love it, I mean.. I like it... enough and I don't dislike it surely. I really don't have much to say.. ]

Magical Song (5)
So, as I said before, favourite solo. Which is ironic because I dont' listen to it half as much as I listen to Ohno's or Nino's solo. In fact I listen to this song the least. But when I hear it I love it and it will be my favourite. It's so different from Hello Goodbye or Friendship and yet it still sounds.. the same. It's up-beat, cute.. magical. Like honestly, i imagine disney when I heard this. Aiba singing in front of Disney castle with Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell flying around him, I'm not joking. I just find this song adorable.. and I don't know. It captures me.. it's just so.. Aiba. <3

12 - Let Me Down
[uh... I don't.. really like the song. It's not memorable - cannot remember what it sounds like after listening to it, nothing stands out and I just don't like how it sounds. ]

13 - Monster (5)
[<3 <3 <3 - i dont' think any words are necessary]

14 - Don't Stop (0.5)
[Like Let Me Down yea.. not memorable, don't like it. But this one actually gets a score because it sounds marginably better. It's actually catchy when I hear it but one the next song comes along - completely forget about it. ]

Shizuka na Yoru Ni (4.5)
Yes - Ohno did not get a 5. You read that correctly. It's a beautiful song.. but.. it's one of those songs that are just a tad to slow. When I listen to it I love it and I often repeat it over and over but oddly I can't seem to give it a perfect score. Possibly because out of all of Ohno's solos.. I find Take me Faraway and TOP SECRET so much better. Shizuka na Yoru ni is undoubtedly a beautiful ballad and a wonderful display of Ohno's vocals, no doubt. As a song it's a 5 but as to how much I like it compared to his other solos.... now that's not a perfect score. It's not a bad song but like I said, a little too slow. It reminds me of rain as well.. but it's not as dark as refrain. Reminds me of soft, drizzly rain... i can imagine Ohno singing this on the street surrounded in light grayish hues, singing.... *another wistful sigh* 

16 - Mukae ni Iku yo (5)
[Just as in my last review, I loved this song and I still do. It's a awesome song. It's slow, yet fast and soothing but with just enough pep to it to be called POP and it's up-lifting but not like Happiness... this song is just so good. It's not as dark as circus either. it's just.. so.. mature sounding and calming. I don't imagine rain with this, but I imagine many dark-blue-ish hues in my mind. I just love the way they are singing. The constant, soft, ups and downs and when they go into that... what is it called... a falsetto? I don't know musical terms but when they all go and hit that high-note in the chorus.. *shivers*. Sounds so good... yeah, dark-blue-ish hues.. solemn setting.. walking into a starry sky with a sun beginning to rise... breathtaking. and the "ooh" part at the end........ *yet another sigh*]

1999*4##111 (5)
This.. song was a surprise. The sound I mean. When I first read the title I imagined something along the lines of Gimmick Game, but when I learned what the title meant I thought it would be a ballad. But no, I was surprised, this sounds glaringly close to Himitsu and I love it. I LOVE Nino's voice in this, how he goes up and down and hits those notes and sounds so good... and the lyrics are so cute. The chorus is catchy as all hell - i can imagine flaily Himitsu-ish Nino dancing happening here. It's such a cute song, cute and touching. And the fact that Nino wrote and produced this himself adds bonus points. Not as good as Niji and Konseki but those are slow songs, as a fast, more up-beat solo this is one of my favourites of Nino's.

18 - Sora Takaku (3)
[Now let me be honest. I liked Sora Takaku when I heard it at the end of Saigo no Yakusoku but eventually... yeah, the like faded. I never got the hype with this song. I mean it's a good song, definitely, but I don't follow a majority of othe fan's love for this song - it's not THAT good is it? But as to the actual song.. it's nice, it's like Mada Ue Wo. Except it's more my style - just sounds.. kind of... boring. ^^;; I dunno. I don't find the song nearly as catchy nor as memorable as their actual singles (although I'd rather this than To Be Free >.>). When you hear the lines after the chorus.. I always think disco's 70's music. It's not like I imagine NEWS Koi no ABO style but.. somehow I just think "DISCO". The rap is.. nice... i guess, I never actually make it that far into the song before I skip onto... ]

19 - Kagero (5)
[I know the majority of the songs on this album aren't SLOW but none of them are necessarily FAST songs either - except for Kagero which is my style of FAST and I LOVE THIS SONG. It doesn't beat ouf Gift and sits on the same pedastal as Carnival maybe a bit higher because like I said - my style of speed to a song. It's the right speed, memorable, the background tune is amazing. What can I say - it sounds like an anime theme song and I love anime theme songs. <3. This is what I would want as an anime theme song from Arashi. Fast, Action, Adventure, that's what the song sounds like. I can imagine barren sand dunes and the hint of Arashi travelling through their own anime adventure to find some all-powerful-armageddon saving stone.. *sigh* Now if only my wish for an Arashi-Anime would come true *laugh*]

20 - Summer Splash! (2)
[Uh... I don't know what to say. THIS song really reminds me of DISCO 70's when I hear the opening instrumental.. and then they start singing and that imagine is replaced by a pool and Arashi shirtless and I'm gone. xD It's true, this song is the stereotype of Arashi/Summer and it sounds nice but so generic and thus... not that memorable either. I mean, the chorus is catchy when I hear it but after ... I never really feel a need to listen to this song again? It's better than Let Me Down and Don't Stop but.. it's just... not that great? Lots of people seem to like it, I guess cause it's so generically Arashi but it's a subdued generic. If I want fast-pace summer I would go for something along with Happiness. ^^ Also the style they're singing really doesn't... yeah, I don't really like it that much in this song.]

so... the bottom line to sum this thing up?
....
I'm.... what can I say? At first I was kind of disappointed with this album. I mean, as you can see the scores for the songs aren't over the top and some of them did get depressingly low scores (below the 50% mark) but... after listening to it for so long I have to say that overall as an ALBUM I really enjoy it. Listening to it from beginning to end, all 20 songs, all together in one package, it's a great album. Not as good as TIME but.. it's getting there.

Honestly, this is probably my 2nd most favourite album.. although I liked ONE quite a bit as well. Maybe they're tied? I mean, it's true, the amount of songs I actually liked are.. quite few (and highlighted in pink minus singles - but you can tell which single I liked xD) but.. overall, like I said, the whole package? It's good. I love how they mixed up the solos as well, feels like a concert then. ^^ And I have to say, love all the solos, all of them 100% love them, there is no solo that I dislike and all of them made it at least in the top 3 of my solo list.

so as a whole packaged album - despite some of the songs getting terrible low scores - as a WHOLE PACKAGE.. I'd have to honestly say? 5/5. ^^ I like the single that much. The colour scheme as well, the blues and greens? Reminds me of the Vancouver Olympics and being a vancouverite I'm biased. Haha.

it's a good album, I would recommend this actually, to people. This album and TIME would be good albums to recommend to non-arashi fans. <3