It's been awhile since my last post. When was it? On January???? LOL. Jut so you know, I'm extremely busy with work (so do other people ;p) and to the points that I have reached my limits and I need something to lessen my boredom of working. Yes, I am bored with the endless workloads and I managed to steal the time (of course when it's on Friday and weekends) fangirling over Arashi by fast-scrollingTwitter and enjoying only for a few videos. *sobs*

Since I missed writing an Arashi review, I think of to update my LJ's post (go away workloads I need my rainbow time! xD).
To reckon, my previous posted-review were THE DIGITALIAN album and  ARAFES '13 concert . Oh! I also wrote a few reviews on Arashi 2015's singles due to the request from my lovely Arashian friend. The reviews were written in mesages. Sadly, I couldnt backtrack those reviews tho.

However, I manage to backtrack my Japonism review that I wrote for her. Yeay! And to think of we fans are finally getting to watch JAPONISM DVD this month, I think of to post my review here. Who knows if you guys might want to re-listen to the whole album. This is my personal thoughts on the album.(excl. sakura & aozora).

Bokura ga Tsunaideiku
I like this song so muchhhhhhhhhh!! At the intro, I love the piano along with the string of the double bass and the chime. I just really want to hug Sakumoto for the great opening. It is just so plain beautiful. I can feel that Arashi sing with their heart. I like Ohmiya’s part (after Sho’s solo) when their voice is accompanied with the sound of the double bass + piano. One by one the sound is approaching as they sing the lines.

I think the chorus has the best passionate voice ever done by Arashi. I also love the part where Arashi’s put emphasis on “Zawameki” and “Oikaketemo” (esp the last chorus). Before the chorus, notice the the composer let out a beautiful chime (the one like the intro) and Arashi strong voice hit right after to indicate the chorus. I love Nino’s solo especially the riffs of “da..re~~”. I do also like Aiba’s voice in his solo part. The way he sings it reminds me with his solo: Yozora he no Tegami. Ohno at his best for his solo part. The high pitch he did and the echoed voice of the members follow suit. I like the bridge after the second chorus. How they arrange the music to enlighten the stronger feels. Arashi’s quivering of “woooo…” before the song ends give me chill. It just proves how harmony Arashi is when it comes to ballad.

Nihon no Yoitoko Makafushigi
I like this song because it has the simple lyrics and the shortest duration among all. And yesss for shamisen all the way from the beginning to the end. The most anticipating one of course Arashi’s rap, ”jiichan baachan..” hahaha.. and not to forget how Arashi put an effort in rapping “bunbunchakama..”. Oh, have you noticed how the composer arranged the “bunbunchakama” part in accordance from oldest to the youngest? and it being repeated again (sadly it stops at Neen’s). I do too like Ohno’s “Makafushigi…” and how the other four accompany him by singing behind. Overall, Arashi done a great cover for their senpai’s song ;D

The Deep End
Love this song! How to say this, hmmm…I think I put this song under a rock genre. (In line with ROCK THIS). I love Nino’s solo  (Basically I love all of his voice in this album), love the sexy deep voice Jun makes for “motto deep inside” <3. Ohno’s high pitch again for this song. Lots of it. In hindsight, this is kind of song that I am truly nodding my head off when listening. Oh oh, my tension is increasing when they yell “Hey, ao ni somare” . xD. The impact of repeated “stay alive, stay alive” “mugen no perfect blue” is really deep. Haha. Its an upbeat rock genre song overall.

Kokoro no Sora
I liked everything from the melody (shamisen, taiko drum), to the choreo and to their blended voice. Kokoro no Sora is the first main track category that I fond off. Not that I didn’t like the previous main track from their previous album its just that Kokoro Sora has different way of music approaching and has different style of choreo. Hahaha I lost it. Maybe the Japanese elements in this song become the core reason for me to fall in love with. Let me enlighten my favourite parts. “Harumachi zakura…” and its choreo is superb! Ohno’s at the front leading and oh my god the gracious hand movement that the five of them did. *Fainted because we girls esp me couldnt even do that*. Very elegantly movements for men to do that. *cries*.

Then, I like the bridge where it was at Ohno’s choreo to which the rhythm (the beat of the taiko drum blended with the string of the shamisen) match perfectly with the choreo
( A++++ at the stomp feet part). Right after that, comes Hotei-san’s strumming the guitar alone with the gorgeous back up singers did the “wuuuu…wuuuu…wuuuu…”. In fact, Arashi did a solo dancing at this. Lets appreciate this moment when Sho starts the dancing in the middle continue with Neen’s, Ohno’s,  J’s and Aiba with his half leg split. Then, Sakuraps hit in. Sakurap is awesome! A++ of what Sho did at “Susanoo” ;) and love the way they dance towards the Sakuraps with their bodies are slightly bow and their foot are stomping in accordance to the raps.Besides, the gracious hands movement is visible again at this 3:29-3:41. Lovely, lovely, very lovely!  “We are samurai yamato nadeshiko” becomes my fave catchphrase ;) yeah~~ “Arashi no you ni!” ;D

Make a Wish
A perfect theme song for a romance comedy drama. I do like the little jazz elements they insert back there when Yama/Jun sing at the beginning. (After the 1^st chorus).
I am super love the chorus! Seriously, my dancing mode is switch on whenever the chorus hits in. Its catchy and sparks the happy mood.
Love the part when they sing the chorus alone accompany with only the piano (3:18-3:36). And then it continues with such a cute “Hora..!”

Kimi he no Omoi
My first song that I like after Kokoro No Sora. The first listening, it is undisputed that this is the most beautiful song. Upon reading the translations, I just got teary eyed. The chorus wow…the chorus had me overwhelmed. The best meaning ever for the chorus. What got me hooked with the song is that the appealing sound of the traditional Japanese instruments. I did a little research and it turned out to be SHO (not our Sakurai Sho obviously ;p but its something like a flute, the only thing it is not thin and long but more to round shape & you need to blow it to make it sound.) and the other one is KOTO ( the Chinese usually used this and apparently the Japanese too. Its something like a guitar its just that you need to sit and put the koto on your lap horizontally, stretch your hands and play it like a boss. haha, if you watched KUNG FU HUSTLE movie you probably noticed they used koto at the beginning of the movie xD ).

Since Jun said that JAPONISM is a mixture of traditional and modern elements of Japan, I heard the saxophone’s sounds after the first verse. In fact, Sho’s rap is also with the sounds of the saxophone. It indescribable. Shower lots of loves to Nino’s solo lines after Sakuraps. Nino sings while Jun back him up with his faded low voice behind. Not to mention, tennen combi did a great job too for their parts. I like the way tennen sing “Kono omoi~”. The wonderful riffs that they did but I heard more riffs on Aiba’s than Ohno’s ;) And ah, this song is Aiba’s fave mentioned by him in AraJapo talk ;D

The last chorus before the song ends is so outstanding. With those little piano keys and how Arashi sing it heartily by saying the lyrics one by one calmly. Kudos to the last phrase “I always want to feel you..wuuuu~~” because the piano at it again with their melody and of course how the composer ended the song with the extending sound of sax. Before I forget, the chime ;) They include the chime too at the end of the chorus ;)).

Don’t You Love Me
What can I say, its typical type of J’s song. What’s with this “stupid” and “lazy”?? Hahahaha. I’m laughing hard because only Jun can pull off such lyrics to make them sounds catchy. Anyway, I do like the song especially “bounce, bounce bunce”. Nothing more to say but J's solo is J's solo. Wish he could do ballad next time ;)

Furusato
Heaven’s earth! I’m grateful that they’re finally put this song in the album. I have the mp3 cut of FURUSATO the one that they sang live in Kouhaku back in 2010.  When I heard the album verison, it sounded very much like the mp3 cut. Flawless. ;D

Miyabi Night
Right away at the beginning a mixture of Japanese traditional and modern music can be heard. I think they include the sound of KOTO. “Hara, hara” part is cool when the sound of shamisen can be heard. Before the “Tralilalila” part, you can hear the Japanese flute called shakuhachi and the sound faded eventually. “Tralilalila” part is modernized with the mixture of old and modern Japanese music. And yessss for Nino’s “Ahhh….” xD

Mikazuki
The music arrangement is blended between modern (auto tune) and the traditional japs. For me, it sounded really beautiful. I love Aiba’s opening and how he ended with tiny quivering “ma~tte”. Even the song is in a slow tempo, Arashi’s harmonization make it more pleasing to hear despite the auto tune. But in this case, I find auto tune can be very appealing. ;) Too bad Jun doesn’t have his own solo part but he for sure doesn’t let us down when he kept his voice steady by harmonizing with the other’s members solo. ;D Jun is always like that, balancing the Arashi voice by pairing up with the other members.

For the chorus, I never heard such beautiful way of saying “Oyasumi..”. I'm going to fall in love to the person whoever could enunciate “Oyasumi” in such a perfect melody. The way Arashi’s cascading “Oyasumi” away is so dreamy. Definitely gonna sleep tight every night. Lastly, chime is heard before they hit the last chorus. <3 <3

Bolero!
To be honest, bolero is not my style. For me, it sounds like a football theme song. Sorry but not much to say on bolero! ;p

Mr. Funk
Yeay for Aiba’s Mr. Funk as he kicks in the song like Jun or way better. xD “Oide party people” haha..Aiba is being Aiba to which whatever things he did. I just laughed entirely for the whole song. But I enjoyed the song. Aiba’s rap is totally worth to hear. I know he’s trying his hard to control his breath while rapping but its sounds really cool though. I love the way he says “Hep Hop” instead of “Hip Hop”. It's okay Aiba is being Aiba so he is forgiven. ;D I love the sudden sexy “Yume ga samite shimatemo…”. I called that as the voice hailer kind of sound.

Akatsuki
I have to agree that this solo has the most Japanese elements. From the traditional flute, koto, shamisen to the taiko drum. All in one. I assumed Ohno’s solo this time is more like a storytelling. The way he conveys his singing is the same way he is telling a love story or how he adores his love. Something like that. Maybe the different tones he used instead of monotonous while singing is the reason I assumed he’s storytelling in singing ;D

We know Ohno has the best vocal falsetto. I like his rate of falsetto. You can hear this when he sings the three lines e.g “Utsuo~tokiwo~negau~” and he kept repeating this with the same falsetto but different lines. Ohno’s good in controlling his pitch variation especially when he gets back to “Hanareteku..chigiregumo” “Akatsuki ni mune no naka” in a very calm way after those high pitch of the last lines (the first verse  and the six verse).

My most fave is of course the poetic way of singing “Kokoro ni wo..Arade ukiyo ni nagaraeba…”. The top-notch is of course the last part of the voice hailer way of singing of that poetic lines. Love that so muchhh!

Rolling Days
Sho’s solo is laid back, relax and at the same time sexy. It’s truly a different one compared to his previous solo. Sho’s solo is equivalent with Ohno’s in terms of the way he’s delivering the song. Ohno is like he’s storytelling and Sho, from my point of view is like he is telling us how his heart felt. Its all about love. A heartbroken one. The one that caught my attention for his solo this time is Sho’s singing style. He sings in a smooth and relax mood not that hasty way like in TABOO. ;p In fact, the drum beat that accompany his singing is another plus points.

Why I said Sho’s solo is sexy because the way he pronounce “You na” at 2^nd verse right after the 1^st verse. Oh my god I like that because he sounds like a gaijin who tries to pronounce in Japanese. And my heart is skipping a little bit with his vibrato “Ooohhhh..kikoete iru ka..?” and “Ooohhh oboeteru iru ka…?”. Also, I should really salute Sho for his flat quivering vocal on  “Owarinante kowakunai no sa..” Sho has the best quivering and I love his quivering vocal. ;)

Sakuraps had me bleeding both nose and ears.  His raps is sexeeyhh!! I feel intrigue by his damn deep sexy voice when he delivered the first rap. Save me please!! I cannot handle those sexy deep voice of his. xD I also like the guitar string that really sound so surreal when he delivered the 2^nd fast raps. Overall, Sho solo's and himself deserve lots of kisses from his wifeys beacuse he done a great job delivering the song.

In the Room
“Rouge!” Nino at his best voice again. Man, gotta love this brat’s voice in the album. This is a sexy song right? From the way Arashi sings and the translations. :) I think the guitar’s strings make the song sounds more sexy and alluring. Super love how the composer makes Sho and Aiba simultaneously exchange their vocals. You can hear this at the 2^nd verse after the 1^st chorus. Sho in his low voice and Aiba with his usual breathy voice :D
Sakuraps at his best again with his too much “Ah..ah..” hehe. High five to Nino’s “whoah..whoah..no..no..” and Ohno’s “whoahh yeahhh..” because that way they give a perfect ending. xD

Masquerade
My thoughts it's a Shonentai-poi. For me, it’s a catchy song with a very addictive chorus of “I want you baby”. The vocals arrangement from low to high that being arranged according to a pair of Jun/Ohno, Sho/Aiba and Nino takes the last hit. Yes they repeat again but with different pair as Jun/Nino, Sho/Aiba and its Ohno’s turns to take the high pitch. This is exactly the same on how the composer did for ONE STEP. This can be heard from the verse (the last lines) before they hit the chorus.

What I love is the one when the composer did a little twist from catchy and fast pace of the chorus to the very quiet slow tempo of “Mou..kanashimi wa iranai yo..” (Sho) “Mou kirei na namida wo” (Ohno). Yes YAMA!! ;D. Not to mention how cool is that when there’s overlapping part after “Dare ni mo” before the “No..No” part. I think its Jun’s voice but I do too hear the others voices. ;)

Music
“Play good listen good” I called this as Nino’s game song because I can relate all the music and the lyrics with games and with that Mario’s theme poi music in the background. Nino must be very happy while singing this. Yes too bad he wasn’t the one who wrote the song, if he did, I bet it’s gonna be so cool.  “Whoa..oh oh …oh yeah..” is my favourite part after all. Seriously, I smile widely when Nino said that. In regards with music arrangements, I like the one when only the beat something like a remix beat playing all alone with saxophone behind before Nino’s hit the “MUSIC!” part. I think around 02:25-02:50. :D

Tsutaetai Koto
Christmas feels of song. This is a song that indicates how grateful Arashi is towards their fans. The chorus has the happy mood. I like the simultaneously part of singing for example “Atarashi asu e” (Ohno/Aiba/Jun) and “Fumidasou” (Sho/Nino). They did again for “Ryoute wo hiroge” “Mukaeyou” with of course the same pairing. I also like the way they said “Kotoba  mo I love you”. Give the stringer feels how they love the song.

I also adore how Arashi sing  “Imamademo, sou kore kara mo, doko made mo, zutto”. Also, the bridge where you can hear mostly on the sounds of the drums and oh damn Ohno’s pure falsetto on hi solo lines “Hitori de nayande mune ga kurushikute~” that quivering of “Ku..te~” part. Sending all loves to Ohno. xD

Japonesque
Oh my goodness I will definitely move my body the moment the songs starts. “Rachacha..rachacha…” and “Yurari yurete..” parts sure know how to make me to sway my shoulders to and fro. Honestly, I’m dancing to this song. True enough this song has the most overlapping part. One of my favourite would be when Sho/Nino sing “Moeru you na..atsui tamashii” and follow suit by the vocal hailer of Ohno/Jun/Aiba for “Ichido no inochi tsudzuku kagiri”. They did again for the next verse. ;D I also like the part right when they sing (by means of emphasizing) on the “utsukushii..rachacha..rachacha..utsukushii~~” and also on how they enunciate “subarashii”.

For the music arrangements, I love the way the composer puts the slow beat first and ended with quite an upbeat in a very fast pace before oh god how lovely low voice of Aiba’s solo line hits through. And Ohno follows right after and oh his vibrato at the end of his lines. Super love!

Sho and Nino solos lines also deserved double triple thumbs up for their overlapping parts with the rest. Nice one! And yes Nino hits the high pitch for “uchi ageyou!!”  In hindsight, with the fast pace mode and of course countless overlapping, I would say Arashi did an amazing job in singing Japonesque.





Actually, I owe imconan a review on I Seek/Daylight single. Sorry, I just got the time to write on. It's a simple review tho. Gomen! Hope you like it! Here is my thoughts on  I Seek/Daylight single:

I Seek
It’s a catchy song. I adore the combo voice of YAMA and KAZE trio. “Papapapaparaa…” is quite addictive tho. The chorus is something that made you groovy yourself to the rhythm. Ohno’s solo is heaven because of the beats and his heavenly voice. Not much to talk on I Seek because everything is endearing to my ears. So, kudos to the composer! ;))

Daylight
It’s an inspiring song. I like themusic intro. I like the part “Gyutto tsuyoku atatakana sono te de” because you can hear Arashi hits their voice strongly after delivering the calm pace of intro lines. Let me tell you that they deliver their solo lines in sequence (from the eldest to the youngest).  I love all of their solo lines especially the one by Jun (the same reasons as above as Jun hits his voice strongly according to the beats). And not to mention how Ohno’s beautifully reverbates “mirai ni” on Sho’s solo. YAMA <3.
The chorus is addictive and uplifting. “Zero to goal, zero to goal~” and gosh I am super love how they compose the lines where Kaze trio sing in a fast pace of “Tatoe wazukana kibou sore wa kiseki no imi..” and follow suit by Ohno, Jun and Sho with “Jibun sae kidzukanai hibiki kanadete…” and the perfect echo-ending of the lines “Kimi no naka ni… umarete iru kara~”.
Sakurap is endearing with the  piano accompany him and how it is alternating with the members “Don’t stop rolling~”. “Tashikana toki wo kizan..deku” shows how Arashi want to emphasise the lines before they hit the last chorus. The saxophones at the end make a perfect ending! ;)

and bonus!  Because...

*I coudnt resist Neen's stares here*

Tadaima
A beautiful song. A really beautiful song that I have tears in my eyes every time I tune in. Matsumiya starts the intro and Sakuraiba follows and ending with the angelic voice of Ohno. How can someone not to love this song? Only a single calm soothing music accompany their voices during the intro. The chorus is very pleasing even with only one simple background music.
The strings of the guitar accompany their solo voices. Aiba starts first, next is Sho Jun follows by Ohno and ends by the firm voice of Nino. (Ohmiya take turns btw <3). Have you guys noticed that they ended their lines with a quivering voice? In short, their lines are sooooo loveable to the points that I cried. The music is getting catchy to which the beats and the rhythm can be heard during the second chorus but still the soothing melody remains.

“Okaeri” part is truly engaging. It depicts the stronger bonds between Arashi and their fans. They want to show their appreciation to the fans.
Latter, Arashi sings my favourite part of the song “Tadaima kono toki wo matteita yo…whoa whoa~”. Through this lines, I feel Arashi is really grateful to the fans waiting to their comeback to the Arena. Overall, the lyrics are the one that make the song more appealing. T_T

Supersonic
 It has the beats and the rhythm but something is off with the melody. LOL. Sorry, Arashi. I maybe a ballad type so any pop beat, catchy Arashi song with a fast-pace is not my cup of tea. You can hear this song is in a fast pace beats and realizing that eh? It’s over already? Haha ;D