KAT-TUN 2 Me

Moving!

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:49:40 GMT

!!!!!ATTENTION!!!!!

I am very very excited and pleased to announce that KAT-TUN 2 Me has moved! Ray at International Wota has been kind enough to both offer me hosting and help me prettify the site. Mega-thanks to him. The new address is: http://www.intlwota.com/kattun2me/ Easy to remember, right? I'll leave this site up for a while, but all updates will be occurring at the new address.

~Celestia~

KAT-TUN Covers

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:08:35 GMT

I feel like if I'm doing a post just to get people to watch KAT-TUN performances and read my stunningly insightful commentary, having a coherent theme helps legitimize it. This time, the theme is KAT-TUN covering other Johnny's songs. Due to their extended time as juniors, they did quite a bit of that. I’ve been wondering though, what is the best method of sharing media files? I like embedding, though I worry that that’s bad for those of you who are not blessed with fast internets, youtube links are okay, but they require you to open a new page, and maybe you don’t want the hassle. I could also provide downloads, but I don’t know if people would actually use them. Hmmm. I think I’ll do both embedding and downloads this time, but if that proves to be too much of a hassle in the future I might not continue.

First, not all of KAT-TUN, but just Akame covering the Kinki Kids song ‘Bonnie Butterfly’. Those two really do look nice together, don’t they? I don’t mean as a couple (sorry, Akame fans, but any hope of that died long ago) but performing side by side. Their different styles, voices, and looks complement each other perfectly, I think. Oh, and love that last pose, btw.

download

Next, a clip I only recently stumbled upon. It’s KAT-TUN singing part of that darn SMAP song that was playing absolutely everywhere when I was in Japan. It holds a special place in my heart as the first Johnny’s song that I knew and liked, so I was excited to find KT singing it. And yes, they do sing better than the smappers. Waaaay better. KT sure looked a lot friendlier (and less cool) when they were Jrs, didn’t they? Ueda, with his blonde hair and that necklace looks the most princessy I’ve ever seen him, and Jin and Koki are both smiling way more than I'm comfortable with in a performance from them. As for the bastard children of a toga and a leisure suit costumes that they're wearing, I think that the costume hall of shame may have to invade this blog very soon. My only concern is that it's almost too easy.

download

As long as we’re discussing this clip, a short h!p digression. I’d like to point out baton-boy in the background. See, this is one of the things that Johnny’s consistently gets right. No, not baton twirling, but utilizing the special talents their idols. You know how to twirl batons? Great, get out there and start twirling. Good at tapdancing? Can play the guitar? Can whistle and play harmonica (hey Kame)? Do flips? Whatever they have, they incorporate it into their live performances. H!p should be taking notes! Why do we not have JunJun out there playing piano, Ai-chan incorporating classical ballet into a nice lyrical number, or any of the other girls honing whatever special performance talents they have and showing them off? This needs to happen, and it needs to happen like yesterday.

Lastly, another Kinki Kids cover, Hakka Candy. It’s actually KAT-TUN and friends, but whatever. Admittedly, KT looks pretty young and unpolished (this is from four years ago). Well, Jin is as beautiful as ever, but most of them have unflattering hair, Kame seems unnecessarily angry at times, and it's not vocally perfect. Despite those things, I still cannot describe how much I love this performance. The song is just so beautiful and all the emotion in it comes through exquisitely. The trademark tiny Jin smile at the very end melts my heart every time.

Download

Goodnight Moon,

~Celestia~

Quotation Qorner: Pretty boys don't always play nice

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:09:30 GMT

I might be addicted to quotation qorners. It has been a whole 2 entries since I did one though! BTW, I think that this entry might have been skipped in all the confusion, and I kinda like it, so check it out if you want. For today's entry, it’s Jin being an ass and Nino being…difficult. I don’t want to call him an ass, so we’ll go with difficult. And yes, I am very biased and I do write about my favorites much more often than the rest of them.

I’ll do Jin first (yeah I will) . I’ve gone to such great lengths to prove that he’s an air-head lately, haven’t I? Truth is, he can be clever on occasion, but those occasions are almost always when he’s taking shots at the other members, particularly Nakamaru and Taguchi.

Jin: If you hear this, it will appear in your dreams.
Ueda: Jya, everyone, let’s go back.
Jin: Close your eyes.
Maru: But its scary...
Jin: Imagine it vividly in your head.
Ueda: Iyada! Iyada!(no! that’s awful! similar sentiments)

*dramatic pause*

Jin: Nakamaru when he had long hair!

Summer 2007, Cartoon KAT-TUN

Kame: I heard that if you only think and don’t move for a long time your arms and legs could become paralyzed.

Junno: I’ve never had that happen. I only know sleeping or awake.

Jin: Well, that’s all you know.

November 2007, Cartoon KAT-TUN

Scene: KAT-TUN members have just undergone a personality test where they have to befriend a dog.

Kame: And coincidentally both Akanishi-kun and Taguchi-kun decided to call the dog ‘John’

Jin: I almost called it ‘Jun’ but then I thought that someone would get mad at me again

Matsujun: *’I hate you so much’-type smile*

Jin and Jun don’t get along (though Jin seems to be trying to mend fences lately). It’s sad because if they were friends I would call them Junji and their combined sexiness could take over the world.

2004, Utawara

Scene: Writing about going on a location shoot to Hokkaido with Nakamaru.

Jin (writing): Nakamaru no baka (Nakamaru the idiot) was asleep for almost the whole trip. I thought about burying Nakamaru no baka in the Hokkaido snow, but Nakamaru no baka was sleeping so peacefully that I stopped myself.

February 2008

So like a spoiled little kid, mad because Maru wasn’t paying attention to him. At least he stopped himself, right?

Scene: Talking about misplacing train tickets

Junno: It makes me feel like I really wasted something

Jin: I know what you mean. I feel like I’m wasting my time talking to you right now.

Cartoon KAT-TUN

Interviewer: Do you ever look at yourself and think, “Man, I’m really cool”?

Jin: Yeah, whenever I’m standing next to Nakamaru.

Unsure, sorry

As for Nino, he’s certainly not mean, but he’s infamous for being difficult to interview. Getting a straight answer out of him that’s not, “<3 Games!” or “<3 Arashi!” is damn near impossible. I think that interviewers must hate him, but oh how I love reading what he comes up with. Sometimes he’ll flat out refuse to answer the questions, sometimes he’ll make up something ridiculous, and even when he gives a plausible answer, since it’s Nino you can never be quite sure if he really means it or not.

One of my favorite examples comes from an attempt to psychoanalyze the boy’s romantic tendencies through a series of questions. This kind of thing is quite common in Japan. Sho, Matsujun, and Aiba gave sincere answers (though Aiba’s were predictably spacey) Ohno gave answers like responding to the question “what time would you pick her up” with the current time and “what music would you play on your date” with the song that was currently playing in the room. Nino seemed to make it his personal goal to stump their psychologist, and I’d say that he thoroughly succeeded.

Q. You have a date with a girl on Valentines day. What time to you meet?

A. Valentines? Let’s see, 3 AM in the morning I think. We should use that day fully.

Q. You’ve gone out for a meal. What is her outfit today? (I’d like to note that Aiba’s answer to this one was ‘Naked!..oh wait, was that bad?’)

A. A judo outfit. Black belt... no, green belt. I guess she’s not strong enough for a black belt yet.

Q. After the meal is over you receive a Valentines present from the girl. What is it?

A. The belt she was wearing. She’ll say, “because I’ve risen to black I’ll give it to you”

Q. You both are now full. Where to next?

A. Batting center I guess. She’ll catch the ball with her bare hands. It’s to measure the strength of her grip. She’ll catch a ball flying at 120km with her bare hands, release it, then catch another one and another one.

The poor psychologist’s final analysis of Nino is (summarized): Those were some very unusual answers… If I have to pick one, I’d say that rather than romance he just wants to play actively. He really values uniqueness.

You can just hear the psychologist getting more and more pissed off as the interview goes along. It’s great!

March 2008, Duet

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The little bastard truly enjoys messing with the interviewers.

Nino: Recently, I always just tell interviewers about playing video games. I’ve really only talked about playing video games in all my interviews for the last three months. They’ll ask me, “What have you been doing recently” and I’ll answer, “Playing video games” and they’ll have this expression on their face like, “AGAIN??” So... I’m going to continue answering that way for the next 3 months too *laughs*

Baystorm (his radio show)

Later Skater,

~Celestia~

Kame, there are some things you really shouldn't advertise to the world...

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:41:22 GMT

I wonder if Jin, the resident English speaker, understands what that means. If he does, you can bet he's laughing his ass off.

Choose your punchline!

a. What, were all the "kiss me, I'm impotent" shirts taken?

b. And you thought Momoko's "rock like fuck" jacket was surprising

c. Johnny's has clearly started taking drastic measures to avoid losing their stars to shot-gun weddings

Chu,

~Celestia~

So you think you can dance?

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:52:00 GMT

Sometimes, I don’t really feel qualified to write about the musical quality of my favorite JPop groups. My own experience with performing music is limited to a short stint playing clarinet in high school, and I’ve never taken any kind of singing lessons. That said, I do know a thing or two about dance. I’ve been taking lessons all my life, and I was one of the captains of my high school dance-team which placed 2^nd in the State three out of the four years I was there. The fact that we placed 2^nd rather than first is kind of a sore spot, so we won’t go into that, but my point is that naturally, I find myself very interested in the dancing skills of my favorite idol groups.

Fortunately, there is no lack of dancing skills in Johnny’s. If you look at my two favorite groups, KAT-TUN and Arashi, you’ll find that they’re all good dancers, every last one of them. I've made comparisons, and the Johnny's boys are MUCH better dancers than their American counterparts (BSB, N*Sync, etc) I attribute this to the fact that Johnny’s Jr’s work primarily as back-dancers, so to stand out from the crowd enough to be placed in a unit and debuted, you almost have to be a really good dancer. You might be good at singing, but if you can’t dance, I don’t think they’ll give you enough of a second glance to realize that. This wasn’t so true in the time of, say, SMAP, but with the more recent groups, dancing is at a premium. From preliminary observations of newest debuted group Hey!Say!Jump, I’d say that trend is only becoming stronger. I’ve also read many interviews saying the Johnny’s really don’t do much voice training, but they do A LOT of dance training. Well, they are idols after all, and how they look on stage really is more important than how they sound, isn’t it? Bad singing can be hidden, to a certain extent, by the other members or using lip-syncing, but bad dancing is much harder to disguise. Of course, a group can’t primarily be made up of bad singers, or their music will be disastrous, but, as Matsujun definitively proves, it is not necessary for all the members of a group to be competent singers. I would argue that for the current groups it is necessary for all of the members to be competent dancers.

For fun, a member by member breakdown of dancing styles, ranked by my personal opinion of how good they look.

KAT-TUN

1. Junno- 1st because I think he’s the best technical dancer (as in technique, not technicality). I've seen him do a lot of technically difficult moves, kick-spins and triple+ pirouettes for example, and because he looks the most spirited

2. Jin- sexiest at dancing for sure, he makes it look really effortless. Especially good at pop and lock style or anything that involves rolling his hips. Of course, this only applies if he happens to remember his choreography. Lol.

3. Kame- not technically the best, but the smoothest. He reminds me of Michael Jackson (just his dancing, not the creepy/insane pedophile thing), good at twirling

4. Koki- kind of dances like he’s attacking someone, good at break-dancing and aggressive-type stuff. Very energetic.

5. Maru- surprisingly good at dancing, but he never stands out, and his "blah" facial expression detracts from his performance

6. Ueda- is quite graceful, but he’s not very sharp (a bit timid with the moves) and he tends to fade into the background. He is very good at the hip-rolling thing though.

Arashi

1. Matsujun- Natural grace and rhythm combined with lots of flair. He’s probably the most naturally talented out of the bunch when it comes to dancing. With his long limbs, he has the potential to look gangly, but since he’s so well-coordinated, it just makes his moves bigger and his dancing more impressive.

2. Aiba- Very energetic and sharp. He always meshes with the group nicely

3. Ohno- Has less flair, but he’s very precise. If his arm is supposed to be parallel to the floor at a certain point, for example, then it's going to be exactly parallel to the floor. He practically never makes a mistake or looks awkward, and he gets bonus points for making up a lot of the choreography. Hmm, he probably should be 2nd, but I just like Aiba's style more really. Ohno's dancing is almost too perfect.

4. Nino- is a really good dancer, maybe the best…by himself, but his style is quite loose and so it sometimes comes off as sloppy when he’s with the group. Still, he’s always right on beat and never half-does any move, so while he does stand out, it’s not really in a bad way. Also, he can kick really high!

5. Sho- only gets last here because he can be a bit stiff at times, kind of the opposite problem Nino has. He just doesn’t quite flow as well as the rest. The rankings on the other 4 are somewhat debatable, but I'm quite confident that Sho belongs in 5th. That doesn't mean he's a bad dancer though! Just that the rest of them are really really good.

The final segment of this entry is video examples of some very nice dancing by these boys.

First, an Arashi performance of “Right Back to You”, possibly my favorite of their album tracks. Arashi never fails to impress me with how much choreographed dancing they incorperate into their concerts. They tend to do more lip-syncing in lives than KT does, but if they didn't, I'm afraid that with all the dancing they do they would drop dead of exhaustion by the end of the show. Anyway, Arashi dances usually lean towards the cheesy, so this ‘cool’ dance is a nice change of pace. This is no easy dance they're performing either. It's full of very quick, precise isolations. If they were doing anything not quite full-out, or they weren't almost perfectly in sync, this would look like a complete mess! There are a few moments where they're not quite matching up (sho messes up around 0:22), but overall it's great. I especially like Aiba’s dancing throughout this, how cool Jun looks at 0:36, and Nino’s move at 2:41. Sexy! Damn. The more I look at this, the more I want to teach myself this dance.

Enough of Arashi though, let’s focus on KAT-TUN.

Here’s their little dance solo-introduction things from KT’s ‘real face’ tour. First there’s a short dance, but it's kind of lame choreography, so don't pay attention to that. I chose this clip for the later parts that focus more on each member. Then there's individual cam-whoring segments (funny how well they all fit their personalities), and lastly short paired dances. Jin and Kame don’t so much dance as sex it up for the camera on their turn (last pair), but I’m perfectly okay with that. I really enjoy their little, "what" pose at the end. The cam-whoring order is kame (sexy), jin (SEXY), ueda (cute but please never do your hair like this again), koki (tough then funny), maru (lame), and junno (dork!).

See what I mean about Junno’s technical dancing skills? I certainly love barrel turns (the jumpy thingys), and those turns at the end are impressive. 6 without his other foot touching the ground, by my count. Sigh. I can do 3 if I'm lucky.

Jin solo that’s full of amazing sexy dancing! *squeals* The most of the actual dancing is toward the end (like 1:05 on). Oh those are some dirty lyrics there JinJin. There's also a really funny cameo by Kame.

Dancin' All of the Night

~Celestia~

Quotation Qorner: Akanishi says the darndest things

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:42:38 GMT

I posted some of Jin's brilliant one-liners already, but this time I'd like to focus on a few that are a bit longer as well as one very short audio clip that you MUST listen to. I’ve come to realize that the thing about Bakanishisms is that they’re really best taken in context, because a lot of the humor comes from how the things he pipes in and says often are from way out in left field and barely connected to the current conversation at all. Don’t worry though. I still have plenty of choice moments to share that don't require me to transcribe ten minutes worth of dialog. They’re not all exactly stupid…per say, but of that special random/dumb/adorable hybrid nature that can only be classified as ‘Bakanishi’. Hard to describe, but watch Jin for a while and you definitely know it when you see it. My comments are in purple.

Interviewer: If the members of KAT-TUN were musical instruments, what would they be?

Jin: Kamenashi would be castanets... no, the director. Tanaka would be the drums, and Taguchi the flute. Ueda is the guitar... wait, no, the piano. Nakamaru is the amp and connecting cord, and I'm the castanets.

1. ‘director’ is not an instrument

2. Neither is ‘amp and cord’

3. WTF castanets??

March 2008, Potato

source

Scene: Shounen club, some Johnnys are telling stories of when they first met. These are great examples of things that aren’t so much dumb as random and out of nowhere.

Nakamaru: The first time I met Jin was on the second day of our audition. He came up to me and asked, “Are my eyes swollen?” And I thought, “How should I know? I’ve never met you, so I don’t know what your eyes looked like in the first place”, so I just said, “Maybe a little bit”

Jin: What? I don’t remember that at all!

Koyama: I remember the first time I met Jin too. We were at a studio recording and he suddenly came up to me and said, “Your eyes are really narrow”

Nakamaru: Eh??? That was what he said to you on your first meeting? That was the first thing he ever said to you? as a greeting??

Jin: I definitely didn’t say that!

Koyama: You did! I didn't know what to do, but since Akanishi-kun was my sempai I bowed and said, “Thank you very much!”

2007, Shounen Club

Scene: The members have to write little individual messages about their new single “Signal”. Koki is reading Jin’s aloud.

Koki: This time the world’s attention is focused on the 5 of us. (NOTE: kat-tun has 6 members). We have released our 2^nd single. Please listen to it before sleeping! The song name is (various things have been written here and then scratched out)…eh…so please listen to it!

He knows neither the number of members in his group nor the title of their new single? It’s a one-word title! Also, for the record, his handwriting is atrocious. Oh Jin, I do worry about you sometimes.

July 2007, Music Station

Scene: Cartoon KAT-TUN episode with Erica Toda. They’ve prepared her favorite noodle dish using her mom’s recipe. Erica tastes it.

Erica: Ah! This tastes just like my mom’s!

Jin tries it.

Jin (with his mouth full): Mommy!

This earns him a well deserved swat on the head.

January 2008, Cartoon KAT-TUN

Scene: Cartoon KAT-TUN concert MC. The topic is “dramas”

Nakamaru: Speaking of dramas…

Jin:Anou, Dreamboys…

Nakamaru: No!! (Note: Dreamboys is a stage play, NOT a drama.)

2007, Concert MC

And I could go on and on and on…really, you have NO idea how many of these types of things I have. Oh, and don’t feel bad for Jin being shot down by Nakamaru like that, because he’s always taking shots at Nakamaru. Actually, ‘Jin being an ass’ will probably be featured in a future quotation qorner.

And finally, a very short clip from Jin and Junno’s radio show. Apparently Jin is trying to come up with a catch-phrase for himself like Junno’s “iriguchi deguchi taguchi desu!” thing. What he comes up with is just….wow. Just wow. DOWNLOAD ME!!

Another Server

Source

Still here? Okay then, I can't resist posting another adorable Ohmiya exchange that I just found.

Interviewer: Okay then, were there times in 2007 that you looked at your work partner and thought about how cool he is?
Ohno: Nino’s altogether cool.
Nino: Leader’s also altogether cool.
Ohno: Even when we’re eating, I really don’t know, but he’s cool.
Nino: From the time he comes onto the scene, I think he’s cool. As expected, I think I just respect him.
Ohno: Yeah. I was thinking I feel respected. That’s what I had felt (laugh).
Nino: I adore Ohno-san. Anytime, anywhere.
Ohno: Nino’s profile is really nice when he’s playing games and other such things.
Interviewer: So then, what about points of cuteness?
Nino: Every bit’s cute.
Ohno: Every bit’s cute. I think he’s cute every day

2007 Fan Club Letter, source

Admittedly, the interviewer is baiting them but still... If I heard a normal, straight and openly dating couple say those things I'd think it was kind of nauseating, but coming from Ohmiya I just think, "Awwwwwwwwwwwww". You know though, Ohno and Nino are many wonderful things, but I'm not so sure about 'cool'. Also, every bit huh?

Celestiafuuuu~

Don't get the sign-off? Listen to the audio clip then.

Calendar Part 2: Because I honestly can't think of a better title in my current state of mind

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:43:08 GMT

High quality versions of the new KAT-TUN calendar photos have surfaced. You'll have to excuse me for not being able to find a way to properly introduce this, because right now I am having a lot of trouble putting together a coherent sentence. My impulse is to just type aldksfnalneasndfklandsfioaewrouaeiwhrnfaoedfij for a few pages, but I am going to try to control myself in order to share some of the sweetest eyecandy I've ever (seen? tasted?) only made sweeter by the fact that it will soon be mine in hardcopy. Out of the 79 calendar pages containing pictures, most of them full page or double page spreads, I've picked some of my favorites that I didn't previously share. It was a difficult task because almost every picture is stunning, and I made myself give the other members a chance instead of just posting all the pictures of Jin.

No reason not to start with a picture of Jin though, is there? He looks a like some kind of young businessman, and since he's wearing all black he's most likely the type that's evil and corrupt and powerful and deceptively charming and sexy andadlfk;neoiwrnafioboidcvuweqdlakneoickl

I'm back. Cap'n Junno here snapped me out of my reverie.

And suddenly he's blonde again! Seems that the shirtless pics were taken quite a bit earlier than the rest of them. Anyway, Junno might win for best shirtless photo-shoot. Doesn't he just look positively swishy? Kame's was good, but you know, those two freckles on his chest are kind of distracting. Junno suffers from no such affliction.

Ueda looks so...Ueda-like in this picture, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Hold up! Why is the driver's seat on the left side of this car? Japanese people drive on the left side of the road, so the Kame should be sitting on the other side. Was this photo taken outside of Japan, or did they ship in a car that cannot be driven on Japanese roads just for the purpose of this shoot?

I think there's not enough Maru-love in this blog, so here's a picture of him with a puppy. Awwww

This man has the sexy pissed-off stare down to an art form.

Holy fucking shirtless KAT-TUN, this picture alone might be worth what ever ridiculous amount I'm paying to have this shipped to me from Japan. I very much want to nibble at their collar bones. Don't they look delicious?

You thought I could think of a clever sign-off at a time like this? HA!

~Celestia~

Quotation Qorner: The Mystery of Ohmiya

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:00:14 GMT

Warning: Post contains little to no KAT-TUN.

"The Mystery of Ohmiya" might sound like a good title to a Nancy Drew book or perhaps even an Indiana Jones movie, but what I actually want to write about is one of the most unusual and fascinating features of Arashi: the Ohmiya relationship. Ohmiya of course stands for Satoshi Ohno and Kazunari Ninomiya, who are known to be a little bit too comfortable around each other, making a regular habit of holding hands, playing grab-ass, and generally being joined at the hip whenever Arashi is together. Sure, it makes the fangirls squeal, but after watching 8 years of this and hearing the other members say time and time again that, if anything, they’re even worse when they’re not on camera, makes it difficult to believe that what we’re seeing is mere fan-service. So what the hell is going on? Is there some kind of romantic relationship? Are they just doing this, as they claim, because they’re good friends and it amuses them? Do they like each other that way but they’re in denial so they tell themselves they’re just playing around? Have they gotten so used to the fanservice thing that they do it when the fans aren’t watching just out of habit? Does my collection of Ohmiya quotes have the answer? Here are some of the better recent ones, arranged from “aw, they’re good friends” to “have you no shame!?”

Nino: Even if we meet every day, I still always mail leader (note: he's talking about cell-phone mail)
Sho: Really? You guys sure get along well.
Nino: If we're counting, I probably mailed him about 6 times yesterday.

Fall 2007, Anan
Source

Nino: That's what nakama are (kind of a hard word to translate. maybe companions, but with more friendship implied). In my case, I get the feeling of nakama when I'm alone too. I could really feel it when I was in America, and I watched TV shows with the other four members in them.
Ohno: Who was it that you wanted to see again most?
Nino: Eh!? It was you of course!

April 2007, Non'no

Ohno: Yeah, I dream about Nino-chan all the time.

February 2008, Oricon Style

Ohno answers a question directed at Nino about himself, and surprises everyone by giving the right answer. Note that it's notoriously difficult to figure out what Nino is really thinking, even for the other members of Arashi.
Sho: Amazing! You two really seem to understand each other. How do you understand Nino so well?
Ohno: Because I love him

November 2007, Polo Polo
source

Interviewer: The two of you (Nino/Ohno) seem really close, ne?
Nino: That's because we're going out!
Sho: Coming out at last?
Ohno (sheepishly muttering to interviewer): Please don't write that down...
Nino: Ah, just joking, ne?

June 2007, Wink Up
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Messages on wink-up message board (celebrities leave messages to each other)

It is well known that Chinen from HeySayJump really admires Ohno.
To Chinen from Nino: I will never lose to you!
To Ohno from Nino: Lately there's a kouhai who's suddenly appeared and is aiming for Satoshi, but I will never lose, because I've always been watching Satoshi!

This exchange is seperate from the one above:
Ohno: Nino, compared to meals, I would rather eat you.

And Nino's reply in the next issue:

Nino: Me too! I want to eat you too!

2007/January 2008
source

The members are asked to write New Years messages to each other:
Ohno's message to Nino: Love doesn't change~(laugh). Shall I say it more? Love for all eternity...

February 2008, Potato
source

Love for all eternity???? Even in jest that's a very not-normal thing for one guy to write to another, right? Then there's this video....

Oh, and the clip is mislabled. They were actually in Sho's bed. Ohno's bed is the one he retreats to, and Nino is supposed to be rooming with Matsujun. I notice that all too often Sho is an accessory to these quotes and situations. Maybe he's in on it? I do believe that Matsujun and Aiba are as baffled as I am by their behavior, but Sho... maybe Sho knows something...

Anyway, the best part of that clip is where Sho tells Jun that he found them asleep and cuddling and Jun’s response is not “WTF?” but rather, “They did that again?” And then he just calmly moves on to talking about the book he's reading.The most incriminating thing is how sheepish and embarrassed Ohno acts. Just look at him in that video. Nino's cutely confused and sleepy (huh? is it morning already?) but Ohno goes and hides like a little kid who just got caught doing something bad. It's the kind of illogical, 'I just woke up' thinking that probably prompts him to think, "maybe if I don't show my face they won't know it's me!" I think he got woken up when Sho came in and then sort of panicked. If it was all a big joke, then shouldn’t they be laughing and playing along more? Actually, whenever Ohno gets questioned about why they're so touchy he gets kind of annoyed at the interviewer/the other members and changes the subject. Also, if Ni no Arashi has taught me anything it's that Nino can't keep a straight face for very long when he's playing a trick on someone. Whatever they're doing, there is no way that I can believe it's all just a joke.

On the other hand… if there really were something going on there, it’s hard to believe that they would be so damn obvious about it. I know plenty of real life couples who are no where near this affectionate in public. I dunno. Then again, convincing the world that they’re just good friends messing around when they really are secretly more than that is exactly the kind of joke that Nino would enjoy most. It almost fits. Ohno becoming embarrassed because he’s afraid that if Nino reveals too much, their cover will be blown, and Nino vastly amused by seeing how much he can get away with. He totally would...

I suppose that another option is that one of them secretly has romantic feelings but he'll never admit it because the other one just thinks they're playing around. Or they both like each other but they think the other is just playing around so neither will admit it for reals! Fanfiction fodder, no? Meh. I don't believe it. Such pretty stories probably don't exist in real life.

As happy as it would make me if they would just get married already, my gut feeling is that these two are just both rather strange people (TRUE!) and that whatever this unusually close bond they have is, it’s nothing sexual. Don’t ask me what it actually is because I’m not sure that even Ohmiya themselves know that. Is it possible for two straight guys to fall in love with each other? What if you met someone who you were compatible with in every way except that you weren’t physically attracted to them? Because if so, maybe that’s what’s going on here. Okay, so my official position on the "are they or aren't they?" question is: They're not, but they kind of wish they were.

Or maybe I’m totally wrong. I can only hope that when they’re old and retired one of them will write a tell-all book, and then maybe the mystery will finally be solved. Knowing them they won’t though…

Confused, but too entranced to look away,

~Celestia~

Okay, I'll dedicate one line to KAT-TUN. Remember how I have a student named Tanaka Koki? Well, I was tutoring him today when one of his friends called from across the room, "Oi! Kattun!" and he looked up and said, "What?". The guy answers to "Kattun" rofl

Calendar

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:38:50 GMT

I had no intention of buying the new KAT-TUN calendar... that is until today when some previews were released. I kind of blacked out for a while, and next thing I knew I was staring at an "order confirmed" e-mail. Look at it though! It's practically a photobook, because it's in that spiral-bound form. Instead of only 1 picture a month, there's pictures dispersed throughout! Lots and lots of smexy KAT-TUN, and yes there is shirtlesness. Unfortunately, the spiral bound style will make it hard to scan, but I promise to do my best when my copy arrives! Here are my favorite previews!

Cover! Uhh, what are you doing Koki? Also, I when I said that Jin's clothes often resemble robes, i didn't mean that he should wear an actual bathrobe on the cover of the calendar...*imagines him wearing nothing but the bathrobeish thing* Kyaa! I take it back!!

Bakanishi looks so studious

Moar JinJin!

Group shot. Blonde Junno ought to please somebody

Kame is so much prettier since he's gained a bit of weight/muscle,isn't he? I mean, he's still awfully skinny, but his face looks much nicer now.

And so does his body. *drools* Still has tiny tiny nipples though., lol.

Another group shot. Very nice, though I'm kind of wondering what Ueda's hand is doing.

Oh, I think I'm going to be verrrrrrrrry happy with this purchase.

Thank's for stopping by,

~Celestia~

New Feature: Quotation Qorner

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:17:39 GMT

Did I just give this feature the worst title ever? Possibly, but I'm kind of in a weird mood, so just go with it. I have a habit of collecting, amongst other things, translations of interesting things said by my favorite idols in interviews and such. Let's just say that I have pages and pages and pages of word documents full of them, all sorted by category of course. I think it might be fun to share some of them with whatever readers might stumble upon my humble blog. Even if you're not a Johnny's fan, I guarantee that you'll find at least some of them to be entertaining.

Ah, but what should be the themes for this first set? We'll have to go with my two favorite types, stupid things Jin says and Arashi being all lovey about their group. Since these are by far my most prolific categories, you may expect more in the future. Where I didn't do the actual translating, I've provided links to where I got them from. Credit where credit is due, right? I can't promise that the translations I did are 100% accurate, but I think they're pretty close.

Jin: Such an Adorable Idiot- Probably already known to any fan of KAT-TUN, but worth sharing anyway. I mostly got this particular set from a forum...but I forgot where. Gomen ne!

Jin: (During a concert MC) Thanks to all the fans who gave me a Japanese dictionary with the note 'please get more intelligent soon'. (he has...problems reading Kanji sometimes, lol)

Koki: I've started going to the gym recently
Jin: Ah, but don't eat too many proteins! It'll make your eyebrows change color.

Jin: I often see molesters, especially on trains. There's men and women. Actually... more men than women. *considers* Actually...it's like 5 or 6 times more men than women.

(Out of nowhere when Nakamaru had been talking about his interest in space)
Jin: There are people living on Mars
Maru: Huh?!?!
Jin (totally serious): No really! It's true!

Jin: I fell asleep on the train and missed my stop. You can't blame me though! In my dream, I was also on the train, and when it was my stop, I got out like I was supposed to.

Jin: At the moment I don't have a bed, so I sleep on a futon. I jumped on the bed I had before and now one of the metal pipes is bent and I can't use it anymore.

Jin: One of my ancestors was Italian, so Italy is practically my hometown!

Arashi Wuvs Each Other -These are my favorite recent quotes, one per member! +1 more of nino because I love him

Nino: When there are the other four around, I don't need other friends because it's enjoyable, and that is enough for me.

Jun: Ah! He said it! He is the person in charge of saying "I love Arashi" *laughs*

May 2007, More Magazine

Source

Sho: There's a conclusion that I got recently, that for me Arashi are friends, work partners, and family... If asked, for our 10th anniversary how would we want Arashi to be, then the answer is, 'to not change' because I keep thinking that our present selves now are the best!

September 2007, Nikkei Entertainment
Source

Question: What do you treasure most?

Aiba: Arashi

2007, Myojo

Interviewer: Do you feel different when you're working with the five members of Arashi than when you're working alone?
Ohno: Different hmm? When I'm alone I sometimes think "Ah! The other members aren't around!" When the five of us are together, I feel safe. They are guys that I really trust and so I really rely on them a lot. ha ha
Interviewer: Of course. It does seem like the relationship between Arashi's members is always rapidly improving.
Ohno: It is, huh? I feel that way too. It feels like Arashi's atmosphere has somehow been improving every year. Could this be the best year so far?

February 2007, H Magazine

Jun: The relationship with the members... I can't really put it into words. I feel like it's a combination of various things. If someone asks me "are you family?" I don't think it's that we're family, but if someone asks, "Are you friends?" I don't think it's that we're friends. It's more like friendship and family combined. There are things that we can do because it's us five. If it wasn't the five of us, we couldn't have done it!

2007, Myojo Magazine

Nino: We are able to do anything for each other. It's because we trust each other that we're able to go out and do the things we like (solo projects). Because there's a place to return to. There's this feeling of "I've finished what I wanted to do. Now I'm back"

January 2008, Nikkei Entertainment
Source

Lots of Warm Fuzzies!

~Celestia~

Congratulations are in Order

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:25:35 GMT

I'd like to congratulate Arashi one of their strongest first week single sales ever! Reported sales for "Step and Go" this week are around 324,223 copies, which blows most of their past singles out of the water in just the first week! I'm not exactly sure what the first week sales figures for their earliest couple singles are, but I think it's safe to say that this is the highest they've been in at least 7 years. I am thoroughly impressed that a group can be around for 8+ years and be steadily gaining popularity. Not just popularity, but increasing in CD sales, even as the the course of Arashi's existence has seen such a dramatic increase in music downloading. Further evidence : each album that they have produced in the last few years has sold more than the one before it.

Other congratulations include congratulating them on getting a prime time TV show (a huge f'king deal, btw) and the announcement of their new dome tour (May-July) at domes Osaka, Nagoya, Fukouka, Sapporo and Tokyo. So far, only Kinki Kids and SMAP have done that tour route. It's another BFD, and further supports the theory that Arashi are pretty much SMAP's heirs.

Finally, I'd also like to congratulate them on producing one of my favorite song lyrics in J-Pop: "WE. ARE. COOL. YEAH!!" It's not the fact that saying so pretty much negates any possible coolness. No, it's the way they shout that particular line, with all the same enthusiasm that they had when Matsujun's hadn't yet learned to pluck his eyebrows, and Ohno somehow looked older than he does today* There's nothing like a bunch of 24-27 year-old men wearing the most ridiculous costumes that Johnny's wardrobe department can come up with shouting "We are cool!!" to a crowd of 50,000 people and having those people enthusiastically agree with them.

If you're keeping track of releases, next week is NEWS (2/27) (but I hate the song, so it'd better not do better than Arashi or KT, grrr), followed by SMAP(3/05), followed by Kanjani (3/12), followed by a week's break (gasp!), followed by V6 (3/26). I'm not particularly interested in any of that other than to comment that the other groups need to get through their rotation so KAT-TUN can have a turn again! Oh, and new KT album, please! We are desperately in need of one since the last one was so distressingly Jin-less, and another album would likely mean another tour and another tour means a very happy Celestia.

Since I still can't help but feel a bit guilty for writing about Arashi instead of KAT-TUN, a KT pic:

Lol at Junno.

I. AM. COOL! ,

~Celestia~

*really, what's up with him? He's the oldest in the group (27), he does the most actual singing and dancing in performances, and yet he still looks and sounds the least tired at the end of concerts. The rest of them are pretty much collapsed on the stage panting when they finally finish the last song, and he's bouncing around, smiling, and flashing peace-signs. Even the other members comment that he seems to somehow get younger every year. The man has discovered the fountain of youth. It's the only explanation .

KAT-TUN Around the House?

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:52:57 GMT

Photo-spreads of KT from April magazines are already starting to come out (April? WTF, it's still February). Anyway, I found the shots from this one to be particularly interesting. It seems like the theme is household stuff, but then a few don't fit the motif at all. I'm kind of baffled by them. Baffled, but charmed none the less.

I'm going to save the best for first.

Excuse me for a moment. Apron clad JinJin!!! KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! Whew. Okay, but seriously, has he gotten even hotter lately? Is that even possible? The picture on the top left in particular makes me go into paroxysms of fangirly glee.

Ueda does some yoga while Junno contemplates ironing the camera. I guess it only makes sense since there isn't an ironing board or even any clothes around.

For some reason, it would make me happy if these socks actually belonged to Junno.

Hold up. Don't Ueda's lips look unusually bright here? Please tell me it's just the light and they didn't actually put hot-pink lipstick on him.
Nakamaru takes a nap. Lol

Here's where my interpretation of the theme starts to break down. Apparently Koki's favorite thing to do around the house is sit on the stairs looking kind of stoned.

And Kame? I don't think he's even around a house. He's just out looking dapper somewhere.Also, return of apron-clad Jin. <3

This one is from a different magazine, but it's full of awesome stuff, including Kame going "Kyaa" and covering his crotch, Ueda shirtlessly proving that he is NOT a girl (and that he has very toned abs despite being far too skinny), and Jin in a tank top, because I really enjoy his bare arms. gawd he's so pretty. mmmm.

In other news, I recently realized that Taguchi was born exactly 6 days after I was, same year and everything. We should celebrate together! Sorry this entry is more full of me squealing than usual.

TTFN,

~Celestia~

Recipe for a Successful Boyband

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 04:18:21 GMT

How to Build a KAT-TUN, member by member style breakdown:

Kamenashi:

Performance: Employ lots of creative gestures with free hand, looks like you’re slinking/slithering around the stage, spin frequently, especially at the very end of songs, and raise your eyebrows at the camera a lot. Make sure that every sexy little move you make is carefully planned and controlled. The camera is your girlfriend.

Wardrobe: tight pants, probably jeans, and either a long tank top or something tailored like a button down shirt or blazer. Your clothes should look like they’d probably be a bit too small for most little girls.

Akanishi:

Performance: Make sexy faces for the camera whenever possible. Lick your lips, wink, be sneering one minute and flashing sweet little half-smiles the next. Frequently pull your microphone away from your mouth for effect. Give the general impression that you are too cool for all of this and that we are blessed to even be in your presence (we are!).The camera is the sexiest girl you’ve ever seen, and you are determined to make her yours.

Wardrobe: loose jeans, an overly long coat (possibly lined with fur) or at least an overly long vest, likely showing some chest and maybe wearing a hat. Generally, whatever you’re wearing should resemble a robe in some way

Taguchi:

Performance: Bounce around like crazy, grin, wave, and if the song is serious and doesn’t call for smiling, make sure your ‘serious’ look gives the impression that you’re on the verge of breaking out in a cheesy grin. Hyper energy is key here. Try to look bouncy even while singing the slowest of ballads. The camera is your bestest buddy and also, you are both in kindergarten and it’s popsicle day. YAY!!

Wardrobe: clean-cut outfit possibly including a scarf or turtleneck, or a simple long-sleeved T-shirt if the weather is warm. No doubt looking the most put together of the bunch.

Tanaka:

Performance: Threaten the audience and the camera with aggressive gestures. Flash various hand signs, hold your microphone upside down, exaggerate the angry facial expressions, and maybe stick your tongue out. Occasionally sing without really moving at all and just look bug-eyed at the audience. The camera is seriously pissing you off.

Wardrobe: something casual, either a plain T-shirt or tank top with a backwards baseball cap, baggy pants, and some bling.

Ueda:

Performance: Slouch your shoulders, cast furtive sideways glances at the audience over your microphone, hold your microphone directly in front of you with both hands so the only part of your face the audience can see is whatever portion of your eyes are not being covered by your bangs. You really shouldn’t ever face the camera straight on. Always approach it from the side. You think the camera might like you, but you’re not sure. Don’t look at it directly, because you want it to notice you but you don’t want it to notice that you notice it noticing it you.

Wardrobe: a long, drapey, V-neck shirt that shows some chest (do you even own a shirt that’s not a V-neck Ueda?). You should look like you shop at Charlotte Ruse.

Nakamaru:

Performance: When singing don’t really do much. Just kind of stand there and sing with your facial expression saying, “I am concentrating on singing right now” When beat-boxing repeatedly thrust the backs of your hands forward very quickly and dodge your head around. What camera?

Wardrobe: casual-preppy in either a sweater or something hooded. You should be the only one who wears stuff you’d expect to see any normal guy on the street walking around in

Okay, so this is all just me being dumb, but it does point to something that I think is a very important feature of KAT-TUN, and that is the diversity of the individual members. Each one of them has a distinct role within the group, and that is both part of what makes them interesting to watch and what allows them to appeal to a fan base with a wide variety of tastes in guys. One of the perceived ‘problems’ with Morning Musume’s current incarnation is that the members, for the most part, aren’t really distinguishing themselves from the group with a certain role or personality. No one is really “the ______ one”. They’re all just going with ‘cute’. With KAT-TUN, on the other hand, each member brings something different to the table, something vital for the dynamics group. Even their group name could be considered symbolic of this, as to remove a member is also to remove a letter, and if you remove a letter, you don’t have KAT-TUN anymore, do you? Think about it. Kamenashi leaving would be disastrous for a variety of reasons, the dark period in KT’s history that I prefer not to think about was disastrous and it almost killed Kame trying to pick up the slack, KT’s songs wouldn’t be the same without Koki’s rapping or Nakamaru’s beat-boxing, Ueda is the group’s requisite adorable bishounen, and Taguchi acts as a foil to the others, counterbalancing them perfectly.

It makes me wonder how Johnny’s groups are formed. Do they just take a handful of the most promising juniors, stick them together, and hope for the best? After all, not all Jr. groups are debuted. If a group doesn’t mesh, they can always be reshuffled. Alternatively, do they look for certain members to fulfill a formula? If so, it’s a formula which has proven successful time and time again, and I'm determined to work it out. I'm almost tempted to do research into the other Johnny's groups to find out who, if anyone, fills each of these rolls. It's not a good theory when it's mostly only based on two groups, but as far as I can tell, a group need at least one really good-looking guy (doesn't matter if he's a good singer, but it's a nice bonus if he is) (Jin, Jun, Yamapi), at least one guy who can handle the lead vocals (Jin/Kame, Ohno), one guy to be the somewhat shy, feminine, and reminiscent of a cute little puppy(Ueda, Nino), at least one guy to be hyperactive and dorky (Junno, Aiba), and one guy to be more masculine and possibly handle rapping (Koki/Sho). Not sure where Nakamaru fits in. Maybe there should be a 'special talents' category?

Jin and Kame are pretty much doubled up on the good looking/good at singing part, which I think is kind of unusual. To have one guy who is both the best singer and the prettiest in the group is a rarity, and to have two is quite unheard of. Johnny's usually spreads the 'star power' around a bit more, don't they? I'd imagine that making two groups popular is more profitable than making one group really popular. This unusual arrangement is both one of KT's biggest strengths and biggest weaknesses. Having the two of the most popular male idols (likely the two most popular male idols) in one group obviously draws a lot of fans, but sometimes you've got to wonder if there's room enough in one group for the both of them. I suppose that's another part of the reason that Johnny's tends to spread out their stars. One Akame is about all that a group the size of KAT-TUN can handle.

Happy 22nd Birthday Kamenashi Kazuya!

~Celestia~

If you need a pretty boy fix...

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:28:36 GMT

I know I should update my other blog, but I’m spending far too much time making concert screen-caps, and I can’t post until they’re perfect. In the meantime, please enjoy this media-based post.

Behold picspam! I REALLY like all of these brand-new photos. If anyone can get me an actual copy of this magazine, I might just be indebted to you for life. Look how pretty…

click for big on the 2nd two!

You know what, I’m officially giving myself permission to post things about my other, non-KAT-TUN related Johnny’s interests in this blog when I feel like it. That’s the beauty of it being my blog and me being able to do whatever the hell I want with it, you see? Of course, the majority of my Johnny’s interests lie with KAT-TUN, but you’ve probably figured out by now that Arashi also holds a special place in my heart. Here is further video evidence of the reason why. It’s the encore from their most recent concert DVD. I like posting things that make me happy, in hopes that it might make others happy as well, and if you can watch these and not end up with a smile on your face then I'm afraid you might be dead inside.

I have never seen a group appear to be having as much FUN during a concert as Arashi, and I’ve heard many a music-idol name concerts as their favorite part of the job. They’re clearly exhausted and running on adrenalin, but you can see nothing but pure joy on their faces, especially when they're singing their debut song/theme song (2nd clip). Matsujun in particular is just reveling in it. There was once a heyheyhey telephone box segment where the telephone asked who loved Arashi the most, and everyone argued that it was themself, but Matsujun was the eventual winner. Ohno claimed 2^nd and gave Nino 3^rd (though Aiba and Sho weren’t very happy about that). It makes me sad that I can’t even imagine an argument among KAT-TUN over who loves their group the most. Sigh. Anyway, that’s even more reason to love Jun despite his horrible nasally singing.

...Jin's still hotter though. AND he can sing.*returns to staring at the pictures at the beginning of the entry*

Is this too much media stuff for one entry? I have super-fast internet at my school, so it's hard for me to tell sometimes.

Engrish for All: KAT-TUN Edition

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:01:54 GMT

One of the charms of Jpop for the English-speaking audience is that it’s fraught with lines of questionable English. Japanese pronunciation of English words with rather creative grammar choices can lead to lots of misunderstanding on our end of things. I’ve done this with my other blog, but today I’d like to share my most amusing misunderstandings regarding ‘English’ KAT-TUN lyrics. Feel free to share if you have any good ones!

“She Said”-

What they said: if you look back I won’t forgive you

What I heard: if you look back I will hit you

What they said: She said “never look back, whatever you face”

What I heard: She said “never look back”. Whatever, you bitch.

My version is sooooo much better (if a bit more violent), isn’t it?

“Your Side”-

What they said: you kiss so smart

What I heard: your kiss is mine

Again, my version is far superior.

“Real Face”-

What they said: riaru wo te ni ireru n da

What I heard: we are the world, te ni ireru n da

We are the world! We are the children! We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start living…

What he said: sawage hollaback!

What I heard: sawage what the fuck?!

It’s the rap line that occurs in the same place as Jin’s wink/tsk only in the 2^nd half of the song. Apparently I tend to hear profanity where there is none. I guess I’m just conditioned by American rap music. Come on though, I can’t be the only one who thought this at first!

“Never Again”-

What they said: unmei wa no fake

What I heard: unmei wa no fair

Like little kids whining, “no fair!” of course, fate probably isn’t fair, so it fits. On second thought, are we sure it’s not ‘no fair’?

“Gold”-

What they said: All I have wanted was another chance to chat, what was my wish of start to another world that lift me to the sky

What I heard: I ever wanted was another chance to show that my wish was to another word and lift me to the sky

There is no fricking way he said 'chat'! There's just no way. Sigh. Moving on with this extended engrish onslaught of a song.

What they said: All I have needed was to get back on the track.

What I heard: All I ever needed was to get back underground

What they said: I can feel, it’s for real, this time I will hit back.

What I heard: I can feel, it’s for real, this time I wish you there

What they said: I used to be the last man in the luck so long. I gonna be fine it’s too big question makes how big a man come along

What I heard: I used to be I’ll ask you please because they got me so wrong. I’ve got to fight to find that question makes you think I’ll come along

What they said: The end of world crying, the end of world hiding

What I heard: She ends the world early, she ends the world early

And, amazingly, I somehow managed to hear Junno’s lines correctly. Okay, so I thoroughly screwed this up, but my version makes no less sense than the original. Seriously, Kame’s spiel could have been lifted right from one of the poems in “Alice in Wonderland”.

I think that the lesson here for all of us is to make sure you check the actual lyrics before you start singing along to your favorite Jpop song in front of your Japanese friends, or you might learn the embarrassing way that just because you speak English doesn’t mean you can speak Engrish too.

Curiouser and Curiouser,

~Celestia~

This and That

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:48:24 GMT

-CDTV's popular 'most wanted lover' poll results are in. Guess who won (again)??? Why Akanishi Jin of course! I almost wish it weren't so... more competition for me, you know? Also congrats to Kame for taking 2nd. Other notable rankings include Yamapi in 4th, and most of Arashi at various placings (8th-matsujun, 11th-sho, 15th-nino, 19th-aiba). Poor ohno. I still love you though!

-So speaking of my two favorite Johnny's groups, I think I might have figured out the connection. KAT-TUN and Arashi might be on sort of opposite ends of the Johnny's spectrum in terms of I dunno, coolness? friendliness? toughness? something like that. What they both have in common though, is that those two groups have the most impressive dances out of the current Johnny's lineup (imho). Well, to be more accurate, KAT-TUN has the most impressive solo dancing where Arashi looks the best dancing together, but the fact that every single one of those boys knows how to move is irrefutable. I did dance all through high school, so I'm really into that sort of thing, and while that's far from being the entire reason I like those groups, it certainly doesn't hurt.

-For the record, I have very little interest in NEWS, the 3rd group in Johnny's pretty twenty-something boyband superfecta (the 4th being Kanjani). I question their singing ability, and more importantly, they seem to lack identity or cohesiveness as a unit. KAT-TUN might not always get along, but they mesh when they perform. NEWS somehow feels more like a random collection idols than a functional unit, so it's hard for me to care about them as a group.

-I have a part-time job at my school tutoring Japanese exchange students, and on Thursday I met my new students for the semester for the first time. I looked at the sign-up sheet, and noticed that one of the names was 'T. Koki'. "It couldn't be.." I thought to myself. Then, he came in and introduced himself as... "Tanaka Koki". I immediately responded, "Oh! Like from KAT-TUN", and he laughed and said (in Japanese, so this is a translation), "You know, I wasn't expecting to hear that anymore once I came to America" Well, that's one student who's name I won't be forgetting any time soon.

-I'm home for the weekend, and my Mom happened to come in my room when I was watching a performance of "Real Face" on my computer. I pointed out Jin, and she watched a bit then said, "Well, I was questioning your taste at first, but I'll admit, if I was your age that wink would have gotten me too". My mom pretty much despises all things Japanese, so I'll consider that high praise.

Catch you Later,

~Celestia~

Favorite Songs: 10-6

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:16:08 GMT

'Lips' has officially sold 351,294 copies in its first week, putting it slightly over KTF's first week! They're totally untouchable as far as popularity goes right now, aren't they?

Having listed and explained my top 5 KAT-TUN songs in my KAT-TUN 101 post at my other blog (link!), I’m going to go ahead discuss numbers 10-6 in this new blog. Since I love links, naturally those are included as well.

10. Butterfly- This song isn’t really my preferred style, but Jin and Ueda just look so damn cool singing it that it makes the list. Also, Spanish is sexy, guitars are sexy, Jin is sexy, and Jin speaking Spanish and playing a guitar at the same time is ridiculously sexy. Of course, the fact that they wrote it earns the song extra points. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8-LBNRXUnU

9. Yorokobi no Uta- I’m a bit conflicted over this song. I love the verses, but the chorus seems to kind of drag. It feels like it should be a bit faster, you know? The endless refrains of “Aishiteru” (or “Aishitelu” if you’re Kame) are really catchy though. I also like the slowed down “zutto soba ni iru kara” line at the end, because they always make it sound like they’re really singing it to you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5AAOaH4rsc Just a partial clip because you don’t really have to hear the whole thing to get the gist of it. Besides, I like this clip because it’s really funny how they almost start giggling for some reason, especially Kame. Also, I adore Kame’s hair like that, and Ueda is one sexy little minx at the end.

8. Will Be All Right- Yay for this song because it really cheers me up when I’m in a bad mood. It’s simple and B-sideish (since it is one), but it’s something that I can really sing along to and enjoy. I’m happy just writing about it. Lol. I love watching Junno in encores because he bounces around like a happy bunny. The drawback to this clip is that Jin’s bandanna offends me. I demand that he remove it immediately! He should probably lose the shirt too. Come to think about it, I’m not totally crazy about the pants either so…. http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1309154qR24EmGf?searchId=4259562333021672189&rank=1

7. Your Side- My second favorite of KAT-TUN’s ballads (after Precious One). It’s a really nice song, and remarkable in that some of the less prominent voices in KAT-TUN get a chance to shine. Koki’s voice is particularly surprising here as he gets many more solo lines than usual, and his voice works very well with the song. My favorite performance of this, though, is the one with just Maru and Ueda. Ueda kind of whispers his first few lines, but his voice becomes stronger as he goes. Maru does an amazing job all the way through. It’s extra cute because these are two of the rare KAT-TUN members who actually are friends and hang out in real life. Let’s take a moment to appreciate Maru and Ueda, who often are the ones making Jin and Kame sound better by singing backup for them. You don’t notice them singing those parts very much since it’s only caught on film very briefly, because it’s Akame, and the camera just isn’t going to pass that up for Maruda. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D1BC0_FxRE

6. Wilds of My Heart- This is another KAT-TUN song that I can really get into. The beginning is great with the building harmonies, but what really made me fall in love with the song was the performance I have linked here. It’s all kinds of awesome. Jin seems to be having so much fun improvising whenever it suits him. Personally, I like the way he sang his line at 1:40 something much better than the normal version and now whenever I listen to the MP3 I hear it that way. Kame’s kiss at the end timed with the fireworks is also very cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-7DZi_RjFU

And for a recap, my top 5 were…

5. GOLD

4. Keep the Faith

3. Precious One

2. Harukana Yakusoku

1. Real Face

So many good songs that still couldn’t make the list *sob*. I might have to list numbers 15-11 at some point too, even if it is a bit anticlimactic to go in reverse order like that.

Zutto Soba ni Iru,

~Celestia~

Not my Favorite Magazine Cover

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:07:02 GMT

KAT-TUN has been on the cover of just about every magazine in Japan lately (a only a slight exaggeration), with some cover shots being better than others. What was up with the one where they were all holding lemons? For some reason, this one kind of made me laugh. It’s not so terrible on first glance, but if you look at everyone individually…

Kame (is the least funny looking in this)Top of the pyramid! I am the K of KAT-TUN, and therefore better than all of you. I am also too awesome for facial expressions.

Taguchi: Hey guys! I think there’s a camera over there! Guys! Do you see it too???

Jin: Uggg. Kame is touching me. Okay, just breathe and try to smile. It’ll be over soon. Does this look like a real smile? (no Jin, it does not. I love your genuine smiles/smirks, but your fake smile is just goofy. Stop doing that)

Maru: Wha? Oh sorry, nodded off there. Can I go back to bed yet?

Ueda: Grrr. Baring my teeth like this is sexy, right? It must be, because I sure do it a lot.

Koki: Huh?

Oh no. I can’t bear to let this entry end on a bad picture of Jin. We need a recent good picture! clicksies for larger.

Ahhh. I feel better now,

~Celestia~

I am easily distracted

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:28:56 GMT

First, I'd like to congratulate KAT-TUN on their unusually high (even for them) weekend sales bringing the weekly index number for 'Lips' up to 185,211! That should easily put 'Lips' above 'Yorokobi no Uta', and probably slightly below Keep the Faith's first week. Depending on the modifier used, 'Lips' sold about 320,000-340,000 copies in its first week! Go team!!

Now the real reason for this post (and that title). I'm afraid that there is more Arashi talk in the KAT-TUN blog. Why oh why can I never stick to my self-selected topic? It seems that after writing a bit about Ninomiya I was inspired to produce an OPV. Of course, I can't help but share it with you all. It's really funny (I promise), entirely due to Nino, not my video making skills, and so it'd probably be worth your while to watch it even if you aren't an Arashi fan. Oh, and there is a KAT-TUN scene with Nino poking at Kame from behind during the Best Artist awards talk, so there is a (small) connection to the actual topic of this blog.

Ja jan!

If you don't know Arashi and you are confused, I'll try to clarify a few things. If you're familiar with the group, you can probably skip all of this. Some of the scenes (the one with the smoke, the one with Nino on stage by himself (the crowd called him out for a personal encore without the other members), and the one with the surprise "encore" waiting for the group in their dressing room) are from a segment on Arashi's show at the time called Ni no Arashi where he plays pranks on the other members. In one scene near the beginning, MatsuJun is chasing Nino around the stage because he has been instructed to be his personal backup dancer for part of the song, and Nino, of course, is not making it easy on him. If you don't know how to recognize Nino, during the jumping on the bed scene, he's the one in the pink shirt and white headband, he's wearing the red shirt that's not a polo in all the scenes from the "Happiness" PV, if you couldn't tell, he's the one in the green during the 'surprise encore', and all other cases, just look for the guy groping, poking, distracting, teasing, or otherwise harassing the other people on the screen.

Oh, and please be nice. I'm unjustifiably proud of this, though I'm sure it is of quite poor quality in the eyes of the experienced OPV fan, or maybe just in the eyes of everyone but me. Ah well, I had fun making it.

...And Scene,

~Celestia~

New Favorite 'Lips' Performance

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:54:23 GMT

I really enjoyed this performance. The fans kind of get in the way, but everyone sang really really well, and it looks like the guys are having fun out there. I enjoyed Koki and Maru being all buddy-buddy and Jin's bouncing around at the very end. You can really tell when they're singing this live vs only doing the verses live (this one is all live) because Jin holds the notes in the chorus longer than everybody else (which sounds awesome) btw. Yay for this!

~Celestia~

Johnny's Distraction

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:02:14 GMT

The title sounds like the name of a store that sells male slutty undies (Victoria's secret for men), but, unfortunately the real meaning isn't quite that exciting. I played the ‘Johnny’s’ ranking game in the American Wota distractions section, and it was pretty fun. Since my Johnny’s knowledge is limited to Arashi, KAT-TUN (duh), Nakai from SMAP (because he does Utaban) and Yamapi and Ryo from NEWS (because they’re s Jin’s friends) the rest of the list was basically just me deciding who was the hottest. Have you ever played that game where you sit in a crowded place, like a mall, with your friends and you rank the guys who walk by according to how hot they are? Yeah, it was kind of like that.

Here’s the List:

1. Akanishi Jin (KT)

2. Kamenashi Kazuya (KT)

3. Ninomiya Kazunari (Arashi)

4. Matsumoto Jun (Arashi)

5. Tanaka Koki (KT)

6. Ueda Tatsuya (KT)

7. Ohno Satoshi (Arashi)

8. Taguchi Junnosuke (KT)

9. Nakamaru Yuichi (KT)

10. Yamashita Tomohisa (NEWS)

It’s not surprising that all of KAT-TUN is in the top 10, and neither is it surprising that dear JinJin ended up on top of the list. You might be surprised to see some of Arashi ranking over much of KAT-TUN though, this being a KAT-TUN blog, but I can explain! I absolutely adore the way Nino is constantly messing with the other members during performances while somehow managing to wear the facial expression of a blameless little angel, so he had to be high on the list. Matsujun has been steadily moving up the rankings due to my growing appreciation for his prettiness, and Ohno is so very sweet and so very weird at the same time, not to mention talented. The thing about Arashi is that while I love THEM I don’t really care for much of their music. With KAT-TUN, I love both them and their music. My folders are full of Arashi talking and goofing off, but they’re full of actual performances of KAT-TUN. The other reason for my preference is that Arashi makes me smile and giggle, but only KAT-TUN makes me swoon. I want to go out for a couple of beers with Arashi, but I want to do KAT-TUN.

Thinking about KAT-TUN in comparison to Arashi has recently made me very thankful for the entire Johnny’s system. If you’re familiar with Johnny’s you probably know that KAT-TUN is not quite the love-fest that is Arashi (watch their “happiness” pv if you don’t know what I’m talking about there). If it weren’t for the Johnny’s system, I suspect that the group would have broken up 10 times over by now. I’m not saying that they all hate each other, but there have definitely been times when some members were not on speaking terms, and it’s no secret that fights were not uncommon when they first started out. Kame mentioned in a recent interview that all 6 of them really hate to lose, himself and Akanishi in particular. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that that is not a formula for good group dynamics. They are still a group though, because to quit KAT-TUN would likely mean to quit Johnny’s, and to be a male idol who has quit Johnny’s likely means being unemployable, no matter how handsome or talented you are. And so, KAT-TUN continues to produce amazing music as a group today, not because they all like each other so much that they spend their free time between concerts cuddling and skip around holding hands *cougharashicough*, but because they need each other. The Johnny’s system forces them to get over whatever squabbles they’re having and work together, and as a fan, I’m just fine with that.

Sincerely,

~Celestia~

Lips: Sales Figures

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:20:04 GMT

Woo hoo! On its first day charting 'Lips' has come in 1st (of course) with an index number of 86,096 which puts them at first day sales of 150,000-160,000 copies depending on what kind of modifier you use. The index number is above "Yorokobi no Uta", but slightly below that of 'Keep the Faith', though only slightly, and I think that 'Keep the Faith' was a better song, or at least one that was marketable to a wider range of people. I'm going to go ahead and say that KAT-TUN's popularity is continuing to grow, and this single is shaping up to be another huge success for them.

I'm also a big fan of the female side of the music-focused idol industry (hello project), and I will support them to the bitter end, but I've got to say, it feels good to be able to cheer for the winning team once in a while.

You know, it's been said many a time before, but it's amazing that Johnny's, a franchise that was started so long ago, has such popularity today. I mean, take the old example of a group like SMAP, still topping the charts after how many years has it been now? In America, a group or singer is lucky if they can maintain top popularity for a year or two, but these groups release chart topping singles over and over again. It's kind of astounding, and the Johnny's franchise has only been increasing in popularity recently.

Number of Johnny's Singles in the Yearly Top 20 for....
2002- 0
2003- 3
2004- 3
2005- 4
2006- 9 (including 3 of KT and 1 w/Kame)
2007- 9 (including 5 of the top 10)

I see no reason to believe that 2008 can't be even better.

All the best,
~Celestia~

Lips Making Of

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:33:45 GMT

Yaaaay for getting to watch the making of ‘Lips’! It wasn’t quite as entertaining as ‘Keep the Faith’, but there were a lot of great moments. More importantly, the guys were all looking much happier and healthier than they did in the KTF making video. Everyone was kind of tired and cranky in that one, especially by the end. Kame hardly cracked a smile when they were making 'Keep the Faith', and he's one of the most entertaining members this time around. Well, maybe Junno was a bit tired in this one,and I'm kind of concerned about how everyone seemed to be choking on whatever was spraying out of the mics at the end, but still. I’ve embedded the 2^nd part for you because it’s my favorite. You can easily find the rest on Veoh.

Here’s my highlights!

-Kame/Koki singing other Johnny’s songs was my very favorite part. They both sounded really good singing acapella. Usually Koki sings in kind of a rough, aggressive way, so I was surprised to hear him singing Arashi so sweetly. Just another reminder that, yes, they all really can sing, even the ones who aren't the 'singers'. It starts at 2:44 of part 2 (the part on this page), and you really must watch it.

-Jin can exude more sex appeal by just opening his eyes at the camera than most of the others can by gesturing and posing their little hearts out.

-Taguchi when examining the microphones: “I’m glad that one’s not mine” *points at Nakamaru’s*

-I never realized there was so much pink in the costumes/set. There’s pink everywhere!

-Interesting set-up they have with Kame and Jin always in the front and the rest of the group rotating behind them. I had assumed they were all rotating. Gee, I wonder who the two most popular group members are?

-2^nd favorite sequence is when Koki, Jin, and Kame try their hand at lypsyncing Maru’s beatboxing part. Kame is soooooo bad at it, and it’s hilarious. Maru was horrified. It starts at 6:57 of part 2, but you can see how bad it really was better at 9:40 of part 3.

-Speaking of Kame, when he’s not making scary faces at the camera, the eye-makeup just makes him look pretty.

-Jin likes his megaphone. Lol.

-Mysterious hands are always reaching out from off screen to fix Maru's hair.It happens from 2:15-2:22 and again from 4:44-4:47. He doesn't even seem to notice. Wooo! Spooky!

-Koki is really hyper during this making of. Attempts to spin a chair are met with much more success than the wheelbarrow from KTF.

-Does Jin say, “Oh my God, Akanishi deshita” when he walks out at the end? Probably not, but that's what I heard. If that is what he said, it’s hilarious, and if not, I'm going to go ahead and pretend that he did because it amuses me.

-Maru and Ueda are super cute together. <3

Naturally, having an essay due in two hours prompts me to update BOTH of my blogs today. Oh man. Will anyone pay me to write stuff if I flunk out of college because of my blogging addiction? No? Better write that essay then. Continuing with the new tradition of signing off on my blog entries:

Oh my God, Celestia deshita!

Let's Forget This Ever Happened...

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:25:30 GMT

Hello and welcome to my brand spanking new KAT-TUN blog. This is essentially an outlet for my fangirly tendancies, and as such I can promise neither deep and insightful posts nor frequent updates. What I can promise is eye candy, giddy ranting, and a fair amount of humor. I should start off by mentioning that I did not make any of my icons. Unfortunately, I collected them before I made this journal, without any real intent of using them, so I didn't keep track of where they came from. My apologies to their creators. Aren't they cute though? Now, on to the actual post!

KAT-TUN is arguably the coolest group in Johnny's. I don't mean that they're the best (even though they are). I mean that they have the coolest image. Their music is almost always infused with beatboxing, rap, and rock sounds which pushes it a bit away from the traditional pop sound. Their post-debut costumes lean more towards 'casual punk' than 'brightly colored/sparkly leisure suit thing', the standard uniform of Johnny's groups. Someone unfamiliar with KAT-TUN who had perhaps only seen post-debut pictures and performances would probably assume that they really are those 'cooler than though' guys you see on the screen. Kakkoi to the core. What I mean by cool here is the complete absence of dorkiness. However, that illusion is easily shattered, especially if you watch any sort of footage from their days as Johnny's Jrs.

Nakamaru is too much like a regular guy to be cool. He lacks that unapproachable super-star air that the others have. Pretty Princess Ueda is far too feminine to ever really be cool. Koki is more than willing to make a fool of himself for a joke. The very idea of Junno as cool is almost too hilarious to contemplate. Jin screams like a little girl and giggles like a complete dork. Kame is scared of roller coasters and gets really in to singing anime theme songs on the most recent cartoon KAT-TUN. I have folders and folders of clips of hilarious moments of KAT-TUN un-coolness that they probably would prefer to forget about. I'm not talking about skits from shows where they are acting uncool on purpose either. Here are youtube links to some of my favorite funny, unscripted moments. KAT-TUN fans are probably already familiar with these, but I get the sense that lots of new fans are being added every day recently, so this is more aimed at them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiMRo-Z6GUk
Jin's voice can go very high which is a good thing when he sings, but maybe not the manliest trait when he screams...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tArvgtW-azA
The other way to make Jin shriek (besides having him light a candle, lol) is by touching his collar bones which are very tickilish. He doesn't really scream here, but it's still super-funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT93V6-muec
Somehow this short clip of Koki trying to spin a wheel barrow makes me laugh every time. It's randomly inserted into the "Keep the Faith" making of footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31iHbYKxE4
Poor chibi spikey-haired Kame does not like roller coasters one bit. I almost feel bad for him. Almost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh5bk1FvvNo
Jin Jin Jin. So very pretty. So very dumb.

This is the BEST. Maru gives Jin a real run for his money at shrieking like a little girl. I don't know why they have white stuff smeared all over their faces, but it only serves to make the clip funnier.

Hope you enjoyed. KAT-TUN really is cool... just not all the time. =p