Waku Waku Gakkou 2013.06.30 Tokyo - Sunday Morning report
Second report ! =D
Notes :
-I was listening to Japanese, taking notes in French/English/Japanese (but mostly French), and wrote this report in English, so please be indulgent on any mistake, whether content-wise or language-wise >_< My Japanese is still intermediate so I'm pretty sure there are mistakes here and there...
-Thanks a lot to yarukizero and boblemon for their reports, I could check if I didn't misunderstand something thanks to them ^w^ And really, writing a report is such a time-consuming and tiring task that in any case, they deserve a million thanks !
Arrived around 10:20 am, and walked a bit around the dome to have a look ~ There was a small happening gate 21, where checks are longer (because of parents-children seats), and people began screaming “Arashi”. Of course, everyone else around the gate started running there to see what there was, me included since I was just a few steps away. Though it was nothing, it seems like fans got angry by the wait and started screaming Arashi.
So I queued to enter my gate, and got in around 10:35. At 10:41, black-clothed staff came from the back of the dome to under the green stage, and again at 10h51. Thus there’re quite a lot of people under the stage… Arashi’s staff number is always bigger than my suppositions.
The clocks indicated 11 am of course, and looking at it, I really felt the dome smaller than during concerts… Maybe because there’s no arena seats ?
As for the drawings on the floor, I noticed that mine (the same as yesterday, since I almost got the exact same place) actually had children flying in the sky with lots of balloons. The other spring one before gate 22 had on its right a river surrounded with cherry blossoms and flowers, two hot-air balloons and a rainbow on its left.
The bell rang at 11:07.
The logo on center stage was elevated while rotating, and when it reaches the screens the images shown are a reflection of this rotating logo flag. The music used is actually a mix : it starts with a reviewed version of Wild at Heart, followed by Up to you (during Aiba’s part, or maybe before but I only recognized it at that time). As for small details, the logo on Sho’s pizza is made of seaweed for the kanji and peppers for the rays, Aiba’s glasses case is on his script, and when he puts on his glasses he blinks with both of his eyes x) Also, when a member spots the logo, the sentence “ワクワク学校へ集合せよ” (let’s gather at the exciting school) appears, followed by the member transformation in sensei.
After the video they appeared backstage on the screens, and they all had a dorky pose, Jun with both his legs spread and bent ~ Random talk as usual, and when they arrived on center stage they were telling us “konnichiwa” while walking around the whole stage.
Then we got up, and Sho asked Ohno to announce the beginning of classes with a “onegaiiiii itashimasu” (pleeeeeease) x) That’s why Oh-chan said “Tadaima kara Waku Waku gakkouuuuu kaikou shimasu” lol We bowed while saying “yoroshiku onegai shimasu”, and returned to our seats. Classes had officially started ~
Again, Ohno asked us “Minna waku waku shite imasu ka ?” (Everyone, are you excited ?), then Jun made a quick survey about first timers and people who had already graduated but decided to drop by again x) Next, Sho said : “Kotoshi, hajimete no kata mo, sou de wa nai kata mo, waku waku gakkou wa manabitai anata wo ouen (shimasu)” (To the first timers and to those who aren’t, we’ll support you who want to learn in this exciting school). It started out really cool (the black background was also helpful) but the effect in the end was completely ruined because right after “ouen”, Jun popped next to Sho’s left and did his kime pose (arm bent, fist up) a second before him XDDDDD Sho was outraged Jun had dared ruin his cool moment hahaha He said “Oi !!!” when he was supposed to end his sentence with “shimasu” x)
Afterwards they asked us to take notes during classes, and we read aloud the school theme.
Next corner was about noticing things, and when Sho was about to say something in a cool manner again, Jun butted in XDD He just got close, but that was enough to cut Sho in his momentum and stop him from saying what he had intended to haha
Nino picked up the conversation and said that if you think Tokyo Dome, you think Giants (a baseball team playing in Tokyo Dome). On to a video, and… Sho and Nino had been on a Giants poster in the corridors of Tokyo Dome !! Basically, the poster is a line up of portrait photos of players in their uniform, on a black background, and the left part of the player’s face is more shadowy. (If you wanna have an idea, you can currently see something similar on giants.jp, in one of the changing ads) Sho was number 125 (his birthday), first picture of the second row, and Nino (number 617, also his birthday) was on the last row, second picture from the right. We got some footage from the photo shoot, and Sho explained that beside the uniform, they even got their own cap made for the occasion : instead of the YG, WG was written on the cap, so cool !
As for was it noticed or not, a few people took pamphlets near the poster, but no one noticed it. It’s only around the third person that Sho was noticed ~ No one saw Nino though, and members guessed it was because Sho’s picture was at eye level, compared to Nino’s one where you had to get down to look closely.
Ohno also said that one would probably shine if (s)he notices more closely things around him/her, and then the conversation came on Ohno’s sleepiness XD He had woken up at 7:30 am so members emphasized that he shouldn’t have been sleepy at that time of the day lol Though he assured everyone that even if he was still sleepy not too long ago, he was now completely fine.
Nino’s lesson started, and the music played during the teacher’s introduction video is Love Rainbow.
When we clapped at the lesson title announcement, Nino said it was something to be thankful for, receiving claps for a lesson ~
Tonight, it was about Oh-chan’s dream ! In the picture representing his dream, a man was on stage singing, and Ohno stood beside the cameraman. Something had happened while the man was singing. Oh-chan thought that he may have dreamt of him because he has worked with him in the past.
As for the analysis of Ohno from his dream, it came out pretty positive : he’s got an optimistic personality and act instinctively, sometimes like a genius would.
Nino then told us that in average, we sleep a third of our life, so if you take a 80 years life expectancy, it means you sleep 27 years of your life.
He called the suya suya set on stage afterwards, and a deep brown sofa appeared on stage, with a light blue blanket, a white t-shirt and a gray short on it. Members mentioned about their sleeping on a bed, and only Ohno kept quiet grimacing, knowing that it’d be his end once he would have to talk on that topic XD At some point Nino called him “kimi-chi” (kimi = you), and Jun followed with an “Ohno-kun-chi”, saying he had been to his house recently and there was a proper bed there x) But to Oh-chan, sofa is good ~ And he has the feeling he won’t fall down if he sleeps on a sofa lol
So Ohno went to the sofa, got rid of his shoes and sit on it. Nino was asking questions at the same time, and Ohno admitted that sometimes he slept in his bed, for example in winter when it’s too cold. Also, his blanket (the material was like the one of a towel) was a deeper blue than the one on stage, which was really pale. After some time he lay down, using the left armrest as a pillow and wrapping himself in the blanket. Ohno also mentioned he had the feeling he sometimes stopped breathing while sleeping.
About his alarm o’clock, like Aiba-chan he’s using the one he got from Yama-chan in a Shiyagare (the ringtome is Yama-chan’s imitation of someone). The alarm o’clock is on the table before the sofa, and Ohno demonstrated how he switches it off in the morning, with a bam from his left hand lol By the way, when asked about it, Nino said he isn’t using the alarm o’clock he received in Shiyagare, but has it somewhere at home XD
Ohno also mentioned he sleeps with all lights off, and at that time he was sitting on the sofa, his body facing the members.
Then the platform started to rise, and Oh-chan was saying “kowai !” (it’s scary !). Nino assured him that he would fall (“Ohno-san zettai ochiru” XD), and when Ohno asked if there really wasn’t any possibility he won’t, Nino replied no hahaha Ohno received 52 points (he needed 80 to pass), and the sofa got inclined. Ohno grabbed tightly the sofa’s back (the camera zoomed on it x)), and complained that being in a sofa was way scarier than being in a bed to slide on the slope… Then Nino pushed the red button and the sofa went down, with Oh-chan making a scared face and screaming “ahhh” all the way down x) When he arrived in front of the audience, people went “kyaaa”, to which Nino replied it was only a normal man in front of them lol (“futsu no otoko da yo”)
Ohno walked back on stage, and he had high white socks with a navy stripe x)
Nino explained that you can’t relax if you sleep on a sofa, but Oh-chan retorted that he had got used to it. Nino’s answer started with “wakai kara, ya, wakakunai” (because you’re young, wait no, you’re not) hahaha In short, he may be fine now, but it’s not good to keep on sleeping there. Also, Nino pointed out it’s bad to sleep with your hands on your stomach, like Oh-chan does.
Next corner ~ Nino gave the survey’s results of yesterday beach date with Sho-chan (forgot to vote this morning T_T), and from the 8033 persons who had replied, around 2499 (~ 31%) had dreamt of Sho-chan !! Nino read some emails : the first one had Sho wearing a tank top and shouting summer splash, in the second Sho shouted “Aiba !”, to which the person who was dreaming replied “nan da yo” (What ?), and members wondered if the association Sho/beach/Aiba wasn’t due to the “Ore no Chiba” Himitsu. In the third email, the dreamer and Sho were grocery shopping when Aiba came (real life Aiba apologized for intruding the dream XD) and said he would cook asparagus. There were also other dreams where Sho-chan was there and then Jun arrived, or a dream with Sho, Ohno and Nino walking. So members butting in Sho’s beach date dream sometimes happened.
Afterwards Nino pulled out the cards we had got when we entered the dome, and gave it to members. They were saying they hadn’t seen Sho-chan in their dreams either lol Jun said he didn’t get a card, and Nino told him it’s because tonight he would be the main character of our dream ~ The setting was a movie date, and the picture had a blond woman and a man about to kiss on screen, with red curtains surrounding the screen and red chairs. Jun got popcorn and a drink as props, and he wondered if the movie was Platina Data or Nazodi x) He was also wondering how to stand up, because if he faced the camera, he was turning his back to the screen, so that messed up a bit with the movie watching setting they tried to install in our minds. They wondered if it was a butai aisatsu (first screening of a movie, in which the main actors usually participate), and Jun was like “Oh, am I on stage then ?” XD
Next, we were ready to imprint Jun’s picture in our mind, and Titanic’s My heart will go on started playing HAHAHA (Everyone laughed x)) Jun said in a soft voice “Jack ! Jack ! I believe in you !” which made us laugh hard again XD At the end Nino asked for last words from Jun, and he pulled out the popcorn in his left hand in front of him while saying in a low voice “Hora ! Popcorn wo kue yo !” (Hey ! Eat some popcorn !”) HAHAHA The whole sequence was just so funny x) After Nino gave us the url to vote and the keyword, he hoped we’d see Jun in our dreams tonight, which made Jun do again his “Hora ! Popcorn wo kue yo !” XD
Finally, Nino last explanation came. He talked about a man who hadn’t been able to sleep for 27 years, and about Stanford basketball players whose free shots ratio improves when they sleep ten hours. Sleeping allows our mind to reset, and it seems like when we sleep well, we find breakfast more delicious than usual. A country ranking showed on screen, with France being first with 530 minutes of sleep, the US second with 518 minutes, Spain third with 513 minutes, the UK fourth with 513 minutes, and Japan way behind with 470 minutes.
Sho’s lesson was next ^w^
Again, quick survey about who likes money, and Nino shouted twice “haiii” (so cute x)) and Jun raised both his hands. Then Sho announced the “okane quuuuuuiz” (money quiz), which is about objects found in school.
The first question was a comparison of a recorder and a triangle. Aiba and Nino chose the first, Jun and Ohno the second. To Aiba, the recorder’s holes require precision, whereas the triangle has a simple shape. Though at some point, he had the feeling he had once seen a recorder in a 100 yen shop hahaha Jun said that everyone having a recorder, it involves mass production so a reduction of costs, while you can only find triangles in school ; that’s why he chose the latter. Ohno added that making a triangle is most likely a hard task, especially to make the triangle produce a good sound. Then Sho asked the “audience” (he said it in English) about it, and we were much more in favour of the triangle. Indeed, a recorder costs 1600 yen and a triangle 2000 yen. Ohno was right about the difficulty of making a triangle produce a good sound, thus a reflection in the price. There are even some triangles at 8500 yen.
The second question was about a metal xylophone and a wooden one, and everyone chose the latter. Ohno said he had played the wooden xylophone when he was young… For six days HAHA Jun said he preferred the wooden one, and Sho asked him if that’s why he chose it : because he likes it more, it ought to be more expensive lol But Jun replied that no, it’s because he likes it that he wants it to win ~ When the audience voted, the wooden xylophone received more claps, and indeed, the prices were respectively 250000 yen against 390000. Everyone went “take ~” (it’s expensive !). Followed a short talk about considering the people who made it and the time required.
Then we got the円/clap part and the video. I think the first factory assembles the whole thing, and in the making process there was an allusion to soba (because of the way the pink part is cut and talc is spread on it). Also, when they interrogated one of the mine workers, he said “please draw a lot with our pencils”.
Sho told us not to think about money as something bad, but as claps to the people who worked hard to make it.
The lesson’s last words : “okane ga tsunagu, kansha no rensa” (money is the link of the gratitude chain ? Really hard to translate T_T)
Aiba’s paku paku lesson ! =D
Aiba asked members if they weren’t hungry, and Jun noted the timing was perfect, since it was 12:15 pm.
Aiba had been allowed to make this paku paku lesson for the third time, since the first involved porc and the second sushi.
The vegetables appeared on stage : tomatoes, cabbage, pumpkin, corn, asparagus and potatoes. Sho asked for corn, Nino cabbage, Ohno tomatoes, Jun asparagus, and then Sho and Nino repeated their request, while Aiba-chan announced cabbage and potatoes as the main ingredients ~ Today, Sho was his assistant. Aiba asked him to bring the vegetables from the box, and Sho answered that was something in his abilities range x) Then when Aiba listed all the ingredients necessary, and Sho shouted “yeah !” or sometimes “yeah yeah !” after each of them XD Butter, water and fresh cream would be used, and Aiba mentioned that the fresh cream, a “kakkoii” ingredient, would come in the end. When talking about the salt proportions, Aiba said “shoushou” (a bit), repeated by Sho x)
Aiba talked about cutting the pumpkin, but since it’s hard he wanted to put it in the microwave to make it softer. Though when he opened the microwave, a bowl of already cut pumpkin was waiting for him XD While handling it, Aiba and Sho couldn’t stop frequently saying “atsui/acchi” (hot) and made us laugh. Sho also mentioned a pumpkin steak, though I can’t remember why.
Afterwards Aiba added “a bit” of salt, and he actually poured the whole thing XD According to him it was fine, but Jun and Nino didn’t agree with him lol Then Aiba mixed the pumpkin, water and salt, while Sho was holding the blender.
At some point, Nino asked Aiba who had taught him to cook haha
When it was done, Sho poured the soup in bowls while shouting “irasshaimase !” (welcome, which you always hear when you enter a restaurant/shop) and mentioning the soup was this restaurant’s special. Aiba decided that he would drink the soup right from the blender x)
Aiba spread pepper on Nino’s soup, and Nino had to tell him when to stop (Nino made fun of Aiba a bit during this part, because of Aiba’s peculiar proportions). Aiba didn’t do it for Jun or Ohno though, who were seating at the table’s end, and they did it themselves. Then the cream was added, and for Jun, it amounted to two dots and a small and thin curvy line XD Again, they made fun of Aiba’s proportions haha
They had tea with their soup, and everyone said the soup tasted good ~
Then Aiba announced the main dish and brought pumpkin and potatoes. Jun asked if they were boiled, but they had just been put a bit in the microwave. After tasting it, Sho said it was surprisingly good, and Jun found the potatoes sweet.
Afterwards Aiba started introducing his video, but Sho messed up at the same time, his food had fallen after bumping into his mic lol
During the video, the members disappeared briefly in a hole near one of the stage’s pole, then Jun, Sho, Nino, Ohno and finally Aiba reappeared. Meanwhile, the stage was rotating, so that the desk and chairs facing gate 20 before faced the opposite gate instead. Arashi is always very considerate of their audience… =)
At the end of the video, on the screens the right part was for the regular cameras on the members and on the left, a list of farmers and a quote from them was written. Sho asked if the asparagus Aiba had eaten went to a supermarket, and of course Aiba replied it didn’t x) He also added that raw asparagus are good, but not raw potatoes hahaha Besides, it seems that the farmer in the second location could eat soil without any problem.
Next, Jun’s lesson !
It was 12:40pm by that time, and Jun asked us if we had felt time being short or long.
Previous bell sounds were played, the first reminding me more of an alarm, and the second using a regular bell one agitates by hand. There was some talk about Big Ben, then Jun rang the bell from Oomori junior highschool. The sound comes about thirty seconds after pressing the button.
Onwards to the next corner, running ! x) Nino’s eyes were escaping the camera, and Ohno was grimacing haha They did a janken to decide the order to pick up a ball, and the line up came out as Ohno, Nino, Sho and Aiba. Ohno picked a white ball and fell down on the floor, then Nino picked the gold one and hold it like the Grail, with one knee on the floor x) He said “And yet I wanted to run with all my might !” (Zenryoku de hashiritakatta ze), which of course made the dome laugh XD Ohno thus proposed to change roles with Nino if he wanted to run, but Nino refused because it had already been decided. Ohno answered that Nino sure is serious about following rules haha
They moved to the starting line, and Sho started stretching (bending one leg and spreading the other on his side). Nino asked us to encourage them, and didn’t even bother bending down to prepare for the race XD Jun told Nino he could wave, while the others had to run.
The race started, with Aiba leading, followed by Sho then Ohno. Nino was slowly jogging behind them, making the audience really happy with his waving, and at some point Jun pointed out to Nino that he could also run a bit harder lol When a minute had passed, Nino had “run” a third of the dome, Aiba one and a quarter, Sho a bit less, and Ohno just a full lap. Ohno collapsed on the floor right away when it ended, and Sho-chan soon followed him, lying with his arms and legs spread x) Since it felt like Oh-chan was sleeping, Sho asked if he was seeing Jun in his dream lol Then they got back on stage, and Aiba-chan waved at the audience ^w^
We heard their breath for quite some time, and Sho passed over a bottle to Aiba. Nino was noting down something when he came back to his desk.
Then time came for Jun’s letter that a junior highschool friend had kept all along. Jun mentioned that he was doing Kimi wa Petto at the time of the letter, and Nino intervened, asking to read the letter in Jun’s stead. According to him, Jun might skip parts which didn’t please him x) Jun’s answer : “Sensei would never do that !” lol But he handed the letter over to Nino anyway.
When he opened it, Nino went “Ehhh” and a music started playing, the beginning reminding me a little bit of a far west movie music x) At the questions parts, real life Jun replied “hai”, Nino read “shitsurei shimasu”, and Jun answered “yoroshiku onegai shimasu” ~
Some parts were cut, like the few information in the end (height and stuff) T_T
After the reading, Sho commented that after “aiming at being the top in the entertainment world, the top in the idol world, the top in Japan”, he thought “the top of the world” would come, not just going out on the international scene XD Jun replied that he knew that would be impossible lol
Jun also said that at 10, he wanted to be a pro baseball player, and had written a letter to his 20 year old self at that time. Also, even if the letter is from him to him, it still gave him a strange feeling, hearing the contents.
Next, a girl in the audience was chosen to read her letter to her future self, and again, someone at the end of a row was chosen, obviously because it’s easier for staff to equip her. Her seat was in first base but quite in the middle, at the very back of the dome (I think the last before last row). Her name was Manami, 14, from Tochigi prefecture, and she came with a friend.
Jun : From school ?
Girl : …
Members : Well you can have friends through a lot of ways !
Lol
Her dream was to work at Disney and make people smile =)
When Jun was done asking her questions, he concluded saying he supported her (“ouen shite ikimasu”).
At that time I noticed a lot of text was rolling on the TV screens on stage for Arashi, I guess it’s their script.
Then, time for the video letter of a member ! ^w^ Tonight Aiba-chan was chosen ~
Nino asked Aiba if he needed a towel, he replied yes, and Nino gave him one. Aiba used it to wipe his sweat a bit. Also, Nino told him he shouldn’t mess around with his letter, or it’d be like hell when he sees it ten years later.
Aiba started saying ever since elementary school, his dream had been to become a cool company president with a beard. Did that dream come true ? It most likely didn’t. Then Aiba decided that his beginning wasn’t good and was like “cut this part !”, while members were telling him he did mess around in his letter in the end lol Also, when Jun moved the camera a bit, the other members appeared on the video and they fooled around, Sho making a circle with his arms, or Nino waving them like crazy.
“Today, you might be doing your 13th Waku Waku Gakkou. If that’s the case, you may also be doing your paku paku lesson for the 13th time.”
And then, he decided again that this part wasn’t good either, and made us laugh again XD “Should I stop doing that video letter ? I hope I’ve become good at video letters !” There was a bit more of messing around and comments with members, but I couldn’t write them down T_T
Next, he said picturing himself at 40 made him uneasy, but it’d be good if he just kept doing his best until that time. He also added that it’s about time he faced reality. Then he wondered a bit about what he’d like to say today, and mentioned that if possible, even ten years later, he’d like to do concerts with Arashi (claps from the audience, then laughs because Jun moved the camera again to include the members in the picture, and of course, they messed around with their arms XD). No matter where it is, Aiba would like the five of them to be healthy and still have concerts, and he ended his letter =)
Afterwards, Aiba commented he had wanted to do it seriously but didn’t succeed. Members reassured him and told him it was fine though.
Then Jun’s last explanation came. In Joumon period, overcoming 14 years old was rare, whereas now in Japan, life expectancy for men is 78 years old and women 86 years old. He fumbled a bit on his word during his speech. Then he closed up on genzai/present and the sentence summarizing the lesson.
Last lesson, Oh-chan’s wai wai ^w^ The hands surrounding the wai wai moves during the introduction video, it’s cute ~
When asked what they thought the lesson would be about, Jun answered friends, Aiba members, Nino team play and Sho One Piece lol Then Ohno asked why are Arashi members good friends, and Sho replied it’s because of the time they spend together. Nino and Sho then asked for the correct answer, and Oh-chan said time was correct, while making an “o” with his right hand x) Then we got the VS Arashi video and the video on members’ personality, there’re just so funny ~
When it was over, they picked on Ohno again about his definition and use of “personality trait”, and I didn’t see when but Sho-chan had already got rid of his shirt and was showing us his black tank top XDD
There were also mentions about unknown members’ personality traits, like Aiba’s onee side which no one knew when it could come out haha
Ohno moved to the next corner, in which we’d participate ^w^ Incidentally, the flag colors and the member in charge kind of matched for Saturday but it was completely random today. The flags are just for delimitation purpose, really. The members’ assignment was almost the same, except Aiba and Nino who switched (they didn’t say anything but Nino must have been happy x)).
When Ohno explained the King Kong movement and saw the audience’s reaction, he asked “Iya desu ka ?” (You don’t want to do it ?) XD Then the other members told him to demonstrate the movement. Besides, for the snapping section (my section again), Oh-chan told us “naranai kata, naru made yatte kudasai” (People who can’t make any sound, please keep on snapping your fingers until it does LOL).
When Ohno assigned each bloc to a member, Jun did again quick snaps towards the camera with both his hands, but his facial expression wasn’t as mischievous as yesterday, he wasn’t really smiling.
Sho warned his bloc not to get too tired, since they’re the ones starting. Jun and other members also encouraged B bloc, where people had to hit their chest.
We did it and really, hearing A.RA.SHI again, even if it’s a short version and not in a concert, it feels so great <3
When it was over, Nino congratulated his bloc, because they had started really loudly. Aiba had apparently heard the sound made from hitting his chest, even though it hurt doing that movement. Sho asked his bloc if their hands were red, to which Ohno apologized right away (sumimasen deshita), but Sho told him it was fine and they had fun.
Lastly, we got Ohno’s last explanation, along the lines of “minna chigatte, minna ii” (everyone’s different and that’s what makes everyone good).
The school bell rang, it was 1:37 pm. I noticed a staff leaving with a huge camera (the objective was like 50cm long), and wondered if magazines were there this morning.
The lights dimmed and they sang Furusato. The fairy lights circling the drawings on the floor were illuminated, and the lights on stage were blue. Nino sang his part well this morning ~
When they rode the hanamichi, they talked about various things : tank top, the movie date, pumpkin, etc. x) Oh-chan said he would sleep again in a bed haha Jun noticed that a lot of people were wearing the 24h TV t-shirt.
When both hanamichi arrived at the back of the dome, they reminded us of their lesson titles, and I noticed that put side by side, the two hanamichi colors made a rainbow. Going backstage, Jun repeated the school theme (Hibi kore kizuki), and then we got the flag video. It was over at 1:52 pm.
Notes :
-I was listening to Japanese, taking notes in French/English/Japanese (but mostly French), and wrote this report in English, so please be indulgent on any mistake, whether content-wise or language-wise >_< My Japanese is still intermediate so I'm pretty sure there are mistakes here and there...
-Thanks a lot to yarukizero and boblemon for their reports, I could check if I didn't misunderstand something thanks to them ^w^ And really, writing a report is such a time-consuming and tiring task that in any case, they deserve a million thanks !
Arrived around 10:20 am, and walked a bit around the dome to have a look ~ There was a small happening gate 21, where checks are longer (because of parents-children seats), and people began screaming “Arashi”. Of course, everyone else around the gate started running there to see what there was, me included since I was just a few steps away. Though it was nothing, it seems like fans got angry by the wait and started screaming Arashi.
So I queued to enter my gate, and got in around 10:35. At 10:41, black-clothed staff came from the back of the dome to under the green stage, and again at 10h51. Thus there’re quite a lot of people under the stage… Arashi’s staff number is always bigger than my suppositions.
The clocks indicated 11 am of course, and looking at it, I really felt the dome smaller than during concerts… Maybe because there’s no arena seats ?
As for the drawings on the floor, I noticed that mine (the same as yesterday, since I almost got the exact same place) actually had children flying in the sky with lots of balloons. The other spring one before gate 22 had on its right a river surrounded with cherry blossoms and flowers, two hot-air balloons and a rainbow on its left.
The bell rang at 11:07.
The logo on center stage was elevated while rotating, and when it reaches the screens the images shown are a reflection of this rotating logo flag. The music used is actually a mix : it starts with a reviewed version of Wild at Heart, followed by Up to you (during Aiba’s part, or maybe before but I only recognized it at that time). As for small details, the logo on Sho’s pizza is made of seaweed for the kanji and peppers for the rays, Aiba’s glasses case is on his script, and when he puts on his glasses he blinks with both of his eyes x) Also, when a member spots the logo, the sentence “ワクワク学校へ集合せよ” (let’s gather at the exciting school) appears, followed by the member transformation in sensei.
After the video they appeared backstage on the screens, and they all had a dorky pose, Jun with both his legs spread and bent ~ Random talk as usual, and when they arrived on center stage they were telling us “konnichiwa” while walking around the whole stage.
Then we got up, and Sho asked Ohno to announce the beginning of classes with a “onegaiiiii itashimasu” (pleeeeeease) x) That’s why Oh-chan said “Tadaima kara Waku Waku gakkouuuuu kaikou shimasu” lol We bowed while saying “yoroshiku onegai shimasu”, and returned to our seats. Classes had officially started ~
Again, Ohno asked us “Minna waku waku shite imasu ka ?” (Everyone, are you excited ?), then Jun made a quick survey about first timers and people who had already graduated but decided to drop by again x) Next, Sho said : “Kotoshi, hajimete no kata mo, sou de wa nai kata mo, waku waku gakkou wa manabitai anata wo ouen (shimasu)” (To the first timers and to those who aren’t, we’ll support you who want to learn in this exciting school). It started out really cool (the black background was also helpful) but the effect in the end was completely ruined because right after “ouen”, Jun popped next to Sho’s left and did his kime pose (arm bent, fist up) a second before him XDDDDD Sho was outraged Jun had dared ruin his cool moment hahaha He said “Oi !!!” when he was supposed to end his sentence with “shimasu” x)
Afterwards they asked us to take notes during classes, and we read aloud the school theme.
Next corner was about noticing things, and when Sho was about to say something in a cool manner again, Jun butted in XDD He just got close, but that was enough to cut Sho in his momentum and stop him from saying what he had intended to haha
Nino picked up the conversation and said that if you think Tokyo Dome, you think Giants (a baseball team playing in Tokyo Dome). On to a video, and… Sho and Nino had been on a Giants poster in the corridors of Tokyo Dome !! Basically, the poster is a line up of portrait photos of players in their uniform, on a black background, and the left part of the player’s face is more shadowy. (If you wanna have an idea, you can currently see something similar on giants.jp, in one of the changing ads) Sho was number 125 (his birthday), first picture of the second row, and Nino (number 617, also his birthday) was on the last row, second picture from the right. We got some footage from the photo shoot, and Sho explained that beside the uniform, they even got their own cap made for the occasion : instead of the YG, WG was written on the cap, so cool !
As for was it noticed or not, a few people took pamphlets near the poster, but no one noticed it. It’s only around the third person that Sho was noticed ~ No one saw Nino though, and members guessed it was because Sho’s picture was at eye level, compared to Nino’s one where you had to get down to look closely.
Ohno also said that one would probably shine if (s)he notices more closely things around him/her, and then the conversation came on Ohno’s sleepiness XD He had woken up at 7:30 am so members emphasized that he shouldn’t have been sleepy at that time of the day lol Though he assured everyone that even if he was still sleepy not too long ago, he was now completely fine.
Nino’s lesson started, and the music played during the teacher’s introduction video is Love Rainbow.
When we clapped at the lesson title announcement, Nino said it was something to be thankful for, receiving claps for a lesson ~
Tonight, it was about Oh-chan’s dream ! In the picture representing his dream, a man was on stage singing, and Ohno stood beside the cameraman. Something had happened while the man was singing. Oh-chan thought that he may have dreamt of him because he has worked with him in the past.
As for the analysis of Ohno from his dream, it came out pretty positive : he’s got an optimistic personality and act instinctively, sometimes like a genius would.
Nino then told us that in average, we sleep a third of our life, so if you take a 80 years life expectancy, it means you sleep 27 years of your life.
He called the suya suya set on stage afterwards, and a deep brown sofa appeared on stage, with a light blue blanket, a white t-shirt and a gray short on it. Members mentioned about their sleeping on a bed, and only Ohno kept quiet grimacing, knowing that it’d be his end once he would have to talk on that topic XD At some point Nino called him “kimi-chi” (kimi = you), and Jun followed with an “Ohno-kun-chi”, saying he had been to his house recently and there was a proper bed there x) But to Oh-chan, sofa is good ~ And he has the feeling he won’t fall down if he sleeps on a sofa lol
So Ohno went to the sofa, got rid of his shoes and sit on it. Nino was asking questions at the same time, and Ohno admitted that sometimes he slept in his bed, for example in winter when it’s too cold. Also, his blanket (the material was like the one of a towel) was a deeper blue than the one on stage, which was really pale. After some time he lay down, using the left armrest as a pillow and wrapping himself in the blanket. Ohno also mentioned he had the feeling he sometimes stopped breathing while sleeping.
About his alarm o’clock, like Aiba-chan he’s using the one he got from Yama-chan in a Shiyagare (the ringtome is Yama-chan’s imitation of someone). The alarm o’clock is on the table before the sofa, and Ohno demonstrated how he switches it off in the morning, with a bam from his left hand lol By the way, when asked about it, Nino said he isn’t using the alarm o’clock he received in Shiyagare, but has it somewhere at home XD
Ohno also mentioned he sleeps with all lights off, and at that time he was sitting on the sofa, his body facing the members.
Then the platform started to rise, and Oh-chan was saying “kowai !” (it’s scary !). Nino assured him that he would fall (“Ohno-san zettai ochiru” XD), and when Ohno asked if there really wasn’t any possibility he won’t, Nino replied no hahaha Ohno received 52 points (he needed 80 to pass), and the sofa got inclined. Ohno grabbed tightly the sofa’s back (the camera zoomed on it x)), and complained that being in a sofa was way scarier than being in a bed to slide on the slope… Then Nino pushed the red button and the sofa went down, with Oh-chan making a scared face and screaming “ahhh” all the way down x) When he arrived in front of the audience, people went “kyaaa”, to which Nino replied it was only a normal man in front of them lol (“futsu no otoko da yo”)
Ohno walked back on stage, and he had high white socks with a navy stripe x)
Nino explained that you can’t relax if you sleep on a sofa, but Oh-chan retorted that he had got used to it. Nino’s answer started with “wakai kara, ya, wakakunai” (because you’re young, wait no, you’re not) hahaha In short, he may be fine now, but it’s not good to keep on sleeping there. Also, Nino pointed out it’s bad to sleep with your hands on your stomach, like Oh-chan does.
Next corner ~ Nino gave the survey’s results of yesterday beach date with Sho-chan (forgot to vote this morning T_T), and from the 8033 persons who had replied, around 2499 (~ 31%) had dreamt of Sho-chan !! Nino read some emails : the first one had Sho wearing a tank top and shouting summer splash, in the second Sho shouted “Aiba !”, to which the person who was dreaming replied “nan da yo” (What ?), and members wondered if the association Sho/beach/Aiba wasn’t due to the “Ore no Chiba” Himitsu. In the third email, the dreamer and Sho were grocery shopping when Aiba came (real life Aiba apologized for intruding the dream XD) and said he would cook asparagus. There were also other dreams where Sho-chan was there and then Jun arrived, or a dream with Sho, Ohno and Nino walking. So members butting in Sho’s beach date dream sometimes happened.
Afterwards Nino pulled out the cards we had got when we entered the dome, and gave it to members. They were saying they hadn’t seen Sho-chan in their dreams either lol Jun said he didn’t get a card, and Nino told him it’s because tonight he would be the main character of our dream ~ The setting was a movie date, and the picture had a blond woman and a man about to kiss on screen, with red curtains surrounding the screen and red chairs. Jun got popcorn and a drink as props, and he wondered if the movie was Platina Data or Nazodi x) He was also wondering how to stand up, because if he faced the camera, he was turning his back to the screen, so that messed up a bit with the movie watching setting they tried to install in our minds. They wondered if it was a butai aisatsu (first screening of a movie, in which the main actors usually participate), and Jun was like “Oh, am I on stage then ?” XD
Next, we were ready to imprint Jun’s picture in our mind, and Titanic’s My heart will go on started playing HAHAHA (Everyone laughed x)) Jun said in a soft voice “Jack ! Jack ! I believe in you !” which made us laugh hard again XD At the end Nino asked for last words from Jun, and he pulled out the popcorn in his left hand in front of him while saying in a low voice “Hora ! Popcorn wo kue yo !” (Hey ! Eat some popcorn !”) HAHAHA The whole sequence was just so funny x) After Nino gave us the url to vote and the keyword, he hoped we’d see Jun in our dreams tonight, which made Jun do again his “Hora ! Popcorn wo kue yo !” XD
Finally, Nino last explanation came. He talked about a man who hadn’t been able to sleep for 27 years, and about Stanford basketball players whose free shots ratio improves when they sleep ten hours. Sleeping allows our mind to reset, and it seems like when we sleep well, we find breakfast more delicious than usual. A country ranking showed on screen, with France being first with 530 minutes of sleep, the US second with 518 minutes, Spain third with 513 minutes, the UK fourth with 513 minutes, and Japan way behind with 470 minutes.
Sho’s lesson was next ^w^
Again, quick survey about who likes money, and Nino shouted twice “haiii” (so cute x)) and Jun raised both his hands. Then Sho announced the “okane quuuuuuiz” (money quiz), which is about objects found in school.
The first question was a comparison of a recorder and a triangle. Aiba and Nino chose the first, Jun and Ohno the second. To Aiba, the recorder’s holes require precision, whereas the triangle has a simple shape. Though at some point, he had the feeling he had once seen a recorder in a 100 yen shop hahaha Jun said that everyone having a recorder, it involves mass production so a reduction of costs, while you can only find triangles in school ; that’s why he chose the latter. Ohno added that making a triangle is most likely a hard task, especially to make the triangle produce a good sound. Then Sho asked the “audience” (he said it in English) about it, and we were much more in favour of the triangle. Indeed, a recorder costs 1600 yen and a triangle 2000 yen. Ohno was right about the difficulty of making a triangle produce a good sound, thus a reflection in the price. There are even some triangles at 8500 yen.
The second question was about a metal xylophone and a wooden one, and everyone chose the latter. Ohno said he had played the wooden xylophone when he was young… For six days HAHA Jun said he preferred the wooden one, and Sho asked him if that’s why he chose it : because he likes it more, it ought to be more expensive lol But Jun replied that no, it’s because he likes it that he wants it to win ~ When the audience voted, the wooden xylophone received more claps, and indeed, the prices were respectively 250000 yen against 390000. Everyone went “take ~” (it’s expensive !). Followed a short talk about considering the people who made it and the time required.
Then we got the円/clap part and the video. I think the first factory assembles the whole thing, and in the making process there was an allusion to soba (because of the way the pink part is cut and talc is spread on it). Also, when they interrogated one of the mine workers, he said “please draw a lot with our pencils”.
Sho told us not to think about money as something bad, but as claps to the people who worked hard to make it.
The lesson’s last words : “okane ga tsunagu, kansha no rensa” (money is the link of the gratitude chain ? Really hard to translate T_T)
Aiba’s paku paku lesson ! =D
Aiba asked members if they weren’t hungry, and Jun noted the timing was perfect, since it was 12:15 pm.
Aiba had been allowed to make this paku paku lesson for the third time, since the first involved porc and the second sushi.
The vegetables appeared on stage : tomatoes, cabbage, pumpkin, corn, asparagus and potatoes. Sho asked for corn, Nino cabbage, Ohno tomatoes, Jun asparagus, and then Sho and Nino repeated their request, while Aiba-chan announced cabbage and potatoes as the main ingredients ~ Today, Sho was his assistant. Aiba asked him to bring the vegetables from the box, and Sho answered that was something in his abilities range x) Then when Aiba listed all the ingredients necessary, and Sho shouted “yeah !” or sometimes “yeah yeah !” after each of them XD Butter, water and fresh cream would be used, and Aiba mentioned that the fresh cream, a “kakkoii” ingredient, would come in the end. When talking about the salt proportions, Aiba said “shoushou” (a bit), repeated by Sho x)
Aiba talked about cutting the pumpkin, but since it’s hard he wanted to put it in the microwave to make it softer. Though when he opened the microwave, a bowl of already cut pumpkin was waiting for him XD While handling it, Aiba and Sho couldn’t stop frequently saying “atsui/acchi” (hot) and made us laugh. Sho also mentioned a pumpkin steak, though I can’t remember why.
Afterwards Aiba added “a bit” of salt, and he actually poured the whole thing XD According to him it was fine, but Jun and Nino didn’t agree with him lol Then Aiba mixed the pumpkin, water and salt, while Sho was holding the blender.
At some point, Nino asked Aiba who had taught him to cook haha
When it was done, Sho poured the soup in bowls while shouting “irasshaimase !” (welcome, which you always hear when you enter a restaurant/shop) and mentioning the soup was this restaurant’s special. Aiba decided that he would drink the soup right from the blender x)
Aiba spread pepper on Nino’s soup, and Nino had to tell him when to stop (Nino made fun of Aiba a bit during this part, because of Aiba’s peculiar proportions). Aiba didn’t do it for Jun or Ohno though, who were seating at the table’s end, and they did it themselves. Then the cream was added, and for Jun, it amounted to two dots and a small and thin curvy line XD Again, they made fun of Aiba’s proportions haha
They had tea with their soup, and everyone said the soup tasted good ~
Then Aiba announced the main dish and brought pumpkin and potatoes. Jun asked if they were boiled, but they had just been put a bit in the microwave. After tasting it, Sho said it was surprisingly good, and Jun found the potatoes sweet.
Afterwards Aiba started introducing his video, but Sho messed up at the same time, his food had fallen after bumping into his mic lol
During the video, the members disappeared briefly in a hole near one of the stage’s pole, then Jun, Sho, Nino, Ohno and finally Aiba reappeared. Meanwhile, the stage was rotating, so that the desk and chairs facing gate 20 before faced the opposite gate instead. Arashi is always very considerate of their audience… =)
At the end of the video, on the screens the right part was for the regular cameras on the members and on the left, a list of farmers and a quote from them was written. Sho asked if the asparagus Aiba had eaten went to a supermarket, and of course Aiba replied it didn’t x) He also added that raw asparagus are good, but not raw potatoes hahaha Besides, it seems that the farmer in the second location could eat soil without any problem.
Next, Jun’s lesson !
It was 12:40pm by that time, and Jun asked us if we had felt time being short or long.
Previous bell sounds were played, the first reminding me more of an alarm, and the second using a regular bell one agitates by hand. There was some talk about Big Ben, then Jun rang the bell from Oomori junior highschool. The sound comes about thirty seconds after pressing the button.
Onwards to the next corner, running ! x) Nino’s eyes were escaping the camera, and Ohno was grimacing haha They did a janken to decide the order to pick up a ball, and the line up came out as Ohno, Nino, Sho and Aiba. Ohno picked a white ball and fell down on the floor, then Nino picked the gold one and hold it like the Grail, with one knee on the floor x) He said “And yet I wanted to run with all my might !” (Zenryoku de hashiritakatta ze), which of course made the dome laugh XD Ohno thus proposed to change roles with Nino if he wanted to run, but Nino refused because it had already been decided. Ohno answered that Nino sure is serious about following rules haha
They moved to the starting line, and Sho started stretching (bending one leg and spreading the other on his side). Nino asked us to encourage them, and didn’t even bother bending down to prepare for the race XD Jun told Nino he could wave, while the others had to run.
The race started, with Aiba leading, followed by Sho then Ohno. Nino was slowly jogging behind them, making the audience really happy with his waving, and at some point Jun pointed out to Nino that he could also run a bit harder lol When a minute had passed, Nino had “run” a third of the dome, Aiba one and a quarter, Sho a bit less, and Ohno just a full lap. Ohno collapsed on the floor right away when it ended, and Sho-chan soon followed him, lying with his arms and legs spread x) Since it felt like Oh-chan was sleeping, Sho asked if he was seeing Jun in his dream lol Then they got back on stage, and Aiba-chan waved at the audience ^w^
We heard their breath for quite some time, and Sho passed over a bottle to Aiba. Nino was noting down something when he came back to his desk.
Then time came for Jun’s letter that a junior highschool friend had kept all along. Jun mentioned that he was doing Kimi wa Petto at the time of the letter, and Nino intervened, asking to read the letter in Jun’s stead. According to him, Jun might skip parts which didn’t please him x) Jun’s answer : “Sensei would never do that !” lol But he handed the letter over to Nino anyway.
When he opened it, Nino went “Ehhh” and a music started playing, the beginning reminding me a little bit of a far west movie music x) At the questions parts, real life Jun replied “hai”, Nino read “shitsurei shimasu”, and Jun answered “yoroshiku onegai shimasu” ~
Some parts were cut, like the few information in the end (height and stuff) T_T
After the reading, Sho commented that after “aiming at being the top in the entertainment world, the top in the idol world, the top in Japan”, he thought “the top of the world” would come, not just going out on the international scene XD Jun replied that he knew that would be impossible lol
Jun also said that at 10, he wanted to be a pro baseball player, and had written a letter to his 20 year old self at that time. Also, even if the letter is from him to him, it still gave him a strange feeling, hearing the contents.
Next, a girl in the audience was chosen to read her letter to her future self, and again, someone at the end of a row was chosen, obviously because it’s easier for staff to equip her. Her seat was in first base but quite in the middle, at the very back of the dome (I think the last before last row). Her name was Manami, 14, from Tochigi prefecture, and she came with a friend.
Jun : From school ?
Girl : …
Members : Well you can have friends through a lot of ways !
Lol
Her dream was to work at Disney and make people smile =)
When Jun was done asking her questions, he concluded saying he supported her (“ouen shite ikimasu”).
At that time I noticed a lot of text was rolling on the TV screens on stage for Arashi, I guess it’s their script.
Then, time for the video letter of a member ! ^w^ Tonight Aiba-chan was chosen ~
Nino asked Aiba if he needed a towel, he replied yes, and Nino gave him one. Aiba used it to wipe his sweat a bit. Also, Nino told him he shouldn’t mess around with his letter, or it’d be like hell when he sees it ten years later.
Aiba started saying ever since elementary school, his dream had been to become a cool company president with a beard. Did that dream come true ? It most likely didn’t. Then Aiba decided that his beginning wasn’t good and was like “cut this part !”, while members were telling him he did mess around in his letter in the end lol Also, when Jun moved the camera a bit, the other members appeared on the video and they fooled around, Sho making a circle with his arms, or Nino waving them like crazy.
“Today, you might be doing your 13th Waku Waku Gakkou. If that’s the case, you may also be doing your paku paku lesson for the 13th time.”
And then, he decided again that this part wasn’t good either, and made us laugh again XD “Should I stop doing that video letter ? I hope I’ve become good at video letters !” There was a bit more of messing around and comments with members, but I couldn’t write them down T_T
Next, he said picturing himself at 40 made him uneasy, but it’d be good if he just kept doing his best until that time. He also added that it’s about time he faced reality. Then he wondered a bit about what he’d like to say today, and mentioned that if possible, even ten years later, he’d like to do concerts with Arashi (claps from the audience, then laughs because Jun moved the camera again to include the members in the picture, and of course, they messed around with their arms XD). No matter where it is, Aiba would like the five of them to be healthy and still have concerts, and he ended his letter =)
Afterwards, Aiba commented he had wanted to do it seriously but didn’t succeed. Members reassured him and told him it was fine though.
Then Jun’s last explanation came. In Joumon period, overcoming 14 years old was rare, whereas now in Japan, life expectancy for men is 78 years old and women 86 years old. He fumbled a bit on his word during his speech. Then he closed up on genzai/present and the sentence summarizing the lesson.
Last lesson, Oh-chan’s wai wai ^w^ The hands surrounding the wai wai moves during the introduction video, it’s cute ~
When asked what they thought the lesson would be about, Jun answered friends, Aiba members, Nino team play and Sho One Piece lol Then Ohno asked why are Arashi members good friends, and Sho replied it’s because of the time they spend together. Nino and Sho then asked for the correct answer, and Oh-chan said time was correct, while making an “o” with his right hand x) Then we got the VS Arashi video and the video on members’ personality, there’re just so funny ~
When it was over, they picked on Ohno again about his definition and use of “personality trait”, and I didn’t see when but Sho-chan had already got rid of his shirt and was showing us his black tank top XDD
There were also mentions about unknown members’ personality traits, like Aiba’s onee side which no one knew when it could come out haha
Ohno moved to the next corner, in which we’d participate ^w^ Incidentally, the flag colors and the member in charge kind of matched for Saturday but it was completely random today. The flags are just for delimitation purpose, really. The members’ assignment was almost the same, except Aiba and Nino who switched (they didn’t say anything but Nino must have been happy x)).
When Ohno explained the King Kong movement and saw the audience’s reaction, he asked “Iya desu ka ?” (You don’t want to do it ?) XD Then the other members told him to demonstrate the movement. Besides, for the snapping section (my section again), Oh-chan told us “naranai kata, naru made yatte kudasai” (People who can’t make any sound, please keep on snapping your fingers until it does LOL).
When Ohno assigned each bloc to a member, Jun did again quick snaps towards the camera with both his hands, but his facial expression wasn’t as mischievous as yesterday, he wasn’t really smiling.
Sho warned his bloc not to get too tired, since they’re the ones starting. Jun and other members also encouraged B bloc, where people had to hit their chest.
We did it and really, hearing A.RA.SHI again, even if it’s a short version and not in a concert, it feels so great <3
When it was over, Nino congratulated his bloc, because they had started really loudly. Aiba had apparently heard the sound made from hitting his chest, even though it hurt doing that movement. Sho asked his bloc if their hands were red, to which Ohno apologized right away (sumimasen deshita), but Sho told him it was fine and they had fun.
Lastly, we got Ohno’s last explanation, along the lines of “minna chigatte, minna ii” (everyone’s different and that’s what makes everyone good).
The school bell rang, it was 1:37 pm. I noticed a staff leaving with a huge camera (the objective was like 50cm long), and wondered if magazines were there this morning.
The lights dimmed and they sang Furusato. The fairy lights circling the drawings on the floor were illuminated, and the lights on stage were blue. Nino sang his part well this morning ~
When they rode the hanamichi, they talked about various things : tank top, the movie date, pumpkin, etc. x) Oh-chan said he would sleep again in a bed haha Jun noticed that a lot of people were wearing the 24h TV t-shirt.
When both hanamichi arrived at the back of the dome, they reminded us of their lesson titles, and I noticed that put side by side, the two hanamichi colors made a rainbow. Going backstage, Jun repeated the school theme (Hibi kore kizuki), and then we got the flag video. It was over at 1:52 pm.