"Beautiful World" Concert Report for Sunday, July 24th
Here we go again!
My seat was near the top, but since Kyocera is smaller than Tokyo Dome, you can still see really well. But! It was damn hot! The air conditioning definitely wasn’t on and even the most energetic of girls were losing their enthusiasm partway through.
The opening video asked the question “What is the ‘Beautiful World’?”
The boys came out at the main stage to open with “Boku ga Boku”. Arashi were all in white suits. They went right into “Believe” next, which was a good song to get the crowd going. “Kotoba yori” was memorable. The guys started going down from the main stage on that center ramp that slopes and Jun was so focused on singing his part, he slipped and fell. The other members stopped to help, but he got up easily and just looked embarrassed.
“Oh Yeah” was lucky for me because Ohno was on our side. They did their introductions.
Jun: “Osaka! We wanted to meet you!”
Nino: “Welcome! Welcome! More! More!”
Aiba: “Are you excited?! Let’s go all out!” He ended with his famed ‘wink’.
Ohno: “Hi! Hi! Hi! Today’s an Osaka festival!”
And Sho shouted for each of our sections to yell. They went up on those round elevated stands for “A.Ra.Shi” until they lowered at the end and after the song, they dropped down into the main stage. A video for “Beautiful World” began playing, show pictures of Arashi mixed with images from nature. The last part shows a storm starting and that’s when the juniors came out marching with flags. It was a shock when the boys dropped down from the top of the stage above the screen, dressed in black, for “Rock This”.
“Always” had each of the guys standing with a different group of dancers, each with a different color spot light on their group. They did part of the formations in a line and others as a group. The video playing was Arashi holding colored flames and the members shown changed according to who was singing at the time.
It was around that time that I noticed Aiba’s jacket was peculiarly showing his nipple rather brilliantly. And just his left one at that. I couldn’t help laughing.
I was pleasantly surprised that they performed “Yes? No?” And even more so when they did one of their line dances together. I really enjoyed the next one too. “Story” wasn’t something I thought they would play either, but it was very nice. The outfits they were wearing were a bit florescent, as well as the flags the juniors had. I’m looking forward to seeing the dance they did at the back stage again during another concert.
“Lucky Man” was fun as always. They went around on carts to different sections and I’ve found that I’ve gotten better at spotting when members go missing. Jun was first up for his solo tonight. The dance steps for “Shake it” are a mixture of cute and sexy. He does A LOT of hip shaking and some very fun hip thrusts too. He rips his red jacket open towards the end as well. Fireworks went off at the end and the following song was a bit of a change of pace.
Ohno appeared first on the main stage for “Negai” in a blue outfit. The video showed water drops falling slowly. Several clips of the guys with serious expressions passed by until towards the end, when their video selves began singing too. The dance they did was really pretty!
“Lotus” started with smoke billowing out and the juniors crawling out from the opening in the bottom of the stage. Ohno’s “Oh~”s were my favorite, along with the dance moves.
“To Be Free” was nice, but Aiba’s solo “Janakutte” was even better! He was at center stage, sitting on a chair. He had on a white button-up shirt with brown pants and suspenders. It was cute look. His solo was fun to shout out the “janakutte” and “jaa nande”s. The choreography was a mixture of using the chair and later handkerchiefs.
I’m sorry to say I had to laugh at Sho’s solo. He comes out in a polka dotted suit and the juniors with these white feathers stuck to their heads and holding these white feather fans. If it wasn’t for all the feathers, it would have been pretty cool I suppose. The guys had to joke about this later. The rap part was my favorite section and there’s a new little pause before “Kimi wa”. Then the feathers come floating out and I started laughing again.
“Everybody Zenshin” was another fun number. Jun and Ohno came out of two of the big cart/car things. (Ohno on our side!) Nino and Aiba were on the little carts, going up the center. The juniors came out with colorful flags, spreading over the whole arena. For “Kitto Daijoubu”, they switched carts, Nino and Sho going on one, goofing around together. At the end of the song, they gripped hands. The outfit for “Happiness” was colorful pastel suits. They were coming down the slope once again and this time, Nino kind of slipped/slide down it. Then Sho pretended to fall, followed by Aiba.
MC:
Jun greeted Osaka and Sho had to comment on how hot it was, with Nino quickly agreeing.
Sho: “It’s really hot, so please use those jumbo uchiwa (fans).”
Jun: “We’ve started the tour. It’s the first day… And many things happen on the first day…”
Everyone in the crowd laughed at that.
N: “I didn’t think that would happen.”
O: “ It was a pretty fall.”
N: “What happened?”
J: “It was when I was starting to get excited and right as I started to sing, I fell.”
A: “Are you okay?”
J: “Yes. Afterwards, I just had to laugh.”
S: “The audience over there must have been pretty surprised.”
N: “There’s something else. During “Always”, this guy (pointing at Aiba) had his left nipple out the whole time.”
While laughing, Aiba said, “The first day sure is scary.”
S: “I have some extra info. Before we came out, my dressing area is next to Aiba’s and he suddenly yelled out, “Ah~ Mou~!” I thought that he’d forgotten his mic, so I brought two and I yelled, “Aiba! What is it? A mic? I have one here!” and he shouted back, “My nipple!”
N: “ What? You lost it?”
A: “No! It was stick out! Only the left one. It was the black outfit. You all remember it, right? Well there was supposed to be a tank top with it, but when I tried to put it on, it was weird. Like one of those fashionable ones that only goes on one shoulder. I gave up with it and took it off. Then with the jacket, on the shoulder part, it has this little open part and I put my arm through the place you weren’t supposed to. So then my nipple was hanging out… That’s the point I said, “Ah~! Mou~!” I’m very sorry for that.”
S: “I thought he was making a cool pose earlier during the song.”
A: “I was actually trying to hide it. Like this.” He crossed his arm over his chest, as if he’d been holding the jacket closed. But it kind of looked like he was holding his heart. He got worried people might think something was wrong since he’d just gotten out of the hospital and gave up holding it closed. “Sorry for making all of you worry.”
O: “You should have just painted it black.” (‘It’ being the nipple)
A: “That would have looked even stranger!”
There was a short part here I missed but they were teasing Aiba about being the only one doing his own thing.
A: “ During ‘Yes? No?’, I actually stopped dancing and just stood there for a second. (Because his nipple was sticking out again). My heart broke a little bit right then. I’m sorry.” He got down and kneeled on the stage. He also apologized again for making worry during his hospital stay. “Am I talking too much?”
All: “No. Go ahead.”
A: “I had a dream when I was there. It was the concert, but there were only four members.”
N?: “Which four?”
A: “You four!”
J: “I’d be mad if it was me.”
A: “I was in the audience, watching the concert instead.”
They assured him that it was just a weird dream.
N: “Tonight, your dance in ‘Janakutte’ was really good.” A rare honest complement from Nino.
The conversation turned to Sho’s solo and how he seemed like Tuxedo Mask.
S: “Stop that. During rehearsal, they were calling it that too. I’m not Tuxedo Mask.”
N: “ But the feathers…”
O: “The feathered fans…”
S: “I’m not. Thank you. Okay, now…!” He tried for an abrupt change of subject and it worked. He said they had an announcement for us, but before he was sure if it was okay to say it, all of Arashi had a little meeting where they held their mics away so we couldn’t hear.
S: “From tomorrow… this is the second year in a row… Please watch this video.”
They showed a crew plastering on the guys faces to the side of a plane. The Arashi JAL Jet is back! During the video, the guys made a quick costume change.
J: “We’re doing it again this year.”
S: “And it’ll be for longer too. Who here rode on it before?” A few people might have raised their hands. “Please try to make an opportunity to ride it then. Okay, should we go on to the next song?”
They were about to, but Nino called out, “Ohno?”
N: “Did you borrow that shirt from your Dad?” XD
They had come out in these colorful over-shirts that had alphabet letters all over them, but for some reason, Ohno’s looked too big for him.
O: “It’s cute, right?”
N: “You should try closing it.”
J: “It’s really big.”
All the guys came over to ‘help’, or rather watch as Ohno buttoned it up. They fussed with it for a minute and called it good.
J: “Next is a song that we haven’t released on CD yet. It’s okay if you listen while sitting. ‘Furusato’.”
It was the short version, rather than the one they did at the charity event.
S: “We did this one at Waku Waku too.”
N: “Also, out on sale now is ‘Nippon no Arashi’. Then there’s Sho’s movie, which comes out in December-“
S: “No, it’s August.”
N: “Where?”
S: “Where?!”
N: “Where? At your house? Through a transmission?”
S: “No. In theaters.”
J: “It looks nice. And the music matches well too.”
S: “Please watch it.”
N: “Then there’s ‘Ohno-kun in 3D’.
J: “Yeah, ‘you’ in 3D. That’s amazing.”
O: “No, it’s not ‘Ohno-kun.’ I’d be surprised at that too. It’s ‘Kaibutsu-kun.’
N: “It comes out on your birthday. That’s an easy day to remember.”
O: “Another really memorable birthday.”
N: “Yeah, you already know it will be. What about the movie? How is it?”
O: “It’ll probably be fun.”
J: “And I’m doing my stage play. The first one in 5 years. It’ll start in October.”
N: “I’ll go see it.”
A: “I’ll go see it too. And I’m doing the narrator for “the Japanese Archipelago.” It will show different nature spots in Japan.”
S: “And you did that show on NHK too.”
A: “I did. Secretly.”
N&S: “No, it wasn’t. We all knew about it.”
Aiba quickly described the documentary and pulled off his scarf. “Okay, are we ready to go?” Then he tied the scarf around his head.
J: “It’s not that kind of song.”
A: “It’s fine like this.”
I don’t know what they saw, but Nino and Ohno both went over to Jun and picked something off his face, like a stray hair? Anyway, it was cute.
A: “Okay, my nipple's not out, so let’s go!”
“Niji no Kakera” actually suited Aiba’s hairstyle just fine. Aiba and Ohno were waving at the screen behind them. The video showed Arashi as… elves?... marching together down a road. Nino had his DS, Ohno his fishing pole, and Aiba, a monkey on his shoulder.
They moved to the middle of the area, back up on those elevated stands, for “Ever”. I was so happy that they sang “Kaze no Mukou e” too!
Then it was time for Ohno’s solo. He came out at the back stage in a white jacket with black pants and a black shirt. As expected, the dancing was mind-blowing. It was just too much to take in. The moves weren’t exactly complex, but it seemed that way when you watched it for a while. I can’t wait to get the chance to see it again.
Nino’s solo was directly after. He was at the main stage with only his guitar and a stand mic. His hair was a little mussy from all the sweating they’d been doing. He was in jeans, a patterned shirt, and a red vest. His voice sounded really nice tonight. He added an extra part with his guitar at the end of the song.
The guys came out in these black and white funky suits for “Joy”. It was fun to clap along and great to hear Ohno’s “Oh~”s. “Morning Light” was incredibly fun too! The chorus has everyone doing a “lasso” move, for a lack of a better word. It’s the same move they do during “Attack it”. There were fireworks too.
Next wasn’t a remix, but a kind of interlude between songs with dance music. Arashi was on the main stage, right up next to the screen, then they disappeared and colorful visuals played across the screen next. Eventually, something like a mansion with 5 silhouettes in some of the windows pops up, then fades away. Each of their faces came up and they either did funny faces, like Ohno’s, or a peace sign, like Nino.
The most important part of this section is how the guys ‘’played” with the visuals on the screen. Sho actually danced with duplicates of himself that were on the screen at the same time. Ohno and Nino marched up to one other, then an image of Kaibutsu-kun appeared behind him. Kaibutsu-kun, threw Ohno off the screen and I think Nino as well, because then Nino slides down diagonally from a rope to the stage again. Someone else dropped down, Aiba, if I remember right. Jun did something of a magic trip where he was at the top, then suddenly pops up at the bottom.
This all led into “Mada Minu Sekai e”. They did an extremely fast costume change, like the one they did at Kouhaku before, into red pants, white shirts, and blue jackets. The beginning was slightly different from the performances we’ve seen on TV or the PV. The screens were fun to watch while they were dancing because the images were ‘broken down’ into ‘particles’ that floated around until they came back together.
J: “Osaka! We’re in the last spurt!”
“Love Rainbow” had a cute moment when Ohno and Jun put their arms over their shoulders and walked down the center part, stopped, and looked back at the camera together. Nino and Sho were on one side of the stage. They stared at each other, looked around slowly, then started jumped at the same time for “Troublemaker”. The big carts came out again, but Jun and Ohno got on them, separating Sho and Ohno for their heart-making move. But no fear! They split the videos on the screen and the two of them tried desperately to match each other’s half of the heart. They only succeeded for about a second.
“Hadashi no Mirai” was hilarious, as always. Ohno and Nino were on our side doing the dance. At the end, Ohno strummed an air guitar with the music. “Sakura Sake” was starting to get hot and the boys took off their jackets. They did their jump at the end, with fireworks going off too.
S: “Thank you very much. Was ‘Beautiful World’ fun?
O: “At the beginning, we asked what is the Beautiful World. We’ve been thinking about this.”
A: “If the time that you have here is fun and you can remember it, then it will make us happy too.”
N: “This will stay in our memories. Let’s sweat together again.”
J: “This world is the Beautiful World. Please listen. ‘Hatenai Sora’.
They showed a ton of the postcards that people had sent for the concert, but it was a lot to try to watch at the same time. There were a bunch of ones with flowers, smiley faces, peace signs, rainbows.
“Tooku Made” was great. The guys paired up with whoever they sang the part of the song with and did something silly. Ohno and Jun first, then Jun and Nino back to back. Sho and Nino did a silly dance, Aiba and Ohno held hands, Aiba and Nino did a dance, but then Nino hit Aiba’s nipple and took off running. Sho was singing by himself for one part, however Aiba and Nino came up behind him, waited for a second, then I think it was Nino that grabbed his side suddenly, making Sho shout, “Hey!” in the middle of singing. The video they showed had Arashi putting up the postcards (the ones for the video, not for the display in the lobby, I think).
Encore One:
For “Love So Sweet”, they all came out in their tour t-shirts. Aiba, Sho, and Nino were rather spirited on their side of the stage, doing jumping spins and the airplane move. At the end, Jun says the title, “Love So Sweet”, which Sho followed up with a “Yeah”, starting the next song, “A day in our life”. Jun and Ohno were doing this cute little sideways dance across the stage until Ohno started laughing too hard. The best part came later. During their duet, they held hands, then Jun brought Ohno’s hand up to his lips and kissed it, staring at Ohno afterwards with a sexy look, which made Ohno swoon.
Sho was very excited for “Summer Splash”. I really love this song in concert. “Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi” had Ohno and Jun together again, singing to each other until Ohno turned to sing to the crowd. Sho changed part of his lyrics to “Thank you!”
They did the introductions for the dancers, then said their good-byes.
Encore Two:
Nino came out with a white towel wrapped around his forehead.
J: “You called?”
Us: Yeah!
J: “We came. Did you wait?”
Us: Yeah!
J: “Sorry for making you wait. And thank you!”
A: “It was a lot of fun!”
J: “The tour has started.”
N: “It was good start. Sho?”
S: “I’m Sakurai Sho. Osaka had peaceful vibes.” (Peaceful and vibes were in English).
“Gori Muchuu” was the last song they performed for the concert. They shouted out their thank yous and left after a lot of waving. Of course, we wanted them to come out again, but Jun did say it would be the last song, so it can’t be helped.
Next is Kokuritsu!!!
<3
My seat was near the top, but since Kyocera is smaller than Tokyo Dome, you can still see really well. But! It was damn hot! The air conditioning definitely wasn’t on and even the most energetic of girls were losing their enthusiasm partway through.
The opening video asked the question “What is the ‘Beautiful World’?”
The boys came out at the main stage to open with “Boku ga Boku”. Arashi were all in white suits. They went right into “Believe” next, which was a good song to get the crowd going. “Kotoba yori” was memorable. The guys started going down from the main stage on that center ramp that slopes and Jun was so focused on singing his part, he slipped and fell. The other members stopped to help, but he got up easily and just looked embarrassed.
“Oh Yeah” was lucky for me because Ohno was on our side. They did their introductions.
Jun: “Osaka! We wanted to meet you!”
Nino: “Welcome! Welcome! More! More!”
Aiba: “Are you excited?! Let’s go all out!” He ended with his famed ‘wink’.
Ohno: “Hi! Hi! Hi! Today’s an Osaka festival!”
And Sho shouted for each of our sections to yell. They went up on those round elevated stands for “A.Ra.Shi” until they lowered at the end and after the song, they dropped down into the main stage. A video for “Beautiful World” began playing, show pictures of Arashi mixed with images from nature. The last part shows a storm starting and that’s when the juniors came out marching with flags. It was a shock when the boys dropped down from the top of the stage above the screen, dressed in black, for “Rock This”.
“Always” had each of the guys standing with a different group of dancers, each with a different color spot light on their group. They did part of the formations in a line and others as a group. The video playing was Arashi holding colored flames and the members shown changed according to who was singing at the time.
It was around that time that I noticed Aiba’s jacket was peculiarly showing his nipple rather brilliantly. And just his left one at that. I couldn’t help laughing.
I was pleasantly surprised that they performed “Yes? No?” And even more so when they did one of their line dances together. I really enjoyed the next one too. “Story” wasn’t something I thought they would play either, but it was very nice. The outfits they were wearing were a bit florescent, as well as the flags the juniors had. I’m looking forward to seeing the dance they did at the back stage again during another concert.
“Lucky Man” was fun as always. They went around on carts to different sections and I’ve found that I’ve gotten better at spotting when members go missing. Jun was first up for his solo tonight. The dance steps for “Shake it” are a mixture of cute and sexy. He does A LOT of hip shaking and some very fun hip thrusts too. He rips his red jacket open towards the end as well. Fireworks went off at the end and the following song was a bit of a change of pace.
Ohno appeared first on the main stage for “Negai” in a blue outfit. The video showed water drops falling slowly. Several clips of the guys with serious expressions passed by until towards the end, when their video selves began singing too. The dance they did was really pretty!
“Lotus” started with smoke billowing out and the juniors crawling out from the opening in the bottom of the stage. Ohno’s “Oh~”s were my favorite, along with the dance moves.
“To Be Free” was nice, but Aiba’s solo “Janakutte” was even better! He was at center stage, sitting on a chair. He had on a white button-up shirt with brown pants and suspenders. It was cute look. His solo was fun to shout out the “janakutte” and “jaa nande”s. The choreography was a mixture of using the chair and later handkerchiefs.
I’m sorry to say I had to laugh at Sho’s solo. He comes out in a polka dotted suit and the juniors with these white feathers stuck to their heads and holding these white feather fans. If it wasn’t for all the feathers, it would have been pretty cool I suppose. The guys had to joke about this later. The rap part was my favorite section and there’s a new little pause before “Kimi wa”. Then the feathers come floating out and I started laughing again.
“Everybody Zenshin” was another fun number. Jun and Ohno came out of two of the big cart/car things. (Ohno on our side!) Nino and Aiba were on the little carts, going up the center. The juniors came out with colorful flags, spreading over the whole arena. For “Kitto Daijoubu”, they switched carts, Nino and Sho going on one, goofing around together. At the end of the song, they gripped hands. The outfit for “Happiness” was colorful pastel suits. They were coming down the slope once again and this time, Nino kind of slipped/slide down it. Then Sho pretended to fall, followed by Aiba.
MC:
Jun greeted Osaka and Sho had to comment on how hot it was, with Nino quickly agreeing.
Sho: “It’s really hot, so please use those jumbo uchiwa (fans).”
Jun: “We’ve started the tour. It’s the first day… And many things happen on the first day…”
Everyone in the crowd laughed at that.
N: “I didn’t think that would happen.”
O: “ It was a pretty fall.”
N: “What happened?”
J: “It was when I was starting to get excited and right as I started to sing, I fell.”
A: “Are you okay?”
J: “Yes. Afterwards, I just had to laugh.”
S: “The audience over there must have been pretty surprised.”
N: “There’s something else. During “Always”, this guy (pointing at Aiba) had his left nipple out the whole time.”
While laughing, Aiba said, “The first day sure is scary.”
S: “I have some extra info. Before we came out, my dressing area is next to Aiba’s and he suddenly yelled out, “Ah~ Mou~!” I thought that he’d forgotten his mic, so I brought two and I yelled, “Aiba! What is it? A mic? I have one here!” and he shouted back, “My nipple!”
N: “ What? You lost it?”
A: “No! It was stick out! Only the left one. It was the black outfit. You all remember it, right? Well there was supposed to be a tank top with it, but when I tried to put it on, it was weird. Like one of those fashionable ones that only goes on one shoulder. I gave up with it and took it off. Then with the jacket, on the shoulder part, it has this little open part and I put my arm through the place you weren’t supposed to. So then my nipple was hanging out… That’s the point I said, “Ah~! Mou~!” I’m very sorry for that.”
S: “I thought he was making a cool pose earlier during the song.”
A: “I was actually trying to hide it. Like this.” He crossed his arm over his chest, as if he’d been holding the jacket closed. But it kind of looked like he was holding his heart. He got worried people might think something was wrong since he’d just gotten out of the hospital and gave up holding it closed. “Sorry for making all of you worry.”
O: “You should have just painted it black.” (‘It’ being the nipple)
A: “That would have looked even stranger!”
There was a short part here I missed but they were teasing Aiba about being the only one doing his own thing.
A: “ During ‘Yes? No?’, I actually stopped dancing and just stood there for a second. (Because his nipple was sticking out again). My heart broke a little bit right then. I’m sorry.” He got down and kneeled on the stage. He also apologized again for making worry during his hospital stay. “Am I talking too much?”
All: “No. Go ahead.”
A: “I had a dream when I was there. It was the concert, but there were only four members.”
N?: “Which four?”
A: “You four!”
J: “I’d be mad if it was me.”
A: “I was in the audience, watching the concert instead.”
They assured him that it was just a weird dream.
N: “Tonight, your dance in ‘Janakutte’ was really good.” A rare honest complement from Nino.
The conversation turned to Sho’s solo and how he seemed like Tuxedo Mask.
S: “Stop that. During rehearsal, they were calling it that too. I’m not Tuxedo Mask.”
N: “ But the feathers…”
O: “The feathered fans…”
S: “I’m not. Thank you. Okay, now…!” He tried for an abrupt change of subject and it worked. He said they had an announcement for us, but before he was sure if it was okay to say it, all of Arashi had a little meeting where they held their mics away so we couldn’t hear.
S: “From tomorrow… this is the second year in a row… Please watch this video.”
They showed a crew plastering on the guys faces to the side of a plane. The Arashi JAL Jet is back! During the video, the guys made a quick costume change.
J: “We’re doing it again this year.”
S: “And it’ll be for longer too. Who here rode on it before?” A few people might have raised their hands. “Please try to make an opportunity to ride it then. Okay, should we go on to the next song?”
They were about to, but Nino called out, “Ohno?”
N: “Did you borrow that shirt from your Dad?” XD
They had come out in these colorful over-shirts that had alphabet letters all over them, but for some reason, Ohno’s looked too big for him.
O: “It’s cute, right?”
N: “You should try closing it.”
J: “It’s really big.”
All the guys came over to ‘help’, or rather watch as Ohno buttoned it up. They fussed with it for a minute and called it good.
J: “Next is a song that we haven’t released on CD yet. It’s okay if you listen while sitting. ‘Furusato’.”
It was the short version, rather than the one they did at the charity event.
S: “We did this one at Waku Waku too.”
N: “Also, out on sale now is ‘Nippon no Arashi’. Then there’s Sho’s movie, which comes out in December-“
S: “No, it’s August.”
N: “Where?”
S: “Where?!”
N: “Where? At your house? Through a transmission?”
S: “No. In theaters.”
J: “It looks nice. And the music matches well too.”
S: “Please watch it.”
N: “Then there’s ‘Ohno-kun in 3D’.
J: “Yeah, ‘you’ in 3D. That’s amazing.”
O: “No, it’s not ‘Ohno-kun.’ I’d be surprised at that too. It’s ‘Kaibutsu-kun.’
N: “It comes out on your birthday. That’s an easy day to remember.”
O: “Another really memorable birthday.”
N: “Yeah, you already know it will be. What about the movie? How is it?”
O: “It’ll probably be fun.”
J: “And I’m doing my stage play. The first one in 5 years. It’ll start in October.”
N: “I’ll go see it.”
A: “I’ll go see it too. And I’m doing the narrator for “the Japanese Archipelago.” It will show different nature spots in Japan.”
S: “And you did that show on NHK too.”
A: “I did. Secretly.”
N&S: “No, it wasn’t. We all knew about it.”
Aiba quickly described the documentary and pulled off his scarf. “Okay, are we ready to go?” Then he tied the scarf around his head.
J: “It’s not that kind of song.”
A: “It’s fine like this.”
I don’t know what they saw, but Nino and Ohno both went over to Jun and picked something off his face, like a stray hair? Anyway, it was cute.
A: “Okay, my nipple's not out, so let’s go!”
“Niji no Kakera” actually suited Aiba’s hairstyle just fine. Aiba and Ohno were waving at the screen behind them. The video showed Arashi as… elves?... marching together down a road. Nino had his DS, Ohno his fishing pole, and Aiba, a monkey on his shoulder.
They moved to the middle of the area, back up on those elevated stands, for “Ever”. I was so happy that they sang “Kaze no Mukou e” too!
Then it was time for Ohno’s solo. He came out at the back stage in a white jacket with black pants and a black shirt. As expected, the dancing was mind-blowing. It was just too much to take in. The moves weren’t exactly complex, but it seemed that way when you watched it for a while. I can’t wait to get the chance to see it again.
Nino’s solo was directly after. He was at the main stage with only his guitar and a stand mic. His hair was a little mussy from all the sweating they’d been doing. He was in jeans, a patterned shirt, and a red vest. His voice sounded really nice tonight. He added an extra part with his guitar at the end of the song.
The guys came out in these black and white funky suits for “Joy”. It was fun to clap along and great to hear Ohno’s “Oh~”s. “Morning Light” was incredibly fun too! The chorus has everyone doing a “lasso” move, for a lack of a better word. It’s the same move they do during “Attack it”. There were fireworks too.
Next wasn’t a remix, but a kind of interlude between songs with dance music. Arashi was on the main stage, right up next to the screen, then they disappeared and colorful visuals played across the screen next. Eventually, something like a mansion with 5 silhouettes in some of the windows pops up, then fades away. Each of their faces came up and they either did funny faces, like Ohno’s, or a peace sign, like Nino.
The most important part of this section is how the guys ‘’played” with the visuals on the screen. Sho actually danced with duplicates of himself that were on the screen at the same time. Ohno and Nino marched up to one other, then an image of Kaibutsu-kun appeared behind him. Kaibutsu-kun, threw Ohno off the screen and I think Nino as well, because then Nino slides down diagonally from a rope to the stage again. Someone else dropped down, Aiba, if I remember right. Jun did something of a magic trip where he was at the top, then suddenly pops up at the bottom.
This all led into “Mada Minu Sekai e”. They did an extremely fast costume change, like the one they did at Kouhaku before, into red pants, white shirts, and blue jackets. The beginning was slightly different from the performances we’ve seen on TV or the PV. The screens were fun to watch while they were dancing because the images were ‘broken down’ into ‘particles’ that floated around until they came back together.
J: “Osaka! We’re in the last spurt!”
“Love Rainbow” had a cute moment when Ohno and Jun put their arms over their shoulders and walked down the center part, stopped, and looked back at the camera together. Nino and Sho were on one side of the stage. They stared at each other, looked around slowly, then started jumped at the same time for “Troublemaker”. The big carts came out again, but Jun and Ohno got on them, separating Sho and Ohno for their heart-making move. But no fear! They split the videos on the screen and the two of them tried desperately to match each other’s half of the heart. They only succeeded for about a second.
“Hadashi no Mirai” was hilarious, as always. Ohno and Nino were on our side doing the dance. At the end, Ohno strummed an air guitar with the music. “Sakura Sake” was starting to get hot and the boys took off their jackets. They did their jump at the end, with fireworks going off too.
S: “Thank you very much. Was ‘Beautiful World’ fun?
O: “At the beginning, we asked what is the Beautiful World. We’ve been thinking about this.”
A: “If the time that you have here is fun and you can remember it, then it will make us happy too.”
N: “This will stay in our memories. Let’s sweat together again.”
J: “This world is the Beautiful World. Please listen. ‘Hatenai Sora’.
They showed a ton of the postcards that people had sent for the concert, but it was a lot to try to watch at the same time. There were a bunch of ones with flowers, smiley faces, peace signs, rainbows.
“Tooku Made” was great. The guys paired up with whoever they sang the part of the song with and did something silly. Ohno and Jun first, then Jun and Nino back to back. Sho and Nino did a silly dance, Aiba and Ohno held hands, Aiba and Nino did a dance, but then Nino hit Aiba’s nipple and took off running. Sho was singing by himself for one part, however Aiba and Nino came up behind him, waited for a second, then I think it was Nino that grabbed his side suddenly, making Sho shout, “Hey!” in the middle of singing. The video they showed had Arashi putting up the postcards (the ones for the video, not for the display in the lobby, I think).
Encore One:
For “Love So Sweet”, they all came out in their tour t-shirts. Aiba, Sho, and Nino were rather spirited on their side of the stage, doing jumping spins and the airplane move. At the end, Jun says the title, “Love So Sweet”, which Sho followed up with a “Yeah”, starting the next song, “A day in our life”. Jun and Ohno were doing this cute little sideways dance across the stage until Ohno started laughing too hard. The best part came later. During their duet, they held hands, then Jun brought Ohno’s hand up to his lips and kissed it, staring at Ohno afterwards with a sexy look, which made Ohno swoon.
Sho was very excited for “Summer Splash”. I really love this song in concert. “Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi” had Ohno and Jun together again, singing to each other until Ohno turned to sing to the crowd. Sho changed part of his lyrics to “Thank you!”
They did the introductions for the dancers, then said their good-byes.
Encore Two:
Nino came out with a white towel wrapped around his forehead.
J: “You called?”
Us: Yeah!
J: “We came. Did you wait?”
Us: Yeah!
J: “Sorry for making you wait. And thank you!”
A: “It was a lot of fun!”
J: “The tour has started.”
N: “It was good start. Sho?”
S: “I’m Sakurai Sho. Osaka had peaceful vibes.” (Peaceful and vibes were in English).
“Gori Muchuu” was the last song they performed for the concert. They shouted out their thank yous and left after a lot of waving. Of course, we wanted them to come out again, but Jun did say it would be the last song, so it can’t be helped.
Next is Kokuritsu!!!
<3