dreams do come true

[arychan_96]

Hey it has been a while but I thought might as well share my story. If any of you are interested this is how I joined the fc and experience attending Arashi’s concert for the first time ever.

Becoming a fanclub member 

I’ve been a fan for almost 8 years now (as of 2019). At the time I started it was Arafes’13 and Kokuritsu was being shut down for renovations. I missed 5x10 so I’m not gonna pass out on this one.

As many of you might know, registering for the fanclub needs an address that’s only in Japan. But fear not, nothing is impossible!! At first I thought so too and continued drooling over Arashi for 7 years. Lol In late 2018, Arashi started their 5x20 tour and somehow something in me doesn’t feel right. Suddenly the urge to become a fanclub member came to mind. After a few research, I finally found a way to register and someone who’s willing to help. As of 2019 I was already an official member of the Arashi fanclub.

Soon came in the news for 5x20 and more.. at the time I didn’t realize there was gonna be another ballot for the and more dates. I remembered it was Sho's birthday and everyone were celebrating.. then the very next day a very bad storm hit us all with an announcement :’( A few days after that the ballot for 5x20 and more started and I was determined to get the ticks! My timing for entering the fc was just nice as the ballots were opened only for fc members.. well the competition wasn’t easy.. I wanted to ballot for the three last dates which many bailed out from balloting with me because they said ‘its too risky’. Obviously many would aim for those dates. Better get something small than nothing at all but I was ready to gamble. I found a partner in crime who’s willing to risk it with me on twitter and balloted as my companion vice versa. Then all we could do at the time was to wait for the results to be out in about three months or so.

Time passed and the ballot results were out. Man I’ve never been that nervous before opening my email. A few deep breaths then I finally got the guts to open my email. I LOST! It stated clearly that I had lost the ballot. Weirdly, I didn’t feel sad a bit disappointed but I kept in mind to think its just as it never happened. Later my friend on twitter dm me that she had won! That means I still get the ticks as her companion! I started to cry. Yes I CRIED! and laughed at the same time. My hands couldn’t stop shivering. I really didn’t expect to get the ticks meaning meeting Arashi!! It was a very emotional moment. Plus, the date that we won was Aiba’s birthday!!

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Japan here I come

Imagine having to wait from April to December.. it almost killed me. As day by day pass I kept in mind I’m a day nearer to meeting Arashi. Thus, December finally came. I got the chance to experience JAL for the first time and there was this special 5x20 campaign with a few of Arashi’s selected songs. 

At first I thought it was just songs but when I played it there was like an Aratalk before the song starts. Ohno started to play DJ like with a deep voice. I took a night flight and it was dark everyone was asleep.. I couldn’t help myself laughing like an idiot XD Landed safely the next morning, got the whole day to freshen up and final preparations for meeting Arashi. 

While everyone was jetlag and went straight to our homestay, I went straight to Tokyo Dome to buy the goods. I’ve always seen Tokyo Dome  only from pics people share on Twitter and now I’m seeing it live in  front of my eyes.

I had the 5x20 goods app in phone since forever and was really excited to finally use it. The line was crazy long. It was the day of the special shooting which I lost the ballot btw :’( I have to say the Japanese system is very efficient!! Even tho it was a very long line but the wait was bearable. And I also received good service even tho they don’t speak any English at all. They’d scan the qr code from the app and gather everything right in front of you. Then they’d double check every single item with to make sure everything is correct. In the end I finally understand what it feels like to actually go and buy the goods for yourself. This is the experience that Johnny-san wanted us to feel. Took a few pics around Tokyo Dome and called it a day.

My second day, 24 Dec aka Aiba’s birthday! Oh wow such a wait but the day finally came. I was still tired from yesterday’s journey but my spirit was strong LOL I already bought the goods so for the time being went around Tokyo a bit. 

Saw the gigantic Netflix ad near Shibuya cross. Ironically, after a few minutes after I passed it Arashi posted about the same thing on Instagram. Coincidence? 

Also went to Johnny’s Family club when my friend and I entered there was this long line we thought it was for buying photos so we skipped out on that. We went around to look at christmas messages from all Johnny’s then it hit us. Where’s Arashi? Apparently on that day too many people came at the time so they had to que just to look at Arashi’s. Oh man! But we manage to get pics from the side without lining up and left. Oh! There’s also 5x20 tshirt signed by all members but pics weren’t allowed for that.

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Wakuwaku

It was almost time to enter Tokyo Dome! We got there like super early and got to the gate on the dot. They scanned the qr code emailed to my friend and checked names matching to our passport. Foreign passports are OK! My name registered to the fc is also shorten because I have a long  name but it was OK! Plus the person who checked was really nice. Then they spot check our bags for cameras. Next, they scan the qr code once again to print out the tickets. *suspense bgm* wait for it! we  hit for ARENA!!!!! 

Omg like we never thought it could ever happen. We kept positive like even if we got a seat in the back even if it was the furthest of all we’d be ok to at least have a chance to attend but now.. So we got in and there was soooo much time left before the show starts and we started to walk around. The line for every girls room was super long and none for the guy’s,  I saw  just one or two that came out haha I love seeing Arashi’s fanboys!  They’re unique. With nothing left to do we went to our seats, escorted,  yes escorted! Idk is it because they think we don’t understand Japanese or that’s their way of doing things but we felt royalty for a sec there  lol our seats were literally in front of the stage! We were just a few feet apart from Arashi!

You see this was how close I was. So we had to set our penlights to a thing on our seats so that it can sync along with the show. Suddenly there were these two staffs whispering while looking at us. We were trying not to look like we noticed but for sure they were talking about us and got us a bit worried. Then one of them came and ask if we knew how to set our penlights well in japanese tho. We replied also in japanese that yes we have already done it. Fuhh.. what a relief we thought we did something wrong there ;P Just a few minutes left before the show starts they showed preview of all their upcoming shows so at the time there was Baba Arashi. Counting down around 20 minutes before it starts, we could actually hear Arashi chanting back stage idk what’s it called but you’d know if you’ve seen their backstage footage. Its like they form a circle kinda thing. Our switch is on! Everyone had their penlights on and turned to green. Dunno why but we all started to chant MASAKI instead of Arashi. I don’t know what or who started it was naturally. As some of you might have read reports of that day.. yes we said Masaki. 

5x20 begins

Then 1800 strikes Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi starts. There they were. Way up high. Arashi, five of them. With dazzling swarovskis in the background. Eyes wide open, heart racing. That was the very first moment how I met Arashi. 

Seeing the moving stage for yourself was really cool. Tho I didn’t get the chance to experience being under it while Arashi pass above your head. My first call and response. I’ve never screamed so hard in my life before. Jun’s ‘ore ra ga shiawase ni shiteyaruyo’ phrase just melts your heart away. Nino’s ‘irrashaimase’ and Aiba’s ‘moriagattenno?/saikoudaze!’ was fun. I got to respond to Ohno’s ‘Arashi5x20matsuri’ de~su. Sho’s ‘ue no hou’ ‘shita no hou’ ‘danshi no choushi’ ‘josei no choushi’ will make you happy no matter where you are.

Since Arashi moved to the mid stage so I watched from the screen. The screen on stage is no joke. Its gigantically humongous. I did the hand thing during I’ll be there and I actually got it right lol it was hard. Sho came towards our direction during La Tormenta. He’s the first close up member that I saw and he walked straight towards the camera. He stood right in front of the camera when ‘this is la tormenta steelo’ at the beginning of the song. Then he started to dance and turn, that’s when our eyes met. *melts* my eyes met ‘Sakurai Sho’s! THE Sakurai Sho! Then he went towards the mid stage and show his belly that has a note ‘none’ written on it. *I think it happened around here* When Nino came he look at the other side as he passed us by but his figure from the back was small and cute. Aiba Masaki passed by us waving and showing off his bright smile. We waved our uchiwas with birthday messages to him eagerly. Well he’s the birthday boy after all everyone wanted to celebrate him. Hatenai Sora collab with teamLab was great too. Nino’s solo part was beautiful everything came together perfectly. Its a bummer I didn’t had enough time to visit teamLab myself.

After that the stage turned dark. A soft light focused on Sho as he started to walk. There was complete silence. Sho took of his jacket leaving a white shirt on. Mann that itself made my heart race. He began to play the piano. Now I’m more of a guitar kinda person but Sho did a splendid job! It was graceful enough to make me fall for it. The screen showed a pic of chibi Sho playing the piano. He played Aozora no Pedaru. Ok that song is an old song plus it was way before I knew Arashi. I wasn’t into it until the very sec I heard Sho’s piano. He made us sing his solo part of the song. He literally stopped ask us to sing as the lyrics would be shown on the screen. I know a bit of the song and couldn’t read the kanji part but I just sang along. There was a colorful illustration of the five members together. I think this was my fav part of all. Fukatsu LOVE vtr on the screen featured Toma in it lol that was unexpected.

• MC

Time to celebrate our birthday boy! We sang happy birthday as our penlights turned to green and some blue, from afar you can see ‘happy birthday Masaki’ written. Then came the birthday cake and they squeezed together for a photo. *btw this photo is cropped but I’m somewhere in the arena on Nino’s side

For the second shot Aiba took a strawberry and put it in his mouth then he ate half and put the other half back LOL Jun told Aiba to give a speech and as Aiba was talking the members started to eat strawberries one after another. Aiba was giving his gratitude that his birthday gets even more special as he got the chance to celebrate with each one of us and the scenery that we shared that day will never be the same with others. He was saying really nice things, turned around and saw the members couldn’t stop eating. J was like ‘go on.. we’re just eating’ XD

As if the strawberries just weren’t enough, during MC Jun suddenly ate a banana. LOL there goes banaJun again! Alright now, calm down. You’re seeing Jun live and he’s eating a banana nothing out of the ordinary. *kyaaaaa* I’ve never seen someone eat a banana that cute before XD Aiba did once said the banana suits him lol They didn’t really shared any stories much like they used to maybe because we already celebrated Aiba’s birthday. They just promoted what’s new and their upcoming shows. I felt like the whole mc lasted just 5 minutes. Well time flies when you’re having fun.

*I forgot what they were talking about and when this happened but I think it was during mc too* Aiba started saying ‘Aishiteru’ then Ohno ‘Aishiteru’ followed by Nino ‘Aishiteru’. Then next was Jun everyone looked at him. He then points a finger to himself like ‘me?’ shy Jun doesn’t like doing embarrassing things.. then he goes ‘ore ga ichiban aishiteru’. Lastly Sho goes ‘I love you soooo much’ now I’m not trying to point this out on me.. but I think Sho meant that for us international fans. Unlike others who walked by us Sho didn’t really gave any fan service. He also once said he doesn’t do it like ‘directly’. But Sho always manage to make us feel special no matter where we are. 

• Second half

Jun lead an orchestra. *again I believed it happened here because I remember it happen just can’t recall when* Ohno was heading our way. Little that we knew he was looking at our uchiwa which had written love from our country. When he got nearer he noticed us and gave an ok sign with his hand. Omg! He’s the best one yet that we’ve seen so far. I mean seeing him live face to face is already one thing yet him responding to you is just a whole new level! Ohno isn’t my ichiban btw but I might consider him now lol Where’s Matsu~moto~JUN~? Tbh he’s the most difficult to see because he didn’t came to our direction much. But we did get to see him on front stage. He’s just as cute as ever like a ‘botchan’. I’ve watched Hanadan but not much of a One Love fan. But Jun manage to make the performance so beautiful that it changed my perspective of it. The last part the melody got softer and slower as the stage moved back inside was touching.

Ohno’s solo dance! Wow it was amazing! He did synchro dance with the lights thing which was really cool. Then came in Truth. You know that fire thing that’s used during the song.. is SUPER HOT! The heat from it is no joke! I mean like when the fire lit we could feel the heat on our cheeks, that’s how close we were to the stage. I wonder why nobody has never brought this matter up.

My first live A•RA•SHI! It felt so good to actually participate a Day in Our Life call and response. Arashi went to the mid stage which was far from us so what happens there we only get to see on the screen that is if they show us. Then a bunch of juniors in Arashi's old concert outfits came dancing in front of us. There’s this one junior who wore Aiba’s The Digitalian outfit looked exactly like Aiba I swear even up to his hairstyle. It was kinda awkward because I don’t know them but they kept dancing and smiling. Everyone was looking away like to Arashi’s direction or the screen. Now usually on DVDs every scene you’d see Arashi but in real life is way different. When Arashi is far from your seat, you’d start to wonder where to look. Its either you watch them far away so tini tiny or look at the screen. I got confused every single time XD Danced along to Hadashi no mirai and sakura sake. It was all fun until Monster came along. FIRE! Lol it really was hot!

During Troublemaker Nino and Aiba did the UB dance while giggling. *so cute* although I could only watch it on the screen because they were far away. There’s also this 360 cam like the one they used for Sugar/untitled during GUTS! They fooled around a lot here lol

• 5 is my treasure number

The five of them changed into pink shade tuxs. *deep breaths* the time has come for Aisatsu. Sho brought up about his childhood up to now and everyone who’ve followed them all the way until now, those who had left also those who are new, and maybe ‘first time attending their concert today’ ‘thanks for coming we’ve been waiting for you’ and that no matter when he’s very thankful. I’m amazed at how he always know just the right things to say. His words really meant a lot to me.

Nino said Arashi could held concerts because of the fans and for that he’s very thankful. They’ve held so much shows frequently at Tokyo Dome as if they’ve become as like baseball players. Next year they’ll have concerts in Kokuritsu and Beijing. *screams* maybe those are Beijing people said Nino. Don’t worry we’ll be there soon.

Aiba said our lit up penlights are very pretty but our smiles are way prettier.  Shara-shara-pon✨ *everyone couldn’t held in their kyaaas Ok because of that I don’t quite remember the rest lol. 

Ohno said along this tour he turned 39yo. ‘Tbh its tiring’. He got to exercise along 50 shows. They held concerts because of fans wanting to come and if fans didn’t want to come he’d become slightly fat by now lol

Now this is far the softest Jun I’ve ever seen. He expresses gratitude and the love for Arashi that it almost made me cry. It seems like the end but its also a new beginning. Arashi still has a long way to go and hopes that fans will go along with them.

Jun’s ‘jaa saigou no kyoku desu. Kiitekudasai. 5x20’ Listening to 5x20 alone is already full of mix emotions yet watching it live.. sadly the stage light almost blinded me and it was kinda direct I could barely see Arashi. I could only see Aiba at the corner facing towards us. That was kinda a bummer because I was really looking forward to that the most but its alright. At the end Aiba had this soft smile on his face with the spotlight shining from his back waving towards us. Like an angel literally with the light shining from his back lol

• Encore

ARASHI! ARASHI! ARASHI! everyone chanted. Encore started. Ohmiya came and  Nino turned and came towards us while Ohno went straight. Nino made a peace sign and smiled that made everyone kyaaa. Then he made a ‘proud  that everyone kyaaa’ face. Ohno came took Nino’s hand like ‘what are you doing? we’re suppose to go the other way’. I ship Ohmiya and glad to see them fooling around myself.

I love PIKA★NCHI DOUBLE seeing it live makes me love it even more. I unconsciously sang along to all the songs here. Tbh I’m already tired of Love so sweet but when you get to experience it live, its has a different vibe than what you usually see. I quite enjoyed the yeah yeah yeah~ part actually lol

So Sho came near us and Jun was also close. I didn’t really get the chance to see Jun yet but Sho was nearer and I got confused who to look at. I looked at Sho because I thought Jun would also go towards Sho but then Jun went the other way and I lost my chance to see him. 

Sho then Aiba and Ohno followed by Nino came near us. Finally Jun! Omg I’ve been waiting to see Jun. He’s so adorkable!! At the end of Happiness Arashi gathered in front of where we were and made that wave hand gesture thing.

Then Jun introduced the juniors *which I forgot their names sorry* Sho fooled around with them and kicked one of the juniors lol Lastly Arashi held hands and Jun said ‘what’s our name? se-no-‘ ARASHI〜 the streamers came flying in and everyone started to grab as much as they can. Now I understand why in Are you Happy DVD Ohno was like ‘you want the streamers is fine but look here hey look here we’re gonna be gone soon’ LOL for a second there I also forgot about Arashi and focused on getting the streamers too

Unfortunately, time to say goodbye. Arashi waved and slowly went backwards to exit the stage. Sho did the Disco star pose again. Sho really does love Disco star very much lol Lastly our dear Jun fading away and he made 20 sign with his hands and that was the end.

• FIN

I really had the time of my life and regret nothing. I hope to meet them again someday.

Moral of the story, no matter where you are or where you come from or when you started to follow, Arashi will always be there waiting to welcome us. I’ve heard stories of people waiting even longer than me to get the chance to meet Arashi. Have hope and with effort you too will get your chance to experience it yourself. Don’t give up. Arashi still has a long way to go and so do we. Have faith in them.