Thoughts on: Arashi

NEWS and KAT-TUN were the first two Johnny's Entertainment groups I got into, and although I knew of Arashi as the agency's most popular act, it took some time for me to begin listening to them in earnest. When I got around to it, I definitely liked them, but I didn't quite get how they were the current ichiban Johnny's group compared to the others. I thought KAT-TUN had the most unique sound, what with their rock influence and irreverence a la Tanaka make-u-wet Koki, and when Kis-my-ft2 debuted, I was spellbound by their skating routines and gorgeous lives. Arashi was in my Johnny's top five, but still I didn't quite get them hype-wise until I started digging into their TV shows and members and began to fall more and more in love.

Ask your average Arashi fan why they love Arashi, and the answer is usually "because they love each other." And I don't just mean the member-ai kind of love fangirls thrive on, but a deep kind of love where they are attached to the group they are in and all want to be a part of it. Ohno's leadership of the group has always been about letting the members do what makes them happy, which includes encouraging them to pursue acting opportunities and allowing their unique personalities to shine through so there is no specific group "center," but evenly divided love for all the members among their fandom. They all have several side projects going on at once, and normally there would be concerns about a member dropping out to go solo or to solely pursue acting, but one thing is clear about Arashi: they realize that they need their other members to be Arashi, and they want to continue to be Arashi. The group with a single member missing would cease to be Arashi, because Arashi is more than a group: it's a bond formed by Ohno, Nino, MatsuJun, Aiba, and Sakurari over their years of working together. You can see it in their TV appearances and in VS Arashi and their interviews. They are a true team, and the fans can see that in everything they do, and love them for it.

Now that I know Arashi better, I like to think of them as a necessary presence to Japan's music industry. I earnestly believe they have something no other group has, something that fans in Japan love and need in their music. Groups like AKB48 and Morning Musume are beloved, but they are still transitory-- members come and go, and their stay in the group is always meant to be temporary. That works for them, but for Arashi, it's just as much about their bond as it is about their music. Staying together, supporting each other, and growing together through music: that's what Arashi is about. You could argue that a group should focus only on the kind of the music they release and that everything else distracts from the art, but I disagree. Witnessing Arashi's bond has only increased my appreciation for how their sound has matured over the years, and even though I'm still a bigger fan of KAT-TUN than any other Johnny's group, I can understand now why Arashi holds Japan's hearts and are treasured by their fans (and each other!)