Zero Monday Arashi

In a past episode of Aiba's radio program, a listener asked about bathing, "Aiba-chan really likes taking baths right? Do you have ways to make baths even more fun?" 

Aiba-chan says that he doesn't add bath salts or anything, but sometimes he would dive into his bathtub. He would soak and brush his teeth at the same time, and then dive and play around for about 20 minutes. This is probably a habit from he was young when he would try and see how long he can hold his breath under water. 

The December issue of MORE featured an interview on '15 years of Arashi'. The members talked about their best moments as a group as well as individuals. 

When asked, "In these 15 years, have you seen any changes in your members after being together all the time?"

Sho-kun said, "Aiba used to be a crybaby but nowadays I don't see him cry so much." 

Aiba replied, "I try not to cry in front of people. Actually recently I have started crying in public again..." To which Ohno-kun added, "But you keep crying at unexpected times...like when you lost the Babanuki game (on Bet de Arashi) and cried. I was shocked." 

Aiba-chan explained, "It just welled up." Nino mocked him, "Because of that? That's scary!" At this point, MatsuJun said, "Sho-kun's 'gap' becomes wider each year. Like how he would be a newscaster and MC for large events, but still be dancing and singing at the same time. He's flexible like that. However, if you watch VS Arashi you'll notice that his body is getting less flexible each year. " Sho-kun laughed, "Yeah, I'm becoming a piece of junk." At which pointed Nino added, "I see him stretching in the dressing room all the time."  Ohno-kun then talked about MatsuJun, "MatsuJun's looks changed. He's shining now as much as ever, but when he was 19 or 20, he was very sharp. Now it feels like he's settled down. Like hes found himself. That's why he's shining now." Lastly, the members talked about Nino. Aiba said, "My relationship with Nino hasn't changed at all, so it's hard to say."  The interview commented, "Nino has the image of always smirking on the sidelines by himself, but recently it seems like he has become more straightforward." Upon hearing that, all the members burst out laughing, and Sho-kun commented, "He's quite a rebellious one."  Nino said, "We're that kind of group, " to which Sho-kun added, "The four of us would give him all the overwhelming reassurance he needs." 

"Arashi is a kind group," Nino said.  Sho-kun added, "Nino has always been doted on by his senpai, but nowadays he is also getting better at taking care of his juniors." 

Ohno Satoshi's drama "Shinigami-kun" DVD and Blu-ray released on November 5 both ranked on Oricon Chart for the week of November 17. The DVD came in at 2nd place on the Weekly DVD Ranking and the Blu-ray came in at 3rd place. Furthermore, both versions topped their respective weekly chart for the Drama category. 

The 11/20 issue of Josei Seven talked about the relationship between TOKIO and Arashi. On Nov 2, all five Arashi members attended TOKIO's 20th Anniversary concert to support their senpai. In private, MatsuJun and Taiichi-kun are Futsal buddies, while Aiba and Gussan went surfing together and are drinking buddies. Meanwhile, many Arashi members look up to their favorite 'Matsunii' (Matsuoka). 

In a recent interview, leader Ohno revealed, "The first time I went on stage was at TOKIO's first Budokan live. I even slipped and fell during one song." TOKIO has been Arashi's 'big brother' figure for as long as they have been in Johnny's. 

It is well known among Johnny's fans that they have a strict senpai-kouhai relationship, and the senpai will often give the juniors their old clothes in boxes and treat them to meals, etc. They also often receive outfits from their Senpai. When Arashi first debut, they inherited many of TOKIO's costumes. For example Nino would often get Joshima's clothes, and they will often have fringe. MatsuJun used to get Nagase's costume, so he had a lot of shorts. 

Sometimes they even keep their senpai's style. An industry insider revealed, "Sakurai-kun got Yamaguchi-kun's costumes, so he never had sleeves. Because of Yamaguchi-kun's style, Sakurai still keeps his sleeveless style till today. Also, because they were similar in built, Ohno would often get Kokubun-kun's clothes."

In summary, the clothes passing go like this: 

Kokubun - Ohno

Joshima - Nino

Gussan - Sakurai

Nagase - MatsuJun

On Nov 9's broadcast of "Tokyo Live 22", Aiba talked about what he did on Arashi's 15th Anniversary. According to him, he spent Nov 3rd drinking alone with MatsuJun for the first time. The two idols went out together after going to TOKIO's 20th Anniversary concert at the Budokan. "I think this is the first time in 15th years, for us to go drinking alone." He added excitedly, "It was just the two of us, bunched up at a small table. We made a space just for the two of us and talked. And then the tears just won't stop! Isn't it scary?! I don't even really remember what we talked about". 

Ohno-kun talked about recording his solo song "Imaging Crazy" in Arashi's new album THE DIGITALIAN on his radio show recently. According to him, recording the song was really a lot of work because he sang everything in the song. 

If you look closely at the lyric booklet, it does say "All Chorus Work by Satoshi Ohno". 

Usually when recording songs, Arashi would sing the melody and or parts. Sometimes they would harmonize one another, other times there would be other professional harmonizers. However, for this song Ohno sang every single part. 

"So there is't the main melody. And there are about two lines of harmony above and two below. And then there are some that are slight variations of the melody line. It was endless recording." It seems like he even did all of the complicated choral parts for his chorus all by himself. 

In the latest issue of magazine 'TV Pia', Sho and Matsujun discussed Hawaii together. They were first asked about the upcoming broadcast on their 'free time' in Hawaii. 

Sho-kun said, "I was happy that we got free time. It was like me doing whatever I wanted to do, only with a camera around. In the trailer they showed Ohno-san bawling right."

On that, MatsuJun said, "I glanced at Ohno-san and saw that he was on the verge of tears, so I said, 'Don't hold back. When you feel like crying, just cry.' I keep saying it and in the end he really cried." 

On the December issue of magazine 'with', Aiba talked about his ideal type and how he wants to spend Christmas. He said that his ideal type is "Someone who knows me well, and understands even if I don't say everything."

On the previous broadcast of Nino's radio BAYSTORM, he talked about how he's currently into Vocaloid songs, "It's amazing. It's really fun. I am a weirdo when it comes to hobbies so I don't really want to tell anyone, but it's fun. At night I'm always listening to Vocaloid. Recently I've been listening to nothing but Vocaloid."

"To be exact," he says, "I listen to people who cover Vocaloid songs. From there I search and listen to the originals. And then there was someone that I wanted to play for me on my solo song. Digitalian."

Vocaloid cover artist "Marasy" cover Vocaloid songs on his NicoNico Channel. Nino was so into his music that he had invited Marasy to join him on his solo song "Merry Christmas" for Arashi's new album THE DIGITALIAN. 

Nino explained, "I was thinking about what exactly DIGITALIAN meant, and what kind of people are 'digitalized', or immersed in a digital environment, or aim to be digital. And because he is someone that took digital and put it back into analog, I thought I'd ask him to play piano."