Arashi make me feel Breathless, Everything's Cool

All thoughts and opinions are my own and no one else's, unless otherwise stated. I am Chiima, hear me ROAR!!!

CHIMIANS, IT IS TIME... to review a male group!?

If this post gets confusing, it's because I have a headache. Apologies!!!

Venturing on Twitter (a lot more common now, mostly for the news updates aspect of it though) I saw that AimxAim of Janakya Mottainai had tweeted me, stating that she would love if it I just-so-happened to review one of Arashi's new PV's from their Double A-side single, Calling/Breathless for my blog. I of course tweeted back, and admitted that I have no reviewed Arashi in a while and that I have, in fact, been ignoring them. I'm not a boyband person though, as people may or may not know, but I guess it's still a little shocking, as I did take to them quite well when I was first introduced. Of course Aim told me not to ignore them, haha.

Anyway, per the request of Aim to basically check out the PV's, I looked at Breathless first and instantly slapped myself (mentally, though I can slap myself physically too if you want) for ignoring them. Why oh why, stupid Chii, do you ignore such an amazing group? This is what I actually questioned myself about, because yes, Arashi are amazing... and I have ignored them. Like I always seem to. Urgh!

Then again I try and pay attention to an abundance of Idol groups, and yes my main focus is on the female groups more than anything, so of course poor Arashi get ignored! Again I do question why I ignore them, because Arashi are a great group; sexy men, a never-ageing Ohno, Sho's shoulders, Nino's... well, just Nino, MatsuJun... and all the terrible costumes you could ask for! Okay, not all terrible, but some of them are laughable you have to admit... but also amazing songs and really cool video's that just make me think wow! And when I watched Breathless, I knew that I had, yet again been missing out on some Arashi goodness and the wonderful amount of charisma they all have together as a group.

Seriously, their charisma is unbeatable guys.

Now before I get into this review, I do want to point out why I am reviewing Breathless and not Calling; I have a headache, and I still have yet to watch Calling, but from the snippets I have seen of it, it just makes me headache that little bit worse because there is a lot more in terms of colour and flashing. Breathless, one the other hand, is darker and a lot more tolerable. Thank goodness, too, or my head might explode!

Anyway, when I started this PV I didn't really expect it to give me any sort of impact. I've been out of touch with Arashi for a while (try a long time) so I thought that it would be okay at best. But this is Arashi, and Arashi do not do okay at best. Arashi generally kick ass.

And yes, they kicked ass here and pretty much blew me away. The first thing that actually came to my mind when I sat watching this was 'Oh my god, their CHARISMA!!!' as my mouth hung open during the entirety of the video.

"If there is a God, please spare me a moment of yours to show Chiima the light of Arashi, and bring her into our following..." said Nino "Also... I want knockers thiiiiiis big!"

I also could not help but note how much more mature this video felt and looked as I watched it; Arashi seem to just ooze manliness here, something which I don't really notice in the other few video's I have seen by them, but here it was just so apparent how mature they seemed, and how much more attractive they looked in this darker, more manly video. I have no idea if it's to do with the lighting, their hairstyles or how they are dressed, but watching Breathless I just felt this giant mass of manly testosterone (what the hell am I saying?) and sexiness fill this video. Is it just me?

Either way, they kind of killed me with this overload of absolute manliness and maturity that was in this video. It was actually pretty damn wonderful, and something I very rarely experience in a video, but that's because I rarely venture into the land of Male Idols and singers (unless Aim asks me too, I swear I am weak against that girl).

And here we have an accurate interpretation of Chiima and her headache in the form of Arashi.

MatsuJun takes any chance he can to try and rip his clothes off for his adoring fans...

There are also a lot of wonderful panning shots in this video; quick, smooth and cut perfect to the beat, these shots are probably my favourite type of shots in the entire video. Each panning shot that cut smoothly as it spun around a member just got me excited for some reason, and just kept me watching the video and gaping like a goon at how glorious it seemed to be. Now I don't think that these sorts of beautiful pans are anything new to Arashi PV's, because they aren't, but when I saw the pan shots here I just felt so excited and happy when they happened. They made the PV a lot better for me, and just added to the precision and beauty of the whole video and just made it look a lot cooler.

 

This video actually doesn't have much going on in it, which is probably why I find the numerous pan shots so wonderful to look at (though admittedly I am a sucker for quirky camera work), but the little that it does have in it, aside from the mandatory close-up and dance shots, are extremely well done and just add to the entire video and makes it that much more interesting to watch. The simplest things in this video, such as the added shots of the members running their hands across their faces (not in a sexy way, sadly, more... pained, frustrated) or even screaming just add to the darkness of this video and make it a lot cooler for me as a viewer. In fact, I was surprised to see those shots but enjoyed them greatly; I thought that they were a nice element and thought that they even added a bit of mystery to the video.

See? Simple shots like this make the video a lot more interesting, though this one is pretty funny, and cooler for me. Scream Ohno, scream!

And of course there is the song; let's not forget about the song. Breathless is just incredible and I loved it. I really loved the instrumental and how wonderful Arashi sounded as a whole, especially Ohno and Nino's big solo moment towards the end where he just became someone totally new and cool in my eyes. It was wonderful, and left me (cheesily enough) breathless. Nino sounded and looked wonderful that very moment, and he really stunned me. Then again so did Ohno, but Ohno never fails to stun me.

It's a good song, one that I would definitely loop if I was really in the mood for some Arashi. The song isn't too heavy, it sounds great and extremely cool in my opinion (I throw cool around a lot here, damn!) and it's a lot more mature than I expected it to be. It actually surprised me, but I do enjoy it, and I am extremely glad that Aim asked me if I could review either one of the PV's for Calling or Breathless, because it made me want to watch them and give Arashi another chance. So yeah... thanks Aim.

I like to run my hands down my face, OH SO SEXY!

So rounding everything up, yes I like this video; I like the dark edge it has, the sharpness of not just the scenes but also the dance choreography, and the wonderful amount of charisma Arashi has here. I also love the mature feel that this video has and how fun it is to watch despite how little there is in terms of scenes. If anything, this is more of a dance video as Aim said on her twitter feed, but I think that is what makes the video so great; it shows off the group chemistry and just how cool and mature Arashi has become in terms of how they look and stylise themselves, and needless to say, I also love the song.

"Hey God, where the hell are my giant boobs?"

There are also so many beautiful panning shots in this video that just kept me hooked, and not just on individual members, either; there are some amazing panning shots during the dance sequence where the camera goes either up or down during the dance scenes from the building which just add to the coolness of this amazing PV and make me like it more as a viewer. I also love the costumes and the dance too and all the additional scenes where the Arashi members look completely frustrated and at a loss, but the one thing that truly won me over in this video is definitely those panning shots.

I have a camera shot fetish, people!

Breathless as both a song and a PV go well together. I enjoy listening to the song, and watching the video makes me excited and reminds me of why I should love Arashi and dedicate myself to them. Will I? Currently, I have no idea, but I do want to try and put more focus on the group and watch their video's whenever they release them, because whatever they do these guys seem to impress me and make me feel excited for their releases. They are a wonderful group and amazing performers, with charisma that exceeds many other groups that I love, and just keep getting better and better the more they mature.

Breathless is awesome, and it shows me what I am missing out in when it comes to Idols; a group that is charismatic, cool, mature and great performers who make me feel like I am watching something amazing and wonderful. They are an awesome group, and really, I should keep on following them. Maybe Aim needs to continuously remind me to do so every time they have a release? That way I will somewhat have to keep up to date with these guys.

And on a final note; After finishing watching the video for Breathless, I couldn't help but think 'Wow, Arashi truly have become a storm...' and then laughed at myself for thinking of something so corny, but also oh so true.

... I guess.

Chiima~

PING!!! Idolminded Recommended Reading: March 3rd, 2013