ARASHINKI

Aah, I'm gonna spaz a bit about my two obsessions; Arashi and Dong Bang Shin Ki, hereafter to be known as Arashinki.

As mentioned before in a couple of posts, JaeChunSu are currently in the midst of a legal battle with their (former?) company, SM Entertainment (SME). The dispute is over their slave contract and also on the amount of remuneration they received even after achieving so many successes not only in Korea but also all over Asia. Can you imagine working for 13 (THIRTEEN!!) years, not counting their military service period and for 355 days a year? And what do you get in return? A measly 1% of album sales which by the way you have to split with other members and that's only IF your album sold MORE than 300,000 copies. Does that even makes sense? I'm glad that they are taking a stand for thmeselves but sometimes cannot help wondering why HoMin aren't on board. On the 21st November, me and Ayang practically screamed our throats out when JaeChunSu appeared on stage during Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA).

Although we could only understand some of their speech, both of us couldn't stop our tears, especially towards the end when Jae mentioned leader and maknae (our two friends.. *sob*). The appearance is not only to accept the Best Representative of Asia Award, but also as a stand against SME as the corporation has previously declared that they are boycotting the event, resulting in the absence of most of the prominent artists in the KPop scene (SNSD, SuJu, SHINee and f(x)). The boys definitely looked tired and sad but also IMO a little beaten by the strain. As they were making their exit, you can hear the crowd chant Mideoyo (We believe you, also one of the boys' earlier songs, and one of my favorites). All I can say is, Always Keep The Faith.

Also mentioned a gazillion times before, 2009 marks the 10th year of Arashi in the entertainment industry. They have charted the top four best singles sold for 2009 with the release of their latest single, My Girl. I love the PV by the way. All five of them as brothers!! Kawaii!! But in the end, where is Goro's (Jun's) room? Is he sharing with Sho? Kyaa!! Sakumoto forever!! But, I'm not really crazy over Jun's hair. My fave is still Domyouji and Bambi's.. Vito's is also nice. Sawada's too.. *dreams of Jun for a while*

Aaand this year Arashi is invited to NHK's "Red White Kohaku"!! Yattaaa!! The best part is, Tohoshinki (a.k.a TVXQ a.k.a Dong Bang Sin Ki) is also invited!! And they're gonna be on the same team!! Fandom collide!! I like!! *catches breath* This is Tohoshinki's second year joining the prestigious event and Arashi's first. Kouhaku is not the only event that Arashinki will appear together. Both group will be participating in Fuji TV's "FNS Music Award" on 2nd December.

Left:Arashi (top) and Tohoshinki (second from the bottom) listed for White Team in Kouhaku

Right: Tohoshinki is the large name in the middle and Arashi is the third name on the left for FNS

The group's first appearance together since their last concert in Osaka on the 30th August (Jun's birthday!!) will be on the 26th of November on Nihon TV's "Best Hit Music Award 2009". Something all the Cassiopeians are waiting for with bated breath. Although JaeChunSu is no longer under SME, the group Tohoshinki is still managed by their Japanese company, Avex which explains why their Japanese activities are still going on even in the midst of the lawsuit. In fact, there's already talk of Tohoshinki releasing their next single around New Year 2010 titled "Break Out". Can't wait.. But as Kak Maya pointed out, it's high time we hear some Korean music from the boys.. Not that that seems likely in the near future. Going back to Arashinki, I'm SOOO gonna look for their performances. Here's hoping that there will be some actual interaction between the two group compared to the ones in Music Station when Jun laughed his head off when Junsu made the oyaji gag. But just seeing Jun and Junsu together in one frame is enough to make me feel all happy inside. The joys of being a fangirl... Arashinki FIGHTO!!

P/s-I noticed there's a lot of exclamation marks in this post. Not exactly weird because I LOVE ARASHINKI!! Haha.. OK, that was the last one, I promise. And I think some of the facts (especially about the lawsuit) might be incorrect because I'm just too lazy to check and is typing off of memory.

Sidenote-Huda's birthday is tomorrow, so just an early birthday wish to her. May all her hopes and dreams come true and may all the happiness be with her always. God bless her. Happy birthday!!

Till next post, jaa ne..