Coming out of the Japanese boyband closet! + [86] Arashi Candid Icons

[topazera]

Okay well, I'm actually not so much closeted as I've just had nothing substantial to post! But the last month or so I've been plunged into the world of sparkles and rainbows that is Arashi.

Now, I tried to resist this love at first. Because companies forming a boyband and marketing them to the masses = uber creepy, right? I mean, I'm not new to loving a "boyband" as I'm am a card-carrying twelve year Hanson fan, but I always had the justification of them forming by themselves and y'know, being actually a band with instruments.

AND YET there is nothing about Arashi I don't love now! There was no way I could fight this whirlpool of affection! You see in Japan, celebrity figures are not just lobbed softball interviews and chased by hellish paparazzi. In Japan, you are given your own TV show where you fail miserably in ridiculous and fun games, get peer-pressured into eating a sparrow (Dead! Cooked! It's okay!), and have your worst sartorial missteps (SWEATPANTS PRINTED TO LOOK LIKE JEANS) trotted out in front of a national audience. Basically, this is just a group of five COMPLETE DORKS who have known each other for over ten years and are pretty much family. Annndd I'm completely charmed.

SO FLIST, expect a few posts on Arashi in the future! Though I'm not exactly a prodigious poster so you will not be inundated or anything. And now, naturally ICONS.

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Table created with accio.nu's icon table(less) generator

Textures:
spookyzangel
daintybird
velvetb0x
drankmywar
eaatcupcake
gfxgurl
yunhe

With a little added icon commentary:
This icon batch started out (50 icons ago!) with a pretty tight focus for me! My favorite Arashi pictures are the ones that are self-documentary or at least look like candid photos if you happened to be friends with a really good photographer. Also, I wanted them to be vaguely '70s in color? Of course, since I'm me, the batch got out of control and departed from those ideas but I'm still pretty happy with the results.

Textless icons are not bases.
Credit topazera please!
Comments are held and cuddled and fawned over.
Enjoy! ♥

Comments

[aliaspiral.livejournal.com]

.....I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I dont even know what im taking, but im TAKING THEM.

and Arashi is pure love, no matter what! they're crazy and weird and around each other ALL THE TIME and they love each other and you can tell how by how much they torment each other!

Sho's fake jeans are my FAVORITE THING EVER EVER EVER. i need an icon of his fake jeans. I REALLY DO.

[topazera.livejournal.com]

♥ ♥ ♥

YAY! I finally appreciate your wonderful header! I feel like I've joined a very loving, very organized family with years and years of history to catch up on. ARASHI!

Sho's fake jeans are my FAVORITE THING EVER EVER EVER. i need an icon of his fake jeans. I REALLY DO.
HAHAHA, I think Sho's fake jeans contributed substantially to my falling in love with Arashi! Also, you're totally psychic because the Arashi icons I already have for my next batch are 1) Ohno eating the sparrow and 2) Sho's fake jeans! Your wish is my command! :D

[chudelya.livejournal.com]

akjskjskfhknwgl;.'a.

they are all so cute! thank you so much for the icons. Arashi is really the best boyband, I mean they can REALLY make you laugh and love them. Forget the awkward dance steps and blinding/out-of-this-world wardrobes and just love them.

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you so much for your sweet comment! I agree, there's just something special about Arashi! From the outside the amazingly dorky dancing and rainbows and shiny pants may seem odd, but it's just so damn endearing when you know these guys. Arashi is definitely eating into my drama-time, they're so addictive.

♥ ♥ ♥

[novemberbaby.livejournal.com]

Arashi <3 I am so happy I was sucked into this fandom. They never fail to make me laugh and they've got the best ideas for games. Seriously. Popping boobies? Pretending to be babies? All so good. <333

I love the icons! Will be saving some for future use! Thank you!

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Arashi seriously is unique in my fandomy life! There have been so many moments in the last month where I've said "OMG I can't believe they're doing this!" I'm so happy that there's seemingly endless TV shows where Arashi does ridiculous stuff on camera. ARASHI! ♥

You're welcome! Thanks so much for coming to comment! :D

[mojotastic.livejournal.com]

Your icons make my life a better place, true story. There are literally SO MANY that I love that I can't even remember all the ones that I thought were awesome. LOVEEE the Arashi= Joy one because OMG so true. Also the Jun-baited one was amazing. BUUUUTTTT I think my favorite has to be the Sho-EM-Gee. SO GREAT.

You are my hero. I'm snagging a bunch of these!

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Awwww, thank you! You know I haven't even really thought of posting these to comms yet, I've just been so excited at the idea of the people like you on my flist seeing them.

I thinking of just slapping that ARASHI = JOY over every Arashi picture I love because that's seriously my overriding thought whenever I see their dumb faces. ♥!

SHO EM GEE! That's totally one of my favorites. I want Sho to express all my shock/surprise for me, he does it so well. SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Thanks so much for the great comment, it really made me smile tonight. :)

(P.S.- I hope you don't mind that I posted the discussion for the Nodame special but I had a graphic for it. Because that's what I do~ *g*)

[nicefinalbeam.livejournal.com]

48 OMG I WANT IT!!!

:D :D

Thank youuuu. These are fantastic.

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Yesss. Awesome, I love that one in particular! SHO WATCH OUT! THE ANGRY EYEBROWS ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND!

♥ ♥ ♥ Oh Arashi, you have eaten my life and I wouldn't have it any other way! Thanks for the comment dude!

[rinalin.livejournal.com]

alianora sent me!

These are AWESOME. And I'm stealing bunches.

ARASHI IS THE BOMB.

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Eeeee, I can't tell you how excited I am to be pimped out! AWESOME.

Also I'm so glad you liked the icons! I definitely spent a lot of time giggling over them myself. ;) ARASHI, YOU ARE ENDLESSLY ENTERTAINING.

Thank you! ♥

[iceycuty03.livejournal.com]

Ah..Sugoi!!!

I love them all! I'm actually 'on hunt' for this candid pictures of them. You're an angel!!!
*grabbing each of this 5 bakkakkoi*.. ^-^

*CHU*

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Awww, you're so sweet! Thank you, your comment really made me smile. If you want any of the original photos, I could definitely dig them up for you! I've been on an Arashi photo spree lately. :)

♥ ♥ ♥

[biases.livejournal.com]

Okay, taking ALL OF THESE and I just wanted to lol at the fact that Matsujun apparently spends all his time lurking behind his bandmates, READY TO POUNCE.

Aiba called it, VERY VERY DANGER!

[topazera.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to lol at the fact that Matsujun apparently spends all his time lurking behind his bandmates, READY TO POUNCE.
You know, at first I thought that was just my own bias. But I just watched a performance of "Kaze no mukou e" where Matsujun hovering behind all the other memebers was PART OF THE CHOREOGRAPHY. So now I think I was sticking to the FACTS.

Aiba called it, VERY VERY DANGER!
Hee, ain't it the truth? It's like when Sho mentioned Matsujun's rings hurt in high-fives and Aiba was all "Yeah and he only hits your hand!!" AIBA! ♥ *desperately needs to pick an Aiba icon*

Thanks so much for the comment, dude! I'm so pleased that people liked them. :)

[giddytron.livejournal.com]

i kind of - i - i can't explain. how much i love. these icons. ontd_startrek never fails to provide me with shiny lovely pretty things.

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Hee, I was only too happy to hook you up, right? ;) I'm just on such an Arashi kick that I tend to jump on people and the fact that we were on ontd_startrek only made me more excited! Seriously, that place is made of lensflares and magic. ♥

Thanks for the comment dude!

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Oh good! I knew I couldn't be the only one! My Arashi friends from before I liked Arashi laugh because it really hasn't been that long since I was saying "But Johnny's is so creepy! And there's dancing, I don't get it?" Of course now I've joined the cult and spend my time downloading old performances to see the full choreography. Welcome to fandom, goodbye free time! ;)

(...I still try to avoid the word boyband when I'm describing my own obsession to people. I mean, now I have positive associations with the word but I can't trust their assumptions. I was once like them! XD)

Thank you so much for your lovely comment, your fandom welcome and your rambling! You may have noticed that I like to ramble back in reply? ;) Also, pffft, don't worry about the proofreading! I must not read properly because I didn't even notice something was amiss.

[katmillia.livejournal.com]

WOW seriously these are AWESOME. Nothing beats Arashi icons with SNARKY THINGS ON THEM because that is like my ultimate OTP: Arashi + Snark.

snagging a ton, you rock soooo hard! <3

[katmillia.livejournal.com]

PS-

You are clever, funny, like Harry Potter, Veronica Mars, Gossip Girl and Firefly, and speak in complete sentences. Also, you know ferinrough.

WE SHOULD PROBABLY BE FRIENDS! Y/HELL Y?

[d0nkeykick.livejournal.com]

hehe! they're cute. i took some of them and will credit when using them! thanks!

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thanks for commenting and I'm happy to hear you liked them! :)

[topazera.livejournal.com]

You're welcome and thank you for commenting! ♥

[coolnat466.livejournal.com]

Lol XD XD XD I love all of themmmmmm *o*
Uwaaaa, so funny/cute XD

Thank youuuu *o*

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you!

[pamoreno.livejournal.com]

OMG! These are great! I like them a lot.:D

Thank you for sharing them. I'll be grabbing some.

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Happy to hear it! Thanks for stopping to comment! ♥

[yoshi09.livejournal.com]

Only two months, you say? I like you already. <3 ^_^
I especially like your little intro post prior to the awesomeness of your icons.

Took 52, 53, 57, 59, 74, and 77. Hope to see you around even MOOORE. *grins*

[topazera.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Aw, thanks! I've really jumped into the Arashi fandom with both feet and I felt the need to warn my flist about what's coming. ;)

And thank you so much for listing specific icons! I'm always so curious about that, especially in a batch this big.

Oh god, you will at some point! I have another little Mao/Jun drabble I just started writing AND another batch of Arashi icons. Now I have to get the resolution to finish them and post! FIGHTING. :DD

[nansuki.livejournal.com]

haha! you couldnt resist this love! taking a few...thank you~ =D

[topazera.livejournal.com]

I tried! There was no hope for me! :D

You're welcome! Thank you for the comment!

[sapah-fu.livejournal.com]

all of these are very cute! :D

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Y'know what's also very cute? Jun in glasses! Icon loooove. ♥

[ivyluvicecream.livejournal.com]

hey there..thnx for sharing it ...whoa..i just love to see those adorkrable guys there pranking each other...he..he..he..and yes, arashi had been in my life past 11 years and they never to fail me with thier cute and funny actions..trust me...they are very different than other boybands i knew..any ways, nice work =D

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Wow, 11 years! Awesome, you've been through a lot with loving these guys already! I hope we all have many years of fangirling ahead. :)

Thank you for commenting! I'm so pleased to meet people in what's totally my new obsession. ♥

[shima-sama.livejournal.com]

I LOVE THESE ICONS SO MUCH.

[topazera.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU! That's an awesome theproudpenguin icon you're rocking there. :D

[purple-pe.livejournal.com]

this is great!! love it!!
snagging a few,,,,

thx a lot!

[topazera.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! ♥

[renge-kun.livejournal.com]

I love these - I'm a fan of the candid style as well! I love that you thought about giving them a '70's feel. Nice job! Taking lots, will definitely credit!

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It felt a little... pretentious to mention the '70s thing but I really did want to do that before it got away from me! I just found a new way to do desaturation in coloring, so maybe next time. :D

I cannot get enough of the "candid" (okay, they aren't all really candid BUT STILL) Arashi photos. I say they just give these guys cameras and let them loose in all upcoming photoshoots.

Thanks again for your lovely comment, it really made me smile. The pretty Aiba also contributed. ♥

[eyeslikefirefly.livejournal.com]

Arashi's candid photos are usually amazing. I don't think I loved candid shots until them. XD;

Only 2 months in the fandom and it seems like you already have a good grasp on the Arashi!crack. Well done.

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Hee, I thought I was getting tired of the MySpace-favorite of people holding the camera themselves... until Arashi. XD The candid photoshoots are always my very favorite.

Only 2 months in the fandom and it seems like you already have a good grasp on the Arashi!crack. Well done.
Thank you! That is quite a compliment! I feel like I've been in Arashi bootcamp, with the amount of fandom I've been soaking up in the last two months. I'm glad it's paying off! ;)

[mikeychan85.livejournal.com]

Haha. I am soooo with you. I never quite came out of the boy-band closet until my fateful encounter with these 5. And I just love these icons! These candid moments are what make them the lovable dorks they are. They take beautiful pictures but these candid shots bring out their personalities :) Who can resist??? Thank you so much for making and sharing them with us.

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for commenting! It's true, these guys really take so many pictures where I think "Damn, they're gorgeous" but the pictures I want to icon are always the ones where they look that total losers. In a good way. ♥

[aikyo16.livejournal.com]

they're all adorable!

i took a few.

thanks for sharing! ^^

[topazera.livejournal.com]

Thanks for commenting! :D