Gods Rising in the Land of the Rising Sun

The boy group who has taken my heart, Tohoshinki, held their first solo concert at the Tokyo Dome last July 4 and 5. Of course as one of their fangirls, I did not want to miss updates of this dream-come-true concert of theirs. I mean, heck, they wanted this since their debut! So it's about four years in the making.

I was not able to witness how these guys grew throughout the years but I was able to catch up with the fandom. (Thanks to the Cassies who are constantly uploading videos in YouTube even if they were suspended for the nth time. I want to say, "Hwaiting!" to them.) Having seen how they went through the hardships of being foreigners & the difficulties of building a name in Japan by starting all over again, I felt the same happiness that the boys are indulging now.

It was amazing how Tohoskinky's (that's what I call them) 4th Live Tour: The Secret Code was able to draw 100,000 people in just two days and the tickets were sold within thirty minutes! How historical is that?!? This just proved how this group's star power quality stirred the Japanese. Out of a total of 21 concerts around nine cities in Japan, it's just a shame I never got to attend any of them. (As if I'm living in Japan. LOL)

My dolphinee Xiah, my mickey Micky, my visual shock Hero, my food thief Max and my charismatic U-Know, fired up the concert with "Secret Game'' and continued with smash hits like "Doushitte Kimi No Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou,'' "Purple Line" and "Mirotic.'' They sang about 32 songs in each of these three-hour and 20-minute two-day shows. The Tokyo Dome concert is so special that the members also presented separate solo performances, from Changmin's "Wild Soul", to a very very special duet made by my favorite pair, the BFF pair, Jaejoongie & Yoochunnie― "Colors-- Melody and Harmony''. Ahhh~! *heaven* I felt my heart melt when Hero & Micky sang their number with eyes locked on each other with smiling eyes & charming grins. They really made wonderful melody & harmony in that song. (Ok enough of my fangirling.)

"It still feels very real to us, all these concert series. Especially the finale at Tokyo Dome, we still can feel the after effect of it. We are really touched as we had been already talking about having performances at Tokyo Dome among members ever since we first advanced to Japan. Thus to achieve that goal, we worked hard… and now, to stand on stage thinking of the 50,000 audiences who were singing and breathing with us, I felt really happy as we united our heart as one.” These are one of the reasons why I love these guys. Their words just bothers me a lot but in a good way.

The boys also went in for a surprise when the "Red Ocean"...

turned into blue!

How sweet.

Popular Japanese newspapers wrote articles about the concert, stating that the ``Korean group is in the middle of the Japanese music industry'' and that Tohoshinki hit the ``triple 300,000,'' which includes selling more than 300,000 copies of their single (Stand By You), 300,000 copies of their official album (The Secret Code) and finally drawing more than 300,000 fans to their concerts.

The cover of their single, Stand By You:

The single that placed No. 2 in the Oricon single's chart before beating Arashi.
They went up to number 1! Weee~!

This concludes the battle between my Korean lover Jae & my Japanese lover Jun. I really have to choose one. Now I can truly say that I give my heart fully to Hero Youngwoong Kim Jaejoong, the androgynous Korean dork who speaks Japanese and only plays badminton for a sport. How lame is that?

Posing backstage after the two-day concert,

thanking audiences who came with a smile. Yeah! Congrats boys! I am still waiting for that after party. Eh~??

But the blessings never stopped raining for Tohoshinki as they had their first commercial inside the Japanese market. They collaborated with actress Aya Ueto (in one of my favorite movies Azumi) which created a humorous theme for Oronamin C's ad. It's one of the famous carbonated drink in there where popular stars like those in the Kamen Rider series also appeared. Even I found myself laughing with only a few Japanese words to spare.

Aya Ueto & Tohoshinki for Oronamin C.
Jaejoong~! I saw you flirting with her. Awww! Go, Joongie! ~__^

With all the success they have right now, I can only hope that they will continue to keep their feet on the ground. Since it's not really their own ground. Others think that Koreans are in Japan just for the yen. Well, we cannot hide that fact but through that we can see who's in for the Tohoshinki as musicians or the Tohoshinki as idols. Personally, Tohoshinki as musicians weigh more than them appearing in shows and I bet it's what the boys prefer most. Music is my life & so are theirs. There are Japanese fans who are very loyal to their boy bands even if their idols cannot really sing an acapella as beautifully as Tohoskinky. This is what's referring to the groups more as idols.

Preparing for Tokyo Dome while getting laid back & some light conversation.

The true Tohoskinky that I love.

But whatever marketing strategy will the boys' agency use, I'll stand by them because of the beautiful music they create. I still want to hear Jaejoong's voice until I grow old. And when the five stars shine together, they can be gods painted on the great vast skies.




Source materials:

Newsen

[Yahoo! Japan News]
Translation credits: mandasoh@iscreamshinki.net
[Oricon]
Translation credits: mandasoh@iscreamshinki.net
Shared by: iscreamshinki.net

All from: http://farahshar.multiply.com/journal

Tohoshinki's pic credits: (Daang, I'm so lazy.)
As tagged; all from http://farahshar.multiply.com/photos