Mago Mago Rowing Club – The Arashi Story
Jun. 19th, 2012 06:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
barbosa2007THIS has got to be Japanese reality TV at its best.
For some strange reason, I’ve never watched the Mago Mago Rowing Club (MMA Rowing Club) saga from start to finish, but now that I have, I felt it was truly a representation of Arashi’s growing years.
Synopsis: Due to an unlikely proposal from Ohno, the members of Arashi were thrust into a 100 day rowing club experience which allowed viewers a glimpse into the dynamics that created the super idol group we have today.
Ironically, this whole affair began with Ohno’s idea.
Ohno’s natural affinity with the elderly probably influenced him to take the decisive step of roping the other members into the boating experience. Sho, although shocked at first, stood with him on the idea, and the Fuji TV staff offered the Kaze members expensive bribes in the form of marbled beef and novelty fruits. Nino, however, was only offered milk buns since he could hardly bring himself to feast on anything expensive.
Thus began the days of the MMA Rowing Club.
As the members took turns to take to the water, Hikaru’s assessment of each Arashi boater strangely reflected their personalities. Nino, said Hikaru-san, was someone who could see the greater picture while rowing. Sho was able to match his rowing rhythm with that of the others, which was a reflection of his considerate nature. Aiba had the greatest horsepower, which probably stemmed from his enthusiastic nature and sporty persona.
Ohno, on the other hand, had a rowing form which was too unique to himself, but he was quick on the uptake. Jun was given the cryptic evaluation of having “a good attitude”, which must have worried him since the other members were praised in terms of their technical abilities, while he alone seemed to be praised for attitude. Little did he know that it was because he WAS the most serious member in the bunch, which was why he was given this evaluation.
Since only 5 people could ride the boat at any one time, Ohno was the first member to be left on the bench due to his unique rowing style. While Hikaru-san asserted that it was because Ohno’s rowing style might end up injuring himself, to Ohno, it must have been reminiscent of his debut days when he felt the pressure of being left behind the other members in the popularity race.
Other trials soon awaited the rowing club. Initially, Aiba was chosen to be the bench warmer as he was, ironically, the best rower and the rest simply couldn’t keep up with him. Aiba’s impatient nature also prevented him from matching the pace of the rest while they were on the boat, and as a result, the boat slowed down as a whole. Not realizing this, Aiba voiced his intention to quit as he feared that he was holding the group back. Sho, realizing Aiba’s fears and discontent, went to talk to him privately in an attempt to bring the team together.
Ohno’s ongoing stage play caused him to miss multiple practices, and in the meantime, the group’s communication with Hikaru-san had worsened due to differences in their perspective towards training. Jun was the first person to be the voice of dissent, although the others might have shared in his opinion despite their relative silence. Concerned with this aspect, Ohno calls the group after their practice to check if things are okay. He also goes down to the boating arena for individual training after his performance was over. Little did the members know that Ohno had been attending individual practice, in between the breaks of his stage play, and had kept it a secret for fear for worrying the other members.
So, when the man in question arrived at the boating arena expecting to find only Hikaru-san and the staff, he was genuinely shocked to see the other Arashi members waiting to train together with him. My personal view is that Ohno must have felt a huge sense of responsibility as he precipitated the formation of the rowing club and dragged the other members into this. As the other members gradually got behind him and rallied around the idea, Ohno was genuinely moved. I’m truly convinced from this series that Ohno really is the leader of this group. He may seem like he’s just the front man at times, but as he watches over the rest silently and tries to care for them the best he can,
Balance is key. The same principle holds true in boating, and in surviving as a group in the entertainment industry.
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Date: 2012-06-18 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-18 10:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-18 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-18 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-18 11:22 pm (UTC)But this really is a must see for many fans. MMA is truly a golden show.
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Date: 2012-06-18 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-18 11:11 pm (UTC)i could feel how they went from thinking this was all fun and games to taking it seriously, as if their own dreams depended on fulfilling hikaru-sans dream as well. i was impressed with how much they practiced even when sho was on honey and clover set, or as you said, when ohno would practice in between shows and rehearsals for his play. it was sweet how happy they all were when jun finally showed up after hyd filming.
they might not be perfect all the time, but they always find the balance that is necessary for them specifically to work great as a group~
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Date: 2012-06-18 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 12:17 am (UTC)Thank you for sharing your insights.
bec
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Date: 2012-06-19 01:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 12:27 am (UTC)The impression of Arashi being in conflict I think ones from the dramatization of Aiba wanting to quit and Jun-kun voicing his opinions in that hard and straight way of his. Even in the recent recap of stuff they did in I think was 5 nen no Arashi or something to that effect, there was tht clip of Aiba saying he wanted to quit which was out of context cause it was actually because he though he was holding everyone back. I'm surprised he didn't say it though.. He might have forgotten..
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Date: 2012-06-19 02:37 am (UTC)The boys have a sort of charm that endear them to their fans. It's very hard to qualify what it is.
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Date: 2012-06-19 12:45 am (UTC)(more like I never heard about this, I don't think). I met the boys as they are today, so I figured they always had a bond, albeit it wasn't as strong in the past as it is today. But to read this and realize that this is what made them so close . . . it's making me tear up. :']♥no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 12:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 02:15 am (UTC)And yes, what you said makes sense. It's easy to assume that the chemistry between the 5 of them came about naturally. Jun used to take himself too seriously back in the day, I think Ohno and Aiba's presence in the group helped him develop a sense of self deprecating humor.
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Date: 2012-06-19 02:27 am (UTC)Jun taking himself too seriously was a phase, though, right? That phase didn't occur until right before, during, or after Gokusen, right? At least that's what I thought. When he was younger, he wanted to be the comedy leader or something like that. But Oh-chan and Aiba-chan "making" Jun lighten up sounds right. :D
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Date: 2012-06-19 02:35 am (UTC)Here's the first part on Tudou:
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/aKPnrDd9HEQ/
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Date: 2012-06-19 08:07 am (UTC)And thank you! :3
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Date: 2012-06-19 02:15 am (UTC)It seems so interesting and now I want to see it so much!
thank you for your synopsis.
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Date: 2012-06-19 02:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 02:46 am (UTC)Like you said, it's hardly pretentious. Especially when a grandpa is asking you to harvest strawberries or feed his cows. It's hard to act like a diva. XD
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Date: 2012-06-19 04:31 am (UTC)This is where I also saw their Working relationship. In a sense, we could feel the tension, frustration and anger of each memeber. All five of them went through each of this emotion. But I have to be honest, my favorite parts involved Ohno. I know that each of them did their best and practiced even at their own personal time. It was, however, his antics and the way he did it that actually broke some of the tension. I would really love to watch something wherein the five of them could work like this again.
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Date: 2012-06-19 01:12 pm (UTC)I would like them to work on something similar again too, but I guess that's not very possible now due to their overwhelming popularity and age.
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Date: 2012-06-19 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 04:37 am (UTC)Despite my friend who work for entertainment industry tried to tell me that it must be already scripted to make it more interesting. Well, who knows? LOL
My favorite part in this series is when they go to training camp together :3 it's so fun and in the end Jun finally showed up is kinda make me relief haha
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Date: 2012-06-19 01:15 pm (UTC)Gotta LOL at Jun and Ohno's reunion scene during the training camp.
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Date: 2012-06-19 05:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 08:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 01:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 10:07 am (UTC)No one can be a better leader than Ohno to be the leader of Arashi, whats that i really felt when i watched it :)
Especially the ep where they all waited for Ohno to come after his butai and they trained together, ahh i feel like rewatching again!
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Date: 2012-06-19 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 11:30 am (UTC)by the way I love the part where Ohno offered bananas that his mom packed for him and Aiba makes a remark about how it looks like a *coughs* and Ohno whacking his head, he always does that when Aiba's being a pervert xD Nino going around a public place wearing his tights lmao xD
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Date: 2012-06-19 01:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 12:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 01:45 pm (UTC)♥ Love MMA and wished they would do it again.
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Date: 2012-06-19 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-19 03:19 pm (UTC)lol. I think I'll rewatch some of their old shows. x3
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Date: 2012-06-21 07:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-21 03:55 pm (UTC)I find it kinda sad that producers these days won't be able to recreate the kind of magic that they did with Arashi in 2004-2007 simply because they're too popular these days.
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Date: 2013-06-05 12:06 pm (UTC)Nino's film "Letters", "Yamada Tarou", "Happiness" the PV, MMA ... lots of MMA ... and yet more MMA ... and a lot of other programs and PV's and stuff, but the MMA episodes are very close to my heart.
I think the Rowing Club series were especially poignant too because it was one of the few MMA specials they did as a whole, as opposed to pairs of them. I think I teared up during quite a few of those too!
For me the beauty of the series was that it was a sort of journey of self discovery and reflection, whilst doing something wonderful for the elderly. Quite a few of the episodes there were times you can sense their discomfort their uncertainty. They always managed and always made a good day of it and most importantly at the end of the day ... they usually gave the couples they visited a day to treasure.
At a time when they weren't 'famous' as such, it didn't matter a whit to either the boys nor those they visited.
Ahahaha and you mentioning MMA makes me want to go watch some of them all over again.
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Date: 2013-06-05 04:32 pm (UTC)thank u for sharing :')
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Date: 2013-06-06 03:19 pm (UTC)hope to find the show with subs ;p