Arashi is getting older..and so are we all

I finally saw Himitsu no Arashi and Vs.Arashi.

Like anyone cares but here are my impressions:

HNA - Well..it's obvious this show is one they hope will bring in the audience but I hope it goes through some changes. ANoS was a little difficult to like on first sight but it grew on me especially when they worked out some kinks. Though admittedly they never stopped working on that show. It was like there were never really sure what it was.
HNA on the other hand comes out at the start trying to show us a mature, older Arashi. I like silly, goofy, stupid, Arashi that was on tv so late at night that they knew no one could possibly be watching!

Sho - He must have been fighting allergies. He kept sniffing and blinking. Poor guy.

Jun - I love Jun in glasses. That pair may have been too big for his face but still--

Nino - I would have been contented to watch him look into the camera and say, "Sore wa" all night.

Aiba - Genki Masaki-kun. I love him for that. He's priceless.

Ohno - Everyone just got all kinds of chatty after his segment! And "Swan Lake" hands..got to love it!

Overall, I hope it starts to develop a more DNoA feel as time goes. I love it when they are out in the field. Of course, that's something that's less and less possible as they get older. I still miss it though. I love them when they are just being stupid and silly. Like Tokyo Friends Park..that was hilarious.

Vs.Arashi - Like I said..stupid and silly..and this show is perfect for that. Ohno has remarkable reflexes. Though I guess I'm not really surprised by that. He always does appear cat like in his dance moves.

It's just that as they get older and older..I see JE turning them more into SMAP. Then again it always seemed to me they were trying to make a SMAP Lite out of Arashi. I just think Arashi has too strong of a presence, now that they are older, to be turned into anything without their willingness. Then again..the PR department seems to be doing anything they damn well please.

One day..I guess..Arashi will be stuck in the studio permanently. But it's okay I guess..I mean they can't always put themselves into bizarre and often dangerous situation. Something I noticed they've been thinning out more and more of in the past year.

It was weird but as I was watching Vs.Arashi..I was watching Nino playing that first game and he was about to push the button and I thought, "One day he'll have those little wrinkles around his eyes..they call them laugh lines. How appropriate."