This year's 24hr TV drama SP has been announced.

Nino will play the lead in the special drama titled 「車イスで僕は空を飛ぶ」 - Kuruma-isu de Boku wa Sora wo Tobu - I fly the sky on a wheelchair.

The story revolves around a troubled young man who lost the use of the lower half of his body in an accident at 15. Being wheelchair bound and suffocating from despair and loneliness plunged him to attempt suicide. On his trip to his chosen suicide spot, he was made to see that all is not lost and hopeless. Inspired by his experience, he made a fresh start and took the path to become a counselor.   

The drama is based on a non-fiction book by wheelchair bound counselor Hasegawa Yasuzou (長谷川 泰三) called 命のカウンセリング - Inochi no kaunseringu - Life Counseling. He works to prevent suicides through counseling.

24-hour TV this year will be on the weekend of 25~26 August 2012.

Official website:

More details later.

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By the way, Nino went blonde for the role. Last time he was blonde, it was during Pikanchi. ^^

Sho has been confirmed as NTV's Olympic news caster. \^o^/

London 2012 will mark Sho's third consecutive Olympic correspondent role for NTV following Beijing 2008 and Winter Olympic in Vancouver 2010.
The Olympic Games will run from 27 July until 12 August 2012.

Through the past Olympics and being on News Zero over the years, he has build up close relationships and earn a good reputation among the athletes. The producer also chose Sho for his diligence and ability to make his reports easy to understand.

Sho felt honoured with the appointment and is looking forward to watching and supporting them in the coming summer Olympic.

If you can read Japanese, here's Japan's events schedule:

Akashiya Sanma, veteran variety tv personality, Ueda Shinya of Cream Stew comedy duo and 3-time judo Olympic gold medalist Nomura Tadahiro will be on NTV's Olympic relay broadcast with Sho as the main caster.

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London, Sho's coming!!! ^__________^
I think the games he'd be attending are swimming, ping pong, wrestling and judo. Probably more, but we'll see. (Especially the sports where Japan has high chance of getting medals)

Expecting a new Arashi Olympic song. Summer's going to be fun. ^^
For the record, the two previous Arashi Olympic songs were released as part of a double A-side single with drama theme songs (Nino's Minami-kun no Koibito and Ohno's Maou).
Athens 2004 - Hitomi no naka no Galaxy/Hero [Released: 18 August]; Beijing 2008 - Truth/Kaze no Mukou he [Released: 20 August].
For Vancouver 2010, Yurase Ima Wo was the coupling song in Troublemaker single.

I wonder if we're going to see hologram-Sho again in performances and how are they going to film their shows? Please let there be a London SP for Arashi's variety shows. So excited for UK/European fans. ^^
I wonder when the 24hr TV going to be. After Olympics?

Olympic Games: 27 July ~ 12 August 2012.
Paralympic Games: 29 August ~ 9 September 2012.

Official London 2012 Olympic website:

Good luck to all the athletes, volunteers and countries participating. ^^

shito (使途/しと) - how money is spent

Full DVD details and covers up on J-Storm ^^ :

Limited Edition, duration approximately 306 minutes.

Regular Edition, duration approximately 174 minutes.
Comes with Original Live Photo Poster.

Why 174 mins? Shouldn't it be around 226 mins (306 - 80mins)? Missing 52 mins...
Could Disc 3 be longer than the previously stated 80 mins? They added some stuff on LE? Typo? What's going on? ^^;;

Finally some news on Aiba's Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri drama theme song. ^o^

It will be released as Arashi's third single of the year, and their 39th overall.

Titled 'Your Eyes', the single will be out on 6 June 2012.

The full track list and covers now out on J-Storm. ^^

Limited Edition also comes with a 16-page lyric booklet.

Here are the contents and prices:

Pre-orders are up. ^^

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Face Down in May, Your Eyes in June...

If they're following this pattern, I'm sensing a deja vu with monthly consecutive single releases just like in 2010... Hmm... Can it be...?

I think Sho did very well in this drama. Would need to watch with subs again, but even without, this was great story telling. This is just my first impression of the drama. Might differ after the subs are out though. ^^;;

I am not a fan of the war genre, so I thought I might be fast forwarding through, but I didn't. Yeah, I even sat through the CMs cause I don't want to risk missing anything. Before I knew it, the credits rolled.  

I think it might be harder to watch a production about the losing side than the winning side. Being in the winning side, you are seen as a hero. In the losing side, you're a monster.

Anyway, I think Sho was compelling as Shirahama Shouhei-sensei. It was a memorable character in an impressionable story. He definitely made an unforgettable teacher. ^^

Recommended watch.

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Subs are out. ^^ Keep a tissue in hand just in case.

If you're wondering what song was playing during this one particular scene, it is 'Blessing 祝福' - 'Blessing: Shukufuku' by Ayaka Hirahara.
The song is so beautiful. It is a cover of L'envie D'aimer by French singer-song writer Pascal Obispo.

If you haven't watched Blackboard -Mirai- with Sakurai Sho, you should.
So much feelings and thoughts. I love it. Best piece of acting and production Sho did to date.
Unforgettable. Simply unforgettable. T_T

LE pre-order done succesfully... yatta!!!  

wee~~ con DVD to release 23rd May 2012  

i've pre-ordered my LE  

now, patience is virtue!

CD Japan Links

LE - http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=NEOARASHI-1009
RE - http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=JABA-5101

YesAsia

LE - http://www.yesasia.com/global/arashi-live-tour-beautiful-world-first-press-limited-edition-japan/1030735631-0-0-0-en/info.html
RE - http://www.yesasia.com/global/arashi-live-tour-beautiful-world-normal-edition-japan-version/1030735632-0-0-0-en/info.html

CDJapan pre-order links

ARASHI LIVE TOUR Beautiful World[3DVD/Limited Edition]

ARASHI LIVE TOUR Beautiful World[2DVD/Regular Edition] DVD

CDJapan's links


Face Down[Regular Edition]

Face Down[w/ DVD, Limited Edition]