Hidden Fortress Report

Sorry, it's a bit shorter than I had wanted but if I remember anything, I'll edit it! Also - people posted a lot of information (including transcripts) so my post will be like a leaf in the wind. XD

Firstly, I want to just say thank you so much to everyone who attended the Meetup! It was truly a blast and I think we can all agree that meeting up with like-minded fans is both an amazing and rare experience! I'm truly glad to have meet you all - all you girls were total dears! ^.^

Goodness, the wait was so fun! We watched the TIME con DVD and sang along, we did random menomane of Arashi (where every answer was OhMiya. LMFAO) and we mocked Sho and his crazy shoulder shaking. We also have established that picking a favorite Arashi song/PV/solo is damn near impossible.

Oh! And I believe I was the only die-hard Sakurai fan in the group! It was awkward. Not really~ But we looked the the Dream "A" Live LE CD booklet and I think it was obvious when a picture of Sho was there. "long pause....squeal....Ok!" Look at me, being obvious.

Nextly, the film. The film was amazing. With or with MatsuJun, it would've been amazing. Of course, Jun's ability to kind of...create a new character once he's all suited up (make up + all) is truly astounding. I think more or less than that, I was so impressed with how this film was not watered down with a whole lot of unneeded special effects. I told NBC Nippon that it really have a sense of human relation and warmth and an excess of special effects can easily cover up.

There were a lot of differences from the original but I think the feeling of it is easily comparable. Also, as Higuchi-san stated, "He wanted to create a feel that left the audience with a refreshed feeling as they left the theatre." I also think that with a U.S. premiere and with Mr. Anthony Daniels involved with it, it will be released in this United States. Now, this is speculation so do not take this and run with it. :)

I honestly want to do a detailed compare - contrast to the original Kurosawa and the modern Higuchi versions of the films, but I will do it in a way where if you wish not to be spoiled, you don't have to be. Maybe I will post it in my LiveJournal, under a friends cut? I'm not entirely sure.

Now, MatsuJun. I'm sure you're all wondering how that went.

He's a total dear. I swear, I wish he didn't give off the aura of just...big meanie on television all the time because when the Fan Division gave him his flower bouquet, he looked HONESTLY TAKEN ABACK. It was really sweet actually! I'm sure he read the card we put in it as well. It held messages (in English + Japanese) to him. A lot asking that he try and bring Arashi to America...

Actually, after his introduction (in English, mind you! Relatively good English...) and he was walking back, I shouted "Bring Arashi to America!" and he kinda looked at me and waved. I flailed. XD

Then on stage, and I hope a full transcript gets online but he was extremely cute. Someone asked him something along the lines of, "Talk about how cool you are!" (literally a rough idea of the question) and he said, "I don't like talking about myself in that way, I'm not all that cool." and then in English, he's all, "I'm shy" and the fangirls were like OMG!KAWAII. It was funny.

You know - it was just great to see him smile! I came to the complete conclusion during the Hanadan shoot in Las Vegas that Jun was a very serious worker. In other words, while I'm sure he was extremely happy that he had fans there watching him film, he did not let it break his concentration. Therefore, he came off a bit serious. Well for this event, it wasn't a filming. It was just MatsuJun being MatsuJun so he was himself and it was really great. I know he loves his fans and I know he knows his fans love him now!

I talked to all kinds of reporters from Japan and to NBC Nippon and MADE SURE to get across that we fans want Arashi in America. They even asked for my name and age so it'll probably be in some newspaper. (EDIT: And I was. SCARY SHIT. Links at the end.) Also, for the record - the more foreign you look, the more questions you'll get asked! So be yourself, Arashians. XD I also gave pre-movie expectations and a post movie review on camera. It was kind of scary actually but I was like "This is your moment to spread the word!" and i'm sure the others that got interviewed felt the same. So yeah, honestly it was amazing.

Oh! One last thing. So one thing I had hoped. Well when Nino premiered Iwo Jima, Sho was there right? It was in Japan, I know but Sho was STILL there with News Zero. So someone comes and taps me - "There are News Zero microphones here!" so I like fell over in my chair into a fetal position! "I CAN'T SEE SHO IN REAL LIFE NOOOUUUU" it was kinda sad actually! See, because I've never been relatively close to seeing him. Of course he wouldn't be at the Hanadan shoot but at a movie premiere, it's a bit understandable. So with that said, I had a big moment! I calmed down though. ^.^

Ah! When the film started, they had up these posters, right? Well after the film, they said anyone who wanted one could take one! So I saw one and ran for it! Someone almost even tried to fight me for it, but I said "No!" and she backed off. So I ran outside, singing "I got a poster~" until I found Miss Iroiro and gave it to her! LOL, I love Jun but she is like dai-fan so there's no way I couldn't have. SO I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE POSTER! Don't sell it! XDD

Lastly! I realize that once the line moved, our small group of 10 grew to about 36. With that stated, I would like to apologize because it did push the line back a bit. After I handed over the fans their badges, they stuck around which I didn't think of much. Also though - for those who felt like they were pushed back, I sincerely wish you could have come said something. From the the start, we were sitting in front of the theatre and so whomever was behind that side wall - I had NO idea how many of you had been there from 9:30AM or even before. If I had been alerted, I wouldn't have objected. There's no way because being there THAT early is serious business. Also, there were a group of older Japanese women in front of me and they had been the only ones I saw from when I arrived so I did think that every earlybird was already in front. My mistake as well!  However, I still do apologize for the group for that happening but that's all I can really do. I'm not a mean person - none of us are are we know you all were fans who wanted the same opportunity as well so I do give my most heartfelt apology. We'll do it better next time!

Addendum to the Above: About 10 girls did get in front of us about 20 minutes before we went in...so if you were the ones that were there since early, YAY! Sorry, at least you actually GOT back in position like you were before. I'm glad that happened.

Media!

Ok, so Sanspo is who interviewed us! Terrifying...here's the link. Also, my name is Destini Johnson for the record. Not Jason. LMFAO
http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt200804/gt2008042901.html

Another scary one, we're in Variety Japan:
http://www.varietyjapan.com/news/movie/2k1u7d0000012i57.html