// lost on the web
The Ultimate Arashi starter guide 
14th-Apr-2017 12:45 pm
winkychan: (Sho - Scarf)
So you're a new Arashi fan/you want to help your friend getting into Arashi/help other find stuff without being bothered, but it's quite complicated to get yourself around. Search no more my friend because you've come to the right place (without pretention of course!). I'll try not to write too much because it can get overwhelming, but I'll try to concisely list ressources, along with the correct method to search and download stuff (that's the number one request I generally get: "Do you know where I can find XXXXX?").



The big Arashi starter pack

Without further ado, we'll start with a big zip file with many awesome/must see videos, because videos... are better than words!



Download links: Mega | MF (1.91Gb)
Click here if you don't know how to download from those websites and unzip and join files
Inside the pack I also added some shortcut links to useful ressources to watch short clips and such, and a "read me" describing each file. Here is what's inside of it:


*whispers* You should watch "[Live] Arashi - Hope in the Darkness (THE DIGITALIAN)" first ~(˘▾˘~)


Pimp posts

If you don't know what a pimp post is, basically, in any fandom, a pimp post is a post to introduce an interest or idea to other people in hopes that they will like/follow the interest/idea due to a wealth of information.
I made just a quick graphic, because a lot of Arashi subs are color-coded, and when you're new to the fandom, it's easy to get lost (just notice, for the future, that Aiba-chan and Jun's colors are inverted in C/D/G no Arashi and Arashi no Shukudai-kun).


You will find many great pimp posts in this entry made by [personal profile] justfever .
I'll just add my three favorite links to start quickly with Arashi:

Getting started with Arashi fan communities

As of April 2017, a big part of the international fandom is present mainly on Twitter and Tumblr.
If you're new to those social networks, I suggest the following:

  • for twitter, you can start by checking the list of accounts that I follow here, that will give you a general overview (you can also check who those accounts follow too), and then twitter will give you recommendations later, so you will be able to adjust your timeline according to YOUR taste. Here is a more in-depth tutorial on how to start with twitter.

  • for tumblr, check the Arashi tag, from there, you can see which accounts post often and which one you want to follow. Also checking the tag only will get you up to date informations too. Here is a more in-depth tutorial on how to start with tumblr.

But here you are on dreamwidth/livejournal, and while even Facebook and Instragram (and I believe, also Pinterest) have a lot of Arashi fans (also a lot discuss in LINE groups), this is where the real business is happening because mainly here will you find subs!
[personal profile] nicefinalbeam made an awesome tutorial for Livejournal, so I highly suggest you read it carefully because there are many unspoken rules in this fandom that you should be aware of.

You also should know that, since the new TOS of Livejournal, a lot of people and communities are migrating to Dreamwidth, it's basically a clone of Livejournal, so the same etiquette should be applied there as well.
If you want to try your hand at Dreamwidth, I highly suggest that you read this tutorial by [personal profile] coolohoh.



Arashi communities

Now that you're all set for Livejournal, here is the very basic list of Arashi communities you should follow in order to be always up to date with what is happening in the fandom (especially if you're looking for subs). As of now, I'll refer to Livejournal with "LJ" and Dreamwidth with "DW":

  • [livejournal.com profile] arashi_on

  • [community profile] arashi_off

  • [community profile] storm_freaks(this community is great if you want to bring up your comments counter and make friends, because it's really active, with games, and a good place to chat)

  • [livejournal.com profile] arashi_bangumi (a community to post reviews on episode. It's great if you don't know what to watch, to bring up your comment/posting history, and sometimes, if you couldn't find subs for a certain episode, you can get an overview reading the corresponding the summary)



How to get your Arashi medias

Now we've come to the real reason you're here :)
I've made a big flowchart at the end with the tried-and-tested process to find almost every Arashi file you may need to find.


1/ How to search efficiently

  • First, you want to know what you're looking for. For many files, you will need to search sometimes in Japanese, sometimes in Korean, so you should refer to this guide I made.

  • You will also need sometimes, somewhere, to type in Japanese, so please follow this tutorial on how to install the Japanese keyboard on your computer.

  • You should also know that Japanese files are almost always listing the airdate in this order: YYYY/MM/DD. You should try different formatting if you cannot find what you need on the first try: YYYY.MM.DD | YYMMDD | YYYY MM DD

  • If you're looking for a video where you only have a gif or a picture, and if you cannot get informations from what could be written on the picture, try using Google reverse image search (here's a tutorial).

  • If you ever need to request something, you should do it here at [livejournal.com profile] arashi_on but please be careful to read the rules first and be mindful on how you do it or you will get banned. Once again, please read [personal profile] nicefinalbeam 's guide to Livejournal to know the proper etiquette to adopt.


2/ Get your tools ready

  • I highly highly highly recommend that you get Jdownloader 2, because it will simplify your life immensely. It's a download manager, that support almost every plateforms, it will unzip your file, join them, manage their passwords etc... it's just that amazing and time saving! Here is a very simple tutorial. Jdownloader will deal with the 5 points below, it is THAT amazing!

  • You will need to know how to download from Mega

  • You will need to know how to download from Mediafire

  • You will need to know how to extract archives using winrar

  • You will need to know how to join split files using HJsplit

  • It's a bonus, but you can also get a video downloader extension for your web browser like Video Downloader Professional (free) if you want to download from streaming sites

  • You will maybe later need Clubbox and/or Baidu, but we'll get to this part later.

  • I recommend that you update all your video codecs using K-lite codec pack.

  • Also I recommend the use of VLC as your video player. And here is a tutorial on how to add subtitles to a video using VLC (this will only work with softsubs, most usually you will get them for dramas and movies, the subtitles are in a separate file and not directly on the video).


3/ Find your subs

There are great listings of subbed files around, so I'll list them all here. Just know that you will encounter MANY locked entries and unfortunately behind that, EVEN MORE dead links (because of the great Megaupload tragedy). I highly recommend, if you have not done it yet, that you really read [personal profile] nicefinalbeam 's guide to Livejournal because it covers that aspect.

  • [livejournal.com profile] we_make_storm (updated until 2013, not updated anymore)

  • [livejournal.com profile] arashic_index (updated until 2014, not updated anymore)

  • [livejournal.com profile] gonindeiru (starts from 2013 onwards, still updated)

  • JE index (updated until 2011, not updated anymore)

  • [personal profile] kazunari (updated until 2013, not updated anymore)

  • [livejournal.com profile] arashiproject (a huge revival project, if you encounter a dead file, you should check this site)


4/ Find your audios and raws

Sooner or later you will need to get raws ressources (raw means not-subbed here), here is a list of places to go:

  • [livejournal.com profile] arashigoodies (audios, pvs, concerts, dramas, movies etc...)

  • [community profile] ninotendo (tv shows, dramas, movies etc...)

  • [community profile] yumenohashi  (recent TV shows, fast at updating after the airdate)

  • [community profile] amnos_n0_asa (recent promotionnals shows, fast at updating after the airdate)

  • There are other LJ communities for raws that are really up to date but they don't allow to link back to them. I suggest you look for the raw provider credit on subbed files and errr.... ask your friends for "KnH" and "DSS".

  • Pan.baidu is a Chinese online cloud storage and is the number one raw provider for Arashi stuff. You can read my tutorial to learn how to use it.

  • Clubbox is a Korean online cloud storage, really slow, but also a great source and easier to find stuff (especially old) than baidu. You can read my tutorial to learn how to use it.

  • Naver is a Korean social plateform where you will be able to stream almost every video you want. Here is a great tutorial by [profile] shelketuesti.

  • Bilibili is a Chinese video streaming site.

  • Youku is a Chinese video streaming site.

  • Tudou is a Chinese video streaming site.

  • MioMio is a Japanese video streaming site

  • Pandora.TV is a Japanese video streaming site

  • And ultimately, here is my tutorial on how to watch to Japanese TV and listen to Japanese radio live online :)


5/ The ultimate flowchart on how to search for your Arashi stuff

Works better if you've read the 4 points above or else you will feel lost!

arashi-flowchart.png



Thank you for reading all of this, now you're fully prepare to buy another external HDD to download all those amazing Arashi stuff :D
Feel free to link this post anywhere :)
Also feel free to make suggestions in the comments to complete this guide!
But most of all: BAIT YOUR FRIENDS (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧ ✧゚・: *ヽ(◕ヮ◕ヽ)
Comments 
14th-Apr-2017 11:04 am (UTC)

Winkyy..most of the guide video are my fave bideo of their dhows or perf xD
I m happy

14th-Apr-2017 11:07 am (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
Ahahah, and I had to cut so much stuff to make it under 2Gb T_____T
14th-Apr-2017 11:20 am (UTC)
ext_1898530: (Default)

Not really new but OH MY THIS IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL GUIDE ヽ(´▽`)/💚💛💙❤

14th-Apr-2017 11:33 am (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
You know, I've been in this fandom for more than 10 years, but I had a 5 years hiatus and it was sooooo difficult and confusing when I came back, that I really felt the need to do this (I first complete other tutorials first so they could be linked here).
So I really hope this helps you somehow ^^ (and also for your new fan friends!)
14th-Apr-2017 11:58 am (UTC)
Ohhh, thank you for guide! <3

(Hope in the Darkness is breathtaking indeed *o*)
14th-Apr-2017 12:03 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
If I have to "explain" Arashi to someone, this is my go-to video seriously, it's amazing!
14th-Apr-2017 12:13 pm (UTC)
Oh God thank you so much winkychan for this, this is really helpfull for me. I'm a new fans so this one will really guide me. Once again thankyou so much ❤❤
14th-Apr-2017 12:21 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
I hope it will help you ^^
14th-Apr-2017 12:26 pm (UTC)
*claps* That's impressive! Awesome job~ ♥
14th-Apr-2017 12:28 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
Thank you dear ^^
14th-Apr-2017 12:28 pm (UTC)
coolohoh: Biohazard (Default)
Yayay! Thanks for the SF and moving to DW guide pimp :P

I'll go back to working to on the SF@DW comm soon :P
14th-Apr-2017 12:32 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
No prob, I appreciate all your hard work, and even if I'm not active at all in SF, I know how much it can be helpful to fans, especially new who don't know many people etc!

Ganbatte on your moving process :D
14th-Apr-2017 12:33 pm (UTC)
Arigato gozaimasu. I am new to LJ, really struggling with it. I will read & re-read what you have advised.
14th-Apr-2017 12:53 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
I hope it will be helpful to you. Take it slow as there is many things to read, but if you follow it step by step, you will find what you need in the end :)
14th-Apr-2017 12:51 pm (UTC)
Hi, you're unbelievably awesome making this guide. It's amazing. It's easy to follow and easy understand. I jumped into this fandom on my own and be here for quite a while and I figured only half of what you wrote here. Thank you for your effort to make the guide. And again you're really awesome.
14th-Apr-2017 12:54 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
Thanks! I'm glad that even after being here for a while you managed to elarn something new (I'm curious to what you learned btw?)
14th-Apr-2017 01:00 pm (UTC)
Ahhh I wish I can hug you right now. Taking the Mega files cause I'm sure I missed few live videos of Arashi. Thank youuuuuu!!
14th-Apr-2017 01:10 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
*internet hug* I hope you will enjoy it ^^
14th-Apr-2017 01:04 pm (UTC)
Thank you so so so muchhhhh!This is so helpful!! I heart youuuu~
14th-Apr-2017 01:10 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
You're welcome, I hope you will find this guide useful ^^
14th-Apr-2017 01:20 pm (UTC)
Winkychan you're a lifesaver...
Your tutorial had helped me a lot when I was new to the fandom
And now it's even better
Rabu rabu you so much 😘😘
14th-Apr-2017 01:28 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
Thank you for your kind comment ^^
I hope you will find many more files thanks to this :)
14th-Apr-2017 02:15 pm (UTC)

Hountou ni arigatou gozaimashuuuuu~ ( > < )
I really really really reaalllyyyy need these.
Once again thank you for sharing these big informations with us ^ - ^

14th-Apr-2017 02:18 pm (UTC)
Thank you for this awesome starter pack! ♡♡♡ I swear, if only I encountered this last year, I will not be so confused on everything. But thank God, I figured everything out by myself and other kind fans :) When I first saw this post just now, I was like: Being an Arashian is hard! (dakedo happy! Pun intended lol~)

"Now you're fully prepare to buy another external HDD to download all those amazing Arashi stuff :D"

^ THIS OMG. I haven't download everything but my Arashi stuff is already like 100-150GB! @____@ I have to download everything before LJ announcing another bad news and before everything are dead links.

Once again, thank you ♡♡ You are the beessssst~!!! *hugs and kisses*
14th-Apr-2017 02:39 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
You're welcome!

Indeed, I've been working on this project for several weeks now, but I hurried up to finish it after the whole new LJ TOS, so the maximum people can download what they can before communities are closed (or not, we don't know, but better safe than sorry)
14th-Apr-2017 02:41 pm (UTC)
Thanks so much!! I'm reasonably new, and I look forward to watching your recommendations! And then to show my friends too! :D
14th-Apr-2017 02:55 pm (UTC)
Thanks sooo much.you'RE REALLY WODERFUL❤❤
14th-Apr-2017 03:22 pm (UTC)
wow...this is great ideas to introduce new fan to fandom. As old fan ( this is my 9th year in fandom), although i know most of it, i don't know how to guide new fan to fandom.


Thank you for the hardwork... =)
14th-Apr-2017 05:01 pm (UTC)
kotomichi: (i just want to love you)
otsukare!! 👏

i'll be looking at this more thoroughly later, but i'm happy to see the second hna haunted house part mentioned, haha. of course all the other stuff is fantastic too, but i saw those after i'd already gotten into fandom. this clip, though, is part of the stuff i watched when i slowly fell into the arashi rabbit hole, lol. i just kept watching it over and over on youtube. SHO-CHAAAAAN!!! aiba's freakouts are the best. 💚

also lol @ the "get the raw and learn japanese part" sobbb. SERIOUSLY though, i've been floundering in my japanese progress for years, and watching arashi, both raw and subbed, has genuinely helped so much! and if anyone else studying japanese is reading this, i definitely recommend subbing as well, even if it's only for personal purposes. really forces you to listen properly, look up things, and accurately express what the boys are saying.

okay, this comment got kinda long bc i'm rambling for no reason?? but tl;dr yay arashi and yay you for putting this together! 💕
14th-Apr-2017 05:11 pm (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
Thank you for writting all of this!

And I totally second you on what you said on the "learning Japanese with subbing". The best way for me to learn is when I'm subbing.

"get the raw and learn japanese" is unfortunately the sad reality of the international fandom right now T_T I'm fine watching raws now, even the shows streaming live, but for new fans, it can be so hard! ;_;
14th-Apr-2017 05:27 pm (UTC)
Thank you so much for your hard work in doing this!

Loved it!
14th-Apr-2017 06:36 pm (UTC)
amazing staff it is time consuming thank u so much for it ^^
14th-Apr-2017 07:49 pm (UTC)
my gosh! this is amazing haha. i'm a long-time fan but it's fun to pick through all of the resources you have provided. :) i remember the summer evenings i spent in 2009 watching episode upon episode of AnS just to catch up with fandom.
14th-Apr-2017 09:47 pm (UTC)
Can I say you are just aaaawesome =)
I'm really impressed by your hard work. I'm sure this starter pack will be pretty helpful for the new fans. I have the impression that entering into Arashi's fandom world is nowadays not as easy as it used to be... there are many understandable reasons for that, of course, but new fans can quickly get lost and discouraged.

Even after several years in Arashi fandom, I have still learned some useful tips and updates thanks to you!

And did I mention how I love your flowchart? XD
I would add that when you pass the point 'get the raw an learn Japanese', it's the first sign that you are truly and desesperately addicted to your Arashian dose of happiness =)

Well, just two words: THANK YOU! =)
15th-Apr-2017 08:52 am (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
Thank you for your kind comment :)
I'm curious, may I know which tips you've learned?

Sometimes, I really think "damn, it feels easier to learn Japanese than finding subs in the international fandom" XD Reason number one why I made that guide ^^
15th-Apr-2017 12:16 am (UTC)

I love you so much for this right now <3.
Not a newbie ish. Like, about... A year? But I've been only actively in the arashi online community since october last year so /nyan thank you <3

15th-Apr-2017 02:16 am (UTC)
<3 thaaaaank you :) you've spent a ridiculous amount of time doing this!

SUPER A+ for effort <3
15th-Apr-2017 02:29 am (UTC)
OMG This is a really nice starter guide. Thank you so much for compiling these gems for us. You are a true Arashians' life savior *hugs*

I'll tell you a little secret. After watching Hope in the Darkness perf. I felt like I couldn't live without Arashi for the rest of my life XD
15th-Apr-2017 08:49 am (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
OMG I totally get you. Hope in the Darkness is one of the first clip I saw after coming back after a 5 years hiatus, and I couldn't get up from my seat afterwards XD
15th-Apr-2017 03:04 am (UTC)
thank you for your hard work, winky-chan! definitely going to give this starter guide for my friends who's starting to get into Arashi xD
15th-Apr-2017 08:48 am (UTC)
winkychan: (Default)
Thanks, please bait more fans with it ^^
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