Patrick Macias on Nino

[buyme-arashi.livejournal.com]

"Nino is… well, NINO. As a member of a superstar boy band, he’s been photographed, filmed, poked, and prodded by the media non-stop for nigh on a decade now. He’s simply not an ordinary Joe like you and me. Even now, as we meet, there’s a camera crew fixated on him, filming only his eyes as the PR guys explain the delicate procedures ahead. Afterwards, he lets out a battle-ready “gambarre masu” (“I’ll do my best!”) and you can feel an amazed and solemn hush fall over the room. We are in the presence of a Japanese idol who is a 100%, to the hilt, Japanese idol!"
 

source:  Inside the GANTZ Premiere (OTAKU USA)
Patrick Macias was the MC for Gantz Hollywood and editor in chief of OTAKU USA
This is just a small excerpt of the first part of his Gantz experience. You can read more at the source.

New comment by Patrick Macias:
Hey this is Patrick. Please, please don't take the fangirl comments so seriously (as seen on the Arashi LJ)! You're fans and lots of you are girls...but you honestly have my deepest respect. Anyway, the people at the top have definitely heard the sensible requests for non-dubbed versions of GANTZ 1 & 2, so stay tuned for developments!"
 

Comments

[meoinkie2.livejournal.com]

tnx! it was an interesting read..can't wait for the next chapter..
being a Nino ichibaner, i can't help but just feel giddy upon reading Patrick's thoughts about the sexual powerhouse..and with MatsuKen, LOL..i never really thought that guy is so "loose".. totally diff from what my impression of him was in the first place..i better watch AniShi to see myself

[buyme-arashi.livejournal.com]

me too.

I always thought of Matsuken as a "loose" kind of guy. As for Nino, I think Patrick might just a bit too generous with the praises out of fear of the fangirls because he sounded like they didn't get a chance to interact much unlike the way he so naturally blurb about asking Maachan about Natsuna..

[nurikocam.livejournal.com]

i get that impression too comparing how he described nino from matsuken. felt like nino was really surrounded by cameras wherever he goes and they never really had the chance to communicate, unlike matsuken who's free that he even mentioned about their talk.

[captain-snen.livejournal.com]

It seemed to me that Nino didn't really like him that much (for decent reasons), and he could probably sense that, so that might be why his description is a little ... insincere, I guess?

[kegom.livejournal.com]

Did Nino say somewhere that he didn't like him? (Just asking out of curiousity - I've basically missed the whole "Nino being at the premiere" bit, so it's likely I missed something like this.)

To me the guy's description sounded more sarcastic than insincere, which makes sense, if the guy's not a fan of (or is just puzzled by) the whole Johnny's idol thing. It's definitely a bizarre phenomenon, if you look at it from a non-fan point of view.

[captain-snen.livejournal.com]

He didn't say anything, I felt like Nino was glaring at him when he asked about Natsuna and answered him in an (appropriately) curt manner... but that could very well just be me hoping Nino is somewhat of a gentleman.

Ya, I wondered what the people in our theater thought of me and my friends...

[asaphira-sachi.livejournal.com]

I got the feeling too. The problem was that the host totally broke the "atmosphere" by asking about Natsuna. In the host's eyes, being all sarcastic and casual is his way of being friendly, but that's not the way to treat Japanese guests =_= First and foremost, respect and decorum comes first. I'm always ashamed when the hosts here don't do a good job in searching for that mutual atmosphere. It looks bad for us all foreign fans.

[captain-snen.livejournal.com]

Yes, I completely agree. I also thought that joke about the yakuza was completely inappropriate. Well, seemed at least like the fans in Hollywood weren't encouraging the MC, so hopefully all in all Nino still had a good impression of us fans.

In my theater, even the otaku dudes who were just there for Gantz itself didn't think the MC was acting appropriately.

Or maybe they just said that to get on the good side of some clearly horny fangirls XD

[asaphira-sachi.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I totally forgot about the yakuza thing... haha. Yeah it was inappropriate and unprofessional, and I'm saying it in the most objective way possible. I think if he had left the question just at "How was it like working with Natsuna?" rather than asking about HER the person (aka how tall, how's she like in person, etc.), things would've been less awkward.

I'm glad to hear the otaku audience at your theatre were reasonable haha. That just proves it's not just all about fangirls defending Nino XD

[kegom.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your answer! ^-^ (I'm going to sound SO ignorant, but who's Natsuna? I was kind of away from fandom for a long time, thanks to work-related reasons, so I've missed basically everything.)


Well, fans are ...special. XD Not only Johnny's fans, of course, but there tend to be differences in ways fans act, I think. Heavy Metal and (Hard) Rock fans, for example, tend to be more quiet, but VERY snobbish about their music being superior to everything else, in my opinion, while a lot of fans of classical music have a weird kind of "we're not real fans unless we critize the performances to hell and back" kind of relationship to their artists. So, even when people are fans of something, the way fans of other stuff act about their love probably still baffles them a lot. ^-^
(I know the fact that I'm able to be both a fan of Arashi and of several Heavy Metal bands has given some friends of mine huge headaches... when it didn't make them want to weep for the state of my soul after I'd "sold part of it to pop music", that is. ;P)

[captain-snen.livejournal.com]

Natsuna is one of the actresses who stared in Gantz, she appears naked in one scene (you don't see any really private bits so it's not really a big deal). I forget exactly what the MC said, but it was something along the lines of "ooo, what was it like to see Natsuna naked?" clearly not really appropriate for the setting. And Nino just glared and said she was really professional ^ ^ Now that I know he asked the same question backstage, I really don't understand why he had to answer it again. And, like backstage, Matsuyama gave him the more detailed answer he was looking for...

Ya, I feel like anime and manga otaku, who comprised most of the theater, are at least somewhat familiar with fangirling, since plenty of fangirls go to anime cons, so even if they weren't expecting it, they probably weren't completely weirded out or anything.

[dyan1219.livejournal.com]

I suddenly remember Nino's Jounetsu Tairiku. I don't know why but I feel sad everytime I watch that. :(

:DD

[buyme-arashi.livejournal.com]

Jounetsu Tairiku was great and the way the camera lingers and caught his unguarded expression made me feel the same way too.

[polluxme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Nino just seemed so alone and lonely in that documentary.

[yuui1010.livejournal.com]

Nino is… well, NINO.
the best ^^

[allodole.livejournal.com]

Nino is… well, NINO. Enuff said. ♥

Patrick seems like a nice guy. :D Can't wait to read more~

[beach-bum1303.livejournal.com]

Interesting, but tell me I'm not the only one who wants to smack this dude.

"Fan girls will be losing their damn fool minds.."

At least we lose our minds over something that actually exists..

[kitkatgrl16.livejournal.com]

+1

[ninomiy4r4shi.livejournal.com]

MTE A+

[kitkatgrl16.livejournal.com]

I...actually posted a comment on the article...>.>

And perhaps I was a bit generous with my reply...but I try not to be rude. .______.

I actually liked the article! It gave us a little look at what happened before the event, and I LOVE things like that!

[miss-lonliah.livejournal.com]

cool! thanks for sharing~

[kegom.livejournal.com]

Thanks for linking to the article! It's always interesting to read about the "behind-the-scenes" at events like that. And the guy's sarcastic, over-the-top descriptions of Nino and of the fans just crack me up SO MUCH. XD

[best-in-sho.livejournal.com]

dudeee that MC was such an ass though... :|

[asweetsymphony.livejournal.com]

LMAO!

How the hell did he find Arashi_on? xDDD

[yuui1010.livejournal.com]

yeah!
Did he really say that?
Arashi lj!!!!

[aisyazurina.livejournal.com]

He knows about this lj... :D