Arashi's Decline? Pulezzz

I remember this article by cyzo translated by Omoxi of Tumblr:

Since the mid-2000s, Arashi has sprung into the top artist seat, but since last year, their popularity has started to see gloom.

“In the 2000s, Arashi appearing in the media increased, and they acquired many new fans. However on the other hand, they’ve lost the power to attract core fans who shell out money, and their popularity foundation is dwindling. At the same time, however, groups like Kanjani8 or Hey! Say! JUMP have acquired this power, and even new groups like Kis-My-Ft2, Sexy Zone, or A.B.C.-Z have become a topic.”

“Each of Arashi’s members have some type of charm, but do not have the strong, influential personalities like Kimura Takuya or Nakai Masahiro that allows you to reign over the entertainment world for a long time. If they lose the age they can be called “cute”, Arashi’s members have lack of a personality to continue as the National Idol Group, or in other words, are too much this generation’s child.

Arashi’s bubble has reached its peak, and what comes next for them is now the real challenge. SMAP doesn’t have a member with higher education like Sakurai Sho, or a talented artist like Ohno Satoshi, but the question is can Arashi once more create their own era again? In any case, it looks like their real worth as an idol group can only be answered this year.”

So let us discuss:
2012. What happened? Arashi's Wild at Heart single became the 26th straight number one release according to the Oricon chart. Jun, Ohno and Aiba are doing well with their dramas, their new release 'Face Down' looks promising too. Personally, as an Arashi fan myself, I see no reason to fell 'threatened'. 


Yes, new JE idol groups are on the rise, but does that really have to be a bad thing?? I mean let us look at their sempais, SMAP will always be the national idols of Japan, yet in the end I still prefer to listen to V6's music. 

Arashi didn't shot to fame when they debuted way back in 1999. Their earlier songs did well, true, but they also had their own share of drastic decline despite being a few years old at the time. Nor did they enjoy the availability of online information the internet could give to their fans unlike the new generation of boy groups have nowadays, but the five boys survived that era and made their own. If their decline happens to take place in the future, I don't see it as a big deal, the important thing is they were able to show everyone that fought their way, didn't give up, and they deserve what they attained.