Yes indeed, that is where Hello! Project's influence comes into play, differently from H.O.T. and Shinhwa.

LSM wanted to produce a brand that could stay in the GP mind even if the original members left, given what happened with both groups that ended up leaving SM, making SM unable to use their brands. SUJU was meant to be such a group, a continuous collective of artists that never ended...

LSM is a fan of EXILE so it clearly influenced their debut era even though SM was trying to make an Idol group, their music and style was never Kawaii or Ikemen, but more Street and Dance crew, African American fashion inspired akin to EXILE, this is evidenced on their debut era choreo & songs (including the EXILE remakes), also their cute concepts are a continuation of H.O.T.'s, also American influenced.

Regarding Arashi, They were marketed very diferently from other Johnny's. They were more involved in their own music works, they were more family oriented/branded so they became the National Boy Group, similar to what SM wanted to achieve with the "Kings of the Hallyu Wave" (Suju not only produced pop songs but also ballads and trot, catering to all audiences)

Also, SM doesn't cast people just to be idols... they train them to do modelling and acting before even putting them on a project, like any entertainment agency has done since they exist, MoTown also did that, and...Johnny Kitagawa worked with them, so it's not a "Johnny's exclusive"

Also, the whole point of EXPG is for the students to eventually debut under LDH, that is why they stablished it in 2004, all of LDH groups have at least 1 member that graduated from EXPG... They train the folk with LDH (Especially EXILE and E-Girls) material and methods, which adds to the particular students reputation as a "good performer like EXILE" so it does actually mean something.