KAT-TUN & News Birthday Meme

Found another meme to fill out. I'm rather happy with the results though I wouldn't mind if Tegoshi and Shigeaki switched places.

What would you get for your birthday? (KAT-TUN & NewS) by greenberryhair
Name
Birthday (mm/dd/year)
Best Friend
Gift	A hug and kiss on the cheek
Boyfriend
Gift	A nice dinner
Secret Admirer
Gift	A new car
Neighbor
Gift	A nice dinner
Roommate
Gift	Funny Card
Stalker
Gift	A compliment

You think they would have tried a little harder...

I can understand that Johnny's has a lot of releases lined up in February and perhaps their staff are swamped with work for all the production and promotions that have to be put into these releases, but I really wonder if they really couldn't come up with better cover for KAT-TUN's new single LIPS. I mean usually there's one cover variation that I like but I think for this single they all look rather bad.

And you can see for yourself what I mean by clicking this link.

And by no means do I expect covers for Johnny's to always look great, I can settle for decent group shots like what Hey! Say! JUMP's debut single got. In fact the regular edition of LIPS doesn't look all that bad besides the day glow lips on everyone, but the other two covers could do with so much improvement so it doesn't look like someone just through it all together and put it through a color filter. I just hope the new NEWS single will get better covers than this, especially as I'm getting both versions.

Johnny's Ranking Test

Didn't mean to neglect this blog but school has taken up much of my time recently so I haven't had been able to keep up with all the Johnny's groups. Hopefully as I begin to settle into a routine I'll be able to keep on top of all things Johnny's related.

One thing I am current on in the Johnny's fandom is the Johnny's Ranking Test that raspberrypi at livejournal translated, here. It is rather accurate though I can think of a few I would slightly adjust the ranking. I kinda feel bad that I don't really know any of the members of SMAP, V6 and Kanjani8, besides Inohara of V6 and Yu of Kanjani8, so it's no surprise that most of them ended up near the bottom of the list. Of course it's no shock that the News and Hey! Say! JUMP members ended up pretty high on it for me.

My ranking list according to the test:

1	Kato Shigeaki
2	Yamada Ryosuke
3	Takaki Yuya
4	Tegoshi Yuya
5	Taguchi Junnosuke
6	Nishikido Ryo
7	Chinen Yuuri
8	Yamashita Shoon
9	Domoto Koichi
10	Nagase Tomoya
11	Ohno Satoshi
12	Ninomiya Kazunari
13	Aiba Masaki
14	Koyama Keiichiro
15	Kusano Hironori
16	Yamashita Tomohisa
17	Masuda Takahisa
18	Inohara Yoshihiko
19	Nakamaru Yuichi
20	Yabu Kota
21	Nakajima Yuto
22	Imai Tsubasa
23	Sakurai Sho
24	Takizawa Hideaki
25	Tanaka Koki
26	Akanishi Jin
27	Kamenashi Kazuya
28	Inoo Kei
29	Arioka Daiki
30	Yaotome Hikaru
31	Yokoyama Yu
32	Domoto Tsuyoshi
33	Okamoto Keito
34	Ikuta Toma
35	Matsumoto Jun
36	Ayukawa Taiyo
37	Ueda Tatsuya
38	Uchi Hiroki
39	Morimoto Ryutaro
40	Shibutani Subaru
40	Murakami Shingo
40	Maruyama Ryuhei
40	Yasuda Shota
40	Ohkura Tadayoshi
40	Kazama Shunsuke
40	Hasegawa Jun
40	Matsuoka Masahiro
40	Yamaguchi Tatsuya
40	Kokubun Taichi
40	Joshima Shigeru
40	Morita Go
40	Miyake Ken
40	Okada Junichi
40	Nagano Hiroshi
40	Sakamoto Masayuki
40	Nakai Masahiro
40	Kimura Takuya
40	Kusanagi Tsuyoshi
40	Katori Shingo
40	Inagaki Goro

Johnny's Countdown 2007-2008

WARNING! IMAGE HEAVY POST!


I'm afraid I got rather screen cap happy for this, but it was hard not to. I probably won't have another entry this image heavy until the next countdown.

What better way to start the year than with the annual Johnny's Countdown where you can see just about every Johnny's debuted artist perform together on the same stage. I know it makes this fangirl happy to see them all together. The only Johnny's artists you won't see performing for this special concert are , SMAP, and anyone under the age of 18 as it is against Japanese law for those under 18 years of age to work after midnight. And as the Countdown is to celebrate the New Year and goes at least a good hour after midnight that usually counts the under 18 Johnny's talents out. But it just may be for the best as with all Johnny's groups that do perform at the Countdown it is a rather full stage that is bound to get even more crowded as Hey! Say! JUMP members grow up and new groups are debuted.

This year the Countdown is MCed by Arashi, who have had a great year in 2007. The other groups participating were News, Tokio, V6, Tackey & Tsubasa, KAT-TUN, Kanjani8 and Kinki Kids.






As I mentioned before those under 18 can't perform at the Countdown, which is all the members of Hey! Say! JUMP. But they weren't completely left out of the Countdown as they got to watch it from the crowd and got an introduction as well as had clips from an earlier performance of their debut single 'Ultra Music Power' and their debut concert from December 22nd. I'm really looking forward to the next Countdown as four of the ten Hey! Say! JUMP members, Yabu, Takaki, Inoo and Yaotome, will be 18 and will be able to participate on stage with the other debuted groups.





There do seem to be more Juniors that are 18 and over this year. I've only seen the 2003-2004 Countdown before this one and it had more female back dancers and very few Juniors participating. The female back dancers don't show up much for this Countdown, though they are there, which is just weird to see as I'm so used to the Juniors being the only back dancers to the Johnny's concerts. And I was able to recognize some of the Kis-My-Ft2 members as well as Yamashita Shoon. I was very glad to see Shoon as with Hey! Say! JUMP's debut he is my favorite Junior. I think he was only second to Ikuta Toma for Junior with the most screen time for the broadcast. I really hope it bodes well and he will remain active with Johnny's this year even though he's currently without a group.




And while I'm fangirling over my favorites, Tegoshi and Shigeaki from News were so much love. Tegoshi sounded great throughout the whole concert and he was definitely one of the more energetic member of News for this. And Shigeaki really doesn't have to do much for me to love him. He just looked great though I wish he interacted with everyone a bit more, but he's always come off as being rather reserved so I wasn't too surprised he didn't. Junnosuke from KAT-TUN though was the usual ball of energy he is. I miss the blinding blond hair but I like the light brown hair he has now too.





And now that I'm done with that fangirling I will be moving on. One thing that really stood out for me while watching the Countdown is that it really was the older groups that seemed to shine as they looked like they were having the most fun and were the most playful. Especially Nagase from Tokio and Koichi from Kinki Kids.






Nagase also seems to like sharing the love as he gave Koichi a New Year's kiss and had a tendency to get up close to whoever he was singing with. My fangirl mind, which is in no way in touch with reality, can't help but think Tegoshi might have wanted him to give him some love too which is why he was calling for his 'Makki' with such a distraught face. XD





Of course the younger groups had fun moments too, like Arashi and News singing together. As well as Jun from Arashi, acting so goofily happy when he was singing with Kamenashi from KAT-TUN. I found Yu from Kanjani8 cute too. And of course what's a KAT-TUN performance without them bringing on the sexy looks. Plus Ikuta Toma actually got to sing. I wonder if Johnny's will have him sing more in 2008 and maybe actually show up on Shounen Club again.







And I'm always amazed to see so many of the Johnny's acts together on stage. I swear one day I'm going to have to make it to a Countdown concert so I be amazed in person at them all. Though I have a feeling I won't be able to afford to do so until Ryutarou from Hey! Say! JUMP can perform in it. XD;;




I had to laugh when they brought out the dragon for those born in the year of the Rat. Because I instantly recognized it as the one from the Hey! Say! JUMP concert. Jun was in charge of talking to each of the guys on the dragon to talk about their New Year's wish and he was so hyper about it.







Then like all good things the 2007-2008 Countdown came to a close with each group giving their New Year's wishes and final acts of silliness. Had to wonder if Tackey & Tsubasa needed a room or something as Tsubasa was glued to Tackey's side. XD Right before the sponsor names start popping up we get Ohno sporting some 'stylish' 2008 glasses. XD