TV program filming updates

I decided to make a quick post about some of the more recent updates on Johnny's net for the filming of various programs that the Johnny's groups will be on.


Hi! Hey! Say! has been updated for the filming for its next two episodes. Hi! Hey! Say! will be filming on October 4th and 18th. The only ones listed for the performances this time for both programs are Hikaru and Yabu with Johnny's Juniors. I'm not sure if listing the Juniors means they will actually do some kind of performance or will just be back dancing as usual. I say this because the Showa x Heisei live stage listing, which hasn't been given a date yet, only has Nakajima, Yamada and Morimoto listed to be performing but it's pretty much a given that there will Juniors there back dancing for them.

Also Kanjani8 are going to perform on the Music Station Special episode. The filming will be on the 3rd of October. I'm not a Kanjani8 fan but I'm kinda excited to see this news as the group hasn't done much this year at all as a group. Their last cd release was back in March and the did do a tour but after that I don't think they did any other full group activities. I wonder what Johnny's has up their sleeves for this, as they don't do anything randomly and they have to be there to promote something. I wonder if there could be an announcement of some kind attached to this, like maybe another cd release before the end of the year.

October Wink Up Dengonban translations

Now that I'm in a Japanese class again I thought I should try my hand at translating a bit. Of course I'm only beginning my second year of learning the Japanese language so I can't promise perfect accuracy in my translations but I am at a point where I usually get the gist of things and have no trouble with simple sentences. These are translations not transliterations so don't expect to see it translated word for word as it would make for very poor English.

Also if you want to repost this information somewhere please comment and remember to credit. I don't mind mind about the scans, you can take those and do whatever, I don't mind. The translations though are something I had to actually put some effort into so I would appreciate the credit as well as the fact that if there is a mistranslation it would be very helpful for me if people could find me and tell me what I got wrong so I can learn from the mistake. I translated Tegoshi's as it was so short, simple and he even wrote part of it in English.

Tegoshi Yuya (NEWS)

To everybody who loves soccer,

Soccer is good, isn’t it.

We are soccer player!* That is all.

* Tegoshi wrote this line in English. I translated Yabu's because it wasn't very long and I'm a L'arc~en~Ciel fan too so I was really curious to know what he wrote.

Yabu Kota (Hey! Say! JUMP)

To L’arc~en~Ciel’s Hyde,

Since 10 years ago I have liked you. The first CD I bought was L’arc~en~Ciel’s. At the time I was in second grade and from then I have always been a fan.

Hey! Say! JUMP new release updates

First off their has been a track title change for the B-side song that will be on both the LE and RE versions of the Mayonaka no Shadow Boy single. What was Journey into Space is now School Kakumei (School Revolution). The song writer hasn't changed and neither has the lyric writer, Yabu, hasn't either. It makes me wonder if someone had mixed up some information when giving out this information for the website updates. But I think the new title seems to fit in with the theme of the single with the tie-in being a school drama and all.

And now that I think about it Mayonaka no Shadow Boy is a love song that has a school drama tie-in so it would make a lot of sense for School Kakumei to be a B-side to relate to the school drama it's promoting and then the other B-side for the RE, Deep Night Kimi Omou, sounds like it's another love song which of course makes it relate to the title track. I think this single promises to have a good balance in terms of theme at least for its songs.

Another update is that the SP that Yamada Ryosuke starred in earlier in the year, Furuhata Chugakusei, is going to be released on DVD December 3rd. So I guess if you have the money to spend and know a big Yamada fan with a region 2 or region free DVD player it would be a perfect holiday gift for them.

Furuhata Chugakusei - Ninzaburo Furuhata, Shogai Saisho no Jiken - / Japanese TV Series

A.B.C.-Z & Kis-My-Ft2 J-web

Johnny's net has updated to announce that A.B.C.-Z & Kis-My-Ft2 are getting a shared J-web. J-webs are pretty much blogs for the boys, not all get them and some are only temporary and used for when Johnny's wants to promote something, and in this case it's the upcoming concerts. It's also a Japan only service as you have to access it through a cell phone. The name of the J-web is えび♥きす (which literally would translate to the abbreviations of the groups' names AB♥Kisu).

I really hope the fans that have access to J-web are willing to share the entries to those who can't, like everyone who doesn't live in Japan. I really would love to hear from the boys, especially Kis-My-Ft2, about the concert and anything else they feel like writing about.

SMAP concert DVD

I have only slept about four hours in the last forty eight hours so I'm just writing this up real quick before heading to bed for some much needed rest.

In what looks like one of the quickest turn around times I've seen SMAP will be releasing a live DVD, for I can only assume is the currently ongoing dome concert tour that they're doing. It seems a bit pricey at 8000Yen but according to the cdjapan listing it will contain 3 discs so it looks like it will be worth the price for SMAP fans to have.

UNTITLED (Live DVD) / SMAP

I wish JE/J-Storm was this quick with releasing concert DVDs. Especially if we do get a SUMMARY DVD as it would probably be released by now if it had the same kind of turn around time.

Also in other news, the LE version of the Mayonaka no Shadow Boy single went back out of stock again at cdjapan. I was kinda shocked it went out of stock so quickly. I don't think their past singles LEs sold out that quickly, so I guess this could be seen as a sign of Hey! Say! JUMP gaining popularity. I think the Scrap Teacher drama will help them a lot with that too, especially as Yamada is in it and he has the biggest fan following of the group so far and it seems to just keep growing.

It really wasn't just a dream...

First day of class and while it was long and I was busy with either being in a class or getting things done around campus I'm glad to be back. I also decided to head over to Kinokuniya to see about picking up the October issue of Shogakuyonensei. I usually don't scan things the moment I can but I made the exception today as I was so excited about a tiny picture on one of the two pages they had for a report about the SUMMARY concerts.

While the report is mostly focused on Hey! Say! JUMP on the first page the have pictures of the Junior groups and Nakayama Yuma at the bottom. And the group that had me so excited to see listed was Top3. Yes, that's right, the Hasshi-trio for the first time, which sadly could also be the last time, were listed as Top3 in an official magazine. And even if the picture is tiny and it's hard to make them all out because of that, it now stands as undeniable proof that this group did officially exist, even for a brief time. As a big fan of this trio even if this is a small thing it means a lot to me and I really hope this won't be the last time I get to see Top3 listed in a magazine.

I went ahead and uploaded both pages as it just seemed like the thing to do. But as I mentioned the Juniors really don't any other mention than those pictures on the first page, besides a small picture of Takaki singing with B.A.D.

The Year After & Some Thoughts On The Future

It's already the 24th in Japan so instead of waiting for tomorrow I'll get this all out today as I have my first day of classes for the Fall quarter tomorrow, which means I'll probably not going to have a lot of time then.

As I'm sure most Hey! Say! JUMP fans already know September 24th marks the yearly anniversary of the group's formation. I remember all the excitement of that day a year ago still rather clearly. Because of the time differences the announcement came about mid-morning my time on the 24th, even though it was already evening in Japan. I think because of this we had a lot of immediate fan reaction in the English speaking part of the Johnny's fandom.

I know I was just psyched about the news as I been a fan of the Junior Hey! Say! 7 group and having all of them debuted made me happy. Though I was a bit taken back by the size of the group but after a couple of months I got used to it for the most part. Thankfully Johnny's made it a bit easier by dividing the group into two sub-units from the start, Hey! Say! BEST for the five older boys and Hey! Say! 7 for the five younger ones.

It's taken some time but HSJ seem to finally be picking up the pace in terms of getting themselves on TV shows, dramas and other various media outlets. Next month they release their fourth single which indicates that they should be releasing an album next, though I have the feeling it won't be until early 2009 for that to be released. And I hope they get more chances for dramas, like maybe the BEST members all getting chances to be in high school dramas, as the older groups' members seem to be moving on to roles for older characters which leaves those roles open for the younger group with members that are actually the same age as the characters they're portraying.

I've enjoyed following HSJ for the past year and can't wait to see what the next year will bring for them.

Now on the flip-side of the HSJ debut not everyone was cheering. Of course their was quite a bit of disappointment mixed in with the excitement as with the debut two Junior groups were broken up, J.J. Express and the much beloved Ya-Ya-Yah. I think the fans of J.J. Express, while disheartened by the group disbanding were at least somewhat prepared for it as there had been rumors about the group getting broken up when the Junior Hey! Say! 7 was formed with two of its current members, Takaki and Arioka in that group. The break up of Ya-Ya-Yah though came as a shock to almost everyone. The group had been around since Shounen Club's early years and was one of the most popular Junior groups and had even had their own concerts. And it didn't help matters when word got out that Taiyo quit Johnny's altogether. In fact it seemed like more people hated HSJ than liked them for several months after the group was formed. Thankfully most of that seems to have changed but I have noticed that some people still seem to hold a grudge against them for whatever reason.

Looking at the Juniors now it still looks like things haven't quite settled as there really hasn't been any new groups formed. Of course that hasn't stopped them from grouping certain Juniors together in proto-groups where they can make slight adjustments if they want without it being a big deal. And of Johnny's has just recently begun shuffling Juniors around with the new A.B.C. group formations they're creating. I hope 2009 will give us a couple of new Junior groups, even if they are temporary at least it'll make it easier to learn which Junior is which as you can just list a name instead of several names that may or may not be together at a later time.

I was happy to see Shoon stick it out and I'm so glad that he's still working hard and Johnny's has been giving him chances to prove himself over the past year. It's a pity that he didn't get to be with A.B.C. long as he fit well with the group but as long as Johnny's doesn't start shoving him to the side completely I'll be happy with him still being on every Shounen Club every month. Not to mention watching him weekly on Hyakushiki-Ou.

Hey! Say! JUMP was the first and so far only group I've been in the fandom for their debut. But I hope there will be another debut coming soon. It almost seems too late for a 2008 debut but then there's always 2009. And since I'm a big Kis-My-Ft2 I'm sure you can guess who I'm rooting for to debut next. ^___^

Hey! Say! 7 gets a radio program & 4th single update

According to Johnny's net Hey! Say! 7 will be getting a radio program, which is still untitled at the moment, that will run on the radio channel Bunka Hounsou Monday - Thursday and on Friday it mentions that the channel will switch to a net (internet) channel. The program is only slated to be ten minutes long and airs in the ten o'clock hour at night (22:15-22:25).

It's great to hear that they will finally have their own radio program, my only complaint is that it's only for Hey! Say! 7. I would love to see Hey! Say! BEST get their own radio program too, especially as it could give some of the members that don't get a lot of screen time on their shows a chance to stand out. Plus I think Hikaru would be a great MC.

I just really hope they give BEST more work, especially as 4/5 of them will be out of high school after this Spring as Hikaru and Inoo graduate.

In other news, J-Storm has put up information for Mayonaka no Shadow Boy, which includes a track listing for the single. The LE will only have two tracks, the title track plus the B-side Journey into Space. The RE will have three songs, the two on the LE plus another B-side called Deep Night Kimi Omou plus the karaoke versions of all three songs.

EDIT: Because I'm sorta a ditz I noticed this on the J-Storm page, as they list who wrote what song and all, that Yabu actually wrote the lyrics to Journey into Space but didn't mention it. For some reason I second guessed myself when I read his name and lamely forgot to check the profile page to double check. Probably because I just wanted to get this information up as soon as possible.

But I'm really interested now in Journey into Space. I love it when the boys get to actually work on the songs they sing but I didn't think Johnny's would let Hey! Say! JUMP do so already, but I guess Yabu is the oldest so they let him. I hope this is a sign that we'll be seeing a few more of the boys contribute to their songs in the near future.

Arashi new single up for pre-order

Hey guess what's just been put up for pre-order. Though you probably don't need to guess as I've answered that in the title for this entry. It's kinda surreal to think I had made a post about this in the morning and now I'm making another for the actual release. So I'll keep this post simple as I've pretty much already said everything I wanted to in the earlier post.

But here are the cdjapan links. And as I mentioned in the earlier post if you want the LE you probably need to pre-order now as Arashi is popular enough that there probably won't be many if any at all to pre-order it from cdjapan once it goes out of stock.

Beautiful Days [Regular Edition] / Arashi

Beautiful Days [w/ DVD, Limited Edition] / Arashi

Anime Nagase and Chinen starred in, Mukoh Haden (Sword of Stranger), coming Stateside

You know I remember discovering that Nagase Tomoya (TOKIO) and Chinen Yuri (Hey! Say! JUMP) being voice actors in an anime movie over a year ago. But between then and now I had completely forgotten about it until reading Anime News Network's Bandai Entertainment Anime Weekend Atlanta panel report. According to the report Mukoh Haden, or The Sword of Stranger as it will be called in the U.S. market, will have a limited theater run (doesn't say if it will be the dub or sub that will be shown) and then in February 2009 it will be released on DVD in the U.S.

I don't think I'll buy it without viewing the movie first, so for me it'll definitely be added to my Netflix queue. I'm really curious to how Nagase and Chinen did with voice acting. I have yet to be impressed by Chinen's acting skills and this was done before he was even a part of the temporary Hey! Say! 7 group so I almost dread it a little. But I think Nagase will do fine and it also has Sakamoto Maaya in the cast so she should make it worth watching at least.

Also another anime being brought over with Johnny's ties is Jyu-Oh-Sei: Planet of the Beast King, which Domoto Koichi (Kinki Kids) did the opening theme song for and voiced the adult version of the main character Thor. This is being released by Funimation as a complete box set, as it only ran for 11 episodes, on October 7th, 2008.

Arashi to sing Ryusei no Kizuna theme song

It has been announced that Arashi will be singing the theme song of the upcoming Fall drama Ryusei no Kizuna that stars Ninomiya from the group as well as NEWS/Kanjani8's Ryo and actress Toda Erika. The single will be released November 5th and is titled Beautiful Days.

The Sports Hochi report. (In Japanese only.)

I know with Johnny's fans it's been debated which group if any would get to sing the theme song of this drama because of the two idols attached to it. I guess in the end Johnny's decided to keep cashing in on Arashi, especially with them having two of the three top three singles for the year on the Oricon charts.

I guess in the next few days the single should be put up by cdjapan to pre-order, which if you're an Arashi fan and want to get the LE, as there's always a LE, you should pre-order immediately as they'll sell out quickly and have less of a chance of getting back in stock a few days later like other JE releases.

Ultra Music Power & Star Time lyric scans

I remember scanning these a while ago but I ended up just completely forgetting about them. That is until today when I was searching for other scans and ended up coming across these. They are scans from the March Young Song booklet that comes with the Myojo magazine and the first has the lyrics and the music score for Ultra Music Power. I'm assuming the music score is for singing as it begins and ends with the lyrics.



The second is an answer to a question about which members of Hey! Say! JUMP sing which lines in the Ultra Music Power single B-side, Star Time. For those curious I can't type out the song in romanji but I will give a list of names for the parts marked.

Hey! Say! 7
中島(Nakajima)　知念(Chinen)　山田(Yamada)　岡本(Okamoto)　森本(Morimoto)

Hey! Say! BEST
藪(Yabu)　八乙女(Yaotome)　高木(Takaki)　有岡(Arioka)　伊野尾(Inoo)

全員(everyone)

Hey! Say! JUMP 4th single Mayonaka no Shadow Boy

I guess I was wrong in guessing when the new Hey! Say! JUMP single would come out. Just got my notification from cdjapan for pre-ordering the single which is named Mayonaka no Shadow Boy.

cdjapan's description:

Fourth single release from Hey! Say! Jump featuring their first actual love song, which is used as a theme to the TV drama "Scrap Teacher - Kyoshi Saisei -" starring Hey! Say! Jump members Yuto Nakajima, Ryosuke Yamada, Yuri Chinen, and Daiki Arioka. The track has painfully sad, passionate lyrics and a melancholic melody with a Spanish taste.

Mayonaka no Shadow Boy [Regular Edition] / Hey! Say! JUMP

Mayonaka no Shadow Boy [w/ DVD, Limited Edition] / Hey! Say! JUMP

The Limited of course has the PV and making of but the closet to a track listing given for either version is that the regular edition is listed to have three karaoke tracks which means that it will have three songs on it as well. It's hard to tell for now if the LE will also have three songs or not until more information comes out.

Yamapi graduates from university

It has been announced in the news that Yamapi has officially graduated from his university. He was supposed to graduate this past Spring but ended up being a few credits short so he had to finish up to graduate for Fall. I think he might be better for it as in the Tokyograph article it mentions that there were only about 30 other students graduating with him, and as someone who has suffered through a few graduation ceremonies before smaller is better. Way better.

Koichi Domoto - Endless Shock DVD release, release speculation

Just got the e-mail from cdjapan for the release of Koichi Domoto's Endless Shock 2008 DVD release for October 29th.

The cdjapan pre-order links are here:

Endless Shock 2008 [Regular Edition] / Koichi Domoto

Endless Shock 2008 [Limited Edition] / Koichi Domoto

With this release I think it's safe to say that there won't be much released from the Johnny's groups in October. There still is a chance that there might be a cd release for the end of the month but normally Johnny's announces releases in chronological order from what I've seen. And it makes sense as the only groups that could be up for another single soon would be Kanjani8, who have been long over due for a new release of any kind with their last release being back in March, KAT-TUN and Hey! Say! JUMP.

Though from the Scrap Teacher preview it sounds like HSJ have a new song on the way but drama theme songs tend to wait after a few weeks of airing before the single is released so that would pretty much set it to be a November release. I wouldn't be surprised if it also has a volleyball song tie-in too it as it would be the season for that and usually the volleyball debut groups cover the event up until the next volleyball debut. Of course it means an album for HSJ probably won't happen until 2009 unless they do what they did with NEWS' Pacific album release and release a single the same day. Which would be nice to have an album for them but not so nice on my wallet.

We are the No.1! Outlow!

Tonight you will get fangirl spazzing from me as one of the parts of the 14SEP2008 Shounen Club that is showing up first for download is the Kis-My-Ft2 performance of their new song, Kaizoku (or Pirates, I'm not sure as the title is in kanji but they sing it as 'pirates' in the song). But yes, Kisumai has been my favorite Junior group for a while now, even though I love Top3 it's hard to really call them a group nowadays with how influx they are. Kisumai on the other hand have been around for years now and were created by two other Junior groups, Kis-My-Ft and A.B.C. Jr., being put together back in 2005. They originally had eight members but lost their 'i' years ago. And that is my quick Kisumai history because I want to babble on and on about them as I love them so. Especially Fujigaya ♥ and Wataru ♥, my favorite members of the group. But I think I'll save that for another entry at a later date.

Here is the streamed video of the Kaizoku(Pirates) performance. You can download the Shounen Club episode from moon_kaka's LJ journal, which is where I got my version of it this time.



The Engrish is rather cute. I'm certain they were going for Outlaw instead of Outlow, being this is a song about pirates, but somebody forgot to run the whole song by someone who is fluent in English. But that's hardly anything new in J-pop.

I think this is one of those songs that you just need to see onstage at a concert to really love. I don't love it like Brand New Season, Fire Beat or Kis-My-Me-Mine, but it has a certain appeal to it. Maybe because it really tries to give every member a solo line, though it's hardly an equal breakdown. And maybe because this seems to be more focus on the performance and less on the vocals. I really wish I could go to the A.B.C.-Z/Kis-My-Ft2 concerts in October and November now. Or maybe Johnny's will answer my prayers and debut Kisumai as a group so I know that one day I'll see them concert. Kinda like I plan no matter what to one day attend a NEWS and Hey! Say! JUMP concert. They do seem to be the most popular Junior group now after HSJ's debut and I personally think that they have a lot of potential. But that could just be my bias speaking.

Upcoming dramas -Fall 2008-

As the Fall drama season is fast approaching I figured I'll comment on those I will be watching that are Johnny's related. There are two dramas this season that I am interested in checking out and those are Ryusei no Kizuna and Scrap Teacher.

Ryusei no Kizuna isn't really the kind of drama that I typically watch. I much prefer the light hearted dramas than any of the ones that take themselves seriously. But the story is kinda interesting and I'm curious to see Ninomiya and Ryo in their roles.

And if it looks like I need a break if Ryusei no Kizuna gets too moody for me then at least it looks like I'll have Scrap Teacher to lighten things up. The preview just came out and it does sound like Hey! Say! JUMP will be doing the theme song of the drama. Or at least I'm hearing young male voices singing the song in the background so I think it's safe to assume that's HSJ. If there is no announcement soon about this song I guess we'll find out in four weeks, October 11th, when the first episode of Scrap Teacher will air.

I uploaded the video up on veoh so you can view it here:



When the episodes fansubs since I'm not that fluent in Japanese come out I will do what I did with Yasuko to Kenji and post first impressions of the first episode. Then I'll follow up around the halfway mark for them and then a final impression of the dramas when I've finished watching them.

List of upcoming NEWS live performances

For reasons unknown to me the internet is down at my house. As I planned on going into town anyway I've stopped by a local cafe that offers free wi-fi so I can check on what I've been missing since I went to bed last night until now and of course make a quick update here. Hopefully the issue at home will be fixed shortly so I can make a more substantial post soon.

Well with the new single coming out in about three weeks it means that the promotions should really start kicking in. So far NEWS is listed for three shows in connection to the Happy Birthday single. It looks like the promotion will start on CDTV's 15th anniversary episode, where they are listed as guests on September 24th. It's followed up by the usual Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ appearance on the 29th of September. And then the usual Music Station appearance the week of the single release on the 3rd of October. Hopefully they'll get another program to promote the single as three seems like it's too little, especially compared to all the shows Hey! Say! JUMP was on for Your Seed/Bouken Rider.

Also if you have for some reason not heard by now the PV for Happy Birthday has been aired. I think the only thing that really saves it is how cute everyone is in it as it looks like Johnny's has given up spending money on just about everyone but Arashi and KAT-TUN.

Countdown musings

I'm feeling pretty drained from writing that report that night so I'm just going to ramble on tonight. I should have something more coherent tomorrow to post.

After the announcement of NEWS' winter tour and the fact they will be taking over the Countdown concert at the Tokyo Dome I've been really curious about what this means. Kinki Kids are still doing a New Year's concert but over in Osaka, which of course means they won't be at the Countdown this year. They had been the group that hosted the Countdown concert for the past ten years so it's strange to imagine them not being a part of it anymore at all. But perhaps this is all a part of passing the torch to the younger groups. Also with part of Hey! Say! JUMP now able to participate, as only those 18 and over can work after midnight in Japan, they may not really have the room for so many acts on a single stage.

It will still be strange to a newer Johnny's fan like me not to see Kinki Kids at Countdown. It will be stranger still if the two groups that debuted before Kinki Kids, Tokio and V6 aren't there either. I don't think that information is out yet but I hope those two will be at Countdown, or if they aren't they will be joining Kinki Kids in Osaka. But I guess sooner or later these older groups would stop doing the concert, kinda like how they stop showing up in the idol magazines to make way for the younger Johnny's talents. I'll be sad to see that happen as the older groups are fun to watch interact with each other.

I do hope NEWS gets to host the Countdown concert for as long as Kinki Kids did. And then maybe in ten years a new younger group can take up the honor.

NEWS Winter Concert Tour

Johnny's net has updated with the announcement of a winter concert tour for NEWS. Even though it's listed as a winter tour it begins in the fall on October 15th. They'll be returning to the Tokyo Dome for this tour and even get the honor of having a concert there on New Year's eve, which means the 08-09 Countdown concert will be held on their stage. I'd be surprised if this doesn't mean they will be the ones hosting the event as well.

With the concert it makes me wonder what the chances are now of an album release this year. There is a gap from about mid-November to early December in the schedule that they could use as promotion time for an album but unless recording for it now I don't think it will be ready for a release. I guess time will tell whether or not Happy Birthday will be NEWS' last 2008 release.

Nakayama Yuma hospitalized

It's amazing in what can happen in a couple of days sometimes. Over the weekend Nakayama Yuma had been hospitalized and even underwent surgery for appendicitis and panperitonitis, which is the inflammation of the appendix. The treatment for appendicitis is to remove the appendix, hence the surgery.

He had gone to the hospital Friday night complaining about stomach pains. He was first sent home but the pains continued through Saturday and it was then he was diagnosed with appendicitis and set for surgery.

Yabu Kota was rushed in from Tokyo to help fill in for Nakayama at the Battery/Gokusen concerts. And while he did not perform Nakayama did make an appearance at the concert but in a wheelchair.

Article in Japanese at Daily Sports.
Article in English at Tokyograph.

It hasn't been all that great for Kansai Juniors health wise recently. Between this and Nakama Junta injuring his ankle last month at SUMMARY. Hopefully Nakayama will make a speedy recovery but I think it's probably safe to say that even though he might show up for the rest of the concerts this week he won't be performing in them as it takes days to recover.

I'm personally assuming they picked Yabu Kota to fill in for him because for what we know he's not in school, and if he is he would be in college which has a much more flexible schedule than middle and high schools, like the rest of Hey! Say! JUMP and because of his role in Dream Boys he probably has enough solo material to fill the gaps Nakayama's absence has left.

Kis-My-Ft2 & A.B.C.-Z on Hi! Hey! Say!

Johnny's net has updated there TV recording page. The information for Hi! Hey! Say! that will be filmed on September 20th, has been updated. The live stage portion is listing Yabu, Hikaru, Kis-My-Ft2 and A.B.C.-Z as the performers. I think it's safe to assume that Kisumai and A.B.C.-Z are there to help promote their concerts scheduled for next month.

I don't think I'm ever going to be able to really accept Hashimoto being a part of A.B.C. He just doesn't fit well with them at all, in image, age and performance strengths. I mean it was much easier to accept Shoon with the group as he did acrobatics with them but I don't think Hashimoto will be doing that. If anything he's like a new Tohshin, i.e. he'll probably just sing and dance and let the other boys do the acrobatics.

I guess no amount of complaining on my part is going to change things. I'll just keep hoping that once the concerts are over next month they'll be taking Hashimoto out of the group and at least putting him back with Juniors his age again.

I guess I should mention the other Hey! Say! JUMP show so I can end on a more positive note. Showa X Heisei is only listing the three boys, Yamada, Yuto and Morimoto so I'm assuming for them it's back to the usual live stages with those three and they're recording on September 13th. i rather enjoy their live stages overall as it's nice to see Yuto and Morimoto getting some spotlight treatment.

EDIT: Something I didn't notice last night but did this morning when looking at Johnny's net is now both concerts, for October and November, are listed as A.B.C.-Z & Kis-My-Ft2 concerts, while before only the November concerts had A.B.C.-Z listed in the title.

Yasuko to Kenji mid-season impressions

I figured I should make another post about the Yasuko to Kenji drama as I've finished watching the first six episodes, which puts me about the halfway mark for most dramas. For my initial impressions from watching the first episode check out this entry. And all screen caps for this entry are from episode six as I need to save space on my computer and I didn't have the earlier episodes anymore.


After watching the first three episodes I was beginning to worry about this series suffering from the Gokusen formula, where the kids get in trouble and need the mentor or for this series big brother to come save them every episode. Thankfully the fourth episode breaks the formula and it's one of my favorite episodes as it has pretty solid storytelling and character development all the way through. Even though episodes five and six go back to having a fight scene in random abandoned building formula it changes things up a bit with who does the fighting at least and is actually lending itself to the overall plot of the series. Though I hope there's going to be a couple more episodes that don't have fight scenes in them.


I really think Matsuoka and Hirosue really steal the show in the scenes they are in. They just have this quality about them that really makes you want to watch them. Though sometimes I find it hard to forget the other role I've seen Hirosue in, the female lead in Summer Snow which also starred Domoto Tsuyoshi, which was one of the first J-dramas I ever watched. I honestly love her in both roles even though they're so very different.

The other actors aren't as stand out to me but are still enjoyable to watch. It's nice to see Ohkura's character actually be given some character other than 'perfect boy that Yasuko fawns over.' And Tabe Mikako, Yasuko, has a nice homely charm to her. Her character isn't too much to talk about, other than she's adorable as a little girl, as there doesn't seem to be much more to her than her crush on Jun and a cheerleader for Erika's attempts to confess her feelings to Kenji so far. But somehow Tabe is able to make a character like Yasuko watchable for me, as I usually end up disliking such characters quickly but I honestly don't mind Yasuko.


Overall I'm still very much enjoying the series and will be sad when it ends. Though after it does end Scrap Teacher will take over its time slot so I guess at least I'll have a replacement drama to watch. I only hope it will be as enjoyable to watch as Yasuko to Kenji has been so far.

Battery/Gokusen concerts news clips

There really seems to be a lack of news for JE. Which is partially why there was no update yesterday. The other reason was that I had a lot of errands to run so I just wasn't at home much at all. I didn't want to go two days without an update so I do have something for today and I'm trying to get some things together to post about so I don't run into that issue again any time soon.

Enough of my chattering. I've decided to stream the videos f-fantasymonica over on Live Journal put up to share for the news coverage of the Battery/Gokusen concerts. I have to say seeing them really makes me wish I could somehow go to one of the upcoming concerts as looking at the concert hall the stage looks so close to the crowd. I mean as amazing as it looks to see the Johnny's concerts with domes full there's just something wonderful about smaller venues as you get better chances of actually seeing performers up close.



This one is definately worth watching as they show some of the Gokusen skit and they had their own Yankumi. XD



I must say I'm quite amused at the fact that the KAT-TUN member to show up as a guest is neither of the two that were actually in the Gokusen drama. I guess there is still a chance for either to show up, but somehow I doubt Jin or Kame will.

In other semi-related news, I've broken down and I'm going to try to as least get the Takaki photo set from this concert off Yahoo!Japan auctions. I'm using a bid service I haven't used before so it should be interesting to see how it goes. Hopefully I'll be able to get them.

Matching colors...

Because I'm just so throughly amused by this I know I have to make a post for it. The goods for the Arashi Asia tour this year are up to be viewed at Johnny's net and the colors, purple and yellow, are the same as my high school colors. They even use the purple as the main color with the yellow mainly as trim just like my high school does.

Not only that but the way they designed the 'A' on the goods it looks like an upside down 'V' and the school team names/mascot is the Vikings. I think if I bought any of these items I would feel like I was buying something out of school pride, which just seems weird to me. Maybe because I've been out of high school for a while now.

NEWS Happy Birthday single covers & Battery/Gokusen concert goods

Ok, now for the entry of the day that runs a completely different vein.

The covers for NEWS' new single Happy Birthday are up on the Johnny's Entertainment website, and it looks like they're continuing the vein of having boring/ugly covers. Seriously, the last good covers NEWS got were those for Pacific and Weeeek, IMHO, and those were released last year. But here are the covers to see for yourself. The limited edition has them standing as a group together the regular edition has the low bit computer graphics in the background.



In other news the first two Battery/Gokusen concerts have come and gone which means the concert goods can be found on Yahoo!Auctions Japan. You can view the auction pages here to see what the merchandise look like. I am so tempted in bidding on some of the Takaki goods. I really don't like the curly hair he has going on but I love how he's smiling so much in his photo set. And I will confess to being very tempted as first about getting the poster, even with the questionable hair and the dead rodent of unknown origins on his shoulder like that. I can really feel my resolve not to buy concert goods until I make it to a concert begin to slip. Maybe I can make an exception for photo sets...

Were the NEWS and Hey! Say! JUMP debuts as random as some say?

Over the past couple of days a thought had been crossing my mind quite a bit so I felt I should write it out to see if it would help give it more focus. And I think it has. I know I've written about the subject of debuts before, but it's one of those things I'll never be satisfied with until I figure it out. Which with Johnny's Jimusho being so secretive about their managing decisions I'll never be able to do so. But it's still fun to theorize and speculate. So here I go, and sorry for the following tl;dr.

There are some things in the Johnny’s fandom that I find that are oddly not questioned as much as I think they should be. One of those things is that groups like NEWS and Hey! Say! JUMP were just thrown together at the last minute. I think this came about from the fact that the members of those groups weren’t given much time before they were told they would be a new debuted unit. But I highly doubt Johnny’s debuted them without a lot of planning on their part. Unfortunately the members of the Jimusho that are privy to such information are for the most part hidden from the public so there is little an outsider can learn about these matters from them. So most of this is speculative on my part.

Since NEWS was first introduced as a temporary group with their NEWS Nippon single being only sold in 7-11 stores in Japan most seem to believe that they would go back to their Junior groups after the Volleyball World Cup. Though looking back on things I wonder if Johnny’s ever even thought about not officially debuting NEWS. They had already debuted two groups tied to the Volleyball World Cup, V6 and Arashi, with four years between those debuts and four years had passed since Arashi’s debut. So they were up for another volleyball debut and once they put NEWS together for it, I don’t think there was any turning back. 

Because the single was not sold in cd stores the sales numbers are unknown but they must have done well enough for JE to go ahead and debut them. I think the only way they would have refused to debut the group was if there were major scandals from the get go or the single bombed.

One big difference between V6 and Arashi and NEWS was that Junior groups had not been around so much in V6 and Arashi’s days for Juniors outside of dance units for their senpai. In fact from what I’ve learned about the history of Johnny’s the groupings really came about with the introduction of Shounen Club, where they really had a chance to shine.

That was after Arashi’s debut so NEWS was the first group of Juniors to debut that broke up Junior groups. Some of these groups had been around for years and had dedicated and loving fans. So it was understandable for them to be upset with the groups that they had come to love and watched for years get broken up to create a new group that would get to debut. Maybe this was one reason NEWS was first introduced as a temporary group, to lessen the backlash from those fans. If they got used to NEWS as a temporary unit then perhaps the switch to permanent unit would be easier and bring more of the existing fan base along once they got over the initial shock of the group.

That then takes us to 2007. The four year mark was coming up and to keep up with tradition JE would have to debut a new unit with the Volleyball World Cup as they did with the previous groups, V6, Arashi and NEWS. About mid-year we saw the debut of a new Junior unit called Hey! Say! 7. Their single had some strong competition with Tohoshinki, a Korean singing group that had been gaining popularity in Japan, releasing a 4A-side single the same day. Both J-Storm and Avex promoted the singles heavily that first week of release and in the end Hey! Say! 7 was the one that managed to claim the #1 weekly spot. If anything Johnny’s would have been foolish not to debut the members of the group after that as they had proven that they had some strong selling power.

Of course Johnny’s can’t have a debut without trying to outdo past debuts. They already had a temporary unit turned into a permanent, debuted unit with NEWS so they had to think of something else to do with the group. So we got the biggest and youngest group to debut, made of some of the most popular Juniors of the time with an unknown thrown in.

And once again the heartbreak of four years ago was experienced by the fans of the Junior groups broken up for the Hey! Say! JUMP debut. None probably more heart wrenching than that of the Ya-Ya-Yah fans as the group was around for longer than some of the groups that were split up for NEWS debut four years earlier.

It’s almost been a year and there really haven’t been any new Junior groups announced. I’m clinging to the Hasshi-trio as TOP3 even with the recent announcement but it’s hard to say what their future is. There has been some shuffling of members with A.B.C., much to the group’s fans’ dismay. I don’t blame them as I would begin to get annoyed if they treated Kis-My-FtII the same way, making them look like the group JE uses to promote other Juniors with. In a way it seems like JE is almost reluctant to create new Junior groups. Perhaps it’s because the backlash they saw with the Ya-Ya-Yah fans when Hey! Say! JUMP debuted and they want to make sure none of the groups are able to build up another fanbase like that.

I honestly can’t wait for 2011, for if Johnny’s keeps debuting a new group every four years with the Volleyball World Cup then that’s the year the next debut will happen. It will be interesting to see if we get another temporary Junior group to release a cd like Hey! Say! 7 or maybe they will find another way to gauge popularity of the Juniors for that. And of course just to see which Juniors will be picked to be a part of the unit. I already have an idea from the current Juniors those who seem most likely for debut in a few years just from how much JE seems to showcasing them now. 

*coughtmorimotoshintaroucoughnakayamayumacough* Kinda like how you could tell Yamapi, Ryo, Yabu and Yuto would debut because of how much exposure they got as Juniors. If by then they’ve gone back to making new Junior groups I’m sure there will be heartbreak, but that comes with being a Junior fan. And since those groups would be much newer than some of those NEWS and Hey! Say! JUMP broke up it might be less of a blow. Though I think I’ll take it better just knowing that it’s coming.

"Say no to stalking." - A message brought to you from your JE idols.

Well that flood of news I made an offhand comment about a few entries before seems to crashing on the shore now. There are a few things I want to make entries for so I'll be posting a couple times today to address them, as I don't think it would do to mix them together in one entry.

This entry is to address a letter that Japanese fans have reported that has been sent to fanclub members. Overall it sounds like the fans have pushed the boys too far with some of their actions.

I think as fans we need to remember that these boys, especially the younger ones, need some breathing room. They give us a lot when they perform and release music we enjoy so the least we can do is give them some privacy.

The original letter as the Japanese blog are posting it:

―Hey!Say!JUMP―

どうして、家の前で待ち伏せなんかしてるの?僕は学校に行きたいんだよ?
なのに、何でそれも駄目なの?酷いよ!ファンなら僕の事、きちんと考えてよ
山田　涼介


僕は学校の友達と普通に話すし、普通に外でサッカーとか、してる
TVに映ったり、コンサート会場以外では、普通の中学生なんだよ
タレントとプライベートの僕をちゃんと理解してくれないファンって大嫌い
知念　侑李


何で山ちゃんの家に隠しカメラなんてつけるの?
どうして追いかけたりするの?ちゃんと僕の事、見守ってよ
中島　裕翔


親のコネとか、本当にもうつらいんだ　悪口かかれて
確かに、お父さんは岡本健一だけど、もうそろそろ一人の「岡本圭人」
としてみてよ
岡本　圭人


最悪なファンがこれから増えると思うとぞっとします
自分の行動がいけない事だって分からないのってすごく悲しいよね
森本　龍太郎


「死ね」「バーカ」どうしてこんな事書くんだよ
自分の好きなジャニーズじゃなかったら傷つけてもいいのかよ
そんなファンなんか、いらない
有岡　大貴


「ファンだから」ファンなら、やっちゃいけない事がないと思ってる?
ファンだからやんないのもあるんだよ
伊野尾　慧


ファンって、ほんと自己中
いやな奴しか俺は知らない　だからファンでいい仔を見た時はなんか涙が
出ちゃったよ
高木　雄也


盗撮、尾行
全部「犯罪」って知ってるか?
藪　宏太


「Ya-Ya-yahぢゃない光は嫌い」
Ya-Ya-yahじゃない、俺をみてよ　ファンならそうだろ?
八乙女　光


―NEWS―

なんで家ん中に物投げ込んだりしてんだよ
ほんと、もうマジ俺やってけねえわ
山下　智久


ドラマの撮影でたまに見かけるんだけど、何でそこにゴミ散らかしてくの?
僕が楽しくドラマ撮影できるよう、協力してはくれないの?
手越　祐也


俺ら、なんかあんたらにしたんかい?
俺らは頑張っとんねん　その邪魔をするのがアンチと同類の最悪なファンや
錦戸　亮


隠しカメラ、やめて下さい
ほんとに、もう精神的に無理なんです
加藤　成亮


俺が普通の生活しちゃ駄目なのかよ?
小山　慶一郎


大好きな皆に、最高の笑顔がプレゼントできないってすんげえ悲しいんすよ
お願いだから、ストーカー行為はやめて下さい
増田　貴久


―KAT-TUN―

ファンならさ、ちゃんとマナー守れよ
赤西　仁


ファンって最近、近づけないってゆうか怖い
亀梨　和也


皆と触れ合うのが正直つらいよ　ほんとに、皆は俺を困らせて何したいの?
家でずっと待ってても何もしてあげられないんだよ
田口　淳之介


てめえらみてえな、最低なファンなんか俺に必要ねえんだよ
田中　聖


盗聴器、いつのまにつけたんですか?どうして家にはいったんですか?
「犯罪」ですからね
上田　竜也


悪口書き込むのやめて下さい
中丸　雄一


―嵐―

ほんとに僕の事思ってくれてますか?
松本　潤


僕に仕事してほしくないのかな?僕のいく先々でゴミ散らかして
最低だね
相葉　雅紀


中傷かいて、楽しいんですか?僕はほんとにもう無理かもしれないんです
櫻井　翔


大好きなファンがなんだか犯罪に手をそめています
僕のせいで　そんなの悲しすぎます
大野　智


家の中に物投げ込まないで!家の付近でウロウロしないで!
二ノ宮　和也


ジャニーズJr(多いので代表橋本良亮)

SUMMARYの後、ゆりかもめに乗るんだけど、普通に俺、キップかうんだ
SUMMARYが終れば、もう俺は普通の学生なんだよ
「キャーッ」って言って改札口通り抜けて追いかけてきたファンの人達
マナー、知らないのに来るとかありえねえし
ファンは、俺らの支えでいてくれよ
俺らのせいで警察の面倒になる事しないでよ
周りの人に迷惑かけないでよ
マナー、守ってよ
お願いだから
もう、コンサートできなくなっちゃうよ
橋本　良亮


これは、僕達、ジャニーズからの最終切り札です
僕等は、ファンの皆ともっと触れ合いたい
けど、それは、もう不可能に等しいんだ
ほんとに、ありえないよ
家でウロウロ、ほんとに迷惑で気持ち悪い
尾行、ファンだと思ってしないけど、警察に届けるよ
僕等のファンなら、もっと僕等をきちんとした形で応援してよ
それもできないの?
僕等は、もっといろんなとこで大きくなりたい
もっと皆と会いたい
だから、やめてほしいんだ
コンサートも、絶対、もっとできるはずなんだよ
なのにできないんだよ
もう、疲れちゃった
もう、ジャニーズなんかやめちゃおう
そう考えてもおかしくないんだよ
ねえ、自分のやってる事ってほんとに正しい?
ブログに勝手に画像貼り付けて、楽しい?
僕等は全然楽しくないよ?
ねえ、もっと僕等をきちんと見てよ?

　　　　　　　　　　　　ジャニーズ代表山田涼介