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.
No comments:
Post a Comment