While there isn't an official announcement for this by Johnny's yet, two online stores (Tower Records and Shinseido) have the PLAYZONE 2009 DVD up for pre-order, and the Shinseido listing even has run times, track listings and bonus feature information, so I think it's safe to assume that this is a real release.
Since it was first announced that Kis-My-Ft2 would be doing this year's PLAYZONE I've been hoping that it would get a DVD release, so as can be expected I'm really excited about this. And can't wait for it to come out on December 2nd. Even though it looks like December will be a very expensive month with all the concerts and who knows what other releases will come out that month.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Shibuya Scramble ads
Well the other day I was in Shibuya and from the Scramble took a couple of photos of the Johnny's ads that had been put up since the last time I was there.
First one, and the one easiest to spot, is for Yamapi's solo single Loveless, as well as his solo concerts.
What I find interesting is that you can see that they left some of the promotions for NYC boys up as well, so I guess Johnny's still wants to ring out some more sales from that single.
And the other ad I spotted was for Kinki Kids' upcoming single, Swan Song. This one you have to look down one of the streets to see, but it's still hard to miss when you look in that direction. And the place they have it up also at one time sported and ad for Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow, though Yuma was the only face on the ad.
First one, and the one easiest to spot, is for Yamapi's solo single Loveless, as well as his solo concerts.
What I find interesting is that you can see that they left some of the promotions for NYC boys up as well, so I guess Johnny's still wants to ring out some more sales from that single.
And the other ad I spotted was for Kinki Kids' upcoming single, Swan Song. This one you have to look down one of the streets to see, but it's still hard to miss when you look in that direction. And the place they have it up also at one time sported and ad for Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow, though Yuma was the only face on the ad.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Snow Prince advanced ticket & how to go to the movies in Japan
I went and got my advanced ticket for Snow Prince today and took a quick picture of it, the special bonus you get for buying in advance and two flyers for the movie. The bonus is a set of colored pencils with special packaging. For the flyers, the plain looking one I actually picked up back in the spring, as I had seen it when I picked up a flyer for the Gokusen movie, and the one with Morimoto Shintarou on it is the new flyer for the movie. The new flyer of course has more information about the movie and does list Snow Prince by Snow Prince Gasshoudan as the theme song for the movie.
And I figured with Johnny's from time to time being in movies then perhaps it would be nice to give some information about seeing movies in Japan, as I know I had to find out quite a bit by myself when I got here.
First off as a warning for those spoiled by cheap movie prices and matineesAmericans, it's expensive to go to the movies in Japan. The usual price for an adult ticket is 1800 yen, and there are no matinee shows at all. There are discounts though, but there are two, only one though for guys, that a visitor to Japan can easily use. The one anyone can use regardless of gender is the discount on the first of every month, where tickets are only 1000 yen each. This also tends to be the most popular day to go to the movies for everyone so don't be surprised to find the cinema crowded. The other is only for women, and this is Ladies' Day, which is every Wednesday, and all women can get tickets for 1000 yen. I've been using Ladies' Day a lot for seeing movies here in Japan personally.
Another option if you're looking for cheap tickets, or at least cheaper than the full price, are the resale ticket stores that are all around the place. I don't have a list of where they all are but if you look around, especially in Tokyo, you can find them. I believe the easiest one to find that I've seen is the one in Ikebukuro on the street that Sunshine City is on. These resale ticket places can sell tickets for all kinds of things, and some do sell concert tickets, but you can get movie tickets from them. Though most tend to be advanced tickets so you need to be careful when you buy the tickets as you can only use them in select movie theaters. And I'll get into that next.
If you're looking to get advanced tickets for any movie you can get it either from a movie theater or you can use the ticketing machines that the convenience stores have. Though if you want the special looking tickets and bonus gifts for buying an advanced ticket you will need to find a movie theater that is taking advanced sales for the movie you want to see. Though one thing to keep in mind about advanced tickets from movie theaters is that you can't use them at any theater you want. They will have the name of the theater(s) that you can use them at somewhere on them. The ones you get from the convenience stores though are good at any theater though. Both cost 1300 yen and they tend to work more like a voucher than an actual ticket.
Using Snow Prince as an example, the movie theater closest to me isn't taking advanced sales for this movie so I chose to buy my ticket from a cinema in Shibuya. I am now limited to seeing the movie in the theaters listed on the back of the ticket, but I plan on seeing it at the theater I bought it from anyway so it's not an issue for me. Also the day, exact showing and seat will only be selected when I go in to actually see the movie. So if it so happens that I want to see the movie on a certain day and for a certain showtime but it's full by the time I get there I'm either going to have to wait for another showtime or day.
Also to make sure it's clear the advanced ticket will not let you in to see the movie itself. You need to go to the ticket counter in the cinema itself and get a ticket from them to go in to the screening room. They'll tear off the bottom part of the advanced ticket and you'll get to keep the 'pretty' part of it. All the advanced ticket does is let you pay in advance, so you don't need to pay the ticket counter anything when you get the actual movie ticket. That and you can usually get a little gift and a nice little pretty piece of paper for paying in advance.
And since it is something that will probably need addressing, they do seating in Japan differently than in the States, I'm not sure about if other countries do this as well or not. But in Japan when you chose your showtime you also get to choose which seat you will sit in to watch it in. So like concerts with seating in Japan, you will get assigned seating for movies and the seat row and number will be printed on the actual ticket you use to get in. This will happen when you get the actual ticket and the person at the counter will pull out a seating chart and ask where you want to be seated, so unlike concerts you will actually get a choice.
For those who don't speak Japanese, or at least not well, just point to an area of seats you want to sit in and say 'koko' and you'll get your point across just fine. They will tell which seat they will give you, rows are letters from the English alphabet and then a number (which will be said in Japanese). If you're fine with the seat then just nod your head or say 'hai', 'ii desu', or any other confirmation word(s) in Japanese and they will then print out your ticket. This is the ticket that you hand to the attendent near the screening rooms to be let in to actually see the movie.
Japanese cinemas have merchandise areas in them. Every movie will have a special pamphlet that you can buy. They're usually really nice and not that expensive considering their quality. And there will probably be other items for whatever movie you are seeing for sale as well. The official websites for the movie should have a list somewhere of everything that will be available. Though things tend to sell out quickly, as they need to make room for the next batch of goods for the next movie(s) coming out every week.
There should be an area to buy food and drinks as well. They have a rather massive selection from what I've seen of your usual popcorn to flavored french fries as well as light meals. But like most places that sell food in Japan they should have a menu, sometimes with pictures, by the register so you can just point to what you want. And if you're over 20 years old you can even order beer if you'd like. If you order more than just a drink they'll usually give you a tray that will connect to the seat where the cup holder is.
In the screening room you need to find your seat, which shouldn't be that hard. And then it's more or less the same as movie theaters in the U.S. The only other major difference that you will notice is that before the previews start rolling an employee from the cinema will come in and stand in front of the screen, tell you which movie you are seeing and the basic rules of the cinema. Though I honestly can't remember if every movie I've seen has had this, but most have.
And also to note as it confused me a bit at first, but 'roadshow' is 'opening day'. Again using Snow Prince as an example, it says its roadshow begins December 12th. What that actually means is that the opening day for the movie will be December 12th. This of course doesn't include any special previews or advanced screenings of the film that may happen before this date.
And that's about all I can think of mentioning for this topic. I'm not sure how useful people will find it, but I hope anyone who wishes to catch a movie while visiting Japan will find it helpful.
And I figured with Johnny's from time to time being in movies then perhaps it would be nice to give some information about seeing movies in Japan, as I know I had to find out quite a bit by myself when I got here.
First off as a warning for those spoiled by cheap movie prices and matinees
Another option if you're looking for cheap tickets, or at least cheaper than the full price, are the resale ticket stores that are all around the place. I don't have a list of where they all are but if you look around, especially in Tokyo, you can find them. I believe the easiest one to find that I've seen is the one in Ikebukuro on the street that Sunshine City is on. These resale ticket places can sell tickets for all kinds of things, and some do sell concert tickets, but you can get movie tickets from them. Though most tend to be advanced tickets so you need to be careful when you buy the tickets as you can only use them in select movie theaters. And I'll get into that next.
If you're looking to get advanced tickets for any movie you can get it either from a movie theater or you can use the ticketing machines that the convenience stores have. Though if you want the special looking tickets and bonus gifts for buying an advanced ticket you will need to find a movie theater that is taking advanced sales for the movie you want to see. Though one thing to keep in mind about advanced tickets from movie theaters is that you can't use them at any theater you want. They will have the name of the theater(s) that you can use them at somewhere on them. The ones you get from the convenience stores though are good at any theater though. Both cost 1300 yen and they tend to work more like a voucher than an actual ticket.
Using Snow Prince as an example, the movie theater closest to me isn't taking advanced sales for this movie so I chose to buy my ticket from a cinema in Shibuya. I am now limited to seeing the movie in the theaters listed on the back of the ticket, but I plan on seeing it at the theater I bought it from anyway so it's not an issue for me. Also the day, exact showing and seat will only be selected when I go in to actually see the movie. So if it so happens that I want to see the movie on a certain day and for a certain showtime but it's full by the time I get there I'm either going to have to wait for another showtime or day.
Also to make sure it's clear the advanced ticket will not let you in to see the movie itself. You need to go to the ticket counter in the cinema itself and get a ticket from them to go in to the screening room. They'll tear off the bottom part of the advanced ticket and you'll get to keep the 'pretty' part of it. All the advanced ticket does is let you pay in advance, so you don't need to pay the ticket counter anything when you get the actual movie ticket. That and you can usually get a little gift and a nice little pretty piece of paper for paying in advance.
And since it is something that will probably need addressing, they do seating in Japan differently than in the States, I'm not sure about if other countries do this as well or not. But in Japan when you chose your showtime you also get to choose which seat you will sit in to watch it in. So like concerts with seating in Japan, you will get assigned seating for movies and the seat row and number will be printed on the actual ticket you use to get in. This will happen when you get the actual ticket and the person at the counter will pull out a seating chart and ask where you want to be seated, so unlike concerts you will actually get a choice.
For those who don't speak Japanese, or at least not well, just point to an area of seats you want to sit in and say 'koko' and you'll get your point across just fine. They will tell which seat they will give you, rows are letters from the English alphabet and then a number (which will be said in Japanese). If you're fine with the seat then just nod your head or say 'hai', 'ii desu', or any other confirmation word(s) in Japanese and they will then print out your ticket. This is the ticket that you hand to the attendent near the screening rooms to be let in to actually see the movie.
Japanese cinemas have merchandise areas in them. Every movie will have a special pamphlet that you can buy. They're usually really nice and not that expensive considering their quality. And there will probably be other items for whatever movie you are seeing for sale as well. The official websites for the movie should have a list somewhere of everything that will be available. Though things tend to sell out quickly, as they need to make room for the next batch of goods for the next movie(s) coming out every week.
There should be an area to buy food and drinks as well. They have a rather massive selection from what I've seen of your usual popcorn to flavored french fries as well as light meals. But like most places that sell food in Japan they should have a menu, sometimes with pictures, by the register so you can just point to what you want. And if you're over 20 years old you can even order beer if you'd like. If you order more than just a drink they'll usually give you a tray that will connect to the seat where the cup holder is.
In the screening room you need to find your seat, which shouldn't be that hard. And then it's more or less the same as movie theaters in the U.S. The only other major difference that you will notice is that before the previews start rolling an employee from the cinema will come in and stand in front of the screen, tell you which movie you are seeing and the basic rules of the cinema. Though I honestly can't remember if every movie I've seen has had this, but most have.
And also to note as it confused me a bit at first, but 'roadshow' is 'opening day'. Again using Snow Prince as an example, it says its roadshow begins December 12th. What that actually means is that the opening day for the movie will be December 12th. This of course doesn't include any special previews or advanced screenings of the film that may happen before this date.
And that's about all I can think of mentioning for this topic. I'm not sure how useful people will find it, but I hope anyone who wishes to catch a movie while visiting Japan will find it helpful.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
18th poll results
Since I need to do this I'm going to quickly post the poll results so I can finally start up the next poll.
Ok. 23
Haven't a clue. 23
Borefest. 10
I guess it will be interesting to see how the concerts turn out in the end. There was at least enough interest for Johnny's to add one more day so hopefully it won't disappoint.
The next poll question is taken from my frustration of Hey! Say! JUMP not releasing any new cds so far this year. Honestly I believe they should have already done so, as back when they came out with Jounetsu JUMP I thought it would have been the perfect time for a new single as they could have included Yuuki 100% and Yumeiro on the single as those songs had just come out to be theme songs for an anime series. So my question to all is, Should Jounetsu JUMP have been released as a single?
What do you think Yamapi's solo concert will be like?
Beyond awesome. 37Ok. 23
Haven't a clue. 23
Borefest. 10
I guess it will be interesting to see how the concerts turn out in the end. There was at least enough interest for Johnny's to add one more day so hopefully it won't disappoint.
The next poll question is taken from my frustration of Hey! Say! JUMP not releasing any new cds so far this year. Honestly I believe they should have already done so, as back when they came out with Jounetsu JUMP I thought it would have been the perfect time for a new single as they could have included Yuuki 100% and Yumeiro on the single as those songs had just come out to be theme songs for an anime series. So my question to all is, Should Jounetsu JUMP have been released as a single?
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Nagano in an accident and Sakurai in a drama SP
It's being reported that back on Monday, Nagano Hiroshi of V6, was in a minor traffic accident. He had not been paying attention to the road and rear ended the car in front of him. From the sounds of the report he mustn't have been going very fast as no one was injured and the other car had stopped because of traffic.
Of course because of how minor the incident was I don't think Nagano is going to have to do more than pay the fines he needs to.
Tokyograph article.
In other news, Sakurai Sho will be in an upcoming drama special. This special will air in January 2010 as an anniversary special for the Great Kobe earthquake in 1995. The drama will focus on the reporters in the quake area and their dedication to get information out during the aftermath of the quake.
In a way I find it rather fitting that there is someone from Johnny's attached to a drama about the Kobe quake. It was from this disaster that J-Friends was created to help raise funds to help the children effected by the quake to continue with their education. So having them be apart of something about the quake fits, IMHO.
Tokyograph article.
Of course because of how minor the incident was I don't think Nagano is going to have to do more than pay the fines he needs to.
Tokyograph article.
In other news, Sakurai Sho will be in an upcoming drama special. This special will air in January 2010 as an anniversary special for the Great Kobe earthquake in 1995. The drama will focus on the reporters in the quake area and their dedication to get information out during the aftermath of the quake.
In a way I find it rather fitting that there is someone from Johnny's attached to a drama about the Kobe quake. It was from this disaster that J-Friends was created to help raise funds to help the children effected by the quake to continue with their education. So having them be apart of something about the quake fits, IMHO.
Tokyograph article.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Hey! Say! JUMP Winter Tour dates up & random silly
Johnny's net has updated with the dates and locations for Hey! Say! JUMP's winter tour for this year/next year. The December shows will be in Osaka and Nagoya, while the January shows are all in the Yokohama Arena.
Because of his musical, She Loves Me, Yabu will not be at the December shows and will be missing from the final two Yokohama Arena shows. So out of the currently scheduled 14 shows there will only be seven of them with the full ten members of the group.
I'll probably see about going to one of the Yokohama concerts, and I hope they will have proper uchiwas for the group and not the same one for each sub-unit that the summer concerts had. In fact I hope they won't recycle the concert goods as they did with the summer tour and Tokyo Dome concert goods. If Johnny's won't give a new music release I think at least new concert goods would be nice.
And on a completely different note. I found this robot generator program online and of course I decided to try it out using the names of Johnny's groups. I think the NEWS one I did turned out rather appropiate for the group.
Because of his musical, She Loves Me, Yabu will not be at the December shows and will be missing from the final two Yokohama Arena shows. So out of the currently scheduled 14 shows there will only be seven of them with the full ten members of the group.
I'll probably see about going to one of the Yokohama concerts, and I hope they will have proper uchiwas for the group and not the same one for each sub-unit that the summer concerts had. In fact I hope they won't recycle the concert goods as they did with the summer tour and Tokyo Dome concert goods. If Johnny's won't give a new music release I think at least new concert goods would be nice.
And on a completely different note. I found this robot generator program online and of course I decided to try it out using the names of Johnny's groups. I think the NEWS one I did turned out rather appropiate for the group.
Kis-My-Ft2 on Music Station impressions
So I just finished watching Music Station, as Kis-My-Ft2 is the final act to perform on the show. If you follow my twitter then you can see I've been tweeting throughout the program.
I missed Mini MSte, I'm really bad about that as it begins a few minutes before 8PM and I can never remember which channel I need to change the TV to. So if they were on that or not I didn't see. But they were the last act to come on stage at the beginning but got some of the loudest screams from the audience.
For most of the program they were wearing costumes that resembled street clothes. Lots of faded black jean material with white and red pieces of clothes and accessories. They sat in the bleacher seats with the rest of the artists for the program, except when they left to change outfits for the performance.
After they changed clothes they came out to talk with the hosts. The outfits they were wearing were pink suits, though you could only really see the pants at first, with writing all over them. Over the suits they had long white coats with red trim. Kitayama, Fujigaya and Tamamori where all wearing hats. The hats were balck and red, except Tamamori was wearing the head dress. I kinda wanted to take that off of him and burn it, as it doesn't look good at all. Also they all had their new white roller skates on.
The song definitely fits it's title of Tension, as it's the kind of song that brings up the tension of an atmosphere. The group get a lot of chances to show off their skating skills, though Kitayama almost fell on his rear near the beginning of the song. There were no other near mishaps from what was shown on camera, which was rather impressive with them repeatedly jumping off the middle ramp. And about halfway throughout the song the coats come off so you can see the pink suits more clearly. Too bad the hatsheaddress couldn't have gone as well.
Of course the main three of Fujigaya, Kitayama and Tamamori got the main focus but each member got a bit of time to shine with the various skating moves they did.
Overall I thought it was a great performance. And I was so excited when in one of the subtitles on the show before they went to a commercial break brought up KAT-TUN in connection to Kisumai. If just because I can't help but hope this means Johnny's truly is setting them up for a debut next.
I missed Mini MSte, I'm really bad about that as it begins a few minutes before 8PM and I can never remember which channel I need to change the TV to. So if they were on that or not I didn't see. But they were the last act to come on stage at the beginning but got some of the loudest screams from the audience.
For most of the program they were wearing costumes that resembled street clothes. Lots of faded black jean material with white and red pieces of clothes and accessories. They sat in the bleacher seats with the rest of the artists for the program, except when they left to change outfits for the performance.
After they changed clothes they came out to talk with the hosts. The outfits they were wearing were pink suits, though you could only really see the pants at first, with writing all over them. Over the suits they had long white coats with red trim. Kitayama, Fujigaya and Tamamori where all wearing hats. The hats were balck and red, except Tamamori was wearing the head dress. I kinda wanted to take that off of him and burn it, as it doesn't look good at all. Also they all had their new white roller skates on.
The song definitely fits it's title of Tension, as it's the kind of song that brings up the tension of an atmosphere. The group get a lot of chances to show off their skating skills, though Kitayama almost fell on his rear near the beginning of the song. There were no other near mishaps from what was shown on camera, which was rather impressive with them repeatedly jumping off the middle ramp. And about halfway throughout the song the coats come off so you can see the pink suits more clearly. Too bad the hats
Of course the main three of Fujigaya, Kitayama and Tamamori got the main focus but each member got a bit of time to shine with the various skating moves they did.
Overall I thought it was a great performance. And I was so excited when in one of the subtitles on the show before they went to a commercial break brought up KAT-TUN in connection to Kisumai. If just because I can't help but hope this means Johnny's truly is setting them up for a debut next.
LANDS single up for pre-order
Came home from school to find a notice from cdjapan with the pre-order information for Akanishi Jin's special cd release for his upcoming movie, Bandage. Johnny's net also has information for the single up. Probably the most surprising thing about the single is that there is only the one track so it's really cheap, only 500 Yen for the RE and 1100 Yen for the LE. The LE does come with the usual PV with making of footage. But still, I can't get over how sparse and cheap the release is. But I guess since this is a special project and probably won't end up on an album later it's good news for Jin fans, as they won't have to shell out a lot of money to buy the single even if the get both versions.
Also to note as it's coming out November 25th then it means for singles the month is completely full for Johnny's. If any other group is releasing a new single this year it's now going to have to wait for December, and it looks like one of those weeks in December will go to Snow Prince Gasshoudan, with them singing the theme song for the Snow Prince movie.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Snow Prince official website updates
The official website for the upcoming movie Snow Prince, starring Morimoto Shintarou, is up and with some nice bits of content. You can see for yourself by clicking on the Snow Prince clock that is on the side of my blog, which is a fun little accessory you can get from clicking the piano icon on the site.
Of course they most exciting this up is the longer trailer for the movie which has information for the movie's theme song for the movie, Snow Prince sung by Snow Prince Gasshoudan (or Snow Prince Choir). I'm rather not surprised by this information and expect to see the official announcement with pre-order links for the single by the end of the month, as I see it being an early December release with the movie hitting theaters on December 12th. Because I can't see Johnny's passing up the chance to make some money and of course promote their current Golden Junior.
I do find it a bit sad that with such a single Shintarou with his undebted Junior group will have more cd releases this year than his older brother and his debuted group.
On another note, as my local theater isn't taking pre-sales for the movie I think I'll be going to one of the theaters in Shibuya that is for this movie. Mainly because I think the box of colored pencils you get for getting a pre-sale ticket is cute, not to mention rather practical. Though I don't know if I could get myself to actually use them. XD;;
Of course they most exciting this up is the longer trailer for the movie which has information for the movie's theme song for the movie, Snow Prince sung by Snow Prince Gasshoudan (or Snow Prince Choir). I'm rather not surprised by this information and expect to see the official announcement with pre-order links for the single by the end of the month, as I see it being an early December release with the movie hitting theaters on December 12th. Because I can't see Johnny's passing up the chance to make some money and of course promote their current Golden Junior.
I do find it a bit sad that with such a single Shintarou with his undebted Junior group will have more cd releases this year than his older brother and his debuted group.
On another note, as my local theater isn't taking pre-sales for the movie I think I'll be going to one of the theaters in Shibuya that is for this movie. Mainly because I think the box of colored pencils you get for getting a pre-sale ticket is cute, not to mention rather practical. Though I don't know if I could get myself to actually use them. XD;;
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
More various updates.
I've been really busy this week, and will probably be so for the rest of the week as well, so I'm sorry if it takes some time before I post a reply or a new post.
First off, what looks like it's in commemoration of their concert in Korea, V6's single Guilty will be getting a Korean version release through SM Entertainment. The Korean version will come with hand written meassages in Korean from the group members that will come in a booklet as well as a poster. The DVD version of the single will have a DVD with live performances from the two V6 subunits.
allkpop article (English)
The movie Tegoshi Yuya will be in, and that he finished filming for some time ago, Nakushita Kioku, has had a name change. It will now be called Dareka ga Watashi ni Kiss wo Shita and is being slated for a 2010 March release, though it isn't mentioned were in the world it will be released. I guess one can assume it's Japan, so hopefully we'll get news for an international release eventually.
Tokyograph article (English)
Also both Tsubasa and Kinki Kids have announced new concerts. It seems the only way for fans to see Tsubasa these days is to see him live at either a play or musical. His tour will run from mid-November to late December.
Kinki Kids will be taking over Countdown again as they are listed for being at the Tokyo Dome for the New Year.
Tokyograph article (English)
First off, what looks like it's in commemoration of their concert in Korea, V6's single Guilty will be getting a Korean version release through SM Entertainment. The Korean version will come with hand written meassages in Korean from the group members that will come in a booklet as well as a poster. The DVD version of the single will have a DVD with live performances from the two V6 subunits.
allkpop article (English)
The movie Tegoshi Yuya will be in, and that he finished filming for some time ago, Nakushita Kioku, has had a name change. It will now be called Dareka ga Watashi ni Kiss wo Shita and is being slated for a 2010 March release, though it isn't mentioned were in the world it will be released. I guess one can assume it's Japan, so hopefully we'll get news for an international release eventually.
Tokyograph article (English)
Also both Tsubasa and Kinki Kids have announced new concerts. It seems the only way for fans to see Tsubasa these days is to see him live at either a play or musical. His tour will run from mid-November to late December.
Kinki Kids will be taking over Countdown again as they are listed for being at the Tokyo Dome for the New Year.
Tokyograph article (English)
Saturday, October 10, 2009
A mix bag of topics.
Okay, I think I need some help as I somehow I forget how to read dates last night and didn't realize that the Team Batista SP was Friday night, not tonight (Saturday night). That makes me rather sad, as I really wanted to see it.
In other news, Kis-My-Ft2 will be on Music Station, on their own, to perform their new song Tension. MSta just updated their line up list for October 16th, and Kis-My-Ft2 is on it. This is great news for the group, as while Juniors will perform from time to time on MSta, it's usually several groups of them together like earlier in the summer or with a debuted group like Kisumai's little bit of Firebeat before Tackey performed his latest single last month. Solo Junior group performances are a true rarity. If I'm not mistaken the only other Junior group that got to be on MSta without having a cd to release was KAT-TUN, so I have a lot of hope that this is indeed a sign that Johnny's is preparing Kisumai for a debut. Hopefully I'm not wrong, but I don't see what other reason they would have for giving Kisumai such an oppurtunity.
And changing to topic again, it looks like Question? has changed out members. Lead vocalist and guitarist Yonemura Daijiro has left Johnny's all together and Goto Hiromi (the violinist) has been added to the group. Apparently Yonemura left a couple of months ago at least, he's nowhere to be seen in the magazine shoots for October and Goto is with the group starting with the November magazine issues and appeared with the group in the Junior ni Q segment of the October 4th episode of Shounen Club.
There was no official word about Yonemura leaving so there are rumors about it. Quite a few speculating that Johnny's pushed him out of the group and he decided he would rather leave the agency altogether if he had to leave the group. And fans of the group are blaming Uchi Hiroki for this, as Goto isn't taking Yonemura's spot (plus at the last Junior concert he was already showing up with the group playing his violin), but in a way Uchi is, as he's been the one singing with the group as the lead vocals (like with his song 3 Piece). Of course in the end it's just rumor and remain so until someone involved in the matter actually says something about it.
In other news, Kis-My-Ft2 will be on Music Station, on their own, to perform their new song Tension. MSta just updated their line up list for October 16th, and Kis-My-Ft2 is on it. This is great news for the group, as while Juniors will perform from time to time on MSta, it's usually several groups of them together like earlier in the summer or with a debuted group like Kisumai's little bit of Firebeat before Tackey performed his latest single last month. Solo Junior group performances are a true rarity. If I'm not mistaken the only other Junior group that got to be on MSta without having a cd to release was KAT-TUN, so I have a lot of hope that this is indeed a sign that Johnny's is preparing Kisumai for a debut. Hopefully I'm not wrong, but I don't see what other reason they would have for giving Kisumai such an oppurtunity.
And changing to topic again, it looks like Question? has changed out members. Lead vocalist and guitarist Yonemura Daijiro has left Johnny's all together and Goto Hiromi (the violinist) has been added to the group. Apparently Yonemura left a couple of months ago at least, he's nowhere to be seen in the magazine shoots for October and Goto is with the group starting with the November magazine issues and appeared with the group in the Junior ni Q segment of the October 4th episode of Shounen Club.
There was no official word about Yonemura leaving so there are rumors about it. Quite a few speculating that Johnny's pushed him out of the group and he decided he would rather leave the agency altogether if he had to leave the group. And fans of the group are blaming Uchi Hiroki for this, as Goto isn't taking Yonemura's spot (plus at the last Junior concert he was already showing up with the group playing his violin), but in a way Uchi is, as he's been the one singing with the group as the lead vocals (like with his song 3 Piece). Of course in the end it's just rumor and remain so until someone involved in the matter actually says something about it.
November 2009 Wink Up pg. 69 translations (Fresh Juniors)
I've ended up picking up both the Wink Up and Potato for November and plan on translating at least one page each from each magazine. Of course I'm going to focus on the Fresh Juniors, as they rarely get translations done for them and the profiles are rather easy to translate. The Potato page though has more to it, as the Juniors featured on the page have been asked questions about magic so it'll probably take me a while to translate it.
Kinda interesting about these five Juniors, is not only are they featured in both the Wink Up and Potato for November but three of the five were featured in the September issue of Duet as Fresh Juniors. The questions are a bit different and there are a few different answers between the two sets of profiles, and if you're interested in seeing them yourself to compare I did translate that Duet page and it can be found here.
Also decided to at least take a picture of the pages I'm translating from now on, since I can't scan them.
HAVE UNLIMITED POTENTIAL
The first time in Wink Up for these fresh five! Support them by checking out their profiles!
Murata Rikito (村田力斗)
Nickname: Rikki
Birth date: July 9th, 1995, 14 years old (second year middle school)
Blood type: O
Where you’re from: Kanagawa prefecture
Height: 154cm
Weight: 39kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Your strong point: Bright and energetic.
Your shortcoming: Won’t stop talking.
Hobby: Listening to music.
Specialty: basketball
Favorite food: fried shrimp
Disliked food: asparagus
Favorite color: orange, red
Favorite sport: basketball
Subjects you’re good at: math, science and gym
Subjects you’re bad at: social studies
Favorite animal: shiba inu
Reason for applying: Joined because he admires the sempai in TV shows and concerts.
Admired sempai: Kitayama Hiromitsu
Type of girl you like: A bright girl.
Your appeal: I’m still immature however, after this I plan to still work hard.
Yamashita Kazunari （山下一成）
Nickname: none
Birth date: June 3rd, 1997, 12 years old (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: A
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 150.2cm
Weight: 37kg
Shoe size: 25cm
Your strong point: Well-behaved.
Your shortcoming: Can’t wake up quickly in the morning.
Hobby: reading
Specialty: English
Favorite food: ramen and sushi
Disliked food: eggplant
Favorite color: red
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: social studies and gym
Subjects you’re bad at: science
Favorite animal: dogs and elephants
Reason for applying: I went as a substitute for my cousin to the company audition.
Admired sempai: I don’t know.
Type of girl you like: A kind person.
Your appeal: There’s still many things I don’t know, from now on I plan on doing my best.
Abe Toya （阿部冬夜）
Nickname: Toya
Birth date: January 14th, 1996, 13 years old (second year middle school)
Blood type: B
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 160cm
Weight: 43kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Your strong point: Energetic.
Your shortcoming: Loud.
Hobby: afternoon naps
Specialty: rubber band magic
Favorite food: eggplant* and fried potato
Disliked food: bell pepper
Favorite color: blue
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: music, math
Subjects you’re bad at: Japanese language
Favorite animal: lion
Reason for applying: I admire how cool the sempai are.
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki and SMAP
Type of girl you like: A cute and cheerful girl.
Your appeal: I am kind.
*Less of a translation issue and more of a inconsistency I can't explain, as in the September Duet issue he has eggplant and bell pepper as food he doesn't like, so I'm not sure if he had a dramatic change of heart or someone wrote his information done wrong for this.
Katori Takuya (香取琢哉)
Nickname: Takkun
Birth date: June 2nd, 1997, 12 years old. (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: O
Where you’re from: Ibaraki prefecture
Height: 164cm
Weight: 45kg
Shoe size: 24cm
Your strong point: Quick on my feet.
Your shortcoming: To be left out a bit.*
Hobby: card games
Specialty: There’s nothing special.
Favorite food: curry
Disliked food: tomato
Favorite color: blue
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: gym
Subjects you’re bad at: math
Favorite animal: dog
Reason for applying: My friend sent in the application.
Admired sempai: Yamashita Tomohisa
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
Your appeal: Please remember my name.
*The verb he uses 「抜けてる」can have several meanings and this was the one that made the most sense to be in this context.
Takahashi Saneyasu （高橋実靖）
Nickname: Sane
Birth date: September 17th, 1997, 12 years old. (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: A
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 160cm
Weight: 43kg
Shoe size: 23.5cm
Your strong point: Lucky.
Your shortcoming: Bad at waking up.
Hobby: computers
Specialty: karate
Favorite food: sushi
Disliked food: goya
Favorite color: black
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: science and social studies
Subjects you’re bad at: math, Japanese language
Favorite animal: dog
Reason for applying: I admire Higashiyama-san, so I applied.
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki and Nakajima Yuto
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
Your appeal: My dancing is still not so good, so I will do my best.
(My thoughts.)
It's definitely interesting to see some of the little changes for the three that had profiles in the September Duet, Murata Rikito, Abe Toya and Takahashi Saneyasu. Especially to see that Murata has changed his admired sempai from Yamada Ryosuke to Kitayama Hiromitsu.
I think Yamashita Kazunari stands out quite a bit to me. Not only does he not really have the Johnny's look but the fact he of came in as a substitute for his cousin for the audition and ended up joining the agency is amusing to me. Also I like the fact that he seems rather honest with admitting that he doesn't have a sempai he looks up to yet instead of just picking one of the popular sempai so he can have an answer. And I swear I saw him back dancing on this month's Shounen Club episode in the beginning, so hopefully this means that he and the other boys featured here will eventually get a chance to do more as I'm rather interested in them.
Kinda interesting about these five Juniors, is not only are they featured in both the Wink Up and Potato for November but three of the five were featured in the September issue of Duet as Fresh Juniors. The questions are a bit different and there are a few different answers between the two sets of profiles, and if you're interested in seeing them yourself to compare I did translate that Duet page and it can be found here.
Also decided to at least take a picture of the pages I'm translating from now on, since I can't scan them.
HAVE UNLIMITED POTENTIAL
The first time in Wink Up for these fresh five! Support them by checking out their profiles!
Murata Rikito (村田力斗)
Nickname: Rikki
Birth date: July 9th, 1995, 14 years old (second year middle school)
Blood type: O
Where you’re from: Kanagawa prefecture
Height: 154cm
Weight: 39kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Your strong point: Bright and energetic.
Your shortcoming: Won’t stop talking.
Hobby: Listening to music.
Specialty: basketball
Favorite food: fried shrimp
Disliked food: asparagus
Favorite color: orange, red
Favorite sport: basketball
Subjects you’re good at: math, science and gym
Subjects you’re bad at: social studies
Favorite animal: shiba inu
Reason for applying: Joined because he admires the sempai in TV shows and concerts.
Admired sempai: Kitayama Hiromitsu
Type of girl you like: A bright girl.
Your appeal: I’m still immature however, after this I plan to still work hard.
Yamashita Kazunari （山下一成）
Nickname: none
Birth date: June 3rd, 1997, 12 years old (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: A
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 150.2cm
Weight: 37kg
Shoe size: 25cm
Your strong point: Well-behaved.
Your shortcoming: Can’t wake up quickly in the morning.
Hobby: reading
Specialty: English
Favorite food: ramen and sushi
Disliked food: eggplant
Favorite color: red
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: social studies and gym
Subjects you’re bad at: science
Favorite animal: dogs and elephants
Reason for applying: I went as a substitute for my cousin to the company audition.
Admired sempai: I don’t know.
Type of girl you like: A kind person.
Your appeal: There’s still many things I don’t know, from now on I plan on doing my best.
Abe Toya （阿部冬夜）
Nickname: Toya
Birth date: January 14th, 1996, 13 years old (second year middle school)
Blood type: B
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 160cm
Weight: 43kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Your strong point: Energetic.
Your shortcoming: Loud.
Hobby: afternoon naps
Specialty: rubber band magic
Favorite food: eggplant* and fried potato
Disliked food: bell pepper
Favorite color: blue
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: music, math
Subjects you’re bad at: Japanese language
Favorite animal: lion
Reason for applying: I admire how cool the sempai are.
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki and SMAP
Type of girl you like: A cute and cheerful girl.
Your appeal: I am kind.
*Less of a translation issue and more of a inconsistency I can't explain, as in the September Duet issue he has eggplant and bell pepper as food he doesn't like, so I'm not sure if he had a dramatic change of heart or someone wrote his information done wrong for this.
Katori Takuya (香取琢哉)
Nickname: Takkun
Birth date: June 2nd, 1997, 12 years old. (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: O
Where you’re from: Ibaraki prefecture
Height: 164cm
Weight: 45kg
Shoe size: 24cm
Your strong point: Quick on my feet.
Your shortcoming: To be left out a bit.*
Hobby: card games
Specialty: There’s nothing special.
Favorite food: curry
Disliked food: tomato
Favorite color: blue
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: gym
Subjects you’re bad at: math
Favorite animal: dog
Reason for applying: My friend sent in the application.
Admired sempai: Yamashita Tomohisa
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
Your appeal: Please remember my name.
*The verb he uses 「抜けてる」can have several meanings and this was the one that made the most sense to be in this context.
Takahashi Saneyasu （高橋実靖）
Nickname: Sane
Birth date: September 17th, 1997, 12 years old. (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: A
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 160cm
Weight: 43kg
Shoe size: 23.5cm
Your strong point: Lucky.
Your shortcoming: Bad at waking up.
Hobby: computers
Specialty: karate
Favorite food: sushi
Disliked food: goya
Favorite color: black
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: science and social studies
Subjects you’re bad at: math, Japanese language
Favorite animal: dog
Reason for applying: I admire Higashiyama-san, so I applied.
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki and Nakajima Yuto
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
Your appeal: My dancing is still not so good, so I will do my best.
(My thoughts.)
It's definitely interesting to see some of the little changes for the three that had profiles in the September Duet, Murata Rikito, Abe Toya and Takahashi Saneyasu. Especially to see that Murata has changed his admired sempai from Yamada Ryosuke to Kitayama Hiromitsu.
I think Yamashita Kazunari stands out quite a bit to me. Not only does he not really have the Johnny's look but the fact he of came in as a substitute for his cousin for the audition and ended up joining the agency is amusing to me. Also I like the fact that he seems rather honest with admitting that he doesn't have a sempai he looks up to yet instead of just picking one of the popular sempai so he can have an answer. And I swear I saw him back dancing on this month's Shounen Club episode in the beginning, so hopefully this means that he and the other boys featured here will eventually get a chance to do more as I'm rather interested in them.
Friday, October 9, 2009
More tour dates for Kis-My-Ft2 & Nakaken and Takada Sho in Team Basista SP
I'm happy that I got to come back home from school with such great news as Kis-My-Ft2 has had added tour dates and shows added to their current tour. Not only are there going to be more shows at venues like Yokohama, which has gone up from three to five shows, but a new city has been added to the tour, Nagoya. Also they will be returning to Sendai at the end of November for more concerts. In total there are nine new shows added to the tour, which isn't bad at all for a Junior group's first concert tour at all.
Johnny's net concert schedule. (Japanese only.)
And I'm not sure how this escaped my knowledge, but Nakajima Kento and Takada Sho will have roles in the Team Batista drama SP tomorrow night on Fuji TV at 9PM. I found this information out from the November issue of Wink Up that I just picked up today. I'll definetly see about watching the SP, even though I've never seen the original drama for it. But I looked up some information about it and it looks like it would be an interesting drama to watch.
From the WU article it looks like Nakaken plays a hospital patient, he's in the hospital clothes and gets to look like he's hooked up to medical machines. Not sure exactly what Takada's role is, but I'm going to assume a friend of Nakaken's character.
Fuji TV website for the SP. (Japanese only.)
And I'll probably translate the fresh Junior page from this WU issue later today. I need to run some errands first.
Johnny's net concert schedule. (Japanese only.)
And I'm not sure how this escaped my knowledge, but Nakajima Kento and Takada Sho will have roles in the Team Batista drama SP tomorrow night on Fuji TV at 9PM. I found this information out from the November issue of Wink Up that I just picked up today. I'll definetly see about watching the SP, even though I've never seen the original drama for it. But I looked up some information about it and it looks like it would be an interesting drama to watch.
From the WU article it looks like Nakaken plays a hospital patient, he's in the hospital clothes and gets to look like he's hooked up to medical machines. Not sure exactly what Takada's role is, but I'm going to assume a friend of Nakaken's character.
Fuji TV website for the SP. (Japanese only.)
And I'll probably translate the fresh Junior page from this WU issue later today. I need to run some errands first.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Arashi news updates
After Kanjani8 now Arashi has a couple of things that have been recently announced.
First off the release date for their upcoming single, My Girl, the theme song for the new drama starring Aiba Masaki also titled, My Girl, is up for pre-order. Johnny's net also has the information up for the release. The B-side that is on both the LE and RE version of the single will be the theme song for the Johnny's drama, 0 Go Shitsu no Kyaku. Then the RE will have a bonus B-side track but the title has yet to even be decided for it.
Also it has just been announced that Ninomiya Kazunari will be returning to the big screen with a set of two movies for the manga series, GANTZ. He will play the lead character of the series, and the films are set to be released both in 2011, the first in winter and the second in the spring.
Anime News Network article. (English)
It looks like November is going to be quite the release heavy month, especially as there is still the upcoming Tokio single that hasn't gotten a release date yet, as the group is doing the theme song for the ROMES drama. I hope we can get a NEWS and KAT-TUN single in December and something from Hey! Say! JUMP, album or single, as well. Then all the groups should be covered, except for Tackey & Tsubasa but their future seems to look the bleakest at the moment.
First off the release date for their upcoming single, My Girl, the theme song for the new drama starring Aiba Masaki also titled, My Girl, is up for pre-order. Johnny's net also has the information up for the release. The B-side that is on both the LE and RE version of the single will be the theme song for the Johnny's drama, 0 Go Shitsu no Kyaku. Then the RE will have a bonus B-side track but the title has yet to even be decided for it.
Also it has just been announced that Ninomiya Kazunari will be returning to the big screen with a set of two movies for the manga series, GANTZ. He will play the lead character of the series, and the films are set to be released both in 2011, the first in winter and the second in the spring.
Anime News Network article. (English)
It looks like November is going to be quite the release heavy month, especially as there is still the upcoming Tokio single that hasn't gotten a release date yet, as the group is doing the theme song for the ROMES drama. I hope we can get a NEWS and KAT-TUN single in December and something from Hey! Say! JUMP, album or single, as well. Then all the groups should be covered, except for Tackey & Tsubasa but their future seems to look the bleakest at the moment.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Kanjani8 news
Well Kanjani8's upcoming single, now confirmed to be titled 急☆上☆Show!! (Kyu☆Jo☆Show!!) is up on Johnny's net if you want to see the track listing and cdjapan if you want to pre-order it. It has three versions, a regular with four songs with karaoke tracks, while the two limited editions will only have two songs, the title song and Hitotsu no Uta on the cd. There will be two different DVDs, one for each LE, with one with the PV for Kyu☆Jo☆Show!! and the other will have a PV for Hitotsu no Uta.
Also it looks like Ryo won't be the only member of the group that will be effected by the flu this year. It has been reported that currently Yasuda Shota has the flu and has gone home to recover. As he's in the upcoming fall drama, ROMES, he has and will miss some days of filming as he recovers. Thankfully the drama has yet to begin broadcasting so there doesn't look like it will have to be delayed, unlike Orthos no Inu was when Ryo fell ill.
Tokyo Graph article.
And then in the winter drama rumor mill, and something slightly less Kanjani8 focused, 2ch is reporting that Hidarime Tantei EYE is slated to become a weekly drama. Of course at this time it's safe to just say this is a rumor, but for the fall season 2ch was pretty much spot on about the dramas, so there is a chance they could very well be right about this. Now let's hope if this does come about they will give us more scenes of Yamada and Yokoyama together, as I loved seeing them act as brothers and want to see more of that, which a continuation could easily do. That and we can finally get a new Hey! Say! JUMP single out of it too.
Also it looks like Ryo won't be the only member of the group that will be effected by the flu this year. It has been reported that currently Yasuda Shota has the flu and has gone home to recover. As he's in the upcoming fall drama, ROMES, he has and will miss some days of filming as he recovers. Thankfully the drama has yet to begin broadcasting so there doesn't look like it will have to be delayed, unlike Orthos no Inu was when Ryo fell ill.
Tokyo Graph article.
And then in the winter drama rumor mill, and something slightly less Kanjani8 focused, 2ch is reporting that Hidarime Tantei EYE is slated to become a weekly drama. Of course at this time it's safe to just say this is a rumor, but for the fall season 2ch was pretty much spot on about the dramas, so there is a chance they could very well be right about this. Now let's hope if this does come about they will give us more scenes of Yamada and Yokoyama together, as I loved seeing them act as brothers and want to see more of that, which a continuation could easily do. That and we can finally get a new Hey! Say! JUMP single out of it too.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Kanjani8 not-so-secret secret
A couple of days ago Kanjani8 had a special event for those fans who had bought both versions of their latest DVD and sent in a ballot to attend. They shared some special information with the fans that attended and asked them to keep it secret, but some fans being fans decided to blog about it anyway.
What this secret is that they will be releasing a new single on November 4th. The single is titled Kyuujoushou and the B-side is Hitotsu no Uta, which will have a PV that will be on the DVD version of the single with footage from the events.
I'm rather glad hearing that Kanjani8 will be getting a November single after all, since apparently they will not be doing the theme song for the drama ROMES. Instead it's being said that Tokio will be doing it, which seems a bit weird to me. Though I am happy to see Tokio releasing something else new. Hopefully this means that they're begining to gear up for a new full album for 2010.
Hopefully the pre-order and Johnny's net information for both single will show up soon now.
What this secret is that they will be releasing a new single on November 4th. The single is titled Kyuujoushou and the B-side is Hitotsu no Uta, which will have a PV that will be on the DVD version of the single with footage from the events.
I'm rather glad hearing that Kanjani8 will be getting a November single after all, since apparently they will not be doing the theme song for the drama ROMES. Instead it's being said that Tokio will be doing it, which seems a bit weird to me. Though I am happy to see Tokio releasing something else new. Hopefully this means that they're begining to gear up for a new full album for 2010.
Hopefully the pre-order and Johnny's net information for both single will show up soon now.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Various bits and ramblings.
I thought about posting earlier today but decided to wait until after I finished watching Hidarime Tantei EYE before doing so.
Matchy will be releasing a new single on December 12th, as he comes up to his 30th anniversary since his debut. The single according to Johnny's net will have a commercial tie-in for H.I.S., a Japanese company IIRC, and the song will be titled Motto! Motto!. As it's still far from the release date there isn't much more confirmed information about the single out.
Snow Prince is set for world wide debut, and will do so in Hawaii, where it will be screened for the Hawaii International Film Festival. HIFF runs from October 15th through the 25th. If you check out the website for the festival you can see the full listing of all the films and you will probably notice that Morimoto Shintarou won't be the only Johnny's seen in a film there. The Gokusen movie is also listed so Kame, Takaki, B.A.D. and Tamamori will also be getting a little bit of international exposure. Though as someone who has seen the movie already, unless you've already seen all the drama seasons you'll probably find it hard to enjoy.
HIFF official website.
Today was the first day of the Kis-My-Ft2 national tour. They did two concerts in Oita today and from reports they're going Junior-less, so they're the only ones performing for their concerts. And from the setl list that is drifting around now very few of the songs they are being borrowed from their sempai, mainly solo songs so everyone has one. And of course they have a PLAYZONE corner, but I think most were expecting that. And there does seem to be a couple of new songs too for the concert, including a new solo for Tamamori.
The more I read about the tour the more excited I get for it. I can't believe I have to wait until December to see them perform. Though I wonder if Johnny's will give them some Juniors for Yokohama Arena, as I believe that will be the biggest venue they will be performing in. (And with any luck they might be taping in if we're getting a DVD for this.)
For Hidarime Tantei EYE, it was ok. I missed some of the first part but it really didn't take too long to figure out what was going on after knowing about the plot from all the promotion. Overall though I think they needed to focus more on developing characters. Yamada's though had good development, IMHO, but the rest for the most part stayed rather one dimensional, so it was hard to care about what happened to them.
I think I'm finally getting it in my head that Yamada Ryosuke isn't the cute little kid he was when he debuted two years ago. I mean even though I see him in the magazines I still think of him as if he was still 14, but after watching this drama it's finally getting through he has grown up quite a bit since then. Though he still looks like he still has growing left to do, but I think he's slowly fitting the cool image better, though he still looks the best when he's happy and smiley, IMHO. And for the Yamada fan girls, you do get to see him shirtless in the drama so you can look forward to that.
I rather liked that his character really isn't an elite genius type so much as all his previous roles have been. He's much more just a normal kid that has been thrust in a very abnormal situation. And I enjoyed all the scenes he had together with Yokoyama Yu. Even the more heartbreaking ones.
The female school nurse just felt like she was there only for comedic relief and to be a plot device when they needed to keep the plot moving. Her character annoyed me because she came off rather shallow with very little about her to sympathize with because of this, IMHO.
But the ending left everything wide open for it to be continued. In fact it felt like it was just begging for more of the story to be told for it. Or maybe it's just that I actually want to see what happens next. Even though I wasn't floored by the SP, I did enjoy it and kept feeling that if they had more time they could tell a more interesting story. I really hope it does become a weekly drama. And they can add to the cast a bit, like bring in another member of Hey! Say! 7 (or Daiki)to become friends with Yamada's character or something. And then maybe we can finally get a new cd release from Hey! Say! JUMP.
Matchy will be releasing a new single on December 12th, as he comes up to his 30th anniversary since his debut. The single according to Johnny's net will have a commercial tie-in for H.I.S., a Japanese company IIRC, and the song will be titled Motto! Motto!. As it's still far from the release date there isn't much more confirmed information about the single out.
Snow Prince is set for world wide debut, and will do so in Hawaii, where it will be screened for the Hawaii International Film Festival. HIFF runs from October 15th through the 25th. If you check out the website for the festival you can see the full listing of all the films and you will probably notice that Morimoto Shintarou won't be the only Johnny's seen in a film there. The Gokusen movie is also listed so Kame, Takaki, B.A.D. and Tamamori will also be getting a little bit of international exposure. Though as someone who has seen the movie already, unless you've already seen all the drama seasons you'll probably find it hard to enjoy.
HIFF official website.
Today was the first day of the Kis-My-Ft2 national tour. They did two concerts in Oita today and from reports they're going Junior-less, so they're the only ones performing for their concerts. And from the setl list that is drifting around now very few of the songs they are being borrowed from their sempai, mainly solo songs so everyone has one. And of course they have a PLAYZONE corner, but I think most were expecting that. And there does seem to be a couple of new songs too for the concert, including a new solo for Tamamori.
The more I read about the tour the more excited I get for it. I can't believe I have to wait until December to see them perform. Though I wonder if Johnny's will give them some Juniors for Yokohama Arena, as I believe that will be the biggest venue they will be performing in. (And with any luck they might be taping in if we're getting a DVD for this.)
For Hidarime Tantei EYE, it was ok. I missed some of the first part but it really didn't take too long to figure out what was going on after knowing about the plot from all the promotion. Overall though I think they needed to focus more on developing characters. Yamada's though had good development, IMHO, but the rest for the most part stayed rather one dimensional, so it was hard to care about what happened to them.
I think I'm finally getting it in my head that Yamada Ryosuke isn't the cute little kid he was when he debuted two years ago. I mean even though I see him in the magazines I still think of him as if he was still 14, but after watching this drama it's finally getting through he has grown up quite a bit since then. Though he still looks like he still has growing left to do, but I think he's slowly fitting the cool image better, though he still looks the best when he's happy and smiley, IMHO. And for the Yamada fan girls, you do get to see him shirtless in the drama so you can look forward to that.
I rather liked that his character really isn't an elite genius type so much as all his previous roles have been. He's much more just a normal kid that has been thrust in a very abnormal situation. And I enjoyed all the scenes he had together with Yokoyama Yu. Even the more heartbreaking ones.
The female school nurse just felt like she was there only for comedic relief and to be a plot device when they needed to keep the plot moving. Her character annoyed me because she came off rather shallow with very little about her to sympathize with because of this, IMHO.
But the ending left everything wide open for it to be continued. In fact it felt like it was just begging for more of the story to be told for it. Or maybe it's just that I actually want to see what happens next. Even though I wasn't floored by the SP, I did enjoy it and kept feeling that if they had more time they could tell a more interesting story. I really hope it does become a weekly drama. And they can add to the cast a bit, like bring in another member of Hey! Say! 7 (or Daiki)to become friends with Yamada's character or something. And then maybe we can finally get a new cd release from Hey! Say! JUMP.
Friday, October 2, 2009
17th Poll Results
Well school has started up for me again. My schedule looks pretty much the same as last semester, though I'll probably be spending more time with my Japanese. But I guess I can say Johnny's is helpful with this as I can practice my Japanese by watching them on TV/at concerts and reading about them in magazines. XD
But enough personal stuff, the poll is over so it's result time. This time broken into two categories for the answer to the second question.
Group that got people into Johnny's and they are the favorite group.
Hey! Say! JUMP: 50
NEWS: 43
Arashi: 28
KAT-TUN: 21
Tokio: 11
Juniors: 11
Kinki Kids: 3
Kanjani8: 2
Tackey & Tsubasa: 2
SMAP: 1
V6: 0
Daisempai: 0
Group that got people into Johnny's and they aren't the favorite group.
KAT-TUN: 13
NEWS: 12
Arashi: 7
Hey! Say! JUMP: 4
Daisempai: 1
Kinki Kids: 1
Kanjani8: 1
Tokio: 0
Juniors: 0
Tackey & Tsubasa: 0
V6: 0
SMAP: 0
So it looks like it's the younger groups that tend to bring in the most new Johnny's fans though they also seem to have the highest rate of people switching to other groups later on.
I'll keep this new poll a bit simpler and ask, What do you think Yamapi's solo concert will be like?
But enough personal stuff, the poll is over so it's result time. This time broken into two categories for the answer to the second question.
Group that got people into Johnny's and they are the favorite group.
Hey! Say! JUMP: 50
NEWS: 43
Arashi: 28
KAT-TUN: 21
Tokio: 11
Juniors: 11
Kinki Kids: 3
Kanjani8: 2
Tackey & Tsubasa: 2
SMAP: 1
V6: 0
Daisempai: 0
Group that got people into Johnny's and they aren't the favorite group.
KAT-TUN: 13
NEWS: 12
Arashi: 7
Hey! Say! JUMP: 4
Daisempai: 1
Kinki Kids: 1
Kanjani8: 1
Tokio: 0
Juniors: 0
Tackey & Tsubasa: 0
V6: 0
SMAP: 0
So it looks like it's the younger groups that tend to bring in the most new Johnny's fans though they also seem to have the highest rate of people switching to other groups later on.
I'll keep this new poll a bit simpler and ask, What do you think Yamapi's solo concert will be like?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Dial Up vocal break down
Well I picked up the November issue of Myojo (I can't believe the magazines are already onto November already), and in the Young Song booklet included it has the vocal break down for NYC boys' Dial UP. What that means is that they tell you who is singing during which lines of the song. I figured I should share, as I now I'm always really curious about this kind of thing for group songs. So here is the romanized version of who sings what for Dial Up.
I was rather surprised at how little B.I.Shadow there is in this song. And they aren't even given a single line to sing without Nakayama, Yamada or Chinen. Which makes me wish NYC boys was only for NYC and the other songs could have gone to Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow so they could at least sing a bit more. I mean this is their cd too.
Dial Up
Nakayama
(Ready?)
Chinen
Wow wow wow
Yamada
Yeah, Wow wow wow
Nakayama
Hey you, itsumo
Sore wa nainjyanai?
Daitai kimi ga kakete kitandarou
Yamada
[Mou ii] tsugerare
Togireru noizu nara 10pun mae mo
Nakayama/Yamada
I heard I heard
Chinen/Nakayama
Soto e ikeba iratatsukoto dareke
Yamada
Amake ni Rain
Chinen/Nakayama
Fuini kobosu tame iki wo hikitsure
Chinen
Nanda yo boku datte
Nakayama
Itsumo no Number
Yamada
Yubi de sagashiteru no sa
Chinen
Kawasu kotoba
NYC
Mienai mama
NYC boys
Dial Up Me ni atteta
Dial Up Kimi no koe tsukamu
[You know] Kawaranai bokura
Nanze ka
Yamada
Itoshii
Chinen
Uh, hikaru te no naka no Cell
Rireki wo mitsutzuke kotae wo sagashiteru
Yamada
Sou futari shinjita [Soul Mate]
Utsuro ni yuraideiku sono yume
Nakayama
Miminarenu kimi hakidasu tame iki
Sono Sigh wa kikenna kakehiki
Chinen
Sugu ni Hung Up, dekinu Call Back,
Kodoku na futari wo tsunagu Dial Up.
NYC boys
I can’t say it, yeah!!
I can’t say it, yeah!! …
Chinen
Wow
NYC
Wow Wow Wow
NYC boys
Dial Up kimi wa donna
Dial Up kao de te ni shita
Long time tsunagaranai hon no suupyou
Dial Up Me ni atteta
Dial Up Kimi no koe tsukamu
[You know] Kawaranai bokura
Nanze ka Ah
Dial up I take your phone number
Nakayama
Dial Up!
Yamada/Chinen
Dial Up
NYC
Hikaeme koe ga
NYC boys
If you Boku wo erandanara itsumo
Dial Up
Yamada/Chinen
Narashite Calling
Nakayama
Oh Dial Up!
Yamada/Chinen
Dial Up
NYC
Boku mo onaji da to
NYC boys
[bye-bye] Atari mae no Fin yakeni
Nakayama
Okashii
Nakayama
(Ready?)
Chinen
Wow wow wow
Yamada
Yeah, Wow wow wow
Nakayama
Hey you, itsumo
Sore wa nainjyanai?
Daitai kimi ga kakete kitandarou
Yamada
[Mou ii] tsugerare
Togireru noizu nara 10pun mae mo
Nakayama/Yamada
I heard I heard
Chinen/Nakayama
Soto e ikeba iratatsukoto dareke
Yamada
Amake ni Rain
Chinen/Nakayama
Fuini kobosu tame iki wo hikitsure
Chinen
Nanda yo boku datte
Nakayama
Itsumo no Number
Yamada
Yubi de sagashiteru no sa
Chinen
Kawasu kotoba
NYC
Mienai mama
NYC boys
Dial Up Me ni atteta
Dial Up Kimi no koe tsukamu
[You know] Kawaranai bokura
Nanze ka
Yamada
Itoshii
Chinen
Uh, hikaru te no naka no Cell
Rireki wo mitsutzuke kotae wo sagashiteru
Yamada
Sou futari shinjita [Soul Mate]
Utsuro ni yuraideiku sono yume
Nakayama
Miminarenu kimi hakidasu tame iki
Sono Sigh wa kikenna kakehiki
Chinen
Sugu ni Hung Up, dekinu Call Back,
Kodoku na futari wo tsunagu Dial Up.
NYC boys
I can’t say it, yeah!!
I can’t say it, yeah!! …
Chinen
Wow
NYC
Wow Wow Wow
NYC boys
Dial Up kimi wa donna
Dial Up kao de te ni shita
Long time tsunagaranai hon no suupyou
Dial Up Me ni atteta
Dial Up Kimi no koe tsukamu
[You know] Kawaranai bokura
Nanze ka Ah
Dial up I take your phone number
Nakayama
Dial Up!
Yamada/Chinen
Dial Up
NYC
Hikaeme koe ga
NYC boys
If you Boku wo erandanara itsumo
Dial Up
Yamada/Chinen
Narashite Calling
Nakayama
Oh Dial Up!
Yamada/Chinen
Dial Up
NYC
Boku mo onaji da to
NYC boys
[bye-bye] Atari mae no Fin yakeni
Nakayama
Okashii
I was rather surprised at how little B.I.Shadow there is in this song. And they aren't even given a single line to sing without Nakayama, Yamada or Chinen. Which makes me wish NYC boys was only for NYC and the other songs could have gone to Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow so they could at least sing a bit more. I mean this is their cd too.
Monday, September 28, 2009
JUMPing to my dream ~
As I mentioned in an earlier entry I've been feeling rather nostalgic, probably because this time of year several Johnny's groups have their debut anniversaries. And it was only a couple months when I passed the day I've marked anniversary date for getting into Johnny's, July 31st. I figured it wasn't worth a post this time around, I think the next time I make one for that will be in 2012 for my 5th anniversary.
But getting back on track to where I'm trying to head with this, as I came in during 2007 I got to be around for a Johnny's debut, Hey! Say! JUMP. As I was a big fan of the original Hey! Say! 7 group I had been so excited about this debut, as my favorite Junior group was debuting. Sure there were a lot of members in the new group I didn't really know, but I did know a couple were from J.J. Express, the group the Junior HS7 boys more or less all came from and while I really wasn't a fan of the group I knew of Yabu and Hikaru from Ya-Ya-Yah, as it was hard not to know of Yax3 if you were a Junior fan then. The only unknown was Okamoto Keito, who I took a quick liking too, as he seemed the greatest underdog of the group with how many just saw him as 'the Junior that only got to debut so quickly because his dad is in Johnny's'. Thinking about that makes me even happier to realize how far he's come since the group's debut, as he seems so comfortable in front of the camera now, most likely thanks to being a part of Hyakushiki, and has finally gotten his own solo song at a concert after about two years in the group. Famous dad or not, he couldn't have made such improvements without actually putting some effort into things himself.
Keito isn't the only one that has improved over the years, in fact they group as a whole has. Since I had brought my concert DVDs with me to Japan this time around I found the first performance Hey! Say! JUMP did as a group at Yokohama Arena on September 24th, 2007. Watching again reminded me of rewatching this clip endlessly when it first came out, as it was pretty much the only video clip of the group performing together for a bit. Watching it now I was struck by the fact that there really wasn't much in the way of cheorography for Ultra Music Power, or at least not much that showed group cohesion. Not like the dance for Your Seed where it feels every move had to be carefully planned out.
I think it's pretty easy to tell that the boys have done well in improving themselves over the years. They still have things that need to be worked on, but I think that's part of the fun of being able to follow a group from the start. Being able to watch them grow and become more skilled at what they do.
But getting back on track to where I'm trying to head with this, as I came in during 2007 I got to be around for a Johnny's debut, Hey! Say! JUMP. As I was a big fan of the original Hey! Say! 7 group I had been so excited about this debut, as my favorite Junior group was debuting. Sure there were a lot of members in the new group I didn't really know, but I did know a couple were from J.J. Express, the group the Junior HS7 boys more or less all came from and while I really wasn't a fan of the group I knew of Yabu and Hikaru from Ya-Ya-Yah, as it was hard not to know of Yax3 if you were a Junior fan then. The only unknown was Okamoto Keito, who I took a quick liking too, as he seemed the greatest underdog of the group with how many just saw him as 'the Junior that only got to debut so quickly because his dad is in Johnny's'. Thinking about that makes me even happier to realize how far he's come since the group's debut, as he seems so comfortable in front of the camera now, most likely thanks to being a part of Hyakushiki, and has finally gotten his own solo song at a concert after about two years in the group. Famous dad or not, he couldn't have made such improvements without actually putting some effort into things himself.
Keito isn't the only one that has improved over the years, in fact they group as a whole has. Since I had brought my concert DVDs with me to Japan this time around I found the first performance Hey! Say! JUMP did as a group at Yokohama Arena on September 24th, 2007. Watching again reminded me of rewatching this clip endlessly when it first came out, as it was pretty much the only video clip of the group performing together for a bit. Watching it now I was struck by the fact that there really wasn't much in the way of cheorography for Ultra Music Power, or at least not much that showed group cohesion. Not like the dance for Your Seed where it feels every move had to be carefully planned out.
NEWS Live Diamond DVD!!!! & more on Yamapi's new solo cd
You must forgive me but I believe this is worth fangirling over if you're a NEWS fangirl like me. I mean I had so given up any hope of this concert tour being released on DVD so seeing the e-mail from cdjapan with it listed has me feeling so giddy. Seriously this has just made my day and will make having to start up school again in a few days much more bearable.
Not only that but the DVD release actually looks like it was worth the wait, or at least the LE version of it. And I am quite amused that the DVD is using footage from Osaka while the Kanjani8 DVD for the Puzzle tour used footage from the Tokyo Dome. For some reason it just seems like the locations chosen for these two releases got mixed up. XD
Though looking at the information Johnny's net has up for the release there will be at least documentary footage for all their other tour stops. And the thing that really has me psyched up is the Special Reel, where each member has made music clips of their solo songs. So get Masuda with Superman, Tegoshi with Ai Nante, Shige with Sha la la Tamborine, Koyama with Love Addiction, Ryo with code and Yamapi with MOLA (R-midwest REMIX).
I am so excited for this release! November 4th can't come soon enough!
And I'll be lying if I didn't say that Yamapi's solo single has me a bit more interested now that more information is out on it. And it looks like Johnny's found a way for me to buy two versions of it, as I am a complete sucker for bonus tracks, even if they aren't all that great. And according to Johnny's net with the track listings between the three cds there are seven new songs (which would be a mini album if released all on the same disc) so with all the the past solo songs Yamapi has had he does have about an album's worth of songs to sing for his concert.
Also the information for his concert is up. The first day is one show while the next two days have two shows each day. I will probably end up going as Yamapi is still the only member of NEWS I have yet to see since being in Japan and going to Johnny's events.
Oh Johnny's, you have made this NEWS fan quite happy. Now get in gear for Hey! Say! JUMP and I won't have anything I would feel like complaining about too much about anymore.
Not only that but the DVD release actually looks like it was worth the wait, or at least the LE version of it. And I am quite amused that the DVD is using footage from Osaka while the Kanjani8 DVD for the Puzzle tour used footage from the Tokyo Dome. For some reason it just seems like the locations chosen for these two releases got mixed up. XD
Though looking at the information Johnny's net has up for the release there will be at least documentary footage for all their other tour stops. And the thing that really has me psyched up is the Special Reel, where each member has made music clips of their solo songs. So get Masuda with Superman, Tegoshi with Ai Nante, Shige with Sha la la Tamborine, Koyama with Love Addiction, Ryo with code and Yamapi with MOLA (R-midwest REMIX).
I am so excited for this release! November 4th can't come soon enough!
And I'll be lying if I didn't say that Yamapi's solo single has me a bit more interested now that more information is out on it. And it looks like Johnny's found a way for me to buy two versions of it, as I am a complete sucker for bonus tracks, even if they aren't all that great. And according to Johnny's net with the track listings between the three cds there are seven new songs (which would be a mini album if released all on the same disc) so with all the the past solo songs Yamapi has had he does have about an album's worth of songs to sing for his concert.
Also the information for his concert is up. The first day is one show while the next two days have two shows each day. I will probably end up going as Yamapi is still the only member of NEWS I have yet to see since being in Japan and going to Johnny's events.
Oh Johnny's, you have made this NEWS fan quite happy. Now get in gear for Hey! Say! JUMP and I won't have anything I would feel like complaining about too much about anymore.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Yamapi gets another solo cd and a debut solo concert
I guess this year is the year for sub-units for NEWS. Now after Tegomass have had their music releases and debut tour it's looks like Johnny's is moving on to the next member that released something during the hiatus year, Yamashita Tomohisa.
It has been announced that November 18th Yamapi will release a second solo cd, titled Loveless, and then hold five concert shows at Yokohama Arena from November 21-23.
Tokyograph article. (English)
Even though I would rather have a NEWS single I am happy to see at least someone from the group releasing something. Though after the Tegomass and Yamapi releases I wonder if we'll get a Koyashige cd debut so each member has a release outside of NEWS (Ryo of course is covered with Kanjani8). XD
And I'm still hoping that we get at least a new single before NEWS has their next concert tour, especially if they're to tour in the winter like they have been in recent years.
It has been announced that November 18th Yamapi will release a second solo cd, titled Loveless, and then hold five concert shows at Yokohama Arena from November 21-23.
Tokyograph article. (English)
Even though I would rather have a NEWS single I am happy to see at least someone from the group releasing something. Though after the Tegomass and Yamapi releases I wonder if we'll get a Koyashige cd debut so each member has a release outside of NEWS (Ryo of course is covered with Kanjani8). XD
And I'm still hoping that we get at least a new single before NEWS has their next concert tour, especially if they're to tour in the winter like they have been in recent years.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Nakayama Yuma radio plus Hadaka no Shounen cancelled
Johnny's net has updated and Nakayama Yuma will be getting his own radio program, titled Nakayama Yuma Radio Catch. It is set to begin on Thrusday, October 1st and will be on the JFN radio station. Other than that there really is no other information up about it, but I'm sure there will be anothr update before it begins broadcasting as I'm sure people will want to know when it's actually on.
Johnny's net (Japanese only.)
Also it's being reported that the Hadaka no Shounen will be cancelled. Someone apparently called up TV Asahi and they confirmed what had been at the time the rumor of it's cancellation. There's no word on what will replace the program, though I'm personally hoping it will be another Junior program. Maybe we can get something like Ya-Ya-Yah! again, as that was a fun show to watch.
Johnny's net (Japanese only.)
Also it's being reported that the Hadaka no Shounen will be cancelled. Someone apparently called up TV Asahi and they confirmed what had been at the time the rumor of it's cancellation. There's no word on what will replace the program, though I'm personally hoping it will be another Junior program. Maybe we can get something like Ya-Ya-Yah! again, as that was a fun show to watch.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
16th poll results
I need to get better at remembering when I have set my polls to end. But I was having some trouble thinking of a new topic that I hadn't done to death before. But before moving onto that, the results of this latest one.
Where do you think the next international Johnny's concert should be?
Asia - 61
North America - 49
Europe - 33
Australia - 4
South America - 1
Africa - 0
Not surprised with the responses really, as Johnny's has actually spread out into Asia a bit so they would be more well known there than anywhere else in the world. And this being an English language blog I figured there would be a fair amount of people from North America and Europe. And I'm happy to see a few votes for Australia, as even though I lived most of my life in the U.S. I was born in Australia so I have some lingering Auzzie pride. ^__^
As I've entered a nostalgic phase, thinking back when I got into Johnny's a little over two yeas ago, this question entered my mind and I felt it would be something worth asking. Which group got you into Johnny's & are they your favorite? Daisempai, are of course any of the Johnny's acts before SMAP's debut (Shounentai, Hikaru Genji, Kondo Masahiko, etc...) and Juniors can be any of the Juniors or Junior groups past and present.
Where do you think the next international Johnny's concert should be?
Asia - 61
North America - 49
Europe - 33
Australia - 4
South America - 1
Africa - 0
Not surprised with the responses really, as Johnny's has actually spread out into Asia a bit so they would be more well known there than anywhere else in the world. And this being an English language blog I figured there would be a fair amount of people from North America and Europe. And I'm happy to see a few votes for Australia, as even though I lived most of my life in the U.S. I was born in Australia so I have some lingering Auzzie pride. ^__^
As I've entered a nostalgic phase, thinking back when I got into Johnny's a little over two yeas ago, this question entered my mind and I felt it would be something worth asking. Which group got you into Johnny's & are they your favorite? Daisempai, are of course any of the Johnny's acts before SMAP's debut (Shounentai, Hikaru Genji, Kondo Masahiko, etc...) and Juniors can be any of the Juniors or Junior groups past and present.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tokio Over 30's World concert highlight report
Since I plan on using Ladies' Day (every Wednesday women get a movie ticket discount) to the most of my advantage today by spending a good portion of my day at the nearby movie theater catching up on Japanese movies I missed when I went home to the States, I figured I better do this quick.
First off while looking for more information about the concert, like who exactly the guests were, I found a great Japanese write up of the concert with not only the full set list but all the dialog for the MC parts included as well. So if you know Japanese I think it would be best to check it out.
The concert was much more like a normal rock concert than a Johnny's concert. I think the more elaborate sets and such for Tokio would have seemed out of place. Especially since they are a band so most of the time they are stuck behind their instruments. Though on that note each member was given at least one time during the concert to leave their instruments during a song, they had a support drummer that let Matsuoka Masahiro leave his set, and walk the full length of the stage which went from one side of the venue to the other and let the lucky fans sitting next to the flanks that went next to where they were sitting see the members up close.
Talking about the stage, they had a large version of the concert mascot on the stage between Mabo's drum set and the drum set of the support drummer. When it was used it would flap its wings and blow smoke out of its nose. Joshima Shigeru seemed rather attached to it as he was standing underneath for one part of a song and then later in the concert petting it. And like the usual rock concert there were streams of fire and at the end streamers came down in the arena area during different parts of the concert.
I consider myself more of a casual Tokio fan, though I do love Nagase Tomoya dearly, so there quite a few songs I didn't recognize. I found out after the concert when talking to a friend who went to the concert as well, but had seat in a different area, that there were quite a few album tracks played which explained that. So I need to pick up more of their albums as I only have a few. But even if I didn't know the song I still enjoyed them all as the whole group looked so happy to be up their on stage performing.
Also they played some of their newer songs like Amagasa (which thankfully had key changes to put in in more of Nagase's actual singing range though he was still shout-y in parts for it) and the A-sides off their latest single Taiyou to Sabaku no Bara and Subeki Koto. And of course there was Sorafune, which I think is a must now for any Tokio concert. The song that really made me happy to hear live was Hey! Mr. Sampling Man. It's one of my favorite Tokio songs so it was easily the highlight of the concert for me.
After this concert I have come to like the group more and will try to make more of an effort to learn more about them. Especially Kokubun Taichi, as he was just so lovable with how hyper he was on stage. He was jumping around at and away from his keyboards and was the lead person for getting the crowd going during songs. Then near the end of the concert rocked out in an afro wig. ♥
I was really amazed at Tokio's MC skills. I didn't understand much of it but the parts I did get were funny and entertaining (like Nagase and his 'over 30's chair' and all the poking fun of Joshima for being the 'old man' of the group) and from the crowd reactions to the things I didn't get it sounded like it was the same. Though they did have a few serious moments when they talked about their anniversary and how glad they were for their fans' support. But there were no moments of awkward silence or having to wait for someone to think of the next topic as they all just played off each other and just naturally kept the conversation going with their jokes. I guess that's one of the big differences between these older Johnny's groups compared to the younger ones, but I'm sure as the years pass and the younger groups begin to create closer bounds with each other they can eventually reach that level.
They only did one encore but it was a three song encore. Like for most of the songs of the concert they were upbeat songs and the guys looked like they were having a blast on stage. It's really hard to believe they're all over 30 as they just had so much energy. Especially Joshima as he probably moved around the stage the most and gave the fans the most love. Near the end he even ran up to the wall just below where the 1st floor seats were above so those fans could reach out and touch him.
At the end the whole group lined up, hand in hand, and Joshima was pulled into the middle of them all so he would be in the proper leader spot. Then Joshima without a mic yelled out loud and clear in English, 'We are TOKIO!'. And that ended the concert as they then left the stage.
I think the only downside to the concert was that I was sitting next to a fan that just was paying no attention to those around them. It was fine for everything before the long MC as I was standing in the aisle (I was the last row of the 1st floor so the seats were on raised ledges on the wall with the aisle to the exits/entrances directly in front of it.) and she was behind me standing on the ledge but after that MC she decided to stand in front of me and I tended to see more of her arm/hand than the stage during the songs. I tried to avoid it at first by standing on the ledge myself but because of my height it only left a couple of inches between my head and the ceiling which was rather uncomfortable for me, so I ended up just having to deal with the nuisance of somebody's arm/hand in my line of vision.
From the MC it looks like I was actually right about Masuda Takahisa being there after all. They actually introduced him by name (I can't believe I didn't catch it as they made a pun of his name right afterwards too.) as well and Yasuda Shota (who I'm not surprised that I didn't recognize as I had trouble recognizing him in the ROMES photos in the latest magazines). I am positive about Akun Igo still, even though he didn't get a mention but he stands out so much it really couldn't be anyone else. For the Hey! Say! JUMP boys none of them were introduced by name just by the group name even though there looked to be only three present. I'm now sure that Okamoto Keito was there, he's the only one with spiky hair after all, and one of them had longish light brown hair and I thought it was either Takaki Yuya or Yaotome Hikaru. Really did not get a good look at all at the third boy so I'm not even going to guess who it was other than he had black hair, which means it could be just about anyone else from the group that doesn't have their hair dyed.
First off while looking for more information about the concert, like who exactly the guests were, I found a great Japanese write up of the concert with not only the full set list but all the dialog for the MC parts included as well. So if you know Japanese I think it would be best to check it out.
The concert was much more like a normal rock concert than a Johnny's concert. I think the more elaborate sets and such for Tokio would have seemed out of place. Especially since they are a band so most of the time they are stuck behind their instruments. Though on that note each member was given at least one time during the concert to leave their instruments during a song, they had a support drummer that let Matsuoka Masahiro leave his set, and walk the full length of the stage which went from one side of the venue to the other and let the lucky fans sitting next to the flanks that went next to where they were sitting see the members up close.
Talking about the stage, they had a large version of the concert mascot on the stage between Mabo's drum set and the drum set of the support drummer. When it was used it would flap its wings and blow smoke out of its nose. Joshima Shigeru seemed rather attached to it as he was standing underneath for one part of a song and then later in the concert petting it. And like the usual rock concert there were streams of fire and at the end streamers came down in the arena area during different parts of the concert.
I consider myself more of a casual Tokio fan, though I do love Nagase Tomoya dearly, so there quite a few songs I didn't recognize. I found out after the concert when talking to a friend who went to the concert as well, but had seat in a different area, that there were quite a few album tracks played which explained that. So I need to pick up more of their albums as I only have a few. But even if I didn't know the song I still enjoyed them all as the whole group looked so happy to be up their on stage performing.
Also they played some of their newer songs like Amagasa (which thankfully had key changes to put in in more of Nagase's actual singing range though he was still shout-y in parts for it) and the A-sides off their latest single Taiyou to Sabaku no Bara and Subeki Koto. And of course there was Sorafune, which I think is a must now for any Tokio concert. The song that really made me happy to hear live was Hey! Mr. Sampling Man. It's one of my favorite Tokio songs so it was easily the highlight of the concert for me.
After this concert I have come to like the group more and will try to make more of an effort to learn more about them. Especially Kokubun Taichi, as he was just so lovable with how hyper he was on stage. He was jumping around at and away from his keyboards and was the lead person for getting the crowd going during songs. Then near the end of the concert rocked out in an afro wig. ♥
I was really amazed at Tokio's MC skills. I didn't understand much of it but the parts I did get were funny and entertaining (like Nagase and his 'over 30's chair' and all the poking fun of Joshima for being the 'old man' of the group) and from the crowd reactions to the things I didn't get it sounded like it was the same. Though they did have a few serious moments when they talked about their anniversary and how glad they were for their fans' support. But there were no moments of awkward silence or having to wait for someone to think of the next topic as they all just played off each other and just naturally kept the conversation going with their jokes. I guess that's one of the big differences between these older Johnny's groups compared to the younger ones, but I'm sure as the years pass and the younger groups begin to create closer bounds with each other they can eventually reach that level.
They only did one encore but it was a three song encore. Like for most of the songs of the concert they were upbeat songs and the guys looked like they were having a blast on stage. It's really hard to believe they're all over 30 as they just had so much energy. Especially Joshima as he probably moved around the stage the most and gave the fans the most love. Near the end he even ran up to the wall just below where the 1st floor seats were above so those fans could reach out and touch him.
At the end the whole group lined up, hand in hand, and Joshima was pulled into the middle of them all so he would be in the proper leader spot. Then Joshima without a mic yelled out loud and clear in English, 'We are TOKIO!'. And that ended the concert as they then left the stage.
I think the only downside to the concert was that I was sitting next to a fan that just was paying no attention to those around them. It was fine for everything before the long MC as I was standing in the aisle (I was the last row of the 1st floor so the seats were on raised ledges on the wall with the aisle to the exits/entrances directly in front of it.) and she was behind me standing on the ledge but after that MC she decided to stand in front of me and I tended to see more of her arm/hand than the stage during the songs. I tried to avoid it at first by standing on the ledge myself but because of my height it only left a couple of inches between my head and the ceiling which was rather uncomfortable for me, so I ended up just having to deal with the nuisance of somebody's arm/hand in my line of vision.
From the MC it looks like I was actually right about Masuda Takahisa being there after all. They actually introduced him by name (I can't believe I didn't catch it as they made a pun of his name right afterwards too.) as well and Yasuda Shota (who I'm not surprised that I didn't recognize as I had trouble recognizing him in the ROMES photos in the latest magazines). I am positive about Akun Igo still, even though he didn't get a mention but he stands out so much it really couldn't be anyone else. For the Hey! Say! JUMP boys none of them were introduced by name just by the group name even though there looked to be only three present. I'm now sure that Okamoto Keito was there, he's the only one with spiky hair after all, and one of them had longish light brown hair and I thought it was either Takaki Yuya or Yaotome Hikaru. Really did not get a good look at all at the third boy so I'm not even going to guess who it was other than he had black hair, which means it could be just about anyone else from the group that doesn't have their hair dyed.
Tokio Over 30's World concert goods
Tonight I went to the first show of Tokio's concert tour for 2009, the Over 30's World Tour, at Nippon Budokan. I'm so glad I decided to go as the concert was fun and Tokio is one of those groups that is just a joy to watch live as they are all just having so much fun. As I'm not sure if there's anyone interested in a report of the concert, as the English fandom for Tokio seems quite small, I'll probably only do a highlights concert report tomorrow after getting some sleep.
The tour goods were all rather tempting to get, since they had some interesting items that I wish other groups would consider adding to their goods list. The most popular is probably the stuffed animal of the tour mascot, a bulldog with wings wearing sunglasses. While the mascot doesn't look so great drawn on the goods the toy version of it is rather cute. Unfortunately I didn't have the money to pick one up myself, not with the other items I decided to get.
I like how the uchiwas aren't designed to look like the standard uchiwa, with the photos not just being simple head shots of the guys. And I love that they had clothing patches, there's actually four different ones in the bag even though since it's unopened you can only see the one in the photo. The bag is an eco-bag, and while I like the logo the material is rather thin so I'm afraid about using it to carry anything heavy in it.
And of course since I'm a sucker for photos I had to at least pick up Nagase Tomoya's photo set. Because as much as I like the younger groups he is my Johnny's crush, as not only is he hot but he has a great personality which is a combination hard not to fall for, IMHO.
There were a few Johnny's guests at the concert, but they weren't brought on stage or even individually introduced. I also I couldn't see the screen from where I was so I couldn't see their faces at all. I could see them from a distance from where I was but not close enough to really tell who was there. Except for Akun Igo from Question?, as he tends to stand out quite a bit and is one of the few Johnny's that is actually more easily identifiable when he's wearing a hat. (laugh) Though I think, not 100% certain, that two of the others were Okamoto Keito (had the short spikey hair) and Masuda Takahisa (as during the MC Tokio was talking about the younger groups and brought up Hey! Say! JUMP then added NEWS as well as if they felt they needed to include that group not long before they put the spotlight on where the guests were sitting, though he was also the furthest away from where I was so I don't have much faith in my guess here). I guess I'll have to see about hunting down Japanese blogs to confirm the guests though, as Akun is really the only one I am 100% sure that I recognized.
The tour goods were all rather tempting to get, since they had some interesting items that I wish other groups would consider adding to their goods list. The most popular is probably the stuffed animal of the tour mascot, a bulldog with wings wearing sunglasses. While the mascot doesn't look so great drawn on the goods the toy version of it is rather cute. Unfortunately I didn't have the money to pick one up myself, not with the other items I decided to get.
I like how the uchiwas aren't designed to look like the standard uchiwa, with the photos not just being simple head shots of the guys. And I love that they had clothing patches, there's actually four different ones in the bag even though since it's unopened you can only see the one in the photo. The bag is an eco-bag, and while I like the logo the material is rather thin so I'm afraid about using it to carry anything heavy in it.
And of course since I'm a sucker for photos I had to at least pick up Nagase Tomoya's photo set. Because as much as I like the younger groups he is my Johnny's crush, as not only is he hot but he has a great personality which is a combination hard not to fall for, IMHO.
There were a few Johnny's guests at the concert, but they weren't brought on stage or even individually introduced. I also I couldn't see the screen from where I was so I couldn't see their faces at all. I could see them from a distance from where I was but not close enough to really tell who was there. Except for Akun Igo from Question?, as he tends to stand out quite a bit and is one of the few Johnny's that is actually more easily identifiable when he's wearing a hat. (laugh) Though I think, not 100% certain, that two of the others were Okamoto Keito (had the short spikey hair) and Masuda Takahisa (as during the MC Tokio was talking about the younger groups and brought up Hey! Say! JUMP then added NEWS as well as if they felt they needed to include that group not long before they put the spotlight on where the guests were sitting, though he was also the furthest away from where I was so I don't have much faith in my guess here). I guess I'll have to see about hunting down Japanese blogs to confirm the guests though, as Akun is really the only one I am 100% sure that I recognized.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Arashi week on NTV
It looks like Johnny's isn't the only one celebrating Arashi's 10th anniversary. NTV has announced that they plan to give the group a full week of special appearances on their various programs in November and will end the week with a special Arashi program.
According to the news report the total run time of the programs that will have at least one member guesting in will be 50 hours added together. So if you don't think you've gotten enough of the group yet then hopefully this will help fill your Arashi needs.
Tokyograph article. (English)
And while I'm happy for Arashi that they're getting so much attention after being one of those groups that tended to get overlooked in their earlier days I can't help but feel a bit sorry for those groups that are currently being overlooked. Especially Tokio as this year is their 15th anniversary and they really haven't gotten anything special to celebrate it from Johnny's. But I guess they at least have a concert tour despite only releasing one single all year so far, and I know I'm glad that I'll be going to their first concert for it tomorrow.
According to the news report the total run time of the programs that will have at least one member guesting in will be 50 hours added together. So if you don't think you've gotten enough of the group yet then hopefully this will help fill your Arashi needs.
Tokyograph article. (English)
And while I'm happy for Arashi that they're getting so much attention after being one of those groups that tended to get overlooked in their earlier days I can't help but feel a bit sorry for those groups that are currently being overlooked. Especially Tokio as this year is their 15th anniversary and they really haven't gotten anything special to celebrate it from Johnny's. But I guess they at least have a concert tour despite only releasing one single all year so far, and I know I'm glad that I'll be going to their first concert for it tomorrow.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Konkatsu! First Impressions
I still have a couple of weeks before school starts up again and I figured I should catch up with my drama watching as I am so very behind. Right now my current line up is Konkatsu! and Battery, the former I've already begun watching and the latter I'll begin once done with Konkatsu! And then it'll depend with what I have finished DLing for what I'll watch next. Though hopefully I'll be on the summer dramas at least by the time school starts.
Konkatsu! is the Spring 2009 drama that starred Nakai Masahiro and was Ueda Tatsuya's drama debut as he played Nakai's character's younger brother.
I've found Konkatsu! rather interesting for the fact that it addresses an issue in Japan that probably a lot of people outside the country don't realize even exists. The heart of this issue is the shrinking population of Japan, especially that of the youth, which is the smallest percentage of the Japanese population. To fix this issue the Japanese government has tried many programs to get young people to marry and have children with a small amount of success but really not enough to turn the situation around. Konkatsu! focuses on showing the process of 'marriage hunting' and IMHO rather simplifies the issue, but I also think expecting much more from a drama would be asking too much.
I like Nakai and so far have found him fun to watch in this series. He plays his hapless hero character, Amamiya Kuniyuki, well and plays off well with the other actors, which is a plus for the comedy of the series. The story keeps focus on him for the most part so if you don't like Nakai for some reason then I doubt you'd enjoy the series much at all.
While Ueda doesn't show up much, but at least he seems to get a little screen time for each episode, I know I'm happy to see him. I don't think I've seen nearly enough to judge his acting yet but so far he fills his role nicely, as minor as it seems, and he's nice to look at too. (laugh)
The other characters so far I like as well. There's a few I really like and the others I have no real opinion of. There is also supposed to be a lot of female guest actors for this series, though I don't know many Japanese actresses so I'm not really interested in seeing any of them, but thankfully they seem to be worked into the plot well so their appearences aren't abrupt.
Storywise the first couple of episodes are still mainly setting things up. We get introduced to Kuniyuki, his family, friends and co-workers all rather quickly, but each introduction comes with a name caption to help people remember the name and face.
And for every episode there is an event shown that is one of the typical activities at the actual marriage hunting events in Japan, like the first episode shows off the 'speed dating' where men and women hold quick introductions and conversations with each other before switching partners. By the end of the event those most interested in hearing more from someone are allowed to find that person and see if they will be able to hit it off or not.
It's not the most engaging of stories so far, but I like the characters so far and I think it holds some promise so I'll continue to watch.
Konkatsu! is the Spring 2009 drama that starred Nakai Masahiro and was Ueda Tatsuya's drama debut as he played Nakai's character's younger brother.
I've found Konkatsu! rather interesting for the fact that it addresses an issue in Japan that probably a lot of people outside the country don't realize even exists. The heart of this issue is the shrinking population of Japan, especially that of the youth, which is the smallest percentage of the Japanese population. To fix this issue the Japanese government has tried many programs to get young people to marry and have children with a small amount of success but really not enough to turn the situation around. Konkatsu! focuses on showing the process of 'marriage hunting' and IMHO rather simplifies the issue, but I also think expecting much more from a drama would be asking too much.
I like Nakai and so far have found him fun to watch in this series. He plays his hapless hero character, Amamiya Kuniyuki, well and plays off well with the other actors, which is a plus for the comedy of the series. The story keeps focus on him for the most part so if you don't like Nakai for some reason then I doubt you'd enjoy the series much at all.
While Ueda doesn't show up much, but at least he seems to get a little screen time for each episode, I know I'm happy to see him. I don't think I've seen nearly enough to judge his acting yet but so far he fills his role nicely, as minor as it seems, and he's nice to look at too. (laugh)
The other characters so far I like as well. There's a few I really like and the others I have no real opinion of. There is also supposed to be a lot of female guest actors for this series, though I don't know many Japanese actresses so I'm not really interested in seeing any of them, but thankfully they seem to be worked into the plot well so their appearences aren't abrupt.
Storywise the first couple of episodes are still mainly setting things up. We get introduced to Kuniyuki, his family, friends and co-workers all rather quickly, but each introduction comes with a name caption to help people remember the name and face.
And for every episode there is an event shown that is one of the typical activities at the actual marriage hunting events in Japan, like the first episode shows off the 'speed dating' where men and women hold quick introductions and conversations with each other before switching partners. By the end of the event those most interested in hearing more from someone are allowed to find that person and see if they will be able to hit it off or not.
It's not the most engaging of stories so far, but I like the characters so far and I think it holds some promise so I'll continue to watch.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Tatsuya 'Hottest Male Singers' poll Johnny's list
Since this seems to be making the rounds I figured I might as well join in. I'll only be listing the Johnny's artists that made the list with the rank number (repeated numbers are ties) and number of votes. For those not familiar with Tatsuya or wondering how influential this chart is here is what I know about it. Tatsuya is a cd store chain, much like the more commonly known Tower Records and HMV in other places in the world. Like most companies these days it has an online site and holds online polls for people to vote on. So you're probably getting a different group of people than those polled for the Oricon or magazine polls, which explains the big difference in how some of the artists have ranked in this poll compared to others.
Tatsuya 'Hottest Male Singers' poll Johnny's list
12 Nishikido Ryo (NEWS) 12,713 votes
15 Nakai Masahiro (SMAP) 8,136 votes
18 Kimura Takuya (SMAP) 5,088 votes
19 Domoto Tsuyoshi (Kinki Kids) 4,838 votes
21 Akanishi Jin (KAT-TUN) 3,750 votes
23 Kokubun Taiichi (TOKIO) 3,422 votes
30 Matsumoto Jun (Arashi) 910 votes
37 Sakurai Sho (Arashi) 487votes
38 Ohno Satoshi (Arashi) 426 votes
54 Nagase Tomoya (TOKIO) 100 votes
56 Yamashita Tomohisa (NEWS) 91 votes
58 Domoto Koichi (Kinki Kids) 60 votes
59 Ninomiya Kazunari (Arashi) 51 votes
60 Tegoshi Yuya (NEWS) 46 votes
62 Katori Shingo (SMAP) 32 votes
63 Kamenashi Kazuya (KAT-TUN) 21 votes
63 Aiba Masaki (Arashi) 21 votes
66 Yamada Ryosuke (Hey! Say! JUMP) 17 votes
68 Chinen Yuri (Hey! Say! JUMP) 15 votes
68 Nakayama Yuma 15 votes
68 Fujigaya Taisuke (Kis-My-Ft2) 15 votes
Tatsuya poll results page. (Japanese only.)
And that's the full list. It's a bit strange to see people like Yamapi and Kame so far down the list but I can't say I'm surprised every member of Arashi was on it. I was surprised to see Fujigaya's name there, even if it's at the bottom. I think it's pretty impressive for someone who isn't in a debuted group or have had a lot of recent promotion for anything.
And for those curious there is another poll that is currently open to voting on. The topic is Fall Sports! Which Artist Seems Like A Fast Runner? and you can view it here, as long as it's active. And I have to say I'm rather happy to see Okamoto Keito ranking rather high in this poll, if just because it shows that people do seem to know he exists and there can never be too much Keito love, IMHO.
Tatsuya 'Hottest Male Singers' poll Johnny's list
12 Nishikido Ryo (NEWS) 12,713 votes
15 Nakai Masahiro (SMAP) 8,136 votes
18 Kimura Takuya (SMAP) 5,088 votes
19 Domoto Tsuyoshi (Kinki Kids) 4,838 votes
21 Akanishi Jin (KAT-TUN) 3,750 votes
23 Kokubun Taiichi (TOKIO) 3,422 votes
30 Matsumoto Jun (Arashi) 910 votes
37 Sakurai Sho (Arashi) 487votes
38 Ohno Satoshi (Arashi) 426 votes
54 Nagase Tomoya (TOKIO) 100 votes
56 Yamashita Tomohisa (NEWS) 91 votes
58 Domoto Koichi (Kinki Kids) 60 votes
59 Ninomiya Kazunari (Arashi) 51 votes
60 Tegoshi Yuya (NEWS) 46 votes
62 Katori Shingo (SMAP) 32 votes
63 Kamenashi Kazuya (KAT-TUN) 21 votes
63 Aiba Masaki (Arashi) 21 votes
66 Yamada Ryosuke (Hey! Say! JUMP) 17 votes
68 Chinen Yuri (Hey! Say! JUMP) 15 votes
68 Nakayama Yuma 15 votes
68 Fujigaya Taisuke (Kis-My-Ft2) 15 votes
Tatsuya poll results page. (Japanese only.)
And that's the full list. It's a bit strange to see people like Yamapi and Kame so far down the list but I can't say I'm surprised every member of Arashi was on it. I was surprised to see Fujigaya's name there, even if it's at the bottom. I think it's pretty impressive for someone who isn't in a debuted group or have had a lot of recent promotion for anything.
And for those curious there is another poll that is currently open to voting on. The topic is Fall Sports! Which Artist Seems Like A Fast Runner? and you can view it here, as long as it's active. And I have to say I'm rather happy to see Okamoto Keito ranking rather high in this poll, if just because it shows that people do seem to know he exists and there can never be too much Keito love, IMHO.
Upcoming Johnny's releases
It looks like this is a popular time for Johnny's to announce new releases for the next month or two. So far there is a new Kinki Kids single on it's way, titled Swan Song, to go with their million selling best album Arashi has a DVD with all the PVs they've ever had, including the animated version of Believe, and the latest announcement is the Hey! Say! JUMP official 1st photo album that will come with a special message DVD that was first announced at the Tokyo Dome concert on September 13th.
cdjapan has all these up for pre-order at the links below.
I think the only thing I wish I could change or add with this batch of upcoming releases is for Hey! Say! JUMP to have a single or album, but at least they're releasing something I guess. That and I think it's about time NEWS and Kanjani8 had their next single released. Though I have a feeling that Kanjani8 will be getting one in a couple of months with two of their members starring in a fall drama, so I think there's a good chance of them doing the theme song for that. I just hope NEWS gets to release something too around that time, even though they'll probably have to make a gap between releases for the two groups so Nishikido Ryo doesn't get too overworked.
cdjapan has all these up for pre-order at the links below.
I think the only thing I wish I could change or add with this batch of upcoming releases is for Hey! Say! JUMP to have a single or album, but at least they're releasing something I guess. That and I think it's about time NEWS and Kanjani8 had their next single released. Though I have a feeling that Kanjani8 will be getting one in a couple of months with two of their members starring in a fall drama, so I think there's a good chance of them doing the theme song for that. I just hope NEWS gets to release something too around that time, even though they'll probably have to make a gap between releases for the two groups so Nishikido Ryo doesn't get too overworked.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Hey! Say! JUMP Fanclub messages
Ok, I'm back in Japan and I feel like it won't take long to get back into the swing of things. It probably helps that somehow I managed to avoid the worst of jetlag with just never getting a normal sleep pattern down while back in the States. In any case I found some mail waiting for me when I came back. I received some things from the Junior fanclub, Kis-My-Ft2 and Takizawa Kakumei balloting forms, as well as a form for joining the new Hey! Say! JUMP Fanclub.
As I only have about half a year left in Japan I'm going to have to pass on joining the new fanclub. If I ever return to live here for a year or more I'll probably go ahead and join, but until then it looks like I'm back to having to get HSJ tickets the usual way I have been.
With the form for joining the fanclub there are also short messages from each member of the group. I surprised myself by pretty much being able to read and understand almost all of Takaki Yuya's message. (For the curious he just talks a bit about going to the beach a lot during the summer and asks if people know about wake boarding.) Not so surprised with being able to do the same with Yamada Ryosuke's as his is pretty much just a plug for his upcoming drama special and a line they all say in almost the same words about the fanclub 「Ｈｅｙ！Ｓａｙ！ＪＵＭＰのファンクラブができます！」(Hey! Say! JUMP's fanclub is created!). I haven't really tried to read the other's yet.
And here is the photo I took of it. I'm not sure if I'll try to translate it all or not yet, though I'm thinking I should so I can practice my Japanese and the handwriting looks legible enough for me to read.
As I only have about half a year left in Japan I'm going to have to pass on joining the new fanclub. If I ever return to live here for a year or more I'll probably go ahead and join, but until then it looks like I'm back to having to get HSJ tickets the usual way I have been.
With the form for joining the fanclub there are also short messages from each member of the group. I surprised myself by pretty much being able to read and understand almost all of Takaki Yuya's message. (For the curious he just talks a bit about going to the beach a lot during the summer and asks if people know about wake boarding.) Not so surprised with being able to do the same with Yamada Ryosuke's as his is pretty much just a plug for his upcoming drama special and a line they all say in almost the same words about the fanclub 「Ｈｅｙ！Ｓａｙ！ＪＵＭＰのファンクラブができます！」(Hey! Say! JUMP's fanclub is created!). I haven't really tried to read the other's yet.
And here is the photo I took of it. I'm not sure if I'll try to translate it all or not yet, though I'm thinking I should so I can practice my Japanese and the handwriting looks legible enough for me to read.
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