First off another Aiba Masaki will be getting a Johnny's for a supporting role in his upcoming drama, My Girl, Murakami Shingo from Kanjani8. Shingo's character is an original character for the drama series, which is an adaption of a manga series of the same name. The drama is slated to begin October 9th.
Tokyo Graph article. (English)
Yamada Ryosuke will be returning to the small screen again in yet another detective role. The drama is a special and is called Hidarime Tantei EYE. It will add supernatural elements into the story so it's not exactly like the other detective roles he has done before, though I expect there will be a lot of brooding looks from him as there usually is. I really wish they would give him a role where he can just be goofy and silly, as there's not enough of that IMHO. But back to the actually news for this drama. Yokoyama Yu will have a small role in the SP too, as Ryosuke's older brother.
Tokyo Graph article. (English)
And I will confess I am a bit excited over this drama SP, because I'm hoping there will be an end theme that Hey! Say! JUMP get to sing. Because I really want to hear a new song from them, especially if it can end up helping promote a new single or album.
Also cdjapan has listed DVD releases of the special dramas various Johnny's have starred in for the NTV 24hr program. The earliest release is for 2003, the year Nagase Tomoya was the star, and according to cdjapan's listing it had been released on VHS before. Then it jumps to 2006 for Kamenashi Kazuya's turn followed by Takizawa Hideaki in 2007, Matsumoto Jun in 2008 and of course Niskikido Ryo (featuring Yamada Ryosuke) in 2009.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Connected!
Ok, I'm finally somewhere that has internet access that won't flake out on me so I'll be starting up again with posts soon. Especially since I'm still really excited about the announced Kis-My-Ft2 national tour. (Which is great for them because while the venues aren't big it's still a big thing as not many Junior groups get solo concerts let along national tours. So Johnny's really must have a good amount of faith in the group.)
Then there are a few new releases, and some new drama news that I know I need to catch up on.
So hopefully within the next day or two I'll get things together and start posting regularly again.
Then there are a few new releases, and some new drama news that I know I need to catch up on.
So hopefully within the next day or two I'll get things together and start posting regularly again.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Visiting Home
I figured I probably should make a quick announcement. I know I haven't been keeping up with posting as much as I would like to and it doesn't look like it's going to get on track anytime soon. I'm going home for a few weeks, leaving today and will be back in Japan on September 17th. I'll be making a couple short travel detours in Hawaii to visit family there as well, which is a nice way to break up the flights between Japan and the American West Coast anyway.
I'm quite sad it's looks like I'll be missing Hey! Say! JUMP's Tokyo Dome concert, but the trip was planned before it was announced so there was no helping it at the end. (If they have photo sets for it though I'll definitely going to make sure I get some of those somehow.) Though it looks like I should be back to see Tokio and most likely the Kis-My-Ft2 concert(s), as I'm assuming the Kisumai concert(s) won't be happening next month if they haven't announced dates for it yet. And I don't think there's anything else I'm interested in that I can afford coming up right now.
On the plus side though I will finally have a scanner again. While I won't be bringing all the magazines I've bought with me I am planning to bring all the official photos I've bought so far, so I'll probably be scanning and sharing those when I get back home. But now just watch as something amazing happens while I'm gone, as that's how it always seems to be. XD
I'm quite sad it's looks like I'll be missing Hey! Say! JUMP's Tokyo Dome concert, but the trip was planned before it was announced so there was no helping it at the end. (If they have photo sets for it though I'll definitely going to make sure I get some of those somehow.) Though it looks like I should be back to see Tokio and most likely the Kis-My-Ft2 concert(s), as I'm assuming the Kisumai concert(s) won't be happening next month if they haven't announced dates for it yet. And I don't think there's anything else I'm interested in that I can afford coming up right now.
On the plus side though I will finally have a scanner again. While I won't be bringing all the magazines I've bought with me I am planning to bring all the official photos I've bought so far, so I'll probably be scanning and sharing those when I get back home. But now just watch as something amazing happens while I'm gone, as that's how it always seems to be. XD
14th Poll Results
I figured it was time for me to move onto the next poll now that this one is done. So here are the results for What Other Junior Group Should Have a Solo Concert?
A.B.C.-Z 36
Mis Snow Man 33
Question? 20
Hey! Say! 7 WEST 17Butoukan 8
B.A.D. 6
I figured A.B.C.-Z would top the poll, but I didn't think Mis Snow Man would be so close behind them. I guess it goes to show just how amazing it is that the the unit has grown so popular with little promotion from Johnny's.
And thinking that since Nakayama Yuma w/ B.I. Shadow is now definitely a Junior group they are of course faced with the same dreaded issue all other Junior groups must face, being broken up for a debut. So this next poll is out of the group who you would be most heart broken about not debuting.
A.B.C.-Z 36
Mis Snow Man 33
Question? 20
Hey! Say! 7 WEST 17Butoukan 8
B.A.D. 6
I figured A.B.C.-Z would top the poll, but I didn't think Mis Snow Man would be so close behind them. I guess it goes to show just how amazing it is that the the unit has grown so popular with little promotion from Johnny's.
And thinking that since Nakayama Yuma w/ B.I. Shadow is now definitely a Junior group they are of course faced with the same dreaded issue all other Junior groups must face, being broken up for a debut. So this next poll is out of the group who you would be most heart broken about not debuting.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Been running these thoughts through my head...
I've been thinking about the recent happenings in the Johnny's Junior world and have decided it's time to do a Let's speculate entry again.
With Nakayama Yuma w/B.I. Shadow finally showing definite proof that they are not a fully debuted Johnny's group I think it's a good time to look at the possible impact it could have on things.
While taking a walk a couple of hours ago it dawned on me that NYC boys is actually rather like past temporary volleyball support Kitty GYM. Yuma could equal Golf & Mike, with being the not quite popular member(s) of the main group that is there to ride off the popularity of the other member(s). And Yamada Ryosuke & Chinen Yuri are like Yamashita Tomohisa, as the one(s) that are already popular and will make sure that people will take notice and buy the single. BIS of course are like Kitty, the backdancers to the group, but they get to fare off much better than Kitty in that they are actually doing more than just being the backdancers and get to sing, get some screen time and be featured on the cd release. In fact it's rather suspicious, IMHO, how even the naming conventions for the two groups aren't that far off either.
I think the main difference is that there's a YuBIS track and then the rest being NYC boys tracks for the singles, unlike the GYM cd which had GYM tracks and tracks for Golf & Mike and Yamapi. But I think YuBIS was more for Yuma's drama and Johnny's figured as both the drama and the event would be going on at the same time they might as well merge the two together.
And this all makes sense. What doesn't make sense for this release was that Johnny's did intially dub it, or let the news agencies report it as a new unit full debut when in the end it wasn't. It wouldn't be the first time the news got things wrong for this kind of thing, but until the Junior concert this week it was all rather vague with mixed signals and messages about the debut. And if Johnny's did plan on making Yubis a full debut it seems weird that they're going back on it so quickly.
I mean when NEWS released NEWS Nippon they were called a temporary unit and it wasn't until Johnny's called them a success and announced they would have a second single to be their official debut single (which makes placing the actual debut date for the group a bit hard) was it known the group had fully debuted. Then with the Junior Hey! Say! 7 they were only known as a temporary unit until they debuted with twice the members as Hey! Say! JUMP. So why Johnny's didn't do the same thing, so they could just pass YuBIS off as just another temporary unit when they decided against making this be a full debut, I don't think we'll ever know. Though I know I for one wish I could find out.
In the end though I don't think the release was a waste at all. I mean I would have loved to have seen a new Hey! Say! JUMP single instead, but it also so it seems to be a natural progression to have the group begin getting separated from being volleyball supporters about this time as well. And I have the feeling that we won't see the group return to the role again after this year, though the sub-groups or another special unit with HSJ members might be involved again.
And for YuBIS, I think this was a great oppurtunity for them. I mean how many people would bother even knowing who Yuugo was if not for this release and the belief this would be a full debut? Probably not that many. In fact I've seen many more people mentioning the boys, for good and ill, than before the debut and I think they've come far with leaving their mark on people's minds on who they are. And while they may not have been the main act of Tuesday's concert, they were still part of the group of Juniors that got a good amount of time on stage. Not to mention it looks like Nakajima Kento and Kikuchi Fuma are on their way to becoming regulars for the Junior Coliseum segment on Shounen Club, which is a big thing as not many of the younger Juniors are regulars for that segment and it means more screen time as well as more experience being on stage for them.
Which is another thing that makes me think that not debuting might be better for YuBIS. Not many of them have much experience, nor were they really set up to gain much. I mean HSJ got two variety programs when they debuted and spots on Hyakushiki so they could get used to be on camera and be more visible. YuBIS had nothing like that lined up at all, except for Yuugo being on School Kakumei, which was something that could have been decided outside of the whole YuBIS situation. The most the rest of them had along those lines was Yuma with all the drama promotion he's done. So while I do believe the boys have real potential, I also believe they need to develop it more before I think they can be considered debut ready as a group.
I also don't think the 'it's not fair' argument holds too much water in all this. I mean I'm pretty sure any member of Kis-My-Ft2 or A.B.C. has been a Junior longer than the time YuBIS has combined. And then there's the older Juniors like Music Academy and un-debuted members of the 4TOPS that will probably never be debuted even though they've been in Johnny's for a long time and most don't get nearly as much exposure as the younger Juniors do. Which goes to prove that all's fair in love, war and Johnny's debuts as far as Johnny's is concerned.
I also think this lack of debut could be used in Johnny's favor for the next couple of debuts. Since YuBIS aren't actually debuted then that means there have only been 18 Johnny's debuts, so the next group will be 19 now, not 20. If my hopes are right and Kis-My-Ft2 debuts next (as currently they are the Junior group that have the most going for them) in the next year or so then they can be number 19 and the group after them, which should be the next volleyball group if Johnny's keeps the every 4 years debut a new group schedule, will be 2011. And I think this will make the promotion team happy that they can use that as a way to call attention to the group by making a big deal about it. I just hope they don't get any crazy ideas and make a 20 member unit for it or something. For while that would still be much smaller than something like the unit female idol unit AKB48, it still wouldn't be a good idea, IMHO, as they seem to have enough trouble finding work for HSJ's ten members as it is.
But yea, I'm still placing my hopes and bets that it will be Kisumai to debut next. And not just because I'm a big fan. As I mentioned they have a lot going on for them now that is helping build up towards something. I mean Tamamori Yuta was a Gokusen boy, even if only for the final special and movie, but the series even at the end is still popular. Then the group was chosen to do PLAYZONE after Shounentai retired from it last year, which so far has given them their first cd release with the soundtrack of the musical coming out next week and could possibly have a DVD release of it as well sometime in the future. And of course the recent announcement of solo concerts. Of course one could argue that Ya-Ya-Yah had a lot of the same thing going for them as well, but it could be argued back that it did end up with a debut, just not for the whole group. And I'm not beyond thinking the same could happen to Kisumai, but I still hold hope, as KAT-TUN was able to debut as a group that Kisumai could share the same luck and repeat that. And that is the fangirl in me speaking for that last line. ^__^;
And why I think they have the best chance over some of the other Junior groups is that Johnny's is giving them these chances to prove themselves successful. I mean they do share quite a bit in common with A.B.C.-Z with being a group that's been around for some time, even taking member and name changes into account, so they've both built up strong fanbases but it's clear that after the Kis-My-Ft2 & A.B.C.-Z joint concert Johnny's has been favoring Kisumai more, with giving them more to do that would put them in spotlight. Like having them support Uchi Hiroki for his Tokyo concerts which included doing quite a bit of the MCing, Tamamori's drama role and etc. And most of the other Junior groups are still rather new and are still in the process of getting people to know who they are just beginning to build up a sizable fanbase.
I think I see A.B.C.-Z eventually going the MA route once Hashimoto Ryosuke gets taken out of the group. Which I don't think is a terrible thing, though it means fans will see less of them if all they're doing is back dancing for the older Johnny's acts, doing plays/musicals and do some behind the stage things like MA does now. But at least they wouldn't disappear all together and it should be a gradual progression to this. Because if they are not going to debut Johnny's is not going to keep them on Shounen Club forever, as could be seen with Yamashita Shoon post-Yax3. Though I am sure Hasshi will leave the group before this begins as Johnny's has been giving him a good amount of exposure post-HSJ debut and I always felt him joining A.B.C. was to help him build experience and to learn from the group, not to be a permenant member in it.
The other groups will probably still be going through the usual motions for Junior groups. Some will stick, others won't and everything will be chaotic for a while when the next new group debuts as Juniors groups are broken up with their fans' hearts for the debut. For the older boys of those groups it will be a tough choice between still going on like Shoon or deciding to just take another route completely like Ayukawa Taiyou. The younger boys should be fine as they will get reshuffled into new groups and there will still be time for them to make it to the next debut. Probably a good example of this is Kisumai's Yokoo Wataru, who was a part of K.K.K.ity that was disbanded for NEWS (when he was 17), ended up in Kis-My-Ft that became eventually Kis-My-Ft2 and looks like he just might get his chance to debut as well in the end if things keep up for them. And there's also Hasshi, who seems like he's a very likely candidate for debuting with the next new unit after his old unit, J.J. Express was disbanded for Hey! Say! JUMP. The only downside to it is that for YuBIS fans there is a chance the full group may not get picked for the same debut, but as shown there are examples of Juniors about their ages when the next new unit debut should come up that are far from being out of the running for debut. They just had to hang in there and keep working with the breaks they were given.
And that's mainly what I've been thinking of so far about the whole matter. I guess I can't get too broken up about the lack of debut for YuBIS, as I don't see it as an end for the group and it did help get more people interested in them. Also because they are still young they will have other chances if they keep going and Johnny's keeps supporting them.
With Nakayama Yuma w/B.I. Shadow finally showing definite proof that they are not a fully debuted Johnny's group I think it's a good time to look at the possible impact it could have on things.
While taking a walk a couple of hours ago it dawned on me that NYC boys is actually rather like past temporary volleyball support Kitty GYM. Yuma could equal Golf & Mike, with being the not quite popular member(s) of the main group that is there to ride off the popularity of the other member(s). And Yamada Ryosuke & Chinen Yuri are like Yamashita Tomohisa, as the one(s) that are already popular and will make sure that people will take notice and buy the single. BIS of course are like Kitty, the backdancers to the group, but they get to fare off much better than Kitty in that they are actually doing more than just being the backdancers and get to sing, get some screen time and be featured on the cd release. In fact it's rather suspicious, IMHO, how even the naming conventions for the two groups aren't that far off either.
I think the main difference is that there's a YuBIS track and then the rest being NYC boys tracks for the singles, unlike the GYM cd which had GYM tracks and tracks for Golf & Mike and Yamapi. But I think YuBIS was more for Yuma's drama and Johnny's figured as both the drama and the event would be going on at the same time they might as well merge the two together.
And this all makes sense. What doesn't make sense for this release was that Johnny's did intially dub it, or let the news agencies report it as a new unit full debut when in the end it wasn't. It wouldn't be the first time the news got things wrong for this kind of thing, but until the Junior concert this week it was all rather vague with mixed signals and messages about the debut. And if Johnny's did plan on making Yubis a full debut it seems weird that they're going back on it so quickly.
I mean when NEWS released NEWS Nippon they were called a temporary unit and it wasn't until Johnny's called them a success and announced they would have a second single to be their official debut single (which makes placing the actual debut date for the group a bit hard) was it known the group had fully debuted. Then with the Junior Hey! Say! 7 they were only known as a temporary unit until they debuted with twice the members as Hey! Say! JUMP. So why Johnny's didn't do the same thing, so they could just pass YuBIS off as just another temporary unit when they decided against making this be a full debut, I don't think we'll ever know. Though I know I for one wish I could find out.
In the end though I don't think the release was a waste at all. I mean I would have loved to have seen a new Hey! Say! JUMP single instead, but it also so it seems to be a natural progression to have the group begin getting separated from being volleyball supporters about this time as well. And I have the feeling that we won't see the group return to the role again after this year, though the sub-groups or another special unit with HSJ members might be involved again.
And for YuBIS, I think this was a great oppurtunity for them. I mean how many people would bother even knowing who Yuugo was if not for this release and the belief this would be a full debut? Probably not that many. In fact I've seen many more people mentioning the boys, for good and ill, than before the debut and I think they've come far with leaving their mark on people's minds on who they are. And while they may not have been the main act of Tuesday's concert, they were still part of the group of Juniors that got a good amount of time on stage. Not to mention it looks like Nakajima Kento and Kikuchi Fuma are on their way to becoming regulars for the Junior Coliseum segment on Shounen Club, which is a big thing as not many of the younger Juniors are regulars for that segment and it means more screen time as well as more experience being on stage for them.
Which is another thing that makes me think that not debuting might be better for YuBIS. Not many of them have much experience, nor were they really set up to gain much. I mean HSJ got two variety programs when they debuted and spots on Hyakushiki so they could get used to be on camera and be more visible. YuBIS had nothing like that lined up at all, except for Yuugo being on School Kakumei, which was something that could have been decided outside of the whole YuBIS situation. The most the rest of them had along those lines was Yuma with all the drama promotion he's done. So while I do believe the boys have real potential, I also believe they need to develop it more before I think they can be considered debut ready as a group.
I also don't think the 'it's not fair' argument holds too much water in all this. I mean I'm pretty sure any member of Kis-My-Ft2 or A.B.C. has been a Junior longer than the time YuBIS has combined. And then there's the older Juniors like Music Academy and un-debuted members of the 4TOPS that will probably never be debuted even though they've been in Johnny's for a long time and most don't get nearly as much exposure as the younger Juniors do. Which goes to prove that all's fair in love, war and Johnny's debuts as far as Johnny's is concerned.
I also think this lack of debut could be used in Johnny's favor for the next couple of debuts. Since YuBIS aren't actually debuted then that means there have only been 18 Johnny's debuts, so the next group will be 19 now, not 20. If my hopes are right and Kis-My-Ft2 debuts next (as currently they are the Junior group that have the most going for them) in the next year or so then they can be number 19 and the group after them, which should be the next volleyball group if Johnny's keeps the every 4 years debut a new group schedule, will be 2011. And I think this will make the promotion team happy that they can use that as a way to call attention to the group by making a big deal about it. I just hope they don't get any crazy ideas and make a 20 member unit for it or something. For while that would still be much smaller than something like the unit female idol unit AKB48, it still wouldn't be a good idea, IMHO, as they seem to have enough trouble finding work for HSJ's ten members as it is.
But yea, I'm still placing my hopes and bets that it will be Kisumai to debut next. And not just because I'm a big fan. As I mentioned they have a lot going on for them now that is helping build up towards something. I mean Tamamori Yuta was a Gokusen boy, even if only for the final special and movie, but the series even at the end is still popular. Then the group was chosen to do PLAYZONE after Shounentai retired from it last year, which so far has given them their first cd release with the soundtrack of the musical coming out next week and could possibly have a DVD release of it as well sometime in the future. And of course the recent announcement of solo concerts. Of course one could argue that Ya-Ya-Yah had a lot of the same thing going for them as well, but it could be argued back that it did end up with a debut, just not for the whole group. And I'm not beyond thinking the same could happen to Kisumai, but I still hold hope, as KAT-TUN was able to debut as a group that Kisumai could share the same luck and repeat that. And that is the fangirl in me speaking for that last line. ^__^;
And why I think they have the best chance over some of the other Junior groups is that Johnny's is giving them these chances to prove themselves successful. I mean they do share quite a bit in common with A.B.C.-Z with being a group that's been around for some time, even taking member and name changes into account, so they've both built up strong fanbases but it's clear that after the Kis-My-Ft2 & A.B.C.-Z joint concert Johnny's has been favoring Kisumai more, with giving them more to do that would put them in spotlight. Like having them support Uchi Hiroki for his Tokyo concerts which included doing quite a bit of the MCing, Tamamori's drama role and etc. And most of the other Junior groups are still rather new and are still in the process of getting people to know who they are just beginning to build up a sizable fanbase.
I think I see A.B.C.-Z eventually going the MA route once Hashimoto Ryosuke gets taken out of the group. Which I don't think is a terrible thing, though it means fans will see less of them if all they're doing is back dancing for the older Johnny's acts, doing plays/musicals and do some behind the stage things like MA does now. But at least they wouldn't disappear all together and it should be a gradual progression to this. Because if they are not going to debut Johnny's is not going to keep them on Shounen Club forever, as could be seen with Yamashita Shoon post-Yax3. Though I am sure Hasshi will leave the group before this begins as Johnny's has been giving him a good amount of exposure post-HSJ debut and I always felt him joining A.B.C. was to help him build experience and to learn from the group, not to be a permenant member in it.
The other groups will probably still be going through the usual motions for Junior groups. Some will stick, others won't and everything will be chaotic for a while when the next new group debuts as Juniors groups are broken up with their fans' hearts for the debut. For the older boys of those groups it will be a tough choice between still going on like Shoon or deciding to just take another route completely like Ayukawa Taiyou. The younger boys should be fine as they will get reshuffled into new groups and there will still be time for them to make it to the next debut. Probably a good example of this is Kisumai's Yokoo Wataru, who was a part of K.K.K.ity that was disbanded for NEWS (when he was 17), ended up in Kis-My-Ft that became eventually Kis-My-Ft2 and looks like he just might get his chance to debut as well in the end if things keep up for them. And there's also Hasshi, who seems like he's a very likely candidate for debuting with the next new unit after his old unit, J.J. Express was disbanded for Hey! Say! JUMP. The only downside to it is that for YuBIS fans there is a chance the full group may not get picked for the same debut, but as shown there are examples of Juniors about their ages when the next new unit debut should come up that are far from being out of the running for debut. They just had to hang in there and keep working with the breaks they were given.
And that's mainly what I've been thinking of so far about the whole matter. I guess I can't get too broken up about the lack of debut for YuBIS, as I don't see it as an end for the group and it did help get more people interested in them. Also because they are still young they will have other chances if they keep going and Johnny's keeps supporting them.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
24hr T-shirt & a couple of small news updates
Wanted to get this stuff out of the way before I begin typing up my concert report.
Since I was in the area I found the store that sold the 24hr T-shirts yesterday while waiting for the concert to begin. The place is in the Tokyo Station itself and is an official store for Nippon TV so there also a lot other official goods for the other programs the station has, like Gokusen. I also got a free uchiwa and phone strap when I got my T-shirt, and the uchiwa was a life saver as it was needed for dealing with the heat while standing in line for the concert.
Now for some news. Morimoto Shintarou will be in an upcoming drama SP. The drama is the big comeback for actress Shinohara Ryoko, who will star in the SP, after taking a year and a half for the birth of her first child.
Tokyograph article. (English)
In other news, J-pop artist Crystal Kay has updated her official website about her upcoming Best of album to celebrate her 10th anniversary that comes out on September 2nd. On it there are four special collaboration tracks and it has been announced that the fourth track will be a collaboration with KAT-TUN's Akanishi Jin. The song is called Helpless Night, and I personally hope it's as good as Wonder. That and I hope that Wonder will eventually get a cd release, like a B-side or album track on a KAT-TUN release someday, as it's a great song, which is why I have hope that Helpless Night will be great too.
Crystal Kay's Official Website What's New section. (Japanese)
Since I was in the area I found the store that sold the 24hr T-shirts yesterday while waiting for the concert to begin. The place is in the Tokyo Station itself and is an official store for Nippon TV so there also a lot other official goods for the other programs the station has, like Gokusen. I also got a free uchiwa and phone strap when I got my T-shirt, and the uchiwa was a life saver as it was needed for dealing with the heat while standing in line for the concert.
Now for some news. Morimoto Shintarou will be in an upcoming drama SP. The drama is the big comeback for actress Shinohara Ryoko, who will star in the SP, after taking a year and a half for the birth of her first child.
Tokyograph article. (English)
In other news, J-pop artist Crystal Kay has updated her official website about her upcoming Best of album to celebrate her 10th anniversary that comes out on September 2nd. On it there are four special collaboration tracks and it has been announced that the fourth track will be a collaboration with KAT-TUN's Akanishi Jin. The song is called Helpless Night, and I personally hope it's as good as Wonder. That and I hope that Wonder will eventually get a cd release, like a B-side or album track on a KAT-TUN release someday, as it's a great song, which is why I have hope that Helpless Night will be great too.
Crystal Kay's Official Website What's New section. (Japanese)
Summer Vacation Junior Concert Everyone Gathered photo sets
Ok, I'm back from the concert. I ended up spending the whole day away in the city so I'm really tired and won't type up the report until tomorrow. But since my seats weren't so great I made it a point to take notes so it should be rather complete.
A few things though that I feel should be mentioned is that it does indeed look like Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow is just a Junior group. In the introductory video of the concert they reviewed all the debuts from Arashi onwards and they ended with Hey! Say! JUMP. Then they did a debut medley later in the concert and ended with Ultra Music Power. Also even though Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow were at the concert they had rather equal stage time with the other Junior groups.
Also Nakajima Kento was not at the concert. Nor did he have a photo set, but I'm assuming it's because he wasn't at any of the recent Hey! Say! Jump concerts, where it looks like the photos for B.I. Shadow and Mis Snow Man came from. Though Nakayama Yuma had a photo set, though not at first when things went on sale, I only saw his set when I went back to buy another one before the final show of the day. I'm not sure why he's always absent as Yuma and Morimoto Shintarou definitely have a busier schedule which makes me wonder if there's something keeping him from being too active with Johnny's yet. Like maybe his parents wanting him to make sure he doesn't neglect his studies as he gets busy with work or something. But I don't think it's anything to get worried about as he hasn't completely disappeared yet or anything.
Also Hip Hop Jump does seem to be alive after all. I was wondering as they hadn't done anything on Shounen Club or even been showing up together as a group in the magazines for a bit. But both Tanaka Juri and Hagiya Keigo were introduced at the start of the concert as Hip Hop Jump members. And HHJ even got their own song segment in the show. Though it looks like it has definitely become a four member group with Luis Jesse and Morita Myuto still being the other two members.
The guest for the final concert was Tegoshi Yuya. He came to talk about Dream Boys of course. But he stayed on to sing a song, Ai Nante. And I think everyone needs to hear his sing this song live as it sounded fantastic. Really I don't think there are words to describe how powerful and wonderful his performance. Afterwards I wanted him to stick around for the rest of the concert, but alas he had to go.
Overall this concert beats the previous Junior concert. Mainly because this one actually felt like a concert to me, not an episode of Shounen Club minus the games and all the MCing. I think that first one was probably just so Johnny's could announce NYC boys at a concert and this one was because the large amount of interest with the first concert showed Johnny's that people do want to see these newer groups in concert. Hopefully we'll be seeing more general Johnny's concerts in the future.
And now onto the concert goods I picked up. I had to limit myself to only five sets max so I ended up getting Kikuchi Fuma, Matsumura Hokuto, Sanada Yuma, Nozawa Yuki and Hashimoto Ryosuke. And I'm so happy about being able to get Sanada and Nozawa after not being able to at the previous concert.
These photo sets are easily much better quality than the ones for the previous Junior concert. Another reason I think the first one wasn't really planned to be much of a Junior con and more to promote YuBIS and NYC boys. Though it looks like Hasshi's skin wanted to remind everyone he is indeed a teenager for his photos. >.<
A few things though that I feel should be mentioned is that it does indeed look like Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow is just a Junior group. In the introductory video of the concert they reviewed all the debuts from Arashi onwards and they ended with Hey! Say! JUMP. Then they did a debut medley later in the concert and ended with Ultra Music Power. Also even though Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow were at the concert they had rather equal stage time with the other Junior groups.
Also Nakajima Kento was not at the concert. Nor did he have a photo set, but I'm assuming it's because he wasn't at any of the recent Hey! Say! Jump concerts, where it looks like the photos for B.I. Shadow and Mis Snow Man came from. Though Nakayama Yuma had a photo set, though not at first when things went on sale, I only saw his set when I went back to buy another one before the final show of the day. I'm not sure why he's always absent as Yuma and Morimoto Shintarou definitely have a busier schedule which makes me wonder if there's something keeping him from being too active with Johnny's yet. Like maybe his parents wanting him to make sure he doesn't neglect his studies as he gets busy with work or something. But I don't think it's anything to get worried about as he hasn't completely disappeared yet or anything.
Also Hip Hop Jump does seem to be alive after all. I was wondering as they hadn't done anything on Shounen Club or even been showing up together as a group in the magazines for a bit. But both Tanaka Juri and Hagiya Keigo were introduced at the start of the concert as Hip Hop Jump members. And HHJ even got their own song segment in the show. Though it looks like it has definitely become a four member group with Luis Jesse and Morita Myuto still being the other two members.
The guest for the final concert was Tegoshi Yuya. He came to talk about Dream Boys of course. But he stayed on to sing a song, Ai Nante. And I think everyone needs to hear his sing this song live as it sounded fantastic. Really I don't think there are words to describe how powerful and wonderful his performance. Afterwards I wanted him to stick around for the rest of the concert, but alas he had to go.
Overall this concert beats the previous Junior concert. Mainly because this one actually felt like a concert to me, not an episode of Shounen Club minus the games and all the MCing. I think that first one was probably just so Johnny's could announce NYC boys at a concert and this one was because the large amount of interest with the first concert showed Johnny's that people do want to see these newer groups in concert. Hopefully we'll be seeing more general Johnny's concerts in the future.
And now onto the concert goods I picked up. I had to limit myself to only five sets max so I ended up getting Kikuchi Fuma, Matsumura Hokuto, Sanada Yuma, Nozawa Yuki and Hashimoto Ryosuke. And I'm so happy about being able to get Sanada and Nozawa after not being able to at the previous concert.
Kikuchi Fuma
Matsumura Hokuto
Sanada Yuma
Nozawa Yuki
Hashimoto Ryosuke
These photo sets are easily much better quality than the ones for the previous Junior concert. Another reason I think the first one wasn't really planned to be much of a Junior con and more to promote YuBIS and NYC boys. Though it looks like Hasshi's skin wanted to remind everyone he is indeed a teenager for his photos. >.<
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Johnny's Jr. Summer Vacation All Members Gathering 1 Day 4 Performances!! 1815 concert report
I went to the final show of the day that started at 1815. As I was able to legally buy the ticket at a Lawson I didn't get a good ticket, as all of those would have gone to fan club members. So I used that fact to take notes so I can have a complete, or near complete, report of the concert as things tend to blur together for me and I'm not always familiar with the songs or the Juniors at these concerts.
As mentioned in the goods post for this concert, this felt more like a concert than the one in June. This one just felt like more thought had been put into it and had less recycled performances, even though they did reuse some things from other Johnny's concerts. Also all the Junior groups got a more equal amount of time on stage, unlike the Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow heavy June concert.
The stage was set up a bit different. It was mostly clear except in the very back they had a wall of cages they took from KAT-TUN's Tokyo Dome concerts for Juniors to dance/perform in. They still had the small side stages by the front, which were less cluttered this time around so the Juniors didn't have as many issues going back and forth from the sides to the main stage. On the main stage around the cages are little lights that twinkle like stars, which look great in the slower numbers of the concert.
Before the concert began they ran an ad for the Hey! Say! JUMP dome concert which is being called Hey! Say! JUMP Tengoku Dome. With that name it sounds more of a continuation of their current tour, so I suspect that there just might be a big announcement at this. Which makes sense since there needs to be something big to justify a Tokyo Dome concert for a group that is still the new kid on the block.
Onto the concert though. It began with a clip show, showing off Juniors of past, lots of shots of Takizawa Hideaki from his Junior days, then they progress to list debuted groups going from Arashi to NEWS (for some reason Tackey & Tsubasa is skipped, IIRC) to Kanjani8 to KAT-TUN to finally Hey! Say! JUMP. The list ends there and the voice over brings up that the current Juniors are aiming to eventually debut themselves as well. The stage lights up and all the Juniors are now on stage and the cages are filled as they begin the opening number, We can do, We can go. Mis Snow Man, A.B.C.-Z and Question? get introduced, then sing a song, which I don't recognize but they repeat '3AM' quite a bit.
Then Totsuka Shota from A.B.C.-Z is on one of the sides with Hagiya Keigo. Morimoto Shintarou and Tanaka Juri are on the other side stage. It's Totsu doing the MC of course as he introduces Hagiya then Juri as members of Hip Hop Jump. They talk for a bit before introducing a 'guest', Nakayama Yuma. Yuma comes out from the back of the cages and begins singing Akuma na Koi. The members of B.I.Shadow that are there (Nakajima Kento is missing from this concert too) come out and join him, and of course MoriShin sings with them as well. After the song the center area is cleared so YuBIS can do a dance introduction. Starts off with Yuma doing a dance, then to Yuugo who does his soccer ball tricks, then to Hokuto who works in some karate moves and finally to Kikuchi who does a dance.
Yuma then reminds eveyone about the volleyball tournament they are supporting and four volleyballs are brought out for the boys. Both Yuma and Yuugo drop their's before they begin singing NYC. After the song starts the balls are thrown into the audience.
As the song was ending taiko drums are brought on stage for the next segment. This segment is the traditional Japanese music segment as two Juniors that can play the drums, one that can play the koto and the one that does the traditional Japanese singing are all introduced, though I didn't catch their names. Kikuchi is doing the introductions for them though. He then introduces Masuda Ryo who gets his first solo for the night as he sings a cover of Michael Jackson's song They Don't Care About Us with the traditional Japanese instruments. I thought it was a rather interesting performance, as I wouldn't have thought of mixing that song with those sounds.
Masuda then gets to take up MC duty to introduce the next group Hip Hop Jump, starting of course with Tanaka Juri, who does a rap. He is joined by the rest of the group and some additional Juniors to sing a song, which sounded new to me and I'm calling Just keep on fire, as that was repeated a few times.
After that song ends Uekusa Yuta and Kyomoto Taiga come on stage singing KAT-TUN's Shunkashuutou. They are then joined by three other Juniors, I only recognized Morita Myuto and Anderson Casey though. And they sung another KAT-TUN song, but I don't remember what it was and I wrote the name in scribble that I cannot read myself. (EDIT: Just remembered the song, it's Kimimichi, which I wrote in terrible Japanese apparently.)
Then Mis Snow Man come out for their solo corner. I didn't recognize the first song, though it sounded like a cover of an older group. The only English I noticed was the word 'lover' in the chorus. They then sang Genkai Meter, which was a song Sanada and Nozawa used to sing with Hashimoto when they were a trio. And then they finished up with No more wait. During the songs they had one member rap and another beat box, I just couldn't tell which members they were as Sanada and Nozawa are the only two I can always pick out no matter what in that group.
Then YuBIS got to perform again, starting with Dail Up. BIS got to do solo rap lines during the song and got more chances to sing to cover the lines Yamada Ryosuke and Chinen Yuri sing in the song. Then Yuma starts off the next song solo and is joined eventually by BIS. Another song I don't recognize but I would guess the title would be My dream.
The stage is cleared of all Juniors but three keyboards with players remain. The spotlight goes on the middle boy, who I believe is Kishi Takayoshi. He plays a piano piece and just as he ends the spotlight shines on the boy on the right who begins playing the next piece. Don't recognize the Junior at all, but he didn't have the usual Johnny's hair, much too short. When he's done Ishigaki Daisuke from Question? plays a piece to finish it off. Then Goto Hiromi starts a piece with his violin. During Goto's piece there were dancers that came out on stage but didn't really do dancing until near the end when all the keyboardists joined Goto in playing.
The Snow Prince Chorus are then brought out and introduced with MoriShin being the lead, even though he's technically not in the group. They mainly just do back vocals for MoriShin as the lead vocalist but Juri and Otsuka Yuya at least are given some prominence and get to stand next to him as they sing. They sing two songs, both I don't recognize, and going by the English in the chorus, like usual, I'm going with Cry for you and Crime or Love.
It's MC time again, and BIS get MC duties, though it's mainly just Kikuchi doing the talking. They advertise for MoriShin's movie, Snow Prince, and Kikuchi gets to talking about sempai. Honestly I couldn't catch too much for the MCs as the audience would not quiet down much and there would be screams as the boys were trying to say something, so it was too hard for me to follow a good deal of the time with those distractions.
But moving on a Fresh Junior medley is introduced next. It starts off with a song I don't recognize but I'm assuming from the VTR of Junior Tackey it's from those days. It's then followed by A.Ra.Shi, NEWS Nippon, Real Face, Ultra Music Power and ends with everyone on stage for School Kakumei. Like all medleys like this there are a lot of Juniors everywhere, and even though this was meant for the Fresh Juniors, all the Juniors were on the stage at some point during the whole thing.
Most of the Juniors clear off once the medley is done. It's just Kawai Fumito and Totsu from A.B.C.-Z, YuBIS, Juri and Hagiya from HHJ and MoriShin on stage then. Totsu mainly leads the MC with back up from Kawai.
They begin talking with Yuma about his drama. Like I mentioned before I had a bad time following the MCs, but I'm certain I heard Yuma talk about a guest star for his drama from Kanjani8 for next week's episode. Or at least drama and Kanjani8 as that got repeated a couple of times.
MoriShin then talked about the drama SP that was just announced he would be in. In his description he used what sounded like the English word 'wow', which had Totsu and Kawai question his use of the word. But MoriShin stood by it and when they moved on to talk to Juri and Hagiya, Juri decided to use 'wow' too. Juri then performs a couple of comedy skits with Kikuchi and Hokuto's help.
Kawai is then asked to do an imitation which he is goaded into doing. I think he did his Kimura Takuya one as he sung poorly and Totsu joined in, as I'm assuming another member of SMAP, singing just as badly.
I forget when exactly it happened in the MC but Kawai said something to Yuugo and Yuugo was spacing out and so he didn't respond, which lead to some teasing about his spacing out.
At the end of the MC they call Masuda on stage and everyone but Kawai and Totsu leave the stage. Masuda talks with them a little and then it's for him to begin the next song medley he's the lead singer for. The first song is introduced as Colbalt Blue and as he sings he's joined by other Juniors, like the usual other four he is with for photo shoots and Shounen Club (Kishi, Ookawa Keigo, Takada Sho & Nakada Hiroki). The other songs in this medley are Can't Take My Eyes Off You and Dancing Queen. The last song Anderson and Luis Jesse join in and the last two songs are of course all in English so I was happy to hear that Masuda knows how to sing in English not Engrish.
Then Goto gets another violin solo to lead into Question?'s solo time. They sing a song I haven't heard before that I'm assuming is called FROZEN SKY. Then introduce A.B.C.-Z to start a mini MC between the two groups. The topic leads to Dream Boys, since A.B.C.-Z are performing in that. And that also leads to them introducing this concert's guest, Tegoshi Yuya. They talk a little and then Tegoshi is asked to sing a song and he gets to sing Ai Nante solo. Honestly this was just a beautiful performance and I'm so glad I got to see it.
When he's done A.B.C.-Z return to the main stage. Tegoshi is then asked to help Kawai with a Masuda imitation. So Tegoshi begins singing and Kawai picks up Masuda's part and does his imitation. Tegoshi then takes his leave.
It's then time for A.B.C.-Z to have their medley. Start off with Vanilla then move on to InaZuma Venus. They then sing their new song ABC-Z. This song really lets the group show off their moves as most of it is dance, but that's perfect for a group like A.B.C.-Z, IMHO. And it's really a fun song to listen to too.
Then there's a Shounentai Medley. Not a big Shounentai fan, so I don't know all the song titles. But the first song Uekusa, Kyomoto and Yuugo sing together and I believe it's called Only You. Then various MSM members perform the next song. Masuda, Totsu (had soem trouble telling it was him because he was covering half his face with how he was holding his microphone) and Nozawa sing the third song. This sounds beautiful as it's a slower number and all three are good singers. For the performance the three singing are in the cages and there are Juniors on the main stage dancing. Then Hasshi, Sanada and BIS sing Wana. Followed by the young Juniors with MoriShin singing Boogie Woogie Cat.
With that it's the final song, Hitomi o Tojite. All the groups are re-introduced, this time naming each member individually, minus the Snow Prince Chorus. Hip Hop Jump is indeed down to four members with this as only Juri, Hagiya, Morita and Jesse are called. And of course the non-grouped Juniors like Masuda and company all get call outs too. Then the curtain goes down.
The curtain doesn't stay down for long until it goes back up again. I scribbled the name of the first encore badly and I think I wrote I'm no fool, but I could be wrong there. But the next song I did get down and remember well as it was Fever to Future which to me has always been a fun song to listen to. The encore is over after that.
The curtain goes down but the audience keeps calling for an encore. Don't really get a second encore, but the main Juniors of the concert are on stage as the curtain goes up one last time and tell everyone good bye together.
And then it was completely done. I'm glad I went, though it still felt too short. Maybe next time Johnny's does a general Junior concert they will give them two days instead of one so they can have a longer concert.
As mentioned in the goods post for this concert, this felt more like a concert than the one in June. This one just felt like more thought had been put into it and had less recycled performances, even though they did reuse some things from other Johnny's concerts. Also all the Junior groups got a more equal amount of time on stage, unlike the Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow heavy June concert.
The stage was set up a bit different. It was mostly clear except in the very back they had a wall of cages they took from KAT-TUN's Tokyo Dome concerts for Juniors to dance/perform in. They still had the small side stages by the front, which were less cluttered this time around so the Juniors didn't have as many issues going back and forth from the sides to the main stage. On the main stage around the cages are little lights that twinkle like stars, which look great in the slower numbers of the concert.
Before the concert began they ran an ad for the Hey! Say! JUMP dome concert which is being called Hey! Say! JUMP Tengoku Dome. With that name it sounds more of a continuation of their current tour, so I suspect that there just might be a big announcement at this. Which makes sense since there needs to be something big to justify a Tokyo Dome concert for a group that is still the new kid on the block.
Onto the concert though. It began with a clip show, showing off Juniors of past, lots of shots of Takizawa Hideaki from his Junior days, then they progress to list debuted groups going from Arashi to NEWS (for some reason Tackey & Tsubasa is skipped, IIRC) to Kanjani8 to KAT-TUN to finally Hey! Say! JUMP. The list ends there and the voice over brings up that the current Juniors are aiming to eventually debut themselves as well. The stage lights up and all the Juniors are now on stage and the cages are filled as they begin the opening number, We can do, We can go. Mis Snow Man, A.B.C.-Z and Question? get introduced, then sing a song, which I don't recognize but they repeat '3AM' quite a bit.
Then Totsuka Shota from A.B.C.-Z is on one of the sides with Hagiya Keigo. Morimoto Shintarou and Tanaka Juri are on the other side stage. It's Totsu doing the MC of course as he introduces Hagiya then Juri as members of Hip Hop Jump. They talk for a bit before introducing a 'guest', Nakayama Yuma. Yuma comes out from the back of the cages and begins singing Akuma na Koi. The members of B.I.Shadow that are there (Nakajima Kento is missing from this concert too) come out and join him, and of course MoriShin sings with them as well. After the song the center area is cleared so YuBIS can do a dance introduction. Starts off with Yuma doing a dance, then to Yuugo who does his soccer ball tricks, then to Hokuto who works in some karate moves and finally to Kikuchi who does a dance.
Yuma then reminds eveyone about the volleyball tournament they are supporting and four volleyballs are brought out for the boys. Both Yuma and Yuugo drop their's before they begin singing NYC. After the song starts the balls are thrown into the audience.
As the song was ending taiko drums are brought on stage for the next segment. This segment is the traditional Japanese music segment as two Juniors that can play the drums, one that can play the koto and the one that does the traditional Japanese singing are all introduced, though I didn't catch their names. Kikuchi is doing the introductions for them though. He then introduces Masuda Ryo who gets his first solo for the night as he sings a cover of Michael Jackson's song They Don't Care About Us with the traditional Japanese instruments. I thought it was a rather interesting performance, as I wouldn't have thought of mixing that song with those sounds.
Masuda then gets to take up MC duty to introduce the next group Hip Hop Jump, starting of course with Tanaka Juri, who does a rap. He is joined by the rest of the group and some additional Juniors to sing a song, which sounded new to me and I'm calling Just keep on fire, as that was repeated a few times.
After that song ends Uekusa Yuta and Kyomoto Taiga come on stage singing KAT-TUN's Shunkashuutou. They are then joined by three other Juniors, I only recognized Morita Myuto and Anderson Casey though. And they sung another KAT-TUN song, but I don't remember what it was and I wrote the name in scribble that I cannot read myself. (EDIT: Just remembered the song, it's Kimimichi, which I wrote in terrible Japanese apparently.)
Then Mis Snow Man come out for their solo corner. I didn't recognize the first song, though it sounded like a cover of an older group. The only English I noticed was the word 'lover' in the chorus. They then sang Genkai Meter, which was a song Sanada and Nozawa used to sing with Hashimoto when they were a trio. And then they finished up with No more wait. During the songs they had one member rap and another beat box, I just couldn't tell which members they were as Sanada and Nozawa are the only two I can always pick out no matter what in that group.
Then YuBIS got to perform again, starting with Dail Up. BIS got to do solo rap lines during the song and got more chances to sing to cover the lines Yamada Ryosuke and Chinen Yuri sing in the song. Then Yuma starts off the next song solo and is joined eventually by BIS. Another song I don't recognize but I would guess the title would be My dream.
The stage is cleared of all Juniors but three keyboards with players remain. The spotlight goes on the middle boy, who I believe is Kishi Takayoshi. He plays a piano piece and just as he ends the spotlight shines on the boy on the right who begins playing the next piece. Don't recognize the Junior at all, but he didn't have the usual Johnny's hair, much too short. When he's done Ishigaki Daisuke from Question? plays a piece to finish it off. Then Goto Hiromi starts a piece with his violin. During Goto's piece there were dancers that came out on stage but didn't really do dancing until near the end when all the keyboardists joined Goto in playing.
The Snow Prince Chorus are then brought out and introduced with MoriShin being the lead, even though he's technically not in the group. They mainly just do back vocals for MoriShin as the lead vocalist but Juri and Otsuka Yuya at least are given some prominence and get to stand next to him as they sing. They sing two songs, both I don't recognize, and going by the English in the chorus, like usual, I'm going with Cry for you and Crime or Love.
It's MC time again, and BIS get MC duties, though it's mainly just Kikuchi doing the talking. They advertise for MoriShin's movie, Snow Prince, and Kikuchi gets to talking about sempai. Honestly I couldn't catch too much for the MCs as the audience would not quiet down much and there would be screams as the boys were trying to say something, so it was too hard for me to follow a good deal of the time with those distractions.
But moving on a Fresh Junior medley is introduced next. It starts off with a song I don't recognize but I'm assuming from the VTR of Junior Tackey it's from those days. It's then followed by A.Ra.Shi, NEWS Nippon, Real Face, Ultra Music Power and ends with everyone on stage for School Kakumei. Like all medleys like this there are a lot of Juniors everywhere, and even though this was meant for the Fresh Juniors, all the Juniors were on the stage at some point during the whole thing.
Most of the Juniors clear off once the medley is done. It's just Kawai Fumito and Totsu from A.B.C.-Z, YuBIS, Juri and Hagiya from HHJ and MoriShin on stage then. Totsu mainly leads the MC with back up from Kawai.
They begin talking with Yuma about his drama. Like I mentioned before I had a bad time following the MCs, but I'm certain I heard Yuma talk about a guest star for his drama from Kanjani8 for next week's episode. Or at least drama and Kanjani8 as that got repeated a couple of times.
MoriShin then talked about the drama SP that was just announced he would be in. In his description he used what sounded like the English word 'wow', which had Totsu and Kawai question his use of the word. But MoriShin stood by it and when they moved on to talk to Juri and Hagiya, Juri decided to use 'wow' too. Juri then performs a couple of comedy skits with Kikuchi and Hokuto's help.
Kawai is then asked to do an imitation which he is goaded into doing. I think he did his Kimura Takuya one as he sung poorly and Totsu joined in, as I'm assuming another member of SMAP, singing just as badly.
I forget when exactly it happened in the MC but Kawai said something to Yuugo and Yuugo was spacing out and so he didn't respond, which lead to some teasing about his spacing out.
At the end of the MC they call Masuda on stage and everyone but Kawai and Totsu leave the stage. Masuda talks with them a little and then it's for him to begin the next song medley he's the lead singer for. The first song is introduced as Colbalt Blue and as he sings he's joined by other Juniors, like the usual other four he is with for photo shoots and Shounen Club (Kishi, Ookawa Keigo, Takada Sho & Nakada Hiroki). The other songs in this medley are Can't Take My Eyes Off You and Dancing Queen. The last song Anderson and Luis Jesse join in and the last two songs are of course all in English so I was happy to hear that Masuda knows how to sing in English not Engrish.
Then Goto gets another violin solo to lead into Question?'s solo time. They sing a song I haven't heard before that I'm assuming is called FROZEN SKY. Then introduce A.B.C.-Z to start a mini MC between the two groups. The topic leads to Dream Boys, since A.B.C.-Z are performing in that. And that also leads to them introducing this concert's guest, Tegoshi Yuya. They talk a little and then Tegoshi is asked to sing a song and he gets to sing Ai Nante solo. Honestly this was just a beautiful performance and I'm so glad I got to see it.
When he's done A.B.C.-Z return to the main stage. Tegoshi is then asked to help Kawai with a Masuda imitation. So Tegoshi begins singing and Kawai picks up Masuda's part and does his imitation. Tegoshi then takes his leave.
It's then time for A.B.C.-Z to have their medley. Start off with Vanilla then move on to InaZuma Venus. They then sing their new song ABC-Z. This song really lets the group show off their moves as most of it is dance, but that's perfect for a group like A.B.C.-Z, IMHO. And it's really a fun song to listen to too.
Then there's a Shounentai Medley. Not a big Shounentai fan, so I don't know all the song titles. But the first song Uekusa, Kyomoto and Yuugo sing together and I believe it's called Only You. Then various MSM members perform the next song. Masuda, Totsu (had soem trouble telling it was him because he was covering half his face with how he was holding his microphone) and Nozawa sing the third song. This sounds beautiful as it's a slower number and all three are good singers. For the performance the three singing are in the cages and there are Juniors on the main stage dancing. Then Hasshi, Sanada and BIS sing Wana. Followed by the young Juniors with MoriShin singing Boogie Woogie Cat.
With that it's the final song, Hitomi o Tojite. All the groups are re-introduced, this time naming each member individually, minus the Snow Prince Chorus. Hip Hop Jump is indeed down to four members with this as only Juri, Hagiya, Morita and Jesse are called. And of course the non-grouped Juniors like Masuda and company all get call outs too. Then the curtain goes down.
The curtain doesn't stay down for long until it goes back up again. I scribbled the name of the first encore badly and I think I wrote I'm no fool, but I could be wrong there. But the next song I did get down and remember well as it was Fever to Future which to me has always been a fun song to listen to. The encore is over after that.
The curtain goes down but the audience keeps calling for an encore. Don't really get a second encore, but the main Juniors of the concert are on stage as the curtain goes up one last time and tell everyone good bye together.
And then it was completely done. I'm glad I went, though it still felt too short. Maybe next time Johnny's does a general Junior concert they will give them two days instead of one so they can have a longer concert.
Tegomass 1st Live Tour 5 August 2PM concert report
Sorry for taking so long to post this, I kept getting distracted by things and felt there was no need to rush as there are a few other concert reports out in English already.
I wasn't sure I was going to go to the concert since money was tight, still is, so I had to be careful budgeting things. But I found a ticket the day of that was in the range I was willing to pay and ended up getting super lucky.
As Yokohama arena has the arena tickets be the first floor of seating around the arena I thought that was what I was getting for Yoyogi. Apparently Yokohama is the odd one out with how they label seating areas as the arena seat for Yoyogi was the center section down where the stages are. I was in the center block between the main stage and the center stage. I was also close to the right side so whenever the boys made their way to or from the main stage to the middle stage I got a great view of which one was on my side. These ramps were inflatable too, so when they let the air out there was a breeze of cool air, which was actually rather nice as it was a hot summer’s day. None the less realizing how close I would be to Tegomass had me silently spazzing to myself as I waited for the concert to begin.
I also noticed, as I waited, that there seemed to be more cameras than there usually were for a concert. When one turned around to get a practice shot at the audience I realized there was a good chance that this was going to be filmed for a DVD, as the only other time I’ve seen so many cameras and have one be pointed at the audience at anytime at a concert was for one that was getting taped for a DVD release.
This is probably the first concert I've ever been to that's actually begun early, though only by a minute or two. But a couple of minutes before 2PM the screens began playing clips, starting with footage from Tegomass' debut in Sweden. This was the main focus of the video though it eventually went on to highlight the other releases after their debut. By the time to video was doen the band was on the stage. The lights dimmed and the big screen at the back of the main stage opened up as two figures came through. The lights didn't come on so Tegoshi and Masuda were only seen in silhouette from the light coming out behind them from the screen opening, as they began singing the first song Miso Soup. Partway into the song the lights for the stage came on so you could finally see them fully.
They then moved on to Marui Chikara staying on the main stage. Tegoshi stayed mostly on the left hand side of the stage while Massu was on the right, so I got a better view of him. I noticed that his hair is back to a single color again. Then they sang Bokura no Uta. After that they stopped and introduced themselves, each making their personal hand gestures. It was also at this time Tegoshi brought up that people probably noticed that there were quite a cameras about. He then confirmed my suspicion that they were indeed there to film for a DVD release.
They then went into Tanabata Matsuri and had the PV play on the screens as they sang the song. Up next was Hanamuke where they had wedding themed animations on the main screen for the song. Sometime during these first few songs I noticed Tegoshi had a habit of mouthing the words of Massu's parts when he was waiting for his turn. I thought it was rather cute as the only others I've seen do this quite a bit are the newer Juniors.
During Ame Nochi Hare! they made their move from the main stage. They moved to the middle stage using swings that moved along the inner aisles (I got to see Massu pretty much right above me). They finished up the song on the middle stage.
They moved on to the upbeat Power of Earth where they did a lot of running around. I’m pretty sure this is the song Massu managed to trip and fall on stage, as I distinctly remember it being on the middle stage during the first half of the concert. They both were laughing as they tried to keep singing after his fall. Massu stayed on the ground for a while and Tegoshi tried to help him up. I have the feeling that will be one scene that will get a lot of views when the DVD comes out.
Instruments and seats were then placed on the stage so they sung Kushami sitting facing each other. I swear the cd version of this song does not do it justice, as it just sounded so beautiful and powerful live. It makes me wish that Johnny’s did live albums, as this is one of the concerts that would sound just brilliant on cd. Though they might have needed to record the audio from another concert so they would have a version of Power of Love without the laughing.
Anyway the next song was Sayounara Boku no Machi. For this they swiveled their chairs around to face the audience for this song.
Before the next song they brought up that they have side stages and went to those. Massu was on the left and Tegoshi on the right. And while Tegoshi was in front of fans, Massu was in front of the VIP section in the audience, which I thought was a bit sad for the fans on that side. They sang Sunadokei for their first song on these stages, followed by Moshimo Boku ga Pochi Dattara, which had the side stages rise up during the song.
During the next song, Tatta Hitotsu Dake, they made their way to the main stage again. Massu was acting pretty hyper as he was bouncing along on the inflatable platform between the middle and main stage.
Then a VTR with two cell phone screens came on the main screen. During this Tegomass disappeared into the stage. For a couple of responses on the cell phone screen Tegoshi had both Japanese and the English equivalent written. I forget what the first one was, but it was something very simple, the next was もちろん(mochiron), which translates to ‘of course’ in English but the English was written ‘of couse’ instead. Both eventually asked the audience to yell out some responses. I can’t exactly remember what Tegoshi’s were, but Massu’s were all food related.
They then reappeared on the stage again after changing clothes. Everything they wore was rather casual for a Johnny’s concert. Especially the second set, which looked like street clothes, Massu’s though were all in his usual unique style.
Boku no Cinderella was the next song and this was the song they first brought out the carasoul-esque ponies. Masuda’s was yellow and Tegoshi of course had the matching pink. Massu seemed a bit overly excited about his pony as about mid-way, near the end of the song he was petting it a lot. Though from certain angles his petting looked rather wrong. After the song ended and before they got off the ponies Tegoshi teased him a bit about it.
Instead of returning to the main stage they got off of the ponies at the middle stage. They started off talking about Chicken Boy, bringing up how they both wrote it was a collaboration between the two of them. They then proceed to sing the song.
Then it was time for the long MC, though for a while they forgot to ask the audience to sit down. I think the only problem I had with my seat was at this part as I they were for the most part directly behind so I had to strain my neck to watch them for this MC part.
They then moved on to what else they were doing. For Massu it was his guest role in Nagase Tomoya’s drama Karei Naru Spy. They both pretty much expressed their awe over Nagase, mainly repeating what a cool person he is, for this part. I approved as Nagase is awesome, IMHO.
They then talked about Tegoshi and his role in Dream Boys. Massu brought up that he would be a Water Boy (I think this could be a joke related to the popular movie and drama series Water Boys that came out some years back, which was about swimming, or at least that’s what I first thought of when I heard it.) The talk about Dream Boys eventually leads to Massu singing out what he’s saying to imitate a musical and Tegoshi joins him in doing the same for a bit too.
Mixed in all that they poked fun at Shige about his sleeping habits, imitating him at times to show everyone what they meant. They also brought up the guests from the night before, Nakamaru, and I’m sure the other was Tanaka Koki.
To end the MC they make their way to the main stage again. Tegoshi picks up a guitar to play for the next song while Massu gets a tambourine. Massu seemed very pleased to have it too. And then they sing the next song, La La Sakura. During the performance paper cherry blossoms fall down on the stage from above.
And then the instruments get put away as it was time to switch things up as they begin a string of up tempo songs, beginning with What’s going on!. I remember noticing that Massu seemed very natural grooving to the music as he waited for his part of the song to sing. They follow it up with Chocolate and then it was onto Highway. At the end of Highway they made their way back to the center stage for their next song to round out the fun up tempo songs set, Fantastipo.
Fantastipo, simply, was awesome. Seriously there is no other way to describe this song. The original version is awesome and Tegomass’ version was too. You could just feel the tension rise the moment the boys struck their poses and the music began. It was the high point when it came to the energy of the concert and the silly dance was so much fun to watch. They used the ponies to get to the back stage where they finished the song at.
When they finished the song they were on the stage at the back or the arena. Massu went to his knees to catch his breath, as Fantastipo had a lot of wild dancing. So they both talked a bit and Tegoshi went to his knees for a bit before standing again. He then introduced the next song, Ai Ai Gasa, when Massu made it back to his feet again.
On the back stage they had the rising pillars and they used those for the songs they sang there, so they were at a good level for the audience in the top floors to see them. They stayed up there for the next song, Bokurashiku.
After that song they returned to the main level of the stage as it was time to switch stages again with the next song, Owaranaide. They mainly rode the ponies and this was the time they threw the sign boards. They kept on the ponies for the next song, Kimi+Boku=Love. They ended up on the main stage so at the end of the song they could exit the stage with the rest of the band.
There was only one encore for this concert, probably because there was another concert they had to do in a few hours. But considering that this was the concert chosen to be taped for a DVD release I was fine with that. Everyone came out wearing the concert T-shirt. And the two songs they sung for the encore were Katomoi no chiisana koi and Kiss~Kaerimichi no love song~. For Kiss~Kaerimichi no love song~ they had the lyrics for the chorus up on the screens and had the audience sing them. I felt rather proud that I could read everything save one or two kanji characters so I did my best singing along.
They then said their final thank yous and goodbyes, then waved good-bye and exited through the opening in the screen on the main stage. Before completely leaving they had the audience go completely silent and yelled out, I believe it was thank you, without using their microphones.
The concert was definitely more low key than the other Johnny’s concerts I’ve been to. But for a duo group like Tegomass it was fine the way it was.
The things I really appreciated was the multiple stages, even if it did mean I wasn’t close to them the whole time it gave people in other sections of the audience a chance to see them better, which I’ve noticed is a mainstay for all the Johnny’s concerts I’ve been to. Also both were really good with trying to give their attention to everyone in the audience, not just the people closest to them. Like Massu made a lot of big waves for the people faraway to see and I could see them both keeping their eyes moving across all the sections of the crowd.
I was also just amazed with their vocals. Even though they rarely had any kind of break from singing or speaking they sounded consistently good throughout the entire concert. I couldn’t help but remember how at the KAT-TUN Tokyo Dome concerts, while Jin and Kame sounded good and strong for most of the concert near the end their voices seemed to sound weaker, and that was with having breaks as other members did their solo numbers and not have to be the only ones talking during the MC.
All and all I am very glad I went as it was one of my favorite concerts that I have attended so far. And I really can’t wait to see the rest of NEWS in concert with all the bells and whistles that come with the normal Johnny’s concert, as while Tegomass was great with a simple concert I think NEWS is best with the more extravagant sets and effects.
I wasn't sure I was going to go to the concert since money was tight, still is, so I had to be careful budgeting things. But I found a ticket the day of that was in the range I was willing to pay and ended up getting super lucky.
As Yokohama arena has the arena tickets be the first floor of seating around the arena I thought that was what I was getting for Yoyogi. Apparently Yokohama is the odd one out with how they label seating areas as the arena seat for Yoyogi was the center section down where the stages are. I was in the center block between the main stage and the center stage. I was also close to the right side so whenever the boys made their way to or from the main stage to the middle stage I got a great view of which one was on my side. These ramps were inflatable too, so when they let the air out there was a breeze of cool air, which was actually rather nice as it was a hot summer’s day. None the less realizing how close I would be to Tegomass had me silently spazzing to myself as I waited for the concert to begin.
I also noticed, as I waited, that there seemed to be more cameras than there usually were for a concert. When one turned around to get a practice shot at the audience I realized there was a good chance that this was going to be filmed for a DVD, as the only other time I’ve seen so many cameras and have one be pointed at the audience at anytime at a concert was for one that was getting taped for a DVD release.
This is probably the first concert I've ever been to that's actually begun early, though only by a minute or two. But a couple of minutes before 2PM the screens began playing clips, starting with footage from Tegomass' debut in Sweden. This was the main focus of the video though it eventually went on to highlight the other releases after their debut. By the time to video was doen the band was on the stage. The lights dimmed and the big screen at the back of the main stage opened up as two figures came through. The lights didn't come on so Tegoshi and Masuda were only seen in silhouette from the light coming out behind them from the screen opening, as they began singing the first song Miso Soup. Partway into the song the lights for the stage came on so you could finally see them fully.
They then moved on to Marui Chikara staying on the main stage. Tegoshi stayed mostly on the left hand side of the stage while Massu was on the right, so I got a better view of him. I noticed that his hair is back to a single color again. Then they sang Bokura no Uta. After that they stopped and introduced themselves, each making their personal hand gestures. It was also at this time Tegoshi brought up that people probably noticed that there were quite a cameras about. He then confirmed my suspicion that they were indeed there to film for a DVD release.
They then went into Tanabata Matsuri and had the PV play on the screens as they sang the song. Up next was Hanamuke where they had wedding themed animations on the main screen for the song. Sometime during these first few songs I noticed Tegoshi had a habit of mouthing the words of Massu's parts when he was waiting for his turn. I thought it was rather cute as the only others I've seen do this quite a bit are the newer Juniors.
During Ame Nochi Hare! they made their move from the main stage. They moved to the middle stage using swings that moved along the inner aisles (I got to see Massu pretty much right above me). They finished up the song on the middle stage.
They moved on to the upbeat Power of Earth where they did a lot of running around. I’m pretty sure this is the song Massu managed to trip and fall on stage, as I distinctly remember it being on the middle stage during the first half of the concert. They both were laughing as they tried to keep singing after his fall. Massu stayed on the ground for a while and Tegoshi tried to help him up. I have the feeling that will be one scene that will get a lot of views when the DVD comes out.
Instruments and seats were then placed on the stage so they sung Kushami sitting facing each other. I swear the cd version of this song does not do it justice, as it just sounded so beautiful and powerful live. It makes me wish that Johnny’s did live albums, as this is one of the concerts that would sound just brilliant on cd. Though they might have needed to record the audio from another concert so they would have a version of Power of Love without the laughing.
Anyway the next song was Sayounara Boku no Machi. For this they swiveled their chairs around to face the audience for this song.
Before the next song they brought up that they have side stages and went to those. Massu was on the left and Tegoshi on the right. And while Tegoshi was in front of fans, Massu was in front of the VIP section in the audience, which I thought was a bit sad for the fans on that side. They sang Sunadokei for their first song on these stages, followed by Moshimo Boku ga Pochi Dattara, which had the side stages rise up during the song.
During the next song, Tatta Hitotsu Dake, they made their way to the main stage again. Massu was acting pretty hyper as he was bouncing along on the inflatable platform between the middle and main stage.
Then a VTR with two cell phone screens came on the main screen. During this Tegomass disappeared into the stage. For a couple of responses on the cell phone screen Tegoshi had both Japanese and the English equivalent written. I forget what the first one was, but it was something very simple, the next was もちろん(mochiron), which translates to ‘of course’ in English but the English was written ‘of couse’ instead. Both eventually asked the audience to yell out some responses. I can’t exactly remember what Tegoshi’s were, but Massu’s were all food related.
They then reappeared on the stage again after changing clothes. Everything they wore was rather casual for a Johnny’s concert. Especially the second set, which looked like street clothes, Massu’s though were all in his usual unique style.
Boku no Cinderella was the next song and this was the song they first brought out the carasoul-esque ponies. Masuda’s was yellow and Tegoshi of course had the matching pink. Massu seemed a bit overly excited about his pony as about mid-way, near the end of the song he was petting it a lot. Though from certain angles his petting looked rather wrong. After the song ended and before they got off the ponies Tegoshi teased him a bit about it.
Instead of returning to the main stage they got off of the ponies at the middle stage. They started off talking about Chicken Boy, bringing up how they both wrote it was a collaboration between the two of them. They then proceed to sing the song.
Then it was time for the long MC, though for a while they forgot to ask the audience to sit down. I think the only problem I had with my seat was at this part as I they were for the most part directly behind so I had to strain my neck to watch them for this MC part.
They then moved on to what else they were doing. For Massu it was his guest role in Nagase Tomoya’s drama Karei Naru Spy. They both pretty much expressed their awe over Nagase, mainly repeating what a cool person he is, for this part. I approved as Nagase is awesome, IMHO.
They then talked about Tegoshi and his role in Dream Boys. Massu brought up that he would be a Water Boy (I think this could be a joke related to the popular movie and drama series Water Boys that came out some years back, which was about swimming, or at least that’s what I first thought of when I heard it.) The talk about Dream Boys eventually leads to Massu singing out what he’s saying to imitate a musical and Tegoshi joins him in doing the same for a bit too.
Mixed in all that they poked fun at Shige about his sleeping habits, imitating him at times to show everyone what they meant. They also brought up the guests from the night before, Nakamaru, and I’m sure the other was Tanaka Koki.
To end the MC they make their way to the main stage again. Tegoshi picks up a guitar to play for the next song while Massu gets a tambourine. Massu seemed very pleased to have it too. And then they sing the next song, La La Sakura. During the performance paper cherry blossoms fall down on the stage from above.
And then the instruments get put away as it was time to switch things up as they begin a string of up tempo songs, beginning with What’s going on!. I remember noticing that Massu seemed very natural grooving to the music as he waited for his part of the song to sing. They follow it up with Chocolate and then it was onto Highway. At the end of Highway they made their way back to the center stage for their next song to round out the fun up tempo songs set, Fantastipo.
Fantastipo, simply, was awesome. Seriously there is no other way to describe this song. The original version is awesome and Tegomass’ version was too. You could just feel the tension rise the moment the boys struck their poses and the music began. It was the high point when it came to the energy of the concert and the silly dance was so much fun to watch. They used the ponies to get to the back stage where they finished the song at.
When they finished the song they were on the stage at the back or the arena. Massu went to his knees to catch his breath, as Fantastipo had a lot of wild dancing. So they both talked a bit and Tegoshi went to his knees for a bit before standing again. He then introduced the next song, Ai Ai Gasa, when Massu made it back to his feet again.
On the back stage they had the rising pillars and they used those for the songs they sang there, so they were at a good level for the audience in the top floors to see them. They stayed up there for the next song, Bokurashiku.
After that song they returned to the main level of the stage as it was time to switch stages again with the next song, Owaranaide. They mainly rode the ponies and this was the time they threw the sign boards. They kept on the ponies for the next song, Kimi+Boku=Love. They ended up on the main stage so at the end of the song they could exit the stage with the rest of the band.
There was only one encore for this concert, probably because there was another concert they had to do in a few hours. But considering that this was the concert chosen to be taped for a DVD release I was fine with that. Everyone came out wearing the concert T-shirt. And the two songs they sung for the encore were Katomoi no chiisana koi and Kiss~Kaerimichi no love song~. For Kiss~Kaerimichi no love song~ they had the lyrics for the chorus up on the screens and had the audience sing them. I felt rather proud that I could read everything save one or two kanji characters so I did my best singing along.
They then said their final thank yous and goodbyes, then waved good-bye and exited through the opening in the screen on the main stage. Before completely leaving they had the audience go completely silent and yelled out, I believe it was thank you, without using their microphones.
The concert was definitely more low key than the other Johnny’s concerts I’ve been to. But for a duo group like Tegomass it was fine the way it was.
The things I really appreciated was the multiple stages, even if it did mean I wasn’t close to them the whole time it gave people in other sections of the audience a chance to see them better, which I’ve noticed is a mainstay for all the Johnny’s concerts I’ve been to. Also both were really good with trying to give their attention to everyone in the audience, not just the people closest to them. Like Massu made a lot of big waves for the people faraway to see and I could see them both keeping their eyes moving across all the sections of the crowd.
I was also just amazed with their vocals. Even though they rarely had any kind of break from singing or speaking they sounded consistently good throughout the entire concert. I couldn’t help but remember how at the KAT-TUN Tokyo Dome concerts, while Jin and Kame sounded good and strong for most of the concert near the end their voices seemed to sound weaker, and that was with having breaks as other members did their solo numbers and not have to be the only ones talking during the MC.
All and all I am very glad I went as it was one of my favorite concerts that I have attended so far. And I really can’t wait to see the rest of NEWS in concert with all the bells and whistles that come with the normal Johnny’s concert, as while Tegomass was great with a simple concert I think NEWS is best with the more extravagant sets and effects.
Friday, August 14, 2009
V6 Asia Tour
It has been announced that V6 will have an Asia Tour this Fall. Though the only Asian countries they will be performing in are Korea and Taiwan, for a total of five concerts. But this will be the first time V6 has held a concert outside of Japan.
Tokyograph article (English)
I think it's great to see more Johnny's groups go overseas for concerts. Especially as it gives international fans a chance to see their group in their home country and saving them a plane ticket. Of course I think it would be great if they began moving more towards having concerts in non-Asian countries eventually, but as Johnny's has only recently increased concerts in Asian countries it may be some time before they even start to think about planning something like that. Which makes it even more a shame that the recent Tegomass concert in Sweden was canceled.
Tokyograph article (English)
I think it's great to see more Johnny's groups go overseas for concerts. Especially as it gives international fans a chance to see their group in their home country and saving them a plane ticket. Of course I think it would be great if they began moving more towards having concerts in non-Asian countries eventually, but as Johnny's has only recently increased concerts in Asian countries it may be some time before they even start to think about planning something like that. Which makes it even more a shame that the recent Tegomass concert in Sweden was canceled.
Johnny's Jr on Music Station 18 August 2009, plus some Jr. concert rambling
I just finished watching Music Station and figured I'd talk about it a little. I did miss the first minute or so, so I'm sure I missed something for the Juniors as they were the first to perform. But it looks like the concert next week will mainly be for the younger ones as the only group performing was B.I.Shadow. Hashimoto Ryosuke though was there on his own, which seemed weird, especially as I didn't see anyone for Mis Snow Man there so it looked like he was the oldest Junior.
The boys that got to sit in the seats were all of B.I.Shadow, Hasshi, Masuda Ryo, Tanaka Juri and of course Morimoto Shintarou. They were also the ones featured the most in the medley. Yuugo still looks quite awkward performing, but it's more like he doesn't know how to move to the music while singing or is afraid to do so because he'll forget his lines or something.
For the last song of the medley everyone was shirtless, which made it hard for me to watch, seeing as the vast majority of the boys are 15 and under. They used water on the stage though for this last song too, so you can see a few of the back dancing Juniors slip and fall down during it (of course it didn't look like any of them were hurt), which I think made the performance a bit less cringe worthy for me. I mean seriously Johnny's, please be keeping the shirts on the boys until their at least 16 or something. I don't think the people of Japan (or anywhere else) need to see shirtless MoriShin and Juri for some time.
I hope they keep the shirts on for the concert on Wednesday. Speaking of which, I have my ticket for it now. This concert doesn't seem to be selling nearly as well as the earlier Junior concert this year (which I theorize is because nobody really knows which Juniors will be there, as that hasn't even been announced yet), so I was able to finally legally buy a ticket and got one from a local Lawson yesterday morning. It's of course not a great seat (second floor and some rows back), but the Tokyo International Forum Hall isn't a big venue so I should still have a decent view. Plus I have binoculars if I feel the need to see anyone better. This time though I made sure to get a ticket for the final show of the day so if there are any announcements I'll be able to hear it there, as final shows are when they tend to do those.
And I've checked and the goods list is finally up. Only two things are being sold, a penlight and photo sets. The number of photo sets are not determined, but either way I'll be showing up super early to make sure that if they have Mis Snow Man photo sets I'll be able to get some this time.
The boys that got to sit in the seats were all of B.I.Shadow, Hasshi, Masuda Ryo, Tanaka Juri and of course Morimoto Shintarou. They were also the ones featured the most in the medley. Yuugo still looks quite awkward performing, but it's more like he doesn't know how to move to the music while singing or is afraid to do so because he'll forget his lines or something.
For the last song of the medley everyone was shirtless, which made it hard for me to watch, seeing as the vast majority of the boys are 15 and under. They used water on the stage though for this last song too, so you can see a few of the back dancing Juniors slip and fall down during it (of course it didn't look like any of them were hurt), which I think made the performance a bit less cringe worthy for me. I mean seriously Johnny's, please be keeping the shirts on the boys until their at least 16 or something. I don't think the people of Japan (or anywhere else) need to see shirtless MoriShin and Juri for some time.
I hope they keep the shirts on for the concert on Wednesday. Speaking of which, I have my ticket for it now. This concert doesn't seem to be selling nearly as well as the earlier Junior concert this year (which I theorize is because nobody really knows which Juniors will be there, as that hasn't even been announced yet), so I was able to finally legally buy a ticket and got one from a local Lawson yesterday morning. It's of course not a great seat (second floor and some rows back), but the Tokyo International Forum Hall isn't a big venue so I should still have a decent view. Plus I have binoculars if I feel the need to see anyone better. This time though I made sure to get a ticket for the final show of the day so if there are any announcements I'll be able to hear it there, as final shows are when they tend to do those.
And I've checked and the goods list is finally up. Only two things are being sold, a penlight and photo sets. The number of photo sets are not determined, but either way I'll be showing up super early to make sure that if they have Mis Snow Man photo sets I'll be able to get some this time.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Duet Sept. 2009 Fresh Jr. translations pg. 163
I've been wondering when this day would come. But in this Duet issue two of the fresh Juniors are born in 2000, marking the beginning of the Juniors born in the 00s. So I guess it's time for those born in the 1990s to start feeling old and begin feeling the pain of those born in the decades before them. >D
Anyway, since I wanted to translate something and the fresh Junior profiles tend to be rather easy to do I went ahead and translated the profiles of all eight fresh Juniors in this issue. I don't have a scan of the page but it is page 163 in the September 2009 issue of Duet if you want to go looking.
Murata Rikito (村田力斗)
Born July 9th, 1995.
Height: 154cm
Weight: 39kg
Bloodtype: O
Special ability: Karate
Hobby: Rubix Cube
Favorite subject: Math
Disliked subject: Art
Favorite food: Fried shrimp
Disliked food: Asparagus
Admired sempai: Yamada Ryosuke
Type of girl you like: Energetic girl
My boom*: Listening to music.
Future dream: To perform a concert on a big stage. Afterward, to become a math teacher.
Height: 153cm
Weight: 45kg
Bloodtype: A
Special ability: Hand whistling
Hobby: Cars
Favorite subject: Gym
Disliked subject: Math, Japanese language
Favorite food: Ramen, curry
Disliked food: Goya, fish
Admired sempai: Ohno Satoshi, Ninomiya Kazunari, Kamenashi Kazuya
Type of girl you like: A kind person.
My boom: Card games.
Future dream: To be in a drama.
Height: 160cm
Weight: 45.5kg
Bloodtype: A
Special ability: Karate
Hobby: Computer typing
Favorite subject: Cooking
Disliked subject: Math
Favorite food: Curry
Disliked food: Goya
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki, Nakajima Yuto
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
My boom: Playing card games.
Future dream:To become and actor.
Height: 150cm
Weight: 42kg
Bloodtype: B
Special ability: Dance
Hobby: Afternoon naps
Favorite subject: Gym, music
Disliked subject: Art
Favorite food: Apples, fried potatoes
Disliked food: Eggplant, bell pepper
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki, SMAP
Type of girl you like: A kind person.
My boom: Playing portable games.
Future dream: To become more skilled at dancing!
Height: 135cm
Weight: 32kg
Bloodtype: O
Special ability: Dance
Hobby: Basketball
Favorite subject: Gym
Disliked subject: Japanese language
Favorite food: Everything but black things. **
Disliked food: Bell pepper
Admired sempai: Sakurai Sho
Type of girl you like: A cute and calm girl.
My boom: Reading manga.
Future dream:I want to get better at dancing and dance on stage.
Height: 125cm
Weight: 24kg
Bloodtype: O
Special ability: Sprinting
Hobby: Running, onigokko***
Favorite subject: Gym
Disliked subject: Japanese language
Favorite food: Tomatoes
Disliked food: Bell pepper
Admired sempai: Sakurai Sho
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
My boom: Playing portable games.
Future dream:I don't know yet. Now I'm doing my best with school tests.
Height: 149cm
Weight: 40kg
Bloodtype: B
Special ability: Dance
Hobby: Skateboard
Favorite subject: Gym
Disliked subject: Japanese language
Favorite food: Hamburger
Disliked food: Eggplant, natto
Admired sempai: Katori Shingo
Type of girl you like: A kind and bright girl.
My boom: Playing portable games.
Future dream: I want to become a Hollywood star!
Height: 130cm
Weight: 26kg
Bloodtype: B
Special ability: Handstand bridge
Hobby: Baseball
Favorite subject: Drawing
Disliked subject:Japanese language
Favorite food: Fish
Disliked food: Nothing in particular.
Admired sempai: Taguchi Junnosuke
Type of girl you like: A girl I will come to like.
My boom: Baseball
Future dream: To become a celebrity known all over Japan!
** Not really sure about this translation. The literal translation of the words is 'without/minus black things' and what I put down in the end made the most sense to me.
*** This is a game which is a mix of hide and seek and tag. If you've watched the Ya-Ya-Yah! show they played this game for some of the episodes, and I recommend hunting down those episodes as they're fun to watch, IMHO.
I don't know if I should be happy or not that I can translate about half of all this without even having to look anything up. It probably helps that there are quite a few repeated answers and I've done these a few times before.
I think Rikito stands out the most for me, as his answer about wanting to become a math teacher really pops out to me. I think it's good he has other goals than just becoming famous and it's probably a dream that kids think of at least once about how cool it would be if their teacher was/is a celebrity.
It does make me happy to see a Junno fan amongst them too. Though as one of the 2000 Juniors he's just too young for me to feel too interested in. Maybe some years on and he's still around and getting chances to sing I'll be compelled to pay attention to him, but right now he's just another cute face in the sea of chibis that Johnny's has.
I was rather surprised to see Higashiyama listed as an admired sempai at all, as he's a member of Shounentai and I just don't expect kids to know him let alone look up to him. But I guess he is popular and is still active with acting and advertising (there was a large poster ad of him at the Akihabara train station for a couple of months for Mitsuya Cider that I saw almost everyday going to school for example). But it's still strange to see a daisempai listed for that question for me.
Anyway, since I wanted to translate something and the fresh Junior profiles tend to be rather easy to do I went ahead and translated the profiles of all eight fresh Juniors in this issue. I don't have a scan of the page but it is page 163 in the September 2009 issue of Duet if you want to go looking.
Murata Rikito (村田力斗)
Born July 9th, 1995.
Height: 154cm
Weight: 39kg
Bloodtype: O
Special ability: Karate
Hobby: Rubix Cube
Favorite subject: Math
Disliked subject: Art
Favorite food: Fried shrimp
Disliked food: Asparagus
Admired sempai: Yamada Ryosuke
Type of girl you like: Energetic girl
My boom*: Listening to music.
Future dream: To perform a concert on a big stage. Afterward, to become a math teacher.
Takahashi Junpei (高橋純平)
Born December 15th, 1997.Height: 153cm
Weight: 45kg
Bloodtype: A
Special ability: Hand whistling
Hobby: Cars
Favorite subject: Gym
Disliked subject: Math, Japanese language
Favorite food: Ramen, curry
Disliked food: Goya, fish
Admired sempai: Ohno Satoshi, Ninomiya Kazunari, Kamenashi Kazuya
Type of girl you like: A kind person.
My boom: Card games.
Future dream: To be in a drama.
Takahashi Saneyasu (高橋実靖)
Born September 17th, 1997.Height: 160cm
Weight: 45.5kg
Bloodtype: A
Special ability: Karate
Hobby: Computer typing
Favorite subject: Cooking
Disliked subject: Math
Favorite food: Curry
Disliked food: Goya
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki, Nakajima Yuto
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
My boom: Playing card games.
Future dream:To become and actor.
Abe Toya (阿部冬夜)
Born January 14th, 1996.Height: 150cm
Weight: 42kg
Bloodtype: B
Special ability: Dance
Hobby: Afternoon naps
Favorite subject: Gym, music
Disliked subject: Art
Favorite food: Apples, fried potatoes
Disliked food: Eggplant, bell pepper
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki, SMAP
Type of girl you like: A kind person.
My boom: Playing portable games.
Future dream: To become more skilled at dancing!
Omata Sho (小俣翔)
Born December 15th, 1998.Height: 135cm
Weight: 32kg
Bloodtype: O
Special ability: Dance
Hobby: Basketball
Favorite subject: Gym
Disliked subject: Japanese language
Favorite food: Everything but black things. **
Disliked food: Bell pepper
Admired sempai: Sakurai Sho
Type of girl you like: A cute and calm girl.
My boom: Reading manga.
Future dream:I want to get better at dancing and dance on stage.
Haba Yuki (羽場友紀)
Born July 5th, 2000.Height: 125cm
Weight: 24kg
Bloodtype: O
Special ability: Sprinting
Hobby: Running, onigokko***
Favorite subject: Gym
Disliked subject: Japanese language
Favorite food: Tomatoes
Disliked food: Bell pepper
Admired sempai: Sakurai Sho
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
My boom: Playing portable games.
Future dream:I don't know yet. Now I'm doing my best with school tests.
Brooch Kai (ブローチ海)
Born July 7th, 1997.Height: 149cm
Weight: 40kg
Bloodtype: B
Special ability: Dance
Hobby: Skateboard
Favorite subject: Gym
Disliked subject: Japanese language
Favorite food: Hamburger
Disliked food: Eggplant, natto
Admired sempai: Katori Shingo
Type of girl you like: A kind and bright girl.
My boom: Playing portable games.
Future dream: I want to become a Hollywood star!
Okada Aoi (岡田蒼生)
Born January 12th, 2000.Height: 130cm
Weight: 26kg
Bloodtype: B
Special ability: Handstand bridge
Hobby: Baseball
Favorite subject: Drawing
Disliked subject:Japanese language
Favorite food: Fish
Disliked food: Nothing in particular.
Admired sempai: Taguchi Junnosuke
Type of girl you like: A girl I will come to like.
My boom: Baseball
Future dream: To become a celebrity known all over Japan!
** Not really sure about this translation. The literal translation of the words is 'without/minus black things' and what I put down in the end made the most sense to me.
*** This is a game which is a mix of hide and seek and tag. If you've watched the Ya-Ya-Yah! show they played this game for some of the episodes, and I recommend hunting down those episodes as they're fun to watch, IMHO.
I don't know if I should be happy or not that I can translate about half of all this without even having to look anything up. It probably helps that there are quite a few repeated answers and I've done these a few times before.
I think Rikito stands out the most for me, as his answer about wanting to become a math teacher really pops out to me. I think it's good he has other goals than just becoming famous and it's probably a dream that kids think of at least once about how cool it would be if their teacher was/is a celebrity.
It does make me happy to see a Junno fan amongst them too. Though as one of the 2000 Juniors he's just too young for me to feel too interested in. Maybe some years on and he's still around and getting chances to sing I'll be compelled to pay attention to him, but right now he's just another cute face in the sea of chibis that Johnny's has.
I was rather surprised to see Higashiyama listed as an admired sempai at all, as he's a member of Shounentai and I just don't expect kids to know him let alone look up to him. But I guess he is popular and is still active with acting and advertising (there was a large poster ad of him at the Akihabara train station for a couple of months for Mitsuya Cider that I saw almost everyday going to school for example). But it's still strange to see a daisempai listed for that question for me.
13th Poll Results, plus MSta update
I just realized that the poll had finished up so I figured I better make a quick post for the results. So here they are.
Which Summer Drama(s) Are You Following?
Orthos no Inu 75
Koishite Akuma 68
Ninkyo Helper 66
Buzzer Beater 58
Karei Naru Spy 15
Kochikame 8
I'm a bit sad to see not many people are following Karei Naru Spy, as I'm loving the series personally. But I am a Nagase Tomoya fan. I still hope more people will give the drama a try. Especially since Masuda Takahisa had a guest role in it. Makes me hopeful we might see other Johnny's in the series too, as there are supposed to be guest stars for every episode.
And since Kis-My-Ft2 has an upcoming solo concert(s) the next question for the poll will be, What Other Junior Group Should Have a Solo Concert?
Also it looks like it will be promotion for the Junior concert next week on Music Station on Friday. They've updated the guest list page with the song listing and it looks to be a medley of debuted groups songs, which is why I'm sure it's not Kis-My-Ft2 as they've already once performed their own song, Kiss My Me Mine, on Music Station before so it would be odd for them to be covering other groups' songs. Especially since two of the groups are Hey! Say! JUMP and NYC boys, and Johnny's has been good about not making the older groups like Kisumai and A.B.C.-Z only sing songs from Hey! Say! JUMP on rare occassions, like when they're mixed in with a large group of other Juniors.
The full list of songs from the medley are BANG! BANG! Vacance! (SMAP), Jetcoaster Romance (Kinki Kids), Ho! Summer (Tackey & Tsubasa), Real Face (KAT-TUN), Ultra Music Power (Hey! Say! JUMP), NYC (NYC boys). And I'm sure the Juniors that will be performing on the program will be the ones at the concert, which will be nice to see as Johnny's net has yet to put up the list of participating Juniors and/or concert goods. But they took a long time to put up the concet goods for the last Junior concert so I wouldn't be surprised if the list goes up a couple days before the concert again.
Which Summer Drama(s) Are You Following?
Orthos no Inu 75
Koishite Akuma 68
Ninkyo Helper 66
Buzzer Beater 58
Karei Naru Spy 15
Kochikame 8
I'm a bit sad to see not many people are following Karei Naru Spy, as I'm loving the series personally. But I am a Nagase Tomoya fan. I still hope more people will give the drama a try. Especially since Masuda Takahisa had a guest role in it. Makes me hopeful we might see other Johnny's in the series too, as there are supposed to be guest stars for every episode.
And since Kis-My-Ft2 has an upcoming solo concert(s) the next question for the poll will be, What Other Junior Group Should Have a Solo Concert?
Also it looks like it will be promotion for the Junior concert next week on Music Station on Friday. They've updated the guest list page with the song listing and it looks to be a medley of debuted groups songs, which is why I'm sure it's not Kis-My-Ft2 as they've already once performed their own song, Kiss My Me Mine, on Music Station before so it would be odd for them to be covering other groups' songs. Especially since two of the groups are Hey! Say! JUMP and NYC boys, and Johnny's has been good about not making the older groups like Kisumai and A.B.C.-Z only sing songs from Hey! Say! JUMP on rare occassions, like when they're mixed in with a large group of other Juniors.
The full list of songs from the medley are BANG! BANG! Vacance! (SMAP), Jetcoaster Romance (Kinki Kids), Ho! Summer (Tackey & Tsubasa), Real Face (KAT-TUN), Ultra Music Power (Hey! Say! JUMP), NYC (NYC boys). And I'm sure the Juniors that will be performing on the program will be the ones at the concert, which will be nice to see as Johnny's net has yet to put up the list of participating Juniors and/or concert goods. But they took a long time to put up the concet goods for the last Junior concert so I wouldn't be surprised if the list goes up a couple days before the concert again.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Kis-My-Ft2 fall concert(s) & Johnny's Jr on Music Station
From the fan reports from the final Tokyo show of PLAYZONE tonight it has been announced that Kis-My-Ft2 will have concert(s) in the fall. There really wasn't anymore information, besides a promise that they will have more to say about the concerts by the time they begin the PLAYZONE shows in Osaka. And apparently Johnny himself texted the news to Kitayama Hiromitsu as he was on stage.
Since I couldn't make it to PLAYZONE I'm definitely going to make sure I make it to the concert(s). Which should be easier as there will be many more tickets available and I should be able to ballot for the tickets now I'm in the Junior Fanclub, still waiting for them to send me the fanclub information but I'm sure I'll be getting that soon enough and before balloting for this.
I think with PLAYZONE, with a soundtrack release of the musical with it, and now a solo concert it's safe to say Kis-My-Ft2 are on a roll. I hope 2010 will be their year, they've definitely worked hard for it, especially the three eldest members who have been in Johnny's for many years now (I believe Kitayama has been in Johnny's for about 10 years now and the other two, Fujigaya and Yokoo are about the same). So I'm praying that the PLAYZONE cd will debut at number 1 and that this concert will sell out at with just the fanclub so they will have to add dates. 'Cause it'll be great to make sure Johnny's knows that with this group they will be guarenteed sales without too much effort if they debut the group. Especially if they plan on still trying to get Yuma w/ B.I.Shadow to catch on.
Also on Music Station's official site they have the list of performers for this Friday's episode. On the list is Johnny's Junior listed as singing a song that is yet to be determined. Of course there's some speculation on which Juniors will be performing on the show. The most likely performers would be various Juniors that will be at next week's Junior concert or with tonight's concert announcement, Kis-My-Ft2. I guess in the next few days, and Friday at the latest it'll be made known who will be on the show.
Music Station 14AUG2009 list of performers. (Japanese only.)
Since I couldn't make it to PLAYZONE I'm definitely going to make sure I make it to the concert(s). Which should be easier as there will be many more tickets available and I should be able to ballot for the tickets now I'm in the Junior Fanclub, still waiting for them to send me the fanclub information but I'm sure I'll be getting that soon enough and before balloting for this.
I think with PLAYZONE, with a soundtrack release of the musical with it, and now a solo concert it's safe to say Kis-My-Ft2 are on a roll. I hope 2010 will be their year, they've definitely worked hard for it, especially the three eldest members who have been in Johnny's for many years now (I believe Kitayama has been in Johnny's for about 10 years now and the other two, Fujigaya and Yokoo are about the same). So I'm praying that the PLAYZONE cd will debut at number 1 and that this concert will sell out at with just the fanclub so they will have to add dates. 'Cause it'll be great to make sure Johnny's knows that with this group they will be guarenteed sales without too much effort if they debut the group. Especially if they plan on still trying to get Yuma w/ B.I.Shadow to catch on.
Also on Music Station's official site they have the list of performers for this Friday's episode. On the list is Johnny's Junior listed as singing a song that is yet to be determined. Of course there's some speculation on which Juniors will be performing on the show. The most likely performers would be various Juniors that will be at next week's Junior concert or with tonight's concert announcement, Kis-My-Ft2. I guess in the next few days, and Friday at the latest it'll be made known who will be on the show.
Music Station 14AUG2009 list of performers. (Japanese only.)
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tegomass 1st Live concert goods
Still working on the actual concert report so I figured I should at least make a post of the concert goods I picked up. Because I didn't realize that there wasn't going to be a goods stand inside the venue for the arena section (as you enter from a different place in the building) I didn't think of picking up anything from the goods stalls outside. Thankfully all I wanted were the photo sets and a Masuda Takahisa uchiwa because by the time I made it to the stalls after the concert those were pretty much the only goods that weren't sold out.
I got all three photo sets, as there were only the three and I have a weakness for collecting photos.
Tegoshi Yuya set.
And since I was sitting so close to the stage I got a couple of the streamers that fell during the concert. I took a picture of the one as you can see the concert logo is printed on the streamer, so I thought it was something that was worth keeping.
And that's the goodies I picked up from this concert.
I got all three photo sets, as there were only the three and I have a weakness for collecting photos.
Tegomass group set.
Tegoshi Yuya set.
Masuda Takahisa set.
And since I was sitting so close to the stage I got a couple of the streamers that fell during the concert. I took a picture of the one as you can see the concert logo is printed on the streamer, so I thought it was something that was worth keeping.
And that's the goodies I picked up from this concert.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Various Upcoming Releases
This post is mainly just going to list all the new releases that I haven't posted the pre-order information about, since I've missed quite a bit last month. Though I have to admit every time cdjapan sent me an e-mail about a new release I kept hoping it would be something for Hey! Say! JUMP. And I probably will until there is a new release announcement. Though one thing I discovered recently that made me feel a little better is that apparently HSJ is not the first Johnny's group to have long gaps in their releases after debuting. If you look at the first few years for Arashi they also have some rather sizeable gaps between releases. And of course looking at how many releases they've gotten in the past couple of years it looks like while the wait may be painful now things could take a turn for the better in the years to come.
And now on to the confirmed upcoming releases. Since this single actually came out today it's probably a good one to start with. It's the theme song for the drama, Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen Mae Hashutsujo, or Kochikame for short. This is a special release as it's a Katori Shingo solo single that has his character from the drama listed as the artist.
Kochira Katsushika-Ku Kameari Koen Mae Hashutsusho / Ryo-San
One of the Johnny's groups that doesn't seem to have any issue with releasing cds on a regular basis is V6, who are releasing another single on September 2nd. Of course they are also one of the few Johnny's not on a Johnny's label, but rather on the Avex label with Tackey & Tsubasa. And Avex is known for making its artists release as much as possible. Like most of their recent releases there are three versions, two limited with DVDs and a regular version with extra song tracks.
Guilty [w/ DVD, Limited Edition] [Jacket A] / V6
Then Takizawa Hideaki has his next solo single coming out. This is the theme song for his current drama, Orthos no Inu. Same thing with the different versions as V6, which is most likely because they're both Avex releases. This single will be released on September 23rd.
Hikari Hitotsu [w/ DVD (Music Clip), Limited Edition / Jacket A] / Hideaki Takizawa
Then finally the most recent release announced is another single this year from Domoto Tsuyoshi. Like his previous release this one looks like he was paying special attention to the release date, September 9th. With this the date can come out to 9/9/2009 or 999 if you want to stretch it a bit. Not sure if it has any special meaning, but the title track apparently is an instrumental track that is only on the limited version of the single. Which is a bit odd, but I think that fits in well with Tsuyoshi and his solo works.
Rain [Regular Edition] / Tsuyoshi Domoto
And with that I am finally caught up with the upcoming official releases. I just hope some of the groups that I'm following will have something for me to list soon.
And now on to the confirmed upcoming releases. Since this single actually came out today it's probably a good one to start with. It's the theme song for the drama, Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen Mae Hashutsujo, or Kochikame for short. This is a special release as it's a Katori Shingo solo single that has his character from the drama listed as the artist.
One of the Johnny's groups that doesn't seem to have any issue with releasing cds on a regular basis is V6, who are releasing another single on September 2nd. Of course they are also one of the few Johnny's not on a Johnny's label, but rather on the Avex label with Tackey & Tsubasa. And Avex is known for making its artists release as much as possible. Like most of their recent releases there are three versions, two limited with DVDs and a regular version with extra song tracks.
Then Takizawa Hideaki has his next solo single coming out. This is the theme song for his current drama, Orthos no Inu. Same thing with the different versions as V6, which is most likely because they're both Avex releases. This single will be released on September 23rd.
Then finally the most recent release announced is another single this year from Domoto Tsuyoshi. Like his previous release this one looks like he was paying special attention to the release date, September 9th. With this the date can come out to 9/9/2009 or 999 if you want to stretch it a bit. Not sure if it has any special meaning, but the title track apparently is an instrumental track that is only on the limited version of the single. Which is a bit odd, but I think that fits in well with Tsuyoshi and his solo works.
And with that I am finally caught up with the upcoming official releases. I just hope some of the groups that I'm following will have something for me to list soon.
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