While there isn't an official announcement for this by Johnny's yet, two online stores (Tower Records and Shinseido) have the PLAYZONE 2009 DVD up for pre-order, and the Shinseido listing even has run times, track listings and bonus feature information, so I think it's safe to assume that this is a real release.
Since it was first announced that Kis-My-Ft2 would be doing this year's PLAYZONE I've been hoping that it would get a DVD release, so as can be expected I'm really excited about this. And can't wait for it to come out on December 2nd. Even though it looks like December will be a very expensive month with all the concerts and who knows what other releases will come out that month.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Shibuya Scramble ads
Well the other day I was in Shibuya and from the Scramble took a couple of photos of the Johnny's ads that had been put up since the last time I was there.
First one, and the one easiest to spot, is for Yamapi's solo single Loveless, as well as his solo concerts.
What I find interesting is that you can see that they left some of the promotions for NYC boys up as well, so I guess Johnny's still wants to ring out some more sales from that single.
And the other ad I spotted was for Kinki Kids' upcoming single, Swan Song. This one you have to look down one of the streets to see, but it's still hard to miss when you look in that direction. And the place they have it up also at one time sported and ad for Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow, though Yuma was the only face on the ad.
First one, and the one easiest to spot, is for Yamapi's solo single Loveless, as well as his solo concerts.
What I find interesting is that you can see that they left some of the promotions for NYC boys up as well, so I guess Johnny's still wants to ring out some more sales from that single.
And the other ad I spotted was for Kinki Kids' upcoming single, Swan Song. This one you have to look down one of the streets to see, but it's still hard to miss when you look in that direction. And the place they have it up also at one time sported and ad for Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow, though Yuma was the only face on the ad.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Snow Prince advanced ticket & how to go to the movies in Japan
I went and got my advanced ticket for Snow Prince today and took a quick picture of it, the special bonus you get for buying in advance and two flyers for the movie. The bonus is a set of colored pencils with special packaging. For the flyers, the plain looking one I actually picked up back in the spring, as I had seen it when I picked up a flyer for the Gokusen movie, and the one with Morimoto Shintarou on it is the new flyer for the movie. The new flyer of course has more information about the movie and does list Snow Prince by Snow Prince Gasshoudan as the theme song for the movie.
And I figured with Johnny's from time to time being in movies then perhaps it would be nice to give some information about seeing movies in Japan, as I know I had to find out quite a bit by myself when I got here.
First off as a warning for those spoiled by cheap movie prices and matineesAmericans, it's expensive to go to the movies in Japan. The usual price for an adult ticket is 1800 yen, and there are no matinee shows at all. There are discounts though, but there are two, only one though for guys, that a visitor to Japan can easily use. The one anyone can use regardless of gender is the discount on the first of every month, where tickets are only 1000 yen each. This also tends to be the most popular day to go to the movies for everyone so don't be surprised to find the cinema crowded. The other is only for women, and this is Ladies' Day, which is every Wednesday, and all women can get tickets for 1000 yen. I've been using Ladies' Day a lot for seeing movies here in Japan personally.
Another option if you're looking for cheap tickets, or at least cheaper than the full price, are the resale ticket stores that are all around the place. I don't have a list of where they all are but if you look around, especially in Tokyo, you can find them. I believe the easiest one to find that I've seen is the one in Ikebukuro on the street that Sunshine City is on. These resale ticket places can sell tickets for all kinds of things, and some do sell concert tickets, but you can get movie tickets from them. Though most tend to be advanced tickets so you need to be careful when you buy the tickets as you can only use them in select movie theaters. And I'll get into that next.
If you're looking to get advanced tickets for any movie you can get it either from a movie theater or you can use the ticketing machines that the convenience stores have. Though if you want the special looking tickets and bonus gifts for buying an advanced ticket you will need to find a movie theater that is taking advanced sales for the movie you want to see. Though one thing to keep in mind about advanced tickets from movie theaters is that you can't use them at any theater you want. They will have the name of the theater(s) that you can use them at somewhere on them. The ones you get from the convenience stores though are good at any theater though. Both cost 1300 yen and they tend to work more like a voucher than an actual ticket.
Using Snow Prince as an example, the movie theater closest to me isn't taking advanced sales for this movie so I chose to buy my ticket from a cinema in Shibuya. I am now limited to seeing the movie in the theaters listed on the back of the ticket, but I plan on seeing it at the theater I bought it from anyway so it's not an issue for me. Also the day, exact showing and seat will only be selected when I go in to actually see the movie. So if it so happens that I want to see the movie on a certain day and for a certain showtime but it's full by the time I get there I'm either going to have to wait for another showtime or day.
Also to make sure it's clear the advanced ticket will not let you in to see the movie itself. You need to go to the ticket counter in the cinema itself and get a ticket from them to go in to the screening room. They'll tear off the bottom part of the advanced ticket and you'll get to keep the 'pretty' part of it. All the advanced ticket does is let you pay in advance, so you don't need to pay the ticket counter anything when you get the actual movie ticket. That and you can usually get a little gift and a nice little pretty piece of paper for paying in advance.
And since it is something that will probably need addressing, they do seating in Japan differently than in the States, I'm not sure about if other countries do this as well or not. But in Japan when you chose your showtime you also get to choose which seat you will sit in to watch it in. So like concerts with seating in Japan, you will get assigned seating for movies and the seat row and number will be printed on the actual ticket you use to get in. This will happen when you get the actual ticket and the person at the counter will pull out a seating chart and ask where you want to be seated, so unlike concerts you will actually get a choice.
For those who don't speak Japanese, or at least not well, just point to an area of seats you want to sit in and say 'koko' and you'll get your point across just fine. They will tell which seat they will give you, rows are letters from the English alphabet and then a number (which will be said in Japanese). If you're fine with the seat then just nod your head or say 'hai', 'ii desu', or any other confirmation word(s) in Japanese and they will then print out your ticket. This is the ticket that you hand to the attendent near the screening rooms to be let in to actually see the movie.
Japanese cinemas have merchandise areas in them. Every movie will have a special pamphlet that you can buy. They're usually really nice and not that expensive considering their quality. And there will probably be other items for whatever movie you are seeing for sale as well. The official websites for the movie should have a list somewhere of everything that will be available. Though things tend to sell out quickly, as they need to make room for the next batch of goods for the next movie(s) coming out every week.
There should be an area to buy food and drinks as well. They have a rather massive selection from what I've seen of your usual popcorn to flavored french fries as well as light meals. But like most places that sell food in Japan they should have a menu, sometimes with pictures, by the register so you can just point to what you want. And if you're over 20 years old you can even order beer if you'd like. If you order more than just a drink they'll usually give you a tray that will connect to the seat where the cup holder is.
In the screening room you need to find your seat, which shouldn't be that hard. And then it's more or less the same as movie theaters in the U.S. The only other major difference that you will notice is that before the previews start rolling an employee from the cinema will come in and stand in front of the screen, tell you which movie you are seeing and the basic rules of the cinema. Though I honestly can't remember if every movie I've seen has had this, but most have.
And also to note as it confused me a bit at first, but 'roadshow' is 'opening day'. Again using Snow Prince as an example, it says its roadshow begins December 12th. What that actually means is that the opening day for the movie will be December 12th. This of course doesn't include any special previews or advanced screenings of the film that may happen before this date.
And that's about all I can think of mentioning for this topic. I'm not sure how useful people will find it, but I hope anyone who wishes to catch a movie while visiting Japan will find it helpful.
And I figured with Johnny's from time to time being in movies then perhaps it would be nice to give some information about seeing movies in Japan, as I know I had to find out quite a bit by myself when I got here.
First off as a warning for those spoiled by cheap movie prices and matinees
Another option if you're looking for cheap tickets, or at least cheaper than the full price, are the resale ticket stores that are all around the place. I don't have a list of where they all are but if you look around, especially in Tokyo, you can find them. I believe the easiest one to find that I've seen is the one in Ikebukuro on the street that Sunshine City is on. These resale ticket places can sell tickets for all kinds of things, and some do sell concert tickets, but you can get movie tickets from them. Though most tend to be advanced tickets so you need to be careful when you buy the tickets as you can only use them in select movie theaters. And I'll get into that next.
If you're looking to get advanced tickets for any movie you can get it either from a movie theater or you can use the ticketing machines that the convenience stores have. Though if you want the special looking tickets and bonus gifts for buying an advanced ticket you will need to find a movie theater that is taking advanced sales for the movie you want to see. Though one thing to keep in mind about advanced tickets from movie theaters is that you can't use them at any theater you want. They will have the name of the theater(s) that you can use them at somewhere on them. The ones you get from the convenience stores though are good at any theater though. Both cost 1300 yen and they tend to work more like a voucher than an actual ticket.
Using Snow Prince as an example, the movie theater closest to me isn't taking advanced sales for this movie so I chose to buy my ticket from a cinema in Shibuya. I am now limited to seeing the movie in the theaters listed on the back of the ticket, but I plan on seeing it at the theater I bought it from anyway so it's not an issue for me. Also the day, exact showing and seat will only be selected when I go in to actually see the movie. So if it so happens that I want to see the movie on a certain day and for a certain showtime but it's full by the time I get there I'm either going to have to wait for another showtime or day.
Also to make sure it's clear the advanced ticket will not let you in to see the movie itself. You need to go to the ticket counter in the cinema itself and get a ticket from them to go in to the screening room. They'll tear off the bottom part of the advanced ticket and you'll get to keep the 'pretty' part of it. All the advanced ticket does is let you pay in advance, so you don't need to pay the ticket counter anything when you get the actual movie ticket. That and you can usually get a little gift and a nice little pretty piece of paper for paying in advance.
And since it is something that will probably need addressing, they do seating in Japan differently than in the States, I'm not sure about if other countries do this as well or not. But in Japan when you chose your showtime you also get to choose which seat you will sit in to watch it in. So like concerts with seating in Japan, you will get assigned seating for movies and the seat row and number will be printed on the actual ticket you use to get in. This will happen when you get the actual ticket and the person at the counter will pull out a seating chart and ask where you want to be seated, so unlike concerts you will actually get a choice.
For those who don't speak Japanese, or at least not well, just point to an area of seats you want to sit in and say 'koko' and you'll get your point across just fine. They will tell which seat they will give you, rows are letters from the English alphabet and then a number (which will be said in Japanese). If you're fine with the seat then just nod your head or say 'hai', 'ii desu', or any other confirmation word(s) in Japanese and they will then print out your ticket. This is the ticket that you hand to the attendent near the screening rooms to be let in to actually see the movie.
Japanese cinemas have merchandise areas in them. Every movie will have a special pamphlet that you can buy. They're usually really nice and not that expensive considering their quality. And there will probably be other items for whatever movie you are seeing for sale as well. The official websites for the movie should have a list somewhere of everything that will be available. Though things tend to sell out quickly, as they need to make room for the next batch of goods for the next movie(s) coming out every week.
There should be an area to buy food and drinks as well. They have a rather massive selection from what I've seen of your usual popcorn to flavored french fries as well as light meals. But like most places that sell food in Japan they should have a menu, sometimes with pictures, by the register so you can just point to what you want. And if you're over 20 years old you can even order beer if you'd like. If you order more than just a drink they'll usually give you a tray that will connect to the seat where the cup holder is.
In the screening room you need to find your seat, which shouldn't be that hard. And then it's more or less the same as movie theaters in the U.S. The only other major difference that you will notice is that before the previews start rolling an employee from the cinema will come in and stand in front of the screen, tell you which movie you are seeing and the basic rules of the cinema. Though I honestly can't remember if every movie I've seen has had this, but most have.
And also to note as it confused me a bit at first, but 'roadshow' is 'opening day'. Again using Snow Prince as an example, it says its roadshow begins December 12th. What that actually means is that the opening day for the movie will be December 12th. This of course doesn't include any special previews or advanced screenings of the film that may happen before this date.
And that's about all I can think of mentioning for this topic. I'm not sure how useful people will find it, but I hope anyone who wishes to catch a movie while visiting Japan will find it helpful.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
18th poll results
Since I need to do this I'm going to quickly post the poll results so I can finally start up the next poll.
Ok. 23
Haven't a clue. 23
Borefest. 10
I guess it will be interesting to see how the concerts turn out in the end. There was at least enough interest for Johnny's to add one more day so hopefully it won't disappoint.
The next poll question is taken from my frustration of Hey! Say! JUMP not releasing any new cds so far this year. Honestly I believe they should have already done so, as back when they came out with Jounetsu JUMP I thought it would have been the perfect time for a new single as they could have included Yuuki 100% and Yumeiro on the single as those songs had just come out to be theme songs for an anime series. So my question to all is, Should Jounetsu JUMP have been released as a single?
What do you think Yamapi's solo concert will be like?
Beyond awesome. 37Ok. 23
Haven't a clue. 23
Borefest. 10
I guess it will be interesting to see how the concerts turn out in the end. There was at least enough interest for Johnny's to add one more day so hopefully it won't disappoint.
The next poll question is taken from my frustration of Hey! Say! JUMP not releasing any new cds so far this year. Honestly I believe they should have already done so, as back when they came out with Jounetsu JUMP I thought it would have been the perfect time for a new single as they could have included Yuuki 100% and Yumeiro on the single as those songs had just come out to be theme songs for an anime series. So my question to all is, Should Jounetsu JUMP have been released as a single?
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Nagano in an accident and Sakurai in a drama SP
It's being reported that back on Monday, Nagano Hiroshi of V6, was in a minor traffic accident. He had not been paying attention to the road and rear ended the car in front of him. From the sounds of the report he mustn't have been going very fast as no one was injured and the other car had stopped because of traffic.
Of course because of how minor the incident was I don't think Nagano is going to have to do more than pay the fines he needs to.
Tokyograph article.
In other news, Sakurai Sho will be in an upcoming drama special. This special will air in January 2010 as an anniversary special for the Great Kobe earthquake in 1995. The drama will focus on the reporters in the quake area and their dedication to get information out during the aftermath of the quake.
In a way I find it rather fitting that there is someone from Johnny's attached to a drama about the Kobe quake. It was from this disaster that J-Friends was created to help raise funds to help the children effected by the quake to continue with their education. So having them be apart of something about the quake fits, IMHO.
Tokyograph article.
Of course because of how minor the incident was I don't think Nagano is going to have to do more than pay the fines he needs to.
Tokyograph article.
In other news, Sakurai Sho will be in an upcoming drama special. This special will air in January 2010 as an anniversary special for the Great Kobe earthquake in 1995. The drama will focus on the reporters in the quake area and their dedication to get information out during the aftermath of the quake.
In a way I find it rather fitting that there is someone from Johnny's attached to a drama about the Kobe quake. It was from this disaster that J-Friends was created to help raise funds to help the children effected by the quake to continue with their education. So having them be apart of something about the quake fits, IMHO.
Tokyograph article.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Hey! Say! JUMP Winter Tour dates up & random silly
Johnny's net has updated with the dates and locations for Hey! Say! JUMP's winter tour for this year/next year. The December shows will be in Osaka and Nagoya, while the January shows are all in the Yokohama Arena.
Because of his musical, She Loves Me, Yabu will not be at the December shows and will be missing from the final two Yokohama Arena shows. So out of the currently scheduled 14 shows there will only be seven of them with the full ten members of the group.
I'll probably see about going to one of the Yokohama concerts, and I hope they will have proper uchiwas for the group and not the same one for each sub-unit that the summer concerts had. In fact I hope they won't recycle the concert goods as they did with the summer tour and Tokyo Dome concert goods. If Johnny's won't give a new music release I think at least new concert goods would be nice.
And on a completely different note. I found this robot generator program online and of course I decided to try it out using the names of Johnny's groups. I think the NEWS one I did turned out rather appropiate for the group.
Because of his musical, She Loves Me, Yabu will not be at the December shows and will be missing from the final two Yokohama Arena shows. So out of the currently scheduled 14 shows there will only be seven of them with the full ten members of the group.
I'll probably see about going to one of the Yokohama concerts, and I hope they will have proper uchiwas for the group and not the same one for each sub-unit that the summer concerts had. In fact I hope they won't recycle the concert goods as they did with the summer tour and Tokyo Dome concert goods. If Johnny's won't give a new music release I think at least new concert goods would be nice.
And on a completely different note. I found this robot generator program online and of course I decided to try it out using the names of Johnny's groups. I think the NEWS one I did turned out rather appropiate for the group.
Kis-My-Ft2 on Music Station impressions
So I just finished watching Music Station, as Kis-My-Ft2 is the final act to perform on the show. If you follow my twitter then you can see I've been tweeting throughout the program.
I missed Mini MSte, I'm really bad about that as it begins a few minutes before 8PM and I can never remember which channel I need to change the TV to. So if they were on that or not I didn't see. But they were the last act to come on stage at the beginning but got some of the loudest screams from the audience.
For most of the program they were wearing costumes that resembled street clothes. Lots of faded black jean material with white and red pieces of clothes and accessories. They sat in the bleacher seats with the rest of the artists for the program, except when they left to change outfits for the performance.
After they changed clothes they came out to talk with the hosts. The outfits they were wearing were pink suits, though you could only really see the pants at first, with writing all over them. Over the suits they had long white coats with red trim. Kitayama, Fujigaya and Tamamori where all wearing hats. The hats were balck and red, except Tamamori was wearing the head dress. I kinda wanted to take that off of him and burn it, as it doesn't look good at all. Also they all had their new white roller skates on.
The song definitely fits it's title of Tension, as it's the kind of song that brings up the tension of an atmosphere. The group get a lot of chances to show off their skating skills, though Kitayama almost fell on his rear near the beginning of the song. There were no other near mishaps from what was shown on camera, which was rather impressive with them repeatedly jumping off the middle ramp. And about halfway throughout the song the coats come off so you can see the pink suits more clearly. Too bad the hatsheaddress couldn't have gone as well.
Of course the main three of Fujigaya, Kitayama and Tamamori got the main focus but each member got a bit of time to shine with the various skating moves they did.
Overall I thought it was a great performance. And I was so excited when in one of the subtitles on the show before they went to a commercial break brought up KAT-TUN in connection to Kisumai. If just because I can't help but hope this means Johnny's truly is setting them up for a debut next.
I missed Mini MSte, I'm really bad about that as it begins a few minutes before 8PM and I can never remember which channel I need to change the TV to. So if they were on that or not I didn't see. But they were the last act to come on stage at the beginning but got some of the loudest screams from the audience.
For most of the program they were wearing costumes that resembled street clothes. Lots of faded black jean material with white and red pieces of clothes and accessories. They sat in the bleacher seats with the rest of the artists for the program, except when they left to change outfits for the performance.
After they changed clothes they came out to talk with the hosts. The outfits they were wearing were pink suits, though you could only really see the pants at first, with writing all over them. Over the suits they had long white coats with red trim. Kitayama, Fujigaya and Tamamori where all wearing hats. The hats were balck and red, except Tamamori was wearing the head dress. I kinda wanted to take that off of him and burn it, as it doesn't look good at all. Also they all had their new white roller skates on.
The song definitely fits it's title of Tension, as it's the kind of song that brings up the tension of an atmosphere. The group get a lot of chances to show off their skating skills, though Kitayama almost fell on his rear near the beginning of the song. There were no other near mishaps from what was shown on camera, which was rather impressive with them repeatedly jumping off the middle ramp. And about halfway throughout the song the coats come off so you can see the pink suits more clearly. Too bad the hats
Of course the main three of Fujigaya, Kitayama and Tamamori got the main focus but each member got a bit of time to shine with the various skating moves they did.
Overall I thought it was a great performance. And I was so excited when in one of the subtitles on the show before they went to a commercial break brought up KAT-TUN in connection to Kisumai. If just because I can't help but hope this means Johnny's truly is setting them up for a debut next.
LANDS single up for pre-order
Came home from school to find a notice from cdjapan with the pre-order information for Akanishi Jin's special cd release for his upcoming movie, Bandage. Johnny's net also has information for the single up. Probably the most surprising thing about the single is that there is only the one track so it's really cheap, only 500 Yen for the RE and 1100 Yen for the LE. The LE does come with the usual PV with making of footage. But still, I can't get over how sparse and cheap the release is. But I guess since this is a special project and probably won't end up on an album later it's good news for Jin fans, as they won't have to shell out a lot of money to buy the single even if the get both versions.
Also to note as it's coming out November 25th then it means for singles the month is completely full for Johnny's. If any other group is releasing a new single this year it's now going to have to wait for December, and it looks like one of those weeks in December will go to Snow Prince Gasshoudan, with them singing the theme song for the Snow Prince movie.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Snow Prince official website updates
The official website for the upcoming movie Snow Prince, starring Morimoto Shintarou, is up and with some nice bits of content. You can see for yourself by clicking on the Snow Prince clock that is on the side of my blog, which is a fun little accessory you can get from clicking the piano icon on the site.
Of course they most exciting this up is the longer trailer for the movie which has information for the movie's theme song for the movie, Snow Prince sung by Snow Prince Gasshoudan (or Snow Prince Choir). I'm rather not surprised by this information and expect to see the official announcement with pre-order links for the single by the end of the month, as I see it being an early December release with the movie hitting theaters on December 12th. Because I can't see Johnny's passing up the chance to make some money and of course promote their current Golden Junior.
I do find it a bit sad that with such a single Shintarou with his undebted Junior group will have more cd releases this year than his older brother and his debuted group.
On another note, as my local theater isn't taking pre-sales for the movie I think I'll be going to one of the theaters in Shibuya that is for this movie. Mainly because I think the box of colored pencils you get for getting a pre-sale ticket is cute, not to mention rather practical. Though I don't know if I could get myself to actually use them. XD;;
Of course they most exciting this up is the longer trailer for the movie which has information for the movie's theme song for the movie, Snow Prince sung by Snow Prince Gasshoudan (or Snow Prince Choir). I'm rather not surprised by this information and expect to see the official announcement with pre-order links for the single by the end of the month, as I see it being an early December release with the movie hitting theaters on December 12th. Because I can't see Johnny's passing up the chance to make some money and of course promote their current Golden Junior.
I do find it a bit sad that with such a single Shintarou with his undebted Junior group will have more cd releases this year than his older brother and his debuted group.
On another note, as my local theater isn't taking pre-sales for the movie I think I'll be going to one of the theaters in Shibuya that is for this movie. Mainly because I think the box of colored pencils you get for getting a pre-sale ticket is cute, not to mention rather practical. Though I don't know if I could get myself to actually use them. XD;;
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
More various updates.
I've been really busy this week, and will probably be so for the rest of the week as well, so I'm sorry if it takes some time before I post a reply or a new post.
First off, what looks like it's in commemoration of their concert in Korea, V6's single Guilty will be getting a Korean version release through SM Entertainment. The Korean version will come with hand written meassages in Korean from the group members that will come in a booklet as well as a poster. The DVD version of the single will have a DVD with live performances from the two V6 subunits.
allkpop article (English)
The movie Tegoshi Yuya will be in, and that he finished filming for some time ago, Nakushita Kioku, has had a name change. It will now be called Dareka ga Watashi ni Kiss wo Shita and is being slated for a 2010 March release, though it isn't mentioned were in the world it will be released. I guess one can assume it's Japan, so hopefully we'll get news for an international release eventually.
Tokyograph article (English)
Also both Tsubasa and Kinki Kids have announced new concerts. It seems the only way for fans to see Tsubasa these days is to see him live at either a play or musical. His tour will run from mid-November to late December.
Kinki Kids will be taking over Countdown again as they are listed for being at the Tokyo Dome for the New Year.
Tokyograph article (English)
First off, what looks like it's in commemoration of their concert in Korea, V6's single Guilty will be getting a Korean version release through SM Entertainment. The Korean version will come with hand written meassages in Korean from the group members that will come in a booklet as well as a poster. The DVD version of the single will have a DVD with live performances from the two V6 subunits.
allkpop article (English)
The movie Tegoshi Yuya will be in, and that he finished filming for some time ago, Nakushita Kioku, has had a name change. It will now be called Dareka ga Watashi ni Kiss wo Shita and is being slated for a 2010 March release, though it isn't mentioned were in the world it will be released. I guess one can assume it's Japan, so hopefully we'll get news for an international release eventually.
Tokyograph article (English)
Also both Tsubasa and Kinki Kids have announced new concerts. It seems the only way for fans to see Tsubasa these days is to see him live at either a play or musical. His tour will run from mid-November to late December.
Kinki Kids will be taking over Countdown again as they are listed for being at the Tokyo Dome for the New Year.
Tokyograph article (English)
Saturday, October 10, 2009
A mix bag of topics.
Okay, I think I need some help as I somehow I forget how to read dates last night and didn't realize that the Team Batista SP was Friday night, not tonight (Saturday night). That makes me rather sad, as I really wanted to see it.
In other news, Kis-My-Ft2 will be on Music Station, on their own, to perform their new song Tension. MSta just updated their line up list for October 16th, and Kis-My-Ft2 is on it. This is great news for the group, as while Juniors will perform from time to time on MSta, it's usually several groups of them together like earlier in the summer or with a debuted group like Kisumai's little bit of Firebeat before Tackey performed his latest single last month. Solo Junior group performances are a true rarity. If I'm not mistaken the only other Junior group that got to be on MSta without having a cd to release was KAT-TUN, so I have a lot of hope that this is indeed a sign that Johnny's is preparing Kisumai for a debut. Hopefully I'm not wrong, but I don't see what other reason they would have for giving Kisumai such an oppurtunity.
And changing to topic again, it looks like Question? has changed out members. Lead vocalist and guitarist Yonemura Daijiro has left Johnny's all together and Goto Hiromi (the violinist) has been added to the group. Apparently Yonemura left a couple of months ago at least, he's nowhere to be seen in the magazine shoots for October and Goto is with the group starting with the November magazine issues and appeared with the group in the Junior ni Q segment of the October 4th episode of Shounen Club.
There was no official word about Yonemura leaving so there are rumors about it. Quite a few speculating that Johnny's pushed him out of the group and he decided he would rather leave the agency altogether if he had to leave the group. And fans of the group are blaming Uchi Hiroki for this, as Goto isn't taking Yonemura's spot (plus at the last Junior concert he was already showing up with the group playing his violin), but in a way Uchi is, as he's been the one singing with the group as the lead vocals (like with his song 3 Piece). Of course in the end it's just rumor and remain so until someone involved in the matter actually says something about it.
In other news, Kis-My-Ft2 will be on Music Station, on their own, to perform their new song Tension. MSta just updated their line up list for October 16th, and Kis-My-Ft2 is on it. This is great news for the group, as while Juniors will perform from time to time on MSta, it's usually several groups of them together like earlier in the summer or with a debuted group like Kisumai's little bit of Firebeat before Tackey performed his latest single last month. Solo Junior group performances are a true rarity. If I'm not mistaken the only other Junior group that got to be on MSta without having a cd to release was KAT-TUN, so I have a lot of hope that this is indeed a sign that Johnny's is preparing Kisumai for a debut. Hopefully I'm not wrong, but I don't see what other reason they would have for giving Kisumai such an oppurtunity.
And changing to topic again, it looks like Question? has changed out members. Lead vocalist and guitarist Yonemura Daijiro has left Johnny's all together and Goto Hiromi (the violinist) has been added to the group. Apparently Yonemura left a couple of months ago at least, he's nowhere to be seen in the magazine shoots for October and Goto is with the group starting with the November magazine issues and appeared with the group in the Junior ni Q segment of the October 4th episode of Shounen Club.
There was no official word about Yonemura leaving so there are rumors about it. Quite a few speculating that Johnny's pushed him out of the group and he decided he would rather leave the agency altogether if he had to leave the group. And fans of the group are blaming Uchi Hiroki for this, as Goto isn't taking Yonemura's spot (plus at the last Junior concert he was already showing up with the group playing his violin), but in a way Uchi is, as he's been the one singing with the group as the lead vocals (like with his song 3 Piece). Of course in the end it's just rumor and remain so until someone involved in the matter actually says something about it.
November 2009 Wink Up pg. 69 translations (Fresh Juniors)
I've ended up picking up both the Wink Up and Potato for November and plan on translating at least one page each from each magazine. Of course I'm going to focus on the Fresh Juniors, as they rarely get translations done for them and the profiles are rather easy to translate. The Potato page though has more to it, as the Juniors featured on the page have been asked questions about magic so it'll probably take me a while to translate it.
Kinda interesting about these five Juniors, is not only are they featured in both the Wink Up and Potato for November but three of the five were featured in the September issue of Duet as Fresh Juniors. The questions are a bit different and there are a few different answers between the two sets of profiles, and if you're interested in seeing them yourself to compare I did translate that Duet page and it can be found here.
Also decided to at least take a picture of the pages I'm translating from now on, since I can't scan them.
HAVE UNLIMITED POTENTIAL
The first time in Wink Up for these fresh five! Support them by checking out their profiles!
Murata Rikito (村田力斗)
Nickname: Rikki
Birth date: July 9th, 1995, 14 years old (second year middle school)
Blood type: O
Where you’re from: Kanagawa prefecture
Height: 154cm
Weight: 39kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Your strong point: Bright and energetic.
Your shortcoming: Won’t stop talking.
Hobby: Listening to music.
Specialty: basketball
Favorite food: fried shrimp
Disliked food: asparagus
Favorite color: orange, red
Favorite sport: basketball
Subjects you’re good at: math, science and gym
Subjects you’re bad at: social studies
Favorite animal: shiba inu
Reason for applying: Joined because he admires the sempai in TV shows and concerts.
Admired sempai: Kitayama Hiromitsu
Type of girl you like: A bright girl.
Your appeal: I’m still immature however, after this I plan to still work hard.
Yamashita Kazunari （山下一成）
Nickname: none
Birth date: June 3rd, 1997, 12 years old (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: A
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 150.2cm
Weight: 37kg
Shoe size: 25cm
Your strong point: Well-behaved.
Your shortcoming: Can’t wake up quickly in the morning.
Hobby: reading
Specialty: English
Favorite food: ramen and sushi
Disliked food: eggplant
Favorite color: red
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: social studies and gym
Subjects you’re bad at: science
Favorite animal: dogs and elephants
Reason for applying: I went as a substitute for my cousin to the company audition.
Admired sempai: I don’t know.
Type of girl you like: A kind person.
Your appeal: There’s still many things I don’t know, from now on I plan on doing my best.
Abe Toya （阿部冬夜）
Nickname: Toya
Birth date: January 14th, 1996, 13 years old (second year middle school)
Blood type: B
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 160cm
Weight: 43kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Your strong point: Energetic.
Your shortcoming: Loud.
Hobby: afternoon naps
Specialty: rubber band magic
Favorite food: eggplant* and fried potato
Disliked food: bell pepper
Favorite color: blue
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: music, math
Subjects you’re bad at: Japanese language
Favorite animal: lion
Reason for applying: I admire how cool the sempai are.
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki and SMAP
Type of girl you like: A cute and cheerful girl.
Your appeal: I am kind.
*Less of a translation issue and more of a inconsistency I can't explain, as in the September Duet issue he has eggplant and bell pepper as food he doesn't like, so I'm not sure if he had a dramatic change of heart or someone wrote his information done wrong for this.
Katori Takuya (香取琢哉)
Nickname: Takkun
Birth date: June 2nd, 1997, 12 years old. (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: O
Where you’re from: Ibaraki prefecture
Height: 164cm
Weight: 45kg
Shoe size: 24cm
Your strong point: Quick on my feet.
Your shortcoming: To be left out a bit.*
Hobby: card games
Specialty: There’s nothing special.
Favorite food: curry
Disliked food: tomato
Favorite color: blue
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: gym
Subjects you’re bad at: math
Favorite animal: dog
Reason for applying: My friend sent in the application.
Admired sempai: Yamashita Tomohisa
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
Your appeal: Please remember my name.
*The verb he uses 「抜けてる」can have several meanings and this was the one that made the most sense to be in this context.
Takahashi Saneyasu （高橋実靖）
Nickname: Sane
Birth date: September 17th, 1997, 12 years old. (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: A
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 160cm
Weight: 43kg
Shoe size: 23.5cm
Your strong point: Lucky.
Your shortcoming: Bad at waking up.
Hobby: computers
Specialty: karate
Favorite food: sushi
Disliked food: goya
Favorite color: black
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: science and social studies
Subjects you’re bad at: math, Japanese language
Favorite animal: dog
Reason for applying: I admire Higashiyama-san, so I applied.
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki and Nakajima Yuto
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
Your appeal: My dancing is still not so good, so I will do my best.
(My thoughts.)
It's definitely interesting to see some of the little changes for the three that had profiles in the September Duet, Murata Rikito, Abe Toya and Takahashi Saneyasu. Especially to see that Murata has changed his admired sempai from Yamada Ryosuke to Kitayama Hiromitsu.
I think Yamashita Kazunari stands out quite a bit to me. Not only does he not really have the Johnny's look but the fact he of came in as a substitute for his cousin for the audition and ended up joining the agency is amusing to me. Also I like the fact that he seems rather honest with admitting that he doesn't have a sempai he looks up to yet instead of just picking one of the popular sempai so he can have an answer. And I swear I saw him back dancing on this month's Shounen Club episode in the beginning, so hopefully this means that he and the other boys featured here will eventually get a chance to do more as I'm rather interested in them.
Kinda interesting about these five Juniors, is not only are they featured in both the Wink Up and Potato for November but three of the five were featured in the September issue of Duet as Fresh Juniors. The questions are a bit different and there are a few different answers between the two sets of profiles, and if you're interested in seeing them yourself to compare I did translate that Duet page and it can be found here.
Also decided to at least take a picture of the pages I'm translating from now on, since I can't scan them.
HAVE UNLIMITED POTENTIAL
The first time in Wink Up for these fresh five! Support them by checking out their profiles!
Murata Rikito (村田力斗)
Nickname: Rikki
Birth date: July 9th, 1995, 14 years old (second year middle school)
Blood type: O
Where you’re from: Kanagawa prefecture
Height: 154cm
Weight: 39kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Your strong point: Bright and energetic.
Your shortcoming: Won’t stop talking.
Hobby: Listening to music.
Specialty: basketball
Favorite food: fried shrimp
Disliked food: asparagus
Favorite color: orange, red
Favorite sport: basketball
Subjects you’re good at: math, science and gym
Subjects you’re bad at: social studies
Favorite animal: shiba inu
Reason for applying: Joined because he admires the sempai in TV shows and concerts.
Admired sempai: Kitayama Hiromitsu
Type of girl you like: A bright girl.
Your appeal: I’m still immature however, after this I plan to still work hard.
Yamashita Kazunari （山下一成）
Nickname: none
Birth date: June 3rd, 1997, 12 years old (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: A
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 150.2cm
Weight: 37kg
Shoe size: 25cm
Your strong point: Well-behaved.
Your shortcoming: Can’t wake up quickly in the morning.
Hobby: reading
Specialty: English
Favorite food: ramen and sushi
Disliked food: eggplant
Favorite color: red
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: social studies and gym
Subjects you’re bad at: science
Favorite animal: dogs and elephants
Reason for applying: I went as a substitute for my cousin to the company audition.
Admired sempai: I don’t know.
Type of girl you like: A kind person.
Your appeal: There’s still many things I don’t know, from now on I plan on doing my best.
Abe Toya （阿部冬夜）
Nickname: Toya
Birth date: January 14th, 1996, 13 years old (second year middle school)
Blood type: B
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 160cm
Weight: 43kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Your strong point: Energetic.
Your shortcoming: Loud.
Hobby: afternoon naps
Specialty: rubber band magic
Favorite food: eggplant* and fried potato
Disliked food: bell pepper
Favorite color: blue
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: music, math
Subjects you’re bad at: Japanese language
Favorite animal: lion
Reason for applying: I admire how cool the sempai are.
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki and SMAP
Type of girl you like: A cute and cheerful girl.
Your appeal: I am kind.
*Less of a translation issue and more of a inconsistency I can't explain, as in the September Duet issue he has eggplant and bell pepper as food he doesn't like, so I'm not sure if he had a dramatic change of heart or someone wrote his information done wrong for this.
Katori Takuya (香取琢哉)
Nickname: Takkun
Birth date: June 2nd, 1997, 12 years old. (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: O
Where you’re from: Ibaraki prefecture
Height: 164cm
Weight: 45kg
Shoe size: 24cm
Your strong point: Quick on my feet.
Your shortcoming: To be left out a bit.*
Hobby: card games
Specialty: There’s nothing special.
Favorite food: curry
Disliked food: tomato
Favorite color: blue
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: gym
Subjects you’re bad at: math
Favorite animal: dog
Reason for applying: My friend sent in the application.
Admired sempai: Yamashita Tomohisa
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
Your appeal: Please remember my name.
*The verb he uses 「抜けてる」can have several meanings and this was the one that made the most sense to be in this context.
Takahashi Saneyasu （高橋実靖）
Nickname: Sane
Birth date: September 17th, 1997, 12 years old. (sixth year grade school)
Blood type: A
Where you’re from: Tokyo
Height: 160cm
Weight: 43kg
Shoe size: 23.5cm
Your strong point: Lucky.
Your shortcoming: Bad at waking up.
Hobby: computers
Specialty: karate
Favorite food: sushi
Disliked food: goya
Favorite color: black
Favorite sport: soccer
Subjects you’re good at: science and social studies
Subjects you’re bad at: math, Japanese language
Favorite animal: dog
Reason for applying: I admire Higashiyama-san, so I applied.
Admired sempai: Higashiyama Noriyuki and Nakajima Yuto
Type of girl you like: A kind girl.
Your appeal: My dancing is still not so good, so I will do my best.
(My thoughts.)
It's definitely interesting to see some of the little changes for the three that had profiles in the September Duet, Murata Rikito, Abe Toya and Takahashi Saneyasu. Especially to see that Murata has changed his admired sempai from Yamada Ryosuke to Kitayama Hiromitsu.
I think Yamashita Kazunari stands out quite a bit to me. Not only does he not really have the Johnny's look but the fact he of came in as a substitute for his cousin for the audition and ended up joining the agency is amusing to me. Also I like the fact that he seems rather honest with admitting that he doesn't have a sempai he looks up to yet instead of just picking one of the popular sempai so he can have an answer. And I swear I saw him back dancing on this month's Shounen Club episode in the beginning, so hopefully this means that he and the other boys featured here will eventually get a chance to do more as I'm rather interested in them.
Friday, October 9, 2009
More tour dates for Kis-My-Ft2 & Nakaken and Takada Sho in Team Basista SP
I'm happy that I got to come back home from school with such great news as Kis-My-Ft2 has had added tour dates and shows added to their current tour. Not only are there going to be more shows at venues like Yokohama, which has gone up from three to five shows, but a new city has been added to the tour, Nagoya. Also they will be returning to Sendai at the end of November for more concerts. In total there are nine new shows added to the tour, which isn't bad at all for a Junior group's first concert tour at all.
Johnny's net concert schedule. (Japanese only.)
And I'm not sure how this escaped my knowledge, but Nakajima Kento and Takada Sho will have roles in the Team Batista drama SP tomorrow night on Fuji TV at 9PM. I found this information out from the November issue of Wink Up that I just picked up today. I'll definetly see about watching the SP, even though I've never seen the original drama for it. But I looked up some information about it and it looks like it would be an interesting drama to watch.
From the WU article it looks like Nakaken plays a hospital patient, he's in the hospital clothes and gets to look like he's hooked up to medical machines. Not sure exactly what Takada's role is, but I'm going to assume a friend of Nakaken's character.
Fuji TV website for the SP. (Japanese only.)
And I'll probably translate the fresh Junior page from this WU issue later today. I need to run some errands first.
Johnny's net concert schedule. (Japanese only.)
And I'm not sure how this escaped my knowledge, but Nakajima Kento and Takada Sho will have roles in the Team Batista drama SP tomorrow night on Fuji TV at 9PM. I found this information out from the November issue of Wink Up that I just picked up today. I'll definetly see about watching the SP, even though I've never seen the original drama for it. But I looked up some information about it and it looks like it would be an interesting drama to watch.
From the WU article it looks like Nakaken plays a hospital patient, he's in the hospital clothes and gets to look like he's hooked up to medical machines. Not sure exactly what Takada's role is, but I'm going to assume a friend of Nakaken's character.
Fuji TV website for the SP. (Japanese only.)
And I'll probably translate the fresh Junior page from this WU issue later today. I need to run some errands first.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Arashi news updates
After Kanjani8 now Arashi has a couple of things that have been recently announced.
First off the release date for their upcoming single, My Girl, the theme song for the new drama starring Aiba Masaki also titled, My Girl, is up for pre-order. Johnny's net also has the information up for the release. The B-side that is on both the LE and RE version of the single will be the theme song for the Johnny's drama, 0 Go Shitsu no Kyaku. Then the RE will have a bonus B-side track but the title has yet to even be decided for it.
Also it has just been announced that Ninomiya Kazunari will be returning to the big screen with a set of two movies for the manga series, GANTZ. He will play the lead character of the series, and the films are set to be released both in 2011, the first in winter and the second in the spring.
Anime News Network article. (English)
It looks like November is going to be quite the release heavy month, especially as there is still the upcoming Tokio single that hasn't gotten a release date yet, as the group is doing the theme song for the ROMES drama. I hope we can get a NEWS and KAT-TUN single in December and something from Hey! Say! JUMP, album or single, as well. Then all the groups should be covered, except for Tackey & Tsubasa but their future seems to look the bleakest at the moment.
First off the release date for their upcoming single, My Girl, the theme song for the new drama starring Aiba Masaki also titled, My Girl, is up for pre-order. Johnny's net also has the information up for the release. The B-side that is on both the LE and RE version of the single will be the theme song for the Johnny's drama, 0 Go Shitsu no Kyaku. Then the RE will have a bonus B-side track but the title has yet to even be decided for it.
Also it has just been announced that Ninomiya Kazunari will be returning to the big screen with a set of two movies for the manga series, GANTZ. He will play the lead character of the series, and the films are set to be released both in 2011, the first in winter and the second in the spring.
Anime News Network article. (English)
It looks like November is going to be quite the release heavy month, especially as there is still the upcoming Tokio single that hasn't gotten a release date yet, as the group is doing the theme song for the ROMES drama. I hope we can get a NEWS and KAT-TUN single in December and something from Hey! Say! JUMP, album or single, as well. Then all the groups should be covered, except for Tackey & Tsubasa but their future seems to look the bleakest at the moment.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Kanjani8 news
Well Kanjani8's upcoming single, now confirmed to be titled 急☆上☆Show!! (Kyu☆Jo☆Show!!) is up on Johnny's net if you want to see the track listing and cdjapan if you want to pre-order it. It has three versions, a regular with four songs with karaoke tracks, while the two limited editions will only have two songs, the title song and Hitotsu no Uta on the cd. There will be two different DVDs, one for each LE, with one with the PV for Kyu☆Jo☆Show!! and the other will have a PV for Hitotsu no Uta.
Also it looks like Ryo won't be the only member of the group that will be effected by the flu this year. It has been reported that currently Yasuda Shota has the flu and has gone home to recover. As he's in the upcoming fall drama, ROMES, he has and will miss some days of filming as he recovers. Thankfully the drama has yet to begin broadcasting so there doesn't look like it will have to be delayed, unlike Orthos no Inu was when Ryo fell ill.
Tokyo Graph article.
And then in the winter drama rumor mill, and something slightly less Kanjani8 focused, 2ch is reporting that Hidarime Tantei EYE is slated to become a weekly drama. Of course at this time it's safe to just say this is a rumor, but for the fall season 2ch was pretty much spot on about the dramas, so there is a chance they could very well be right about this. Now let's hope if this does come about they will give us more scenes of Yamada and Yokoyama together, as I loved seeing them act as brothers and want to see more of that, which a continuation could easily do. That and we can finally get a new Hey! Say! JUMP single out of it too.
Also it looks like Ryo won't be the only member of the group that will be effected by the flu this year. It has been reported that currently Yasuda Shota has the flu and has gone home to recover. As he's in the upcoming fall drama, ROMES, he has and will miss some days of filming as he recovers. Thankfully the drama has yet to begin broadcasting so there doesn't look like it will have to be delayed, unlike Orthos no Inu was when Ryo fell ill.
Tokyo Graph article.
And then in the winter drama rumor mill, and something slightly less Kanjani8 focused, 2ch is reporting that Hidarime Tantei EYE is slated to become a weekly drama. Of course at this time it's safe to just say this is a rumor, but for the fall season 2ch was pretty much spot on about the dramas, so there is a chance they could very well be right about this. Now let's hope if this does come about they will give us more scenes of Yamada and Yokoyama together, as I loved seeing them act as brothers and want to see more of that, which a continuation could easily do. That and we can finally get a new Hey! Say! JUMP single out of it too.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Kanjani8 not-so-secret secret
A couple of days ago Kanjani8 had a special event for those fans who had bought both versions of their latest DVD and sent in a ballot to attend. They shared some special information with the fans that attended and asked them to keep it secret, but some fans being fans decided to blog about it anyway.
What this secret is that they will be releasing a new single on November 4th. The single is titled Kyuujoushou and the B-side is Hitotsu no Uta, which will have a PV that will be on the DVD version of the single with footage from the events.
I'm rather glad hearing that Kanjani8 will be getting a November single after all, since apparently they will not be doing the theme song for the drama ROMES. Instead it's being said that Tokio will be doing it, which seems a bit weird to me. Though I am happy to see Tokio releasing something else new. Hopefully this means that they're begining to gear up for a new full album for 2010.
Hopefully the pre-order and Johnny's net information for both single will show up soon now.
What this secret is that they will be releasing a new single on November 4th. The single is titled Kyuujoushou and the B-side is Hitotsu no Uta, which will have a PV that will be on the DVD version of the single with footage from the events.
I'm rather glad hearing that Kanjani8 will be getting a November single after all, since apparently they will not be doing the theme song for the drama ROMES. Instead it's being said that Tokio will be doing it, which seems a bit weird to me. Though I am happy to see Tokio releasing something else new. Hopefully this means that they're begining to gear up for a new full album for 2010.
Hopefully the pre-order and Johnny's net information for both single will show up soon now.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Various bits and ramblings.
I thought about posting earlier today but decided to wait until after I finished watching Hidarime Tantei EYE before doing so.
Matchy will be releasing a new single on December 12th, as he comes up to his 30th anniversary since his debut. The single according to Johnny's net will have a commercial tie-in for H.I.S., a Japanese company IIRC, and the song will be titled Motto! Motto!. As it's still far from the release date there isn't much more confirmed information about the single out.
Snow Prince is set for world wide debut, and will do so in Hawaii, where it will be screened for the Hawaii International Film Festival. HIFF runs from October 15th through the 25th. If you check out the website for the festival you can see the full listing of all the films and you will probably notice that Morimoto Shintarou won't be the only Johnny's seen in a film there. The Gokusen movie is also listed so Kame, Takaki, B.A.D. and Tamamori will also be getting a little bit of international exposure. Though as someone who has seen the movie already, unless you've already seen all the drama seasons you'll probably find it hard to enjoy.
HIFF official website.
Today was the first day of the Kis-My-Ft2 national tour. They did two concerts in Oita today and from reports they're going Junior-less, so they're the only ones performing for their concerts. And from the setl list that is drifting around now very few of the songs they are being borrowed from their sempai, mainly solo songs so everyone has one. And of course they have a PLAYZONE corner, but I think most were expecting that. And there does seem to be a couple of new songs too for the concert, including a new solo for Tamamori.
The more I read about the tour the more excited I get for it. I can't believe I have to wait until December to see them perform. Though I wonder if Johnny's will give them some Juniors for Yokohama Arena, as I believe that will be the biggest venue they will be performing in. (And with any luck they might be taping in if we're getting a DVD for this.)
For Hidarime Tantei EYE, it was ok. I missed some of the first part but it really didn't take too long to figure out what was going on after knowing about the plot from all the promotion. Overall though I think they needed to focus more on developing characters. Yamada's though had good development, IMHO, but the rest for the most part stayed rather one dimensional, so it was hard to care about what happened to them.
I think I'm finally getting it in my head that Yamada Ryosuke isn't the cute little kid he was when he debuted two years ago. I mean even though I see him in the magazines I still think of him as if he was still 14, but after watching this drama it's finally getting through he has grown up quite a bit since then. Though he still looks like he still has growing left to do, but I think he's slowly fitting the cool image better, though he still looks the best when he's happy and smiley, IMHO. And for the Yamada fan girls, you do get to see him shirtless in the drama so you can look forward to that.
I rather liked that his character really isn't an elite genius type so much as all his previous roles have been. He's much more just a normal kid that has been thrust in a very abnormal situation. And I enjoyed all the scenes he had together with Yokoyama Yu. Even the more heartbreaking ones.
The female school nurse just felt like she was there only for comedic relief and to be a plot device when they needed to keep the plot moving. Her character annoyed me because she came off rather shallow with very little about her to sympathize with because of this, IMHO.
But the ending left everything wide open for it to be continued. In fact it felt like it was just begging for more of the story to be told for it. Or maybe it's just that I actually want to see what happens next. Even though I wasn't floored by the SP, I did enjoy it and kept feeling that if they had more time they could tell a more interesting story. I really hope it does become a weekly drama. And they can add to the cast a bit, like bring in another member of Hey! Say! 7 (or Daiki)to become friends with Yamada's character or something. And then maybe we can finally get a new cd release from Hey! Say! JUMP.
Matchy will be releasing a new single on December 12th, as he comes up to his 30th anniversary since his debut. The single according to Johnny's net will have a commercial tie-in for H.I.S., a Japanese company IIRC, and the song will be titled Motto! Motto!. As it's still far from the release date there isn't much more confirmed information about the single out.
Snow Prince is set for world wide debut, and will do so in Hawaii, where it will be screened for the Hawaii International Film Festival. HIFF runs from October 15th through the 25th. If you check out the website for the festival you can see the full listing of all the films and you will probably notice that Morimoto Shintarou won't be the only Johnny's seen in a film there. The Gokusen movie is also listed so Kame, Takaki, B.A.D. and Tamamori will also be getting a little bit of international exposure. Though as someone who has seen the movie already, unless you've already seen all the drama seasons you'll probably find it hard to enjoy.
HIFF official website.
Today was the first day of the Kis-My-Ft2 national tour. They did two concerts in Oita today and from reports they're going Junior-less, so they're the only ones performing for their concerts. And from the setl list that is drifting around now very few of the songs they are being borrowed from their sempai, mainly solo songs so everyone has one. And of course they have a PLAYZONE corner, but I think most were expecting that. And there does seem to be a couple of new songs too for the concert, including a new solo for Tamamori.
The more I read about the tour the more excited I get for it. I can't believe I have to wait until December to see them perform. Though I wonder if Johnny's will give them some Juniors for Yokohama Arena, as I believe that will be the biggest venue they will be performing in. (And with any luck they might be taping in if we're getting a DVD for this.)
For Hidarime Tantei EYE, it was ok. I missed some of the first part but it really didn't take too long to figure out what was going on after knowing about the plot from all the promotion. Overall though I think they needed to focus more on developing characters. Yamada's though had good development, IMHO, but the rest for the most part stayed rather one dimensional, so it was hard to care about what happened to them.
I think I'm finally getting it in my head that Yamada Ryosuke isn't the cute little kid he was when he debuted two years ago. I mean even though I see him in the magazines I still think of him as if he was still 14, but after watching this drama it's finally getting through he has grown up quite a bit since then. Though he still looks like he still has growing left to do, but I think he's slowly fitting the cool image better, though he still looks the best when he's happy and smiley, IMHO. And for the Yamada fan girls, you do get to see him shirtless in the drama so you can look forward to that.
I rather liked that his character really isn't an elite genius type so much as all his previous roles have been. He's much more just a normal kid that has been thrust in a very abnormal situation. And I enjoyed all the scenes he had together with Yokoyama Yu. Even the more heartbreaking ones.
The female school nurse just felt like she was there only for comedic relief and to be a plot device when they needed to keep the plot moving. Her character annoyed me because she came off rather shallow with very little about her to sympathize with because of this, IMHO.
But the ending left everything wide open for it to be continued. In fact it felt like it was just begging for more of the story to be told for it. Or maybe it's just that I actually want to see what happens next. Even though I wasn't floored by the SP, I did enjoy it and kept feeling that if they had more time they could tell a more interesting story. I really hope it does become a weekly drama. And they can add to the cast a bit, like bring in another member of Hey! Say! 7 (or Daiki)to become friends with Yamada's character or something. And then maybe we can finally get a new cd release from Hey! Say! JUMP.
Friday, October 2, 2009
17th Poll Results
Well school has started up for me again. My schedule looks pretty much the same as last semester, though I'll probably be spending more time with my Japanese. But I guess I can say Johnny's is helpful with this as I can practice my Japanese by watching them on TV/at concerts and reading about them in magazines. XD
But enough personal stuff, the poll is over so it's result time. This time broken into two categories for the answer to the second question.
Group that got people into Johnny's and they are the favorite group.
Hey! Say! JUMP: 50
NEWS: 43
Arashi: 28
KAT-TUN: 21
Tokio: 11
Juniors: 11
Kinki Kids: 3
Kanjani8: 2
Tackey & Tsubasa: 2
SMAP: 1
V6: 0
Daisempai: 0
Group that got people into Johnny's and they aren't the favorite group.
KAT-TUN: 13
NEWS: 12
Arashi: 7
Hey! Say! JUMP: 4
Daisempai: 1
Kinki Kids: 1
Kanjani8: 1
Tokio: 0
Juniors: 0
Tackey & Tsubasa: 0
V6: 0
SMAP: 0
So it looks like it's the younger groups that tend to bring in the most new Johnny's fans though they also seem to have the highest rate of people switching to other groups later on.
I'll keep this new poll a bit simpler and ask, What do you think Yamapi's solo concert will be like?
But enough personal stuff, the poll is over so it's result time. This time broken into two categories for the answer to the second question.
Group that got people into Johnny's and they are the favorite group.
Hey! Say! JUMP: 50
NEWS: 43
Arashi: 28
KAT-TUN: 21
Tokio: 11
Juniors: 11
Kinki Kids: 3
Kanjani8: 2
Tackey & Tsubasa: 2
SMAP: 1
V6: 0
Daisempai: 0
Group that got people into Johnny's and they aren't the favorite group.
KAT-TUN: 13
NEWS: 12
Arashi: 7
Hey! Say! JUMP: 4
Daisempai: 1
Kinki Kids: 1
Kanjani8: 1
Tokio: 0
Juniors: 0
Tackey & Tsubasa: 0
V6: 0
SMAP: 0
So it looks like it's the younger groups that tend to bring in the most new Johnny's fans though they also seem to have the highest rate of people switching to other groups later on.
I'll keep this new poll a bit simpler and ask, What do you think Yamapi's solo concert will be like?
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