The Shounen Club 15 October 2010 review

So laptop is back finally but did not have all my Shounen Club episodes saved after all. Have most of the early years but these later ones not so much. Thankfully they are easy enough to replace, if just a bit time consuming. But I should be done with getting the collection back soon, as there is plenty I want to catch up on and need to replace but I since I need to do this first it is getting priority.

Again we get the theme of the episode at the start with it being Kidoairaku (human emotions, specifically joy, anger, pathos and humor). As they go through the four emotions with songs to match them the main Juniors and Junior groups are introduced. I was happy to see Kyomoto Taiga's grouping with Yasui Kentaro, Casey Anderson and Kawashima Noeru get some decent spotlight in this. They have been usually shuffled together with others so it is nice to see them on their own a bit.

The guest for the episode appears at the end of the medley like with the previous episode and we get Uchi Hiroki this time. I am really not a fan of the guy but I shall try to be as nice as possible for the sake of those who are fans.

There is the usual intro talk that goes over the theme of the episode again and introduces the hosts and supporters of the program. Uchi gets to say a couple of words before we move along to the next performance.

The performance has the three Hey! Say! JUMP supporters perform TIME, which is a song of the group's debut album which Takaki Yuya wrote the lyrics for. It is nice to have these performances for a large group like HSJ so you can clearly hear the voices of at least some of the members.

There is then a You no Otegami Yomitai Desu! segment, hosted by Kawai Fumito, Nakajima Kento and Fujigaya Taisuke. The first letter asks about a story regarding Kis-My-Ft2's Senga Kento during KAT-TUN's Taiwan concerts. Fujigaya relays the story that apparently there were Senga fans there that had bananas, I guess it was with the uchiwa for Senga, at the concert.

The next letter is one that gives things that certain Juniors look like. Tamamori Yuta and Miyata Toshiya are selected as Tamamori is compared to a mascot character and Miyata to an eggplant that looks like it has a nose.

There is then a Junior medley where they cover songs of sempai groups. Kyomoto gets a good showing as he sings to lead the first song in the medley with his quartet. The other Juniors featured in the medley are B.I. Shadow, Masuda Ryo and Takada Sho.

Next is an MC segment with A.B.C-Z. The members all get a chance to talk about one of the four emotions in the theme of the episode.

The group then performs their group song, Vanilla. At this point I feel certain that Ebi could do this song in their sleep with how often they perform it. But it is a good song and a good perform for the group.

We have the musical chair game and already I know this is going to be a blast. Uchi is there as a judge, but this really is not the kind of game you need a judge for. It is either the Junior gets himself on the chair or not. And they tend to be rather obvious if they try to cheat.

It is then time for the guest MC segment with Uchi. He gets to tell a story for three of the four emotions that make up the theme of the episode.

Uchi then performs in a medley with Question? It is nice to see Question? not being completely forgotten but I do believe this is the start of the group getting tied rather closely to Uchi.

There is then a Junior ni Q segment, going with things that one thinks of when they think of the fall/autumn. Kyomoto is doing well this episode when it comes to camera time. His answer deals with certain foods that are eaten in the fall.

Kochi Yugo gets a turn and talks about that since he loves summer the fall makes him feel down as it means the summer is over.

To finish things off it is Tamamori Yuta who answers with a fragrance of an olive. I did not get much out of it than that so I am not sure how that ties into autumn.

It is then an MC segment with about half of the members of Kis-My-Ft2. Each members gets to tell a story related to one of the four emotions in the theme of the episode. There is still quite a bit of talk about their recent trip to Taiwan as part of KAT-TUN's concerts there.

Kisumai then perform their group song Inori. It has been a while since they have performed this and I am glad to see it. Especially as it is considered to be one of their signature Junior-era songs.

It is then time to wrap up the episode. The final song performed is weeeek, and it is a great way to end the episode on a high note with lots of energy. Not sure how it ties into the theme but its still always a fun song.


Honestly I was okay with Uchi in this episode. I do not know what grates on me so about him but it is not constant so there are times I am fine with him. The only issue I had was that I do not care for the tone of his singing voice. It comes off whiny and thin, which is not a pleasant combination for my ears.

That aside it was a good episode with a good balance of debuted and Junior acts. And the musical chair game will always be a highlight for any episode it is in.