Thursday, October 30, 2014

Johnny's WEST for the new year

Johnny's WEST will be celebrating the new year with a series of concerts in Yokohama Arena and Osaka Jo Hall.


I think what makes these concerts so special is that they will be first for JW post-debut. And while they are not performing in many venues the ones they are both are a good size for a freshly debuted unit.

I do hope that with these concerts we will get an announcement for the group's next single. Or perhaps at least get the concert a DVD/BD release for the concert or their pre-debut concert.

No matter what I am happy for the group and wish I could go. Maybe one day.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Thennary Speaks - Episode 29: Genso Suikoden

I go over some basic information about my favorite JRPG series, Genso Suikoden.



Also the battery of my camera ran out while filming this. It actually ended right where this video ends so I decided to keep it as is since I was getting ready to start up my usual outro talk anyway.


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Chu-Z in new duds

Chu-Z look to finally have some new outfits for the girls, which I am rather happy about as I did not care much for the ones they have been using mostly before.


Even though they are more simple and uniform than their previous outfits I just like the look of these much more. They just have a "cool" vibe to them that I love.

I do hope that since they have new outfits it means they are already gearing up for a new single. Yet that said I would not be surprised if the next single is not released until January 2015, if the time between their major debut mini album and major debut single is an indicator of anything.

Until then I will have to keep enjoying what they have released so far and their twitter accounts.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Sailor Moon Crystal - Episode Thoughts 08

Sailor Venus officially joins the group and we learn more about the mission the girls have been given. Also Kunzite steps up to face the Sailor Guardians after the other Four Kings have failed.


Thursday, October 16, 2014

Yuma's 1st Chapter

Looks like my speculation about Nakayama Yuma's upcoming album was pretty on the mark as it is set to be released the last week of November on the 26th. The title of the album is Chapter 1 and it will come in two different versions.

The limited edition will come with a DVD that will have a Short Film for the album song, Kosaten, with a making of feature. It will also have ten tracks on the CD.


The regular edition will just be the CD but it will have thirteen tracks, the bonus tracks being: Oyasumi, Hustler and Kiseki, Mitsukeni.


And there is a bundle offered by CDJapan if you want to get both versions.


I am rather excited for this album, mainly because I am still enjoying Yuma's latest single, Get Up! quite a bit. And of the four single tracks on the album there is only one I do not like, High Five. And speaking of those tracks Akuma na Koi from Nakayama Yuma w/B.I. Shadow will be getting an album version, which I am expecting to be a solo version of the song. (Which it technically was from the start but I still expect this song to be a Yuma only version.)

In any case I will definitely be picking this up, though I want to wait and see if I was right about Kis-My-Ft2 releasing a new single before the end of the year so I can get both in one order.

Yamada Nana to graduate NMB48

Yamada Nana has announced that she will be graduating from NMB48 next year on April 3rd, her 23rd birthday. She mentioned that she wants to pursue a new dream but gave no details on what that would be.

Tokyo Girls Update article (English)


Honestly Nana was the real reason I even gave NMB48 a chance. As a Johnny's fan I knew of her younger brother, Nakayama Yuma, so I was interested in the fact that he had a sister that was an idol. She ended up winning me over on her own as I watched her with the rest of the 1st generation members of the group and has always been a favorite of mine. I truly hope whatever her new dream is it will allow her to still be in the public eye so I can continue to keep tabs on her.

I cannot say that I am surprised by the news. I felt that it was about time for one of the major 1st generation members to leave, especially as NMB48 looks to finally be shifting focus to some of their younger members. Of course that was long overdue if the group wants to be able to survive graduations like this so there are no hard feelings from me for it. I just hope that since it will be almost half a year before she graduates it means that they will give her a nice big send off to reflect her status in the group.

I know I have mentioned that once my NMB48 favorites graduate from the group I will stop following them in general and as of this I am one step closer to that.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Oshi (2014)

Having a favorite never seemed to be that big a deal for me before but getting into girl groups I find that it can be taken rather seriously. That said my feelings have not changed all that much. I may have a favorite/oshi for a group but overall I tend to want to see the whole group succeed. And in some cases I just love a group so much I do not feel right having a favorite.

Like with Chu-Z I have no favorite member. I just love the group and all the girls, and generally want to see them succeed as a group as they aim for their dream to perform in Nippon Budokan.

Morning Musume OG though is an easy pick for me. I already was interested in Goto Maki before getting into MM and that changed nothing. If anything it just made me like Maki more.

For Morning Musume '14 though I find myself really coming to like Oda Sakura. I am a sucker for a strong vocalist though, which she easily is. She probably is not the kind of member that pops out at you at first glance but I do tend to like the seemingly quiet members as I find once you get to know them more they tend to have interesting personalities. And so far she has been proving me right.

DiVA is another easy one with Akimoto Sayaka. She was the main reason I got into AKB48, even though I no longer follow the group though I do try to keep tabs on her.

Little Glee Monster falls back into just not having a favorite again. But the girls are still so fresh in their careers that I think it will be better to wait and see how they grow into things first.

Have not really mentioned BABYMETAL on this blog much but I do like the group. And while I want to say I have no favorite I do think SUMETAL does pull be in a bit more because she has the vocals.

And I think that covers all the active groups that I follow. Well I am kinda cheating sneaking MM OG in but it is my blog so I can make those kinds of exceptions.

My favs (2014)

Again been just running thoughts through my head and figured I should go over who my favorite member of the groups I follow are.

Like always Nagase Tomoya is my favorite of TOKIO. I do like the rest of the group but he just has the biggest impact on me. I mean my dream guy is definitely someone who is like him after all. 

Kato Shigeaki is still my favorite member of NEWS. Even though he is not a member that naturally stands out I find him interesting and the kind of person I would love to be able to just talk to.

With Kis-My-Ft2 I am facing a renewed interest in the group. While I have never ignored them there was a time I did not follow them as much but now I really want to see more of them. Senga Kento has been a favorite but right now I do not feel like I really have a favorite anymore. Watching them now I find that I enjoy watching everyone and feel like I am learning about them all over again.

Johnny's WEST has proven a bit more difficult to figure out a favorite. I had favorites of the Junior groups that it was made from, Kiriyama Akito for B.A.D. and Fujii Ryusei for 7WEST. Now that they are in the same group it is hard to say which one is favored over the other. Also I am beginning to notice Hamada Takahiro and Kamiyama Tomohiro so I think it will be a while to get a clear favorite from the group.

With the Juniors my favorites are still the six from the Bakaleya6. Overall I feel my interest in the Juniors wane and feel once these six move on to whatever is next for them I may be moving on from the Juniors in general. But it is so hard to say what the future will bring and the only sure thing is that Jesse, Matsumura Hokuto, Kochi Yugo, Morimoto Shintaro, Tanaka Juri and Kyomoto Taiga have my interest and support.

And that about covers things for me. Honestly I am a bit surprised that I do not have as many favorites locked in as I thought I did. But that is one thing I do enjoy Johnny's is following groups and watching members grow and it is the newer groups that I am mainly undecided on.

Thennary Speaks - Episode 28: Buying J-Pop CDs

I go over the various ways to get your hands on legitimate Japanese CD releases.


Sunday, October 5, 2014

Busaiku to lead a drama

The next NTV late night drama has been announced and this time it will star the members of the Kis-My-Ft2 sub-unit Busaiku. It will have the four play salaryman, but use their own names for the roles. The drama will start on October 18th and is titled Heisei Busaiku Otoko.

So far there is only a photo of the newspaper article to confirm this, but I am sure there will be other sources soon enough.


In any case I am really happy for the Busaiku four. This is a good opportunity for them as it is another way to show their appeal, or perhaps lack there of as their characters are all rather busaiku in nature. But still, it is another program they get to be on and they will have to do some promotion for it.

I do wonder what they will do for theme songs, just use the songs the group has already down or actually get a new one that they will release as a single. If it is the later I wonder if that will affect the release schedule for Kis-My-Ft2 by much. But this is all wild speculation for now as there still is not much known about the drama but the bare basics.

Let's Speculate! Upcoming 2014 CD releases

I do feel bad for neglecting this blog for so long. I am starting to get my schedule figured out so hopefully I will be posting just a bit more here. That said I love speculating from time to time and recently my mind has been on what CD releases to expect to come out before the year ends from the groups I follow.

First up is a bit of a cheat as it has already been announced that Nakayama Yuma will have his debut album coming out in the near future. But the date has yet to be announced so I can guess about that. Personally I am betting on a December release date or possibly late November at earliest. But it is attached to a fan event scheduled for sometime in 2015, which I am assuming is going to be early 2015 so a late 2014 album release date would be needed to give fans time to apply for it. Also this would give Johnny's an easy excuse to get him on all the end of the year music programs they can.

Either way I will be looking forward to the album as while High Five did not impress me too much I still loved Missing Piece and Get Up! If the album is more like those two singles than I am bound to love it as well.

Kis-My-Ft2 since their debut has had a single released near the end of the year, usually in November outside of their debut year when it was in December. I am therefore expecting one last single from them this year. In fact it would be more shocking for them not to release another single in most likely November but they could pull another December date if they need to. None of the members have a drama that they are starring in for this season that I can recall, so no drama theme for them. The tie-ins for their winter singles tend to be light anyway so no big change there. But this would put them on schedule for having their albums get summer releases, as they usually only have three singles before an album and they already have Another Future to count towards their next album so if they have their usual winter and spring singles than an album in summer would work. Which is what I am assuming management is going for as I do not see why else they released a single collection album this year otherwise.

And honestly I ended up loving Another Future so I am also really looking forward to another release from the group.

With Johnny's WEST releasing a new single this month I doubt we will get another CD release from them this year. But that would be fine as they already have two singles and an album to show for their debut year. Also the two singles they have both have drama theme song tie-ins, so I think that will be the telling sign from the group on whether or not they are going to release a new single. Though hopefully as they get better established they can get other tie-ins so they can get a more consistent release pattern down.

I refuse to guess when either NEWS or TOKIO will release a new CD. These two groups seem to have a very my pace attitude when it comes to new releases. Also TOKIO just released a best of album for their 20th anniversary and are in the middle of a tour. I guess they could release a new single before the end of the year, but I have the feeling they may just wait until 2015 instead.

And that covers all the Johnny's that I am actively following. Well outside the Juniors but I do not think we are going to get a Junior release any time in the near future.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Sailor Moon Crystal - Episode Thoughts 07

We learn of Mamoru's past, he and Usagi give each other nicknames, Dark Kingdom brainwashing and ... SAILOR VENUS is finally here!!!!!