Alright, I promised a post about SixTONES debut thoughts and finally I feel ready to make that post.
At this moment there is no other group as poised and ready to debut than SixTONES. Not to say that the other groups are lacking in talent or effort but looking at connecting to an audience and appeal SixTONES is just a step ahead. It of course helps that they have been given chances to be seen by general audiences outside of Junior and Johnny's fans with acting roles for the stage, TV and streaming. They also have distinctions of being the first for things with the recent Youtube promotions which Johnny's loves to use to promote a debuted group with.
Post-King & Prince and Pre-Twenty Twenty would be a great time for a group like SixTONES to have a debut. The former group has the appeal of "princes" so it is a very clean and innocent look with standard pop being their main style. Twenty Twenty is bound to be the next group to take up the "youth" mantel that the FIVB groups (V6, Arashi, NEWS, Hey! Say! JUMP and Sexy Zone) held when they first debuted, which means fun and energetic pop songs. SixTONES in contrast have the same look and vibe as KAT-TUN and Kis-My-Ft2 had when they debuted, as having as much edge as a Johnny's boy band can with a more of a rock/dance based sound for their songs. So against other new groups they can stand out and attract fans that those other two groups may not.
All the members of the group have been with Johnny's for a long time, with Koichi Yugo being the "newest" having joined in 2009 shortly after Matsumura Hokuto. They have all also had the benefit to have gotten strong pushes as Juniors from management over the years and have thus built up strong and dedicated fanbases.
Probably the greatest x-factor in all of this is Youtube. It has done so much for the group already with the rising artist promotion it has done for them. It also opens the way for them to be discovered by a wider audience than other groups, as even Japan the younger population is moving towards digital media and away from cable stations. So this is a good way for Johnny's to see how powerful the internet can be with promoting their acts with it.
But at this point the group is not one that Johnny's can just ignore. They are proving far too popular for that, and at worst they can get the A.B.C-Z treatment, a debut but in a non-traditional way. If they become the first group to have wide digital releases it could also help pave the way for Johnny's entering the digital market in general. Something many Johnny's fans have been hoping for.
The members of the group have alluded to the idea of them debuting in a non-traditional way, though what that way would be has not been hinted outside not something Johnny's has done before. If anything it is a sign that the group plans on sticking around as they are finding success taking paths no other Johnny's group has tread before.
Personally all I know is how proud I am for these boys. From back when they were first grouped together and known as the Bakaleya6 I have been hoping for their debut. From the start they have had a lot going for them to be a great debuted Junior group. Everything they have done so far has just strengthened my belief they would work so well as a debuted group with greater support from the agency behind them. Until then we fans have to keep showing our support so Johnny's will not give up on them as they have other Junior groups in the past.
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Friday, November 23, 2018
Angerme adding two from the North
The new members joining Angerme have been announced! Both are from Hokkaido with one being a familiar face for those who follow the Hello!Project Trainees in Hokkaido. The Hokkaido Trainee and now Angerme member is Ota Haruka. The other girl that has now joined the group is named Ise Reira and from concert reports she is from the latest audition H!P held, the ONLY YOU auditions earlier this year. Both will start full group activities with the 2019 winter concerts.
Ota Haruka's addition to a group is the first time any of the Hokkaido Trainees have debuted with a H!P group.
I honestly look forward to learning about these girls in the future. I have liked all the members picked for Angerme so far and I doubt these girls will be an exception. I just hope H!P makes sure they release a single for them to have as their first single before the single that will be Wada Ayaka's final single. I know H!P likes to be slow with releases but I hope they make an exception for this as I would hate for the new members to be completely overshadowed by Ayaka for their first single. Yet I can see that happening with H!P.
It is nice to see H!P at least is willing to invest in the Hokkaido Trainees. I recall they used to have Kansai Trainees but I do not recall much happening with those, except Yamada Nana (who was using her real name Nakayama Nana with H!P) quitting to audition for NMB48. So the attention H!P is giving the girls in Hokkaido is a nice change and hopefully bodes quite well for those idol hopefuls.
Ota Haruka's addition to a group is the first time any of the Hokkaido Trainees have debuted with a H!P group.
I honestly look forward to learning about these girls in the future. I have liked all the members picked for Angerme so far and I doubt these girls will be an exception. I just hope H!P makes sure they release a single for them to have as their first single before the single that will be Wada Ayaka's final single. I know H!P likes to be slow with releases but I hope they make an exception for this as I would hate for the new members to be completely overshadowed by Ayaka for their first single. Yet I can see that happening with H!P.
It is nice to see H!P at least is willing to invest in the Hokkaido Trainees. I recall they used to have Kansai Trainees but I do not recall much happening with those, except Yamada Nana (who was using her real name Nakayama Nana with H!P) quitting to audition for NMB48. So the attention H!P is giving the girls in Hokkaido is a nice change and hopefully bodes quite well for those idol hopefuls.
Monday, November 19, 2018
New Angerme members announced for this Friday?!
Gotta love Japanese idol agencies and their love to surprise fans. It has been just announced that on Friday, November 23rd, 2018 there will be an announcement on a new members to join Angerme. It actually has not been announced how many members will be added to the group, but for the sake of ease of writing this out I am going to use the plural.
I can see why they would want to do this before Wada Ayaka's graduation in the Spring. This does tend to happen with Morning Musume, where shortly before a big graduation to add new members to the group. So honestly this announcement probably should not be that much of a surprise that it happened, just the timing of it as the Spring is still a few months away.
I have always assumed to try to deter backlash from fans who may see them as "replacements" for whoever graduated and left the group by bringing in the new members right before. And I see that in play with this, as well as not only will the new members be coming before Ayaka's graduation but they will actually have some time with her in the group. So at least it will not be nearly as awkward at her graduation when they have to say a few words to her for a public farewell unlike new members that joined a group a few days before a graduation. In fact there just might be a chance they could even be in the single that will be Ayaka's graduation single. That of course all depends on when H!P plans on releasing that.
As for trying to guess who will be joining, I honestly have no clue. I do not follow Hello! Project closely enough to know much about the kenshusei to have anyone in mind. Also there are the girls that passed an earlier audition that H!P held this year that could be selected to join the group as well. Either way I look forward to seeing the video of the members of Angerme welcoming their new group mates with the same excitement and open arms that newer Angerme generations have enjoyed.
I can see why they would want to do this before Wada Ayaka's graduation in the Spring. This does tend to happen with Morning Musume, where shortly before a big graduation to add new members to the group. So honestly this announcement probably should not be that much of a surprise that it happened, just the timing of it as the Spring is still a few months away.
I have always assumed to try to deter backlash from fans who may see them as "replacements" for whoever graduated and left the group by bringing in the new members right before. And I see that in play with this, as well as not only will the new members be coming before Ayaka's graduation but they will actually have some time with her in the group. So at least it will not be nearly as awkward at her graduation when they have to say a few words to her for a public farewell unlike new members that joined a group a few days before a graduation. In fact there just might be a chance they could even be in the single that will be Ayaka's graduation single. That of course all depends on when H!P plans on releasing that.
As for trying to guess who will be joining, I honestly have no clue. I do not follow Hello! Project closely enough to know much about the kenshusei to have anyone in mind. Also there are the girls that passed an earlier audition that H!P held this year that could be selected to join the group as well. Either way I look forward to seeing the video of the members of Angerme welcoming their new group mates with the same excitement and open arms that newer Angerme generations have enjoyed.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
On a SixTONES high
SixTONES is easily my favorite Johnny's Jr group and the one that I have been hoping for debut before they were even given their group name and simply known as Bakaleya6. Watching them grow over the years has given me much joy as a fan and I have been hoping for a debut for them from the start. And while there is still no debut announcement this is still proving to be a great time to be a fan of the group.
It was announced that the group had been selected for Youtube's Rising Stars promotion, where they select an artist from around the world and give them a push via advertisements and promotions of videos created for the campaign. Last week fans learned of this when massive posters of the group began to appear in train stations in Tokyo.
The group had a music video made for one of their original songs, Japanica Style, which was produced by Takizawa Hideaki. It easily takes the title of being the video to reach 1 million views on the Johnny's Junior channel.
There is also a short video that can serve as an introduction to the group that was uploaded shortly after.
Even though debut is still not something that can be considered set for the group yet this looks to be setting them in a good position for one if the momentum for the group continues. I have a lot of thoughts about SixTONES debut so I will save that for another post.
As an international fan this has had an extra layer of excitement, as unlike most times this is not something exclusive to fans in Japan. While there are no posters outside of Tokyo the videos are up for the world to see, and thanks to dedicated fans there are subs in several different languages for the videos so even the language barrier is not getting into the way. So this fan is going to enjoy the hell out of these videos and hope that this will only be the beginning for things to come for the group.
It was announced that the group had been selected for Youtube's Rising Stars promotion, where they select an artist from around the world and give them a push via advertisements and promotions of videos created for the campaign. Last week fans learned of this when massive posters of the group began to appear in train stations in Tokyo.
The group had a music video made for one of their original songs, Japanica Style, which was produced by Takizawa Hideaki. It easily takes the title of being the video to reach 1 million views on the Johnny's Junior channel.
There is also a short video that can serve as an introduction to the group that was uploaded shortly after.
Even though debut is still not something that can be considered set for the group yet this looks to be setting them in a good position for one if the momentum for the group continues. I have a lot of thoughts about SixTONES debut so I will save that for another post.
As an international fan this has had an extra layer of excitement, as unlike most times this is not something exclusive to fans in Japan. While there are no posters outside of Tokyo the videos are up for the world to see, and thanks to dedicated fans there are subs in several different languages for the videos so even the language barrier is not getting into the way. So this fan is going to enjoy the hell out of these videos and hope that this will only be the beginning for things to come for the group.
Friday, November 2, 2018
Fiction of a Fan
This blog post is just to announce that I've decided to link my fanfiction to this blog. As I like the idea of having a hub for all the things connected to me and don't have the time to learn all the coding I would need to get my own website up and running. Plus unlike Google+, Blogger is not dead yet so I will be here most likely to the end. Much like the Geocities webpages I had in my youth.
Unlike my Geocities pages though I am finding ways to keep this blog alive with content. As I am trying to focus on writing again I have begun to work on fanfiction. It was with fanfic that I started to write complete pieces, even if on the short side, and I do enjoy writing something I can instantly share with others once I am done with it.
If you want to check out my fanfiction so far I post it up on Archive of Our Own (AO3) here. I do have a fanfiction.net account (under the name Seca) but have not updated it in years. I am also uploading all my old fanfiction to AO3 so eventually everything found there will be able to be found under my current AO3 account.
All new pieces from now on will be cross-posted here. I tend to write slowly so it will not be often.
Unlike my Geocities pages though I am finding ways to keep this blog alive with content. As I am trying to focus on writing again I have begun to work on fanfiction. It was with fanfic that I started to write complete pieces, even if on the short side, and I do enjoy writing something I can instantly share with others once I am done with it.
If you want to check out my fanfiction so far I post it up on Archive of Our Own (AO3) here. I do have a fanfiction.net account (under the name Seca) but have not updated it in years. I am also uploading all my old fanfiction to AO3 so eventually everything found there will be able to be found under my current AO3 account.
All new pieces from now on will be cross-posted here. I tend to write slowly so it will not be often.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
The Shounen Club 10 June 2011 review
There was once a time I did reviews of Shounen Club on a regular basis. Of course that was when I was watching them regularly but I fell off from doing that a few years back and thus dropped doing these. But with the King & Prince debut announcement earlier this month it got me curious about the program again to see what the state of the Juniors are now. And with that I have rekindled my interest in the program once more, hence this review. Hopefully the wait between this review and my next will not be as long.
Enough of that rambling, onto the show!
The show opens up with only three members of Hey! Say! JUMP, Yamada Ryosuke, Arioka Daiki and Yabu Kota, performing OVER, as promotion for that single is still in full swing.
The theme of the episode is then introduced, which is the kanji 歩 (read ayumu here), which means 'step' or 'stride'. They are definitely using the first meaning of it as they connect it to taking a first step which is then linked to debuting, as the following theme medley is made up of debut songs.
It almost seems bittersweet now to see Yamada performing NYC with B.I. Shadow as a debut song, seeing as BIS would be left behind when NYC is is formed. At least Nakajima Kento and Kikuchi Fuma did not have to wait long before debuting themselves and I am still waiting for Kouchi Yuugo and Matsumura Hokuto to get the same chance.
After that song the HSJ members disappear and it is only Juniors for the rest of the medley, going through all the ungrouped Juniors and ending with A.B.C-Z.
It is then time for the first talk segment where Morimoto Shintaro, Hokuto and Totsuka Shota talk about things that they want to work on. For Shintaro it is acrobatics, Hokuto wants to work on making bentos and I believe Totsuka is about having doubts/questions. Honestly my rusty Japanese completely failed me for his part in this.
Shintaro is sent off at the end to go on stand by as he is a part of the next medley performance, a genki (energetic) medley. Unlike earlier Shintaro is not with the little Juniors but is placed with Hip Hop Jump, which IIRC starts to become a more common occurrence since Shintaro is quickly shooting up in height in this point.
The smaller Juniors get their own performance in the medley and we get a glimpse of Sato Shori and Matsushima Sou, who mostly are behind Inoue Mizuki for it. Mizuki is sporting a very un-Johnny's like haircut as I believe he had a drama role at the time that called for it. It is a bit sad to see so many of these younger Juniors that have since quit the agency yet on the other hand nice to see the ones like Mizuki and Hashimoto Ryo that are still around.
After the medley it is the Junior Youbin segment. Kawai Fumito, Nakaken and Yuugo host and they go over letters that talk about how Tamamori Yuta looks like a meerkat. This of course means Tamamori makes an appearance, and for some reason Kitayama Hiromitsu comes with, to comment about it and he brings up the other animals that fans have likened him to.
Tamamori is not the only one that gets featured in the segment. Tsukada Ryoichi is brought out and a couple of fans point out that he somewhat resembles the woman in the Edouard Manet painting 'Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets'. The reactions are overall rather impressed as they do see the resemblance.
A.B.C-Z then perform their song Bokura ~LOVE & PEACE~. And while this song does not have any of their trademark acrobatic moves in it, the moves are just so sharp and on point that it is just a good of a reminder that this group shines with performing. I do not think it is possible to capture any of that in a screenshot, but I tried.
After that the show moves on to the Junior Nekketsu Battle for a Fuki-1 Granpri. All the teams are duos with Kitayama and Kyomoto Taiga, Totsuka Shota and Sanada Yuma, Fujigaya Taisuke and Yasui Kentaro, then Miyata Toshiya and Hashimoto Ryosuke. The game pits two teams against each other at a time and they have to do a quick lap of human wheelbarrow before the one acting as the wheelbarrow has to use a blow dart to burst a balloon.
They change it up at the end and they do the lap giving the other member of the team a piggy back ride before using the blow darts. These more physical games are a joy to watch and this one is no exception.
After the game segment ends there is a Question? medley. This really makes me miss the group, especially since there really has not been another band group after them. It feels like Johnny's gave up on bands and are fine with just having groups that can double as bands from time to time like Kanjani8, Hey! Say! JUMP and Love-Tune.
As the performance itself calling it a Question? medley is misleading as the band only performs one song on their one before the Junior grouping with Kyomoto Taiga come on stage and Question? falls to the background for them to perform.
The following segment is the Junior ni Q which continues the same theme as the first episode of the month where Juniors are asked to talk about something they have kept secret. Shintaro is up first and brings up that Kishimoto Shintaro and Chino Aoi have completely opposite personalities.
Kyomoto is brought over to talk about how Fujigaya greets him by hitting him in the rear, that of course Fujigaya shows in action when he is called over.
Continuing with selecting future SixTONES members Tanaka Juri is up next to talk about fellow Hip Hop Jump member Morohoshi Shoki and a strange face that he makes.
Then it switches to future Love-Tune member Yasui Kentaro who talks about Juri and his kindness. Of course it is not straight forward as the example given is Juri giving up a seat for someone older than him but also introducing himself by name. That aside this is a good episode for this corner for SixTONES and Love-Tune fans.
This episode gives us the debut of Kis-My-Ft2's debut song Everybody Go. Leading up to their debut they performed different versions of this to test audience reaction. To hear both versions you did need to see them in concert as well as here on SC though. During the talk segment before the performance Miyata gets to introduce the call for the song, which is basically the fan chant done for certain lines in the song. For this song it is the line 'everybody go' to be followed up by the audience with 'kisumai go'.
They then perform the song and it sounds like the version they went with had to be the one from the concerts as this version has a very different start to it than the recorded version as well as a dance break that does not sound familiar to me. Of course I have not listened to Everybody Go much as the group has much stronger songs but considering the current events of the time it was probably best to go with a simple uplifting song like it for their debut.
Kisumai then get to bring the episode to a close with their song Eien no Ticket. The other Juniors join them on stage of course.
Watching this brings up so many memories. Especially of excitement with Kisumai's debut. Since I got into Johnny's back in 2007 Kisumai was one of my favorite Junior groups and even back then I felt they were a group that had a good shot of debut. To see that actually play out has been the high point for me as a Junior and Kisumai fan. And Everybody Go's debut here brings back that feeling of excitement again.
Outside of Kisumai it still really interests me to see the changes with the Juniors over time. I do like that this is the period that there are some Junior groups and not just a bunch of groupings that will happen post-Sexy Zone debut. It just makes it easier to follow them and I am so glad Johnny's went back to making Junior groups again in the past couple of years for that.
Overall I think this is a pretty solid episode. I am glad to be getting back to doing this review so far removed from its airing so my annoyance level with HSJ's hosting of the program has dwindled quite a bit. Though it is frustrating as I don't dislike the group but they just were not good fits for the program and the issues of the producers decided to push them and other debuted acts more and more on the program leaving little screen time to the Juniors was just so frustrating. But looking back after they seem to have figured out a way to balance things with how SC currently is that frustration had abated somewhat. So hopefully that will help me in avoiding making some very bitter write ups for the program as I continue to work on reviewing it.
Enough of that rambling, onto the show!
Watching this brings up so many memories. Especially of excitement with Kisumai's debut. Since I got into Johnny's back in 2007 Kisumai was one of my favorite Junior groups and even back then I felt they were a group that had a good shot of debut. To see that actually play out has been the high point for me as a Junior and Kisumai fan. And Everybody Go's debut here brings back that feeling of excitement again.
Outside of Kisumai it still really interests me to see the changes with the Juniors over time. I do like that this is the period that there are some Junior groups and not just a bunch of groupings that will happen post-Sexy Zone debut. It just makes it easier to follow them and I am so glad Johnny's went back to making Junior groups again in the past couple of years for that.
Overall I think this is a pretty solid episode. I am glad to be getting back to doing this review so far removed from its airing so my annoyance level with HSJ's hosting of the program has dwindled quite a bit. Though it is frustrating as I don't dislike the group but they just were not good fits for the program and the issues of the producers decided to push them and other debuted acts more and more on the program leaving little screen time to the Juniors was just so frustrating. But looking back after they seem to have figured out a way to balance things with how SC currently is that frustration had abated somewhat. So hopefully that will help me in avoiding making some very bitter write ups for the program as I continue to work on reviewing it.
Friday, February 9, 2018
NEWS goes EPCOTICA
I have the feeling that I should have known this album was coming, yet I did not so it was a surprise when the CDJapan notification popped up in my inbox for it. But NEWS will be releasing a new album on March 21st that will be titled EPCOTICA. It will come in two different versions and both are available for pre-order.
The limited edition will be coming in special packaging and will come with a 28 page booklet as well as a DVD with a special video titled "EPCOTIA Safety Guide" as well as making of footage of it. The CD will have a total of 18 tracks, with 13 of the 18 having their titles released over on Johnny's net.
The regular edition will have a 20 page booklet and will have the four solo songs that the limited edition will not have as well as the 18 songs it does.
CDJapan does have the handy order page if you want to get both editions together. There does not seem to be any bonus for doing so this time around.
As a NEWS fan I am excited for an album worth of songs from the group, especially as so many will be new as LPS is the only single track included. In fact LPS was the only single between their last album and this one, which is why this took me by surprise.
Unless I get really lucky I am going to have to settle with just getting the regular edition as I doubt the limited edition will be available by the time I can afford to place my pre-order. Though I would love to get the LE, as the video sounds like it will be rather fun to watch.
The limited edition will be coming in special packaging and will come with a 28 page booklet as well as a DVD with a special video titled "EPCOTIA Safety Guide" as well as making of footage of it. The CD will have a total of 18 tracks, with 13 of the 18 having their titles released over on Johnny's net.
The regular edition will have a 20 page booklet and will have the four solo songs that the limited edition will not have as well as the 18 songs it does.
CDJapan does have the handy order page if you want to get both editions together. There does not seem to be any bonus for doing so this time around.
As a NEWS fan I am excited for an album worth of songs from the group, especially as so many will be new as LPS is the only single track included. In fact LPS was the only single between their last album and this one, which is why this took me by surprise.
Unless I get really lucky I am going to have to settle with just getting the regular edition as I doubt the limited edition will be available by the time I can afford to place my pre-order. Though I would love to get the LE, as the video sounds like it will be rather fun to watch.
Saturday, January 20, 2018
King & Prince major debut with Johnny's Universe
Announced January 17th, 2018 Johnny's will be having a new group, King & Prince (Kinpuri for short), getting a major debut. There is no set date yet for their debut CD but the time frame that was announced is that it should be sometime in Spring. The group will be debuting with a new record label that will be a collaboration between Johnny's and Universal Music Japan, that will be named Johnny's Universe.
News Article Oricon (Japanese only)
News Article Arama Japan
Honestly the part of this debut that has me the most interested is the creation of Johnny's Universe. Universal Music Japan is one of the more international friendly Japanese music companies, with full music videos being posted on Youtube and music on iTunes outside of Japan for example. Things international Johnny's fans would love to have for any and all the groups they follow. With the presence of Johnny's on Netflix recently, with Johnny's West getting a drama on the platform and Marius Yo having a role in the Netflix produced sitcom Fuller House there are signs that Johnny's is starting to think about letting the rest of the world know that they exist instead of staying in Asia. And if they want to go international then a partnership with Universal would be a good idea, as I doubt they would have what they would need to have in place for a venture with their own labels.
Outside of that the only Juniors in this group that I am interested in are Hirano Sho and Nagase Ren, as liked them as members of KinKan and Naniwa Oji. I have to get back into watching Shounen Club again to get a feel for the rest of the members as it has been a long time since I paid any attention to the Juniors outside of SixTONES.
In the end it is going to depend if I like their songs if I will follow them, though if they do release songs on iTunes I might just get those as they would be far easier to afford than a CD import. Plus it might finally help bring Johnny's closer to the modern day if this group does well with digital sales, which I am all for. I could get back to following more groups if I had to pay the usual iTunes prices for songs than importing.
Also for anyone who may want to doubt if this is more than a one shot single debut I would like to point out that a new music label has never been created for one of those. Music labels have been created for new debuted units, like Kinki Kids and KAT-TUN, so it is safe to assume Kinpuri is here to stay.
News Article Oricon (Japanese only)
News Article Arama Japan
Honestly the part of this debut that has me the most interested is the creation of Johnny's Universe. Universal Music Japan is one of the more international friendly Japanese music companies, with full music videos being posted on Youtube and music on iTunes outside of Japan for example. Things international Johnny's fans would love to have for any and all the groups they follow. With the presence of Johnny's on Netflix recently, with Johnny's West getting a drama on the platform and Marius Yo having a role in the Netflix produced sitcom Fuller House there are signs that Johnny's is starting to think about letting the rest of the world know that they exist instead of staying in Asia. And if they want to go international then a partnership with Universal would be a good idea, as I doubt they would have what they would need to have in place for a venture with their own labels.
Outside of that the only Juniors in this group that I am interested in are Hirano Sho and Nagase Ren, as liked them as members of KinKan and Naniwa Oji. I have to get back into watching Shounen Club again to get a feel for the rest of the members as it has been a long time since I paid any attention to the Juniors outside of SixTONES.
In the end it is going to depend if I like their songs if I will follow them, though if they do release songs on iTunes I might just get those as they would be far easier to afford than a CD import. Plus it might finally help bring Johnny's closer to the modern day if this group does well with digital sales, which I am all for. I could get back to following more groups if I had to pay the usual iTunes prices for songs than importing.
Also for anyone who may want to doubt if this is more than a one shot single debut I would like to point out that a new music label has never been created for one of those. Music labels have been created for new debuted units, like Kinki Kids and KAT-TUN, so it is safe to assume Kinpuri is here to stay.
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
NEWS LPS single track hype
I honestly cannot recall the last time I felt so hyped up about a new release as I do with NEWS' upcoming single LPS. And it is not that I did not like their recent releases, just with my depression so much of my excitement about what I love felt muted. Now that I am in a much better place I have the feelings I used to have coming back and they are so here with this release.
It comes out in Japan in about a week and I have the limited editions pre-ordered so I will probably get my copies of those by the end of the month.
Since I watched the Johnny's Countdown concert for 2017-2018 I did see the group's performance of LPS and I really enjoyed it. Even though I know I could probably hunt down a radio rip or something for it I am going to wait until I get my CDJapan order to keep my excitement up for it.
What really has me excited about this single release are the re-recorded songs on the LE type B. NEWS has slowly been releasing new versions of their older songs, basically just updated with the vocals of the remaining four members of the group. And the two songs that are getting this treatment are Cherish and Mafuyu no Nagareboshi. Cherish is one of my all time favorite NEWS songs so I am really looking forward to having the 4-nin version of it, especially since it was originally released when the group still had 8 members. I know I will play this version of the song to death and look forward to doing so. Mafuyu no Nagareboshi is a song that I do not feel strongly about either way but I am always happy to have another older song with updated vocals.
Only thing that brings me down is the fact that I could not afford to get all three versions so I will have to wait to pick up the regular edition and listen to the exclusive B-side to that, madoromi. Hopefully I can afford to pick it up with my next CDJapan order. But at least unlike the LEs I do not have to worry about it selling out if I have to wait to pick it up.
I am so glad I have stuck with NEWS throughout all the years. They have brought me so much joy even if there was some heartbreak as well. But by now it seems safe to say I will be with them until the end.
It comes out in Japan in about a week and I have the limited editions pre-ordered so I will probably get my copies of those by the end of the month.
Since I watched the Johnny's Countdown concert for 2017-2018 I did see the group's performance of LPS and I really enjoyed it. Even though I know I could probably hunt down a radio rip or something for it I am going to wait until I get my CDJapan order to keep my excitement up for it.
What really has me excited about this single release are the re-recorded songs on the LE type B. NEWS has slowly been releasing new versions of their older songs, basically just updated with the vocals of the remaining four members of the group. And the two songs that are getting this treatment are Cherish and Mafuyu no Nagareboshi. Cherish is one of my all time favorite NEWS songs so I am really looking forward to having the 4-nin version of it, especially since it was originally released when the group still had 8 members. I know I will play this version of the song to death and look forward to doing so. Mafuyu no Nagareboshi is a song that I do not feel strongly about either way but I am always happy to have another older song with updated vocals.
Only thing that brings me down is the fact that I could not afford to get all three versions so I will have to wait to pick up the regular edition and listen to the exclusive B-side to that, madoromi. Hopefully I can afford to pick it up with my next CDJapan order. But at least unlike the LEs I do not have to worry about it selling out if I have to wait to pick it up.
I am so glad I have stuck with NEWS throughout all the years. They have brought me so much joy even if there was some heartbreak as well. But by now it seems safe to say I will be with them until the end.
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