The Shounen Club 3 August 2008 review

We are back to Tokyo again for this month's episodes but not back to all the usual Juniors.

In the introduction we have a couple added faces in Kato Shigeaki taking Nakamaru Yuichi's place as host with Koyama Keiichiro and Imai Tsubasa joining in on the song as the guest of the episode. There is also the dance group M.A.D. present. What is missing though is all of Kis-My-Ft2 and A.B.C. as well as some of the other regular Juniors, like the five that include Takada Sho and Masuda Ryo. I cannot remember exactly what they were busy with at the time but they should be back next month if my memory serves me right.

In the starting MC they talk about why Shige is there with Shige reading a letter from a fan that brings up the NEWS o abake that Shige said that he could what Koyama could. IIRC, KAT-TUN was touring at the time so Nakamaru was busy with that and I will have to assume that is where EbiKisu and the rest are for this as well.

The theme medley is mixed with a NEWS medley. It starts off mainly as a medley for the theme of the episode, Vacation, and has Tsubasa with the mixed Juniors perform the first song of the medley. So we get to see a little bit of little Jesse performing.

As the medley goes on it becomes more of a NEWS medley with Koyama and Shige leading the songs. TOP3 are the most prominent Juniors for the medley being in a few songs and getting a good amount of time in front of the camera. Of course when they need even numbers they bring in Yamashita Shoon, who remains group and grouping-less.

Heisei Post is the next segment with Shige as the host this time. And Tsubasa is not the only guest for the episode as he calls out some Hey! Say! JUMP members, Yamada Ryosuke, Nakajima Yuto, Chinen Yuri and Arioka Daiki. This Shounen Club episode was recorded between when the Sensei wa Erai drama SP and the Scrap Teacher TV drama series aired, that they all starred in, which is most likely why we are getting these four of the group as guests on the program.

They read a couple of fan letters, one asking Arioka to give a wake up message. The other asks Yamada about doing an impersonation and he tries to do Yamashita Tomohisa then Yuto shows off his Kamenashi Kazuya impersonation.

The four then perform Your Seed and while I love the song and usually love the performances for it this one was just a bit weird. But it is mainly because the choreography is really meant for a large group so trying to have the four members do it did not quite work. They even had to have TOP3 come out and help them do some of the moves so they had enough numbers for them.

After the performance it is an MC segment with two members of Question?, and sadly neither of them are with Johnny's anymore. But they both talk about vacations they have gone on in the past.

The group then performs Parallel World, which I will never tire of listening to. I think if anything I would like to see them do something a bit different for their performances though. I know they are rather restricted with having to play instruments but there had to be something they could have done to make them feel a bit fresh from time to time.

The game segment is next and it is the game where the guys have to act out prompts and a judge, this time Tsubasa, decides which team did it better. It starts off with cat impersonations, cat ears included, between Nozawa Yuki and Sanada Yuma. The next is for performing the dance moves for Ho! Summer which is fun to watch as two Question? members are made to do it, and as band members they do not do all the dancing that other Juniors do. Then there is play acting about pretending to be a friend of Tsubasa's that is showing up late to meet him.

The final round is the true highlight of the segment and makes be sad that neither Shoon or Igo Akun are with Johnny's anymore. They have to pretend to be gyarus talking on a cell phone, which includes having them wear a wig.

Tsubasa then has his MC segment and talks about his trip to Spain, which will become one of many. He shows off some pictures, including a couple from the dance lessons he took when he was there.

He then goes and performs his solo song DO ME CRAZY. As expected from one of his performances the dancing is strong as well as the vocals. That is one thing about duos as that there is no one to hide behind so you need to be a solid performer.

With this Junior ni Q segment there is only one Junior brought over that is with the agency still, and that is Jesse. The topic is a vacation they want to take and Jesse answered with Las Vegas, as that is where his father was born.

Up next is an MC segment with Yamada. They talk about SUMMARY with him and he mentions that it was his first time flying (as in with the cables from the roof). They then switch topics to about the summer and Yamada talks about liking to go to the beach.

He then performs one of his solos, Asia no Yoru. I am already used to the CD version of this song so it sounds a bit off with him singing it in his younger voice. And I did not remember the performance being as dance heavy as it is.

We get something a bit different with the ending song as Koyama and Shige lead it. They sing Nami, which is song that was usually performed by members of the Four Tops, so it is a treat to have it performed again. And the rest of the Juniors, and finally the members of HSJ present, come in to perform it with them as well.


This is definitely an abnormal episode of SC with the most prominent Juniors busy doing something else. But this is not the first time it has happened nor the first time the issue was solved by pulling in a higher guest ratio than usual. It tends to work out in the end as the remaining Juniors usually get some spotlight they normally would not if the other Juniors were there.

The horrors for Fujigaya and Senga

Catching up with some tidbits of news.

The first is that Senga Kento will be making his big screen debut in a horror film called Bilocation. The movie stars Mizukawa Asami and will also have Johnny's Junior Takada Sho in it.

It will be released in theaters in Japan in January, 2014.

Sanspo article (Japanese)


Then for a more recent announcement, Fujigaya Taisuke will have the lead role in a drama SP, Hontou ni Atta Kowai Hanashi Natsu no Tokubetsuhen 2013. This is an annual SP that has five episodes in total but each episode tells a completely different story not connected to the rest. They will begin airing on August 17.

Oricon Style article (Japanese)


I am quite happy for Senga to get another acting role. I know that even though he will not get the same amount of pushing as KiFt he and Miyata Toshiya seem to have been set to get at least some pushing which makes the split look more like 3/2/2 than the 3/4. And that is a bit refreshing though it would be nice to see it be a bit more evened out, but at least it seems like a step in the right direction.

No surprise that Fujigaya is getting another lead role. It looks like he and Tamamori Yuta and set to be the members of the group that will be the drama leads. This is not a bad thing as it means that it is always a high chance that whatever drama they star in Kis-My-Ft2 will do the theme song for and we will get another single from them. It will be interesting to see if Kitayama Hiromitsu will be able to break out of the supporting role and become drama lead material as well.


And at this point I cannot help but wonder if Takada Sho will follow the path of Ikuta Toma and Kazama Shunsuke and become a Johnny's actor. He seems to be doing much more with acting than performing these days and it is not a bad path to take as those two have done well for themselves.

Johnny's Under 100: Yabu Kota

Yabu Kota

Group: Hey! Say! JUMP

Birthdate: January 31, 1990

Watching through the years of Shounen Club episodes I can say I have seen Yabu grow up. From the cute little thing he was back when Ya-Ya-Yah was just formed to the young man he is today.

I feel he is wasted being in Hey! Say! JUMP, as if there any members that should have no issue with having work on a regular basis he should be among them because of the popularity he had with Yax3. I guess he still does better than most of the group with that but I would like to see him doing more.

Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou movie review

Like Piece this is something I have been meaning to review some time ago but kept putting it off. But now that I want to get through my backlog it is time to finally write this up.

So the basic plot is that the students of Bakaleya must go to the main Cattleya school while their school is worked on to be put up to standard for earthquake safety. The guys have to make sure they stay out of trouble or face being expelled. Which is made complicated with Jimbo Makoto (Kochi Yugo) and Satonaka Yuki (Jesse) still at odds with Sakuragi Tatsuya (Morimoto Shintaro) and his group and the head of a rival school, Majima Kaito (Iwamoto Hikaru), out to prove himself as the strongest of all the schools by taking Tatsuya down.

The girls have to deal with the fact that the current class president for the 1st branch of Cattleya, Kunesono Yuka (Kato Rena), is unhappy with their return and is intent on proving herself to be superior. Shingyoji Fumie (Shimazaki Haruka) meanwhile has to decide if she will go study abroad or not.

The movie pretty much picks up where the TV series left off. This works out as there is a lot being crammed into it so having to deal with major character changes would have made it too bulky. Not that it is completely free of that with the glut of new characters thrown in. This also means some roles end up rather small, like for Noguchi Satoshi (Tanaka Juri), Terakawa Maya (Kyomoto Taiga) and Tokumune Sayuri (Mitsumune Kaoru), compared to the TV series.

As much as I love Tatsunami Shohei (Takaki Yuya) and I am glad to see Koba Junichi (Miyata Toshiya) actually do something, their love-triangle subplot went absolutely nowhere. In the end it really just added some comic relief, which might have been necessary as the TV comic relief duo, Makoto and Yuki had their roles switched. But the subplot still did not avoid feeling like fluff.

Makoto and Yuki benefited from the movie in the fact that they finally got a bit of focus which they lacked in the TV series. And it helped that their plot was not wrapped up at the start but closer to the end. Though it was also one of those things in the movie that would have had more impact if more time was spent developing it.

I was honestly expecting Majima Kenji (Tamamori Yuta) to play a larger role, yet I did not mind what I got with him. Though it was rather cheesy near the end even by my standards with his connection with Sakuragi Ren (Uchi Hiroki). And he does broody well, which was 90% of the role right there.

But it was good for Kaito to have an older brother as it gave us some parallels between him and Tatsuya. And that was rather useful as there was not a lot time to spend on the new characters the movie introduced. But on the same token it is hard to feel much of anything for Kaito because he does not stand well as a character in his own right.

And I was quite happy to find out what happened with Tatsuya's brother, Ren. While it was not something I was expecting it fits with the character type of delinquents with hearts of gold that the main male characters of this drama fall into.

To be honest I was mostly bored with the girls' plot. They basically retreaded what was already done with the first group of girls in the TV series, or at least the first couple of episodes worth as they did not spend much time on these characters outside of Fumie and Yuka. Though Kyoka Saya (Oba Mina) at least got to do something with being the one with the actual rivalry with Yuka.

Fumie's plot line about deciding to go study abroad though was good though. Especially since it reflects on how she has grown as a character with her decision tying into her choice being one that she could only choose now after her experiences with the boys from Bakada.

I think they found a good way to end things for the series by keeping things open. They are only second year students so one would assume that they would continue on as they have been until graduation. And by having Fumie leave so the love triangle will remain unsolved actually works rather well. But mainly because romantic angst and this series does not feel like a good mix and again there was more than enough going on in the movie any more would have probably just weakened it more.


I am not sure if the series warranted a movie but I am glad to have it though I think it would have done well as a SP instead. I am quite glad to have an answer about Tatsuya's brother's death and I do not mind having the romance plot be left completely open ended.

It is a bit of a mess with all the plot lines that are going on in it but it keeps it from dragging on the other hand. I also would not recommend watching this unless you have watched the TV series first. I think a viewer new to the series would easily become lost.

The Shounen Club 13 July 2008 review

And now for the second Osaka episode of Shounen Club for 2008.

Like with the previous episode it opens up with the main Kansai Juniors performing an Arashi song, this time it is Kitto Daijobu. We do get something new as Koyama Keiichiro and Nakamaru Yuichi show up and introduce the main groups then the theme of the episode, Smile.

And while they did not get announced with the other Kanjuu groups the medley does have the Muay Thai Mukai Brothers, which has little Mukai Koji and his older brother. Last episode they only back danced so it is nice to see them actually perform something for this episode.

Again like last episode Tegomass are brought out early to do their MC and performance for the episode. As they were talking about smiling Masuda Takahisa gets some focus as he is known for smiling a lot. Koyama manages to bring up Kato Shigeaki when the conversation turned to stories about concerts. Then Nakamaru is asked about KAT-TUN and he brings up Taguchi Junnosuke.

The following performance is a Tegomass/NEWS medley, with Tegomass starting by singing Ai Ai Gasa. Then Koyama joins them to perform weeeek. The weeeek performance is fun to watch, but honestly weeeek always is. And I love how with the Osaka NHK Hall when they go to stand on the small platforms instead of just being in front of the stage as in Tokyo they are in between the audience.

With the Heisei Post segment Hey! Say! 7 WEST is brought out to help with the letter answering but Nakamaru remains the host of the corner. The first letter asks about pitching so they have Nakayama Yuma show off the pitching skills from his drama, Battery. Kamiyama Tomohiro is asked to be the catcher for him but I cannot say that it is because of any skill he has with the position. but this is easily the highlight of the segment.

This is followed by a Butokan special stage. The performance starts out with an accent dance, which is basically a dance segment to show off the skill as well as the individual members of a group. They then perform Sweet Butterfly.

This game segment focuses more on the Kanjuu groups as well as the older Kanjuu so there are more familiar faces, and much more of them are still with Johnny's compared to the game segment in the previous episode. Nakamaru is the judge for this game segment which is where they are given a theme to give examples of. The first prompt being summer school, followed by summer beach and summer in Osaka. Subtitles would help with this one but the guys are rather lively which is still fun to watch.

It is then an MC with a few various Juniors, though Backes Kento is really the only one still with Johnny's. the topic is about what made them smile recently and he put down at a concert.

The next performance is Nakamaru with his solo song, SMACK. I am a bit indifferent to the song, as it is not bad but nothing that makes it stand out enough for me to want to listen to it too much. I do appreciate that he has BOYS as his back dancers for the number and that they get some moments to shine with that.

Following this is the Kansai Junior ni Q segment. The topic this time is the person you admire, so we get to hear a lot about what sempai are admired. And we get a Junior ni Q where  only one of the Juniors brought up to talk about their answer are still with Johnny's. That is Hamanaka Bunichi who was put down as an answer for one of the younger Kanjuu so he gets called over and is then asks about his answer, which was Yara Tomoyuki.

There is then a Kansai Junior Rock Medley. It has the usual theme medley run down with groups first getting songs to cover with the final number having them all, plus a few more Juniors added, to finish off the medley.

The final number of the program is Next 100 Years, which is a cover of the J-Friends version of the Jon Bon Jovi song. During the performance Tegomass, then Koyama and Nakamaru join in to finish the song.


After Kanjani8 debuted there seemed to be a huge void left when it came to the Kanjuu. But by now I would say that the Kanjuu are well on their way to having a bigger presence again, and most importantly not just one group of them so if there is a Kanjuu debut there would still be some around to carry on without being dependent on that group.

I am sad that this is the most we see of the Kanjuu during this SC era. And again I am so very happy that with the latest season we get to see more of them. I always feel like I am missing something with the Kanjuu with these episodes as they were only once a year and so much can happen in that time. Though at least with this season the Kansai Junior ni Q segment exists so there are glimpses of the Kanjuu throughout the year with that.

Johnny's net become multilingual

Starting on the 1st of August Johnny's net, the official website for Johnny's & Associates, has become multilingual. It has added an English, Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese) and Korean versions of the website. I have checked out the English version, as that is my native language.

Not everything is translated, titles, for songs, concerts and such are simply put in romanji instead of being translated. Of course videos are still in Japanese but there are subtitles for the newer ones. But they are translating the Japanese subtitles on the original videos, not what is actually said, and some are missing this. Like A.B.C-Z choreography video still has the Japanese text for the subtitles and then with NEWS' video about their album as the only subtitles are just listing the release date in the Japanese video that is all there is in English for the English site.

Also not everything is updated completely at the same time. Like with the new release page if you click on something to get more information instead of having a new window with that information pop up like in the Japanese version of the website you are instead redirected to the discography page for the artist. So if you were trying to find out what the songs are on Kis-My-Ft2's upcoming single, Kimi tono Kiseki, you will need to go to the Japanese version of the website to find it as it has yet to be added to the discography page in the English version. And the videos look to be on delay, as the update for a new Sexy Zone and A.B.C-Z videos is listed as an update but if you check the video page they are no where to be seen.

And there are some announcements that the Japanese site has that the other languages don't, but they seem to really only to pertain to those who are living in Japan so international fans are probably not missing anything by missing them.

Despite that though I love that I have this resource in mostly English. While I know enough Japanese to be able to get around the site it is just easier to have everything in my native language. And the English subtitles for the videos will definitely give me more reason to check them out when they come out. Not to mention the fact that they went the extra mile to make the site be as much like the Japanese version instead of a simplified version of it gets props from me.

I am also glad that it looks like Johnny's is getting serious about being more international. This is definitely a good step towards that though. If I have learned anything from being an international fan in various fandoms that the first step to attracting a larger group of fans is getting things out in other languages.

Now if only they can open an official youtube channel with at least the short versions of the PVs and I would think they have the first foothold towards going worldwide.

If you squint Sexy Zone has five members

Well the covers for Sexy Zone's upcoming concert DVD/BD release are out and they are just about as disappointing as the ones for the group's past single Real Sexy/BAD BOYS.

The only plus is that it is only the five members on the covers so Matsushima So and Yo Marius are not getting blended in with the Juniors. But they are barely there on the regular edition and it is not much better with the limited edition.

I get that Nakajima Kento, Kikuchi Fuma and Sato Shori are the more popular members of the group but I do not get why So and Marius have to be shoved into little corners for the group's covers, if even that. Even with the split with Kis-My-Ft2 the other four are not shoved into the smallest spaces possible for the group's covers for the most part so there is no doubt that they are meant to be with the group, it's just with their PVs that the split and live performances really becomes an issue. And I don't want to see the same happen with SZ on top of this issue with covers.

So is growing up quick now and looks to have plenty of talent that is just getting wasted by putting him in the back. And Marius has been getting better with being more confident on stage and definitely attracts attention. Not to mention is actually one of the busier members when it comes to having work. In fact he was the first member of the group that starred in a drama. So I do not get why they are trying to be hidden.

I can only hope that like with Kisumai the split will get better over time and both So and Marius will get some breaks. But I feel like it will be a long wait if this is just the beginning of this.