The Past Era

Over at tackey-tsubasa.net they have been so kind to upload concerts and other Junior events from the late 1990's and early 2000's. These are either from VHS tapes or recordings (which was most likely on a VHS tape) so I'm really amazed that there was somebody willing to do that as I know the equipment is costly and the process time consuming. The files they have are in DAT format but should have no problem being played in VLC.

These are amazing to me as I'm only coming up on my first anniversary of becoming a Johnny's fan at the end of this month. So I've completely missed out on this era when Takizawa Hideaki was the head Junior and Yamapi and Ryo were chibis themselves. Looking back I can't help but be amazed at how much has changed and how much has stayed the same since then.

One thing that I noticed that really stood out to me was that there really weren't Junior groups back then, just prominent Juniors. From what I know about the Juniors it seemed like back then the groups came about from special projects that senior Johnny's made, like Koichi Domoto creating J-Support which later became K.K.K.ity and then later created KAT-TUN. Out of all the current Junior groups the only one that shares such a beginning is Butoukan which Takki put together. The rest were put together, by what I can only assume was management, about the mid 2000's and while there has been shuffling have mostly stayed the same or been broken apart with debuts of only a portion of their group. This makes me wonder that if the current nameless Junior groups are perhaps a bit of a return back to the Takki Juniors era.

I've only downloaded Sugao 2, which are Junior concerts with various clips of the Juniors mixed in, but I plan on getting the rest of the Sugao and the TV recordings once I have the time and my internet connection stabilizes again.

For now I've taken a performance of Yamapi and Ikuto Toma singing Seigi no Mikata wa Ate ni Naranai. I chose this performance because I just love the WTH face Yamapi makes when Takki glomps him from behind as well as the fact they sing it all on roller blades which just amuses me so. And the plaid suits serve as a good reminder that as horrible as some of the current Junior outfits are, they could be worse. There's also clips from the radio show Yamapi and Ikuto Toma did back then together with another Junior (Hasegawa Jun?), spliced in with the performance.

Seigi no Mikata wa Ate ni Naranai - Yamapi & Ikuto Toma mp3

I'll probably share a couple more clips with mp3 rips from Sugao 2, but I highly encourage you to go to tackey-tsubasa.net to get the full thing and make sure to thank them for doing this as they are true rarities with the VHS tapes being out of print and the TV recordings never being officially released. I'll also be making a few clips off the other recordings I know I'll be downloading but they won't be many as I would rather people go to the source of these.

News Lawson CM

I realize that I've been talking a lot about the Juniors and Hey! Say! JUMP and kinda neglecting talking much about the older debuted groups.

News recently got a deal to star in commercials for the Japanese store chain, Lawson, which is kinda like a 7-11. The commercials are all set with News stuck on a deserted island except for a lone Lawson store. The latest commercial has them promoting a special Miffy, a mascot character, bag and is just full of cute.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Seeing News being cute like this really makes me wish they had a show for their group. They're one of the few debuted groups that don't have one, which I find a bit disappointing. As I think a show with the members of News would be a blast to watch.

HSJ 3rd single update #3 & album speculation

Well Hey! Say! JUMP's J-Storm website has updated with cd information and covers for the new single. Out of the two covers I like the regular edition best, the green just looks nicer than the pink. I do like how they managed to get a panda on the cover as if they want make sure it connects to Kung-fu Panda but isn't seen as a Kung-fu Panda single, but a Hey! Say! JUMP single. But I honestly can't tell who is who at that size besides Takaki, his poses just stands out so much to me as well as the fact he's the only one without black hair. And I have a good guess which one is Chinen but can't as clearly make out the rest of the group though I think I could make a few guesses and be right. Hopefully we'll be getting a bigger preview of the covers soon.

Apparently it's been changed to a double A-side (which means that two songs are listed in the title) Your Seed/冒険ライダー(Bouken Rider) instead of the single A-side Your Seed with 冒険ライダー(Bouken Rider) as the B-side.

I'm rather disappointed that it has no B-side now. Mainly because A-sides always end up as album tracks, which means for me the RE is kinda worthless to get as I don't care for karaoke tracks. At least with the LE the DVD will have things that an album DVD LE wouldn't. Unfortunately at cdjapan the LE is 'out of print' for anyone who would want to pre-order it. But on the release date it will become available again, which is the usual order of things.

But one good thing about this being a double A-side single is that it ups the chances that the next cd release will be an album quite a bit. Johnny's usually releases three to four singles before an album, which also means there should be a new News album coming out sometime this year as they've released three singles already.

But going back to HSJ, with their first two singles plus this third one they have four A-sides that will be on the album track list, for some reason I feel Ultra Music Power will end up on it twice with a new version added. Or maybe that's more of a fear. XD;; I'm sure we'll get songs that will be exclusively for BEST and 7. As V6 albums tend to have songs from their subgroups on them. I'm personally hoping for cd versions of Su Ri Ru and Wonderland Train.

Of course there will need to be some kind of LE edition. I think the only thing that will prevent me from picking up the LE is if it's like News' last album LE and the only exclusive thing about it is the booklet. I'm a sucker for bonus tracks and for Johnny's DVDs, though I can't see what they would have on a DVD for an album as all the PVs have been released with their respective singles. I think I would love to have a bonus cd with the LE with solo songs, or duets and trios since HSJ is such a big group and they could fill up an entire with only solos for everyone and the A-sides.

I don't think we'll get the album until after Summary. Wouldn't be surprised if they announce the album's release at the event though or shortly after. And I think the release date will most likely be sometime in the mid to late fall.

Getting to know ... Kansai Juniors

Today pastdazed over at LJ put up a pimp post for the Kansai Juniors that I thought was worth pimping itself. With Johnny's actually using the Kansai Juniors for more than concerts in Osaka and having them star in dramas, Nakayama Yuma in Battery and B.A.D. in Gokusen 3, not to mention the July Shounen Clubs being the ones to let the Kansai Juniors get in the spotlight a bit, it could not come at a better time. So go read it:

Kansai Junior Pimp Post

For me my main interest in the Kansai Juniors is with Hamanaka Bunichi as he's a member of Butoukan. He won me over with the letter reading segment in the last Shounen Club and the more I learn about him the more I love him. He is so cute, both as an adult and as a kid. ♥

But yes, if you haven't already click the link and check out the lesser known Juniors of Johnny's.

Hyakushiki-Ou 17JUN2008 The Outdoors pt. 2

Ok, on the second episode of Hyakushiki-Ou about the outdoors. As hoped this is a more entertaining episode and I was happy to see more of the boys doing the outdoors segments than last time. In fact everyone but Shoon got to go out and do something. I'm thinking Shoon might have still been busy with his play Full House when they were taping this and that is why he was only in the classroom segments.


Of course the show starts off with trivia, this time about hiking so it can lead into the first on location segment with the boys. It's kinda interesting to see that Fujigaya is answering most of the time, though he's a bit off and on about being correct. The outdoor segments are cut into three different locations this time. With Fujigaya, Sanada and Takada exploring a cave in the mountains in the first segment. Fujigaya asks who will lead and Takada says he's afraid but Sanada steps up to be the point man of the group. The cave they finally reach after a hike and look around Mount Fuji takes them by surprise as it looks mostly like a giant hole in the ground. But they make it down, following their guide all the way. They stop at one point and realize that's it's gotten very cold and their guide shows them that it's 2 degrees Celsius (about 36 degrees Fahrenheit) where they are, while outside was 20C (about 68F). They go on a little farther to see some stalagmites and stalactites and then they leave the cave and head back down the mountain.


During the talk after the segment Inohara does a little showing off with some murky water and a bottle that pours it out clear and clean. The class' reaction is between awe and confusion and then we learn that the bottle Inohara used is a special one with a filter in it.


They then move on to outdoor sports. The trivia is actually a little interesting this time as they had a weird bit in it with someone in a mascot costume, called Gachapin, climbing a mountain. In the third segment Fujigaya and Keito go to an indoor climbing area. Keito easily outdoes his senpai and comes off as being much more adept at climbing than Fujigaya even though he had a bit of a hard time with it as well. Though maybe Fujigaya would have done better if Keito wasn't laughing at him the whole time, but it wasn't as if he was much better himself with that. They get to try climbing a wall slanted at a 120 degree angle and Keito manages to take Fujigaya down with him after he falls. Fujigaya ends up doing better but doesn't make it to the goal either.


The next episode is about signs, which could easily go either way for being boring or somewhat fun. But it has Fujigaya and Keito walking around and I do like them both so I will be watching. And this end clip features Takada again, this time I can't figure out what exactly is going on though.

Hyakushiki-Ou 10JUN2008 The Outdoors pt. 1

I was in the middle of writing this up last night when I decided to lie down for a rest and ended up actually falling asleep. -_-;; I've decided that since I'm covering Shounen Club I might as well cover Hyakushiki-Ou as well here as it is a program that I try to watch regularly. And since the latest two are a two parter it gives me a good excuse for missing yesterday by doing two posts today. This program features V6's Inohara Yoshihiko as an 'teacher' of a class of Juniors, which currently are Yamashita Shoon, Kis-My-Ft2's Fujigaya Taisuke, Hey! Say! JUMP's Okamoto Keito, Sanada Yuma and Takada Sho. Each episode has a topic that is discussed with some trivia given about it and the students, usually just two of the group, go off on location to do something related to the topic. And then sometimes there are little games to quiz the students knowledge on the subject. So all in all it's a fun little educational program with pretty JE boys.

I will admit that I have only a limited understanding of Japanese so I may be off about what they are talking about, especially since this program is very talk heavy. But I usually understand enough to get the gist of the conversation.

This episode is part of a two part series of episodes about the outdoors. This one focuses on camping and bar-b-que. Like usual the episode starts off with trivia for the 'students' to guess the answers to if they think they know it.

Fujigaya and Takada are the two that get to on location to learn about preparing a camping site and bar-b-que. They meet up with some people that help them out and show them how to set things up. They seem pretty impressed with the Multi-purpose tool and the knives the guy has with him, proving that they are very much guys. Though I'm not surprised to see that they aren't given a chance to try anything out with the knives. Though they are allowed to help with other parts of the food preparation.

When they get back to the classroom it's a discussion about bar-b-ques and Keito gets to talk about how they differ in England, there's lots of meat, which seems to impress everyone. It then returns to trivia about bar-b-ques. And then there's another break into discussion afterwards. Then it's a short segment talking about camping and bar-b-que in Japan, which definitely doesn't looks different than the kind I'm used to from living in the U.S. food-wise. Shoon and Fujigaya are the most talkative at the end. And we get a bit of a preview of the next episode which will be about outdoor sports, and will hopefully be a little more interesting.

At least the scene at the end watching Takada's expression while eating food is rather cute.

Hashimoto Trio - Genkai Meter

I think it's becoming rather clear that out of all the new Junior proto-groups the Hashimoto trio, made up currently of Hashimoto Ryosuke(middle), Sanada Yuma(right) and Nozawa Yuki(left), is my favorite. I'm still in denial that Hashimoto is young as he is. I can believe Sanada and Nozawa and both 15 turning 16 later this year but I still can't believe Hashimoto will only be turning 15 next month. I mean just look at picture and tell me that he looks 14 to you.

I think out of all the Juniors they probably benefited the most with Hey! Say! JUMP's debut as Johnny's seems to love them as much as I do. Even when they're back dancing they're given outfits that are different than the rest of the Juniors so they stand out even in the background. When Takaki and B.A.D. did the Gokusen song melody on Music Station they were the only other Juniors that had singing parts besides B.A.D., who were in Gokusen with Takaki. And even if they don't have a group name they already have their own group song, Genkai Meter, which they've performed on Shounen Club and at HSJ's Spring concerts. And I'm sure they'll have no small part in the upcoming Summary concert series in August.

It's not surprising to see Hashimoto get a lot of the spotlight as he seemed to be one of the more popular members of J.J. Express. I'm sure he was disappointed that he did not debut with his fellow J.J. Express members, Takaki, Inoo, Daiki and Yuto, Morimoto and Yamada were a part of the group before their last change in line up. But watching some of the 2007 Shounen Club I could spot both Nozawa and Sanada as back dancers, so the kind of attention they are getting now is a huge step up for them from a year ago. A chance that they probably wouldn't have with the members of JUMP still as Juniors.

Out of the group, Nozawa in particular has grabbed my attention and I think I'm really going to enjoy watching him grow. I kinda feel bad as I know the reason he was put in the trio is because Kamei Taku was suspended over dating. (I don't think I'll ever completely be able to accept how heavy handed agencies are about idols dating. It just seems so wrong to me even though I understand why they do it.) But I also can't help but be happy for Nozawa, as I really do think he's talented and I love his voice. Plus he's cute, and I have such a weakness for cute.

I haven't paid Sanada much attention so far. Since he is a regular on Hyakushiki-Ou, which I watch mostly for Shoon and Keito, I think I really should, as I do see much more of him than the other two. Though he seems to be the most outgoing from the Junior Leagues he's been in as he always seems better eager to participate in them, even though he doesn't do so well.

I don't have to look far to find things about Hashimoto as I can find them just looking for J.J. Express related things, and he seems to already have a dedicated fanbase. Also as the front man for the group he naturally gets the most attention. Though I still don't have an opinion on him yet. He does seem to be a really hard worker and dedicated which I do admire, but I think a lot of the Juniors that have made it as far as he has are like that.

I know they all probably have a long way to go before they reach a debut ready point. I'm thinking though by the next time JE should be debuting the next group attached to the Volleyball World Cup in 2011 (as they've debuting a group like this every four years since V6's debut) they will all be 18 about the time the group formation is announced with Sanada and Nozawa turning 19 in November and December of that year, which puts them in the right age group to be placed in such a group. And I can only hope JE does put all of them in that group and not just one or two of them. Or maybe they can debut another year as a unit together, but I think that will depend on popular they become in the upcoming years.

But here is the video streaming of their group song, Genkai Meter, as performed on the 11May2008 Shounen Club and a mp3 audio rip of the performance.



Genkai Meter - Hashimoto, Nozawa & Sanada mp3