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 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.

Good-Bye to the Duu

I confess I have had this sitting for the past couple of days in a window, not really wanting to write this. The rational me knowing that I am being silly and waiting longer makes no sense. But this graduation is one of the hardest for me yet.

Haruka Kudo was one of my favorite members of Morning Musume so this graduation hit harder than the others. She was a member that stood out to me early on when I was learning about the group and remained in my top tier of girls from the group that I liked. Her personality and look really added something to the group and while it took years for her to get a decent push in the group when she had it she shined. 

I also loved her voice, both speaking and singing. She may not have had the strongest vocals in the group but I loved her tone and will miss hearing it with new songs. At least even though she did not get a solo song for her graduation there are other songs in MM's discography I can hear her well in.

There is no way to truly express how much I will miss seeing her with the group. It felt like she was just getting started with being pushed to the front and being a more visible part of the group. But at least I could enjoy that push while it lasted as sadly not all members of the group get that before they leave.

I do wish her success in acting. A part of it is selfish as if she does well with this career path than it will not be difficult to keep tabs on her and continue following her journey. But it is also mixed with the greater desire to simply want her to succeed in whatever she does next, which I hold for all who graduate or leave from idol groups. With how quickly she was moved to Up-Front's website for their non-Hello! Project talents, like days before her graduation concert, and the fact that she has already mentioned there is already work lined up for her I really do not have to worry. She is set to follow her new path and it is one that fans can still follow along with her. 

In the end MM will continue with its ever changing nature of members joining and leaving and I will appreciate that because of this I got to be introduced to this shining star that I hope will capture hearts as easily as an actress as she did an idol.

NEWS set for January releases

After about 10 months since their last release NEWS has a couple of new releases set for January of 2018.

First up is a single to be released January 17th titled LPS. There will be three versions, two limited and one regular. One LE will be the usual CD with DVD release. The other LE will have bonus tracks only available on that version, which will be new versions of their songs Cherish and Mafuyu no Nagareboshi. Then the regular edition will have a bonus song not included in the LEs.

LPS [Bundled Set of All 3 Editions]

NEWS

Then there will be a home video release of the group's most recent concert tour Neverland with the footage used coming from their Tokyo Dome concert and Osaka-jo Arena. It will come out on DVD and BD versions with each having a regular and limited edition. The regular edition has the talk segments and the limited edition has more concert footage.

NEWS Live Tour 2017 Neverland [Limited Edition]

NEWS

As a NEWS fan I am so happy with this news. I have already pre-ordered the limited editions of the single and hope to pick up the regular edition the next time I can afford a CDJapan order. Ten months feels far too long to wait between releases, though I guess for fans in Japan they at least had the concert tour to help tide them over. And now they have the home video release to revisit it for 2018, as it is going to be a while before we get a new album from the group.

Though honestly I was expecting to have Kato Shigeaki announcing that he finished writing another novel during this break time for the group. Of course I would not be surprised if that still happens.

My Hello!Project fan status 11/24/17

I know I have not blogged much about anything Hello! Project related in a while and it is not because I no longer care. It is just that I feel like I have fallen behind and become disconnected with the rest of the fandom and I am currently trying to figure out just where I fit in it as well as catching up.

I know I do still enjoy H!P. Morning Musume, Angerme, Country Girls and Kobushi Factory are all groups that I am definitely going to keep following. And if I have the time I will probably check on the other groups though I think I am pretty set right now with which ones I am going to follow. I went through this with Johnny's and in the end it has worked out for the best when it comes to balancing everything I want to do.

While the PV/MV reaction videos were fun to make to keep myself spoiler-free for them it meant trying to avoid fandom or watching the latest Hello!Ste episode. In doing this it created a gap, where I started to feel like I was no longer enjoying H!P with the rest of the fandom. I felt isolated and it dragged me down, especially when I hit bumps in making those videos and fell behind those releases. It eventually snowballed to the point that I was feeling detached from H!P and was not enjoying it like I had been. Plus getting the videos flagged and some rendered unwatchable since the audio would be muted by youtube was stressing me out and taking much of the fun away from them.

Also I was feeling pressure that I needed to follow all the groups and like all the groups. Something that I tried but I felt that stretch of trying to take on too much and growing a disconnection with the groups that I favored. So the groups mentioned before are going to be my focus. I have nothing against the other groups, they just do not grab my attention like the others do, so I will not be actively seeking them out but will not ignore them if they are in the same programs/concerts as the groups I am going to actively follow.

As I mentioned earlier I have yet to reach the point where I feel as if I have lost my love for H!P, but as I brought up I need to change things to feel connected to it again. For me a big part of becoming a H!P fan was the fandom so the focus for me is to find a way to be a part of it, which means whatever I do it needs to keep me up to date with what is going on and not having to play catch up.

One of the things I have been doing to get back into H!P again is watching all the Hello!Ste episodes I missed. I am currently on #170, so this is going to take some time even with skipping the hair arrangement segments. But it is time that I enjoy. I like the look that these episodes give fans into what the girls are doing as well as getting a sense of personalities with the changing of the hosts with each episode. And catching up with these helps me go over all the changes that have occurred in the past year or so at a speed that is easier to take than trying to simply read about it.

For future plans expect seeing blog posts about H!P start to return on a more regular basis. Without a doubt I want to write a farewell post for Kudo Haruka as she is one of my favorite girls in Morning Musume so this graduation is hitting harder than some of the previous few. I also want to do something with my youtube channel but I have not figured out what exactly, but it is leaning on doing something like the idol news round-ups that I did before. I plan to have made my decision on that by the end of the year and will make an announcement about it then. Until that time I will continue to play catch up and go back to just enjoying H!P as any other fan and let that love and passion for the groups return.

One Piece Volume 1, Chapter 3 manga review

Title: Enter Zolo - Pirate Hunter

Author/Artist: Eiichiro Oda


What Happens:

Luffy and Koby make it Naval Base Town thanks to Koby's ability to navigate. When in town they soon notice that the mention of both Zolo and the Marines, especially Captain Morgan, scare the people there.

Zolo is found in the Navy yard tied up. A young girl shows up to feed him rice balls but Helmeppo, the son of Captain Morgan, shows up and stops her. He has her literally thrown out of the yard then mocks Zolo. The promise that Zolo will be set free after a month tied up in the ship yard is brought up before Helmeppo leaves.

Luffy then visits Zolo to tell him that he is looking for crew members. Zolo flat refuses to become a pirate. He does ask for Luffy to give him the rice balls to eat.

Later in town the girl tells Luffy and Koby the story of why Zolo was imprisoned. He was defending her after dogs that Helmeppo kept went to attack her. Helmeppo though went and had Zolo imprisoned for it.

Soon after the story Helmeppo shows up boasting about lying to Zolo and will have him executed in a few days. Luffy punches him after hearing that then proclaims that he definitely wants Zolo to join his crew.


Why it matters:

The biggest take aways from this chapter in the long run are the characters introduced, with Zolo of course being the main one as despite his initial protests he is the first to officially join Luffy's crew.

Captain Morgan is the main villain of this arc but becomes a more like a footnote later. Helmeppo in contrast becomes a more prominent character in a way I do not think anyone could have guessed from his debut in this chapter.

This story also introduces the fact that the Marines are not always the good guys by default. This helps in the larger story to know that there is no one side that can be considered the good guys by default, outside of Luffy and his crew of course.


Review:

Even though the length of the chapter is not much more than the previous one there is a feeling that there is much more happening in this one. Though unlike the previous chapter this is only the first part of a multi-chapter story so it can take time to put small moments in it to flesh out characters which is a part of why this chapter feels like there is more to it. That and this plot is a bit more complex than Koby's which helps with that as well.

Being allowed to be more complex with its stories and characters already catapults this story well beyond the previous one. Though it is still rather simple overall so Zoro comes off as a good guy, though with some rough edges, and the villain we meet this chapter, Helmeppo, is undeniably a terrible person. But being just an introduction chapter everything is set up well and we even have the plot moving forward with Luffy landing that blow on Helmeppo at the end.

It's starting to look like the time of the year Johnny's wants to make fans broke.

The end of the year in Japan means several things, one of them is that new releases start piling up as the spending around that time increases. Which means for me Johnny's is asking me to hand over no small amount of change as Kis-My-Ft2 and the group's sub-unit Busaiku have new releases coming out.

First off it is a new single from Kis-My-Ft2 being released November 29th, titled Akai Kajitsu. It comes in the usual three versions, the two LEs coming with a bonus DVD each and the RE having bonus tracks not on the other two editions.

Akai Kajitsu [Regular Edition]

Kis-My-Ft2

Next Busaiku is finally getting their album released on December 13th. The album is titled Busaiku no, wa! and will also come in three editions, two LEs and one RE. The LEs come with DVDs, one a music video collection with the other being a documentary of the sub-unit from the release of their last single Michishirube.

Busaiku no, Wa! [Regular Edition]

Busaiku

Even though my interest in Johnny's in general has been waning for some time Kisumai is group that I still find myself unable to pass up on. I love their dance tracks and as long as they keep releasing them than I am staying a fan of the group. I am relieved to have a new single coming out for them as it will be almost half a year from the release of their previous single, so I was starting to worry if they were being forgotten.


Busaiku is just a lot of fun as it is basically idols making fun of idols and as long as that concept remains for the sub-unit then I can continue to enjoy them. So I am most curious to how this album is going to turn out. Especially since it was announced quite some time ago, with Nakai Masahiro being the producer of it. But that was before the mess that happened that ended SMAP. So I am quite curious if Nakai is still producing this or if this is just being released because they had it, or at least part of it ,and decided not to waste it and put out what they had.

Either way I plan on picking up both and hopefully both will be more hits for me to enjoy and not feel like I have to wait for the next release to get those.