16 October 2011

My Johnny's purchasing heirarchy

With the trouble Sexy Zone fans are having with trying to pick out which versions of their debut single to buy or trying to figure out how to afford them all, I realized that I have to figure out where this new group falls in my "to buy" list when it comes to Johnny's. It's pretty clear they aren't at the top but they still are starting pretty high thanks to having one of my favorite Juniors, Nakajima Kento, in it and the most recent Junior that has caught my attention Sato Shori. So to help myself sort things out, as there aren't any Johnny's groups I dislike but only so many I can follow with purchases, I'm making this entry to help make the decision clearer for myself.

Top Tier (aka Just take my money now!)

My two favorite groups, NEWS & Hey! Say! JUMP, are the only two in this tier. They are the ones I will buy releases of immediately if I can afford to, and if I can't save up money to buy later. I might skip some versions of a release though, like if the RE has the same tracks as the LE (I personally don't care at all for karaoke track so I don't count those). But in the end if I don't have at least one version of a release then it probably just means I'm saving up for it.

Upper Middle Tier (aka I love you, but I do need to eat sometime.)

This is where my two other group loves, TOKIO & Kis-My-Ft2, are as well as my favorite sub-units Tegomass & NYC. These are the ones where I don't mind missing out on releases at times, especially the more costly concert DVDs and the like. But I am at least likely to by one version of their CD singles and albums and if I really like the extras and can afford to will by more than one version. This is the tier I can see SZ fitting into, but I think it's going to depend on how much I like their next couple of singles.

Lower Middle Tier (aka I either honestly like you for your music or I only have love for some of the group.)

This is the tier Kanjani8 and KAT-TUN are in and Kinki Kids is on the low end of this. This tier is for the groups that I will typically wait for the albums to come out for them, unless a single comes out and I find myself in love with the title track. For K8 I do like them for their music but for KAT-TUN I only really like Ueda Tatsuya & Taguchi Junnosuke and while the others I enjoy them butjust not enough to part with my money for them. So for them I really only buy the releases that have their solos on them. I put Kinki Kids on the low end because I find them hit or miss with their albums so I skip some but the ones I do like I pretty much love to death.

Bottom Tier (aka If I really like the single I might get it, maybe.)

This is the tier that everything else falls under. As I mentioned before I don't dislike any Johnny's but there are a few I'm apathetic towards. Even then though if they ever release a single that I find myself liking I'll at least think about buying it. Some groups at the top of this tier I'll buy the single collections of and best ofs, such as SMAP & Arashi.


Of course there are the one shots and the like but those of course have to be decided on a case by case basis but this is the mainly the way I figure out where my money goes when it comes to Johnny's.

6 comments:

Jackie said...

Interesting!
So NEWS and HSJ are your No1 in purchasing heirarchy, right?
In my case, I also have HSJ on my toplist and order all editions most of the time. I never can´t resist if it comes to JUMP!
As for the other groups, it depends I would say. If I like some songs or want to support a group like Kisumai for ex. then I´ll buy maybe one edition or so.
Even though I´m not being able to buy stuff right now, I´m thinking about ordering a Sexy Zone CD a bit later, because I become to like this group and it´s their debut single after all. Somehow I really want to support those boys!
I´m same as you, SMAP and Arashi might be super popular in Japan but they´re really down in my heirarchy.
Same goes for K8, Tegomass,V6.

Karina said...

I especially like Kinki Kids and Takki&Tsubasa, so I always buy their CDs/DVD´s. But not only them!
When Kis-my-ft2 had their CD debut, I got so happy and excited so I HAD to buy.Same goes for Sexy Zone but I´m still wondering which edition to choose...
So in general, I also choose how I feel about a group or a song.
For example, I bought OVER of JUMP but I didn´t buy Magic Power because Ididn´t like the A-side.

Chris said...

JUMP/NYC, Kisumai are a must for me! It can also happen hat I buy KAT-TUN stuff since I like most of their songs.
All groups who are "older" than NEWS like Arashi, Smap, Tokio etc
I´m not spending money on them.

I get to like SZ more and more so I could imagine them becoming high on my list like Kisumai, JUMP.
Speaking of NYC, I´m not sure if Johnnys plan to continue with this unit. I feel like they´re not that active anymore and I wonder if they´ll ever come together again.

Amai Yume said...

Wow, our top tiers are the same!!
Although I lump Tegomass with NEWS for the top tier and I would place Hey! Say! JUMP at the TOP of the top tier since I by their calendars and what not...and I guess Sexy Zone is on the top tier too, mostly because of Fuma-chan XD

I've bought two Arashi singles and one V6 single but I'm not really collecting or anything..

THinking about it, NYC gets top treatment too...their music could be better but I want to support the boys XD [luckily they don't release as often]

Anonymous said...

Seems like HSJ is the most popular among the readers of your blog.
Same here!! It´s my fav JE band XD
And Sexy Zone, Í´m going put them on my Top too . I just fell in love with Nakanen XDD
He will become the next big star of JE !!!!!

Thennary Nak said...

@ Jackie

Yep, those two are at the top for me.

I'm sometimes stuck with having to wait to buy something because of how finances are for me at times.

Johnny's makes it so hard to be a fan sometimes.


@ Karina

I think all fans who are fans of more than one Johnny's group or just Johnny's in general has to figure out what works for them when it comes to deciding what to buy. Especially since there is so much released for them all.


@ Chris

I wouldn't be surprised if NYC was eventually disbanded. HSJ has being doing very well this year and I don't think Johnny's wants to take away their momentum by having NYC suddenly do something. That and with Ryo having to quit NEWS I think Johnny's has to figure out what their plans for NYC are in the long run because I'm sure if given the choice Yamada and Chinen would easily pick HSJ over NYC.


@ Amai Yume

While I do like Tegomass I just prefer NEWS as a whole, perhaps because Shige is my favorite member.

I was tempted to but NYC up on the top tier because I really like Nakayama Yuma and of course HSJ, but I know if given the choice I would choose HSJ without a second thought which isn't something I can do with HSJ and NEWS.


@ Anonymous

Maybe HSJ fans are just really good at attracting each other? ^__^

I feel Nakaken is really going to end up as something special. I can't wait to see more of him.