15 November 2011

Sexy Zone debut single thoughts

As promised this entry will just go over some of the thoughts and speculations I have for Sexy Zone's debut single and some various other thoughts about the group.

First off I think I've come to be okay with the name. I still think it's silly but this a boy band we're talking about and groups like these do tend to have all kinds of silly names, you just have to look at the other Johnny's groups to see that. But I figure the 'sexy' is something that the boys will eventually get to, though I think Nakajima Kento and Kikuchi Fuma are already there and Sato Shori is getting there. Shori has the right look when it comes to the face but he just looks too scrawny otherwise so he still needs a year or two, IMHO. The other two it'll be a few years still but I'm sure they'll eventually get there, but for now I just want to see them as the adorable kids that they are.

I know there have been several people worrying about this single not being success and then there are those who just aren't fans and would rather have someone who is releasing this week get more sales than them, but I've always been confidant that they'll debut with a #1 single just like many of their senpai groups. It's become one of Johnny's signature trademarks when it comes to debuts, that it's with a #1. Their only real competition is with one of AKB48's sub-units, Not Yet. And even tough this is one of the stronger selling sub-units they still don't sell nearly as much as any of the main 48 groups with most of their first week sales numbers being around 150K. Personally I've been predicting a 200k~250K sales for the first week of SZ's single with the five versions and now the two announced events connected to it. So I don't think they're in too much trouble. And if they are then Johnny's can always but together another promotional event for the end of the week to boost numbers.

Speaking of the promotional events today is the first one. If you are familiar with the sales date for Japanese media releases, such as CDs and DVDs, then it's common knowledge that technically they go on sale in stores the day before the release date. So having an event today means they are probably trying to make sure they are #1 in sales for the first day, as that's typically the biggest day for sales in Japan. I think this is because with the 48 groups and sub-groups they typically have massive first day sales then drop dramatically, even more-so than the usual sales drops for artists, after that. So I think this event is to make sure SZ gets a higher first day sales number than Not Yet.

So hopefully Johnny's strategy works as I would like to see these boys succeed as I can't help but see a lot of promise with this group, especially when the members get older.

That said, I'm really not a fan of their debut song, Sexy Zone, even though I've warmed up to it a bit. But I doubt it'll ever be a song I'll listen to much down the line unlike Hey! Say! JUMP's Ultra Music Power or NEWS' NEWS Nippon or Kibou ~Yell~. One thing I've finally narrowed down to why the song doesn't do much for me was that it sounds a bit Eurobeat to me and it's a type of music I'm not a big fan of. Sure some of V6's earlier music is fun to listen to and much more Eurobeat than this song but I still don't like them nearly as much as other J-pop songs that aren't Eurobeat influenced.

It's rather interesting that they are going to the Eurobeat for this single, since the heyday for this sound in J-pop was back when V6 debuted, the mid-90s, so the song sounds a bit like their debut song Music For The People to me. But I did always think HSJ and NEWS can similar sounding debut songs (UMP and NEWS Nippon), which makes sense as they had the same person composing the songs so maybe this just means the 2015 volleyball unit will have something that sounds like A.Ra.Shi. XD

But even though I don't care too much for the title track I do like the two B-sides that have had previews floating around. I'm still quite happy that I was right about With You being a B-side and Knock! Knock!! Knock!!! is such a fun song. I can't wait to get my copies of the single in, they shipped on Sunday so it'll either be late this week or early next week, so I can listen to the other B-side. I have high hopes it'll be as good as the other two and I hope I won't be disappointed.

I do find it interesting that a debut concert hasn't been announced for the group. I guess Johnny's knows they can't push for another Tokyo Dome debut concert so soon with them as they probably don't have the fan base to attempt to fill it and they already had that record broken earlier this year with Kis-My-Ft2. So I think instead the debut concerts won't be set to really break records. I mean they are a bit tied with what they can do because of Yo Marius' age and that he's not even out of grade school yet. So I expect for concerts they'll be placed around the school holidays much like HSJ's usually are. Though since they would be using the same venues I can see HSJ cutting back on the amount of concerts that they do a year and moving towards the usual pattern for tours that their senpai groups have where they only tour if they have a new album coming out. Which wouldn't be so bad as that should help insure they get a more regular release schedule for their singles that would make me happy as a HSJ fan.

I'm glad to have this debut to look forward to honestly. After the blow from the HSJ turn of events yesterday it's nice to have something to distract myself with. I can't wait to see what the rest of this week brings, as I can't see it being worse than yesterday.

7 comments:

Chris said...

Personally, I´m quite positive about their CD sales. They have 5 versions and the ticket for the handshake event in December.
Talking about handshake, apparently yesterday at their debut event, people who bought their single at the venue got a handshake from the boys. But I´m not 100% sure about that, just read some japanese tweets.

I´m also a bit surprised that there´s no debut concert for them. Now they have their debut, in December the handshake and then??
We don´t know anything what SZ will be doing after today.
I´ve been thinking that Shori might get a drama in the nearer future because it´s very obvoius how much Johnnys push him into the front and a drama is always good to promote someone, still I think it could be too early for him. Watching Koisuru, his acting still seemed a bit stiff and unsure, but seeing how much he improves everytime, I´m sure we´ll get to see him in a drama very soon. Kento too.

Congrats to their debut!

Thennary Nak said...

I'm not surprised if it was also a handshake event, I know they were giving away posters that you could only get at the event as one of the incentives.

The problem with Shori getting a drama role is that there are not a lot of roles for boys his age as most dramas focus on high school students or adults. But he could get a supporting role, which would be a good start for him as then he could get some experience before Johnny's decides to push for him to get a lead role.

I think it'll be Nakaken that will be getting the drama roles at first. Acting is one of his strengths and he's been pretty busy with it pre-debut so I'm sure now that he's debuted Johnny's will want to start pushing him more for drama roles, especially since he's the right age for high school dramas.

Ani2 said...

Omedetou Sexy Zone!!

I´m really excited to receive my singles! I agree with you, "Sexy Zone" is a nice song but not something I would get addicted to or so. However, I really like the B-sides. With you is a great song but right now, I´m in "Knock x3" mode XD
This song is surprisingly good!
I´m also excited to see the making of.
I wish I could go to their handshake event in December.. japanese fans are so lucky ..
But the fact that they announced handshake event shows that JE definitely wants to try everything to make them becoming No.1.
I mean, JE almost never hold handshake events, aren´t they?
The last time I heard about it was when Yamapi held one in last minute to sell more of his Hadakanbo.

Karina said...

All the best for Sexy Zone for their debut!!!
Oricon will release the sale figure soon, looking forward to see how it turned out!
Sometimes I feel a bit sad for Nakaken and Fuma. When they "debuted" in 2009 with Yuma, they were standing like in the shadow of Yuma, always in the back and Yuma was always top front.
Now I already see some similarities here too: Shori is main, he gets the most screentime (like close-up shots), gets to talk the most etc.
But if I could choose, I also would place shori in the middle , because he has LOTS of potential and as for me, I enjoy watching him the most.
Ah but there´s also Marius which I find just tooo cute ^^

Misa said...

Yayy, today is the BIG day XDDDD
Omedetouuuu!!!

I love every single boy, I like their music and got used to their name. But I always find it weird how they sing with roses and even talk with them O_O
And even in the PV they use roses..
maybe those roses should give them a more "sexy" atmosphere??!!
But me, I get more embarrassed to see that. Oh well..

Ahhhh, I hope they´ll have a good sale number !!! *fingers crosses*

Anonymous said...

Omg, SZ got beaten by Not Yet T_T
Couldn´t be sadder at this moment.
Especially the boys must feel super disappointed..........

Thennary Nak said...

@ Ani2

They rarely do handshake events. Like you mentioned the last one was for Yamapi's last single and I believe the one before that was with the Junior Hey! Say! 7back in 2007.


@ Karina

Well in a group the size of SZ all the members should get their moment of getting a good amount of attention. And I'm sure Nakaken will get a good amount of attention if he starts getting more drama roles soon.


@ Misa

I don't care for the roses myself but I guess it's just part of the image Johnny's wants to go for with them. Hopefully by the next single they will have gotten ridden of them.


@ Anonymous

It's only the first day and the gap between the two is only 13K which is possible for them to close if they manage to sell well throughout the week and Not Yet drops, which is possible.