Meant to do this write up yesterday but instead decided to take a break from blogging instead as I have been so busy with it recently. But I do feel that this is big enough news to still write about it even if it is a few days late.
What I am talking about is of course Sexy Zone and A.B.C-Z finally getting their own sections on Johnny's net. This is great as it nixes any lingering doubts about their debuts being career debuts and not just one-shots. Of course I think the fact that they are not on a Johnny's music label and SZ at least has two singles out would do well to do that, but still having them in the Juniors section of J-net did cause some to question it. Which also makes sense with NYC still being the odd group out with still being listed only in the Juniors section.
SZ seems to be well on course with their careers. They still may not pull in a lot of sales but they still do well, especially when you take into count the differences between the sale of their debut single and their sophomore single (the debut single had more editions, handshake events that used popular Juniors, etc...).
This drama season they had a greater presence in them with being a part of the supporting cast for three separate ones. And they even got the theme song tie-in for one, Kodomo Keisatsu, with High!! High!! People. They have the volleyball Olympics this year as well to get them on TV and not all the dramas are done with announcing their complete casts yet so there could still be a chance at least a member can get a supporting role on one of them. If not, there is always next drama season.
They also have their summer concerts and I would be shocked it they do not tour in the winter as well. But if they are indeed to take over SUMMARY then they are guaranteed to have summers locked down for concerts from them.
Looking at previous FIVB groups for when they released their third single they are all either July or August after an April or May release for their second singles. As they released Lady Diamond in April then they should release their next single in July. In fact it would make the best sense as August is beginning to show signs that it will be another AKS heavy release month with the first two weeks already claimed by two of their groups. So if July is relatively competition light than it would be a good time for SZ to get their next single out as they should have the promotion from the Olympics coverage to help back them up as that begins in July.
All they have to do is avoid underage drinking and smoking scandals and whatever happened with Hey! Say! JUMP back in 2009, and they have a pretty bright future ahead of them.
With the recent news of Hashimoto Ryosuke making his drama debut in Sprout, I think this is a good sign that management is indeed working on trying to make A.B.C-Z a larger success. Even though they have done well being supported by their Junior fans they need to be able to gain greater popularity to help sustain themselves over the years as fans will come and go and they need more fans coming than going. Or at least I am sure Johnny's always tries to aim for bringing more fans in for their groups than losing them. Especially with younger groups that can have a young fan base with a good expendable income to use on buying things to support their favorite idols. TV exposure in Japan is pretty much the way to go to get noticed by the general public, or at least many more people than any other medium. So having Hasshi get this role is pretty big for all of A.B.C-Z as he can potentially bring in fans for the group if viewers find him interesting enough to follow outside of the drama.
Hopefully this will lead to their first CD release as I am sure there are plenty of fans that would want just that now.
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