SMAP news round-up

Well SMAP has had a few recent bits of news come out as I was busy finishing up finals.

The first is that they will all be in a drama together for the first time in about six years. And what's unique about this one is that none of them knew they were being filmed for a drama. Instead they believed they were filming for a variety program. The drama special will air on TV Asahi on July 1st.

Tokyo Graph article. (English)

Then Kimura Takuya's upcoming film, Space Battleship Yamato, will be celebrating it's 35th anniversary of the original series debut. As part of the promotion there will be a special team up with Hello Kitty, who is also 35 years old this year, who will adorn the costumes of the characters for a special show, Hello Kitty to Daniel no Eiga Daisuki!! ~Space Battleship Yamato yori~, at Tokyo's Sanrio Puroland theme park from the film for a limited time.

Anime News Network article. (English)

Then finally Kimura Takuya will be voice acting in an upcoming anime film, REDLINE, by animation studio MADHOUSE that will be released in theaters in Japan in October. He will voice the main character of the film and this will be the second time he has been a voice actor in an animated feature, the first being Howl's Moving Castle.

Tokyo Graph article. (English)

New Kimutaku drama & Hey! Say! 7 volleyball support

I'm going to leave the whole NYC thing for a bit as I take in what information has been brought forth about the issue, as I will have quite a bit to say about the matter so I feel it should get its own entry for that. So instead here are a couple other tidbits of recent news connected to the Johnny's world.

First off it has been announced that Kimura Takuya is set to star in a new drama for the spring season. It will air on Fuji TV and it is said to focus on romance. Other than that there is no information about the drama but as the spring season draws closer there's bound to be more announcements for the drama.

Tokyograph article. (English)

Also Hey! Say! 7 will be supporting the National High School Volleyball Tournament this year with the song Ganba Let's Go!. So HS7 will have something to keep them busy for this month as the tournament kicks off March 20th.

Tokyograph article. (English)

I really wish there was something for Hey! Say! BEST to do as well, but I'm crossing my fingers that maybe a member or two will at least get a supporting role in one of the upcoming dramas for the spring season.