PLAYZONE 2010 announced and Summary wonderings

Well Johnny's net had a lot to update with in the latest update, not only does Hey! Say! JUMP now have an album section in their discography section (though no complete track listing is up yet) they have the dates for this year's PLAYZONE.

This year's production will star Imai Tsubasa with Tomoyuki Yara, A.B.C.-Z, Morimoto Shintarou, They Budou, M.A.D., Johnny's Jrs with special appearances by Nakayama Yuma. The Tokyo run will be from July 9th to August 1st and then it will have an Osaka run from August 14th to August 22nd.

Of course seeing the cast list does raise some questions as Summary runs from July 19th to August 29th so it overlaps the PLAYZONE dates. I'm sure Yara, They Budou, M.A.D. and most likely A.B.C.-Z will be PLAYZONE only and forgo any Summary appearance but I can't imagine Summary without any MoriShin and Yuma. Though as Yuma is only down for special appearances they could have him go back and forth while PLAYZONE is in Tokyo and if MoriShin's part is small enough they can do the same for him. Of course once it goes to Osaka they lose that option so it will be interesting to see if those two go with PLAYZONE there or get replaced with Kansai Juniors so they can do Summary. I guess things won't clear up on this matter until Summary starts up on July 19th.

But I guess it can be guessed that it will be mainly the younger Juniors with Hey! Say! JUMP at Summary. The older groups (minus Question? though who knows where they will end up with all the summer concerts) will be busy with other productions as not only do you have those doing PLAYZONE but Kis-My-Ft2 will be with KAT-TUN for their world tour so they won't be at Summary either. So I think for Junior groups for Summary it will be B.I. Shadow, Mis Snow Man, Hip Hop Jump and if Johnny's wants it Snow Prince Gasshoudan though they could just as easily create a new group or two with Summary this year for those younger Juniors. Either way it looks like it's a good summer for the Juniors as they will be busy for so much of it.

Fan Kansha Live in Theater Crea concerts

There are three times a year that tend to be the best times to see as many Johnny's concerts as possible. The winter, especially around New Year, the summer, either July or August, as that aligns with the summer break for schools, and around Golden Week, which is the first week of May. As these are the longer holidays that people tend to have off Johnny's likes to schedule many of their concerts, especially for the groups that target the younger audiences, around these dates. So I guess it's no surprise that there will be Junior concerts staring in May.

Johnny's net has updated with information for what it's calling Fan Kansha Live in Theatre Crea ('kansha' is the Japanese word for 'thanks' or 'gratitude'). The Golden Week concerts will be for Uchi Hiroki with Question? and are titled Ore no Uchi ni kite Crea! ~Come on a my House!~ and run from May 1st to May 9th.

Then it looks like they're taking a page out the Kansai Junior's book by having a series of concerts following that highlight a different group of Juniors, these titled Minna Crea ni kite Crea (I believe there's a pun with how Crea is written in Japanese, kurie, there that I don't get). A.B.C.-Z get to produce all three parts and are the focus of the first part which runs from May 14-16. The next part will showcase They Budou and Mis Snow Man will be from May 21st-23rd and then it's the Fresh Juniors which will be from May 28th-30th.

Kis-My-Ft2 of course have their own concerts so it's not surprising that they're not there, especially as they also have the KAT-TUN tour to keep busy with as well. I'd be surprised if B.I.Shadow aren't included in this somehow, most likely included in with the Fresh Juniors as that title can last for a couple of years. But they don't have a Hey! Say! JUMP concert on the dates for that last part so I really would assume they will be there. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Morimoto Shintarou played a big role in the Fresh Junior concerts, though I'm sure he's passed the time one can still be called a Fresh Junior. But I guess if they still have Snow Prince Gasshoudan they can give him an excuse to be there as well.

But in any case, they Junior fans of these groups do have something to look forward to. I know I'm happy to see Mis Snow Man get the chance to get featured more than usual, though it wouldn't take much to do that honestly. And with A.B.C.-Z producing it gives me the feeling that at least the A.B.C. part of the group is heading towards being the next MA, where they won't debut but will still be a part of the agency and get the chance to work behind the scenes more. Which I don't think is a bad thing, as Yara Tomoyuki from MA does that and seems to rather happy with what he's doing.