I knew this was coming since I saw that Snow Prince Gasshoudan was singing the theme song to the Snow Prince movie. The group is getting a cd debut, though it is a temporary unit like the original Hey! Say! 7 was.
The single is set to release December 2nd, which is about two weeks before the movie opens in theaters in Japan and will have two editions. The LE will be the usual LE with a DVD of the PV and making of segment. It does has a different B-side tracks though, one which is simply titled Snow Prince Gasshoudan, the karaoke track for the title track and the muscial accompaniment of Snow Prince Gasshoudan. The RE also has the title track but the other tracks are different. One is a Chistmas song medley with a karaoke track version of it and the other is Bitter Moon, the song the group has been singing on Shounen Club together.
I think the most interesting thing to note is the line up for the group, as it is different than what has been given in the past few months. Of course Morimoto Shintarou is a part of the group, though oddly Tanaka Juri isn't even though he's been performing with the group since it was put together. I guess Johnny's must of decided that he's more a part of Hip Hop Jump than this unit. But then again Yoshino Shota isn't included either and he doesn't have a group. So maybe they were just deemed too old. The ten other Juniors that will be in the group with MoriShin are, Kishimoto Shintarou, Nakamura Reia, Kurita Kei, Otsuka Yuya, Horinouchi Tatsuya, Okada Sousei, Haba Yuki, Hashimoto Ryo, Inoue Mizuki and Chino Aoi. Apparently Chino Aoi is only eight years old and with the oldest being 13 the average group age is 10.5 years old, blasting all previous young groups Johnny's has had release a cd record. Hence why Juri and Yoshino could have been 'too old' for the group as they probably would have brough that age average up.
Johnny's net listing, w/cd covers. (Japanese only)
Daily Sports article. (Japanese only)
I really hope this is the end of 'the youngest group to debut' phase from Johnny's. I don't see how they can put together a younger group, I mean they have an eight year old, which I didn't think they even could have.
Though I guess it does make more sense that the age restriction is the 'old enough to commute on the trains' and not a definite age that I read from an article about Johnny's. And I know I've seen some really young kids along on the trains while here in Japan. But really, I think I'm ready for some older boys to make a debut now. Especially since that debut would have a greater chance of being a full debut and not a temporary one.
Wow, Nojima Shinji!
ReplyDeleteBut Shintarou... XD I never liked the boy much and I still don't.
This 'youngest' thing is getting out of hand. We're going to get screaming toddlers next.
- J
I'm not a big fan of MoriShin either, but I do think Otsuka Yuya is adorable. And since Tanaka Juri isn't actually a part of the group he'll probably be the only one I really care about for this unit.
ReplyDeleteI know, I've gotten so sick of 'the youngest' group thing now. Though hopefully this will be the end of it for a good while. It's time the older boys got some attention, IMHO.
Lol, if JE groups get even younger than this I'm going to get very uncomfortable. Actually...this already makes me uncomfortable. Jeez, Je makes me feel old. Poor Juri and Yoshino, being kept out cause they're too old and would've made the avg age like....11ish...can't have that. I wonder how well this will sell. It's mainly riding on Shintaro right? I don't even know the other kids..cept Otsuka cuz he reminds me of some lil anime character.
ReplyDeleteSo many jrs are getting to release things this year. I wouldn't mind if the boys in their mid teens got to release something too. I'd def buy a Hasshi and MSM single...but thats not something that would happen anytime soon.
I'm going to think of all these single releases from the younger jrs. as JE's way of giving them a popularity boost so they can debut Kisumai w/o leaving too big of a gap. Between ABC-Z, MSM, BIshadow, and shintaro & co., there should be plenty of backup so that kisumai can debut sometime next year. ^_^
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 1
ReplyDeleteYea without Juri or even Yoshino there I think the only other member of the group anyone would recognize is Otsuka. But in the end it's mainly a single for MoriShin with everyone else just there for the ride.
I don't the older boys are going to get such a break anytime soon. I think the closest they'll get is if Playzone continues to be an annual thing and they get roles in that so they can be on the soundtrack and DVD release of it. That or some might get to debut in a few years.
@ Anonymous 2
That's an interesting way of looking at it, and I can't help but think you may be on to something. B.I.Shadow has been given a big boost since their cd with getting more screen time for Shounen Club. Plus we're only about a couple years off from the next volleyball group debut if Johnny's keeps debuting a group every four years, so they're going to need to get some of the boys they might already be keeping an eye for such a debut more well known so they'll already have a good fanbase pre-debut.
Your voices has been heard. There are no more young group. Shokura is now stuck on J-West. Shokura has never been boring.
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