I've decided to hop over to one of the younger groups this time for speculating about debuts because honestly the ones with the greatest chances for debuting in the next year or so are the ones that are still in their teens now. I do plan on going back and looking at some of the older Junior groups eventually but for now I want to focus a bit more on the groups that have members that are most likely for debut.
There seem to be a few staples about the Juniors that Johnny's like to hold on to. One of these are having one of younger Juniors be the face of all the young Juniors, like Yabu Kota and Nakajima Yuto once were and Morimoto Shintarou currently is. Another is to have a group of four members which gets a good deal of attention. Perhaps it's a bit of a carry over from the first Johnny's group, named simply Johnny's, who had four members or even the Four Leaves, the Johnny's group that put the agency on the map in the Japanese entertainment industry. But very rarely is there a time where there isn't a popular four member Junior group in recent years with groups such as 4Tops, Ya-Ya-Yah and currently B.I. Shadow. In a way this is a good thing as members of each of those past groups have debuted, but not all of them so it's a bit of a double edged sword.
Looking at B.I. Shadow I definitely see parallels to Ya-Ya-Yah in how they get treated with how much screen time they get on Shounen Club and what concerts they are a part of. Both groups even have a CD release, even though BIS had to share with NYC, as Juniors. There is also how the performances are broken down, main focus on two members with the other two having noticeably smaller parts and screen time, though thankfully so far Yuugo and Hokuto have been able to be more than back dancers for Nakaken and Kikuchi. But even so I honestly feel that BIS will share the fate of 4Tops and Yax3 and won't be debuting as a group.
Going from which members tend to get the spotlight or opportunities to go on shows and be a part of dramas I would say that Nakaken is the shoe in for a debut. He's been in the most dramas and gets a lot of the spotlight and attention in the group. And personally I can't blame Johnny's for the treatment as he has been a flowing with charisma since the moment he got on stage.
Because he gets partnered so much with Nakaken I would say that Kikuchi also has a good shot for debut. I admit he took a while to grow on me but know that he's doing the games for Shounen Club and just getting more chances to show his personality I can't help but find myself liking him.
I also think there is a good chance for Yuugo to debut as well. He still may be the least polished looking during performances but he's been a joy to watch in the Junior Coliseum and I'm sure being on School Kakumei helps with getting people familiar with him.
And as much as I am a fan of his personally I can see Hokuto being the one most likely to be passed up for debut for now. I'm not going to say that I think he'll never debut, especially if the B.I.Shadow break up happens in the next couple of years, but he does not get as much attention or the chances for people to know him better as the other three members as things stand right now.
Of course most of this is based on believing that BIS will be broken up for the next volleyball debut, as if they aren't that will change things as a lot can happen over a few years. But seeing how the Juniors are now I think there's a good chance that it will happen. Especially if Johnny's wants to avoid having fans react so passionately about Yax3's break up. So if they don't have BIS around for as long as Yax3 then they most likely won't have as many die hard fans of the group if fans aren't given as much time to grow attached.
But looking at the history of groups like BIS I am certain at least one member will debut and there is always the chance that Johnny's will go for another large group (as they seem to be all the rage with girl groups like AKB48 and their copycats) and perhaps they will beat the odds and end up having all four debut into a large group like the original Hey! Say! 7 was merged into Hey! Say! JUMP. Whatever the outcome I plan on supporting all the members no matter what happens.
It's kind of weird that you could be speculating about a group debuting when they already debuted a year ago. Heh. Anyway, I really like the idea of a 4 person group. It's hard to cram 10 people into one performance and leave room for individual personalities, which is probably why we see so many 3-5 person factions of JUMP, rarely all at once. But if they wanted to add more faces to a debuting group, how about Taiga, Juri, or Anderson? They have proven to have lasting appeal and aren't part of a really strong unit already. (Sorry, HipHop Jump.) Meanwhile, what are they going to do with Yuma?
ReplyDeleteI also see Nakaken and Fuma being more likely to debut than the other two. If next year's volleyball group cotained Nakaken, Fuma, Hasshi, Nozawa, and Sanada..I would be a very happy fangirl. Well..as long as they didn't add alot more ppl to it, esp any 12 yr olds.
ReplyDeleteAlso as MarkL02 said, I wonder what they will do with Yuma. I guess he could be the Yamapi of the volleyball group. I'd actually think it'd be interesting if he stayed with NYC for a few years and then when he was older (20 or so) had a solo debut.