Two new pieces of news for the Kansai Juniors, first off they will be having New Year's concerts in Osaka as well as the Christmas ones. The concerts are scheduled for January 2nd and 3rd at Osaka-Jo Hall. No mention of which Kanjuu will be participating but I'm sure it'll be a general Kanjuu concert so it should be the usual groups.
Next up, and probably the more interesting bit of news, is that for the second round of the FIVB tournament the current special supporters, Sato Shori, Nakajima Kento and Kikuchi Fuma will be joined by some Kanjuu. The ones listed to be there as special supporters are Kiriyama Akito, Nakama Junta, Shigeoka Daiki & Kamiyama Tomohiro. They will join the members of Sexy Zone on November 25th.
I'm personally really happy about both bits of news. I've been noticing that recently Kanjuu have been more and more active, especially in regards to coming to Tokyo for activities or at least leaving Osaka. The only reason I can think of is that Johnny's just might be preparing for a new Kansai group debut, though that is my speculation. But without a doubt in the past year alone there has been more of of a Kanjuu presence outside of Osaka and the Kansai region.
You can see this starting with the Tozai Uta Gassen concerts/TV special from last year where members of B.A.D. and 7WEST were brought to Tokyo to be a part of it. Then in the spring they had a semi-national tour that took them to cities such as, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Nagoya, among others. Then instead of having Kansai and Tokyo Juniors do their own productions of Shounentachi like last year some of the Kansai Juniors were brought to Tokyo for that run of the musical to star alongside A.B.C-Z. Also they had a Shounen Club special request episode this year, something only the recently debuted Kis-My-Ft2 also had. And now there are going to be Kanjuu on national TV with members of SZ. This is a big step for Kanjuu, especially the ones a part of this, though if you look at it they are also mainly the usual Kanjuu that have been a part of all these activities outside of Osaka. Which is another reason I think this could be Johnny's preparing for a Kansai group debut.
Another reason is simply because Kanjani8 will be leaving the idol magazines very soon. The older members have hit 30 this year which signals this should be the last year they will be featured as a group in these magazines in keeping with the usual tradition. And when they go there will no longer be a Kansai based group, outside of the Kanjuu, in the magazines. I think this is significant because if you remember last year Arashi stopped being featured in the magazines and now we have a new debuted group with the same amount of members and getting a lot of comparisons to them with SZ. So I would not be surprised that in about a year, I would guess sometime in 2013 if Johnny's will be debuting A.B.C-Z in 2012, we get a new Kansai group to be fashioned in the same way as K8 as their current success has proven that it's a good formula and Johnny's may want to see if they can get it to work again. Especially if this time around they won't have the issue of shared members like K8 did.
Plus it would probably help keep Kanjuu from quitting if they believe there is a chance to actually debut as outside of Nakayama Yuma there hasn't been a lot of hope as Tokyo Junior group after Tokyo Junior group has debuted, and even then despite his debuts Yuma is still considered a Junior.
I can only hope I'm right, because if the Kanjuu being promoted now will be the ones debuting I know that it will be a group that I will support 100%.
Since I´m a big fan of Kanjuu I got really excited when I read all those news.
ReplyDeleteThe concerts in Shochikuza and the New Year´s concerts made me of course very glad too but I´m especially happy about their appearance as supporters for the Volleyball Cup on Friday, together with Kento, Shori and Fuma.
They´ll be seen in the whole country and I hope they´ll get to talk a bit and not just sitting behind Sexy Zone. I guess it would be really fun to see them talking there!
I´m seriously so happy that Johnny´s promote Kanjuu more recently and not only in Kansai but also in Tokyo area.
I also feel that from Tozai Uta gassen on, you can definitely notice a push for the Kansai Jr.
I have a japanese penpal who went watching the Johnny´s Baseball Tournament in Tokyo Dome on May 29th this year and she told me that the audience went crazy when Kanjuu arrived. Apparently them and Yuma came late due to a concert they held in Nagoya at the same day in the morning. My friend even was surprised that the support and cheering for Kanju was that big, and we have to remember that it was an event in Tokyo, where lots of different debuted idols participated .
In that kind of event and place to receive so much support for Kanju, it made me just happy.
What made me also surprised when my friend told me how Yuma appeared alone about a playround earlier than Kanjuu and that when he got introduced , the cheering was crazy as hell. Only for Yuma! He sure is popular.
Well, since Johnnysan and other important people from the agency came watching the game, I hope that they noticed how much support Kanju received from the audience and that they can be really popular in Tokyo area as well.
It made me happy that also Veteran, all members of 7West and 2 members of Shadow West got to appear there and according to my friend, Yuma and Kanju performed lots of songs at Show Time.
There is also the new TongariCorn CM where Kaneuchi and Shige were allowed to appear , together with Sou, Marius and Yuma. Even though Yuma has the main attention, I was really glad that 2 Kansai Jr got chosen for this CM too.
Seems like they used the opportunity to have Kaneuchi in Tokyo , because he appeared in performances of YanYan JUMP and his name got even displayed.
Isn´t this awesome?
I hope this is just the beginning and that they will get promoted in the whole country.
These boys are all very entertaining people with lots of talent. It would be a waste to not get use of it.
All that push makes me hoping that there might be a debut planned for them in the future. I still have hope!
What I fnd nice is that Kanjuu often hold their own concerts, which the Tokyo Jrs don´t do that often like the recent ABC-Z concert.
ReplyDeleteStill, Tokyo Juniors have the big advantage to appear on TV much more often and so they are all more well known. An important point is Shounen Club, where Kanjuu get to appear only two times in a year, which I find really unfair. But well, it´s the decision of the agency so...
It does seem like Kanjuu advance step by step more to Tokyo, like when they played in Shounentachi together with Ebi.
But even though there is a noticable push, I think some Kanjuu will leave the agency anyway. Because it´s always the same Kanjuu who got pushed: BAD, Shigeoka, Kamiyama and sometimes Hamada too.
I could imagine that some might quit soon and I especially think of Veteran who are all older and who never get a chance to come to Tokyo for example. but to be honest, I would be really sad if they do so, still, I wouldn´t be surprised.
I really want to see Kanjuu debuting! But aren´t that too many debuts in such a short time?
Kisumai and SZ in 2011, probably Ebi in 2012 and Kanjuu in 2013..
But well, we can definitely notice a push, but in the end we don´t know anything if something like a debut is planned for Kanjuu.
Anyway, Kanjuu need more love and in any case, I will always support them!
To be honest, I only found out about the Kanjuu through Yuma and I found out about Yuma through his activities in Tokyo (namely his KoiAku drama and NYC) so it really is the centre of the entertainment industry.
ReplyDeleteIs there a reason why the Kanjuu get so little TV exposure in comparison to the Tokyo Jrs? I read that work requests for the Kanjuu began its decline during Kanjani8's Jr days. O_O
I've noticed the improvement lately but I'm still worried about the Kanjuu that's not being pushed. Furthermore, instead of whole units, we get specific individuals like Shige, Kami-chan, etc (and I do love them of course). 7WEST were there with NYCboys during the volleyball game too if I remember correctly.
@ Ani2
ReplyDeleteConsidering who'll be there I don't think it would be possible for them to just sit in the background. XD
I'm glad to hear that they're well received by fans too. They seem to get overlooked so much but it seems despite that they still have a strong fan base which is great.
Let's hope together that we'll get a Kanjuu debut in the near future.
@ Chris
I wouldn't be surprised if there are still some that quit but perhaps a debut will lessen the amount. Juniors join and quit all the time for both branches but since Kanjuu are a smaller group it just becomes more noticeable, especially since the ones that quit this year were all popular.
It does seem like a lot of debuts, especially recently with Kisumai and SZ in the same year, but if I'm right then 2014 should be a debut free year and the next debut wouldn't be until 2015 with the next volleyball unit debut. Of course in the end it's all my speculation and Johnny's management are probably the only ones that have a good idea of how things are planned out.
@ P
From what I can gather it began when it was decided that Kansai Juniors would stay in Osaka instead of being brought to Tokyo. In the initial years of this it was really bad for Kanjuu and some had to take second jobs to support themselves. But it has gotten better since then, I guess you could connect that with the rise of Kanjani8. But while Kanjuu don't do much nationally they still do a lot in the Kansai region such as be regulars on Kansai only programs and even some drama work. So it's actually getting better for them but since Tokyo is the national hub for everything in Japan it's just much easier for Tokyo Juniors to get on programs or in dramas that are aired nationally in comparison. I guess maybe a good comparison it's like the Tokyo Juniors are in Hollywood so it's easier to get involved with the Hollywood movies that will get a lot of exposure while Kanjuu are in New York City where any movies coming out of there are more bound to be indies, not taking in quality or anything in account of course.
For the ones getting the pushing in Tokyo I believe it's more of a schedule thing. Most of the members of 7WEST are under 18 and are in high school still. But I know Shigeoka graduated already which is why he is getting more outside of Osaka work and Kamiyama is only a year behind him. Not only that but it's expensive to bring people from Osaka to Tokyo so by not bringing full groups it helps save Johnny's money.
I will be one of happiest fan girls in this world if we have a Kanju debut in (near) future. Just one thing I definitely don't want is a group of mix members like HSJ or SZ or NEWS. I love B.A.D. with 2 members, and 7 WEST must have Shige and Kami-chan in it, and Hama-chan can go with Veteran. I'll be happy if any of those group can debut, just not a mix group.
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