Johnny's Juniors and AKB KKS star in NTV drama

It has been announced that this spring NTV will be airing a new drama that will star Johnny's Juniors and members from AKB48's Team 4 and a KKS (the trainees for AKB48). The drama will begin airing on April 14th. The Juniors that will be in the drama are; Kyomoto Taiga, Tanaka Juri, Koichi Yuugo, Lewis Jesse, Matsumura Hokuto and Morimoto Shintaro.

EDIT: Have some new information. The drama will be titled Shiritsu Baka Rera Koukou and will be written by Akimoto Yasushi, the producer of AKB48. The drama is about two schools, a boys school known for its delinquents and a girls school known for its beautiful lady-like students, being merged together into one school. The leads will be Morimoto Shintaro and Shimada Haruka.

Newspaper image from Tokyo Graph's twitter announcement. (Japanese)
NTV website (Japanese)

From what I can gather from the news article, or at least the bits that can be read, it will be in a junior high school setting, which I would have guessed considering the ages of those starring. 

I am so excited for this drama. It is like Johnny's picked all my favorite Juniors for this. I'm not sure if I'm more excited that Shintaro is getting to act in another drama again, or that Yuugo and Hokuto are doing something together post-B.I. Shadow, or that finally Kyomoto, Juri and Jesse are getting to act in a drama. I think this is one of those cases that even if the drama is bad I would still watch it. But I hope it is good and that it will do well.

I cannot wait until they start promoting for the drama so I can see more of them. Though I do wonder what NTV is going to do about the theme song for the drama. I personally would have no issue with these Juniors getting grouped to sing something for it. But of course I would think AKS would want their girls to do something as well. So most likely it will not be a song from either group. But I will keep dreaming, if only because these six Juniors would be like a dream group for me.

EDIT: With the new info I have to saw I'm even more excited as this will be the first time Shintaro gets to be a lead in a drama. I was really worried about what would happen to him after his brother's scandal but it looks like Johnny's still believes in him and is willing to promote him and not just shuffle him into the background.

Quick Update.

I've been really busy with work recently but tomorrow's my day of and I will make sure to catch up with responding to everyone who has posted then.

And speaking of Wednesdays, since they are my scheduled days off I have decided that I will be moving to them for the day I will post my project stuff. So tomorrow I will be beginning my PV reviews of older Johnny's releases now that I am currently done with History of Johnny's.

So from now until I run out of them I will be reviewing a PV that I have on DVD from official releases every Wednesday.

Odds & Ends

In recent years there have been a few debuts that have become vague on what the status is for the group. The vagueness comes from the fact that either a member or the whole group is still listed under the Junior sections of the official websites, like Johnny’s net, in contrast to a group like Kis-My-Ft2 who were given their own section and taken out of the Junior section when their debut single was released. So until a second release is announced it is difficult to make the call on where they fall.

At the moment there are two groups that fall into limbo between being a Junior group and a career debuted group:

NYC

Blue: Nakayama Yuma, Red: Yamada Ryosuke, Yellow: Chinen Yuri

Members: Nakayama Yuma, Yamada Ryosuke & Chinen Yuri

NYC is a bit of an oddity among the oddities as two of the three members, Yamada Ryosuke and Chinen Yuri, are members of Hey! Say! JUMP as well and were no longer considered Juniors when that group was announced and got their own section on the OHPs. But NYC also came about in a rather jumbled way to begin with.

NYC’s start is tied to the creation of Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow back in 2009. This group was announced as a newly debuted group, with Nakayama Yuma, a Kansai Junior, and the Tokyo Junior group of four, B.I.Shadow. Their debut song was announced to be the theme song of the drama Nakayama was set to star in, Koishite Akuma. Soon after though NYC boys was announced, which would be YuBIS with Yamada Ryosuke and Chinen Yuri, as Nakayama, Yamada and Chinen had the first letter of their last names to spell NYC with. With that announcement the debut single for both groups was released later in 2009 to great confusion if these groups were one off debuts or would be sticking around.

In the end Johnny’s surprised everyone with making it neither as they announced that only the NYC trio will be going on to continue releasing CDs while the boys from B.I. Shadow would be dropped from the group. The first NYC single was released in 2010 and was a cover of Hikaru Genji’s song Yuuki 100%, which has remained a song that the group has performed the most since their formation.

NYC has released about one single per year and have performed on Kouhaku Uta Gassen since 2009 (their first performance as NYC boys). The group has performed in concert, but always a part of a HSJ tour and never being solo headliners.

The released a single in 2012 which was a double A-side with the first being a NYC song and the other being a solo song for Nakayama. Since then the group has gone back to its usual hiatus with Yamada and Chinen busy with HSJ activities.

Even though Yamada and Chinen are not Juniors, Nakayama is still considered to be one so their releases still fall under the Junior sections. And it is also why the group falls into the odds and ends section as there has not been another group like NYC.




Directory >
Introduction
Johnny’s Juniors, full of rising stars and heartbreak
The Early and Rocky Path to Fame
Kondo Masahiko: Singer, Dancer, Actor, Professional Race Car Driver
Giving a New Meaning to Playzone, Shounentai
Hikaru Genji, Shining the Brightest and Crashing the Hardest

Otokogumi, Rocking It Old School
The Living Legend of SMAP
TOKIO, From Spaceships to the Over 30s World
Victory, Volleyball, Vegetable, Vicylce? V6
KinKi Kids, It's Not What You Think
Arashi, Storming to the Top
The Inseparable Duo, Tackey & Tsubasa
North, East, West, South ... It's big NEWS
Kansai Underdogs,  Kanjani∞
Cartoon? KAT-TUN!
Jumping to Their Dreams, Hey! Say! JUMP
Johnny's Black Sheep, Akanishi Jin
How to Debut Without Even Trying, Ikuta Toma
Kis-My-Ft2, Everybody Go (Roller Skating)!
Yamashita Tomohisa, Johnny’s Golden Boy
Entering the Sexy Zone
The 5Stars A.B.C-Z
International Ventures
Johnny's and Charity 
Odds & Ends

Hey! Say! JUMP - SUPER DELICATE PV review

Got my copies of Hey! Say! JUMP's SUPER DELICATE single in the mail today so I decided to go ahead and do the PV review of the title track. The other two "PV"s will be done when I am doing my PV review project that looks like it will start next month as I only have one History of Johnny's entry to do before I am done with that.

But on to the PV review, which I had to stop myself from screencapping everything I wanted to because it would have made this entry much too long.

Johnny's seems to be in love with having title screens for their PVs of late, which is fine but I'm not sure if I like one on screen as the song begins.

Yamada wants to feast on your soul.

Of course everything starts off with Yamada Ryosuke, but at least this time around it can be contributed to the fact that he is starring in the drama that this song is the theme song of.

An eighteen-armed god(dess).

I do like how there is a lot of emphasis on the dance for this song, especially as they seem to be trying out just about every move that can be imagined to have a nine member group do that would look cool. And I have always felt that with as many members as HSJ has they need to find reasons to why they have that many to help shoot the haters down.

Walking his walk on the catwalk.

Not sure if the runway scenes really do anything for the PV, other than give a break from the dancing scenes, but I have little complaints about seeing the guys strut around. Also I love that the main members of this song/PV are Yamada and Nakajima Yuto. Since Yamada and Chinen Yuri are together with NYC it comes off as a bit redundant to have them be the usual mains for HSJ too, so it is nice to have a bit of a change up. And it is about time Nakajima came back into the spotlight now that he is well past the awkward teenage growth stage he was in a couple of years ago.

Johnny's attempt at cloning.

These scenes are pretty simple with the boys just standing and singing, but I think what stops them from being boring are the mirrors. I think the mirrors help give the eye something to look at across the entire screen so by the time it has it has been switched out to either another member or the next scene.

Maybe he can finally play high school roles in dramas.

Arioka Daiki remains the Hey! Say! BEST member with the most screen time. Which I am fine with as even though he will always remain short he is at least beginning to look his age now that his face has thinned.

And of course what is a HSJ dance without strange hand gestures? I think the worst thing about them is how much they cover up the guys' faces, especially with this one that does indeed call for them to put their hand in front of their faces.

Creative camera angle to avoid showing how much taller Nakajima is to Yamada and Chinen.

And just marveling at the fact that it is Nakajima their in the center and not Yamada or Chinen. I hope this remains after this single. If anything it would be nice to see the tallest as the center instead of the shortest like usual.

His hair is at least as bad as his outfits in this at least?

Oh Yaotome Hikaru. That hair just is not working, at all. The blond worked because of how out there it was but letting it darken to that light brown and then throwing some curls with it just is not working. Please be going to a darker hair color soon, and please no more curls ever.

To spare the short-trio's feelings they had the tall ones sit for this.

It is rather interesting to see how they split the group for mini group shots since going down to nine members. I would expect that they may have wanted to do it by sub-unit but instead it looks like it is done by popularity for this.

Keito doesn't want to let you go.

Hey, they finally remembered Okamoto Keito existed in this group. It only took them about half the PV to do so. But at least they do a much better job about remembering him from this point forward.

I would look just as unhappy if I had the amount of screen time he gets.

Unfortunately they do not do so well with Inoo Kei. While they remember him finally at the same time as Keito he only gets one more short close up for the rest of the PV. Hopefully once he graduates university he can do something other than be woefully ignored in PVs like this.

To cool for this PV.

I was good and only did one screen cap of Takaki Yuya, instead of the twenty I would have done if I was taking them for myself. But really not much to say other than he continues to keep his "cool" mask on well throughout and this PV seems to suit him quite well.

Most likely annoyed he couldn't use his guitar in this PV as well.

Was not so good at keeping to the one screencap for Keito though. I think he looks good in this PV. I know some complain about his hair but honestly he has done worse to it and when you compare it to Hikaru it looks perfectly acceptable.

Praying for a bigger budget for the next single.

I kinda feel sorry for Yabu Kota. He does not get as much screen time as he used to but since he is one of the main voices of the group he still gets a good amount of solo lines. Johnny's really needs to get him out and acting in dramas again, which could be said of just about any member of HSB.

Yamada getting ready to become Super Yamada.

Again more mirror love. While the trick is not all that outstanding it is eye catching. Plus who would not want to see more of their favorites on screen at once.

The cool kids are just chillin'.

While this grouping is considered the unpopular ones I honestly do not care as it has my two favorite group members and I like the other two as well. Though it might have been nice to have a couple more group shots like this so Inoo and Keito could be on screen for maybe a second more than they are.

Chinen has realized that he forgot to take the hanger out of the jacket.

It is a bit strange not to see Chinen in the spotlight as much but honestly between HSJ and NYC I do not mind it. He and Yamada get enough exposure so it is nice to see another HSJ member get a chance.

Single-handed roof raising.

I am still just really happy with the minor line-up change. i hope the group continues with this for a while if just for a change of pace.

Doing the wave.

I like how they end the PV with the group dancing with moves that showcase what they can do as a large group. That said I am glad we do not have the end pose for the song as there is something that looks incomplete and messy about it from watching their live performances and the making of for the PV.

I realize that this is probably my most positive PV review to date. But honestly while this PV may not be cutting edge or ground breaking it is good for what it is, which is basically a dance PV. In fact it reminds me quite a bit of HSJ's Your Seed PV, which in contrast was all dance and used black about just as much as SUPER DELICATE uses white. But as long as the group has a good dynamic dance routine to showcase then I have no problem with dance PVs, and HSJ delivered with both PVs, IMHO.

SUPER DELICATE might be super simple but it works. Plus it continues in the tradition of FIVB groups getting the cheaper looking PVs. A fate only Arashi has been able to escape because they got lucky enough to become massively popular.

Kis-My-Ft2 single and album update

We finally have some more information about the tracks on the upcoming Kis-My-Ft2 single and album.

The B-side track on the single SHE! HER! HER! will be titled Deep your voice. I guess it is a fitting track name for the single as it seems to be as strange as the title of the A-side.

Then for the album the full track list for the bonus disc Kis-My-Zero, that comes with the limited edition that comes with a bonus CD, is out. So the pre-debut tracks we will be getting with this album are:

Endless Road
Inori
Kis-My-Me-Mine
Endless Road
FIRE BEAT
Smile
Eien no Ticket
3D Girl

I do not think I can honestly say I am unhappy with getting these songs on CD finally, but I cannot help but think there are still plenty of other pre-debut songs I would love to see released on CD. Hopefully we will eventually get them, much like how KAT-TUN has released most of their pre-debut songs over time.

But I will still be exceedingly happy about having Inori, Kis-My-Me-Mine, FIRE BEAT and Smile in CD quality at last.

February Shounen Club ramblings

I've been really busy this month so I have honestly only today had the chance to watch this month's Shounen Club episodes. I'm so glad I did, because even though they still have the issue of being debuted groups heavy I loved what I saw of the Juniors. I am just going to ramble a bit on the few things that caught my eye and stood out to me.

Feb. 3, 2012

Well it seems when it comes to any new groupings for Juniors noon boyz is it. I cannot complain as I have liked Sanada Yuma and Nozawa Yuki since they performed with Hashimoto Ryosuke as TOP3. It must be pretty sad for Mis Snow Man fans though to see that group breaking up, especially since they had that movie that will be coming out next month on DVD/BD.

I will not lie but the fact that Lewis Jesse got to be center in one of the melody songs made me so incredibly happy. I have liked the kid since I learned about him back in 2008, and he was such an adorable kid back then. But seeing him get center and so much screen time made me so happy as I really would love for him to debut someday. And with You Marius' debut with Sexy Zone I actually do feel like it is possible. I really hope all this screen time for him will not end up being a passing fad and will continue on to greater things for him.

I honestly feel like a terrible Senga Kento fan for forgetting her had solo lines in My Love. But I am so glad he does as it means the camera has to focus on him more. Seriously, Johnny's needs to fix their fixation on KiFt when the rest of the members are pretty damn talented in their own right.

I just had to laugh when I saw this in Hey! Say! Jump's Super Delicate performance for the fact of how blatant it was with the fanservice there. Especially since Nakajima Yuto and Yamada Ryosuke stay all up in each others faces for a while too. It is still strange for me to think of the two as sexy in any regard as I have followed them since they were kids but I am sure there are plenty of fangirls that fully approve of this.

Speaking of finding it difficult to come to recognize how much certain Johnny's have grown, damn Morimoto Shintaro! You disappear from the spotlight for a few months and all of sudden you are not that cute little kid anymore. I really was not prepared to see how much taller he is compared to Yamada and he has certainly begun to lose the baby fat on his face. And he is only about 14 isn't he?


Feb. 10, 2012

And another performance that Jesse got to be center for and get a lot of camera time with. Of course this grouping seems to be a shuffling of the Hip Hop Jump members for the most part which I have no qualms with. I liked their final line up and am happy to see Shintaro still getting the chance to perform as he seems to fit in well with the others now he is not getting pushed so hard by management.

Kyomoto Taiga is another Junior that has been getting quite a bit of the spotlight recently. He had a solo for each episode and even when the rest of his group joined him in this second episode he was still front and foremost for the performance.

And we get a quick visit from Shigeoka Daiki and B.A.D. in this episode. I was disappointed that they just talked for a little bit and only joined in for the end song but something it better than nothing. Though I do not think they had time to plan much for them and the only reason that they were there was because they were doing something else in Tokyo at the time and Johnny's figured if they were in town they might as well make an appearance. And the guys always liven up whatever stage they are on so they were a welcome addition to the episode.

I forgot to screencap it from the first episode but this month's episodes mark the return of Koichi Yuugo to the SC stage. Of course I could not help but notice neither song he was a part of had him do dancing, so he probably is not completely recovered yet, but it is nice to see him back. If only Matsumura Hokuto was there too, but I am not worried about him as he has been appearing regularly on SC since SZ's debut so he was most likely busy with something else that month for the taping. I still want to see Yuugo and Hokuto together again, but I guess I am going to have to be patient for that.

On a side not, I'm rather glad that SZ finally got the chance to do something outside of singing their songs off their debut single. Not that I hate those songs but it runs into the issue with any newly debuted group that does not have pre-debut songs in the fact that the single tracks get old once you hear them for the umpteeth time within a short period of time. I honestly could not listen to Hey! Say! JUMP's Ultra Music Power for about a year or so, even though I loved the song, because of this. So having the SZ members split up to cover songs was refreshing and it is nice to see that Marius seems to have become more comfortable on stage and I hope he continues to progress.


And because I am curious to when to expect the debuted groups to stop showing up so much on SC I went back to check the 2008 episodes to see how long it took HSJ to stop dominating the program. And the first episode without any HSJ members was not until June of that year so it looks like we should have a couple more months with Kisumaiebizone being regulars on the program. Of course I can see them leaving the program in order of debut and first having Kis-My-Ft2 stop, especially since next month's theme is "graduation" and Kisumai had a talk segment about the topic. So it will be interesting if it will lead to a graduation from the program then. I will miss them but SC is a Junior program and now that all the recent debuts have happened it is about time for the remaining Juniors to start moving into the spotlight to pursue their dreams of debut as they got to.

-

Reading the spoilers for next month and it looks like another good month. I am not sure if I look forward to one of the Junior Medleys that will consist of Ya-Ya-Yah songs though. I mean I love it when the older songs of past Junior groups get revived but I think I would prefer it to be more spread across past Junior groups, like maybe have a J.J.Express song in there as well, as that group had some great fun songs I would love to hear again. But it seems if it's a Junior song from a past group it will be from Yax3 and that just does not sit completely right with me, and I am sure there are some Yax3 fans that may not like it, especially as the Juniors performing the songs are the ones that came in well past Yax3's time. But I really like the songs they will be performing so personally I feel conflicted over it.

Okamoto Keito to attend Sophia University

After months of rumors it has finally been confirmed that Okamoto Keito has passed the entrance exam for Sophia University (known as Jouchi Daigaku in Japanese) and will begin classes in April.

He will be attending the Faculty of Liberal Arts which is located in branch of the university in the middle of Tokyo. It is the department that teaches all its classes in English so he also had to pass the TOEFL test and submit an essay in English.

MomoEdgewood blog post. (English)

First off congrats to Keito for getting in to university! Since he was attending an international school in Japan I do not think it is surprising that he would aim for Sophia University as it is a well known school for their English language program as they have quite a few native English language professors that teach in the Faculty of Liberal Arts department.

I have to say that it is rather surreal that since I went to Sophia University myself I know where he will be, as the Liberal Arts program has all its classes in the same building which is where all the foreign exchange students go to since it has the only classes taught in English. I now cannot help but wonder if he will have some of the same teachers I had as well.

I guess now I have another name to add to my list of fellow Sophia students that I cannot believe I can be connected to even in this very indirect way which has been mainly George Takei and Crystal Kay.

Entering the Sexy Zone

Members: Nakajima Kento, Kikuchi Fuma, Sato Shori, Matsushima Sou & You Marius

Top (l to r) Kikuchi Fuma & Nakajima Kento
Bottom (l to r) Matsushima Sou, Sato Shori & You Marius

Sexy Zone is the latest FIVB group to debut, with their debut in November of 2011. They debuted with a self titled single under the Pony Canyon music label. They are considered the youngest group for Johnny's to debut.

The debut announcement took many fans by surprise based on the fact that outside of Nakajima Kento and Kikuchi Fuma the other members of the group were not very well known at all. And even though they did manage to debut with a number 1 single it was a very close call.

Because they were not given their own section on the official homepages originally it lead to people wondering if this is a career debut or a one-shot debut. But in early 2012 they were given their on section on Johnny's net, confirming their status as a career debut group.

In April of 2012 they became one of the growing number of groups that have covered the Hikaru Genji song Yuuki 100% for the theme song of the long running anime series Nintama Rantarou. The song was released on their second single as a bonus track on the regular edition.

In the summer of 2012 they join A.B.C-Z as well as Johnny's Juniors to perform the annual SUMMARY concerts.

Nakajima Kento is the oldest member of the group and is considered the group's leader. He has had the most drama work of all the members from his time as a Junior. He is known by fans by his nickname, Nakaken.

Kikuchi Fuma is the next oldest member and was in the same Junior group as Nakaken. He has not had much in the way of drama roles but leading up to the announcement of SZ he was in a couple of stage plays.

Sato Shori has been a Junior that has come to prominence in the few months leading up to Sexy Zone’s debut. This has continued with SZ’s debut as he is the member shown center in the group shots and was the first to have a drama role post-debut with a supporting role in the drama Hungry!.

Matsushima Sou is known as one of the strongest singers of the group. He was an ungrouped Junior that was placed in the same grouping with Shori on Shounen Club in the few months leading up to the formation of SZ.

You Marius is the first half-Japanese Junior to debut as well as the youngest to debut at age 11. He is half-German and lived part in Japan and part in Germany. His mother was in the all female theater troupe, Takarazuka Revue, and has trained Marius to enter the entertainment industry with singing and dancing.


TRIVIA: Before the group was announced Johnny Kitagawa brought up the Junior group A.B.C-Z debuting with two new members as A.B.C-xyZ and that Kikuchi Fuma would be a candidate for that. And the month before a Junior group called Sexy Boy, with the three youngest members of SZ a part of it, was announced.


Next Entry >  The 5Stars A.B.C-Z


Directory >
Introduction
Johnny’s Juniors, full of rising stars and heartbreak
The Early and Rocky Path to Fame
Kondo Masahiko: Singer, Dancer, Actor, Professional Race Car Driver
Giving a New Meaning to Playzone, Shounentai
Hikaru Genji, Shining the Brightest and Crashing the Hardest

Otokogumi, Rocking It Old School
The Living Legend of SMAP
TOKIO, From Spaceships to the Over 30s World
Victory, Volleyball, Vegetable, Vicylce? V6
KinKi Kids, It's Not What You Think
Arashi, Storming to the Top
The Inseparable Duo, Tackey & Tsubasa
North, East, West, South ... It's big NEWS
Kansai Underdogs,  Kanjani∞
Cartoon? KAT-TUN!
Jumping to Their Dreams, Hey! Say! JUMP
Johnny's Black Sheep, Akanishi Jin
How to Debut Without Even Trying, Ikuta Toma
Kis-My-Ft2, Everybody Go (Roller Skating)!
Yamashita Tomohisa, Johnny’s Golden Boy
Entering the Sexy Zone
The 5Stars A.B.C-Z
International Ventures
Johnny's and Charity 
Odds & Ends

The not-so-random title of SHE! HER! HER!

I know when I first saw the title for Kis-My-Ft2's third single I thought it was one of the most random song titles I had seen, even for a Johnny's group. But I came across something recently that actually seems to make sense of it and of course would be something someone from Japan may have been able to pick up but international fans would be completely in the dark about.

As can be seen with this video for breath mints there was a brand of them called SHE HER HER:

And since one of the tie-ins for the single are special Kisumai mints, creatively called Kis-My-Mints, I think it's easy to see that these must be the inspiration for the song. (I have heard the radio rip floating around and I easily think this is their best single song so far and cannot wait to have my copy of the single even though I do need to wait for the album to be released before it will ship out.)

Also to note about the single is that information about what the special promotion it will have with the album has been announced. Those who buy a copy of the single will get an application ticket in them each that can be used to enter a special lottery. Those who win the lottery will be able to attend a special event at one of the upcoming Kisumai concerts in Japan, called Kis-My-Party. Those who buy both single and album can apply for another event that will be scheduled for later and is titled Cho Premium! Secret Event!

Johnny's and Charity

While Johnny's & Associates have been around for about 50 years there has only been two major charity programs they have been involved with that is known. Both came about in light of a disastrous earthquake for a region of Japan and have come to focus on the children of the areas affected.

J-Friends

A mega Johnny’s group created to help raise money to support the children affected by the Great Hanshin 1995 quake by donating the money raised towards their education. The group was made of all the members of the groups, TOKIO, V6 & Kinki Kids and was formed in 1998.

J-Friends focused on doing charity events/concerts and released six singles to help bring in donations for the cause. For their singles J-Friends had popular international artists involved such as, Michael Jackson, Maurice White, Dianne Warren, Elton John and Jon Bon Jovi. They also used popular national talent like B’z vocalist Inaba Koshi as well.

The group disbanded in 2003 after raising about 874million yen (roughly about 11million USD today).



Marching J 

Shortly after the March 11, 2011 Tohoko earthquake and tsunami Johnny’s announced that they had decided to help the region recover with a charity program titled Marching J. This program, unlike J-Friends, is for all members of the Johnny’s & Associates agency to participate in and is for raising funds for several projects to help the Tohoko region as it recovers.

The initial fund raising came from events in Tokyo that tried to incorporate all of the debuted Johnny’s at events where they would give talks and some would perform a song or two as fans could filter through next to the stage after giving a donation. Eventually they moved on to an online fundraiser by creating special videos that anyone with a web connection and a credit card could purchase the right to watch for 30 days for each video. And they have been keeping the videos on a rotation to prompt fans to buy the right to watch the new ones that come out to replace the older ones.

Recently the organization seems to be focusing on not only helping the Tohoko region but to create stronger bonds with China while doing so. This can be seen with the two latest programs that were announced; the first being an exchange program for children who lost parents in the Tohoko earthquake with children who lost parents in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China, and the other is helping fund the rental of a pair of pandas for the Tohoko region to help raise the spirits of the children on the region and should help increase tourism and jobs in the area as well.

There has been no end date given for Marching J but it can be assumed that as long as Tohoko remains in need for rebuilding, which should still be for several more years, the program will continue.




Next Entry >  Odds & Ends





Directory >
Introduction
Johnny’s Juniors, full of rising stars and heartbreak
The Early and Rocky Path to Fame
Kondo Masahiko: Singer, Dancer, Actor, Professional Race Car Driver
Giving a New Meaning to Playzone, Shounentai
Hikaru Genji, Shining the Brightest and Crashing the Hardest

Otokogumi, Rocking It Old School
The Living Legend of SMAP
TOKIO, From Spaceships to the Over 30s World
Victory, Volleyball, Vegetable, Vicylce? V6
KinKi Kids, It's Not What You Think
Arashi, Storming to the Top
The Inseparable Duo, Tackey & Tsubasa
North, East, West, South ... It's big NEWS
Kansai Underdogs,  Kanjani∞
Cartoon? KAT-TUN!
Jumping to Their Dreams, Hey! Say! JUMP
Johnny's Black Sheep, Akanishi Jin
How to Debut Without Even Trying, Ikuta Toma
Kis-My-Ft2, Everybody Go (Roller Skating)!
Yamashita Tomohisa, Johnny’s Golden Boy
Entering the Sexy Zone
The 5Stars A.B.C-Z
International Ventures
Johnny's and Charity 
Odds & Ends

Sexy Zone continuing on with tradition

Today was the first day of Sexy Zone's concerts at the Tokyo International Forum Hall A and they had some exciting announcements.

The first is that they are going to have more concerts, this time though they will perform in the Yokohama Arena (March 29 & 30) and in Osaka-jo Hall (April 1). So congrats to them for the bump up already in the venue size for their concerts as well as being able to perform somewhere outside of Tokyo. Of course it does not seem all that surprising when these current concerts had about three times as many shows added to the dates, so there is demand from fans for the group and hopefully it will only grow. That and the young groups like SZ and before them, Hey! Say! JUMP do tend to be rather concert heavy for their first few years.

The next announcement is that they will be taking over doing the theme song for the anime series Nintama Rantaro from NYC thus becoming one of a growing number of groups to cover Yuuki 100%. They will have a new song though to be the ending theme for the anime, Kaze wo kitte. The songs will begin being used on the program in April.

I do hope that this announcement means that we will get another single from SZ in April, as that should be the month they should release their next single if they are following the same trajectory as the other FIVB debut units. I'm not sure if I care too much about there being yet another Yuuki 100% single but the song fits the group well with how youthful it sounds and how young they are and it will be interesting to see what the new arrangement will be.

EDIT: Well according to a article about these announcements from Sanspo (a Japanese online news site) they will indeed be releasing a single in April.

As this is their second single and there really are no signs that they won't be hanging around for the long term now, despite not having their own section on the OHPs, I'm willing to bury any doubts I had before about their debut status. Especially since otherwise they are on track for the kind of activities and release pattern FIVB debut groups before them have had. So expect the next History of Johnny's segment to be for the group.

Akanishi Jin to wed Kuroki Meisa

Well the news breaking out all over Johnny's fandom is the recent announcement that Akanishi Jin is marrying Kuroki Meisa. She is also two months pregnant so the couple will be parents as well by the end of the year.

Tokyohive article. (English)


There was a rumor about them dating a few days ago but agencies played it down as them just being friends but I think this news debunks those official statements. But since they kept their relationship so quiet I am sure this came as a huge surprise to most. Especially with a child well on the way to boot.

Neither of their agencies have made an announcement about the news, but it is still early in the morning in Japan. I am sure in the next few hours there will be more as the morning news programs have been reporting about it already.


Personally I do not think I know enough about them or their relationship to say anything other than if they are happy together and really want this than I will be happy for them. A part of me is really happy to see a Johnny's actually marry before 30 as I believe the last time that happened was when Kimura Takuya married and he is still happily married to his wife to this day. Most of the rest of the married Johnny's of course did not marry until they were quite a bit older of course.

It will be interesting to see if this affects Jin's push into the American market, but seeing as he has done so little promotion for his first two singles I am thinking it probably will not. Though I do wonder how his fans are reacting to the news.

A.B.C-Z - Za ABC ~5stars~ PV review

I will start off by admitting I am not really a fan of A.B.C-Z. I like some of the members and there are a couple of songs of theirs that I like as well but the group has never really caught my attention in a way that would push me into becoming a fan. And it is not that I do not think that the group is a bad group, in fact I believe they are a good group with some really talented members but for whatever reason there just is not a spark there for me.

Don't let the title caption fool you.

Now with that said I really love the PV for Za ABC ~5stars~. I did always think that a debut release like this would be great to showcase the group's strengths and this PV really helps prove that. Not only that but they used some of my current favorite Juniors so there is a bit of a bias there, but even without them this is a great PV and I wish more debut PVs would be like it.

I think the biggest detractor is that the song is only okay. It is not a bad song but rather generic J-pop that I do not see doing well without the attached performance. So I really wish A.B.C-Z got a more stand out song for such a stand out PV. But even so I think they did great with pairing the song up with a great PV.

Your friendly bedroom stalkers.

It really amazes me that the PV was one single continuous shot and that it only took them five takes to get it right. Especially with an opening like this that has members having to be upside down for most likely a good period time. But it really helps highlight the acrobatics of the group and establish the fun mood of the PV.

Feeling the vertigo.

Of course I'm just in love with this set. As simple as it is it really works, especially when you see that it is actually all one huge set placed together with the various sections.

I don't think that's how you fall down, Kawai...

Once we get out of the upside-down room we get to see a whole host of Juniors that are a part of the video. I love having them there, not just because of my favs, but they fun interactions with the members of A.B.C-Z. Everyone in this PV just look like they are having a blast which makes it hard not to get in a good mood while watching it.

While I am happy with the Juniors not only being in the PV but being very interactive with the A.B.C-Z members I cannot help but wonder if A.B.C-Z fans are unhappy about it. I honestly think it is good as the colors of the Juniors outfits help the group stand out and in a way solidify that the five are the stars of the PV. And honestly to do everything they do the Juniors are kinda needed to move things on and off stage.

Don't think Johnny was fool enough to say 'no' for a debut to a face like this.

I just love the use of props in this PV. As cheap as the look they still fit and all seem to fit. And since they have figured out how to get them all on and off screen in a seamless manner it is fun to see what they will bring out next.

Sometimes it's hard to remember that these are the two young ones.

I cannot help but think that if A.B.C-Z debuted in a more standard fashion we would be seeing more Hashimoto Ryosuke w/A.B.C. than A.B.C-Z. I mean even though there are members that get more focus than others it is no where near as bad as the division other groups have and even those who do not get a lot of time in the front of the screen still get moments to shine and at least look like they belong with the rest of the group.

Look! It's a Moonwalker!

I want to say this is another favorite part but honestly it all is. But this is a really good use of props, especially as it goes on you see that just about every piece of the car can be broken down into a smaller prop.

I'm sure they're waiting to see if those two will be taken out by a billboard.

It took me until my third watch to notice the lyric test on the billboards behind the "car". Which brings up one of the big reasons I love this PV, there is something new to be seen every time you watch. It reminds me of NEWS' weeeeeek PV, that was the same way in which it took multiple watches to find all the small fun things in it. I honestly think with PVs the ability to make one want to watch it over and over again is important, especially if it is released to be bought, and Za ABC ~5stars~ lives up to that standard for me.

And while I am sure the A.B.C-Z guys probably did not have much trouble with the performance I am amazed at how well the Juniors did. Especially with trying to be as in sync as possible. But it probably helped that they got to trade out places throughout compared to A.B.C-Z that were constantly on screen.

Nothing wrong with guys being flexible. ^__--

Love this dance/acrobatic break, if just because Goseki is pretty awesome in it. Unfortunately the screen cap does little to show the awesome of his handstand scissors.

Yet another part that screen caps fail to really capture how good it is. But seeing each member of A.B.C-Z move across the stages in a semi-relay is another batch of fun as you try to see what is all going on on the screen.

Jesse is probably just happy not to be shoved in the back for once.

And while I have tried my best to stay on topic and talk about A.B.C-Z, honestly I have, but I just have to stop a moment and unabashedly flail about the Juniors in the PV. Especially Lewis Jesse, as he has been a favorite of mine for years and he is one of the main Juniors in this. I honestly thought he was going to end up in complete obscurity by now so I am so happy to be shown wrong and I really hope he keeps getting good breaks. Though I think just about everyone from the defunct Hip Hop Jump group had pretty good exposure in this PV and even Morimoto Shintaro and Matsumura Hokuto get some screen time, unless my eyes have deceived me. But I am honestly really tempted in actually buying this DVD for them, but I need to catch up on my 'to buy list' before seriously thinking about it.

Just in case you forgot that 'star' was in the song's title.

I have always felt that if you are going to use a bunch of people in a performance you should do something that shows that there is an actual reason for it. This PV does that not only with having the Juniors aiding with keeping up the energy and helping making all the transitions from section to section move smoothly but also with doing a formation like this. It may be simple but it is something that shows that there is a reason to have a bunch of Juniors there, not only for the star formation itself but to help A.B.C-Z stand out against them.

Failed sentai idea #50: the all White Ranger team.

I love how they managed to find a pose for them to do shaped like a star. It is just such a Johnny's thing to do. But it really does work with the atmosphere of fun in the PV.

They're asleep! Let's finally go home!

Of course this final scene comes off as complete fan service, but I do not think there are many complaining. And it is a rather cute scene to end the PV on.

So while I may not be a A.B.C-Z fan, I am a fan of this PV. It is the best debut PV I have ever seen for a group honestly. And I think A.B.C-Z really knew what they were doing when they asked about debuting with a DVD instead of a CD. I would not be surprised if they continue to keep releasing solid efforts from here on out as well even if they may never have the huge numbers of some of their peers.

I hope when the sales numbers come out for this release they come out strong. The guys deserve it for putting out a release that looks to be well worth the cost and then some.

International Ventures

While Johnny’s & Associates have mainly stuck to Japan and Japanese male talent they have in recent years reached out to try some international ventures. They tend to be in cooperation with agencies in other countries that J&A have a strong relationship with or are trying to build one from looking at the two groups that have had ties with J&A.


Golf & Mike

Members: Pichaya "Golf" Nitipaisalkul & Pirat "Mike" Nitipaisalkul

This duo are a brother duo from Thailand who are signed under the biggest entertainment company in Thailand, GMM Grammy. They have two older brothers that were also a singing duo before them. While they were trainees under GMM Grammy they performed in a few concerts joint Thai-J-pop concerts that featured Johnny’s, like Tackey & Tsubasa and KAT-TUN.

In 2004 they officially began to tour in Thailand. At the end of 2004 and throughout 2005 they were invited to come to Japan to be special guests at Johnny’s concerts. And in 2005 Golf & Mike made their Thai debut, having a string of popular songs which included a cover of a Tackey & Tsubasa song, Epilogue.

In 2006 Johnny’s brought them over to Japan to debut them there. They started off by being paired with Yamashita Tomohisa to form GYM, a volleyball support unit for that year and released a single, Fever to Future.

They also had activities in Thailand, and joined a group of GMM Grammy trainees to create G-JR, a ten member group that released an album and toured in Thailand. They also continued to do their activities as a duo as well.

In 2007 they released a single and an album in Japan as they continued to work in Thailand as a duo. 2007 was the last of their activities in Japan as they began to concentrate on their careers in Thailand and expansion into the Chinese market, as they began to appear in dramas and eventually decided to go solo.


RTA (Road To Asia)

Members: Xu Hao (Stage name: Xiho) , Zuo Yi (Stage name: Jerry), Zhu Yuanbing (Stage name: Ryan), Liu Junlin (Stage name: Xiao Yan), He Hongchao (Stage name: Marco), Li He (Stage name: Herman), Maejima Yusuke (Stage name: Maezima), Ju Laiti (Stage name: July), Zhang Xiaofeng (Stage name: Seiya), Qiu Riyong (Stage name: Leon) & Maeda Hirotoshi (Stage name: TJ)

This is latest in international experiments Johnny’s & Associates is tied to. It is less direct than what Golf & Mike is with the Chinese station behind this group, Hunan TV, being the ones in charge of the group. The group is made up of eleven members and two subunits, Junior RTA for the four youngest members and Youth RTA for the seven older members of the group. The members of the group come from either China, Malaysia or Japan and one of the Japanese members, TJ, was a Johnny’s Junior.

The group have been mainstays on the Chinese program 天天向上 (Tian tian Xiang Shang) since their creation in 2010. They have released music digitally as a full group and with sub-units.

**NOTE: Unfortunately there is very little information about this group in English, so if you have more information feel free to leave a comment to share.**




Next Entry >  Johnny's and Charity




Directory >
Introduction
Johnny’s Juniors, full of rising stars and heartbreak
The Early and Rocky Path to Fame
Kondo Masahiko: Singer, Dancer, Actor, Professional Race Car Driver
Giving a New Meaning to Playzone, Shounentai
Hikaru Genji, Shining the Brightest and Crashing the Hardest

Otokogumi, Rocking It Old School
The Living Legend of SMAP
TOKIO, From Spaceships to the Over 30s World
Victory, Volleyball, Vegetable, Vicylce? V6
KinKi Kids, It's Not What You Think
Arashi, Storming to the Top
The Inseparable Duo, Tackey & Tsubasa
North, East, West, South ... It's big NEWS
Kansai Underdogs,  Kanjani∞
Cartoon? KAT-TUN!
Jumping to Their Dreams, Hey! Say! JUMP
Johnny's Black Sheep, Akanishi Jin
How to Debut Without Even Trying, Ikuta Toma
Kis-My-Ft2, Everybody Go (Roller Skating)!
Yamashita Tomohisa, Johnny’s Golden Boy
Entering the Sexy Zone
The 5Stars A.B.C-Z
International Ventures
Johnny's and Charity 
Odds & Ends