The Shounen Club 02 March 2003 review

Final month of the 2002-2003 season of Shounen Club. This coming up Wednesday will have the final two episodes, as they are both just clip shows, and then onto the new season over at NHK Hall.

KAT-TUN get to do the opening song this episode. It is the usual HEARTBREAK CLUB performance from them.

I really wonder what the filming schedule is for this program back then. As Ikuta Toma and Kazama Shunsuke are in the introductions but are nowhere to be seen otherwise.

Thankfully we are saved from the three remaining hosts just talking to themselves by VTR and an actual guest this week.

The first VTR segment focuses on KAT-TUN as they have recently released their first concert DVD, Okyakusama wa Kamisama - Concert 55man nin Ai no request ni kotaete!!. This is of their first solo concert at Tokyo International Forum, which was also the venue Sexy Zone held their first concerts as a group. Looking at the footage it really helps give you an idea of how big the venue is, which is not very big.

We are then introduced to this week's guests, Tackey & Tsubasa, who are mainly there to promote their new single Sotsugyo ~Sayonara wa Ashita no Tame ni~. Takizawa Hideaki seemed oddly subdued for this segment and the focus was mainly on Imai Tsubasa.

The duo then perform the song as the first full performance of the show. I do have to wonder who came up with set and choreography for it as it had some odd looking moments like this one in it.

When we go back to the studio Tackey is there alone and is back to being his more cheerful and jokester self with the guys.

We then get a long VTR segment with Tackey and Jimmy Mackey that Tackey decided to make model for a photo shoot he wanted to do. Of course not everything works out as he had planned.

T&T get to sing a second song, so this is not the episode to watch for Junior performances. The second song is called Ikiteru Akashi and featured a small horde of bare chested young Juniors, as we are still very much in the time period of Johnny's that being bare chested was pretty common.

We then get to see photos that Tackey took as he explains them. Most of it is like a slideshow, it even has music that goes with it, so unless you really like looking at Jimmy or the most die-hard of Tackey fans this probably will not be very interesting to you.

Like the last episode I reviewed, the three hosts get to perform the end song together.

Yamashita Tomohisa gets stuck with Tackey for his segment as the latter tries to do an impromptu shoot with him. It is one of the more interesting segments of this, if just to see Tackey be his usual goofy self at the expense of Yamapi.


Honestly I was expecting more of Tackey than we got this episode. He is usually a fun guest and while at times he was just that he just did not seem to be as energetic as he normally is.

I did like seeing the VTR of KAT-TUN's concert DVD. The Junior concerts I went to in 2009 were at the same venue so it was interesting to see how differently it was set up as well as being a bit nostalgic. I am really interested on how it will look in SZ's upcoming DVD/BD release, more like the Junior concerts I saw or like KAT-TUN had it.

Of course this was also a big moment in KAT-TUN's history as this concert had about 550,000 requests for tickets to it but the venue only held seats for 20,000. So by now it is clear that KAT-TUN is well on their rise in popularity to have accomplished such a feat.

It is a bit sad that this is the last complete episode of the season, as the next two are nothing but clip shows. But I am still looking forward to the start of the new season and getting longer episodes and more focus on Juniors that are not the Four Tops.