The Shounen Club 11 January 2004 review

First episode of the 2004 year and I think I am getting a sense of what is happening. It is kinda like what would happen if the newly debuted groups actually left the program when they debuted. Whether or not this will continue when NEWS returns with their official debut though remains to be seen, but it will not be much longer a wait to see that.

With the introductions this episode each group gets to perform a bit of a song. Even though they are simply introduced at ity these three are listed as K.K.Kity onscreen and perform their group song Sennen no Love Song. I kinda feel sorry for them as it is clear that their group is in flux with the 3 Ks off doing things as NEWS and ity being mainly lumped with the back dancing Juniors their age on SC outside of these introductions.

For this episode Akiyama Jun is the main MC, pretty much on his own unlike previous episodes.

Ya-Ya-Yah get to be the first group to perform a medley. Miyata Toshiya can be spotted dancing in the background (the Junior in teal and yellow upfront in the cap), with the usual younger Kis-My-Ft2 members that have been spotted in past episodes.

Akiyama then talks to Yax3 and Yamashita Shoon gets to talk quite a bit as the topic is about school and Shoon would be going into high school in the coming school year.

KAT-TUN then get to perform a medley of their songs, as there does not seem to be a SC episode in this era without them being able to do a performance. And I think it is safe to say with the members of NEWS getting pulled from the show they are being set up to be the next big thing which at this point is a natural progression for the group.

There is a new game segment type thing called Junior Ha~i! School. It is hosted by Kazama Shunsuke as he takes on the moniker Academia Kazama.

The basics of this one is that the Juniors are given two phrases to complete however they feel is best.

It goes back to Akiyama with Jimmy Mackey being the co-MC. Akiyama reads a postcard that is from a fan that admires A.B.C.'s acrobatics.

Toshin Yoshikazu & A.B.C. then get to perform. Honestly the thing that stood out the most was how much I dislike these outfits. I am not a fan of camo being used with clothes not to mention it makes so little sense to pair it up with bright orange.

There is a Detective Tomas segment this episode with Matsumoto Kouhei and Inoo Kei as the Juniors being asked questions. Nothing too interesting though.

They then sing Kono Hoshi de Umarete, minus Yabu Kota this time. So we get more little Tamamori Yuta.

We get a new VTR segment this episode, Kanjani Tsushin. This is a look at the Kansai Juniors lead by Yokoyama Yu, Murakami Shingo and Shibutani Subaru.

In this segment we are introduced to a group of Kansai Juniors called Kansai Boys. Two of the members of the group I know are still in the Kansai Juniors, Yamasaki Kunta and Hamada Takahiro. Seeing this is the second time I have been able to spot Hamada on SC (he was in the Osaka episode of 2003) I have to say he grew up quite a bit since he was last seen.

Akiyama gets to talk to KAT-TUN and every member gets to talk about something about themselves.

We then get a RUN medley, which is lead by Ikuta Toma, Hasegawa Jun and Kazapon.

A part of the medley has a Hikaru Genji song and we get some focus on a group of Juniors on roller skates, which include the members of ity, Fujigaya Taisuke and Kitayama Hiromitsu. They do not get to sing but do get the camera on them for a good while.

And as we hit the end of the episode we are introduced to the guests of the episode, Tackey & Tsubasa. And I would like to know who thought waiting until the end was a good idea to bring out guests. It comes off really awkward getting them on so late.

They at least start off by performing a song they have not performed before on the show, One Day, One Dream.

After that we get another T&T performance, this time of Yumemonotagari, which has been the song they have performing the past couple times they were on the show. But this time the bright colored long coats have been replaced with faux fur long coats.

Oh, and this is also the final performance of the show. Which would not be so bad if not for the fact that it was the second performance of the guest act in a row.


I really wish they could get more guests for the program. It is nice that they are willing to let the Kansai Juniors be guests but still 80% of the time it is T&T or Tackey or Tsubasa. I really would like to have NEWS back to add in some variety here at least.


And on a personal note, I have gotten sick in the past couple of days. I think it is a cold but it is mainly just completely miserable and I just do not have a lot of energy to do things as it came with a bit of a fever. Hopefully it will be over as quickly as it came on. I know I'm taking enough Airbourne for that. But expect things to get sporadic between that and the fact I will be traveling next week. Hopefully it will all get back to normal after that.