The Shounen Club 7 December 2003 review

So if the last episode seemed off with the lack of NEWS this one is even worse as everyone in the group are not there for the recording. I can only assume they were busy with the FIVB supporter roles they had. But after seeing later group dominate Shounen Club after their debuts it is strange to see the reverse happening. But we shall see if this changes once the group have their official debut early next year.

With the introductions we are back to having the names of the members of the groups listed with the group name on screen. I rather like this as it makes it so much easier to keep track of the groups and where they are at with their members for those who will later go through membership changes.

As Yamashita Tomohisa is not there Akimoto Jun has Jimmy Mackey, Ikuta Toma, Hasegawa Jun and Kazama Shunsuke there to be the fellow main MCs for the program for this episode. And the theme for this episode is love, as Toma points out with his pose here.

The first medley is a J-FRIENDS medley as the explain being for charity it displays love. I will not argue as I love J-FRIENDS songs. I did notice that the lyric writer for one of the songs is Akimoto Yasushi, the producer and mastermind behind AKB48. I remember hearing he had written songs for Johnny's in the past but this is the first time I noticed his name attached to a Johnny's song.

Afterwards we get the music for a Detective Tomas segment but with Toma still on stage Hasejun and Kazapon pretend that Tomas is not there with Toma. Eventually they leave and Ya-Ya-Yah show up with a letter from Tomas for Toma.

Reading the letter leads them to showing the sign language movements for Yax3's song, Sekai ga Hitotsu ni Naru Made. It is kinda impressive as with it Yabu Kota sings A Capella for it. It is easy to see that he did have the talent to back up all the pushing he got.

Yax3 front the Sekai medley and we actually get a song that Yabu is not the main vocals for. Instead Yamashita Shoon gets to be front and center for a short while.

Even though he is not at the taping Yamapi still does appear on the show. He hosts a VTR segment that takes a look at a play Kazapon is in.

When we get back we are introduced to the guests of the episode, the three older members of Kanjani8. Though first up it is just Shibutani Subaru and Murakami Shingo as they do a stand up comedy act.

Subaru then gets to sing a couple songs solo. And with them it is a good example of what kind of songs suit his voice.

For the final song of the medley he is joined by the other two K8 members there, this time including Yokoyama Yu.

There is a letter exchange segment this episode. This time it is between Ueda Tatsuya and Jimmy Mackey. They seem like an unlikely duo but they both write letters that touch each other as well as make each other laugh.

The next medley starts with Toma having a solo. I like the song, Aitai yo, and I really wish they would bring back this song with all the other songs they seem to be bringing back these days on the show.

He is joined by the other two to finish up the song. Though they are not looking much like a group right now.

Toshin Yoshikazu & A.B.C. get to finish off the medley. I expect them to benefit from being one of the few Junior groups around for these tapings.

We have a new segment introduced, or brought over from the past season of Shounen Club, King of the Club. This is game segment and it is easier to see little things that will continue from here on for the SC game segments.

This time only Kazapon gets to be the MC for the segment and he reads from his book that this will be a KAT-TUN only version of the segment. I am actually quite excited to see the book as that is a mainstay of this segment from here on out.

As the guests of the episode the three K8 members get to be the judges for the segment. They have a giant xylophone thing for them to use to show whether they approve or reject an act.

Taguchi Junnosuke gets to be the first KAT-TUN member up. He displays his talent of twirling a ball on an umbrella.

Junno wins and gets a crown for it. One of the K8 guys makes it a point to say that he looks like a prince once he gets it on, which seems to be a bit of a gag as they say it to the other winners as well.

Since it is a KAT-TUN member orientated segment we have Tanaka giving it a go with their comedy skits.

Of course what is a Tanaka act without a fail verdict? And we get to see the fate of those who are not awarded a crown.

Kamenashi Kazuya is the final act of the segment. His act is to hit sign balls into the audience with a baseball bat. He has a pretty decent sized basket full of them so there were probably plenty of happy fans coming from this taping. And the guys of K8 gave their approval, which is good because honestly it just seemed wrong for it to go any other way.

Akimoto reads a letter from a KAT-TUN fan who of course loves the group.

KAT-TUN perform the song Destiny, which seems like it is an original song from them. I rather enjoy the song and performance, especially since they make use of some of the members various talents, like Junno's tap dancing and Ueda's guitar playing, with it.

We get the standard end with Non Stop, Don't Stop, with outro introductions this time. the ity members of K.K.Kity make an appearance finally in the episode just to be introduced as ity. I have to feel sorry for this trio as they are just the remains of K.K.Kity basically. Though I guess at least Yokoo Wataru will beat the odds and get to debut eventually with another group, but that is many years from now.