First-half of the year predictions 2013

Well it is the first day of the new year so it would be a good enough time to bring out this kind of post to kick start a new year of idol blogging.

I see TOKIO releasing a single between now and the midyear mark. If anything their TV programs could use new theme songs for their new seasons when they start in April. Otherwise I can see them pretty quiet as a group. Nagase Tomoya should be seen a lot more though with his new drama for the first quarter of the year but unless it ends up as a unprecedented hit there probably will not be too much more to that.

NEWS should keep going at the pace they have been since their return which should mean at least one new single before midyear. Since there are no drama roles that we now of for them in the coming winter season I would expect that the spring season will have at least one of the members in a drama role. Otherwise they will continue at their usual pace for work. Of course there is their concert tour DVD coming out in early 2013, but I doubt there will be much promotion as typically there is not any for concert DVDs. But I think we will not get another tour from them until their next album which will probably came after a fourth single post-comeback.

Kanjani8 can relax a bit this year after their busy 8th anniversary year. They will probably still have their fair share of releases and a new album for the end of the year. In fact since their last single's title track, Aoppana, was not on their best album they have one single towards their next album. So by midyear we should have one new single and at least an announcement for another. It would be nice to see Ohkura Tadayoshi get a new drama role. It has been a while since his last one, IIRC. But if not him there will probably still not be a drama season without a member of K8 with some kind of drama role.

Hey! Say! JUMP will have one single released by midyear. If HSJ are going to tour with album releases they would need to up releases in the coming year if they want to aim for either fall or winter for a new album/tour. A member will get a drama role, perhaps two, but most likely candidates will be one of the younger four. This one is more a hope than prediction, that Yan Yan JUMP gets cancelled or retooled for a better variety program with more members of HSJ involved in it.

Kis-My-Ft2 will keep going at their current pace so they have an album out in time to tour in either spring or summer. KiFt will continue getting roles in dramas. Miyata Toshiya and Senga Kento may also get a small drama role in the first half of the year. Kisuhama Learning will get retooled in the spring. Hopefully to be a more entertaining program again.

The Kansai Juniors seem to be on a roll. The older ones are getting a nice break with the movie that will be released next year. The younger ones, or at least Kin Kan and Naniwa Oji, seem set with having their own program to be promoted on. I honestly do believe that there will be a debut in the future for the older ones at least. I feel the promotion of the younger groups is partly to ensure that there is not a vacuum created for the Kanjuu in general if the older, and popular, Kanjuu are debuted. And since K8 are done with their anniversary year it would be the perfect time to start up big things for the Kanjuu in preparation for a debut. So I would expect the Kanjuu to be kept busy this year if that is the way things really are headed.

Honestly my main prediction for Bakaleya6 is really just my biggest wish for them, and that is that they remain as a group. Morimoto Shintaro will be in the new Hoshikori class which will give us four of the six at the school. Kyomoto Taiga will start appearing more, like in dramas and CMs, now he has a more flexible schedule. Jesse and Matsumura Hokuto will continue to get drama roles, with Jesse already covered with his role in Biblia Kosodou no Jiken Techou. Morimoto Shintaro will probably get another drama role once high school entry tests are over for him, though this may be in the second half of the year instead. Kochi Yugo will remain under appreciated but will remain on School Kakumei.

For the rest of the Johnny's Juniors I am just going to shoot in the dark for my predictions and be prepared to be wrong for most, if not all, of them. We will see a new group created. Sexy Boyz will more or less become the new four member Junior unit that will be doomed to be broken up by a FIVB debut. Fujiie Kazuyori will leave Johnny's like most of Question? now has already done. And the NTV midnight drama will continue to have dramas with Juniors.

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Since I do not follow other idols as much I do not have much in the way of predictions but there are a few I have for at least a few of the groups I do follow.

NMB48 looks to have their usual first single of the year being replaced by their debut album. That will probably not change the rest of their usual release schedule and I see their usual summer single coming out around the usual time of year. While Team N is a full roster again Team M still has a couple of empty slots that should be filled by KKS from the earlier generations. I would be shocked if they promoted any of the 4th generation KKS this early on. But if the graduations from the group do not slow down in the coming year I would not be surprised to see a couple of the 4th gen KKS get those promotions perhaps at the end of the year. I would not be surprised if NMB48 get a new show starting in the Spring. That is the typical time for new programs to begin and it has been long enough since Genin ended that NMB48 should get another program that focuses heavily on the girls.

Happiness will hopefully get a single out in the first half of the year. I doubt they would get more with LDH focusing on E-Girls which of course takes members away to be a part of that. But so far that has not stopped groups from releasing on their own from time to time. And I would love some new Happiness music. I really liked their album and would love to have some follow up from that.

Love La Doll will keep going strong and will have another single or two before mid-year. With a oneman concert in February and a good flow of singles from the group since their debut I have high hopes for this group. Even though they are an indies group they have had some good breaks and I feel that they have a good momentum going that should not stop anytime soon. I do not think they will be picked up to go major just yet but the oneman concert is a big step in the right direction and if they can continue with them this year they should be in a good position for that later on.