The Shounen Club 3 August 2008 review

We are back to Tokyo again for this month's episodes but not back to all the usual Juniors.

In the introduction we have a couple added faces in Kato Shigeaki taking Nakamaru Yuichi's place as host with Koyama Keiichiro and Imai Tsubasa joining in on the song as the guest of the episode. There is also the dance group M.A.D. present. What is missing though is all of Kis-My-Ft2 and A.B.C. as well as some of the other regular Juniors, like the five that include Takada Sho and Masuda Ryo. I cannot remember exactly what they were busy with at the time but they should be back next month if my memory serves me right.

In the starting MC they talk about why Shige is there with Shige reading a letter from a fan that brings up the NEWS o abake that Shige said that he could what Koyama could. IIRC, KAT-TUN was touring at the time so Nakamaru was busy with that and I will have to assume that is where EbiKisu and the rest are for this as well.

The theme medley is mixed with a NEWS medley. It starts off mainly as a medley for the theme of the episode, Vacation, and has Tsubasa with the mixed Juniors perform the first song of the medley. So we get to see a little bit of little Jesse performing.

As the medley goes on it becomes more of a NEWS medley with Koyama and Shige leading the songs. TOP3 are the most prominent Juniors for the medley being in a few songs and getting a good amount of time in front of the camera. Of course when they need even numbers they bring in Yamashita Shoon, who remains group and grouping-less.

Heisei Post is the next segment with Shige as the host this time. And Tsubasa is not the only guest for the episode as he calls out some Hey! Say! JUMP members, Yamada Ryosuke, Nakajima Yuto, Chinen Yuri and Arioka Daiki. This Shounen Club episode was recorded between when the Sensei wa Erai drama SP and the Scrap Teacher TV drama series aired, that they all starred in, which is most likely why we are getting these four of the group as guests on the program.

They read a couple of fan letters, one asking Arioka to give a wake up message. The other asks Yamada about doing an impersonation and he tries to do Yamashita Tomohisa then Yuto shows off his Kamenashi Kazuya impersonation.

The four then perform Your Seed and while I love the song and usually love the performances for it this one was just a bit weird. But it is mainly because the choreography is really meant for a large group so trying to have the four members do it did not quite work. They even had to have TOP3 come out and help them do some of the moves so they had enough numbers for them.

After the performance it is an MC segment with two members of Question?, and sadly neither of them are with Johnny's anymore. But they both talk about vacations they have gone on in the past.

The group then performs Parallel World, which I will never tire of listening to. I think if anything I would like to see them do something a bit different for their performances though. I know they are rather restricted with having to play instruments but there had to be something they could have done to make them feel a bit fresh from time to time.

The game segment is next and it is the game where the guys have to act out prompts and a judge, this time Tsubasa, decides which team did it better. It starts off with cat impersonations, cat ears included, between Nozawa Yuki and Sanada Yuma. The next is for performing the dance moves for Ho! Summer which is fun to watch as two Question? members are made to do it, and as band members they do not do all the dancing that other Juniors do. Then there is play acting about pretending to be a friend of Tsubasa's that is showing up late to meet him.

The final round is the true highlight of the segment and makes be sad that neither Shoon or Igo Akun are with Johnny's anymore. They have to pretend to be gyarus talking on a cell phone, which includes having them wear a wig.

Tsubasa then has his MC segment and talks about his trip to Spain, which will become one of many. He shows off some pictures, including a couple from the dance lessons he took when he was there.

He then goes and performs his solo song DO ME CRAZY. As expected from one of his performances the dancing is strong as well as the vocals. That is one thing about duos as that there is no one to hide behind so you need to be a solid performer.

With this Junior ni Q segment there is only one Junior brought over that is with the agency still, and that is Jesse. The topic is a vacation they want to take and Jesse answered with Las Vegas, as that is where his father was born.

Up next is an MC segment with Yamada. They talk about SUMMARY with him and he mentions that it was his first time flying (as in with the cables from the roof). They then switch topics to about the summer and Yamada talks about liking to go to the beach.

He then performs one of his solos, Asia no Yoru. I am already used to the CD version of this song so it sounds a bit off with him singing it in his younger voice. And I did not remember the performance being as dance heavy as it is.

We get something a bit different with the ending song as Koyama and Shige lead it. They sing Nami, which is song that was usually performed by members of the Four Tops, so it is a treat to have it performed again. And the rest of the Juniors, and finally the members of HSJ present, come in to perform it with them as well.


This is definitely an abnormal episode of SC with the most prominent Juniors busy doing something else. But this is not the first time it has happened nor the first time the issue was solved by pulling in a higher guest ratio than usual. It tends to work out in the end as the remaining Juniors usually get some spotlight they normally would not if the other Juniors were there.