Bakaleya6 profiles: Morimoto Shintaro

And finally we get the youngest member of the group, yet also the one of the ones that has been in Johnny's the longest.

Morimoto Shintaro (森本慎太郎)
Birthdate: 1997.07.15
Birthplace: Kanagawa
Blood type: A
Admired sempai: Takizawa Hideaki
Previous groups: Snow Prince Gasshoudan
Dramas: Juken no Kamisama (2007), Battery (2008), Koishite Akuma ~Vampire Boy~ (2009), Hataraku Gon! (2009), Hidarame Tantei EYE (2010), Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou (2012), GTO (2012) GTO SP (2012, 2013), Kasuka no Kanojo (2013)
Movies: Snow Prince (2009), Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou (2012)

From the December 3rd, 2006 Shounen Club episode

Shintaro is the younger brother of ex-Hey! Say! JUMP member Morimoto Ryutaro. He was what one would consider to be a Golden Junior.

The Golden Junior title is usually given to favorites of Johnny’s and there is usually always a Junior that gets a lot of pushing when they are young. Other Golden Juniors like Shintaro would be Yabu Kota and Nakajima Yuto.

Shintaro’s push did not really start in earnest until after the debut of Hey! Say! JUMP. Before then he was lumped into the group of young Juniors his brother was also in with Nakajima Yuto, Yamada Ryosuke, Chinen Yuri and Kyomoto Taiga.

Because of the pushing and the fact that Shintaro seemed to do well with the work he was given he was able to be in several dramas and even starred in a movie, Snow Prince, in 2009.

In promotion for Snow Prince he was given his own Junior group of Juniors his age and younger called Snow Prince Gasshoudan.

Shintaro was also featured in several of HSJ’s concerts in connection to his brother.

In 2011 when the underage smoking scandal about his brother Ryutaro hit Shintaro was not seen much. After a few months of laying low Shintaro began being seen more and in early 2012 he went back to the usual amount of pushing he had before his brother’s scandal. He was mainly placed with the Junior group Hip Hop Jump but was never a member during this time.

A big help in bringing Shintaro back into the spotlight was theate night NTV drama series Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou. In February 2012 it was announced he would be a part of the cast as the male lead of the drama , Sakuragi Tatsuya. The drama was a hit and will have a movie released in October 2012, which he will keep his lead role in. The movie will be released on DVD/BD in April 2013.

Shintaro was also in the 2012 GTO drama remake playing the role of Murai Kunio. He also appeared in the two specials for the drama that aired in October 2012 and January 2013.

The six Bakaleya Johnny’s Juniors (Bakaleya6) headlined their own SUMMARY concerts at Tokyo Dome City Hall on September 8th and 9th for a total of three concerts.

On December 15th, 2012 Bakaleya6 with noonboyz and other Johnny's Juniors held concerts at Yokohama Arena.

It was announced that Shintaro will have a role in the Spring 2013 Fuji TV drama, Kasuka no Kanojo, which stars SMAP's Katori Shingo that began airing April 9th.

He participated in the Live House Johnny's Ginza concerts that took place at Theater Crea from April 28 to June 2, 2013.

He can be seen performing on Shounen Club together with other Juniors monthly.

Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou ep. 12 review

At the final episode at last. It is a bit sad to have the series end but there is still the movie to look forward to.

Mixed in the usual recap is a scene we did not get in the past episode, Mana showing up at the assembly.

Back with the boys and their fight the group begins to break off to let the others move on. This starts with Maya and Satoshi staying back to let the rest of the group move on.

The next to leave is Shohei, to the surprise of the rest of the group. But they leave things in his hands and while it looks like he may actually do some fighting his true colors come out and he runs, letting himself be chased by the thug that stopped the group.

Back at the assembly Fumie continues to give her speech, talking about what she hates about the school.

We go back to the fight and of course Tetsuya splits off to leave Tatsuya to fight the main baddie alone.

Miyata-sensei actually does something somewhat useful in the drama and holds Saionji back so he cannot interrupt Fumie's speech. 

Fumie continues her speech and reaches the point where she turns it on its head by saying that even though she hates a lot about the school the boys love the school. And because they love the school she does not want to see it be ruined by someone who has used underhanded tricks to do so.

After Fumie is done Saya runs on stage to tell everyone that she also does not want to leave the school.

Lead by Sayuri the other girls and Miyata-sensei give their support for wanting to stay at the school. This of course ticks Saionji off as things are not going as he wanted at all.

Tetsuya manages to defeat his opponent which begins the series of events for the fight that ends up with the Bakada boys winning.

And the two delinquents that Tatsuya and Tetsuya ran into last episode show up to team up with the Bakada boys. Of course they do this because they do not want to see their rivals defeated by anyone else but them, which is a pretty common trope in shounen series.

Saionji pretty much turns into a defeated cartoon villain that snarls at the girls that the school will be closing and that will be the end of it.

With the fight things are wrapping up. On of the big highlights is Shohei actually landing a hit, though on accident with a headbutt.

The end of the fight with Makoto and Yuuki is a fun watch as they argue with each other only to use that momentum to beat their enemies.

The director of the school shows up at the assembly and ends up siding with Fumie. He claims her words and the support of the girls have changed his mind and he will do everything possible to keep the school going. So with that Saionji has been defeated.

Tatsuya is the last to finish off his battle and does that with the power of love (for his school).

Tatsuya lets out a cry of victory which all the boys hear and they celebrate the victory. Again I feel like Yuuki and Makoto are the highlight of this with their brofist.

Both sides meet after their separate victories. Tatsuya asks Fumie if she likes the school and she tells him that she hates it.

But Fumie gives her biggest smile yet and that seems to get the message across about how she and the other girls feel as everyone then breaks into smiles.

We jump to a month later and see things are more or less the same as they have been, with the boys being their usual selves and the girls being annoyed that they are not more refined. Also at some point Mana returned to the school and is friends with the rest of the girls again. The boys end up inviting the girls to go out and eat with them, showing that they have begun to get along even though they do not agree with everything.

Not everyone is happy that the boys and girls are getting along better. Yuuki and Makoto decide that the other guys are getting soft and decide to challenge them.

The others take up the challenge. And we end as the fight begins, much like how we entered the series in the middle of a fight.


Overall Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou is a good drama series. Sure it is not the most challenging but for it is it is good. It never takes itself too seriously, comes through with action and has a surprising high quality to its cinematography. That said I do not think I would recommend it to anyone who is not a fan of this kind of drama or the actors in it.

I think the series started strong enough but there were issues with actually making all the episodes actually feel connected. Several of them started a story and ended at a place that it felt it should lead on to something else but instead went nowhere. And I do not think they really had a story to fill the last few episodes properly, which lead to home things being dragged out that probably did not need to be or having stories that just did not feel all that inspired.

But despite this I found myself enjoying it. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they do the tropes they used well and the comedy. I think the comedy is one of the stronger parts of the series and without it Bakaleya would probably be hard to have gotten through.

I would say more but some of it will spill over to talk about the movie, which we get to see a preview of at the end of this episode. I will write up another post about that and address everything else then.

Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou ep. 11 review

Well this drama is almost over now. Hard to imagine that it would have been over for weeks if it kept the original nine episodes it was slated for at first. Johnny's and AKS must be happy that this drama has paid off and looks to be the perfect platform for these up and coming talents of theirs.

The episode starts with the usual recap of the final scene from the last episode. It then flashes to Tatsuya in the boys' club room looking uncertain. Tetsuya asks him if things are alright and he answers yes.

The gang from last episode are then introduced as transfer students and it becomes apparent that whoever is behind things has to have a good amount of sway with the school to pull something like this off.

Fumie and Saya go to Saionji to complain about the new transfers but Saionji just tells them that they only need to endure things for a bit longer.

Fumie and Tatsuya get to talk a bit and both are in pretty good moods despite the recent events. Tatsuya does confirm that he thinks that she and Tetsuya are an item to Fumie's displeasure.

They are called into the classroom as the website from last episode is still being updated with rumors even though Mana is no longer coming to the school.

The next day there is a flier up saying that the girls have an assembly for them to attend. The guys do not worry much about it as it does not say anything about them.

There is a rumor about the girls going back to their original school and Fumie and Saya go to find if there is any truth to it. Not only do they get it confirmed they are also told that this school is getting closed and the guys will be scattered to different schools once it does.

Tatsuya and Tetsuya run into some of their usual rivals to find that word of Tatsuya being replaced has already spread.

Meanwhile Fumie and Saya are discussing things. Both do not want to leave the school and decide that they should see about finding Mana and learning the truth. They end up being extremely lucky that when they go to leave to find her Mana shows up at the school.

By spying on Mana they are able to discover the mastermind behind everything, Saionji. When Mana tells him that she wants to do something to help he tells her that she is not needed anymore and is useless to him now. He then leaves and of course Mana looks heartbroken. Saya then reminds Fumie that Mana was a big fan of Saionji and they both agree he was cruel to just toss her aside like that.

We get the usual scene of Saionji discussing matters with the head of the school. He shows him how much the school could sell for and seems pretty content that he has convinced the other man to close the school.

Tatsuya and Tetsuya happen to see Saionji give money to the leader of the gang. They talk about it as they enter the classroom and find Saya and Fumie there.

The four go over what they have discovered about the matter. When discussing on what to do Tatsuya says that he plans on fighting much to the girls' dismay. He tells them that he is willing to do what he needs to in order to save the school. Fumie then says that she also will do whatever she can to save it as well.

Fumie and Saya find Mana and ask her for help. They say that they believe in her but she does not really respond to them.

It is easy to see that Mana regrets her choice and that the words of encouragement from Fumie and Saya will probably be enough to push her towards redemption. Especially since Saionji has showed her his true colors and dumped her so harshly. 

I find it interesting that the girl that prizes her friendship over love (Saya) is painted in a good light while the one that sacrifices her friendship for love (Mana) is not only is in a "villain" role but gets that love used against her. The theme of the strength of friendship is easy to see with the boys but I think this is really the first time you can see the same theme fully displayed with the girls. 

Tatsuya has a flashback to his brother talking about loving the school. He told Tatsuya that he can be the top of the school only by loving it and punches his hand into the punching bag. I am thinking this is going to be important when Tatsuya fights the big bad these episodes.

We then toggle back and forth between scenes with the boys gearing up for a rumble, which gives us this nice group shot.

And of Fumie and Saya walking towards the meeting that Saionji is having to announce to the girls that the school is being closed and that they will return to their old school. 

The main group of guys end up facing the rest of the school in the hall. Tatsuya opens things up by asking them if they love the school. They look puzzled but then the fight begins and that is what we are left with for the boys in this episode.

Fumie and Saya show up and Saionji asks Fumie to say something to the girls who are still confused about the announcements. With this the episode ends as Fumie says her first line of her speech, saying that she hates the school.

I think this episode would do much better directly connected to the final episode of the series instead of having to stand on its own. Even though things are definitely moving it just feels like the story is so close to the resolution that it is frustrating to have to wait another week to get that. So I think for those who will be able to marathon the drama will find this episode better to take as they will be able to move directly to the next unlike those watching the series now and are forced to wait.

I cannot wait to see how this ends. I have an idea but this drama has been good with throwing curve balls with what they end up doing from episode to episode. It will be interesting to see if they do any set up for the movie with the final episode as well. At least it should be only a couple more days to wait to find out.

Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou ep. 10 review

Sorry for being late with this review. I guess soon the drama will be over and I will not have to worry about it. Though that seems rather sad not to have another episode to look forward to. But there are two more episodes to look forward to, not to mention the movie, still.

The episode starts off with the last few seconds of the previous episodes. As Mana leaves Tatsuya runs after her to ask her if she really hates Fumie. Mana does seem to have more reason than that for doing what she did but she does not say and leaves.

The next day Mana is gone and Fumie is clearly depressed about the matter and not really paying attention like she normally does which worries the girls and Tatsuya and Tetsuya.

Not liking the atmosphere of the classroom Tatsuya announces he has an idea in the middle of class. Later he talks to his group about it and reveals that it is a plan to cheer Fumie up. 

The guys do not understand why they should do such a thing but Tatsuya convinces them to do it anyway.

This part of the episode seems to be more there to give some fun lighthearted moments to the episode as the rest is pretty drama heavy. But the boys are all rather cute in their attempts to get Fumie mad. Of course how that is to lead to cheering her up Tatsuya only knows.

So it is no surprise that the plan completely fails as Fumie is too much in her own head to really pay attention or care about what the boys are doing which leaves Tatsuya stumped about what to do.

The next day they run into a student that got beat up pretty severely. They try to get him to tell them what happened but he refuses. 

Meanwhile Fumie stops at the gates of school then turns around and leaves. Tetsuya sees this and decides to follow her.

During class the girls are worried about Fumie because she did not show and did not tell anyone that she would not be coming to school. The boys notice that Tetsuya is not there either but figure he is just skipping class.

Meanwhile Fumie is a park just sitting on a bench. Tetsuya joins her and tells her that he will help her skip as she does not look like she is any good at it.

Eventually Saya cannot just sit in class and excuses herself so she can look for Fumie. After she leaves so does Tatsuya.

Tetsuya and Fumie go to the family restaurant they went to in an earlier episode. Fumie still seems down but Tetsuya ends up cheering her up a bit.

Tatsuya and Saya are out searching for Fumie. Saya has not found her in the spots that she usually spends time at. She then remembers that Fumie did mention that she really enjoyed going to the restaurant and decides that is where they should check next.

Tatsuya and Saya find the two at the restaurant. Saya holds Tatsuya back to watch what is going on between the two though. 

By then Tetsuya is able to connect with Fumie and she lets out some of her pain with him, crying. He pets her head to comfort her and Saya takes it to mean that they are closer than friends.

Saya rushes out of the restaurant then and Tatsuya follows confused about her reaction. Saya ends up spelling it all out for Tatsuya who is of course clueless. Tatsuya then recalls a couple of conversations with Tetsuya that do point to him having feelings for Fumie and realizes that he failed to pick up on it then.

The next day Fumie asks Saya about if she searched for her. Fumie ends up lying about where she was so Saya asks to talk to her alone. She calls Fumie out on her lie and tells her that she likes Tetsuya but even so she will still be Fumie's best friend.

I love the fact that Saya is not going to ruin her friendship with Fumie over romance. Too often in stories like these friends turn into bitter enemies over a love interest, especially girls, for the sake of drama and to me that does not seem right. Girls can have strong bonds of friendship that can stand up to something as easy as liking the same guy and I am glad to see that this is the way this drama is going. And I think it really shows why Saya is Fumie's best friend. Not to mention actually shows what kind of person Saya is, caring but strong, something that has been missing until now.

Meanwhile Tatsuya talks to Tetsuya about Fumie. He tells him that he is fine with it and that surprises Tetsuya. Tatsuya does not get why Tetsuya would be and tells his friend that Fumie is not his type. Though as he leaves the rooftop he realizes that there is something not feeling quite right about it.

He does not get a lot of time to think about it though as he is told to come to their room. The room the boys hang out in has been broken into and trashed. They notice that even their school name placard is missing which of course angers them.

There is a noise and the guys rush to the classroom where their placard has been thrown through a window. Not being able to see who did it from the window they leave the room.

Tatsuya and company go outside calling out to whoever is responsible. The guy with the two-tone hair and scorpion tattoo comes out from behind and punches Tatsuya in the gut. Tatsuya tries to recover but is not able to and falls down, and that is where the episode ends.

This episode does feel like it is mainly just set up for the next story arc, which I guess will be the final major one. Though I guess it at least pushes through quite a bit of progress with the love triangle now that it is clear who Tetsuya likes to everyone and that Tatsuya is noticing that he may just have feelings for Fumie after all.

Love that Saya finally got actual character development and I finally feel like she has become a character worth rooting for. Though honestly I personally would pair Tetsuya x Fumie and Tatsuya x Saya, but I know how these character archetypes work in dramas so I know it will not happen.

From the previews the next episode looks like it will focus mainly on the new adversary for Tatsuya that sucker punched him at the end of the episode. That and the threat of having the male students expelled to save the reputation of the school. Both definitely sound like the kind of story lines that will end the series on a strong note if pulled off well.