Sayonara Tegomass, or not

Tegomass will be releasing a new single on March 6th. It is titled Sayonara ni Sayonara and will be an R&B song. It will come in two versions.

The limited version will have the title track, the karaoke track version of the title track and a DVD that will have the PV and making of for it.

Sayonara ni Sayonara [w/ DVD, Limited Edition] / Tegomass (Tegomasu)

The regular edition has the title track two B-sides not on the LE and a Tego karaoke and Massu karaoke version of the title track. I can only assume those karaoke versions will have only one of them doing their parts so I guess if you want to sing with one of them for karaoke you can.

Sayonara ni Sayonara [Regular Edition] / Tegomass (Tegomasu)

I am of two minds for this release. I do like Tegomass but I am first off a NEWS fan and of course would rather see something from them. But as long as the huge gaps in releases do not happen for NEWS in favor of Tegomass' activities I will be fine.

In a way I cannot help but think that maybe this is a bit of a way to test the sales potential of Tegomass compared to NEWS after everything. I think it will be interesting to see how this single does sales wise, especially as it will only have two versions.

FNS Music Festival 2012 review

Next up for the year end programs is FNS Music Festival (Fuji Network System Music Festival) that is the first to have aired in December. It aired on December 5th on Fuji TV and was filmed in the Grand Prince Hotel.

FNS Music Festival is a bit different than the other music programs as its main focus is on collaborations between different artists and their is no live audience outside of the artists themselves at the hotel this is all filmed at. It also features a live band, though not all artists use it. This is also one of the longer programs running for around three and a half hours.

The show kicks off with SMAP performing their fan favorite song, SHAKE. A great way to start anything as it is a great song to liven anything up with and it is easy to see why it is such a favorite at concerts.

We also get to see a bit of the collaboration element of the program as on the other stage, as the place is set up to have two stages with a seating area in between them, is a gathering of a good chunk of the artists that will be in the program singing and dancing along.

After a couple of performances we get to meet the hosts of the program, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi and Takashima Aya.

TOKIO collaborates with Yokoyama Ken to sing their song Haneda Kuukou no Kibou. Yokoyama Ken has that gravely tone to his voice, which does work with rock songs but can be off putting for some.

The ad breaks give us some shots of the audience, which as mentioned earlier are just the artists participating in the show. So there are some fun little moments to be found in them with those that know to make any screen time count.

We do break away from the hotel to in front of the Fuji TV studio in Odaiba for a performance by Sexy Zone. I am assuming this is partly because they all would not have been able to stay for the full show at the hotel because of the age restrictions. Of course we have Sexy Summer ni Yuki ga Furu being performed. I do not think I will ever like this song but at least it is being performed during the right season for it.

One thing I love about this program is that we get to see more than just the usual songs selected to be performed by groups at the other year end shows. EXILE actually gets to prove they know more than one song as they perform one of their older hits, Choo Choo TRAIN in a collaboration.

Also to finally note during the performances they do quick cuts away to the audience so even if you do not like the artist performing you can still catch glimpses of artists you may like. Or just see other acts enjoy watching someone else perform for a change.

It was nice to see Kondo Masahiko show up on one of these year end programs other than Johnny's Countdown. It is probably easy to forget that he was really a big thing during his day and as such still has a place on these shows with the rest of the nostalgia acts.

I really do not care for Golden Bomber but Go Hiromi is always worth watching. Especially when you take into account that he is 57 years old. Go is also an ex-Johnny's and easily the most successful one to have left the agency.

One of my personal nostalgia acts, being one of the first J-pop acts I discovered and enjoy/enjoyed in T.M.Revolution. So I loved this performance because not only was it him but the AKB48 members being used as his dancers include NMB48 members Yamamoto Sayaka and Watanabe Miyuki. It is amazing to see an old love mixed in with a new one so this is easily one of my favorite performances of the show.

Arashi is one of the few acts that get to perform one of their songs without any kind of collaboration, but that is probably more for the fact that I doubt they were actually there. This guess is based off of the fact that they have not been since once in the crowd of artists and there are no cut scenes to show an audience even there for them. I guess they could not fit this around their schedule or something. But not having them actually there with everyone else and obviously so makes it a bit of a let down seeing as the big thing with FNS Music Festival is seeing all these artists together.

I was initially disappointed that it was Tegomass on this program and not NEWS but honestly I think it worked out for the best. Tegomass work well as a duo and fit in well with their collaborations like this one with Sukima Switch and Teppei Koike singing Zenryoku Shounen. And the fact that they have more than just this is probably because they are there as a duo, as with the other Johnny's they mostly remain with their group and not do collaborations. So they were probably picked so Johnny's had another act that could do collabs with the other artists there.

Sadly even here there is no escape of Rising Sun. I wonder if the members of EXILE are as tired of performing the song as people are of hearing it.

And of course we have a AKB48 medley, which I spend most of my time looking at the NMB48 members mixed in with them, especially Sayaka. Though to note they seem to be singing without a backing track so it is interesting to hear what these girls sound like actually live.

Hey, we get an audience cut scene with Kis-My-Ft2 here. Senga Kento actually looks like somebody in it too even with KiFt there as well. So he has much to look proud about.

Back with AKB48 we have the new overlord (Shimazaki Haruka) performing her song, Eien Pressure. I think fans are just going to have to come to terms that this era of AKB48 will be ruled by dead fish eyes v.02 and the android (Watanabe Mayu).

And if it was not bad enough having to sit through one of these pre-recorded performances by Arashi we have another. Still have the same issue I had with the first except I like Wild at Heart less than Face Down so this is just a little extra boring for me on that front.

Nice to see Hirai Ken here, even if he seems to be wearing pajamas. But he and his label mate, YUI, get to sing a duet together. I do not think I will be able to get over Hirai's outfit here. I really do not get Japanese fashion sometimes.

Mr. Children continue to show up on these programs as well, though I really hope they skip one or two eventually. Normally I would be excited to see them perform so much but with Sakurai's voice sounding as worn as it is I would rather he relax and let it recover some. But on the plus side they perform Marshmallow Day, which is not as vocally taxing as the other songs they have performed on the other shows. I am disappointed that they seem to also be pre-recorded, but for them it is not as surprising as all these music show performances are out of the norm for them to begin with.

Back when I was trying to expand my J-pop horizons I picked up the Japan Gold Disc Award 2002 CD collection to sample new artists with. One of the tracks on it was Hitori by The Gospellers. I never got into that group but I liked the track, so seeing The Gospellers collab with Tegomass for that song on this program is another personal highlight for me. The standout thing about this song is that it is all in a cappella. This means lots of beautiful harmonizing and no shouty Tegoshi Yuya.

Love the little Shin Domoto Kyoudai regular cast member love here with Nishikawa Takanori and Takahashi Minami watching fellow regular and Takamizawa Toshihiko, guitarist/leader of THE ALFEE, here. These kinds of interactions are probably one of the biggest draws for me for this year end special.

I am loving these sponsor breaks as they are giving some good chances for those who are not going to get a lot of stage time a chance to be seen.

Hey! Say! JUMP finally take the stage to perform their lone single of 2012, Super Delicate. Not much to say here as there was nothing that really stood out about it from all the other times they performed the song.

The MONSTERS are live though, we get the crowd shots to confirm it, and the song seems to be growing on me. Not to the point where I will buy the single, but it is getting to the point where it is tempting.

As if Go Hiromi needed a reason to look even more boss he has AKB48 back dance for him for his second performance of the night.

Then he has E-Girls (which includes Fujii Ryusei's sister SHUUKA here) be his back dancers for another song.

It must be the part of the program that all the old men get to show their stuff as Matchy resurfaces to perform again.

Joshima Shigeru seems to be enjoying it, and he looks like he would be able to fit right in with them.

And Go is still on a roll as he is performing again, this time the Japanese version of Livin' La Vida Loca, Goldfinger '99. Not sure how the song changed so much for the name change to that, but hey more Go and we get to see that some of the EXILE dancers can do more than just dance with NESMITH and SHOKICHI joining him on this.

And you know someone is legendary when you have Kimura Takuya singing and doing the hand movements along with you.

If there was one collaboration that surprised me the most it would be Wada Akiko with Miyavi. I have been a long time Miyavi fan and I was really happy to hear that he would be on the program though I was really curious what he would do as he is not exactly mainstream. But it looks like the wisely chose to use him as a guitarist, his strength as a musician. But I would not have thought he would collab with someone like Wada Akiko. I guess their images just did not seem like they would work and yet somehow it did.

I sometimes wonder how many of the international J-pop community would know of acts like Aikawa Nanase. She was a part of the rock boom of the 90s and helped pave the way for female J-rock acts after her but I feel that if I bring her up to other international fans most will have no clue who she is. I would recommend giving her songs a listen at least, she has some great hits, like the one she sings with Mizuki Nana here, Yumemiru Shoujo ja Irarenai.

Still loving these audience shots as you can tell which groups know how to into things. Though I am not sure the banana in the jacket pocket is the way to go there for Nagase Tomoya. It is bound to leave a bit of a mess.

V6 takes to the stage to perform and get to do a collaboration. While I am more than familiar with Miyavi I sadly do not know who the other guy is. I feel like I should as he has been in several other collaborations in the program and has the air about him of being a long time veteran of the J-music scene. In any case we get an acoustic version of Ai Nanda which sounds great.

Oh, Hirai Ken, you are just going to be a fashion disaster for this program aren't you? And even though I thought you could not top the pajamas you do so effortlessly with the Harry Potter glasses, over the shoulder rug with fake parrot. At least you sound good.

Kis-My-Ft2 do their usual performance of Ai no Beat -dance version-, and really there is nothing much to say as they really do not change anything up. I wonder though if there is more or less pressure felt to perform in front of other artists in the industry instead of fans though. Especially if you are a newly debuted group like Kisumai and have nothing compared to the records of the legendary artists that have performed already.

When Kinki Kids perform they have the Domoto Brothers Band, that is made from the regular cast of their Shin Domoto Kyoudai program, perform with them.

Next Johnny's is Yamashita Tomohisa performing Ai, Texas. I honestly had not heard the song until this performance and I can see why people did not care for it. It is not the kind of song I would care to listen to again.

There is another pre-recorded performance for Mr. Children. It is one of the songs sung on the other music programs and runs into the same issue that it did before where Sakurai's voice is too worn to really do the power notes of the song and sounds like it is disappearing on him if he tries to go for them.

We then get a large group piece as Happy Xmas (War Is Over) is covered. We get an interesting grouping here and I wonder how many of them understand the meaning behind the lyrics of this song, as it is song all in English.

We get a Johnny's collab on the show as Matchy has TOKIO, Kinki Kids and Tegomass back him in performing his song Let's Go. It sounded like Tegoshi forgot he did not have lead vocals during his parts as he sounded almost as loud as Matchy during them.

SMAP end up closing the show with their song gift. Nakai Masahiro steals the show with his over exaggerated dancing.


FNS Music Festival helps bring in something a bit different from the other special music programs during this time of year with its performances. It is probably a special though that may not be the most enjoyable for those who do not know who a good chunk of the artists are though, as it is a bit of a who's who of the J-music industry.

But it has its moments throughout with the interactions of the artists that just typically is not seen all that often, or at least with the mix that you get for this program. And some of the collaborations are just excellent and worth a watch so if you feel you have a good handle of the J-music scene go ahead and watch the full thing. If not then just watching the clips of the artists you do know would be fine.

KAT-TUN new single and Tegomass concert DVD

Catching up now with recent release announcements.

KAT-TUN has a new single on the way to be release on May 18th, White. While it's a single A-side it has two tie-in songs, the title song and the B-side on all three editions, Perfect. There is one LE that has the usual PV for the A-side with making of. Then it's two REs this time, each coming with a different 2nd B-side song.

White [Regular Edition] / KAT-TUN

White [Regular Edition (First Press)] / KAT-TUN

White [w/ DVD, Limited Edition] / KAT-TUN

White [Set of limited and regular editions] / KAT-TUN

Then Tegomass will be releasing a concert DVD for their last concert tour, Tegomass no Ai. It comes in two editions with the only bonus for the LE is a 52-page booklet.

Tegomass 2nd Live Tegomass no Ai [Regular Edition] / Tegomass (Tegomasu)

Tegomass 2nd Live Tegomass no Ai [Limited Edition] / Tegomass (Tegomasu)

With the May singles that have been announced I'm personally wondering if Kis-My-Ft2 will be having a June CD debut instead. It seems too late for them to release on the first week of May and AKB48 have a single releasing on the only other week that doesn't have a Johnny's single being released. I'm sure Johnny's wants Kisumai to have a #1 debut single so I wouldn't be surprised to see that they wait until the next month to make sure they get that.

News roundup

Well the news keeps coming in so I've decided to collect the recent batch in this one entry.

First off Tegomass's tour has been extended as they will be returning to Yoyogi July 30th-August 1st for three more shows. More information can be found on Johnny's net.

A bit of a downer, SMAP's concert in Shanghai has been canceled. The Expo canceled the concert after safety and security concerns arouse when South Korea had a concert with popular acts from their country and the commotion it caused. The Expo feared the same would happen with the SMAP concert and opted to cancel the event.

Brietbart article. (English)

And then for some better news, the SP for NTV 24 Hour Television has been announced. Nagase Tomoya will be starring in the SP for his second time. He stars alongside Hirosue Ryoko as a couple that have to deal with a terminally ill daughter.

Tokyo Graph article. (English)

I'm a bit disappointed that it's not Masaoka Masahiro starring in the SP, especially since I would have loved to have seen him with Hirosue again after they were in Yasuko to Kenji together. But I can't complain about having Nagase in another drama as I tend to love him in whatever he's in.

Tegomass & Matchy to appear at Jingu Outer Gardens Fireworks Festival 2010

Tegomass and Kondo Masahiko will be making appearances at Jingu Outer Gardens Fireworks Festival 2010. The event will take place on August 19th, 2010 and Matchy and Tegomass are listed as guests for the event.

Nikkan Sports article. (Japanese)

Tegomass mini album Tegomass no Ai

So Tegomass is indeed going to have some new songs for their upcoming song as they will have a mini album coming out April 21st title Tegomass no Ai.

The Regular Edition will contain seven songs in total with a 12 page booklet while the Limited Edition will have six songs, a 16 page booklet and a DVD that will have a PV for the song Moshimo, Kono Sekai Kara OO (marumaru) ga Nakunattara and footage from a Tanabata Matsuri event.

You can pre-order the mini-album over at cdjapan, and see the typo ridden information for the release, but it does have a full track listing, though the bonus track for the RE is listed as 'untitled' for now.

Quick news bits.

I've been busy with doing some spring cleaning the past few days as I want to get that done before I have to go back to school at the end of the month. It's kinda amazing how much stuff one can collect over time. But onto the recent Johnny's news.

First off the Kansai Juniors will be doing another drama shorts series. It's currently titled Daremo Shiranai J Gakuen and like their other drama series each episode is set to feature a different cast of Juniors.

For the first episode Kiriyama Akito will be the lead.

Tokyograph article. (English)

Next in drama news, Ohno Satoshi's upcoming drama, Kaibutsu-kun, has announced it's full cast and he will be joined by another Johnny's member. It's not Chinen Yuri though as it had been rumored but rather Matsuoka Masahiro from Tokio. Matsuoka will be playing the prince of the Demon World, Demonkin.

I now realize I need to catch up with my drama watching because if Mabu is in this I'm going to have to watch it. *is helpless fangirl*

Tokyograph article. (English)
Arama They Didn't post. (English/graphics heavy)

Johnny's net has updated for TV events that family club members can ballot to attend, and amongst the usual programs there is a Tegomass special program. There hasn't been any other word about this special, though I have the feeling that it just might be promotion for their upcoming concert tour seeing as they don't have a new release or anything since their first concert tour last year.

Also Hey! Say! JUMP are listed as the guest for the April episodes of Shounen Club. Kinda surprised as I assumed those episodes would be NYC centered with their single coming out around that time, but I'm still glad to see HSJ doing anything as a full group.

Upcoming spring concerts

Continuing on with playing catch up with the news I missed while on my hiatus last month this post is for the concerts announced for the spring of 2010.

First up is Kis-My-Ft2's second national tour. This time they'll be performing in arenas, which is a step up from the venues they performed in on their first tour last year. So while they won't be visiting as many locations the venues will be larger. The tour starts off at the end of March and ends early May.

I'm quite excited about this as it's another step towards potential debut for Kisumai. Johnny's just needs to step up and get them more promotion in the form of getting them on TV more with drama roles and TV programs and I feel they'll do well.

Then Yokoyama Yu is getting a solo concert tour which will be a nationwide tour, much like Kisumai's 2009 tour. It will kick off at the start of April and end at the end of May.

I really wish I could go to this as Yokoyama is my favorite Kanjani8 member and I have loved his solo songs. Instead I have to just hope he does another solo tour sometime in the future and I'll be in Japan for that and live off any of the concert reports I find.

Then the latest concert tour announced is for Tegomass. They'll be covering more locations than their first tour last year and begin touring at the start of May until the end of June.

With the tour announced it makes me wonder if we will be getting a new Tegomass single this year as well. Or maybe perhaps this tour will have solos, which their first tour didn't include. Of course this also means that for May and June we probably won't be getting anything from NEWS, so it would be a good time to release something for Kanjani8, though it'll have to be in June as Yokoyama needs to finish off his own concerts before that.

But with these concert announcements it makes me wish I was still in Japan so I could go to at least one show for each one. But I guess I should just use it as incentive to do well in classes so I can graduate after this upcoming quarter and see about getting a job in Japan so I won't have to go missing on these things again, as I've gotten rather addicted to seeing musical acts live in concert while I was in Japan.

Playing catch up

Since it's been a while since my last update I'm just going to lump all the various news tidbits I have to talk about in one post.

First off this upcoming Friday Music Station will have two Johnny's acts performing. Snow Prince Gasshoudan of course is one of them and the other is Kondo Masahiko, aka Matchy. I expect that they will make a big deal about the age differences and time in the agency between the two and that Morimoto Shintarou will do almost all the talking for his group.

I kinda hope they don't make Chino say something outside of his rehearsed lines, as he doesn't seem to have a clue about what he's doing and I find watching him look completely awkward makes me feel awkward too. Though I'm sure he'll get better if he stays in Johnny's but right now I think he needs a bit more experience so he will at least know if someone is talking to him he needs to respond with something.

The Tegomass concert DVD has finally been given a street date and is up for pre-order at the usual stores. The only difference between the two versions is the booklet, all the contents on the DVD is completely the same. And from looking at the listing for what is included on the DVD it looks like the concert is there in its entirety from what I remember when I was at the concert the day they filmed it. So I know I'm really excited about this release.

Also from reports from Tsubasa's current concert tour Tsubasa has said something about the future of the Tackey & Tsubasa unit. According to him he has talked to Tackey about doing something together again, so there is still hope for the unit despite the two mainly doing solo work for some time now.

And I think that was it. If not then I guess I'll have to make another post after all.