The Shounen Club 20 February 2005 review

Finally on the last taped episode of this season of Shounen Club. Will do the recap episode that is the actually final episode on Monday as planned so I can get to the next season soon. Of course I am banking on the fact that usually there are some change ups with each season and with KAT-TUN nearing their debut date, only about a year to go now, the issues I am having with the current season will not all carry over.

There is no introduction this episode and it instead begins with KAT-TUN performing a song while spread out in the audience.

After the performance we get to the usual opening talk. The theme of the episode is mirai (future) so we get the discussion about that. The KAT-TUN talk is actually kinda fun to hear this time around, if just for Tanaka Koki saying that in the future he sees himself as a freeter (someone who doesn't have a steady job).

Arioka Daiki and Nakajima Yuto get the chance to talk about the theme. Kitayama Hiromitsu decides to make use of the fact that he is just there on stage by blowing on Yuto's hair when he is talking. But we get a reminder that Yuto is only eleven here and I really cannot believe it has already been about seven years since this was filmed.

While the Mirai medley is another KAT-TUN heavy one there are some cute moments in it. Like Akanishi Jin not leaving Yuto alone who tries his best to continue dancing like he should.

We also get a blink and you will miss it shot of some of the back dancing Juniors and Yamada Ryosuke happens to be the Junior in the front for it. I keep forgetting how baby faced he was when he was little.

There is one short part of the medley that is KAT-TUN free and that is when Toshin Yoshikazu sings with Kis-My-Ft. I guess they must have figured is A.B.C. was not going to be there they would use their other four member Junior group of about the same age to perform with him.

Ueda Tatsuya has his letter reading segment that he has Kamenashi Kazuya guest in. He reads a letter and Kame gives advice about what to do when anxious. Still find this segment unneeded and rather dull. I hope it gets the ax moving into the next season.

Guess I was wrong in predicting that J.J.Express would be performing this episode as we have Ya-Ya-Yah doing a medley instead. They cover a lot of their senpai songs in it and all the members get a good amount of spotlight as members Yamashita Shoon and Ayukawa Taiyo get to be leads for a couple of the songs.

Afterwards there is a letter reading segment between Shoon and Toshin. While not as fun as the more recent ones it is still nice to see the relationships of Juniors in other groups get highlighted.

KAT-TUN perform GOLD as a ballad and I never want to hear it ever again. What makes GOLD a good song is that it is more a rock song than pop and slowing it down by taking some of the rock elements away is not right. Not to mention how boring it becomes. Thankfully it goes back to its usual tempo near the end but it remains a song that does not work at a slower tempo.

Question? is back to perform their song Holy Heaven. While I like them and the song I really have little to say between the fact that the performance does not really stand out to their previous ones of the song.

When NEWS is brought out to do a talk before their performance of the episode we get to see one of my least favorite outfits of theirs. I think it is mainly because they remind me of something you would expect a little old lady would wear than anything else.

They perform a B-side song off their single TEPPEN, Yume no Kazu dake Ai ga Umareru. One things I will give NEWS is that for a group that centers around Yamapi a lot they do a rather good job distributing lines in songs so every member usually gets a solo line in them. I wish a couple other of Johnny's larger groups would do the same more often at least.

We get a game of Sakenpon between NEWS and Sankyodai. While fun you could tell Sankyodai really were not trying and instead were playing up their characters which took out some of that fun.

Kamenashi Kazuya sings Kizuna, which is his solo song that is used as the insert song for the Gokusen 2 drama series he and Jin are in. Once I remembered about the two being in that drama at this time I have been waiting for Kame to perform this song. I have always liked it and while not a big Kame fan still found myself enjoying the performance, though I wish he did something more than just stand in place during the instrumental breaks.

We do get a VTR segment for the show. We have Inoo Kei again, but without Ikuta Toma. I would guess that Toma is still around as the set has not changed from the last episode's VTR segment and you can hear someone laughing off camera that sounds like Toma's. In any case it is up to Takizawa Hideaki to help a still very nervous Inoo conduct the interview. Of course there is Yoshitsune promotion, in fact until that drama is done airing I think that will probably be the default topic when Tackey shows up on the program.

We finally get a break from the usual end song and instead have KAT-TUN with NEWS and Sankyodai singing the Tackey & Tsubasa song Sotsugyo. Now this really feels like an ending and it is nice to see more than one group singing in it.


Overall not a bad episode. There is a good mix of the groups and Juniors and finally we get an ending that is interesting to watch if just for the fact it is a different song with not just the usual performers in it.

Either way I am glad to see this season ending. It is hard to say that the next episode is really the final episode of the season being a recap episode. It really feels more like a place holder. But in any case I am excited at the prospect of change coming up in the show's format as I know the show is starting to reach the episodes I was able to find the full versions of when I first began watching (mainly 2006/2007 episodes) and they are different than what I have been watching.

The Shounen Club 13 February 2005 review

On the final month of this season of Shounen Club, or at least the final month of new content as March only has one lone recap episode. I am hoping for some changes with the new season as things are feeling a bit stale on the program right now.

We get the standard introductions for groups at the start. Toshin Yoshikazu is alone this month as it looks like all of A.B.C. is missing. I can only assume they are busy with some other kind of work as it would be odd to have an entire group missing otherwise.

The theme for the episode is Try. KAT-TUN talk about it, with mainly Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin doing the talking. Kame brings up that it is test time in schools while Jin brings up Valentine's day.

For the Try medley only KAT-TUN sings the songs with the rest of the Juniors only back dancing for them. There is really no excuse for this and even though they do cover some songs I love I cannot find myself enjoying the medley much as this seems to be a clear early sign that this is going to be a KAT-TUN heavy episode.

We get introduced to the guests of this episode, NEWS, and this time they have the full eight member roster present for a change.

Koyama Keiichiro and Yamashita Tomohisa are taken to the side of the stage by Kame for a chat. Koyama of course naturally dominates the conversation but Yamapi is able to get in and talk a bit before the stage is ready for them to do their performance of the episode.

NEWS performs one of their album tracks, Say Hello, which is a fun jazzy number. Watching these older performances it is rather interesting to see that the members that have left the group have tended to be the ones that got the most spotlight during these early years.

There is a letter reading segment between Taguchi Junnosuke and Inoo Kei. It is another fun one with Junno being mainly sweet and Inoo's letter having a couple of moments that trolls Junno, who has some great reactions to those.

Ya-Ya-Yah get to sing their song Singin' For You. And if I have noticed anything they tend to switch off with J.J.Express with performances for episodes, so I expect not to see much of them for the second episode of the month because of this.

The VTR segment gives us the return of Ikuta Toma as he supports Inoo as he interviews Imai Tsubasa. Tsubasa definitely has a lot to talk about with being in Endless Shock, having his first solo concert as well as being in the drama Haru to Natsu.

We get to see some clips from Haru to Natsu which looks to be a drama I would love to see as it also has Nakama Yukie as well as the recently departed Mori Mitsuko.

KAT-TUN perform a very un-KAT-TUN-ish song, Oh-E-Oh! Taiyou no Salsa! I honestly think of Tackey & Tsubasa or early NEWS for this type of song, so it seems off that it has been given to KAT-TUN. Worst of all it ends up bring rather boring aside of the Junno-Koki dance battle in the middle of the song.

We are introduced to another set of guests for this episode, Sankyodai, which is made up of Kanjani8 members, Yokoyama Yu, Shibutani Subaru and Yasuda Shota. They get to do an ~ o abake segment, but they are set up for a prank from the start with Uchi Hiroki and Nishikido Ryo being brought on stage after they put the eye masks on. Of course there are plenty of fun moments to this, one being Yasu falling off of his chair for no apparent reason. This is definitely a big highlight to the entire episode.

As they ready the stage for the next performance Jimmy Mackey talks to the members of Question? I am rather surprised to see Question? put up and center like this as FiVe was always stuck in the back and barely recognized in comparison. It is a pity that Q? really could not capitalize on this as much as the other Junior groups and push their way to a debut.

Sankyodai perform the song Mikan, which is Subaru on main vocals, Yasu playing the guitar and backing vocals and Yoko gets to speak some lines in the middle of the song. Or they are playing to each of their own strengths.

Inoo Kei gets to read a letter all about doing your best. I rather like these as they give the younger Juniors a way to stand out a bit.

KAT-TUN then perform the song FEEL YOUR BREEZE which is a cover of a V6 song that was the theme song for Gokusen. It is actually rather fitting as this is the time period where Kame and Jin are in Gokusen 2 the sequel to the popular drama.

For the ending the guys get to play around a bit but still overall it is a snorefest. If anything I am glad that soon I will not have to listen to this song anymore.


With NEWS showing up more and more I hope we are moving closer to when Koyama and Nakamaru Yuichi become hosts of the program. Partly because it was that era of SC that I began watching the program and I am eager to revisit it. That and I know by then KAT-TUN will have debuted and I will no longer have to see one group dominate the show so much until the current SC era begins.

Thinking about changes to the show with the start of new seasons I am gathering hope that we see some of that with the current program. I may love Hey! Say! JUMP but I do not care to see them all over SC and since we have a group like Bakaleya6 that is proving to be a hit perhaps we can see HSJ with a reduced role to make room for them and other Juniors that are rising in popularity. I guess we shall see in April 2013 if this will come to be or not.

The Shounen Club 12 September 2004 review

Figured it was time to start getting these reviews back on track. I am first aiming just to get the Saturday reviews on track and then move to focus on Wednesdays as well. Once comfortable with those schedules I will do some Monday reviews to catch up for the weeks I missed.

We start the episode with Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin on the side of the stage before the curtain rises. We get introduced with the guest of the episode, Takizawa Hideaki, at this time as they goof off a bit right before things kick off for the episode.

Not much to say about the introductions, other than Ya-Ya-Yah are missing, which probably has something to do with them doing the Stand By Me play I would guess. Also A.B.C. Jr. are present but do not get introduced. Otherwise the usual intro followed by the usual opening talk with the theme of the episode announced to be Kizuna which translates to "bonds".

When they ask J.J. Express about something that comes to mind about the theme they talk about the bond between them and Nakamaru Yuichi and Tanaka Koki who they say are really kind to them. This embarrasses Koki but it is not the first time one of the little Juniors has brought this up so I am willing to believe that it is true and Koki's soft side is being revealed.

The Kizuna medley is actually pretty fun to watch as there is a good mix of Juniors participating and some of the performance points are just really fun to watch as the boys seem to be enjoying themselves.

Near the end of the medley we get a couple of other guests, Kanjani8's Yokoyama Yu and Murakami Shingo. They join the medley to help finish it off.

Yoko and Hina get to talk to KAT-TUN a bit, partly about the theme of the episode and their bonds with other Juniors. These leads into the introduction of the next performance though from the song introduction I would have had no idea what the song title was.

The English title that was garbled of the song J.J.Express performs is Stronger Without You, which seems to be a pretty mature theme for a song for a group of young teen and preteen boys. But they do well enough with it though I find it strange to see Arioka Daiki and Nakajima Yuto stuck in the back of a group, but I guess that will be changing up eventually.

After this we get a new segment that will become a regular segment on the program. It is lead by Taguchi Junnosuke and he has Inoo Kei and Matsumoto Kouhei as his helpers. The segment is called Dajyarebu, with dajyare being the Japanese word for pun which is the kind of Japanese comedy Junno is best known for. They read a letter and of course Junno ends it the segment with a pun.

This segment is followed by the Junior Hai School segment. Kame is still the MC for it but Junno is brought in to be the referee for this episode. They have two teams, each with either Yoko or Hina as the leader and the other four members of KAT-TUN divided between them. This episode's game is that an item category is given and they have to find something that will best fit it.

For example the first category is item that heals. Nakamaru gets handkerchiefs from the audience while Ueda grabs A.B.C.'s Totsuka Shota from the back and dumps him on the stage after carrying him all the way there. Nakamaru explains the handkerchiefs help heal things like nose bleeds while Ueda has Totsuka do a silly rhyme, that I can only assume is meant to make you feel better emotionally.

They do this a couple more times then the losing team has to do a batsu game, which this time is eating half an unsweetened lemon. While the expressions of Jin and Yoko are pretty funny I was more amused by the fact that Ueda had no reaction whatsoever and just ate his lemon half as if it was just any other piece of fruit. I guess he must have a high tolerance for bitter things.

With the game segment out of the way we get Tackey's first performance of the show. And while I am not a fan I do admire him for always putting forth a lot of effort when he performs. I do not think he could ever put on a lazy or half-hearted performance and I do admire him for that.

After that performance he gets to talk to KAT-TUN about the theme of the episode. We get to see a bit of his trollish side as he refuses to link arms with Jin then immediately does so with Kame when Jin is facing the audience.

There is another Tackey performance as he shows off his "ero" dance, which seems to mean a lot of hip rolls and pelvic thrusts.

Koki gets to sit and talk about an old friend of his that he has a strong bond with. It leads into him doing a rap followed by the rest of KAT-TUN joining him to do a group performance.

After the song ends we get a MC break with Yoko and Hina in the audience with KAT-TUN uchiwa. They talk a bit before introducing the next performances.

Jimmy Mackey gets his performance in and it is a cover of Bon Jovi's Runaway. I think this is actually one of the better songs for his voice but I still fail to be won over and most likely never will.

After a short talk segment with Taguchi Junnosuke and Matsumoto Kouhei, KAT-TUN perform the song Aki, which is an Otokogumi song. Since Jin and Ueda are on guitar for this there really is nothing in the way of dance moves for the song but since it is a rock song it is not so bad, but probably not the most entertaining of performances.

Yoko and Hina decide to join the audience for the final performance and cheer KAT-TUN on, and it looks like they found uchiwa of Jin and Kame to use this time. So the camera moves back and forth from the stage to where they are in the audience. And with that the episode ends.


Not a bad episode to get back into the swing of things with. Overall it is pretty fun and you can see the Juniors overall seem closer than in previous seasons. I think it helps that they are using more groups for performances and having the medleys that include several groups. And of course Tackey always just fits right in with the Juniors, as he has managed to keep a good connection with them post-debut.

Something I have not brought up in my reviews, even though it does get mentioned from time to time in the episodes, is the "leader" of the Juniors. I have avoided this because there seems to be no longer any leader for the Tokyo Juniors but there does now seem to be leaders for the Kansai Juniors currently so I figure I will go ahead bring it up here real quick. But the leader of the Juniors seems to be something that came from Tackey's time in the Juniors, with him having that role. It may have existed before but that is as far back as I have seen it mentioned. After Tackey debuted the title was given to the Four Tops and when Yamashita Tomohisa debuted, leading to that group breaking up, it seems to have been handed off to KAT-TUN. To my knowledge they are the last Tokyo group to hold the title though I believe it used to be argued that Ya-Ya-Yah took over from KAT-TUN but I need to get to those episodes to see if they get called leaders like those before them. Other than that the title is currently being used for B.A.D. being the leaders of the Kanjuu which can be seen in the TV program Maido Jani and IIRC the latest Osaka SC episode.