Other Idols Master Post 001

Since it seems the Master Post thing is going well I am adding one more, this one for the other idols that do not fit under Johnny's or AKS.

Unfortunately I do have a member leaving news for this post. But honestly this was probably a long time coming. Happiness/E-Girls member MIMU, will be withdrawing from the groups. She had been on leave for a while because of academic reasons, the rumor being that her grades were suffering so her parents made her stop activities to fix that. So having this announcement is not a great blow as it was always very iffy what her future would be, especially as she was only one of the dancers for the group, not one of the two vocalists.

Oricon Style article (Japanese)


In much happier news rookie idol group, Love La Doll, will be releasing a new single on November 7th. The title of the single is Honey Bee which is produced by Armyslick, who has produced for K-pop idol group KARA. This will be the group's second single after debuting with their first single back in August.

Honey Bee

Love La Doll

AKS Master Post 007

One of these days I will have one of these posts without a graduation announcement in it. But sadly this is not one of those days.

Mitsumune Kaoru from AKB48 has announced that she will be graduating from the group. She cites that she has been suffering from health issues since August 2012.

I am willing to believe her as she was only just promoted to a team and seemed like she would have been one of the main up and comers of the group if she could stay. She definitely benefited from being a member as she had acting roles in a couple of dramas like Ataru and Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou.

Very rarely does a member from AKB48 catch my eye or attention but Kaoru did just that with her performance in Bakaleya. She has the talent to be a good actress and I hope that her short time with AKB48  will help her out if continues to pursue that career choice.

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In good news NMB48 will finally be added to the Live On Demand (LOD) service by DMM.com. This means that people can pay to see video of a live show for a fee, so those who cannot make it to the theatre or could not get a ticket for a performance can still watch it.

Melos no Michi article (English)

Farewell, Akun.

I know I have been slacking with posts here and it is partly because I knew that I would have to write this post because this is something that I do not want to lump with other Junior news.

Apparently a few days ago the profile and voice messages for Igo Akun, one of the guitarist for the Junior band Question? have been taken off the official Johnny's sites. While the profile that came off of TakiCHANnel is not complete proof of this as not all Juniors have their profiles up there for whatever reason and some have disappeared before even though the Junior was still with the agency, the removal of the voice messages has been pretty spot on. I guess they next bits of confirmation we need is for Question? to do something as a group and have him missing. But I think it is safe to say that he has indeed left Johnny's.

While I had given up the hope of Question? debuting some time ago I still do like the group, especially Akun, who was my favorite member. He was always great at being entertaining and getting laughs out of people. I knew whenever he would be given the chance to be in the spotlight I was going to love it. He was always a great highlight to any of the Shounen Club episodes he got to be a part of a segment on. The program just is not going to be the same without him there.

I am going to miss him so dearly and I hope that whatever he decides to do with his life from now on he will be happy. 

My personal wish is that he plans on continuing his career in a band like pretty much all the recent Junior band members from FiVE and Question? I think if that will be the case then leaving Johnny's would be a good idea as they just do not seem to want to bother with debuting another band group, not when you have groups like Kanjani8 and Hey! Say! JUMP that have members that can create their own band within their group. That and they seem to be moving more towards just letting the Juniors that can play instruments do so for concerts without grouping them together. 

I guess the only hope of another Johnny's band group debuting if there is another rock band boom in the Japanese music industry, so I cannot blame any of the members of FiVE or Question? for leaving. Though it does not stop it from being heartbreaking all the same.

AKS Master Post 006

Well I have to say I am loving Kitagawa Kenji from NMB48. It is such a fun and catchy song to listen to and the PV is a joy to watch. Definitely better than their last single, Virginity. Cannot wait to get this with my November pre-orders.


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NMB48 members Yamamoto Sayaka and Watanabe Miyuki will be releasing their first photo albums on November 21st. Since they are being released on the same day they are going to be pitted in a sales battle between the two with the winner getting to star in their own solo commercial.

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It looks like the rash of graduations from NMB48 did not end after the creation of Team BII. Since then we have had two graduation announcements. First from 3rd gen KKS Togo Sora, which was only a day or two after the team announcement. Then on October 18th Team N's Matsuda Shiori announced her graduation from the group.

As for reasons why they left most of it is speculation from what can be picked up from their final posts.

Sora's final message does sound like she was getting discouraged with being in the group and it seems like not being picked for Team BII was the final nail in that coffin for her.

While with Shiokichi she talked about wanting to return to being a normal teenage girl again. I think though with her it could be guessed a part of it is that she was one of the least pushed members of Team N and was one of the girls caught up in the group's early scandals. While the other girls in that scandal have had various levels of success with bouncing back from it she was the least successful, with barely appearing in the singles and such. And with a new team created the chances for her to become more prominent again were looking pretty slim.


It will be interesting to see who gets promoted to Team N after Shiokichi leaves. Whoever they will be they will be the first none 1st gen KKS to be included into the group. I cannot help but think that it will probably be a 2nd gen KKS, especially since Team BII was nothing but 3rd gen KKS.

In any case I do hope we get a break from the NMB48 graduations for a while. It is disheartening to see so many girls leave all around the same time even though there is a lot of positive things happening with the group at the same time.

AKS Master Post 005

All the announcements for NMB48's anniversary have been made so I figured it would be a good time to make one of these posts, especially as we do get a new team.

The New Team M

Before we get to the new team a quick look at the changes with Team M. And thankfully the changes are nothing as great as fans were speculating. They just announced the three KKS that will join the team to fill the empty spots left with the three recent graduations from the team. The KKS graduating are the remaining 1st gen KKS, Koyanagi Arisa and two of the 2nd gen KKS, Azuma Yuki and Yamamoto Hitomi. 

I hope that with things settled down for the group now they can figure out how to promote this group so it is not left in the shadow of Team N. I think Yagura Fuuko is getting set up to be the new Ace of the team as she has had pushes in the past and will be the center of the new sub-unit in the upcoming single. So I wish her the best of luck and hope that more Team M members find a way to get noticed.

I am really happy to see that there are no more 1st gen KKS now, especially with the new Team BII it would have seemed too sad if the last girl of that generation was not promoted to be on a team. It is interesting though that this means Team N is 1st gen only, Team M is 1st gen and 2nd gen and Team BII being 3rd gen girls. I wonder if next year they will do a team shuffle, as with AKB48 dropping their Team 4 I doubt the other groups will be creating any of their own.

Team BII

Moving on to more exciting news, the formation of Team BII. I think it surprises no one that Yabushita Shu and Kato Yuuka are on this team. Both girls have been in the senbatsu roster for both the last single and this upcoming one so management clearly want to push them. Especially Shu who gets more pushing than Uuka (can't believe this is her official nickname).

The full list of team members is; Akazawa Hono, Ishizuka Akari, Ijiri Anna, Ueda Mirei, Umehara Mako, Ota Yuri, Kato Yuuka, Kamieda Emika (captain), Kusaka Konomi, Kushiro Rina, Kurokawa Hazuki, Kono Saki, Kobayashi Rikako, Muro Kanako, Yabushita Shu and Yamauchi Tsubasa.

Probably the biggest surprise is that Yokoyama Yui was not placed on a team. I guess it may be because she is coming from the main group, AKB48 and that she may not be with the group for the long term. I guess we shall see about this in time.

There is some new news about the new single Kitagawa Kenji. First we have the short version of the PV, which looks like it will be a fun one. It also looks like they are making this single to be the opposite of AKB48's UZA with using a cuter sounding song and a bright and colorful PV.

Also we have a sub-unit for this single. It is actually a continuation of the last sub-unit, Namba Teppoutai Sono Ichi, as it is called Namba Teppoutai Sono Ni. Kotani Riho is no longer in the group, as she had her big break with becoming a co-AKB48 member, and the center position has been given to  Yagura Fuuko (Team M). The other members of the unit this time are; Kato Yuuka (Team BII), Kushiro Rina (Team BII), Matsuda Shiori (Team N), Yabushita Shu (Team BII), Yamagishi Natsumi (Team M), Yamamoto Hitomi (Team M) and Yogi Keira (Team M).

I rather like the idea of this group, one that has all the girls that the agency wants to give a push to so they can become popular. And having it be mostly Team M and Team BII is nice, especially as it is a much smaller group than the Akagumi and Shirogumi subunits so the girls in this group have a chance to get decent screen time. Also having the girls that do reach a point where they do not need the extra help, like with Ripopo getting the promotion of being a part of AKB48 as well as NMB48.

To speak a bit on the recent graduations with Team M, I think it really should not have been surprising. Shortly before Team M was created we had a few girls decide to leave so I think when something like a team formation looms it probably forces the girls to really look at their idol careers. With a new team it means more competition for the top spots in the group and makes it easier to get lost in the background of a group. 

For Fujita Runa I think she must have felt that with her injury continuing her idol work would have been difficult and it would be a good time for her to bow out with a change to the group coming. 

For Ota Riona I would not be surprised if she figured that she may be better following her dreams through a different course. She had previous experience in the entertainment industry before going NMB48 and I can understand if she felt frustrated that she was getting little promotion and that soon there would another sixteen  girls she would have to compete with, with one of them being an AKB48 members as well.

Junior News Round-Up 001

Since there tends to be a lot of little snippets of news for the Juniors, Tokyo and Kansai, I decided to create a series of posts that will go over the ones I want to but do not think that are enough on their own to merit a separate post.

Playing some catch up now the Kansai Junior groups, Kin Kan and Naniwa Oji, have been given their own regional program to host. The program is called Maido! Johnny~ and airs weekly on BS Fuji. For their first episode they had Sexy Zone on as guests.

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Also more information is out on Nakayama Yuma's single, Missing Piece. The second LE that comes with a DVD has the track listing out for it. It will have the performances from the fan meet and will be 27 minutes long according to the official listings for the single.

JE News Daily (English)

This makes me wonder if Johnny's is partly using this release to test to see if there is interest in the Kansai Juniors that were at that fan meeting, as that version of the single looks like a must have for Kansai Junior fans.

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For some Tokyo Junior news, Hasegawa Jun has been added to the cast of the upcoming NTV drama, Piece, which can be seen on Johnny's net. One can only assume it will be a small part but still it means that all the members of the Junior group Four Tops are in a drama this season now.

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And in sadder news it seems like two more Kansai Juniors have left the agency this year. The two are Senzaki Ryota and Okazaki Takumi. Their profiles have been taken off of TakiCHANnel and both were missing from the taping of Shounen Club in Osaka this month.

AKS Master Post 004

I made a post for the Johnny's that will be on the upcoming NTV program that will have various talents that are popular in their shows but there is an AKB48 member on the list as well, Akimoto Sayaka. The special will be airing on October 6th and runs for 3 1/2 hours.

NTV OHP (Japanese)


While I am not really an AKB48 fan I do like some of the girls, and my favorite among them is Akimoto Sayaka. So I am really happy that she will be in this program as it is one more person to look forward to watching.



In sadder news NMB48 will be losing another member and from Team M again. Fujita Runa has decided to graduate from the group because of hip and back pain. She had already reduced her work load to try heal but since it is still uncertain what will come of it she decided to quit.

Official blog announcement (Japanese)


It is always sad to see an idol have to quit because of medical reasons, though it seems to happen much more frequently with the female idols. I cannot help but wonder since much of it is back, hip of knee injury if it is because they have to perform in high heels that is the cause. Because these girls are usually still in their teens so these kinds of pains and injury do not seem normal. And high heels are bad to wear for just everyday use, I cannot imagine how much worse on the body they are when you are doing something like dancing that put more stress on the body naturally.

In any case Ruutan will be missed by me. I rather liked her though she did not get much screen time. But I did like she was one of the girls that had no problem standing up for herself on programs where they would tease her.


I guess this means instead of the seventeen open slots for girls that was before with Jo Eriko's graduation and the creation of Team BII there will now be eighteen. Or perhaps it should still be counted as seventeen as I am sure Yokoyama Yui will have one of those slots.

KAT-TUN looks to changing to KaT-TUN

Because I don't think news like this can really wait before it gets spread everywhere, but it looks like Akanishi Jin will be leaving KAT-TUN after all.

Even though I know I've speculated about him leaving after his solo concerts in the U.S. were announced this has taken me by surprise. But it being reported that Kitagawa Johnny himself announced it earlier today at a press conference. Of course earlier in the day it was just an announcement that the final decision will be made after Jin's current solo tour ended and that he just wouldn't be returning to the group for some time but more information has come out and it looks like it's actually rather likely that Jin will permanently be leaving the group this time around.

KAT-TUN is keeping its name intact much the same way Kis-My-Ft2 did when they lost Iida and Kitayama became the 'Ki', with Kamenashi Kazuya now being the 'KA' instead of just the 'K'. And they will also stay together as a group but now as a five man unit instead of their original 6 members.

Tokyo Graph article.

Personally this all seems unreal to me. Perhaps because I'm so used to KAT-TUN being 6 members as when I got into Johnny's Jin had already returned from the U.S. after hsi six month stay there.

There's also the fact that unless Jin has work, other than his current tour, in the U.S. I'm not sure if it would be a good business decision on Johnny's part to have him break away from the group. But maybe he'll try to release music in the U.S. or there was a rumor about him auditioning for a movie a while back so maybe that was a bit more than a rumor. Honestly Johnny's isn't very transparent so I guess all fans can do is wait to see what they have planned and hope for the best.

A farewell to Yamashita Shoon.

I've been meaning to do this for a couple of weeks but have been putting it off. At first it was because I felt I needed the time to let things sink in so I can find the proper words to say but recently I think it's mainly because I feel by writing it down it really means I've really given up and I don't like to give up. But I think I need to be honest with myself and admit that Yamashita Shoon has indeed left Johnny's.

For about a month it was speculated that he had left the agency as he was no longer listed in the Junior section of the website that can only be accessed by those in Japan. This section has all the active Juniors listed and tends to be the thing that indicates whether or not a Junior has left, unless they were kicked out because of a scandal. Of course sometimes there are mistakes but after his name was removed from the official website for Hyakushiki-Ou, which he was a regular on, it seems like there's little doubt that he is no longer a part of Johnny's. There will probably never be a statement about it so these little signs are what we have to go by.

If you've been reading my blog for a long time then you know that Shoon was one of my favorite Juniors so this has been rather sad news for me. It's just so disheartening to know that I will no longer be seeing him when I pick up a new magazine issue or watch a new episode of Hyakushiki. He was always a bright spot for me and I seemed to love him more and more each time I saw him.

I came in to the Junior fandom around late 2007, after discovering the Hey! Say! 7 Junior unit, so I did not get to really see him much in Ya-Ya-Yah as it was only a couple of months before they were disbanded in Hey! Say! JUMP's creation. But during that time he stood out to me as the one that made me want to see more of Yax3. Even though he did not get nearly as much attention as Yabu and Hikaru there was just something that drew me to him so I was relieved to see him carry on after Yax3 was disbanded.

Seeing him shine so brightly on his own truly endeared him to me. He could have easily sulked about not debuting or become jaded about it but if he did he didn't let it show. In fact he seemed to do the opposite and became more lively and vibrant whenever he got a chance to be on stage on Shounen Club. And then when he became a regular on Hyakushiki he continued on with that wonderfully bright smile of his.

He was able to have some wonderful oppurtunities with acting as well being able to star in a play, Full House, in 2008 and then in 2009 he was in Romeo & Juliet. From reports from both he was praised for doing well and I know I couldn't feel happier for him to receive it. I still believe that if he remained in Johnny's he would have found great success. I wish I had the chance to see him live myself but things just didn't work out that way.

I truly believe that even though he is no longer with the agency he has left a mark with it from the opportunities he had been given. Something I don't think many Juniors can attest to.

With Ya-Ya-Yah he has a long friendship with Yabu and Hikaru, who got to fulfill his dream of debuting. And both have made it known, especially Yabu, that it is a part of their lives that won't be forgotten. I know in the past Yax3 fans have gotten irate when members of Hey! Say! JUMP have done Yax3 songs, but I believe they're doing those songs at the request of Yabu and/or Hikaru so I see them more as tributes (as they're the ones usually singing them) to the group that they cherished. So I hope that HSJ continues to perform Yax3 songs, as to me that's the way Yabu and Hikaru can show how much they cared for the group and that they won't forget the friends they made during that time.

With Hyakushiki Shoon was one of the older Juniors with a wealth of experience behind him which he used to show the younger and fresher Juniors as well as Okamoto Keito from HSJ how to shine. I've watched the program for a couple of years and seeing the growth of the younger Juniors on the program, Sanada Yuma & Takada Sho as will as Keito has been wonderful. The three were so quiet at first but over time they slowly came out of their shells as they gained experience and I'm sure having Shoon and Fujigaya Taisuke, then later Totsuka Shota, was a big help in this. So I have taken the outlook that whenever I see those three I will always see a bit of Shoon there in their smiles and confidence.

And of course it's not like he died or anything. He just decided to walk another path in life. He is a university student and is working on getting a degree in law, so I can only imagine he decided to dedicate himself to that instead, which I honestly don't think I can fault him for. I have only warm wishes for him in whatever he does in the future and I am grateful that he decided to share so much of his life during his time with Johnny's.

While I do feel sad about him leaving and not being able to see more of him I know I'll always have my memories and what still remains from when he was with the agency. The entertainment industry can be harsh and if you want to make it big it takes probably just as much luck as it does actual talent so unfortunately not all dreams can be made true. But I think as long as he can look back with no regret then Shoon will be fine in whatever he does. So this is a farewell to the idol and a hope that the new life he has begun will lead him to happiness.