KAT-TUN's new single

Even though it looks like much of KAT-TUN's plans for the year had to be scrapped or change they are still probably the one of the few groups with a steady release schedule. It was announced that they will be releasing another single, Run For You, on August 3rd.

The single comes in three versions, one LE and two REs. The LE has a DVD with the PV and making of on it. The REs just have a different B-side on them as well as the usual differences with editions like different CD jackets.

Run For You [Regular Edition] / KAT-TUN

Run For You [Regular Edition (First Press)] / KAT-TUN

Run For You [w/ DVD, Limited Edition] / KAT-TUN

I guess this will mean they will have either a fall or winter album. My bet will be on winter because then they can do a tour in early 2012. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see in the end how that all plays out.

Aiba Masaki hospitalized

It has been announced that Aiba Masaki has been hospitalized. He was feeling pain in this chest at a taping and went to the hospital straight after wards. The ailment has been revealed to be a collapsed lung (spontaneous pneumothorax) which is an ailment he suffered from back in 2002.

Tokyohive article. (English)

Apparently it's one of those things that if you suffer from it once then there is an increased risk of it happening again. So hopefully Aiba will get some extra rest so he can recover well and not over strain himself when he gets back to work.

Morimoto Ryutaro caught in underage smoking scandal

News has broken that Morimoto Ryutaro has been caught in an underage smoking scandal. A magazine printed photos that clearly showed him smoking when he was 15 and 14 years old.

Johnny's has made an official announcement on the matter stating that Ryutaro confirmed he smoked from time to time in the past. Because it accounts for breaking the law as he is now on indefinite hiatus from working in the entertainment industry.

Arama round up of reports. (English)

It is uncertain how this will affect him and Hey! Say! JUMP in the long term.

Honestly I just feel disappointed. I had thought that HSJ had a good chance of going scandal free for underage smoking/drinking with half of the group of legal age for those things now and the rest not too far behind. And I really can't imagine HSJ not being ten members but I can't see Ryutaro being able to get away with this without having to face some severe repercussions.

EDIT:

There's some new news about Ryutaro's punishment. According to Tokyo Graph's article a couple of things that will occur is that he's getting edited out of the covers of the new single (I'm assuming this must mean for any further printings of it as I got my notification of my order being sent out yesterday from CDJapan) and that he will not be a part of SUMMARY.

Tokyo Graph article. (English)

Kis-My-Ft2 & V6 new singles up for pre-order

Well Kis-My-Ft2's debut single is up for pre-ordering now. It's the usual three version set up Avex does for the Johnny's groups they release for with two LEs and a regular version. One LE comes with a DVD with the PV and making of (which is listed at being 10 minutes long) while the other comes with live concert footage of Firebeat and Kis-My-Land from their past concert tour. The regular edition comes with four tracks instead of the three the LEs come with. The RE also comes with a 20 page booklet for its 1st pressing. And CDJapan lists that each version will come with a poster.

Everybody Go [w/ DVD, Limited Edition / Type A / Jacket A] / Kis-My-Ft2

Everybody Go [w/ DVD, Limited Edition / Type B / Jacket B] / Kis-My-Ft2

Everybody Go [Regular Edition / Jacket C] / Kis-My-Ft2

And it looks like Avex decided to put out a new V6 single up for pre-order at the same time. I'm sure V6 fans will be happy to finally have something released this year for the group. The single is titled Sexy.Honey.Bunny!/Takara no Ishi and comes in three editions, two LEs and a regular edition. It's a double A-side so each LE comes with a different PV. The single will be released on August 24th.

Sexy.Honey.Bunny! / Takara no Ishi [w/ DVD, Limited Edition (Honey ban) / Jacket A] / V6

Sexy.Honey.Bunny! / Takara no Ishi [w/ DVD, Limited Edition (Bunny ban) / Jacket B] / V6

Sexy.Honey.Bunny! / Takara no Ishi [Regular Edition / Jacket C] / V6

Kis-My-Ft2 Go!

Finally we have not only a release date for Kis-My-Ft2's debut single but also the title track. It looks like the A-side will be Everybody Go, which the group has already performed on Shounen Club last month, and it will be released on August 10th.

Natalie article (Japanese)

The greatest competition they have for the weekly number one will be the AKB48 subunit, DiVA. But I think with the drama tie-in and having a long established fanbase will help give Kisumai the advantage. And of course we still don't know how many versions the single will come in or if there will be any special campaigns to help boost sales tied to it.

Though I will admit I feel a bit disappointed with the A-side. I wasn't impressed with the song on SC but I find I usually enjoy the B-sides for singles when I don't care for the A-sides when it comes to most Johnny's.

EDIT: The information seems to be all over the place for this release. But it has been confirmed that there will be three editions of the single with the two LEs having different DVD contents, one of the PV and making with the other being live footage from their last concert. The RE will have a bonus track for four tracks in total.

Tokyohive article. (English)

EDIT 2: Just when I think I've found most of the information I find more. Avex Trax has their official website for Kis-My-Ft2 and has a countdown for the release date. There are also special member versions of the single (7 versions in total) that will be released through Japanese online store mu-mo. These version only have two tracks but come with a message from each member as well as an 8-page booklet and roller skate key holder for each member.

Mid-year Oricon charts

I can't believe about half of the year is already over. This year has just seemed to have flown by so far. Here is the top yearly Oricon charts for this first half of the year. It looks like the only chart Johnny's is really dominating is the music DVD chart though their not doing too bad with the singles chart either. And I think overall they just need to release more albums to do better on that chart, and I have the feeling we'll see strong numbers from Arashi and SMAP in that regard when their albums drop this year.


Top 50 singles (Johnny's only)

3 624,865 Arashi - Lotus
7 252,634 Kanjani8 - T.W.L/Yellow Pansy Street
8 241,630 Akanishi Jin - Eternal
11 210,749 KAT-TUN - ULTIMATE WHEELS
14 188,555 Hey! Say! JUMP - Arigatou~ Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo~
16 185,421 Kanjani8 - My Home
19 170,575 KAT-TUN - WHITE
20 158,141 Kanjani8 - 365 Nichi Kazoku
23 151,056 NYC - Yume Tamago
32 111,072 Domoto Tsuyoshi - Eni wo Yuite
34 108,282 Tegomass - Aoi Bench
40 89,498 Yamashita Tomohisa - Hadakanbo


Top 50 albums (Johnny's only)

22 135,404 Yamashita Tomohisa - SUPERGOOD,SUPERBAD


Top 50 DVDs (Johnny's only)

1 785,410 Arashi - Arashi 10–11 Tour "Scene": Kimi to Boku no Miteiru Fūkei – Stadium
4 155,844 Kanjani8 - KANJANI8 LIVE TOUR 2010→2011 8UPPERS
5 154,030 NEWS - NEWS DOME PARTY LIVE! LIVE! LIVE! DVD
7 120,437 KAT-TUN - KAT-TUN -NO MORE PAIИ- WORLD TOUR 2010
10 92,273 Akanishi Jin - Yelow Gold Tour
11 89,729 Domoto Koichi - KOICHI DOMOTO CONCERT TOUR 2010 BPM
12 89,232 Hey! Say! JUMP - SUMMARY 2010
17 50,295 Tegomass - Tegomass 2nd Live Tegomass no Ai
18 45,874 Arashi - ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5×10
20 43,768 SMAP - We are SMAP！ 2010 CONCERT DVD
25 32,217 Arashi - 5×10 All the BEST！ CLIPS 1999－2009
36 25,558 Tackey & Tsubasa - Tackey & Tsubasa CONCERT TOUR 2010 Takitsuba Matsuri
45 19,911 Arashi - ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008 in TOKYO
49 16,159 Arashi - SUMMER TOUR 2007 FINAL Time－Kotoba no Chikara

Kanjani8 drama news and SMAP AID up for pre-order

A couple bits of news about Kanjani8 members in dramas.

The first is that Murakami Shingo will be starring in this year's NTV's 24hr. drama special and Shibutani Subaru will have a supporting role.

NTV 24hr OHP (Japanese)

Also Maruyama Ryuhei will be part of the regular cast of upcoming cop drama, Strawberry Night. The drama ran as a SP earlier in the year and is being made as a full drama for the winter season. With the longer run new cast members have been added, with Maruyama being one of those new additions.

The drama will air on Fuji TV starting in January 2012.

Tokyo Graph article. (English)

Also SMAP's upcoming compilation album, SMAP AID, is up for pre-order and is listed as being a limited release.

SMAP AID [Limited Release] / SMAP