Kis-My-money good-bye.

Well Kis-My-Ft2's announced upcoming single and album have been announced and my wallet is weeping over the loss it will face when they come out at the end of March.

The first to be released will be the group's third single, titled She! Her! Her! on March 21st. Unlike previous singles this will only have two versions, an LE with only the title track and the DVD with the usual PV with making of. The RE will have a bonus track not on the LE or the album and the first press edition of it will come with a 16 page booklet & a mini poster (one of seven randomly selected).

Then the following week the real money drainer comes out, their first album, Kis-My-1st. This is going to come in three editions. That's right, the album will have more editions than the single. The type A LE will have the DVD which not only has interviews for each member but two PVs for the songs Firebeat and Inori. The type B LE comes with a bonus CD that is titled Kis-My-Zero and will feature seven songs from their Junior days. The songs that have been announced for this are: Firebeat, Inori, Good-bye Thank you, Endless Road & 3D Girl.

The single copies will come with a special ticket A and the copies of the album come with a special ticket B which I am sure you will need to have both for whatever Johnny's has planned to be the special promotion for the releases. But of course they have yet to announce what that will be.


I feel that my decision to not bother with buying DVD versions of Kisumai's releases helped save me quite a bit of grief. Unfortunately I still like having all the CD released tracks so I still ended up getting two versions of the album, but at least only one of the single. But I am quite glad to have some of their Junior songs in CD quality and I hope we get more down the line as well as there are definitely more than seven songs that I love of their's from their Junior days. That is of course not even getting into the solos. 

The State of Junior Groups?

Over the past week I set about updating the Master Johnny's Birthday List with the birthday information that is up at TakiCHANnel. Looking through all the profiles I noticed a few things.

First was that it would be quite nice if it only listed Juniors, as it would help a lot in figuring out the debuts of Sexy Zone and A.B.C-Z. But seeing as Kis-My-Ft2 is still up and there is no doubt whether or not they debuted that is just wishful thinking. Though I would think Kisumai would be removed sometime soon, as again, they are undoubtedly debuted.

For the Junior groups listed though there are very few of them. The only ones (minus the iffy SZ and Ebi) that are listed are FiVe, Question?, 7WEST, B.A.D., and Veteran. Of course these days FiVe is a bit of a unknown factor but the other four are definitely around and active. Of course that does leave the Tokyo Juniors with one Junior group and the Kansai Juniors with three.

Of course there is Noon Boyz, Sanada Yuma and Nozawa Yuki, as an unofficial/official group and Shadow West is supposed to still be around as a duo. But it seems difficult to find more than one official resource that is willing to agree which groups exist and which do not.

I really wish I could fast forward things to the end of the year for the Juniors, as I am sure by then we will finally have a couple of new groups at least. But until then I will have to be stuck in some frustration, hoping that the Juniors I like will not disappear as things get shuffled around as they figure out new groups.

Yamashita Tomohisa, Johnny’s Golden Boy

Yamashita Tomohisa joined Johnny's & Associates in 1996 at the age of 11. He was paired early on with Ikuta Toma and eventually the two of them with Juniors Kazama Shunsuke and Hasegawa Jun formed the popular Junior group 4Tops. As a Junior Yamashita, known widely as Yamapi, was frequently promoted and was able to act in dramas and was one of the original hosts and frequent performers of The Shounen Club, a program that stars Juniors.

It was believed that he would debut and with the other members of 4Tops. When NEWS was formed in 2003 he even believed it was only going to be a temporary group and was surprised to learn that it was not and would continue on after their first single, NEWS Nippon. He was the front man of the group and considered to be the group's leader as well.

In 2005 with KAT-TUN's Kamenashi Kazuya the temporary duo, Shuuji to Akira was created to promote the drama they starred in, Nobuta wo Produce, and they released the single, Seishun Amigo, which went on to sell over a million copies.

In 2006 when the group had been placed on hiatus because of underage drinking scandals by two of its members, Yamapi began releasing more non-NEWS singles. This included a one-off release with Thai brother duo Golf & Mike as GYM and then his first solo single, Daite Senorita.

When NEWS returned as a group in 2007 he continued solo releases, at first when there was down time for the group when Nishikido Ryo was busy with his other group Kanjani8, but after a couple of years he began to do more solo work and even had his first solo tour in 2009. In 2011 he released his first solo album, Super Good, Super Bad, and went on tour, going overseas to Asia.

Later in 2011 he announced that he would be leaving the group to pursue a solo career and would be joining Akanishi Jin on the Warner Music Japan label to do this. Since the announcement he has had a lead role in a drama and has a single coming out, Ai, Texas, in the end of February 2012, which will be his first single since the start of his post-NEWS solo career.

TRIVIA: His nickname, Yamapi, was given to him by Takizawa Hideaki since he noticed Yamapi tended to wear outfits with pink on them for performances so he put "Yamashita" and "pink" together to make Yamapi.



Next Entry >  Entering the Sexy Zone




Directory >
Introduction
Johnny’s Juniors, full of rising stars and heartbreak
The Early and Rocky Path to Fame
Kondo Masahiko: Singer, Dancer, Actor, Professional Race Car Driver
Giving a New Meaning to Playzone, Shounentai
Hikaru Genji, Shining the Brightest and Crashing the Hardest

Otokogumi, Rocking It Old School
The Living Legend of SMAP
TOKIO, From Spaceships to the Over 30s World
Victory, Volleyball, Vegetable, Vicylce? V6
KinKi Kids, It's Not What You Think
Arashi, Storming to the Top
The Inseparable Duo, Tackey & Tsubasa
North, East, West, South ... It's big NEWS
Kansai Underdogs,  Kanjani∞
Cartoon? KAT-TUN!
Jumping to Their Dreams, Hey! Say! JUMP
Johnny's Black Sheep, Akanishi Jin
How to Debut Without Even Trying, Ikuta Toma
Kis-My-Ft2, Everybody Go (Roller Skating)!
Yamashita Tomohisa, Johnny’s Golden Boy
Entering the Sexy Zone
The 5Stars A.B.C-Z
International Ventures
Johnny's and Charity 
Odds & Ends

The winds of change blow softly and slowly.

First off, thank you to everyone who voted on the poll and especially those who left comments. It has helped me figure out what I want to do and how I want to go about it.

For the short term the only change is that I will be adding ex-Johnny's (which pretty much will be the Yamashita brothers, Shoon and Leon, as they're the only ones I follow) to the list of who I will be blogging about. I will start with an introductory for them for those unfamiliar with the two and their past with Johnny's before I move on to following them like I do the Johnny's I follow. I am hoping to have that done in the next week or so.

The long term goal is to make this a general idol blog but it probably will not happen in the near future. I would like to do a project to introduce non-Johnny's related idols to the blog but that will have to wait until I am done with my current project, History of Johnny's, and the project I plan on doing after that, the PV reviews of the PVs I have on the Johnny's releases I own that have them on bonus DVDs. As it stands there are at least three more weeks for History of Johnny's, unless Sexy Zone and/or A.B.C-Z get their own section(s) on Johnny's net. And the PV reviews will most likely take up about half a year if I keep the same schedule of one every Saturday. So it will be some time before I get to that project and until I do an introduction post I won't follow a group with this blog so there is a good half a year before I start bringing in non-Johnny's related idols to the blog.

And the main reasons I am going with this is partly because with me cutting back on the Johnny's I will try to actively follow I will not have as much to post about and I want to keep this blog as active as possible. The other is that I feel it will be easier to have the one blog for idols as I have come to follow them in general more than before and I feel having it all in one place just makes sense for me.

So I'm sorry for those who did not want to see a change, but there just was no way things could stay the same. And I hope you still keep reading the blog, no matter what it will remain Johnny's-centric and I have no issue if people skip reading posts. I honestly do not expect everyone to read everything even as a Johnny's only blog. And as I explained it will be a while before the big changes will be made anyway and I will try to ease into things as much as possible.

Again thank you to everyone who voted and left comments. It was very helpful to me and I really appreciate it.

Kis-My-Ft2, Everybody Go (Roller Skating)!

Members: Kitayama Hiromitsu, Senga Kento, Miyata Toshiya, Yokoo Wataru, Fujigaya Taisuke, Tamamori Yuta & Nikaido Takashi

(L to R) Nikaido Takashi, Tamamori Yuta, Senga Kento, Fujigaya Taisuke,
Yokoo Wataru, Kitayama Hiromitsu & Miyata Toshiya

Their name is pronounced Kiss-my-foot-two and just like KAT-TUN the letters of the name correspond with the first letter(s) the last names of the members, the 2 comes from the ‘Ni’ in Nikaido being the same kanji as the number 2.

The group was formed in 2005 with two Junior groups, Kis-My-Ft and A.B.C. Jr. being merged to create Kis-My-Ft2 as an eight member unit. They kept the image of Kis-My-Ft by having roller skating during their performances being a main feature, akin to Hikaru Genji. Also like Hikaru Genji they had an age split with the four oldest members and the four youngest. They lost their ‘I’ not long after being formed, and one of the older members, and have been a seven member group since.

They were one of the main Junior groups for a while but it was not until 2008 did their popularity really begin to take off. They held a joint concert with A.B.C-Z that year and in 2009 followed up with a solo national tour. Since then they have had a national tour every year. In 2010 they had a digital single debut with their two signature songs, Firebeat and Inori.

In February of 2011 at one of their concerts they received the news that they would be debuting in the spring of that year during an MC break during the concert. That date ended up being pushed back though as the next month the March 11th earthquake and tsunami hit Japan and it would have been ill-fitting to debut while the country dealt with the initial aftermath of the disaster.

Finally in August Kis-My-Ft2 released their debut single, Everybody Go. The song was the theme song of the J-drama Ikemen Desu Ne, which starred Tamamori Yuta and Fujigaya Taisuke. The single was the third highest debut for a Johnny’s group behind KAT-TUN and Kinki Kids. Since their debut they have released their second single and will be releasing a third single and their debut album in the spring of 2012.

Kitayama Hirosuke is the oldest member of the group and his group color is red. He is also one of the two lead vocalists of the group. He is known for being able to fall asleep anywhere at any time, but is terrible at waking up. Even though the group does not have a leader Kitayama tends to act like an older brother for the other memebers. While he was a Junior he attended Asia University and graduated in 2008.

Senga Kento is the youngest member of the group with blue being his group color. Before joining Johnny’s he was active in national dance competitions and is the strongest dancer of the group, even choreographing dances for the group. He tends to get lovely picked on by others because he does not always read the atmosphere and can be airheaded.

Miyata Toshiya is the biggest dork of the group and is known for being the goofy one. He is actually very kind which the other member recognize and appreciate. He is a fan of manga and anime and has a bit of a reputation of being a geek from that. He attended and graduated Kokushikan University. His group color is purple.

Yokoo Wataru is one of the older members of the group and is known for being tidy, so much that he will even clean up after his group mates. He is also known for being one of the most mature and reliable members of the group. He can play the guitar and does so whenever the group performs their song Smile. His group color is orange.

Fujigaya Taisuke is one of the lead vocals of the group and his group color is pink. He has been in J&A the longest having joined in 1998. He admires Tanaka Koki from KAT-TUN because of his rapping and like Koki writes and performs his own raps. He is one of the more active members when it comes to acting and is one of the more popular members of the group for this.

Tamamori Yuta is one of the members being pushed with acting roles. He made his acting debut in 2009 in the Gokusen 3 SP and in 2011 he starred in his first drama, Ikemen Desu Ne. He sees himself as a shy person and the other members have mentioned that he was the last member of the group to warm up to everyone. His group color is yellow.

Nikaido Takashi is known to be the brat of the group and enjoys playing pranks. He is known for being direct with his thoughts and words, even when it comes to sempai. He is also known for doing imitations that his fellow group members praise him for. He is a scaredy-cat despite being known as a troublemaker. His group color is green.


TRIVIA: While they debuted after KAT-TUN, Kis-My-Ft2 was the first of the two that covered the departure of one of their members by having the ‘Ki’ in Kitayama’s name be the ‘Ki’ in Kis-My-Ft2 back when Junior Iida left, much like how Kamenashi’s ‘Ka’ became the ‘KA’ in KAT-TUN when Akanishi Jin left.

It was reported that they had another song lined up for their debut song but after March 11th it was decided they would change it to a song more appropriate with an uplifting message.

Kitayama went to the same high school as Yamashita Tomohisa.




Next Entry >  Yamashita Tomohisa, Johnny’s Golden Boy




Directory >
Introduction
Johnny’s Juniors, full of rising stars and heartbreak
The Early and Rocky Path to Fame
Kondo Masahiko: Singer, Dancer, Actor, Professional Race Car Driver
Giving a New Meaning to Playzone, Shounentai
Hikaru Genji, Shining the Brightest and Crashing the Hardest

Otokogumi, Rocking It Old School
The Living Legend of SMAP
TOKIO, From Spaceships to the Over 30s World
Victory, Volleyball, Vegetable, Vicylce? V6
KinKi Kids, It's Not What You Think
Arashi, Storming to the Top
The Inseparable Duo, Tackey & Tsubasa
North, East, West, South ... It's big NEWS
Kansai Underdogs,  Kanjani∞
Cartoon? KAT-TUN!
Jumping to Their Dreams, Hey! Say! JUMP
Johnny's Black Sheep, Akanishi Jin
How to Debut Without Even Trying, Ikuta Toma
Kis-My-Ft2, Everybody Go (Roller Skating)!
Yamashita Tomohisa, Johnny’s Golden Boy
Entering the Sexy Zone
The 5Stars A.B.C-Z
International Ventures
Johnny's and Charity 
Odds & Ends

Kis-My-Ft2 Bringing In the Green This Spring

It has been announced that this spring Kis-My-Ft2 will not only be releasing their 3rd single but also their 1st album. Also they will be having a concert tour to promote the album that begins in early April and goes through to early June.

Avex official announcement. (Japanese)

I honestly thought I read things wrong when I saw this announcement. I had been hoping for a new single for the spring from Kisumai but never would have I dreamed of their debut album being released so soon. And from the concert tour dates it looks like the releases will either be in March or April. March, because it would make sense to release the album before the tour as it is to support the release after all, but April could be possible as well as they concert dates for April are only for the first half of the month so there would be time to do promotions for a new release between those dates and the next set of concert dates in May.

In any case I feel like I've gone back about a year and have found out about Kisumai debuting. While they have been debuted for a while now and even have their own section on the official Johnny's websites the fact they will have an album finally just really cements everything. That and albums typically are more "fair" when it comes to groups, even though I'm sure KiFt will still get more of a focus on the album I have faith that s-My-2 will get some chances to finally shine. Though if they have some of their Junior songs on this album then it would be perfect for me, but I guess we will still have to wait a month or so before that kind of information will come out.

It'll be pretty draining to have both album and single to buy in the next few months, and I'm curious if they will release them both on the same day or not. But overall I am just so happy that Kisumai is going to be able to hit this milestone in their careers so soon.

Super Delicate updates & some speculation

Checked Johnny's net today and found that information about the B-side that had been originally listed as "untitled" for Hey! Say! JUMP's single, Super Delicate, is up. The new song will be called succeed, so we have three new HSJ songs, and a concert only song finally getting a CD release for both HS7 and HSB.

Also with each edition of the CD there will be a code that can be entered in a drawing for a special DVD, another JUMP Party DVD. Of course you need to have a Japanese address to be able to enter for it.

I am really excited for this single. From having some classic concert songs finally getting released on CD to just having a good A-side I'm rather pumped for it. Also as this marks the fourth single since their debut album there is a good chance the next CD release could be their sophomore album. And honestly I think it would be perfect for them to release an album next. Most of the time when the older groups tour it is because they have just released an album and I think it is about time for HSJ to start doing the same. Their upcoming tour will be in April so it would be a good timing to release an album about that time. Even if there is not a long break between this single and that potential release I think it would still be fine. Johnny's acts tend to do better with singles over albums so they probably do not need to worry about scheduling things as much as a single. So I really hope this happens. HSJ still needs to catch up from all that time they spent not releasing CDs in 2009 and this would be a great way to do it.


And on a side note, thank you to everyone who has voted so far. I would like to be able to read some comments about the subject though so I have a understanding about why people are making the selections they are. I would really appreciate it but do not feel forced to write anything if you really do not want to.