Loads of ranking that will either amuse or bore you. Maybe because the end of 2014 is coming so everyone has time to make rankings from hats to your favorite newscaster. Let’s see how most Johnny’s fared.

Tokyo Hat Grand Prix 2014

1) Nakai Masahiro (SMAP)

2) Fujigaya Taisuke (Kis-My-Ft2)

3) Kitayama Hiromitsu (Kis-My-Ft2)

4) Yamashita Tomohisa

5) Tamamori Yuta (Kis-My-Ft2)

6) Matsumoto Jun (Arashi)

7) Domoto Tsuyoshi (KinKi Kids)

8) Tsubasa Imai (Tackey & Tsubasa)

9) Akanishi Jin

10) Takizawa Hideaki (Tackey & Tsubasa)

Is this like that “Best Jeanist Award” but only with hats? haha. 

Favorite Newscaster Ranking (Only★Star)

Johnny’s only

8) Sakurai Sho (Arashi)

9) Inohara Yoshihiko (V6)

10) Koyama Keiichiro (NEWS)

Wait….what….Taichi beat Sho by a large margin? LOL.

Idols that you want to meet in Goukon

Goukon – a group blind date 

1) Matsumoto Jun (Arashi)

2) Aiba Masaki (Arashi)

3) Kimura Takuya (SMAP)

4) Sakurai Sho (Arashi)

5) Yamashita Tomohisa

6) Shingo Katori (SMAP)

7) Okada Junichi (V6)

8) Nishikido Ryo (Kanjani8)

9) Fujigaya Taisuke (Kis-My-Ft2)

10) Ninomiya Kazunari (Arashi)

KimuTaku is already married yet he’s still being lusted after. XD. Other than that, instead of a goukon, have these Johnny’s omiai instead. 

Amazon’s Best of 2014

Amazon album sales (online)

Johnny’s only

3) HIT! HIT! HIT! (Kis-My-Ft2)

5) THE DIGITALIAN (Arashi)

Amazon DVD Blu-ray Sales

1) Arashi Arafes 2013 NATIONAL STADIUM 2013 [DVD] (Arashi)

2) Arashi Live TOUR 2013 “LOVE” [DVD] (Arashi)

5) SNOW DOME in TOKYO DOME (Kis-My-Ft2)

6) Kanjani8 LIVE TOUR JUKEBOX [DVD] (Kanjani8)

9) Arashi Live TOUR 2013 “LOVE” [Blu Ray] (Arashi)

*By clicking the ranking’s title will re-direct you to the source.

As they say, it’s never to late to study but studying is such a chore.

As reported,

It had been reported that Kanjani8‘s Yokoyama Yu and Okura Tadayoshi have taken up High School Certification Exam last November. The said exam was part of their challenge for “Kanjani no Shiwake Eito 2 hr SP“.

Under the guidance of a professional tutor, the two studied for two months since Sept 1st from subjects ranging from national language, Mathematics, World History, Japanese History, English, and Science and Human Life. The two attended almost everyday in the early morning until late evening at the agency.  Yokoyama completed 231 hours of studying while Okura did 81 hours, which makes their combined hours to 312 hours. Yokoyama had a hard time with subjects especially with the usage of verb in English. In Okura’s case, he’s fine academically but he has problem with learning motivation.

High School Certification Exam is equivalent to earning a High School diploma that will make them eligible to take further studies in universities, colleges, and even vocational courses.

No announcements were made yet if they passed the exam, the entire episode will be of “Kanjani no Shiwake Eito” will be broadcast next year, Jan 17th.

via jnews1 and Yahoo!Japan

My final Rants & Raves before 2014 closes and I decided to look back on what has not happened yet in Johnny’s land.

Here are my Rants & Raves…

• 2014 is over and still NO JOHNNY’S HAVE TIED THE KNOT

Okay, so I’m not one of those fans that’s all “mine, mine, mine” (it sounds exactly like my toddler nephew) to my ichibans, I would love to see them married (yep, even Kame!), have a child, do a family CM with their kids, and eventually see them brimming with pride for their children’s achievement. Is that too much to ask for? haha. Let’s get to the “marriage” part first because that’s something so impossible, I’m sure it would be scandalous once a marriage announcement eventually happened.

• 2014 is over and still NO JOHNNY’S HAVE ADMITTED TO DATING SOMEONE

Just like marriage, this is also something that I know that is very unlikely to happen. I mean, even Murashige Anna has to make some stupid lie just to get out of the dating rumor with Abe Aran, and so far, the agency has been tight lip on who are dating their talents. In a way, it’s a good thing since they can maintain their privacy with their girlfriend; however, it also makes the tabloids more hungry to catch them in the act.

• 2014 is over and NO JOHNNY’S HAVE ADMITTED TO BEING GAY

Well, hooray! FYI, I have nothing against gay people, but it will surely create a dam of tears if such a thing would happen. If you think about it, they don’t admit dating rumors so the more that they won’t admit that they are leaning on the other side.

• 2014 is over and ONLY ARASHI GETS TO PERFORMED ABROAD

It’s not even a TOUR but something they did for the group’s anniversary. What I’m aiming for just like any other international fans is for JE to bring his groups abroad on a tour. Asia tour, Europe tour, North America tour, and so…

• 2014 is over and still NO NEWS ON WHO WILL BE JOHNNY KITAGAWA’S SUCCESSOR

I’m not rushing the old man to retire since Japan’s graying population is a proof that people live that long. But he’s 80+ and I hope that he’s considering his replacement, probably someone who will look beyond factions, someone who has innovative ideas in this changing times, and someone who gives international fans (without a Japanese address) a chance to become FC members. XD

• 2014 is over and still JOHNNY’S DON’T HAVE A SNS ACCOUNT

I know there’s Jweb but it’s not really accessible to everyone and due to Johnny’s Rules, I hate it when people (hello tumblr users!) post Jwebs on their blogs and even wants to be credited. Like, duh, that’s a copyright violation. Oh well, I’m actually hoping that some Johnny’s privately owns a twitter or instagram account or an account using a fake name. haha. I don’t know why Johnny’s is against the likes of Facebook and Twitter when they are a great part of marketing strategy and you can have people talking about it with just a single #hashtag. Seriously, they should consider opening an official account.

That’s all I can Rant and Rave for now! Happy New Year and here’s Yasu having some orgasmic exercises…

(c)navybluetears

Just something light and fun that I like to write about. Johnny’s didn’t produces that much singles this year but the few singles they made still rack-up sales, thanks to loyal fans. As with any singles, the PVs are just as anticipated even though some wait for it just to bash. XD.

Anyway, what I think is the best and worst is my opinion and not influenced by sales or popular opinion. Here is what I think is the Best and Worst Single and PV

• Best single : GUTS! (Arashi)

I hate the cover and the choreography but I super love the song! It’s catchy and I always think for YowaKate’s ending credits since it’s one of the good thing about the drama. Viva Seishun! 

Runner-up : Omoidama (Kanjani8)

The addition of High School Wind Corps is just so cool and the lyrics is well thought of. …And then that large, single drop of prayer transformed into rain, because over there, the flower of hope is in full bloom.

• Best PV : King of Otoko (Kanjani8)

There are two reasons why I like this PV, first is because this is the theme song of Ikuta’s movie, and second is because of their overall look. They won’t win fashion points for what they wore, but it was so badass and so fitting of them, I wished they were in the movie.

Runner-up : In Fact (KAT-TUN) and Dare mo Shiranai (Arashi)

I like the choreography in both PVs.

• Best Jacket Cover : Another Future (Kis-My-Ft2)

I’m picking “Another Future” for the best jacket cover just because the “other four” finally gets to have an equal space in pictures. So, yeah!

Runner-up : In Fact (KAT-TUN)

They always have cool jacket cover and this is one of the coolest. Clothes, hair, looks, poses, everything blends well together and Kame is wearing a dress. haha.

(c)airigoespyon

• Worst Jacket Cover : Otoko never give up! (Sexy Zone) 

Because this is the single that they ditch the younger two. In fact, the title seems to be a message to Marius and Matsushima not to give up.

Runner- up : Tii Tii Tii Terette Tereti Ti Ti ~Dare no (BUSAIKU)

Putting grown-ups faces in babies with nappies isn’t funny at all.

• Worst PV : CloveR (Kanjani8) 

I’m used to seeing Kanjani8 making a fool of themselves but CloveR’s PV is really bad. It’s weird because I really like their “Crouton” PV (Yasu in a teacup is so kawaii) and it has almost the same concept with CloveR but the latter is really irritating.

• Best Collaboration : NEXTACTION (Yamapi feat Fujigaya Taisuke)

I’m not a fan of Taipi but I gotta admit that his hotness level just increase with this PV with Yamapi.

Worst Single title : Tii Tii Tii Terette Tereti Ti Ti ~Dare no (BUSAIKU)

I don’t  know why they even tried to put a title, or, I don’t even know why they bothered making such song.

• I’m a grown-up now and gotta be sexy award – Yamada Ryosuke (Hey!Say!JUMP) from Weekender PV

(c)esjaye

(c)amsthedamned

• Best use shoelaces award : ONE -for the win- (NEWS)
• Best booty shake performance : Bittersweet (Arashi)

Their performance is so contradicting with the emotional PV of this song.

(c)i-hontou-ni

That’s all for this year! Happy 2015!

I did something similar back in 2012 and I think that I should do it again because 2014 is indeed a blast in Johnny’s. Of course, this will involve nothing but Johnny’s news or controversies that made headlines, if not, became trending topic in twitter, forums, groups, and tumblr.

14) TegoMass is still alive

The cutest duo in Johnny’s (Sorry, TakiTsuba) started their 2014 by releasing an album, “TegoMass no Seishun”, and they also  embarked on a live tour. One of the duo’s most memorable performance would be singing “Aoi Bench” during the Yokohama leg of their tour without a microphone.

13) Johnny’s WEST debuted!

After 10 years, JE  decided to debut another Kansai-born group with Johnny’s WEST. Also, it’s also the first time since the 1960s that the agency decided to use “Johnny” in a group’s name. The original plan is to have four members but it got expanded to seven and the add-on members got more solo projects than the first four, like Shigeoka Daiki in “SHARK 2” and “Gomen ne Seishun”, Fuji Ryuusei in “Again!”, and Hamada Takahiro appeared in two seasons of “SHARK” . Anyway, Johnny’s WEST debuted with “Ee ja nai ka”, which landed them in Oricon Weekly, and they also made a grand debut in one of Osaka’s grandest skycrapers, Abeno Harukasu.

12) Sexy Zone is missing members yet still rack-up sales

There’s something about the number 3 that is so Sexy Zone. First is that the three older members (Nakajima, Sato, and Kikuchi) that are always in the center of jacket covers and live performances get to have a single without the two younger members. However, Marius and Matsushima are back for Sexy Zone’s “Kimi no HITOMEBORE”, the group’s 3rd anniversary single. The said single sold 300k on first day after they pulled an AKB-like stunt by selling 20 versions of one single. So, are the two in or out? Well, fans had enough of the two being ignored so they made Sexy Zone’s self-titled first single returned to Oricon hit chart as their way of telling the agency that they want the two back. In short, JE have earned too much from Sexy Zone this year.

11) V6 gets back on track

V6 had a grand time this year particularly for Okada Junichi. Not only he did taiga this year with “Gunshi Kanbee”, Okada’s acting prowess gets recognized for his “Eien no Zero” performance. In addition, their single, “Sky’s the limit”, landed in first in Oricon Weekly after a long time of no.1 drought. In addition, V6’s sub-unit, Tonisen, returned to stage with “ON THE TOWN”. Lastly, they debuted in 65th Kohaku Uta Gassen as performers.

10) Who needs a single or an album if you’re Ikuta Toma?

Ikuta Toma has been doing great with TV and movies that he starred in. Ikuta appeared as a priest in “Gunshi Kanbee”, he did “Mogura no Uta” and “MIRACLE” this year and before 2014 ended, he already have TV and movie line-up next year. Ikuta will start the year starring in “Ouroboros” with BFF Oguri Shun. Next will be a movie with Toda Erika in “Yokokuhan”, and another movie with his kouhai, Yamada Ryosuke, in “Grasshopper”. All the best, Ikuta!

09) Yamapi bounces back…

Yamapi‘s 2013 has been lackluster to say the least, but his 2014 has been full of blessings starting with his movie “Kinkyori Renai” that reached a billion Yen mark and was on top of box-office ranking for a few weeks. Also,  Yamapi’s 4th album, “YOU“, managed to get the top spot in Oricon‘s weekly album ranking, the second time after 3 years. Moreover, Yamapi’s show, “Otona no KISS no Eigo” is getting good reviews and the show’s theme song, “Your Step”, was sung by Yamapi in English. However, this year has also been hard for Yamapi after the “cellphone theft” issue that made the agency lost 3 million Yen isnsettlement money. Still, Yamapi was able to bounce back.

08) Former Johnny’s are also bouncing back

We said goodbye to two big names in Johnny’s, specifically from KAT-TUN, with Tanaka Koki (2013) and Akanishi Jin (2014). No hard feelings for the two and they have worked hard with Tanaka being just KOKI and the lead vocalist of his band, “INKT”. Meanwhile, Jin is being jindependent as he started his own record company, “Go Good Records”, which is like a reminder to himself.

07) Kis-My-Ft2 now functions with seven members, “Thank you, Jan!”

Well, Kisumai’s “3×4” is nothing new to those familiar with the group but 2014 gave their sub-unit, “BUSAIKU”, some much-needed break. The four member unit had their 2nd single this year (thank you, Nakai-sama), starred in their own CM for “Spiral”, and they also had their first late night drama in “Heisei mai sai gumi otoko“. Although the drama failed to deliver stellar results, Kisumai’s “Another Future” single has given the so-called back-up dancers some equal footing.

06) More Johnny’s getting second careers

Being an idol isn’t forever and more Johnny’s have expanded from just being an idol. There’s the ever successful “Tetsuwan DASH!” featuring TOKIO, Johnny’s only band, that also functioned as farmers and carpenters. Then there’s Johnny’s breed of newscasters starting with Sakurai Sho, Koyama Keiichiro, Kokubun Taichi, Masuda Takahisa, and Inohara Yoshihiko. Some Johnny’s have also became special reporters during FIFA World Cup with Murakami Shingo and Tegoshi Yuya enjoying some Brazilian sun and in Hina’s case, foreign ladies. Lastly, there’s Kato Shigeki who published his 3rd novel this year and made his series debut in two magazines.

05) Who is dating who?

Johnny’s wouldn’t be complete without a dating rumor. True or not, these couples made tabloids go crazy, starting with Sakurai Sho and Horikita Maki, Abe Aran and Murashige Anna (who denied it), Takaki Yuya and Aimi Hara, Okura Tadayoshi and Serina, Shibutani Subaru with a gravure model, and the ever popular Matsumoto Jun and Inoue Mao.

04)TOKIO Celebrates 20 years

Aside from being such an adorable bunch of ossans, TOKIO celebrated their 20th anniversary and as the only Johnny’s rock band, the group performed at “Iwamizawa JOIN ALIVE music festival” in Hokkaido and  at “SUMMER SONIC” in Osaka. It’s a first for any Johnny’s group to take part in such festivals and TOKIO were remarkable. Also, due to their successful TV show, “Tetsuwan DASH!”, the group were given a permission to enter No. 2 Coast Battery (Daini Kaihou), a man-made and uninhabited island just outside of Tokyo. To finalize their 20th year anniversary, the group released a “Best of album”, embarked on a summer tour, and got to bond with their kouhais as they did their  “TOKIO 20th anniversary live tour HEART” at Nippon Budokan.

03) SMAP is still the biggest group (in Iijima’s faction)

SMAP is still a successful group and its members also got to shine on their own. Aside from hosting “FNS x 27” again this year, the group made history with their 45 minute nonstop medley just because they can. They also released an album with “Mr. S“, embarked on 5-Dome tour, and became ambassadors for Universal Studios Japan where they got to bond with Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe and US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy. As solo performers, doing dramas kept them busy with Kimura Takuya bouncing back from his ratings flop “ANDO LLOYD” and re igniting the public’s love with “HERO 2014”.

02) Kanjani8 celebrates 10 years

Kanjani8 is such a big deal this year and here are the reasons why: (a) they started “Infinity Records”, their very own indie label, after leaving Teichiku; (b) they became main personalities for “24 Hr TV”; (c) another group movie with “Eight Ranger 2”; (d) other members also had movies this year from Nishikido Ryo‘s “Dakishimetai”, Okura‘s “Clover”, and Subaru will be having his first solo movie next year; and (e) They did another music festival with “Jyuusai”. Furthermore, members Yokoyama Yu and Murakami Shingo scored loads of endorsement deals, and became one of those male celebrities with most CMs joining the likes of Arashi and Kimura Takuya in the ranking.

01) Arashi “BLAST’s” 2014

Arashi will always be a big deal in Johnny’s land and their 15th anniversary came with a hefty price tag. The biggest would be their 2 days Hawaii concert where we saw fancams that would have been banned in Japan. The group also made a sequel of their “Pikanchi” series in selected theaters, and their annual “WakuWaku Gakkou” was screened internationally. Furthermore, they also embark on a Dome tour, and the members consistently top some of the most relevant ranking such as Nikkei Entertainment’s “Talent Power ranking” and Nihon Monitor’s “Talents with most CMs”.

That concludes my Big 14 of 2014. Happy New Year everyone! Pls. continue to support Johnny’s and my blog for this year again. Yoroshiku!~

Kanjani8 really know how to entertain their fans…

Last Jan 10th, Kanjani8 held their biggest public radio recording in Kyocera Dome. The said public recording will be broadcasted in “Kanjani8’s Recomen“, which is the regular radio program of Murakami Shingo and Maruyama Ryuhei. 40,000 people from 120,000 applicants got a free invitation from their CD purchase for the public recording.

Unlike traditional tour performances, Kanjani8 did three songs that includes their 31st single, “Gamushara Party!”. Wearing plain clothes, the group sat inside a special booth for less than two hours. Free talk boost the venue and the rest of the members also participated. When a listener asked about their goal for this year, Nishikido Ryo answers that he want to gain weight, his current weight is at 54 kg and he want to go up to 65 kg. Yasuda Shota talks about his diving hobby and that he wants to be a dive leader.

“It’s our first try that no one has attempted. I never thought that we could this kind of thing, it’s different from a concert, but we could have fun with this,” Murakami commented. Kanjani8 celebrated their 10th anniversary last year and for this year, they want to do more events and activities, “we should be able to do this 10 years later,” Shibutani Subaru commented.

“Kanjani8 Murakami Shingo ・ Maruyama Ryuhei no Recomen” is broadcasted every Thursday at 10:00 PM (JST), the said public recording will air on the 15th.

via Daily Sports and Yahoo!Japan

Image credit : jdapjg

I’m waiting for a muscleman Ryo! haha. I doubt he could gain that much weight and I’m even more surprised that he weighs 54 kg when he looked underweight.

What I missed to write because of work and some news and not-so-news that I’m too lazy to translate or have been translated in full by other bloggers. Collated from Feb 22nd to Mar 1st; involved parties, are: Kanjani8, Sakurai Sho, Kimura Takuya, Kitayama Hiromitsu, and NEWS.

• Kanjani8 “Shiwake” will end this Mar 21st but will be replaced by an all new musical show featuring Kanjani8 as a band! The show is called “KanJAM kanzen moeru show“, a show that will feature two groups of artist from different generations that will also have one night jam session with the group.  More details, HERE. I will miss the MC from Shiwake but I guess this new show will put a rest those fears about Kanjani8 transforming to Arashi. haha. Other than that, I wonder if JE will allow KOKI‘s INKT to do guesting.

• Who wants to hear Kis-My-Ft2‘s Kitayama Hiromitsu and Senga Kento speak in English? Well, the two will appear in Yamapi‘s “Otona no KISS Eigo” and their English-speaking skills will be put to a test when they receive a surprise call from a foreigner.

• Speaking of Kisumai’s Kitayama Hiromitsu, he mentioned in his radio program that he bumped with Ikuta Toma recently and the latter asked him about his impression about Ouroboros. Kitayama managed to rave about Ikuta’s character and later revealed in his radio show that he’s yet to see a single episode of Ouroboros. Ikuo is gonna get you. XD

(c)jprime

• Known Kabuki actor, Mitsuguro Bando (10th generation), died due to pancreatic cancer and SMAP‘s Kimura Takuya is of the 5,000 celebrities and fans who said their farewell last Feb 25th. Speaking of KimuTaku, his high school alma mater, Tokyo Metropolitan Yoyogi High School, will be closing down since it will be integrated into another high school. Nakai Masahiro also attended the same school.

• NEWS appeared in Feb 22nd broadcast of NTV’s “LIVE MONSTER” and in one of the show’s VTR segment, Tegoshi Yuya and Masuda Takahashi expressed their surprise that there will be a movie adaptation of Shigeaki Kato‘s “Pink to Gray” novel. haha. I hope TegoMass is aware that Shige have written his third book, they are aware, right?

• According to Video Research, Arashi‘s Sakurai Sho ranked 10th among celebrities with highest CM exposure in 2014. The said annual ranking is based from no. of seconds per CM advertised in five station across Kanto and Kansai region. Sakurai is the only JE talent in Top 10 with 135,645 secs and he ranked 17th last year.

That’s all for now, I’m leaving you with Ryo’s “hair rebond” look. haha.

(c)niwiwin

A good chance for fans to get closer Eito!

It was announced that Kanjani8 will be having an arena tour this summer that will be in “recital” format. The said tour is called “KANJANI8 Recital “Omae no heart wo tsukandaru!” that will start in July at Kobe and will end in September at Shizuoka. It is expected that the arena tour will mobilized 230,000 fans.

Since the group debuted in 2004, their performance venues haves steadily increase from domes to stadium. This time, to get closer to fans, the group decided to the tour will be all in arenas. Yasuda Shota also mentioned that the stage will be different in each venue so they can get closer (to fans) as much as possible. There are also planned activities like games for fans to enjoy and the group will collaborate with local broadcasting stations for planning

“Recital” live shows will be 2 hours long with only 10 songs. Furthermore, all cities included for the arena tour are those that were not included during “Kanjanism Live Tour”.

For the complete tour dates and venues for  KANJANI8 Recital “Omae no heart wo tsukandaru!, click here.

via Nikkan Sports and Daily Sports

Only★Star magazine announced the result of their annual favorability ranking where 400 readers voted.

Here is the result of Top 10 Only★Star’s Favorability Ranking [Male Group Division]

1. Arashi

2. SMAP

3. TOKIO

4. Kanjani8

5. EXILE

6. Kis-My-Ft2

7. Sandaime J Soul Brothers

8. Mr.Children

9. KAT-TUN

10. NEWS

It’s no surprise that Arashi is no.1, they are always present in any other rankings that it’s not so surprising anymore. I’m glad to see KAT-TUN and NEWS in this ranking since they are rarely present and even more, I’m glad to see high favorability with TOKIO!

via jnews1

It looks like Kanjani8‘s superhero alter-ego, Eito Rangers, will be eclipsed by another rising Kanjani8’s alter-ego, Kyanjani∞. Kyanjani∞ first appeared for a series of Candy Crush Soda CMs and now the boys girls are back for an all new single this summer.

(c)credits on pic

Wow, a single. Due to rave reviews of Kanjani8 cross-dressing as girls, fans have requested for Kyanjani∞ to release a song and they won’t be disappointed. Aptly titled, “CANDY MY LOVE“, the said single will be released this summer. In lieu of the summer theme, expect to see the girls in their swimsuits for the single’s jacket cover. Wooot! I don’t know if it is their body of their heads were just photoshopped on someone else’s body. Well, if it is their body then expect me to go to rigorous starvation starting tomorrow. Okura looks perfect and prettier than a real lady, Ryo looks like a tease, Maru looks awkward, and Subaru gives me a porn star vibe.

Release date for “CANDY MY LOVE” is yet to be announced so stay tune for more bikini shots.

via jnews1

A post to all Johnny’s-related tumblr users, myself included.

I’ve read posts about tumblr blogs being given an email warning by tumblr due to “copyright infringement” from using and posting copyright photos, videos, jwebs, magazine scans, etc of talents from Johnny’s & Associates (Johnny’s Entertainment). Emails aside, some blogs notice that some of their posts were deleted due to infringement issues.

I know that copyright issues is a big deal in Japan and now international fans are also in the danger of losing their treasured scans, videos, etc due to this issue. Some says that someone might have directly reported to J&A that there are lot of violators in tumblr since it’s quite unlikely that those in the agency have too much free time to check on tumblr blogs. Also, FC members are also responsible in reporting violators of Johnny’s law, not just with scans and posts, but also those who sell their balloted  tickets.

Nevertheless, international fans should be wary of posting anything that might be consider a “copyright infringement”. Un-tagging a post is a sure way that it won’t be seen in search results so for those who are not yet following a certain Johnny’s-centered blog, follow them now, follow every blog that represents each group or member before they either stop blogging, have their blog taken down, or before they make their posts private, which completely defeat the purpose of blogging.

Anyway, while I don’t post scans on tumblr, I post most of their copyrighted pictures here and I also post screencaps of most Johnny’s dramas on tumblr. I haven’t received any take down notice from DMCA but I might do so (delete the pictures) if I can no longer protect my posts.

I’m not gonna say to stop posting this and that, it’s already hard for international fans to have access to most Johnny’s happenings since it’s so exclusive. For now, we just need to be very careful.

In Johnny’s land, there’s an existing fan etiquette that everyone should follow including celebrities. Back in 2013, Kosuke Kitajima became friendly with Arashi‘s Sakurai Sho, who then invited him to see Arashi’s AraFes. Unfortunately, Kosuke receives some bashing from Arashians after he posted a tweet that he is watching Arafes. Some Arashians, who didn’t manage to get those precious balloted tickets, bashed him for being insensitive to the feelings of those who didn’t get in.

(c)girls channel

Since no one is exempted from fans wrath on proper manners, reader model of JJ magazine got to experience wrath from Eighters. Model Kawabata Arisa attended KANJANI8‘s Recital “Omae no heart wo tsukandaru!” last July 18th and on July 19th, she posted pictures of her and her friend inside the venue. Everyone knows that fancams is strictly prohibited inside the venue, she’s lucky that she didn’t get caught.

Anyway, what irks fans the most are Kawabata’s posts, like how she’s only 6 rows away from the stage so she can see them closer, how she likes Nishikido Ryo a lot and seeing him closer is too cool and different. I think that the Nishikido comments is what irked most fans. haha. Some Eighters bashed her for her lack of manners, for being proud that she’d seen the guys closer, and for even wearing stilletos since it’ll be an inconvenience to audience behind her. Ugh, when fans bashed, they bashed all the way. Gahd, how many times she must stick her tongue out? XD

Oh well, Kawabata have longed deleted those pictures from her blog so next time, be considerate.

via Daily News Online

It was a stressful and frustrating week, it had been sad and tiring but quite fulfilling (on the work side). Oh well, enough of my personal drama, while I was busy with my solving problems, here are some news and not so news that I missed. Involved parties, are: Kanjani8, Arashi, Jin Akanishi, Yamapi, Tamamori Yuta, Ikuta Toma, and Yamada Ryosuke.

(c)heartglitter

• The end of August is like the announcements for albums and what follows an album is definitely a TOUR. Kanjani8 announces that they’ll be having a 5-Dome tour aside from a new album titled: “Kanjani8 no genki ga deru CD!!“.

• Speaking of new album, Arashi will also be releasing an album called “Japonism“. The title sounds cool and I hope that the songs will be cooler. Arashi is scheduled for a local version of their “BLAST in HAWAII”, which is “BLAST in MIYAGI“. The said 4 day concert will also double as a charity work to help the Miyagi prefecture’s economy. The prefecture are among those that were greatly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Since most of the fans will be traveling far, JR East line announced that they’ll be having extra trains for Arashi’s 4-day concert. The said train will travel from Sendai-Rifu station to Tokyo station.

• In the land of former Johnny’s, the notorious Jin Akanishi announced that he will be starting his own fashion line. You can check-out his jinstagram for a sneak peek of his upcoming designs and I can now picture Kikuchi Fuma making reservations.

• Let’s move on to one of Jin’s BFF, Yamapi, who is back as Tsuneo in an all-new Doraemon‘s Toyota CM with a new character. Check-out the newest CM here.

(c)nishiuchi

• After you checked-out Yamapi’s lateset Toyota CM, do check-out Kis-My-Ft2‘s Tamamori Yuta‘s upcoming movie “Raintree no kuni” with the gorgeous Nishiuchi Mariya HERE. The trailer captivates the chemistry between the two, which is warm and fuzzy, but I’m still shipping Tamamori to Shiida Mirai.

• Another trailer worth checking-out is “Grasshopper” movie starring Ikuta Toma and Yamada Ryosuke. I haven’t checked the movie’s website for a long time so I’m not so sure whether the trailer is the newest. Anyway, the new trailer featured actress Haru as Ikuta’s love interest and the subject of his revenge. Check-out the badass trailer, HERE.

That’s all for now, enjoy your weekend and Happy 32nd Birthday MatsuJun.

(c)eyes with delight

Since I published my email address, mikuchin@jnewseng.com or mikuchin2805@gmail.com, I’ve received spams (lots of it) and legit emails from those who follow and view my blog. I reply to them personally as much as I can and even do some research if I can’t really answer them. Since I’m pretty busy on these past few weeks, I decided to just post their questions here so that some followers of this blog may share their input.

I won’t be posting any email address of the senders since I assume they want to be anonymous so they emailed me directly instead of posting a comment.

So here is this week’s Q&A : From the young and old

Can you give me dramas of Hey!Say!JUMP where they are not students?

I can only think of three: Date (Nakajima Yuto as a salaryman), Ikemen desu ne (Yaotome Hikaru as a popstar), and White Lab (Yabu Kota as a forensics officer).

Can you help me about this clip I saw on youtube, it was old and they were still young but they went on a hot spring vacation or something. The part I started is they were in a sauna and they have to stay there for a long time. They were also having a kanto vs kansai contest and I think the kanto lost and there will be a punishment game on Takki and tsubasa and someone other but there’s no continuation in youtube anymore.

I think I also saw this video. Is the remaining Kansai team compose of Nishikido, Subaru, and Yokoyama? If yes, then I can’t help you where to find the punishment part since I’m also looking for it. haha. Anyone?

If Kame get married, you wouldn’t like it either.

Ha? I’m even going to throw a party.

Is there a blog who recaps Shokura?

Tylerraiz used to do it.

Where can I watch videos of Can!Jani!

You can download them on some Livejournal communities like kanjani8.

Do you know this drama of Arashi, it was old and weird, they were friends and Sho is like a leader of a motorbike gang and matsujun always wear white?

I can only think of Pikanchi life. There are three installments already.

Hi! I watched this drama of Hikaru but I can’t remember the title. He was still chibi and he was student and I think he is the only hsj member there.

Hmmm….anyone?

I’m trying to search for the title of Yuto’s drama when he was still a kid and he’s brother or someone is like a train conductor? Abe Hiroshi is also there. He was so cute there and I want to watch it again

He’s always cute but I don’t know that drama, anyone?

Who sang Alone in ikemen desu ne? Is it really Mio?

Uhm, I guess. XD

What is the name of Aiba’s chinese family restaurant? I’ll be going in japan this november and I want to eat there.

Help?!

I’ll go to Japan, can I watch Shokura even if I’m not a fan club member? can anyone get in? pls….help me!

Pls. help her.

That’s all for now! Thanks for sending in your questions even though I can’t properly answer them. haha.

Email me at mikuchin@jnewseng.com

Love is in the air!

It’s not yet Valentines but it would feel like it as NTV announced the performers line-up for this year’s “Best Artist 2015“.

The appearance of TOKIO, KinKi Kids, V6, Arashi, Tackey & Tsubasa, NEWS, Kanjani8, KAT-TUN, Hey!Say!JUMP, and Johnny’s WEST have been determined. A total of 51 Johnny’s will be doing their first-ever love song medley and fans can request for their favorite love song (per group). The deadline for voting will be on Nov 13th and you can vote HERE.

A love song medley will be a nice change from their pop songs so I think we can see less dance number except if Arashi’s “Love so Sweet” will be voted.

Here is quick guide to vote for your favorite love song:

tick the yellow highlighted box to SEND

This is the confirmation/summary of your vote. Click again the yellow highlighted box.

I think that you can vote for as many as you want, I voted twice. As for the song title, Google the song that you want and most search results provides the song title in Japanese.

NTV‘s “Best Artist 2015” will happen on Nov 24, 2015.

via jnews1

Addendum : Link have been updated. Just make sure to click the bar shown below so you will go to the voting page. Voting will end on Nov 13th.

Last Nov 26th, the Red and White moderators plus the artists under Red and White Team were announced for the 66th Kohaku Uta Gassen.

V6‘s Inohara Yoshihiko will be the White Team chairman while popular actress Ayase Haruka will be the Red Team chair. This is the first time that Inohara will be hosting Kohaku while it’s the second time for Ayase. This year’s theme will be, “That’s Japan, that’s Red and White!”.

Representing Johnny’s and the White team will be SMAP (23), Arashi (7) , TOKIO (22) , Kanjani8 (4), V6 (2), and Sexy Zone (2), and Masahiko Kondo (10) who will be making a comeback in Kohaku after 19 years. The groups mentioned will not be their first time with SMAP and TOKIO being veterans in Kohaku.

I know that Arashi will be hosting this year’s JCD so I’m pretty sure that they might not stay until the end of Kohaku. As for Sexy Zone, I wish that Johnny’s just put on Hey!Say!JUMP.

The “66th Kohaku Uta Gassen” will be broadcast live in NHK on Dec 31, 2015 at 07:30 PM (JST).

via jnews1

*numbers beside the group’s name represent the no. of times they appeared in Kohaku.

It’s December and it means that there will be countless of “year-end countdowns”. To begin with, which all-male group do you think shines the most in 2015? Well, here’s the TOP 10!

Male Group who Shines the Most in 2015 Ranking

1. Arashi
2. Sandaime J Soul Brothers
3. Kanjani8
4. V6
5. SMAP
6. TOKIO
7. Kis-My-Ft2
8. EXILE
9. Hey!Say!JUMP
10. One Direction

For those in Top 11 onwards, check it out on Goo

Okay, so we have another “injured” in Johnny’s world.

Kanjani8 is currently wrapping-up their “Kanjani8 no genki ga deru LIVE!!” in Kyocera Dome, Osaka  but Okura Tadayoshi wouldn’t be able to finish it. Okura didn’t join the group for their final performance on Jan 17th due to intestinal obstruction.

According to reports, Okura complained of abdominal pain last Jan 16th but he still went on to do his radio program, “All Night Nippon Saturday Special” with Takahashi Yu. Okura ignore the pain overnight before he went to the hospital where he was diagnosed with intestinal obstruction. Consequently, Okura’s physician prohibits him to do a live performance.

This is the first time that Kanjani8 will be performing live with only 6 members. The 6 appeared in plain clothes onstage where Murakami Shingo informed 40,005 fans that only the 6 of them will be appearing and asked if its okay. The fans cheered for the group and they soon changed to their costumes to begin their performance.

In lieu of Okura’s absence, he released an official apology to all fans at the Johnny’s website.

Get well soon Tacchon!

via Daily Sports

Spring is coming in Japan, and when it’s spring in Japan, it’s Sakura season. If you say Sakura, you have to talk about Hanami, which translates to “flower viewing”. I’ll let you put two and two together. Here’s Ori★Star’s ranking of the top ten groups you want to go to see the cherry blossoms with.

10. Kinki Kids (14votes)

9. Hey! Say! Jump (18votes)

8. KAT-TUN (19votes)

7. EXILE (20votes)

6. Golden Bomber (23votes)

5. Kis-My-Ft2 (27votes)

4. SMAP (56votes)

3.  Tokio (72votes)

2. Kanjani8 (98votes)

1.  Arashi (190votes)

The balance and happy atmosphere that Arashi has brings them to the top. Other groups like Kanjani8, Kis-My-Ft2 and Golden Bomber, were chosen for their lively, funny and loud image. On the other hand, some people would want to talk to people like Tokio, as Tokio have a aniki/craftmen image. As for SMAP, they can cook and they have a relaxing air, Hanami would be perfect with them.

via zasshinews.yahoo　(c) Feature Image

I missed the chance to go hanami twice, last year and this year. Next year, I’m not going to let anyone go in between me or the sakura trees. But what do you guys think? I personally agree with Arashi, because I think it would be crazy cute for the members to show up for hanami. This might be a bit out of the Johnny’s but I’m really curious as to what it looks like to go hanami with EXILE.