Shounen Club (ザ少年倶楽部 – the Boys/Youth Club) showcases the song-and-dance skills of Johnny’s juniors – the next generation of Japanese male idols – alongside the more recently debuted groups in the Johnny’s Entertainment agency. Last week, the theme was “world”, so naturally it was “peace” (平和 – heiwa) this time. If you didn’t see that coming, welcome to Johnny’s!
A.B.C-Z started the festivities with “Bokura~Love&Peace~”:
Their dancing outpaced the music, but I enjoyed both the song and the performances as an opening act. As it progressed, various cadre of juniors joined them on stage.
But the focus was firmly on A.B.C-Z for this first stage, making it a real performance instead of an opening mash-up.
The three Hey! Say! Jump hosts for this episode were Arioka Daiki-kun, Chinen Yuri-kun, and Yaotome Hikaru-kun, all looking quite sharp.
They introduced the next song, which was Bakaleya Six performing KAT-TUN’s “Six Senses”. Right away, I knew I’d like this song. That’s because the opening of the song is spare on music, allowing the vocals to come through clearly. It’s also quite different from the type of song we normally hear on Shounen Club, and that’s usually a plus.
The dance was very energetic, and what I’ve been looking from this group for months now.
No question about it – I think this was Bakaleya Six’s best Shounen Club performance so far. They’ve still got a lot of improvement to make, but it’s nice to see them moving in a positive direction again.
After that, the hosts talked with Sexy Zone. Hikaru-kun was in a really good mood, which is always fun to watch.
I think the talk revolved around how the peace within SZ is holding up – whether they get into fights or anything like that.
Don’t expect them to give away any huge secrets, though. Somewhere along the way, I think Marius-kun got declared SZ’s symbol of peace.
Then it was noon boyz with “Lost My Way”.
No objections to the song itself, which had a cool feel to it and was another one which allowed the vocals to stand out. That was a problem in this case, though, as Sanada-kun’s voice was really weak. This pair needs someone to provide vocal support at the lower end.
On the bright side, the dance was fun to watch. This has been a good episode for dancing so far.
The Gekkan Ki ni Naru J segment, hosted by Kawai-kun and Totsuka-kun of A.B.C-Z featured Sato Shori-kun.
The thing is, I’d rather they featured a junior – and especially an obscure junior. Sato Shori-kun is debuted, and it stretches credulity to think that people interested in him don’t already know (or have trouble accessing information about) his birthdate, family, blood type, foods he likes and hates, and his hobby.
Kawai-kun notes that they’re both October births, though Kawai-kun is nine years older:
I guess it’s interesting that of four siblings three brothers and one sister – Shori-kun is the youngest. Does he give off a youngest child feel? Definitely not a middle child.
For some reason, Kawai-kun gets way excited over Shori-kun’s sushi preference. I couldn’t get a screencap of that moment because he moves so fast every frame was blurry. That was about as exciting as this talk got.
The three elder members of SZ – Nakajima Kento, Kikuchi Fuma, and Sato Shori – then performed “Namae no Nai Omoi”, which was the bonus track to the limited edition version of their album. Since I reviewed the regular edition, this is my first time hearing this song.
Sato Shori-kun handles the dancing duties with two backdancers while Kento-kun and Fuma-kun focused on singing.
The effect was pretty good, I thought. The song itself is entirely straightforward and nothing to get excited about, lacking any of the great touches that make a ballad memorable, but the performance was well-crafted. It felt smooth and classy.
Kento-kun and Fuma-kun followed it up by doing the Shokura You-bin segment. They brought out Hikaru-kun, Hashimoto Ryosuke-kun, and Okamoto Keito-kun, and with such a motley assortment, I wondered what this was going to be about.
I think the question was what to do if a foreigner is speaking quickly (possibly as if panicked). Needless to say, Keito-kun played the foreigner, speaking English, and the other two gave their best responses.
The thing is, Keito-kun doesn’t do panic and Hashimoto-kun actually seemed more flustered. Might I say that Keito-kun was truly brilliant here.
We already know Hikaru-kun was amped up earlier. What kind of craziness does he have in store for this skit?
Again, it’s so lovable that Keito-kun can’t act distraught even when he’s saying that his car has run out of gas.
Hikaru-kun’s tactic was interesting – not at all helpful, but interesting. You’ll have to watch for yourself to see what he does, but maybe you can guess from the screenshots.
In theory, the next performance is from Hey! Say! Jump, but they get piano support from Kento-kun, and at first it’s just Yamada-kun and Chinen-kun out there. The song is “Where My Heart Belongs.”
The value of having Kento-kun out there was minimal, as the sound of the piano started out barely audible, and quickly got overwhelmed by the rest of the music. For most of the song, you don’t hear the piano at all.
Chinen-kun did what he does best – dancing. Yamada-kun did not – he was singing in English. The normal test, which I’ve been doing more and more while watching Shounen Club recently, is to close my eyes and check how much of what they say in English I can actually understand. To Yamada-kun’s credit, he didn’t do badly on this test, and better than I’ve heard him do before.
That said, this is not going to go down as a great Yamada vocal solo, though I look forward to the day when an English solo for him will rank up there. First, they’ll have to get better lyrics. These were minimally coherent and maximally repetitive, and that’s putting it nicely.
As for Chinen-kun, who was definitely at the center of this performance, I can’t really judge. I’m not a good critic of dancing at the best of times. At least with the normal Johnny’s dances I can gauge them against how difficult they are. With Chinen-kun that’s a given – the question is whether this is better than what he’s done before – and I have no answer to that. It looked . . . sophisticated.
Once the rest of HSJ appears in the back, Chinen-kun gets acrobatic, and that’s much more fun to watch.
In the middle of it, though, they showed the audience, leading me to wonder what the heck happened that they avoided showing what happened on stage. There’s no excuse for panning away from the stage right when things were getting interesting unless someone was getting hauled away on a stretcher.
Finally, the rest of HSJ join Chinen-kun up front as the song wraps up.
Then it was time for Jr ni Q, with Yamada-kun and Hikaru-kun asking the juniors what they’re number one in.
First up was Kyomoto Taiga-kun, who claims to be number one in drawing. This was good for a laugh. Taiga-kun’s got a deadpan sense of humor.
Jesse-kun was up next, claiming some talent in monomane. He does an intriguing Donald Duck, a slightly weak Tokunaga Hideaki, a poor machine gun, and an iffy Fukuyama Masaharu. He’s got a long way to go before he can challenge Kawai-kun, and Kyomoto-kun has done convincing vocal impressions before, if I recall.
The only non-Bakaleya junior in the segment was Haniuda Amu-kun, who’s into guns. He apparently picked up this fascination from movies, and has model guns.
Last was Tanaka Juri-kun, but he apparently said he was number one in Tutankamen (ツタンカーメン), and that’s when I know I’m missing something.
A.B.C-Z performed a song I haven’t heard before – “Twinkle Twinkle A.B.C-Z”. Well, I say I haven’t heard it before, but quite a chunk of it is inspired by “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” – not the most promising basis for a new song.
But while the opening to the song had me worried, it quickly got very good. First of all, despite being in English, the lyrics were fine – no semantic problems here. The pronunciation was borderline at best, but mostly recognizable. The actual melody was great, and they sang it well.
Most importantly, the dancing had some brilliant moments. I still can’t be sure about the trick to it:
My only objection is that the song didn’t end properly. You’ll have to hear it to understand what I mean.
The three hosts wrapped things up . . .
. . . and then joined the rest of HSJ for “Hyakkaryouran” (百花繚乱 – flowers blooming in profusion/a gathering of beautiful women).
They did a fully choreographed dance for this one – odd for the finale song to Shounen Club. That, and the bit where Yamada-kun sings a solo line have me convinced that this is meant to be a single, but whether things will go as planned is a different matter.
Would it be good as a single? I’m not sure. It doesn’t really stand out from the pack – it’d be an unremarkable song on an album, for instance – but there’s also nothing wrong with it. The dance routine went a long way towards adding flair to it, so maybe that’ll be enough.
So, wow, this was a complicated Shounen Club. Upsides? Let’s see . . . Bakaleya Six performing “Six Senses”, the SZ performance, Chinen-kun’s dancing, A.B.C-Z’s dancing, “Hyakkaryouran” at the end, and the Shokura You-bin segment with Keito-kun. Come to think of it, we got a lot of music that was new to the Shounen Club stage, didn’t we? I don’t think “Six Senses” was done before by KAT-TUN, was it? “Namae no Nai Omoi” definitely hasn’t been done, and nor has “Hyakkaryouran”. I’m moderately sure “Where My Heart Belongs” hasn’t been done, either. What about “Twinkle Twinkle A.B.C-Z” – I sure haven’t heard it before. So that’s a serious amount of new stuff to digest. Very impressive.
The downsides? The noon boyz performance needed work. Kento-kun at the piano was just for show,so that was a tad disappointing. The English lyrics to “Where My Heart Belongs” were problematic, but the better lines in “Twinkle Twinkle A.B.C-Z” sort of made up for them. Pronunciation? Not good, but better than usual. The biggest problem? Not much by way of juniors. We got Bakaleya Six and noon boyz, but that was about it, wasn’t it?
It felt like they were really trying hard. There was a lot of energy on stage, and I really want to give this episode a 10 out of 10. But musically and in the few soft spots cited above it doesn’t measure up to the episodes I gave that rating to before, so I’ll have to call it a 9 out of 10. I think this would have been a better start to the new year than the episode we got on the 9th.
J-Everything 
I was happily surprised by this episode; it’s a lot better than what we’ve gotten from Shounen Club recently. “Six Senses” by Bakaleya6 was definitely a small breakthrough for the group, it’s step up from the level they were previously at. I’ve only seen two performances of “Six Senses” by KAT-TUN, one on Utawara back in ’06 and one from a concert DVD, so you may be right that it’s new to Shounen Club. I think Bakaleya6’s dancing has gotten much better and they’re really charismatic and engaging now.
I keep rewatching the ABC-Z performance, wanting to try to figure out the trick! There must be a trick, or they wouldn’t have cut away to the audience so much. I think it must be something to do with what looks like the black squares on stage and their shoes, but maybe it’s something else. The song wasn’t my cup of tea (I like their faster songs like Vanilla), but it was impressive nonetheless.
I liked Mis Snow Man when that was a unit, so it’s sad to see that Noon Boyz is so boring. I like Sanada and Nozawa, but I have to agree that they’re … really boring. This time was less boring than the others because of the dance, though. In their Shounen Club performances, I notice that they do the song and dance and nothing else. Maybe they need to be grouped with more people to seem more charismatic? They definitely need to sing with other people.
I really miss the days when Shounen Club was about the Juniors and occasional sempai single promotion. The games were crazier and funnier, too. I’d prefer it if Sexy Zone and ABC-Z didn’t get full performances or long interviews every single episode – interview some newer Juniors! I guess it’s just a weird lull for Johnny’s now, since Sexy Zone and ABC-Z don’t really have other TV shows, variety appearances, or a constant drama presence like Kis-my-ft2 does. Sexy Zone can’t really be helped since they’re young, but management really needs to come up with a solution for ABC-Z’s career development.
“Six Senses” is a great way to change things up a bit – both in the context of a concert and for this particular group. So far, Bakaleya6’s biggest successes have been with KAT-TUN songs (“Shake It Up” aside, of course). I wonder when they’ll get a song of their own? I expect they’d take it up a notch for that.
I don’t really want to figure out the trick to the A.B.C-Z move, but it’s real enjoyable trying to, and speculating on it. I love that they did it. Without it, I don’t think I would have been as favorable toward that performance.
I was certainly happier with Mis Snow Man than with noon boyz + (other juniors). Johnny’s only prominent duo is Kinki Kids, and their strength is really their vocals. I don’t hear that with noon boyz, so it’s a mystery to me why Johnny’s persists in avoiding a larger grouping. It’s not as if these two have some spectacular skills (acrobatics, acting, hosting, etc.) that they can ride to prominence, so they really need the support that a regular Johnny’s group would provide – just like most of their senpai needed. And considering there are so many juniors available, why not?
I miss those days, too – especially with regard to the games. I think as long as SZ and HSJ have members under 20, I don’t mind them being on Shounen Club, and I hope HSJ continues hosting until they have a good platform for themselves in a different show (you know, what Yan Yan Jump was supposed to be). So, I expect to see SZ on here for a while. The priority is really A.B.C-Z. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – they deserve their own variety show, and it should be pure variety – doing different things each week (not a quiz show or anything like that). They need to graduate from Shounen Club, and to do so in a way that gives them the boost that ensures that the graduation actually helps rather than hurts their prospects. I’m looking for that to materialize in 2013, or I’m going to feel increasing uneasy about their future.
Thank you for your thoughts!
Hi!
I haven’t seen the whole ep yet, but I’d like to add my two cents to the songs HSJ has been performing lately. Last time they opened with let’s go to the earth which, I think, is from the Johnny’s world musical. Now, since both songs they performed this time has the same variety feel, maybe these were from the musical too. I can’t for the world imagine Hyakkaryouran as a single for HSJ. It’s a totally nondescript song. Plus, they performed it in clothes that would also suggest it’s from the musical. What do you think?
And as for the ‘ballet’….Well, I don’t think one has to be an expert to tell that not much was going on in that song choreography-wise. And I don’t mean to belittle Chinen’s abilities, because I think he is capable of a lot more if he is given the chance. It was simply a boring and lacklustre choreography, although the juniors standing around the bench at the back seemed to be totally amazed. One of them even nodded approvingly when Chinen hopped on the bench 🙂
But I must say, if all these songs are indeed from J’s world, I’m not much impressed musically….
Yes, I think much of this Shounen Club was actually a taste of Johnny’s World – that’s the sense I got from the music. I agree that “Hyakkaryoran” is nondescript, but I would have said the same about “Super Delicate”, and there was simply a very formal feel about the way they performed it – looked like a rehearsal for a future Music Station appearance. Somebody mentioned this song in a comment to me before, with a similar observation that it might be a future release, so it’s not my idea. I just think the way they performed it here gives that possibility more credence than when I just heard the song, and thought it would barely make it as a B-side. We’ll see. I’m definitely not rooting for it – I want a HSJ single, but I’d rather have a more exciting song.
Here’s the thing: exciting is not the same thing as difficult. Yes, the ballet was boring. However, it was definitely not easy – it took a great deal of muscle control that I doubt anyone else on stage could have managed. It really does take an expert on this one. It is possible for me to imitate most of the dances they do on Shounen Club with (lots of) practice. What I can’t do is hold a precise position for very long or keep my movements as smooth as Chinen-kun had his.
It’s worthwhile watching Gene Kelly in “An American in Paris” or the main dance sequence in “Singing in the Rain” for comparison. Chinen-kun reminded me and someone else who knows old musicals of Kelly, and that’s pretty high praise – Kelly was one of the two most famous male dancers in Hollywood in the twentieth century. From some of Chinen-kun’s past performances, I already got the sense that he was imitating the Kelly style to some degree, but it’s totally clear now. Whoever is doing Chinen-kun’s choreography was probably inspired by Kelly’s choreography.
watching Noon Boyz performing Lost My Way was interesting. Their version is quite different from the original which was Kame’s solo for Dream Boys stage play. As Kame’s one was for musical, it had a lot more of acting elements, not just dancing and singing. Maybe that was just Kame too, he seems to prefer that kind of performing. I was used to that version so watching the junior performing it straight as just singing and dancing was a bit weird. Agree though that their dancing was good but singing was meh. i feel like juniors back in the day had gotten more original song to perform? maybe i’m wrong but it seems like the juniors this day only get to do sempai songs most of the time, which is kind of sad.
I didn’t know that was from Dream Boys – thanks for pointing that out.
Your impression about juniors getting more original songs probably stems from the Ya-Ya-Yah days, where they generally performed their own songs. I’m not as sure about other junior groups, but I think it’s fair to say we’re overloaded with senpai songs at this point, and it’s not helping. As I’ve said before, I’d prefer it if only the younger juniors did senpai songs – especially senpai melodies. It seems like the songwriting bench at Johnny’s has grown a bit thin – that’s the only reasonable explanation. But what about all those songs that only the juniors used to sing? What about the ones Ya-Ya-Yah used to do, for instance?
I’m sure groups like Bakaleya6, Noon Boyz + Elder Juniors, and the group I call Think Yuuki would really step it up and perform at a higher level if they were handed a song no one had done before, with all the possibilities that could come out of that.
Thanks for commenting!
First of all, thank you for all your informative reviews!
I recently downloaded this SC episode, highly intrigued by the Bakaleya 6 performance. In the last episode, I kept trying to figure out who owned the deep singing voice between Taiga, Yuugo and Hokuto. I was amazed to discover in this episode that it was Taiga’s! He sounds almost like Jin! I completely agree that this performance is a step up compared to their previous ones.
It’s also quite interesting to note the change in the front liners of this group. For how many years, the limelight has been on Shintaro, but in this episode, it’s quite clear that it’s not his anymore.
I do hope they keep this group though, as I believe they have good chemistry, with a good mix of talented singers, dancers, and actors.
I’m definitely a Bakaleya 6 booster, and really believe in this group. Now, if only Johnny’s would give them a name to create some sense that this is going to be a formal grouping, that would make my day.
Shintaro-kun was the darling before his brother got into trouble. Since then, he was actually sidelined, and has had to climb back. That said, it’s one of the best aspects of Bakaleya 6 that there is such balance between the six members. They all have their strengths, and as they grow older, I’m confident that each one will be able to individually draw audiences.
Unfortunately, the agency has a habit of breaking up beautifully balanced groups and creating horribly skewed groups where there are a couple of stars and other people in the background. I worry that they’ll consider it a waste to have so many potential stars in a single group, and instead split it up, combine the parts with less charismatic juniors, and do it that way.
Thank you for your comment!
Hello ^^
Haha first I will also add my two cents 😀 Most of the song the debuted band performed are actually from Js World. I know a commented said there is a trick on the ABC-Z not falling, but actually, nope xD I don’t know why they filmed like that, I was distracted then, as usually well, the performance happens right before my eyes.
There is nothing on the floor also, as for example Yamada has during a flying part where we can see the trick 🙂 Maybe something on their shoes ?
I don’t know, but when Tsuka-chan got hurt he couldn’t perform it at all, so he was mainly standing( at the place he is usually)..It took a while for him to do it again
The sakura HSJ Jump I kept telling you about ” how it may be a single” was this one xD I m so glad they performed it…I really like it, the ending was weird, when they all came around, Yamada, and stopped dancing, but it s due to the fact that in Js World, there is something else happening at that part.
Anyway, the more I m listening to it, and watch it, the more I m getting less convinced about a new single ( more like a B-side)… Why ? Because I think Twinkle Twinkle may really become a single ( though as ABC-Z is getting a national wide tour, it may be in the album) as ABC-Z perfomed it during Js Countdown ( the first hour that is not being filmed on TV), when HSJ did not. Yet tHSJ did a small medley on YYJ et on that School Kakumei program before…If it had been a new single, I think they would have performed it, during JCD right ?
The song Sexy Zone does is also during Js World ( well all song of debuted band but Bokura no peace, which is the Zutto Love DVD B Side)
I really like Six Senses performance…Mostly for Taiga. He was doing it perfectly, with all the mimics and such. As if he was a KAT-TUN member (and more specifically, Jin or Kame). As I don’t really like the song ( I don’t mind it, but I wont listened to it by myself, I mean) I m all the more glad for this, and their energy during it. The others though were more bland during the performance
Lost my Way, I found the song meh, and I usually just enjoy the performance Kame gives, as you said the vocals were a bit weak, but Lost my way isn’t the most easy to do, so I wasn’t really shocked. I don’t see it, probably because I m used to see it in the ” performance” vampire version, not really as a song in which you dance and sing mainly, but something with a show. Yet, I still enjoyed it here.
I like Noon Boyz as a duo, I just think that they need a song that would really ” suit” then, as Six Senses, did for Bakaleya as a whole.
Actually, KAT-TUN did perform more than once Six Senses ( SCP ? or SC ? I can’t remember, but I have one of the perfomance in my head…Just can’t remember where…But yeah they did it at least once in SC if not way more, as well as live on TV programs)
Jrs Q was quite boring, if only once again for Taiga’s part. I wish they would get something more for the Juniors, like the old games they use to do…but I suppose Jr Land and Tackey channel is there for that…
The part about the foreigner was funny. I can easily imagine Hasshi being like that, and Hikaru’s answer…Let’s say I can easily imagine someone acting like that. Haha Keito was adorable xD He looked completly lost with Hikaru’s answer xDD
Shori doesn’t give off youngest child vibes…But is it me or did he have trouble answering ? I mean, if he is the one conducted greetings, and such during concerts and lives, I feel like MCs are not his kind of thing ( he never speaks ) so that may be why he was …I don’t know…Nervous? Or maybe Tottsu and Kawai were too excited for him.
I also don’t understand why they filmed suddenly the audience during HSJ performance…Mind you, they did a weird thing for ABC-Z Twinkle Twinkle so may be they just wanted too ?
I really like Where my heart belongs. Lol Yamada worked SO hard on his english pronunciation. God, I can make out the whole song (but for the ” stadium of stars” ) without reading the subtitles, or anything…The first time in Js World, it was terrible…They all worked really hard on it, when I compare it to Hero for example…(I don’t know if you have listened to JUMP WORLD but when I watched the MO and said that the song was half in english, I was REALLY surprised, and honestly before looking up at the lyrics, I couldn ‘t make it out 99% of the word…Even though, judging by their comment on the MO, they worked hard on it)
I have to say, I don’t really understand why we are getting more and more Js World songs in SC…Is it because the end is in few days ? Even though there still are the DOME performance in March ? // Osaka and Tokyo Dome for few days//
Also, they had to rearrange them a bit because they are not made for SC and usually there are other things happening.
The only reason Kento is playing the piano is because they needed to give SZ a bigger part in Js World (they were not supposed to be there at first, but then got added)and with the number of fans he has…Better put him, than let’s say, Inoo ( there is a part in Johnny’s Wolrd, where the whole JUMP BAND is playing, but Inoo…They put Kento at the keyboard instead).I m really not happy with that, though In term of ratings and popularity of show, I can understand eeeasily why they would prefer NakaKen over anyone else ( there are some part where he is playing the piano, when QUESTION? should be doing it, but oh well…)
Twinkle Twinkle ABC-Z ? What to say ? I really enjoy the song a lot. Ever since I first heard it, the lyrics in english are okay, as well as the pronunciation, and as always, the dance movement /acrobatics they do (The newly Summary anyway pretty much shows ” what” ABC-Z is). You re thinking of the a capella at the end ? Once again, I enjoy it…I have to say, what they lack is a really strong voice…Hasshi has a good voice, but it still cannot compare to let’s say Yamada, or Kento for example. In each band they amanged to have someone who really have a great voice or at least a good one) ( Ohno satoshi for Arashi, Jin/Kame for KAT-TUN etc)…Hasshi still need a bit more work, even though I m thinking he is doign great(the others too of course need to work more on it, but Bokura love and peace show that there is improvement for all of them :D)
That was the first SC in months and months that I really liked from end to beginning. I m giving it 10. And yeah, waaay better than last week
Ah – I thought it was Johnny’s World stuff. I said so in a reply to an earlier comment, and thank you for the confirmation. The music and lyrics just had that sense to them.
If there really wasn’t a trick to that A.B.C-Z bit, that was even more amazing. Still fun to speculate on it, though. I have to say that your point about Tsukada-kun being unable to do it when injured is interesting. In general, when they’ve got wires supporting them or anything like that, we can usually see it. In NHK Hall, it’d be even clearer. It would be hard to do something with the shoes – even with electromagnets, they’d need the muscle control to support their bodies. So, since I can’t figure it out, I’ll temporarily suspend disbelief and go with the idea that they really did it.
Ah, yes, you were the one who brought this one up. I mentioned in a comment that someone had brought it up as a potential single. As for why they didn’t perform it on JCD if it was a future single, I think that actually fits the usual Johnny’s pattern. Because of Yamada-kun’s single, I don’t think we’ll get a HSJ within a month or even two, so this would probably be a March release. In that case, it would be better to limit broad exposure to it at this stage, since they don’t want it to become stale. And, let’s face it, it’s not the most exciting song (that’s why you’re getting less enthusiastic about it the more you hear it). So I don’t think the fact that they didn’t perform it in JCD means anything. Honestly, I think Johnny’s hasn’t decided whether this is going to be a single yet – I think it could go either way. This Shounen Club performance was somewhat of a trial balloon. If it gets shot down, let’s hope they’ve got something better to put in its place.
Well, if KAT-TUN performed “Six Senses” on SC or SCP, I’ll try to hunt for it. It’ll make for an interesting contrast to see how much progress Bakaleya 6 still needs to make.
I’m rarely interested in Jr ni Q, so I didn’t really hold it against this episode. The goal ought to be bringing out juniors that don’t get much attention, but they spent the time on well-known quantities, and that robs the segment of most of the interest it could generate.
Thank goodness for Keito-kun. It’s nice to see him get some time, and the others clearly enjoy having fun with him.
Totsuka-kun and Kawai-kun were way excited. I have no idea why they were so excited – maybe they were trying to get him animated and failed. The result was that he looked stiff and, as you said, nervous by comparison. Shori-kun is an introspective fellow, which means he often delays before he speaks. By the time he comes up with what he wants to say in an MC, the topic has already moved on. Plenty of people are like that, and there are tricks such a person can pick up to make spontaneous public speaking easier. In my experience, putting him on stage and making him talk is probably the best thing to do to push that along.
Cuts to the audience like the ones in the HSJ and A.B.C-Z performances must have a definite reason. I assure you it was not just because they felt like it – it was sloppy and against all the rules of video production. Something definitely happened. I have no idea whether what happened occurred on stage, though. Maybe there’s just someone clumsy in the control room.
I bought JUMP WORLD, so feel free to refer to any of those songs. “Hero” is actually one of the songs I added to my running playlist – I like it for exercise purposes. I saw the lyrics, but decided to promptly forget them. If it sounds like English, good. If it doesn’t, it’s Japanese as far as I’m concerned when I’m listening to that particular song.
I’ll give them this – their English pronunciation is getting better. But better isn’t the same as good. It’s possible to be not good and still be better.
Good question about why Johnny’s World has suddenly come to Shounen Club. Is it because they don’t have time to prepare anything else? But I’d figure adapting it to the Shounen Club stage would still take time, anyway. It’s a very interesting question.
Inoo-kun! Yes, why wasn’t Inoo-kun playing the piano?! That would have been fine. Having Kento-kun in there was just totally useless. I think Kento-kun is great and have expressed how much I like seeing him at the piano, but not like this! Replacing Inoo-kun with Kento-kun on keyboard in the JUMP band, though . . . is that because Inoo-kun was too busy with studies and couldn’t learn the part? I don’t get it. I don’t mind SZ getting a part, and appreciate the needs of NakaKen fans, but . . . .
Having it a capella at the end is fine, but there has to be balance to the song. So, there should have been an a capella portion, another verse with music, and then ending with a few a capella lines. My ears were expecting that, and felt it was cut short because there was no reiteration of the music before the end. Otherwise, I would like “Twinkle Twinkle ABC-Z” better if it quoted “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” less forcefully at the beginning. If it’s released as a single, the thing about the end will definitely be fixed – it’ll retain an a capella ending, but the lead-in to that ending will be managed better. I approve of the lyrics – English and all.
Good point about A.B.C-Z lacking a strong, passionate voice. They have clear, smooth voices, but there’s not enough contrast between their voices to drive intensity in a song. You gave good examples for the type of vocalist they need. I hope Hashimoto-kun can develop in that direction.
This episode was quite a contrast from last week, to be sure. It’s definitely thoroughly watchable with no need to skip.
Thank you for contributing your thorough analysis!
Yeah, the a capella part does seem weird the first time we hear it. We have the answer for ABC-Z, Twinkle Twinkle and Desperado are going to be singles.
Also, you were mentionning how we would see it on NHK hall if there was a trick, well for the Teikoku Theatre were they do the show, the audience is much much more closer, so if there had been something we would have seen it.
Also, as Tottsu has fallen today (lol I suppose he couldn’t find the right way for the balance, he immediatly fall on his back) during that part of Twinkle Twinkle ABC-Z, I suppose there is no trick ? XD
He did save the whole thing by lying on his back for a while, as if it had been done on purpose, ( the fact that ” falling, falling” is at that time also helps…Honestly, if I didn’t know it wouldn’t seem weird, as noone reacted in the band, and he covered it more than smoothly)
Seems like there is going to be a documentary of some sort about Js World on NHK World btw ^^
Well, it’s good to hear that ABC-Z have some releases coming up. But they really need a better platform to promote themselves than Shounen Club (since they can always appear on Shounen Club to do their new song anyway). More than a new single, I’d like to see them get a variety show. That’s the news I’m really itching for.
I figured that it would be easier to tell in NHK Hall. With the additional information about Totsuka-kun, I’ll go with the idea that it’s just superior muscle control and that there’s not actually a trick – at least until someone can come up with a good theory for how it might be a trick (which I haven’t seen so far). Innocent until proven guilty, right?
Anyway, I decided to test out my own muscles to see how close I could come to doing it, and the result was . . . bad. But, I can see how someone who had trained their muscles as much as they have, given that they’ve being doing acrobatics that I could never do for ages now, could manage it. Actually, the most convincing part is how they try to use the rest of their body to balance themselves – they wouldn’t need to do that if it was just some trick. But I’m a bit paranoid, and I’m always wary of the possibility that people are messing with me, so I’m still not 100% sure one way or the other.
A documentary about Johnny’s World on NHK World? Well, if I can get a hold of it, I’ll definitely take a look. I wonder what kind of take it’ll have on it – will it focus on backstage stuff (which is always interesting to watch), or all the performances themselves (which I’d rather get a sense of by watching them properly on a DVD)?
Thanks for the info!