Sexy...Zone? | Thoughts on Sexy Zone's 'Fuller House' Cameo

A few days ago, the episode of Fuller House that features our precious baby Marius Yo was released on Netflix. I spent a few days catching up on the series since I was a little behind and now I was finally able to watch it. So here is a brief review kind of thing with a focus on Sexy Zone's apperance. If you want to watch the episode yourself it's season 3 episode 10.

Marius' first apperance happens when characters Ramona and Jackson are exploring the streets of Harajuku. Ramona is upset that her ex-boyfriend Popko is already seeing other girls and carelessly walks out into the street. A motorcyle is speeding towards her but just at the last minute Marius jumps in and saves her from getting hit. For the two it's love at first sight and Marius invites her to meet him at Tokyo Dome later that day without even telling her his name. Lucky girl!


Later, Jackson and Ramona arrive at Tokyo Dome but Ramona's true love is nowhere to be found. That is until the concert starts and she's surprised to see him on stage. It made me laugh how Jackson said "Sexy...Zone?" because I remember when I was a huge fan of them and people would always have that confused reaction to hearing the group's name for the first time.

The Majibo Experience | Thoughts on MAGiC BOYZ' "Dai Ichi Ji Seicho Ki ~Baby to Boy~"

Now, MAGiC BOYZ do have a bit of a reputation for being weird. When they first debuted I thought they were pretty funny in a cute way. These adorable, seemingly innocent Japanese schoolboys rapping to some sick beats didn't seem to fit right at all and that's what made them so entertaining. Yes, I did in fact just say 'sick beats'.


But then they got older, members graduated, and new members joined. It stopped being cute and just got kind of awkward. I was constantly asking; how are they still going? What audience are they even targeting? Who is even buying their CDs?! They're like a bad parody of hip-hop, but at the same time it seemed like they were actually legit trying sometimes? Someone help them.

As objectively terrible as Majibo are, I still fell for them. Their songs are catchy as heck and the members are all lovable dorks. Their concerts look like so much fun too. Basically, I am Majibo's target audience; someone who just loves male idols regardless of how weird and whacky they are. Sure, the members might not be the most talented but it's their imperfections and the bond they share with their fans that keeps me coming back for more. I've bought several of their CDs and I'm only a little ashamed.

On August 30th of this year, Majibo released their first album. I had been putting off buying it for a while since it was quite expensive but much to my surprise, I recently discovered that it was up on iTunes. MAGiC BOYZ' releases did used to be put up on iTunes for overseas fans to buy but for some reason they stopped after their 3rd single. It's nice to see that their label has remembered the overseas fans again, and buying the album on iTunes obviously turned out to be much cheaper than getting the whole physical CD shipped from Japan.


The Number One Otaku Male Idol Group | A Brief Introduction to EPIC STAR

I’ve mentioned in a few previous posts that earlier this year, Japan Expo in France was lucky enough to see the debut overseas performance of energetic rookie male idol group, BREAK☆THROUGH”5D. At the same event, dansou (girls-dressed-as-handsome-boys) group THE HOOPERS returned to Europe for round two after their performance in London last year. But they weren’t the only idol boys to crash Japan Expo this year. 7-member (now 9-member) group EPIC STAR also put on a great performance where they enthusiastically introduced themselves to their French fans for the first time.


EPIC STAR refer to themselves as an “idol-style otaku group”. They received the privilege of performing at the large event in Paris after being declared the winners of the first ever edition of Tokyo Candoll -BOYS-, an annual competition for up and coming male idol groups. The female idol equivalent - Tokyo Candoll - has been active for 3 years and this year’s winners - notall - were also able to perform at Japan Expo.

Upcoming Jpop Boy Group Releases for December 2017

Ano Hi no Yume to, Ima no Boku. on CDJapan
Release Date: 2017/12/12

On December 12th, BREAKTHROUGH”5D will release their 7th single “Ano Hi no Yume to, Ima no Boku.”. Check out the music video for the title track above.

Release Date: 2017/12/13

On the following day, EBiDAN group EBiSSH will release their 2nd single “My Friend / Kimi de Ippai”. "My Friend" is the ending song for the anime "Tomica Hyper Rescue Drive Head".


Release Date: 2017/12/13

On the same day, "otome" group ARSMAGNA will release their 4th album "Arsrottle".

The Time I Met THE HOOPERS

Last year I was lucky enough to be able to see THE HOOPERS live and also meet them afterwards at Hyper Japan Christmas Market. Since this year's Hyper Japan Christmas Market is coming up I thought now would be a good time to share my experience. I won't be attending the event this year mainly due to the fact that there aren't really artists I'm interested in performing but you best believe I'll be spamming their feedback form with requests as always, haha.


I'd bought THE HOOPERS' penlight and album especially for the event. I also slaved in front of my TV screen for many days watching their concerts to get the hang of the wotagei routines, haha. Turns out they weren't signing though so I wasn't able to get my CD signed but it was still awesome to have it and I would have bought it anyway.

I Dreamt of This Day Too | BREAK☆THROUGH"5D Release MV with English Subs

On December 19th, 4-member boy group BREAK☆THROUGH"5D will release their 3rd major single. Its title is "Ano Hi no Yume to, Ima no Boku" (A Dream of That Day and Who I Am Now). It will be released in 3 editions and if their previous releases are anything to go on, it should be available to purchase on iTunes for those of us overseas as well.

This will be their second release since their debut overseas performance in France back in July (the music video for their last release was filmed in Paris) and they recently uploaded the music video for the title track on YouTube.


I like this MV. It's nothing we haven't seen before but it's still pretty cute. The song isn't bad either and I love the costumes and the choreography. But the MV itself wasn't what caught my attention. Because, what's that below the video? Japanese subtitles...and English too?!

BREAK☆THROUGH have always been a pretty decent group in terms of overseas accessibility but this has me a tad excited. Since - as I mentioned already - this is one of their first releases since their performance at Japan Expo, could the English subs be a hint to more overseas activities in the future? Or at least them making more of an effort to target fans abroad? This is the first music video from a Jpop boy group I've ever seen that actually has English subs done officially (rather than being a fansub), not to mention that they actually read as if the lyrics have been translated properly rather than just run through Google Translate or something. They just might be taking this seriously.

I'm not expecting BREAK☆THROUGH to start doing world tours or anything. Afterall, they're a pretty small group in terms of popularity and it's only early days. But as a smol overseas fan who annoyingly has very specific tastes in groups and sometimes has to go to the most ridiculous lengths just to buy one little CD, I appreciate each and every step that Japanese artists and their agencies take to get a little closer to their foreign fans, no matter how small.


How do you feel about this news? Are there any Japanese artists who you wish took more notice of their fans abroad? 

Jpop and Idol Fandom Terminology

This is a more in-depth update of a post I did on the Jpop Amino a while back; a list of Jpop terminology! Some of these words or phrases may not neccesarily be exclusive to the Jpop fandom but they are just sayings that I see commonly used so I thought I would make this post to help out any new fans who don't know what they mean. Hope it's helpful and feel free to comment down below if there are any words that I've missed.

BATTLE BOYS Bias | 5 Members You Should Vote For

Hello all, I’m back on another EBiDAN high (pun unintended) so expect a lot of EBiDAN posts over the coming weeks. Today the spotlight’s back on BATTLE BOYS, specifically my favourite members that you should totally vote for ok. But before we get started, let’s check out the current ranking over on the BATTLE BOYS website.



  1. Nagano Ryota
  2. Yamanaka Juutaro
  3. Miyamoto Ryunosuke
  4. Ishii Masaya
  5. Muto Jun
I knew Ryota was pretty popular but I was surprised that he was popular enough to overtake Juutaro for the number 1 spot, considering Juutaro is older and how handsome and cool he is! I’m happy though since I do like Ryota a lot. I’m a little disappointed that Masaya has fallen from the top 3 but at least he’s still in the top 5. I do like Ryunosuke, but Jun I don’t know much about.

Meanwhile my baby Sora has fallen even further down from 6th to 9th place, and my ichiban Jeffrey is all the way down in 16th! Also Yamashita Yue seems to rising slowly up the ranking. Hopefully this post will persuade more people to show them some love, haha. Also be sure to check out this post from the lovely tanoshimitiger if you want a more general introduction to all of the BATTLE BOYS members.


Jeffrey Malone

 

I really don’t know how to persuade you to vote for Jeffrey because when I try to talk about his good points it just ends up sounding more like I’m insulting him, haha. His dancing is terrible and he’s a huge dork but that’s what makes him loveable. As you can probably tell by the name and the way he looks, he’s not fully Japanese. He’s half-American on his dad’s side and seems to speak a decent amount of English. I wish he’d shown off his English skills a bit in his introduction video; he usually does introduce himself in English durng events. I guarantee if you pay attention to Jeffrey he’ll make you laugh; if not from his awkward dancing and cringey English lines then from his messing around and failing at trying to be cool. All jokes aside, he is a talented boy and does have a lot of cool points. Just check out his special skill in the video above!

Age of (No) Future | G=AGE A Year Later

Here I am again for some reason, talking about a group that already disbanded. Recently, the fifth and final member (Mahiro) of the now defunct G=AGE started an official social media account which means all of the boys are now online. Not only that but it's also been about a year since all of the drama that was going on with the group that caused their disbandment started to surface so I thought now would be as good a time as any to write a kind of reflection post.

If you don't know who G=AGE are they were a 5-member Jpop boy group both born and died (not literally, haha) in 2016 who got a lot of attention at first mainly due to the fact that 4 of its members were originally part of Johnny's Entertainment. And if you'd like the details on why the group disbanded, links to the member's social media accounts, and just a lot of me blubbering helplessly then you can check out this post.


I loved G=AGE a lot. I half-jokingly gave myself the nickname "That G=AGE Girl" over on the Jpop Amino (where I mostly posted my translations, random fangirling etc. before I started this blog) and would try to promote them any chance I got. It's probably not that big of a stretch to say that if it weren't for G=AGE this blog probably wouldn't even exist because my desire to spam people -- I mean introduce people to Jpop boy groups all started with them.

*Insert soppy explanation about how I was going through a bit of a rough time in 2016 and G=AGE helped me out a lot but I don't want to go into it too much here okay now moving on*

My Top 5 non-Johnny's Entertainment Jpop Boy Groups (Update 2017)

When I was on break from blogging, I found myself nosing around my old blog for a bit of inspiration. While reading one of my personal favourite posts from that blog - my top 5 non-JE boy groups post - I realized that my list had changed somewhat. Be it due to groups disbanding, me discovering new groups, or just simply developing more passion for the groups I already knew and loved. So without further ado, here is my 2017 update of my top 5 favourite Japanese boybands outside of Johnny's Entertainment! These are of course my favourite groups and not neccessarily the "best" groups so be prepared for a lot of personal bias, haha.


5. X.E.N.O. Project 

 

X.E.N.O. Project are a 4-member indie group that debuted earlier this year. They haven't released any CDs yet, but they're actively doing performances around Japan and have a few dance practices up on their YouTube channel.

The reason why I became interested in X.E.N.O. in the first place was because I was a huge fan of the group G=AGE and all 4 members of X.E.N.O. used to be members of G=AGE's trainee unit, G-BOY'S. I looked them up out of curiously and although their videos and singing aren't that great, their songs are all pretty catchy and I ended up falling in love with all of the members.

My Ichiban: Tsukasa #ThirstyForTsukasaSquad
My Favourite Song: Shake It! BOUNCE

4. Choutokkyu 

 

If you're into Jpop boy groups then I'm sure you know Choutokkyu. Also known as Bullet Train, they are a 7-member group from EBiDAN made up of 5 "front dancers" and 2 "back vocalists". They have a very upbeat, colourful, and slightly over-the-top image.

Choutokkyu was one of the first groups I discovered and while I'm not as big a fan of them as I used to be, they still hold a special place in my heart for that reason. They're a reasonably accessible group for new fans, their songs are catchy as heck, and their fans tend to be absolutely bonkers (in a good way!).

My Ichiban: Kai (blue)
My Favourite Song: Battaman


What is BATTLE BOYS? | Show Love for the Tokyo Boys in EBiDAN's Newest Project!



If you're subscribed to Stardust Digital on YouTube you may have noticed a few of these short videos popping up lately which feature a member of EBiDAN Tokyo introducing themselves and talking about their skills, charm points, and goals within EBiDAN. Below is Jeffrey Malone's video because I'm biased as heck.



JPOP SUCKS?! | 6 Japanese Boybands That Kpop Fans Love (and you will too!)

Many Kpop fans who discover Jpop for the first time have initially negative reactions to the genre and to be honest, I can understand why. Very generally speaking, the two genres have a rather different feel to each other. If I had to explain it very simply:

Jpop = cute, imperfect, innocent.
Kpop = flashy, on point, why is everyone so dang sexy?!

Not that I'm saying that either of these are good or bad. It just depends on personal preference, really.

Part of the Jpop idol culture is watching the members slowly improve from when they're quite young. They may not be the best at singing and dancing right away but that's okay, it adds to their cuteness. Whereas Kpop idols are usually expected to be perfect right from their debut which is what leads a lot of Kpop fans to think that Jpop is "bad" compared to Kpop.

Not all Jpop idols are like this though. There are some groups who I'm sure you'll love even if you prefer the Kpop way of dong things. So, continuing somewhat from my post a few weeks ago about the most accesible Jpop boy groups, here's a list of some of the more "Kpop-like" boy groups.


Upcoming Jpop Boy Group Releases for November 2017

Release Date: 2017/11/08

On the 8th, Stardust group SECRET GUYZ will release their 8th single "TRANS MAGICIAN".

100degrees on CDJapan
Release Date: 2017/11/08

On the same day, THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE will release the single "100degrees". The single will also feature an English-language version of their 3rd single "Dirty Disco".

Releaset Date: 2017/11/15

On the 15th, EBiDAN THE STREET group Satori Shounen Dan will make their major CD debut with "Help You". The single will be released in 3 editions, each with a different bonus track. The bonus track for Type B is "It's My JK Life", the song the members wrote with the help of a group of high school girls.

Oh SMAP! | Former SMAP Members Throw Shade at JE with New Project

If you're a Johnny's Enterainment fan, or even just a Jpop fan in general you're probably aware of the fact that SMAP disbanded last year. SMAP was probably JE's best known group, having been in the entertainment industry for about 25 years. Their single, "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" is in the Oricon charts literally every week still despite being 15 years old. So of course it was met with great shock and sadness when such an influential group disbanded and departed from the agency.

I have Eurovision, I have Asia, UGH! | Thoughts on Eurovision Asia

So this happened.

I'm sure most people are familliar with it, but for those who don't know Eurovision is an international TV song competition where various European artists compete, represtening their country. It was recently announced that for the first time Eurovision Asia will be held, which will be the Asia-Pacific counterpart of the contest. Little is set in stone yet but it's expected to take place in 2018.



We're Gonna Be Late For Idol School! | My Top 5 School-Themed Music Videos

Here in the UK and in many other parts of the world, September is the start of the academic year. For me at least it marks the end of being able to sit around all day fangirling and having to get my butt back to college and start being somewhat productive again. But I still continue fangirling in my breaks, of course.

If you're anything like me, returning to school/college/wherever isn't exactly something to look forward to but luckily, some of our favourite Jpop boy groups have our backs with some cute school-themed music videos we can sneakily watch in class when we're supposed to be doing work. So grab your seifuku and your buttered toast because here are a few of my favourites.


MAGiC BOYZ Member Ranking | EBiDAN Member Ranking Week 6

Yo, what's up my homies? I felt like I should greet you like that because of who this week's group is. What was that? You think I should never say that again? I completely agree. I was half-tempted to begin this post with a screenshot of Ryuto giving the camera the middle finger.

 

This week it was Angi's turn to chose the group for our little collab and much to my surprise, she chose MAGiC BOYZ. AKA the group I pretend to hate but actually love 100% unironically. So let's get started! Yo, brap, and whatever the cool kids say these days.

Most Accessible Jpop Boy Groups for Overseas Fans | Jpop on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube?

One of the main reasons I believe that Jpop often doesn't catch the interest of as many people overseas as Kpop does is its lack of accesibility. Most Kpop artists are more than interested in growing their overseas fanbase and it's pretty easy to find Kpop songs on sites like YouTube and iTunes with a simple search. However with Jpop, depending on the artist it can still be a little difficult to find their content if you don't live in Japan.

There are still many Japanese labels who only make their artist's music videos available to Japanese audiences or worse; don't let their music videos be uploaded online at all. A lot of Japanese artists do have their music up to purchase on iTunes these days but most only make it available to buyers in the Japanese store so if you're a foreigner your only option is to get the physical CD imported from Japan which not everyone can afford for every single release.


Of course there are ways around these obstacles *cough* e.g. proxy services, hiding your IP address, sneaky fan uploads *cough* but if you're just getting into Jpop for the first time you probably don't want to go through all of that trouble! So I've complied a list of a few of the more easy to access Jpop boy groups; taking into account factors such as their music and videos being available outside of Japan, how much information can be found on them in English, and how involved they've been with their foreign audience in the past. Notice how there aren't any Johnny's Entertainment groups in this list. Then let's go!


Choutokkyuu Member Ranking | EBiDAN Member Ranking Week 5

Somehow we're already on week 5 of the EBiDAN collab. Yet again, it was my turn to choose the group so I chose Choutokkyuu/Bullet Train! Choutokkyuu were actually the first EBiDAN group that I discovered. They may not be my favourite group anymore but I still love all the members dearly. Now then, let's get started!


My Top 5 EBiDAN 39&KiDS Members

I've had a bit of EBiDAN fever lately, what with all of the exciting things that have been happening over the last few months. Two groups announce their debut albums (I love Majibo and their album is lit, don't judge me), EBiDAN THE LIVE and Hoshio Matsuri 2017, plus my collab with Angi from It's All About JMusic is already on its 5th week. I've been finding lots of other EBiDAN fans online too. I'm so hype. I'm living life in the fast lane since ditching Johnny's Entertainment for EBiDAN. I mean, what?


So are you guys sick of me talking about EBiDAN yet? A little? Sorry but here's another EBiDAN post. This one isn't about the debuted groups though. Today I'm going to introduce you all to my favourite EBiDAN 39&KiDS members because Jeffrey Malone and his terrible dancing are so important. This won't be in any particular order though because they're all my babies and I can't pick a favourite.


PrizmaX Member Ranking | EBiDAN Member Ranking Week 4

It's time for the EBiDAN member ranking posts again, and this time Angi chose PrizmaX! I knew next to nothing about them before I started this post. I tried so hard to give them a chance since they're pretty much the only EBiDAN group that I'm not really interested in but sadly I have to admit that I'm still not super into them. It was fun getting to know the members a little better though.





M!LK's 3rd Anniversary and Album Debut

It was recently announced that EBiDAN group, M!LK will finally release their first album. Its title is "Ousama no Gyuunyuu" (King's Milk) and it will be released on November 22nd. Release events will commence on September 9th.



SUPER★DRAGON Member Ranking | EBiDAN Member Ranking Week 3

Now we're on week 3 of the EBiDAN collab and this time it was my turn to choose the group again so I chose SUPER★DRAGON! Ranking the members was pretty hard to do since they're such a big group and I love them all so much. But anyway, here it is and I hope you enjoy it~



Marius Yo in an American Sitcom? | Plus General Rantings About Sexy Zone and JE

This is my first time posting about a Johnny's Entertainment group on here and I'm a little late with this news since it was announced almost a week ago but nonetheless I wanted to talk a little about the recent announcement that Sexy Zone member Marius Yo will be appearing in an episode of Fuller House.


Sexy Zone was the first Japanese boy group that I became interested in, actually. I discovered them while watching J-MELO (an international TV show about Japanese music). This was around the time that their second single, "Lady Diamond" was released and a short clip of it was shown during J-MELO's new releases segment.


Jpop Boy Groups Performing Overseas? | MyMusicTaste

It's that time of year again. The two biggest Jpop-related events in Europe (namely Japan Expo and Hyper Japan) are over and Hyper Japan in particular have released their feedback forms, which means it's time for me to spam them with requests to get male idol groups to perform next year. They must love me. Every year I beg for Da-iCE, Bullet Train, BOYS AND MEN, and whichever other groups I think might have the tiniest chance of performing overseas even though I know it's futile. If you'd like to aid me in my spam and maybe make the smallest bit of difference then you can find their feedback form here.

We've literally...never had a boy group at Hyper Japan and I'm very salty about it. The closest we had was THE HOOPERS last year (which was pretty awesome by the way). This year Japan Expo in France was lucky enough to see a performance from BREAKTHROUGH"5D, and for the past two years FanimeCon in America have managed to secure two different boy groups (namely Da-iCE and X4) as their guests of honor.

 


EBiSSH Member Ranking | EBiDAN Member Ranking Week 2

Wow, we're already on our 2nd week of our EBiDAN ranking series! This week it was Angi's turn to choose which group we did and she chose EBiSSH. I didn't know very much about EBiSSH beforehand - I only really knew that one of the members, Naoya was Takuya from Bullet Train's younger brother - so this gave me a great opportunity to get to know them a little better.


This post might be a little shorter than my M!LK post last week since I'm still getting to know EBiSSH and haven't been a fan of theirs as long as I have been of M!LK but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! Here's my ranking of the members of the group EBiSSH.


Hot Singing Anime Boys | An Introduction to Virtual Male Idols Part 1

As with most people, my introduction to the world of Jpop was through anime. While I don’t watch anime as much as I once did, there are a few series I make time for on occasion. I’m also quite into otome games (anime-style romance games for girls). So of course, as a huge male idol fan one of my favourite genres in both of these areas is - you guessed it - male idols. While real male idols are where my heart mostly lies, that doesn’t mean I can’t love 2D ones too! Here’s a little guide I put together of anime and games I enjoy that have a focus on male idols.



M!LK Member Ranking | EBiDAN Member Ranking Week 1

Hello all! Today I'll be sharing with you my personal ranking of the members of M!LK; from my favourite to my least favourite (but of course I love all the members!). I hope you enjoy it and it helps you to get to know the members a little better.


This is a collab with the lovely Angi from It's All About JMusic so be sure to check out her post as well! We'll each be doing our own ranking of the members from a different EBiDAN group every week. On this first week I got to pick which group we did so of course I chose my favourite group, M!LK. Now, let's get started! 


EBiDAN's International Members

I recently renewed my subscription to Stardust Channel because I missed being able to watch EBiDAN concerts. I couldn't have picked a better time because EBiDAN THE LIVE was actually livestreaming on there yesterday and I managed to catch some of it! I really enjoyed what I saw and can't wait to see the full thing but I'll hopefully talk about EBiDAN THE LIVE more in another blog post.

For the last week or so I've been catching up on videos on Stardust Channel that I'd missed or hadn't watched since I temporarily cancelled my subscription. One such video was the recording of Hoshio Matsuri 2015, a concert for the EBiDAN 39&KiDS members. One particular part of that concert I found interesting was a short corner where some of the international members were interviewed. It was very cute. The members spoke in their native languages (mostly English), answering questions such as where their parents were from and what kind of things they associate with Japan.


Inspired by this and also my recent interest in the 39&KiDS units ZeBRASTAR and AMEZARI -RED STARS- which both contain foreign members, I thought I'd put together a general introduction post to EBiDAN's international members for anyone else who might be interested.


#ThirstyForTsukasaSquad | More X.E.N.O. Project

A lot of people have expressed an interest in X.E.N.O. Project and I also have gotten quite into them myself recently, so I thought it high time I make another post about them! Since my last post about them they've released a few new videos including their very first music video, "Love Like Dynamite".


To be honest I wasn't entirely sure at first that this was supposed to be an MV because of how simple it is. All it really shows is the members dancing with different closeups. But they are quite new and I'm pretty sure they're an indie group as well so hopefully their MVs will get better with time.

Some of the camera angles looked a bit awkward and some of the members aren't the best at singing and dancing but I still like it a lot. The song is really catchy. I like all of the outfits apart from Takuya's. That shirt and hat look kinda weird on him, haha. Or maybe it's just me.

Probably my favourite part of the video:


The gif doesn't do it justice. Please tell me I'm not the only one who's hella thirsty for Tsukasa.

Also, did I mishear that or did Takuya just tell me to take off my clothes?

They also uploaded a dance version of this song. I like the choreography a lot!


Here's a video they posted showing the members rehearsing for their debut live that will be held later this month:


Some highlights from the video:


A cute little Takanori to brighten your day.


Takuya getting revenge for the time that Tsukasa did this to him. Featuring Takanori in the background looking at his stomach in the mirror for some reason. I have no idea what's happening here but Tsukasa doesn't look like he's enjoying it.


Sorry, Takanori. It doesn't look like anyone has any sympathy for you.


He will be missed. Just not by his groupmates apparently.


When you go in for the kiss...


But bae isn't having it.


Looks like I'm not the only one who's thirsty for Tsukasa.Takuya, please leave Tsukasa alone. He doesn't look like he's into you.


The great Kazama gives us his autograph.


I don't know about you guys but I think Tsukasa looks even more handsome than usual here. Takanori looks so done.

Finally, here's their dance practice for "YOU'RE SO GOLD":


What do you think of the songs X.E.N.O. have released so far? Is there a particular member who's caught your interest yet? Let me know down below and don't forget to follow my blog to become a member of the #ThirstyForTsukasaSquad.

Upcoming Jpop Boy Group Releases for August 2017



Traffic Light. - Perfect World / GEEKDOM

 Release Date: 2017/08/02 

Traffic Light. - a subunit of a certain boy group who got a lot of attention earlier this year for a music video that involved a lot of kissing - will be releasing an EP this August; a double A-side called "Perfect World / GEEKDOM". "Perfect World" was used as the ending theme for the anime "Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters" while "GEEKDOM" was used as the ending theme for the TV drama "Kaiju Club ~Fantasy Tokusatsu Live Action~".


BOYS AND MEN - Ho wo Agero!

Release Date: 2017/08/02

On the same day, BOYS AND MEN will release a new single called "Ho wo Agero!".


MATSURI nine. - Aa, Yume Mikoshi

Release Date: 2017/08/09

Younger brother group of BOYS AND MEN, MATSURI nine. will also be releasing a new single. A week after their senpais, they'll be bringing their debut single, "Aa, Yume Mikoshi".


THE HOOPERS - SHAMROCK

Release Date: 2017/08/09

Handsome girl group, THE HOOPERS will be releasing their 7th single, "SHAMROCK" on the same day.


Sakura Shimeji - Ayama Rhythm 

Release Date: 2017/08/23

Towards the end of the month, EBiDAN duo Sakura Shimeji will release their 5th single, "Ayama Rhythm". The title track was used as the opening song for the anime "Tomica Hyper Rescue Drive Head".


Da-iCE - Kimi Iro

Release Date: 2017/08/30

Finally, fan-favourite group Da-iCE will release their 12th single, "Kimi Iro".


Do you plan to buy any of these releases? Which one is your favourite? Let me know down below!

P.S. I'm now on Bloglovin'! Give me a follow if you like: 

All Foreign Male Idol Group?! | Guyjin48

Foreign members of Japanese idol groups aren't an uncommon occurence. From Marius Yo in Sexy Zone to amina du Jean, it's been proven that both Japanese and foreign fans alike can see the appeal of a "gaijin" member in the group. For non-Japanese fans it can be a way to feel more connected to the group because well, when you're a fan of a group who live miles away and probably have no idea that they even have fans in your country, you take what you can get.

While groups with one or two foreign members aren't unusual, this new male idol group boast as being the very first group of its kind in Japan to be made up solely of foreigners.

 

Guyjin48 is an up-and-coming male idol unit currently consisting of members studying in Japan, originally hailing from countries such as China, Venezuela, America, Korea, and the Philippines. The group's aim is to further bridge the gap between the Japanese and the foreign community living in Japan by introducing different cultures and also creating an environment that will allow foreign students to eventually stay and work in Japan.

The group has yet to make their debut and is still looking for members but I think I'm in love with them already! I think the group's name is quite clever and cute too. 'Guyjin' is a pun on the English 'guy' and the Japanese word 'gaijin' meaning foreigner, and the '48' obviously comes from the hugely popular female idol group, AKB48. If you're a male foreigner studying in Japan and you're interested in becoming an idol then why not apply for this unusual group? You can do so here.

What do you think of Guyjin48? Are you going to apply? Would you become an idol in Japan if you could? Let me know in the comments!

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Everyone is Fabulous! | Jpop Boy Groups According to My (ex) Boyfriend Part 2


Here I am again, torturing my boyfriend with handsome Japanese men who he has an unjustified amount of hatred for. Hope you enjoy his suffering, haha.

chotokkyu (Bullet Train)

The "giving the members weird nicknames" trend seems to have returned. Here are a few of them:

Ryouga - Weird Face

Kai - The Villian (Apparently his white hair made him look like an anime villian)

Takuya - Weird...hair...eyebrows

Yuki - The Overly-Photoshopped Girl

Yusuke - Fabulous No-Rules

I showed him a video of them performing "Battaman" live and I think it's pretty safe to say that Yusuke is his favourite member.





X.E.N.O. Project

Now there's another boy group member to add to the list of people my boyfriend doesn't like. He really, really doesn't like Tsukasa for some reason, haha. When I asked him why the only reason he could give me was "Because he reminds of me Jean". He still can't tell me why he hates Jean so much either. Tsukasa also kind of reminds me of Fumito (from G=AGE) who - surprise - my boyfriend also doesn't like. Anyway, I showed him their dance video for "YOU'RE SO GOLD".


He was unimpressed with Tsukasa's backflip (how??) and all he really commented on was how squeaky their shoes were against the floor and the brightness of Takanori's hair. He also made fun of Takuya's facial expressions a lot. Why does he always make fun of my favourites? T^T

BOYS AND MEN

 I showed him the "Boimen ~B.M.C.A.~" video because I thought he'd have some pretty great reactions to it. Although, he just ended up pausing the video in random places and laughing at their facial expressions. I made this one his desktop background because I'm pretty sure Yukihisa is now his favourite member.


Seriously, just do yourself a favor and keep your eyes on Yukihisa throughout the video.




Da-iCE

Finally, we'll end on a group that he actually enjoyed and didn't spend the whole time making fun of. I showed him the music video for "Splash" and he admitted that the song was good and the members were talented. He made fun of how high Souta's voice was a little though, haha.




Bonus: Yoshida Jinto

We ended up watching some of the Fit's Gumi commercials. If you don't know, Fit's are a brand of Japanese chewing gum and since the beginning of this year they've been airing these commercials that star various celebrities as high school students including the members of M!LK. He really got a good laugh out of watching Jinto's dancing. He said it was how serious his face was when the dance routines were so cutesy and upbeat. When I told him it was the same guy from M!LK, he didn't recognize him. He found this video particularly amusing.



A Guide to Buying Male Idol Goods for Overseas Fans

I think it's pretty easy these days to buy Japanese CDs if you don't live in Japan. There are lots of websites like CDJapan and HMV Japan that take their foreign customers into account by having an English version of their website, multiple different payment options, and of course international shipping. However, it might be a little more tricky to buy less common merchandise (such as concert goods and very limited items) especially if you don't speak Japanese so I've put together a kind of guide/list of resources I've used and personally had good experiences with. This guide mainly focuses on male idol merchandise as that's my main interest but most things can probably be applied to any Japanese artist.

Where to Buy
The Artist's Official Store
The most obvious place to buy goods from is the artist's own website. Of course this is the best place to buy from if you want to support the artist but it has some draw backs (such as price, older items no longer being available etc.).

Surugaya
Surugaya is a store where you can buy secondhand anime, idol etc. merchandise. Their selection of items isn't the biggest but it's constantly changing so if you check the website regularly you may occasionally get lucky and find some items you want. Items on Surugaya tend to be super cheap and they've been good quality in my experience. Their shipping is often free too (within Japan). My only issue with them is that they often take several weeks to ship out your items.



Mercari Japan
Mercari is an online auction site (there is also an English version of the Mercari site so make sure you're using the Japanese version). It's quite common for people to sell their unwanted idol merchandise here for good prices so be sure to search for your favourite groups regularly! Note that most sellers on Mercari don't appreciate people purchasing items outright without commenting first so if you do this they'll likely cancel your order.

Yahoo Auction Japan
Yahoo Auction Japan is the same story as Mercari, really. YAJ might be easier to purchase from though as it has its own official proxy service (Buyee). 
 
A list of keywords you can use when searching for items:
  • Badge - 缶バッチ 
  • Bromide - ブロマイド
  • Eco bag / bag - エコバッグ / バッグ 
  • Event edition - イベント版
  • Goods -グッズ 
  • Keychain - キーホルダー 
  • Penlight - ペンライト
  • Poster - ポスター
  • T-shirt - Tシャツ
  • Trading Card - トレカ
  • Set - セット
  • Uchiwa - うちわ

How to Buy
Now that you've chosen your items, here are a couple of ways you can purchase them.

Tenso
When I first discovered Tenso it was a life-saver. Tenso is a website that gives you a Japanese address that you can use to purchase from stores that only ship within Japan. When purchasing the item, you input the address of their warehouse (as well as the unique member ID that they give you) and the item will be shipped to them. Once they receive it you pay a small free and they send it to you.

Proxy Services
The one problem I had with Tenso is that some Japanese websites don't accept foreign credit cards or have the option to pay with PayPal. It's all well and good having a Japanese address until you can't actually pay for the items to be shipped there in the first place, haha. For websites that have this issue I use a proxy service. They work the same as Tenso pretty much expect proxy services will actually make the order for you so they might be a better alternate if you don't speak Japanese. My personal favourite proxy service is From Japan but some others I've used and had no problems with include Buyee and Japonica Market. 


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From G to X: New group X.E.N.O. Project, "Offspring" of G-BOY'S

Since G=AGE disbanded, a lot of its former members (and members of its trainee unit, G-BOY'S) have been popping up on social media. Mostly the boys have just been opening these accounts to keep in contact with their fans as they seemingly haven't been involved with the entertainment world much (save for Sho who is now an actor and Takumi who's a model) but last month probably the most interesting thing to happen so far occurred.

 

On May 13th a brand new Twitter account and website were unveiled. It seems that former G-BOY'S members Takuya, Takanori, Tsukasa, and Kazuma are now part of a new group called X.E.NO. Project. 

X.E.N.O. (pronounced 'zeno') stands for X-Factor, Element, Next, Offspring and while the group still have yet to debut, their first live is set to be held on August 13th. They also have a live show called "X.E.N.O. no Wakusei" that airs every Saturday at 2pm (UK time) which you can watch here.


Members


Ezoe Takanori

Birthday: 1998/05/13

Height: 176cm

Weight: 60kg

Blood Type: A

Takanori was the leader of G-BOY'S and now he's the leader of X.E.N.O. Project. Apparently he's very fond of miso soup. 

 

Taguchi Tsukasa

Birthday: 1997/04/09

Height: 166cm

Weight: 52kg

Blood Type: AB

Tsukasa is definitely the most ikemen in the group in my opinion. He is usually the MC in their live shows. He has a lot of piercings. He's also a former actor and member of EBiDAN.




Tsukimisato Kazuma

Birthday: 2001/07/31

Height: 168cm

Weight: 48kg

Blood Type: A

Kazuma is the youngest member of the group so of course he gets doted on a lot by the other members. He joined G-BOY'S around the same time as Tsukasa did.



Nakagawa Takuya

Birthday: 2000/10/14

Height: 164cm

Weight: 52kg

Blood Type: O

Takuya actually ended up becoming my favourite member, much to my surprise. He has a cute face but he's a huge dork and likes to make jokes and mess around in front of the camera. Plus he has braces which is a slight weakness of mine, haha.



There isn't much information about the group as of yet (they're only a month old afterall), but I can't wait to learn more about them and I'll definitely post anymore information I find. I just hope I don't get as into them as I did with G=AGE, haha.


Official Links


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