It’s July, half a year has passed-by and jnewseng.com is two years old! I was having doubts whether I should renew the jnewseng.com or just stick with jnewseng.wordpress.com. After all, the latter is free. However, I got scared that all my posts under .com will be for nothing if I revert back to .wordpress.com since it’s highly likely that they will not redirected, so, okay, another $18.00 charged to my credit card.

Anyway, in lieu with my 2nd anniversary, here are some things that are worth raving or ranting.

• Kimura Takuya to Appear in “BUSAIKU?!”

For sure, Kimura will not be voted last. In fact, he doesn’t have to say anything or be and act COOL for that matter since women will automatically cling to him. Kisumai should take notes and learn a thing or two from him.

(c)kiyosumisengoku

• 100 stores will open for Arashi’s BLAST in Miyagi

100 stores with Arashians flocking the venue will surely give the prefecture enough money for their residents to go by. This is a really nice gesture from Arashi and I hope that those who will open stores won’t be ask for rental fees so they can take home all the goodies. 9.3 billion Yen is the estimated revenue that the prefecture can get in these four days affair. Who knows, you might see Sho or Matsujun buying some of the goods, in disguise of course.

(c)umast0113 The photo used here is for his “Dorian Gray” stage play

• Nakayama Yuma reveals PV for his single, “Tokoton Got it!”

What is with Yuma and those random English words in his song? Is this part of his English lessons? Anyway, Yuma shared that one scene he enjoyed while shooting the PV is playing football with a local football club. Oh and about the photo above, unfortunately, the six-pack is just airbrushed since I’ve seen the “before” photos.

• Mr. King VS. Mr. Prince aka Kinpuri debuted a song, “Summer Station”, during Mazda All-Star Game 2015 at Tokyo Dome

Congrats to them that they get to performed at Tokyo Dome as a new group. Will an official debut automatically follow? Hmmm….I think that JE is just testing waters, see who will be more profitable for the company, whether it’s Kinpuri or SixTONES. Name-wise, I prefer the latter.

• One of the most talented actors, Yamamoto Yusuke, revealed that he wanted to enter Johnny’s during his elementary days. The reason? It’s the Takizawa Hideaki effect. 

I once read Kanjani8’s Shibutani Subaru’s 10,000 words interview from MYOJO where he revealed that his mom sort-of pushed him to apply to Johnny’s because his mom likes Takki. Takki is surely popular during his junior days that even Yamamoto Yusuke is longing to be in JE just by seeing Takki. Anyway, Yusuke’s talents might be eclipsed by other Johnny’s favorites so it’s a good riddance that he never entered or tried to enter the agency.

That’s all for now, thank you for all the support and hopefully, I’m still blogging two years later.

(c)mobigyaan

Coming this Aug 30th at Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo, KAT-TUN‘s Kamenashi Kazuya will star in Ninagawa Yukio‘s stage production “Aoi Shushi wa Taiyo no Naka ni Aru”. The said stage play is based from a play written by the late Terayama Shuji and it’s also part of Ninagawa’s anniversary as the director-playwright turns 80 years old.

“Aoi Shushi waTaiyo no Naka ni Aru” is set during Japan’s high-growth period of 1960’s and it tells the story of slum inhabitants and their tragic love story. Kamenashi plays Kenji, a factory worker, who witnessed crime concealment and gets involved in a riot.

Speaking of Kamenashi, he has a strong image as a baseball sportscaster as well as doing film and dramas but he has also made his mark from stage plays. Kamenashi gained stage experience in “SHOCK” with KinKi Kids‘s Domoto Koichi as the chair. His stage resume further expanded when he became the chair for “DREAM BOYS” before he passed the baton to Kis-My-Ft2‘s Tamamori Yuta.

In his most recent film exposure, he starred in “Vancouver no Asahi” last year with actor Tsumabuki Satoshi and in “Joker Game” at the beginning of this year. Most recently, he also starred in late night melo drama, “Second Love“.

Aside from doing movies, dramas, being a sportscaster, and his activities as an idol, it’s a wonder if he gets any sleep. Nevertheless, Kamenashi makes it a point to always look presentable. Previously, it was revealed that Kamenashi would always take a shower after stage rehearsals because he wanted to look at his most beautiful.

As for starring in Ninagawa Yukio’s production, Kamenashi and Ninagawa met 10 years ago upon the introduction of Johnny’s Entertainment president, Johnny Kitagawa. Ninagawa is known for his harsh leadership and Kamenashi is prepared to get beaten by him. For Ninagawa, he wants Kamenashi to see his naked self first without completely abandoning the teachings that he learned from Johnny’s. After being under Ninagawa’s directorship, Kamenashi looks forward to the curtain call.

“Aoi Shushi wa Taiyo no Naka ni Aru”  will run from Aug 10th to 30th at Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo and on Sept 4th to 13th at ORIX Theater in Osaka.

via wotopi

If TOKIO’s Nagase Tomoya is surprise to see how much Kamiki have grown then I’m surprise on how he stayed so hot. Phew…

As reported earlier, TOKIO‘s Nagase Tomoya will star in Kudo Kankuro‘s movie, titled: TOO YOUNG TO DIE! Wakakushite Shinu (Juvenile Grave)”. The said movie also stars one of the most talented actors of his generation, Kamiki Ryunosuke, as a  high school student who died in an accident before he could make a love confession to a classmate. Kamiki will go to hell where he will meet Killer K (Nagase), a guitarist and vocalist of Jigoku-zu and adviser of Music Club from Hell’s Agricultural High School. Killer K will help Daisuke to be reborn using a special demon training so Daisuke can claim his unrequited love.

(c)Oricon

During the movie’s press conference, Nagase is surprise to see how Kamiki have grown to a strong young man, 15 years after they first acted together. Kamiki was still in elementary while Nagase was 22 years old, the same age as Kamiki now. Nagase joked that if they will go through the same flow and act together after 15 years, he will be 51 years old next and after that, Nagase will be too damn old to even act. I can hear marriage bells calling you, Tomoya!

(c)mellowmangosteen

Anyway, aside from talking about their obvious age differences, Nagase’s make-up was also talked about. Nagase’s red make-up takes up to one and a half hour to finished, not to mention his Killer K outfit that weighs 10 kg in total. Other than that, the rest of the costume will be a surprise. Despite his heavy costume, Nagase loves his role. It’s been seven years since he has done a movie and he shared that even though his new movie might not be legendary, he knows that it will worth something.

Joining the rest of the gorgeous cast is equally oozing with sex appeal, Kiritani Kenta, as Jigoku-zu drummer, actress Ono Machiko as Nagase’s love interest, Morikawa Aoi as the classmate that Kamiki want to confessed at, Arata Furuta as Hell’s Agricultural High School principal, and many more.

“TOO YOUNG TO DIE! Wakakushite Shinu” is set to hit the theaters next year.

via Oricon

New cast were announced for Ikuta Toma‘s newest badass movie, “Grasshopper“. As badass as Ikuta is Hey!Say!JUMP‘s Yamada Ryosuke, who will return as an assassin, after he played a student assassin in live adaptation of “Ansatsu Kyoshitsu“.

The movie is based from bestselling novel of Isaka Kotaro that tells the story of once law-abiding teacher named Suzuki (Ikuta) who joined a criminal organization, Reijou, to avenge his lover. Suzuki will meet two different assassins, the knife-wielding Semi (Yamada) and suicide-driven Kujira (Asano Tadanobou), and the story will show how their lives will interlaced.

(c)movie.com

Asano was earlier mentioned as one of the assassins while the rest of the cast, are: Haru as Suzuki’s fiance, Aso Kumiko as the mystery housewife, Nanao as the yankee celebrity, Uzaki Ryudo as Kujira’s father,  Yoshioka Hidetaka, Murakami Jun, Ishibashi Renji, and Kaneko Norihito.

“Grasshopper” will be directed by Takimoto Tomoyuki, the same director whom Ikuta worked with in “Nou Otoko“. Surely, this movie will have loads of action and angst. However, judging from the storyline, it has a bit of “Ouroboros” with all those revenge and so.

“Grasshopper” will hit the theaters on Nov 7th.

via jnews1

Who ruled the airwaves this first half of the year with their bunch of endorsements?

Nihon Monitor recently released results from their research and analysis of CM advertising situation from January to June 2015. The results are based on the following survey outline:

• No. of companies that appointed each men and has appeared in TV CMs.
• Study period made from January 1 to June 30, 2015
• Target stations : NTV / TV Asahi / TBS / TV Tokyo / Fuji TV (Tokyo district terrestrial on-air content)
• Note: CD / DVD / game (including social), music distribution and movie CM program advertising  are not included.

Here are the results:

CM Appointment Ranking (Male category / First half of 2015)

Number of companies	Talent	Company name
10 companies	Aiba Masaki (Arashi)	IkedaMohan-do / Gung Ho Online Entertainment / Kirin Beer / Kirin Beverage /Sumitomo Life Insurance / Nissan / Japan Airlines / Hitachi / taste sugar / Mister Donut
	Sakurai Sho (Arashi)	Ajinomoto / American Family insurance / Kao / Gung Ho Online Entertainment / Kirin Beer / Nissan / Japan Airlines / Hitachi / Morinaga / Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd.
	Matsuoka Shuzo	KDDI / P & G / Bicycle Association / raw sum Corporation / Sorimachi / Nissin Food / pips / Fujiyakuhin / Marudai Food Co., Ltd. / Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance
9 companies	Ohno Satoshi  (Arashi)	Gung Ho Online Entertainment / Kirin Beer / Kirin Beverage / Nissan / Japan Airlines / Hitachi /Hisamitsu /Morinaga / Lawson
	Nishijima Hidetoshi	Gunze / Suntory spirits / Suzuki / Takeda / independent administrative agency Japan sports promotion center / Nissin Food / Panasonic / PanaHome / Lion
	Ninomiya Kazunari (Arashi)	Ezaki Glico / Gung Ho Online Entertainment / Kirin Beer / JCB / Nissan / Nisshin OilliO Group / Japan Airlines / Hitachi / Hisamitsu
8 companies	Okada Junichi (V6)	Ajinomoto General Foods /Otsuka / King / Sapporo Beer / Nippon Life Insurance /JMA Management Center / Meiji / Lion (c)deeal
	Matsuzaka Tori	AOKI Holdings / NTT DoCoMo / Kirin Beverage / Square Enix / Daiwa House Industry / House Foods / Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS / Lotte
	Matsumoto Jun(Arashi)	Gung Ho Online Entertainment / Kirin Beer / Kose Cosmetics port / Daio Paper / Nissan / Japan Airlines / Hitachi / Meiji
	Mukai Osamu	Asahi Beer / Ajinomoto / Kao / Zenrosai / first Sankyo Healthcare / housemates Partners / Bourbon / Snow Brand Megumiruku
7 companies	Abe Hiroshi	Itoham / Johnson & Johnson / Sekisui Chemical / Toyota / Japan Airlines / Coca-Cola / Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Bank
	Nishikori Kei	Asahi Beer / Eau~ivu / Jaguar Land Rover Japan / Jacks / Nissin Food / Hisamitsu / UNIQLO
	Honda Keisuke	P & G / Asahi Food & Healthcare / Olympus / Konami / Fusion Communications / Benesse Corporation / Mercedes-Benz Japan
6 companies	Ayano Go	NTT DoCoMo / Asahi Food & Healthcare / intelligence / Suntory spirits / Daihatsu / Tokyo Gas
	Ishikawa Ryo	Arc Quest / Asahi Beer / Esprit line / national credit union association / first Sankyo Healthcare / Mynavi
	Oguri Shun	Ajinomoto / Ezaki Glico / Suntory Food International / Taisho / Nikon / Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
	Katori Shingo (SMAP)	RIZAP / Asahi Beer / Softbank Mobile / Hisamitsu / Meiji /USJ (c)soyrwoo
	Saito Takumi	GLS JAPAN / Asahi Soft Drinks / Eichimu / Tokyo City Horse Racing / Nissin Food / Sumitomo Mitsui Card
	Shofukutei Tsurube	ITO EN / Toyota / Japan Racing Association / Fujifilm / Yamaki / Japan Post Bank
	Tosaaka Hiroomi (Sandaime J Soul Brothers)	7gogo / Aoyama Trading / Acecook / Samantha Thavasa Japan Limited / All Nippon Airways / Rohto
	Nakai Masahiro (SMAP)	Able / Softbank Mobile / Nissin Food / Coca-Cola / Human Trust / USJ
	Matsushige Yutaka	Sansan / Ajinomoto / Kobayashi Pharmaceutical / Sapporo Beer / independent administrative agency Japan sports promotion center / You Can
	Murakami Shingo (Kanjani ∞)	Intelligence /Otsuka Pharmaceutical /Guthy-Renker Japan / King /Sompo JapanNipponkoa Insurance Inc. /Morinaga (c)jpcmhd

Arashi is still on top when it comes to endorsements, I guess that Japanese viewers aren’t tired of seeing them yet in every commercial. Some Johnny’s who used to be in the ranking are not included for the first half like Kimura Takuya, Kamenashi Kazuya, and Kokubun Taichi.

via Nihon Monitor

SMAP‘s Kimura Takuya proves that his hotness knows no bounds as 500 fans waited for him at Taipe’s Shongshan Airport last July 11th. It’s Kimura’s first official trip to Taiwan, 28 years since he debuted.

Kimura was invited by the Taiwan Tourism Beauru to film a Taiwan Tourism PR Movie. The said film will be directed by John Woo, the director responsible for the movie “Red Cliff”. Kimura will be staying for four days where two days will be spent for filming. Theme of the PR movie will be about gastronomy, culture, and lifestyle. However, filming location will be all over Taiwan and its exact content is still unknown.

via Yahoo!Japan

It’s my 20th Bits & Pieces, a blog post that I started out of laziness to translate everything. Oh well, here are some news and not-so-news that I’m too lazy to translate or were too short. Involved parties, are: Yamada Ryosuke, Tegoshi Yuya, Inagaki Goro, Nakayama Yuma, KOKI, and Machida Shingo.

(c)NTV

• Shimizu Fumika will play as Yamada Ryosuke‘s heroine for his upcoming 24 Hr TV special drama, “Okasan, Ore wa daijoubu“. Okay, she’s not really the heroine but she will play as Sasaki’s (Yamada) classmate who has a crush on him and as expected, it will be an unrequited love.

(c)channel-ai

• NEWS‘s Tegoshi Yuya mentioned in his radio program that he wants to go back to Sweden for TegoMass’s 10th anniversary. Together with Masuda Takahisa, the duo will be celebrating their 10th anniversary next year and going to Sweden is Tegoshi’s wish. Tegomass, who debuted in 2006, released their first single “Miso Soup” at the said country and even made a promotional tour. I’m sure that Tegoshi and Massu have fond memories of Sweden and I’m sure the Swedish fans won’t also forget Miso Soup’s jacket cover.

• AKB girls have been a favorite guest in SMAP‘s variety shows and now, Inagaki Goro and former AKB center, Oshima Yuko, will be starring in a stage play titled “No. 9 Fumetsu no Sinretsu“. Goro will star as Beethoven in the said musical. In the picture above, Goro is already 41 and it’s either he really looks that young or it took a large amount of Photoshop to make him look like he just debuted.

• In another musical, Nakayama Yuma attended the production announcement for his first solo stage play “The Picture of Dorian Gray“. Yuma will play as the always youthful Dorian Gray and for his first solo stage play, Nakayama had 50 t-shirts made with picture of Dorian Gray at his own expense. Now that is generous.

• In the world of “Former Johnny’s”, KOKI, who have gotten another imechen, got the taste of his first overseas live performance with his band INKT at Brazil.

(c)machida shingo

• Another “Former Johnny’s”, Machida Shingo of Johnny’s Jr unit, MAD, opened a twitter account after resigning from Johnny’s and he’s also an aspiring designer. The close friend of Arashi‘s Ohno Satoshi and one-half of the “Omachi Combi” seems to be one of the designers behind the accessory brand called “LOL“. It’s cool that not only Ohno and Machida are BFF but they are also both artists. Not sure if this is his official IG page for LOL but do check it out, here. Who the heck is Cindy?

That’s all for now, I won’t be blogging this coming weekend since  I’m going on a vacay! To give you a clue where I’ll be going and because I want to brag…

Well, this looks interesting since I’ve never seen Ueda play as a man in a relationship, and it’s more interesting that ex-AKB48 center Maeda Atsuko will be his lover.

It was announced that KAT-TUN‘s Ueda Tatsuya will star in the stage play, “Aoi Hitomi“, to be staged this November. The said play will be written and directed by Iwamatsu Ryo that would depict the suffering of veterans in their family and community after the war. Joining Ueda is Kabuki actor Nakamura Shido II, who will play as a returning soldier, and older brother to Michiru (Maeda) while Ueda will play as Michiru’s lover.

Nakamura is expecting some “chemical reaction” since it’s the first time that he’ll be working with a popular male idol and former ace of a national girl idol group. It’s also the first time for Ueda and Maeda to work together.

“Aoi Hitomi” will run from Nov 1st to 26th at Bunkamura Theater Cocoon.

via jnews1

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

All those promotions from trains to Universal Studios Japan must have helped a lot as “HERO” movie starring SMAP‘s Kimura Takuya managed to mobilized 1 million audience in five days. The said movie hit the theaters last July 18th. So far, “HERO” is the fastest movie to reach one million audience for 2015.

Well, aside from loads of movie tie-up, HERO movie also highlights the return of Matsu Takako, more popularly known as Amemiya, who played Kimura’s heroine in HERO’s first season back in 2001. In the latest installment, young actress Kitagawa Keiko plays the feisty assistant to Kuryuu (Kimura).

From July 18th to 22nd, “HERO” was shown 443 theaters and has mobilized 1,026,290 audience and box office receipts have totaled to 1.3 billion Yen.

via Yahoo!Japan

This news made me squeal. It’s seriously squeal-worthy as bunch of uber-talented actors, ikemens, idols, and gori-oshis join forces for another live adaptation movie.

Popular manga “Terra Formars” by Sasuga Yu and Tachibana Kenichi will be getting a live movie adaptation that is slated to be shown next year. Heading the cast is Ito Hideaki together with  Takei Emi, Yamada Takayuki, Oguri Shun, Yamashita Tomohisa, Kosugi Kane, Kikuchi Rinko, Kato Masaya, Koike Eiko, Shinoda Mariko, Takito Kenichi, Ohta Rina, and Fukushima Rila.

(c)warner bros

In “Terra Formars”, a group of young scientist from 21st century were tasked to “warm-up” Mars so it could be habitable for humans. In their research, they decided to send cockroaches, like eew, and mold to Mars in hopes that molds would absorb sunlight and cockroaches fossils will be the molds food source. However, as cockroaches are known for their tenacity, the first manned spacecraft arrived in Mars in year 2599 and they were surprise to find-out that the cockroaches have mutated into humanoid form and have incredible strength. One thing I hate more than flying cockroaches is that if they became human.

So, the spacecraft crew got wiped-out but they were able to send SOS to earth and to avenge humanity, earth sent their Elite Forces to exterminate the cockroaches and reclaimed Mars. Since the elite forces will be fighting mutated cockroaches, four members of the force were enhanced to mutate into different insect species like Yamapi will be a desert locust, Ito is an asian giant hornet, Takei as a bombyx mori, and Yamada as a  sleeping chironomid. The rest of the characters will be playing scientists and some info can be found, here.

Takashi Miike (Mogura no Uta) will be the director of this movie and based from Takashi’s past movies, this is is gonna be gory. I’m not really into SF movies but if the cast is this good, I’ll definitely check it out.

via jnews1 and Nikkan Sports 

Woot! It’s August and I can see this month being busy and hopefully, very productive. Oh well, let’s get on with my occasional Rants & Raves : Let’s Get Physical

(c)burning-butterfly BEFORE…

…AFTER

• ABC-Z’s Hashimoto Ryosuke loses weight as a birthday gift to himself and runs 15 km to get to his desired weight since he wanted to be pretty

I know that most Johnny’s are into skinny side but I draw the line when they have those sunken cheeks and so. It looks unhealthy and so unappealing and he’d better see a psychologist soon since this could be a case for “athletic anorexia”. Okay, I’m over thinking things, haha, but pls. stop. I’m not “thin shaming” him or whatever but it doesn’t look good on him and with all the acrobatics that ABC-Z are known for,  he needs strength more than being slim.

• Japan’s New National Stadium aka “New Kokuritsu” might be limited sporting events only

Bad news to all Arashians who are hoping that Arashi will set foot on the “New Kokuritsu” after Tokyo 2020 Olympics since news has it that the newly-renovated Kokuritsu will be limited to sporting events . It’s such a shame since the new stadium will have a roof, which will be perfect for any events for any kind of weather. Oh well, I think this would not push through since after Tokyo 2020, the only way for the stadium to have more income is to allow big events like Arashi concerts.

• “Terra Formars” first trailer is already out!

None of the gorgeous cast is in the trailer but the first trailer already looks cool and I can’t wait when Warner Bros. Japan releases the trailer featuring the actors and the humanoid cockroaches.

Sakurai Sho’s otosan

• Sakurai Sho’s papa has been named the Permanent Secretary of Bureau of Internal Affairs and Communications. 

Congrats to Sho’s papa and it’s pretty obvious that the son is more popular than his father because even the headline for Sakurai Shun’s greeting goes like, “Sakurai Sho’s father first greeting as top bureaucrat of….”. Gahd, the man has an identity okay?

(c)Oricon

• Hanyu Yuzuru collaborates in this year’s “24 Hr TV” chari-t-shirts. 

Famous figure skater, Hanyu Yuzuru, gets to collaborate for the prized chari-t-shirts. The t-shirst is cute, Yuzuru even has his trademark on it (skates and YZ), but the smiley face is soooo overrated. I know that this year’s theme is about “connecting with a smile” but can’t they think other design to interpret that theme instead of something that resembles an emoji? Well…guess not.

That’s all for now, I’m leaving you with a Matsumoto Jun gif of him being cute.

(c)montiels

In the tradition of useless and weird ranking in the Japanese entertainment world, here is another ranking based on Johnny’s intelligence. 200 people (100 men and 100 women) in their 20-30 yrs old were surveyed on who among the Johnny’s talents they think has BRAINS.

Leading the pack is pretty obvious, Arashi’s Sakurai Sho, Keio graduate and respected newscaster. The rest of Johnny’s who made the Top 10 ranking, are:

2) Nakai Masahiro (SMAP)

3) Inohara Yoshihiko (V6)

(c)maakun-senpai

4) Okada Junichi (V6)

5) Kimura Takuya (SMAP)

6) Kokubun Taichi (TOKIO)

7) Joshima Shigeru (TOKIO)

8) Matsuoka Masahiro (TOKIO)

9) Ikuta Toma

(c)blowing-journey

10) Murakami Shingo (Kanjani8)

This ranking makes me think that of the saying “wisdom comes with age” because those who made the ranking are already in their 30s-40s. Does this mean that the younger ones aren’t viewed as smart as their senpais? Come to think of, Johnny’s who enter college are fewer than their senpais. Anyway, Inocchi and Kokubun have background in being news moderators so they are viewed as smart and articulate when  they expressed their opinions about different matters during their news programs. Nakai is also viewed as smart because he has chaired different variety shows and he seem always interesting to watch. NEWS’s Koyama Keiichiro, who is also NEWS EVERY’s newscaster, also made this ranking in the 13th place.

Those who aren’t doing into news, Okada is seen smart just by his impressive wit and remarks. Kimura seem smart because of the various TV roles he played, he’s seen as dexterous for being able to portray different roles. People think that Ikuta is smart because of the way he converses, and Matsuoka has an “intelligent face”. Frankly, these seem face value. haha.

Last but not the least, TOKIO’s leader is deem smart because of his different expertise in Astro DASH! and Shingo’s way of talking is considered “witty” by the voters.

via Yahoo!Zasshi

Apparently, there is more to learn about Arashi…

It was announced that Meiji University‘s lecturer, Osamu Seki, will be holding an open lecture about Arashi, titled as “Arashi and contemporary thought“. The said lecture will happen on Oct 10th at Library Hall in Izumi Campus, Meiji University.

The said lecture will concentrate on analyzing the content of Arashi’s MV starting with their song “truth“. Arashi’s MVs will also be compared with the MV’s of other groups like NEWS, KAT-TUN, and Kis-My-Ft2 to better understand Arashi’s characteristics. Osamu said that Johnny’s music videos represent the members roles and relationships, which is so true in Kisumai before with their 3×4 formation while in KAT-TUN, Kamenashi Kazuya becomes the group’s axis and less performance for the other members. However, in terms of NEWS and Arashi, Osamu sees balanced and you can also see it in their relationship.

Well, the lecture is free and open but I think you have to signed up. Also, I believe that this lecture will also be open for any arguments since I refuse to agree about the KAT-TUN comment. #bitter

via Yahoo! Zasshi

Image credit : miyuki-arashi

Oooh! Just in time before 24 Hr TV for this kind of rumor to grab the headlines. Honestly, I need this kind of rumor since it seems to be lacking in Johnny’s land nowadays.

(c)okdmrt6

One of the manliest ikemens from Johnny’s, V6‘s Okada Junichi, is reportedly dating actress Miyazaki Aoi. According to Women Seven magazine, the so-called Taiga couple began dating last Spring and as seen in the picture (above), the two were seen snuggled as they came from a common friend’s party. Okada with a pooch is so cute! Friends say that the two seems to be dating seriously and it’s only natural for them to develop (feelings) after being friends for so long.

2011

The two have been friends since co-starring in 2008 movie “Kagehinata ni Saku” and again in “Tenchi Meisatsu“. Miyazaki had one marriage that ended in divorced in 2011 where Shukan Bunshun reported that Okada and Miyazaki were having an affair. Since then, the two became estranged and they were only reunited earlier this year.

If ever they are really dating, this relationship will receive lot of bashing, not just because Okada is a Johnny, but everyone will assume that Okada and Miyazaki were having an affair in 2011. Oh well, Okada has worked hard for so long that I just want him to be happy. Both of them are single and they’ve been apart for so long so let’s give them a chance. haha.

via Sponichi

I was gonna complain on why Kis-My-Ft2‘s Tamamori Yuta was chosen for this but when I saw those pictures, well….*nosebleed*

Tamamori Yuta is this year’s cover of the annual sex issue of “an an” magazine. Fellow Kis-My-Ft2 member, Fujigaya Taisuke, also graced the sex issue back in 2013 so if there’s a pattern, I hope it won’t be Kitayama Hiromitsu in 2017.

Tamamori have officially join the ranks of his senpais who graced the sex issue from SMAP‘s Kimura Takuya to Fujigaya as the last Johnny’s to grace the cover. I was not impressed with Fujigaya’s cover spread especially when it was reported that he lost weight for the sex issue when he should have gained more muscle. Oh well, to each his own.

Sorry for prattling, but here are some of Tamamori’s photos from “an an”. One thing is for sure, Tamamori has a nice shape of butt. haha.

[Warning: Explicit content]

(c)@chudon32

(c) @chudon32

(c) @chudon32

(c)@chudon32

A round-up of the latest buzz from Johnny’s World that involves movies and film festivals.

(c)melies.org

• Did anyone manage to see “Ansatsu Kyoshitsu” (Asssassination Classroom) at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) in South Korea? Well, the movie starring Hey!Say!JUMP’s Yamada Ryosuke won the “BiFan 2015: Federation Award for Best Asian Film” as chosen by representatives of European Fantastic Film Festival Federation (EFFFF). The movie grossed 2.77 billion Yen in Japan, have a sequel in the making, and is also expected to be shown in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Omedatou to all the cast!

(c)ba ru

• Another winner in Fantasy Category is Kanjani8‘s Shibutani Subaru at the 19th Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, Canada. Subaru was named as the “Best Actor” for his portrayal as the amnesiac turned band vocalist in “Misono Universe” with an international title of “La La La at Rock Bottom“. You’re now a certified actor Subaru!

(c)ikemenparadisethings

• From fantasy, to a semi-fantasy/period drama turned movie, expect to see Kis-My-Ft2‘s Fujigaya Taisuke in his retainer role for the movie version of popular manga and drama “Nobunaga Concerto“. Let’s all see him swoon toward Nobunaga (Shun Oguri) and long-hair Taipi isn’t so bad.

That’s all for now, let’s join Taipi in swooning over his gorgeous master.

(c)cinematoday

Arashi‘s Ninomiya Kazunari visited Iwo Jima as part of NTV‘s 24 Hr TV~Love Saves the Earth~. His visit is part of the network’s post-war special, 70 years after World War II. Ninomiya starred in 2006 film, “Letter from Iwo Jima“, that was directed by Clint Eastwood; however, the filming was mostly done in United States and Nino didn’t get to visit the island.

Ninomiya visited the island for three to four days this month after securing a permit from the Ministry of Defense since the island is off-limits to any visitors. Iwo Jima is one of the hard-fought areas during the Battle of the Pacific where 50,000 died. Ninomiya thinks that it’s fate that brought him to the island, the actual site of the movie, and looks on at the famed Mount Suribachi.

As part of the post-war special, Ninomiya gets to interview one of the war veterans and survivor from the battle as well as a bereaved family of one soldier who chose to commit suicide than surrender.

Well, I tried to watch the movie back then, but I remember falling asleep midway and didn’t get to finish it. haha. I don’t know, I’d rather watch documentaries like those from National Geographic and History Channel where they show actual war footage than war movies. Oh well, the Iwo Jima special will be broadcasted in Aug 22-23 as part of NTV’s 24 Hr TV.

via jnews1 and Hochi

Image credit to nihonarashi

Everyone seems to be losing weight, from A.B.C.-Z’s Hashimoto Ryosuke who now has sunken cheeks to KAT-TUN‘s Kamenashi Kazuya who is set to lost 5cm off his waist for his stage play. Geez, I feel like an obese.

As reported earlier, Kamenashi will star in Ninagawa Yukio‘s production “Aoi Shushi wa Taiyo no Naka ni Aru“. It tells the tragic love story between slum inhabitants during 1960’s Japan. The said play had its public run last Aug 9th with Takahata Mitsuki as Kamenashi’s heroine and music by Matsuoya Masataka.

Ninagawa also attended the play in a wheelchair and supplemental oxygen due to a health issue. He is known for his rigorous acting guidance, but Kamenashi said that even though Ninagawa is strict, there was also affection on his part. Other than affection, Ninagawa wants Kamenashi to lose 5 cm off his waist, which Kamenashi begrudgingly agrees to do so.

Does Kame looks fat in the middle? Oh well, since he’s playing a character from the slums, I guess being ultra skinny is a requirement. Judging from the news clip that I watched, the play looks good, less news about the so-called tragic love story, and Kame is channeling his inner James Dean with his rugged yet polish appeal.

(c) Bunkamura

“Aoi Shushi wa Taiyo no Naka ni Aru” will run until Aug 30th at Bunkamura Orchard Hall.

via jnews1

Uh oh! It was November last year when Tackey & Tsubasa‘s Imai Tsubasa took a leave of absence after he was diagnosed with  Meniere’s disease. Recently, the guy with 7% of body fat ratio shared in his radio show, “Imai Tsubasa back to base” that he was hospitalized this summer due to weak intestines (weak digestion/weak stomach).

Tsubasa shared that he was prone to weak stomach and he was diagnosed with enteritis before. In fact, Tsubasa also mentioned that he suffered from gastroenteritis during high school for two years. Two years of gastroenteris, wow! Last summer (2014), Tsubasa had an endoscopy procedure and it was found that he had polyps. Some of the polyps were removed during the procedure but it was found that he has them again this year. He was offered to do surgery but it was not done until this summer where he was hospitalized for two days.

Tsubasa, who was also hospitalized last year for Meniere’s disease, was a bit worried about staying again in the hospital. Nevertheless, Tsubasa reminded his listeners on the importance of being healthy especially once they entered 30s.

I wouldn’t worry much over Meniere’s but those stomach ailment and polyps are more worrisome. That’s how the Big C always started so I hope that the polyps would always be benign. Anyway, being thin isn’t really equate to being healthy.

via jnews1

Image credit via raiaajihil