kamichan.com

In case you’re wondering about the headline, it only works if you speak a little bit of German, and since most of you probably don’t I’ll explain it to you. “9″ is pronounced the same way as the German word “nein”, which simply means “no”. Oh well, just forget about it, this headline sucks but it was the best I could come up with today.

Okay, I’ve been trying to ignore this for too long. Time to face the facts. And the facts are that there are none.

Most of you have probably heard the rumours that Asaka (and possibly Fukasawa too) already have or are about to quit JE. Apparently both didn’t attend the recordings of the May Shonen Club episodes last Monday, and it was shortly after that that these rumours started, I believe. That’s pretty much all we know as of now. Everything else is mere speculation. Sure, in the Japanese Wikipedia it now says 学業専念の為、休業中 next to Asaka’s name, which basically means that in order to concentrate on his schoolwork he’s taking some time off. 休業 can mean “holiday”, but it can also mean “suspension”, but it doesn’t really matter because the point is, everyone can edit a Wikipedia article. I could go and edit the Ya-Ya-yah article now, making it say that they’re going to debut next week. And within a few hours the whole fandom would be in a frenzy. Everyone can edit a Wikipedia article, which means that JE could have done it, or even Asaka himself. But if you ask me, it was most likely done by some fans. Whether it was fans who really know something we don’t, or just fans who are simply overreacting, I have no way of knowing. Maybe next Monday we will know more, because that’s when the next edition of Myojo will be out. If he’s not in there but the rest of J.J.Express is that might be a real indication that it’s true. However, if he’s still in it it doesn’t have to mean anything because they might have done that photoshoot way before the decision to quit was made. I don’t know. I’m Switzerland, I have no opinion. I’d hate to see Asaka quit because he’s one of my favourite people in Johnny’s. But if he does, and if it’s his own decision, then all my best wishes go out to him. And if he was made to quit for whatever reason, the person who made that decision shall die and rot in hell.

The other bit of news that people are worked up about right now is the new unit Hey Say 7. Members are 高木雄也, 有岡大貴, 中島裕翔, 森本龍太郎, 山田涼介, 知念侑李, 京本大我. That’s Takaki Yuya, Arioka Daiki, Nakajima Yuto, Morimoto Ryutaro, Yamada Ryosuke, Chinen Yuri, and Kyomoto Taiga. Hey Say because they were all born in the Heisei era (which goes for everyone born after 1989.01.08), and 7 because they are seven people. Hey Say 7 currently appear as backdancers for KAT-TUN on their nation-wide tour.

Did anyone expect Tap Kids and Kitty Jr. to last forever? I didn’t. In fact, I was waiting for a new unit that would have the best of both worlds (Yuto, Yamada, Morimoto and Kyomoto). After years with JE Chinen came out of wherever they were hiding him, and that’s good because he’s talented and cute, and now he’s in his first Johnny’s sub-unit. What many people are really worried about right now is what will happen to J.J.Express with Takaki and Arioka now in Hey Say 7. I’m having a monumental déja vu right now, because back in Summer 2006 when Kitty came up we were all like “OMG, with Hikaru, Totsu, Kitayama and Inoo in Kitty, what will happen to Ya-Ya-yah, A.B.C, Kis-My-Ft2 and J.J.Express!?!?!”. And what did happen? Nothing. Nothing bad at least. Kitty are on YOUtachi! and that’s it. All its members’ respective units are alive and well, and I’m sure they’ll still be a year from now. [Edit 2 years later: awesome false prediction, LOL]

As always, I might be wrong about everything I just said. J.J.Express might already be history and Hey Say 7 might debut this summer [Edit 2 years later: awesome correct prediction yo!]. But I won’t believe any of this until I have it in writing from Johnny Kitagawa himself.