kamichan.com

Okay, they did it again. I didn’t expect another Hey!Say!JUMP single so soon. Maybe in September or so, but certainly not just two months after Dreams come true. Then again, it probably makes sense to have a current #1 hit to open Summary with.

I read a couple of online articles about JUMP’s tie-in with Kung Fu Panda, and they were all rather enthusiastic, calling it a “dream collaboration” for JUMP. And they’re right. This an awesome opportunity. Kung Fu Panda, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month, earned US$60 million at the box office on its opening weekend in the US, and there’s no doubt it will do equally well throughout the rest of the world including Japan where the film will be released on July 26th, three days after the release of Your Seed. For JUMP this will probably prove an even better marketing vehicle than any volleyball tournament ever could. Sure, they won’t get to perform Your Seed live on national TV before every screening of the film, but still, the movie commercials will be all over the place with the song playing in the background, so it’s basically DreamWorks paying for a good deal of the Your Seed marketing. I haven’t heard the song yet, but let’s not kid ourselves, with a Hollywood blockbuster tie-in even I could have a #1 single. I think chances are that Your Seed will do better in terms of sales than Dreams come true did, especially since the film is aimed at kids and teenagers, just like Hey!Say!JUMP, whereas volleyball really isn’t.

Anyway, here’s what the boys have to say:

Nakajima Yuto: We now get the chance to sing the image song for the film Kung Fu Panda. Our senpai, TOKIO’s Yamaguchi Tatsuya, will lend his voice to the main character. We in Hey!Say!JUMP will also do our best with the song. The film’s topic being “believe in yourself”, Your Seed follows the same concept, and I think it will be encouraging to everyone who listens to it.

Arioka Daiki: When I went to the movies the other day and I saw a trailer for Kung Fu Panda I knew right away that I’d have to go and see this movie, so I’m really happe that it was decided we get to do this song. And because Your Seed also uses a Kokyu (Chinese fiddle) it’ll do well at conveying the world view of Kung Fu Panda.

So yeah, great news for Hey!Say!JUMP and their fans. And a bit of a dilemma for me. I think I’ll pre-order the limited edition because I don’t trust it to be still available when I get to Japan six days after its release, but the regular edition is most likely the first thing I’m gonna buy as soon as I’m in Tokyo.

Anyway, I can’t wait to hear them pronounce it “yoa sheedo”. Also, I can’t wait for them to release a single with a non-English title. But I’ll be patient.

Comments