Before I concentrate on making recaps tomorrow, here are some rumors that will either amuse or irk you.

Involved parties, are: Ninomiya Kazunari, Yamada Ryosuke, Yamashita Tomohisa, Kamenashi Kazuya, Imai Tsubasa, Tomoya Nagase, Domoto Koichi, Ohno Satoshi, and Machida Shingo.

• Ninomiya Kazunari is the voice behind Koro-sensei of “Assassination Classroom” movie?

As reported earlier, Hey!Say!JUMP‘s Yamada Ryosuke will star in live adaptation of “Assassination Classroom“. Yamada will play the role of Nagisa, one of the student of Koro-sensei, an alien who is out to destroy the world and it will be up to Nagisa and co. to kill him. Well, rumor has it that the voice behind the CG-made Koro-sensei is none other than Arashi‘s Ninomiya Kazunari. Not only that, the movie’s theme song will be sung by a special unit called “Sensations”, a 9-member group produced by Koro-sensei, who is rumored to be Nino. Why Nino? Well, it’s all part of JE’s “barter system” where if you signed one JE talent for something, someone should go with him as well. Anyway, fans are eagerly waiting for the movie’s stage greeting where the voice behind Koro-sensei is likely to be revealed.

Some fans can really be delusional. haha. Or maybe it’s true after all. Well, I watched the trailer again and even though there might be similarities, if the production was able to make Koro-sensei out of CGs then it’s highly likely that they can also manipulate the seiyuu’s voice to make it sound like Nino’s, not that they did it on purpose. Also, I’m familiar with JE’s barter system, let’s take any SMAP member’s drama for example where someone from Kisumai is likely to be there. However, Yamada is already an established idol, not as big as Nino, but why would Nino be the bartered when he can definitely be the main lead?

• Yamapi’s acting ability criticized for “Flowers of Algernon”

The modern version of the classic novel is yet to air and there are already criticisms with this Yamashita Tomohisa‘s starrer. One thing people criticized is Yamapi’s acting ability for his role as mentally-retarded turned genius. Even though Yamapi has hit dramas under his belt (SUMMER NUDE highest rating is 17.4% and Code Blue highest rating is 21.2%), his acting ability must be evaluated since most people comment that “he has no expression” and that “he has no intonation in his dialogue”. Furthermore, Yamapi is described for only having good looks and was called the guy version of Horikita Maki.

This rumor is expected since Yamapi has an upcoming drama and that there were negative reactions when he was chosen for the role. As for the Maki comment, Horikita can act, you just have to watch her projects where she’s different from her usual roles. Try Ume-chan sensei among others instead of her usual idol-like dramas.

•  Surprising best friends in Johnny’s

Bet you didn’t know that they were friends, I’m surprised myself since I didn’t really watched them as juniors. Anyway, KAT-TUN‘s Kamenashi Kazuya and Tackey&Tsubasa’s Imai Tsubasa are friends way back their Junior years and both are Hanshin Tiger’s fan. Next are TOKIO‘s Nagase Tomoya and KinKi Kids Domoto Koichi are friends way back junior high years. The two go on trip in between work eveb after they became famous and when Koichi moved-in to a new condominium unit, his first visitor is Nagase. Last is Arashi‘s Ohno Satoshi and MA‘s (Musical Academy) Machida Shingo known for their “Omachi Combi” way back their Junior years. The two got closer during  “Johnnys Fantasy Kyo to Kyo” where they stayed at the same inn while in Kyoto, they also enrolled at the same high school and dropped-out together, until Ohno debuted in Arashi. Although, there are no news whether they still get together, Machida gave a celebratory message to Ohno for Arashi’s 15th anniversary.

(c)pericco

Johnny’s Jrs. should really be nurtured. 

via Cyzo and Johnny’s Watcher 1, 2

Since I’m too lazy to translate some of these stuff, here is a rundown of what’s happening in Johnny’s land collated from Feb 13th-15th. Involved parties, are: Nakayama Yuma, Arashi, Kamenashi Kazuya, and SMAP.

• NYC is a such a thing of the past and Yuma is getting by with his solo career. In fact, Nakayama Yuma will go on a solo tour titled “Nakayama Yuma First Solo Concert 2015“. There will be a total of 6 performances from 3 venues and more details can be found on Johnny’s Web.

• In never ending rankings and because it’s V-day weekend, Oricon surveyed 500 women ranging from teens to 50’s on who among today’s actors they want as a lover. Arashi’s Aiba Masaki places 3rd among Johnny’s included in the poll. Other Johnny’s included, are: Matsumoto Jun (6th), Ohno Satoshi (7th), Sakurai Sho (8th), Ninomiya Kazunari (9th), and Kamenashi Kazuya (10th). I guess that Kame’s love scene from “Second Love” did wonders to voters imagination.

• Those papa-pics of Arashi’s Ohno Satoshi in Las Vegas and Matsumoto Jun aren’t some look-a-like. XD. Their journey together will be featured in “Arashi ni Shiyagare” as they drive around Los Angeles to eat hotdogs, ride helicopter for Grand Canyon’s sunset tour, and Ohno gets his try in fishing at Lake Mead.

(c)NASASMAP

• SMAP‘s “SMAPxSMAP” featured NASA‘s satellite, which is coincidentally called SMAP. Well, NASA’s SMAP doesn’t stand for “Sports Music Assembly People” but for “Soil Moisture Active Passive“. Still, it’s cool to have a satellite with the same name as yours.

That’s all for now, I’m leaving you with this creepy yet hilarious Kanjani8 gif.

(c)navybluetears

Well, I think it’s just goes to show that some people are satisfied with being “just friends”.

Only★Star magazine surveyed their female readers from 10-30 yrs old on which guy they want to be friends with, here are the results:

Only★Star’s “Guys I want to be friends with” Ranking

1) Aiba Masaki (Arashi)

2) Sakurai Sho (Arashi)

3) Ninomiya Kazunari (Arashi)

4) Ohno Satoshi (Arashi)

5) Fukushi Sota

6) Matsumoto Jun (Arashi)

7) Kamenashi Kazuya (KAT-TUN)

8) Ariyoshi Hiroiki

9) Tamamori Yuta (Kis-My-Ft2)

10) Maruyama Ryuhei (Kanjani8)

via Only Star

This ranking is different from the previous ranking about “Favorite and Hated Actors” since this ranking is mainly about Johnny’s. Women’s Weekly surveyed 3,000 readers on who is their favorite and hated Johnny’s talent.

Here are the results:

Favorite Johnny’s Ranking 

*() last year’s ranking 

1) Matsumoto Jun (4)

2) Ohno Satoshi (5)

3) Sakurai Sho (1)

4) Ninomiya Kazunari (-)

5) Aiba Masaki (7)

(c)tegomasulove-fcargentina

6) Masuda Takahisa (-)

7) Takizawa Hideaki (-)

7) Yamashita Tomohisa (10)

9) Kimura Takuya (2)

10) Domoto Koichi (-)

Hated Johnny’s Ranking 

*() last year’s ranking

(c)yutakuya

1) Kimura Takuya (1)

2) Ohno Satoshi (-)

3) Matsumoto Jun (-)

4) Masahiko Kondo (4)

(c)yamapimex

5) Yamashita Tomohisa (-)

6) Tegoshi Yuya (-)

7) Shibutani Subaru (-)

8) Fujigaya Taisuke (-)

9) Nakai Masahiro (3)

10) Nishikido Ryo (-)

Johnny’s-Watcher

LOL at this ranking, there are lot of “new” additions in the “Hated list” and I wonder why. haha. KimuTaku, MatsuJun, Ohno, and Yamapi are in both lists and I guess it shows how popular they are. I wonder why my faves, Kame, Ikuta, and Yuto aren’t on this list. In fact, the “favorite” list is dominated by Arashi and none from Kanjani8 and KAT-TUN made it. As for the “hate list”, I can only assume why they are hated, particularly those new in the ranking. Yamapi and Ryo are hated because they are gorgeous party boys are who are BFFs with Jin. Subaru because he got a movie deal even though he looks like he doesn’t care most of the time. Fujigaya because he keeps on winning the “Best Jeanist” award. haha. Tegoshi because he’s pretty and MatsuJun because he might really marry Inoue Mao.

All Arashians/Arashics are now patting their backs for knowing this fact beforehand. All hail Johnny’s barter system. XD

Last Mar 21st, Hey!Say!JUMP‘s Yamada Ryosuke attended the stage greeting for his first movie, “Ansatsu Kyoushitsu“, at TOHO Cinemas in Roppongi. The movie also stars, Shiina Kippei, Suda Masaki, Yamamoto Maika, Taketomi Seika, Mio Yuki,  Uehara Miku, and JiYoung among others.

“Ansatsu Kyoushitsu” tells the story of an alien homeroom teacher who came to earth to teach the students of Class 3-E at Kunugigaoka Junior High School on different ways of assassination. The students of Class 3-E (End class) were entrusted by the Japanese government to kill their teacher for the prize of 10 Billion Yen before graduation and before he can destroy the earth. However, the task have been proven difficult as their “Korosensei” possessed several inhuman capabilities.

During the stage greeting, the voice behind the CG character, Koro-sensei, was finally introduced and it’s none other than Arashi‘s Ninomiya Kazunari. Ninomiya looks just as surprise when his name was called. He apologizes and says that he doesn’t want his evil character to stand-out in his kouhai‘s first movie so he only came out now. Equally surprise is Yamada who says that it’s an honor to be working with senpai even in that form. Ninomiya’s involvement had been a secret to the entire cast.

via jnews1 and Oricon Style 

Lenten Season is over and I my days were spent in between Church and anime marathons. I thought that I won’t enjoy anime anymore but Baby Steps and Yowamushi Pedal are awesome. Anyway, here are some news tidbits that I want to share while I was wasting my time. XD. Involved parties, are: Tanaka Koki, Domoto Koichi, Nakamaru Yuichi, Ninomiya Kazunari, Kikuchi Fuma, and more.

(c)techinsight via Koki Tanaka @koki1105t

• Former KAT-TUN and now INKT‘s KOKI is garnering lots of LIKES for his imechen (Image change). No one’ gonna say that he’s impersonating Jin Akanishi or TAKA of One Ok Rock after cutting-off his locks that made him look his best…so far. Hopefully, his band will have an imechen as well.

• KinKi Kids‘s Domoto Koichi have ended the Tokyo’s run for “Endless SHOCK“. The said play became the center of attention, not because it has mobilized more than 2 million audiences, but after the accident that happened few days back where six people were injured. Anyway, the play may have ended its run in Tokyo but additional performances in Osaka and Fukuoka have also been announced.

(c)KFC(K担) ‏@KFC_223

•  KAT-TUN‘s Nakamaru Yuichi talks about his never-changing hairstyle for the past four years, which will still go on for the 5th year. I guess it means that he’s not ready for an imechen?

• In Only★Star‘s tradition of giving us WTH rankings, here’s another ranking called “Guys Ranking with Higher Girl Power than Oneself“. Among those in JE, Arashi‘s Ninomiya Kazunari takes the 2nd spot while extremely cute Chiba Yudai takes the top spot. Other JE who made the ranking, are: Matsumoto Jun (3), Yasuda Shota (5), Yamada Ryosuke (6), Kamenashi Kazuya (8), Domoto Tsuyoshi (9), and Sakurai Sho (10).

• Kikuchi Tsunetoshi, father of Sexy Zone‘s Kikuchi Fuma and composer of Arashi‘s debut song, posted a blog post about his son’s 20th birthday and it received a flak for two things: Kikuchi-papa posted a picture of his son and as agency’s protocol, it’s not allowed. The other one is that Kikuchi-papa is being accused of riding Sexy Zone’s “commercial code”. Seriously, can’t a dad just be proud that his son has reached his 20’s? PLS. So, I kinda stalk checked Kikuchi-papa’s blog back in March and I can’t see any pictures of Fuma.

That’s all for now, Happy Easter everyone!

(c)soph-ts-love-13

Yamada’s first movie is definitely a HIT!

It was announced that “Ansatsu Kyoshitsu (Assassination Classroom)” will have a movie sequel in 2016. The said announcement was made during the movie’s mega-hit thanks stage greeting at TOHO cinemas in Roppongi Hills. Ansatsu Kyoshitsu stars Hey!Say!JUMP‘s Yamada Ryosuke, it’s his first movie and Arashi‘s Ninomiya Kazunari serves as the voice of Koro-sensei.

The movie reached two million people in attendance last Apr 19th and have earned 25 billion Yen in the box-office. The sequel will have a working title, “Ansatsu Kyoushitsu~Sotsugyo Hen~” that will the theaters in 2016. Yamada is surprised when the sequel announcement was made and commented that the production really loves making surprises.

“Ansatsu Kyoshitsu” also stars Suda Masaki, Yamamoto Maika, Uehara Miku, Hashimoto Kanna, Kang Jiyoung, and Shiina Kippei among others. It tells the story of Class 3-E who are entrusted to kill Koro-sensei before their graduation or before Koro-sensei destroys the earth. It’s also a hit manga and the 2nd season for the anime is already in the works.

via jnews1 and Oricon

Since I was in hiatus, there’s been an influx of rumors in Johnny’s land which were mostly stupid. XD. Anyway, since there’s not love rumor, I decided to make a digest with these rumors. Involved parties, are: Ikuta Toma, Aiba Masaki, Ohno Satoshi, Murakami Shingo, Jojima Shigeru, Ninomiya Kazunari, and Nakai Masahiro.

• Ikuta Toma is banned from attending Summer Music Festivals

JE can be really quite controlling with this rumor that uber gorgeous Ikuta Toma is banned from attending any music festivals this summer. The reason is after he got involved, or rather, rumored to be involved with a married MAXIMUM THE HORMONE member that was published in FRIDAY magazine. Call me judgmental but I’m one of those women who made some snarky comments to the involved woman and how I can’t believed that Ikuta actually liked her. haha. Well, love is blind and JE don’t have to be worried that Ikuta will have time to attend any music festivals and joined the mosh pit since he’ll be filming “Himitsu ~THE TOP SECRET~” this summer.

• Aiba Masaki is becoming too skinny?

Arashi‘s Aiba Masaki was hospitalized before due to spontaneous pneumothorax and his eating habits has been a caused of concern. Rumor has it that Aiba is becoming a tea enthusiast’s when he revealed in his radio show how he loves herbal tea and even carry a water bottle with tea in it. It seems like drinking tea like chrysanthemum tea is good in keeping hay fever symptoms at bay. However, Aiba’s diet caused concern since since at 176 cm, Aiba only weigh 55 kg, the same weight as Ninomiya Kazunari whose height is at 168 cm. Aiba’s skinny side is obvious in his latest drama, “Yokoso Wagaya e” and it’s even rumored that the drama’s downturn in ratings is one of the reasons. Well, to be fair to Aiba, his character is being stalked in the drama so it’s understandable if he looks skinny because he’s too distracted to eat.

• Who has the most savings in Johnny’s?

The result of this article is merely an intelligent guess since I doubt LITERA have seen their bank accounts. However, some of their guesses might actually be true. As the old saying goes, “it’s not how much you earn, but how much you spend” and these Johnny’s are known to be cheap-o’s.

Here is Top 5:

5) Ohno Satoshi

Aside from his millions of revenues from Arashi, drama, and movies, Ohno is pretty modest with his lifestyle. Unlike fellow Arashi’s, Matsumoto Jun and Sakurai Sho, Ohno doesn’t drive a luxury car. Well, Ohno doesn’t even have a driver’s license to begin with unless he’s like Legal High‘s Komikado-sensei who collects luxury cars without knowing how to drive. Ohno sticks with his bicycle, he doesn’t splurge much into fashion as well, and he would rather used clothes and bag that were brought by his mom and sister.

4) Murakami Shingo

The number 4 is a surprise, but considering that Kanjani8‘s Murakami Shingo entered last year’s ranking with most CMs, I’m sure he’s raking lots of money and rumor has it that he invested it in a real-estate company. Since owning a business in JE is a no, rumor has it that it was registered under his mother’s name .Anyway, after rumors started swirling that Shingo isn’t directly involved with the company management, the real-estate’s reputation becomes so-so.

3) Jojima Shigeru

TOKIO’s oldest and the band’s leader, Jojima is known to be stingy but he splurge a lot in night life since he’s mostly seen in Ginza. Frankly, night life seems to be very expensive so I don’t know how about the savings thingy.

(c)http://www.nisshin-oillio.com

2) Ninomiya Kazunari

Everyone knows that Nino is super stingy except in his gaming hobby. Nino is known for not carrying his wallet around, splitting bills for a date, and scrimping in  clothes and meal when he can used that money to buy a game. In short, Nino has signs of a game addict. haha.

1) Nakai Masahiro

SMAP‘s leader seems to be most legit in this list. Nakai’s annual income range from 500-600 million Yen and he’s known to be one of the biggest taxpayers in Japan. He also donated a large sum after the 2011 earthquake, and is known to be generous with his kouhais. Nakai doesn’t have that much to spend on and even hosts an annual banquet for his local friends and his kouhais.

via Johnny’s-Watcher 1,2, and 3

After 3 years, Arashi is back on top of Nikkei’s annual Talent Power Ranking, a survey used to gauge a person’s popularity based from factors such as name recognition and public’s level of interest to the said individual/group. That individual/group could be an artist, musician, TV host, athlete, actor, celebrity etc.

Aside from familiar names who graced the yearly ranking, there’s also some huge leap and changes in standings.

Without further adieu, here is the result for Nikkei Entertainment Talent Power Ranking 2015

[Top 10 only]

Arashi is already popular but their popularity became more established last year during their “BLAST in HAWAII” for the celebration of their 15th anniversary. This is also the first time that Riida got into the Top 10. Sakurai has been a regular in Top 10 since 2013 and I guess his popularity have rubbed-off to his “Abunai Yakai” co-host since it’s the first time that Ariyoshi entered the Top 10.

Other Johnny’s who made the ranking, are: TOKIO (12), Ninomiya Kazunari (13), Aiba Masaki (19), Nakai Masahiro (21), Matsumoto Jun (24), SMAP (25), and Kimura Takuya (73). Ouch, KimuTaku is soooo far even though last year’s “HERO 2” was deemed successful.

One thing I learned from Nikkei’s past ranking result is that exposure is the key. The more visible you are in any kinds of media would land you a spot in this ranking.

* (-) – I have no idea what was their ranking in 2013 since I’ve only been doing up to Top 10.

via Nikkei

There has been slow news this week, which I’m a bit thankful since I don’t have that much free time to write. The dit on Tegoshi and Yukirin was big news enough for both parties (Johnny’s and AKB) but it was all over the blogosphere when I learned about it.

Oh well, it’s not much but here is my occasional Rants & Raves :  Cake

• Masahiko Kondo aka Matchy will be Japan’s representative ITU World Long Distance Triathlon Championship in Sweden. This is Matchy’s debut in triathlon stage at 50 years old.

Call me ageist (is that a word?) but he is too old to do a triathlon. Unless, Japan wants to prove that their “graying population” still has it and chosen someone in their 50s to do a triathlon. Also, I know that Matchy is race-car driver but I’m pretty sure that driving cars in race tracks will make one fit enough to last three types of race.

• 39 year-old woman was charged with fraud in Saitama prefecture for selling fake Kis-My-Ft2 concert tickets.

Just goes to show that Kisumai is popular enough to attract fraudsters.

(c)http://ameblo.jp/takimotomiori/

• Speaking of Kisumai, some Kisumai fans made some bitter fan bashing on Takimoto Miori’s blog after the latter was rumored to be dating Fujigaya Taisuke.

Sometimes, I think that JE is doing their talents a favor by not publicly announcing any relationships involving their talents because the girls, especially the wotas, can become rabid dogs. It’s terrifying and stupid that girls are bringing down their own kind just because she chose love. Okay, I’m being emotional here but I really like Miori so I’m also happy to read in her last blog post (June 2nd) that there were words of encouragement from a lot of people. They didn’t directly say anything about Taipi but just those “we support you”, “we’ll cheer for you” are lovely enough.

(c)nisshin oillio

• Nisshin Oillio gave their endorser, Arashi’s Ninomiya Kazunari, a fried shrimp cake (tempura) for the advance celebration of his 32nd birthday. Yummy!

Nino is 32 and Age Camera can still mistake him as 17. It’s unfair. Speaking of Nino, did everyone see Nagasawa Masami guesting on VS Arashi with her movie co-stars? Well, I didn’t watch the show but I’m pretty sure that the network knows better than to make them sit side-by-side.

• Arashi and Hey!Say!JUMP’s “WakuWaku Gakkou 2015′ will be shown in Singapore’s Shaw Theater Balestier this June 27th and 28th.

JE loves Singapore that Takizawa Kabuki is also heading there this August.

• Comment on (past) dating rumor between NEWS’s Tegoshi Yuya and AKB48’s Kashiwagi Yuki.

Yukirin is one of the AKB girls that I just dislike (hate is such a strong word so let’s just go with dislike). I don’t get her charm, at all, and why she amass so much followers when Matsui Jurina has more charm than her. Haha. Anyway, about her fling with Tegoshi, they don’t look in love in those two-shot picture, they look like a couple of sex friends on a holiday who are enjoying their time together until the flame sizzles out.

That’s all for now, I’m craving for some Haikyuu! TV so I’m leaving you with this gif

(c)sasukeyoulittleshit

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

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

Let’s first have a run with this POSITIVE news before that matter on Ohno…

Last Sept 19th, Arashi had the first leg of their “BLAST in MIYAGI” at Hitomebore Stadium in Miyagi. The concert is also a fundraising campaign by the group to aid the reconstruction of the prefecture since Miyagi has been badly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake last 2011.

The four-day event is aiming to mobilize 208,000 people and is expected to raise 9.3 billion Yen in economic revenue. Arashi’s “BLAST in MIYAGI” has become a major event in the entire province with reported increase in flights and shinkansen lines. In lieu to influx of fans, 26 special trains will run in Sendai-Rifu Tohoku Line to service concert goers. There is also a special shinkansen that will travel from Sendai to Tokyo after the concert, and 2,500 shuttle buses were organized to connect four locations.

52,000 people cheered for Arashi in the first day of their “Miyagi Festival”, it has been 8 years since a live performance was allowed in the disaster-stricken area. To make concert “uniquely Miyagi”, the group incorporated Miyagi’s “Sparrow Dance” during one of their two songs and sang “Kansha kangeki ame Arashi” with a High School chorus group. The concert stage was also built in the typical Johnny’s flare; aside from having the first ever “Arashi 3D Flyer” that goes up to 15 meters, Matsumoto Jun flew around the venue at 20 meters in height during his solo performance.

After the show, Sakurai Sho commented that it was the best 3 hours and Matsumoto got a sense of fulfillment in seeing Miyagi back in shape.

In numbers:

• Arashi’s “BLAST in MIYAGI” will continue until Sept 23rd, a total of four days.
• Arashi made use of Miyagi Prefecture Sports park, a 146.1 hectares property which is equal to 31 Tokyo Domes.
• 100 stores are in running in “Reconstruction Support Market” with sellers from Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima.

• Arashi’s goodies also collaborated with local businesses where you can buy Arashi’s “bocchan soap” for 1000 Yen.
• Ohno Satoshi is also holding a painting exhibit that features a painting called “chonmage no kodomo” which Ohno painted with the children of Miyagi.
• 1,600 fireworks has been used so far…

via Nikkan Sports and Hochi

Image credits to @tekuteku55555

November is here! It’s my birth month and while I’m gonna get older, I’m just thankful to be alive. As the old saying goes, “never regret getting old, it’s a privilege denied to many”. Anyway, my fellow birth month from Koki, Ryo, Tomoya, Chinen, and KimuTaku…happy birthday to us!

Here is my occasional Rants & Raves : The Case of Missing Johnny’s

• “Terra Formars” have published their first trailer that features the characters. The movie also stars Yamapi as Muto Jin and this is Yamapi…

Rants : After looking closely, does he play an invisible man? Perhaps a hologram? I thought that was supposed to be Oguri Shun.

Raves : I was sure he played a human who can turn to a desert locust…

Rants : Then he must have transformed to that insect so he’s somewhere there,on top of those metals or whatever! Seriously JE, excluding him from the trailer is ridiculous.

Raves : Not the first time…how much would it cost Warner Brothers to pay JE so Yamapi can be seen in all their print ads? This is disservice.

Rants : As you’ve said, it’s not the first time…Hey!Say!JUMP’s Chinen Yuri was also missing in his first movie, Cho-sankin.

WITHOUT Chinen

with Chinen

Raves : Perhaps favoritism or a matter of whether the Johnny’s talent is the lead or not. In Shingo’s latest movie, he is in the trailer and poster.

Rants : It’s not like Yamapi is playing small role. Oh well, I’m actually defending Yamapi. haha. Next topic!

• Who were present and who were missing in Johnny Kitagawa’s birthday bash? Well, J&A’s President celebrated his 84th birthday last Oct 23rd and just like last year, Hideaki Takizawa took charge of this year’s party. However, compared to the small party last year where around 50 Johnny’s attended, it’s bigger this year. After “Johnny’s World” rehearsal, Kitagawa was brought to the venue where Masahiko Kondo, Higashiyama Noriyuki, Okamoto Kenichi, SMAP’s Nakai Masahiro, TOKIO’s Kokubun Taichi, Ikuta Toma, V6, Kis-My-Ft2, and Sexy Zone were already present. Family members of talents were also present. Rushing to the scene after Music Station were Arashi and Hey!Say!JUMP. SMAP’s Kimura Takuya wasn’t able to attend but he gave a call to Kitagawa during the party. All in all, about 100 talents attended the party in this Tackey hosted party.

Rants : Happy Birthday to the BOSS! Takki is really in the running, huh?

Raves : Let’s all forget politics for now, I’m happy to see that Iijima talents are here. Happy to see that Arashi attended too!

Rants : I wonder how do they actually party, like, do they smoke cigars and get drunk?

Raves : Maybe, or they must have rented a karaoke or something. Who knows? Maybe they also play parlor games.

Rants :Parlor games? Haha. The winner gets an album.

• Only★Star magazine made a ranking on “who you want to play games with?” and claiming the top spot is the legendary gamer, Arashi’s Ninomiya Kazunari!

Rants : Does Nino play COC? I’ll invite him in my clan!

Raves : Ultimate game boy, he should play with Domoto Koichi!

That’s all for now, since I’m watching Aragaki Yui’s “Okitegami…”, here’s a gif from that hilarious drama with Kyoko being the bane in Yakusuke’s life.

(c)llllilian

Gorgeous Nino and Narimiya Hiroki now in the sequel! This is like a “Stand Up!” reunion or I’m the only one thinking about that….

Posters and stills for the upcoming sequel of “Ansatsu Kyoshitsu” to be titled “Ansatsu Kyoushitsu~Sotsugyo Hen” have been revealed. The latest still features Hey!Say!JUMP‘s Yamada Ryosuke as Shiota Nagisa together with killing teacher Koro-sensei. (The image above will be available in a clear file for those who purchased tickets in advance)

The additional cast was also revealed, which includes Narimiya Hiroki as the scientist who transformed a shinigami (Death God) to Koro-sensei, Kiritani Mirei as the former adviser of Class 3-E, and Arashi‘s Ninomiya Kazunari as the shinigami who transformed to Koro-sensei. In the movie’s first installment, Ninomiya was the voice of Koro-sensei that was portrayed using CG. The three actors will be appearing in flashback scenes.

“Ansatsu Kyoushitsu~Sotsugyo Hen” will hit the theaters on Mar 25, 2016.

via ansatsu-movie

Happy New Year everyone! I know it’s a bit late for this greeting but I was still having some Holiday hangover and I was too lazy to start blogging. Anyway, there were lots of stuff that happened in the Johnny’s fandom so I’ll try to squeeze them all in this Bits & Pieces and hopefully, they are still relevant. Involved parties are: Ninomiya Kazunari, Yamapi, KAT-TUN, Hamada Takahiro, and basically Johnny’s in general.

Here is Bits & Pieces 031

• Congratulations to Arashi‘s Ninomiya Kazunari for winning the “Best Actor” award in the 89th Kinema Junpo. Nino won the award for his performance in the movie “Haha to Kuraseba” (Nagasaki: memories of my son / Living with my mother). Consequently, the movie also place in the 9th spot out of Top 10 best movies in Japan for 2015.

• Everyone was screaming when Yamapi appeared in 2015-2016’s Johnny’s Countdown where he performed the unforgettable “Seishun Amigo” with KAT-TUN‘s Kamenashi Kazuya. Now, Yamapi gives us another reason to scream by releasing his first-ever “best album” titled “YAMA-P“. Frankly, doing a “best of album” seems pretty early for his solo career so let’s see how this one will turned out. Among the songs that will be included in Yamapi’s best is the ending theme of the anime “Itoshi no muko” titled “Dreamer“.

• Speaking of theme songs, KAT-TUN will be performing the theme song for Kamenashi Kazuya‘s drama “Kaito Yamaneko” titled “UNLOCK“. Though this new song is a good news, it also means that this will be one of their last songs before Junno bids farewell.

• Speaking of Johnny’s Countdown, 2015’s-2016’s kaukon got an average of 12.5% in ratings, which is pretty much higher compared to past years. While the Kinki Kids’s medley is the show’s highlight, the fans got more excited with “hatsuyume 2 shot BEST 5 happyō” featuring combis that made the fans screamed. Personal favorite would be Kame x Yamapi, MatsuJun x  Kawai, and Subaru x Tackey. 

• Johnny’s WEST Hamada Takahiro will be starring in his first solo stage play, “uta kigeki/ ichi Saburo ～onsen yado no koi“. The comedy play will be about hot springs. An onsen onstage, why not? Oh, is he gonna be naked? haha

• What you didn’t see before Johnny’s Countdown 2015-2016 aired? Well, there were lot of performances highlighting younger groups. Johnny’s WEST did four songs, Nakayama Yuma performed 2 songs, and Sexy Zone, ABC-Z, and Kis-My-Ft2 did three.

That’s all for now, here’s something rom Johnny’s Countdown with KAT-TUN performing Kisumai’s “SHE!HER!HER!”

My first rumor round-up for 2015 and while Kitagawa Keiko x DAIGO’s wedding is biggest news in Japanese showbiz, let’s talk about something shocking and well, normal. Involved parties are Tegoshi Yuya, Sakurai Sho, and Johnny’s (who smokes) in general.

• NEWS’s Tegoshi Yuya attended an orgy in Guam?

Rumor has it that the most feminine among members of NEWS went partying and drinking in Guam last September. One of partygoers is a woman named “A” who saw Tegoshi flirting, drinking, and stripping to his birthday suit- by the beach- and starts kissing his chosen partner for the night. The sea breeze might have inspired Tegoshi and he started singing “Sen no Kaze ni Natte”; however, if you think that was romantic, the girl who was kissed by Tegoshi said that his package is the smallest she has seen.

Verdict : Shocking…this entire tidbit and not just the last sentence. 

• Sakurai Sho went to Finland while MatsuJun was seen shopping to start his married life with Inoue Mao?

Rumor has it that Arashi‘s Sakurai Sho went to Finland 1-2 months before this story was published. A twitter user posted that someone who looks like Sho was seen at Helsinki Airport. Traveling is normal but rumor has it that Sakurai traveled with a girlfriend! Fans are quick to write this one-off since based from Sakurai’s super hectic schedule, it’s impossible that he has time to travel all the way to Finland.

If Sakurai was rumored to be in Finland with his imaginary girlfriend, Matsumoto Jun and forever rumored girlfriend/fiance, Inoue Mao, were reportedly seen happily taking snaps in their apartment’s entrance. They are not living together but the place is rumored to be their residence once they get married. Moreover, the two were also seen buying appliances for their home.

Verdict : Normal. Especially the Maotsujun rumor since something always come out every year. Still, I wish they are an item. 

• Smoking among Johnny’s vs No smoking in EXILE

There are lots of smokers in Johnny’s, let’s start with Kimura Takuya who can be seen smoking in every one of his TV dramas. There’s also Ohno Satoshi, Ninomiya Kazunari, and Sakurai Sho in Arashi who still smokes. Aiba Masaki reportedly stopped the bad habit while Jun is not smoking (I’m sure he did smoke). There’s also SMAP‘s Nakai Masahiro, who should probably quit since his dad died of throat cancer. Oh well, let’s not start on Johnny’s doing underage smoking and so. Smoking seems a norm in Johnny’s but not in EXILE. In fact, EXILE’s President HIRO have a non-smoking policy among members since it might affect their performance and everybody followed suit. Rumor has it that EXILE should also refrain from driving to avoid accident.

Verdict : Normal, smoking is normal in Johnny’s and I really hope that a lot of them would stop. It’s very unhealthy. 

via Johnny’s-Watcher 1, 2, and 3 

Will last year’s Best Actor winner, V6’s Okada Junichi, pass the torch to Nino?

It was announced that Arashi‘s Ninomiya Kazunari is nominated for “Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” for the 39th Japan Academy Prize. Ninomiya is nominated for his role in  “Haha to Kuraseba”, a post-war fantasy movie about a dead son who revisits his mother. Consequently, the movie is nominated in 11 categories including Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best in Cinematography, and many more.

Last year, V6‘s Okada Junichi made history by winning two top acting awards for two different movies, which included the Best Actor award. Also thanks to Okada, the agency became lenient is allowing their talents to honor these kind of award giving body.

In a related news, Hey!Say!JUMP‘s Yamada Ryosuke will be receiving an award for “Newcomer of the Year” for his movie “Ansatsu Kyoushitsu“.

Japan Academy Prize is synonymous to United States’s Oscars.

The Japan Academy Prize awarding ceremony will happen on Mar 4th at 16:00-19:30 (JST).

Congratulations to Nino on getting nominated, I hope he wins though I haven’t seen that movie. Also, congratulations to Yamada as he will be one of the awardees for Newcomer of the Year.

via jnews1 and Japan Academy Prize

Sakurai Sho on top of the ranking for “Single Celebrities that doesn’t look like they had a lot of romantic escapades” (I’m really bad at titles…). Conducted by VenusTap, they asked the opinion of 300 people.

Here is the top 5:

5. Fukushi Souta / Kubota Masataka with 16 votes

4. Ninomiya Kazunari with 29 votes

(c) somewhere on facebook (imsorry)

3. Kamiki Ryuunosuke with 30 votes

2. Kusanagi Tsuyoshi with 31 votes

(c) generasia

1. Sakurai Sho with 32 votes

(c) yumedemoiikara

Here are the translated comments for the three Johnny’s up in the ranking.

Nino: Known as a huge gamer and an indoor type of person, he’s also not really known as a very romantic kind of person, even in his dramas. On variety shows, he would be known as flashy, and someone who won’t confess their feelings. They say that they cannot detach the image of “not having a lot of experience in love” off of Ninomiya. If you ask me, he’s just in a long term relationship with Sho.

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi: Although he’s had his fair share of romantic dramas, rumours about him being gay has always been flowing around him. Lately, it seems like he brought a woman in her 30s back to his hometown in Ehime, and introduced her to his parents, so everything is still in the dark.

Sakurai: Surpassing his sempai and Nino (his boyfriend) in the rankings, is the Keio boy. And because he’s a Keio graduate, and entered his agency at 13 against his parent’s will, people think that he wouldn’t have time to date around. Of course, he’s gotta take care of his boyfriend who’s just stuck in front of the TV screen. Nino, get out of the house sometimes…

Johnny’s Watcher

This might be long as I cannot figure out which one is relevant or not. But I find them interesting so why not? And I am still not used to the Bits & Pieces category yet… So please bear with me…

Involved parties are: Arashi‘s Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsumoto Jun, Hey! Say! Jump, SMAP‘s Inagaki Goro and KAT-TUN’s Kamenashi Kazuya.

• Kamenashi Kazuya will have a “Special Interview SEXY&FUNNY Kamenashi Kazuya” with BAILA which is out today, 12th of Feb. Here’s the source for the featured image. jnews1

• Hey! Say! Jump’s will release a new single for “Assassination Classroom ~ Graduation”. Following the “Korosensation” single is “Sayounara Sensation”, which will be released on March 23^rd. It will be available in versions, Limited and Regular, we all know how it works. Pre-orders are now accepted!  Jnews1

• On the 6^th of February, Ninomiya Kazunari had his last dubbing session for the movie “Assasination Classroom ~ Graduation”. Now we just gotta wait for the movie. Personally, I cannot wait for it, I get to see Nino being badass, and I get another evil Narimiya Hiroki, I’m happy. Jnews1

• Inoo Kei will be appearing on “Tensai! Shimura Doubutsuen”, NTV, on the 20^th of February. Appearance confirmed by the show’s homepage. Jnews1

• Arashi’s “Fukkatsu Love” is out on the 24^th of Feb and Ikuta Toma is in the MV. Written by Yamashita Tatsurou and his wife, Takeuchi Mariya, Fukkatsu LOVE is a love song that broke my heart, the lyrics are really great, and I’m not cringing at the English. Also serves as the NTT Docomo’s dHits’ CM song. Pre-orders are obviously accepted since it’s out soon. Check out the lyrics here at yarukizero!  Jnews1

• Arashi’s Matsumoto Jun will be a guest on Tokyo FM’s Japamon on the 21^st of February, according to the program’s official website. Now this is interesting because I never heard Jun on radio and I wanna. Some rumors on Facebook claims he’s going to be talking about his new drama [99.9] which will air in Spring, but no confirmations yet. Jnews1

• SMAP’s Inagaki Goro’s stage play, “Koi to Ongaku FINAL” have finished their run in Osaka Theater Drama City. The stage play will continue in PARCO Theater, Tokyo and tickets are on sale now. Jnews1

I wanted to post something about KAT-TUN’s best album too, but AramaJapan already got something up on their website, so check it out here.