Favorite J-Pop Singles: V6: "Over"

Just heard the news that longtime Johnny’s Boyband V6 have officially split today, The decision was announced months back, to end the band in November, sparked in part because Go Morita is leaving the agency…

Back in my early days of J-pop fandom (1995-1998), it was not quite cool to like boy bands among my peers, with one friend flatly stating “I do not like SMAP”, LOL, but even then a few tunes caught my ear and would not let go!

Among the very FIRST Johnny’s Band songs I ever fell in love with was a smooth little tune called “Over”. At the time, KIKUTV had begun a new drama starring the younger half of V6 (also known as Coming Century) called “Pu-Pu-Pu~ Down and Out”. 

While I only watched the show sporadically, I still tuned in, and it was all because of how much I loved the THEME song! yes, it was their song Over, and I remember  going to my friend Golden and telling him  I NEED a copy of this song!!!

I even have memories of sheepishly videotaping the PV, ah, the stigmas of being a lad who suddenly likes boy-bands! Of course, I was to SOON get over that in later years, fully embracing SMAP, TOKIO, Kinki Kids, Arashi and more!

Listening to it now, it still remains one of the very best, and though V6 have had many, many hits since then (including the awesome Gokusen theme song Feel Your Breeze), there will always be a special place in my heart for this one!

PS: I always felt like  V6 and Kinki Kids got screwed by the promotion order for Johnnys- To me, it seemed like  there was a definite lineage to be adhered to, from bands like Shonentai which (loosely) handed off to Hikaru Genji, which handed off to SMAP which handed off to TOKIO, next was supposed to be V6 and/or Kinki Kids, but they somehow got TOTALLY  leapt over by the astounding success of the all-encompassing Arashi!  In my opinion, they never got their "time".

Sad to see V6 end as a unit, but look forward to what they do on the future! I Know Junichi Okada and Yoshihiko Inohara are doing steady acting work...are the others doing anything prolific? Guess we'll see!

Notes on the 2016 Kohaku Uta Gassen

It’s funny to think that once upon a time, the Kohaku was simply teeming with artists I loved, performing songs I was dying to hear them sing live, but as I get older, the less I know about the “current” music scene out there and I really just watch these to ‘catch up” on the latests groups and songs….but happily there were still LOTS of familiar faces and tunes from my golden age to keep the show interesting! Some highlights I noted….

This year’s show was hosted by Arashi’s Aiba Masaki and adorable actress Kasumi Arimura, whom i first saw as a cute policegirl in Keizoku SPCEC and then as Matsumoto Jun’s sister in “Shitsuren Chocolatier” and then Aiba’s sister in “Yokoso Wagaya E”….my how she’s grown! Such a Doll!

They started things off in a zany fashion, with Johnny’s clown princes Kanajni 8 opening the show with the song “Zukkoke Otokomichi”….

And for the red team’s side was none other than PUFFY! Just saw these gals here in Hawaii earlier this year and they’re still as great as ever! Did the classic Asia No Junshin and Nagisa, Matsubara, etc, big faves of mine!

Next up was AAA, whom I still find a real thrill to see appearing on the Kohaku. I have to admit taht “Hurricane Lily, Boston Mari” wasn't one of my favorite AAA songs, but hearing a song I knew so well after expecting to hear a new song was pretty exciting and got me in the mood!

From there we got the sexy n stylish “EGirls” Conglomerate…

and then the AKB Conglomerate with Keyakizaka46…

Back in the day, I always looked forward to Mitsuko Nakamura’s  fun and “matsuri" style songs, nowadays it seems Enka singer Yoshimi Tendo has taken over that slot!

As usual, I really liked Ayaka’s performance, this is one gal whose voice I absolutely love…

Balancing out Ayaka’s perf was Go Hiromi with a VERY pretty young girl doing some sultry interpretive dance around him….had a hard time catching her name...who IS this gorgeous thing?

V6 returned to to show Morita Go continuing his attempt at out-scuzzing TOKIO’s Nagase Tomoya  with his forever scrubby facial hair… (frankly, he looks like he's turning into a kind of Japanese David Spade)

 ...and then the boys giving me a treat by bring out one of my all-time fave karaoke tracks, "Honey Beat" to sing! They only did this a part of a medley, man, would been great to hear it whole!

Huh. When even my co-workers that didn’t listen to any j-pop came up to me to show me “this funny video”, PPAP by Piko-Taro, I should have expected to see this silly song performed here. Save by the cuteness of Kasumi’s reactions, giggling throughout.

I should say that for what its’ worth, the Kohaku really does  encapsulate the “Year in Japan entertainment” pretty well, and the appearance of group Radwimps coming on to perform Zenzenzense made note of the movie “Your Name”’s impact on this year on movies! Can't wait to see this movie.

Hmm, didn’t realize there were going to me more than one of these AKB association acts here, we had Keyakizaka46 and now we have Nogizaka46. Better pay attention to these girls, some of them are guaranteed to become the stars in movies and dramas we watch in the future!

And here's yet another phoned in performance from Masaharu Fukuyama….will this guy ever set foot on Kohaku soil again?

...and then a big shock from me when I found out that actor Kenta Kiritani was a singer! Man, that guy giving hell to Mayu Matsuoka in Suizokukan Girl was a musician? Huh!

And continuing on with the AKB train we finally come to the originals, AKB48, I liked that they sang “River”, a song I’ve always liked from them, but as a guy who doesn’t really know them, I wonder how many members onstage singing are part of the original song? With their graduation system I wonder if it’s like watching an all-new gen Momusu singing Morning Coffee.

Holy COW, am I FINALLY witnessing the actual DEBUT of KinKi Kids on the Kohaku??? Unbelievable! Ya know, considering Tsuyoshi and Koichi were among the first Johnny’s guys I ever saw on the Kohaku (in 1995, dancing for Masahiko Kondo), I never dreamed I’d have to wait two DECADES before they “officially” entered the Kohaku arena! About Time!

Didn’t expect to see Perfume still around! But then again, their appeal is so broad that I actually have K-pop friends who, though they only buy K-stuff, also purchase Perfume CDs, so they must be more famous than I thought. Funny to read that the guy who wrote Kyary Paymu Pyamu’s “Pon Pon Pon” is the writer for all of Perfume’s stuff. This guy knows how to write a catchy tune!

Ikimonogakari is back and Kiyoe still has the sweetest and most happily infectious smile ever! Awww, look at that smile!  

Wheeee! And now we come to the highlight of this year’s Kohaku for me!!! You know, when I began watching the show, it never occurred to me that I might get to see Gen Hoshino singing the theme song "Koi" from “We Married As A Job”, but when I saw Yui Aragaki as one of the judges, I did have hope! And then when Gen came out earlier in the show, I thought to myself- HEY! Gen Hoshino is there! the’ve GOT to have him sing the song, right? 

And indeed they DID! What a fun, happy song, and as expected, they had a slew of background dancers behind him to do all the dance moves that made the show’s ending credits so beloved.

And beloved it was! It was pretty amazing to watch the audience and see that every there was doing the moves right along with the song, and of course, when it cut to Gakky, she was shyly dancing along as well! SO AWESOME!

...then back to Sobretown with Fuyumi Sakamoto, singing the moody song I first fell in love with her…

And then TOKIO, the continuing scuzzy version. They performed Sorafune, which was a surprise, I thought they were going to do “Ai I Wanna Be With You”, from drummer Masahiro Matsuoka’s crossdressing detective drama Kaseifu No Mitazono!

Nice to see Kana Nishino still out here. Is she still as popular as she was back in her "Best Friend" days?

Then we had Seiko Matsuda performing with Yoshiki. An interesting combination, then it occurred to me that maybe X Japan was going to perform at the show this year as well…

…and sure enough, it wasn’t long til the original J-rock Boys hit the stage!

Mariko Takahashi singing "Gomen Ne". Whoo, man I love this song! A song that takes me back to the good old days! A pretty song from an elegant lady.

When I saw that the next performing artist was going to be Utada Hikaru in the little square at the bottom of the screen, my heart leapt in my throat- HOLY CRAP, Hikky was debuting this year? I was stoked! But then the song began, and though I really love "Hanataba o Kimi ni “, I was instantly brought down when I realized “Aw, she ain't there…it’s another phoned in performance!!" Aw, it really takes the glow off.

Then it was time to wrap up the show, and the red team called on their big gun, the great Enka-queen herself, Sayuri Ishikawa, belting out her classic “Amagi Goe” once again! I was just watching some old B&W performances Sayuri did of this song from Kohakus of many years ago, and it blows me away- she's one of the few stars here who have the "weight" to close a show.

And then, it was the white team’s side, and  paired up against Sayuri was….Arashi??? Seriously??? I mean, I love Arashi as much as the next guy, but are they really suggesting these guys are on par with Sayuri? Very Weird. Really missing Saburo Kitajima about now!

Arashi pulled out a medley of their hits and it was very nice and touching, but seriously, this should have been SMAP’s final stage tonight. Having Arashi close the show just didn’t have the impact it should have. And given that very unbalanced ending,  it was no surprise which team pulled the most votes in the end- the Red Team, though Kasumi was so spaced out she didn’t even know they won and seemed the least emotional about it out of everyone! LOLOL, too cute.

PS, as the camera panned over the performers as they sang the Anthem, them panned across Egirls, and DAMN, that Sayaka is looking more and more stunning every time I see her!

LOL, OK, that’s it for this year….

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com