10 August 2013

The Shounen Club 10 August 2008 review

And we are on the second episode of the month where we have no shortage of guests.

The introduction this time around is rather short with the few Juniors that the four members of Hey! Say! JUMP from the previous episode are all introduced by name. Except for M.A.D., who just get their group name, most likely because they are the only official full group on the stage.

The HSJ four remain on stage for when the theme of the episode is announced. This is because the theme is Bouken (Adventure) and HSJ have the perfect song for that, Bouken Rider.

So instead of the usual theme medley it is Yamada Ryosuke, Chinen Yuri, Arioka Daiki and Nakajima Yuto performing Bouken Rider for the performance to directly tie-in to the theme of the episode.

Hashimoto Ryosuke helps answer questions sent in by fans for the Heisai Post corner with Kato Shigeaki. The first is about what gift to get a friend as a surprise gift. The second letter seems to be more like a fan letter for Hasshi.

The medley that the Juniors get to do is a KAT-TUN medley. It plays out like the usual theme medleys do, with various Juniors doing each song until the final song where they all join in to perform it.

Next up is an MC with Chinen and Yamada, that is after Shige and Koyama Keiichiro have some fun with the audience. The two HSJ members are then asked about adventures they have had.

The following performance mainly features Nakajima Yuto with the other members of HSJ there joining him in parts as well as TOP3. Most of the songs are covers of old Johnny's songs with a show tune sound to them. Like they do the Namida-kun Sayonara/Mack the Knife mash up that the Juniors did a few months ago in this medley.

The game segment is next and it is the one where something is placed in a box and the guys have to feel it with their hands to figure out what it is. This is always entertaining to watch as most of the guys appear to completely freak out when doing this.

Like with the past episode the Igo Akun vs Yamashita Shoon pair are the highlight of the segment, as they have some trouble even finding what they are supposed to be touching seeing, as it is a living thing and moves all around the box.

A special guest for the guest is introduced, Yabu Kota, and he performs a song that he wrote the lyrics for, Chikai no Sora. He has Kosaka Masato, who is no longer in Johnny's, sing it with him as it is a duet.

It is then Imai Tsubasa's turn for an MC segment. He talks about the theme of the episode and ties it to doing a stage play/musical he was a part of.

He then performs Yumemonogatari as a solo. The performance features Question? backing him up as the song is given a hint of a rock flare for this.

This is one of the better Kansai Junior ni Q segments when it comes to those still with the agency. The first they talk to is Kamiyama Tomohiro who wrote down "ookini", which is a Kansai-dialect word that means "thanks a lot". Though when asked about using it he confesses that he does not use it.

Yamasaki Kunta is called up and his word is "ai", which of course means "love" and mostly of the romantic kind.

Then to finish the segment up Hamanaka Bunichi is called up. He wrote "junsui no arigato" which pretty much translates to "genuine thanks". When he comes up though he has a piece of paper on the front of his shirt that give a completely different answer to what is on the board. When asked which one is true he says it is the one on the board.

It is now Arioka Daiki's turn to be the spotlight of a performance (Chinen is the odd man out this time around) and performs Seishun Amigo. At first alone as a solo but is soon joined by Nozawa Yuki, Sanada Yuma and M.A.D.

It is then time for the final song of the program and since it is the second ending song only the older Juniors can participate, which means Nozawa, Sanada, Shoon, M.A.D. and Question? Instead of just letting them perform a song on their own Tsubasa leads the final song, Koiuta, and Koyama, Shige, Arioka and Yabu even join him to perform it.

I am certain the next month has the usual Juniors on again as A.B.C-Z was announced near the end of SUMMARY and before that happens we have a Yamashita Shoon with A.B.C. formation on the show, so next month has to be the month for that.

We should also be quickly closing in to Nakajima Kento and Kikuchi Fuma showing up on the program and the creation of B.I. Shadow.

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