That sounds fun! And second language is difficult~ sometimes at the end of the day, all you want is English. The last few days I spent binging on Japanese things, I ended up watching a British murder mystery show before I went to bed.

(And re JW no longer 4, I'm just depressed their CD debut is almost surely going to overshadow ABC-Z's CD debut.)

It was fun! But yeah, it's not so bad at work since I, you know, teach English? So it's about 50/50. But all day, one-on-one conversation in Japanese is just totally draining. XD; But British murder mystery shows solve almost everything!

(Ugh I know. Like I've said, I have a no-negativity policy towards JE groups and I have nothing against JWmaybe4, but it's really not fair, considering how long and hard ABC-Z have been working. They deserve their own time to shine. :<)

This one is good, too!! It's a team of lady cops led by Gillian Anderson who are hunting down a nasty serial killer who targets… professional women in their early 30s. *gulp* Her accent isn't great but it's listenable, which is more than I can usually say for Americans playing non-Americans.

(And I know!! Poor Ebi… I hope they at least get to record new songs for the debut CD and it's not just a repeat of all their junior songs. They deserve new material, dammit! But I'm not voting. That's just weird.)

Wow, sounds intense XD And yeah, I love listening to British actors doing American accents, because even if they're bad, most of the time they're better than Americans doing other accents. Oh America. *sigh*

(I agree with everything you just said. XD; But I'm sure Ebi's single will be awesome, so WHATEVER to all the h8rs. XD;;)

Gillian Anderson is still amazing… but, yeah, Americans in general have a terrible ear for accents and foreign languages. It's a bizarre cultural blindness, considering how diverse the country is…

Christ Hart seems to be doing well, though. He sounded great on Kouhaku.

*OMG a huge gust of wind just rattled the windows*
*Brrrrrrr*
*snuggles kitty closer*

Yeah, it's pretty amazing considering how many American citizens have accents of other countries.

That's good! He has an amazing voice.

D: Stay warm!

I'm trying! My problem now is that I have TWO cats passed out on my lap but I need more tea~

Oh no XDD

*Comment thread crashing*

I say this as a fan of both A.B.C-Z and Johnny's WEST, but yeah, the timing really sucks. And I was sad reading one of the articles about JW's debut and I noticed that instead of saying X number of years, months since the last Johnny's debut, they said X number of years, months since the last Johnny's CD debut. ;_; Poor Ebi, forever slighted for their non-CD debut.

Ebi get shafted a lot but they don't seem to whine too much about it, which is admirable. ♥

Like, on CDTV all the other acts got two songs but Ebi just got one… *pats their underdog heads*

Yeah, they just keep being their awesome selves. ♥

Yeah, the voting thing was definitely the most surprising thing about the news. (Them recording songs full of Kansai-ben is totally expected, on the other hand.) When I first saw it a couple days ago I really had to check other articles about their debut to make sure it was accurate. It seems like Johnny's has been trying a lot of new things lately, and while part of me thinks it's a good thing that they're being dynamic, part also thinks, well, they're popular because they've found formulas that work and it's dangerous to change things too much. I'm glad they shortened the name, though. xD

Yeah, I really generally have negative feelings about all the new things they've been doing, because a lot of them feel like trying to mimic other popular groups' marketing tactics (like a mega group, and this voting/fan participation thing) and it worries me to think that they'd deviate from what they know sells in order to pander to the whims of current entertainment fans when they've already established a well-functioning empire. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to what I like about Johnny's, which is one reason why I really don't understand/like Ijima's methods at all. Julie has basically established that she's for keeping with Johnny's tradition, whereas Ijima is putting a lot of her eggs into the solo artist basket and seems to be shifting more towards being like groups that I don't feel will have much longevity, like AKB, or groups that I don't think really have the same endgoals as Johnny's. like EXILE.

I guess I feel like there's a difference between trying actually new things, and expanding on the things that they know work within their group (for example, like when they started putting videos on the website however long ago that was) and dropping their values, like cohesive group dynamic and a degree of separation from the fans, in order to pander to current fads.

BUT either way, yes, the name seems much more sayable now |D; Though idk I still think having "Johnny's" right there in the name is a bit... much. XD;

Yeah, the pandering to fads vs growing and expanding in ways consistent with how they've succeeded up until now is probably the conflict I'm feeling. Because there are definitely times when it seems like Johnny's is too conservative (like how it took them so long before they would put videos or even photos of their talents on their website), but they already have such a strong fanbase and a strong presence in the Japanese entertainment scene that they don't have to jump on every new thing. And that's a good thing when it keeps them from jumping on fads that really don't fit them.

I think I've learned not to expect too much (except for hilarity) from Johnny's group names. I wish they'd debut a group with a nice Japanese name again. Like Arashi or something. Arashi is a really good group name.

Yeah, I guess I just feel like there's a difference between updating due to available technology and changing based on the whim of the day. So yeah, I agree with what you said.

I'm not holding my breath. |D;;; It's amazing that it doesn't have an acronym in it.

Seriously, as acronym-happy as Johnny's is. xD

Well, at least we know it won't be as awkward as KAT-TUN became? |D; both in it being an acronym that's not a word and... well, the fact that "KAmenashi" and "Tatsuya Ueda" became necessary |D;;;

Yeah, as silly as some of the acronyms of English phrases get, at least they never have to cover for members leaving. >_

Basically. XD; Also, the ones that are a stretch as an acronym (like JUMP... "Johnny's Ultra Music Power," seriously? |D;) are better group names in general XD; But seriously, Johnny's names have really never been that good... Arashi was sort of an anomaly I think XD;;; Like, "Ninja"? That's pretty silly. |D;;

I'm not a big fan of the Kansai juniors, so I'm not really happy about their debut... I know, Junta and Akito deserve this after the long years in Johnny's, but I don't like them too much. Shigeoka Daiki is cute, but... I would be happier if some of the Tokyo juniors could debut :'D

I pretty much agree with this. I wish them well, because they worked hard and there's nothing I can personally do to see the people I want get to debut, so there's no point besides being mean in thinking bad things about them, but I wish some Tokyo Juniors could debut, as well. I think BAD is amusing enough, but I really don't like Shigeoka Daiki at all. XD;

Hehe extra languages can be tricky^^ I still have problem speaking in japanese and I definitely think I will never be able to master a simple phrase :P

They took the "4" out? I am ok with that, actually XD Group names that in this or in that way are made to show the number of members are very dangerous nowdays XDD

Yeah, speaking in my second language all day is just really mentally tiring for me. XD; But I'd be in trouble if I couldn't speak Japanese, since I live here. XD;; Are you studying it?

Yeah, I think they did? It seems? I don't know with Johnny's but... yeah |D;;; Putting a number in the name is just asking for trouble.

I was studying it and got until N4 level but then my teacher had some health problems and I had to stop for a while...now I stay in touch with watching/listening stuff and reading as musch as possible^^

I see. Good luck! ^^

Johnny's, what are you doing >__< I'm in suspense over whether the 4 will stay gone, though |D;;;

Yeah, agreed |D;;

Ah, was it Suzuki-sensei? I didn't realize she was in town the country! We've totally lost touch, oops |D

Also voting, what. And the name change, though I have to admit I'm slightly in favor of that, but seriously, voting? Out of like 13 songs no less?

Yeah, it was Suzuki-sensei. ^^ She's teaching a Business Japanese course next year, and she wanted to interview me and use it in the class. But we spent like 4 hours catching up, talking about life and her students and Johnny's, and I had so much fun. We reminisced about how everyone hated her at first, but I was the only person who actually had the courage to talk to her about it an ask her to change. XD

Yeah, I don't even know. >__< Also, they're going to be on Julie, don't know how I feel about that.