faded_lace | Sexy Zone New Single Release Information

In an update from yesterday, here's a quick translation of the fanclub mail that I got today. As always, this is from a mail, so I have no way to prove that I actually got this,

◆ Sexy Zone Family Club member-limited　info mail ◇『mail bulletin』July 16th edition

o☆*.。+o★*.。+o☆*.。+o★*.。+o☆*.。+o★*.。+o☆*.。+o★*.。+o☆*.
　　
　Sexy Zone 7th Single「otoko never give up」9/17 (Wed) On Sale!!　　　　　

o☆*.。+o★*.。+o☆*.。+o★*.。+o☆*.。+o★*.。+o☆*.。+o★*.。+o☆*.

It's been decided that Sexy Zone's first single in four months,
「otoko never give up」will go on sale starting September 17th (Wed)!
This work sings a cheering message of "Cheer up!" "Don't give up!"
towards a member of the opposite sex who's a little depressed.
While being the sparkling support song you'd expect of Sexy Zone,
it's also a song directed at Sexy Zone themselves, cheering them up with a message of "let's face forward and progress onward!"

With a characteristically easy to remember chorus, the upbeat and lively melody
will brighten the listener's mood！ Please wait for previews with raised expectations!

The limited editions will be S・K・F versions, and will each have Sato Shori, Nakajima Kento, and Kikuchi Fuma's solo songs on them, respectively.
「Keep The Challenge」will serve as the image song
for Fuji TV's 『Women's Volleyball World Grand Prix』
for which Sexy Zone are the official supporters.

There are limited special videos, as well, so make sure to check out Sexy Zone's new single!

■Limited Edition S (CD+DVD)・・・1,296 yen plus tax
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☆ Special Present： Sato Shori interchangeable jacket (Includes 1 out of 3 varieties)

［CD］
01. otoko never give up
02. Keep The Challenge
03. Title TBA (Sato Shori Solo)

［DVD］
「otoko never give up」Music Clip

■Limited Edition K (CD+DVD)・・・1,296 yen plus tax
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☆ Special Present： Nakajima Kento interchangeable jacket (Includes 1 out of 3 varieties)

［CD］
01. otoko never give up
02. Keep The Challenge
03. Title TBA (Nakajima Kento Solo)

［DVD］
「Keep The Challenge」Image Clip in USA

■ Limited Edition F (CD+DVD)・・・1,296 yen plus tax
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☆ Special Present： Kikuchi Fuma interchangeable jacket (Includes 1 out of 3 varieties)
☆ Special Deluxe 12 page photo booklet

［CD］
01. otoko never give up
02. Keep The Challenge
03. Title TBA (Kikuchi Fuma Solo)

［DVD］
Making of 「otoko never give up」Music Clip ＆ Jacket Shooting　

■Regular Edition (CD)・・・1,065 yen plus tax
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☆ First press only:
＊ Picture Label
＊ Original trading card (Includes 1 out of 3 varieties)　

［CD］
01. otoko never give up
02. Keep The Challenge
03. Ashita ni Mukatte Ute！
04. Boku wa Kimi no Subete ni Naritai
05. otoko never give up Inst.
06. Keep The Challenge Inst.
07. Ashita ni Mukatte Ute！ Inst.
08. Boku wa Kimi no Subete ni Naritai Inst.

□Venue Limited Version (CD)・・・926 yen plus tax
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☆ Original Sticker Sheet included

［CD］
01. otoko never give up
02. Keep The Challenge
03. Ashita ni Mukatte Ute！
04. Boku wa Kimi no Subete ni Naritai
※ The Venue Limited Version will only be sold at the locations for「Sexy Zone Summer Concert 2014」
　Please note in advance that it won't be sold in stores.

※The jacket photos will have a unique design for each version.

☆ For more details on the CD, please check the Pony Canyon Official Sexy Zone homepage.

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Some things to consider:
1) They never once mention the exclusion of two members. I don't really understand the point of this, since everyone must have heard it on the news by now…?
2) Of course they included solo songs >__< Since being a hardcore fan of one member is quite common in Japanese fandom, I'm afraid that this will make the single too hard to pass up to a lot of fans, even if they're unhappy with the situation.
3) I guess Fuma's versions don't sell anymore, since they're including another extra in his. I have a lot of feelings about this, but… I don't know if this is the place for them.
4) I haven't officially seen anywhere in Japanese that it's supposed to be read "otoko" so take this with a grain of salt. Other possibilities for the character before "never give up" include "dan," "oto," and "o." I'll report back if I see anything.

So, Sexy Girls, are you buying this CD or not? I'm curious to know what foreign fandom's reaction to this will be. Remember that CDs bought through CD Japan and Yesasia being shipped out of Japan don't get counted into the Oricon rankings, but they do, in the end, affect the company's revenue, etc etc etc.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, I sort of think that's usually their strategy, to be honest. If they make the Marius and Sou fans freak out, then we'll spend more money on Marius and Sou to vote with our dollars. I'm not really sure what the main aim was with this single, but… well, it's making a huge mess in both Japanese and foreign fandom… I'd rather be not a Sexy Zone fan watching from the outside, it sounds much more interesting and less upsetting that way T___T; Please do let me know any insights you have from a perspective of someone not really emotionally involved. I'm interested to know.

I think this is really worth watching as a Johnny's fan because I don't know of any time Johnny's fans have successfully protested (so to speak) management decisions like this. As far as I can tell, the reason it's not been successful before is usually because fans keep wanting to buy releases even if they're a little disappointed in them or because not enough fans are actually upset about the status quo. And so the fans' wishes are ignored. T_T

So if enough Sexy Zone fans can show to Johnny's how upset they are, either through not buying or the penlight strategy I've seen you mention on comments to this and the last post, I'd be really happy!

Although I'm probably a little emotionally involved, because all this bs reminds me of the Kisumai bs. >_< And, just from watching ShoKura, I have come to like Sexy Zone sometimes and Sou has kind of caught my eye out of the members. ^^

Yeah, I agree. The only time I've ever heard of anything with the fans happening before is the infamous Tackey incident, and that was led by Tackey himself. Without the guys telling the fans what to do, I honestly don't know if we have any change at success, especially since the hardcore Kento, Fuma, and Shori-tans will all buy the single, I'm sure, even if they're against the idea. The intensity of some fans' love for one member is, in my opinion, an unfortunate part of Japanese fandom. I've even gotten a lot of comments on this entry saying people will buy the single, so. I'm not really optimistic, but I'm going to try. ;___;

That makes sense. KisuMai's shit is definitely comparable, but I think KisuMai does have the two advantages of 1) being much older even at debut than the younger members of Sexy Zone, and 2) they'd had a lot of experience together as a group before they debuted. My biggest concern in this is how Marius and Sou are taking it all, and being their age is really hard even without this crap, so… I'm worried about them. I'm glad that you've come to like them from Shokura, though! If you ever want to learn more let me know XDD But Sou is an amazing dancer and a great kid, and I think he needs more love in the world, so I'm glad you like him!

Ooh? I don't know about the Tackey incident.

I feel like fans buying the single anyway goes along with a lot of fans' tendency to just want to enjoy media without thinking too hard about it. >_< Or maybe they're too afraid of hypothetical negative consequences to think they can do anything positive. IDK. But if any fans at all are trying, it makes me feel better about fandom.

Part of my interest in Sou is just wanting to know more about him, since it seems like he gets fewer chances to talk on Shokura compared to other SZ members, but Sou just always seems so happy and bright when they're performing, too. ^^ I show my brother Shokura episodes sometimes, and we have started thinking of him as the "Aiba of Sexy Zone" xD

Ah, Tackey and Tsubasa were originally set to each debut as solo acts, but Tackey was so in love with Tsubasa that he told all his fans to send letters petitioning Johnny's to debut them as a duo. This apparently worked, because for better or for worse, Tackey & Tsubasa became a thing. So yeah, apparently once fandom did have an impact on Johnny's, but the movement was led by a member of Johnny's himself, so I don't know if it's comparable.

Yeah, idk either, but I hope that at least some people will try and some impact will be made. In my opinion, any "maybe" negative consequences of not buying are completely outweighed by the assured negative consequences of buying. :/

Awww, that's sweet. He's definitely the DoM of the group and the one who's the most easygoing about being made fun of and making a joke of himself (like repeatedly singing a weird song he sang that they were all making fun of him for on Sexy Zone Channel), but he's also crazy hardworking and takes his job really seriously. He always feels really down on himself when he feels like he doesn't have anything to contribute to the group, which makes me really sad, because in my opinion he's by far the best dancer out of all of them, and also the most facially attractive. He's a real sweetheart, too, and defends Marius when the others make fun of him despite the face that Marius says accidentally mean things to him out of sucking at kuuki yomu, and he's generally the most dependable out of all of them, I think. ♥ He's such a good kid and it breaks my heart to think that they're doing this to him.

Ah, I had heard about the original plan being to debut Tackey and Tsubasa as solo acts, and that Tackey opposed it, but I hadn't heard that he enlisted fans to help protest. Yeah, it's definitely easier for fans to band together when they have the clearly stated wishes of the talent to follow, unlike with this situation now where fans are going to disagree about what the Sexy Zone members would want. ><

But I agree that buying would have worse consequences than not buying in this case. I think if the sales dip for this single, it'll be pretty obvious to the members what the reason is, and with the penlight idea, too, that's a pretty clear message. If anything, I think they'd feel more vindicated by fans protesting rather than hurt. Like, "look all these fans agree with us, this is a HORRIBLE idea." That's my impression anyway.

And when I think Sou has to go through all this, I'm just more impressed he can always look so happy just performing. ;_;

Yeah ; I almost wish Sexy Zone would give us a stronger signal. It's pretty clear from their faces that they hate the idea, but… I would feel better if they said something.

Totally. I think buying it wouldn't support the older three, who seem pretty clearly opposed to this, at all. I think it would send a message that "the management knows better than you" and further inhibit them from standing on their own. So. Yeah, I totally agree. I don't think they'd be offended by the penlight thing, either. I think they want to know Marius and Sou have support.

I know ;___; he really loves his group and loves performing, so it's especially sad.

Sexy Zone New Single Release Information

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