Sexy Zone New Single Release Information

[faded_lace]

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
―――――――――――――――――――
☆ 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
―――――――――――――――――――
☆ 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
―――――――――――――――――――
☆ 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
――――――――――――――
☆ 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
――――――――――――――――
☆ 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.

∽∞∽∞∽∞∽∽∞∽∞∽∞∽∞∽∽∞∽∞∽∞∽∽∽∞∽∞∽∞∽∞∽

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.

Comments

[ichigobanana]

It seriously feels like "We couldn't fuck up Kisumai, so let's do it with the younger ones who can't defend themselves properly". I wish there was a senpai like Nakai who could intervene (although I'm not a fan of the way he handles Busaiku either, but better than nothing), but wrong side of management I guess... Now I confused myself, I kinda lost track of which side Sexy Zone are omg... Kouhaku and Countdown 13/14 completely confused me lol

edit: The screenshots of the press conference are killing me omg....

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it really does have that feeling. I agree about Nakai and Busaiku-- it's better to have SOMEONE on their side than no one. Sexy Zone are Ijima-- Kouhaku is by and large Julie but Ijima managed to sneak one act in this year with Sexy Zone. Countdown airs on Fuji, which is Ijima's channel, so the people who get the most screentime in the televised Countdown are Ijima's groups. JUMP and NEWS performed way more off camera, and got less costume changes. So yeah. Basically, fuck Ijima. >__<

Can you link me to the press conference images? I've been really busy with work, and I haven't had the time to really look into all of this properly besides translating news articles and what have you.

[ichigobanana]

Here's a summary of news clips: http://dai.ly/x21keeh
It looked a lot more dramatic in the screenshots and I'm pretty torn tbh ^^;

I have to admit I'm not a big fan of Julie's groups. The members always seem to be pretty splitted or the groups get pushed way too much to make money. Or not at all. I'd rather follow a group like Ebi who has a nice history of friendship and who stick together no matter what even if they don't sell that well.

I guess all we can do now is wait and see what happens. It's still better than Kat-tun's situation ever was for example, so let's keep hoping :/

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

Darn, I can't watch videos at work. Do you have any screenshots? Or just the video?

I don't know, I'd rather follow Julie's groups than Ijima's, which get broken to pieces and then half the members completely discarded and driven into the ground. She broke apart KisuMai and Sexy Zone, so that's enough reason for me to hate Ijima, personally.

But yeah, you're right. All we can do is wait and try to support Marius and Sou and the 5-member whole group as best we can.

[ichigobanana]

https://twitter.com/jesse0203/status/489309367091478528
But Shori's face is totally out of context. He's pulling a face in that scene, he's actually laughing afterwards. So not sure if that counts as teary-eyed :/

Oh, I personally don't think Kisumai is that torn. Not at all actually. They're not together for almost ten years like that for nothing. That's why I'm not quite approving of Busaiku either because that's simply a second group, but it's helping with getting to know SMY2 at least (and that's Nakai's fault, not Ijima's). I simply don't like any of Julie's groups for some reason ^^ (might be the fandoms surrounding them...?)

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. Thanks :<

To each their own interpretation, then. ^^ I ended up basically stopping following KisuMai because of what happened to them after debut, and I think that the way the split has been has put a lot of pressure on the group and the members. And I mean, even if Kisumai's bond as a group has kept them together, it doesn't change the fact that Ijima was trying to separate them and push the back ones out of the picture almost entirely. So I really just don't like her methods.

On the other hand, JUMP, for example, is unfair, but it's been a lot better recently, and even if Yamada got way more than the rest, it's not like KisuMai or Sexy Zone where there's a large percentage that are just systematically pushed out. Also, Julie manages Arashi, who have never had a problem like this. So I still think that based on my experience, I like her better.

I'm sorry that you've had bd experiences with the fans, though :(

[ichigobanana]

That's true indeed. Luckily she didn't succeed with her methods. I'm wondering in general what she's trying to achieve, is she ignoring the fans completely? The groups are only selling that well because they're a group, not because one or two members are popular and would be on their own too.

I really dislike Arashi, sorry XD They have the most horrible fandom ever (that is, for persons who only follow Arashi and basically dismiss all other groups). For HSJ only Yamada really ever sparked my interest. The others always have been like meh, but I have no idea why. I don't know, some of them seem to be so unsatisfied with their positions that you can feel it. And I'm not happy with how many of them have girlfriends openly. Sometimes it even feels like some of them show no interest in the group or changing the situation/putting some work into it (for someone who's not following them and only sees them on the dash or in the news sometimes). I don't know, I'm really happy with Ebikisu XD

I probably made the worst people of some of the Johnny's-fandoms on Tumblr, the most negative one is a fan of a junior though. There are really some weird people out there.

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

I'll agree with you about there being some really weird people out there XD

But I guess I'll just stop here and agree to disagree with you about JUMP. I really disliked Yamada historically (I'm okay with him since about mid 2013) and love every other member of JUMP, but I don't really see any point in shoving it down your throat XD; So I'll just say, I really strongly disagree with you there. XD

I do agree that there are some super ridiculous Arashi fans out there though. =___=; I never really participated in mainstream Arashi fandom for that reason. But I still think the group are all really great guys.

[ichigobanana]

It's only my opinion as person who never followed HSJ actively. Maybe it's the image I got when I joined the Johnny's fandom because at that time they barely were publishing anything. I really don't care about them tbh since I barely get to see them lol (not like Sexy Zone for example, they appeared so much on Shokura together that I started liking them). Doesn't mean I have a negative view of them, I just really don't know them well enough XD

Actually I started out as Arashi-fan. I followed them for one or two years and I was one of those people who maybe acknowledged NEWS and Kanjani, maybe HSJ because of Chinen if I had a good day. I honestly didn't even know about junior groups or most of the senpai groups because Arashi-fans simply don't talk about those. Arashi is everything and omg I'm so happy I'm out of there XD I left after the year when they published a single like every month or something, the fans were so annoying. It's like they're in a completely different part of the Johnny's world...

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

I understand XD It's just incredibly frustrating to a HSJ fan, because that whole time the members were wanting to release things and were really frustrated by the management not letting them, so hearing other people think it was the members being lazy makes me really sad. They all tried really hard and the management just shut them down for reasons no one understands. But I'm not trying to fault you for not liking or knowing about them XD; I'm just explaining my perspective.

Ah, I see. XD;