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

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

This. Exactly what you're saying. I don't think people who are saying they're going to buy it understand that it isn't about not liking Kento or Fuma or Shori, it's about the fact that Sexy Zone is FIVE members, and nothing else. If they had called this a subgroup, with a different name, that would be a whole different story. But calling it Sexy Zone with only three members is completely wrong, and not only is it hurting Marius and Sou, but it's hurting Kento and Fuma and Shori, too.

What Pony Canyon comments do you mean? Was there an interview or something somewhere? Or just in this email and on their site?

I feel bad for Marius because like you said, being 14 in a foreign country is hard, and this definitely isn't helping. I really hope that at the very least Sou will be there for him, and the older members will stand up for him, too.

Yeah, I have hopes, but I'm trying not to get too optimistic just yet. Japanese fandom is a pretty rough place.

Don't apologize! I'm happy for the discussion.

And great, thanks so much. I've been really busy with work and other obligations over the past few days since it's the end of the term, so I just haven't been able to devote enough time to fandom. I apologize for my slow responses, too.

EDIT: I totally forgot to write about Fuma, I'm sorry XD;; I'm just going to copy and paste what I said in another comment to explain my feelings. Sorry!

It's been interesting over the last two and a half years to watch the management push change from the original Kento and Fuma, to just Kento, to Kento and Shori. I think that Fuma has always been the member who's the least willing to compromise himself for the management and for being an "idol," which is a double edged sword, I guess. I mostly respect it in him, for being honest about his feelings about his work and his art and the group, and I feel like I can trust him and like him more because I know that he's showing his real self a lot of the time. For example, it was obvious at Yoyogi that Fuma was upset about this single, while with Kento, his words were much more positive and professional. But it also comes out in ways that you'd expect for a 19 year old boy, I think, and I do think it leads to fans (especially kids?) thinking that he's not friendly, because he's not as eager to run and touch everyone's hands, or smile at everyone in the crowd if he's not into it. So I think in the end it's cost him some popularity next to the ever-perfect, ever-performing Kento and next to Shori, who just loves the attention and thrives in the limelight.

Those are my personal feelings, of course… I'm not really sure in the long run what the reasoning is, but I'm a teacher and hear a lot of 12-14 year old kids' opinions on Sexy Zone. |D;;; So I at least know what 12-14 year olds are thinking.

[rim1789.livejournal.com]

About Pony Canyon, I was speaking of the email.

I agree about the single, for all the reasons you stated. I heard also that SZ may be going against Morning Musume. I don't know if the release date is the same, because I m not in the fandom. I will check, but if that's the case chances are that fans will buy it if only so that the whole group keep their 1st rank.

JWEB seems to have cleared out the rumour about the '' fluid'' member, since there is no reference to that. I m still suspicious though, because it wouldn't be the first time JE suddenly something after giving us some false sense of security (this whole mess for example). What annoys me and make me think they are not letting go of that idea, is that JE has been trying in a way to copy AKB. For example with that JaPAnese!Hi Jr group few years ago. I m a fan of both agency, but I don't think that they should copy AKB agency and especially not the senbatsu system. First because some things may work for an agency, but absolutely not for another, and JE is not build the same way as that agency nor is the dynamic the same at all. What works for one, will not necessarily work for the other. Senbatsu is the one thing I m the most, fully against whether it be members chosen by agency or by fans.

I wish they would just let go of it.

I see what you mean about Fuma. He does appear as a bit '' rough'', and his way of acting with the youngest doesn't help, because he appears at first like bullying them and can be quite harsh with his words toward them. He was the one I had the most trouble liking of the whole band, for a long time, because of that. So I can understand why fans can think he is not friendly. I cut him some slack because of his age but I got over it thanks to what the other boys said about him, either Sexy Zone members, or Jrs. I tend to usually favor the professional, or the awkward guy like Shori in the band so I had even more trouble with Fuma.

Gambarre with your work!

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

Okay, I got it. Sorry for the confusion!

Ahh, yeah, I see. That makes sense. I really don't like Morning Musume, so that makes me sad T__T; But I really just can't buy this single, because just thinking about it hurts me. So… I guess whatever will be will be. I'll just have to wait and see.

Yeah, I totally agree. Fans appear to have been calling JE and Pony Canyon (you can see some tweets and stuff about it here) and are getting mixed messages, but JE's "official" stance seems to be that this is a one-time-thing. Still this is the same agency that said B.I.Shadow would still work together after Sexy Zone's debut, so I don't really believe anything they say. But yeah, I totally agree about AKB. I also like AKB and think their method works for them, but it definitely could not work in Johnny's for a large variety of reasons. So yeah. I agree with you, and I wish they would let go of the idea, too.

I understand your impression of him and I think a lot of other people have that impression, too. I have a really different image of him from liking him in B.I.Shadow (the fact that debut pretty much broke Fuma and changed his personality entirely is still something that really upsets me, to be honest), but he brought fans seeing him this way on himself by behaving that way. Marius and Sou have both said that off camera, he takes care of them, but I honestly don't understand why he behaves the way he does on camera sometimes. Still, I hate the fakeness of most "professional" idols (or rather, I think that it takes a lot of maturity to find the balance between total fakeness and professionalism, so Kento bothers me right now), and really like idols who let their true feelings show and don't compromise themselves, so I've always liked Fuma a lot. Still, I think that he really did this to himself, and only he can make a change and learn from his mistakes. So… I guess we'll see where he goes.

Thank you! It's summer break starting on Tuesday, so then I'll just sit at my desk all day with no responsibilities~