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
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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
――――――――――――――――
☆ 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]

I absolutely agree that everyone's entitled to their own opinion and to make their own choices, and we can never know exactly what's going on inside the agency, so we just have to do what we feel is right. I hope that you didn't feel I was trying to force you to change your mine. ^^; I was just explaining my own personal thoughts and opinions. Of course, I respect that you have your own opinion and that you have every right to disagree with me. I just wanted to share my feelings, too.

I understand what you mean, but I don't agree in this case. The management is fully aware that fans are upset about this single (they even opened a special hotline for fans to call and ask questions about Marius and Sou's situation), and I think that if this single doesn't sell, they'll know exactly what the reason was. I don't think that worse sales (because let's be real, they're not going to be that bad; Fuma, Kento, and Shori fans in Japan will buy the CD for the solos no matter what) for this one single will be the tipping point for the management deciding to never give Sexy Zone any attention again. They're aware of the way the fans are reacting and if this single doesn't sell as well as the others, they're going to know why. Moreover, your example with Arashi was many, many years down the line in terms of Sexy Zone. The single for "truth" came out very close to Arashi's 10th anniversary. Sexy Zone is approaching their third anniversary. At this point in time, Arashi's sales were crap, they were doing late night variety, and the general public wasn't that aware of them. So I think it's unfair to compare something like Arashi's success with "truth" to Sexy Zone's current situation. The fact of the matter is that Sexy Zone is a baby group in terms of JE, and there's very little chance of them getting that much exposure even if their single sells just as well as the others. Additionally, Sexy Zone has outsold Yamapi for basically every single one of his singles in the past few years, and Yamapi continues to be considered a ~big star. So I don't think that there's a 100% correlation between sales and exposure, even if obviously higher sales = more exposure generally speaking.

Basically, my point is that in my personal opinion, there's no way to guarantee that "good sales = good things happen for the group; bad sales = bad things happen for the group." In my opinion, the one thing that can be certain is that good sales will send the message that Marius and Sou are not necessary to the group and they will sell just as well without them. For that reason, I definitely will not buy the single.

But yes, I agree. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, and I respect that you should do what you think is best and I'll do what I think is best. ^^ Thank you for understand that it's okay to disagree without trying to force the other person to agree with you.