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]

So that means MariSou still will be in (some of) the songs of the single? Or are all songs only from the front three?

I think the whole situation is not only despressing but also really confusing. Like why mention this temporary? "split" when it doesn't get handled much different from usual singles (lets be honest here, MariSou wouldn't get featured with extras or LEs, announcement or not about the split).

it's also a song directed at Sexy Zone themselves, cheering them up with a message of "let's face forward and progress onward!"
That's so... I don't even know any more. Sad probably ._.

But thanks for the translation ^^

[chapstickmurmur.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the translation. Still mad though lol

And the upbeat and lively melody will brighten the listener's mood！?
I wouldn't count on it Pony Canyon. But honestly speaking, as a fairly dedicated fan I'll probably be ok with it by the time the single comes out in September and if they have a blow you mind performance on SC. I'm weak, what else can I say ...

But if Mari and Sou don't participate and they have like 100 jrs backdancing for them on Music Station, I'll probably rage again.

[himaori.livejournal.com]

This is the way JE behave/react to sensitive issues in fandom. That is, they try as much as possible to avoid mentioning the issue. I got used to it in 2010 with KT separation. I'm sorry for not being optimistic coz I don't really believe in JE anymore especially they forced the boys to say like "I will never leave the group" or "We will stay together" thingy. Then at the end we were all shocked witht their final announcement together with the boy's message. So, when we have not recovered from the shock, JE would show like "Okay, you got it. Everything is done. Let's keep supporting the boys" blah blah blah.....

How many times JE have messed up with fangirls already. At the end, the one who gets hurt is us - fangirls. Let's wait and see how this single sales will do.

[ikujinashii.livejournal.com]

I'll be buying all 4 versions (minus the venue version, since I'm not in Japan to buy it). :) FKS don't deserve to suffer for something they can't control, and I think it's pretty hypocritical of 5nin fans to boycott this single because of the lack of MS, because doing so just gives the impression they don't support the older three.

Excited for Kento's solo especially because he said it has a Maleficent/fairy-tale feeling, but their solos are almost always my favorite songs on SZ releases, so I'm looking forward to all three of them :)

[snow.livejournal.com]

i won't be buying it because there is just no other way to express how unhappy i am with how marisou have been treated. after seeing the other three struggling to hold in their tears during the press con, n o p e, can't support it & i really feel like they'd understand.

a lot of japanese fans are planning to use penlights in mari & sou's colors only during the cons this summer.

[bigbang-mint.livejournal.com]

wow these three will got new solo song~ and err idk if I'm going to buy them or not. got tempted to buy the K & F ver (as usual of me) but recently I just bought lots of thing (sigh). too many updates for Sexy Zone, my wallet is craving for donation (lol)

[elindar.livejournal.com]

i'm not a fan but i care about sou a lot, so all this mess got me really angry and upset. :< i'm hoping as many fans as possible would boycott this single to show the management how the fandom feels about this. :x but well, like you said, with the solos and all, i'm not being too positive about it now...

but the penlight thing i heard about sounds cool, i really hope it will happen!

[rim1789.livejournal.com]

I didn't buy Real!Sexy because I was already displeased with their treatment and there is no way I m buying this. I became a fan because of Mari and Shori, but I m a fan of 5nin Sexy Zone, all 5 of them. Nothing else, and if I can't get them all on a CD that is named '' SZ single'', I m not getting it. Especially when we know how much this hurts them

The whole situation is driving me crazy and Pony Canyon comments ismaking me so mad omg. How kind of...ugh As if nothing happened

I don't think not buying them is detrimental to FumaKenShori. Judging by both the reports, presscon vid, pictures,and what we anyway know of them they are clearly more than unhappy about this. It s breaking my heart for the boys...

I knew Mari's JWEB was weird...He doesn't speak like that usually, his tone is lighter, but I thought he was just having a bad day, being a 14 years old and in a foreign country and all the issues he mentionned he had...But still...He probably felt way more about not being recognized as Marius Yo when he was scouted :(

Yeah, that's what I thought about the solo songs and Japanese fandom * sigh* I m still hoping though...

About Fuma ? I m curious (just wondering) what you feel. To be honest, I m a bit surprised, mainly because the last few singles, it's the Fuma version that held my interest the most because of the content


I m sorry, my comments in this post are all other the place.

Edit : About the title it's Otoko, I saw fans stating it was Otoko (mainly complaining about the sexism behind the title) but they also said it here ( my favorite report)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpe1rO1qBsQ&hd=1

[beach-bum1303.livejournal.com]

Still no. Every bit of news on this breaks my heart further. I only opened the mail to get my inbox to stop displaying it was there. Thanks again, J-fans, for being unable to see the big picture. ): Even if I'm voting with my money, it's a fruitless effort against the majority of the fandom.

I'm curious to your feelings on Fuma's. I'm actually surprised to even consider his stuff isn't selling like the others!

[mrsyamada.livejournal.com]

For the fans who are saying they'll but it to keep supporting the 3 members should step back and think a little about this because by buying it, you are only hurting them and the group. Companies listen when their products are not selling, even japanese fans are pissed to the point of boycotting and bringing only marius and sou's group colors to the concert only which i support. I think that by buying it is only hurting the group, they are johnny's people act like one bad single is going to hurt them, it will help in the end if they realize that this setup is bullshit and they need to change

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to wonder if their plan is something like "Let's see how much we can still profit while screwing everyone over and trolling the fans!" T_T I'm not a SZ fan, but I'll want to watch what happens with this single.

[l-no-sekai.livejournal.com]

Once again, thank you so much for sharing & translating the information!
I'm getting even more surprised to see that there is no information stating MariSo in the mail, except the Sexy Zone part, since they are still the part of the group. But, what has been really bugging me is that the bonus for the regular edition. They used to have 5 (or six with the group one? I don't really remember) varieties for the trading card, which is one for each member, but it's said that there are only 3 varieties of trading card. I suspect that there's even something more complicated thing other than just being pushed or not. I meant, imo, there won't be any really different effect to the popularity of the oldest three whether there's MariSo's appearance(s) or not in the single. And sorry to ask, I don't know (maybe you had written the info somewhere and I read it but I forget), do they really saying that the single won't be featuring MariSo at all? If they really said so, I do think that this is really outrageous. Most likely, I think that there's a disconcord between MariSo and the management since the situation has grow pretty bad, which is unfortunate. Because, as far as I follow the other group within the sama management, the management didn't go this far with kisumai for promoting Fujigaya, Kitayama & Tamamori (cmiiw).

As for point number three, I've been watching bbd & kqj soudscans number, if I recall that for bbd, Kento's version sold the most, followed by Fuma's and Shori's. As for the kqj, Kento's version still top the sales, but Shori's surpassing Fuma's in just a little par. Imo, they're still experimenting. Kento's version which includes music clip dvd sold really good back then compared with the other versions and now they're experimenting by making shori's version as the one which contains music clip dvd. In summary, big push for Shori.

I'm getting to really hate the management with this kind of pushing strategy. I meant, if you're managing a group with hundreds members inside, this kind of management strategy will pull the string. But, to use this kind of strategy to a 5-member-group is pretty much makes me feel something like "are you kidding!?".

As for now, I'm still going to buy the single no matter how worst the condition is, because I simply rooting for the group, though, I do have my own favorite member of course xD.

Anyway, lol at tags you used for this post xD

[mayura-news.livejournal.com]

I basically only buy the albums (because I have too many fandoms and all my money go to HSJ haha) or a single when I really like the song... Even though I am interested in Kento's solo, I won't buy it. I saw Japanese fans saying that they won't buy the CD because they're against 3nin Sexy Zone. I think that's the best solution... (I don't like the title of the single anyway hahaha).

So many versions, they really are afraid of not selling well... No matter how much I like the three boys (well, I like Kento and Fuma more xD), I really hope the CD won't sell so that the management realizes fans want 5nin Sexy Zone...

I saw the announcement of the single and it's definitely Otoko. ^^

[yomimashou.livejournal.com]

It really rubs me the wrong way that the email didn't mention anything about the single only being three members... and I also just don't know what they're going for with that decision, since they made such a big deal out of it at the event =__=

Maybe I should try to look more thoroughly at what Japanese fans are saying on twitter, outside of the few people I follow... I hope that a good number of them won't be buying it either, though.

[db5konly.livejournal.com]

idk.....because ultimately the revenue determine the group's direction no matter which company you are in. Tat's wat i feel. And taking tohoshinki as an example, though they r not a japanese japanese grp but they splitted and even went to court and there were fans raging but ultimately the ones being hurt is not e management but the members themselves.

Jus my 2 cents.

[kazuna-miu.livejournal.com]

thank you so much for your information.. and i appreciated you open this issue...

it's so sad when i must hear again they make new single just for 3 people.. i hope japan fans understand this condition and help them to become five again with not buy this single albums (sorry Kento.. you're my biased but i can't be help). i think 3 of them don't want do this too.. but they can't do anything cause they are new.. they still afraid to lose their fame and i think their opinion is nothing for ijima... OMG i really hate her so much now. i think Fuma is the most who disagree about this.. Fuma like sakurai Sho for his senpai and i think he hope his group will long like Arashi. i hope julie take sexy zone to her side... although she really expose her idol but she don't do crazy things like Ijima do. ijima do split like sexy zone have so much member so she must split group to show all member talent =_=". but sezy zone just have 5 member.. i really don't understand her meaning for this split.

i know sexy zone from debut.. i follow them and i get irritated when the first time i see Bad boys cover. "ahh actually they will be like kisumai", so i'm not in touch with them again until i see SZ channel. this reality show open my mind again... ahh they're together. their relationship is good. kento and fuma look try to expose sou & marius too.. but this new single albums really make me disappointed.

it's tough time for sexy zone specially Sou.. why? cause if marius... he is still 14 y.o so many reason why he can't do this new single but for Sou.. Sou just younger one year from Shiori but their different is so huge :( .. it is s sad for sou.. i really feel sorry for him....

sory i talk to much and my grammar is so bad ... i hope you understand what i'm saying :)

[britkit27.livejournal.com]

Ugh, ugh, ugh - to this, and the previous announcement post. Things were going so well with their second album and KQ&J, too, what the fuck? And of course solo versions, because people will want to support their favorite member, even if they don't want the group broken up.... I just, seriously, Ijima, what is she thinking?

I'm so, so sorry, this really sucks DDD:

[zouter.livejournal.com]

First off, let me say thanks for the translations.

And then let me apologize in advance just for anything; I'm wondering if you can provide me of an update to the group. I'm pretty much outdated with Sexy Zone stuff ever since their debut single/Lady Diamond. More specifically so with three questions below (with the 4th just throwing in there cause I'm outdated with Johnny's stuff other than KT/HSJ and wondering if you know anything):

1) I recall being in one of their singles, there's a sub-unit(?) called Sexy Boyz and Sexy Show(?). Just wondering who's in this sub unit?
2) After reading your point #3, how come Fuma's versions wont sell? Did a scandal happen to him or his popularity within the group just isn't the top?
3) Reading that there are a lot of mistreatments in Sexy Zone, what's happening/what happened (anything since debut)?
4) I've also read a bit of your translations in other posts and I read that there is an upcoming volleyball group coming up and possibly a new debut? I always though bakaleya6 would be the next ones to debut but my gut says they won't be a volleyball group. Do they even perform as a group anymore in Shounen Club?

I also checked wikipedia and I noticed that their single sales aren't bad at all (a lot higher than what I expected). I always go by the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" so I have no idea why the managers of SZ are switching things up.

Let me say thank you once again and hopefully you'll answer a feel questions I have. Feel free to take your time! :)