Under the management of Iijima, Sexy Zone's lineup is one of the worst to be seen in all history of Johnny idols. The 2 youngest member's existence seems to be erased from the group continuously. It's disappointing especially when they both add to the songs of previous releases beautifully. I would blame this on the group's name though. The CEO (Johnny-san) caused a pretty huge controversy when he put an 11 and 14 year old under the "sexy" label. It drew away fans rather than helping them gain. Although the management is slowly trying to place them back into position, exclusion of them is still relevantly huge. The last song I remember either of them taking part in which was still considered recent was "Ghost ~ kimi wa maboroshi". Although Matsushima didn't seem to have any solo lines, Marius was definitely whipping the song with his "Oh no, baby you are my ghost" line. He sounded like a girl for real which makes the song even better because then when they perform live, there's no need for backup vocals in the BGM.
Since Matsushima doesn't seem to really have a spot in Sexy Zone songs yet, looks like the management is promoting him separately from the other members. Management seems to be giving him solo performances with backups from juniors to raise his popularity. I find that quite delightful. Of course the obvious answer as to why that would be (for his promotion) is that he is now 18 so he needs to be placed back into the group eventually. I would assume, they would wait for Marius too so that the youngster would not be the only one left out.
Watching the group's Sexy Channel show, fans or non-fans could get the hint that Matsushima has a charming TV personality that is silly and fun. It's not the annoying silly that you would see Johnny West attempting. It's the natural silly that a gullible airhead would have. I love him in the show but kind of disappointed that it's a rare to hear Matsushima sing.
For 2 episodes of Shounen Club, he performed a medley of A.B.C-Z "Crush" with Kitayama Hiromitsu's "Give me" and then later Hey! Say! JUMP's "Your seed" was added to the selection. Of course, he sang it all with two juniors so there were only glimpse of his voice. But now, for the November 11.11.2015 broadcast of Shounen Club, he actually sung most of the lines for NEWS' "BYAKUYA". Although his voice is not perfect, the clarity and solidness of his voice is relevant. If compared to Sexy Zone's center, Sato Shori, Matsushima is far better. Makes me a bit sad because Shori was selected when the obvious center grabber is Matsushima. But I would not argue with the decision. I am sure Johnny must of seen something in Shori. Anyways with all these promotion Matsushima's popularity is rising one step at a time. From now on only time would tell if he can become successful or not.
Remember the times before 2013 when Hey! Say! JUMP barely have any Singles released? Well, they are now rolling in that category amazingly. In 2011, I was a die-hard fan of JUMP but a very disappointed one because unlike other Johnny groups, JUMP barely gets media coverage or new releases. I can't believe I survived 2 years being super dedicated to them.
The management for JUMP was also pretty disappointing. It was like a demonstration of how having 9 members is impossible to fit into one songs with each one having a solo and also camera shots for the PVs. I swear, I was literally crying when I heard glimpse of Okamoto Keito and Inoo Kei voices in some of the B-side tracks before 2013. There is a rumor that the management of the time was Iijima.... her fraction is definitely known to leave out certain idols and promote specific ones in a group. The group that this is most relevant in is Sexy Zone (poor Matsushima and Marius). Of course the appearances of JUMP being with Arashi does indicate that they now belong to Julie Kitagawa management so... All the members are ensured a solo in all the releases from now on. Yay! This part of the fraction in JE definitely make the impossible, possible. Also help JUMP boost in sales now too.
With all members getting their own solo lines, looks like Inoo-chan is becoming more of a front man with his sweet girly voice. I do like this actually. His voice helps balance the vocal gaps between Chinen, Yamada, Daiki, and Hikaru. Before his entrance, I swear, some of the songs had voices that were screeching the hair cells of my ear. Keito on the other hand is likely to be among the 2nd verse guys like Yabu, Takaki, and Yuto. I don't mind because this section can sing clearer than most of the members in the above section. Honestly, I enjoy the vocal combination of Yuto, Keito, Takaki and Inoo. I feel like that is JUMP's strongest lineup. But of course, the management for idols would never base their production solely on quality. That's why there is still Yamada as the center. (He has a beautiful voice though, almost like the guy version of Flower's vocalist Washio Reina).
Anyways, I am glad there is finally justice done for JUMP, I swear I would have gone crazy if I spent a 3rd year knowing I have to live on a Live DVD release for the year only. But then again, I began digging 三代目 J Soul Brothers in 2013 so....I wouldn't have been that dedicated. I am not even that crazy about them anymore even though I still watch their appearances on Variety Shows and listen to some of their recent releases.
In the music world of idols, there can only be one topping the others in a category. In this case, ARASHI is the top male idols. As for the music world of dance units, 三代目J Soul Brothers is currently in the lead for the men's category. With their current sales now, it is safe to say, they have successfully succeeded EXILE for the time being. They may even become more successful than any EXILE TRIBE units, who knows? The future cannot be read that easily for music artists.
Anyways, jumping to the point ----> dedicated Arashi fans have been fully aware of 三代目J Soul Brothers entrance into the scenes of best-selling artists. Their entrance is whooping like a kingdom invasion. 三代目J Soul Brothers sold over 500,000 copies for their "Planet Seven" album that was released earlier this year (2015) and also the same for their "Starting Over" single. Honestly speaking, the Single is not a threat because 三代目 sales has yet to be consistent as their following singles were still hitting the 200,000 marks rather than the mega 400,000-600,000 mark that ARASHI are still hitting. But the album released this year is definitely a threat.
SALES:
"Planet Seven" is recorded to be over 800,000 copies almost 900,000 copies (would've been 900,000 if Oricon includes all stores). While Arashi's "Japonism" is definitely over 1,000,000 copies even though Oricon claimed that the album sold over 900,000. =_=
Reviewing the tracks that went with Arashi's album, I can honestly say, their goal was to remain #1. Knowing that 三代目 album may pushed theirs to a lower rank in the yearly's chart, the agency/production (or whoever) developed Arashi's album to include elements that represent "Japanese cultures". This is good in contrast to 三代目 album that has a bunch of urban songs that represent more of western culture than Asia. A great strategy in sales that I would acknowledge. I find it interesting to see how agencies react to these kind of situations where a less popular artist suddenly invade the spotlight of a mega hit artist.
But the sad part of this mess is the reactions of several fans. A percentage of them fear that 三代目 would take over Arashi's spotlight thus do create some sort of unnecessary ruckus. In my opinion, such reactions is 必要じゃないなあ。Learn how to appreciate both. I am sure there is a song of 三代目 that you all loved. As for 三代目 fans, there has to be an Arashi song that you all loved. If 三代目 is going to take over the spotlight, you cannot resist their influence. It's just like the battle between Arashi and AKB48. No one was able to stop AKB48 from selling over 1,000,000 copies for like 4-5 years now? And Arashi is still one of the best selling act. The same thing would just happen with 三代目.
Some of the comments I've read regarding how fans compared them, there was one where the person stated that Arashi are better actors than 三代目....that kind of comment again is 必要じゃない。Acting has nothing to do with the music scene even though it does expand the fan base and boost the sales with the artist being more exposed to the media. But if the music artist release continuous songs of mediocrity, they would surely lose the fans. Therefore, the selection of good songs and the ability to sing them contributes to whether or not the fans would stick around. I honestly, would agree that 三代目 has better songs than Arashi. Their production crew also spends more time in producing the sound quality that would appeal to the listeners. Johnny&Associates on the other hand, seems to rush everything. If you have listened to Arashi before, you would realized that some of the song arrangements were put together without much efforts. For example, the bridge in Breathless, the chorus and also the transition to the 2nd verse of Aozora no shita kimi no tonari, Monster's chorus, and etc. Whenever I listen to these songs, I would be in tune with everything until the mediocrity parts makes me lose interest. Which is very sad because I would watch their shows and enjoy watching them but then not be interest in their songs. I would blame the mediocrity on the company though.
Overall, I love Arashi but I prefer 三代目 in the music scene over them. So I wouldn't mind if 三代目 somehow take the spotlight. Arashi would just be like SMAP where, if someone else dominates the music scene, then the person/group should specialize in something that would still keep everyone's attention their way. That's just how things would be. Nobody can continue being #1 for a long time. :'(
