Matsushima Sou is rising

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.