<figure id="attachment_303097" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 835px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-303097"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d1405178"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/4fdc72e62dec30acf5f9f2c9fbf1dd73-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-303097" class="wp-caption-text">Shiyoh Hirano is leaving King &amp; Prince as of May 22</figcaption></figure>
On May 22, three members, Shiyoh Hirano (26), Yuta Kishi (27), and Yuta Jinguji (25), will leave the group, and from May 23, the fifth anniversary of their CD debut, the group will be led by Ren Nagase (24) and Kaito Takahashi (24). The group will be joined by two members, Ren Nagase (24) and Kaito Takahashi (24), starting on the fifth anniversary of their CD debut, the same day as the 23rd.
The countdown to the departure of three members has begun, but the group&#8217;s popularity continues to heat up.
 Their first best album &#8220;Mr. 5&#8221; (released on April 19) became the group&#8217;s first album to sell over a million copies in just two days, and a large number of the limited edition copies for their fan club have been resold at high prices. In conjunction with the release, the spread that was posted around Shibuya Station in Tokyo was initially scheduled to remain up until April 30.
 However, some of the advertisements were removed earlier than planned due to numerous complaints and calls to the police, Shibuya station, and facilities in the Shibuya area that fans gathering to take pictures were obstructing traffic. It is said that the number of members of the fan club continued to increase even after the members left the group, surpassing one million members&#8221; (entertainment reporter).
However, on the April 15 broadcast of NTV&#8217;s &#8220;King &amp; Prince Ru,&#8221; a program featuring the members of Kimpuri, the members of the fan club were asked to appear on the show. on Nippon Television&#8217;s &#8220;King &amp; Prince Ru&#8221; on April 15 brought sad news to the fans.
It was announced that the May 13th broadcast would be the final regular broadcast, and that the program&#8217;s first golden two-hour special would be broadcast on the same day.
At the station&#8217;s April programming briefing held online on March 3, the person in charge of the program said, &#8220;The program will continue after April. There are no plans to end the program at this time. It was thought that the program would continue after the three members left the group, but the program was to be terminated.
 Since the announcement of the departure of the three members, the ardent fans of Kimpuri, known as &#8216;tiaras,&#8217; have become quite sensitive. Nippon TV had initially intended to continue airing the show even with a two-member lineup.
 However, if they were to continue broadcasting the show, as is the case with other stations, the past footage would have to be handled well because the members who have left the group cannot be shown due to the discovery of Johnny&#8217;s. In such a case, the Tiaras and the other members of the group would have to be removed from the program. If they did so, it is easy to guess that they would receive fierce complaints from the tiaras.
 It is quite hard to go on with the program with only two new members, and Johnny&#8217;s executives want to get rid of the image of the five-member era as soon as possible, so they can&#8217;t use past footage. So they decided to take the plunge and announce the end of the program,&#8221; said a staff member of the variety squad at a private key station.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The sad future for the remaining members, Nagase and Takahashi"></div>
According to an article in &#8220;Toso WEB&#8221; published on April 21, all videos uploaded by the paid fan club (FC) will be deleted in preparation for the transition to a two-member system.
In addition, an e-mail to FC members on April 19 warned that &#8220;if any unauthorized secondary use of fan club videos or posting of videos on other video distribution sites is discovered, the service may be suspended.
 The remaining members, Nagase and Takahashi, are highly motivated to pursue their music careers, and they have close ties with the three members who are leaving the group, but it seems that Johnny&#8217;s intends to focus on the acting careers of the two members who have already proven themselves as actors.
 Against this backdrop, it is likely that the activities of the five-member group will gradually &#8220;disappear. Among Johnny&#8217;s groups that have debuted with CDs so far, &#8220;Shonen-tai&#8221; has remained only as a group name, and there is no possibility that all three members will be active as a group in the future, but it is likely that &#8220;Kimpuri&#8221; as a group will follow a similar path.
What is interesting is the future course of Hirano and the other three members who left the group.
 In March of this year, former Kimpuri member Iwahashi Genki signed a contract with a U.S. office. At first, it was said that the three members might also join that firm. If they were supposed to be looking at overseas activities in the future, that might have been the best choice.
 Recently, however, Johnny&#8217;s founder, Janie Kitagawa&#8217;s, sexual assault of Johnny&#8217;s J. has been widely reported in the U.S. and other foreign countries, making it more difficult for Johnny&#8217;s and former Johnny&#8217;s talents to work overseas. Therefore, they may establish an office for the three of them and focus on activities in Japan, like former SMAP members Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori, who are now working as &#8220;New Map.
In any case, the two-hour special on May 20, the last broadcast of the crown program, is likely to draw high ratings.

 On May 22, three members, Shiyou Hirano (26), Yuta Kishi (27), and Yuta Jinguji (25), left the group and left the agency in turn.

The five-member group “King & Prince” has “never existed”… The members face a “sad future”.

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