Will the fans’ support reach them? …Jinguji and Hirano, who are leaving King&Prince, face their “first ordeal”.
King & Prince members Yuta Kishi, Yuta Jinguji, and Shiyou Hirano will leave the group on May 22, and Jinguji and Hirano will leave Johnny’s on the same day. King & Prince is the first group to leave the Johnny’s office in Japan in 18 months.
King & Prince made their CD debut in May 2006 with the release of their single “Cinderella Girl. In the Oricon Weekly Singles Ranking dated May 15 of this year, the same CD released five years ago sold 20,442 copies and ranked in 4th place. A reporter from a sports newspaper explained the background behind the debut single’s rise to the top 10 again.
Fans are calling for “#Cinderella Girl to million” on Twitter with hashtags such as “#Cinderella Girl to million,” and are working hard to purchase additional copies in order to surpass the one million mark. Some fans have purchased several hundred CDs. In response to this trend, some CD stores are also cooperating. For example, the Twitter account of the Tower Records Shinjuku store in Tokyo announced the arrival of “Cinderella Girl” after 11:00 a.m. on May 10, but by 7:00 p.m. it was reporting that the CD was sold out. The CD was also sold out on the 14th, a Sunday, which is considered the deadline for the Oricon Weekly Chart. When we checked the data of the weekly ranking dated the 15th on Oricon Ranking Information Service “you Taiki,” the cumulative sales were 874,607 copies.”
The fans, in order to express their gratitude to the members, probably wanted to present them with a million-seller record (one million copies) by buying their debut song, and they worked hard to achieve this goal by the 22nd, when the five-member group would end its existence.
According to the “Billboard JAPAN” website on May 15, “SoundScan Japan’s CD single sales report for May 8 to May 14, 2011, reveals that King & Prince’s 1stsingle “Cinderella Girl” has surpassed million sales”. Although the figures are different from those announced by Oricon, it is a sign that the fans’ efforts have paid off. This may be a great encouragement for Takahashi Kaito and Nagase Ren, who will continue with their group.
On the other hand, good news came in regarding the TV appearances of the members who are about to leave the group. Hirano will be a guest on “Guru Ninety-Nine” (NTV) on the 18th, in the famous corner “Gochi-narunasu! (NTV) on the 18th. Jinguji will appear on “Manten☆Aozora Restaurant” on the 20th, and Kishi will appear on the same day’s broadcast of “Aha! Minna no Zoo” on the same day.
Before the departure of the three members, King & Prince had been releasing four consecutive albums for four months since January this year. Since the promotional period for the best album “Mr.5” (released on April 19), which was the conclusion of the series, had ended, Jinguji & Hirano, who do not have regular individual variety show appearances, had especially decreased their TV exposure. Fans on the Internet rejoiced, “Thank you Nippon TV! and rejoiced. Both of these programs will be a part of the two-hour golden special of “King & Princeru” (on the 20th). (aired on the 20th)” (a reporter from a sports newspaper).
Kishi, who will leave Johnny’s in the fall of this year, is a regular on “VS Soul Gradation” (Fuji Television) and has been a regular on “The! DASH! (Nippon TV) on an irregular basis. In Kishi’s case, it is possible that he will be seen on various programs through the fall, but this may be the last time Jinguji and Hirano will appear in solo variety shows before leaving the group.
Hirano and Jinguji’s future TV positions will depend on the response to “Guru Ninety-Nine” and “Manten☆Aozora Restaurant,” respectively. Fans are hoping that their brilliant performances will dispel their fears of leaving “King & Prince.
