Contrary to the Success of Number_i, King & Prince Struggles.

Number_i, a unit consisting of former King & Prince members Yuta Kishi, Yuta Jinguji, and Shiyou Hirano, released their long-awaited first digital single “GOAT” on January 1 of this year, and the music video for the song has been a breakout hit, recording 10 million views in three days of distribution.

Kishi, Jinguji, and Hirano left the group on May 22 last year. Only Kishi remained with the former Johnny’s office (now called SMILE-UP.) until September 30, but as a result, all three joined TOBE, an entertainment company founded by Hideaki Takizawa, and on October 15, they announced that they had formed a new unit called Number_i.

Former V6 member Ken Miyake, former Kis-My-Ft2 member Hiromitsu Kitayama, and former members of junior group IMPACTors (currently performing as “IMP.”) are also members of TOBE. On November 25, “TOBE BAN,” a live distribution program featuring TOBE artists, started on YouTube’s “TOBE OFFICIAL” channel. In addition, ABEMA started “TOBE’s Summer Vacation” on December 24, 2010. ～Exclusive contact with Hawaii! A New Determination” was broadcast exclusively on ABEMA. The program closely followed their trip to Hawaii and was full of private footage.

And early in the new year, Number_i released the digital single “GOAT” with full anticipation. Number_i’s YouTube channel released “Number_i – GOAT (Official Music Video)” on December 31. The number of views exceeded 10 million in just three days, and as of January 17, it had reached 26 million.

The number of views of “Number_i – GOAT (Official Dance Performance M/V),” uploaded on January 8, exceeded 2.5 million in two days, and the number of views of “Number_i – GOAT (Official Dance Performance M/V)” is also doing well. Fans are screaming on social networking sites.

TOBE OFFICIAL STORE started selling original goods of Number_i on December 27 last year. Original photos (group and individual) and acrylic stands of individual members appeared, and fans were excited.

Hirano, who is the most popular of all, had just sold out of some of the newly released goods, and as of the morning of the 28th, all six of Hirano’s original photos were “SOLD OUT. Although some of the photos were “SOLD OUT”, the individual photos of Jinguji and Kishi were not sold out. Hirano’s popularity is so overwhelming that it can be said that he is the only one.

On December 18, the news site NEWS POST SEVEN and the December 19 issue of Josei Seven (Shogakukan) reported on the relationship between Takahashi and actress Kasumi Arimura. The two co-starred in the drama “My Sister’s Lover” (Fuji TV), which aired in 2008, and quickly got close to each other. They have been dating for three years.

The group is now a two-member group with Ren Nagase, and the group is at a critical juncture. When some fans found out that Takahashi had a girlfriend behind their back, they were disillusioned, saying, ‘I think he has a low awareness of himself as an idol. The current love affair report will probably cause the group’s fans to leave. Incidentally, Kimpuri performed live on “Music Station SUPER LIVE 2023” (TV Asahi, Dec. 22) right after that. They sang the ballad “Ai ni Ikiru Koto” (To Love and Live), but their pitch was a little unstable from the beginning, which caused a stir on the Internet.

On the day of the event, viewers commented

I turned on the TV and laughed out loud when I saw that Kinpuri’s singing was so bad it was like a joke.
[The two members of “Kimpuri” sang so badly, didn’t they?　The volume, the quality of their voices, the pitch… everything about them just makes me uncomfortable.
I was surprised at how bad they were at singing. I was surprised at how bad they were at singing. I guess it must be frustrating for singers of that caliber to be on a music show like …….

The comments were harsh.

We hope that Number_i, who is on a roll, and King & Prince, who seem to have a lot of trouble ahead, will continue to entertain their respective fans while engaging in friendly competition.