<figure id="attachment_348294" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1000px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-348294"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="25ec79b7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/56b41a06a8a3b636b515bc62d2cb4e01-1.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-348294" class="wp-caption-text">Number_i&#8221; members Jinguji (left), Hirano (center), and Kishi (right) are enjoying smooth sailing with their first digital single &#8220;GOAT&#8221; being a big hit.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Number_i, a unit consisting of former King &amp; Prince members Yuta Kishi, Yuta Jinguji, and Shiyou Hirano, released their long-awaited first digital single &#8220;GOAT&#8221; 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.</p>
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<p>Kishi, Jinguji, and Hirano left the group on May 22 last year. Only Kishi remained with the former Johnny&#8217;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.</p>
<p>Former V6 member Ken Miyake, former Kis-My-Ft2 member Hiromitsu Kitayama, and former members of junior group IMPACTors (currently performing as &#8220;IMP.&#8221;) are also members of TOBE. On November 25, &#8220;TOBE BAN,&#8221; a live distribution program featuring TOBE artists, started on YouTube&#8217;s &#8220;TOBE OFFICIAL&#8221; channel. In addition, ABEMA started &#8220;TOBE&#8217;s Summer Vacation&#8221; on December 24, 2010. ～Exclusive contact with Hawaii! A New Determination&#8221; was broadcast exclusively on ABEMA. The program closely followed their trip to Hawaii and was full of private footage.</p>
<p>And early in the new year, Number_i released the digital single &#8220;GOAT&#8221; with full anticipation. Number_i&#8217;s YouTube channel released &#8220;Number_i &#8211; GOAT (Official Music Video)&#8221; on December 31. The number of views exceeded 10 million in just three days, and as of January 17, it had reached 26 million.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The number of views of &#8220;Number_i &#8211; GOAT (Official Dance Performance M/V),&#8221; uploaded on January 8, exceeded 2.5 million in two days, and the number of views of &#8220;Number_i &#8211; GOAT (Official Dance Performance M/V)&#8221; is also doing well. Fans are screaming on social networking sites.</span></p>
<p>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.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The reason for Kimpuri's poor performance: &quot;Too little idol awareness.&quot;"></div>
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<p><span class="strongInContent">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&#8217;s original photos were &#8220;SOLD OUT. Although some of the photos were &#8220;SOLD OUT&#8221;, the individual photos of Jinguji and Kishi were not sold out. Hirano&#8217;s popularity is so overwhelming that it can be said that he is the only one.</span></p>
<p>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 &#8220;My Sister&#8217;s Lover&#8221; (Fuji TV), which aired in 2008, and quickly got close to each other. They have been dating for three years.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> 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, &#8216;I think he has a low awareness of himself as an idol. The current love affair report will probably cause the group&#8217;s fans to leave. Incidentally, Kimpuri performed live on &#8220;Music Station SUPER LIVE 2023&#8221; (TV Asahi, Dec. 22) right after that. They sang the ballad &#8220;Ai ni Ikiru Koto&#8221; (To Love and Live), but their pitch was a little unstable from the beginning, which caused a stir on the Internet.</span></p>
<p>On the day of the event, viewers commented</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I turned on the TV and laughed out loud when I saw that Kinpuri&#8217;s singing was so bad it was like a joke.</span><br>
<span class="strongInContent"> [The two members of &#8220;Kimpuri&#8221; sang so badly, didn&#8217;t they?　The volume, the quality of their voices, the pitch&#8230; everything about them just makes me uncomfortable.</span><br>
<span class="strongInContent"> 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 &#8230;&#8230;.</span></p>
<p>The comments were harsh.</p>
<p>We hope that Number_i, who is on a roll, and King &amp; Prince, who seem to have a lot of trouble ahead, will continue to entertain their respective fans while engaging in friendly competition.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Many pictures of former members of King &amp; Prince."></div>
<figure id="attachment_270305" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1280px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-270305"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="e5d10446"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/10/0805ab41c24ce605b74491c89cc8cf2b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-270305" class="wp-caption-text">In 2010, Shiyoh Hirano was on location for &#8220;Kurosagi&#8221; (TBS), a drama series in which he starred. During a break from filming a serious scene, she was practicing her facial expressions.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_186203" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1314px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-186203"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="90550e28"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/06/e7bdeb56799d9f4825b1448461bad64f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-186203" class="wp-caption-text">Jinguji was on location with Toshi Ino at a shrine in Tokyo in &#8217;21, where fresh greenery was fragrant. In between takes, he shows a relaxed smile on his face.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_233982" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2808px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-233982"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3ac89056"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/03/DSC01828_r.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-233982" class="wp-caption-text">In &#8217;22, we found Yuta Kishi on location in Tokyo. They filmed a number of scenes of him walking while eating.</figcaption></figure>
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 Yusuke Kondo (Shiyoh Hirano, Yuta Kishi), Ippei Hara (Yuta Jinguji)

 While Number_i, formed by the members who left King & Prince, is doing very well, the remaining members seem to be having a difficult time ahead. Why has there been such a gap between the two groups? An entertainment writer explains.

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

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