Backlash Over Dome Concert Featuring Old Johnny’s’ like Kis-My-Ft2 – Fans Express Confusion and Criticism
STARTO ENTERTAINMENT (formerly Johnny & Associates) announced the event “WE ARE! Let’s get the party STARTO!!”, which will start full-scale operations from April.
The event will take place on April 10th at the Tokyo Dome and on May 29th-30th at the Kyocera Dome Osaka. The lineup includes 12 groups: NEWS, SUPER EIGHT, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP, Kis-My-Ft2, A.B.C-Z, WEST., King & Prince, SixTONES, Snow Man, Naniwa Danshi, and Travis Japan.
On the 2nd, the hashtag “#STARTOENTERTAINMENT” trended high on Twitter.
However, the reality is not necessarily one of joy about the concert announcement; rather, many tweets expressed criticism or concerns towards STARTO Entertainment or its president, Jun Fukuda.
“Wait, what? How can they announce dome concerts without even mentioning whether fans can still contract or not? Seriously, this president is just leaving the fans behind.”
“Why not announce it to the fan club members first instead of the media?”
“Before announcing the live concerts, shouldn’t they first communicate about the new system to the fans? We still have no idea what’s been happening since last year and who’s doing what. Are they expecting everyone to just sign contracts? I’m feeling really frustrated about this.”
“They’re raising ticket prices to 15,000 yen, scheduling concerts on weekdays. It’s no wonder they say the ones we should be fighting against are the fans. Thanks for doing everything that fans hate, Fukuda-san.”
It seems like fans are harboring considerable dissatisfaction with this crucial event, which marks the departure from Johnny’s and the start of a new era.
