EIGHT and WEST Operating Normally, While Only Timelesz Faces Renaming Amidst Reasons Behind Three Former Johnny’s Groups’ Fate

On July 1st, last year’s United Nations working group expert who investigated Johnny’s sexual misconduct issues in Japan, political scientist Pichamon Yeophantong, spoke in Tokyo. “To prevent recurrence, it is crucial to discuss how to protect the working environment in the entertainment industry and translate it into legislative measures,” he urged.

 

“This has developed into a major issue that can no longer be contained within Japan. Currently, NHK and TV Tokyo are still refraining from hiring new talents from the former Johnny’s for their shows.

According to SMILE-UP., the company that took over compensation duties from the former Johnny’s Office, as of June 28, out of 999 reported victims, the Victim Relief Committee has notified 505 people of their compensation amounts, which is about half. It seems it will still take quite some time to complete the compensation process,” said a national newspaper social affairs reporter.

In response to the sexual misconduct issues, the former Johnny’s Office has completely eliminated the ‘Johnny’ branding. This started with a name change for the company, and the names of the CD debut group candidate talents were unified under ‘Junior’ from the East’s ‘Johnny’s Jr.’ and the West’s ‘Kansai Johnny’s Jr.’. Among the CD debut groups, ‘Kanjani∞’ was renamed ‘SUPER EIGHT’ (hereafter referred to as EIGHT), ‘Sexy Zone’ became ‘timelesz’, and ‘Johnny’s WEST’ was renamed ‘WEST.’.

EIGHT, which was renamed in February, had its Fuji TV show ‘Kanjani∞ no Ato wa Gojiyū ni’ retitled to ‘SUPER EIGHT no Ato wa Gojiyū ni’, but the program ended in March. However, their regular programs ‘Ariehen Sekai’ (TV Tokyo) and ‘Kanjam Kanzen Nen SHOW’, which was retitled to ‘EIGHT-JAM’ (TV Asahi) in April this year, continue as before, along with individual member activities and music activities.

WEST., which was renamed in October last year, continues to appear in their regular program ‘Hirameke! Unpyoko Channel’ (TBS). After the group renaming, they released a single and a best album, with sales remaining largely unchanged compared to before the rename. However, the group faced a scandal due to some members’ thoughtless remarks that caused a significant backlash.

“During the concert tour, Junta Nakama (36) posted intimate interactions with a female staff member on social media, which caused a massive backlash. Although he apologized on X in June, his defense of the female staff member only added fuel to the fire. Furthermore, he later posted on X in a way that seemed to identify a private residence, leading to another apology.

The series of controversies may have affected his mental health, as Nakama’s paid blog for fan club members, which had been updated almost daily, stopped updating, causing fans to express their concern. Whether due to this or not, the group’s dome tour from July to August, commemorating their 10th anniversary, saw tickets ‘heavily discounted’, and their YouTube subscriber count has decreased,” said an entertainment reporter.

That said, this incident is largely an individual mishap, and the damage to ‘WEST.’ itself doesn’t seem to be that severe. However, the situation is different for timelesz, which was renamed in April.

 

“In March, Kento Nakajima (30), a central member, unexpectedly left the group, resulting in a three-member lineup. From April, they restarted as ‘timelesz’ with this new lineup. However, while the last single as a four-member group, ‘puzzle’, released in March, had initial sales of around 280,000 copies, the first release of the new three-member lineup, the EP ‘timelesz’ in June, didn’t reach 100,000 copies. Nakajima’s departure, along with Kikuchi starting his own fan club, seems to have led to a loss of fans,” said a record company insider.

The three renamed groups have now distinctly diverged in their fortunes. The previously mentioned entertainment reporter suggests that focusing on the members’ relationships with women might shed light on the reasons behind this disparity.

“Examining the relationships of the members in the three groups, Tadayoshi Okura (39) has not had any new romantic rumors since his breakup with Alice Hirose (29) in April, and Yuu Yokoyama (43), who once had many romantic rumors, has also become much quieter. As a result, EIGHT has maintained its popularity.

In ‘WEST.’, Akito Kiriyama (34) has been reported to be in a relationship with former Japan women’s volleyball representative Maiko Kano (35). Although there were some suspicions on social media suggesting their relationship, the general mood is one of congratulations.

On the other hand, in ‘timelesz’, Fuma Kikuchi (29) was reported in March to be in a relationship with former Nogizaka46 member Mai Shiraishi (31). In January of this year, Kento Nakajima, who announced his departure from the group, was reported to be dating singer Reina Washio (30). Going further back, in January of last year, Shori Sato (27) was also reported to be in a relationship with PORIN (33) from ‘Awesome City Club’.

Although romantic relationships do not necessarily directly impact group popularity, they certainly serve as indicators of the members’ awareness of compliance, unity, and fan motivation. The environment has drastically changed from the days of the former Johnny’s, when they had strong backing. With increased individual responsibility, the members should keep this in mind,” said the entertainment reporter.

At the time of the new group name announcement in April, ‘timelesz’ also announced that they would be recruiting new members through auditions. It will be interesting to see if adding new members can help them regain their popularity.

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