<figure id="attachment_410020" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1280px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410020"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b19a12a0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/0947c13d877b2cbffb0e347fd5bce462.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410020" class="wp-caption-text">Former Kis-My-Ft2 member Hirofumi Kitayama, who is a senior to Kanasashi in TOBE, showed his support when Kanasashi appeared at his concert. He kindly said, &#8220;Good luck!&#8221; to him (the photo is from the FRIDAY magazine, October 8, 2021 issue).</figcaption></figure>
On November 1, 2024, Kanasashi Issei, a former member of the junior unit Bishonen from STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, left the agency. On December 3 of the same year, he announced his move to TOBE, a company led by Hideaki Takizawa as the representative director. However, a number of critical voices have been raised.
After joining TOBE, he made surprise appearances at his seniors&#8217; concerts and held live streams on Instagram. However, it seems that he showed a less reliable side of himself, and the criticism has increased (idol magazine writer).
<h3>During his live stream, a large number of harsh comments were posted</h3>
About a month after leaving &#8220;Bishounen&#8221; and departing from STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, Kanasashi made an appearance in a live stream on TOBE&#8217;s official YouTube channel, announcing that he would continue his career as an artist under the name &#8220;ISSEI.&#8221;
Although this marked a fresh start, the live stream&#8217;s chat section was flooded with harsh comments. This was likely due to a past scandal involving a woman that occurred while he was still with his previous agency. In the summer of 2023, photos reportedly showing Kanasashi in bed with a woman leaked online.
&#8220;Moreover, it was discovered that he developed a close relationship with a well-known fan of Kanasashi. This caused quite a stir in the news at the time, and as a result, some fans may have formed a bad behavior image of him. TOBE fans have been criticizing him, saying things like, ‘I want to support the TOBE family, but Kanasashi is a no-go,’ and ‘I don’t want him to disturb the TOBE’s reputation.’ Fans of &#8216;Bishounen&#8217; also criticized Kanasashi for leaving the group and joining TOBE&#8221; (same source).
Shortly after his move, Kanasashi found himself in a difficult situation. The next day, he appeared at the concert of his TOBE senior, former Kis-My-Ft2 member, Hiromitsu Kitayama.
Kitayama held his live tour &#8220;HIROMITSU KITAYAMA &#8216;ZOO'&#8221; on December 3-4, 2024, at Pia Arena MM in Kanagawa. On the final day of the tour, during the latter part of the afternoon show, Kanasashi appeared on stage and handed Kitayama a bouquet.
He introduced himself saying, &#8220;Hello everyone, nice to meet you. I am ISSEI,&#8221; and greeted the audience as if it were a face reveal. However, it seems that there was an accident where he mistakenly referred to one of Kitayama&#8217;s song titles.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="He mistook the title of the song and made enemies with Kitayama's fans..."></div>
 &#8220;The scene where Kanasashi appeared on stage took place during a time when audience filming was allowed, so several videos of Kanasashi and Kitayama talking were uploaded on social media.
In the video, Kanasashi shared his thoughts saying, &#8216;I watched Kitayama-san&#8217;s live performance today. Especially during the NE:O era (O = with a stroke), it really exploded with energy. It gave me a lot of motivation, so I will do my best with all my might.&#8217; Kitayama responded, &#8216;Thank you. Do your best!&#8217; with warm words of encouragement.
However, the unfortunate part was that Kanasashi pronounced NE:O era (Neo Era) as Nao Era. It seems that either nerves made him mispronounce it, or he might have been unsure about the song name.&#8221; (same source)
By the way, &#8220;NE:O era&#8221; is a track from Kitayama&#8217;s first single &#8220;Ranshin-RANSHIN- / JOKER&#8221; released on January 31, 2024, and was also released digitally on March 10, 2024. “It&#8217;s not a new song, but one that is familiar to Kitayama&#8217;s fans”(same source). Because of this, Kitayama&#8217;s fans expressed their discomfort:
&#8220;Kanasashi, because he messed up the song title, I just can&#8217;t accept him now.&#8221;
&#8220;He appeared on his senior&#8217;s stage, but getting the song title wrong is a no-go.&#8221;
&#8220;Kanasashi, he&#8217;s weak in these small details.&#8221;
They expressed their discomfort.
<h3>In the Instagram live, he was full of youthful freshness</h3>
In his first Instagram live on December 10, 2024, Kanasashi was asked by viewers whether he had met the Number_i members (former King &amp; Prince members Shiyou Hirano, Yuta Kishi, and Yuta Jinguji). He reported that he had reunited with them on the same day of the live stream at the studio.
&#8220;At that time, it was the first time after my move, so I greeted them. It had been a long time, so I was probably very stiff. I was like, &#8216;I&#8217;ll work hard with everyone at TOBE from now on. Please take care of me!&#8217; but they were really nice. They were like, &#8216;Let&#8217;s work hard together!&#8217; and &#8216;Do you like driving?'&#8221;
He revealed the conversation with the Number_i members.
&#8220;Kanasashi was the youngest in &#8216;Bishounen&#8217; and wasn’t the type to speak up actively. During his first Instagram live, he mostly responded to questions from the comments rather than introducing topics himself.
Since he wasn&#8217;t very familiar with SNS, during the screenshot time when viewers take screenshots, he was unsure how to delete comments and had to ask the staff for help. Eventually, the staff said, &#8216;I&#8217;ll learn how to do it by next time,&#8217; and he repeated this to the viewers.&#8221;
In his first Instagram live, Kanasashi was full of youthful energy. While there are still many uncertainties, will he be able to gain more fans through his future activities?

 Yusuke Kondo

 Former "Bishonen" Issei Kanazashi left STARTO ENTERTAINMENT in November 2012 and transferred to TOBE in December of the same year. As a result of showing an unreliable side after the transfer, it seems that fans are becoming more and more critical of him...

Issei Kanasashi’s TOBE Move Faces Backlash Over Song Title Mistake

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