[Announcement] Hello 2020!
Hi there! It's Annie, and I'm extremely surprised I managed to log back into this account. It's been about 7 years.....
7 years since I've posted and honestly about 7 years since I've paid attention to Johnny's. I'm not sure exactly why I fell out of the jpop fandom, but I think it was a combination of going to college, figuring my life out, and finding my own identity. Now, I'm no longer a high school student, but I'm working a full-time job. Life has changed a lot, but unexpectedly I have found myself back here. Literally a week ago, one of my closest friends, who I've known since high school, sent me a random photo of her listening to NEWS' Sakura Girl, a song that I had shared with her back in the day. This reminded me of how much I loved that song, but also reminded me that I had heard a while ago that Arashi was going to be making a Netflix documentary series. So I ended up asking one of my other closest high school friends (who liked Arashi) to watch the first 4 episodes of the Arashi series with me. Watching that really reminded me of how much I used to love Johnny's, and how crazy and how fun Johnny's artists were to me. (Even though the series is quite sad, it was so nostalgic...) So that led me to try to see what's been happening recently to all of the Johnny's artists I used to like. Eventually... that led me to find out that SixTONES finally debuted this year!!!! I was amazed because it took SO LONG for them. But for me to rediscover them right now, right after they finally debuted, right when they're gaining more international recognition, maybe it was good timing. I've since been amazed to watch a bunch of their subbed content on their official youtube channel and their old videos on the Johnny's Jr. youtube channel, and I've literally just so easily fallen back in love with these 6 Bakaleya kids. (I also rewatched the Bakaleya series and movie, and man, it was so nostalgic!) With all this new content, I feel like I'm getting to know them in a fresh way, with a clean slate. Even though it's not the first time I've loved them, I'm looking forward to getting to know them even better now. I honestly don't know if I will write stories about them again, because that requires dedication and time commitment that I can't believe I used to have back in high school! (I apologize that I will likely never go back to writing the stories that I left unfinished...) But I do truly appreciate and am happy to see all 6 of them together again. Looking at this old journal of mine, I'm amazed by how supportive the jpop fan community was back in the day, and I'm humbled that people actually read and commented on my work. I'm reminded that there are truly a lot of people out there supporting these kids and I'm happy for them. Back in the day, I ended up writing about Juri in my college application essays, including the application for the university that I ended up going to, so I can honestly say Juri helped me get into college. It's pretty crazy how much I loved him during high school. We're the same age, so he truly inspired me a lot. I really am proud of SixTONES for having persevered for so many years and finally achieving their debut. I hope they aim high and truly make it a goal to make themselves internationally known, because it seems like Johnny's is finally realizing their potential to do so. I hope the six members of SixTONES will stay together and achieve the success of their dreams because they deserve it.
In summary, I just wanted to say hi, and please let me know if you'd like to talk about SixTONES! I look forward to keeping up with them again! :)