Giri giri de itsumo ikite itai kara
KAT-TUN was and will always be a very special group for me. I've been feeling the need to write about them for the last few days, and now with the hiatus announcement I think I'll finally do it.
I really want to believe that they will come back one day, but to be honest, I can't. We have seen this scenario before with Jin. Temporary hiatus that turns into a permanent one. I think J&A will keep them like Shounentai, officially listed under kat-tun but with no group activities. Or maybe there will be an official disbandment announcement later, when the agency thinks the fans have already stopped caring. I don't know which would be the worst.
I don't think Ueda and Nakamaru will have any significant solo projects neither, apart from their variety work. I hope the projects Kame gets will be interesting at least and don't blend in the Julie soup (lbr, I have 0 trust in Mary and Julie).
I hope I'm wrong about all of this.
But I really want to talk about kat-tun. I think this post will be long and have a lot of sad thoughts, but above all I want to talk about what I love the most about them.
6nin KA-TUN
They were the ones who got me into japanese entertainment. I wonder where I would have been now if it wasn't for them. Maybe I would have returned to the anime/manga fandom, and maybe I would have kept watching j-drama, including Johnny's ones, without caring about their other activities. I doubt I would have gotten into Johnny's through another group. KAT-TUN were really my perfect bait because their rockish music matched my taste at the time and their image didn't have that "boyband" feel that never attracted me. They also had a decent amount of accessible material and subs and a very complete, organized, and open media comm that made it very easy for me to get into them (I didn't even have a livejournal account at the time).
I still think they had one of the most interesting discographies among Johnny's groups, same for the choreographies and PV's quality. Their lives were amazing, cool, badass, original and fun and they had an awesome way of connecting with the audience (they would rank 2nd after Smap's concerts in my personal ranking). Their strongest point was definitely the live performances, even though they never tried to synchronize their dancing and their singing skills aren't that great, but they know how to create a cool, fun stage. I loved also how they didn't play the BFF card and were open about being a group that creates interesting things through producing themselves as individuals first. Cartoon KAT-TUN was a good show with a lot of variety and good ideas. I loved how it went from a classic talk show to the "What is Love" project to the skit collaborations with guests to a fun location show.
It's impossible for me to list all the 6nin kat-tun songs and perfs I loved, but this is the image I will always keep of them:
Wilds of My Heart from Break the Records concert
*cries*
I love the idea of a special "lineage" that links SMAP, their direct kouhai KinKi, KAT-TUN who were created by Koichi and Kisumai who were very close to KAT-TUN (and were called kat-tun 2.0 at some point) and are now very close to SMAP. It's a strange lineage of badass groups who had to create their own ways. Kat-tun inherited smap's troublesome kids side and hate-to-lose character, and also their 5x anniversaries curse:) I hope the curse doesn't pass to Kisumai :)
Talking about smap, I really appreciate the support hyphens got from smap fans today. It's a strange feeling to be on both sides. I wish the kat-tun fan in me had the same strength as the smap fan.
Akanishi Jin
Looking back, his departure was expected, but it was very painful at the time. I hated him for a short time, then tried to follow him. But I was very disappointed of his attitude and the music he produced after he left and I lost interest in him after a while. I loved his solos in kat-tun's albums and concerts, especially Wonder, Love Juice and A Page. And the Olympos album was a masterpiece. From his solo discography, The Fifth Season (b-side of Seasons) was the only song that left an impact on me. I really like that song.
The fifth Season
Click to viewAt least he seems to be a good husband and father :) And it seems he's being more mature about his career lately? Good Luck Jin.
5nin kat-tun
I couldn't stand Going at the time. Later, I came to enjoy the perf in concerts. But at the time of its release, I hated that change of image and style. I don't know if it was decided by the members themselves or forced on them by management, but I didn't like kat-tun going around pretending they're a nice, BFF group. Luckily, it didn't go too far and they quickly went back to their origins with N.M.P, and especially Change Ur World. When I think about it, even Going had Fall Down as a B-side :) I quickly came to like 5nin music, live perfs and PVs. Even when the A-side wasn't an immediate hit for me like White, there were amazing B-sides like Yuki no Hana. Chain album and tour were awesome. On the variety side, I didn't like mane but I loved Dame na Yoru, it was a show only kat-tun could do. Oh, and the Indian Style game was fun (including their fail at counting the points every time) XD
I'm hesitating which 5nin perf I want to include here. They had awesome rockish songs like Fall Down, Change Ur World, Expose, Remember, Silence, Soldier, To the Limit, and other songs I loved like Girls, Sweet Chain, Give mex3, Chain of love, but in the end,Yuuki no Hana is very special. It was a song made for the 3/11 victims.
Yuuki no Hana from Chain tour
http://facedl.com/fvideo=aqauainuaxiwawqne
Tanaka Kouki
Kouki was the biggest shock. Of course I knew about his rumours and his bad reputation, but he was also the one who had a zoo in his house, who was a doting big brother and a caring senpai who was very nice to his kouhai, and above all, the one who told the fans the sweetest words and promises. He was also important to kat-tun's style because of his rapping, his vocals and his character. I think that, among the members who left, he's the only one I still can't understand until now.
Kouki's most epic solo Dangerous Cat from Chain
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x13cqul_fnn-tanaka-koki-dangerous-cat_animals
4nin kat-tun
What I liked about 4nin KAT-TUN is that they went all sarcastic about their second lost member on variety shows. They didn't play the BFF card again, the pity card nor the victims card. They were straightforward and decided to go on without looking back. I respect this strength. And then they released the Kusabi mini-album which was a masterpiece.
But I really can't say that I know a lot about 4nin kat-tun. It was after kusabi and the countdown live that I started drifting away. I couldn't like the singles they released after that, nor the come Here album, and it's hard for me to keep following a group closely when I don't like the music. I couldn't get myself to watch Tame tabe and SCP except for a few episodes, even though I heard a lot of good about them from other fans. I liked Come here and its PV though. And Kame's solo Emerald.
I think that part of it was because I expected another member to leave and I was too scared to see it happening from a too close distance.
This is the image I want to keep of 4nin kat-tun: Phoenix from Countdown concert
Taguchi Junnosuke
A third surprise. I expected a third member leaving but I thought it would be Ueda. I didn't blame him at all. Maybe because it happened shortly after the Ohno "scandal" and I felt that no idol could be blamed for leaving that agency to have a normal private life, especially that Junno has been in a long relationship for years and there were rumours about marriage many times. Also, I respected his way of announcing it beforehand, directly to the fans. It was cool.
Junno is probably the one I know about the least in Kat-tun. But behind his weird KY character I could see a really strong and genuinely nice guy. He's an excellent dancer and he worked hard to improve his singing. He has an excellent sense for choosing his solos. And he's a very handsome guy who's getting better with age. He's leaving the entertainment industry but I would really like to see 40 year old Junno.
I love junno's solos, they're fresh and full of nice energy, Samurai Love Attack, Natsu no basho, Love Music, but my strongest image of him after all is Wind from Break the records concert
http://alive.in.th/watch_video.php?v=27RW269OY8AH
3nin Kat-tun
I'm not sure we will really see a 3nin kat-tun after the 10th anniversary tour. I can't imagine how hard it will be for them to do the tour and the last lives before hiatus with only the 3 of them. But I trust them to make it a blast worthy of kat-tun's name. Do your best, guys.
Nakamaru Yuichi
His change of image from the bad boy who was kouki's partner in crime and bullying to the awkward and bullied university student will always be a mystery for me. His voice percussion skills are part of the group's identity. I think of him as the shadow leader of the group. He has good relationships with all the members and he was the one who took decisions and gave directions to the group towards going back to their original style of music when the other members were lost. Oh, and I love his face.
My favourite perf of him: White World from Break the records (yeah, I really like that concert)
http://vlog.xuite.net/play/U251eEo0LTI0MTI4OTcuZmx2/KAT-TUN-Live-Break-the-Records-Nakamaru-Yuichi-WHITE-WORLD
Kamenashi Kazuya
The hard working baseball fan with the lamest jokes ever who wants to be Kimura Takuya. He's the one who brought me to japanese entertainment. I loved him as an actor in roles like Nobuta wo Produce, Youkai Ningen Bem, Ore Ore, 1 pound no fukuin. I like his professionalism and his dedication to his work. But what I like more about him is that he kept a surprising level headedness and awareness about his position. I like the fact that he can laugh about his image. I listened to his radio regularly at some point and he has a very nice and relaxing radio voice and good music tastes.
From his solos, I like Emerald and Zutto musically and Without notice for the performance, but my absolute favourite is the epic 1582, fromBreak the Records again:
Ueda Tatsuya
My most favourite member. He's a very interesting guy. He has an excellent and smart sense of humour. When he gets into things, he does them passionately and puts his all into them, whether it's music, sports, acting, etc. I love how he reinvented himself and showed many faces and personalities: the Gackt wannabe who can see fairies, the cool and mysterious rocker (with the Dots hair style), the cute and sadistic little princess, the fresh and childish athlete, the cool wolf. I love his music above all, his kat-tun solos and the Mouce Peace project. Whatever happens, I want to hear his music a lot in the future.
It's really hard for me to choose between his solos. I'll put Rabbit or Wolf from No More Pain - World tour:
http://facedl.com/fvideo=iainkoaoanunowk
Wow, while writing this post a lot of memories came back to me and I think I fell in love with kat-tun again. I'm not Kimura, but if I went back in time, I'd definitely choose the same path in fandom.
I'll just add the first song that got me into kat-tun: Lips
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/8496819/atcm_kat_tun_lips/