Feb 07 2008
Johnny’s Distraction
The title sounds like the name of a store that sells male slutty undies (Victoria’s secret for men), but, unfortunately the real meaning isn’t quite that exciting. I played the ‘Johnny’s’ ranking game in the American Wota distractions section, and it was pretty fun. Since my Johnny’s knowledge is limited to Arashi, KAT-TUN (duh), Nakai from SMAP (because he does Utaban) and Yamapi and Ryo from NEWS (because they’re s Jin’s friends) the rest of the list was basically just me deciding who was the hottest. Have you ever played that game where you sit in a crowded place, like a mall, with your friends and you rank the guys who walk by according to how hot they are? Yeah, it was kind of like that.
Here’s the List:
1. Akanishi Jin (KT)
2. Kamenashi Kazuya (KT)
3. Ninomiya Kazunari (Arashi)
4. Matsumoto Jun (Arashi)
5. Tanaka Koki (KT)
6. Ueda Tatsuya (KT)
7. Ohno Satoshi (Arashi)
8. Taguchi Junnosuke (KT)
9. Nakamaru Yuichi (KT)
10. Yamashita Tomohisa (NEWS)
It’s not surprising that all of KAT-TUN is in the top 10, and neither is it surprising that dear JinJin ended up on top of the list. You might be surprised to see some of Arashi ranking over much of KAT-TUN though, this being a KAT-TUN blog, but I can explain! I absolutely adore the way Nino is constantly messing with the other members during performances while somehow managing to wear the facial expression of a blameless little angel, so he had to be high on the list. Matsujun has been steadily moving up the rankings due to my growing appreciation for his prettiness, and Ohno is so very sweet and so very weird at the same time, not to mention talented. The thing about Arashi is that while I love THEM I don’t really care for much of their music. With KAT-TUN, I love both them and their music. My folders are full of Arashi talking and goofing off, but they’re full of actual performances of KAT-TUN. The other reason for my preference is that Arashi makes me smile and giggle, but only KAT-TUN makes me swoon. I want to go out for a couple of beers with Arashi, but I want to do KAT-TUN.
Thinking about KAT-TUN in comparison to Arashi has recently made me very thankful for the entire Johnny’s system. If you’re familiar with Johnny’s you probably know that KAT-TUN is not quite the love-fest that is Arashi (watch their “happiness” pv if you don’t know what I’m talking about there). If it weren’t for the Johnny’s system, I suspect that the group would have broken up 10 times over by now. I’m not saying that they all hate each other, but there have definitely been times when some members were not on speaking terms, and it’s no secret that fights were not uncommon when they first started out. Kame mentioned in a recent interview that all 6 of them really hate to lose, himself and Akanishi in particular. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that that is not a formula for good group dynamics. They are still a group though, because to quit KAT-TUN would likely mean to quit Johnny’s, and to be a male idol who has quit Johnny’s likely means being unemployable, no matter how handsome or talented you are. And so, KAT-TUN continues to produce amazing music as a group today, not because they all like each other so much that they spend their free time between concerts cuddling and skip around holding hands *cougharashicough*, but because they need each other. The Johnny’s system forces them to get over whatever squabbles they’re having and work together, and as a fan, I’m just fine with that.
Sincerely,
~Celestia~