[News] 14th CD Single; Youtube; Hashimoto Butai; Totsuka drama; + more
Hello everyone,
A *lot* of things have been announced/happened lately, I'm so sorry for not posting most of these in a more timely manner (everything has just got away from me lately...) Consequently, this is probably going to be a pretty long post ^^;
Firstly, since 10th April the jimusho's homepage has changed, if you go to any old J-net link it presents you with a page saying the site is closed and redirecting you to the new website, https://starto.jp . It's not just a new link but a new site design, so for anyone who needs to update their bookmarks, you can now find ABC-Z's page here, and their revamped schedule page here (personally I preferred the simpler 'everything on one page in an easy to read table' of J-net, but it is what it is).
Speaking of links, I hope to soon have the (long-promised) list of ABC-Z/Kawai related links ready, but now thanks to these changes I need to go and update a lot of them 😭
(And a slight tangent but, "J-net" was a nice concise way to refer to the jimusho's OHP when linking, as opposed to the Ponycanyon site (or official sites for drama/butai/etc) which I've always termed as "OHP". But now with the demise of J-net, I'm not sure how to refer to them to make it easy to understand/differentiate. Would people be offended if I still used "J-net" for jimusho links? Or does someone have a better suggestion :x)
Also on the 10th of April, the jimusho held "WE ARE! Let's get the party STARTO!!" concert featuring most affiliated artists (including ABC-Z) at Tokyo Dome, and will hold it again at Osaka's Kyocera Dome on 29 & 30 May. Additionally, the second of those concerts, 30 May at 16:00 JST, is going to be livestreamed! Tickets cost ¥5,800 (or ¥4,800 for FC members), you can buy them on FAMILY CLUB Online, or on the English version of the site. Please note, if you want to buy FC tickets you have to use the Japanese site (and a ticket on the EN site can't be used on the JP site, and vice versa).
On the JP site you can also see goods related the the live that are on sale. They also have accounts you can follow on Twitter and Instagram.
In member related news, the idol produced by Tsukada, Tsuka☆Rika (塚☆リカ), has opened her own twitter @rikachan_ymg and will hold her own mini live tour in Tokyo from June 10~26 (You can see the precise dates/times here, although all the shows are already sold out).
Additionally, Tsukada has also opened a personal Instagram @kinpatsu_kinniku_tsukachan, so make sure to give him a follow there too! He has also opened a personal homepage here (I love that he included profiles for his dogs ♡)
Hashimoto will be starring in a butai called Sleuth (スルース), running in Tokyo's Yomiuri Otemachi Hall from 18~28 July, and in Kyoto's Kyoto Gekijo from 3~4 August. (Not) J-net, OHP, Twitter.
Totsuka will be appearing in a drama, Mikkoku wa Utau 2 Keishichou Kansatsu File (密告はうたう２ 警視庁監察ファイル), airing on WOWOW starting August 2024, with a total of 8 episodes. The drama is a sequel to the 2021 drama of the same name and again stars TOKIO's Matsuoka as a detective in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, with Totsuka also reprising his role as his colleague Saito Kota. OHP.
Someone else already posted about this but ABC-Z have opened their own Youtube channel! You can now find all their music videos (and other lyrics videos, live clips, etc) there instead of the Ponycanyon channel. Additionally, ABC-Z are the latest group featured in a "Hanauta Chill" video on the Merch Company Youtube channel, with lo-fi versions of some of their hits for you to use while studying or relaxing.
To celebrate the opening of their own Youtube channel, the members held a Youtube live on 11th April, in which they announced (with some mishaps lol) that they will be releasing their 14th CD single (and first as 4 members), Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda (君じゃなきゃだめなんだ), on 5th June, 2024!
There will be 3 versions of the CD and details of each version can be found under the cut, along with links where you can preorder. If you are able to, please consider actually buying a copy and supporting ABC-Z!
First Press Limited Edition A (CD+DVD) ¥1,815 (tax incl.)
＜CD＞
01.「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda)
02.「Hallelujah」
03.「Hallelujah」-Inst.-
＜Bonus DVD＞
・「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda) Music Clip
・「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda) Dance Clip
・Making of Jacket & Music Video Shooting
Preorder: Amazon.co.jp with Bonus, without Bonus / HMV
First Press Limited Edition B (CD+DVD) ¥1,815 (tax incl.)
＜CD＞
01.「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ 」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda)
02.「One Way Blue」
03.「One Way Blue」-Inst.-
＜Bonus DVD＞
・Darkness Battle "I can't see anything but you"
Di~ng... clatter clatter
Clink, clink... beep boop♪
I can feel you even in darkness.
Enveloped in silence, a darkness battle!? "I can't see anything but you".
Preorder: Amazon.co.jp with Bonus, without Bonus / HMV
Regular Edition (CD Only) ¥1,210 (tax incl.)
＜CD＞
01.「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda)
02.「花束のステージ」(Hanataba no Stage)
03.「STELLAR」
04.「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」-Inst.-
05.「花束のステージ」-Inst.-
06.「STELLAR」-Inst.-
Preorder: Amazon.co.jp with Bonus, without Bonus / HMV
Some sites also have a bundled set of all 3 versions available for preorder:
・Amazon.co.jp: There's no official bundle available but to buy all 3 versions (with preorder bonus) is approx. ¥4,840 (tax incl).
・HMV: Bundle available here for ¥4,840 (tax incl).
Additionally, each version of the single has a preorder bonus available from CD Shops when you preorder, on a first-come first-served basis as supplies are limited. You can see previews of the bonuses here.
★ Limited Edition A: Purikura-style Janakya Dame Nanda Sticker ver.A
★ Limited Edition B: Purikura-style Janakya Dame Nanda Sticker ver.B
★ Regular Edition: Pu Janakya Dama Nanda Promide
[T/N: "Purikura" are Japanese photo booth pictures; and "Promide" (or bromide) is a term used in Japan to refer to a commercial photo of a celebrity, think like the shop photos sold by the jimusho]
Note:
※ The bonus for each version is a different design.
※ Not all shops offer the bonuses, so check before you buy!
As always, I will update this post if more details become known.
And finally, in their second Youtube live on 30th April, ABC-Z announced that their music will now be released on streaming services! So now you will be able to listen to them on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, etc (and in Japan, things like LINE music too). At this point in time only their best album BEST OF A.B.C-Z is available, but Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda will also be available upon its release on 5th June, and presumably the rest of their discography will be added over time.
At first I couldn't find anything when I searched for them/the album on Spotify (which made me briefly wonder if it was a regional thing), but if you follow the link posted on Z Project twitter you can easily find the best album, or just go here directly. One other thing I noticed is that some of their song titles have been translated into english (for me at least, eg Suna no Glass → "Hourglass". For anyone in a non-english country, I'm curious if they're also english for you, or in your own language?), so if you get confused you can always check back to the tracklist on my post about the album's original release.
Additionally, the Hanauta Chill songs mentioned earlier can also be found on Spotify (and have been for some time I believe), you can find all the Hanauta Chill albums, with not just the ABC-Z songs but all the other artists' ones too, here.
If you made it to the bottom of all that, well done 👍
A *lot* of things have been announced/happened lately, I'm so sorry for not posting most of these in a more timely manner (everything has just got away from me lately...) Consequently, this is probably going to be a pretty long post ^^;
Firstly, since 10th April the jimusho's homepage has changed, if you go to any old J-net link it presents you with a page saying the site is closed and redirecting you to the new website, https://starto.jp . It's not just a new link but a new site design, so for anyone who needs to update their bookmarks, you can now find ABC-Z's page here, and their revamped schedule page here (personally I preferred the simpler 'everything on one page in an easy to read table' of J-net, but it is what it is).
Speaking of links, I hope to soon have the (long-promised) list of ABC-Z/Kawai related links ready, but now thanks to these changes I need to go and update a lot of them 😭
(And a slight tangent but, "J-net" was a nice concise way to refer to the jimusho's OHP when linking, as opposed to the Ponycanyon site (or official sites for drama/butai/etc) which I've always termed as "OHP". But now with the demise of J-net, I'm not sure how to refer to them to make it easy to understand/differentiate. Would people be offended if I still used "J-net" for jimusho links? Or does someone have a better suggestion :x)
Also on the 10th of April, the jimusho held "WE ARE! Let's get the party STARTO!!" concert featuring most affiliated artists (including ABC-Z) at Tokyo Dome, and will hold it again at Osaka's Kyocera Dome on 29 & 30 May. Additionally, the second of those concerts, 30 May at 16:00 JST, is going to be livestreamed! Tickets cost ¥5,800 (or ¥4,800 for FC members), you can buy them on FAMILY CLUB Online, or on the English version of the site. Please note, if you want to buy FC tickets you have to use the Japanese site (and a ticket on the EN site can't be used on the JP site, and vice versa).
On the JP site you can also see goods related the the live that are on sale. They also have accounts you can follow on Twitter and Instagram.
In member related news, the idol produced by Tsukada, Tsuka☆Rika (塚☆リカ), has opened her own twitter @rikachan_ymg and will hold her own mini live tour in Tokyo from June 10~26 (You can see the precise dates/times here, although all the shows are already sold out).
Additionally, Tsukada has also opened a personal Instagram @kinpatsu_kinniku_tsukachan, so make sure to give him a follow there too! He has also opened a personal homepage here (I love that he included profiles for his dogs ♡)
Hashimoto will be starring in a butai called Sleuth (スルース), running in Tokyo's Yomiuri Otemachi Hall from 18~28 July, and in Kyoto's Kyoto Gekijo from 3~4 August. (Not) J-net, OHP, Twitter.
Totsuka will be appearing in a drama, Mikkoku wa Utau 2 Keishichou Kansatsu File (密告はうたう２ 警視庁監察ファイル), airing on WOWOW starting August 2024, with a total of 8 episodes. The drama is a sequel to the 2021 drama of the same name and again stars TOKIO's Matsuoka as a detective in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, with Totsuka also reprising his role as his colleague Saito Kota. OHP.
Someone else already posted about this but ABC-Z have opened their own Youtube channel! You can now find all their music videos (and other lyrics videos, live clips, etc) there instead of the Ponycanyon channel. Additionally, ABC-Z are the latest group featured in a "Hanauta Chill" video on the Merch Company Youtube channel, with lo-fi versions of some of their hits for you to use while studying or relaxing.
To celebrate the opening of their own Youtube channel, the members held a Youtube live on 11th April, in which they announced (with some mishaps lol) that they will be releasing their 14th CD single (and first as 4 members), Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda (君じゃなきゃだめなんだ), on 5th June, 2024!
There will be 3 versions of the CD and details of each version can be found under the cut, along with links where you can preorder. If you are able to, please consider actually buying a copy and supporting ABC-Z!
First Press Limited Edition A (CD+DVD) ¥1,815 (tax incl.)
＜CD＞
01.「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda)
02.「Hallelujah」
03.「Hallelujah」-Inst.-
＜Bonus DVD＞
・「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda) Music Clip
・「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda) Dance Clip
・Making of Jacket & Music Video Shooting
Preorder: Amazon.co.jp with Bonus, without Bonus / HMV
First Press Limited Edition B (CD+DVD) ¥1,815 (tax incl.)
＜CD＞
01.「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ 」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda)
02.「One Way Blue」
03.「One Way Blue」-Inst.-
＜Bonus DVD＞
・Darkness Battle "I can't see anything but you"
Di~ng... clatter clatter
Clink, clink... beep boop♪
I can feel you even in darkness.
Enveloped in silence, a darkness battle!? "I can't see anything but you".
Preorder: Amazon.co.jp with Bonus, without Bonus / HMV
Regular Edition (CD Only) ¥1,210 (tax incl.)
＜CD＞
01.「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」(Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda)
02.「花束のステージ」(Hanataba no Stage)
03.「STELLAR」
04.「君じゃなきゃだめなんだ」-Inst.-
05.「花束のステージ」-Inst.-
06.「STELLAR」-Inst.-
Preorder: Amazon.co.jp with Bonus, without Bonus / HMV
Some sites also have a bundled set of all 3 versions available for preorder:
・Amazon.co.jp: There's no official bundle available but to buy all 3 versions (with preorder bonus) is approx. ¥4,840 (tax incl).
・HMV: Bundle available here for ¥4,840 (tax incl).
Additionally, each version of the single has a preorder bonus available from CD Shops when you preorder, on a first-come first-served basis as supplies are limited. You can see previews of the bonuses here.
★ Limited Edition A: Purikura-style Janakya Dame Nanda Sticker ver.A
★ Limited Edition B: Purikura-style Janakya Dame Nanda Sticker ver.B
★ Regular Edition: Pu Janakya Dama Nanda Promide
[T/N: "Purikura" are Japanese photo booth pictures; and "Promide" (or bromide) is a term used in Japan to refer to a commercial photo of a celebrity, think like the shop photos sold by the jimusho]
Note:
※ The bonus for each version is a different design.
※ Not all shops offer the bonuses, so check before you buy!
As always, I will update this post if more details become known.
And finally, in their second Youtube live on 30th April, ABC-Z announced that their music will now be released on streaming services! So now you will be able to listen to them on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, etc (and in Japan, things like LINE music too). At this point in time only their best album BEST OF A.B.C-Z is available, but Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda will also be available upon its release on 5th June, and presumably the rest of their discography will be added over time.
At first I couldn't find anything when I searched for them/the album on Spotify (which made me briefly wonder if it was a regional thing), but if you follow the link posted on Z Project twitter you can easily find the best album, or just go here directly. One other thing I noticed is that some of their song titles have been translated into english (for me at least, eg Suna no Glass → "Hourglass". For anyone in a non-english country, I'm curious if they're also english for you, or in your own language?), so if you get confused you can always check back to the tracklist on my post about the album's original release.
Additionally, the Hanauta Chill songs mentioned earlier can also be found on Spotify (and have been for some time I believe), you can find all the Hanauta Chill albums, with not just the ABC-Z songs but all the other artists' ones too, here.
If you made it to the bottom of all that, well done 👍