Hey!Say!JUMP
Ultra Music Power

1.Ultra Music Power
2.Star Time
3.Too Shy (Regular 1st Press edition)
4.Ultra Music Power Original Karaoke
5.Star Time Original Karaoke
6.Too Shy Original Karaoke (Regular 1st Press edition)

Hey!Say!JUMP is a 10 member group with older boys (Takaki Yuya, Yaotome Hikaru, Inoo Kei, Kota Yabu, Arioka Daiki) forming Hey!Say!BEST and younger boys (Morimoto Ryutaro, Chinen Yuuri, Nakajima Yuuto, Yamada Ryosuke, Okamoto Keito) forming Hey!Say!7. Hey!Say! is a pun on “Heisei”, the imperial era of the current Japanese Emperor, starting from 1989. All members in JUMP were born in this era. (and so was I!)

JUMP debuts on 14th November with ULTRA MUSIC POWER (theme song for Japan’s Women’s Volleyball World Cup team), and will have a debut concert at the Tokyo Dome 38 days after. As the latest group to debut from the almighty Johnny’s Entertainment boyband empire, their debut is making waves because the members are so young – the average age is 15. The man behind it all, Johnny Kitagawa, ruffled more than a few fans’ feathers when he publicly commented on the new debut – “The gathered members will shine if I polish them. The children of Heisei era are amazing. When the 10 are gathered together, an explosive power is born. All the members are good at singing, and they dance decently too. Children of the Heisei era are growing steadily in in all fields, for example sportsdom. I will not let the entertainment industry to lose, so I’m putting in power to change how it is. Showa is already useless.” (Showa is the previous imperial era, nearly all of the members in the other JE groups are ‘Showa kids’.)

Source: medetaiakaru@lj

So what do I think? After watching the PV, the first thing that struck me – there are TOO MANY PEOPLE! Seriously, with 10 members, you don’t quite know who to focus on.

To me, the one that stands out is the previously-unknown boy Okamoto Keito, who happens to be the son of ex-V6 member Okamoto Kenichi. This makes him the first son of a Johnny to be a Johnny! I enjoy watching him because he seems down to earth, sports a sensible spiky ‘do and does not do pretentious Johnny’s actions when he sings. I take it to mean he hasn’t been corrupted by the Way of The Johnny as yet. It’s nice to have a bit of testosterone around.

The ever-popular Nakajima Yuuto gets the first solo of the song, and a really long solo at that. It’s quite amazing how he’s grown so much in two years, last time we saw him in Nobuta as Shuuji’s little brother he was this utterly cute thing, but now he’s a seasoned performer complete with it-boy hairstyle. It’s easy to forget that you’re looking at a mere 13-year old when you watch him work the audience.

My favourite Yaotome Hikaru gets a nice rap in the middle, which is not too shabby. As always, he shows his friendly and personable side, unlike his fellow Ya-ya-yah alum, Yabu Kota. Yabu is such a huffy prima donna. If I didn’t like him so much when he was a cute kid, I should like to strangle him sometimes. Yamada Ryosuke deserves an honourable mention though he doesn’t get much screentime in this PV. He has a certain X-factor? I feel he’s shiny and kirakira the way YamaP is, somebody to watch indeed.

Oh and I just had to get this off my chest – CHINEN YUURI SCARES ME SHITLESS… I didn’t mind him in the Hey!Say! PV because they had the good sense to dress him up in bulky jackets and scarves but in this one he is:

1) terribly skinny
2) singing in his high, unbroken voice
3) getting a LOT of airtime with said voice
4) smiling radiantly as if to send paedophiles into a frenzy
5) doing his signature ballet twirly moves….

THIS IS NOT CHINEN HATE. I don’t hate him. I just think it’s scary the way the PV seems to showcase his dancing and dazzling smile in a paedophillic way. Maybe this is just Johnny’s. But I’m unnerved all the same… He’s a terribly talented boy, though. I must confess I like him a lot better now after watching him perform live. His clear, choir-boy voice adds a distinctive quality to Hey!Say’s music, giving it a special touch – in Ultra Music Power it’s almost as if he redeems the song from the quagmire of manufactured boyband tunes that Johnny churns out at an alarming rate.