#expg

[krizste]

[banqanas]

#i feel like riku and keito both have this sort of - cheerful chaos gremlin vibe at times

wake up everyone new headcanon dropped!!!!!!!!

takahide being afraid of a balloon

makocchan covering his ears before anything even happens

everyone else screaming except for keito

this was made for me. thank you rampfan

[mirai-e-jump]

Hirakawa Yuzuki Photobook: Yuzuki (select pages and translation below)

Publication: May 10, 2024

Hirakawa Yuzuki Interview

-Playing along with my older brother as the youngest child-

I'm originally from Kumamoto. When I was little, I was an active kid who played outside all the time. I'd play baseball, tag, takaoni (another form of tag)…I often followed my older brother and played with him and his friends. Since I was the youngest child, I was allowed to do whatever I wanted (laughs). Speaking of, I asked my mother about the origin of my name "Yuzuki," but apparently, she said there was really no particular reason. She said she chose it because it had a good stroke count. Since a bunch of people tell me it's a good name, I really like it alot.

When I was in elementary and middle school, in addition to playing basketball as part of club activities, I also did various sports related activities, such as beach volleyball, baseball and swimming. My older brother would be doing it, so I'd follow him…or my friends would be doing it, and I admired them…it often started out in a similar way. I didn't do things like abacus when it came to studying activities. One time, I enrolled in cram school during the Summer of my third year of middle school, but I wasn't suited for it, and quit about two months in (laughs). My best grades in school were in gym, Japanese, and social studies. I had been playing the electone for about 10 years since kindergarten, so I had good grades in music. Things like math and science I wasn't good at, if I had to say, I was better at liberal arts. As for what kind of student I was, I was the type of student who didn't go to school much back then (laughs). Those who know me now probably have the impression that I'm "cheerful, innocent, and full of energy," but I wasn't very good at fitting in with others back then. I'd feel hurt by a casual comment, but I couldn't say it clearly to the other person, and so it'd build up more and more…and when someone was angry with me, I sometimes felt as if I was angry with them too. Growing up, I was the type of person who wasn't suited for group living. My mother didn't force me to go to school, but told me, "If you don't want to go, make sure to properly study at home," and so I took occasional breaks. Of course, there were my club friends and close friends, but I was more likely to hang out with people like my older brother's friends, who were older than my classmates.

When I became a high school student, me and those around me became more mature, so I didn't have to be intimidated about fitting in. Furthermore, at the time, I was thinking of finding a job right after graduating high school, so I was conscious that school was more of a place to go to study than a place to have fun. I went to an information related high school, where I was exposed to bookkeeping and became really hooked, so I joined the bookkeeping club in my first year of high school. We couldn't get enough people together, so we couldn't form a club, but a "similar hobby group" (laughs). While I'm not good at math, for some reason, I'm good at calculating money (laughs), so I thought I'd like to become something like a tax accountant or a certified public accountant in the future.

-An audition applied for out of curiosity to go to EXPG, a place I had always dreamed of going to, changed my life forever-

I've always liked LDH's artists, and I used to drag my mother along with me to various live shows. During this, when I was in high school, I learned from a program I was watching at the time called "Weekly EXILE" that they'd be holding auditions for girls for the first time in about seven years. I thought it'd be just singing and dancing anyway, and that I wouldn't have a chance, but they were looking for girls with various dreams, including becoming actresses and models, so I thought, "If that's the case, I probably wouldn't be out of place." It was really more out of curiosity than wanting to be accepted. The venue for the first round was at EXPG STUDIO (dance and vocal school handled by LDH) in Fukuoka, which I had wanted to attend for a long time. Ever since I fell in love with LDH, I was drawn in by their singing and dancing and wanted to attend, but the time and money it would take to commute to Fukuoka made it impossible….So, I was tempted by the idea that if I auditioned, I'd be able to "go to that place that I had always dreamed of." However, with my mother saying she'd buy me clothes for my audition, being able to enter EXPG, which I adored, and being able to go shopping in Fukuoka, I had ulterior motives…I sent in my application just before the deadline since I wasn't sure if I should really apply. I remember taking the photo that seals the application document by propping my phone up against a CD player in my house (*picture on the left side on page 128). I also needed a full body photo, but I didn't have any clean white walls at home, so I used one at a friend's house and had it taken in a hurry…I rushed to prepare the necessary documents and applied. Since it was right in the middle of Summer break, I applied secretly without telling anyone in my class, only my parents knew about it.

After passing the written exam, the practical exam began, but I was surrounded by other girls who had been singing and dancing since they were young. I felt that these girls must've devoted all the time I spent enjoying my hobbies to their dreams, and their enthusiasm was so intense that I sometimes wondered if I was out of place after all. But, it was a miracle that I was even able to be there, so I decided to just enjoy myself. Everything I did was new, and since I had never sung or danced before, it was fun to learn how to do it, and I never forgot that feeling of "having fun" during the audition. In the final round, we were divided into groups and had to perform one song while singing and dancing, which was very difficult. When the screening was over, rather than a desire to pass, I felt a stronger sense of accomplishment, like "you've done well," and when my name was called as a successful applicant, I didn't really understand what was happening. I finally realized for the first time that I had been accepted when I went to the agency with my mother to sign the contract. For the first time, I felt a sense of excitement that I was stepping into the entertainment world, which I always thought was far away.

When I joined the agency, I left my parents home and moved to the capital, and was overwhelmed by the city of Tokyo. I walked from Nakameguro (where the agency is located) to Shibuya through Dogenzaka, and at first I thought the intersection in front of 109 was the scramble intersection that I often see on TV. And then, I went alittle bit further and there were many times more people there, and I was like, "Uwah, it's this way!" (laughs). In the beginning, everything I saw was new to me, and I was always pleased and said "uwah."

Immediately after moving to Tokyo, I took singing, dancing and acting lessons at the agency. In the acting lessons, I had a strong Kumamoto accent, so the first thing I did was fix that. I was also taught other various basics to acting. I started out taking one on one lessons at the agency, but eventually I began attending outside lessons for acting. There, I was with other kids of the same age, and I discovered new things like, "Even with the same script, this kid expresses themself in this way," and my passion for acting grew more and more. I had so much to think about during my life in Tokyo, that I didn't have time to say I was lonely, but the reason I didn't feel lonely was probably because I video called my mother every day. Still, I didn't want my parents to worry, so I didn't complain. I think my mother was probably worried about sending her teenage daughter off to Tokyo by herself. Kumamoto and Tokyo aren't close enough for me to rush over there right away, and I didn't want to cause any unnecessary worrying. That's why I barely talked about work, and just talked about casual things like, "What did you do today?"

My first job was on stage for "Moryo no Hako" with Tachibana Kenchi-san. I had never seen a stage before, so I really couldn't tell right from left in this situation. I started from the very beginning and thought, "What is the stage?" My seniors taught me everything from the basics, such as "this is good and this is bad." In any case, I was desperately trying to hang in there every day. After a month and a half of rehearsals, I took the stage for the first time, and I'll never forget how the audience looked at me and how enthusiastic they were. When I received applause at the curtain call, I was very happy to know that what I was expressing and what we had created together had become one piece of work, and I really felt that "this is how we reached the audience," which made me very happy. From there, I was motivated to work even harder on my acting. I was so frustrated by the anger I felt during rehearsals, that I became fired up and thought, "I never want to lose"…yeah, I think I'm very competitive (laughs).

-This is my last chance, I'll bet it all on a "cool" type of Sentai heroine!-

I played the role of Rita Kaniska, the king and chief judge of Gokkan, the country of ice and snow, in "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger." I've been doing tokusatsu auditions ever since I joined the agency. I think I've auditioned for both "Kamen Rider" and Sentai about four times. Having auditioned multiple times, the image I had of the female cast was that of "the heroine," with their charming smiles and angelic appearance. But the heroines of King-Ohger were different from the previous ones, and when I received the script on the day of the audition, I thought, "A cool one is here." I thought I was more suited for "cool" than "cute," so I decided, "I'm definitely going to get this!" Rita's gender hasn't been disclosed, but they're like a medieval character. I thought that maybe there wouldn't be another role like this in Sentai for a few more years, so if I missed this chance, I probably wouldn't be able to appear in Sentai.

That's why I locked onto the role of Rita from the beginning. When presenting yourself at an audition, I thought it was normal to mention a special skills, so I announced my morning routine (laughs). I thought that I'd definitely make a better impression on the judges if they remembered me as "the XX kid" rather than my name. That's why I thought it'd be nice to be called "the morning routine kid" and when I said something like, "Every morning, my morning routine is to pick out coffee beans and drip them while having a conversation with the beans," I got them to bite, with them responding, "What, talking to beans?!" (laughs). The conversation expanded from there, and I was told, "Please be yourself, there's no need to pretend," so I approached the role with my "natural character."

When I received the news that I had been chosen, I was truly relieved. There were about five rounds of auditions, so I thought, "If I fail after making it this far, I'll never recover," and I was in a situation where I couldn't even get food down my throat. There was a time before I auditioned for King-Ohger where I thought, "I'm not suited for this kind of job after all." My work was decreasing due to the covid pandemic, and when I was alone, I often thought deeply, wondering if I should go back to my hometown and get a job.

I was thinking of quitting if I didn't get the chance in 2023, but King-Ohger was scheduled for the end of 2022, so I thought, "I can continue this job." I was very happy because I felt that I finally had a grasp of the situation, and I also had a positive feeling that I could work hard again from here. I'm glad that my mother also told me, "Good for you, keep doing your best," which I think reassured me alittle. My mother watched King-Ohger every week and became a regular fan of the show (laughs). She was quicker than I was to get information on merch, and she came to events like G-Rosso. I'll send Rita merch to my parents house, and they'll say, "It'd be cute if they were all lined up together," so they're collecting all the characters themselves (laughs).

-Approaching the character by writing my "heart's voice" in the script.-

The story of King-Ohger is more interesting than anything else. The cast loves King-Ohger so much, that I think the actors themselves are the biggest fans of the show. Everyone looked forward to the next development and eagerly waited for the new script every week, saying, "I can't wait to read the next one!" (laughs). I also really enjoyed playing the character of Rita.

I was careful about many things in my performance, such as my voice and the way I stood. Since only my left eye is the only part of my body that shows facial expressions, some parts are difficult to convey, while other parts can be conveyed too much, so I was especially very concerned about how to handle my gaze. Also, the word "Immovable" was used, so I had to give meaning to "not moving." I thought it wasn't enough to just stand there, so I had to think in detail about it, such as "why not move here?" and "why move here after not moving for so long?" I'm the type of person who writes alot in the scripts, but I wrote what was going on in my mind rather than "I'll do this here." For each line, I imagined things like, "Rita is probably thinking this here, and so they're probably saying this," and then I'd write it down. Rita particularly has alot of emotions packed into short words, so I think that if I don't properly interpret the words in my mind before speaking, my words won't hold any weight. I also made sure that I had a clear understanding of the meaning of words that I normally wouldn't use, such as "perjury," and if it was difficult, I'd replace it with a different word and interpret it in a way that made sure I understood it clearly. Since they're also a presiding judge, I tried to take a variety of approaches in order to accurately convey a sense of dignity and persuasiveness.

The final battle from episodes 48 to 50 hit me all at once. I felt the weight of a year's worth of work, and I was in pain while performing, but I also felt the bond and connection between everyone, and even though there wasn't a part where I would cry, I still cried. In terms of Rita's individual scenes, episode 30, in which the secret of their right eye that they had been hiding for a long time was revealed, left a strong impression on me. I really felt that what Rita had been carrying and what they wanted to protect became clear, and that they became stronger.

It was also a challenge to film, but even after 30 episodes, I was able to discover new things like, "Rita can be this emotional!" This was the starting point to further expand on the character of Rita again in the last 20 episodes. Also, speaking of Rita, they have a habit of yelling when they're annoyed, but in the script it's written as "Ah!" I take care about the number of "A" and "!". Each time, the number written was different. So, when I told the Screenwriter something like, "Since there are so many ! here, I should shout like this?," he was overjoyed and said "You noticed?!" (laughs).

Apparently, he also writes the lines while shouting them, and depending on the tension, he writes it differently, like "Aaahhh!!!!" or "Ah!" (laughs). Such subtle differences were interesting, and I also enjoyed acting out the screaming parts. Another memorable episode was episode 38's audition episode. I saw an unexpected side of Rita, who said, "I'll go to such lengths for this job," and I felt that they had opened a new door. As for myself, when I was first told, "Next time, Rita will become an idol," I thought, "Hmm? How did they become an idol?," but then I was given a video of the dance and was told that I'd also sing. Well, it was like I was just taking on what was handed to me. (laughs). I only had about a year's worth of experience in dance lessons from my agency, but I didn't want to do it half heartedly. I think the image my agency has is that they take pride in dancing, so I did my best not to disgrace LDH's name (laughs). The singing and dancing was challenging, but it had been so long since I performed with my face showing, that I was alittle embarrassed at first. It had probably been about nine months since I performed with my whole face.

That's why it felt abit strange to see my whole face on screen, and I was like "whoa" at first (laughs), but in the end, it was alot of fun. Twin tails and a frilly costume…it's not often in life that you get to dress that cute. More than 100 TTFC members came as extras to play audience members, waving penlights and calling out to me. The special effects were amazing and so authentic that it made me think that I had become an artist.

On the day when we filmed the dance performance, the Director told me to "dance three times," but I was so excited that I got better every time I danced, and I ended up dancing eight times. The Director said, "There's been alittle bit of an increase," but it wasn't just alittle, it was more than twice as much as we had planned! (laughs). But, thanks to that, I think we were able to get some good shots, and I also felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Everyone in the King-Ohger cast got along really well. I'm currently regaining the youth I didn't get to enjoy in my teens (laughs). At the beginning of filming, I was worried about whether I'd get along with everyone, but everyone was so warm and welcoming that I didn't need to worry about it, and it felt like we were family. Everyone was so considerate and kind, and I was truly blessed to be a member of this group. We often went out to dinner after filming, and they were very reliable seniors, so we developed a relationship where we could easily discuss both our private and work related issues. Despite all that, we usually had alot of fun talking about things that we really couldn't do anything about (laughs). On set, when someone would make a joke, someone else would respond to the joke, and there was always alot of noise, but when it came time to perform, it felt like we made a quick switch. I think we were a really good team, and I'll do my best so I can work together with them in other productions in the future.

At the wrap up, everyone was crying quite abit, but I didn't cry. If I cried, it would start a chain reaction and everyone would start crying, so I just kept smiling. For awhile, the Director said to me, "You're not going to cry?" I said, "No, I'll probably cry," but…as I thought, the Director saw right through me. I don't really know why, but…but, when the Director cried while saying that, I was touched and was like, "Director~!" He even joked around saying, "You won't even cry at my tears?" (laughs), but I was actually pretty teary eyed.

I've learned alot over the past year. In the beginning, I was really nervous, to the point where I thought my hands would start shaking when I stood in front of the cameras. But after being in front of the cameras for a year, I feel that I've become less intimidated and have been able to focus 100% on the performance. This was my first time focusing on a single role for such a long period of time, so I learned how to expand on my character, come up with ideas for acting, and gained alot more skills. I was taught from the very beginning how to act, which I had been interested in for a long time, and also how to do the dub recording…I really learned alot of things, and I'm sure that what I've gained here will definitely come in handy in the future.

-My first impressions of the snowy landscape was quite literally, "It's dazzling!"-

The idea of publishing a photo book was mentioned to me casually by my manager during a completely different meeting. They said, "This is totally off topic, but do you want to publish a photo book or calendar?" When I heard that they were interested in a project, I asked for it with, "Definitely!" In our meeting to discuss the concept, I expressed "my wish to see snow," since I myself am from Kyushu and had never seen a snow covered landscape. Since Rita, the character I was playing at the time, was king of the country of ice and snow, I thought it'd be a good idea to use "snow" as a theme, and the location for the shoot turned out to be Akita.

When I actually saw the snowy landscape in Akita, I thought the snow was dazzling. I had never been exposed to light reflecting off snow, so at first my eyes weren't completely annoyed by that pure whiteness. But thanks to that, I think my skin looked nice and beautiful (laughs). Some of the snow had piled up quite abit, so I enjoyed flopping and rolling around in the snow, something I'd never have been able to normally do. There are some shots of me just having fun, so be sure to check them out (laughs). The sight of snow on the mountains was also something you don't see in Kyushu. It was so beautiful, that it cleansed my soul. I also made and ate kiritanpo by myself. I love rice and hot pots, so I enjoyed it tremendously. I never had a chance to visit the north before, but when I went to Tohoku for the first time, with delicious food and beautiful scenery, I thought it was the best. Lake Tazawa was so spectacular that it was like being overseas (laughs). It made me realize that there are also alot of beautiful places in Japan, and it made me want to travel around the country.

In addition to Akita, we also had the opportunity to shoot at "AMAZING COFFEE" (coffee shop produced by EXILE TETSUYA, also known as AMECO) in Tokyo. Previously, there was a period of time where I did a societal study at AMECO, where I learned alot about coffee there. Personally, I've always been a coffee lover, but there are many staff members at AMECO who know coffee inside and out, and many customers come to AMECO for that quality. So, I learned more about coffee than ever before. Now, I have fans who say things like, "When you think of Yuzuki-chan, you think of coffee," and people I meet say, "You love coffee, right?" I feel that it's become recognized that coffee is my hobby.

The photos here are the ones of me seriously facing the coffee and just enjoying latte art (laughs).

This time, the makeup artist did alot of creative styling with my short hair, and the style without bangs was very fresh. The costumes all had things I liked, so it was hard to choose. Also, the photographer, Mae Kosuke-san, was a very nice person who really helped me out. Even though I'm used to being in front of cameras, I still get nervous when taking still photos (laughs). Mae-san relieved me of that problem in a good way, so I was able to relax and feel at ease. The photographer, stylist, makeup artist…everyone created a great atmosphere that helped me relax during the shoot, so I'm very grateful.

-The "it's okay to express yourself more" that my friends in King-Ohger told me-

Acting allows me to experience many things that I could never experience in my own life, and above all else, I love the time I spend facing my roles. I've enjoyed the past year very much, so I'd like to continue to face different roles, absorb various things, and discover my potential and new sides of myself. I'd like to try anything, regardless of genre, whether it be film, stage plays, or voice work. In terms of expression, I've been doing some occasional modeling work, so I hope to expand that as well.

The roles I'd like to play in the future are ones of working women, such as a police officer or firefighter. I'd like to continue to do action, so I'd like to play cool roles that make use of those skills. I also really want to wear a uniform. I'm embarrassed to imagine a romantic role, but I'd like to play the role of a best friend position, someone who assists the main character in their love. Something like…"Actually, I'm in love with the same person the heroine is in love with, but my friend talked to her about it, so I can't confess anymore." I'd like to play a role in such a sad position like that. There are things like "getting together someday" right? (laughs). I'd like to play a role that makes people think, "I wish that girl had gotten what she deserved."

Now that King-Ohger is over, I'm currently in a period of taking occasional breaks.

When I'm at home, what do I do…as expected, I often immerse myself in making coffee at home. I'm not good at switching between emotions, so in a positive sense, I use coffee like a switch. I often brew it when I'm motivated for things like, "Let's do the laundry now," or when I need to take a breather and immerse myself with, "Now it's time to relax." And then there are times when I just feel relieved (laughs). There are times when I just sit on the sofa for two hours without watching TV, listening to music, or looking at my phone, and just stare at a single spot (laughs). Hearing this might make you worried, but since I talk alot outside of home, I'm very quiet at home. On days off, I don't say a single word, and I seem to unconsciously create time to be relieved and think about nothing. Something I consciously do as a mood changer is to go for a walk. When I set out, I can leave all kinds of things behind. If I'm thinking about something at home or on my way home, I end up remembering it when I arrive at the same spot. For example, if I sit on the sofa and reflect on something that went wrong, the next day when I sit on the same sofa again, it's like the bad thoughts I had yesterday come back to haunt me. That's why I'll do something like stretch my legs and get out of my comfort zone, throw away my frustrations, and go home. I'm like, "Don't come here anymore!" (laughs).

I guess what I value in life is thinking about the feelings of others. I'll think about what the other person would think if I said "this"…I place great importance on understanding and trying to pick up on the feelings of others. I'm mindful of being considerate to those around me as to not be selfish. In the past, I used to take it too far and become overly concerned about what others thought, but the members of King-Ohger told me, "We think it's okay to express yourself more." That's why I thought I'd try my best to be myself in a way that wouldn't make the other person feel uncomfortable. Right now, I'm in the process of growing up and trying to find the right adjustments (laughs).

Finally, I'd like to thank all of my fans for their support.

Thank you for picking up this photo book. I always receive alot of love from you all through SNS and fan letters, and this is the driving force behind my activities. I've only ever been given energy, smiles, and courage from everyone, so I'd like to give alot back in return. I'd be happy if you'll continue to support me going forward. I'm also looking forward to seeing tons of feedback on the photo book!

[hongssimi]

dance class // osaki shotaro

ᝰ synopsis .ᐟ getting into a dance class again wasn’t something on your bingo card of the year. neither did you expect the random dance class you signed up for in a japanese dance academy, while on your trip to japan, to be a couple dance class. but it wasn’t as bad as you thought, you got to know osaki shotaro. (plus lots of denial.)

ᝰ pairing .ᐟ dancer!shotaro x fem!reader

ᝰ genre .ᐟ suggestive // written

ᝰ word count .ᐟ 2.6k+

ᝰ warning .ᐟ mentions of boners, grinding, praise kink, kissing, and sex

ᝰ author's note .ᐟ happy birthday to my sho-kun!! liked him since he turned 20 and my man is now 24😭😭 i watched an old shotaro-focused fancam i had in my gallery and missed seeing him dancing so idea got churned out from the brain factory T^T totally not inspired by the fact that he was once a student under expg studio and that one pre-debut couple dance stage,,,

the last time you went to a dance class was in middle school, during your school break. ever since you quit from the school dance club, you just never went back to dancing. it wasn’t that you fell out of love with dance, you just had other things you were more interested in learning, like playing musical instruments, and art in the form of drawings and paintings.

you still took up dance opportunities in school, like when your middle school teacher asked you and your schoolmates to come up with a k-pop dance cover piece for your school exchange trip to a korean middle school – though that never happened due to rising politics that prevented the whole trip from proceeding. but here you were, in japan, signing up for a dance class at the top japanese dance academy recommended by your friend.

the academy was a well-known dance academy that produced a lot of japanese idols – or so you were told by your friend. you didn’t know much about japanese idols, as you only remembered the past where you were introduced to some of them by a classmate who loved j-pop. the introduction left a distasteful feeling for you as it seemed like they had mediocre dances and relied severely on looks to sell, which you didn’t appreciate as a dance lover. at least k-pop had impactful and fresh choreographies, along with the looks. you preferred k-pop dances, remembering your days taking dance classes at 1MILLION years ago, even attending some classes with k-pop idols like A.C.E and The Boyz before they became famous.

impulsively going to a dance class in japan was an opportunity to learn more about the japanese dance scene but you didn't realise the problem you had until you were signing the registration form. you couldn’t read japanese. understanding conversational japanese was one thing, but trying to figure out hiragana, katakana and kanji all at once was a brain overload for you. you even forgot the existence of translation apps. that’s how you ended up in a couple’s dance class. you couldn’t read japanese well, and accidentally signed up for the wrong class. you just saw ‘プ’, read as ‘pu’ in japanese, and assumed it was ‘hip-hop’. you didn’t even fathom for it to mean couple instead of hip-hop.

it’s just a dance class anyways, not a big deal.

entering the dance class 30 minutes before it started, you had concerns whether you were going to have someone to partner with after belatedly realising your class was one to be danced in pairs. everyone seemed to be stretching in pairs while you were the only one alone. you couldn’t find anyone that you could pair up with, even as the dance class started.

“anyone doesn’t have a pair?” your dance instructors, who introduced themselves as nakamura and nana, asked in japanese.

good thing i took conversational japanese classes in high school and watched anime.

you were halfway raising your hand, when a guy with really cool fashion, carrying a huge bag strutted into the dance room like he was on a runway. what does he even have in his bag that it’s so huge?

“oh, shotaro-kun! everyone else is already paired up, so you’re pairing up with miss black shorts over there,” nana sensei told shotaro, the cool-fashioned guy, as he nodded and headed towards you after chucking his bag to one of the bag areas.

“osaki shotaro,” he introduced himself, holding out a hand for a handshake.

“i’m y/n,” you took his hand in yours, which felt warm against your cold hands.

“y/n. pretty name for a pretty girl. cold hands though.”

of course your hands were cold, you’d been sitting in an air-conditioned building for forty five minutes. shotaro sat down next to you, with your hands still held together, before he let go completely to sit comfortably. nakamura sensei and nana sensei were asking the front of the class to make some space, as they were about to give a demonstration of the class' choreography.

“i’ve never seen you before, new here?” shotaro initiated small talk while the dance instructors were preparing the music.

“yeah. i’m actually here in japan on holiday so i’m just here for this class. haven’t gone to a dance class in seven years, though.”

“nice, i’m a regular at this academy,” you nodded, not really interested to know despite oversharing yourself, because you came to dance, not to flirt.

yeah, right.. joining a couple’s dance class, alone? paired up with a stranger? with that dance choreography?

you were gobsmacked. flabbergasted, even. the dance routine that nakamura sensei and nana sensei just showed to the class was very sensual, sexual and touchy. and i’m about to do that with a complete stranger? you knew that dance was an art form, which meant that sometimes, being intimate was unavoidable. but that didn’t mean you were comfortable with it. simply put, you were someone described as more ‘conservative’. even in relationships, you were one to prefer getting to know the other party better for a few months before proceeding to other steps like kissing and having sex. maybe that was why you had few relationships – and most of them, a fail.

“relax, y/n, i won’t eat you up,” shotaro smiled sweetly, snapping you out of your trance.

“come on! get up, let’s learn the dance.”

the first part of learning the dance routine went smoothly without any mishaps. you knew it was because there wasn't any crazily intimate dance steps unlike the second part of the routine, where the skinship started. the first move of the next dance step required you to go behind shotaro and slide your hands from his chest to right around his belly button.

“go ahead, it’s fine.”

shotaro assured you that you could touch him, showing the sweet smile he gave you before the both of you started dancing. he could tell you weren’t exactly comfortable with touching complete strangers. he was an experienced dancer who could tell the intimacy levels his dance partners were comfortable with, and you were especially obvious with how much you didn’t like touching strangers. since the handshake with you earlier, he felt the way you very obviously wanted to let go while he was holding your hands tight as he sat down, without thinking much of the interaction. you had to admit however, that shotaro had a good body. he was lean but bulked, and his hard rock abs were reminiscent of the olden day washboard.

the next dance step required you to stand in front of him, facing away from the mirror and dropping down to the floor with your hands sliding down to his hipline before getting up. he had a sexy smile on his face, and you were unable to tell if he was flirting or doing facial expressions to match the dance. somehow, you ended up face-to-face with a bulge in shotaro’s grey sweatpants. he had a boner.

“sorry about nature’s work. you know, sexual dances and hormones,” he apologised as you got up to do the next dance move, following nana sensei.

the both of you were doomed. the third part of the dance involved grinding. how were you, a ‘conservative’ girl who didn't like skinship, supposed to do that, with a guy who was currently having a boner in his pants?

“this grinding means nothing. i know you have a boner but we’re being professional here,” shotaro nodded, completely understanding.

shotaro had no idea why he was acting the way he was. normally, he’d be perfectly fine dancing with the opposite gender. he’d even dance a sexier couple’s choreography than nakamura sensei and nana sensei’s current routine. so why was he acting like a complete teenager, at his big age of twenty four years old? he knew he was asking a dumb question. you were his type. you were pretty, had long hair that went below your shoulders, and his favourite of all, you were significantly shorter than him. he had a thing for his significant other being shorter, and you were 160cm, the perfect height for a man like him.

“baby, you’re so good for seven years, no class.”

baby?! what is this guy on about? can’t blame him though, i am kinda hot.

you just rolled your eyes as you brushed off his comment and continued learning the dance from the dance instructors. if shotaro could read your thoughts, he’d probably have completely fallen for you. he loved when a girl was confident about herself. but he’d never say that with his own mouth for your confident ass to hear. except maybe, if he was in bed with you.

“alright, that’s the whole routine, let’s go through the last part once more, and then we’ll do it from the start,” nakamura sensei voiced to the whole class.

“we’ll pick the top five couples to film a dance video, alright? do your best,” nana sensei added on.

although you hadn’t taken dance classes in years, you were an achiever. whether it was your school grades, a game in an arcade, or even a stupid dare, you wanted to be the best. you liked being the best, and loved when people praised or congratulated you for your hard work to get where you wanted to be. or maybe i just have a praise kink.

“take this seriously, osaki,” you called out to your dance partner who was wearing a tight fitting black shirt and grey sweatpants.

“oh? no honorifics from you, y/n? sexy,” he teased you knowing you were going to be annoyed, just like how you rolled your eyes earlier when he called you baby.

the both of you met around two and a half hours ago, but shotaro had you all figured out.

the music played from the top, “one, and two, and three, and four, and,” nakamura sensei signalled the counts for the class to start dancing the whole choreography.

shotaro was dancing well, having the perfect expressions and hitting all the right angles. you, on the other hand, flexibly matched well to his energy, dancing as if it wasn’t the first time you met. you took quick glances at the instructors, seeing an impressed face on nana sensei’s face. nakamura sensei was throwing out compliments to all the pairs in the class, but he went silent at your pair, with only a “woah” coming out his mouth. you knew you were going to be one of the chosen five. you were great, and so was osaki shotaro, the man you were dancing with.

“... and the last pair is shotaro and his girl!” nakamura sensei announced to the class.

you jumped in joy and unknowingly hugged shotaro tightly. you loved winning. so much as you didn’t realise nakamura sensei had called you shotaro’s girl. you didn’t even realise he did that on purpose, because he saw how much differently shotaro acted than usual. nakamura sensei knew shotaro well, being his regular student – and his wife, nana sensei’s cousin. originally osaki nana, now nakamura nana. but you didn’t have to know that.

“so, you agree with nakamura sensei that you’re my girl?” he was truly an annoyance, but a cute, sexy one.

you realised what you were doing with him and let go, apologising with the excuse that you were just caught up in the moment. you didn’t realise how much more comfortable you got with him, within the span of two and a half hours. the intimate choreography helped shotaro get closer to you.

after the fourth pair finished recording their dance, you and shotaro both got up. it was your pair performing next. you had to do well. the video was going to be on the dance academy’s youtube channel, according to what shotaro told you. it had to be good. shotaro took your hand in his, pulling you along to the center of the practice room. with the same hand, he somewhat patted the back of your hand that he was holding, as if to reassure you that all would be fine and to just trust him when dancing. the whole time, you had unknowingly not even pulled away or rejected his hand.

unlike the other pairs, the room was completely silent when the two of you performed. everyone in the room felt the sexual tension between you and shotaro. they felt the true sexiness of the choreography, and that it was somewhat similar with nakamura sensei and nana sensei’s demonstration hours earlier.

it was like you two were actual lovers, hungry and lusting for each other. it didn’t help that your pair was wearing matching outfits — your fitting grey crop top and black shorts, contrasting shotaro’s fitting black shirt and grey sweatpants — that made the both of you look more like an actual couple. the looks shotaro was giving you as the both of you performed — sexy with his clicking of the tongue, lustful with his tongue teasing, eyes not leaving your ass every time you were in front of him — was making you ever more confident with your moves.

the last move was resemblant of a couple kissing, as the male – in this case, shotaro, looks to the audience like a predator who caught his prey. but you, being too into the choreography, had kissed him on the lips. this was not like you at all. shotaro, on the contrary, remained professional even as you kissed him, giving a fierce stare towards the camera as what k-pop idols would call ‘ending fairy’. everyone erupted in applause while having their mouth agape. the performance you and shotaro did left everyone breathless.

“and.. cut!” nakamura sensei called out when their cameraman who came in before the recording signalled him.

“oh shit,” you pulled back, realising you kissed shotaro.

what did i just do?! who is this?! this isn’t the y/n that i know?

“it’s okay baby, you did well.”

his compliment made you smile. shotaro was getting too comfortable calling you baby for someone he just met three hours ago. you didn’t do anything about it either, seemingly as if you were fine with the pet name. maybe you did fall in love with him within a three hour class. he dragged you along with him by your waist, his arm sitting comfortably on your behind, to sit back down for the class debrief.

nakamura sensei and nana sensei gave a speech of thanks to everyone for attending the lesson and giving it their all for a successful session, before dismissing the class. he was about to talk to you, when nakamura sensei called him to discuss about something that you couldn’t understand the meaning of. (he was trying to get shotaro's opinions on a surprise date planned for nana sensei. rightfully so, since shotaro grew up with nana sensei – the one who got him into dancing.)

finishing the talk with nakamura sensei, he ignored his big bag and walked directly towards you instead. you were taking your own sweet time to pack your bags before leaving the dance room. not because you were secretly waiting for him, or curious about what he was going to ask before being interrupted, you convinced yourself. you were exhausted after the intense dance class.

“baby, can i have your instagram?”

he knew not to cross boundaries too fast (even though you crossed it first by kissing him earlier), and just asked for your instagram username. thank god, because it would have been dumb of him to ask for your LINE account, knowing you weren’t even living in japan, which means you likely didn’t even use LINE.

“i’ll send you a message, baby”

little did you know, you were soon going to gain a long-distance boyfriend – one that you were going to meet every night after his dance classes for the rest of your japan trip. you didn't know what was it about shotaro, that made you do things you would have never done otherwise. but what the both of you planned to do after your japan trip, was a problem for the future you and the man called osaki shotaro.

i mean, i already kissed him! whether i brought him back to the hotel for something more or not.. wouldn’t be such an issue, would it?

✶⋆.˚꩜ AFTERTHOUGHTS .ᐟ˙⋆✶ writing this for like three hours in and out while listening to a whole bunch of local songs (i think? i don’t even know most local artists) with the simp and longing theme was crazy… i did not know i had it in me to do this?? took me forever to proofread though, hope you enjoyed! likes and reblogs are appreciated :)

✶⋆.˚꩜ PERMANENT RII7E TAGLIST .ᐟ˙⋆✶ @seokiebin @lcvehee @taroddori [STILL OPEN]

do not repost works © hongssimi

[koch-snowflake-blog]

村島 未悠は、日本のグラビアアイドル、女優、元アイドル、歌手、YouTuber。大阪府出身。ジェイロックを経て、2023年現在はホリプロデジタルエンターテインメント所属。 ダンスボーカルグループ｢CHERRSEE｣の元メンバーで、当時の名義はMIYU。 ウィキペディア

出生地： 大阪府 大阪市

生年月日： 1998年8月27日 (年齢 25歳)

身長： 157 cm

カップサイズ： F

スリーサイズ： 86 - 58 - 84 cm

デビュー： 2016年

別名義： MIYU

趣味・特技はけん玉、マラソン、バスケットボール観戦、ダンス。好き��色はピンク、白、黒。

ダンスについては、授業の際に指されるだけでも赤面するほどの人見知り（引っ込み思案）だったことを見かねた母により、10歳（小学4年生）から習わされた。「イケイケにさせたい」と半ば強引に金髪にさせられたこともあったが、そのおかげで仕事を始められた。グラビアについても、「やったらええやん」と背中を押してくれたことが志願のきっかけであり、自分とは正反対の陽キャラな母には感謝しているという。

昔から陰キャであり、人付き合いが得意ではなく友達が少なかったことも、ダンスを始めるきっかけになった。高校はもとよりCHERRSEEも恋愛禁止ではなかったが、そういう理由からも恋愛経験は少なく、個人活動中に帰省から偶然の再会を経て唯一良い感じになった同郷の友人との交際も遠距離ゆえの寂しさが災いし、2か月ぐらいで会わなくなった。自分の中では「交際=結婚」と思っているうえ、ナンパに勤しむ遊び人よりはちょっとオタクっぽい人の方が好みであるため、慎重になってしまうという。

足のサイズは本人曰く「20.5cmくらい」。普段はほとんどスニーカーしか履かない（本人曰く「スニーカーは大きめでもいい」）ため、撮影時に用意してもらった靴も合わないことが多いほか、水着のサイズも着てみないとわからないため、衣装合わせに時間がかかってしまうという。

「むらみゆ」は高校当時のあだ名でもあり、本名への改名は「アイドル時代よりももっとファンの皆さんと近くなりたい」との理由による。それゆえ、『むらみゆ』についても「よりファンとの距離を縮めるような温かい1冊になったらいいな」と思っているという。

バックダンサー当時からアーティストに憧れており、CHERRSEEにはそれが高じて（J-POPとK-POPのジャンルを合わせたCHERRSEEのオーディションの広告を見つけて）オーディションを受け、所属した。CHERRSEE所属当時はアイドル活動はもとより生活的にも厳しく、焼肉屋にて3年間ほどアルバイトを経験した。一方、「グループが注目されるきっかけになれば」とグラビア活動を始め、頑張っていたものの実はそれまでプライベートで競泳水着しか着たことがなく、母の水着を借りて宣材写真を撮ったこともあったほか、グラビアの撮影に際しては上の水着を逆さまに着て1時間ぐらい気づかず、撮り直しにな��たこともある。それゆえにグラビアにはあまり自信がなく、撮影自体は楽しかったが慣れない部分があり、胸が大きいのもコンプレックスだったことから、ダンスの際にはインターネットにて購入したサラシっぽいスポーツブラを巻いたりしていた。グラビアを休んでいる間には何より「またグラビアに出て欲しい」との声を多くもらい、それに応えようと復帰した後には自分が輝ける場として前向きに捉えられるようになったという。

2022年現在では芝居にも意欲を見せてオーディションを受けるようになっており、バラエティ番組『あの界隈を恋愛ドラマにしたら…不覚にもキュンときた』（同年10月22日、中京テレビ）内のショートドラマで主人公を演じたことが、「演技に挑戦したい」から「もっと演技できるようになりたい」に意識が変わるきっかけとなり、学ばせてもらったという。

モデル・女優の花山瑞貴は、ホリプロデジタルエンターテインメントでの先輩にして中学時代やEXPG時代からの親友である。また、元NMB48の木下春奈は高校時代3年間通して同じクラスだった。

YouTubeについては、「むらみゆ」の開設時点では企画から撮影、編集をすべて自分で担当していたが、2023年10月時点ではホリプロデジタルエンターテインメントの社員などにも手伝ってもらえており、グラビアのオフショット動画のおかげで登録者数が10万人まで伸びたという。　　

　　

[banqanas]

And of course we have to play the game "spot junior members who hasn't debuted at the time!!!!"

Hayato hugging Sawanatsu!!!!

Leiya with Mandy!!!!

Shota!!!!!

FANTASTICS!!!!!!!!

They get the spotlight around 01:33:03 be the ONE

GENE's Mad Cyclone concert is on YouTube for a limited time

[simpforchuchu]

A HELPFULL GUIDE TO THE RAMPAGE FROM EXILE TRIBE BY CHU-CHU

Hi Guys! I see that there are many new Rampage fans - Ravers - among us and I would like to introduce the members to you. Other than formal group information, some of it will be my own opinions. You can easily find other official informations about the group on the web. Rather, I want to share with you how I see each member, what impression they made on me, and what I liked or found interesting about them. So please keep in mind that these are my opinions. And of course, I'm not a very old fan either. There may be things I don't know or misunderstand. You can share with me what you want to add or correct 💜

-I am also sharing with you some blogs that I know who is posting about Exile Tribe/The Rampage. You can check them out too 💜I will continue to introduce the members when I have time :') I hope you like it :D 💜

@ataryutaro @banqanas @elenilote @fextsubs @rainisawriter @rowdyshogun @thistaleisabloodyone @zhaolusi (Hope I didn't forget anyone :( )

The Rampage

A Japanese dance & vocal boy group formed and managed by LDH JAPAN.

16 members: 3 vocalists and 13 performers. 

They made their major debut on January 25, 2017 with the single “Lightning”.

Fandom name: Ravers ( RAmpage loVERS)

Formation: September 12, 2014

Debut: January 25, 2017

Genres: J-pop, hip hop, dance pop

Leaders: Likiya and Zin

16 Members: Likiya, Zin, Riku, Kenta, Rui, Yamasho, Kazuma, Hokuto, Iwasho, Shohei, Itsuki,Kaisei, Makoto, Ryu, Takahide and Takuma

And yes they have a hip-hop sub-unit : Ma55ive the Rampage (Likiya, Kenta,Yamasho, Shohei, Takahide)

I also didn’t know this part;

At the beginning it was unclear how many and which candidates would be chosen for the group's final line-up, the members later described the time as a desperate, harsh and stressful "survival situation". According to Kawamura Kazuma, the three vocalists were especially tense and taking the situation very seriously, thinking that one of them was going to be cut, due to the fact that LDH only had a two-vocalist system for all of their boy groups at that point.

But luckily they were all chosen :’)

However, while they were training for their debut in the public eye, the members later revealed that the group had been struggling behind the scenes and actually went on a hiatus the year after they were formed until their debut. Several members mentioned that they considered quitting during that time as it was mentally and physically difficult.Also Fujiwara Itsuki revealed that the members had also been working as staffs of the company behind the scenes in that time period, for example as tour staff for senior groups, or in Fujiwara's case, as staff of EXPG schools.

June 16 had been chosen as "RAVERS DAY". This specific date was selected because it is the only month out of the year that does not have a member's birthday, and because the number "16" is important to the group :D

During the first five years, all members of the group lived together in a dormitory.There were four rooms, and four members lived in each room, sharing bunk beds. Each room also had a room manager.

-I don't plan to mention TV series, movies, awards, songs, albums or tours. I get most of the information from Exile Tribe Wiki, you can read more there :’)

MEMBERS

1) LIKIYA : Elliot Likiya (エリオット·力矢)

Born: November 28, 1990 (age 32)

Birth Place: Aomori Prefecture, Japan

Height: 170 cm (5 ft 6.9 in)

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Emoji: 👨‍🍳

Leader and performer of THE RAMPAGE and a rapper in MA55IVE THE RAMPAGE.

DAD of the group

He may look serious but he is literally a cinnamon roll

I love Likiya, with his style, personality, sweetness and everything

Someone who is frequently teased by other members

When group members were asked who they would like to date, most of them chose Likiya.

Also, Elly from Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS is his older brother. That's why he said that he was often compared to him and that he was flustured.

According to Wiki;

He participated in the EXILE PERFORMER BATTLE AUDITION, but did not make it to the finals.

LIKIYA's father is Carlos Elliot, a former professional boxer and LIKIYA started practicing boxing as a hobby.

He loves basketball and cooking. That's why his emoji is a cook. 👨‍🍳

Described as a calm, quiet and very reliable person with a strong sense of leadership. According to his members, he also has a mischievous side and occasionally makes a joke to calm the mood.

In charge of the choreography of THE RAMPAGE.

He is very good at cooking. His skills are so good that he even invented his own curry, "Likiya-man's Indian Spinach Curry" (リキヤ～マンのインド風ほうれん草カレー), which is actually sold in Japan. In 2020's first broadcast of "RMPG DOPE STATION", he talked about his dream of appearing on a cooking show.

His favorite color is white. He collects white clothes and white things, and most of his furniture and accessories are white.

2) ZIN : Sakamoto Zin (坂本陣)

Born: April 28, 1994 (age 29)

Birth Place: Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Height: 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)

Zodiac Sign:  Taurus

Emoji:🐴

Leader and performer of THE RAMPAGE

MOM of the group

I LOVE HIS SMILE <3 HIS SMILE IS SO PRETTY <3

He is really like a mom even to the older members. He is fun, funny and really so cute. And I really love when he talks :’)

Probably the one who gets bullied the most

He is one of the tall members

According to Wiki;

He participated in the EXILE PERFORMER BATTLE AUDITION, but did not make it to the finals.

Described as a good talker, mood-maker and hard worker. His members appreciate his cheerfulness, responsibility and communication skills.Additionally, he is also described as compassionate, tearful and a bit clumsy. Because of his friendliness, he is often teased even by the younger members.

Usually takes the lead when it comes to interviews and has a natural talent for hosting live performances and events

Didn't like his smile very much for a long time, but after he joined THE RAMPAGE, people started to tell him that he has a nice smile, which changed his view. :’)

Has a cat named "Luky".

Likes the manga Jujutsu Kaisen.

His favorite color is red.

3) RIKU: Aoyama Riku (青山陸)

Born: August 10, 1994 (age 29)

Birth Place: Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Height: 174 cm (5 ft 8.5 in)

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Emoji: 🐶

Maybe you think Rampage’s only vocalists are Kazuma and Hokum but no. This handsome man is a vocalist too and he has an amazing voice…

He is really good at teasing and annoying people and a bit savage.

He has that prince vibe and has a really charming visual.

His English is pretty good and wants to speak English to reach international fans &lt;3

IwaSho and him are close friends

He likes going GYM… really…

He loves playing soccer and really good at it 

He really loves children and A RIKU WITH KIDS ALL YOU NEED BELIEVE IN ME :’)

According to Wiki;

A very good dancer and known for his ability to dance with the same level of sharpness as a performer while singing stably.

Initially viewed his high-pitched voice as a complex. He is often jokingly imitated and teased by the members for it and he consciously keeps his voice low in magazine interviews.

Taught himself how to play the piano.His first keyboard was gifted to him by SHOKICHI.

Often compared to a golden retriever due to his cheerful, communicative, clumsy and soft nature and muscular physique.

Went to an all-boys high school for six years.

Always keeps a list of restaurants that interest him on his smartphone.

He has a friendly rivarly with KAZUKI and Sato Taiki, who attended EXPG Tokyo at the same time as him.Initially, he felt inferior to KAZUKI, which motivated him to practice harder.

His favorite color is pink.

Used to be the centre of the group, but the position was reappointed to Kawamura Kazuma.

4) KENTA: Kamiya Kenta (神谷健太) 

Born: May 27, 1995 (age 28)

Birth Place: Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

Height: 170 cm (5 ft 6.9 in)

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Emoji: 🐿️

Performer of THE RAMPAGE and a rapper in MA55IVE THE RAMPAGE.

Even though he is a performer and rapper, he has great vocals. And I'm so happy ma55ive used him as vocals &lt;3

He's funny, sweet and entertaining

I think he has a flirty personality

He and Rui are childhood friends and very close friends. (But he'll never admit it)

He has interesting and funny drunk memories...

He has a lot of questionable (in a good way) behavior and always makes me laugh

He's one of the oldest members but he definitely doesn't act like one :D

When he was a kid, he wanted to be a FBI Agent but I think he still does :D

According to Wiki;

He participated in the EXILE PERFORMER BATTLE AUDITION but didn't made to the finals.

In 2013, he was introduced as a member of the trainee group EXILE GENERATIONS.

He has a childhood friendship with fellow group mate Yonamine Rui

Him and Yonamine Rui together are called the "Haisai Duo" or "Haisai Combi". They are from the same hometown and the first students from EXPG Okinawa to join LDH.

Described as a mysterious and quiet person. He says about himself: "I'm not a loner, but I'm a free spirit and have my own pace". However, he also has a playful side characterized by strange moves, peculiar laughter, and eccentric worldview.

Has a curious nature and likes to try new things.

His favorite artists are Michael Jackson and Chris Brown.

In 2017, at the start of the group's first solo tour THE RAMPAGE LIVE TOUR 2017-2018 "GO ON THE RAMPAGE", he launched a video corner called "The Two Who Can't Talk" (しゃべれない2人) together with Fujiwara Itsuki in order to improve their talking skills. :D

According to his members, he is always late in his private life.

His favorite color is black.

[shuubah]

Look-Alikes of LDH JAPAN

Lately I've been noticing that several members of the new generation groups of LDH JAPAN resemble their seniors, so much so that they could be mistaken as twins! Here are all the ones who caught my attention until now.

The last one will be a surprise!

1. Kaede and Masuda Kurea

Kaede is a former member of Happiness and E-girls, currently active as a member of f5ve (formerly known as SG5). Kurea is a member of Girls², magical² and belonged to KIZZY and Bunnies (E-girls pyramid) as an EXPG student.

E-girls × Girls² combination, yes! And the resemblance is uncanny!!

My favorite LDH twins by far. 🩷 Kurea really is like a younger version of Kaede.

2. Sato Taiki and Yamada Kodai

Taiki is a member of EXILE and FANTASTICS. Kodai is from LIL LEAGUE.

Personally speaking, I rarely ever find them to be similar, if at all. But a lot of people say they look like twins.

3. WEESA and Nanba Sora

WEESA is one of the vocalists of PSYCHIC FEVER. Sora is a member of LIL LEAGUE.

Predecessor and successor of EXILE TRIBE's youngest member. They're also the youngest in their respective collective groups, Jr.EXILE and NEO EXILE.

It was only recently that I noticed their similarities when they collaborated in a video a short while ago.

4. Sunada Masahiro and Nakamura Aoi

Masahiro is one of the vocalists of BALLISTIK BOYZ. Aoi is a performer and rapper from THE JET BOY BANGERZ. He's also a part of the dance crew SEPTENI RAPTURES which competes in D.League.

Honestly, they're twinning harder than even actual (fraternal) twins!!

They're both the youngest members in their respective groups, and look older than their actual ages.

5. Kano Yoshiyuki and Ishikawa Kota

Another same groups combination. Except Kota is a vocalist, not a member of any other dance unit.

One pair isn't enough, so we got double twins for BALLISTIK BOYZ × THE JET BOY BANGERZ!!

If corporate needed me to find differences between these two, I'd say they're one and the same!!

6. Hidaka Ryuta and Kawaguchi Soma

Ryuta is a vocalist of BALLISTIK BOYZ. Soma is a rapper and performer of KID PHENOMENON.

One more BALLISTIK BOYZ member. But this time rather than having similar faces, they share similar hairstyles and postures.

7. RYOJI and Sato Shunnosuke

RYOJI is simultaneously a member of WOLF HOWL HARMONY and DEEP SQUAD. Shunnosuke belongs to KID PHENOMENON as a rapper and performer.

The only NEO EXILE twins in the bunch.

These photos are screenshots from an Instagram live where KIDPHENO members were copying WOLF HOWL HARMONY members, and they made good use of their similar looks by making Shun-chan mimic RYOJI!

And now, time for the last pairing. Let's have a little twist for the ending, shall we? Get ready!

Dun dun dun!!

Coming in

3...

2...

1!

Ta-da!

8. Tsuruya Misaki and Handa Ryushin

Misaki is a member of Girls² and magical². Ryushin is from PSYCHIC FEVER.

The only girl and boy twins!! 🎉 Did I catch you off guard!? Did I?? Did I???! (☆▽☆)

Sorry Ryushin, but you really do look like Misaki with your blond hair. 💀 Misaki is the cool senior, while Ryushin is the cutie junior. (◡ ω ◡)

✧✧✧

And that concludes my list of look-alikes of LDH JAPAN. What did you think? Do you have any other twins in your mind? If so, do share it. That's all from me. Toodles~

[fextsubs]

HoriNatsu Room - Hori Natsuki's Dance Lesson! feat. Jimmy

A wise man once said...

HoriNatsu Room - Hori Natsuki's Dance Lesson! feat. Jimmy FANTASTICS from EXILE TRIBE PSYCHIC FEVER from EXILE TRIBE

Stream/Download

Synopsis: Hori returns to where it all started: EXPG Nagoya! Watch as he and special guest Jimmy revisit their time at the school and teach a class some of FANTASTICS' moves.

[nodokasia]

EXILE STUDIO ReBorn radio #78

Sekai: First impression.

Taiki: Hm?

Sekai: They asked about our first impressions of each other.

Taiki: Ah! Got it.

Sekai: Honestly speaking...Weren't you my student when we first met?

Taiki: That is right!

Sekai: At EXPG.

Taiki: Yes. I was learning dance and entered EXPG. And a year after that Sekai-san entered it too.

Sekai: Yes.

Taiki: I think you were 20 or 21 at that time. My instructor told me "He is the best dancer among all 20 years olds here!". That is how he introduced you to me.

Sekai: Oooh~!😮👏👏 This flattery will get you nowhere!

Taiki: I thought it was a cool way to introduce someone. And one other thing! When I was a support member for GENERATIONS, there was something Sekai-san told me that I still remember to this day. (...) You said "Taiki, you will become a part of EXILE TRIBE. I just know it."

Sekai: Did I say that?

Taiki: You did. I was all "Whaaaat?!!" "Why do you think that?!" And you said "Because you can act. And I think that you're the best one in your support-dancer team right now. If you get a chance to perform on a bigger stage, I know you can do it." I clearly remember you telling me this.

Sekai: Wow, I sound like a prick.

Taiki: No no! It's fine! You were my teacher at that time so I didn't take it badly!

Sekai: I have no memory of saying this. Whatsoever.

Taiki: But you did. I am 100% sure of that.

Sekai: Really? Hmmm...

Taiki: OK, then tell me what was your first impression of me?

Sekai: I had none.

Taiki: He had none...None, HUH?! How dare you. I was telling such a touching story about you. And you have NONE...

Sekai: LOL! Sorry sorry! I do! I do! I think you had your hair when I first met you...

Taiki: My hair?!

Sekai: Yeah. My first biggest impression is of you having a shaved head.

Taiki: Ah! That! I did it for a play with Gekidan EXILE.

Sekai: This image of your bald scalp got stuck in my mind. We had lessons that ended at 21. And every day after the lesson ended I saw you in the locker room with that shaved head of yours. "I see this kid a lot. He must love dancing." I thought. And that was my first impression of you.

[hopkei]

Fantastics 100 Questions & Answers! Pt.1

Source: Monthly Exile August 2020 (Part two)

🚨Warning: may contain inaccuracies!🚨 Feel free to share elsewhere but please credit me🌻

~~

Questions 1-10

1. What meal are you best at cooking? Sekai: Cup Ramen Taiki: Stir-fried bean sprouts Sawa: Carbonara Leiya: Motsunabe Hori: Chinese soup Keito: Curry Yusei: Garlic butter chicken stir-fry Sota: Meat and vegetable stir-fry! It’s totally unmatched!

2. What is a song excluding your own that you want to perform? Sekai: Sandaime JSB - S.A.K.U.R.A. Taiki: Finger Five: 学園天国 Sawa: Exile - Ti Amo Leiya: I want to sing GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE / 「One in Million -奇跡の夜に」 Hori: GENERATIONS vs BALLISTIK BOYZ - 「BREAK DOWN YA WALLS」 Keito: Sandaime JSB 冬空, Generations - Brand new story Yusei: EXILE / 「優しい光」 Sota: GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE / 「I Remember」

3. What was the most embarrassing moment in your life? Sekai: Every audition I’ve ever done  Taiki: At my photobook shoot when I went to the Hawaii for the first time in my life and I lost my money Sawa: I thought I was talking to my friend really excitedly but it was actually someone I didn’t know….. Leiya: The time I was rushing down the stairs to the underground by Shibuya Scramble Crossing on a rainy day and I slipped and fell all the way down the stairs on my butt Hori: The time I dreamed that I was walking down the street naked Keito: The time I got a hole in my pants during an EXPG STUDIO-era performance Yusei: The day I went walking in Shibuya and I wore my t-shirt backwards and totally different socks! (laughs) Sota: In elementary school, I went to onsen with my dad. I had gone to get in first, but accidentally got into the water intended for Kakeyu. A lot of older people were laughing at me, but I didn’t realize until my dad came that I was in the Kakeyu. (tn: a Kakeyu is a pre-rinse you do before getting into an onsen, it is typically done with a bucket, and this water is in a separate tub than the actual onsen)

4. Who is the person that makes you think “If I hadn’t met them, I wouldn’t have the life I do now?” Sekai: Everyone I’ve ever met Taiki: Hiro-san Sawa: Dance Teacher Leiya: Fukuoka dance teammates Hori: Hiro-san, Nakao Shota Keito: Ito-sensei from when I was in (Exile) Kids Class! Yusei: My friend that played the guitar in middle school Sota: My piano teacher. It was my start in music!

5. If you could switch lives with any LDH member who do you want to switch with? Sekai: Atsushi-san Taiki: Yoshino Hokuto. His private life is a mystery Sawa: Kobayashi Naoki-san Leiya: Iwata-san Hori: I want to switch with Shokichi-san and play instruments or write songs Keito: Iwata-san Yusei: Reo-san Sota: ELLY-san! I don't know how he lives at all so I’m really curious

6. Are you starting anything new with your free time at home? (tn: this interview was during the 2020 quarantine) Sekai: Making songs with MPC and finger drumming, I started drinking hot water Taiki: Harmonica Sawa: Animal crossing. (laughs) Leiya: Drawing on my clothes with POSCA markers to remake them Hori: Electric guitar Keito: Cooking, basketball Yusei: Cooking! Sota: Cooking and writing lyrics and composition!

7. What is something about yourself that makes you think, “In this, I can’t lose to anyone!”? Sekai: Persistence when I get into something I like Taiki: Maybe getting all of my senpais and kouhais together to have dinner every night lol Sawa: The beauty of my dance Leiya: My burning heart (passion) Hori: Stretching the skin on my neck Keito: Funny faces and positivity Yusei: Tenacity/determination Sota: Talking when I get up in the morning. I’m strong in the morning!

8. What song do you think of when you hear the word “summer”? Sekai: Wada Koji -  「Butter-Fly」, Yamashita Tatsuro / 「Atom no Ko」 Taiki: Orange Range-san! Any of their songs! I really like them! Sawa: Yuzu - 夏色 (Natsuiro) Leiya: Ketsumeishi - 夏の思い出 (Natsu no Omoide) Hori: DOBERMAN INFINITY / 「SUPER BALL」 Keito: 掌の砂 (Tenohiranosune) / Exile-san Yusei: Def Tech / 「My Way」 Sota: Hirai Dai - Slow&Easy

9. If you were to get a pet what animal would you choose? Sekai: A dog and a cat Taiki: A pug or an Arowana (tn: an arowana is a fish) Sawa: French Bulldog Leiya: Bichon Frise Hori: Dog Keito: Pomeranian Yusei: Husky Sota: If it’s at my parents house, a dog! (because I’ve had experience with big things at my parents house). If it’s at my own house, then I want to get a fish!

10. Favorite color? Sekai: White, black, red, gold, silver, green Taiki: Red Sawa: BLACK Leiya: Red Hori: Black Keito: Checker pattern Yusei: Black Sota: Blue tones!

[banqanas]

TSURUGI CL Live cast 20240225 translations

Q: I want Tsurugi-kun to take up cooking lessons

TSURUGI: … (starts talking about Jimmy’s cooking) Jimmy is really good at cooking. And sometime ago, around 2 years before, he cooked (pad) kra pao for me.  Wait, no, he cooked khao man gai. He gave me some and it was really really delicious. See, the cute thing about Jimmy is that, he’s good at a lot of things, but he’s bad at accepting compliments. I kept praising him “Bro this is so good!” and such and he just [insert beatboxing]. That’s all, next question please.

Q: Please tell us your first impression of Jimmy-kun and Weesa-kun

TSURUGI: Oh, these kind of questions are nice, sorry my head’s kinda itchy. (Not scratching head because of the question). My first impression of them, right. In Jimmy’s case, he’s a student from EXPG Nagoya branch, while I’m from the Osaka branch. And there are times where we participate in live shows (together). I’ve always been good friends with FANTA’S Shota-kun and we talk a lot. And Jimmy was that kid who was always there behind Shota-kun and Nacchan. I never talked with Jimmy directly until we worked together for (EXILE THE SECOND’s live tour) Route 6.6. Yeah, I think that was the first time. Because before that I mainly talk with Shota-kun but never with Jimmy, if I remember correctly.

ETA (28.02): When Tsurugi was talking about Jimmy’s cooking, Ryuta was in the chat box

Ryuta: Khao man gai boy (is here!)

Ryuta: Cow boy hat boy!

Tsurugi: I see Ryuta in Area 1. “Cow boy hat boy” that’s hard to say! How many boys!!

[korokkeyasan]

バイト

変なバイトたくさんしてきたから裏話を交えながらお話ししちゃうよ内緒だよ🤭

居酒屋ホール

一旦ね　あんま言うことないし

ギャルが働いてること多いから黒髪ツインテで働くと何しても許されるよ

時給が高いほど当たり前に求められる接客のレベルも高い

五反田で時給1500円の時は月一ミーティング、月一テスト、季節ものメニューの暗記、日本酒の説明丸暗記など様々

稲田堤時給1080円はスマホいじれるし酒も飲めるし客とダベれる

バーテン（アシスタント）

私が働いてたのはエンジョイ系のバーで、ダーツとかカラオケとかポーカー台とかあるとこ

でも銀座だったからかなり大変！1発目から銀座で働く人がそもそもいなかったからハードルも上がってた（他の夜の街から出世で銀座に上がるのが普通）

ギャラ飲みに巻き込まれたり3時にラーメン食べに行かされたりマジック覚えさせられたりしたけど、基本氷削って在庫管理してた

私はカラオケでかなりの人気を博し、歌い込まれたももクロとT.M.Revolutionを銀座中に響かせる日々を送っていました

同期にEXPGでコーチもしているプロのダンサーがいて、その人はよくチューチュートレインを踊らされていた

もう1人いる同期は空手のオリンピック強化選手で、よく脱がされてた

筋肉自慢の浅黒い銀座おじさんと白い歯を光らせながらよく酒を飲んでいた　山賊

一回だけ六本木の姉妹店行かされた時に犯罪レベルのセクハラに遭って辞めた

ビールの売り子

疲れる〜〜神宮だったから段差の高さバラバラでガチ大変だった

売り子は飲料メーカーごとの採用で、私はサッポロだったからヱビスと黒ラベルを担当してたよ

同じメーカーの女の子をよく見ると、顔が似てるから採用した人の好みがわかりやすい！ぜひ見てみてくださいな

ヱビスが1番泡が立ちやすかったから移動すればするほど泡になって、売れるビールが減ってよく怒られた（酷い）

もちろん給料は噂通りの歩合制

基本給＋歩合給！

売り子だけで生計を立てる人は球場の掛け持ちをしてるベテランばかりなのも特徴！

巫女

高校時代の年末年始に！

お金の話を絶対にしてはいけないのでその辺大変だった〜

初穂料って言うのダルくてはっほりょーって言ってたわ全然

年末年始は交通安全お守りが1番売れる！なぜなら会社の社用車全台につける人が多いから！商売繁盛は一つでいいからね〜

あとあの薄っぺらい和服で極寒を過ごせるわけがなく、半分死んだ状態で接客をすることになる

お笑いライブスタッフ

まぁ一応ね、これもね、

まずリハ！まじで短い！演者が来次第きっかけ聞いてそのままリハの繰り返し

グループLINEとかないからカンで道具終わったかな〜と思いながら明転する

あとスタッフ少ないから全然同時仕事とかある

バティオスで受付音照スライドを一人でやった時、できるんだって思ってしまった

あとは撮影！

なるべく邪魔にならないように〜と思いながら撮る

私はスタッフ歴よりお笑いファン歴の方が長いのでファンが欲しい写真は全把握🫴してるからこの辺は楽勝

普通にライブ写真って撮影の中でもかなり難易度が高いのでめっちゃ大変！舞台の光しかないから全然写真撮れないんだよね〜でもお金をもらってるのでしっかり撮りましょう…（はい…）

ウグイス嬢

これね！選挙カーのウグイス嬢ですわ

知り合いが選挙出るから声出るしやってや、とのことで声をかけられまして、やることに

私は一度も思ったことないけどよく声を褒められる事が多い　うれしい☺️

他の候補者とすれ違う時に音量を徐々に下げて黙る→候補者が応援挨拶をする→こちらも応援挨拶をする→お互いの声が被らない辺りでまた喋る　とか

住宅地では静かにとか、公園の近くではフレンドリーにとか、いろいろありますわ

かなりレアなんだけど、党車にも乗りまして…

この党車ってのは、各党の代表車なんすね

今回私は自民党車に乗って、財務省副大臣とウグイスかましたのマジアツかった！！！！！！！！

ほいで自民党車だから候補者の話はあまりしちゃいけないとかいろいろある

なんかその後国会インターン誘われたりした！行けばよかったな普通に

あとお手伝いした候補者は無事2位で当選！おめでと〜

ガルバ内勤

調布のガルバで内勤してました！バーテンアシスタントの経験がかなり生きて、特に苦はなかった！場末のガルバともなるとかなりビジュアル面は不安定で、バライティに富んだメンツが揃っていました！！

41歳のベテランガルバ嬢！3XLを着こなすガルバ嬢！湘南から通うガルバ嬢！などなど…

41歳は本当に28にしか見えなくてすごかった！！！あとベテランってだけあって本当に酒に強かった！！！！！！

とはいえ華金には女の子が足りない事が多くて、バタバタと倒れた女の子の代わりに内勤が接客する事が多々あり、それは大変だった（ドリンク代はしっかりもらえた）

月に一回来店するおじいちゃんがいるんだけど、この人がすごい！！！！！！！！！

まず金持ち！そして優しい！ほんで清潔感がある！世のおじいちゃん全員この人にしてほしい！

まじで店全員が好きな客だった！

一晩で最低40万使ってくれるし、その場にいる全員にドリンク入れてくれる！この客が来ると店のグループLINEは大騒ぎで、この客に会うためだけに出勤する女の子も多数

たまーに神客がいるけど基本どうやって普段生きてるかわからないゴミみたいな人しか来ません

金持ちアピールしといてドリンク一杯すら出さない人もいるし、45分間一言も喋らないってこっちの反応を楽しむ人もいるし、勝ち確の口喧嘩をするために来る人もいる

日本は終わりです

パチンコ屋ホール

これ今本腰のやつですわいね

死ぬほどキツいけどその分高時給なので許します

普通に賭け事だから頭おかしい人多いね！まず！

浮浪者とか来るし　金も盗むし　トイレットペーパーも盗む

最近はホース盗まれたからわざわざホースを袋に入れてから物置に入れて、使う時に設置するという手間までつくってくれる

毎日40個ぐらい灰皿洗わなきゃいけないのもヤバい　極寒の野外で！！！！！

あとパチ屋も年増ギャルが多いから私みたいな地味黒髪女は珍しがられる

パチスロについて何も知らないからいまだに仕事について行けていないが、パチンコのエラーなら大体直せるようになってきた！！

パチ屋誤解あるあるを解いていくわ↓

台制御しません！！！できないし！！当たってるからこの辺で止めさせよ〜とかない！！！みんなでインカムですごいねいいねって言ってます

客を見てコソコソインカムで話してません！！！まじで当たってるのうらやましいだけ！！！

リモコンで操作なんぞしてない！！！！非稼働時間を見てるだけです！！！！そんなに怒んないでよ！！！！

このくらいしかなかった

【共通して言える事】

女子大生が接客業をすると避けては通れないこと、それが無料キャバクラ化なのですが

本当にずっと無給で汚いおじさんと喋らされて最悪でしかない！！！！汚いし臭いし金払わないもんだって！！！！！！！！

たまーーにおじさんじゃないから内心嬉しいだろと言わんばかりで話しかけてくる20代男も普通にキモいのでやめてほしい

これ言うと、接客含めての時給だろ！と言われますが他のバイトは全く話しかけられなくて私だけが搾取されてる状態なのに？？？と思う

まぁこれを利用してわざとギャルが多い界隈で黒髪接客をして許されを被ろうとしてるので私も私で悪いっす　そう言う事でいいっす

[dojae-huh]

jdjdjdjdjfkgljskl glad you like my jae description 🤣

here's the links to english profiles for lastart team. i wonder if you find anyone more interesting as a person or as an idol after reading their profile? 🤔

yusion and lastart trainee profile threads

https://twitter.com/969901z/status/1684936460129239040

https://twitter.com/969901z/status/1685290403854270464

https://twitter.com/969901z/status/1685652869645733888

daeyoung profile https://twitter.com/969901z/status/1692503810584010834

bonus yusion info compilation https://twitter.com/969901z/status/1674973991105167363

icymi i read on twt that ryu is jpop group exile tribe alan shirahama's younger brother and he was a graduate from expg, same performance arts school as shotaro. he's used to performing to some extent ig but i find him impressive anyway cos jp and kr training styles seem different. he looks less nervous than some trainees and has potential as vocalist and dancer both, lead for now but might move up with more experience.

ig anderson's half korean and canadian cos he doesn't speak jp and he kinda understands korean, just more comfy with english?

idk anyone's last name except ryu shirahama and kim daeyoung, the latter from a b*llying rumor which i hope isn't true. lots of allegations these days and some seemed legit but proven false later after damage's done so 😓

interestingly daeyoung got a bad rumor already. it's so quiet about the other trainees except old vids of ryu again. jungmin and minjae are korean and not a single singing vid even tho they got cast thru their singing vids? on the other hand daeyoung hasn't even debuted or sung yet. it could be a stretch to assume he's in the final lineup, someone knows and wanna ruin him with this rumor but that's not wholely impossible. or it's dark marketing combining with his new addition status at this point. maybe it will be months until we know since sm still not clearing wonbin and sohee allegations. lately sm new debut groups getting attacks just like karina was but sm cleared up and she got confirmation and support.

================================

im sorry i'm still not shutting up yet 😭 let's look at riize and lastart training time until debut or official reveal and think about their roles and suitability (source for riize, not officially confirmed like lastart https://twitter.com/riize_net/status/1691497735759769600)

wonbin - 7 years

eunseok - 6 years till nct, 7 years till riize

yushi - 5 years

sungchan - 4 years till nct, 8 years till riize

sion - 4 years

seunghan - 3 years till nct, 4 years till riize

sohee, anton - 3 years

jungmin - 3 years

minjae - 2 years

riku, ryo, sakuya - 1 year

heitetsu - 10 months

haruta - 8 months

shotaro - 6-7 months if i remember correctly till nct, 4 years till riize

anderson, kassho - 6 months

daeyoung - 3 months

ryu - 2 weeks

i heard sion debut got changed between nct tokyo and riize. he's not that neo yet but i think he can become neo later rather than fit in riize? riize is looking to be a heavily performance group with grungey, emo but youthful style?? i follow lastart more than riize lmao so correct me if i'm wrong. based on few materials that we have, shotaro, wonbin and seunghan are on the upper levels of dancing and seunghan could also be lead vocal. eunseok didn't impress me despite his long training but he might have other charms. anton is very popular but not a strong dancer yet. sohee is vocal. sungchan doesn't catch my eye when he dances but he has experience to guide others. tho not dancers, so far i see sohee and sungchan have unique performer skills in the group as main vocalist and main rapper. anton probably composes or plays music but he sure attracts fans and might grow or have surprise vocal or rap skills unrevealed by sm? eunseok is a visual ig, it's been a while since sm revealed him. having said all this, everyone looks cool in siren and the 4 non-dancers keep up with showonseung. idk if it's an effect of seeing their confirmed debut that made me biased and think they all fit riize.

i agree with another anon that lastart boys look not ready to be neo but i personally find a few trainees with more outstanding skills than a few riize members. i prefer riku's rap to sungchan and minjae's and jungmin's singing are probably better or around the same as sohee (tho to be fair, sohee hasn't shown much yet). the lastart boys need practice and experience for charisma and dance performance, which riize has more, and their own songs to see if they can nail it like riize nails theirs. sm probably wants us to root for lastart team and watch them grow like jpop idol groups as huh and other anons here pointed out.

looking back lastart boys are styled and portrayed similar to sr15b aka our first neos. xiaohenyang and kunwoocas too. i was a casual audience in sr15b era and neo concepts weren't explained fully back then so i had no idea sr15b needed to be neo like this 🤣 i felt they were youthful but saw their talents. obv they weren't as polished as now but more experienced than lastart overall tho. doie was an emotional singer from the start. taeil and jae less emotional than doie but in rookies time, they did perform better than minjae and jungmin in emotions and dance and jaeil dance better than doie anyways. jaedo did so well when t7s came out tho and without you had more emotions than jungmin and minjae's duet. after that doie keeps growing in stage presence, appeal and expression (besides emotional singing). even if jungmin and minjae don't become a skilled dancer like jae, they need to find other ways to captivate like the way doie dances with facial expression. riku, yushi, anderson, ryu, sakuya and sion look like they are on their way to becoming neo, on different extent. daeyoung is said to get good comments in dancing so we'll see.

ok my last comment for now 😅 agree with you and another anon too about the lack of correlation with previous nct units especially experience and memories. even memories, wayv has a gap with 127 and dreamies. when sungsho was in nct, yuta was the official bridge for shotaro and some members spent time with them but i bet the members were surprised by plan changes too, even if some of them were affected by unit or plan changes themselves. sm might do a show next year after the japan showcase for all units but now the gap feels even wider than sr22b. yuta probably won't appear in lastart survival show either.

Link, Link2, Link3, Link4, Link5

Link6

As I said before, Daeyong's answers were interesting. "Nevertheless", the lyrics of choice and "when I'm drenched with sweat (i.e. gave it my all)". He seems to have grit and desire to improve. History requires a lot of memorisation.

Some seem more suited to the idol job based on their answers.

Anderson probably just started with Korean, as he lives in Korea, there is more opportunities to practice around the clock.

Ryu's English is evidently good. The phrase that Anderson said wasn't easy (not the words, the meaning behind). It also improve his chances. Nowadays a group needs an English speaker. Not only for the West, many countries in Asia also use it. If Anderson is taken in, Ryu could be the of help as well.

What are the chances of Dae's classmates watching an idol show to release a rumour about him the day he was introduced? And to write on Pann of all places? Kfans can investigate, it's not hard to visit the school and ask around in the neirboughood or dig FB. More like someone didn't like an addition of a new contestant and a rival. We'll see. If the rumours are true, for SM it's easy to just not include him in the final line up.

Both the new bg and the Japanese unit were supposed to debut earlier (the were rumours about last summer). I guess some old trainees left seeing how many recent additions are in Lastart. The new SM gg was ready by Spring already, but their debut has been postponed as well.

Wasn't Sungchan a deer? Why frog emoji? Rebranding?

I can't support the convo about Riize, haven't watched anything sans Siren with them yet.

I keep comparing Lastart contestants to SR15B, which is unfair, considering their training period (with exeption of YuSion, and, perhaps, Jungmin). Not to mention, the numbers for the show aren't given time to be polished as much as a debut choreo would be.

No kidding, stright from NCT's pre-debut book.

Side note. I think now I get why there was little of JaeDo and a lot of HanDo during Rookies times. The two were supposed to debut in the Chinese unit...

Jaehyun was born on Valentine's day for a reason. The Universe created the Chinese ban for him, lol.

Back to the new neos.

SM wasn't happy with Minjae if they kept looking for more main-vocal material. Ryu and Daeyoung were casted very recently.

[miu-chan-blog]

Yuzuki Hirakawa Biography 

Yuzuki Hirakawa was born on October 27, 2001, in Kumamoto, Japan. She has an older brother. 

Hirakawa was not originally interested in the entertainment industry and was planning to work as soon as she graduated from high school. She enjoyed studying bookkeeping, so she aspired to become a tax accountant or CPA in the future. 

When she was in her second year of high school, she began to get tired of going back and forth between school and her part-time job. At that time, she heard about the LDH Presents THE GIRLS AUDITION at the EXPG Fukuoka venue. 

[thistaleisabloodyone]

So, if one moves GENE from Jr.Exile to Founding Exile (my nickname for that set because LDH didn't give us one), that puts 4 groups per subgroup.

Exile, Exile the Second, JSB3, GENE

RMPG, FANTA, BBZ, PSYFE

LIL, TJBB, Kid Phenomenon, Wolf Howl Harmony

And I feel like there's actually - four distinct lines of inheritance of a variety going on. (tbeh, my reasoning is strongest with the Exile/RMPG/TJBB line and goes downhill from there 😂)

Exile -> RMPG -> TJBB

Basic Concept: Largest group in their set, tends towards dark colors, darker/gritter themes

Reasoning:

24karats Gold Genesis is the first 24karats release that doesn't include Exile, TJBB literally got some of Exile's old outfits.

All three groups had some amount of 'seasoned dancer' when they formed, with Exile's seasoned dancers being their founders; RMPG's performers came from the PBA (with some, like Kaisei and YamaSho, having prior dance experience from outside of EXPG); and TJBB's performers (for the most part) came from D.League.

TJBB is also the only Neo Exile group to have a proper vocalist/performer split - TJBB's rappers performed at the LDH Expo 2023 performer battle, as the only group from Neo Exile to do so

GENE -> FANTA -> LIL

Basic Concept: Widest variety of concept, swings back and forth between 'wholesome' and 'gritty'

Reasoning:

All three groups tend to give me Vibe Whiplash, especially LIL with that flip from 'Higher' to 'Lollipop'.

A lot of the members also come from EXPG and other such locations. LIL did do iconZ to be formed, but GENE's performers and FANTA's performers were picked - I know FANTA's members were picked from Exile Generations and I can't find anything about GENE's performers being from an audition like the PBA or any of the VBAs

JSB3 -> PsyFe -> Kid Phenomenon

Basic Concept: The "Exile Tribe Standard Seven"

Reasoning:

They're all roughly close to '2 vocalist, 5 performer/rapper' split

Bonus points for PsyFe and KP basically being proteges for JSB3 - PsyFe toured with Omi, while Naoto is the executive producer for KP

Exile the Second -> BBZ -> Wolf Howl Harmony

Basic Concept: More Mature, Romance Related Vibes

Reasoning:

Okay, so this one is the weakest, but I do get the vibe that Wolf Howl Harmony is leaning the most - mature and romantic of the Neo Exile groups (which, considering they're the only group where none of the members are teenagers, is a good thing, in my opinion). BBZ is also the main group from Jr.Exile that I can remember having - gasp shock horror - a female love interest in a MV. And I have seen one Exile the Second concert, but each member danced with a very attractive woman for several songs 😂

Also the first/main group in their set to really depart from the "Exile Tribe Standard 7" - The Second started off with 5 (Shokichi, Nesmith, Tetsuya, Keiji, and Kenchi) before Akira joined, BBZ is the first group to have everyone hold microphones and is actually split 4 vocalists/3 rappers, and Wolf Howl Harmony is 4 people, the smallest Exile Tribe group yet