news_jpop | NEWS news (week of Dec 3) Part 2

Sorashige Book (Dec 3)
- Shige talked about how his book, ‘Tuberose de Matteru’, will come out on December 12th, and the first message he read was about that. The message was from a listener who said that even though it was also a serialization they weren’t able to read all the issues so they’re glad that it’ll be published as a novel. They said that they were looking forward to the book design and wanted to know what parts Shige was particular about.
  
  Shige said that the design of the book has a cool feeling this time, and if you put the 2 volumes of the novels together it’ll reveal something, and it pays some homage to something. He said that it’s hard to put into words but that he really likes the design and wants everyone to look forward to it.
- The next message was from a listener who said that they had been really curious about the continuation of the story after the end of the serialization so they’re really excited for the book to come out. They said that they were really impressed with Shige for finishing the novel while being busy with other work. They also said they would get his essay in Tripper that goes on sale in December, so they hope to spend the weekend immersed in the world of Shige’s writing.
  
  He said that he knows he’s been keeping everyone waiting, but that he thinks that the contents won’t let people down. He thinks there are probably people who are wondering what happened to certain characters and others who didn’t read the serialization in SPA! and he hopes that both types of people will be able to enjoy it. Though he does also feel worried about it, he did get lots of praise from those who read the proof.
- ♪ Towairo no Koi ♪
- For this weeks music club Shige said that he wanted to talk about Chanmina, though young people probably already know her, as she became big right after appearing on the scene. Her major debut album ‘Miseinen’ came out in March. She’s a female rapper who’s currently 19 years old and her nickname is ‘Nerima's Beyonce’. She’s half Japanese and half Korean. Shige said that she’s kind of ‘gyaru’ but her rapping is really powerful, really good, feels authentic, and he also praised her English pronunciation. He said that his first impression was the she seemed very strong, and that it feels that it’s been awhile since there’s been another female rapper like her. He talked a bit more about her appeal and said that he thinks she’ll be getting a lot more attention in the future, and asked everyone to check her out. He played her song ‘Chocolate’.
- The next message was also about ‘Tuberose de Matteru’. They said that they were really looking forward to it, and that they understand now that the reason there were 2 books in the picture Shige posted in his jweb was because it was going to be released in two volumes. (S: Actually, that’s not correct.) She asked Shige to praise her for patiently waiting throughout a long spring. She also asked him to explain what a ‘proof’ is.
  
  Shige said that he didn’t really know what to compare a proof to to explain it but that it’s sort of like a sample, or rather it’s made for PR and promotion, for people to read in advance. Books have an ‘obi’ (the paper that folds over the outside of the cover usually taking up only about a fourth or so the book height) and in order to get people to write reviews that get included on the ‘obi’ they have to send it to them in advance. However, it takes a long time to make the actual book so they give them a proof. After proofs are handed out, there are changes and the design gets finalized. After the proofs go out it usually takes about a month to make the actual book.
  
  Shige said that while the book will have 2 volumes, it’s actually all in one volume for the proof. He put two in his picture because he received two copies of the proof. The proof ended up being 530 pages, they decided to make it into two volumes because they thought that people, for instance college students, wouldn’t want to carry around a heavy book. Shige said that he struggled over what to call the volumes and settled on using ‘age 22’ and ‘age 32’ and clarified how they’re read in English, fumbling over it a bit since he’s not used to saying it. Shige said that a person from the publishing company told him that they read it in 2 days which surprised him.
  
  He said that they’ll come out next week and said he was looking forward to everyone sending him their thoughts on it.
- Next, Shige that NEWS is doing various things related to ‘Christmas’ and also mentioned that they’d be appearing on FNS. The next message was from a listener who asked Shige if he had already decorated his Christmas tree that he bought last year.
  
  Shige said that the high end tree he bought on ‘Oshareism’ last year didn’t last to this year. He said that caring for a plant is difficult, around spring time the leaves fell off and he thought that they would grow back but they didn’t. He went to go ask the place he bought it from about it and they told him they wouldn’t grow back, it turns out that though you couldn’t see them, bugs got to it and it got sick. It’s sad and since he still has a lot of christmas ornaments he’s thinking about if he should buy another one but that it was really expensive. If he buys another one he might get a different kind to the one he bought last year. He clarified that the bugs that killed the tree are called scale insects, and the tree is actually more vulnerable to them indoors.
- ♪ Love Melodies ♪

Kchan NEWS (Dec 5)
- The guest this week was Massu, his first time on in 2 months.
- Koyama said that they had just appeared on Best Artist the day before they recorded Kchan NEWS and performed ‘Kingdom’ for the first time. Koyama asked Massu how he thought the performance was. Massu said that they’re generally the type that like to let things sit for awhile, even if you practice a dance 100 times or 1000 times if it's within a short period of time it’s not the same as letting it sit for awhile. Koyama added that the more time passes the more complete it gets. They said that everyone had various small incidents, but that it’s the thought… and that it would get better as time goes on but Koyama said that he thought that they gave the best performance that they could right now. They also talked about how high the key of the song is, and the key of ‘Perfect Human’ is also really high. They said both had a lot of fun doing it, but the choreography was really hard.
- The first message was from a listener who said that their collaboration for ‘Perfect Human’ was really cool and wanted to know if the choreo was difficult to memorize since it’s so different from the dances they usually do. She also wanted to know if they practiced a lot for it.
  
  Massu said that on the contrary he thinks that the choreo they usually do is more difficult, the dance for Perfect Human uses a lot pretty fundamental dance moves. The dance puts together these basic moves really well, and the difficult part is that there’s a lot of moves and it’s pretty fast.
  
  Koyama said that they had a day where they were taught the choreography, but there was one point where they came close to giving up. Koyama said that Massu gave up at one point, which Massu denied. Koyama said he gave up and started to eat in the middle of practice. Koyama said he and Shige were dancing and Tegoshi quit for a bit too and Massu was eating a sandwich, but that he memorized it really fast after the sandwich.
- ♪ Whisper ♪
- The next message was from a listener who wanted to know what they thought of girls changing up their makeup for special occasions like Christmas. They wanted to know if they liked it or if they would prefer for them to stick with their usual makeup. She also wanted to know if they had any specific preferences when it comes to makeup.
  
  Massu said that to be honest he didn’t really have that much interest in makeup, but if he thought of it as a part of fashion then he likes it. Massu noted that he probably likes a different kind of makeup compared to Koyama, and said that he likes natural looking makeup the kind that makes it look as if they aren’t wearing any. Massu said that he’s heard that natural looking makeup is more difficult, it takes longer to do.
  
  Koyama said that he likes makeup that makes lips look plump, and added that for color contacts, like the kind that make the eyes look really big, he feels like when they take them out it would change the way they look.
  
  M: I don’t really like color contacts.
  
  M: Or rather, it might be that I couldn’t like someone who wears color contacts.
  
  K: Eh, that’s Tegoshi!
  
  M: Huh?
  
  K: (laughing) Tegoshi wears color contacts!
  
  M: Well, that’s the face I pictured when I said that.
  
  Koyama argued that it depended on the person and if the color suited them. He said that they suit Tegoshi, though sometimes he overdoes it. Massu said that he doesn’t like color contacts even if they’re just light brown, he’d end up thinking that they’d look cuter without them. His image of them is that they look unnatural, which Koyama said that he could understand. Massu added that he does like thick eyeliner. Koyama agreed that he and Massu are pretty different in their preferences, Koyama said he would be happy if a girl did something different for a special day, the idea that she put effort into it, which Massu agreed would make you happy.
- The next letter was from a listener who is 24 years old and wanted advice from ‘Massu who’s good at presenting himself’ to which Massu immediately took issue with questioning if that was a good thing, to which Koyama tried to reassure him that it was. The letter continued to say that they’re pretty short (152 cm) and have a childlike face so people often say that they look like an elementary or junior high student and while they no longer feel like they want to look older, they still don’t know how to present themselves. They want to know what Massu, who’s good at presenting himself, thinks women with childlike features should present themselves.
  
  K: This is a question to Massu, who’s good at presenting himself.
  
  M: What does that mean?
  
  K: (laughing)
  
  M: It means, ‘Massu looks better he actually is’ right?
  
  K: (continues laughing)
  
  M: ‘Even though with effort, he’s good at making himself appear better’ is what they’re saying, right?
  
  K: No no, if you really dig in that deeply maybe but-
  
  M: Yeah, that’s what they’re saying!
  
  K: No no
  
  M: ‘Massu’s good at making himself look better than he is’!
  
  K: No no, take it positively!
  
  M: Hm?
  
  K: She’s fine as she is. There are definitely good things about her.
  
  M: Yeah, there is.
  
  Koyama went on to say that that she’s wonderful as is, but the question is about how to make yourself look even better. They said that they didn’t think there was anything wrong with being 152cm and 24 years old. Massu said that he doesn’t feel like he has a ‘childlike face’, he doesn’t look that way if you see him in person. He said that many people tell him that he’s actually bigger than they thought, so he has the impression that he comes off very different in person than the image people have of him.
  
  He said that when they appear on TV, Koyama has a model’s build and Tegoshi is slender and between them he’s big but appears small.
  
  Koyama said that he’s 33 years old but people are often surprised when he tells them that and tell him that he looks like he’s 27 years old. Massu said that he also has been told recently that he looks to be about 24 or 25 years old which surprised Koyama and they said that it’s fans and people who watch them on TV that they appear younger to.
  
  Koyama started to talk about how for magazines they often do cute photo shoots where the setting is for someone who is younger than they actually are. When they have those, they often feel a bit embarrassed, thinking ‘even though I’m in my 30s…’ But for everyone who looks at the photo shoots they might look younger than they are. Massu said that, back in the day KAT-TUN often had a lot of cool photo shoots so they probably looked like they were older. Koyama said it was your surrounds and how you present yourself.
  
  Massu said that it’s good to accept it, there’s no longer any reason to resist it, Koyama added that it’s actually prefered to appear younger. Massu said that you have to properly understand your good points, and Koyama said you have to make the most of how you look now.
  
  Massu said that it’s not like he’s overdoing it to try to show himself any particular way.
  
  K: Why’d you take off your sweatshirt?
  
  M: Hm?
  
  K: Were you hot?
  
  M: I got hot.
  
  K: Ah, are you trying to emphasize your good points?
  
  M: Right right right.
  
  K: Ah, like ‘I’m so muscular’? Nice, nice. You have nice arms! Why are you showing me your muscles? The fans might like that, but you’re showing it to me. Ok.
- ♪ Winter Moon ♪
- The last message was from a listener who noted that it’s now the season when you get dry skin. They wanted to know how Massu has such smooth and nice skin.
  
  Massu said he’s recently had really dry skin. Koyama asked what he does, and Massu said that he does put on a lot of lotion on his body, about ‘4 pumps’ worth and on his face he just uses toner. Massu said that recently he’s been using body soap to wash his face, since at the gym they don’t have face wash. Koyama asked doesn’t that make his face dry, and Massu said that the face is part of the body.
  
  Massu told a story about how one time when he went abroad he only brought face soap with him, no body soap or shampoo, and just washed his whole body with it hair, face, and all. If he pushed it a little maybe he could have used it to brush his teeth too, he said that he wanted to make his luggage as small as possible. He also talked about how with moisturizers it’s not the most expensive that are best but the ones that match your skin.
- At the end they did PR for FNS and Koyama said that the next episode of his drama would be the last episode.