Welcome To The Eighth Official NEWS Thread !

NEWS has never been the boy band that flew under the radar of the media. There was always something that kept them in the spotlight, but even though the reasons were never necessarily good, it kept them known. Thanks to their Women’s Volleyball Championship debut and debut single being sold only in 7/11 stores, NEWS became a concrete group within the Jimusho. Now with their hiatus officially behind them and a string of successful dramas within the group, NEWS keeps rising in the popularity sphere.

Even in the beginning, NEWS was a controversial group within Johnny’s Jimusho. Many fans were upset when many of their favorite Juniors weren’t allowed to debut whilst the least popular ones did. Some of the most popular Juniors groups were split apart to complete this nine boy band, which further angered fans. Yet this didn’t halt their success as their 7/11 single, “NEWS Nippon”, sold amazingly well. But before their official debut, one member, Moriuchi Takahiro decided to focus more on his studies and left Johnny’s altogether. Thus leaving NEWS as an eight member group now.

However, even though their first album “touch” did well and their career kept escalating, a setback occurred in July of 2005. One member, Hiroki Uchi, Ryo’s bandmate in Kanjani8, got caught under suspicion of underage drinking and was suspended from the agency. NEWS has once again lost another member, knocking them down to seven members. Then unfortunately, half a year later, Hironori Kusano was also caught for underage drinking and was suspended. During this time, NEWS scandals and problems were broadcasted everywhere, keeping them in the media for all the wrong reasons. Therefore in May of 2006, the group was put on hiatus.

NEWS’s return wasn’t announced until December of 2006 and their return single wasn’t released until March of 2007. That single went on to become their second best selling single, showing just how much fans missed NEWS and awaited their return. Now the group was back and obviously doing better than ever as six member group. Later that year, they released a single and album on the same day, both hitting the number one spots which was a feat that not many J-pop artists have accomplished in their career. Now in 2008 the popularity continues to rise, thus allowing them to perform for the first time in the Tokyo Dome for a concert, and have the second longest number one streak in Johnny’s after Kinki Kids.

If anything, the group NEWS are fighters. No matter how many thing held them back, they’ve fought through it and achieved more than they thought they’d be able to.





_MEMBERS
Yamashita Tomohisa (山下智久)

- NEWS’ Leader
- Mentioned that in the beginning, he only had talked to and only talked to Ryo Nishikido, the others he didn’t know and wasn’t comfortable around.
- Is a regular columnist for Seventeen magazine.
- Many of his fellow Johnny’s have questioned if he is human or not due to his extremely silly demeanor around them but quiet and mysterious demeanor around less familiar people.
- Currently attending Meiji Universtiy for a Business degree and will be graduating in September of this year.
- He also tends not to smile because he says he “Doesn’t know how to.” However, he’s been smiling a lot more recently.

Nishikido Ryo (錦戸亮)

- Among his sempai, Ryo is closest with Matsujun as they tend to meet up a lot. They’ve even done photoshoots together.
- He’s a big fan of Leah Dizon, but got embarrassed when he met her in person.
- International fans have victimized him by accusing him of being spiteful and rude and vindictive, when in actuality, he only has a sharp tongue.
- Known for his occasional perverted nature, Ryo has said that if he woke up in a woman’s body, the first thing he’d do would be to feel the breasts.
- Has learned to play the guitar and plays it in many of his lives, including his solo “code”.

Masuda Takahisa (増田貴久)

- Every time NEWS has a meeting, Massu makes sure to wake up three hours earlier to have a “slow and refined” breakfast.
- But even though he gets up early every time, he’s somehow always late.
- He loves to clean things and have everything in it’s place because of his OCD.
- Ever since being chased and bitten by a dog when he was young, Massu has had a fear of dogs. He also has a fear of bugs.
- Despite his cute looks, Massu has lots of muscle on his body and apparently arms of steel.

Tegoshi Yuya (手越祐也)

- Although him and Massu are best friends and he’s younger, Tego has been known to boss Massu around. Once forcing Massu to take the smaller bed in the hotel room so he could get the larger.
- People have said that his face has changed over the years that it appears he’s had plastic surgery, however, he denies the he has.
- He has acrophobia now because he somehow got stuck on the 4th floor of an apartment complex and needed to jump off to get out. He landed safely but has been afraid of heights since.
- Like Ryo is a big fan of Leah Dizon, Tego loves him some ero-kakkoii Kumi Koda.
- He entered Johnny’s only eight months before NEWS debuted officially and has since been regarded as one of the Jimusho’s best singers.
- Despite his cute looks, Tego is surprisingly erotic.

Kato Shigeaki (加藤成亮)

- One of his current goals is to become fluent in English, therefore he listens to a lot of Western music.
- He’s known to has a “Trigger Finger” as he’s the fastest texter in NEWS.
- For a while, he’s been known as the most “under loved” member of NEWS. But when they returned from their hiatus, he’s been promoted a lot more and with an image change, has grown in popularity.
- Shige’s an avid writer, and writes his J-web from the point of view of a cat named Waghai. And although he loves cats, he’s unfortunately allergic.
- Although he can be a little shy, Shige doesn’t have a problem takin’ it off.
- His best friend in NEWS is Koyama and when Koyashige gets together, it’s nothing but MADNESS.

Koyama Keiichiro (小山慶一郎)

- He’s recently graduated from Meiji University where he majored in Asian Studies.
- Being the oldest, the other NEWS members feel that he behaves like their mother or older brother by watching out for them.
- His home is a Ramen shop that he runs with his family on his off days.
- Although he is the big brother of the group, he tends to get picked on.
- He has a bad habit of not replying to phone calls, e-mails, or texts on times and ends up worrying everyone.


_DISCOGRAPHY
Singles
01. NEWS Nippon (NEWS ニッポン) - 2003.11.07
02. Kibou ~Yell~ (希望 ~Yell~) - 2004.05.12
03. Akaku Moyuru Taiyou (紅く燃ゆる太陽) - 2004.08.11
04. Cherish (チェリッシュ) - 2005.03.16
05. TEPPEN - 2005.07.13)
06. Sayaendou / Hadashi no Cinderella Boy (サヤエンドウ／裸足のシンデレラボーイ) - 2006.03.15
07. Hoshi wo Mezashite (星をめざして) - 2007.03.21
08. weeeek - 2007.11.07
09. Taiyou no Namida (太陽のナミダ) - 2008.02.27
10. SUMMER TIME - 2008.05.08



Albums
01. touch - 2005.4.27
02. pacific - 2007.11.07



DVDs
01. [2004.04.07] NEWS Nippon 0304 (NEWSニッポン 0304)
02. [2005.04.19] SUMMARY of Johnny's World with KAT-TUN
03. [2007.08.08] Never Ending Wonderful Story




GFX and Thread Set Up by Irene. <3
Intro by moi. <3


HAPPY POSTING!!