I watched all 6 personal interviews from Shounen Club Premium. 2007 to 2009 the members came to the show one by one to reveal their side of the story. It was really interesting and this show is quite special in that the guests often talk about very personal things they have never talked about before. I also really like the host, Taishi, he gets very excited about just about everything, thanks to him the tension is always high.
I almost surprised myself by watching Pi's and Ryo's parts but I guess I got to that stage. They were pretty interesting too though my respect for Pi sunk and my respect for Ryo rose. But I'll talk about that later.
It was really hard to get all the files, I went all around looking for them. Kato and Pi's were the rare survivors at newshfan's, got Masuda's and Tegoshi's at the request section of the LJ comm, Ryo's at the diary.ru's Kanjani8 comm and Koyama's at Veoh.
Overall I was pretty amazed at just how random the formation of NEWS was and how bad their bonds were before 2007. Like it was really tense and awkward and they were more like a collection of several small groups rather than a band. It appears that Yama Pi was pretty much pissed about being put in the band while Ryo was unexpectedly glad. I am also very impressed by Johnny. Like, "who is this guy?" How does he do it? I'm always amazed at how everyone just calls him directly if they have anything to discuss. And the way he picked out Tegomass just by listening to them. How does he even remember all these kids? There were so many amazing stories.
MOREOf course Yama Pi was the one invited first, he had to be. His interview quite surprised me. I mean I understand that he was unhappy about being put in a band with a bunch of people he never even talked to but I still think he acted like a douchebag. Everyone looked up to him so much but he never cared. Saying "We had nothing to talk about" is just bullshit. Leader my ass. He basically said he didn't give a shit about the band for three years but then he actually tried talking to his members and they turned out to be great guys. What do you know? Basically all he did was promote NEWS just by being there. Perhaps leaving the band was the best decision he ever made as a leader.
Tegoshi was the little shit that he is. Only 19 he looked very relaxed and confident. I was mildly annoyed at him for saying that he couldn't fit in and stuff while in fact he just wanted to fit in with Yama Pi and Ryo. Koyama, Shige and Massu always looked after him but he seemed to take it for granted.
Koyama's was pretty normal. But he did talk about the abyss that lay between RyoPi and the rest of the band. I was a bit shocked since despite joining JE late Koyama is the oldest. But the story with the dancing at the auditions - that guy is smarter than he seems.
Shige was simply awesome. I am trying to do damage control and not watch too many shows with him but this is fucking brilliant. One of my absolute favourites. You could see he really had a lot to say. He was very honest, very funny and very human. Even the story of how he got into Johnnys, it seems like rather than his talent he got in because he did a thorough research beforehand. And he was just 11. Taishi really enjoyed it, you could tell. But I was surprised when at the end he said: “Shige-san is my favorite in NEWS now” ♥ (Masuda and Ryo didn't come yet but I doubt they could change that) and you could hear some people backstage laughing all the way.
If Shige considered himself elite before joining with Massu is almost the opposite. He always felt that he was one of the less prominent kids but it seemed like he didn't really mind since he just enjoyed doing this. Which doesn't make sense. He was good at dancing and singing and he was always very cute. What the hell? But he liked to dance and it didn't really matter what row he was in. He's surprisingly humble. It also appears that he didn't really get to sing up until Tegoshi came into the picture. It was Johnny himself who decided they would sound good together and so their fate was sealed. Anyway, he's the most popular now and I think he deserves this. I also found it really fascinating how different members' life paces matched the pace of their career. I mean Massu is a very relaxed person, he enjoys the process and doesn't like to be hurried. It took him 5 years to debut. Tegoshi, on the other hand, doesn't have patience. He wanted results at once and he debuted in less than a year.
Ryo was the last to come and they spent like half the show watching old embarrassing VTRs. I was surprised to see Ryo seemed really shy during the whole show. He talked a lot about Kanjani so there were many parts I didn't really get but I kind of understood how hard it must have been to be in two bands at once, based in different cities too. I also suspect he might not have realized that the jokes that might be funny in Kanjani might not work on NEWS. Which doesn't justify him acting like an ass but you know. I felt some sympathy towards him.
Anyway, the result is:
YES.