Hey! Say! JUMP - Anan January 2021 Crosstalk (English Translation)

[hoshizora20.livejournal.com]

In 2020, the world was caught up in an unprecedented event that made everything come to a standstill. And of course, the same thing happened to JUMP. But they suddenly appeared on YouTube as the mysterious eight-member group Honeybee and made a strong impression on the public with three songs released under a hidden name, including "Ookami Seinen" which generated buzz with its skilful choreography. At the end of last year, they released their new album, "Fab -Music Speaks!-" which had the participation of many fancy artists such as Avuchan from Queenbee, Okazaki Taiiku and Shimizu Shouta. We foresee a breakthrough in 2021.

Arioka: Last year was a year where the many things we'd planned to do for a long time didn't work out...

Inoo: There were a lot of sad things that happened. Some of us were supposed to be on stage but weren't able to.

Takaki: But at least, we're doing concerts.

Chinen: We played in Fukuoka in January and we all went to a food stall afterwards and had a really fun time~

Takaki: So we had a good start [to the year].

Chinen: But I think if there wasn't a situation like this, we might not have done things like "Ookami Seinen", so I think we can take that as a positive.

Inoo: That's rare. You speaking positively. Usually, you have a bit of a slanted view on things (laughs).

Arioka: It's true what Chinen says. We had a lot more time for meetings than usual, so we were able to try new things.

Yamada: We talked a lot about what we can offer our fans and what we can do in this kind of situation.

Yabu: And I think the number of views suddenly increased at a time when people were spending more time at home and were opening YouTube more habitually.

Yaotome: And since we had time, we were able to take more time to work on songs, so we were able to create such refined arrangements.

Nakajima: As a result, by keeping our faces hidden and performing only by singing and dancing, people were able to listen to us who had a preconceived view of us being Johnny's. In that sense, this was a 'year of ideas'.

Yamada: The songs on this album were also provided by artists. I think we've been able to show a new direction we're heading by taking colours that we didn't have until now and cooking/arranging them in our own way.

Yaotome: But we were talking a lot about the intention of doing concerts...

Arioka: I want to show everyone who picked up the album how we perform.

Yamada: First of all, we can't do that until the current situation calms down, which I only hope it does.



Takaki: Anyway, I want to see everyone. I haven't seen you for a long time.

Chinen: We're always ready to meet you.

Inoo: Whenever the social arrangements are ready.

It's not easy to do in reality, so instead, we asked JUMP to hold a Valentine's concert in this magazine. We asked them to come up with a production that fans could imagine and enjoy.

Yabu: Let's start with the smell. When they enter the venue, they can smell the chocolate.

Yamada: We could make the smoke smell like chocolate.

Chinen: Would the whole set be chocolate?

Takaki: We could only use it once and it'd be done.

Yabu: The lighting has to be LED.

Nakajima: What about a really huge chocolate fondue at the venue?

Yamada: When the centre stage raises, it could be a tower of fondue.

Nakajima: That's really great!

Inoo: I want to sing "Chocolate Disco!" I want to cover it!

Arioka: That's not our song!

Nakajima: It'd be nice if the tickets were a different shape to usual, like a heart.

Arioka: We could make it into the shape of a chocolate bar!

Yabu: A chocolate bar that's also like a ticket? Like in the movie, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"?

Yaotome: If it's cute!

Yabu: And then, all the goods would be chocolate too. Even the uchiwas and penlights.

Chinen: What about chocolates with the members' faces on them?

Yabu: You break it off and then eat it.

Arioka: Let's make chocolate moulds. I don't know if it should be the members' silhouettes or our logos.

Yamada: But wouldn't it be hard to get them on Valentine's Day?

Arioka: Let's have it for use next year! (T/N: I think this 'hard' part Yamada is referring to here is due to the covid situation this year)

Takaki: Why don't we just sing love songs that day?

Everyone: Sounds nice!

We asked these eight people to talk about the sweetest, bitterest and spiciest people in their group in relation to chocolate.

Inoo: Speaking of sweet, wouldn't that be Yaotome-san? The choice of words he uses on his blog is sweet.

Yaotome: Me? I wonder...

Nakajima: If I think of a pampered child, only Chinen comes to mind. (T/N: Amaenbou or spoiled/pampered child uses the kanji for sweet).

Arioka: Since he still smells like milk.

Inoo: Chinen would probably be bitter.

Chinen: Tasteful, you mean.

Inoo: It's because you're always making slanted comments!

Yabu: Indeed, he'd be 99% cocoa!

Arioka: Wouldn't Takaki be the one with the mature taste? He’s more sweet.

Yamada: He has a mature sexiness.

Takaki: I don't know much about chocolate~

Nakajima: Inoochan would be spicy. Sometimes he says sharp things on purpose. (T/N: Shinrau/sharp uses the kanji for spicy)

Yaotome: He's never gonna make normal comments (laughs)

Takaki: Hika-kun would be coffee-flavoured since he loves coffee.

Nakajima: Hey! Say! JUMP is an assorted variety of chocolate bonbons.

Yamada: Yeah, let's go with that!