April 08, 2021

Keito Okamoto Announces Departure from Hey!Say!JUMP

April 08, 2021/ Ken

We have the unfortunate news of reporting that member Keito Okamoto of the popular boy group Hey!Say!JUMP will be ending his activity with the group starting April 11th to focus on his acting career. This isn’t the first time his acting career has butted heads with his singing career as back in 2018 he left to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts New York School and was still on hiatus from the group. Okamoto had thought about his life and future course in his study abroad life and he said that he wanted to walk his future path as an actor. As a result of communicating between the members and Johnny’s Entertainment, he will be contracted as an actor belonging to Johnny's Entertainment.

Okamoto said to the members and fans, “Everyone who has been looking forward to my return to the group to this day, due to my selfishness I'm really sorry to have surprised you for that reason. I will do my best to support my new dreams and new paths in the future."

We at OTY would like to thank Okamoto to all he has done to the Japanese music industry and wish him the best of luck with his future endeavors.

Fruits Basket The Final has Started Broadcasting with a Heart-Wrenching Opening and Ending Themes by WARPs UP and GENIC!

April 07, 2021/ Ken

Fruits Basket: The Final stars airing globally from today. The opening theme song "Pleasure" is a new song by Japanese-Chinese mixed boys collective WARPs UP, and the ending theme song "春うらら”(“Haru Urara”) is a new song of mixed gender dance & vocal group GENIC. Both of them were aired for the first time in the program today so don’t miss it!

Faithfully capturing the story, the Opening theme "Pleasure" by WARPs UP's is their first melodic medium ballad song with the idea that the future can be changed by oneself in any environment and fate. The song is inspired by the characters of Fruit Basket who are trying to resist their destiny while having to overcome their own weaknesses. The ending theme "Haru Urara" by GENIC is a medium ballad that is perfect to describe the arrival of spring that will make you feel positive by singing about "friendship" and "a new beginning". It is a song that makes you feel the warmth as if you are supporting the characters of Fruit Basket who are trying to move forward. These songs will be a great theme to fill your day as you enjoy the spring that is just right around the corner.

For those who haven’t watched the Anime, Fruits Basket: The Final the story about Tohru, who lost his mother and used to live alone in a tent, but decided to live with Yuki Soma and Kyo Soma because the place was the site of the venerable "Soma family".

However, the Soma family has been bound by the abominable "curse" for hundreds of years. Tohru, who deepens her bonds with Yuki Soma, and the Soma family, struggles to break the curse, but cannot find a clue to the solution. On the contrary, she was at a loss for words when she learned the greatest secret that the head of the Soma family, Akito Soma, was a woman.

The "bond" that connects the "God" and the "Zodiac" is a fragile spiral of sadness. However, there is no feast that lasts forever-- The first memory, the first promise that everyone has forgotten. What is waiting for Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru over there is something that every Anime fans definitely should watch and see for themselves!

Be sure to check out GENIC’s its song “Haru Urara” across all digital streaming platforms here!

Seishun High School 3rd Grade Announces the End of Project!

February 28, 2021/ Ken

Seishun High School 3rd Grade C Group is a variety program that started in April 2018 by TV TOKYO and Yasushi Akimoto. The members who won the audition by recruiting "enrollees" in the open recruitment format have created a class as "students". The students made their artist debut in January 2020 with the single "君のことをまだ何にも知らない" (“Kimi no koto wo mada Nanimo Shiranai”), but the program was affected by the ongoing pandemic and was recorded remotely in the spring of the same year. Since the schedule for 2021 is uncertain in the current unstable situation where the second state of emergency has been declared, the program staff thinks about the future of the “students” and this year marks the third year the program had started. It was announced that at the end of March, they will end the youth high school project.

With the end of the program at the end of March, the activities of Seishun High School 3rd grade C group as an artist will also end. The students will be "graduated" at the end of the project, but it is decided to produce a graduation commemorative album that is currently untitled. Details of the album will be announced at a later date.

Meina Hibino, a third-year youth high school class representative reported “graduation” on her Twitter account and commented “These tears are not like the one in youth high school, so we’ll do our best to enjoy running through to the end!”

We at OTY like to thank all the “students” that were involved with the project and look forward to the upcoming album. Be sure to check out their music video “好きです” (“Sukidesu”) below!

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra Get An Almighty Saber In Latest Single

November 14, 2020/ Gray

Music group Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra has announced they will be releasing their latest single titled “ALMIGHTY - Kamen no Yakusoku feat. Kawakami Yohei” and is set to be released on December 23rd. The new song is currently being used for the long-running franchise Kamen Rider as the opening theme for the most current season of Kamen Rider Saber. The titled track also features guest vocalist Kawakami Yohei, the lead guitarist and vocalist of Alexandros. Also featured on the upcoming single will be the ending theme for Kamen Rider Saber which is simply titled “Kamen Rider Saber”.

“ALMIGHTY - Kamen no Yakusoku feat. Kawakami Yohei” is being released in five editions total: a standard CD-only edition, two CD plus DVD editions, and two limited editions. The limited edition type A will come with a CD and the “Brave Dragon Wonder Ride Book” toy used in the show while the limited edition type B will have a CD, DVD and the “Brave Dragon Wonder Ride Book” toy. The DVD for the type A DVD will feature the music video for “ALMIGHTY - Kamen no Yakusoku feat. Kawakami Yohei” while the DVD for type B and limited edition type B will feature the music video for “Kamen Rider Saber”. A full track-listing is posted at the bottom of the page along with pre-order links for each edition. Be sure to check out Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra’s latest music video “Great Conjunction 2020” which is also posted right below.

Standard Edition

CD plus DVD Edition Type A

CD plus DVD Edition Type B

Limited Edition Type A

Limited Edition Type B