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The story
On August 30, STARTO ENTERTAINMENT announced that Ryusei Fujii and Nozomu Kotaki will be leaving the seven-member group WEST. How the remaining five members will continue is “still under discussion,” and the group’s planned seven-member festival appearance has been cancelled. What caught the thread’s attention wasn’t so much the departure timeline as the surprising makeup behind it: four of the seven members are already married, and the two leaving are actually the unmarried, younger ones. Comments like “LOL, now it’s an all-married group” piled up, and the discussion branched into comparisons with the married/single status of other idol groups, plus casual chatter about who these members would correspond to in Nogizaka46.
Surprise Announcement: WEST.’s Ryusei Fujii & Nozomu Kotaki to Leave — Whether the Remaining Five Will Continue Is “Under Discussion” … Seven-Member Festival Appearance Cancelled
On the 30th, STARTO ENTERTAINMENT made a surprise announcement on its official website that Ryusei Fujii and Nozomu Kotaki of the seven-member group WEST. will be leaving the group. Whether the remaining five members will continue as a group is “still under discussion.”
According to sources close to the matter, the specific timing of Fujii and Kotaki’s departure is “still under discussion.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Yep.
Kotaki — leaving
Fujii — leaving
Shigeoka — turns out he's married with kids
Hamada — married
Kamiyama — married
Kiriyama — married to Maiko Kano
Nakama — reportedly dating the "Jamboree Sister" (a costumed performer from a Tokyo Disneyland show)
It's basically a married-guys group now.
Might as well have the last single guy get married too.
Those two should've just dated or gotten married too.
Leaving while that's still fresh news seems like there's more to it… not that I'd know.
Sounds like almost all the members are married now.
A group like that doesn't have much of a future.
Same thing happened with ABC-whatever (another Johnny's group) — Kawai, the standout member, left too.
>not that I'd know
You sure know a lot for someone who "doesn't know" lol
There's also another Ryusei in Johnny's — Ryusei Onishi.
He's Shuka Fujii's older brother.
Staying, married: Teruyoshi Kiriyama
Staying, married: Tomohiro Kamiyama
Staying, married: Takahiro Hamada
Staying, single: Junta Nakama
Leaving, single: Ryusei Fujii
Leaving, single: Nozomu Kotaki
Not sure why, but Shigeoka and Nakama are the two whose faces I can't picture even though I've heard their names.
Nakama's on news shows, so he clearly knows his value comes from being in a Johnny's group.
Even if you say he's with STARTO, being treated as belonging to a fledgling new agency doesn't carry much weight as a title.
Nakama, the one unmarried member who's staying, is dating Yui Hayashi from the "Jamboree Mickey" show at Tokyo Disneyland.
Ah — if it's the guy from the "naked in Ni-chōme" thing (Shinjuku's nightlife district), I know who that is.
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https://starto.jp/images/81/084/4bf0a65afa55bf370c0f7a29dd274.jpg
https://starto.jp/images/81/c92/58f3a975db441b94af23467b38a7a.jpg
Their clothes are so plain, they all kind of look like backstage crew.
Those two seem younger than the other members, so maybe it's just too early for them to get married.
Guess the two of them still want to do the idol thing while they're young.
Having to wave glow sticks and scream for a married middle-aged guy is hell for the fans too, honestly.
Just quietly quit already.
I don't really get that mindset.
Enjoying someone's entertainment work has nothing to do with whether they have a family.
Besides, the person on TV or up on stage lives in a different world from us anyway.
Respect to anyone who can actually see it as a different world.
Personally, knowing there's a husband or wife waiting for them at home makes me not want to spend a single yen on them.
I think idols are a different case.
There's that funny Yoshinori Kobayashi manga about fans forcing themselves to stay stoic about it.
Oh right, I forgot about Nakama.
Thought of V6, but I'd forgotten about Miyake too — and they already disbanded anyway.
Nakama's probably got a marriage lined up too.
Maybe he's got wedding plans too?
At this point just go full married-idol-group.
Nakama's probably already married to the "Jamboree Sister" or close to it, no?
Rena Yamazaki level.
If it's the 5th generation, the "Nao & Mao" duo.
Endo & Ichinose.
Background and Key Points
WEST., a seven-member group under STARTO ENTERTAINMENT (formerly Johnny’s Office), traces back to KANSAI Johnny’s Jr., formed in 2004, and debuted in 2014. Four of the seven members (Shigeoka, Hamada, Kamiyama, and Kiriyama) are already married, and if you include Nakama, who has been reported to have a girlfriend, that leaves Fujii and Kotaki as the only two who are single. In idol culture, the usual pattern is for a member to graduate or leave the group once they get married — but this time it’s the opposite: the two unmarried, younger members are the ones leaving, while the married members stay on, which is what drew the thread’s attention. The specific circumstances and timing of the departure have only been described as “under discussion,” and readers should keep in mind that the speculation on 5ch (about romance, marriage, etc.) has not been officially confirmed as fact.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Surprise Announcement! WEST.’s Ryusei Fujii & Nozomu Kotaki to Leave — Whether the Remaining Five Will Continue Is “Under Discussion” … Seven-Member Festival Appearance Cancelled.”
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