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The story
On September 24, the seven-member Kansai-based idol group WEST. announced it will disband on the 30th of next month. Coming 12 years after their 2014 debut and their 2023 rebrand from “Johnny’s WEST” to “WEST.,” the abrupt end shocked fans. On 5ch, the revelation that member Shigeoka had kept his marriage and the existence of his child hidden not just from fans but from his own bandmates became a major talking point, with commenters calling the secrecy “the real problem,” while others pointed to the startlingly short one-week notice before disbandment and noted apparent friction among the members.
On the 24th, STARTO ENTERTAINMENT made the shock announcement that the seven-member Kansai-based group WEST. will disband. All seven members appeared together in a video released through their fan club, announcing, “We have decided to bring the group to an end.” It has been 12 years since their 2014 debut. In 2023, the group changed its name from “Johnny’s WEST” to “WEST.,” marking a fresh start. Having built its roots in Kansai before expanding its activities nationwide, the group now closes the book on its 12-year history.
Full article at the source
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
They're disbanding to take responsibility for the movie's big flop.
So the group was only being held together by Shigeoka alone?
Hiding it from the members and the fans ("ヲタ," i.e. otaku) alike — that's what's bad.
The members were furious enough that two of them straight-up quit.
"Waste product," harsh lol
Well, those guys are all at a level where they can do their own thing, so it's probably fine.
All the members knew?
Only one week's notice?
They can't even do a proper farewell round.
Guess it was such a low-effort group that they can announce it and be done a week later.
Same day I get discharged from the hospital.
Worlds apart from how Arashi handled it.
Wait, that's not it?
They go by Super Eight now.
Just stop it, lol
That's way too sudden, lol.
They could've at least stretched it to the end of the year
and given the fans a proper chance to see them.
Things between the members are probably so twisted up that even that's not possible.
Most of them try to become actors.
He left a strong impression in that group.
Thing is, it was Kiriyama who caused the first problem that led to all this…
Didn't two already leave?
They were planning to continue with five, but I'd bet even the five of them started fighting.
It's not "we got married" —
it's "actually, we were already married, and the kid was already born," which is a bit much.
And on top of that, he apparently hadn't even told the other members.
That's probably what made pent-up frustration finally explode —
among some of the members and among fans alike.
Fujii — announced departure
Shigeoka — turned out to be secretly married with a kid
Hamada — married
Kamiyama — married
Kiriyama — married to Maiko Kano
Nakama — in a hot romance with "Jamboree-neesan"
Guess the ones who aren't married probably feel like it's kind of unfair.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
WEST. debuted in 2014 as “Johnny’s WEST” and took its current name in 2023 following the agency’s rebranding, making it one of the few large-scale Kansai-based groups. With members Kotaki and Fujii having already announced their departures, attention had turned to whether the remaining seven could keep the group going — which is why the disbandment announcement landed as such a shock in the thread. Opinion split most sharply over reports that member Shigeoka had kept his marriage and the birth of his child hidden not only from fans but from his own bandmates, drawing criticism that “the secrecy was the problem,” alongside comments defending it as an unavoidable family matter. Note that “former Kanjani∞,” active around the same era, continues on today under its new name “Super Eight” and is a separate group from WEST. — a point that’s easy to mix up.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Breaking] WEST. Announces Disbandment [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”
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