Endless SHOCK 2020

Today they made the announcement of Endless SHOCK 2020. It will be the memorial 20th anniversary of this musical and the first after Johnny-san has passed away…

Endless SHOCK 20th Anniversary

Koichi’s “Special Event”?

I actually received an email from the fan club informing about a “special event” for Domoto Koichi on 8 Nov 2019. And surprisingly, I got another email telling me I’m on the waiting list on 18 Nov 2019, and in the event of any last-minute cancellation, I can attend…

Alas, no such luck. But I was already expecting it will be the announcement of next year’s SHOCK since they always do it around this time of the year.

What!? Ueda is going to be the rival!

I think the biggest surprise is having Tatsuya Ueda (KAT-TUN) playing as the rival. Koichi already hinted that there will be some big changes for next year for the cast during the curtain call of the last show a couple of months ago.

In SHOCK 2003

Ueda was part of the supporting cast 17 years ago too, and at that time, I think KAT-TUN members were behaving like brats, so Koichi didn’t have a good impression of them despite KAT-TUN back-dancing so much for Koichi / KinKi Kids… *oops*

I was secretly hoping that it will be Kishi-kun since he’s been hoping to co-star with Koichi again. But the thought is pretty scary too considering the ticket battle from both fan clubs.

While Shock started since the year 2000, the current story started in 2005, and that’s the one which I have been following since 2005. I still recall how I watched like 7 shows in 2006 and people were asking me if I get bored with the story… My answer : NEVER. *oops*

Rivals of the past years

Looking back at the past years for the role of Koichi’s rival, it’s interesting to see they have changed.
2005 : Tsubasa Imai
2006 : Tsubasa Imai / Ryo Nishikido
2007 : Toma Ikuta
2008 : Tomoyuki Yara
2009 : Tomoyuki Yara
2010 : Tomoyuki Yara / Hiroki Uchi
2011 : Hiroki Uchi
2012 : Hiroki Uchi
2013 : Tomoyuki Yara / Hiroki Uchi
2014 : Tomoyuki Yara / Hiroki Uchi
2015 : Tomoyuki Yara / Hiroki Uchi
2016 : Tomoyuki Yara
2017 : Tomoyuki Yara / Hiroki Uchi
2018 : Yuma Nakayama
2019 : Hiroki Uchi / Yuma Nakayama
2020 : Tatsuya Ueda (NEW!)

Instagram starts!

Woohoo! Finally, Endless SHOCK has its own official Instagram account too! This is too amazing since it means they will update photos of their rehearsals, etc. In the past, I have been following all the other non-Johnny’s cast to understand what’s going on in the backstage. But now we can hear from Koichi and other Johnny’s too! It’s funny how Koichi said in the interview that previously fans will think he’s dead when he’s just busy with rehearsals, so it’s good that he will have a chance to share some behind-the-scenes shots via SNS.

Other cast members

There will be 2 members, Yuki Koshioka and Yusuke Matsuzaki from 4U. who will support Koichi next year. At the same time, 4 members from Johnny’s Jr. will join too. They are Teranishi Takuto, Sho Takada, Taiga Tsubaki, and Minato Matsui. I only know Teranishi since he has been appearing in some shows with Yara too. The heroine role “Rika” will be played for the 2nd consecutive year by Ayaka Umeda and the owner role will be played by Bibari Maeda. Naoki Ishikawa who has also appeared since 2005 will continue to play as the drummer in the show.

Schedule

The shows in the Imperial Theatre (Tokyo) will start on 4 Feb 2020, and continue 2 months with the last show on 31 Mar 2020. The 1800th show will be the soiree show on 30 Mar 2020. Usually, these will be the hot dates, so the possibility of winning the ballot will be lower with more people applying for these shows. More detailed schedule can be found in the official Johnny’s net page.

More surprises?!

It’s written in one of the Instagram posts that there will be another surprise tomorrow. I’m thinking it’s either a DVD release OR more shows to be scheduled in Osaka or Fukuoka… or maybe even overseas?! *fingers crossed!*

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