Hikaru Utada‘s highly anticipated EP “One Last Kiss” was finally released physically in the U.S at the end of August. Originally released back in March 2021, an international edition was announced shortly before the EP was released due to high demand from oversea fans.

“One Last Kiss” is the very first EP/mini-album release by Hikki, with the title track serving as the theme song for the 4th installment in the Neon Genesis Evangelion film series “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrive Upon a Time”. The rest of the tracklist consists of tracks from previous Evangelion projects Hikki has provided music for.

This week’s guests were Mori Nana, King & Prince, DA PUMP, V6, Official HIGE DANdism, FUNKY MONKEY BΛBY’S, A.B.C-Z, Hey! Say! JUMP, EXIT, and EXILE.

Mori Nana – Shinkai

King & Prince – Koifuru Tsukiyo ni Kimi Omou

DA PUMP – TSUMUGI

V6 – blue

Official HIGE DANdism – Cry Baby / Apoptosis

FUNKY MONKEY BΛBY’S – Special Medley

A.B.C-Z – Natsu to Kimi no Uta

Hey! Say! JUMP – Gunjou Runaway

EXIT – SUPER STAR

EXILE – HAVANA LOVE

V6 – Ame

Japan is currently in the grips of its fifth wave of COVID-19, the biggest one to date. The country has been struggling to control a rapid spike in coronavirus infections, with 21 of the country’s 47 prefectures currently under a COVID-19 state of emergency. Something that has puzzled many people though is why several large events are still taking place.

One such event that went viral on social media this weekend was the hip hop festival “NAMIMONOGATARI 2021.” The festival featured the likes of BAD HOP, Awich, JP THE WAVY, AKLO, and FAKY. It was held in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, which is one of the prefectures currently under a state of emergency.

Video of “NAMIMONOGATARI 2021” appeared on social media, featuring a tightly packed crowed of about 8,000 not observing social distancing measures, not wearing masks, and drinking alcohol.

Nikkei Entertainment’s “Talent Power Ranking” list for 2021 is now out. TOKIO‘s Nagase Tomoya tops the list for talents from Johnny & Associates, up from #10 last year. Arashi‘s Aiba Masaki is second, remaining in the same spot as last year. Rounding out the top three is Matsumoto Jun of Arashi, last year’s #8. Find out the rest of the top 30 after the jump!

Johnny’s Jr group Travis Japan will be in charge of their very own brand new YouTube channel! The channel is called “+81 DANCE STUDIO”. The new channel will be used to showcase Travis Japan’s outstanding dance ability, this will also be a treat for Johnny’s fans in general as they will dance to the classic hits of Johnny’s groups from the 70s, 80s, and 90s!

Travis Japan will still be active on the Johnny’s Jr YouTube channel for variety content, while they are creating new content for +81 DANCE STUDIO. Travis Japan is one of the newer Johnny’s groups to further embrace SNS, despite not even having their official debut yet their official Instagram account has over 713k followers.

Check out the new trailer for +81 DANCE STUDIO below:

This week’s guests were KIRINJI, Awich, Kitani Tatsuya, and Kobayashi Watashi.

Kitani Tatsuya – Seija no Koshin

KIRINJI – Hazeru Shinzo feat. Awich

Kobayashi Watashi – HEALTHY (Acoustic Ver.)

On August 29, the second night of Fuji TV’s “FNS Laugh & Music ~Uta to Warai no Saiten~”, a celebration of comedy and music, aired. The show was a mixture of comedians and musical acts, with the latter group including JO1, Kis-My-Ft2, Hinatazaka46, DA PUMP, and more. Check out the full show below!

This year’s edition of Nikkei Entertainment’s annual “Talent Power Ranking” is now available. Included in the report was a break down of the survey by gender and age. Also included is the fastest risers for each age group. Check it out below!