People I was meant to meet at the right time

For the day I suddenly wondered
what those encounters were all about,
I'll write them down while I still remember.

I feel like I recognized them right after they debuted.

I had known the name "JO1" for a long time.

There was a time when I was a fan of Tomohisa Yamashita because of my mother, and I remember hearing back then, "I heard a kid named Ren Kawashiri from JO1 was a backup dancer on that tour" (I actually attended that tour).
For some reason, I remember it vividly. Maybe it's because I'm from Fukuoka.
I also have a faint memory of seeing them featured on a local news program.
That's why Ren was the only one whose face and name I knew.
I think I found out they were a group formed through an audition show after Produce 101 Japan The Girls became a hot topic.

There are just too many times I've thought, "Wait, this was JO1!?!"

Since there are too many times I've thought, "Wait, this was JO1!?!"
I decided to summarize them.

The first installment is the story of how I got hooked on "Yoru ga Aketara, Ichiban ni Kimi ni Ai ni Iku" (If My Life But First You Could See).

I really just happened to see a lyric video for the movie on my TikTok feed, and I thought, "What is this movie! I want to see it!" and looked it up immediately.
Then I found out it had been released on Amazon Prime just the day before (or so)? (It was released on Prime at the beginning of this year, right?)
I thought, "I have to watch this!" and watched it with a friend in the middle of the night right away.

First of all, I absolutely loved the world of the movie! That sky color and those paint colors! And the beauty of Ruki and Rinkuma-chan!!!! And the shock of finding out in the final credits that this kid is in JO1!?!

And then, to top it off, the theme song was amazing!!!
When I looked it up, it was also JO1!?!!
I downloaded it immediately.
From then on, I listened to "Gradation" all the time, but that was the only JO1 song I listened to.


As soon as I saw that movie, I fell in love with it more than I could have imagined, and I watched it many times.
I still remember that that world was one I loved so much, and it was a feeling I had never experienced before.
The color scheme of the "Gradation" jacket is also perfectly to my taste.

From there, also probably on TikTok,
I also stumbled upon "Toberu kara" and "Mad in Love" (though at the time, I was looking for euphoric and ballad songs, so I wasn't paying any attention to JO1, lol).
Thinking about it now, it feels like I encountered god-tier songs from the very beginning!

And!!! This isn't the reason I got hooked, but here's the second installment!! (lol)
I've been a fan of Hirano-kun (Sho Hirano) for about 6 years, and didn't our comebacks overlap in May!?! (Though it was an album and a single)
And they performed together on Music Station, right!?!
So I just thought, "I'll listen to it for now~" and downloaded "Love seeker" (I'm the type who wants to be able to hum along before a music show).
So when I got hooked, I listened to "Love seeker" again and realized, "Wait, this was JO1?" (lol)
I also realized later, "Sho-kun and Kima-chan interacted this much!?!" lol
Thanks for the Nagoya talk 😌
(I hadn't paid any attention to it at all, so I only found out it was Kima-chan after I got hooked.)

And then I properly recognized JO1 (?)
Produce 101 Japan Girls!!! I had absolutely no interest in it when it was airing (I knew about the beautiful Princess Rinrin because everyone in class was singing it to death), but I unexpectedly got hooked around February (I watched it knowing who the debut members were).
That's where I discovered the masterpiece 'Shine a Light' (I was surprised to learn it was a song from their first year after debut).

From there, I wanted to watch programs featuring JO1, so I rewatched the Kohaku Uta Gassen I had recorded. Then, 'NEWSmile' turned out to be exactly my kind of song. I downloaded it immediately. (The 'Oh, you were the people who were the opening act!' phenomenon occurred.)

There were many other 'Oh, this was JO1!?' moments too.

I feel like I definitely watched JO1's first Music Station appearance, and I have some memory of their first Kohaku (since I only knew the chorus of 'Mugendai'), I watched the Gyoretsu episode with the '98-liners while laughing out loud, I knew Takumi's 'Buzzy Noise' was being screened (I remember being surprised that it was a solo theme song and not a group one (though it makes sense once you know the content)), and I had even seen the TikTok of Sukai doing the Tokui dance (lol).

Diving into the swamp

I finally got hooked, and the trigger was probably YouTube...?
I only have the memory of watching YouTube like crazy during summer vacation and laughing (lol).

I've gotten hooked on artists before, but it's rare for me to get hooked at this speed and even join a fan club (it hadn't happened since Sho Hirano), so I'm surprised myself.

This is the very first video I watched!!!

I immediately fell in love with this family-like atmosphere.
Maybe it's also because it's similar to the atmosphere of the group I've always loved, so it felt somewhat nostalgic.

First, I wanted to learn their names, so I watched a lot of TikToks, and the one who caught my eye was Keigo. Isn't this person's face too beautiful!?! That was the initial shock. From there, I tried to decide on a favorite, but without being able to decide (everyone is so charming that even now I'm a 'hako-oshi' who supports the whole group), I joined the fan club. I was captivated by Takumi's smiling face and his charming dance and expressions, and I'm head over heels for Takumi. Why does he smile so cutely? I was surprised to find that after meeting JO1, they care so much about JAM. With 'Jamming with JO1' on Tuesdays, 'JO1ANNX' on Wednesdays, and 'Hi!JO1' on Fridays, I have something to look forward to every day, and now weekdays aren't depressing and I can do my best at everything.

I am still currently a fan of Sho Hirano, and having experienced the person I like disappearing from in front of me, I always keep in mind that what is taken for granted is not guaranteed (this is definitely the aftereffect of his withdrawal and departure). He came back, but there might come a day when the person I like disappears and I can no longer see his singing voice or his face. To avoid regrets when that time comes, I see them when I can. I felt this painfully at the time, so I joined the JO1 fan club and applied for the tour. You absolutely must not have regrets.

Takumi's words, 'As long as JAM is here, we won't disappear,' are something I want to believe, even if there's no such thing as 'absolute'.

There are many times I wish I had met them sooner, and times when I wonder why I didn't look them up or follow them back then, but

I truly feel that JO1 are the people I was meant to meet at the right time, and I'm so glad it was them.

JO1 are the kind of people who make me feel that way.

I've had this in my drafts for a long time, but I heard that 'falling down the rabbit hole' blogs are trending, so I'm going to post it.

I don't have any JAM friends, and I'm attending the concert alone for the first time, so I'd love to chat if you're interested ^_^