KPop Legal Crackdowns and JPop Wins For Global Fans

Scammers aren’t just pretending to be idols anymore. They’re reportedly impersonating entertainment companies to pitch fake performances and pull in serious investment money, and we dig into why Cube Entertainment’s warning matters for fans, promoters, and anyone who treats a viral post like “proof.” If you follow K-pop news on X, Instagram, or Weverse, you’ll recognize how fast these schemes can spread and how hard it is to tell what’s real when everything looks official at a glance.

We also talk about the kind of controversy that never seems to stay gone: fashion choices that collide with history. Mark’s (Mark Lee formerly of NCT) new label issues an apology after a Confederate flag T-shirt appears in posted photos, and we break down why “vintage” is not the same as “harmless,” especially in a global music industry. From there we shift into better headlines, celebrating ATEEZ hitting a new career high in first-week sales for Golden Hour Part 5, and reacting to T.O.P’s Asia fan meeting tour announcement and the intriguing “pre-studio” idea.

On the J-pop and J-rock side, we’re genuinely excited about STARTO Entertainment opening a free multilingual news archive for international fans, plus the formation of YAO with Awich, CHICO CARLITO, ONE OK ROCK, and Paledusk timed around Tanabata. Then Sarah absolutely spirals in the best way when Ohno Satoshi reappears online with Satojima, a salon-style platform for sharing daily life, hobbies, and future events. Hit play, share the episode with a friend, and leave us a review, what headline made you do a double take this week?

Transcript

Welcome And Rant Setup

SPEAKER_03 0:19

Thank you for joining us here at Music Elixir. I'm Sarah Shee, and with me is Miss DJ Panic.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Why are you looking at me? Long dramatic. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Silence. Long drawn-out pause.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Thank you for listening. Thank you for giving us a chance. Checking this out. Yes. I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for star. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yo, that episode. Thank you. We can talk about a little bit more about that. But we want to deep dive some more news on K-pop on J Pop. But definitely we want to thank those fans. Let's leave it to towards the end because they left us some really, really nice comments.

SPEAKER_03 1:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

For sure, for sure. So as you can guess, it's the rant and rambling. Woo. And it's uh well, Sarah's very excited about one news. Oh, yeah. We'll leave it towards the end too because I was even like, wow, what it was unexpected.

Cube Targets Impersonation Scams

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Yes, it was.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

All right. So let's start with the uh K-pop news. As you know, I love that these companies in the Korean industry, they're like, uh, we're not taking, we're taking everybody to court. I know, right? We're taking everybody to court, and lawyers over there are like, yeah, let's get paid.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Well, we've we've talked about that before.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

We're like, I know best place to be a lawyer right now. Exactly. So this one, new the a new going situation. So, okay, let's start. So Cube warns against impersonation fraud and threatens legal action. So this one is actually from Sumpy. It was on July 3rd. Oh, by the way, we are recording on July 4th. Happy 4th of July, 250th. Wow, 250. 250 years, yeah. Wow. I wouldn't think that I would be around for that. But I'm surprised. I'm I'm glad. I'm very happy. Wow, 250.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

I know. No, my sister and I talked about that. We're like when you were little, thinking like into the future. Yeah. Like, what's it gonna are we gonna even still be here? You know, because like thinking 50, you know, exactly. We're gonna be old, right? Who knew? Right? Wow. Anyways, when you're young, you're like exactly my parents are so old.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

No, when you're I see in a teenager, if somebody says that you're 20, I'm like, man, you're old, you know? And you haven't even started live life at the yet, you know? You just started living your life, kind of. So, okay, so Cube Entertainment has threatened to take legal action against impersonation of the company. I thought it was for like their artists, artists, the company.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

So, and the spread of false information. So, on July 30, agency issued the following warning against impersonation fraud. Why these people are getting ballsy on like taking other people's, you know. So, hello, this is Cube Entertainment. We are receiving reports that certain businesses have recently been spreading false information pretending that they have obtained our approval to set up performances by our artists in China. And they are using these false claims to solicit large investments from Chinese companies. Whoa. Uh-huh. We are letting you know that no such arrangement exists. And we urge you to take extra caution in order to avoid suffering damages because of these schemes. It's true. Cube Entertainment plans to continue taking all necessary measures to protect the rights and interests of our company and its artists as well as to prevent harm caused by the spread of false information or acts of impersonation. Furthermore, if we catch any unauthorized use of our company name or our artist to spread the false information, solicit investments, or sign contracts, we will respond with strong legal action, including filing both criminal complaints and civil lawsuits.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

Wow. Yo. Well, I mean, this is really has been sort of an ongoing problem throughout the music industry. Cause think about how many new accounts pop up on X or Instagram claiming to be someone. Yeah. And they're not. And you know, even Weaverse has had this, you know. Oh, yeah. Hey, it's me, Junk Cook, or hey, it's me, G Dragon, come like talk to me and send me money. No, he doesn't need my money other than concert and album sales. But like this has really been an ongoing problem. Right.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

So there's companies out in China that they're saying that they're cube entertainment, and you're like, hey, you want, you know, like for performances and blah blah blah. Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

The the fact though that this is like targeting companies, because like I said, it's bad enough when people are impersonating an artist and being like, Yeah, if you send money, you can get whatever, and people are getting scammed. Imagine if these things were like, we're trying to raise money to get so-and-so artists here, and people, you know, like donated money to something. So this is like, wow. Right. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Yeah. Yeah, that's bullsy. It's very bullshit. Yikes. Exactly. Another news that if we were like, I was like, what? And I mentioned it to Sarah, and she's like, What? That's just not right.

SPEAKER_03 6:28

Well, I mean, like I said, because it's not just an artist and it's not small scale. This is like targeting companies that you're talking a lot of money there. And it you must be real confident in all your hidden IPs and all that.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

Well, I guess. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Well, there's apparently from the way they're wording it, more than one. Yeah. They're catching some people and they're gonna hunt the rest of you down. Exactly. Exactly. Wow. So next

Confederate Flag Shirt Backlash

SPEAKER_03 7:05

news? Sure. Which which next news?

SPEAKER_02 7:08

I'm gonna we got a few. So I'm gonna go back to Sumpy. Um, Mark's new label, new label apologizes for his Confederate flag t-shirt. Mm-hmm. Uh, if if if you don't know, um please look it up. We're not gonna give details on the Confederate flag, but let's just say that is a very uh painful, painful history.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

And yeah, I was gonna say just check the history on.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Check the history and what is what does the flag represent, and it's just yeah, no. Anyway, so again, this is soomy that was um actually this happened on June 23rd, reported on June 23rd. Former NCT member Mark, which already NCT is on a lot of hot water, a lot of the members or just the group, anyways. Oh yeah. So Mark's new label has apologized after posting photos of the singer wearing a t-shirt and bows with the Confederate flag. On June 23rd, Mark came under fire when his newly established label, Upper Room, posted photos of him wearing a t-shirt with the Confederate flag on it. And there's there's a picture on Soom P with the Confederate flag. If you want a little bit more history on how it looks like, which if you see it, you'll be like, no, that's uh no. So shortly after, Upper Room took to the Instagram story Instagram stories to share the following apology in English. Because this is part of English history. So hello, this is Upper Room. We would like to extend our sincere apologies for the concern, discomfort, and disappointment caused by the vintage t-shirt that appeared in a recently shared photograph. The garment was selected solemnly as a vintage wardrobe item. Again, this is again some people just picking things for their artists without really looking the graphics.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

You know, it's because if you look at the photo too, though, it actually says Virginia on the side, which sort of explains why it has no offense to Virginia. I'm just saying right, like there's a correlation there, but it's still not a good one.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Now with the use, hello Google, with the use of Google pictures, you can take a picture and it can tell you like what it is, and then you can read upon it and tell you, you know, what is that about? And I'm sure a lot of fans might not like that. I'm gonna feel offended. Like, why are you wearing that?

SPEAKER_03 9:47

Like, I'm sure you don't know what that is because you're just wearing it like hey, you know, well, like you said, without fashion without Google picturing it, someone probably was just like, Oh, look, a Virginia, you know.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

They probably thought it was like the flag of Virginia, the state, yeah, the state flag, which is not, anyways. Maybe back in that day, but no. So, uh, however, upon record uh recognizing the historical significance and sensitivity associated with the symbol displayed on the t-shirt, we took measures to ensure that it will not be visible in any official content despite the effort. The image was subsequently shared externally, resulting in the symbol being visible and causing understandable concern among members uh in the public. Yeah, I know which members, which fans will be like, Well, we're not follow you because the shirt that you're wearing. And you have a big old smile because you think it's just a t-shirt. So, anyways, so there's more apologies on it, and just ending it with we sincerely apologize to everyone who was hurt, offended, or disappointed by this situation. We remain committed to the to acting with greater responsibility, awareness, and care moving forward. This is not the first time that a K-pop artist have wearing some kind of garment that is questionable or insensitive.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

So uh again, I thought that people from previous artists having this problem will like be more vigilant of like make sure there's no patterns that look you know racist or look you know unsensitive to like women or or other communities, da da da da. Why is this still going on? I don't know. I mean, what's wrong? I mean, if you wanna wanna wear a pattern, what's wrong with polka dots, lines, flowers, uh, puppies, kittens, birds, I don't know, mountains, trees, you know, or just plain colors.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

Ah yeah, it's so you know, I was gonna say, unfortunately, it's such uh still very dominant image in society. I can tell you just in my neighborhood alone, there's like three trucks that have it on them.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Yeah, I know. You know what I mean? Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_03 12:27

And you know, think about our childhoods watching the Dukes of Hazard. I mean, they had the car was even called the General Lee, and it had the flag. You know what I mean? And these are all things you as kids we didn't think about because we didn't know the history of it as youngsters, but it's uh yeah, it's still out there a lot, and I think that may be why someone just was like, Oh, cool, look at this, you know? Image that everybody uses, so yeah, they they do at least say, regardless of the intent, we recognize that it's I just you need to be more diligent and careful and whoever was doing was his wardrobe person, person.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

Yeah, exactly. Maybe just like, hey, something to attract your American Right. You have a lot of American, you know, fans over there. Hey, this like you said, Virginia, and that looks kind of like an American flag. Yeah, it's red, white, and blue. Hey, this you know, it's oh god. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:29

Well, you know, uh it's it's similar to other things, you know. Yep, maybe they just again it was oversight, someone not being diligent enough in checking stuff, and again, as people who even hear the history of it and the relevance is still fairly new in being taught and and being mindful of what it means and what it represents and where it came from, you know what I mean? So it's like uh yeah, people learn, people learn.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

So again, um, please, whoever is doing your wardrobe, make sure let's not have it's because it's like for some reason, like every other year something like this happens, or like every two years and whatever. I forgot which one was the last one. What did somebody did get like that? Oh, your shirt has this blah. Yeah, this is like against baby baby somewhere, blah blah blah. You know, it's like really it just looks pretty, but what this doesn't look pretty, just just I don't know. Anyways, I saw some Harley David people with that too.

SPEAKER_03 14:31

But anyways, well, that's what I'm saying. It's still very predominant in America, in America, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

What should I say? America. There's no A, it's America, America, those A America, those are the ones that like that, anyways. I'm I'm getting political. Shut up, shut up, ladies, stop

ATEEZ Smash First Week Sales

SPEAKER_02 14:50

it. Okay, Marin to the A pop News. This is something really cool because ATs breaks their first week sales record from three years ago with Golden Hour Part 5. Girl, girl, I can't I can't stop listening to this one. I'm like between Adirang and then this one. And I am like, wow, they're so good. Yeah, no, uh, it's like, oh, love. So again, this is again from Soom P because you know, Soom P is like for me, it's like I I like how they write their articles. So this was on July 2nd. ATs has hit a new career high with their latest release. Last week, ATs made their highly anticipated comeback with their new mini album, Golden Hour Part 5, and it's accompanying with the accompanying title track bad on June 6th. Let me tell you that song. So I showed it to our friend who I turned into BTS. Oh, okay, yeah. So that was just like, hey, look at this, and and now someone else, and now she's like, girl, what are you doing on me? Who is that? I'm like, that's Sam. Oh my god, all I can think is just him and that part, and oh my goodness, yeah, I know. Okay, you're welcome. So so now I have her listening to that album, and she's I went to her office just for like chit-chat, and then she's like, You're not gonna believe what I'm listening to. I'm like, AT's? She's like, showing me her cell phone. I'm like, I'll listen to the whole thing. Oh my god, oh my god, and I'm like, I told you, I told you they're good. Uh so according to Hanteo chart, ATs has achieved the highest first week sales of their entire career with the mini album in the first week of its release, June 26th to July 2nd. Golden Hour, part five, sold an impressive total of 1,885,712 copies. Wow copies. This is not streaming, copies, yeah, yeah. Breaking ATs's previous first week sale record of 1,770 sets by their 2023 album, The World EP Thin Will, three years ago. Wow, congratulations to ATs. Oh my goodness! Yeah, that's a personal record. Wow, yeah. I mean, very cool. I think they're trying their hardest because come on, military's coming around the corner.

SPEAKER_03 17:35

Well, all I can say is I'm glad we saw them when they were in the day. Oh, girl, girl, they're girl, even their last tour was next to impossible to get tickets, you know.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

So like Yeah, that's why I love K-Con. You get to see these groups before they get huge because some of these will just get huge, and you by the time you want to go see them, you can get tickets. Hello, BTS, you know?

SPEAKER_03 18:03

It's still got my ATs pin from that K-con.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

Me too.

unknown 18:09

Me too.

SPEAKER_02 18:11

So congratulations to ATs and of course the sky's the limit. And I'm sure they're doing so many things right that you know they're they're just gonna be unstoppable, you know?

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

Alright, next news. Do you have uh K-pop news?

SPEAKER_03 18:26

Well, did you wanna mention the TOP?

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Yes. You wanna go with that one? You have that report? Sure, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

TOP announces stops

T.O.P Announces Asia Fan Meetings

SPEAKER_03 18:35

for Asia Fan Meeting Tour, TOP Pre-Studio 2026. In big exclamation, TOP is going on tour on July 2nd, and this is from Soompi. Uh, Topshot Pictures unveiled the main poster for TOP Pre-Studio 2026, revealing the dates and venues for his first solo Asia fan meeting tour.

SPEAKER_02 19:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 19:01

So he's gonna be going to Hong Kong, Taipei, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and Kaosion. With the poster hinting at more stops to come. That's uh it's quite a poster. They got a picture on there for you to look at. Yeah. It's very uh mysterious looking. It's T O P. Hey, I've got that scarf. TOP. Oh my goodness. What scarf? In the photo. I just noticed it because it's a very it's a black and white.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Black and white. How can you see that? Do you have it on bright?

SPEAKER_03 19:35

No. But you can see it. There's loads of skulls and stripes on it. I have that. It's black and gold. I know. That's a nice hey meant TOP. We got the same face. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

Or or whoever is dressing him. We don't even know.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

Okay, go ahead. That's so funny. Sorry, that my little segue. I'm like, hey, that's my scar. So the phrase pre-studio hints at a unique new concert format where the audience members will also participate in creation. Currently, TOP is also gearing up for his free fan meeting in Japan on July 9th. So that's coming up fast. Right. But, anyways, they will have more updates, more tour listings, everything coming out soon. But wow. Yay! Yeah, good for him. I know.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

I know. So as we talked about that song, man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

That last single that he dropped. I was like, Yeah. I love this.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

I know. So maybe not really joining Big Bang. No. We were hoping for that. That he would have like nonchalantly, and we got a special guest TOP. And we're like, What? But no, it's not gonna happen. So, my last K-pop news, TXT's Yoon

Yeonjun Lands Good Morning America

SPEAKER_02 21:00

John, John, or Jung, to perform at Good Morning America Summer Concert Series in New York City. Woohoo! So he will be taking the stage on this year's Good Morning America Summer Concert Series on June 30th, local time, which is New York. The popular American morning show announced that Jun June will be one of the year's performances for this famous annual concert series, which will kick off next week in New York. He will be performing on August 7th, approximately a month after his upcoming solo comeback with No Labels Part 2, which is due out on July 10th. We so in addition, uh he is the first part of the year's lineup, including Keith Urban, Coco Jones, Dan and Shea, and Sublime. Sublime? Wow. Sublime. Sublime? Yeah. What? Sublime? Yeah, I was like, I think I'm more surprised about Sublime than him. I'm sorry, people. It's a Sublime. It's like from the 90s, and the member passed away. Yeah, I was like, that's why I'm like Sublime?

SPEAKER_03 22:13

It's not all of Sublime.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

No. In the meantime, check out his latest teaser for No Labels Part 2 on YouTube. But oh my god, now I'm like Sublime. Okay, but congratulations to him. You get to see him doing some solo stuff. You know, that's awesome. Yeah, definitely. Check that out. Now, now, coming up. Oh, oh. You want to say happy birthday to Daiske? Yes. We did say happy birthday to him or not properly. Extra boy from Snowman. Yes. Happy

Starto Opens News Archive Globally

SPEAKER_02 22:45

birthday to Daiske Sakuma. Yep. July 5th. So happy birthday to Daisuke. Yeah. Yeah. Daiske extra Sakuma. Of course. Doing so. His thing. Uh, also to mention, oh, this is something new. Because, of course, now we're gonna transition into J Pop. Starto made a huge announcement this week. They have actually dropped or opened a Starto news archive for international fans. Mm-hmm. In multiple languages. Multiple, multiple languages. Hold on. Let me bring that up. Because if you can go to um okay did you panic, I have written a blog and it tells you right there. But I will read it for you. Sarah's like, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Whatever, lady. So yeah, I'll just sit back and relax for a minute. Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Drink some water, try to cool off because it's too hot today. So Starto Entertainment lunches free. Startow news archives for global fans. Yes. The new multilingual portal offers exclusive artist news, concert coverage, streaming features, and personalized updates for international startow fans. Starto Intel is helping international fans connect with their favorite artists by launching the A Startow News Archive, a free subscription portal with created uh content in English, traditional Chinese, Korean, and Thai. So are you ready to dive in? All you have to do is visit Star Tood News Archive and follow your favorite artist. So I went in there and I actually, you know, because it's free. Checked some stuff. I joined, of course. They have all other artists, so I check on all of them. So it doesn't, you know, it doesn't give you like a limit. You can follow everybody or whoever you are currently like loving the most, or you have you know your favorite sampai. So Startu says more members' benefits and exclusive context are already in development with future edition plans based on feedback from the global fan community. Now, to explore outline our article our archives anytime or sign up for the monthly newsletter to stay updated on the biggest stories, join their dedicated Facebook online accounts for updates tailored to fans in Thailand and Taiwan. So, yeah, so have you subscribed?

SPEAKER_03 25:27

I did. Well, I've already been part of the all the other stuff. Remember me talking about all my translation ordeals getting accounts set up, and so you know. Well, 20 years later, uh it's something exactly.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

So this was for all the Starto talents, you know, that are currently active, of course. Yep, and it has all those goodies for free for all international fans. Yay! I mean, no, this is a great win.

SPEAKER_03 26:01

It is, but like I spent 20 years struggling to find all this stuff now.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

I know, I know, you know, to company has uh been changing, you know, CEOs and you know, direct, you know, marketing directors or whatever. You know, they've been bit you can tell there's have been some changes within the company to actually have these their artists thrive because I'm sure there's uh we have heard many complaints from international fans, especially on X Twitter. They're very vocal. Oh, yes, very, very vocal. And also on Reddit, girl. Oh vocal on X. There are savages in Reddit.

SPEAKER_03 26:42

Oh, I Reddit is where the people who want to just like rip everybody apart go.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

Savages. I mean, I'm like, whoa, that's I'm like, wow. That's the same with Chagans, but I'm sure there's following. But Reddit, if you really want you you thought that X Ritter was juicy gossip, no, go to Reddit. It's carnage.

SPEAKER_03 27:05

It is no, it's it's carnage for anything, anything, yeah. Like that's like I said, Reddit is just about people who want to rip everything apart. Yes, yes, it's they're like exactly.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

So thank you, Starto, for doing this for international fans. Yeah, um, they were there with one comment. I'm gonna say because I just found it funny on um X Twitter. They're like, Oh, so what about the concerts? I mean, I think this person, I think this person's like, I care less about this, I want to be in the concerts. I'm like, whoa, it's like I care less about this, I want concerts, you know.

SPEAKER_03 27:45

I may have seen that. There there were a couple of people where who were yeah saying I'm not saying

Fan Comments And Translation Warnings

SPEAKER_03 27:50

verbatim, but more like will you be open? We'd prefer it if you opened up the concerts to it. That was one I remember reading. I was like, oh yeah, yep, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

So, anyways, also uh we would like to thank before we deep dive on I remember that we want to say thank you very much to Star for listening, actually for actually telling us or asking us to do a deep dive on Star Glow. That's our last episode. And uh wow, it everybody has been nice. Some people have actually, of course, have taken whatever on the transcript and translated it in English. I do want to say, be careful. Some words or the way that it's said on the transcript might not be really reflecting what we're saying, because of course it's a machine that is you know, put it in words for us.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

Yeah, AI is not perfect. Exactly. So sometimes it gets it wrong.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

Yeah, if you if for some reason something sounds like, why are you trying to stay here? Like it doesn't go, please let us know. Yeah, and then we can elaborate on that on that part.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

That's I was gonna say, yeah. Ask us because we'll we'll be able to tell you exactly.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

There was one part I I screenshot it for for Sarah because Sarah's been introducing herself as Sara She, but then the trend the machine was trans translating her as Sarah sheet. I'm like, I didn't know you were a piece of paper.

SPEAKER_03 29:32

I didn't know I changed my name.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

Right? I was like, okay, so just to let you know, things that it may sound a word, it trans may translate it to something else that is not completely related to the topic.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

Yeah, exactly. You know, so it just and and now we're gonna talk about book.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

Yeah, like what maybe we should put a you know a warning or disclaimer on our in the show notes, or at least saying it when we're here, like uh be careful to we'll word it in that, you know, do not rely on the translation or on the notes or the show notes or whatever. Please, if you have any questions, just let us know.

SPEAKER_03 30:19

Well, it's reminding me of one time when we were we were having trouble with like uh Yuki because we were like, well, it means snow, means courage, like what is what is the context here? So it's the same thing when it's translating our stuff for you. It's just picking whatever seems closest, you know, most either based on what it hears or what what the word translates to elsewhere. So yeah. If you have questions, you can ask us.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

Yeah, we prefer, we prefer that because we don't wanna lost in translation. Yeah, definitely the meaning, definitely lost in translation. So I'm gonna read uh one of the comments that we received that it was like really cute. Of course, I'm translating it from Japanese, so this is Google Translate, so it could also, you know, be different, but it says, uh, thank you for mentioning StarGlow. I'm not great at English, but I was able to fully understand the content using the smartphones page translation feature, which you know be careful with that. Um then they continue saying, I'm happy that StarGlow is being praised. I believe they were wonderful enough to captivate people across borders, but it's especially delightful to hear it put into words like this, uhw. And then proceeded to say thank you for sharing. I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm happy to start the Starglow is being talked about overseas. Oh yeah, this comment was uh on July 1st. Okay, and hopefully they have listened to it in our shenanigans. There was one that I like that we talked about the baby. Oh, and people are like going crazy, they're like, I know who the baby is. They're too and they were cracking out because it's like the baby, the baby. So this one, as for the podcast, it was all in English, so I was just picking up random words, which I barely understood. But in the part where they introduced Taiki, they clearly said baby, and they put L O L in like a laughing emoji, it was universally recognized thing. So apparently the baby is a baby, also in Japan. Oh, yeah. So everybody, so this this fan was like, I was laughing. It was under understood that he is the baby.

SPEAKER_03 32:58

Well, at least they didn't didn't think we were saying Taiki baby. You know what I mean? Like right, they knew the context of it, which is awesome. Yes, probably because we went baby.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

Yes, the baby. Uh that just that's something that we like to do when it comes to the youngest member of the group. That it's the baby. But I I like that star also finds him as the baby, so that is is pretty cool. I like that. That's awesome. So, yes, we we do take we translate. Don't be afraid to make a post or a comment on your own language. We encourage that because we just translate, just like you do, you will translate what we're saying, and uh that we'll keep that communication. We're communicating with each other exactly in a way.

SPEAKER_03 33:47

Thanks, thank you, Google. Which is getting better. Well, I was gonna say, and not to mention your comment in your own language will get caught by other fans in your language. You know what I mean? You're so no matter what we can translate it, other people can translate it, but you're also you're just sharing with the community at large, you know. So it's all good.

SPEAKER_02 34:09

Exactly. So it's awesome. Um, thank you to Star. I mean, thank you for all your your comments. Oh, I have one lap last one. This one's really I like this one. Uh Resp, I think. Um, again, this is Google Translate, so but it's saying respite or resp. I don't know what that means. Maybe Google Translate mess messed it up, but it's about their debut, and profiles of the five members are also introduced. So talking about our episode. The two of you talking all hype up, probably the guitar sound in the best, it's the best. It's so delightful that you have said catchy so many times during the show. Whenever the energy peaks, the word love yourself kept flying around so much, it makes me feel the love.

SPEAKER_03 35:02

Ah, awesome! Yeah, well, it's because that's how it made us feel. So yeah, we're passing on the line.

SPEAKER_02 35:09

I was looking to see if I could find somebody, you know, letting us know about Uso Tsuki. So Uso Tsuki.

SPEAKER_03 35:16

Uso Tsuki, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Yeah, but I'm like, nobody's talking about that one. Why? Like we had a big, you know, the lying thing, you know, like we didn't, you know, have no anyways. If Star is listening, can somebody let us know about that song?

SPEAKER_03 35:31

We still like we're still we still want to know the underlying yes, you know.

SPEAKER_02 35:36

This is an open conversation and thank you for being part of it. We love this, we love this so much. So thank you very much, Star, for your participation in the podcast episode, right? Exactly. Alrighty. So, any other JPOP news before we dive the

Yao Supergroup And Tanabata Timing

SPEAKER_02 35:55

talk about Mr. Mr.

SPEAKER_03 35:57

Well, J-Rock news. There you go just because I think this this was pretty cool because what was it? Last month we went to see the one okay rock concert documentary on the movie.

SPEAKER_02 36:09

The detox.

SPEAKER_03 36:10

Yes, yes, and we we were really impressed because they had some other groups performing with them.

SPEAKER_02 36:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 36:17

Well, now these groups and someone else who wasn't actually at that show. Yeah, so A Witch, Chico Carlito, 1 okay rock, and Pale Dusk form a new band, Yow. I'm like, wow, because they were like the energy when they were all on stage together performing was X insane. It was crazy, yeah. So they've joined Forces, this is on Tokyo Hive, to form a new band. They'll make their debut with the digital single 777 on July 7th, and a music video will premiere on UT YouTube later that day at 7 p.m. So lots of sevens here, which is a big number, and it's a special day, Tanabata. I'm trying to remember now.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

I think so.

SPEAKER_03 37:06

I know it's a big day, I just because seven is a pretty big m it's one of my favorite numbers. Anyways, continuing on, according to the announcement, uh Yao is created to explore what can emerge when artists from different musical backgrounds come together. Band's name is derived from the Japanese concept of ooh, I'm gonna so not say this white, Yao Yoru no Kami, eight million gods, symbolizing the coexistence of diverse values and perspectives. So sorry to everybody if I mispronounced that. I tried. But the project was born after 1 okay rock and Awitch shared a stage at a dome concert, which was not the one we saw. And then following the performance, 1 okay rock vocalist Taka expressed his admiration for hip hop culture and the idea of creating music together, which eventually led to the formation of Yao. So it's weird because we didn't see Awitch perform with them. We saw the one with Chico Carlito and Pale Dusk.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

So this is awesome though.

SPEAKER_03 38:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:11

This is awesome. So yes, on July 7th, on Tuesday, July 7th, the Tanabata uh or the Star Festival, uh, is a vibrant Japanese celebration honoring the annual reunion of star cross lovers, Orihine, which is Vega, and Hiko Boshi, which is Altar, get together. Ooh, celebrate a uh largely on July 7th. Okay, and sometimes in August, says right here. Or in August, depending on the region. Oh, okay. Oh, alright. So awesome. Oh my god, so they're doing everything whoo! Yeah, so right? They have to this is that's really good. Interesting. This is so good. Okay, how many members? Oh no, there's more than seven with everybody combined.

SPEAKER_03 38:58

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

Because 10K Rock is four members, then we have Age Witch, which is you know, five, and then we have Chico Carlito, which is one, that will be six, but then the other band, I think five. Is there five in there? I believe so. Okay, so that will be what, eleven? A lot. It's gonna be a lot. It's so it's eleven, not not a seven, you know. It's not like a seven, also seven member group, it's gonna be more okay, anyways.

SPEAKER_03 39:22

Anyways, yeah, eleven. I just counted them in the picture. Okay, I got that right.

SPEAKER_02 39:29

Eleven. Eleven. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 39:31

But so that's that's pretty cool. And I've already seen some like behind the scenes clips from what they're doing with the video.

SPEAKER_02 39:37

So that is so awesome. Oh, are they just gonna keep it like out in Japan?

SPEAKER_03 39:43

I don't know. They don't set that in the article, they're just talking about what's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

Okay, so it's okay. All right, all right. I will love to see this live. I will love to Okay. That's yeah, that's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 39:58

Anyways, all right, so anyways, now the big news.

SPEAKER_01 40:03

The big news. This is all

Ono Satoshi Launches Satojima Salon

SPEAKER_01 40:05

Sarah, go Sarah.

SPEAKER_03 40:06

Well, it's not all me. We're gonna talk talk about it together, but like I'm leaving it for you. But we had a c a few weeks ago, a couple weeks ago, a few weeks ago, we'd been talking about, you know, after the whole big ottershi final concert, and they were retiring May 31st, and we were like, so Ono's gonna go off and live his ordinary life like he wanted to. He's he's done with everything, we're never gonna hear from him again. What does that little liar do? He posted a video on X Twitter, he's opened an account, and you know I I'm calling him a liar with love because this was just the last thing I expected from him. But he posted a video, he's gonna be having his own ex account, he's got Instagram accounts set. These are set up, these things are set up. He's got a website set up, and I guess he's just gonna come talk to us about his daily life and what's going on, setting up a salon as he called it. And I actually I translated his little speech because I didn't find it anywhere else translated. So my Google Translate might not be.

SPEAKER_02 41:20

Oh, really? Yes, she does. She did? She did. She did because she was also like, What? I mean, when I uh uh so our friend, okay, I saw her her ex her tweet and I was like, what? And then I then I found it and then retweeted saying, eh, because I was I was like, what? Um, but yes, our friend, she did. Um you'll find it.

SPEAKER_03 41:49

Okay, so if you have the tra she's probably better at translating than I am, but I was just very excited. I had to translate and read up myself because I didn't see hers. I still don't see it.

SPEAKER_02 42:02

Anyways, so we have uh we have a narration who is very dedicated on how to translate their talk to us. So on her post, she goes, breaking news on Osatoshi will be opening his solo salon titled Sato Jima, a platform where he can share his daily life and hobbies with his fans. He also has events lined up. Woo! Membership opens on July 15th. Uh now she also translated the talk that he did on his little video, which is posted on X Twitter. And uh you can find Ono on X Twitter at Sato Jima underscore X. And I believe also on Instagram is the same, but not with the X. I can find that out actually, because I'm also following him on Instagram. So the translator from our this oration says in this context, salon refers to a platform that is less intensive than a regular fan club, and members get to participate and interact with each other based on what I have read. Kinda like salons with a literary focus from what I can see. That's this is her saying for what I can see. Not sure if Ono will be the same, so it's just I guess having chit chats with your fans or presenting something, or maybe fans will be like, hey Ono, have do you have you heard or seen this? Or you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:38

Well, because he's saying I plan to continue activities as Satoshi Ono. Had some free time, so I thought about it. I would like to make an announcement here opening July 15th, a private salon, Satoshi Island, which is the Sato Jima. Are you happy? He asked. So from now on, the person. My daily life and hobbies. I hope this can become a place where we can all share it. Other events are planned, and I will be posting more details. That's the July 15th opening of that. So on X and Instagram, I hope you'll all feel free to come and visit. And I hope we can create it together. Please come. That's it. That's how he ended it. That's it. But here we are thinking he's gonna go off and just live a private life and never be seen again. And he's like, nope, joke's on you. I'm coming, gonna create it. Instagram X, he's gonna be everywhere. He'll probably start his own TikTok and everything else. But at the same same time, um, Show and Iba also created like these little fan club accounts as well. They both had previously existing accounts on X that sort of followed other things they were doing, but now now all of them, all of them have it. They all have their own personal accounts. We already have Nino. At first, when I was reading the article, I'm like, what about Nino? And then I was like, oh my god, duh, he already has Nino was the first one. I know, no, but because when you're reading it, you know, and you're just like, oh, it's the whole group, but no mention of Nino. They didn't even say, like, he already had his starting four years ago.

SPEAKER_02 45:19

Nino was always like, listen, I'm a father, I'm marrying a father, I need to start my own thing because I need more money than you guys.

SPEAKER_03 45:30

No, it was just it was that momentary thing where I'm like, yeah, because it's you know, I'm so used to just always being the five, and I'm like, where's Nino? And I'm like, oh my god. I say good morning to him like every day. What the hell?

SPEAKER_01 45:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

But this is awesome, and I'm very uh so glad I will continue to see my boy Nino to go to his Instagram to his ex-Twitter and do shenanigans, just post shenanigans to oh no.

SPEAKER_03 45:58

Oh, you you know he will.

SPEAKER_02 45:59

I will go to see this, yes.

SPEAKER_03 46:02

But I'm I'm wondering what brought this on. What did Mr. I Wanna Go Live My Private Life suddenly? This epiphany of well, all right, probably because like I mean, fans were just like, you can't go.

SPEAKER_02 46:18

Yeah, this is somebody who who Nino saw on the street trying to hold a taxi and Nino's like, hello, use the app. Why aren't you using the app to call a cab? Why why are you in the middle of the street looking for a cab? So you know, I mean, with with situations like that, you're like, I mean, I don't think he's a you know social media person. I mean, he didn't want pictures taken of him. He's just, you know?

SPEAKER_03 46:45

Yeah, and now this and and what's so funny is because also the the reason we were talking about this before is they were saying there were a bunch of fake accounts saying it was him. And it was like, you know, you could look them up and see that oh yeah, that's definitely not really him, but maybe that's why he did it. He's like, there's so many fake ones out there, I'll just I'll do it. Even when that coming up, I was like, Are you sure it's not AI?

SPEAKER_02 47:10

I just are you sure?

SPEAKER_03 47:12

I was like, I need to check this news because it was on Tokyo Hive, but I was like, I know, and it just doesn't sound right.

SPEAKER_02 47:18

See, we don't have Starto to be like, Yes, oh no Sato, you know, because they're no longer with Starto. So that's why I'm like, is this true? I don't believe it yet. What? But then everybody and I'm like, oh, it is true. What?

SPEAKER_03 47:35

Yeah, so that's wild.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

I know that's why I was like, eh.

SPEAKER_03 47:38

I'm looking forward to it. I'm gonna have to start silencing a bunch of other things so that I only get his notifications. I'm so evil.

SPEAKER_02 47:48

Evil, no, you crazy fan that loves Ono Satoshi, Satoshi. Ono Satoshi, Ono Satoshi. We haven't said that in a long time. I know.

SPEAKER_01 48:02

So now it's gonna be like, oh my god, the voices again. I'm on Instagram now, shut up, and I'm also on extra what? Why are you back? Why are you back?

SPEAKER_02 48:15

Hey, but that's exciting. If the rumors, if the rumors of him with the so-called hotel or investing on on in hotels, properties and resorts, yeah. Exactly. Well, this is type of marketing, you know. I'm like it's like dang it. Like, I need really need to put my face out there so people can come over here to my to my resorts.

unknown 48:41

Take it.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

I need people to support me. I'm no longer singing and dancing, I'm done. My body can't take it anymore. Like I said, I would love to hear a collection of Enka songs sang by him. Oh, I will oh my god, I'll pay so much money for that. Because he has all this voice. I'm gonna.

SPEAKER_03 49:04

Well, I've said before I'd hate to hear him singing the directions of how to make pancakes. So you know my god. Oh. I'd watch a two-hour video of him washing dishes. I mean, it's that's how much I love this boy. Oh, he's a man. He's definitely a man, yeah, yeah. 46?

SPEAKER_02 49:24

46, girl. That's that.

SPEAKER_03 49:26

He's a man.

SPEAKER_02 49:27

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 49:28

Yes, he is.

SPEAKER_02 49:28

He's a man. Whoa, whoa, whoa. He's a man. All right. I think the heat's getting too. Okay, we're done here. It's very hot. It is. Uh, but we're so very happy about oh no, we can't wait to see we. I know this is there's a is there's a fan club or membership that's open internationally. Are you buying? Are you paying? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:53

Sarah can't wait to give you her money, oh no. Sarah's like, here's my money. Here's my money.

SPEAKER_02 50:01

Take it, all of it. Uh all right, all right. Yeah,

Requests, Ratings, And Goodbye

SPEAKER_02 50:05

let's go. I hear a vacuum cleaner going on in the background. Thank you everybody for listening to our shenanigans again on the show notes. You can find a link if you want us to do a deep dive on another group. Let us know. Also, we would like to know what Usotskuky uh Star Glow song. Please start, let us know. Give us a rundown about this song because we were like, mmm. Um, and of course, give us five stars wherever five stars are rating. That's all we need. So other people can check out the podcast or find the podcast in their algorithm. Or just share it. Share, share, share.

SPEAKER_03 50:45

Yeah, we haven't said that in a while.

SPEAKER_02 50:47

No. All right. So until next time. Bye bye. Jenny.