General and specific references for J-Ota Danshi Asahina-kun volume 2, chapter 8.
General References
Kanjani8/Nanijoka
Surprise, surprise: Nanijoka is based on the real group Kanjani8. (Technically Kanjani∞ but who has time to put in the infinity sign every time?) Kanjani is Kansai (region that includes Osaka) + Johnny’s, Nanjoka is Naniwa (Osaka) + Joker’s. Kanjani8’s debut single was also called Naniwa Iroha Bushi – it’s the same Naniwa. Eight is from the original number of members in the group; it’s since dropped to five.
The full dynamics of the Eastern (Tokyo) and Western (Kansai/Osaka) Johnny’s offices, much less their power dynamics generally in Japanese culture, really can’t be discussed properly in a paragraph, so suffice it to say that the Kansai Johnny’s (including Kansai Johnny’s Juniors, or “Kanju”) have their own semi-autonomous fanbase to go along with their semi-autonomous office, though they are also fairly well-known nationwide. Asahina and Aoba live in Tokyo, so it’s unclear whether this division will be discussed later in the series.
Kanjani8 leans into the Kansai stereotype to some degree – they’re one of the most obviously comedic Johnny’s groups, and very lively on variety shows. They also have more jokey and gimmicky songs than most groups, they do stuff like dressing up as food during nationally televised concerts and singing about eating sushi, etc. But as Nanami-sensei writes, they’re also considered to be reasonably talented musicians. (And to be fair, the sushi-eating song was written for another group, not that it makes much more sense.)
The transformation belt you see in this chapter has the kanji for 8 on it (八) and is based on Kanjani8’s “Eito Ranger” (Eight Rangers) concept, which is essentially a long-running parody Power Rangers/tokusatsu skit series that has since spawned a dedicated theme song and two movies. Despite having not having had eight members since 2005, Kanjani8 still continued to do Eito Ranger, god bless ‘em. There are some videos of Eito Ranger on the internet if you look hard enough.
Prize Drawings (当たりくじ)
Johnny’s has a good relationship with 7-11 and other convenience store chains in Japan, and every so often they’ll be some kind of konbini promotional event, like this prize drawing. Kanjani8 has done several of these – the picture shows some of the items you could win in a 2013 drawing, including shoelaces and fake glasses.
It’s not made super clear in the chapter, but many of the items are offered in multiple versions corresponding to the members. So when Asahina gets three in a row with Kamimura’s member color, he’s actually getting three different prizes, but each are in purple and/or have Kamimura’s face on them… or something.
I haven’t found evidence of a body pillow being offered in any Kanjani8 drawing, but I have found a speaker pillow and a lap throw, both of which kind of look like what’s described. Maybe if there was a speaker in it, he would look less weird talking to it…?
Page-by-page references
Page 9
“Kibatte kou~ze” is the opening line from Kanjani8’s song, Zukkoke Otokomichi! Here’s them performing the song on Shounen Club! This song went to number 1 in its first week but wasn’t as popular as the group’s previous song, Kanfu Fighting.
https://youtu.be/GC4rN5MPBzg?t=147
It essentially translates to “Let’s go with some spirit” (h/t secret-base@LJ) but since Asahina was already saying this, figured it made more sense to make the connection to the song.
Page 11
The shoelaces are real.
Page 12
“Kamimura” is Murakami (nice one) Shingo, the Purple Ranger!
Page 13
“Ookuri” is Okura Tadayoshi, the Green Ranger!
There is no evidence a keychain this ugly was ever sold at a 7-11 prize drawing.
Page 14
This is (nearly) all real idol merchandise that was sold at one point!
First, from Kis-my-Ft2 (Kisumai), here are the clips and the little logo plushie:
(Note that this is another mention of “Kamumai” as a nickname despite the fact that the full name almost certainly seems to be “Kick-me-Fuk2”, which never has the syllable “mai” in it anywhere…)
Second, the compact from Hey!Say! JUMP.
And finally, the happi and onigiri case available for Kanjani8!
Page 15
Again, real hangers! Arashi/Nishiki hangers (which these seem to be) seem more difficult to find but they’re commonly produced for younger groups in particular.
