General and specific references for J-Ota Danshi Asahina-kun volume 1, chapter 1.
General notes and references
Joker’s
A straightforward parody of Johnny’s, the premiere Japanese agency for male idols/boybands. (See corporate website for Johnny and Associates and official site for fans Johnny’s net.) They manage some of the most popular male groups in the industry, and train young wannabe idols for potential debut. In addition to singing, Johnny’s idols appear on and host variety shows, act in dramas and movies, and occasionally pursue other ventures. With some exceptions, if you debut with a Johnny’s group, you can be in Johnny’s for life, and groups routinely are still active after their members are in their 30s or even 40s.
Johnny’s otaku are called “janiwota” in the Japanese fandom, hence, “j-ota.”
I’ve avoided using the corresponding “jokawota” because it looks ridiculous.
Note that prior to chapter 5, Joker’s was translated without the possessive. In volume 1 chapter 5 and beyond, it became clear that Joker-san is a person, and thus future releases corrected this.
Myodo
Asahina reads this magazine throughout this chapter. It’s a parody of Myojo, a magazine that features Johnny’s artists.
The artists on the cover are plays on real group names:
Tai! Show! JACK = Hey! Say! Jump
Nishiki (錦) = Arashi (嵐)
Joker’s EAST = Johnny’s WEST
EFG-X = ABC-Z
Safety Dome = Sexy Zone
MUSE = NEWS
Uchiwa
They’re serious business! these are one of the most popular items to bring to a concert. you can either make them at home, or you can buy uchiwa with group members’ faces on them at the concert/bring uchiwa you purchased at previous concerts. There are also stores that will make them for you with your specifications.
IF you make them at home, it’s common to either put a group member’s name/nickname, a joke related to the group/member, or, as depicted in this chapter, you can use it to ask for fanservice (like winking or waving or pointing). The letters are large and often neon so they can see the writing even under concert conditions.
Check out Snow Man visiting an uchiwa shop and making their own uchiwas:
Page-by-page references
Full-color pull-out
This does not appear to be a direct parody of a real single issue of Myojo; KAT-TUN was on the cover of the May 2016 issue of Myojo. In theory, this is to introduce Nishiki (which seems to be Asahina’s main group) and to get as many names of Joker’s groups on the cover as possible. As far as I can tell, Arashi has not appeared on the cover of Myojo since October 2017.
I cannot identify the back cover at this time given the conflicting information given. (Ending in “ki” and five members points to Nishiki, but 10th anniversary points to… any group that was having their 10th anniversary in the summer of 2006, which is nobody who fits the other descriptions.) That also makes the silver tapes and uchiwa difficult to identify, since Arashi (Nishiki) did not have an anniversary concert in 2016. It’s possible this is all from 5×10 promotions but… I don’t know!
Do you know what the back cover is advertising? Let me know and I’ll add it here and credit you!
Page 9
The left half of the second panel is referencing the Cliff Climb challenge on Arashi’s variety show, VS Arashi. You can read a little about Cliff Climb on the official website (in Japanese), or you can just watch the real thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSpwFdko5rA
Page 16
Some of the visible DVDs on Asahina’s pile in the third panel:
Nanijoka’s PANDA Tour 2009 = Kanjani8’s PUZZLE Tour 2009
(九祭 near top) = Kanjani8’s 十祭 (Jussai)
(no words, far left) = Kis-my-Ft2’s Kis-My-World album + DVD
(no words, center) = Arashi’s Arafes Kokuritsu 2012
CAT-??? = KAT-TUN unknown DVD??
KICK YOU = Kis-my-Ft2’s 2014 Concert KIS-MY-JOURNEY
Fourth panel:
Nishiki’s ??? Tour = Arashi’s 10-11 Tour Scene
Do you recognize any of the other DVDS? Let me know and I’ll add it here and credit you!
Page 17
Do you recognize any of the goods on this page? Let me know and I’ll add it here and credit you!
Page 20
Shows mentioned on Asahina’s phone:
Omezame TV with Tai! Show! Jack = Mezamashi TV with Hey! Say! Jump
Sukkari with Yamabi = ??? with Yamapi
Hirunanzamasu with Joker’s East = Hirunandesu with Johnny’s West
Super Dangerous Night Meeting with Okaguchi = ????
Recommend with Nashida and Taka??? = Recomen – a radio show with rotating hosts
Page 22
It’s possible that the people featured in the Joker’s Jr. spread are randomly generated names, but here’s a references…
Middle bottom right: Mukai Kaito – there were a lot of Kaito’s in Johnny’s Jr. at the time (and now!), but the most notable Mukai was Mukai Koji, now of Snow Man.