Japanese news - Musical group edition

It's been awhile since I've posted any news from the world of Japanese entertainment. Let's take a peek to see what's been going on. Luna Sea will be getting back together for a one-night concert on December 24 at the Tokyo Dome. This will be their first concert since their Christmas 2000 performance at the Tokyo Dome. The band has said they have no plans to perform together after the one-time event.

This six-girl ska-punk group Oreska Band have wrapped up their time on the US Warped Tour. They will be staying in California to work on an upcoming and yet-unnamed Hollywood film.

The brilliant green have announced their first concert since their reunion will take place at Namba Hatch in Osaka on October 6. They recently released a new single five years after the group's break up.

m.o.v.e. will be performing their first European concert at the Connichi anime convention in Germany. The con will be taking place in Kassel, Germany from September 7 - 9.

Akanishi Jin, a member of Johnny's group KAT-TUN, will be starring in the upcoming drama "Yukan Club." The show, based on the popular manga of the same name, revolves around a group of high school students who form a club and end up solving mysteries in their spare time. This will be the first show for Akanishi without any of his fellow KAT-TUN members.

JDorama review: Gokusen 2

Title: Gokusen 2
Broadcast date: 1/15/05 - 1/19/05
Number of episodes: 10
Genre: comedy
Cast: Nakama Yukie, Kamenashi Kazuya, Akanishi Jin, Hayami Mokomichi, Koike Teppei, Koide Keisuke, Namase Katsuhisa
Plot: Shirokin Gakuen has closed its doors. Six months later, Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie) is teaching a group of young children, though she'd much rather be teaching high school again. Due to a twist of fate, Yankumi gets a job teaching at Kurogin Gakuen. Once again, she is left to deal with the school's delinquents. This year her students are the worst she's ever encountered!
What is good: Nakama Yukie comes through once again.
What is bad: This is almost an exact duplicate of the first season but with new students.
Letter rating: D

Overall: The first season of Gokusen did everything right. The studio tried to recreate that magic with the second season but came up short. I easily predicted what would happen next because I saw the same exact thing happen in the first season! Nakama Yukie was still hysterically funny but she was put up against a group of actors, who are mostly in boy bands. (Kamenashi and Akanishi are in KAT-TUN and Koike Teppei is in WaT.) This season should prove to producers that you can't just toss a bunch of cute, recognizable boys into a show and come out with something awesome. I'd only recommend this show to someone who is a big fan of one of the actors. There isn't any other reason to watch it.