A tribute post: NEWS 11th' anniversary - Interview with Chankapaana all over the world!

How fast does time fly? Fast enough for our beloved group to celebrate its eleventh year of existence before we can even move on from the tenth!

NEWS' 9th anniversary was grand, because it was its first anniversary as a four-member group. NEWS' 10th anniversary was majestic, because the group was obviously in its 10th year. I started making this post, thinking, "What will everyone do for NEWS' 11th year? What will members do on their anniversary? Is there a way to make this September 15 just as memorable as the past NEWS anniversaries? Of course I couldn't contribute much to the fandom and I have always been like that (Sorry I was an inattentive fan back then!)... But I thought I had to keep doing my 'tradition' whenever the fated day of the year comes, and that is to have my own little gift: A blog post dedicated to NEWS.

But wait, there's a twist to this. Unlike my previous anniversary posts, this tribute comprises other fans' thoughts, feelings, and a little bit of their fandom history.. In other words, I did an interview to Chankapaana around the world! (you could imagine me flying to all the countries mentioned in ONE -for the win- *kidding*) Thanks to social networking sites and blogs, I somehow made this a success LOL. The interview consists of three (3) basic questions about the "Life of NEWS Fans"--or simply, what made these people like NEWS, love NEWS, and stay with NEWS. Think of it as the interviews you read in Myojo, Popolo, etc... But instead of NEWS you'll read the fans' words! Yes, this is our Ai Kotoba. #てずてってとってNEWS ♫

A tribute post: NEWS' 10th anniversary - THE 10 MAJOR EVENTS IN NEWS' HISTORY

Well my original plan was to do a retelling of NEWS' great history, fangirl-style (an overly-detailed, emotional and too much flowery content as I loooove NEWS so much). But I don't have enough time to do that and even if the 'feels' doesn't fade, the fangirl-style explanation would be too much of a drag!

Now, for the old and the new, outdated or updated NEWS fan, or just a lurker who seems interested with the "news" that is NEWS, here's a numbered list of major events in the group's history. 

This may not be the one you need but at least this is easy to read!

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1. NEWS was formed as a 9-nin (nin means "member") group on September 15, 2003.

2. Their first single, NEWS Nippon, was released on November 7, 2003, only sold at 7-11 stores for a limited time. Not long after, in December, Takahiro Moriuchi left the group...

3.  ...Yet they made their official debut of 8 members on May 12, 2004, with their single 希望~ Yell~ (Kibou~ Yell~)

4. In July 2005, Hiroki Uchi was suspended from the group, caused by an issue of underage drinking. In January 2006 Hironori Kusano voluntarily retired from the group for the same issue.

5. Because of this NEWS were put to hiatus for a few months, starting in May 2006 until they reappeared as a 6-member group in early 2007: at the 2006-2007 Johnny's Countdown (JCD) and releasing 星をめざして (Hoshi wo Mezashite) on March 21. During the hiatus (particularly November 15, 2006) the sub-unit テゴマス was formed.

6. In 2008 they were at the height of their 6-nin career; they released their consecutive #1 single Happy Birthday on the first day of October.

7. Their last performance as a 6-nin group was in December 2010. Then they became inactive again--and that was later considered as another hiatus.

8. Tomohisa Yamashita and Ryo Nishikido withdrew from NEWS on October 7, 2011. The members were down from 9 to 4...

9. ...And the "new", 4-member NEWS appeared in 2011-2012 JCD, had the official announcement of their comeback on April 15 2012, and continuously released new material (with the song compilation album BEST, the comeback single チャンカパーナ (Chankapaana), amongst other things) up to date.

10. They held their 10th anniversary live event at Tokyo Dome last September 7, 2013. And today, September 15, we celebrate our "10ve anniversary."

(sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4)

Reading this, one may not feel the "emotional package" NEWS' history has. But I assure you that their history, though describable, has feels that are too sublime. This is one of the greatest factors why the love of NEWS to fans and vice versa are indestructible, as time goes by.

It's been 10 years ne? NEWS さいこう! ♥

A tribute post: NEWS' 10th anniversary - THE THINGS NEWS MADE ME (AND US!) REALIZE

You're a fan of NEWS. And you know that today, September 15, 2013, is a special day for you and the whole fandom because it's NEWS' 10th birthday. Probably you are spending the day with your fan friends, whether physically or virtually. Or you're probably alone, forgetting your diet as you eat lotsa sweets while viewing every NEWS material on your laptop, and flailing hard like the girl in this gif:

I'll give this young lady a HIGH TEN.

While I also celebrate their anniversary in my own way (specifically, I was spamming my Tumblr blog with NEWS-related posts *Tumblr-addict here fyeah!!*), I also made a list of things that NEWS made me realize; the things they shaped in me. Ever since I became a fangirl a lot of my principles and beliefs adapted some NEWS-y things.

Here are some of these things. You can relate of course. And this is not all seriousness, a pinch of humor is present in here too. (Hey, NEWS are funny dorks and I am influenced xDDD)

**note: if you see a  (♠) ,  it is a link (a reference or a picture).**

-Everything has an ending. Whether happy or sad, these endings always teach us a lesson in one or many ways. Well, in this fandom there were a lot of endings...

-...But there's what we call a never ending wonderful story. NEWS. How many times have they underwent complications because of hiatus, member withdrawals, issues, etc.? How many times have the fans worried if NEWS will still survive, and if they could continue on? There were lots of unanswered questions before, but NEWS put an end to these by declaring they would stay with us forever. That is the true meaning of a never ending wonderful story.

-(A long and complicated) history is never a bore. Some non-fans loathe, or laugh at, or take pity on NEWS because of their history. But I absolutely think that aside from making the group (and the fans!) strong, their history is an asset in itself. Only NEWS took this really difficult test, and the reward is fruitful than ever.

-History repeats itself. Hopefully now, the bad parts of NEWS' history would never happen again.

-A four-leaf clover is lucky indeed. Since the 4nin comeback, everything seemed right. Maybe becoming 4 is their destiny...

-...But, numbers don't matter as long as we're together. Whether 9, 8, or 6, what's important is we're with NEWS as NEWS is with us!

-Patience is a virtue. This is probably the number one thing I learned from this fandom.

-There's hope, in the form a yell! Do the best and get the glory. Afterwards, you go bounce bounce bounce with me. :p (♠)

-"Week" is so mainstream. We call it "weeeek". (♠)

-There's another happy birthday song other than the traditional birthday song; it's longer yet more meaningful. And the best part is, it is sung by our birthday boys. Hehee~

groove to it like Keiichan. xD

-My blood type is O. You tachi, nani gata?

-Soccer anthems sung by boybands are actually GOOD. Take WORLD QUEST for example. (♠)

-We can run for our health, but we can also run for the trees. NEWS did that! (And they proved that running together strengthen bonds. So aside from the health and the trees, we can definitely run for friendship and love.

-There's a miracle of two in 130 million people. (♠) In other words, no matter how many people comes our way there's this one precious person we'll meet someday. (In what context? You decide :p). This also tells us that we should believe in miracles, as meeting NEWS itself is a miracle.

-A mistake can be a craze. See the famous ima wa? ,-(^o^)-'  (♠)

-Bambina is NEWS' common love interest. They even want to make her forget 'him'. *grins*

-A fighting man is someone who doesn't give up, getting a grip. Now I wanna be a fighting man. (♠)

-Variety is the spice of life. Picture this: one's a food freak, one's a geek, one's got a sweet tooth and one's got a swift foot. 8D

-(Speaking of "variety") They need to have a variety show! Yeeees they friggin' need that!

-Pacific is not just an ocean. Diamond is more than a rock...

-...And Chankapaana is more than just a made-up word. It is us, the whole fandom. ☆

-Life goes on. Don't forget. (♠)

-The best of NEWS is not only found in the BEST album. Everyday of their lives they give all their best to us.

-They definitely give us the news. Good news, bad news, news we don't wanna hear and news we've been wanting to hear. But as they say in their song Good News, "everybody's gonna get good news!" Okay, we are assured~

-I am loved. I love NEWS for their love for the fans. We feel every fiber of their love, don't we? :")

-Behind every wonderful story there is a beautiful love that makes the world happier. This is self-explanatory already. ♥

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And there are many other realizations, I could go on forever counting those out (if not for lack of time I will really add moooore in this post!). As the days passed, I grew more and more in NEWS' love. And as the years pass, NEWS grew more and more in everyone's hearts. How happy for me to be in this fandom, how heartfelt every moment spent with NEWS.

Happy 10th anniversary. We'll have more beautiful love in the years to come.