According to Weekly Bunshun, 7-membered unit from Johnnys & Associates IMPACTors have informed the agency of their intention to leave following King & Prince, who recently announced that 3 members (Hirano Sho, Jinguji Yuta, and Kishi Yuta) will be leaving the group and agency in May 2023. Insiders from the industry have revealed that in December, Johnny’s Island new President Yoshihiko Inohara and the members had a meeting where they announced their intention to leave.
IMPACTors were officially formed in 2020 and have since been releasing content as a group on the Johnnys Jr official YouTube channel. Other than group activities, some of the members have also been appearing on dramas such as center member Sato Arata in “Silent”, and Motoi Shunsuke in “Hajime wa Par.” It was a huge blow for the group after former president of Johnny’s Island, Hideaki Takizawa left Johnny’s at the end of October this year. It was Takizawa who had formed them and given them the name IMPACTors. Sato Arata was also a big admirer of King & Prince’s Hirano Sho and after it was announced he would be leaving, the group was said to have lost their momentum to continue. Also with the eldest member being 26 this year, Johnny’s Jr new system that will require members to retire at age 22 will be introduced from March 2023, may or may not have also been a reason for the decision to leave the agency.
Bunshun has stated that even though the members IMPACTors had plenty of work outside of group activities, Inohara wants to endorse groups that show his own style and not too much of Takizawa’s. If all members successfully leave the agency, it will be a similar situation as former Johnnys Jr unit Love-tune in which all seven members left from 2018 to 2019. Love-Tune were able to redebut as 7ORDER under Nippon Colombia. Bunshun plans to release a more detailed article of IMPACTors leaving when more meetings with the members and agency are held soon. Johnnys & Associates have not made an official statement about the rumors.
