On the 19th of November, NHK announced the lineup for the coming 75th Kouhaku Utagassen.
While big drops are always the norm, the full list of uninvited cast brought out a number of surprises including:
- Red Team
- ATARASHII GAKKO!
- Ado
- ano
- Ito Ran
- JUJU
- NiziU
- Perfume
- milet
- YOASOBI
- White Team
- Elephant Kashimashi
- Oizumi Yo
- Official Hige Dandism
- Kitani Tatsuya
- Sada Masashi
- Suzuki Masayuki
- Suzuki Masayuki
- Strawberry Prince
- Stray Kids
- SEVENTEEN
- 10-FEET
- Fujii Fumiya
- MAN WITH A MISSION
- Yuzu
In addition, NewJeans was announced as a last minute addition for a special segment for the 74th run, as were Yoshiki and Queen & Adam Lambert. While MiSaMo is not invited, the three members are participating in the 75th as part of TWICE.
While a number of these are understandable, others are significantly less so, including the giants such as Official Hige Dandism, Ado and YOASOBI, the second of which is currently on track to launch one of the largest (if not the largest) world tour for a Japanese artist in recent memory. Other Japanese commentors noticed that there would be no on-stage presence for the anime Demon Slayer, despite having a yearly performance since the work’s breakout success several years ago. In addition, friend of the site Ryo correctly pointed out that despite having a morning drama theme, Yonezu Kenshi would also not be making an appearance.
All of these choices – in addition to the fact that neither STARTO or LDH will be making an appearance, despite rumors that STARTO might have several slots again – does raise quite a number of questions.
Will you be watching?
