I didn’t really fully discover all the wonders of STARTO ENTERTAINMENT until the height of the global pandemic that brought the world to its knees. Because of that, I missed out on experiencing a COUNTDOWN concert the way longtime fans had for years before. The shared excitement, the chaos, the sense of tradition. That was something I’d only heard about, but never thought I’d be able to enjoy.

Until now.

Thanks to Netflix, I finally got to experience my very first COUNTDOWN concert—curled up in one of my favorite places to stay in Tokyo, the APA Hotel Roppongi Ekimae, alongside a friend who has guided me through the glittering wonderland that is STARTO, and with some of the most successful acts in Japan, the concert was a reminder of just how massive—and varied—this universe is:

  • The brilliant …1234567, it’s big NEWS! 
  • The ultra music power of Hey! Say! JUMP
  • The fun sounds Kis-My-Ft2
  • The cool kids of timelesz
  • The ever handsome Kento Nakajima
  • The always funny A.B.C-Z
  • The cute and clever King & Prince
  • The bad boys of J-pop SixTONES
  • The heart-melting Snow Man
  • The sparkly Naniwa Danshi
  • The galaxy traveling Travis Japan
  • And the new kids on the block, Ae! group

With so many stand out moments, it’s difficult to pick just one favorite. So… I’ve picked several.

The opening performance of ｢Can do! Can go!｣—a legacy V6 track—performed by nearly everyone during their introductions (with SixTONES joining later due to their appearance at the NHK Red and White Festival) was pretty a pretty great start though.

Ae! group’s performance of their debut track ｢《A》BEGINNING｣ hit especially hard for this performance. With the group recently restructured following founding member Richard (Keita Richard Kusama)’s departure, there was an added emotional weight—because this truly was a new beginning for them – and they rocked it!

As always, Travis Japan lit up the stage! Watching them perform ｢Welcome To Our Show Tonight｣ from their third studio album s travelers was a lot of fun—especially since I’d seen the song performed live in concert just days earlier.

Naniwa Danshi brought pure brightness to the stage with ｢I Wish｣, while Kento Nakajima ramped the energy back up with his sugar-coated classic ｢CANDY ～Can U be my BABY～｣. He then transitioned seamlessly into his newest idol-anthem ｢IDOLIC｣, joined by Travis Japan’s Noel Kawashima and Ryuya “Shime” Shimekake as backup dancers.

King & Prince continue to win me over every time I see them, and both ｢Theater｣ and ｢Heart｣ were major highlights of the evening. Timelesz’s performance of ｢Rock This Party｣ lifting me wanting more from the group, while Snow Man unleashed their unique brand of fire and ice sensuality with ｢CHARISMAX｣.

SixTONES arrived in full force for ｢ABARERO｣—and from there, the real magic of the night began to play. For me, the Shuffle Melody segment was the emotional core of the night. Watching members mix across groups to perform legacy songs I’d never heard before was genuinely moving.

A particularly sweet moment between Snow Man’s Ren Meguro and timelesz’s Hara Yoshitaka stood out as the two got emotional for the other’s success as they started together in the Junior unit Uchuu Six before splitting out on their own before reconnecting to star in the Trillion Game series and feature film.

It wasn’t until after I returned to the U.S. that I realized this COUNTDOWN concert marked the last time many international fans would see Meguro perform with Snow Man for a while, as he prepares to take a hiatus to film his first international series appearance in Shōgun season two.

So with good food and great company, my introduction to COUNTDOWN was a lot of fun – and proved to me that I have to see it live – at least once!

You can watch the concert by clicking the image below and with a “Making Of” documentary on the way soon, there’s no better time to watch your favorite groups on Netflix!

There will be more concert reviews soon so…

Stay Tuned!