One year has gone by since I first discovered the glory that is TM Network. By some odd coincidence, my first package of Yahoo Japan auction items came in on the anniversary of my indoctrination into TM Network. So I'll be updating the site at some point and maybe including scans from my beautiful new books (I didn't even get all of them yet, still waiting for Final 4001). Of course, I don't want to hurt the spines, so we'll see. But there are some pics that are just so funny.... Well, maybe a digital camera so that I won't have to bend the spine. I don't know. We'll see soon enough. In the meanwhile, look forward to more TM.
No page I ever make will ever be good enough to rival that of the official TM Network site, TM Next. It has just opened in English. Please support TM Network by visiting their site regularly. Most of the pictures and information here will stem from TM Next. Aside from TM Next, there is little info in English, so I have decided to navigate the Japanese TMN pages on your behalf. I'll lead you to the pages that have good info in English or to places that have pictures, requiring no language skills. This site hasn't been updated in a while, but it will be soon.
TM Network is the band that sang such songs as Get Wild for City Hunter the anime and Beyond the Time for Gundam Char's Counterattack. Carol the anime was based on TM members. But their songs are good enough to listen to and like immediately so even without the anime connection, you can appreciate them.
TM Network finished their first concert tour since 1991. The title is Major Turn-Round, and the picture below is from TM Next coverage of the first day. The DVDs for this concert will be coming out soon. More information on the Japanese Rojam page. I'll be trying my hardest to get these DVDs, and they'll be added to my small TM DVD collection (only 3 other DVDs, but I have all the vids, or will as soon as Vision Festival and Expo Arena Final arrives).
It's been a while since I've updated this page. The most updated information is that Utsu is coming out with a single, Running to Horizon coupled with Hundred Nights, Hundred Stories. A sample can be heard here at Rojam. He also came out with a second single, Love Ice coupled with Rhythm of Love (composed by Daisuke Asakura!. And now, there's even an album due to come out on his birthday (10/25) called Love Ice. Kine said that a new TM single might be coming out this December. In the meanwhile, they're working on solo projects. Kine also came out with a mini-album. I'm in the process of acquiring some TM books, I hope. I've gotten almost all of TM's videos, so I feel like I really know more about them and their personalities. If you saw World's End II, where TM and TM support were jumping rope and where Utsu and Kine were kicking a soccer ball between them and showing off their legwork, you'd know what I mean.
This is Takashi Utsunomiya (Utsu). He is the vocalist of TM Network. Sometimes he plays the guitar too.
He likes cats and dislikes cheese and big vegetables.
This is Naoto Kine (Kine). He is the guitarist of TM Network. He also plays the electric piano and the harmonica.
He is easily identified by his sunglasses. He dislikes nothing.
Utsu and Kine have been friends since elementary school.
This is Tetsuya Komuro (TK). He is the keyboardist and producer of TM Network. For TM Network, he also plays the drums. (In Globe, he also plays the guitar and harmonica.)
He produces an insane number of very popular singers in Japan.
So why am I making a fanpage of them now? If you look at the picture, these men are not young. Despite that, they are restarting their old band. I admire them for that. But it's not just sympathy. They're actually really good. Utsu's voice has only matured with time, and both Kine and TK have increased their skills as musicians. There's a better history of TM on Rojam, of course, but I would like to give it a stab as well in case people wander across this page and are not motivated to go directly to Rojam.
Click here for some TM Network history:
There's something so strong about their friendship that I'm drawn to them. The coverage of Log-on to 21st Century concert is great about this, but it shows up elsewhere too. There is mention of Utsu's characteristic laugh after comments like "I'm nervous" (when practicing before the concert). Then there's Kine, who naturally brings about a sense of peace and can bring calm to a situation after sharp words are exchanged. And TK, the genius producer who thinks of TM Network as a selfish project in which they can do as they please, unlike Globe, which is public property because of the karaoke nature of their songs. For all of them, TM Network is a place they can always return. When the melody begins and Utsu's universal voice launches into song, there is no doubt that these three are young at heart. Their first concert was Log-on to 21st Century, and it's well worth checking out.
Check out some TM albums:
And although I don't want to split up TM Network, I do want to show off these pictures of Utsu in interview. It's TMR vs. TMN. Well, actually, it's Utsu introducing TMR, and I'm sure that helped TMR's reputation.
Again, let me encourage you to go to the official TM Network site, TM Next. It's got a lot of good information and pictures. It's part of Rojam, which has some of the best webpages for Jpop in terms of design and information in English. And it's TM Network. I'm sure they're keeping count of how many visits they get a day, and I intend to add to that counter. ^_^ (Though lately I've been adding more the their Japanese counter.)
Everything we see is a message. Ignition, sequence, start. TM Network is starting over!
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