{"rewrite":{"id":"r_dcd142b4a5fb0896ea5aad0e","clusterId":"c_220f912f40ba5eb12bb83796","slug":"west-to-cease-group-activities-on-september-30-agency-says","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"WEST. to Cease Group Activities on September 30, Agency Says","summary":"Starto Entertainment announced on Thursday that the idol group WEST. will end its group activities on September 30. The agency had said on August 30 that Ryusei Fujii and Nozomu Kotaki would leave the group, and it held talks with the remaining five members about continuing as a five. All seven members stay with the company and continue as individual talents from October 1.","whyItMatters":"The end of the group closes out a lineup that supplied theme songs to Ace Attorney, Monster Hunter Stories RIDE ON, and Captain Tsubasa, and moves all seven members onto the agency's individual talent roster.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eStarto Entertainment held discussions with Daiki Shigeoka, Akito Kiriyama, Junta Nakama, Tomohiro Kamiyama, and Takahiro Hamada about the group\u0026#39;s future, including the option of carrying on as five. Weighing each member\u0026#39;s goals, the agency chose to end group activities instead. WEST. debuted as Johnny\u0026#39;s West in 2014 and later dropped \u0026#34;Johnny\u0026#39;s\u0026#34; from its name after the sexual abuse scandal surrounding the agency then known as Johnny\u0026#39;s \u0026amp; Associates. The seven members performed anime theme songs as Johnny\u0026#39;s West, including for Ace Attorney, Monster Hunter Stories RIDE ON, and the 2018 Captain Tsubasa anime, and later a theme for Captain Tsubasa: Junior Youth Arc.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Wait, if all seven members stay with Starto Entertainment as individual talents from October 1, the group's end is a structural decision, not a breakup. WEST.'s members keep their contracts while the group format disappears.","twitterPost":"All seven WEST. members stay with Starto Entertainment past September 30. The group ends, but the contracts don't.","threadsPost":"WEST. ending group activities on September 30 isn't a split from the agency. All seven members stay with Starto Entertainment as individual talents from October 1, so the decision is about the group format, not the talent roster.","newsletterBlurb":"Starto Entertainment announced that WEST. will cease group activities on September 30. The agency had already said on August 30 that Ryusei Fujii and Nozomu Kotaki would leave, and it discussed the group's future with the remaining five members before deciding to end activities. All seven members remain affiliated with the company and continue as individual talents from October 1.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Anime News Network\",\"url\":\"https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-09-24/idol-group-west-to-cease-activities-on-september-30/.242131\",\"title\":\"Idol Group WEST. to Cease Activities on September 30\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4267,"outputTokens":613,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1791080961,"createdAt":"2026-10-04T02:25:21.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-04T02:28:20.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T02:28:20.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_220f912f40ba5eb12bb83796","canonicalTitle":"News\nIdol Group WEST. to Cease Activities on September 30","representativeArticleId":"a_ce5abb8f963ef7fa2b762f49","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"Ryusei Fujii\",\"Nozomu Kotaki\"],\"type\":\"announcement\",\"domain\":\"music\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-09-24T07:06:14.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-09-24T07:06:14.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T02:28:20.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Anime News Network","url":"https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-09-24/idol-group-west-to-cease-activities-on-september-30/.242131","title":"News\nIdol Group WEST. to Cease Activities on September 30"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":["Ryusei Fujii","Nozomu Kotaki"],"type":"announcement","domain":"music","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}