Timelesz Project

Timelesz Project (Japanese: タイムレスプロジェクトオーディション, stylized as timelesz project -AUDITION-) is a talent competition reality show created by entertainment company Starto Entertainment (formerly known as Johnny & Associates) to add new members to the boy group timelesz (formerly known as Sexy Zone). The project involves the three current members of the group, Fuma Kikuchi, So Matsushima, and Shori Sato as they audition and select contestants from Japan and the United States.

Timelesz Project
Also known as	timelesz project -AUDITION- タイムレスプロジェクトオーディション
Genre	Reality television
Directed by	Yoshitaka Ito
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of episodes	7
Production
Production locations	Tokyo and Osaka
Running time	37- 41 minutes
Production company	Starto Entertainment
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	September 13, 2024 (2024-09-13)

Background

After the departure of Marius Yo from Sexy Zone (later renamed timelesz) in 2022 and Kento Nakajima in 2024, the remaining members decided to hold open auditions based on Kikuchi's suggestion. The selection of new group members through an audition process was later confirmed to be in a reality competition show format internationally distributed by Netflix.

Overview

A total of 18,922 applications were submitted to join timelesz and of those, 350 were selected for the second round of auditions held in Tokyo and Osaka, where the successful applicants were required to sing and dance songs selected from a list of approved songs by Starto Entertainment artists. Thirty-six contestants moved on to the third round where they are placed into groups and must learn a song and choreography within three days. The fourth round will narrow the number of remaining contestants to fifteen.

The final number of new members and who they are will be determined by the three original members of the group in consultation with the program's dancing and vocal trainers, NOSUKE and Miki Miyamoto.

List of contestants

timelesz project -AUDITION- contestants

Name	Age	Region	Profession	Results
Tomoki Nishiyama	24	Tokyo	Dance Instructor	Advanced to Round 4
Noa Asai	17	USA	High School Student	Advanced to Round 4
Kaede Kitabayashi	24	Okinawa	Restaurant Worker	Advanced to Round 4
Yuga Sano	22	Tokyo	Dance Instructor	Round 3 Elimination
Ota Kagaya	20	Hokkaido	University Student	Round 3 Elimination
Wataru Yamane	22	Yamaguchi	Italian Restaurant Employee	Advanced to Round 4
Daisuke Maeda	23	Toyama	Karaoke Bar Employee	Advanced to Round 4
Yoshiaki Takahashi	25	Tokyo	Gym Manager	Round 3 Elimination
Hiromu Honda	23	Kanagawa	Part-Timer	Advanced to Round 4
Sota Sukegawa	18	Kanagawa	University Student	Round 3 Elimination
Takumi Maie	27	Ibaraki	Construction Equipment	Round 3 Elimination
Masaki Hashimoto	24	Kanagawa	Yakiniku Restaurant Worker	Advanced to Round 4
Sota Saito	26	Gunma	Beauty Salon Owner/ Former Starto Jr.	Round 3 Elimination
Yu Okami	24	Aichi	Firefighter	Round 3 Elimination
Taiga Matsuda	20	Aichi	Cafe Employee	Round 3 Elimination
Roi Hamagawa	18	Okinawa	High School Student	Advanced to Round 4
Rai Tsutsumi	21	Fukuoka	University Student	Round 3 Elimination
Taisho Maeda	28	Kanagawa	Former Idol	Advanced to Round 4
Riku Nagai	27	Yamanashi	Dancer	Round 3 Elimination
Ikuto Kamiya	20	Aichi	Influencer	Round 3 Elimination
Shunto Ikeda	19	Saitama	Part Timer	Round 3 Elimination
Kota Shikano	20	Kagoshima	University Student	Round 3 Elimination
Hiroki Takayama	22	Okinawa	Part Timer	Round 3 Elimination
Ryota Ueno	28	Kyoto	Dance Instructor	Advanced to Round 4
Atsuki Ide	22	Okayama	Sales	Round 3 Elimination
Shuto Inomata	22	Ibaraki	Painter	Advanced to Round 4
Kenta Hino	29	Ehime	Singer	Advanced to Round 4
Kazuki Numata	26	Saga	Rapper	Round 3 Elimination
Yutaro Yazaki	29	Kanagawa	TV Announcer	Round 3 Elimination
Taiki Shinozuka	21	Osaka	University Student	Advanced to Round 4
Ryosuke Abe	26	Fukuoka	Pizza Delivery Worker	Round 3 Elimination
Ryo Suzuki	25	Tokyo	Phone Case Salesman	Advanced to Round 4
Kazuki Matsuda	20	Kanagawa	Vocational School Student	Round 3 Elimination
Ayuto Kawamura	21	Mie	University Student	Round 3 Elimination
Kuha Sano	19	Shizuoka	Dance Instructor	Round 3 Elimination
Ryoto Iwasaki	23	Aichi	Yakiniku Restaurant Worker	Advanced to Round 4

Episodes

No.	Title	Original air date
1	"Episode 1" (Japanese: episode 01 仲間探しオーディション、timelesz project 始動)	September 13, 2024 (2024-09-13)
In the search for new groupmates, Fuma Kikuchi, Sou Matsushima, and Shori Sato of timelesz meet, interview, and watch the live auditions of the first half of the 350 applicants who have passed the initial screening process in Tokyo. Additionally, the trio provide insight into why they have decided to add new members nearly fifteen years post-debut.
2	"Episode 2" (Japanese: episode 02 出会いのその先へ…いよいよ3次審査 通過者が決まる!)	September 24, 2024 (2024-09-24)
Kikuchi, Matsushima, and Sato, meet, interview, and watch the live auditions of the second half of the applicants who have passed the initial screening process in Osaka. The 350 individuals who were selected for round two are narrowed down to thirty-six people that will compete in round three.
3	"Episode 3" (Japanese: spexial edition-覚悟-)	October 11, 2024 (2024-10-11)
Kikuchi meets with Shota Watanabe of Snow Man and discusses Watanabe's similar experience with adding three new members to the group shortly prior to the group's debut after the group's lineup had remained unchanged for seven years. Kikuchi also reads a letter from Ren Meguro, one of the three added members, about his perspective and experience as someone joining a pre-existing band.
4	"Episode 4" (Japanese: episode 03 3次審査開始! 候補生36名がチームパフォーマンスに挑む!)	October 25, 2024 (2024-10-25)
The thirty-six remaining participants are tasked with learning the choreography to "Can Do! Can Go!" by V6 in thirty minutes. The participants are ranked based on how well they perform the dance, with Wataru Yamane in first place. The third round consists of the participants being split into four groups of nine where they have three days to learn their assigned song. Kikuchi reveals that the number of participants that will advance to the fourth round will be fifteen based on their performance of either "SHAKE" by SMAP or "Monster" by Arashi. Blue Group is assigned "SHAKE" by SMAP but suffers from a power struggle between the assigned leader of the group, Rai Tsutsumi, and two other members which impacts the decision making and performance quality of the group. Tadayoshi Okura makes a guest appearance as a special trainer and expresses doubt that the participants are ready for careers as idols. Matsushima and Kikuchi advise Blue Group on how to better communicate and support one another. In their group performance, they were able to overcome their initial issues and receive positive reviews from timelesz.
5	"Episode 5" (Japanese: episode 04 3次審査 team GREEN密着篇)	November 8, 2024 (2024-11-08)
Green Group is tasked with "Monster" by Arashi. timelesz finds the group's members promising but the group suffers from a lack of communication and group leader Daisuke Maida being unable to learn the choreography and lead simultaneously. Sato also notices that the group is too focused on themselves and some members seem to not be fully invested. They implement some of Sato's suggestions but the group still seems unconfident during their midpoint performance check. They continue to work on their critiques and receive positive feedback from timelesz in their evaluated performance.

External links

• https://timelesz-project.com/