MAG!C☆PRINCE - Gomen, Hanashitakunai
Release: 2019.06.04
Type: Single
Buy on CDJapan
ENVii GABRIELLA - Goka Nee-san
Release: 2019.06.05
Type: Single
Showing posts with label Bullet Train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bullet Train. Show all posts
Upcoming Jpop Boy Group Releases for June 2019
Here are all of the upcoming music releases by Jpop boy groups
for the month of June 2019. To have all of the latest releases and news
sent straight to your inbox once a month be sure to subscribe to the Dansei Idol Girl e-mail newsletter!
Idol Rewind | My Top 5 Jpop Boy Group Releases of 2018
Another year of fangirling done, except this wasn't just any other year. Within EBiDAN specifically there were quite a few sad times with members leaving left and right (check out Angi's post about that here) but we also had some huge accomplishments for our boys like with Bullet Train's MAMA performance. MEN'S PANIC -- a festival just for male idols -- was held for the first time and on a more personal note my lifelong dream of going to Japan finally came true. DA PUMP broke the Oricon charts with an unexpected jam and we also had the debut of Japan's very first all-foreign male idol group. I wonder what 2019 will hold for us? But before we start thinking about that let's take a look back at 2018 with a few of my favourite releases from this year.
1. SUPER★DRAGON - Monster!
"Monster!" is the 3rd single from SUPER★DRAGON and has to be my favourite of their releases thus far, not just because of the main song but all of the coupling songs are extremely lit. I'm always going on about "Get Treasure Journey" but seriously, if you haven't already do yourself a favor and listen to it.
2. SUPER★DRAGON - SWEET DEVIL
"SWEET DEVIL" is SUPER★DRAGON's 4th single and it had just come out around the time that I was in Japan so the group performed it both times that I saw them live during my trip. Hearing both the main song and the single's coupling tracks brings back great memories of both lives and is a large part of what's made SUPER★DRAGON my favourite group this year (RIP M!LK).
3. MAG!C☆PRINCE - Bel!ever
The main reason I like this one is probably because it's now available internationally on both iTunes and Spotify. All of the songs are jams. Buy the album. Stan Magipri.
A Look at Former Johnny's Entertainment Members in the Entertainment Industry
It's more or less accepted that Johnny's Entertainment controls pretty much the entire entertainment industry in Japan. Anything that's released with the Johnny's name on it instantly going straight to number one on the charts, virtually every male lead in any currently airing drama is bound to be a Johnny's, and if Johnny's views any particular artist as a threat they can literally get them banned from all of the popular music programmes with just a request. Basically, no matter how hard you try to hide from JE as a Japanese entertainment fan you're still probably going to be assaulted by them from all angles.
With all of this media coverage and an almost cult-like following of dedicated and loyal fans, it's no surprise that JE doesn't have any real competition. Non-JE Jpop boy groups certainly do exist (hence this entire blog, haha) and do have their place but none of them have even gotten close to JE's legacy. That begs the question; what happens if a boy decides to leave Johnny's, realizing it's not for him (*cough* or gets kicked out *cough*) but still wants to be an idol? Would he still be able to find success? Is any other agency besides JE inevitably a down-grade? Let's find out by taking a look at a few of the more notable instances of ex-Johnny's going on to join other idol (or some non-idol) groups.
The first I'll mention is now Bullet Train (Choutokkyuu) member, Funatsu Ryoga. Ryoga was a member of Johnny's Jr. around 2006. After leaving the agency, he later in 2012 debuted as a member of Bullet Train and is now the leader of the group. Bullet Train has gone on to become one of EBiDAN's most popular groups and seems to be one of the most popular non-Johnny's boy groups overall. It should be noted that EBiDAN as a whole seems to be developing quite a legacy although on a smaller scale than Johnny's of course.
Lead singer of the ever-popular rock band ONE OK ROCK, Takahiro Moriuchi -- or Taka, as he is known professionally -- was the first member to leave JE group NEWS in 2003, having left even before they released their debut single. Taka is an example of a former Johnny's boy finding a huge amount of success -- what with ONE OK ROCK's large fanbase both in Japan and overseas -- yet maybe that has something to with him abandoning the 'idol' path for something a bit less restricting.
Morimoto Ryutaro -- once a member of JE group Hey! Say! JUMP but in 2011 was "let go" due to an underage smoking scandal -- made his return to the entertainment industry in 2016 as a member and the producer of male idol group ZERO. Almost two years later there's still no sign of the group releasing any CDs but they seem to be fairly active on social media and doing live performances.
With all of this media coverage and an almost cult-like following of dedicated and loyal fans, it's no surprise that JE doesn't have any real competition. Non-JE Jpop boy groups certainly do exist (hence this entire blog, haha) and do have their place but none of them have even gotten close to JE's legacy. That begs the question; what happens if a boy decides to leave Johnny's, realizing it's not for him (*cough* or gets kicked out *cough*) but still wants to be an idol? Would he still be able to find success? Is any other agency besides JE inevitably a down-grade? Let's find out by taking a look at a few of the more notable instances of ex-Johnny's going on to join other idol (or some non-idol) groups.
Lead singer of the ever-popular rock band ONE OK ROCK, Takahiro Moriuchi -- or Taka, as he is known professionally -- was the first member to leave JE group NEWS in 2003, having left even before they released their debut single. Taka is an example of a former Johnny's boy finding a huge amount of success -- what with ONE OK ROCK's large fanbase both in Japan and overseas -- yet maybe that has something to with him abandoning the 'idol' path for something a bit less restricting.
Morimoto Ryutaro -- once a member of JE group Hey! Say! JUMP but in 2011 was "let go" due to an underage smoking scandal -- made his return to the entertainment industry in 2016 as a member and the producer of male idol group ZERO. Almost two years later there's still no sign of the group releasing any CDs but they seem to be fairly active on social media and doing live performances.
Upcoming Jpop Boy Group Releases for August 2018
Here are all of the upcoming music releases by Jpop boy groups
for the month of August 2018. To have all of the latest releases and news
sent straight to your inbox once a month be sure to subscribe to the Dansei Idol Girl e-mail newsletter!
SUPER★DRAGON - SWEET DEVIL
Release: 2018.08.01
Type: Single
Choutokkyuu - Jesus
Release: 2018.08.08
Type: Single
Da-iCE - BET
Release: 2018.08.08
Type: Album
My Top 5 Most Handsome Jpop Boys
Hi all! Partially inspired by the video below (you should also check out this person's other videos; they've made a few good ones about Jpop and Kpop and the differences between how the two genres are perceived overseas) I thought I'd put together a list of my top 5 most handsome Jpop boys.
This list is of course my own opinion so if you disagree feel free to let me know in the comments or make your own list! I'm sure most of you know I love me some cute idol boys too so I'll probably do a seperate post at some point about my top 5 cute Jpop boys. But anyway, let's get started!
This list is of course my own opinion so if you disagree feel free to let me know in the comments or make your own list! I'm sure most of you know I love me some cute idol boys too so I'll probably do a seperate post at some point about my top 5 cute Jpop boys. But anyway, let's get started!
5) Fujita Mahiro from MAGiC BOYZ
I hate to admit it but back when Mahiro was just the DJ of MAGiC BOYZ I didn't pay much attention to him. He wore those big glasses all the time too so regretfully I didn't really notice his looks either but now I definitely think he's the most handsome (and talented!) member of Majibo. I often find myself spamming "Mahiro is so cool!" in the comment section of Majibo's videos, haha. That face just gets to me!
4) Ogasawara Kai from Bullet Train
I think very few people would disagree with this decision. Kai has a very attractive and somewhat mysterious face. He's often praised for looking like an anime character and I would definitely agree, especially when he has his hair dyed blonde.
My Top 5 non-Johnny's Entertainment Jpop Boy Groups (Update 2017)
When I was on break from blogging, I found myself nosing around my old blog for a bit of inspiration. While reading one of my personal favourite posts from that blog - my top 5 non-JE boy groups post - I realized that my list had changed somewhat. Be it due to groups disbanding, me discovering new groups, or just simply developing more passion for the groups I already knew and loved. So without further ado, here is my 2017 update of my top 5 favourite Japanese boybands outside of Johnny's Entertainment! These are of course my favourite groups and not neccessarily the "best" groups so be prepared for a lot of personal bias, haha.
The reason why I became interested in X.E.N.O. in the first place was because I was a huge fan of the group G=AGE and all 4 members of X.E.N.O. used to be members of G=AGE's trainee unit, G-BOY'S. I looked them up out of curiously and although their videos and singing aren't that great, their songs are all pretty catchy and I ended up falling in love with all of the members.
My Ichiban: Tsukasa #ThirstyForTsukasaSquad
My Favourite Song: Shake It! BOUNCE
Choutokkyu was one of the first groups I discovered and while I'm not as big a fan of them as I used to be, they still hold a special place in my heart for that reason. They're a reasonably accessible group for new fans, their songs are catchy as heck, and their fans tend to be absolutely bonkers (in a good way!).
My Ichiban: Kai (blue)
My Favourite Song: Battaman
5. X.E.N.O. Project
X.E.N.O. Project are a 4-member indie group that debuted earlier this year. They haven't released any CDs yet, but they're actively doing performances around Japan and have a few dance practices up on their YouTube channel.
The reason why I became interested in X.E.N.O. in the first place was because I was a huge fan of the group G=AGE and all 4 members of X.E.N.O. used to be members of G=AGE's trainee unit, G-BOY'S. I looked them up out of curiously and although their videos and singing aren't that great, their songs are all pretty catchy and I ended up falling in love with all of the members.
My Ichiban: Tsukasa #ThirstyForTsukasaSquad
My Favourite Song: Shake It! BOUNCE
4. Choutokkyu
If you're into Jpop boy groups then I'm sure you know Choutokkyu. Also known as Bullet Train, they are a 7-member group from EBiDAN made up of 5 "front dancers" and 2 "back vocalists". They have a very upbeat, colourful, and slightly over-the-top image.
Choutokkyu was one of the first groups I discovered and while I'm not as big a fan of them as I used to be, they still hold a special place in my heart for that reason. They're a reasonably accessible group for new fans, their songs are catchy as heck, and their fans tend to be absolutely bonkers (in a good way!).
My Ichiban: Kai (blue)
My Favourite Song: Battaman
JPOP SUCKS?! | 6 Japanese Boybands That Kpop Fans Love (and you will too!)
Many Kpop fans who discover Jpop for the first time have initially negative reactions to the genre and to be honest, I can understand why. Very generally speaking, the two genres have a rather different feel to each other. If I had to explain it very simply:
Jpop = cute, imperfect, innocent.
Kpop = flashy, on point, why is everyone so dang sexy?!
Not that I'm saying that either of these are good or bad. It just depends on personal preference, really.
Part of the Jpop idol culture is watching the members slowly improve from when they're quite young. They may not be the best at singing and dancing right away but that's okay, it adds to their cuteness. Whereas Kpop idols are usually expected to be perfect right from their debut which is what leads a lot of Kpop fans to think that Jpop is "bad" compared to Kpop.
Not all Jpop idols are like this though. There are some groups who I'm sure you'll love even if you prefer the Kpop way of dong things. So, continuing somewhat from my post a few weeks ago about the most accesible Jpop boy groups, here's a list of some of the more "Kpop-like" boy groups.
Jpop = cute, imperfect, innocent.
Kpop = flashy, on point, why is everyone so dang sexy?!
Not that I'm saying that either of these are good or bad. It just depends on personal preference, really.
Part of the Jpop idol culture is watching the members slowly improve from when they're quite young. They may not be the best at singing and dancing right away but that's okay, it adds to their cuteness. Whereas Kpop idols are usually expected to be perfect right from their debut which is what leads a lot of Kpop fans to think that Jpop is "bad" compared to Kpop.
Not all Jpop idols are like this though. There are some groups who I'm sure you'll love even if you prefer the Kpop way of dong things. So, continuing somewhat from my post a few weeks ago about the most accesible Jpop boy groups, here's a list of some of the more "Kpop-like" boy groups.
Most Accessible Jpop Boy Groups for Overseas Fans | Jpop on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube?
One of the main reasons I believe that Jpop often doesn't catch the interest of as many people overseas as Kpop does is its lack of accesibility. Most Kpop artists are more than interested in growing their overseas fanbase and it's pretty easy to find Kpop songs on sites like YouTube and iTunes with a simple search. However with Jpop, depending on the artist it can still be a little difficult to find their content if you don't live in Japan.
There are still many Japanese labels who only make their artist's music videos available to Japanese audiences or worse; don't let their music videos be uploaded online at all. A lot of Japanese artists do have their music up to purchase on iTunes these days but most only make it available to buyers in the Japanese store so if you're a foreigner your only option is to get the physical CD imported from Japan which not everyone can afford for every single release.
Of course there are ways around these obstacles *cough* e.g. proxy services, hiding your IP address, sneaky fan uploads *cough* but if you're just getting into Jpop for the first time you probably don't want to go through all of that trouble! So I've complied a list of a few of the more easy to access Jpop boy groups; taking into account factors such as their music and videos being available outside of Japan, how much information can be found on them in English, and how involved they've been with their foreign audience in the past.Notice how there aren't any Johnny's Entertainment groups in this list. Then let's go!
There are still many Japanese labels who only make their artist's music videos available to Japanese audiences or worse; don't let their music videos be uploaded online at all. A lot of Japanese artists do have their music up to purchase on iTunes these days but most only make it available to buyers in the Japanese store so if you're a foreigner your only option is to get the physical CD imported from Japan which not everyone can afford for every single release.
Of course there are ways around these obstacles *cough* e.g. proxy services, hiding your IP address, sneaky fan uploads *cough* but if you're just getting into Jpop for the first time you probably don't want to go through all of that trouble! So I've complied a list of a few of the more easy to access Jpop boy groups; taking into account factors such as their music and videos being available outside of Japan, how much information can be found on them in English, and how involved they've been with their foreign audience in the past.
Choutokkyuu Member Ranking | EBiDAN Member Ranking Week 5
EBiSSH Member Ranking | EBiDAN Member Ranking Week 2
Wow, we're already on our 2nd week of our EBiDAN ranking series! This week it was Angi's turn to choose which group we did and she chose EBiSSH. I didn't know very much about EBiSSH beforehand - I only really knew that one of the members, Naoya was Takuya from Bullet Train's younger brother - so this gave me a great opportunity to get to know them a little better.
This post might be a little shorter than my M!LK post last week since I'm still getting to know EBiSSH and haven't been a fan of theirs as long as I have been of M!LK but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! Here's my ranking of the members of the group EBiSSH.
This post might be a little shorter than my M!LK post last week since I'm still getting to know EBiSSH and haven't been a fan of theirs as long as I have been of M!LK but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! Here's my ranking of the members of the group EBiSSH.
Everyone is Fabulous! | Jpop Boy Groups According to My (ex) Boyfriend Part 2
Here I am again, torturing my boyfriend with handsome Japanese men who he has an unjustified amount of hatred for. Hope you enjoy his suffering, haha.
chotokkyu (Bullet Train)
The "giving the members weird nicknames" trend seems to have returned. Here are a few of them:
Ryouga - Weird Face
Kai - The Villian (Apparently his white hair made him look like an anime villian)
Takuya - Weird...hair...eyebrows
Yuki - The Overly-Photoshopped Girl
Yusuke - Fabulous No-Rules
I showed him a video of them performing "Battaman" live and I think it's pretty safe to say that Yusuke is his favourite member.
X.E.N.O. Project
Now there's another boy group member to add to the list of people my boyfriend doesn't like. He really, really doesn't like Tsukasa for some reason, haha. When I asked him why the only reason he could give me was "Because he reminds of me Jean". He still can't tell me why he hates Jean so much either. Tsukasa also kind of reminds me of Fumito (from G=AGE) who - surprise - my boyfriend also doesn't like. Anyway, I showed him their dance video for "YOU'RE SO GOLD".
He was unimpressed with Tsukasa's backflip (how??) and all he really commented on was how squeaky their shoes were against the floor and the brightness of Takanori's hair. He also made fun of Takuya's facial expressions a lot. Why does he always make fun of my favourites? T^T
BOYS AND MEN
I showed him the "Boimen ~B.M.C.A.~" video because I thought he'd have some pretty great reactions to it. Although, he just ended up pausing the video in random places and laughing at their facial expressions. I made this one his desktop background because I'm pretty sure Yukihisa is now his favourite member.
Seriously, just do yourself a favor and keep your eyes on Yukihisa throughout the video.
Da-iCE
Finally, we'll end on a group that he actually enjoyed and didn't spend the whole time making fun of. I showed him the music video for "Splash" and he admitted that the song was good and the members were talented. He made fun of how high Souta's voice was a little though, haha.
Bonus: Yoshida Jinto
We ended up watching some of the Fit's Gumi commercials. If you don't know, Fit's are a brand of Japanese chewing gum and since the beginning of this year they've been airing these commercials that star various celebrities as high school students including the members of M!LK. He really got a good laugh out of watching Jinto's dancing. He said it was how serious his face was when the dance routines were so cutesy and upbeat. When I told him it was the same guy from M!LK, he didn't recognize him. He found this video particularly amusing.
Introduction to EBiDAN
One of the main purposes of this blog is to shed light on Jpop boy groups outside of Johnny's Entertainment. One of the most popular agencies besides JE that produces a lot of boy groups in Japan (and also my personal favourite) is EBiDAN. I actually prefer EBiDAN to JE in a lot of ways as I feel like they're much more accessible to overseas fans (and fans in general) and they just have a lot more groups that appeal to me personally. The only downside really is that EBiDAN isn't as popular overseas so it can be hard for new fans to find information in English and other languages.
Nonetheless, I think that EBiDAN is a great agency to get interested in if you're someone like me who likes JE a lot but often gets frustrated at how difficult it can be to be a fan of its groups when you don't live in Japan. So I've put together a general introduction post. If, after reading this post, you've become interested in any of the groups and would like to know more about them then feel free to contact me. Also, stay tuned as I plan to make a few more in-depth posts about certain groups. I'm mainly interested in the younger EBiDAN groups though (cute idol boys are my weakness, haha) so I might not be able to give you much information on groups like PrizmaX and DISH//.
Ebisu Gakuen Danji-bu (EBiDAN for short) is an entertainment school for male idols that was formed in 2010. Like Johnny's Entertainment; EBiDAN consists of singers, dancers, and actors. It is associated with the agency, Stardust Promotion (You may know Stardust as the company that manages the female idol group, Momoiro Clover Z). For more information on EBiDAN's overall history then you can check out this post.
Current Groups
PrizmaX were actually active as a group since 2002 but were added to EBiDAN in 2010. They made their CD debut in 2013 with the single, "Mysterious Eyes / Go!". The lineup of the group has changed several times since their debut but the current members are vocalists Tim Kurokawa and Win Morisaki, rapper Shimizu Daiki, and dancers Fukumoto Yuki and Shimada Tsubasa. The interesting thing about PrizmaX is that a lot of their earlier songs are in English as both of the vocalists are hafus. Tim is from the US and Win is from Myanmar.
DISH// were one of the first groups to actually debut from EBiDAN. They debuted at the same event as Chotokkyu in 2012 with the indie single, "It's alright". Their music is in more of a rock style and they do actually play their instruments but they dance while performing on stage. Their major label debut was in 2013 with the single, "I Can Hear". They are so far the only EBiDAN group that isn't under the Stardust Music Label; they are represented by Sony Music Records. The members are vocalist and guitarist TAKUMI, back-up vocalist and guitarist MASAKI, bass guitarist and rapper RYUJI, DJ and rapper To-i, and drummer DAICHI.
Also known as Bullet Train, Chotokkyu made their debut in 2012 with the single, "TRAIN". They are probably the most popular EBiDAN group overseas. Each of the members of Chotokkyu have a colour that represents them; Koichi - black, Kai - blue, Ryoga - purple, Takuya - green, Yuki - red, Yusuke - yellow, and Takashi - white. Koichi and Takashi are the singers of the group, the rest are dancers. I love Chotokkyu for the somewhat crazy style to a lot of their songs. All of their songs are available to purchase on iTunes (even outside of Japan!).
Sakura Shimeji are a duo who made their CD debut in 2015 with the single, "Ikujinashi / Kino no Yume". The members are Takata Hyouga and Tanaka Gaku. Both of them sing and play the guitar. Hyouga also plays the tambourine. All of their songs are available on iTunes as well.
MAGiC BOYZ
Now for probably the most er...unique EBiDAN group. MAGiC BOYZ (sometimes called Majibo for short) are a "rap" group who also made their debut in 2015 with the single, "MAGiC SPELL ~Kake Chau Zo Pippippi~". The lineup has changed quite a lot over the years but the current members are MCs Ryuto, Touma, and Mahiro, and DJ Joe. Some of their older songs are available to purchase on iTunes. A lot of Majibo's songs are actually quite catchy, it's just that the members themselves are pretty awkward and don't really fit well with the group's concept in my opinion.
Now for my personal favourite group! M!LK made their CD debut also in 2015 with the single, "Coffee ga Nomemasen". The title track was used as the ending song for the anime, "Pankisu!". I'm totally not extremely bitter about the fact that M!LK are the only 39&KiDS unit whose songs aren't available on iTunes outside of Japan, nope. M!LK is a group with a very cute image and all of their songs are super upbeat and catchy so if you're into groups like that then definitely check them out! The members are Sano Hayato (pink), Itagaki Mizuki (orange), Yamazaki Haruki (green), Shiozaki Daichi (blue), and Yoshida Jinto (yellow).
SUPER★DRAGON's first widely available single was "Pendulum Beat!" which was released in 2016. The title track was used as the opening song for the anime, "Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V". SUPER★DRAGON have a more cool, bad boy kind of image (which I find kind of funny sometimes because members like Raku for example are way too adorable to pull off that kind of image) and their music tends to have a lot of rapping and dubstep-like sounds. The group is split up into two subgroups; FIRE DRAGON - which is made up of the four oldest members - Reo, Tsuyoshi, Jean, and Hayate and THUNDER DRAGON - which is the five youngest members - Sougo, Koki, Hyoma, Tomoya, and Raku. Tsuyoshi is the main singer of the group, Jean mostly raps, while the other members mostly just dance but this sometimes changes depending on the song. Also Jean is half-Turkish. All of their songs so far are available on iTunes.
As well as the debuted groups, EBiDAN also has its own trainee members similar to Johnny's Jr. in JE, known as EBiDAN 39&KiDS. EBiDAN 39 (pronounced 'sankyuu') are the older trainees while EBiDAN KiDS are generally the under-13s. Sakura Shimeji, MAGiC BOYZ, M!LK, and SUPER★DRAGON all started out as 39&KiDS units so a lot of the time they will still appear in the 39&KiDS live events and TV shows. EBiDAN 39&KiDS has six different locations; Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai, Okinawa, and Fukuoka. There is also EBiDAN THE STREET for groups that mainly focus on performing street lives.
If you're interested in any of these groups, you can head on over to Stardust's official YouTube channel to check out their music videos and other cool videos. Also if you'd like to watch any of their concerts or EBiDAN's weekly TV shows, they can be found on Stardust Channel. If you'd like any more information then feel free to comment below!
Nonetheless, I think that EBiDAN is a great agency to get interested in if you're someone like me who likes JE a lot but often gets frustrated at how difficult it can be to be a fan of its groups when you don't live in Japan. So I've put together a general introduction post. If, after reading this post, you've become interested in any of the groups and would like to know more about them then feel free to contact me. Also, stay tuned as I plan to make a few more in-depth posts about certain groups. I'm mainly interested in the younger EBiDAN groups though (cute idol boys are my weakness, haha) so I might not be able to give you much information on groups like PrizmaX and DISH//.
Ebisu Gakuen Danji-bu (EBiDAN for short) is an entertainment school for male idols that was formed in 2010. Like Johnny's Entertainment; EBiDAN consists of singers, dancers, and actors. It is associated with the agency, Stardust Promotion (You may know Stardust as the company that manages the female idol group, Momoiro Clover Z). For more information on EBiDAN's overall history then you can check out this post.
Current Groups
PrizmaX
PrizmaX were actually active as a group since 2002 but were added to EBiDAN in 2010. They made their CD debut in 2013 with the single, "Mysterious Eyes / Go!". The lineup of the group has changed several times since their debut but the current members are vocalists Tim Kurokawa and Win Morisaki, rapper Shimizu Daiki, and dancers Fukumoto Yuki and Shimada Tsubasa. The interesting thing about PrizmaX is that a lot of their earlier songs are in English as both of the vocalists are hafus. Tim is from the US and Win is from Myanmar.
DISH//
DISH// were one of the first groups to actually debut from EBiDAN. They debuted at the same event as Chotokkyu in 2012 with the indie single, "It's alright". Their music is in more of a rock style and they do actually play their instruments but they dance while performing on stage. Their major label debut was in 2013 with the single, "I Can Hear". They are so far the only EBiDAN group that isn't under the Stardust Music Label; they are represented by Sony Music Records. The members are vocalist and guitarist TAKUMI, back-up vocalist and guitarist MASAKI, bass guitarist and rapper RYUJI, DJ and rapper To-i, and drummer DAICHI.
Chotokkyu
Also known as Bullet Train, Chotokkyu made their debut in 2012 with the single, "TRAIN". They are probably the most popular EBiDAN group overseas. Each of the members of Chotokkyu have a colour that represents them; Koichi - black, Kai - blue, Ryoga - purple, Takuya - green, Yuki - red, Yusuke - yellow, and Takashi - white. Koichi and Takashi are the singers of the group, the rest are dancers. I love Chotokkyu for the somewhat crazy style to a lot of their songs. All of their songs are available to purchase on iTunes (even outside of Japan!).
Sakura Shimeji
Sakura Shimeji are a duo who made their CD debut in 2015 with the single, "Ikujinashi / Kino no Yume". The members are Takata Hyouga and Tanaka Gaku. Both of them sing and play the guitar. Hyouga also plays the tambourine. All of their songs are available on iTunes as well.
MAGiC BOYZ
Now for probably the most er...unique EBiDAN group. MAGiC BOYZ (sometimes called Majibo for short) are a "rap" group who also made their debut in 2015 with the single, "MAGiC SPELL ~Kake Chau Zo Pippippi~". The lineup has changed quite a lot over the years but the current members are MCs Ryuto, Touma, and Mahiro, and DJ Joe. Some of their older songs are available to purchase on iTunes. A lot of Majibo's songs are actually quite catchy, it's just that the members themselves are pretty awkward and don't really fit well with the group's concept in my opinion.
M!LK
Now for my personal favourite group! M!LK made their CD debut also in 2015 with the single, "Coffee ga Nomemasen". The title track was used as the ending song for the anime, "Pankisu!". I'm totally not extremely bitter about the fact that M!LK are the only 39&KiDS unit whose songs aren't available on iTunes outside of Japan, nope. M!LK is a group with a very cute image and all of their songs are super upbeat and catchy so if you're into groups like that then definitely check them out! The members are Sano Hayato (pink), Itagaki Mizuki (orange), Yamazaki Haruki (green), Shiozaki Daichi (blue), and Yoshida Jinto (yellow).
SUPER★DRAGON
SUPER★DRAGON's first widely available single was "Pendulum Beat!" which was released in 2016. The title track was used as the opening song for the anime, "Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V". SUPER★DRAGON have a more cool, bad boy kind of image (which I find kind of funny sometimes because members like Raku for example are way too adorable to pull off that kind of image) and their music tends to have a lot of rapping and dubstep-like sounds. The group is split up into two subgroups; FIRE DRAGON - which is made up of the four oldest members - Reo, Tsuyoshi, Jean, and Hayate and THUNDER DRAGON - which is the five youngest members - Sougo, Koki, Hyoma, Tomoya, and Raku. Tsuyoshi is the main singer of the group, Jean mostly raps, while the other members mostly just dance but this sometimes changes depending on the song. Also Jean is half-Turkish. All of their songs so far are available on iTunes.
EBiDAN 39&KiDS
As well as the debuted groups, EBiDAN also has its own trainee members similar to Johnny's Jr. in JE, known as EBiDAN 39&KiDS. EBiDAN 39 (pronounced 'sankyuu') are the older trainees while EBiDAN KiDS are generally the under-13s. Sakura Shimeji, MAGiC BOYZ, M!LK, and SUPER★DRAGON all started out as 39&KiDS units so a lot of the time they will still appear in the 39&KiDS live events and TV shows. EBiDAN 39&KiDS has six different locations; Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai, Okinawa, and Fukuoka. There is also EBiDAN THE STREET for groups that mainly focus on performing street lives.
If you're interested in any of these groups, you can head on over to Stardust's official YouTube channel to check out their music videos and other cool videos. Also if you'd like to watch any of their concerts or EBiDAN's weekly TV shows, they can be found on Stardust Channel. If you'd like any more information then feel free to comment below!
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