This Bond is Forever! Fudanjuku Releases MV for “Akashi -soul mate-” !
dreamBoat Sets Sail! Three Danso Groups Team Up for Their Maiden Voyage!
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Pioneers of danso (girls dressing as boys) idols, Fudanjuku, were joined by newly formed danso units ael and EUPHORIA on Sunday, April 7th, 2019, in Shibuya’s Stream Hall to celebrate the premiere of their new project, dreamBoat.
The event, also broadcast via niconico to fans all over Japan and the world, lasted just under an hour. It kicked off with the debut of EUPHORIA, the collective youngest of the three groups. Five cute and cool dark-haired princes took to the stage, in costumes of white brocade and gold trim with colorful accessories on their lapels indicating their member colors.
EUPHORIA opened with a bittersweet love song, “Kimi wa Destiny” and though their nervousness was palpable they managed to charm the audience and win plenty of applause and cheers. With a vow to bring everyone happiness, the members introduced their group and themselves. The MC was lead by cute and confident Utaori Toa.
After a quick choreography demonstration, EUPHORIA began their second song fitting for fresh starts, “New Horizon.” Upbeat and energetic, fans joined members in clapping and waving along to the sweet song about believing in yourself and reaching your dreams. EUPHORIA’s debut single will be released in August.
Next was the much-anticipated ael, whose name is a play on the Japanese for “able to meet” and stands for “All Eternal Love.” One member, Iriya Sena, was unable to take part in the event due to schedule conflicts, but appeared via VTR to announce that he recorded the new tracks early so his voice would be present in ael’s debut performance.
The other six members took to the stage to dark and edgy electric beats mixed with audience screams, clad in military-inspired jackets in black, red and grey with bountiful flouncy tailcoats. The lights came up as “Owarinaki Rhapsody” began with a line from powerful vocalists, Arimitsu Haruki and Kanade Mirai. With a high-octane guitar riff and a rock show call of “LET’S GO!” from Arimitsu, the song kicked into gear with energetic dance and vocals from all members.
Even ael’s MC portion was heart-pounding, as drums rocked out in the background while members introduced their danso personas. Without missing a beat, they transitioned into the hopeful and positive “Starry Night.” Everyone looked ecstatic to be on stage with each other, and their energy was contagious. ael’s debut single hits shelves in July.
Last but not least was Fudanjuku. Though the group has been active for over 11 years, a frequently changing member lineup has kept things fresh for the group and allowed for constant reinvention. The two newest members, Katsuki Daiya and Oji Sotaro, had just experienced their first one-man lives since joining the group in the same venue the day before. Warmed up from that experience, all 6 members delivered a confident performance full of smiles with their upcoming single’s A-side, “Dash & Daaaaaash!!!!!!”, releasing June 29th and airing now as the opening theme for spring anime, Gunjou no Magmell.
Fudanjuku continued into their characteristic playful MC, joking about how cool EUPHORIA and ael had been and that they’d have to work hard to keep up with their juniors. Next up came the song that encompasses Fudanjuku as a group, “Onaji Jidai ni Umareta Wakamonotachi.” With powerful lyrics about living with all your might in spite of being rejected or hated, the song united stage and audience with “whoa-oh-oh-oh” calls and raised fists.
Finally, Fudanjuku’s senior member Aiba Kensui called the other two groups to the stage to reflect on the event. EUPHORIA’s Utaori Toa thanked everyone for joining in with their choreography, prompting fellow member Kaido Itsuki, Fudanjuku’s Kuryu Masaki and ael’s Shizuki Lee to jump forward and demonstrate much to everyone’s amusement.
Kensui went on to narrate major announcements related to the group as they were projected on the venue’s screen. In addition to the dreamBoat groups releasing a single one by one three months in a row, a dreamBoat special event is tentatively planned for the fall of 2019.
With all members on stage, the full dreamBoat project came together for a performance of Fudanjuku’s “Danso Revolution,” packing the stage with handsome talent and drawing high-pitched screams from fans. After a dizzying concentration of coolness came a rare photo session, with fans permitted to take photos of all 3 groups to share on social networking sites and keep as memories of a thrilling premiere event.
A press interview was held after the live portion, and Aiba Kensui (Fudanjuku), Arimitsu Haruki (ael) and Utaori Toa (EUPHORIA) shared their impressions about the day’s event.
Aiba Kensui (Fudanjuku): Today was the premiere of dreamBoat and announcements for all three groups. Each unit has their own unique flavor, and we feel strongly about wanting to spread danso culture. With the strength of all three groups combined, we want to do our best! As Fudanjuku, we would like to continue expanding the reach of our comedy-packed, amusing group!
Arimitsu Haruki (ael): We were able to participate in dreamBoat today with 17 people, but actually ael has 7 members, so we want to do our best as ael and as one part of dreamBoat in the future. We’ll work at showing everyone a cool, rock group!
Utaori Toa (EUPHORIA): EUPHORIA is the youngest brother group of dreamBoat, but we’ll be doing our best not to lose to our older brothers, and work hard to keep up with and even overtake them! As our name suggests, we want to convey a sense of happiness, as a prince-like group that suits these sparkling costumes.
Each group was asked to deliver a message to their fans all over the world.
Aiba: Danso culture is something that people worldwide might have interest in, and I think Japan might be the main representative of that culture. We would love for more overseas fans to travel to our concerts so we can get their hearts racing too. Thinking about other countries from here on out, we’ve got our member Masaki who can speak Korean, and we’d like to study languages like English and Chinese, so we’ll be doing our best.
Arimitsu: As ael too, we’d like to go to more and more places overseas, and as Kensui was just saying, I think danso culture is something distinctively Japanese, so I’d be really happy if people all over the world found it to be cool and interesting. We’ll do our best keep delivering this culture worldwide.
Utaori: Someday, we’d love to deliver an overseas concert with all members of dreamBoat!
At the end of the event, Aiba, Arimitsu and Utaori spoke enthusiastically about their plans for the future.
Aiba: Fudanjuku has set Budokan as a future goal and we’re giving it our all, but with this many people together, today made us believe that instead of stopping at Budokan, we could set our sights on a dome concert someday, too! We’ll be doing our best, please support dreamBoat from now on!
Arimitsu: As a part of dreamBoat, we’ll be following in Fudanjuku’s footsteps, though someday we may surpass them, and while working closely with EUPHORIA, we want to do our best all together. As this cool, rock-influenced new-style idol group, we want to spread our sound, so please pay attention to us!
Utaori: As others have said, we’ll work towards getting to do many different kinds of activities as part of dreamBoat, and being able to go worldwide! As EUPHORIA, a one-man live, an album, expanding our activities, and being able to stand on various stages are all goals we’re aiming for. Thank you!
Set List
01 Kimi wa Destiny / EUPHORIA
02 New Horizon / EUPHORIA
03 Owarinaki Rhapsody / ael
04 Starry Night / ael
05 Dash ＆ Daaaaaash!!!!!! / Fudanjuku
06 Onaji Jidai ni Umareta Wakamonotachi / Fudanjuku
07 Danso Revolution / dreamBoat
Related Links
dreamBoat Official Site: https://www.dreamboat.site/
dreamBoat Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/DREAMBOAT_DANSO
Fudanjuku Official Site: http://nfs724.com/
Fudanjuku Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/fudan_juku
ael Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/ael_official_
EUPHORIA Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/euphoria_dB
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Rhythm (wamhouse)
English teacher by day, idol wota and subculture explorer by night. Specializes in danso groups; also weak to dyed hair, short hair and atypical idols. Sometimes a 2D nerd, always an animal otaku. Let's go exploring!
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