| Bump of Chicken | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, Japan |
| Genres | Rock |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Labels | High Line, Toy's Factory |
| Website | http://www.bumpofchicken.com/ |
| Members | |
| Fujiwara Motoo Masukawa Hiroaki Naoi Yoshifumi Masu Hideo |
|
Bump of Chicken (バンプ・オブ・チキン Banpu Obu Chikin) is a rock group from Sakura, Chiba, Japan. Their members are Fujiwara Motoo, Hiroaki Masukawa, Yoshifumi Naoi and Hideo Masu. Since their inception in 1994, they have released fourteen singles and five albums.[1] They are a popular group in Japan; every release since their third single, "Tentai Kansoku," has charted in the top ten on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Their music has been used in various video games and as theme songs for movies and television shows in Japan.
Contents |
The members first met in kindergarten and were classmates throughout their primary and secondary education. Bump of Chicken's first performance was in 1994, during their ninth grade cultural festival,[1] playing a cover of The Beatles' version of Twist and Shout.[2] In 1996, their song, Danny, won an award on 96TFM.[3]
In 1999, Bump of Chicken released their first album, Flame Vein, on High Line Records. Later that year, they released their first single, "Lamp". In 2000, they released The Living Dead, their final release on High Line.[4] They also held their first live tour, "Tsuaa Pokiiru (ツアーポキール)", during March and April.[5]
Later in 2000, the group switched to Toy's Factory, releasing their first single on the label, "Diamond", in September.[4] Bump of Chicken's first big success occurred when their single, "Tentai Kansoku", appeared on the Oricon Weekly Charts in 2001.[6] They held two live tours, "Star Porking Tours (スターポーキングツアーズ Sutaa Pookingu Tsuaazu) 2001" beginning in March and "Surf Porkin'" beginning in July.[5] In October, they released "Harujion".[4] They released their first album on Toy's Factory, Jupiter, in February 2002 and was their first number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts. In the summer of 2002, their music was featured on the Japanese TV drama, "Tentai Kansoku", giving them more exposure.
At the end of 2002, the group released the single "Snow Smile". 2003 saw the release of the first double A-side single "Lost Man/sailing day".[4] "Sailing Day" was used as the ending theme to the animated movie, One Piece: Dead End Adventure.[1] The beginning of 2004 saw a slew of re-releases. "Arue", from their album Flame Vein, was released as a single in March. They re-released their first two albums in April. Flame Vein received an extra song and was re-released as Flame Vein +1. The Living Dead received no modifications. In July, the group released "Only Lonely Glory",[4] which became their first single to chart at number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts.[7] A month later, they released their fourth album, Yggdrasil, which was their second album to reach number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts.[6] Shortly after, they released "Sharin no Uta", from Yggdrasil, as a single.
In 2005, Bump of Chicken released two singles, "Planetarium" and second double A-side single "Supernova/Karma". Karma was used as the theme song for Namco's "Tales of the Abyss. The band's next single, "Namida no Furusato" was used in a commercial for Lotte Airs.[1] It became the group's second number one single. In 2007, they released the singles "Hana no Na" and "Mayday" on the same day. The two singles reached number one and two respectively on the Oricon Weekly Charts.[6] Bump of Chicken released their fifth studio album, Orbital Period, on December 19, 2007. They released their first compilation album present from you on June 18, 2008. This album contains b-sides from singles and other non-album tracks.
On November 25, 2009, Bump of Chicken released its third double A-side single "R.I.P./Merry Christmas", their first single in two years. On April 14, 2010, they released "Happy" and then in the following week, another single, "Mahō no Ryōri (Kimi kara Kimi e)". Two singles also reached number one consecutively for two weeks on the Oricon Weekly Charts, the first time a band achieved this since Orange Range's "Love Parade" and "Onegai! Señorita" in 2005. They released fourth double A-side single "Uchūhikōshi e no Tegami/Motorcycle" on October 13, 2010, and they released music video for the song on Toy's Factory's YouTube channel on September 14, 2010, then it surpassed 200,000 viewers for two days. On December 15, 2010, they released sixth studio album, Cosmonaut, but the song "Merry Christmas" is not included in the album.
In 2011, Bump of Chicken announced that they wrote the song "Tomodachi no Uta" as the theme song for the animated 3D movie Doraemon: Nobita and the New Steel Troops: ~Angel Wings~. And "Tomodachi no Uta" was released as the single on February 23, 2011. They also released two singles, "Smile" on May 11, 2011 and "Zero" on October 19, 2011. "Zero" was used as the theme song for video game by Square Enix, Final Fantasy Type-0.
Motoo Fujiwara is the composer, lyricist, guitar, and main vocalist of the group. He has written most of the music, and has also drawn the artwork for their albums 'The Living Dead' and 'Yggdrasil'. He enjoys doing laundry, cannot eat spicy foods, has poor eyesight, and enjoys playing the harmonica, which he bought for 300 yen. He also wants to be an unworldly man. In March 2006, he released a solo album titled "Song for Tales of the Abyss," which included "Karma" and instrumental versions of songs from the game Tales of the Abyss. Uses Gibson 1960 Les Paul Special Single Cutaway, Sonic fender, Gibson J-45.
Hiroaki Masukawa is the guitarist of the group, and also writes most of the hidden joke tracks for albums. He is referred to as the shy member of the group, and calls himself pessimistic. His hobbies are largely anime and games. His nicknames within the band are "Hiro," "Hose," (meaning "very thin"), and "Nikke". Uses Gibson Les Paul Standard, Fender Stratocaster.
Yoshifumi Naoi is the bassist of the group, and is referred to as the "crowd pleaser". He jokes that he "falls ill exactly four times a year." He also calls himself an anime and game otaku, and a "rare genius". His hobbies are photography and drawing; he has released an artbook containing his works, and helped with some of the album artwork. His nickname within the band is "Chama," a play on the Japanese phrase "Obotchama" referring to a rich family's son. Uses Sonic Bass, Fender Jazz Bass 65.
Hideo Masu is the drummer for the band. He describes himself as an introvert. He also mentions that he has good eyesight, cannot write kanji well, likes to go outdoors, and often gets headaches. Uses Canopus Maple Shell.
The words "chicken" and "bump" in the title of the band were originally intended to be translations of "coward" and "attack" respectively. Thus, a better translation may have been "The Coward's Attack" or "Cowards Fight Back," but the band has kept the original translation nonetheless.
Their single "Arue" is a song dedicated to the fictional character Rei Ayanami, from the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. The song is listed as R.A., the initials of the aforementioned character.
Their song "Sailing Day" is used at the end credits of the anime movie One Piece: Dead End Adventure. The same song is also featured in the Guitar Freaks and Drummania series of arcade games.
The songs "Tentai Kansoku", "K", "Sailing Day", "Karma" and "Mayday" were later used in the musical arcade game by Bemani in GuitarFreaks, DrumMania, Jubeat, Reflec Beat Limelight and Pop'n Music. "Tentai Kansoku" was also featured in Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: 7tsu no Shima no Daibouken.
The song "Karma" from their "Supernova / Karma" single is the main theme for Namco's Tales of the Abyss video game. It also is used on the anime adaptation of the game as the opening theme.
It has been revealed that Doraemon‘s new movie (Doraemon New・Nobita and the Steel Troops~Spread Your Wings Angels~) to be released on March 5, will use BUMP OF CHICKEN‘s new song “Tomodachi no Uta” as a theme song. All 4 members have loved Doraemon for its unique and loving characters and story and have said that it is an honor to be chosen to sing for the new Doraemon movie.[8]
| Date | Title | Catalog | Oricon Charts[6] | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Top 100 | ||||
| November, 25 1999 | "Lamp" | HLR-008 | 181 | ? | The Living Dead |
| September 20, 2000 | "Diamond" | TFCC-87066 | 15 | ? | Jupiter |
| March 14, 2001 | "Tentai Kansoku" | TFCC-87080 | 3 | 26 | |
| October 17, 2001 | "Harujion" | TFCC-89001 | 5 | ? | |
| December 18, 2002 | "Snow Smile" | TFCC-89049 | 3 | 61 | Yggdrasil |
| March 12, 2003 | "Lost Man/Sailing Day" | TFCC-89063 | 2 | 29 | |
| "Sailing Day/Lost Man" | TFCC-89064 | ||||
| March 31, 2004 | "Arue" | TFCC-89099 | 2 | 48 | Flame Vein |
| July 7, 2004 | "Only Lonely Glory" | TFCC-89109 | 1 | 50 | Yggdrasil |
| December 1, 2004 | "Sharin no Uta" | TFCC-89121 | 3 | 81 | |
| July 21, 2005 | "Planetarium" | TFCC-89142 | 4 | 35 | Orbital Period |
| November 23, 2005 | "Supernova/Karma" | TFCC-89153 | 2 | 9 | |
| December 14, 2005 | "Karma/Supernova" | TFCC-89154 | |||
| November 22, 2006 | "Namida no Furusato" | TFCC-89191 | 1 | 35 | |
| October 24, 2007 | "Hana no Na" | TFCC-89227 | 1 | 16 | |
| "Mayday" | TFCC-89228 | 2 | 25 | ||
| November 25, 2009 | "R.I.P./Merry Christmas" | TFCC-89289 | 2 | 29 | Cosmonaut |
| April 14, 2010 | "Happy" | TFCC-89300 | 1 | 36 | |
| April 21, 2010 | "Mahō no Ryōri ~Kimi Kara Kimi e~" | TFCC-89303 | 1 | 37 | |
| October 13, 2010 | "Uchūhikōshi e no Tegami/Motorcycle" | TFCC-89318 | 1 | 52 | |
| February 23, 2011 | "Tomodachi no Uta" | TFCC-89333 | 2 | ||
| May 11, 2011 | "Smile" | TFCC-89335 | 3 | ||
| October 19, 2011 | "Zero" | TFCC-89349/89350 | 2 | ||
| Date | Title | Catalog | Oricon Charts[6] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Top 100 | |||
| March 18, 1999 | Flame Vein | HLR-008 | 77 | — |
| March 25, 2000 | The Living Dead | HLR-011 | 51 | — |
| February 20, 2002 | Jupiter | TFCC-86101 | 1 | 45 |
| April 28, 2004 | Flame Vein +1 | TFCC-86163 | 16 | — |
| The Living Dead | TFCC-86164 | 19 | — | |
| August 25, 2004 | Yggdrasil | TFCC-86171 | 1 | 19 |
| March 22, 2006 | Song for Tales of the Abyss (1st Fujiwara Motoo solo soundtrack album) |
TFCC-86193 | 6 | — |
| December 19, 2007 | Orbital Period | TFCC-86254 | 2 | 12 |
| June 18, 2008 | Present from You | TFCC-86257 | 2 | 45 |
| December 15, 2010 | Cosmonaut | TFCC-86347 | 1 | |
|
|||||||||||||||||