V6 (band)
V6 is a six-member Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. The group debuted on November 1, 1995 with the single "Music for the People", which was used as the image song for the World Cup of Volleyball in 1995. Their first four singles, including "Music for the People", were all cover versions of the same-titled eurobeat songs composed by Italian producers such as Giancarlo Pasquini, Andrea Leonardi, Alberto Contini, Sandro Oliva.
Similar to their agency seniors Hikaru Genji, the group is separated into two subgroups based on age. For V6, the group is split into 20th Century and Coming Century, which consists of the three oldest members and three youngest members respectively.
History
Name
In an interview on Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ, the group stated that the "V" in V6 also stood for "Versus" (20th Century versus Coming Century) at first. However, then-president Johnny Kitagawa informed the group that the "V" had multiple meanings, such as "Volleyball", "Vegetable" (as Sakamoto's parents own a green grocers), "Bicycle" ("V" and "B" are indistinguishable in Japanese; Nagano's parents own a cycling store) and "Veteran".[1]
1995—present
From 1997 to 2008, V6 hosted their own variety show Gakkō e Ikō (学校へ行こう, Let's Go to School?)[2] and is hosting Viva Viva V6 since 2001 on Fuji TV.[3] Along with their group shows, the members also have individual TV shows, dramas or radio programs.
V6 celebrated their tenth year anniversary in 2005, commemorating the event by holding about thirty concerts in sold-out arenas all over Japan, holding 3 major "Thank You Events", releasing the movie Hold Up Down and releasing Musicmind as their new album. They also had a rare "Handshake Session" with hundreds of thousands of fans in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka.[4]
As separate bands, both of them performed the opening song for the anime, Eyeshield 21. Coming Century performed "Breakthrough", the first opening theme song and 20th Century performed "Innocence", the second opening theme song. As V6, they performed "Chain of Power" as an insert song. They also sang "Change the World" and "Brand New World", the 1st opening and 8th ending themes, respectively of the popular anime InuYasha
Members
- 20th Century (Tonisen)
|
Profile |
Nickname |
Member Color |
| Masayuki Sakamoto (坂本 昌行, Sakamoto Masayuki?) (leader of V6, Tonisen) |
born July 24, 1971, Tokyo, Blood Type O |
Ma-kun, Liida (leader) |
■ Green |
| Hiroshi Nagano (長野 博, Nagano Hiroshi?) |
born October 9, 1972, Yamato, Kanagawa, Blood Type A |
Hiroshi, Nagano-kun |
■ Purple |
| Yoshihiko Inohara (井ノ原 快彦, Inohara Yoshihiko?) |
born May 17, 1976, Tokyo, Blood Type A |
Inocchi |
■ Blue |
- Coming Century (Kamisen)
|
Profile |
Nickname |
Member Color |
| Go Morita (森田 剛, Morita Gō?) |
born February 20, 1979, Kasukabe, Saitama, Blood Type A |
Go-kun, Go-tsun |
■ Red |
| Ken Miyake (三宅 健, Miyake Ken?) |
born July 2, 1979, Kanagawa, Blood Type O |
Ken-kun, Ken-chan |
■ Orange |
| Junichi Okada (岡田 准一, Okada Jun'ichi?) (leader of Kamisen) |
born November 18, 1980, Hirakata, Osaka, Blood Type B |
Jun-kun, Okada-kun |
■ Yellow |
Discography
Peak based on Oricon Ranking.
Singles
|
Date |
Title |
Peak |
| 1st |
1995/11/1 |
"MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE" |
3 |
| 2nd |
1996/2/14 |
"MADE IN JAPAN" |
1 |
| 3rd |
1996/5/29 |
"BEAT YOUR HEART" |
1 |
| 4th |
1996/9/16 |
"Take Me Higher" |
1 |
| 5th |
1997/1/21 |
"Ai Nanda" (愛なんだ?) |
1 |
| 6th |
1997/4/3 |
"Honki ga Ippai" (本気がいっばい?) |
1 |
| 7th |
1997/7/9 |
"Wa ni Natte Odoro" (WAになっておどろう?) |
2 |
| 8th |
1997/11/6 |
"GENERATION GAP" |
1 |
| 9th |
1998/3/11 |
"Be Yourself!" |
1 |
| 10th |
1998/7/15 |
"Tsubasa ni Nare" (翼になれ?) |
3 |
| 11th |
1998/11/11 |
"over/EASY SHOW TIME" |
1 |
| 12th |
1999/3/31 |
"Believe Your Smile" |
1 |
| 13th |
1999/5/12 |
"Jiyuu de Aru Tame ni" (自由であるために?) |
2 |
| 14th |
1999/7/14 |
"Taiyou no Ataru Basho" (太陽のあたる場所?, lit. "The Place Where the Sun Hits") |
3 |
| 15th |
2000/2/2 |
"MILLENNIUM GREETING" |
3 |
| 16th |
2000/5/10 |
"IN THE WIND" |
2 |
| 17th |
2000/10/25 |
"CHANGE THE WORLD" |
3 |
| 18th |
2001/2/28 |
"Ai no Melody" (愛のMelody?, lit. "Love's Melody") |
3 |
| 19th |
2001/6/20 |
"Kiseki no Hajimari/SHODO" (キセキのはじまり/SHODO?) |
3 |
| 20th |
2001/8/29 |
"Dasenai Tegami" (出せない手紙?) |
1 |
| 21st |
2002/6/12 |
"Feel Your Breeze/One (feat. Shoo)" |
1 |
| 22nd |
2003/3/19 |
"Mejirushi no Kioku" (メジルシの記憶?) |
4 |
| 23rd |
2003/5/28 |
"Darling" |
1 |
| 24th |
2003/7/2 |
"Cosmic Rescue/Tsuyoku Nare" (Cosmic Rescue/強くなれ?) |
1 |
| 25th |
2004/3/24 |
"Arigatou no Uta" (ありがとうのうた?, lit. "Song of Thanks") |
1 |
| 26th |
2004/8/4 |
"Thunderbirds (Your Voice)" (サンダーバード-your voice-?) |
2 |
| 27th |
2005/6/22 |
"UTAO-UTAO" |
1 |
| 28th |
2005/10/12 |
"Orange" |
1 |
| 29th |
2006/6/14 |
"Good Day!!" (グッデイ!!, Gud Dei?) |
1 |
| 30th |
2007/1/31 |
"Honey Beat/Boku to Bokura no Ashita" (Honey Beat/僕と僕らの明日?) |
1 |
| 31st |
2007/5/23 |
"Jasmine/Rainbow" (ジャスミン/Rainbow, Jasumin/Rainbow?) |
1 |
| 32nd |
2007/12/12 |
"way of life" |
1 |
| 33rd |
2008/5/28 |
"Chō" (蝶, Butterfly?) |
2 |
| 34th |
2008/9/17 |
"Light in Your Heart/Swing!" |
1 |
| 35th |
2009/6/17 |
"Spirit" (スピリット, Supiritto?) |
1 |
| 36th |
2009/9/2 |
"GUILTY" |
1 |
| 37th |
2010/9/1 |
"only dreaming/Catch" |
1 |
| 38th |
2011/8/24 |
"Sexy.Honey.Bunny!/Takara no Ishi" (Sexy.Honey.Bunny!/タカラノイシ, Takara no Ishi?) |
2 |
|
20th Century
|
Date |
Title |
Peak |
| 1st |
1999/11/25 |
"Wishes ~I'll Be There~/You'll Be in My Heart" (Marsa Sakamoto) |
10 |
| 2nd |
2000/9/20 |
"Precious Love" |
9 |
| 3rd |
2008/3/26 |
"Ore Ja Nakya, Kimi Ja Nakya" (オレじゃなきゃ、キミじゃなきゃ?) |
1 |
Coming Century
|
Date |
Title |
Peak |
| 1st |
1998/5/27 |
"Natsu no Kakera" (夏のかけら?) |
2 |
| 2nd |
2001/9/19 |
"Get Set Go!/Mimycen" |
6 |
J-Friends
- 1998: "Ashita ga Kikoeru/Children's Holiday" (明日が聴こえる/Children's Holiday?)
- 1999: "Next 100 Years"
- 2000: "I Will Get There"
- 2001: "Always (A Song For Love)"
- 2002: "Love Me All Over"
DVD
|
Date |
Title |
Peak |
| 1st |
2008/7/30 |
"VIBES" |
1 |
|
Studio albums
- 1996: Since 1995 ~ Forever
- 1997: Nature Rhythm
- 1998: A Jack in the Box
- 1999: "Lucky" 20th Century, Coming Century to be continued...
- 2000: "Happy" Coming Century, 20th Century Forever
- 2001: Volume 6
- 2002: Seven
- 2003: Infinity: Love and Life
- 2005: Musicmind
- 2007: Voyager
- 2010: Ready?
20th Century
- 1997: Road
- 1998: Attention
|
Compilation albums
- 2001: Very Best
- 2006: Very Best II
20th Century
- 2004: Replay: Best of 20th Century
Coming Century
- 2002: Best of Coming Century (Together)
|
Mini albums
- 1996: Greeting
- 1998: Super Heroes
Coming Century
J-Friends
- 1999: People of the World
|
Videography
DVD/VHS
- 1996: Live for the People
- 1997: Film V6: Clips and More
- 1998: Space (from V6 Live Tour '98)
- 1999: Film V6 Cct II: Clips and More
- 2001: Very Happy!!!
- 2002: Film V6 Act III: Clips and More
- 2002: Liv6
- 2003: Hard Luck Hero (movie)
- 2004: Love & Life (V6 Summer Special Dream Live 2003)
- 2005: Film V6 Act IV (Ballad Clips and More)
- 2005: Film V6 act IV (Dance Clips and More)
- 2005: Very Best Live (1995—2004)
- 2005: Hold Up Down (movie)
- 2006: 10th Anniversary Concert Tour 2005: Musicmind
- 2008: V6 Live Tour 2007 Voyager (Boku to Bokura no Ashita)
- 2009: V6 Live Tour 2008 Vibes
- 2010: V6 Live DVD Asia Tour 2010 in Japan Ready?
|
20th Century
- 2009: 20th Century Live Tour 2008 Ore Ja Nakya, Kimi Ja Nakya
- 2009: 20th Century Live Tour 2009 Honey Honey Honey
Coming Century
- 1997: Sky
- 1998: Question
- 2003: Cosmic Rescue (movie)
- 2009: We are Coming Century Boys Live Tour 2009
|
Other activities
As a group, the members of V6 have done dramas such as V no Honoo in 1995 and movies such as Hard Luck Hero in 2003 and Hold Up Down in 2005.
Films
V6
- "Hard Luck Hero" (ハードラックヒーロー?) (2003)
- "Thunderbirds" (サンダーバード?) (2004) (Japanese Dub)
- "Hold Up Down" (ホールドアップダウン?) (2005)
Coming Century
Drama
- "V no Honoo" (Vの炎?) (1995, Fuji Terebi) - all members of V6
- PU-PU-PU- (1998, TBS) - members of Kamisen
- "Shin・Oretachi no Tabi Ver.1999" (新・俺たちの旅Ver.1999?) (1999, Nihon Terebi) - members of Kamisen
- "Shounentaiya(doramaserekushon)『Shinsen~Yoru no Ongaku』" ( 少年タイヤ（ドラマセレクション）『室温〜夜の音楽〜』?) (Fuji Terebi) - members of Tonisen
Variety Shows
- "Majikaru Zunou Pawaa!!" (マジカル頭脳パワー!!?) (1996-1999, Nihon Terebi)
- "Gakkou e Ikou!" (学校へ行こう!?, lit. "Let's Go to School!") (1997 - 2005, TBS)
- "24 Jikan Terebi" (24時間テレビ?, 24 Hour Television) (Nihon Terebi, 1998, 2000)
- "V6 no Moto" (V6の素?) (1999 - 2000, Fuji Terebi)
- "Mahha buiroku" (マッハブイロク?, Mach V6) (2000, Fuji Terebi)
- "Owarai V6 Byoutou" (お笑いV6病棟!?, lit. Laughable V6 Hospital) (2000 - 2001, Fuji Terebi)
- "MyMiCen!" (ミミセン!?, short form of "Mysterious Midnight Century") (2001, TBS) - Kamisen
- "Otosen!" (オトセン!?, short form of "Otona Century" lit. Adult Century) (2001 - 2002, TBS) - Kamisen
- "Otosen II" (オトセンII?) (2002, TBS) - Kamisen
- "Rabusen!" (ラブセン!?, short form of "Love Century") (2002 - 2004, TBS)
- "Asuriito Ouen TV! Nippon! Chax3" (アスリート応援TV! ニッポン!チャ×3?) (2006 - 2007, TBS) - Tonisen
- "Gakkou e Ikou!MAX" (学校へ行こう!MAX, Let's Go to School!MAX) (2005 - 2008, TBS）
- "VivaVivaV6" (2001 - 2010, Fuji Terebi)
- "Shinchishiki Kaikyuu Kumagusu" (新知識階級 クマグス?) (2008 - 2010, TBS)
- "Misshon V6" (ミッションV6?, Mission V6) (2010 - 2011, TBS)
- "Otoko no Hensaachi" (男のヘンサーチ!!?, Search for Strange Men) (Oct 2011 - Ongoing, TBS)
References
- ^ (Japanese) KAT-TUN (2006-04-03). Interview with Downtown. Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ.
- ^ "Class is over for "Gakkou e Ikou!"". Tokyograph. 2008-07-21. http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-3544. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ^ (Japanese) "VVV6". Fuji TV. http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/vvv6/index.html. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
- ^ (Japanese) "V6's 2005 Timeline". Johnny's net. http://www.johnnys-net.jp/j/artists/v6/bio/bio05.html. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
External links
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