One Year After Their Debut, Uprising Japanese Group, BE:FIRST Hits Over 300M Views on Their Official YouTube Channel!

Since releasing their debut album, ‘BE:1’ in August this year, Japanese group BE:FIRST, has been nothing short of unstoppable. Signed to renowned Japanese rapper and artist, SKY-HI’s management company and label, BMSG, BE:FIRST is a seven member dance and vocal group who has continuously swept up No.1 spots on various music charts, and music videos receiving over millions of views., This time, the group has reached another successful milestone. Just one year after their debut, their official YouTube channel reached over 300 million total views earlier this week.

All the music videos on BE:FIRST’s YouTube channel thus far have received tremendous numbers of views. Their pre-debut single ‘Shining One’ surpassed 32 million views as of 14 November 2022. Their second single, ‘Bye-Good-Bye’ is about to hit 30 million views any day. Besides the music videos, dance performance and dance practice videos, in addition to live performance videos, are popular among fans.

Additionally, BE:FIRST actively post short versions of the video footage from “You’re My “BESTY”” (fan club content) or YouTube Shorts videos. As of today, their official YouTube channel, which has become an easy way to get to know BE:FIRST, has over half a million and rising-daily subscribers. 

On the day of hitting 300 million views, BESTY (BE:FIRST’s fandom) celebrated on social media by tagging #BEFIRST_YT300Mviews, which trended at No.1 on both Japanese and worldwide Twitter.

BE:FIRST is currently on a Japan tour performing in 17 cities with 29 live shows. On top of that, the group will be appearing at the 2022 Asia Artist Awards (AAA). As one of the biggest Korean entertainment award ceremonies held annually, the event will take place this year on 13 December 2022 in Nagoya, Japan. It has also recently been announced that the group will be performing at Japan’s prestigious annual music TV programs “65th annual The Japan Record Award” and “73rd NK Kouhaku Uta Gassen (Kouhaku Song Festival)” at the end of the year. What a great way to complete 2022! We cannot wait to see what BE:FIRST brings us in 2023.

Be sure to check out their latest album BE:1 across all digital streaming platforms here!

Sumire Uesaka’s 13th Single ‘LOVE CRAZY’ to be Opening Theme for ‘Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 2nd Attack’

ANTHOLOGY & DESTINY Jacket Cover

The ever talented artist and voice actress Sumire Uesaka has announced that her 13th single ‘LOVE CRAZY’ will be released from 8 February 2023. The title track from the release will also be the opening theme song for the TV anime Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 2nd Attack, which will begin airing in January 2023. It sees Sumire Uesaka play the lead role of Miss Nagatoro, as she did in the first season, which her hugely popular track ‘EASY LOVE’ was the opening theme to and has since been streamed over nine million times on Spotify alone.

The lyrics to the track have been written by TAKUMI YOSHIDA of Hokkaido’s three-piece rock band saji. Its composition and arrangement has been handled by KoTa, who has worked on numerous songs in Japan’s world of tokusatsu film and TV.

Sumire Uesaka has also revealed her latest artist pic. It sees her in a black and white gothic outfit, drastically different from the cute and soft atmosphere used to promote her latest album ANTHOLOGY & DESTINY.

‘EASY LOVE’, Sumire Uesaka’s opening theme for the first season of Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro is still a long lasting hit domestically and internationally, along with her latest releases also attracting attention at home and abroad. With her tenth anniversary as an artist just around the corner and expectations for her future activities ever increasing as she lands bigger and bigger roles (she is currently the star of the new series of Urusei Yatsura, and is in the stage play of GeGeGe no Kitaro, both household names in Japan), this is absolutely a release for fans of Japanese pop culture to look forward to!

Be sure to order Anthology & Destiny from our friends at JPU records here!

Sumire Morohoshi Looks to Shine with Latest Single!

Popular voice actress Sumire Morohoshi will be releasing “Kanaeru,” the ending theme song of the upcoming TV anime Sugar Apple Fairy Tale, which will start airing next January in Japan, as a single on February 1, 2023.

This product will be released in three formats: a Standard Edition; an Anime Edition, which includes the TV size version of the theme song; and a Limited Edition, which includes a Blu-ray containing the music video and four songs from Sumire Morohoshi’s mini-live performance at Victor Studio in 2020.

The studio mini-live performance received a great response after it was streamed, and there were many requests for the video to be packaged. This product has been made in response to those requests.

Be sure to pre-order the single below!

Standard edition

Limited edition

Anime edition

The TV anime “Kizuna no Allele”, which is part of the project called “Kizuna Ai Anime project” is going to be broadcasted in 2023!

Kizuna Ai, who has been a pioneer as a virtual YouTuber, has started an anime project!
Kizuna Ai started her activity as a virtual YouTuber in 2016. She has been active not only as a YouTuber but also appearing for TV programs and commercial videos. She has been approaching all kinds of platforms and always has been challenging new things as a pioneer. Finally, Kizuna Ai is going to do an anime Project!

ⒸKA/Kizuna no Allele PJ ⒸKizuna no Allele Partners

Kizuna Ai announced her anime project on her final live show called, “hello, world 2022” which was just before an unlimited break from her activities. Now, the details about this anime project have been released.
The title of the TV anime is “Kizuna no Allele”. The TV anime starts in 2023. The specially drawn illustration by En Morikura , who is in charge of the character design for the anime, has been revealed! Please keep checking for the latest information about the anime!
The special illustration has been released on its official website!

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION Makes U.S. Debut for North American Showcase

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION (SDF), a sound-creating project of songwriter/music producer R・O・N, who not only releases music under its own name but also produces various sound contents and music for varieties of popular Japanese artists and top-rated Anime TV series. On November 23rd (New York), SDF will roll out its North American Showcase for 2022 and perform his latest ‘STEREO DIVE 02’ album for his burgeoning US audience. SDF is vastly growing his local roots in the United States, giving the audience an Asian-pop vibe that keeps the nation on their feet!

SDF’s music journey began at the young age of 4 when he started playing the piano and that led him to create his own music by the time he reached high school. His audition with Sony in 2001 became a defining moment in his life and changed the trajectory of his music career, which led him to sign with Lantis (and is currently signed with Lantis). SDF describes his music as a mixture of piano and melodic sounds. And with this crossover, he hopes his creative arrangement will resonate with his US audience. With SDF’s work being 90% anime music and subscription services that provide accessible access to anime, the chance of listening to anime-related music in the US has increased significantly. With that being said, SDF will be performing in the United States for the first time this November and already drawing major buzz!

What’s more? Along with STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION or SDF’s recently released sophomore album, ‘STEREO DIVE 02’, SDF will roll out his North American Showcase for 2022 in New York while his stay for Anime NYC and perform his latest ‘STEREO DIVE 02’ album tracks, as well as his hit theme songs. Furthermore, he will be performing his upcoming single "SPARKLES" which will be released on November 25th and his new song for the movie “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime” to look out for! STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION is also known for his songs on “Kyoukai no Kanata(Beyond the Boundary)”, “Shokugeki no Souma: Shin no Sara”, “Moriarty the Patriot”, “Nobunaga the Fool”, “Muv-Luv Alternative”,”Dimension W”, and more.

Be sure to get your tickets via Ticketmaster here!