- D-Boys
-
D-Boys Origin Tokyo, Japan Occupations Actors Years active 2004–present Labels Watanabe Entertainment Website Official site D-BOYS is a young male actors group under the management of Watanabe Entertainment. The D in the group's name stands for "Drama" (acting work), "Dream", "Debut", "Discovery" and "Development" (growth and advancement).
Although the D-BOYS are promoted as a group and members occasionally work together on the same projects, each actor develops his career independently from his fellow members in their own television, cinema and theatre projects. New D-BOYS members are regularly selected through public audition events with interactive participation of fan club members.
Contents
Members
Current D-BOYS
- Yuya Endo (遠藤 雄弥 Endō Yūya, born March 20, 1987) - group leader
- Kotaro Yanagi (柳 浩太郎 Yanagi Kōtarō, born December 21, 1985)
- Shunji Igarashi (五十嵐 隼士 Igarashi Shunji, born August 7, 1986)
- Masato Wada (和田 正人 Wada Masato, born August 25, 1979)
- Masaki Kaji (加治 将樹 Kaji Masaki, born January 29, 1988)
- Hiroki Suzuki (鈴木 裕樹 Suzuki Hiroki, born October 3, 1983)
- Hirofumi Araki (荒木 宏文 Araki Hirofumi, born June 14, 1983)
- Koji Seto (瀬戸 康史 Seto Kōji, born May 18, 1988)
- Shingo Nakagawa (中川 真吾 Nakagawa Shingo, born May 8, 1983)
- Tomo Yanagishita (柳下 大 Yanagishita Tomo, born June 3, 1988)
- Tetsuya Makita (牧田 哲也 Makita Tetsuya, born June 7, 1984)
- Masahiro Usui (碓井 将大 Usui Masahiro, born December 3, 1991)
- Masashi Mikami (三上 真史 Mikami Masashi, born June 20, 1983)
- Osamu Adachi (足立 理 Adachi Osamu, born December 22, 1987)
- Ryuki Takahashi (高橋 龍輝 Takahashi Ryuki, born March 28, 1993)
- Taito Hashimoto (橋本 汰斗 Hashimoto Taito, born November 1, 1991)
- Yusuke Yamada (山田 悠介 Yamada Yusuke, born July 29, 1987)
Former D-BOYS
- Yamazaki Ichitaro (一太郎 Ichitarō Yamazaki, born July 19, 1980)
- Katsuki Nakamura (中村 勝樹 Nakamura Katsuki, born March 23, 1990)
- Shintaro Tetsu (鐵 進太郎 Tetsu Shintaro, born September 29, 1986)
- Yuma Minakawa (皆川 佑馬 Minakawa Yūma, born October 1, 1984)
- Yu Shirota (城田 優 Shirota Yū, born December 26, 1985)
- Kouhei Kumai (熊井 幸平 Kumai Kōhei, born July 27, 1990)
- Masaya Nakamura (中村 昌也 Nakamura Masaya, born April 30, 1986)
- Yuichi Nakamura (中村 優一 Nakamura Yūichi, born October 08, 1987)
D2 Members
- Kenki Yamaguchi (山口賢貴 Yamaguchi Kenki, born July 17, 1986)
- Toru Kamitsuru (上鶴 徹 Kamitsuru Toru, born June 26, 1989)
- Yukito Nishii (西井幸人 Nishii Yukito, born June 14, 1995)
- Ryo Mitsuya (三津谷亮 Mitsuya Ryo, born February 11, 1988)
- Syo Jinnai (陳内 将 Jinnai Syo, born January 16, 1988)
- Atsushi Arai (荒井敦史 Arai Atsushi, born May 23, 1993)
- Shintaro Akutsu (阿久津愼太郎 Akutsu Shintaro, born June 21, 1995)
- Ryosuke Ikeoka (池岡亮介 Ikeoka Ryosuke, born September 3, 1993)
- Yoichiro Oumi (近江陽一郎 Oumi Yoichiro, born April 5, 1989)
- Takuya Negishi (根岸拓哉 Negishi Takuya, born March 12, 1996)
- Tsuchiya Shion (土屋シオン Tsuchiya Shion, born July 07, 1992)
Member History
- 2004 - D-BOYS was originally formed in early 2004 with Kotaro Yanagi, Yamazaki Ichitaro, and Yuya Endo co-stars in the musical series The Prince of Tennis, Tenimyu.
- 27 July 2004 - The first open D-BOYS audition was held and Grand Prix Winner Yuichi Nakamura, Grand Prix 2nd Winner Shunji Igarashi and Katsuki Nakamura joined.
- 2004 October - Yu Shirota and first audition runner-ups Masato Wada, Osamu Adachi, Masaki Kaji, Yuma Minakawa and Shintaro Tetsu joined.
- 2004 December - First audition runner-ups Hirofumi Araki and Hiroki Suzuki joined the group.
- 2005 March - Yamazaki Ichitaro left the group to pursue solo representation with Grand Slam management. He was shortly followed by Katsuki Nakamura and Shintaro Tetsu, who have since left the entertainment business.
- 31 July 2005 - The second open D-BOYS audition was held and Grand Prix winner Kouhei Kumai, Grand Prix 2nd Winner Koji Seto and Shingo Nakagawa joined the group.
- 2006 July - The third open D-BOYS audition was held and Grand Prix winner Tomo Yanagishita joined the group shortly afterwards. Grand Prix 2nd placer and winner of sponsor D-View Magazine's Choice award Tetsuya Makita would be added to the group in the following year.
- 2007 January - Osamu Adachi and Yuma Minakawa withdrew from the group, remaining under the management of Watanabe Entertainment.
- 28 May 2007 - The fourth open audition was held with Masahiro Usui as Grand Prix and Masashi Mikami as 2nd Grand Prix Winner.
- 2007 July - Third audition's 2nd Winner Tetsuya Makita and Masaya Nakamura joined the group.
- 2007 December - Fourth audition's first and second winners Masahiro Usui and Masashi Mikami joined the group.
- 2008 April - Former member Osamu Adachi rejoined the group. The fifth open audition started.
- 2008 May - The final stage of the fifth open audition was held, with Yusuke Yamada finishing as Grand Prix winner, Yukito Nishii as Semi-Grand Prix, and Ryo Mitsuya receiving the judge's prize.
- 2008 June - It is announced during the Tokyo run of D-STAGE 2: Last Game that member Yu Shirota would soon graduate from the group; remaining under the management of Watanabe Entertainment.
- 2008 July - Yu Shirota graduated on July 6. Ryuki Takahashi joins the group.
- 2008 September - Kouhei Kumai left the group; remaining under the management of Watanabe Entertainment, before switching to Office Shuu Management.
- 2008 December - Taito Hashimoto joins the group.
- 2009 July - Yusuke Yamada debuts as the final new member of the D-BOYS during the Natsu Doko 2009 performances.
- 2009 September - The final stage of the sixth audition was held, with Shintaro Akutsu as the Grand Prix Winner and Ryosuke Ikeoka as the Semi-Grand Prix winner. Yoichiro Oumi and Ryuichi Tanigawa took two special judges' awards. A record 42,152 applicants applied to compete. The winners of this audition eventually form the sub-group, D2, of the D-BOYS.
- 2010 March - For the 10th anniversary commemoration of Watanabe Entertainment, to represent all members of the group, a special D-BOYS unit is formed comprising D-BOYS members, Shunji Igarashi, Yuichi Nakamura, Seto Koji, Hirofumi Araki and a new 5th member determined through the 2010 D-BOYS Audition.
- 2010 April - Masaya Nakamura left the group on April 6; remaining under the management of Watanabe Entertainment. D2, the spin-off group to the D-BOYS, is announced and debuted to the public on April 23, 2010. Members included Kenki Yamaguchi, Toru Kamitsuru, Ryo Mitsuya, and Syo Jinnai who had performed in Karasu 10. Fifth audition winners Yukito Nishii and sixth audition winners Shintaro Akutsu, Ryosuke Ikeoka, and Yoichiro Oumi are also D2 members. With Atsushi Arai and 22º Junon Superboy contestant Takuya Negishi rounding out the rest of the members. Most of the D2 members had already been the background supporting cast in many of the D-BOYS productions.
- 2011 November - Nakamura Yuichi leaves D-Boys, D☆Date and the entertaiment business due to a back injury to concentrate on medical recovery.
Group Projects
In addition to their individual careers, the D-BOYS are also involved in collective projects, as part of the group promotion work.
DD-BOYS
DD-BOYS was a drama-documentary variety series, featuring the D-BOYS members as themselves. Each episode had a short staged section following the plot of the members living in the fictional D-House and seeking ways to raise money for rent, followed by a documentary section showing the members undertaking tasks or challenges to raise that money. Some tasks were inspired by the actor's own personality -e.g., a member who was known to enjoy singing or dancing would have a task related to that hobby, etc. The show was 23 episodes long and aired from April 10, 2006 to September 25, 2006 on TV Asahi.
Stage Works
Series Title Year / Date Stage Info Cast D-Live 1st D-Live 2004 Live entertainment show All Members 2nd D-Live 2004 Live entertainment show All Members 3rd D-Live March 2005 Live entertainment show All Members 4th D-Live May 2006 Live entertainment show All Members Out of Order Out of Order March 2007 Live entertainment show Regular Performers: - Yuya Endo
- Masaki Kaji
- Kohei Kumai
- Guest performances by all other members
D-BOYS STAGE Vol 1. June 2007 Musical All Members with Guest Performers: - Yu Shirota
- Masato Wada
- Shunji Igarashi
- Hiroki Suzuki
- Hirofumi Araki
Vol 2. The Last Game June 2008 Musical All members plus Guest Cast A: - Endo Yuya
- Yuichi Nakamura
- Kohei Kumai
All members plus Guest Cast B: Vol 3. Karasu 04 April 2009 Musical Cast A - Hiroki Suzuki
- Shunji Igarashi
- Masaki Kaji
- Kotaro Yanagi
- Tomo Yanagishita
- Osamu Adachi
- Masaya Nakamura
- Ryuki Takahashi
- Taito Hashimoto
- Yusuke Yamada
Karasu 10 October 2009 Musical Cast B - Endo Yuya
- Hirofumi Araki
- Shingo Nakagawa
- Masato Wada
- Yuichi Nakamura
- Koji Seto
- Masashi Mikami
- Masahiro Usui
- Tetsuya Makita
- Kenki Yamaguchi (D2 Member)
- Toru Kamitsuru (D2 Member)
- Ryo Mitsuya (D2 Member)
- Syo Jinnai (D2 Member)
Vol 4. NOW LOADING April 28, 2010 Musical Cast A - Endo Yuya
- Shunji Igarashi
- Masato Wada
- Yusuke Yamada
The Last Game August 26, 2010 Musical Cast B America November 3, 2010 Musical Cast C Fanclub Events
The D-BOYS hold special events where fan club members have the opportunity to meet the actors in person and interact with them in camp activities and games such as cook-offs, tug-of-war, etc, in which the members are split into teams, leading groups of fans to compete with each other.
- Official Fan club Day Camp Bus Tour (November 13, 2005)
- Official Fan club Limited Bus Tour (August 25 to August 27, 2006)
- Official Fan club 3rd Anniversary Bus Tour (September 6 to 8, 2007)
Live Tours
During the summer of 2009, 19 D-BOYS members, including Yu Shirota participated in performances for fans at Akiba Plaza called "Kotoshi no Natsu wa Mainichi Dokoka de D-BOYS ☆Uki-uki♪Yatta♪Hohohoy♪" or for short, Natsu Doko. There were 49 performances in total of dances, songs and skits. New D-BOYS member, Yusuke Yamada, was introduced to fans during these performances. Three CD+DVD sets featuring different recorded audio theater by separate groups of D-BOYS members and footage of Natsu Doko were released on December 16, 2009.
Due to the success and demand of Natsu Doko, a live tour called Fuyu Doko 2009 was held in the winter of 2009 with 19 D-BOYS members and Yu Shirota visiting major cities in Japan to promote the Natsu Doko 2009 CD+DVD release. It was the first live tour around the nation for the group.
Radio
- Marvelous Radio Vibration (May 5, 2005 - April 1, 2006) - weekly radio show hosted by Yu Shirota, Kotaro Yanagi and Yukki.
- D-RADIO BOYS (October 2007/present) - weekly radio show hosted by Masato Wada and Shunji Igarashi, featuring guest D-BOYS members.
Other
- 43rd Secret New Years' Performance Tournament "Young Man Colosseum" (January 1, 2006) - television guest appearance, performed by Masaki Kaji and Hiroki Suzuki.
- 44th Secret New Years' Performance Tournament "Chinese Lion Dance" (January 1, 2007) - television guest appearance, performed by Yuya Endo, Masaki Kaji, Hiroki Suzuki, Masato Wada and Yuma Minakawa.
- 45th Secret New Years' Performance Tournament "Ikemen Jumpers" (January 1, 2008) - television guest appearance, performed by Masaki Kaji, Kouhei Kumai, Koji Seto, and Shingo Nakagawa.
- 45th Secret New Years' Performance Tournament "Kakushi Gei Dancing Ikemen" (Fuji TV - January 1, 2009) - television guest appearance, performed by Tomo Yanagishita, Endo Yuya, Masaki Kaji, Makita Tetsuya, Taito Hashimoto, and Ryuki Takahashi.
Media
D-BOYS members have released merchandise in the form of photobooks, DVDs and CDs individually, or in relation to a work project (eg. character image CDs/photobooks). As a group, they have released a calendar featuring all D-BOYS members and the following items:
Official Photobooks
Year Photobook Title Description Publisher Release Date ISBN 2005 D-BOYS D-BOYS First Photobook Tokyo News Agency April 27, 2005 ISBN 4-924566-42-X 2006 START! D-BOYS 2nd Photobook Gakken Co., Ltd. March 15, 2006 ISBN 4-05-403035-1 2008 DASH D-BOYS Third Photobook Kadokawa Marketing Co., Ltd. December 2008 ISBN 978-4-04-895035-0 2010 DARLING D-BOYS Fourth Photobook Shufu-to-Seikatsu Sha, Ltd. March 2010 ISBN 978-4-04-895035-0 DVD Series
Series Title DVD Info D-BOYS Members Involved Release Date D-BOYS BOY FRIEND Series NO FICTION Volume 1 Shunji Igarashi June 24, 2009 SELF-DISCOVERY Volume 2 Yuichi Nakamura August 21, 2009 PEACEMAKER Volume 3 Hiroki Suzuki September 18, 2009 SUGAO Volume 4 Hirofumi Araki October 23, 2009 TOMORROW Volume 5 Tomo Yanagishita November 26, 2009 YU CHANNEL Volume 6 Yu Shirota December 23, 2009 7 HEROES Volume 7 February 24, 2010 SUPER ROOKIE Volume 8 Ryuki Takahashi March 25, 2010 TIGHT RIZM Volume 9 Taito Hashimoto April 21, 2010 SET OUT' Volume 10 Koji Seto May 26, 2010 Natsu Doko 2009 Natsu Doko 2009 Kaze - Team Wind version DVD for D-BOYS Natsu Doko 2009 All members with Yu Shirota December 16, 2009 Natsu Doko 2009 Yama - Team Mountain version DVD for D-BOYS Natsu Doko 2009 All members with Yu Shirota December 16, 2009 Natsu Doko 2009 Kawa - Team River version DVD for D-BOYS Natsu Doko 2009 All members with Yu Shirota December 16, 2009 Haru Doko 2010 Haru Doko 2010 ~ Momo ~ DVD for D-BOYS Haru Doko 2010 Momo members July 14, 2010 Haru Doko 2010 ~ Sakura ~ DVD for D-BOYS Haru Doko 2010 Sakura members July 14, 2010 Discography
The D-BOYS have released on December 16, 2009, three CD+DVD sets featuring different recorded audio theater by separate groups of D-BOYS members on CD and footage of Natsu Doko on DVD. Natsu Doko 2009 debuted on the Oricon Charts in 11th.
Year Title CD Info D-BOYS Members Involved Chart Debut Track Listings JPN 2009 Natsu Doko 2009 Kaze - Team Wind version Audio Theater album by D-BOYS Team Wind members 11 D-BOYS CD and DVD - Natsu no Kakehashi
Natsu Doko 2009 Yama - Team Mountain version Audio Theater album by D-BOYS Team Mountain members - Shunji Igarashi
- Kotaro Yanagi
- Osamu Adachi
- Masashi Mikami
- Yusuke Yamada
11 D-BOYS CD and DVD - Natsu no Kakehashi
Natsu Doko 2009 Kawa - Team River version Audio Theater album by D-BOYS Team River members 11 D-BOYS CD and DVD - Natsu no Kakehashi
References
External links
Categories:- Japanese entertainers
- Japanese actors
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
