It is a Japanese boy band from Japan’s Kansai region.
They’re all originally from Osaka. It is a special town for them, to which they
dedicated many of their songs, like: Osaka
Rainy blues, Osaka Obachan Rock, Osaka romanesque or Sukiyanen Osaka.
They were put together into a group by multimedia
talent agency Johnny&Associates in 2002. At the beginning there were 8 of
them, but Hiroki Uchi was suspended in 2005 for breaking the rules (apparently,
he was caught drinking in a club, which was forbidden), and later on the
president of J&A, Johnny Kitagawa stated that he was permanently removed
from the band. Since then he pursues solo career.
K8 were signed to Imperial Records for many years,
though recently, after their 10’th anniversary in 2014, they created their own
record label “Infinity Records”. They
claim it to be refreshing and they like their independence, because now they
are the ones who decide about everything concerning their schedule and music. They
are the first boy band of Johnnys&Assosiates who’ve done that. Congrats to
them!
From the left:
Ryo Nishikido, Subaru Shibutani, Shingo Murakami, Tadayoshi Okura, Shota
Yasuda, You Yokoyama, Ryuhei Maruyama
Interesting fact: They’ve created
several skits, which they were performing on almost each show. The most popular
was Kanjani Sentai Eightranger, it is
where they assume the roles of a real super heroes. Majority of the stories are
filled with jokes and a lot of dialogue is changed on the spot. Basically, the
concept is about them, the Rangers, protecting the Eight City from the Kansai
Juniors’ group B.A.D. It’s a funny, yet educational concept (and a bit of a
parody of Power Rangers), because they protect the world by e.g. picking up
garbage in the park, and their special attack is “Mugendai” (“Infinity”). Respectively, their names are by their
Ranger Color, which you may see below.
What’s even more interesting, is that they’ve made two
films about their adventures of being Eightrangers, although the main theme of
them is slightly darker, narrating their lives as ordinary people dealing with
alcoholism, anger and personality issues, etc.
All I want to say is that they’re really important to
me, and I have enormous affection for them. They were my first proper boy band,
which made me like Japanese pop music. It was so bizarre at first, because I
only listened to metal and rock at that time. They were always and still are crazy,
positively of course. Always giving their best at the concerts, in their shows
that they’re hosting, in Japanese dramas in which they are appearing. Disgustingly
talented and creative, these boys.
