| A.B.C.-Z | |
| Origin: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Years Active: | –present |
| Label: | Pony Canyon |
| Past Members: | Fumito Kawai |
| Current Members: | Ryosuke Hashimoto Shota Totsuka Koichi Goseki Ryoichi Tsukada |
is a five-member Japanese boy band under Johnny & Associates. The group's former name was A.B.C., which stands for Acrobat Boys Club. It was changed to A.B.C-Z after Ryosuke Hashimoto was moved to the group from J.J.Express in 2008. Due to the Japanese pronunciations of their name, the fans usually refer to them as "Ebi".
The group was a former Johnny's Jr. unit. They debuted February 1, 2012, with their DVD Za ABC ~5 Stars~.[1]
Members:
In 2002 they became A.B.C. with Yoshikazu Toshin.
In the Summer of 2008, it was announced that Ryosuke Hashimoto, who was a member of J.J.Express, would join A.B.C., thus the group name changed to A.B.C-Z, their name is an acronym for "Acrobatics Boys Club Z" the Z symbolizing the last member coming into the group and completing them like Z completes the alphabet. Right after that, they held a concert, along with Kis-My-Ft2.
In May 2010 they were allowed to hold their concert at Theater Crea in Tokyo. It was also the first time they produced their concert. They had their solo live from May 11 to 19 and then other units from Johnny's Jr. would take part in, and hold four different kinds of the show in total until May 31.
On July 23, 2011, during the PLAYZONE'11 musical, Fumito Kawai broke his left leg, causing him not to be able to appear for the rest of the show.[2] After PLAYZONE'11 A.B.C-Z was scheduled to be in the stage play Shonentachi Koushi Naki Rougoku. Johnny H. Kitagawa was at the opening of this show and revealed a new group of seven, ABC-xyZ, centered on the already existing four-member group A.B.C-Z. He also hinted that things could get going by 2012, but for that Kawai needs to get better first.
On November 6, 2011 they held their first one-man concert at Tokyo's Yoyogi National Stadium for 26,000 fans. They also announced that in February of the following year they would be hosting a play, titled "ABC-za Star Kouen", at Nissay Theater in Tokyo. Johnny H. Kitagawa commented that they may debut the next year.
On December 9, 2011, A.B.C-Z held a press conference for their upcoming stage play "ABC-za Star Kouen". They also announced that they would be debuting in 2012 with a DVD. This would make them the first Johnny's to do so. They hope to release the DVD before the opening of their stage play on February 4. It is said that the DVD would be released under Johnny's Entertainment.[3] By the end of December the release date, February 1, 2012, was then made public, along with the content of the DVD.[4]
A.B.C-Z made their debut in 31 January at Shibuya AX which gathered 15.000 fans.[5] Their DVD debut got number 1 in Oricon weekly ranking.[6] In July, their variety show "ABChanZoo" starts broadcasting in TV Tokyo.
In June 2014, the first drama of A.B.C-Z members "Magical Boy Cherry's" starts broadcasting in TV Tokyo.
In September 2015, A.B.C-Z released their first single "Moonlight Walker" which got number 1 in Oricon weekly ranking.[7]
4 years after their debut, in July 2016 A.B.C-Z established their official Fan Club[8]
A.B.C-Z celebrated 5th anniversary of the group's debut in 2017 by releasing the single "Reboot!!!" and an album "5 Performer-z", followed by the "A.B.C-Z 5Stars 5Years Tour".
In 2018 A.B.C-Z celebrated their 10th year of the group formation and did a collaboration event with amusement park "Tokyo Joypolis", the event was called "A.B.C-Z 5stars CIRCUS in JOYPOLIS". The group also released a new single "JOYしたいキモチ" for this collaboration event.
A.B.C-Z held their last concert of the Love Battle Tour in Yokohama Arena on January 8, they announced a new single "Black Sugar" which will be released on March 28. They also announced a new drama "Our Showtime" that will be airing in Nagoya TV on April, the theme song for the drama is A.B.C-Z song "Showtime" from the single "Black Sugar".[9]
The group released their 6th album on August 7 "Going With Zephyr", followed by the tour with the same title as their album. Their collaboration event with the amusement park "Tokyo Joypolis" continued for the second year in a row.
On 22 September 2023, member Fumito Kawai announced he would leave the group to prepare himself to become a better MC. His plan is to continue in Johnny's his solo career. He will be leaving on 21 December.[10]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [12] | JPN Comb [13] | ||||
| From ABC to Z |
| 4 | — |
| |
| A.B.Sea Market |
| 1 | — |
| |
| ABC Star Line |
| 3 | — |
| |
| 5 Performer-Z |
| 2 | — |
| |
| VS 5 |
| 4 | — |
| |
| Going with Zephyr |
| 2 | 2 |
| |
| Continue? |
| 4 | 5 |
| |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [23] | JPN Comb [24] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Moonlight walker" | 2015 | 1 | — | ABC Star Line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Take a '5'Train" | 2016 | 3 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Reboot!!!"| rowspan="2" |2017| 1| —|5 Performer-Z|-! scope="row" |"Shuuden wo Koete (Christmas Night) / Bounenkai! Bou! Nen! Kai!" (終電を超えて〜Christmas Night / 忘年会! BOU! NEN! KAI!)| 2| —|VS 5|-! scope="row" |"Joy Shitai Kimochi" (JOYしたいキモチ)|2018| 1| —| rowspan="2" |Going with Zephyr|-! scope="row" |"Black Sugar"| rowspan="2" |2019| 3| 3|-! scope="row" |"Dan Dan Dance!!"| 2| 3| rowspan="2" |Continue?|-! scope="row" |"Cheat Time" (チートタイム)| rowspan="2" |2020| 2| 3|-! scope="row" |"Ganbare, Tomoyo!" (頑張れ、友よ!)| 2| 4| rowspan="3" |Best of ABC-Z|-! scope="row" |"Nothin' but Funky"| rowspan="2" |2021| 2| 4|-! scope="row" |"Natsu to Kimi no Uta" (夏と君のうた)| 2| 4|-! scope="row" |"Graceful Runner"| rowspan="2" |2022| 2| 4| rowspan="3" |-! scope="row" |"#IMA"| 2| 4|-! scope="row" |"Kimi Janakya Dame Nanda" (君じゃなきゃだめなんだ)| 2024| 4| —|-| colspan="5" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.|} Video releasesVideo singles
Live videos
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