Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
: ファンタスティックス・フロム・エグザイル・トライブ, stylized as FANTASTICS from EXILE TRIBE and formerly known as Fantastics) is a nine-member Japanese male dance and vocal group formed and managed by LDH. The group is part of the collective
Exile Tribe
Exile Tribe (, stylized in all caps) is the name given to the collective of artists under LDH which are related to the agency's main group, Exile. In 2012, these artists formed a supergroup together, including all members of Exile, Exile the Se ...
, related to
Exile
Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
, and signed to the record label
Rhythm Zone
(RZN) is a record label in the Avex Group that releases urban contemporary Japanese music.
History
The label was founded in 1999 by Max Matsuura with a focus on urban music, signing M-Flo as its first artist, then followed by Exile.
In 2000 ...
from the
Avex Group
Avex Inc. ( kabushiki gaisha , commonly known as Avex and stylized as avex) is a Japanese Conglomerate (company), entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J- ...
. Fantastics debuted on December 5, 2018.
History
2016: Formation
On December 29, Sekai, Sato Taiki and five performers from EXPG were selected to form a new dance group.
2017: Pre-debut
On January 31, the group's name and formation was announced in TBS TV show consisting of 5 performers coming from EXPG and 2
Exile
Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
members Sekai and Taiki being the leaders of the unit. The 5 new performers also originated from the dance team ''Exile Generations'' and included: Natsuki Sawamoto, Leiya Seguchi, Natsuki Hori, Keito Kimura and Shota Nakao.
From February 13 until April 16 the group started their ''
Musha shugyō
is a samurai warrior's quest or pilgrimage. The concept is similar to the Chinese Youxia, or Knight Errantry in feudal Europe. A warrior called a ''shugyōsha'', would wander the land practicing and honing his skills without the protection of ...
''. On May 15, the ''Vocal Battle Audition 5'' was announced on in order to recruit vocalists for the new unit. On December 20, Yusei Yagi and Sota Nakajima were announced as the two finalist who passed the audition on NTV's "''Sukkiri''".
2018: Fantastic 9
On March 3, Shota Nakao announced that he would be suspending his activities due to
stomach cancer
Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...
to receive treatment. From April 14 to June 10, the group launched their second ''Musha shugyō'', entitled "''Yume-sha shugyō FANTASTIC 9''". On May 1, it was announced that Ballistik Boyz would be the opening act of the events starting from May 12.
On May 4, the group featured on
Exile
Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
's digital single "Turn Back Time", which was dedicated to Shota and the group's first release. The music video for this song included hand-written messages and get-well wishes from every
Exile Tribe
Exile Tribe (, stylized in all caps) is the name given to the collective of artists under LDH which are related to the agency's main group, Exile. In 2012, these artists formed a supergroup together, including all members of Exile, Exile the Se ...
artist for Shota.
On July 8, it was announced that Shota had died of gastric cancer on July 6.
On July 14, at Dance Earth Festival 2018, which was the group's first stage since Shota's death announcement, the members announced that "FANTASTICS is 9 people.". Shortly after, LDH announced a memorial event dedicated to Shota for fans. The event was held on August 25 and 26, with fans bringing letters, pictures and art to share the memories they have of him.
On September 15, during Exile's concert Exile Live Tour 2018-2019 "Star of Wish", they were announced as an official Exile Tribe group with the announcement of their major debut on December 5 with the single "Over Drive".
2019: Singles, Battle of Tokyo and first tour
On April 3, the group released their 2nd single "Flying Fish". After finishing promotions for their second release, LDH's multimedia project Battle of Tokyo, which includes all Jr.Exile groups, started in June. During this month those 4 groups released collaboration singles every week, until they released a full album titled ''Battle of Tokyo: Enter The Jr.Exile'' on July 3, 2019. Accompanying the album release, the groups held a row of live performances from July 4 to 7 with the same name. Since those dates included the first anniversary of Shota's death, a memorial for him was built at the concert venue. On July 6, the groups also performed "Turn Back Time" together in honor of Shota.
On August 9, the group announced they will hold their first national hall tour combining "Sound" and "Drama" titled "Fantastics Sound Drama 2019 Fantastic Nine" beginning on October 11 and ending on November 21.
On August 21, the group released their 3rd single "Dear Destiny", which is their first ballad as a title track.
On October 9, it was announced that they would release their 4th single "Time Camera" on December 4. The title track will be an upbeat song in contrast to their previous single.
On November 21, the last day of their first tour, it was announced that Fantastics would release their first full album titled ''Fantastic 9'' on February 12, 2020, and their first photobook (focusing on the photos of their 1st hall tour) in spring of 2020. Additionally, it was revealed that the group would go on their second tour and first arena tour titled ''Fantastics LiveTour 2020 "FNT"'' in 2020 too. The tour would be part of ''LDH Perfect Year 2020: Season 2 "Imagination"''.
On December 8, it was revealed that Fantastics and
The Rampage
The Rampage from Exile Tribe (Japanese language, Japanese: ザ・ランページ・フロム・エグザイル・トライブ, stylized as THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE and also known as The Rampage), is a J-pop vocal and dance group formed and m ...
would be in charge of the special movie theme songs for the 40th anniversary project of
Mobile Suit Gundam
, also retrospectively known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Na ...
titled ''Gundam × Ken Okuyama Design × LDH Japan “G40 Project”''. Fantastics' theme song "To The Sky" and The Rampage's theme song "Show You The Way" would both reflect the story of ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' from two different aspects. The full special movie project was released on Gundam's official YouTube channel on January 1, 2020.
2020: First studio album ''Fantastic 9'' and Live×Online
Shortly after the release of their first full album ''Fantastic 9'' on February 12, 2020, it was announced that the group would release their 5th single "Hey,darlin’" on April 1.
On April 15, the group released their first group photobook ''Fantastics Nine'' which includes photos from their first tour ''Fantastics Sound Drama 2019 Fantastic Nine''.
Fantastics's second tour ''Fantastics Live Tour 2020 "FNT"'' was scheduled from March 28 to July 19, but due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, all performances were cancelled. In compensation, Fantastics held a series of
livestreamed
Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- live ...
concerts on the Japanese streaming platform
AbemaTV
is a Japanese streaming service that launched on April 11, 2016, under the name It is majority-owned by CyberAgent, with a 55.2% stake, and TV Asahi, with a 36.8% stake, while the remaining ownership belongs to various other companies, mostly ...
from July to December. ''Live×Online "Fantastics"'' was held on July 2. ''Live×Online Imagination "Fantastics"'' was held on September 24. On October 30, they participated on ''Live×Online Infinity "Trick or Treat!! R.F.B. Halloween Party!!"'', and finally ''Live×Online Beyond The Border Toshi Wasure Night Fever'' on December 26.
On July 25, Fantastics announced their 6th single "Winding Road (Mirai e)" to be released on September 23. Not long after the release, the group announced their upcoming 7th single titled "High Fever" which would serve as the theme song of the group's first leading TV drama "Mannequin Night Fever", the single was released on November 11.
On December 31, the group took part in the
livestreamed
Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- live ...
concert of LDH artists, ''Live×Online Countdown 2020▶2021"Rising Sun to the World"''.
2021: ''Fantastic Voyage''
From March 10 to June 28, the group took part in the dome tour of Exile Tribe: Exile Tribe Live Tour 2021 "Rising Sun to the World". The tour was LDH's first live tour with presential audience since the cancellation of all concerts in February 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
The second live tour Fantastics Prologue Live Tour 2021 "Fantastic Voyage": Way to the Glory took place from March 19 to June 21, 2021.
On March 17, the group released the song "Play Back" digitally which served as theme song for the group's TV show ''FUN! FUN! FANTASTICS''. From April 10 to May 5, all members except for Sekai and Sato Taiki held the live stage ''BACK TO THE MEMORIES'' which is linked to their previous TV show, for this occasion they formed the special unit ''Fantastic6.''
On April 18, an album by Jr.Exile for the ''Battle of Tokyo project'' titled ''"Battle of Tokyo Time 4 Jr.Exile"'' was announced to be released on June 23, the songs by the individual groups and the collaboration song of Generations & The Rampage were pre-released digitally from April 19 to June 21, the music videos were released in a hybrid live-action/animated form, with this latter featuring the four groups' avatars. Moreover, the DVD Version included the concert video of "Battle Of Tokyo ~Enter The Jr.Exile~" held in Makuhari Messe in July 2019.
On May 19, the group released their 8th single "Stop for Nothing".
On August 18, the group released their second album ''Fantastic Voyage'', which includes all their songs starting from 2020 plus three songs which were pre-released digitally ahead of the album's release: "DiVE" on July 5, "Summer drops" on July 12, and the album's promotional track "Drive Me Crazy" on July 26 in which Alan Shirahama collaborated in its production.
The third live tour Fantastics Live Tour 2021 "Fantastic Voyage": Way to the Glory is a continuation of the previous tour, scheduled from October 28 to February 13, 2022. It was extended to February 22, 2022 with the announcement of 8 additional concerts on November 8, 2021 and 2 additional final concerts at Tokyo Garden Theater being named Fantastics Live Tour 2021 "Fantastic Voyage": Way to the Glory The Final on January 17, 2022.
On December 15, the group released the tribute single "Fantastics from Exile" as a part of Exile's 20th anniversary celebration project "Exile Tribute", the single is the third of the four consecutive tribute singles releases by Jr.Exile groups.
2022: "Santa Monica Lollipop"
On March 9, Fantastics released their 9th single and first of the year titled "Santa Monica Lollipop", the title song was used as the theme for the 2nd season of the group's variety show "Fun! Fun! Fantastics". In addition, the B-side songs include "Tie and Tie" which is the ending song of the anime "Rusted Armors -Dawn-" and "Turn to You" which is the ending song for the drama "Liar" starring fellow member Taiki Sato.
From April 1 to May 1, "Fantastic6" performed in the live stage ''Back to the Memories Part 2''.
The new crown program ''Furusato Fanta'' is the first jointly funded format program by
Fuji TV
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...
and FNS in the history of Fuji TV, which is broadcast from April 1. A Fake Documentary "The Usual Night" is aired on ABC TV from May 2.
On May 25, the group released the live album Fantastics Live Tour 2021 "Fantastic Voyage" ~Way To The Glory~ Live CD.
Fantastics Live Tour 2022 "Fan Fan Hop" to be held from June 8 to August 7.
On June 29, they released their 10th single "Escape", the title song is the ending theme song of
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Kamen Rider Gavv.
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...