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E-girls (sometimes stylized as E-Girls or e-girls; stands for Exile Girls) was a Japanese collective
girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...
created and managed by LDH while signed to music label Rhythm Zone from
Avex is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...
. As of 2017, the band consisted of 11 members; 8 of which featured members of groups Happiness and Flower. Created as a sister act to
boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...
Exile Exile 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 peoples suf ...
, E-girls debuted in 2011 with their single "Celebration". After a string of promotional recordings, E-girls released their debut record '' Lesson 1'' two years later. In 2013, their single " Gomennasai no Kissing You" catapulted the girls into commercial success, selling over 100,000 units, and its parent album '' Colorful Pop'' (2014), was met with positive reviews and high performance on the
Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...
. With several members departing from the group, E-girls released their third album '' E.G. Time'' (2015), which saw a change in their music and vocal deliveries. That same year, LDH announced changes to their line-up, which resulted in absence with some members for their singles "
Anniversary!! "Anniversary!!" is a song recorded and performed by Japanese collective unit E-girls. It first appeared on their greatest hits album ''E.G. Smile: E-girls Best'' (2015), and subsequently served as the single of their fourth studio record ''E.G. Cr ...
" and " Dance Dance Dance". Beginning the year with their greatest hits album ''E.G. Smile: E-girls Best'' (2016), the group announced their E.G. Pop and E.G. Cool themes with the singles " E.G. Summer Rider", " Pink Champagne" and " Go! Go! Let's Go!". Their fourth album, ''
E.G. Crazy ''E.G. Crazy'' (stylized as ''E.G. CRAZY'') is a double album by Japanese musical unit E-girls, which also serves as their fourth studio release. It was distributed on January 3, 2016 for streaming through Japan's AWA services, and released on Ja ...
'', was released in January 2017. Beginning as a Japanese idol group, E-girls have branched out and conceive a variety of different appeals and cultures as their career progressed, and have become one of the most prominent girl groups in Japanese music. Additionally, their musical style, starting off as soft J-pop and
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
music, began to expand as following albums were released. Since their debut, three sub-units have been formed by selected members from E-girls, and have explored both music and
fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
endeavours. The group disbanded at the end of 2020.


History


2011–2012: Debut and single releases

In 2011, Japanese boy band
Exile Exile 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 peoples suf ...
held a nationwide audition event for young female artists. Originally, the event was to find members for the dance group named Flower, which was conducted by LDH and already featured four members, but they decided to also scope for a new dance and vocal group titled Bunny. After recruiting dancers
Nozomi Bando is a Japanese dancer, model and actress. She is a former member of Flower and E-girls, former model for ''Hanachu'' and an exclusive model for ''Seventeen''. Nozomi is represented with LDH. Early life Nozomi was born in Tokyo in 1997. She ha ...
and Harumi Sato, and three vocalists Reina Washio, Kyoka Ichiki, and
Chiharu Muto is a Japanese businesswoman and singer. She is the creative director of the fashion brand "Blixzy". She is a former member of Flower and E-girls. Biography She went to the Exile Professional Gym (EXPG) in Tokyo. In 2011, she passed the vocal ...
, Exile's Hiro—the head producer and CEO of LDH—announced the "Girls Entertainment Project", which was later changed to E-Girls; he confirmed that it would consist of all members from Dream, Happiness, and Flower. Bunny were not originally formed as part of E-Girls, and were to debut separately in 2013, but they never carried out any activities. Following their formation, E-girls consisted of 21 members. On 28 December 2011, the group debuted with their single "Celebration", which peaked inside the top ten on the
Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...
. Sayaka Yamamoto became the first member of E-girls to leave the group, and subsequently her band Dream; her promise commenced in March 2012. The following year, they released their second single "One Two Three" in April, which performed moderately on the charts than their former recording. For the release, two new members were added into the band: Reina Kizu and Anna Suda, both coming from EGD (EXPG Girls Dancers), a dance group formed at the Exile Professional Gym Academy. On 25 April, E-girls were invited to perform their new single at ''MCountdown Hello Japan ~MCountdown One Asia Tour 2012~'', a live event at Saitama Super Arena hosted by the Korean music program ''MCountdown''. Before the preparation of their follow-up number "Follow Me", Happiness member Mayu Sugieda went on hiatus in August to undergo medical treatment after being diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis. Furthermore, LDH added several more members into E-girls, including the girls from the un-debuted Bunny group and EGD dancers. In total, E-girls consisted of 31 members, with Dream's Sayaka Yamamato, and Happiness' Mimu Hioki and Sugeida on hiatus. Having said this, LDH announced new regulations to have each member train to each following single release in order to feature in the line-up; for example, only 16 of the 31 members appeared on the jacket covers for "Follow Me". The single was released on in October 2012, and was a commercial success in Japan, shifting 500,000 digital units. Not long after, Happiness member Mimu Hioki left the group in October.


2013: ''Lesson 1'' and rise of popularity

In early 2013, three members from Bunny left E-Girls. Additionally, EGD member Ruri Kawamoto and an original performer named Momoka Nakajima joined E-Girls and made their first performing appearance in their single "The Never Ending Story", which the band's name de-capitalized to E-girls. It was a commercial success, reaching number two on the Oricon chart, and became their first feature to included all 29-members on the jacket covers. The following hit, "Candy Smile", performed moderately on the charts but earned a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). Additionally, Kawamoto was promoted as a vocalist and sung the
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
"Love Letter", marking her the first E-girls member to change positions. On 17 April, the girls promoted their debut record '' Lesson 1'', which sold numerous units on the
Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...
, debuting at number one and charted over 70 non-consecutive weeks. This was the final effort by EGD member Reina Kizu, whom left the group some months later; her position was replaced officially by Nakajima. Happiness' member Mayu Sugieda returned to the group after recovering from her illness, and joined all 29 members for the single's jacket covers and visual for " Gomennasai no Kissing You". This was the final single with Flower member Elina Mizuno, the first release with Anna Suda and Kawamoto as members of Happiness, and the first visual to feature Nakajima since replacing Kizu. A commercial success, it became the girls first physical track to ship over 100,000 copies, and won the Japanese MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography, alongside a nomination for Best Japanese act at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards. In October that year, EGD member Marina Watanabe joined the girl group as a stand-in performer. However, her position was allocated as a primary performer when member Mizuno signed off from E-girls, and Watanabe was featured in the promotional shoot for the groups following number, "Kurukuru". The single became the group's highest first week sales, shifting approximately 69,087 units. At the end of 2013, the group were given the opportunity to appear on several year-end shows in Japan, and were subsequently invited to ''
Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK netw ...
''. There, they performed a special medley of their songs.


2014–2015: Individual activities, ''Colorful Pop'', ''E.G. Time'', line-up changes and further work

In early 2014, Dream's Aya Takamoto was appointed as the leader of E-girls. Subsequently, each member started to endure on several separate endeavours from the group; 10 of the group's members:
Shizuka is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Shizuka can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *, "quiet/calm" *, "quiet/calm, flower" *, "quiet/calm, fragrance" *, "quiet/calm, flower" *, "quiet/calm, excellent" *, " ...
, Kaede, Karen Fujii, Anna Suda, Shuuka Fujii,
Nozomi Bando is a Japanese dancer, model and actress. She is a former member of Flower and E-girls, former model for ''Hanachu'' and an exclusive model for ''Seventeen''. Nozomi is represented with LDH. Early life Nozomi was born in Tokyo in 1997. She ha ...
, Harumi Sato, Kyoka Takeda, Anna Ishii, and Nonoka Yamaguchi, each starred in one episode of the drama '' A Perfect Day for Love Letters''. The opening number to the show was the E-girls single "Diamond Only", which experienced success on the Oricon charts. Despite previous commercial endorsements, it brought the girls more endorsement deals with fashion and lifestyle products. Released as their final single to their second album '' Colorful Pop'', which was released on 19 March, the latter format garnered success on the Oricon Albums Chart and became their second consecutive album to debut at number one. In order to promote the record, E-girls commenced their first national tour between July and August, titled "Colorful Land". In April that year, Mayu Sugeida and Kyoka Takeda left their respective groups Happiness and Bunny, alongside their departure from E-girls; this made Sugeida the second vocalist after Dream's Sayaka Yamamoto to leave E-girls. From June that year, E-girls released three singles consecutively, one per month; the first was "E.G. Anthem: We Are Venus", which included all members and vocalists on the jacket covers and accompanying music video. The following number was "
Odoru Ponpokorin is a song by Japanese pop group B.B.Queens, serving as their debut single on April 4, 1990. It was used as the original ending theme of the anime series ''Chibi Maruko-chan''. On July 9, 1990, "Odoru Pompokolin" reached the top of the Oricon Sing ...
", which premiered on 30 July and experienced moderate sales in the charts and featured 14-elected members for the cover art. It used as the opening theme song to the TV anime ''
Chibi Maruko Chan is a shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Momoko Sakura. The series depicts the simple, everyday life of Momoko Sakura, a young girl everyone calls ''Maruko'', and her family in suburban Japan in the year 1974. Maruko is a tr ...
''. The third single from their album '' E.G. Time'' (2015) was "Highschool Love", which was released on 10 September. Like "Odoru Ponpokorin", the single was featured in the Fuji TV drama '' "Great Teacher Onizuka"''. While preparing for promotion to their single "Mr. Snowman", Flower member and vocalist Chiharu Muto left E-girls to study abroad but ended up launching her own fashion line; she left in November, the same month that the single was released. At the end of the year, E-girls were invited to ''
Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK netw ...
'' for the second time where they performed their song "Highschool Love". They were also part of the line-up for the performers at the '' FNS Song Festival''. On 1 January 2015 (
New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
), the band released the physical editions of ''E.G. Time''. The record was commercially success, becoming their third number one on the Oricon charts. However, on 27 January, the staff at LDH announced a new line-up system titled the E-girls Pyramid, which showed each member in the band and their respective sub-groups. With that said, six of the then-remaining 26-members were moved out of E-girls and into either the yet-to-debut groups Rabbits and Bunnies for further training; Yuzuna Takebe, the youngest singer in E-girls, was removed from the line-up and placed in Rabbits. After this, the girls held their second nationwide tour titled "Colorful World" between February and March. With the new line-up set, E-girls started recording new material for their new album by promoting the single "Anniversary!!". Dream member Ami announced her solo debut, con-curring with the activities in E-girls and Dream. In October that year, it was confirmed via LDH that Dream member Erie Abe would graduate from being a performer and singer to become a disc jockey for some of the group's future releases and live performances. That same month, Flower member Kyoka Ichiki announced her leave from both groups; this made Flower a six-member unit, and left Reina Washio the only remaining vocalist in the group. Because of Ichiki's departure, LDH re-added ex-Rabbits' member Yuzuna Takebe to E-girls, but only attributed as a performer until the following year. Once again, the group was invited to their third appearance at '' Kōhaku'', where they performed their single " Dance Dance Dance" as well as another year-end special on Japan's CDTV where they revealed a new song from their then-upcoming greatest hits album ''E.G. Smile: E-girls Best'', titled " Dance With Me Now!". The single premiered as a promotional recording and achieved success on the
Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...
chart. It was their last release within 2015.


2016: ''E.G. Smile: E-girls Best'' and ''E.G. Crazy''

To start the new year 2016, E-girls released their greatest hits
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
''E.G. Smile: E-girls BEST'' on 10 February 2016. The album consisted of all their singles up to "Dance With Me Now!", and an additional recording titled "Shukko Sa! (Sail Out For Someone)". Released in several different formats, the record became their best-selling album, with over 250,000 units sold and was certified Platinum by the RIAJ. To commemorate its release, E-girls engaged in their third national tour titled ''E-girls LIVE TOUR 2016 "E.G. SMILE"''. During the concert tour, the group made several announcements related to their sub-groups' activities; Happiness' second studio album and upcoming tours for both Flower and Happiness. This is the first time Flower and Happiness have been conducted concert tours themselves. Additionally, LDH confirmed the debut of the E-girls side-project
ShuuKaRen ShuuKaRen was a Japanese Dance-pop and EDM duo formed and managed by LDH since 2016. They were a sub-unit of supergroup E-girls and signed to the record label Sony Music Japan. The duo was composed of sisters Shuuka and Karen Fujii (hence the sub ...
, which consists of sisters Karen and Shuuka Fujii. In late April 2016, E-girls confirmed via their website that they would release two new singles, both being part of a ''Summer Single Concept''. The first of these two and their 16th single was " E.G. Summer Rider", which was released on 20 July 2016 with an "E.G. POP" concept. The single debuted at number two on the Oricon chart, and was success with digital sales. The following month, " Pink Champagne" was released on 10 August as their 17th single with an "E.G. COOL" concept and was a critical success. Commercially, it gained their highest-selling first week sales since "Kurukuru" with 66,028 copies. On 28 October 2016, member Erie Abe announced her intention to retire from the entertainment business at the end of the year, making her the first Dream member to departure since Sayaka Yamamoto's in 2011. On 30 November, E-girls released their 18th single "Go! Go! Let's Go!". This was yet another change in concept, having embraced a new style called "Japanese Neo Tokyo"; for example, the accompanying visual promoted the girls in various Japanese-influenced fashion. Commercially however, it under-performed and became one of their lowest-selling releases since their debut. The following month, E-girls announced the release of their fourth studio album ''E.G. Crazy'' (2017). The record is packaged as a
double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...
; one disc features material for E.G. POP, whilst the second disc deals with an E.G. COOL concept. Additionally, several music videos were featured on the album, including the promotional recordings of "Strawberry Sadistic"—which appeared in the original LDH film '' High & Low: The Movie''—and two new album tracks titled "All Day Long Lady"/"Harajuku Time Bomb". On 31 December, that year, E-girls performed their song "DANCE WITH ME NOW!" at the '' 67th Kohaku Uta Gassen'' after getting invited for the 4th consecutive year. On the same day, Abe committed to her promise and retired from Dream and E-girls.


2017: Reformulation of the group and E.G.family

On 3 January 2017, ''
E.G. Crazy ''E.G. Crazy'' (stylized as ''E.G. CRAZY'') is a double album by Japanese musical unit E-girls, which also serves as their fourth studio release. It was distributed on January 3, 2016 for streaming through Japan's AWA services, and released on Ja ...
'' premiered on AWA streaming services through Japan, and was subsequently issued with various physical editions on 18 January. On 10 March, dancer and Happiness member/leader Miyuu announced a brief hiatus due to a knee injury that occurred through January that same year. She confirmed that she was in the process of surgery and rehabilitation. In late May 2017, LDH announced a new campaign titled E.G. Evolution, consisting of a 7-day countdown. After the seven subsequent days, on 5 June, LDH revealed several changes to E-girls. The first was the disbandment of corresponding band Dream, which consisted of members Shizuka, Aya and Ami. All three members confirmed their graduation from E-girls, whilst Aya effectively retired from being a musician and performer indefinitely, in order to serve as the chief creative manager towards the group and the newly established girl entertainment franchise within LDH,
E.G.family E.G.family is the name given to the collective of artists and groups under Japanese entertainment company LDH related to E-girls. The project was announced on June 5, 2017 and it effectively started on July 17, 2017. E.G.family was previously a jo ...
. Shizuka and Ami would continue with their solo projects as a member of Dance Earth Party and as a soloist respectively. Additionally, members Miyuu, Ruri Kawamoto, Shuuka Fujii, Manami Shigetome and Mio Nakajima removed themselves from the E-girls too, focusing on their activities within their groups Happiness and Flower. According to the girls' website, members Karen Fujii, Reina Washio and Yuzuna Takebe would serve as the band's primary vocalists, and would have no assisting group leader. With the announcement, it was also revealed that the group would be doing a 2-day live concert titled ''E-girls LIVE 2017 ~E.G.EVOLUTION~''. The concerts would be their last as a 19-member lineup since E-girls would promote as 11 members after the reformulation. On 26 July, the group released their 19th single "Love ☆ Queen", their first official work as an 11-member group. In October, it was announced that Harumi Sato was chosen as the new leader of the group. Later that month, E-girls performed at the '' TV Asahi Dream Festival 2017'' at Saitama Super Arena. On 6 December, the group released their 20th single "Kitakaze to Taiyou". In the same month, on 28 December, the group released the ''E-girls LIVE 2017 ~E.G.EVOLUTION~'' concert on DVD/Blu-ray. At the end of 2017, E-girls were invited to perform at '' Kōhaku'' for the 5th time. There, they performed their song "Love ☆ Queen".


2018: ''E.G. 11''

On 31 January, the group released their 21st single "Aishiteru to Itte Yokatta". Shortly after, they released their 22nd single "Pain, pain" on 28 February. On 23 May 2018, E-girls released their fifth studio album, ''E.G.11'', their first album as an 11-member group. Additionally, they embarked on their fourth national tour ''E-girls LIVE TOUR 2018 ~E.G. 11~'', that went from 2 June to 5 August. It was the first tour since the group's reformulation. On 8 August, they released their 5th digital single "My Way", accompanied by a music video for the title song and another music video for the b-side track "Let's Feel High". Both songs feature Mighty Crown and PKCZ®. On 3 October, E-girls were invited to perform at the ''Asia Song Festival 2018'' in South Korea. On the same day, they released their 6th digital single "Perfect World". The song was used as theme song for the movie '' Perfect World Kimi to Iru Kiseki'', starring Sandaime J Soul Brothers/
EXILE Exile 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 peoples suf ...
member
Takanori Iwata is a Japanese dancer and actor. He performs with the J-pop, J-Pop groups Sandaime J Soul Brothers and Exile (Japanese band), Exile. As a member of Sandaime J Soul Brothers, he has received the Japan Record Awards twice. He earned his first lead ...
. On 6 October, the Internet program ''Zenryoku Bukatsu! E-kou (全力部活!E高; All-Out Club Activity! E-high)'' started airing on AbemaTV. This has been the first regular show focused on E-girls since 2016 and each episode includes new challenges for the group to master. On 19 December, the group released their 7th digital single "EG-ENERGY". The song was used to promote LDH martial arts' ''ENERGY PROJECT'', alongside Generations from Exile Tribe.


2019–2020: ''E.G.POWER to the DOME'', 3-month release project and final tour

On 16 January, the group released the footage of the ''E-girls LIVE TOUR 2018 ~E.G. 11~'' concert at Saitama Super Arena on DVD and Blu-ray. In the first half of the year, E-girls participated in
E.G.family E.G.family is the name given to the collective of artists and groups under Japanese entertainment company LDH related to E-girls. The project was announced on June 5, 2017 and it effectively started on July 17, 2017. E.G.family was previously a jo ...
's first tour ''E.G.POWER 2019 ~POWER to the DOME~'' that went from 22 February to 25 May. This tour included performances from all artists belonging to
E.G.family E.G.family is the name given to the collective of artists and groups under Japanese entertainment company LDH related to E-girls. The project was announced on June 5, 2017 and it effectively started on July 17, 2017. E.G.family was previously a jo ...
: E-girls, Flower, Happiness, SudannaYuzuYully, Dream Ami,
Dream Shizuka better known by her stage name Shizuka and Dream Shizuka, is a Japanese pop singer, actress and performer. She is a former member of the groups Dream, E-girls and Dance Earth Party and currently active as a solo artist. Early life Shizuka was ...
and E.G.family all together. On 24 July, they released their 23rd single "CINDERELLA FIT" and the DVD/Blu-ray for 28 March ''E.G.POWER 2019 ~POWER to the DOME~'' concert at NHK Hall. "Cinderella Fit" was used as theme song for Mister Donut's ''Mister Donut Tapioca Milk'' TV-CM, which stars members Kaede, Nozomi Bando, Harumi Sato and Nonoka Yamaguchi. The song was pre-available digitally for streaming on 27 June 2019. On 6 October, AbemaTV broadcast the 47th episode of the program ''Zenryoku Bukatsu! E-kou (全力部活!E高; All-Out Club Activity! E-high)'' which revealed that all 11 members of E-girls succeeded in climbing to the
summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...
of
Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...
together. Some of them exhibited early signs of altitude sickness as they headed above 3000 meters, but supported each other to their destination. The ascent took over 8 hours and 30 minutes in total. On 15 October, E-girls won the "Best-Jeanist" award in the "Collector Selection" category at ''The 36th Best Jeanist Awards 2019'' for their denim costumes from "Cinderella Fit". Kaede attended the ceremony as a representative of the group. On 8 November, it was announced that E-girls would release their 24th single on 29 January 2020, and that there would be a 3-months project prior to the release to pre-deliver a new song each month. The first release of this project would be titled "Easy come, Easy go", scheduled for 22 November and accompanied by a row of release events. The second release would be "CINDERELLA FIT (Winter Version)" on 27 December. It was also revealed that the new single would include 4 new songs in total, with "Bessekai" (別世界; ''Another World'') being the title track. In late 2019, it was revealed that the group would hold their 5th tour ''E-girls PERFECT LIVE 2011▶2020'' from 1 February – 4 July 2020. On 22 December 2019, the group announced that the tour will be their final activity together and that E-girls will dissolve at the end of 2020. Every member will stay with their original company LDH and follow different career paths. While Harumi Sato,
Nozomi Bando is a Japanese dancer, model and actress. She is a former member of Flower and E-girls, former model for ''Hanachu'' and an exclusive model for ''Seventeen''. Nozomi is represented with LDH. Early life Nozomi was born in Tokyo in 1997. She ha ...
, Anna Ishii and Nonoka Yamaguchi will focus on their work as actresses and models, Yuzuna Takebe will form a new unit with the successful contestants that passed Afrojack's LDH Europe audition, Reina Washio will debut as a solo artist and Happiness will work with 88rising for global expansion. Due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, several concerts of E-girls' last tour had to be cancelled or postponed. As a reparation, the group held a live event with no audience that was streamed on the Japanese video service '' niconico (Nico Nico Douga)'' on 26 March 2020. A total of over 220 thousand viewers watched the show during its airtime.


Artistry


Music and style

From the start of their career—namely with their debut "Celebration!" and album ''Lesson 1''—the band's music was universally categorized by critics as a dance-influenced J-pop. However, Japanese magazine ''CD Journal'' believed that their debut adapted the trend of "soft"
K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...
and
EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstra ...
, two genres which were particularly prominent through the mid-2010s, along with its influenced on the Western market. Furthermore, the magazine noted its similarities between nameless Korean and Japanese bands because of their "catchy" dance melodies, and ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Japan commented about their inheritance of the dance genre from brother band
Exile Exile 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 peoples suf ...
, which they described as "DNA". Majority of the content were handled by a variety of Japanese composers and producers, such as Clarabell, Kazuhiro Hara, and frequent songwriter Masoto Kotake, but their single "
The Never Ending Story ''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a Fantasy literature, fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later ad ...
", a cover song originally performed by English singer
Limahl Christopher Hamill (born 19 December 1958), known professionally as Limahl (an anagram of Hamill), is an English pop singer. He was the lead singer of the pop group Kajagoogoo beginning in 1981, before embarking on a brief solo career, garnerin ...
, was composed by
Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...
. Their second album, '' Colorful Pop'' (2014), saw a return to their dance-pop style, but a writer of Selective Hearing noticed that the sound was a more "upward trend" than their debut. The material, particularly the "faster tracks" and cover songs: "Rydeen (Dance All Night)" by Yellow Magic Orchestra, "Koi no Boogie Woogie Train" by
Ann Lewis Ann C. Frank Lewis (born December 19, 1937) is a leading American Democratic Party strategist and communicator. Lewis served as White House Communications Director in the Clinton administration and in senior roles under Hillary Clinton. She is ...
, and "
I Heard a Rumour "I Heard a Rumour" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their fourth studio album, '' Wow!'' (1987). It was released on 29th June 1987, as the album's lead single. It was also featured in the 1987 comedy film '' Disorderlies'' and ...
" by Bananarama, were widely praised for the producers abilities to "reconfigure J-pop's past into the buzzing present." But once again, the ballad entries were slated for their "mood killing" appeal. For their third studio album, '' E.G. Time'' (2014), it saw a change in musical style, particularly with the uptempo numbers. Additionally, the band's management, LDH, hired a variety of new producers and composers to work on the album, namely Yasutaka Nakata, Lauren Kaori, Fast Lane, and husband-wife duo T.Kura and Michico. This was their first record to remove a large portion of ballad songs, having been replaced with "aggressive" EDM numbers and "twinkly"
electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
anthems. According to Patrick St. Michel, writing for '' The Japan Times'', majority of the recordings have the vocalists singing in unison, which has been a notable factor in various Japanese acts such as AKB48 and their sister groups; the writer identified "
Music Flyer "Music Flyer" is a song recorded and performed by Japanese collective unit E-girls, taken as a promotional single of their third studio album '' E.G. Time'' (2015). It was released on December 17, 2014, for streaming, and December 24 as a limite ...
" as the most prominent example from ''E.G. Time''. Subsequently, he felt the track re-introduced them back into the K-pop genre. For their fourth studio album, a double release titled ''
E.G. Crazy ''E.G. Crazy'' (stylized as ''E.G. CRAZY'') is a double album by Japanese musical unit E-girls, which also serves as their fourth studio release. It was distributed on January 3, 2016 for streaming through Japan's AWA services, and released on Ja ...
'' (2017), E-girls presented two parallel themes; E.G. Pop and E.G. Cool. The former theme endorsed a "pop ier and "fun" vibe that graced their previous work, whilst E.G. Cool emphasized a "cooler" and "sexy" sound. The first offerings to these themes were the "dynamic" dance-pop anthem " E.G. Summer Rider", and the
tropical house Tropical house, also known as trop house, is a subgenre of house music, and a derivation of tropical music, with elements of dancehall and Balearic house. Artists of the genre are often featured at various summer festivals such as Tomorrowland. T ...
number inspired by
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disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
, " Pink Champagne". Additionally, many tracks from the collection emphasized a variety of Western genres such as
French house French house, also known as French touch, filter house and tekfunk, is a style of house music originally produced by French musicians in the 1990s. It is a form of Euro disco and a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s European dance m ...
, rock, hip-hop and dubstep.


Image

On numerous occasions, E-girls have been recognized by publications as an idol group, due to their dominance of the Japanese market, on-going line-up changes and similarities to a variety of Japanese idol bands. However, by the release of their studio album ''E.G. Time'', Patrick St. Michel of ''The Japan Times'' identified how the group "buck most of the major idol trends", specifically saying; "They shun idol-standard amateurism in favor of K-pop-like precision," and identified their song "Music Flyer" as the most notable change in this type of appeal. Furthermore, he explained another trait was the typical performance of idol groups singing in "unison", but said "...whereas AKB48 just sound louder, E-Girls turn it into a focused, wordless chant." With the release of their album ''E.G. Crazy'' in 2017, E-girls yet again broadened their appeal by emphasising two styles; a "pop ier and "fun" vibe that brings reminiscence of their earlier work, whilst E.G. Cool showcased a more "sexy" image; this was first presented in the jacket covers for their 2016 single "Pink Champagne". Not long after, the girls released their single " Go! Go! Let's Go!", which saw a new transition in image; they adapted a theme titled Japanese Neo Girls, which utilizes different cultures from a Japanese women's perspective. For example, "Go! Go! Let's Go!" focused on a variety of Japanese cultures such as traditional wear ( kimono) to Otaku culture. Furthermore, their
promotional recording A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...
s: "All Day Long Lady" and "Harajuku Time Bomb" focused on Westernized "office ladies", while the latter was influenced by the style in Harajuku. Throughout their work, E-girls have been known for their "striking visuals and impressive dance numbers", and were credited with gaining "well-deserved popularity, proving they can bring just as much dancing and great music as their male counterparts." When their greatest hits album ''E.G. Smile: E-girls Best'' (2016) was announced, website J-Generation concluded, "While Exile is loved by girls all over the world for their soul and dance, E-girls gave those same fans the girl group they could relate to and sparked the beginning of their now four year long catalog of successful hits."


Seifuku dances

As part of the group's singles, the performing members conduct an additional segment to their music video's called a . These small clips are connected to the story line of the parent music videos—which are regularly placed at the start of end of the visual—and generally focus on various dance styles by the performers and its accompanying instrumental composition. Despite this, some singing members, such as Erie Abe, Mayu Sugieda, Karen Fujii, Ruri Kawamoto, Chiharu Muto, Kyoka Ichicki, and Yuzuna Takebe, have appeared in selected visuals. Some compositions from a seifuku dance have been adapted into full-length recordings: "Kurukuru" was used in their track "Move It! (Dream & E-girls Time)", "Odoru Ponpokorin" was sampled into the E-girls song "Boom Boom Christmas", and sections from "Mr. Snowman" were placed in their song "Express (Do Your Dance)". Like their official singles, each performing member is assessed by a line-up change, meaning only selected members are featured in the respective seifuku dance. Each dance was included on the DVD/Blu-ray bundles of their album ''E.G. Smile: E-girls Best''.


Reception

In early 2014, teen magazine ''Anan'', which generally explores various youth cultures such as idol and kawaii culture, included E-girls amongst many other idol groups for their special February issue. In 2015, Nikkei Entertainment released their annual top girl-group bands, and E-girls were ranked at number 4 with 18.4% of the votes. According to the list, over half the entries were idol groups, and six were sister acts of the AKB48 family. At the end of 2016, Oricon conducted an artist ranking and their album ''E.G. Smile: E-girls Best'' became their first release to enter the top twenty best-sellers list (placed at number 11), and were ranked the 9th highest-grossing Japanese act with reported revenue up to ¥1.75 billion (an approximate equivalent to $15.57 million USD).


Side projects

Apart from their respective groups Dream, Happiness and Flower, E-girls and LDH have established three side-projects. The first sub-group from E-girls was
ShuuKaRen ShuuKaRen was a Japanese Dance-pop and EDM duo formed and managed by LDH since 2016. They were a sub-unit of supergroup E-girls and signed to the record label Sony Music Japan. The duo was composed of sisters Shuuka and Karen Fujii (hence the sub ...
, which consists of sisters Karen Fujii from Happiness and Shuuka Fujii of Flower. This was the first musical release to feature both siblings together, after first distributing their fashion coffee table book ''Antithese'', which garnered critical success and sold over 100,000 units in Japan. LDH conceived ShuuKaRen as "two vocal divas" that create music "based on black ulture. Their debut single " Universe" was released on 5 October 2016, and featured co-lead vocals by Shuuka; this was the first time Shuuka had provided vocals to any E-girls related effort, and was the first overall member from the group since Ruri Kawamoto to be promoted as a vocalist. The second sub-group established from E-girls are SudannaYuzuYully, which features sole E-girls member Yuzuna Takebe as the main vocalist, and Happiness' Anna Suda and Yurino as rappers and performers; like the former side-project, it is the first time Suda and Yurino provide vocals to any E-girls work, and also makes Suda and Yurino the third and fourth members to be promoted as vocalists through LDH. The trio, who will base their music around contemporary dance and hip-hop music, released their debut single "Oh Boy" in March 2017. Although not a musical or performing act, Happiness member Kaede and Flower member Harumi Sato created a sub-group named Twin Tower, which showcases them as exclusive models for fashion and other product endorsements; they are the first side project to not reveal any vocal or performing activities. They are officially represented by LDH, and debuted in October 2015.


Members


Happiness


Flower


Original E-girls


Former members


Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:500 PlotArea = width:600 height:420 left:75 bottom:80 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:12/28/2011 till:12/31/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Dre value:rgb(1,0,0) legend:Dream id:Hap value:rgb(1,0.5,0) legend:Happiness id:Flo value:rgb(1,1,0) legend:Flower id:EGD value:rgb(0.5,1,0) legend:EGD/E-girls id:Bun value:rgb(0,0,1) legend:Bunnies id:Hia value:rgb(0,0,0) legend:Hiatus Legend = orientation:vertical position:right ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2012 gridcolor:black PlotData = color:blue width:7 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from bar:Yamamoto-S from:start till:03/31/2012 Color:Dre bar:Erie from:start till:12/31/2016 Color:Dre bar:Shizuka from:start till:07/16/2017 Color:Dre bar:Aya from:start till:07/16/2017 Color:Dre bar:Ami from:start till:07/16/2017 Color:Dre bar:Mimu from:start till:01/26/2012 Color:Hap bar:Mimu from:01/27/2012 till:10/25/2012 Color:Hia bar:Sugieda from:start till:07/31/2012 Color:Hap bar:Sugieda from:08/01/2012 till:08/01/2013 Color:Hia bar:Sugieda from:08/02/2013 till:04/07/2014 Color:Hap bar:Miyuu from:start till:07/16/2017 Color:Hap bar:Yurino from:start till:end Color:Hap bar:Sayaka from:start till:end Color:Hap bar:Kaede from:start till:end Color:Hap bar:Fujii-K from:start till:end Color:Hap bar:Suda from:04/18/2012 till:05/30/2013 Color:EGD bar:Suda from:05/31/2013 till:end Color:Hap bar:Kawamoto from:01/12/2013 till:05/30/2013 Color:Bun bar:Kawamoto from:05/31/2013 till:07/16/2017 Color:Hap bar:Mizuno from:start till:10/18/2013 Color:Flo bar:Muto from:start till:10/12/2014 Color:Flo bar:Ichiki from:start till:10/07/2015 Color:Flo bar:Fujii-S from:start till:07/16/2017 Color:Flo bar:Shigetome from:start till:07/16/2017 Color:Flo bar:Nakajima-Mi from:start till:07/16/2017 Color:Flo bar:Washio from:start till:09/20/2019 Color:Flo bar:Washio from:09/20/2019 till:end Color:EGD bar:Bando from:start till:09/20/2019 Color:Flo bar:Bando from:09/20/2019 till:end Color:EGD bar:Sato from:start till:09/20/2019 Color:Flo bar:Sato from:09/20/2019 till:end Color:EGD bar:Kizu from:04/18/2012 till:07/02/2013 Color:EGD bar:Ikuta from:08/01/2012 till:01/26/2015 Color:EGD bar:Hanayama from:08/01/2012 till:01/12/2013 Color:Bun bar:Yamamoto-R from:08/01/2012 till:01/12/2013 Color:Bun bar:Oishi from:08/01/2012 till:01/12/2013 Color:Bun bar:Vats from:08/01/2012 till:01/12/2013 Color:Bun bar:Takeda from:08/01/2012 till:04/20/2014 Color:Bun bar:Inagaki from:08/01/2012 till:11/21/2014 Color:Bun bar:Inagaki from:11/22/2014 till:01/26/2015 Color:EGD bar:Hagio from:08/01/2012 till:11/21/2014 Color:Bun bar:Hagio from:11/22/2014 till:01/26/2015 Color:EGD bar:Takebe from:08/01/2012 till:11/21/2014 Color:Bun bar:Takebe from:11/22/2014 till:01/26/2015 Color:EGD bar:Takebe from:12/29/2015 till:end Color:EGD bar:Yamaguchi from:08/01/2012 till:11/21/2014 Color:Bun bar:Yamaguchi from:11/22/2014 till:end Color:EGD bar:Ishii from:08/01/2012 till:11/21/2014 Color:Bun bar:Ishii from:11/22/2014 till:end Color:EGD bar:Nakajima-Mo from:09/02/2013 till:01/26/2015 Color:EGD bar:Watanabe from:10/11/2013 till:01/26/2015 Color:EGD


Discography

;Studio albums: *'' Lesson 1'' (2013) *'' Colorful Pop'' (2014) *'' E.G. Time'' (2015) *''
E.G. Crazy ''E.G. Crazy'' (stylized as ''E.G. CRAZY'') is a double album by Japanese musical unit E-girls, which also serves as their fourth studio release. It was distributed on January 3, 2016 for streaming through Japan's AWA services, and released on Ja ...
'' (2017) *' (2018) ;Compilation albums *' (2016) ;Singles (selected work) *"Follow Me" *"Candy Smile" *" Gomennasai no Kissing You" *"E.G. Anthem: We Are Venus" *"Highschool Love" *"Mr. Snowman" *"
Anniversary!! "Anniversary!!" is a song recorded and performed by Japanese collective unit E-girls. It first appeared on their greatest hits album ''E.G. Smile: E-girls Best'' (2015), and subsequently served as the single of their fourth studio record ''E.G. Cr ...
" *" Pink Champagne"


Tours


As a lead artist


As a participating group


As a support act


Concerts


Filmography


TV shows


Internet programs


Music video appearances


Publications


Photobooks


Notes


References


External links


Official website
at LDH {{Authority control Japanese girl groups Japanese pop music groups Musical groups established in 2011 Musical groups disestablished in 2020 2011 establishments in Japan 2020 disestablishments in Japan Avex Group artists Musical groups from Tokyo LDH (company) artists