is a Japanese actor and singer associated with

Watanabe Entertainment is a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate and a member of the Watanabe Production Group. Its head office is in Shibuya, Tokyo and the company's principle functions include organizing television and radio programming, managing Japanese entert ...

. He is a member of the acting troupe

D-Boys D-Boys (stylized as D-BOYS) is a young male actors group affiliated with Watanabe Entertainment. The ''D'' in the group's name stands for "Drama" (acting work), "Dream", "Debut", "Discovery" and "Development" (growth and advancement). Although ...

and the leader of its pop unit D-Date. As an actor, Araki has been involved in many theater and television projects, notably starring in '' Musical: The Prince of Tennis'', ''

Juken Sentai Gekiranger is Toei Company's thirty-first entry in the ''Super Sentai'' metaseries. Production began on September 29, 2006 with principal photography beginning on October 6, 2006. It premiered on February 18, 2007 on TV Asahi's 2007 ''Super Hero Time'' prog ...

'', and '' Musical: Touken Ranbu''. In 2015, Araki made his solo debut with his single ''Next Stage''."DISC , 荒木宏文 avex official website"
(in Japanese). Avex. Retrieved 7 September 2020.

Career

In October 2004, Araki joined the Watanabe Entertainment group named the

. On April 27, 2005, they have released a photobook entitled ''D-Boys'', while the second, released on March 15, 2006, was called ''Start''. Araki has appeared in various TV shows, debuting in the

TV drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

''The Hit Parade''Hit Parade Official Site
as a member of The Tigers. The show, which aired on May 26, 2006 on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

, also starred his fellow D-Boys members

Masato Wada is a Japanese actor and singer. He is known for his role as Sengoku Kiyosumi in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musical series, Tenimyu (and making a cameo in the ''Prince of Tennis'' live action film adaptation). He is also part of a young men's sta ...

Yuu Shirota is a Japanese-Spanish actor and singer, most known for his role as Kagurazaka Makoto in the Japanese television drama live action adaption of ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Hana-Kimi'', Kunimitsu Tezuka in the ''Tenimyu, Prince of Tennis Musicals' ...

Masaki Kaji is a Japanese actor and singer. He is known for his role as Takeshi Momoshiro in the ''Prince of Tennis'' musical series, ''Tenimyu'', and the live film adaptation. He was also part of a young men's stage acting troupe, D-BOYS, which perform in ...

, Hiroki Suzuki, Yuuya Endo and

Kōji Seto is a Japanese actor and singer. His major works include lead roles as Wataru Kurenai in ''Kamen Rider Kiva''; and supporting roles as Satoru Okura in Atashinchi no Danshi, Ariake Yamato in Otomen, and Eiji Kikumaru in Tenimyu. He stars as Mori ...

. Araki also appeared on a Japanese radio program for BAY FM with fellow D-Boys member Kōji Seto on October 14, 2006. Araki's acting career took off when he portrayed Sadaharu Inui, the "data-tennis" regular of Seigaku Middle School's tennis club in the ''

Prince of Tennis is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from July 1999 to March 2008, with its chapters collected in forty-two ''tankōbon'' volumes. ...

'' musicals, '' Tennimu''. He became the second actor to play Inui as part of the second-generation Seigaku cast. He made his debut on January 8, 2005 in the ''Side Yamabuki'' performance in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. During his run in the musicals, he worked with fellow D-Boys members

Yuya Endo is a Japanese actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Ryoma Echizen in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musical series (commonly known as ''Tenimyu''). He was also part of a young men's stage acting troupe, D-BOYS, which perform in various sk ...

Kotaro Yanagi is a Japanese actor. Early life Yanagi was born on December 21, 1985, in Berlin, Germany. He lived in Germany for three years before moving back with his family to Japan. His family moved to India for work, and he lived there for three years. H ...

, Hiroki Suzuki,

Osamu Adachi is a Japanese actor and a former member of the acting group D-BOYS. He is best known for his role as Eiji Kikumaru in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musical series, Tenimyu, and in the live film adaptation. Career In October 2004, Adachi joined ...

, and former member

Yu Shirota is a Japanese-Spanish actor and singer, most known for his role as Kagurazaka Makoto in the Japanese television drama live action adaption of ''Hana-Kimi'', Kunimitsu Tezuka in the '' Prince of Tennis Musicals'', Tuxedo Mask in the Sailor Moon ...

. Araki reprised his role in the live-adaptation film of the ''Prince of Tennis'' manga series. He, along with most of the principal cast members for the Seigaku Regulars, reprised their roles in the movie, while

Kanata Hongō is a Japanese actor, voice actor and model. He is part of Stardust Promotion and has appeared several times in music videos, movies, TV series, and magazines. His major breakthrough role was as Ryoma Echizen in the live-action film adaptation ...

was cast as

Ryoma Echizen is a fictional character and the protagonist of the manga and anime series ''The Prince of Tennis'' created by Takeshi Konomi. In the series, Ryoma is portrayed as a twelve-year-old tennis prodigy who won four consecutive Junior Tennis Tournam ...

, the main protagonist. On March 29, 2006, at the end of the final ''Dream Live 3rd'' show, Araki and majority of the Seigaku cast graduated from their roles. After his graduation, he was succeeded by Masei Nakayama in portraying Inui. The D-Boys starred in their own drama documentary variety series called, ''DD-Boys''DD-Boys Official Site
in which Araki has appeared in a few episodes as himself. The show has 24 episodes and ran from April 10 to September 25, 2006. Araki appeared in the film ''June Bride''June Bride Official Site
/ref> based on the manga of the same name by Yoshida Satoshi. He played one of the supporting characters and co-starred with fellow D-Boys members Shirota and Suzuki. In June 2006, Araki acted onstage in the play ''Limit: What Is Your Story?'', where he appeared with fellow D-Boys members Suzuki and Yuichi Nakamura. On February 18, 2007, Araki starred in the ''

Super Sentai is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi ("Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron"). The sho ...

'' series ''

'' as the main villain

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, a former student of the Gekijuken Beast Arts whose motivation of becoming strong resulted in him turning his back on his teacher as he becomes leader of the revived Rinjuken Akugata. The show also co-stars Hirofumi's fellow D-Boys member Suzuki as Rio's rival and the series protagonist, Jan Kandō/GekiRed. It was announced in early 2007 that Araki, along with D-Boys members Suzuki and

would be getting solo photobooks and DVDs called the "Prince Series". Araki's solo photobook was released on April 19, 2007, while his solo idol DVD was released on May 16, 2007. A "Prince Series" trading card set featuring all three boys shortly followed the release of the books and DVDs. In June 2007, the D-Boys starred in their very own musical together called, ''D-Boys Stage'',D-BOYS STAGE Official Website
/ref> which ran from June 3 to 10 at the Space Zero theater in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Araki appeared in the musical as a guest performer, making select appearances on June 6 and 9. Araki's second photobook, entitled "Always By Your Side" was released in May 2008. It was brought out simultaneously with Suzuki's second photobook despite being separate from the "Prince Series", most likely to highlight on the boys' success in ''Juken Sentai Gekiranger''. A limited-edition trading card set featuring both Araki and Suzuki was released on September 27, 2008 to coincide with their recent books.

Personal life

Araki keeps a blog on his D-Boys webpage, which he updates frequently. He is very close friends with fellow D-Boys members Hiroki Suzuki,

Career

Personal life

Filmography

Film

Television

TV animation

Stage

Official DVDs

Notes

References

External links