Go Morita

was a six-member Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. The group debuted on November 1, 1995, with the single "Music for the People", which was used as the image song for the 1995 World Cup of Volleyball. Their first four singles, including "Music for the People", were all cover versions of the same-titled Eurobeat songs composed by Italian producers such as Giancarlo Pasquini, Andrea Leonardi, Alberto Contini, and Sandro Oliva.

Similar to their agency seniors Hikaru Genji, the group was separated into two subgroups based on age. For V6, the group was split into 20th Century and Coming Century, which consist of the three oldest members and the three youngest members, respectively. The band sold more than 13.5 million albums and singles.

As announced on March 12, 2021, V6 disbanded on November 1, 2021, their 26th anniversary since their debut.

History

Name

In an interview on ''Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ'', the group stated that the "V" in V6 also stood for "Versus" (20th Century versus Coming Century) at first. However, then-president Johnny Kitagawa informed the group that the "V" had multiple meanings, such as "Volleyball", "Vegetable" (as Sakamoto's parents own a green grocers), "Bicycle" ("V" and "B" are indistinguishable in Japanese; Nagano's parents own a cycling store), and "Veteran".

1995–2021

In 1996 they made the opening for the 12th entry in the Ultraman Series, Ultraman Tiga named ''Take Me Higher'' .From 1997 to 2008, V6 hosted their own variety show and is hosting ''Viva Viva V6'' since 2001 on Fuji TV. Along with their group shows, the members also have individual TV shows, dramas, or radio programs.

The Japanese version of Thunderbirds uses "Thunderbird - your voice -" by the group for the theme song of the movie.

V6 celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2005, commemorating the event by holding about thirty concerts in sold-out arenas all over Japan, holding three major "Thank You Events", releasing the movie ''Hold Up Down'' and releasing ''Musicmind'' as their new album. They also had a rare "Handshake Session" with hundreds of thousands of fans in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka.

As separate bands, both of them performed the opening song for the anime, ''Eyeshield 21''. Coming Century performed "Breakthrough", the first opening theme song, and 20th Century performed "Innocence", the second opening theme song. As V6, they performed "Chain of Power" as an insert song. They also sang " Change the World" and "Brand New World", respectively the first opening and eighth ending themes of the popular anime '' InuYasha'', as well as "Break Out", the 18th opening song of the popular anime ''Fairy Tail''. They later performed the 21st opening song of ''One Piece'', "Super Powers".

On May 3, 2017, they released the double A-side single titled "COLORS/Taiyou to Tsuki no Kodomotachi". The title track "COLORS" was used as the theme song for member Yoshihiko Inohara's starring drama "Keishicho Sousa Ikka 9 Gakari season12" on TV Asahi. Meanwhile, "Taiyou to Tsuki no Kodomotachi" was picked up for NHK's "Minna no Uta" for April and May.

On March 12, 2021, Johnny & Associates announced V6 would disband on November 1, V6's 26th debut anniversary. In July, they announced that they would host their last concert tour, ''LIVE TOUR V6 groove'' from September 4 to November 1, the first day and the last day of the live tour, which is the date of V6 formation and their debut date. Also, they will release their new album ''STEP'' on September 4.

On October 26, 2021, V6 hosted their last TV variety show as a group. They also released their last best album ''Very6 BEST''.

On November 1, 2021, member Go Morita also left the agency, effectively dissolving also the sub-group "Coming Century", though Okada and Miyake continued with their individual activities. Miyake left the agency in 2 May 2023. Okada left 30 November 2023. Sub group "20th Century" would continue activities past that date.

Members

20th Century

* — (leader of V6 and 20th Century)
*
*

Coming Century

(Officially disbanded when Go Morita left)
* — (leader of Coming Century) (left 1 November 2021)
* (left 2 May 2023)
* (left 30 November 2023)

Discography

Studio albums
* ''Since 1995: Forever'' (1996)
* ''Nature Rhythm'' (1997)
* ''A Jack in the Box'' (1998)
* ''"Lucky" 20th Century, Coming Century to Be Continued...'' (1999)
* ''"Happy" Coming Century, 20th Century Forever'' (2000)
* ''Volume 6'' (2001)
* ''Seven'' (2002)
* ''Infinity: Love & Life'' (2003)
* ''Musicmind'' (2005)
* ''Voyager'' (2007)
* ''Ready?'' (2010)
* ''Oh! My! Goodness!'' (2013)
* ''The Ones'' (2017)
* ''Step'' (2021)

Compilation albums
* ''Very Best'' (2001)
* ''Very Best II'' (2006)
* ''Super Very Best'' (2015)
* ''Very6 Best'' (2021)

Videography

DVD/VHS

*1996: ''Live for the People''
*1997: ''Film V6: Clips and More''
*1998: ''Space (from V6 Live Tour '98)''
*1999: ''Film V6 Cct II: Clips and More''
*2001: ''Very Happy!!!''
*2002: ''Film V6 Act III: Clips and More''
*2002: ''Liv6''
*2003: '' Hard Luck Hero'' (movie)
*2004: ''Love & Life (V6 Summer Special Dream Live 2003)''
*2005: ''Film V6 Act IV (Ballad Clips and More)''
*2005: ''Film V6 act IV (Dance Clips and More)''
*2005: ''Very Best Live (1995—2004)''
*2005: ''Hold Up Down'' (movie)
*2006: ''10th Anniversary Concert Tour 2005: Musicmind''
*2008: ''V6 Live Tour 2007 Voyager (Boku to Bokura no Ashita)''
*2009: ''V6 Live Tour 2008 Vibes''
*2010: ''V6 Live DVD Asia Tour 2010 in Japan Ready?''
*2012: ''V6 Live Tour 2011 Sexy.Honey.Bunny!''
*2013: ''V6 Live Tour 2013 Oh! My! Goodness!''
*2016: ''V6 Live Tour 2015 -since 1995~forever-''
*2018: ''LIVE TOUR 2017 The ONES''
*2021: ''For the 25th anniversary''
*2022: ''LIVE TOUR V6 groove''

20th Century

*2009: ''20th Century Live Tour 2008 Ore Ja Nakya, Kimi Ja Nakya''
*2009: ''20th Century Live Tour 2009 Honey Honey Honey''

Coming Century

*1997: ''Sky''
*1998: ''Question''
*2003: ''Cosmic Rescue'' (movie)
*2009: ''We are Coming Century Boys Live Tour 2009''

Other activities

As a group, the members of V6 have done dramas such as ''V no Honoo'' in 1995 and movies such as '' Hard Luck Hero'' in 2003 and ''Hold Up Down'' in 2005.

Films

V6

* (2003)
* (2004) (Japanese dub)
* (2005)

Coming Century

* COSMIC RESCUE (2003)

Drama

* (1995, Fuji TV) – all members of V6
* PU-PU-PU- (1998, TBS) – members of Kamisen
* (1999, NTV) – members of Kamisen
* (Fuji TV) – members of Tonisen

Variety shows

* (1996–1999, NTV)
* (1997–2005, TBS)
** (2005–2008, TBS)
** (Nov 13, 2015, TBS)
** (Aug 30, 2017, TBS)
** (Sep 24, 2018, TBS)
** (Sep 23, 2019, TBS)
** (November 3, 2020, TBS)
** (October 26, 2021, TBS)
* (NTV, 1998, 2000)
* (1999–2000, Fuji TV)
* (2000, Fuji TV)
* (2000–2001, Fuji TV)
* (2001, TBS) – Kamisen
* (2001 - 2002, TBS) - Kamisen
* (2002, TBS) – Kamisen
* (2002–2004, TBS)
* (2006–2007, TBS) - Tonisen
* "VivaVivaV6" (2001–2010, Fuji TV)
* (2008–2010, TBS)
* (2010–2011, TBS)
* (Oct 2011 – Oct 2012, TBS)
* (October 2012 – March 2014, TBS)
* (April 2013 - 2 Episodes Aired only TBS)
* (April 2014 – October 2021, TBS)

References

External links

20th Century Official site on Starto Ent.20th Century on YouTube
*
20th Century on MENT RecordingOfficial site on Avex TraxOfficial 26th Anniversary Special site on Avex Trax
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:V6
1995 establishments in Japan
2021 disestablishments in Japan
Avex Group artists
Japanese boy bands
Japanese idol groups
Japanese musical sextets
Japanese pop music groups
Johnny & Associates
Musical groups established in 1995
Musical groups from Tokyo
Musical groups disestablished in 2021