D-Boys (stylized as D-BOYS) is a Japanese acting troupe 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 the D-Boys are promoted as a group and members occasionally work together on the same projects, each actor develops his career independently from his fellow members in their own television, cinema and theatre projects. New D-Boys members are regularly selected through public audition events with interactive participation of fan club members.
Members
Current members
Former members
D2 members In 2009, D2 was formed as D-Boys' younger brother group. In October 2013, D2 joined D-Boys to become its sub-group. Current members Yukito Nishii Ryo Mitsuya Syo Jinnai Atsushi Arai Ryosuke Ikeoka Yuki Yamada Takahisa Maeyama Shotaro Okubo Jun Shison Former members
Toru Kamitsuru Kenki Yamaguchi Yoichiro Omi Shintaro Akutsu Shion Tsuchiya Takuya Negishi Atsushi Shiramata
Group projects In addition to their individual careers, the D-Boys are also involved in collective projects, as part of the group promotion work.
DD-Boys DD-Boys was a drama-documentary variety series, featuring the D-Boys members as themselves. Each episode had a short staged section following the plot of the members living in the fictional D-House and seeking ways to raise money for rent, followed by a documentary section showing the members undertaking tasks or challenges to raise that money. Some tasks were inspired by the actor's own personality -e.g., a member who was known to enjoy singing or dancing would have a task related to that hobby, etc. The show was 23 episodes long and aired from 10 April 2006 to 25 September 2006 on TV Asahi.
Stage works Series Title Year / date Stage Info Cast D-Live 1st D-Live 2004 Live entertainment show All members 2nd D-Live 2004 Live entertainment show All members 3rd D-Live March 2005 Live entertainment show All members 4th D-Live May 2006 Live entertainment show All members Out of Order Out of Order March 2007 Live entertainment show Regular Performers: Yuya Endo Masaki Kaji Kouhei Kumai Guest performances by all other members D-Boys Stage Vol 1. Kanba Onrei June 2007 Musical All members with guest performers: Yu Shirota Masato Wada Shunji Igarashi Hiroki Suzuki Hirofumi Araki Vol 2. The Last Game June 2008 Musical All members plus guest cast A: Endo Yuya Yuichi Nakamura Kouhei Kumai All members plus guest aast B: Shunji Igarashi Koji Seto Masahiro Usui Vol 3. Karasu 04 April 2009 Musical Cast A Hiroki Suzuki Shunji Igarashi Masaki Kaji Kotaro Yanagi Tomo Yanagishita Osamu Adachi Masaya Nakamura Ryuki Takahashi Taito Hashimoto Yusuke Yamada Karasu 10 October 2009 Musical Cast B Endo Yuya Hirofumi Araki Shingo Nakagawa Masato Wada Yuichi Nakamura Koji Seto Masashi Mikami Masahiro Usui Tetsuya Makita Kenki Yamaguchi (D2 member) Toru Kamitsuru (D2 member) Ryo Mitsuya (D2 member) Syo Jinnai (D2 member) Vol 4. Now Loading April 28, 2010 Musical Cast A Endo Yuya Shunji Igarashi Masato Wada Yusuke Yamada The Last Game August 26, 2010 Musical Cast B Koji Seto Yuichi Nakamura Kotaro Yanagi Osamu Adachi Shingo Nakagawa Tetsuya Makita Ryuki Takahashi Masashi Mikami Masahiro Usui America November 3, 2010 Musical Cast C Hiroki Suzuki Hirofumi Araki Masaki Kaji Tomo Yanagishita
Fan club events The D-Boys hold special events where fan club members have the opportunity to meet the actors in person and interact with them in camp activities and games such as cook-offs, tug-of-war, etc., in which the members are split into teams, leading groups of fans to compete with each other.
Official Fan club Day Camp Bus Tour (November 13, 2005) Official Fan club Limited Bus Tour (August 25 to August 27, 2006) Official Fan club 3rd Anniversary Bus Tour (September 6 to 8, 2007)
Live tours During the summer of 2009, 19 D-Boys members, including Yu Shirota participated in performances for fans at Akiba Plaza called "Kotoshi no Natsu wa Mainichi Dokoka de D-Boys Uki-uki Yatta Hohohoy" or for short, Natsu Doko. There were 49 performances in total of dances, songs and skits. New D-Boys member, Yusuke Yamada, was introduced to fans during these performances. Three CD+DVD sets featuring different recorded audio theater by separate groups of D-Boys members and footage of Natsu Doko were released on December 16, 2009.
Due to the success and demand of Natsu Doko, a live tour called Fuyu Doko 2009 was held in the winter of 2009 with 19 D-Boys members and Yu Shirota visiting major cities in Japan to promote the Natsu Doko 2009 CD+DVD release. It was the first live tour around the nation for the group.
Radio Marvelous Radio Vibration (May 5, 2005 - April 1, 2006) - weekly radio show hosted by Yu Shirota, Kotaro Yanagi and Yukki. D-Radio Boys (October 2007/present) - weekly radio show hosted by Masato Wada and Shunji Igarashi, featuring guest D-Boys members.
Other 43rd Secret New Years' Performance Tournament "Young Man Colosseum" (January 1, 2006) - television guest appearance, performed by Masaki Kaji and Hiroki Suzuki. 44th Secret New Years' Performance Tournament "Chinese Lion Dance" (January 1, 2007) - television guest appearance, performed by Yuya Endo, Masaki Kaji, Hiroki Suzuki, Masato Wada and Yuma Minakawa. 45th Secret New Years' Performance Tournament "Ikemen Jumpers" (January 1, 2008) - television guest appearance, performed by Masaki Kaji, Kouhei Kumai, Koji Seto, and Shingo Nakagawa. 45th Secret New Years' Performance Tournament "Kakushi Gei Dancing Ikemen" (Fuji TV - January 1, 2009) - television guest appearance, performed by Tomo Yanagishita, Endo Yuya, Masaki Kaji, Makita Tetsuya, Taito Hashimoto, and Ryuki Takahashi.
Media D-Boys members have released merchandise in the form of photobooks, DVDs and CDs individually, or in relation to a work project (e.g. character image CDs/photobooks). As a group, they have released a calendar featuring all D-Boys members and the following items:
Official photobooks Year Title Description Publisher Release date ISBN 2005 D-Boys D-Boys First Photobook Tokyo News Agency April 27, 2005 2006 Start! D-Boys 2nd Photobook Gakken Co., Ltd. March 15, 2006 2008 Dash D-Boys Third Photobook Kadokawa Marketing Co., Ltd. December 2008 2010 Darling D-Boys Fourth Photobook Shufu-to-Seikatsu Sha, Ltd. March 2010
DVD series Series Title DVD info Members Release date D-Boys Boy Friend Series No Fiction Volume 1 Shunji Igarashi June 24, 2009 Self-Discovery Volume 2 Yuichi Nakamura August 21, 2009 Peacemaker Volume 3 Hiroki Suzuki September 18, 2009 Sugao Volume 4 Hirofumi Araki October 23, 2009 Tomorrow Volume 5 Tomo Yanagishita November 26, 2009 Yu Channel Volume 6 Yu Shirota December 23, 2009 7 Heroes Volume 7 Yuichi Nakamura Shunji Igarashi Koji Seto Hiroki Suzuki Hirofumi Araki Masahiro Usui Masashi Mikami February 24, 2010 Super Rookie Volume 8 Ryuki Takahashi March 25, 2010 Tight Rizm Volume 9 Taito Hashimoto April 21, 2010 Set Out Volume 10 Koji Seto May 26, 2010 Natsu Doko 2009 Natsu Doko 2009 Kaze - Team Wind version DVD for D-Boys Natsu Doko 2009 All members with Yu Shirota December 16, 2009 Natsu Doko 2009 Yama - Team Mountain version DVD for D-Boys Natsu Doko 2009 All members with Yu Shirota December 16, 2009 Natsu Doko 2009 Kawa - Team River version DVD for D-Boys Natsu Doko 2009 All members with Yu Shirota December 16, 2009 Haru Doko 2010 Haru Doko 2010: Momo DVD for D-Boys Haru Doko 2010 Momo members July 14, 2010 Haru Doko 2010: Sakura DVD for D-Boys Haru Doko 2010 Sakura members July 14, 2010
Discography The D-Boys have released on December 16, 2009, three CD+DVD sets featuring different recorded audio theater by separate groups of D-Boys members on CD and footage of Natsu Doko on DVD. Natsu Doko 2009 debuted on the Oricon Charts in 11th.
Year Title CD info Members Chart debut Track listings 2009 Natsu Doko 2009 Kaze - Team Wind version Audio Theater album by D-Boys Team Wind members Tomo Yanagishita Endo Yuya Masato Wada Hiroki Suzuki Masaya Nakamura 11 D-Boys CD and DVD Natsu no Kakehashi Natsu Doko 2009 Yama - Team Mountain version Audio Theater album by D-Boys Team Mountain members Shunji Igarashi Kotaro Yanagi Osamu Adachi Masashi Mikami Yusuke Yamada 11 D-Boys CD and DVD Natsu no Kakehashi Natsu Doko 2009 Kawa - Team River version Audio Theater album by D-Boys Team River members Yuichi Nakamura Hirofumi Araki Masaki Kaji Tetsuya Makita Masahiro Usui 11 D-Boys CD and DVD Natsu no Kakehashi
References
External links
Watanabe Entertainment official website Interview with U (Shirota Yu)