Naniwa Danshi’s New Track ‘Ubu Love’ Is a Sugar Sweet Pop Symphony
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A good pop song is like magic, one listen and it can change your entire mood and no matter how many times you hear that same song, it will always have the same effect. “Ubu Love” from Japan’s Naniwa Danshi is just such a song.
Released on November 12th, 2021 the song about first love is a sugary sweet symphony of pure pop perfection. “Ubu Love” showcases the voices of each of the group’s seven members (who are all men between the ages of 19 and 25) and while there’s no doubt that they are all individually talented, they have something truly special when they sing together.
The name Naniwa Danshi translates into “The boys of old Osaka.”
While Ubu Love is their first commercial release, Naniwa Danshi has been performing local concerts and on Japanese variety television since its formation in 2018. They chose Ubu Love for the fact that it embodies the spirit of “Aoharu” an intentionally humorous misreading of the Japanese kanji word 青春 (“seishun,” or “time of youthful innocence”).
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The group adopted the word as part of their cute, silly, and playful stage presence.
Hello World! Get to know Johnny’s newest debuted group #NaniwaDanshi with their documentary “Naniwa Danshi’s Journey 1100 Days Till Debut,” coming to over 160 countries and territories worldwide Dec 22, 2021 on #AmazonPrimeVideo!
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— Johnny & Associates (@johnnys) November 18, 2021
This catchy and fun song can also be heard as one of the themes of My Love Mix-Up a live-action scripted comedy/drama based on the manga of the same name. Shunsuke Michieda, one of the group’s youngest members, portrays one of the leads, Aoki, a young man, who after an accident and a case of mistaken identity begins to realize he has feelings for Ida, the boy who sits in front of him in one of his classes. Ida is played by Ren Meguro of another popular Japanese pop group Snow Man who’s single Secret Touch is also featured as a theme in the series.
A music video was released via Youtube on October 18th and in the month since has garnered more than 12 million views. Pastel pink and super sweet the boys star as service station attendance who might not be able to fix cars, but they do have fun trying – and man they dance!
The physical release of the CD, which is packed with extended cuts of the music video, making-of, and behind-the-scenes bonus material, can be purchased by overseas fans with the help of Johnny’s official global sales proxy partner Neokyo.com. In addition to UBU LOVE, the single’s B-side track NANIWA’n WAY has also been released as a music video (which has almost three million views). The Maxi single also includes a handful of other songs (all just as fun as UBU LOVE including WHAT A FUNKY TIME and STARTING BELL.
You can follow Naniwa Danshi’s official Instagram and follow @Johnnys on Twitter for more news and announcements about Naniwa Danshi and the many other stars of Johnny & Associates!
