[OWV] Nikkei XTREND 221028

https://xtrend.nikkei.com/atcl/contents/18/00602/00025/

OWV - A talented group x Yoshimoto Kyogo, a pride of unique characters

OWV is an up-and-coming boy group, formed in April 2020 by 4 former participants of PRODUCE 101 JAPAN, the survival audition that gave birth to JO1. In addition to their solid skills in dancing and singing, they won the heart of their fans with the gap between having a mature and sexy look, and also an easy approachable and honest side.

Their activities started after the audition ended, when Honda Kosuke, the future leader of the group, approached Yoshimoto Kyogo, their current agency, directly regarding (possible) activities. He made the self-analysis that a “boy group of Yoshimoto Kyogo” would their own novelty and strength amidst the countless active boy groups. This also turned out to be the origin of the group name “Our only Way to get Victory” (= becoming an unique group that no one is able to copy and taking the victory in this world’), a pride they have.

Kosuke: After the audition ended, while talking to Yoshimoto Kyogo (who were involved in the production of the program), I said “Wouldn’t it be possible to be active as an unit?” and after receiving a “Let’s do it”, OWV was formed. The main factor for the four of us forming this group was, that we just got along very well together. We were four people having the same dreams, or rather we were aiming in the same direction of what we wanted to do. This group is a project from a blank sheet of paper, something Yoshimoto Kyogo and we created together. I believe we have paved a new way.

Shuta: I think that this time, where there are a lot of artists, you will be unable to reach the top even if you walk the same path as a similar group as walked before. We want to widen the qualities of Yoshimoto Kyogo & Universal Sigma (OWV’s recording label). There is the gap between OWV’s music and the sternness of our visuals, where you can feel our mature side and on the other hand our banters in the MCs. If we can perfect this, OWV will surely become a strong and unique group.

Kosuke: Sure enough, being signed to Yoshimoto was the biggest thing for the group (so far). When I think about how it would have been if we would have signed to some so-called artist agency… I can’t really imagine it. Especially since we are able to actively collaborate with comedians, we have been shaped into what we are now, with our fun talks. In regards to music, Universal Sigma is pushing us forward, and we are learning from various seniors by participating in festivals. Another motivation had been our meetings with comedians. I think it is rare for other groups to be in an environment where comedians are close by and approach you. The group’s direction of being artists who can sing, dance and be funny is something we are only able to do under Yoshimoto Kyogo.

Fumiya: We signed right at the break into the “7th generation” of comedians. In this regard, OWV is a “7th generation artist”. I would like our catch phrase to be “Following the footsteps of Shimofuri Myojo! The 7th generation artist”
TN: Shimofuri Myojo - a manzai duo from Yoshimoto Kyogo. They are actually critical of the 7th generation of comedians, saying people are just in it for the glory. Still the media counts them as one of the representative comedians of this era.

Their mid term goal is to have an oneman show in front of 10.000 people

The 6 singles they have released since their debut all charted in the Top 5 of the Orion weekly charts. On 2nd November 2022, they will release their 7th single “Let Go”. The title track, that has been pre-released already, is a beautiful ballad that expresses with a sad singing the feelings of parting from a loved one and not being able to let go afterwards. They performed it for the first time on their second tour “OWV LIVE TOUR 2022 -STRANGE-“ which started on 1st October, and their epic performance attracted quite the attention.

Kosuke: Since we released (the dance tune) Time Jackerz (as our 6th single), we all said “Next, a ballad would be nice’”. First we had set up the theme of “a ballad that could work out even if we don’t dance”, but after all one of OWV’s strengths is dancing. So we said “Let’s try to dance to it” and added choreography as well.

Katsunari: We first showed it to the fans at the tour. About a year ago we first performed new songs at our tour and I felt happy regarding this.

Kosuke: The performance on stage was more difficult than I had imagined. It has choreography and lyrics so unlike our other songs, and it was hard for me to put emotions into it. However, there was the sense of “a song that makes you listen” and I was abler to immerse myself into the song. It was a new kind of fun for me.

Fumiya: Indeed. I feel that the lyrics reached the fans straight in their hearts. When I was watching their reactions and expressions during the performance, I could tell they were directly affected by those.

Katsunari: Also the music video displays a new atmosphere. So far we had a lot of videos that were made of dancing and image cuts, but this time it contains a lot of scenes in which the members act a bit. On top of that, we show the dance in the chorus. I think it got a fresh feeling, something different from OWV’s prevíous music videos, so I hope you will listen to it and watch it a lot.

When asked about their future goals, they replied with some worry “We said so much…” (Sano), they also talked about the hot topics they only talk about during live shows. The group, always friendly and cheerful, were constantly chattering about their goals.

Fumiya: The short term goal is of course that everyone stays fit and we can finish the tour.

Shuta: Yes, that’s important.

Kosuke: The long term goal is to have 50.000 people coming to our tour all together.

Katsunari: And staying fit in this case, too.

Shuta: That all together 50.000 people come to the tour?

Kosuke: Yes. 5 times more than the current tour. I guess we could make it happen if we had 30 shows on that tour. I am thinking that this time we are doing 6 shows in 3 cities, and next year we are gonna visit a few more places and then in the end, bam! We will have a concert in a big venue. Ah no, this sounds somehow vague. I aim “to have a solo concert in a venue that has a capacity of 10.000 people within 2-3 years”.

Shuta: Ah this sounds better.

Kosuke: It’s easier to understand, right? Earlier was vague, I will reflect on this (laughs).

Lastly, we asked Honda, born in 1995 and who is proud to be “exactly a Generation Z member” and the two years younger Nakagawa, the two oldest members of the group, about their favorite form of entertainment lately.

Katsunari: I have been playing (the shooting game) “Apex Legends” since about my final year of highschool and I’m so into it that I already broke one controller from playing too much. It all started when I first tried it out at my friend’s house, with whom I have been close since middle school. But what I really want to say is that “I am into watching stage plays”. There are a lot of plays lately that I want to watch. I really want to see the Harry Potter one (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), but so far the dates never worked out, so I didn’t go yet. So I can’t really say “I’m into this” yet…

Kosuke: I’m into Disney movies these days.

Katsunari: Really?

Kosuke: Really. I subscribed to “Disney Plus”. As an artist who expresses himself, when I thought about “What could be the best entertainment?”, I just knew I had to watch Disney movies. The first era animation movies, that had no text yet, were particularly interesting and they attracted me. Originally Mickey Mouse had been my role model, but from the viewpoint of just not being “interesting”, I’m watching one movie per day to rediscover myself and learn something. Disney’s own way of linking music and story is also a great teacher for my work.