[OWV] BoyAge Festival Issue 230111

OWV reached the third year since their formation. How do they keep their team work in mind as these four strong individual personalities move forward on their way? Which sides of them changed from the time they met to now, and which of those evolved?

Theme Talk
Team Work -How to build a relationship of trust-

That we became able to have such good teamwork, is because each one of us was able to establish their own character

Does everyone of you have something they keep in mind or is particular about in your activities with OWV?
Katsunari: We tend not to do so, right?
Kosuke: Not really~
Katsunari: What I feel is that we all have strong individual personalities. We all have our own strong feelings and determination. But we want to do the same things as a group and this was clear since the formation. Thus, it never happened that I thought something like 'We have to emphasize this as a group!', but I feel there is a strange balance of the four of us getting along very well.
Shuta: We also unconsciously help each other. We are four members, so when for example someone gets something to drink during a MC or someone has a coughing fit and thus stops talking, there are even less members who can talk. But in such moments the other members follow the flow naturally. This is not just the case for live shows but also in interviews or variety shows. On the other hand, when three members talk a lot, I feel one member calmly watches. In the last two years this developed naturally.
Katsunari: Because it’s like we are always together, both at work and in private, right?
Shuta: The way you say it sounds like song lyrics? (Laughs)
Katsunari: Like 'Be always with me' (laughs). But it’s really like this and I feel the result of this that the team work came to be on its own. We don’t really keep this in mind, but we are close with each other.
Fumiya: I think this is also because we are not just close with each other, we trust each other, too.
Kosuke: It might be this, but I believe that we were able to have such good teamwork, is also because each one of us was able to establish our own character. We all understand our own characters, so we think ‘I can leave this to this person’ or ‘Here I will talk’.

This feels like you distributed the roles, right?
Kosuke: That’s right. We do this diligently. We were close from the start, so there was consistency, but everyone made truly use of their characters after they became able to comprehend all characters. Hence, I can feel that we can move forward in our talks and work more smoothly than before.

And having these characters also happened naturally?
Kosuke: That’s right. Because it happened that during our activities, the members and the fans got the image of ‘This person is like this’. A certain person however, that guy Nakagawa, his character became blurry currently (laughs).
Shuta: Rather than becoming blurry, it’s that his wall was taken down (laughs).
Katsunari: Indeed. Because I think there had been a huge wall in the beginning.
Shuta: Because you are shy.
Katsunari: Yes. But this one disappeared now and I became normal. I feel this makes my character blurry on the other hand (laughs). Thus, I feel a bit sorry that Honda-kun became interested in me and asked me whether we want to do this together in a time when the wall was still there (laughs).
Kosuke: No, I’m fine, however, if you are like now in private.
Katsunari: I was weird in the beginning, wasn’t I? But I want to diligently protect the character that is needed for performances in the future.

Sano-kun, what are your thoughts regarding OWV’s teamwork?
Fumiya: To work as a team was something I really disliked in the past. I hated acting as a group so much that I left the baseball club and joined the track and field club (laughs).

Such people often join boy groups and are active with those (laughs).
Fumiya: That’s absolutely right.
Katsunari: This is also funny, isn’t it?
Fumiya: Because I didn't think much about it. Speaking of this, In a boy group, it’s like there is someone other than me, too! (Laughs). But while being active with OWV, I can actually feel the perks of everyone having the same goal and running towards it. Hence, despite me having my own pace, I want to cherish the team during this.

Of course. Teams also have their perks.
Katsunari: They have a lot. Sure enough in your activities, you will discover the sides where you lack. But when the members are there at this moment, they will compensate for this. Thanks to this we can create something good, so I feel the team is something really great.

You can balance each other.
Katsunari: That’s right! That’s right! To make it simple, there is the role of the leader, right? That’s a role I can’t do. But there is someone in the group who takes up this role. I feel this is an amazing merit.

I feel that exactly because it is these four people OWV’s charms are getting refined.

This connects to the “role distribution” that Honda-kun had mentioned earlier. Like the right person is at the right place.
Kosuke: Exactly this. I believe we are like this.
Fumiya: This is like a… Yakiniku menu?
Katsunari: Hm? What do you mean? (Laughs)
Fumiya: Isn’t it “Let’s say it in a four character idiom!”?
TN: 適材適所(the right person at the right place) and 焼肉定食 (yakiniku menu) are both 4 characters in Japanese. A lot of Japanese metaphors are 4 character idioms.
Katsunari: No, because it’s not this (laughs). Also, yakiniku menu isn’t such a four character idiom.
Fumiya: Well, to answer this seriously, when I arrive at the workplace and say “Good morning”, they reply “Good morning”. This makes me happy.
Katsunari: Cute!
Fumiya: But I think if I had debuted alone, this would not happen. It is the same as when I return home to my family and say “I’m home” and they reply “Welcome back” and it makes me somehow feel relieved. Because I feel the members are like a family and this makes me feel happy.
Shuta: But you rarely say “Good morning”, don’t you?
Fumiya: Yes, and even if someone else says it I don’t reply.
Kosuke: Someone reading this must think you are the worst.
Fumiya: But when I say it from time to time and get a reply, I’m happy!
Shuta: Makes sense. What I think is a perk of the group is that we all come from different backgrounds. That's exactly why everyone can teach me a lot about the things I don’t know. I feel this is really great.

Can you give an example for this?
Shuta: Games, manga, anime and sports. I rarely came in touch with those (in the past). But they gifted me a game for my birthday and they told me about manga, so I’m reading “ONE PIECE” right now.

Right now!? You started pretty late (laughs).
Fumiya: See! They all react like this!
Shuta: But after reading it it’s pretty funny, and since we started to cook on YouTube, everyone teaches me this and so on. There might be something I would have never noticed myself, so I feel my life has become richer.
Kosuke: I get that. There is a lot we can learn from everyone, isn’t it? We are different kinds of people, so when these four people come together, lots of different opinions and ideas come out. I feel that thanks to this my brain grew bigger. This is also reflected in the brain as OWV. Thus, I became able to image things I would have never thought of myself and the topics for the MC also became more, so I feel that exactly because it is these four people OWV’s charms are getting refined. They even reply to my advanced gags, so this is amazing, too.
Shuta: Because they are not advanced.
Katsunari: I don’t know. Maybe these will be well received jokes in the future.
Fumiya: Yes, in the year 20XX.

Sure enough our style is to cover each other’s weaknesses and work hard together!

Do you also consult with each other in regards to the song production?
Kosuke: We do. We chose the songs all together and from time to time our opinions on those differ. At such times, we discuss with each other why we think that song is good.
Fumiya: Also regarding the choreography, we get proposals from the vocal-line such as 'This choreographer would be good' and also when we record the songs, when someone records alone, the other three members listen to it. Because of this, there is the feeling that we created everything together.
Shuta: When we struggle with the dancing, another member will help us. I certainly feel that we improved (thanks to this).
Katsunari: In regard to dancing, they help me so much that I’m a bit ashamed. They diligently help me when I ask them, for which I am grateful. From time to time a member does the choreography for one of our songs, but this is also something I personally can’t do. Hence, I feel like this is another strengh for this group and another virtue of it, too.
Fumiya: If I didn't teach you, I could be the popular one however (laughs).
Katsunari: He might say so, but in reality he teaches me with a really happy face.
Shuta: Right. With a wide smile he teaches up to the extra parts.
Fumiya: To be honest, I’m the happiest when I’m told “Teach me!”. Sure enough our style is to cover each other’s weaknesses and work hard together!
Katsunari: But during the MC everyone tries to make the audience laugh.
Fumiya: It’s a battle royal, isn’t it?
Kosuke: Right. In the MC it’s like who can make the others laugh.
Fumiya: It’s the World Martial Arts Tournament.
TN: World Martial Arts Tournament is a reference to “Dragonball”, a tournament that features the Earth’s strongest fighters.
Katsunari: That said, I think my character is becoming blurry because everyone is too funny. Because I can’t survive if I stay quiet.
Shuta: Because lately, Kacchan puts great importance on the adjective “funny”, doesn’t he? (Laughs) But I’m sure there is a lot of demand for “cool” and such, too.
Katsunari: No, the “cool” is weak inside of me.
Fumiya: Indeed. The expiry date of “cool” might be early. “Someone funny” keeps on being told they are funny no matter how much time passes.
Katsunari: Exactly! That’s why I feel “funnily cool” is the best.

It is different at oneman shows and at festivals, but actually it’s not right to say festival, rather we go into a battle.

And in order to become so, you are surely studying “funny” right now (laughs).
Katsunari: That’s right.
Kosuke: Also now you are funny enough when you are relaxed.
Fumiya: But everyone has a different style of being funny.
Shuta: That’s right. Honda-kun is a specialist for one-liners and I guess I’m the one for reactions.
Katsunari: And it depends on who picks up Honda-kun's jokes, as well as what happens afterwards.

Because one of OWV’s strengths are your MCs during your live shows, right? (Laughs)
Fumiya: Because we see MC also like a song.
Shuta: Yes. We want to make the audience as satisfied as if they had heard another song.
Kosuke: Last year during the “Inazuma Rockfest”, we squeezed in 2 MCs. But other artists didn’t even have one.

2 MCs, during how many songs? (Laughs)
Kosuke: During 5 songs (laughs)
Shuta: I heard you don’t really do MCs at a rock festival. Because everyone came to hear the music.
Kosuke: But we put too much effort in our MCs and squeezed in two of them. Thus, when no one else did them, we thought ‘Huh? They don’t do that?’
Shuta: It was normal (what they did).
Fumiya: Maybe in our case, I feel that one day our first song will be a MC.
Katsunari: This would be hilarious! But during the “Inazuma Rockfest”, Nishikawa-san also told us 'I’m looking forward to your MC! Because I will be watching you from the wing (of the stage).' So we had no choice but to do it.
Kosuke: We had no choice but to squeeze in two. But since we were the first ones to perform, I think we warmed up the crowd.

Furthermore, this was good because it made you different from the other artists.
Katsunari: I agree. I think we want to walk a little different way.

Including these MCs, I believe live shows are a very important place for OWV. Is there something you keep in mind at such times?
Fumiya: It is different at oneman shows and at festivals, but actually it’s not right to say festival, rather we imagine that we go into a battle.
Kosuke: Exactly. We think on how we can make the parts of the audience who are not our fans raise their hands for example.
Katsunari: When we find someone who doesn’t raise their hand, we launch a concentrated attack against them! (Laughs)
Shuta: Because in reality we say something like 'Please raise your hand' or to sitting people 'Please stand up'. We have the huge intention of wanting to have fun with everyone.
Katsunari: Because there are lots of shy people among Japanese people, it is sometimes important to tell them something. It’s like if you like music, it doesn’t matter (to us) whose fan you are!
Kosuke: Furthermore, we will make our big breakthrough in the future and it would be a shame if you didn’t see us back then.
Fumiya: As long as you can still see us closely.
Shuta: We are a confident group.

Then how is it during a oneman show?
Kosuke: We have a concept, so we value this and we create it considering a flow adding songs that makes the fans happy. An oneman show is a creation, so our way of thinking is absolutely different compared to a show with other artists.
Fumiya: The key point is that QWV are included in the making of it. And for outside events, (the key point is) that people discover us. In contrast, oneman shows have the sense that everyone is creating the space together.

Your favorite and least favorite weekday
A question for all artists appearing in this issue! “What was your favorite and least favorite weekday as a child?” We bring you their answers along with their reasons!

Favorite day
Kosuke: Sunday
Back then on Sundays between 7:30 am and 8:30 am two Sentai shows, bundled together as “Super Hero time” aired. I loved those, and on Sundays the whole family came together, we were able to eat lunch together or go shopping, which I enjoyed.
Katsunari: Friday
I really hated studying, but due to my parents’ upbringing I pretty much went to cram school every day. Only on the weekend I didn’t have to go. And I prepared for that on Friday (laughs). I enjoyed this day because my favorite anime such as “Doraemon” and “Crayon Shin-chan” aired on this day.
Shuta: Thursday
Because it had a 'long lunch break' that was about 10 minutes longer than (the one) on other days. So, together with my friends I used to play 'SASUKE' (= Ninja Warrior) using the school playground equipment such as the monkey bars, climbing bars, slides and so on. We also played dodgeball and soccer. But I wasn’t particularly active in any of these (laughs).
Fumiya: Saturday
On Saturdays I had out of school activities. I hated these activities itself, but as an elementary school student it’s exciting to meet your friends at night, isn’t it? We felt a bit like we did something bad (laughs). It was only 9pm, but (it felt like this) because it was something you normally can’t do.

Least favorite day
Kosuke: Wednesday
I went to school so often, but only half of the week had passed… I hated this thought. I also didn’t like my timetable on Wednesdays much. It was annoying to have lots of humanities and there was no art class. Because I only liked arts and sports (laughs).
Katsunari: Monday
Despite relaxing since Friday and finally resting on the weekend, my body reset itself again and a long week started. I remember how tough it was for me to keep studying in my mind. On the contrary, I recall that by Wednesday I somewhat got used to studying (laughs).
Shuta: Monday
I went to a cram school because I wanted to take the entrance exam for middle school. Their (weekly evaluation) result came out on Monday. Since my parents supported me in my studies, I was always nervous on Mondays. However, in the summer during my 6th year in elementary school, I started to aim for the entertainment world, so I pretty much gave up on the middle school entrance exam (laughs).
Fumiya: Tuesday
I was somehow able to overcome Monday which had some remains of the weekend (laughs). But Tuesdays were just awful. Moreover in summer we had swimming lessons on Tuesdays, but I am a hopeless swimmer. So, it felt like a punishment and I hated it. Despite, on the ground, I ranked first in the prefectural fitness test!