A.B.C-Z


A.B.C-Z is a five-member Japanese boy band under Johnny & Associates. The group's former name was A.B.C., which stands for Acrobat Boys Club. It was changed to A.B.C-Z after Ryosuke Hashimoto was moved to the group from J.J.Express in 2008. Due to the Japanese pronunciations of their name, the fans usually refer to them as "Ebi".
The group was a former Johnny's Jr. unit. They debuted February 2, 2012 with their DVD Za ABC ~5 Stars~.

History

2001–2008: As A.B.C.

Members:
In 2002 they became A.B.C. with Yoshikazu Toshin.

2008–2011: A.B.C-Z pre-debut

In Summer 2008, it was announced that Ryosuke Hashimoto, who was a member of J.J.Express would join A.B.C., thus the group name changing to A.B.C-Z, their name is an acronym for "Acrobatics Boys Club Z" the Z symbolizing the last member coming into the group and completing them like Z completes the alphabet. Right after that they held a concert, along with Kis-My-Ft2.
In May 2010 they were allowed to hold their own concert at Theater Crea in Tokyo. It was also the first time they produced their own concert. They had their solo live from May 11 until 19th and then other units from Johnny's Jr. will take part in, and hold four different kinds of show in total until May 31.
On July 23, during the PLAYZONE'11 musical, Fumito Kawai broke his left leg, causing him not to be able to appear for the rest of the show. After PLAYZONE'11 A.B.C-Z was scheduled to be in the stage play Shonentachi Koushi naki Rougoku. Johnny H. Kitagawa was at the opening of this show and revealed a new group of seven, ABC-xyZ, centred on the already existing four member group A.B.C-Z. He also hinted that things could get going by 2012, but for that Kawai needs to get better first.
On November 6 they held their first one-man concert at Tokyo’s Yoyogi National Stadium for 26,000 fans. They also announced that in February next year they will be hosting a play, titled “ABC-za Star Kouen”, at Nissay Theater in Tokyo. Johnny H. Kitagawa commented that they may debut the next year.
On December 9 A.B.C-Z held a press conference for their upcoming stage play “ABC-za Star Kouen”. They also announced that they will be debuting in 2012 with a DVD. This would make them the first Johny's to do so. They hope to release the DVD before the opening of their stage play on February 4. It is said that the DVD will be released under Johnny's Entertainment. By the end of December the release date, February 1st, 2012, was then made public, along with the content of the DVD.

2012–2018: Debut and 5th anniversary

A.B.C-Z made their debut in 31st January at :ja:SHIBUYA-AX|Shibuya AX which gathered 15.000 fans. Their DVD debut got number 1 in Oricon weekly ranking. In July, their variety show "" starts broadcasting in TV Tokyo.
In June 2014, the first drama of A.B.C-Z members ":ja:魔法★男子チェリーズ|Magical Boy Cherry's" starts broadcasting in TV Tokyo.
In September 2015, A.B.C-Z released their first single "Moonlight Walker" which got number 1 in Oricon weekly ranking.
4 years after their debut, in July 2016 A.B.C-Z established their official Fan Club
A.B.C-Z celebrated 5th anniversary of the group's debut in 2017 by releasing the single ":ja:Reboot!!!|Reboot!!!" and an album ":ja:5_Performer-Z|5 Performer-z", followed by the ":ja:A.B.C-Z_5Stars_5Years_Tour|A.B.C-Z 5Stars 5Years Tour".
In 2018 A.B.C-Z celebrated their 10th year of the group formation and did a collaboration event with amusement park :ja:ジョイポリス#%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%82%A4%E3%83%9D%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9|"Tokyo Joypolis", the event was called "A.B.C-Z 5stars CIRCUS in JOYPOLIS". The group also released a new single "JOYしたいキモチ" for this collaboration event.

2019

A.B.C-Z held their last concert of the :ja:A.B.C-Z_2018_Love_Battle_Tour|Love Battle Tour in Yokohama Arena on January 8, they announced a new single "Black Sugar" which will be released on March 28. They also announced a new drama "" that will be airing in Nagoya TV on April, the theme song for the drama is A.B.C-Z song "Showtime" from the single "Black Sugar".
The group released their 6th album on August 7th ":ja:Going_with_Zephyr|Going With Zephyr", followed by the tour with the same title as their album. Their collaboration event with the amusement park ":ja:ジョイポリス#%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%82%A4%E3%83%9D%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9|Tokyo Joypolis" continued for the second year in a row.

Current members

Albums

  1. from ABC to Z
  2. A.B.Sea Market
  3. ABC Star Line
  4. 5 Performer-Z
  5. VS 5
  6. Going With Zephyr
  1. Moonlight walker
  2. Take a "5" Train
  3. Reboot!!!
  4. 終電を超えて〜Christmas Night/忘年会!BOU!NEN!KAI!
  5. JOYしたいキモチ
  6. Black Sugar
Original DVDs
Release DateTitleRank
1st2012.02.01"Za ABC ~5stars~"1
2nd2012.09.12"Zutto LOVE"1
3rd2013.03.06"Twinkle Twinkle A.B.C-Z"2
4th2013.07.10"Walking on Clouds"1
5th2013.11.20"Never My Love"2
6th2014.07.09"Legend Story"1
7th2015.01.07"SPACE TRAVELERS"1
8th2016.03.16"Hanakotoba"2

Music Videos
YearTitleDVD/CD
2012"Za ABC ~5stars~" Music ClipZa ABC ~5stars~
2012"Suna no GLASS" Dance ClipZa ABC ~5stars~
2012"Zutto LOVE" Music ClipZutto LOVE
2012"Bokura ~LOVE&PEACE~" Dance ClipZutto LOVE
2013"Twinkle Twinkle A.B.C-Z" Music ClipTwinkle Twinkle A.B.C-Z
2013"Desperado" Dance ClipTwinkle Twinkle A.B.C-Z
2013"Walking on Clouds" Music ClipWalking on Clouds
2013"My Life" Dance ClipWalking on Clouds
2013"Never My Love" Music ClipNever My Love
2013"Like A Blow" Dance ClipNever My Love
2014"Legend Story" Music ClipLegend Story
2014"Bokura no Kotae - Here We Go -" Dance ClipLegend Story
2015"SPACE TRAVELERS" Music ClipSPACE TRAVELERS
2015"Finally Over" Dance ClipSPACE TRAVELERS
2015"Shower Gate" Music ClipA.B.Sea Market
2015"Moonlight walker" Music ClipMoonlight walker
2016"Hanakotoba" Short Film x Music ClipHanakotoba
2016"Take a "5" Train" Music ClipTake a "5" Train
2017"Reboot!!!" Music ClipReboot!!!
2017"テレパシーOne! Two!" Music Clip & Dance Clip5 Performer-Z
2017"終電を超えて〜Christmas Night" Music Clip終電を超えて〜Christmas Night/忘年会!BOU!NEN!KAI!
2017"忘年会!BOU!NEN!KAI!" Music Clip終電を超えて〜Christmas Night/忘年会!BOU!NEN!KAI!
2018"Future Light" Music ClipVS 5
2018"Rock With U" Music ClipVS 5
2018"JOYしたいキモチ" Music ClipJOYしたいキモチ
2019"Black Sugar" Music ClipBlack Sugar
2019"Crush On You" Music ClipGoing With Zephyr
2019"リンネ" Music ClipGoing With Zephyr

Live Tour DVDs
Release DateTitleRank
2013.10.16"A.B.C-Z 2013 Twinkle x2 Star Tour"5
2015.03.16"Summer Concert 2014 A.B.C-Z★"Legend""4
2015.10.28"A.B.C-Z Early summer concert"3
2016.12.07"A.B.C-Z Star Line Travel Concert"5
2018.02.07"A.B.C-Z 5Stars 5Years Tour"1
2019.01.30"A.B.C-Z Love Battle Tour"

Musical/Stage Play DVDs
Release DateTitleRank
2012.07.04"ABC za Star Gekijyō"1
2013.01.16"Johnny's Dome Theatre ~SUMMARY2012~ A.B.C-Z"5
2013.03.20"Shōnentachi Jail in the Sky"12
2013.08.14"Johnnys' World no Kansha-sai in Tokyo Dome"1
2014.06.25"A.B.C Za 2013 Johnny's Densetsu "7
2017.03.15"ABC座2016 株式会社応援屋!!～OH＆YEAH!!～"2
2018.08.29"ABC座 ジャニーズ伝説2017"6

Other DVDs

Variety shows