Behind the scenes of Ae! group's "Debut Announcement Day"! "The world will change in two hours..." (Masamoto Yoshiki)

■In the backstage, members of Naniwa Danshi and Nagase Ren (King & Prince), who are from the same Kansai Junior group as Ae! group, were also there!

Episode 5 of Ae! group’s first solo documentary series, “BORDERLESS Ae! group: The Miracles Leading Up to Their Debut,” will be available exclusively on Netflix from June 5th.

Ae! group announced their CD debut in front of about 50,000 fans at their dome concert “Ae! group A’s Overwhelming Fan Thanksgiving Festival in Kyocera Dome Osaka ~Thank you everyone so much~” held in March. Episode 5 follows the group up until the day of their debut announcement.

On February 28th, about two weeks before the performance, a discussion was held on how to announce Ae! group’s debut in front of 50,000 people, and the production plan was discussed. As various opinions were exchanged, Shomen Ryosuke said with excitement, “I’m starting to get the feeling that everyone will come. I can’t wait to do it! I’m excited.”

In addition, performance practice for the debut single “《A》BEGINNING”, which will be performed for the first time on the second day of the concert, and band rehearsals have also begun. Kojima Ken gave a “graffiti” to Shoya Sano’s drum as a present. What was the idea that made Sano happy and exclaimed, “That’s really good!”?

Meanwhile, Kusuma Richard Keita, who has taken on the new role of bass in addition to saxophone, said he “went around eight music stores from Umeda to Namba” before purchasing his own bass.

“It’s difficult!?” he said, but he practiced hard under the guidance of his guitarist, Shomon. And the stage costumes arrived, which Suezawa Seiya said “have a Heisei feel, I like it!” Kojima added “further ideas” to the costumes.

As the fateful debut announcement approached, the members gave Sano a surprise celebration on his 22nd birthday on March 13th.

Then on March 15th, the day before the announcement, Suezawa, unable to hide his nervousness, said, “Will I be able to sleep tonight? I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep…” and told a “certain member” that he would call him at night.

March 16th finally arrived, the day of their debut announcement. As Ae! group entered the venue and was overwhelmed by the view of the Kyocera Dome, Kojima muttered, “So the upper seats are the arena and the lower seats are the stands?” The other members were surprised and quipped, “Is this your first time here?” (Suezawa) and “Is this for real? Is this a joke? Which is it?” (Shomon). Despite all this “commotion”, the members finished the dress rehearsal and returned to the dressing room.

While touching upon a certain song that will be sung towards the end of the performance, they reminisced, saying, “I think I’ll cry if I sing it during the actual performance” (Richard) and “I’ll probably never forget it” (Sano).

With the performance drawing nearer, the five members, who say that “the world will change in two hours” (Masamon), make a final check of the “arrangements for the debut announcement”. As the five members practice how to say “We will make our CD debut” to their fans, the tension in the backstage gradually increases. At that time, members of Ae! group, such as Ren Nagase (King & Prince) and Naniwa Danshi, who are from Kansai Junior High School, visit them.

10 minutes before the start of the show, Ae! group left the dressing room and formed a circle. Although each member had gone through many hardships, the five members, who had always believed in their debut, said goodbye to their junior days with “certain words” and headed towards the stage for the performance.

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Distribution information

Netflix“BORDERLESS Ae! group: The Miracle Until Debut”
Release date
Episode 1: 05/14 (Tue)
Episode 2: 05/15 (Wed)
Episode 3: 05/22 (Wed)
Episode 4: 05/29 (Wed)
Episode 5: 06/05 (Wed)
*Exclusively distributed worldwide on Netflix
*Overseas distribution schedules differ from domestic distribution schedules.

Cast: Ae! group (Ryosuke Masakado, Seiya Suezawa, Keita Kusama Richard, Ken Kojima, Shoya Sano)
Narration: Daigo Nishihata (Naniwa Boys)