<figure id="attachment_348294" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1000px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-348294"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="25ec79b7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/56b41a06a8a3b636b515bc62d2cb4e01-1.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-348294" class="wp-caption-text">The Trio of Number_i: Jinguji (Left), Hirano (Center), Kishi (Right)</figcaption></figure>
Three groups belonging to STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, SUPER EIGHT, WEST., and Naniwa Boys, have formed a new unit from Kansai called &#8220;KAMIGATA BOYZ.&#8221; In late April, a teaser video was released, but soon plagiarism suspicions arose.
Furthermore, from the same agency, the five-member group from Kansai, Aぇ! group just made their CD debut. However, there seemed to be a sense of déjà vu among those who saw their jacket photos and SNS posts.
According to the official website of KAMIGATA BOYZ, the unit was born as a family project originating from Kansai.On April 28th, &#8220;THIS IS &#8216;KAMIGATA BOYZ&#8217; [Official Teaser]&#8221; was uploaded to the Storm Labels Official channel on YouTube, delighting fans on social media.
&#8220;In this video, the members of KAMIGATA BOYZ are seen wearing black street-style fashion. Despite usually following a sparkling idol image, Naniwa Boys also showed a cool expression, portraying a new side in the teaser. In the background, a melody blending traditional Japanese instruments with hip-hop flows, with lyrics repeatedly chanting KAMIGATA BOYZ only. Some fans speculated this might be a part of their music, expressing excitement saying that the track sounds incredibly cool, they can’t wait to listen, asking if they are going to rap or there will be a CD.”- Entertainment Writer
However, among some netizens who watched the teaser,
“The intro sounds like CHANBARA.”
“I won&#8217;t say it&#8217;s plagiarism, but it resembles CHANBARA.”
“It reminds me of CHANBARA.”
Such observations led to the word &#8216;CHANBARA&#8217; trending on X (formerly Twitter), further escalating the situation.
&#8220;CHANBARA is said to be a fantastic song once performed by King &amp; Prince members Ren Nagase, Kaito Takahashi, and Sho Hirano (at the time) on stage. Since it hasn&#8217;t been released on CD, it holds a special place in fans&#8217; hearts. While some voices claim similarity between the melody in KAMIGATA BOYZ&#8217;s teaser and CHANBARA, others expressed opposing views, leading to a heated debate.&#8221; &#8211; Same source
Subsequently, it was revealed that KAMIGATA BOYZ would release a new song titled “Musekinin de Eejanaika Love” on May 3rd. The lyrics and composition were handled by music creator Kenichi Maeyamada (Hyadain), and it turned out to be a bright and poppy Tonchiki song typical of the Kansai region.
&#8220;If the audio from the previously released teaser video had turned out to be KAMIGATA BOYZ&#8217;s debut song, it might have been plagued by dishonorable plagiarism rumors indefinitely. However, the KAMIGATA BOYZ – Musekinin de Eejanaika Love [Official Music Video] uploaded on YouTube is filled with comical scenes and is entirely different from the teaser video, turning out to be a completely different music video. For fans, it was a development that pleasantly surprised them in a good way. Negative voices have diminished for now, and the situation seems to have calmed down without a major uproar.&#8221; &#8211; Same source
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On the other hand, when it comes to units originating from Kansai, on May 15th, Aぇ! group released &#8220;《A》BEGINNING&#8221; and made their CD debut. When the CD jacket photos were unveiled on March 26th, both the regular and limited edition versions bore a striking resemblance to the jackets of INI&#8217;s debut single &#8220;A&#8221; (released in November &#8217;21), sparking discussions.
“The Aぇ! group and INI, the jacket of the regular and limited first edition A is designed with the &#8220;A&#8221; mark, which is also included in the CD title, as the main feature. GROUP&#8217;s first pressing limited edition A also appears to have the same color background. The &#8220;A&#8221; is drawn in white on each of them, which is also a coincidence,&#8221; he said.
Furthermore, regarding Aぇ! group, their official Instagram post on April 24th also sparked accusations of plagiarism. At this time, they uploaded six images labeled as &#8220;solo artist photos.&#8221; The first image featured the eyes of the five members arranged vertically, with a maroon-colored background similar to the CD jacket.
This photo drew numerous comments likening it to the jacket of King &amp; Prince&#8217;s single &#8220;Lovin&#8217; you / Odoru You ni Jinsei wo.&#8221; (released in April &#8217;22) limited edition version A. The comments section of Instagram was flooded with blunt reactions like &#8220;Copying King &amp; Prince.&#8221;
As evident from the KAMIGATA BOYZ incident, fans are sensitive to plagiarism issues. In the case of Aぇ! group, this controversy occurred before their debut, so it&#8217;s essential for the agency to conduct thorough research in the future.
 
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 Yusuke Kondo (Shiyoh Hirano, Yuta Kishi), Ippei Hara (Yuta Jinguji)

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