Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku
Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku is a Japanese female idol group. The group's name is officially shortened to Ebichu. The group was created by 3B Junior, the third section of the talent agency Stardust Promotion. Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku is considered a "little sister" group to another Stardust Promotion girl group, Momoiro Clover Z.
Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku is named after a fictitious school in Ebisu, a neighborhood in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was planned as a group of elementary and middle school students. However, this concept has changed as the members aged. The group currently uses "Forever a Middle-schooler" as their concept.
The group was officially nicknamed "King of the School Play", and was advertised as being a group with very rough singing and dancing skills. Or, more accurately, the group's slogan at the time was "Unarticulated dance and shaky vocals." However, the group has outgrown said slogan over time, and have since reached a point where they're praised for their vocal skills. Originally formed as a quintet on August 4, 2009, the lineup has changed multiple times since then, with some members having "changed school" and some having "transferred in".
History
Formation and "indie" years (2009–2012)
Ebichu was formed as a quintet on August 4, 2009. The original lineup consisted of Kanon, Mizuki, Narumi Uno, Reina Miyazaki and Rika Mayama. The group started out performing short sets at malls and shopping centers. In October, Ayaka Yasumoto and Natsu Anno were added to the lineup.On February 14, 2010, Kanon announced her departure from the group. On the same day, Hinaki Yano was announced as a new member. The group's first single "Asa no Chime ga Narimashita" was released the same day as well.
In April, Aika Hirota was added as a new member. One month later in May, four new members: Mirei Hoshina, Rio Koike, Hirono Suzuki and Rina Matsuno, were announced, bringing the total number of members to 12.
The group released their second single, "Ebizori Diamond!!", on August 7.
On November 23, it was announced that Narumi Uno would be departing the group on January 10. In addition, Hinata Kashiwagi was announced as a new member. From this day until Uno's departure, the group's lineup reached its peak at 13 members.
On January 10, 2011, the group released their third single "Chime! / Doshaburi Regret". Narumi Uno departed the same day.
It was announced on February 21 that Hinaki Yano would depart from the group, and her final performance would take place on March 20. However, due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, her departure was postponed to April 17. On April 27, the group released their 4th single "The Tissue ~Tomaranai Seishun~".
Rio Koike announced through a blog post on June 7, that she would be departing from the group to focus on her education.
In June, it was announced that Ebichu was to hold their first solo concert, on October 8 at Shibuya O-East. Parts of it were released on the band's first live DVD, which was released on February 15 of the next year. In total, Ebichu gave three sold-out performances in October.
Two more singles, "Oh My Ghost? ~Watashi ga Akuryou ni Nattemo~" and "Motto Hashire!!", were released in July and October respectively.
Reina Miyazaki announced her departure from the group in December. This would be Ebichu's last lineup change for several years.
As of March 2012, there were nine members and the only two original members who still remained in the group were Mayama and Mizuki. Although in April 2012 they both entered high school, it was decided that they would remain in the group. They started joking that they were middle school students forever.
Major label debut and ''Chunin'' (2012–2013)
After six "indie" singles on their talent agency's recording label, the latest few of which charted on Oricon, the group signed a temporary contract with the major label Defstar Records to release a single titled, incidentally, "Karikeiyaku no Cinderella". The release date had already been determined as May 5, 2012, the Children's Day. The contract signing was made into a ceremony, which was held on March 4 in the presence of a large audience of fans. The single "Karikeiyaku no Cinderella" debuted at number 7 in the Oricon daily ranking for May 1. Having peaked in the daily chart at number 2, it also debuted at number 7 in the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.From March 11 to May 20, Ebichu embarked on their first major tour, titled "Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku Spring DefSTAR Tour 2012 ~Korya Haru kara Ebi ga ii!~", totaling 26 performances.
On June 25, 2012, Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku performed at "Yubi Matsuri", an idol festival produced by Rino Sashihara from AKB48. The concert was held at Nippon Budokan before a crowd of 8,000 people and featured such girl groups as Idoling!!!, Super Girls, Tokyo Girls' Style, Nogizaka46, Passpo, Buono!, Momoiro Clover Z, and Watarirouka Hashiritai 7.
On July 1, 2012, Ebichu held a three and a half hour solo concert at Nippon Seinenkan. The show was called "Jā Best Ten" and featured an imaginary ranking of the group's songs, counted down in the style of 1980s music TV shows. It also included the first public performance of the song "Go! Go! Here We Go! Rock Lee", a closing theme of the anime Naruto SD, to be released as the group's second single in August.
From July 14 to September 16, Ebichu embarked on a Summer tour titled "Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku Summer DefSTAR Saikyou Tour 2012 ~Hajikeru Ase no Shio Tengoku~", totaling 19 performances.
Ebichu's 2nd major single, "Go! Go! Here We Go! Rock Lee / Otona wa Wakattekurenai" was released on August 29, and reached number 7 on the weekly chart.
From November 4 to January 20, Ebichu conducted a winter tour, titled "Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku Winter DefSTAR Gokujo Tour 2012–2013 ~KING OF GAKUGEEEEKAI of Chu of LIFE~", totaling 15 performances.
On November 21, Ebichu released a compilation album titled "Ebichu no Zeppan Best: Owaranai Seishun", featuring all the material released during their "Indie" years.
On December 15, the group held a solo concert at Nakano Sunplaza titled "Ebichu no Jungle Daibouken".
Ebichu's 3rd single, titled "Ume" was released on January 16, 2013. The girls declared that they were aiming for third place in the Oricon chart with their third single, a goal that they managed to achieve.
From April 21 to June 9, Ebichu went on tour, this time titled "Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku Spring DefSTAR Tonden Tour 2013 ~Chance wa Ima da! Kou-unki ni Notte Yoikorasho~", totaling 12 performances.
Their 4th single "Te o Tsunagō / Kindan no Karma", featuring two ending theme songs for Pocket Monsters Best Wishes Season 2, was released on June 5.
Ebichu released their 1st studio album "Chunin" on July 24, containing tracks from all 4 singles released since their major label debut
On July 28, Ebichu held an outdoor concert titled "Ebichu Natsu no Family Ensoku" or "Famien" for short. The outdoor summer "Famien" concerts have since become an annual event, being held every year since 2013.
From September 22 to November 17, Ebichu held another tour, "Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku Autumn DefSTAR COMECOME Tour 2013 ~Deluxe Jam Jamboree Neo~" totaling 15 performances.
Their 5th single "Mikakunin Chugakusei X" was released on November 20.
On December 8, Ebichu performed a standalone concert at Saitama Super Arena, beating the record held by SID for fastest performance at the venue since a group's debut.
On December 28 it was announced that 3 members, Mizuki, Natsu Anno and Hirono Suzuki, would be leaving the group, and that their last concert would be held on April 15, 2014, at the Nippon Budokan. After leaving, they will focus on acting, as well as their academics.
Lineup changes and ''Kinpachi'' (2014–2015)
On January 4, it was announced that Kaho Kobayashi and Riko Nakayama, both former members of the training unit "Team Daio-Ika", would be joining Ebichu as new members. From this day until April 15, Ebichu would consist of 11 members. However, the new members did not share the stage with the 3 departing members during this period.On March 9, the "Chunin" era lineup, minus Anno who was studying abroad, performed a concert at Makuhari Event Hall in Chiba, titled "Luck To The Future". 12 days later, on March 21, the new 8 member lineup with Kobayashi and Nakayama performed the same setlist at Grand Cube Osaka.
On April 15, Ebichu held a concert titled "Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku Goudou Shuppatsushiki ~Ima, Kimi ga Koko ni Iru~", at the Nippon Budokan. This was their last performance with Mizuki, Anno and Suzuki. The main set was performed by the "Chunin" lineup, with Kobayashi and Nakayama joining them for the encore. The encore was the only time that the 3 departing members performed together with the 2 new members.
From April 27 to June 15, Ebichu held their first tour with Kobayashi and Nakayama, titled "Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku Spring Sony Music Labels Rookie Tour 2014 ~Umare Kawari Chou Chou Born to Etcetera~", totaling 13 performances.
On June 4, Ebichu released their 6th single "Butterfly Effect", their first release featuring Kobayashi and Nakayama.
The second installment of the annual "Famien" summer outdoor concerts was held on August 2.
From September 15 to October 12, a short tour titled "Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku Autumn Sony Music Labels Hanuke Tour 2014 ~Doukasen Pachipachi hahaha n~" was held, totaling 4 performances.
On November 5, Ebichu released their 7th single "Haitateki!".
Ebichu performed several large-scale concerts in November and December, performing at Yokohama Arena, Kobe World Kinen Hall, and Ariake Colosseum.
On January 28, 2015, Ebichu released their second studio album "Kinpachi", featuring all singles released after "Chunin", with tracks from the previous lineup being re-recorded. In support of the album, they embarked on a tour titled "Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku Tobidase Zen-Juu Hall Tour 2015 ~Wakkuwaku Haru Balloon GOGO~", totaling 13 performances.
On February 6, Ebichu made their first appearance on the popular music TV show "Music Station", and performed the title track to their new album.