L - R: Yamada, Gotoh, Kiyoshi, and Kita.
Knowing that memories are things,
That don't remain in eternity,
I kept scratching my head,
And cried in the corner of my heart,
Days I asked you not to lose,
That passed by below the elevation,
I regret them- I missed the chance to tell you that day
That don't remain in eternity,
I kept scratching my head,
And cried in the corner of my heart,
Days I asked you not to lose,
That passed by below the elevation,
I regret them- I missed the chance to tell you that day
"Re:Re:"
Asian Kung-Fu Generation is a Japanese band formed in 1996 by Masafumi Gotoh (lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist), Kensuke Kita (lead guitarist and backing vocalist), Takahiro Yamada (bassist and backing vocalist), and Kiyoshi Ijichi (drummer). The band is critically acclaimed and commercially successful in Japan. Their popularity peaked around 2004-2007, but they are still doing well. Fans call them Ajikan, AKG, or AFKG for short.
They host the Nano-Mugen Festival each summer. Musicians and bands from Japan, America, and the UK come to perform; each act contributes one song to make up a compilation album released to advertise the festival. Some previous acts include Spitz, Chatmonchy, Beat Crusaders, Ellegarden, Third Eye Blind, Unicorn, and Ben Folds.
Outside of Japan, they are best known for their songs "Haruka Kanata", "Rewrite", and "After Dark", which were used as opening songs for the Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), and Bleach anime respectively.
The band has released 8 studio albums and five EPs.
- Independent period:
- Caramelman and Asian Kung-Fu Generation (2000)
- The Time Past And I Could Not See You Again (2000)
- I'm Standing Here. (2001)
- After getting signed by Ki/oon Records:
- Houkai Amplifiernote (2002)
- Kimi Tsunagi Five Mnote (2003)
- Sol-fa (2004)
- Fanclub (2006)
- Feedback File (2006): A collection of B-sides and
Cut Songs. - World World World (2008)
- Mada Minu Ashita ninote (2008)
- Surf Bungaku Kamakuranote (2008)
- Magic Disk (2010)
- Landmark (2012)
- Wonder Future (2015)
- Sol-fa 2016 (2016)
- Hometown (2018)
Asian Kung-Fu Generation contains examples of:
- Animated Music Video: "Atarashii Sekai" and "World World World".
- Anime Theme Song: One of the things that gained them renown.
- Naruto: "Haruka Kanata"note from Houkai Amplifier
- Fullmetal Alchemist (2003): "Rewrite" from Sol-fa
- Tekkonkinkreet: "Aru Machi no Gunjou"note from World World World
- Bleach: "After Dark" from World World World
- The Tatami Galaxy: "Maigo Inu to Ame no Beat"note from Magic Disk
- ERASED: "Re:Re" from Sol-fa 2016
- Naruto: "Blood Circulator"
- Audience Participation Song: Fans sing along
- "Haruka Kanata": 'Iki isoide shiboritotte...'.
- "Loop & Loop", fans shout 'Shimatta' before they go wild at the chorus.
- "Re:Re:": 'Woohoo... whoaa... kimi janai to sa... woohoo... yeaaah...'.
- "Rewrite": Since Landmark era until now, they extended the bridge section with more guitar solo and Gotoh made call and response with fans, 'mebaete ta kanjou kitte kuyan de... (fans repeating) shosen tada bonyou shitte naite... (fans repeating)',
- Big "YES!": Most famously at the beginning of "Understand", though there are many others.
- Almost every "Re:Re:" live version, Gotoh replaced 'Fusagareta kyou o uranda' with 'Yeah yeaaah'.
- Concept Album: World World World is supposed to tell a story; Gotoh says that you should listen to it at least once in order. Also, Surf Bungaku Kamakura's songs are each named after notable stops along the famous Enoshima Electric Railway in order starting from Fujisawa and ending with Kamakura.
- Concept Video: A few, especially "Shinseiki no Love Song".
- Call-Back / Continuity Nod: "All Right Part 2" makes references to "Blue Train", "Tightrope", "Mafuyu no Dance", and "Maigoinu to Ame no Beat". In addition, Yusuke Nakamura occasionally does this with their album art:
- The wire on the cover of Houkai Amplifier connects to the string on Kimi Tsunagi Five M.
- The guy on the cover of solanin is wearing a Fanclub T-shirt.
- There's a doll dressed up as the girl on Sol-fa on the cover of Maigo Inu To Ame no Beat.
- There's a Houkai Amplifier CD on Magic Disk's album art. If you squint, you can tell that the boy on the cover has been replaced with Gotoh.
- Crossover:
- Hello Hello, Fujisawa Loser's b-side, is a full English song with The Rentals.
- All Right part 2 features Eriko Hashimoto of Chatmonchy for their compilation Nano-Mugen Compilation 2011 and then they add it to Landmark.
- They had a single called "Wake Up!" with Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Uso to Wonderland", where Kita is the lead singer.
- Emo Kid: Subverted. Many of the songs have emo-sounding lyrics, but they almost always have happy or hopeful endings.
- Epic Instrumental Opener: "Siren", "Siren#2", and "Gekkou".
- Epic Rocking: "Kimi to Iu Hana", "Siren#2", and "Gekkou" are more than 6 minutes.
- Fading into the Next Song: "Tabidatsu Kimi e" → "Neoteny" and "World World" → "Aru Machi no Gunjou".
- Fake Band: "Kiyostie Boys", which is really just them wearing sunglasses, with Gotoh playing the drums and Kiyoshi singing.
- Fan Disservice: Kita crossdressing. He wore a pink frilly shirt, a short skirt, make-up, and hair clips.
- Or Fanservice, depending on the viewer.
- Gainax Ending: The "Fujisawa Loser" video starts out as a weird metaphor for the difficulties of either entering a company or being in a famous band...as obstacle courses. Pretty straightforward. Then the big fancy house and the supermodel at the end of the course get up and elope in a yacht.
- Gratuitous English: Most of their early independently released music. Gotoh is actually trying to change this into fluent English by taking weekly English lessons.
- Improv: "Road Movie" was originally an improvised song that changed depending on the location they were preforming. The "Whoaaaaa"s at the beginning of "Laika" were also improvised by Gotoh.
- Also,
"Breakfast Minority".
- Also,
- Japanese Christian: Kiyoshi.
- Lyrical Dissonance: "Laika". It's so upbeat and happy sounding, you'd never guess that it's about a dog who's doomed to die alone in space.
- Long-Runner Line-up: Type 1 taken to the Logical Extreme - 16 years and counting with only the one original line-up.
- Lyrics/Video Mismatch: "Kimi No Machi Made" is about a guy who wants to fly over to his lover's town like a bird. The music video, on the other hand, is about a synchronized swimming duo persevering despite getting attacked by a giant lobster in the middle of a competition.
- Metal Scream: Gotoh screams certain words in some songs. However, this is becoming rare recently as his voice is changing.
- Non-Appearing Title: Many, such as "Solanin", "Blue Train", and "Re:Re:".
- Technically Mugen Glider, which contains the phrases "glider" and "mugen yuraida", but not "mugen glider".
- The lyrics of "Mustang" were inspired by the manga solanin. They later made the theme song for the movie.
- Performance Video: The 2016 version of "Rewrite"
- Power Ballad: "Gekkou" and "Tightrope".
- Protest Song: "No.9", "Wakusei", and "N2".
- Rock Me, Amadeus!: "Gekkou" opens with a snippet of "Clair de lune".
- Self-Backing Vocalist: Kita and Yamada mostly provide backing vocal, but Gotoh did this trope on Rewrite and Re:Re from Sol-fa 2016
- Shrinking Violet: Yamada.
- Smoking Is Cool: In the music video for "Solanin" and "Loser", Kita is randomly shown smoking.
- Splash of Color: "Mirai no Kakera"'s music video nearly all Black and White, but there are lines and little scenes with red color.
- Step Up to the Microphone: Kita as lead vocals on, "Uso to Wonderland", "Seaside Sleeping", "Time Traveler", "Hakkei" and "Omatsuri No Ato", all of them are B-sides from the band's singles. Yamada has this opportunity on "Yellow".
- Studio Chatter: "Maigoinu to Ame no Beat" starts with Gotoh's count-off ("Check, check, check...One, two, two"). Also, "Yuigahama Kite" ends with the members' laughter.
- Surreal Music Video: "Atarashii Sekai".
- Tender Tears: Gotoh is a sensitive guy...He cried when watching This Is It despite not being a fan of Michael Jackson.
- Gotoh and Kita both looked like they were on the verge of tears when Gotoh made a speech about the Akihabara massacre at Nano-Mugen Festival 2008.
- Title Track: "I'm Standing Here", "World World World", "Mada Minu Ashita ni", "Magic Disk" and "Wonder Future".
- Vocal Tag Team: While Gotoh is the lead singer, Kita and Yamada sang lead occasionally.
- On "Night Diving", Gotoh duet with Kita.
- On "Yellow", Yamada sing verse while Gotoh and Kita sing the chorus.
