Asian Kung-fu Generation is a Japanese popular music group. Its members are Yamada Takahiro, Gotoh Masafumi, Kita Kensuke, and Ijichi Kiyoshi.
AKG's song 遥か彼方 (Haruka Kanata) was used as the second opening theme song for Naruto. Their recent song リライト (REWRITE) was the fourth opening theme song for Fullmetal Alchemist.
1996- Asian Kung-Fu Generation was formed in 1996 by Masafumi, Kensuke, and Takahiro. Ichiji (their drummer) joined them later. It took a couple of years to achieve the popularity that they have gained.
2000-2001- Their first works were sold exclusively online. In fact, their first album (in 2000) was entirely in English! In 2001, the group began to advertise their song 粉雪 (Konayuki) by sending tapes to radio stations. It was a success, and is AKGs first aired song. That same year, they also released a second indie album featuring Japanese lyrics this time.
2002- AKG released their mini album 崩壊アンプリファー (Houkai Amplifier). It was a immediate success, ranking #1 on the High Line Record Sales. Oricon also ranked it as #35. During the next year, AKG scored big when they got a contract to use their song 遥か彼方 (Haruka Kanata) for the opening of the anime, Naruto. AKGs voice was now reaching out to both Japanese and English fans by this time.
2003- AKG release two singles and their first full album, 君繋ファイブエム (Kimitsunagi Five M). Their album sold over 20,000 copies!
2004- AKGs activities increased along with their popularity. On March 11, 2004, AKG won the Best New Artist Video at the Space Shower Music Video Awards. The award was for their music video, 君という花 (Kimi to Iu Hana). In addition, they have released 3 singles. One, リライト (REWRITE), was featured as the fourth and last opening for the anime, Full Metal Alchemist! The singles, サイレン (Siren), and ループ&ループ (Loop and Loop), were on Oricons top monthly ranking for two months in a row! AKG also played at 8 different music festivals this summer. One of them, the Nano-Mugen Festival, AKG actually put on! Most importantly, AKG released its second album Sol-Fa and their first DVD! ソルファ (Sol-Fa) sold over 500,000 copies!
2005- AKG is now planning on going to the Sonic Festival in February, and will tour Japan from March to June. Their tour is titled Re: Re:, which is the name of a song in their second album, ソルファ (Sol-Fa). history from akfgfan.com
Discography
Singles
- '君の街まで' (9/23/2004)
- 'リライト' (8/4/2004)
- 'ループ&ループ' (5/19/2004)
- 'サイレン' (4/14/2004)
- '君という花' (10/16/2003)
- '未来の破片' (08/06/2003)
Albums
- 崩壊アンプリファー (4/23/2003)
- 01. 遥か彼方
- 02. 羅針盤
- 03. 粉雪
- 04. 青の歌
- 05. サンデイ
- 06. 12
- 君繋ファイブエム (11/19/2003)
- 01. フラッシュバック
- 02. 未来の破片
- 03. 電波塔
- 04. アンダースタンド
- 05. 夏の日、残像
- 06. 無限グライダー
- 07. その訳を
- 08. N.G.S.
- 09. 自閉探索
- 10. E
- 11. 君という花
- 12. ノーネーム
- ソルファ (10/20/2004)
- 01. 振動覚
- 02. リライト
- 03. 君の街まで
- 04. マイワールド
- 05. 夜の向こう
- 06. ラストシーン
- 07. サイレン
- 08. Re: Re:
- 09. 24時
- 10. 真夜中と真昼の夢
- 11. 海岸通り
- 12. ループ&ループ
DVDs
- '映像作品集 1巻' (11/26/2004)
- '映像作品集 2巻' (04/20/2005)