Ae! group Celebrates 5th Anniversary with Debut Announcement!

STARTO ENTERTAINMENT is excited to welcome Ae! group (JP: Aぇ! group) to its talented roster!

Ae! group celebrated their 5th anniversary with a special fan appreciation festival held at Kyocera Dome Osaka on March 16th, where they fulfilled their long-cherished dream of debuting their CD. They announced the release of their debut single 《A》BEGINNING with blessings from their 50,000 fans.

《A》BEGINNING will be released by Universal Music on May 15th. They also announced plans for a debut tour consisting of 34 performances in 8 cities starting from May 25th, as well as the launch of a fan club and an official X account. Stay tuned for more updates and the launch of additional social media accounts!

Follow Ae! group’s official X account: https://twitter.com/Aegroupofficial

＼Aぇ! group デビュー決定🎊／

1st Single「《A》BEGINNING」
2024.5.15 Release💿

🛒UNIVERSAL MUSIC STORE盤のみ最速予約スタートhttps://t.co/4VWh3QOrEc

🔗UNIVERSAL MUSIC SITE OPENhttps://t.co/YcsEdPFQst #Aぇǃgroup #A_BEGINNING pic.twitter.com/OcgjoNkWDq

— Aぇ! group (@Aegroupofficial) March 16, 2024

【About Ae! group】

・5 member unit from the Kansai (western) region of Japan, comprised of Yoshinori Masakado, Seiya Suezawa, Keita Richard Kusama, Ken Kojima, and Masaya Sano.

・Active as a Junior unit since February 18, 2019; launched to a rocket start thanks to a combination of their live music skills and wild sense of humor which landed them primetime TV appearances, a national concert tour in 2023, and even a major sponsorship deal with FILA sporting goods.

・A testament to STARTO family togetherness, they were initially formed under the guidance of You Yokoyama and have been actively cared for by Tadayoshi Ohkura, both of legacy STARTO group SUPER EIGHT.

・To celebrate their debut, Ae! group will also kick off this new chapter of their career with their Live Tour “The World’s Best AeLIVE” – an 8-city, 400,000 seat capacity national tour running from May 25th to August 18th.

【Member Statements】

・Yoshinori Masakado

We are incredibly grateful to finally be able to share this good news with the world. It is thanks to the love and support of all our fans, even beyond these long five years, that this day has finally come. We will continue to devote ourselves to the task at hand, so please lend your support to this “new Ae! group!”

・Seiya Suezawa

We want to thank each and every person who has helped bring us to this point, including everyone who came to our announcement event at the Kyocera Dome Osaka and watched it worldwide on the Family Club Online. It’s still hard to express all the emotions we feel, so I’ll leave it at this: the five of us will work harder than ever before for the happiness of our fans! This “BEGINNING” is thanks to you!

・Richard Keita Kusama

Having finally reached it ourselves, I now understand what so many of our seniors meant when they talked about how a debut is not an end-goal, as it may seem from our view as Juniors, but rather a starting line for a new and exciting marathon, which we will run with your help!

・Ken Kojima

A debut is just the beginning of a new adventure, but it’s still one goal that we are grateful to finally make manifest. We will apply ourselves wholeheartedly to become a bigger and better version of ourselves and take our fans along for an incredible ride to new heights. We will make Ae! group one that steals all your hearts!

・Masaya Sano

This is the real start for us as Ae! group; the A(e!)ctualization of our A(e!)chievements by the A(e!)rdour of all our fans. The five of us will strive to be an Ae! group that makes you proud.

【Statement from You Yokoyama (SUPER EIGHT)】

It’s been five years, but I can still remember like it was yesterday when these guys came together as Ae! group. I am so proud of what they have accomplished, and relieved that every effort they put in has paid off.

Sometimes they can still seem a bit rough around the edges, but I know they have such high potential. I hope everyone might look upon them warmly and support their continued endeavors.

They might be “Ae” (good) now, but I know they’re going to be a SUPER group one day.

SUPER like SUPER EIGHT! (Nah, they’ll be even better)