Back-On is a Japanese rock band from Tokyo, Japan. They are recognized for creating anime and game opening themes such as the opening theme, "fly away"; Air Gear opening theme, "Chain"; Murder Princess opening theme "Hikari Sasuhou ", and Eyeshield 21s "Blaze Line". They have also written ending themes for both anime and TV shows, including "flower" and "a day dreaming..." for Eyeshield 21, and "Butterfly" for the late-night TV drama Shinjuku Swan, "Sands of Time" for the mobile robot TV drama Keitai Sousakan 7, and "Strike Back" for the anime seriesFairy Tail.
History
Kenji03 and Gori have been friends since childhood, having attended the same school in Adachi, Tokyo. In their sixth year in school, they realized that they wanted to start a band, though in the beginning they did it all separately. While in high school, Kenji03 met Teeda while Gori met Shu. They each started out in separate bands, but eventually ended up uniting with each other to form their own band. Shortly after their formulation, Kenji03 met his brother's friend Macchin, who joined the band as its drummer and rounded out the quintet. Back-On made their first international appearance at Anime Matsuri on April 28, 2007 in Houston, Texas and were invited back for Anime Matsuri 2010. Since then they've also appeared in Vancouver, Canada for Anime Evolution in August 2007, and Anime USA in Arlington, Virginia in November 2007. They were also the guest judges for Anime Idol 2007 at Anime Evolution. They formed a new band called BAReeeeeeeeeeN with the 4-man band GReeeeN, and their debut single "Ashiato" was released on October 1, 2008. The song reached No. 1 in the USEN and chaku-uta digital download charts. The band's singles "Flyaway" and "Where Is the Future?" were created as the theme music for the PSP game , which was released exclusively in Japan on January 28, 2009. Back-On performed at in Kassel, Germany earlier in 2009, and revisited Taiwan for 2 live performances on December 26 & 27 2009. Their single One Step!/Tomorrow Never Knows was released on January 27, 2010; "Tomorrow never knows" was used as the background theme music for the DyDo coffee commercial featuring Teppei Tajima, the Japanese surfer. In 2013/14, the band composed and performed two opening themes for the anime series Gundam Build Fighters, called "Nibun no Ichi" and "wimp ft. Lil' Fang "; the latter features vocals by Lil' Fang from the group FAKY and aired from episode 14 onwards. Both singles were released in three versions: CD-only, CD+DVD and CD+gunpla plastic model. They were invited back to perform at Anime USA in 2013 after a 6-year break from the US and were also star guests at Pacific Media Expo shortly after. The band performed at Anime Friends in 2014 as their first visit to Brazil. Back-On also performed as a headliner at Otakon Matsuri in 2015. They gave an encore performance after the set. On May 26, 2017, the band celebrated its 15th anniversary with a concert at the Ebisu Liquidroom titled "BACK-ON 15th Anniversary Live -Ultimate Thanks-". Gori and Shu quit the band after this show, leaving Back-On as the duo of Kenji03 and Teeda.
