Ae! group: Celebrating Progress and Identity in 2026

Anniversaries in idol culture are often framed as reflections on origins. But this year, looking at Ae! group, it feels more fitting to focus on momentum.

Collage celebrating the 7th anniversary of Ae! group, featuring promotional images from their performances, album covers, and group photos.

The original concept for the group’s name was relatively simple – “A group.” However, there was a suggestion to inject a bit of trendiness into it by adding the little “ぇ” after the “A,” resulting in “Ae! group.” This playful twist creates a pun with the Kansai dialect term “ええ” (ee), which means “good” in English. So, in essence, the name “Ae! group” can be interpreted as “a good group.”

Beyond their high-energy performances and comedic charm, Ae! group stands out for their unique, versatile sound and band-style acts, an artistic legacy inherited from their predecessors, SUPER EIGHT. Their journey has been one of resilience, evolution, and unbreakable camaraderie, which they continue to showcase as they move forward in their career.

When you think of Ae! group, it’s impossible not to think about their strong individual characteristics and charm. They aren’t just talented performers—they’re a group of individuals who have captured the hearts of fans with their unique personalities, infectious smiles, and undeniable passion for their craft.

Ae! group: Their break through, pride, and beginning

Now, four members, Yoshinori Masakado, Seiya Suezawa, Ken Kojima, and Masaya Sano: each member brings something truly special, creating a perfect blend of energy, humor, and heart.

Whether it’s through their music, their hilarious variety moments, or their heartfelt interactions with fans, there’s a reason Ae! group feels more like a family than just a group of idols.

If 2024 was about arrival—CD debut, first album, the documentary that captured their path—then 2025 into 2026 has been about proof. Proof that debut was not a peak, but a launchpad—a take off.

Over the past year, Ae! group have done what many groups struggle to balance in their first full post-debut cycle: they stabilized, expanded, and refined—without losing the raw Kansai edge that made them unmistakable from the start.

The Ae! group LIVE TOUR 2025 D.N.A was not just a continuation of their debut momentum—it was a recalibration. Where their debut tour carried the urgency of “We made it,” the 2025 tour carried something more grounded: “This is who we are now.” The staging grew bolder, the transitions tighter, the band-style arrangements more confident. Songs that once felt like declarations evolved into statements.

Individually, the members have also continued to stretch. Acting projects, variety appearances, radio, magazine features—each member sharpening their personal brand while reinforcing the collective identity. What stands out most is how distinctly their personalities have become post-debut. The comfort is visible. The chemistry feels less like effort and more like instinct.

There is a noticeable shift from hunger to ownership.

Ae! group: Let’s go, with PRIDE.

2025 also reinforced their standing within a rapidly evolving industry landscape. As STARTO ENTERTAINMENT continues redefining itself in a new era, Ae! group have positioned themselves not as passive participants, but as active contributors to pushing what modern idol performance can look like. Their band identity—once a legacy nod to their seniors—now feels like a deliberate signature. They are not borrowing tradition. They are extending it without forgetting their roots.

The year has also highlighted their resilience in a far more personal way. Keita Richard Kusama’s departure marked a profound and undeniably sad turning point—one that reshaped not only their formation, but their emotional landscape. 2025 carried a visible emphasis on five, an almost deliberate honoring of what had been built together. Post-debut visibility already comes with heavier scrutiny, louder expectations, and the pressure to deliver consistently; facing such a change under that spotlight only intensified it.

During the fifth-anniversary livestream revival of “We are called Ae! group,” there was a scene that once again felt painfully relevant, as it came after the departure of Taisei Fukumoto. Miyazaki (You Yokoyama’s character in the play) questions them as a group. “It all depends on your resolve. Show me that resolve.” And with steady eyes, Seiya answers, “Let’s show our resolve then,” before they pull the covers off their instruments.

Back then, that resolve was poured into “Kamisama no Bakayaro” (神様のバカヤロー)—raw, unfiltered, written by Ken and composed by Masaya as an emphasis. It was frustration turned into sound. It was grief metabolized into performance. It was proof that even if they stumbled, they would get back up.

Back then, that scene no longer felt like a reenactment. It felt like a mirror.

And still, deliver they did—tight schedules, polished performances, and a continued willingness to experiment sonically and visually. Rather than retreat into safety or dilute their identity, Ae! group chose to stand firm. They do not know how to give up.

Now, moving into 2026 as four, their resolve has taken on a new form.

It is “Again.”

As Seiya wrote in his self-liner note, “Again” represents Ae! group as they are now, while also serving as an anthem for those fighting through their own daily battles. Carried by band sound, it holds the determination to take a new step forward—once more. The word itself is simple, but its weight is not. To begin again is not to erase what came before. It is to acknowledge it, carry it, and still move.

💿𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗹𝗯𝘂𝗺『𝗥𝘂𝗻𝘄𝗮𝘆』
━━━━━━━━━━━

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✈︎Again

Aぇ! groupの今を表す曲でもあり、様々な生活の中で戦ってる人達の背中を押すエールソングでもあります。… pic.twitter.com/5cssWIR1wY
— Aぇ! group (@Aegroupofficial) February 13, 2026

That is what this anniversary feels like.

2025 may have been shaped by five, by memory and tribute, by visible and invisible wounds. But 2026 begins with four stepping forward—not as a diminished version of themselves, but as a continuation. The faint heat, reverberations, and afterimages of past formations do not disappear. They remain woven into the present. The road they walked is not abandoned; it simply branches.

And as they move into that new path, their forward motion feels less like replacement and more like resolve.

Perhaps the most telling difference from last year is emotional temperature. In 2024, interviews often carried the weight of gratitude and disbelief. In 2025 and now into 2026, the tone has shifted to intention. They speak less about “finally” and more about “next.” That subtle change says everything.

This anniversary is not about looking back at the road to debut anymore. That chapter has settled into history. Instead, this is the anniversary of continuity—the first full year of proving that Ae! group as a debuted act is sustainable, adaptable, and still evolving.

For fans who joined during BORDERLESS or at debut, this past year has deepened attachment. For longtime supporters from their Junior era, it has been validation. The group that once dreamed of bigger stages is now navigating them with composure.

What makes Ae! group compelling at this point in their career is not just growth—but direction. They are not experimenting aimlessly. Each release, each tour, each public appearance feels aligned with a larger picture of who they want to become.

As they step into another year together, the energy surrounding them is less frantic and more focused. There is ambition, yes—but it is tempered by experience.

Ae! group are no longer asking the industry to notice them.

They are building something that cannot be ignored.

And if the past year has shown us anything, it is this: debut was only the beginning. Stability, identity, and sustained artistry—that is the real milestone.

The adventure continues, not with the rush of a starting line, but with the confidence of artists who know exactly why they are still running.

Ae! group is still just getting started.

The best is yet to come, and the bonds that Ae! group have nurtured with each other and their fans continue to grow. What’s running through their veins is not just passion and dedication. It’s everything that Ae! group has done and will do. It’s their origin and their future, all summarized into what could be called their “runway.”

As long as Ae! group doesn’t give up, we won’t either. Even as we look back on our footsteps, we know that the past is what shaped us, and the future will be colored with Ae! group, spreading their vibrant entertainment across the universe.