King Gnu facts for kids
Quick facts for kids King Gnu |
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| Also known as |
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| Origin | Japan |
| Genres |
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| Years active | 2013–present |
| Labels |
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| Members | Daiki Tsuneta Yū Seki Kazuki Arai Satoru Iguchi |
| Past members | Shun Ishiwaka |
King Gnu is a popular Japanese band that started in 2013. The band has four members: Daiki Tsuneta, who sings and plays guitar; Satoru Iguchi, who sings and plays keyboards; Kazuki Arai, who plays bass; and Yu Seki, who plays drums. Daiki Tsuneta writes most of the band's songs. He is also part of another creative group called Millennium Parade.
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Contents
The Band's Journey
Early Days
The band first formed in 2013 under the name Mrs.Vinci. Later, they changed their name to Srv.Vinci. Their very first song was "ABUKU(泡)". They released this song through a creative group called Perimetron.
Becoming King Gnu
In 2017, the band changed their name again to King Gnu. They performed at the famous Fuji Rock Festival in both 2017 and 2018. On October 25, 2017, they released their first album as King Gnu, called Tokyo Rendez-Vous. One of their songs, "Vinyl," was used in a TV advertisement in early 2018.
Rising to Fame
In January 2019, King Gnu released their album Sympa. This was their first album with a big record company, Ariola Japan. The next month, they released a huge hit song called "Hakujitsu". This song became very popular, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 year-end chart. In October, their song "Kasa" became number 1 on the Billboard Japan Download Chart. On December 31, King Gnu performed "Hakujitsu" at the 70th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen. This was their first time on this very popular TV show.
Big Success and New Challenges
Their third album, Ceremony, came out on January 15, 2020. It was a huge success! It topped the Japanese Oricon and Billboard Japan album charts. It was also one of the top 10 best-selling albums worldwide in 2020. Over one million copies of Ceremony were sold.
The band planned a big tour for the album. However, all the shows had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. King Gnu then held their first online concert in August 2020. In September 2020, King Gnu became the first Japanese artist to partner with Red Bull.
Music for Anime and Big Concerts
In August 2021, King Gnu announced they would perform the opening song "Boy" for the anime Ranking of Kings. This song was released in October. In December 2021, the animation studio MAPPA released trailers for the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 anime movie. King Gnu created two new songs for this film: "Ichizu" (meaning "The Only Way") and "Sakayume" (meaning "Contradictory Dream"). These songs were the opening and ending themes for the movie. Both songs were released together as Ichizu/Sakayume.
In March 2022, they released "Chameleon". This song was the theme for the Japanese TV drama Don't Call It Mystery. In November 2022, King Gnu played two huge concerts at Tokyo Dome. More than 100,000 fans attended these shows.
King Gnu had their biggest tour in Japan, called "Closing Ceremony," in May and June 2023. They played at stadiums for the first time, including Nagai Stadium and Yokohama Nissan Stadium. On September 1, 2023, they released "Specialz". This song was the opening theme for the Shibuya Incident arc, which is part of the second season of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime.
In March 2025, it was announced that King Gnu performed the ending theme for Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback, titled "TWILIGHT!!!".
Music Releases
King Gnu has released several albums and singles. Here are some of their main releases:
Studio Albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications | |
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| JPN |
JPN Hot |
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| Srv. Vinci | |||||
| Mad Me More Softly |
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— | — | N/A | |
| King Gnu | |||||
| Tokyo Rendez-Vous |
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46 | — |
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| Sympa |
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4 | 3 |
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| Ceremony |
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1 | 1 |
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| The Greatest Unknown |
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1 | 1 |
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| "—" means the song or album did not appear on the chart or was not released in that area. | |||||
Extended Plays
| Title | EP details | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Srv. Vinci | ||||
| Tokyo Chaotic (トーキョー・カオティック) |
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Singles
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Sales | Certifications | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN |
JPN Hot |
WW |
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| "Flash!!!" | 2018 | — | 97 | — |
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Sympa | |
| "Prayer X" | 31 | 40 | — |
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| "Hakujitsu" (白日) | 2019 | — | 2 | — |
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Ceremony |
| "Hikōtei" (飛行艇) | — | 10 | — |
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| "Kasa" (傘) | — | 9 | — |
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| "Sanmon Shousetsu" (三文小説) | 2020 | 2 | 4 | — |
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The Greatest Unknown | |
| "Senryou Yakusha" (千両役者) | 12 | — |
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| "Abuku" (泡) | 2021 | — | 18 | — | |||
| "Boy" | 4 | 9 | — |
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| "Ichizu" (一途) | 1 | 1 | — |
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| "Sakayume" (逆夢) | 2 | — |
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| "Chameleon" (カメレオン) | 2022 | 2 | 1 | — |
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| "Ame Sansan" (雨燦々) | — | 13 | — |
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| "Stardom" | 5 | 8 | — |
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| "Specialz" | 2023 | 4 | 2 | 28 |
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| "Mascara" | 2024 | — | 50 | — | rowspan="3" TBA | ||
| "Nekko" (ねっこ) | — | 8 | — |
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| "Twilight!!!" | 2025 | — | 4 | 183 | |||
| "—" means the song or album did not appear on the chart or was not released in that area. | |||||||
Promotional Singles
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Certifications | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Hot |
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| "Tokyo Rendez-Vous" | 2017 | — | Tokyo Rendez-Vous | |
| "McDonald Romance" | — | |||
| "Vinyl" | 90 |
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| "Slumberland" | 2018 | 53 |
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Sympa |
| "Teenager Forever" | 2019 | 5 |
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Ceremony |
| "Glass Window" (硝子窓) | 2023 | 16 |
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The Greatest Unknown |
| "—" means the song or album did not appear on the chart or was not released in that area. | ||||
Other Charted Songs
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Certifications | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Hot |
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| "It's a Small World" | 2019 | — |
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Sympa |
| "Kaikai-shiki" (開会式) | 2020 | 81 | Ceremony | |
| "Doron" (どろん) | 6 |
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| "Humor" (ユーモア) | 26 |
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| "Makuai" (幕間) | 77 | |||
| "Chiisana Wakusei" (小さな惑星) | 25 |
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| "Overflow" | 41 | |||
| "Danjo" (壇上) | 66 | |||
| "F.O.O.L" | 2021 | 75 | "Boy" | |
| "Asura" ():阿修羅:() | 2023 | 72 | The Greatest Unknown | |
| "—" means the song or album did not appear on the chart or was not released in that area. | ||||
Guest Appearances
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Kazari Janai no yo Namida wa" | 2019 | Yōsui Inoue Tribute |
TV Show Appearances
King Gnu has appeared on the famous Japanese TV show Kōhaku Uta Gassen multiple times.
| Year | No. | Song | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 70th | "Hakujitsu" | |
| 2022 | 73rd | "Stardom" |
Awards and Nominations
King Gnu has won many awards for their music and videos.
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee / Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | MTV Video Music Awards Japan | Best Video of the Year | "Hakujitsu" | Won | |
| Best New Artist Video | Won | ||||
| 61st Japan Record Awards | Excellence Album Award | Sympa | Won | ||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Japanese Act | King Gnu | Won | ||
| Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best New Asian Artist – Japan | Won | |||
| 2022 | MTV Video Music Awards Japan | Best Art Direction Video | "Sakayume" | Won | |
| 2024 | Berlin Music Video Awards | Best Editor | "Specialz" | Nominated | |
| 2025 | Music Awards Japan | Best J-Rock Artist | King Gnu | Won | |
| Best J-Rock Song | "Specialz" | Won | |||
| Best Japanese Song in Europe | Nominated | ||||
| Best Japanese Song in North America | Nominated | ||||
| Best Japanese Song in Latin America | Nominated | ||||
| Best of Listeners' Choice: Japanese Song | Nominated | ||||
| "Nekko" | Nominated |
