BeForU
| Company type | Girl group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Naoki Maeda (producer) |
| Headquarters | Tokyo , Japan |
| Products | J-pop music, contributions to Bemani rhythm games |
BeForU was a Japanese pop girl group primarily recognized for their contributions to Konami's Bemani rhythm game series. Their debut single in 2000, titled "Dive," holds the distinction of being the first Japanese-language pop track featured in the Dance Dance Revolution franchise. Under the production of Naoki Maeda, a prominent music producer at Konami, BeForU made their major label entrance with Avex Trax in 2006.
Initial Formation
BeForU originated from a contest held on November 20, 2000, aimed at assembling a J-pop ensemble tailored for Konami's Bemani games, with a particular focus on Dance Dance Revolution. The competition selected four members—Riyu Kosaka (15 years old), Noria Shiraishi (19), Yoma Komatsu (26), and Shiyuna Maehara (21)—based on their talent and commercial appeal. Their first single, "Dive," received extensive promotion within the J-Pop scene, appeared in the 2001 French movie Wasabi, and was included in both DDR Extra Mix and DDR 5th Mix.
The group's name, "BeForU," is inspired by the track "B4U" from DDR 4th Mix, composed by Naoki Maeda, and plays on the phrase "before you." Starting as a quartet, they released "Firefly" featured on DDRMAX 6th Mix. Riyu Kosaka embarked on a solo path with her single "true...". By the time of DDR -Max 2- 7th Mix, solo tracks were present for all members except Shiyuna. The group also produced "Break Down!", which was later adapted for Guitar Freaks and DrumMania games. Yoma Komatsu debuted her solo work with "ever snow." Their self-titled debut album BeForU was launched on November 28, 2003. In 2004, Shiyuna left the group to explore other career opportunities.
Following Shiyuna’s exit, BeForU organized another audition to add two new members. Due to a tie in results, six new members were introduced instead of five: Miharu Arisawa (born October 12, 1989), Sayaka Minami (born December 24, 1983), and Risa Sotohana (born January 28, 1988) among them. This lineup was referred to as BeForU NEXT and debuted with the single "KI・SE・KI" on November 18, 2004; this song also appeared in DDR Festival. They released their second album, BeForU II, on February 14, 2006, followed by their inaugural live concert recording issued on DVD as BeForU FIRST LIVE at ZeppTokyo 2006.
After a period without new CDs, Riyu Kosaka and Noria signed with Avex and released solo singles. Subsequently, BeForU returned with "Red Rocket Rising" on November 1, 2006. On December 22 of that year, they issued Get set Go!! BeForU Astronauts Set, featuring the track Get set GO!!. Their single "Strike Party!!!", released January 17, 2007, served as the ending theme for season three of the anime MAJOR. On March 3, they published an EP titled 6Notes under their Be+Wings Records label; this collection consisted of solo performances by each member and was distributed exclusively at live shows and via online sales until February 29, 2008.
The third studio album by BeForU, entitled BeForU III: Breaking Into the Probability Changes, was released through Avex on March 14, 2007. They held another concert at Zepp Tokyo called BeForU LIVE 2007 at Zepp Tokyo, which was later made available on DVD. The single "Yoru Hanabi" followed on July 11, 2007. After this period, group activities slowed significantly while Riyu continued to pursue solo projects.
On December 12, 2007, Riyu announced that Miharu Arisawa would retire due to health issues. Additionally, Yoma Komatsu left the group for personal reasons. Both departures were immediate and prevented them from participating in the December 30 concert where Noria and Risa Sotohana held their farewell events before embarking on solo careers.
Third Generation and Extended Hiatus
On February 15, 2008, Be+Wings introduced three fresh members: Ayano Tachibana, Hiromi Nishiuchi, and Megumi Fukushita. Their new track "Kimi to Sora to Zutto" premiered at Riyu's Carnival event, performed in Sayaka's absence due to illness. Subsequently, Sayaka officially announced her exit from the group.
The third generation's launch alongside Riyu's solo performance was issued on DVD under the title BeForU/Four Piece Riyu Kosaka/Live 2008. Their inaugural single released through the new Gambit (Sheeps Eyes) label was a rendition of Denki Groove's "Shangri-La," which came out on September 10, 2008. This was followed by the album Shangri-La (シャングリラ) on October 8, 2008. Since 2009, there have been no further announcements or website updates, indicating that BeForU likely disbanded soon after.
With the arrival of Dance Dance Revolution X (December 2008 in Japan, June 2009 internationally), only the song "Chikara" remained accessible from BeForU’s repertoire. Earlier releases such as SuperNova included nine group tracks plus individual member songs. Dance Dance Revolution X2 (July 2010) restored four tracks including "Chikara," which became fully available by February 2011 across Asia, North America, and Europe. This availability also extended to solo pieces by Noria Shiraishi ("Tears") and Sayaka Minami ("Under the Sky").
Discography
- BeForU
- BeForU II
- BeForU III
- Shangri-La (シャングリラ)
Video Games
BeForU contributed nine original songs and one remix to the Dance Dance Revolution arcade series, in addition to two solo tracks performed by members other than Riyu Kosaka.
| Song | Arcade Game | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th | MAX | MAX2 | Ex | DSF | SN | SN2 | X | X2 | Other | ||||||
| "Dive" | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | |||||||||||||
| "Dive (more deep & deeper style)" | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | ||||||||||
| "Firefly" | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | |||||||||
| "Break Down" | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:MaybeCheck | Template:Ya | |||||||||
| "Graduation" | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:MaybeCheck | Template:Ya | ||||||||||
| "Tears" † | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:MaybeCheck | Template:Ya | ||||||||||
| "Chikara" | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | ||||||||||
| "Freedom" | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:MaybeCheck | Template:Ya | |||||||||||
| "Ki-Se-Ki" | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | |||||||||||||
| "Morning Glory" | Template:C None | Template:C None | Template:Ya | Template:Ya | Template:C None | Template:C None | Template:C None | ||||||||
| "Peace" | "No" | "No" | "No" | "No" | "No" | "Yes" | "Yes" | "No" | "No" | "No" | |||||
| "Under the Sky" (double-dagger) | "No" | "No" | "No" | "No" | "No" | "Yes" | "Yes" | "No" | "MaybeCheck Unlockable" | "Yes" | |||||
Note: The category labeled "Other" comprises titles from Dance Dance Revolution X3 vs. 2ndMix onward and excludes solo releases by Riyu Kosaka.
Credits: Naoki Underground featuring EK (Noria Shiraishi). Credits: Sayaka Minami (BeForU) with platoniX.
External links
- BeForU
- 2000 establishments in Japan
- 2009 disestablishments in Japan
- Avex Trax artists
- Japanese girl groups
- Japanese idol groups
- Japanese pop music groups
- Japanese trance musicians
- Musical groups established in 2000
- Musical groups disbanded in 2009
- Musical groups from Tokyo
- Video game musicians
- Musical groups disestablished in 2009