Da-ice, is a 5-member Japanese male vocal and idol dance group. They formerly signed to Universal Music Japan's Universal Sigma label until they are moved to Avex Trax on June 2020. They are managed by Avex Management Inc. The group, consisting of 2 vocalists with a four-octave vocal range and 3 dancers, was formed in 2011. They made their major debut in 2014. Despite the hyphen in the group's name, it is pronounced as "dice". Five sides of a die represent the members, while the last side represents the fans. The "a-i" in the name is intentionally spelt in lowercase, as "ai" means love in the Japanese language.
History
Pre-debut
In January 2011, Yudai Ohno, Toru Iwaoka, Taiki Kudo, Sota Hanamura, and Hayate Wada were gathered and formed into a group by their current manager. Then named Blackout, they quickly decided to change their name as "blackout" meant a power outage. In April, they held their first concert in Shibuya Vuenos. From May to September 2012, Da-iCE performed as the opening act for their agency mates AAA in "AAA Tour 2012 -777- Triple Seven". This significantly widened their exposure to the public, and by the end of the tour their Twitter followers had grown from about 2,000 to over 10,000. On December 12, 2012, the group released their self-titled debut indie mini-album. It ranked 1st on the Recochoku ringtone daily chart, and reached a peak of number 15 on the Oricon Daily Albums Chart. Following the release of the album, Da-iCE held their first tour in January 2013. In May the same year, they held their second tour. On June 5, 2013, they released their first indie single, "I'll be back". The single ranked number 14 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, and achieved number 1 on the Recochoku ringtone daily chart. In July, they announced they would be making their major debut in 2014, and in October, they announced that the major debut single would be decided by nationwide voting online. At the end of 2013, the group transferred to the UNIVERSAL SIGMA sub label of Universal Music Japan.
2014 - Major Debut
On 15 January 2014, the group released their major debut single, "Shout It Out", which achieved 4th place on the Oricon Weekly Charts. In March, they held their third tour. Following the release of 2 subsequent singles, Da-iCE released their 1st major and full album, Fight Back, as well as a DVD of their third tour, on 15 October. On 8 November 2015, the group announced that they would be releasing their 2nd major and full album Every Season. All four singles from 2015 will be included in this album.
2016 - 2nd Album ''Every Season''
Officially released on January 6, 2016, Every Season achieved 1st place on the Oricon Daily Ranking on January 5, a day before the official release. Their album sales had reached more than 30,000 copies sold throughout the day. Every Season includes four singles from 2015 and a collaboration with SKY-HI from their senior group, AAA. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that Da-iCE would perform their first Hall Tour across Japan starting in July, with its final stop at Tokyo Nippon Budokan on January 1, 2017. This would be the first time the group had performed at an Arena as a solo act. On February 8 they wrapped up their 3rd tour with a surprise announcement of their new single "WATCH OUT", and their 3rd concert live DVD "Da-iCE Live House Tour 2015-2016 -PHASE 4 HELLO-" to be released simultaneously on April 6, 2016. The single "WATCH OUT" was released in 3 versions and individual member versions. The 3rd live DVD featured the semi-final performance in Tokyo at the Toyosu PIT on January 31, 2016, and included a Limited Edition one hour recording called “the Road to Nippon Budokan”.
