King & Prince："Over the Rainbow" members Tetsuya Kakihara, Tomoaki Maeno, and Toshiki Masuda reunite for the first time in seven years, looking back on "Rainbow Live" 11 years ago

A stage greeting for the latest film in the popular anime series "KING OF PRISM," "KING OF PRISM -Dramatic PRISM.1-," was held on September 8th at Shinjuku Wald 9 (Shinjuku, Tokyo), with appearances by members of the boy band "Over The Rainbow," including Kakihara Tetsuya, who plays Kamihama Kouji, Maeno Tomoaki, who plays Hayami Hiro, and Masuda Toshiki, who plays Nishina Kazuki. It was the first time in about seven years that the three appeared together at an event. Kakihara said, "I'm really happy to meet people who have been supporting me for a long time and people who have just started supporting me," and Masuda said, "It was a work from when I was a new face, and being on stage with these two people who have been helping me for a long time reminded me of the tension I felt back then."

Masuda said about the new work, "At the time of dubbing, it was in the storyboard stage, so it was difficult to find the tension and direction of the performance. I trusted the two (Maeno and Kakihara) and acted as a bridge." Maeno revealed the difficulties he faced, saying, "I wondered what the right answer was for the line, 'Hug! Ahhhh!' in the script..."

King & Prince was born from the TV anime "Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live," which aired from April 2013 to March 2014. It has been about 11 years since "Rainbow Live" started, and Maeno reflected, "In the beginning, Hiro's direction was not clear and it was difficult to play him. The direction was, 'Hiro's body wants Bell, but his heart wants Koji,' and I struggled to get a sense of how to express that with my voice, but through that accumulation, the Hiro I know today gradually took shape." Masuda said, "In that respect, Kazuki is the character who has changed the least from 'Pretty Rhythm' to 'King & Prince.' In 'Pretty Rhythm,' he was portrayed as an older brother figure who brings everyone together, so I was nervous to play him as a newcomer at the time."

When asked, "If we could see a new story of Over the Rainbow in the future, what would you like to see?" a fan said, "We want to see a solo Prism Show!", to which the three nodded, saying, "That's true! We'd like to see that."

Finally, Masuda said, "I hope you will continue to nurture and support the culture that we have built together," Maeno said, "I am truly happy to be able to play Hiro again after such a long time. With your support, I would like to create a new legend with Over the Rainbow when I stand on stage as Hiro again someday," and Kakihara concluded by saying, "I am so happy that you change the color of your glow sticks every time we speak and continue to support Over the Rainbow even after such a long time. Please continue to support us again and again! Please continue to enjoy King & Prince!".

King & Prince was released as an animated film in 2016, "KING OF PRISM by PrettyRhythm," and in 2017, "KING OF PRISM -PRIDE the HERO-." In 2019, "KING OF PRISM -Shiny Seven Stars-" was broadcast as a TV anime, and a theatrical edit was also screened. The new film will be the first in about four years since "KING OF PRISM ALL STARS-All Star☆Best Ten-" was released in January 2020, and will be a re-edited version of "KING OF PRISM -Shiny Seven Stars-" with new parts added. It was released on August 16th.