HIROFUMI ARAKI

(born June 14, 1983) is a Japanese actor and singer. He is known most notably for his role as Sadaharu Inui in The Prince of Tennis movie and The Prince of Tennis musicals. He is also part of a young men's stage acting troupe, D-Boys, which perform in various skit-like performances.

Contents

Career

In ''June Bride''

In ''Limit~ What's Your Story?''

Photobook and Idol DVD

Personal life

Selected Filmography

Stage

Musicals

Plays

Official DVDs

References

External links

See also

Career

He has appeared in a various number of tv shows.
Araki acted in the TV drama, ''The Hit Parade''Hit Parade Official Site [1], as a member of The Tigers. The show, which aired May 26th, 2006 on Fuji TV, also starred fellow D-Boys members Masato Wada, Yuu Shirota, Masaki Kaji, Hiroki Suzuki, Yuuya Endo and Seto Kouji.
Appeared on a Japanese radio program for BAY FM with fellow D-Boys member, Kouji Seto on October 14th, 2006.
===With the D-Boys===

In October 2004, Araki joined the Watanabe Entertainment group named the D-BOYS.
As a member of the D-Boys, Araki also keeps a blog, which he updates occasionally and includes a personal video greeting from Araki.
The D-Boys so far have released two Photobooks. The first photobook released on April 27, 2005, was self-titled ''D-Boys'', while the second, released on March 15th, 2006, was called ''Start'', both which contain many photos of Araki.
The D-Boys have also starred in their own drama documentary variety series called, ''DD-Boys''DD-Boys Official Site [2] in which Araki's appeared in a few episodes as himself. The show was 24 episodes long and ran from April 10th to September 25th, 2006.
In June 2007, the D-Boys will also be starring in their very own musical together called, ''D-BOYS STAGE''D-BOYS STAGE Official Website [3], which will run from June 3rd to June 10th at the Space Zero theater in Tokyo. Araki will be appearing in the musical as a guest performer, making select appearances on June 6th and June 9th.
===As Sadaharu Inui in The Prince of Tennis Musicals===
Araki won the role of Sadaharu Inui, the data-tennis regular of Seigaku Middle School's tennis club. And from 2005 to 2006, he became the second actor to play Inui in the The Prince of Tennis Musicals. He made his first debut as Inui on January 8th, 2005 in the ''Winter 2004-2005 Side Yamabuki'' performance in Osaka. That same year, his role as Inui was carried into the live adaptation film of the anime/manga. During his run in the musicals, he was able to work with fellow D-Boys members, Yuya Endo, Kotaroh Yanagi, Yuu Shirota, Masaki Kaji, Hiroki Suzuki, Osamu Adachi, and Masato Wada.
He performed, as Inui, in the following shows:

★ Tenimyu in Winter: Side Yamabuki - Featuring St Rudolph

★ Dream Live 2nd: Second Live concert

★ Imperial Match Hyotei

★ Hyoutei in Winter

★ Dream Live 3rd: Third Live concert
On March 29th, 2006, in the Dream Live 3rd Live concert, he along with the majority of the Seigaku cast, graduated from their roles.
===As Sadaharu Inui in The Prince of Tennis Live-Action Film===
Araki was able to carry on his role as Sadaharu Inui from the musicals to the live-adaptation film of the anime/manga series, The Prince of Tennis. He, along with most of the principle cast members for the Seigaku Regulars, were able to reprise their roles in the movie. The only major casting change was the casting of Kanata Hongo as Ryoma Echizen, the main protagonist.

The Prince of Tennis was released on May 13th, 2006 and opened on the tenth spot in the Japanese Box Office.

In ''June Bride''

Araki's next movie, the ''June Bride'' (''Jyun Bride'')June Bride Official Site [4] opened on May 27, 2006. He played one of the supporting characters, costarring with fellow D-Boys members, Shirota Yuu and Suzuki Hiroki. The movie's based on the original manga ''Jyun Bride'', by Yoshida Satoshi.

In ''Limit~ What's Your Story?''

In June 2006, Araki started rehearsing, with fellow D-Boys Hiroki Suzuki and Yuichi Nakamura, for his next on-stage production, in a play called ''.
===As Rio in ''Jūken Sentai Gekiranger''===
On February 18, 2007, Araki starred as the main villain named Rio, a young Akugata expert and leader of the Confrontation Beast Hall, who brought back from the dead, many warriors known along the ancient Akugata history, to cause despair and sadness in humanity in the newest ''Super Sentai'' series called ''Jūken Sentai Gekiranger'', which premiered on TV Asahi and is currently airing. The show also costars Hirofumi's fellow D-Boys member, Hiroki Suzuki, as Rio's rival, Jan Kandou/GekiRed.

Photobook and Idol DVD

It was announced then that Araki, along with Hiroki Suzuki and Koji Seto would be getting solo photobooks and DVDs called the "Prince Series." Araki's solo photobook would be released on April 19th, 2007 while his solo idol DVD would be released on May 16th, 2007. The three of them will be following Yuu Shirota, Yuya Endo, Kotaroh Yanagi and Shunji Igarashi as the only D-Boys that have released an idol DVD while following Kotaroh Yanagi, Igarashi Shunji and later, Shirota Yuu, as the only D-Boys to have released a solo photobook.

Personal life

Araki keeps a blog on his D-Boys webpage, which he updates occasionally. He is very close friends with fellow D-Boys members Hiroki Suzuki, Masaki Kaji, Masato Wada and Osamu Adachi.

Selected Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
N/A	''Italy Uemon Whom You Laugh''	N/A
2006	''The Prince of Tennis''	Sadaharu Inui
2006	''The June Bride''	N/A
2006	''DD-BOYS''	Various Characters	Appears in Episodes 3-4, 10-11, 15-17, 20, 22-23
2006	''The Hit Parade''	Member of The Tigers	TV drama
2006	''Regatta''	N/A	TV drama Appears in Episode 3
2006	''The Prince of Tennis''	Zaizen Hikaru	OAV series
2007	''Jūken Sentai Gekiranger''	Rio	Tokusatsu / Super Sentai Series

Stage

★ March 24th, 2007 as a guest performer in the ''Out of Order'' Live Entertainment Show

Musicals

★ January 8th, 2005 to March 29th, 2006 as Sadaharu Inui in the The Prince of Tennis Musicals

★ June 6th and June 9th, 2007 as a guest performer in the ''D-BOYS STAGE'' Musical

Plays

★ June 2nd to June 4th, 2006 in ''Limit ~ What Is Your Story?''

Official DVDs

Year	DVD	DVD Cover	Release Date	JPN certification
2007	''Prince Series D-BOYS Collection - Hirofumi Araki''		May 16, 2007

References

★ Wikipedia Japanese article on 荒木宏文

★ Wikipedia Japanese article on D-Boys

External links

★ Araki's Official Blog

★ Araki's Official Website and Profile

★ Araki's Past Blog Archive

★ Araki's Past Blog Archive with Introduction

★ D-Boys Official Website

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★

See also

★ D-Boys

★ Tenimyu

★ The Prince of Tennis Movie

★ The Prince of Tennis

★ Sadaharu Inui