NICO Touches the Walls

Overview

NICO Touches the Walls was a Japanese rock band formed in 2004 and active until 2019. Often abbreviated as NICO or NTtWs, the band also used the name ACO Touches the Walls for acoustic-format activity from 2015 onward. The members were Tatsuya Mitsumura (vocals, guitar), Daisuke Furumura (guitar), Shingo Sakakura (bass) and Shotaro Tsushima (drums). They were widely known for anime tie-ins: "Broken Youth", "Diver" and "Niwaka Ame ni Mo Makezu" for Naruto: Shippuden, "Hologram" for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and "Mashi Mashi" as the ending theme of Haikyuu!! season 3. In November 2019 the band announced its disbandment after 15 years.

Members

• Tatsuya Mitsumura (b. September 8, 1985): vocals and guitar, writer of most songs; from Urayasu, Chiba. He later worked with THE LODGERS from 2020 and is now vocalist and guitarist of ZION.
• Daisuke Furumura (b. March 1, 1985): guitar; wrote some songs; born in Hakodate, Hokkaido and raised in Chiba.
• Shingo Sakakura (b. July 24, 1985): bass; wrote songs including "Endless roll" and "Matryoshka". A Waseda University graduate, he had formed the band B+ (bplus) with Mitsumura before NICO.
• Shotaro Tsushima (b. January 28, 1985): drums; wrote lyrics for some songs including "Niwaka Ame ni Mo Makezu".
• Support members: Hisashi Asano (guitar, keyboards, violin; producer on some tracks from the 11th single "Yume 1-go" and a regular live companion since 2016) and Kosuke Noma (keyboards, some arrangements).

Career

Formation and early years (2004–2007)

Mitsumura, Furumura and Sakakura formed the band in April 2004, and Tsushima joined in July. The name came from Mitsumura stumbling against a wall in a cramped rehearsal-studio restroom and imagining a new world beyond it; "NICO" was chosen because they wanted a foreign woman's name in the band name. In November 2004 they won the Lotte Prize at the national TEENS' MUSIC FESTIVAL. They held their first one-man show in January 2006 at Shimokitazawa club251, drawing over 200 people before any official recording. They issued the mini albums Walls Is Beginning (February 2006) and runova x handover (October 2006), then Eden in June 2007. After signing with Ki/oon Records, they made their major debut with the mini album How are you? in November 2007.

Who Are You? (2008)

The debut major single "Yoru no Hate" came in February 2008 (reaching No. 64 on the Oricon chart), followed by "The Bungy" in June and "Broken Youth" in August. "Broken Youth", an ending theme for Naruto: Shippuden, reached No. 24 and became one of their best-known songs. The first album Who Are You? arrived in September and debuted at No. 11. The band also appeared in a Glico Pocky commercial and toured nationwide with "Bon voyage, Etranger", with every date selling out.

Aurora (2009–2010)

"Big Foot" was released in May 2009, and "Hologram" in August, becoming the opening theme of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and their highest-ranking single at the time. In June they held their first outdoor show at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall for 3,000 people. "Kakera -Subete no Omoitachi e-" and the second album Aurora followed in November. The "& Auroras" tour led to their first Nippon Budokan concert in March 2010.

Passenger (2010–2011)

The live-house tour "Michi Naki Michi" (May–June 2010) featured different new songs at every show, leading to the August single "Sudden Death Game". "Diver" (January 2011), their second Naruto tie-in, reached No. 7 on Oricon and became their first top-10 single; a split tour with flumpool followed. The third album Passenger was released in April 2011 (No. 15), with "Matryoshka" used as an opening theme for the anime C. "Te o Tatake" (August) became a au LISMO! commercial song, and "Endless roll" was released digitally in September.

Humania and beyond (2011–2013)

The fourth album Humania (December 2011) reached No. 10. In 2012 they played an extra show at Makuhari Messe Event Hall, released "Natsu no Daisankakkei" (a Calpis Water commercial song) in May with a free show in Yoyogi Park attracting 7,000 people, toured 23 dates with "ALGORHYTMIQUE", and released "Yume 1-go" in December. In 2013 came "Mr.ECHO" (March), the fifth album Shout to the Walls! (April), their highest Oricon debut at No. 5, and "Niwaka Ame ni Mo Makezu" (July).

Later years and disbandment (2016–2019)

In 2016 the band released the album Yuuki mo Ai mo Nai nante, the live releases "Uzu to Uzu: Higashi no Uzu" (Nippon Budokan) and "Nishi no Uzu" (Osaka-jo Hall), the singles "Strato" and "BAD ROBOT" (May), and "Mashi Mashi" (November), the Haikyuu!! season 3 ending theme. They followed with "Funny Side Up!" and the EP OYSTER (2017), the EP TWISTER (2018), and in 2019 "18?", the album QUIZMASTER and Howdy!! We are ACO Touches the Walls STAR SERIES. In November 2019 they announced their disbandment after 15 years.

Musical style

Spanning J-rock, J-pop and anime songs, the band was led by Mitsumura, who wrote most of the music and lyrics, with Furumura and Sakakura contributing some songs; many tracks developed from songs he wrote as a teenager. They experimented with different styles, as in "The Bungy", and valued live performance, premiering new songs on tours. From 2015 they also performed in an acoustic format as ACO Touches the Walls.