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Nobuto  Nobuto (Bassist) Rumoured real name: Kuwahara Nobuto ( 桑原 信人 ) Nobuto, UVERworld's most humorous member and the only bassist. Blessed with the ability to crack jokes easily, he is UVERworld's ??? (person who makes others laugh/happy) and has been described as the god of humour by his band mates. He has also been dubbed the God of Humour by some fans, he can brighten up one's day with his cranky jokes or comments, and much can be seen from his blog entries. He's commented to be very clumsy (Katsuya mentioned it 4 times in only 2 sentences), and is terrible in hoola hoops (commented by Takuya). In fact, Takuya also mentioned that his charming point is his stupidity. Despite his tough complex, he's really a gentle, emotional guy who would cry over a song. When his sister gave birth, he also cried then. His passion for music can easily be seen on screen. In fact, during the UVERworld x Sid Live Performance, his bass strap broke in the middle of the concert. However, he continued to play despite the difficulty of having to hunch his back in an uncomfortable postion. He can be seen on screen second from left, with Katsuya on his right and Takuya on his left. That's an advantage for him because standing next to Takuya means showing up more on screen! Nobuto will always be moving his body to the song they are playing and this shows he really enjoys what he is doing at the moment. It seems that many has also noticed this point as quite a number of live reports described Nobuto as the one who ‘rocks his whole body towards the rhythm of the music'. Also, Nobuto is blessed with the ability to look natural in photo shoots and interviews. Unlike his other band members, he does not restraint his laughter and would express himself freely in front of the media. Maybe this is a biased opinion, but one should not doubt how natural Nobuto looks in front of the cameras. It would probably be more convincing if you head straight over to the gallery section.
桑原 信人 Nobuto - Timeless era    PV screencaps When UVERworld first appeared in D-tecnolife, Nobuto was not someone who'd catch ones eye. He did not have much fashion sense at that time and his face wasn't very much visible due to that stupid hat of his covering his face. Later in CHANCE! Promotional Video, he was more noticeable. Among the rest of the UVERworld members, Nobuto is the one who rocks his whole body to the rhythm the most, and that's where I conclude he's a natural bassist (god-like). And that was the same in just Melody. Also, it seems that Nobuto was looking younger and younger, and I guess the main reason is he's starting to know how to dress himself properly. Nobuto - BugRight era    PV screencaps Then comes to Colors of the Heart, Nobuto is starting to look better and better every time he appeared in one PV to another. But also, he seems to be getting fatter, especially in SHAMROCK (though it wasn't that obvious). Then finally, in Kimi no Suki na Uta he looked like more proper/handsome/formal. He looks very much slimmer and is able to melt the hearts of his fans'.
In BugRight, Nobuto seemed to have slimmed down somewhat (though the bag of Lays potato chips he oh-so-conveniently advertised seems to indicate other wise). Actually there aren't much physical changes between KimiSuki and BugRight period, though there is slightly more focus on Nobuto in the PV (Zero no Kotae). Then again, there was more focus on every other member since there's no random girl stealing the spotlight. Nobuto – Proglution era    PV screencaps
It was also around this time that UVERworld started having bass solos, in Endscape, Unknown Orchestra, and energy. Bass solos are quite rare in rock/pop, so this came as a rather nice surprise. Nobuto came back in Shaka Beach with a bit of difference. Wearing his purple Shaka Beach signature shirt, he stands out among the rest of the members (not including Takuya though because without fail, he ALWAYS gets the attention >_>). He grew his hair longer, added more spikes (more tousled) and seemed to have gain some Coupled with shorter light brown hair, Nobuto just looked better in Ukiyo CROSSING. (I have no idea how he can look better than before but he just did). If you did check out the special page in uverworld.com (which features Nobuto), I think some of you may agree with me that he does looked a bit like Cloud from Final Fantasy – Advent Children except his hair is more tamed and less, I-just-rolled-out-of-bed look. Nobuto - his blog Zalm from JustUver was also kind enough to translate some of his entries, and it seems that he had gotten into a car accident sometime before they debut as UVERworld. The entry was seemingly serious at the beginning, talking about him doing warm ups, then he started rambling about earthquake, that his house will collapse, and his heart may accidentally get pierced by a random wire. Then he mentioned that he will donate his heart should anything happen to him (touch wood, though I wouldn't mind having his heart… *bricked*). An even more ridiculous one was about a guy who cosplayed a maid in hentai street no less. (I really wonder what perverted stuff goes through his mind. Wait, I think I rather not.). There are actually lots more other entries but I do not have the translations. A song for leader Katsuya
Leader Katsuya; with his tiny dotted eyes I don't quite understand what he meant in the lyrics, maybe it's just random stuff, maybe it's an inside joke, but it does show some things about Nobuto: even though he sounded mean, but it's actually his form of endearment** (like how friends sometimes call each other stupid, but know they don't really mean it). It also does show how much he treasures his friends and wishes to always be able to protect them, be it physical or emotional. Perhaps that's why he's dubbed the God of Humour, because he wants to be able to always cheers up his friends. Nobuto (and Takuya) noticed that Katsuya had changed (between 2006 and 2007), and that Katsuya seemed less energetic than before. This song was probably created to cheer him up, and to tell him that he will always be there for him**. This showed his concern for his friends, and his ability to pick up small details about people. I guess as an emotional guy, he's quite sensitive to people's mood, and thus is able to read a person well. Little facts: *3 translated by ZaLM from a Japanese blog His crazy fandom:
If you would like to add your opinions into his fandom, feel free to contact us. We apologize for inconvenience caused. Please be patient before we incorporate a message board. If you are the real Nobuto and you are reading this, you should know how scary your non-japanese speaking fangirls are. Actually I can almost hear you laughing. For more information on Nobuto, visit the interviews section for some magazine interview translations.
• Profile contributed by Sie & Shinya. Sources: Official site, Magazines, CLASSWORD, Interviews. Special thanks to JUST UVER, the UVERworld chinese forum |
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Nobuto has known Takuya since their pre-school days (they were from the same child care center). They have been friends for 26 years as of 2008 . Though it is not official, it seems that Nobuto and Takuya are best friends from the way they stand together during interviews and also their actions from Live performances. In fact, Nobuto and Takuya each started to have interest in music after listening to their siblings play during their secondary school (junior high) days. Nobuto's brother was the bassist while Takuya's sister was the vocalist (sense the connection?) They also show the most affection to each other as they have the most hugging/arm slinging pictures. 