Most groups treat their signature song like a museum piece, something to dust off for the encore and never argue with. GENERATIONS has gone the other way with VIBE, a new EDM (electronic dance music) single written to stand right beside the track that made the group’s name. It has been streaming everywhere since Monday, 28 September 2026.
A CD is scheduled to follow on 28 October 2026, which makes this the Japanese group’s first CD single in four years, and the music video is their first as a six-member lineup. The target is AGEHA.
Meet the Six Behind It
If the name is new to you, GENERATIONS is a dance and vocal group that debuted in November 2012 with the single BRAVE IT OUT. The six members are Alan Shirahama, Ryota Katayose, Ryuto Kazuhara, Hayato Komori, Reo Sano, and Yuta Nakatsuka, and between them they’ve built side careers in drama, film, variety, and DJ work.
The CV is a long one! They’ve completed two world tours, a first dome tour in 2018, and a first nationwide five-dome tour in 2019. That same year brought their first appearance on NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen, where they returned three years running, and their radio show GENERATIONS no GENETALK has been on air since 2013.
That November debut matters here, because this November, 14 years on, opens what the group is calling its 15th anniversary year. Part of the plan for that milestone is a deliberate “confrontation” with their own back catalogue, and VIBE is the opening round.
The Song They’re Chasing
AGEHA came out ten years ago and became the track most associated with GENERATIONS. If you want to hear what VIBE is being measured against, a few minutes with the original will tell you more than any description can.
Shirahama co-wrote and arranged the new single with rising songwriter TET$V and Kanata Okajima, a producer with a long list of J-pop hits. The brief was to return to the 2010s dance sound that Shirahama ties to LDH, the company behind the group, without photocopying it.
“Over time I think it’s stopped being ‘the sound of that era’ and become something closer to a sound that’s genuinely ours, one with lasting value,” he says. His point is that a style once filed under trends can become a signature if you stick with it long enough, and that’s a far more interesting pitch than a nostalgia remake.
Grown Up, Still Loud
The detail that sells this as more than an anniversary exercise is the first lyric. Shirahama says the song opens with the line “this is where the good part starts”, which he calls “both a declaration and a challenge to ourselves”.
It takes some nerve to say that 14 years into a career, especially when the comparison you’ve invited is your own peak. Anyone who has ever wondered whether their best work is already behind them will recognise the feeling, and it’s oddly comforting to watch a group with dome tours on its record admit to it out loud.
He’s equally clear that VIBE isn’t trying to out-shout its predecessor. “It’s not an aggressive track either, there’s a sense of ease that comes from having grown up,” he explains, before adding that the group built in moments for crowds to shout along because they wanted “a killer track for shows and festivals”. Growing up, in other words, doesn’t have to mean turning the volume down.
The line that lingers longest is his last one, where he says the song “could only exist because every member trusts the skill and potential we’ve all built up across our careers”. That’s the quiet answer to the whole rematch: the confidence comes from the decade of work, and no single hit can take the credit for it.
Real Dancers, Generated Worlds
The music video is where the ten-year gap shows most clearly. Every member appears in live action, while the backgrounds and environments around them were built with generative AI (artificial intelligence).
That split is the smart part! With a dance and vocal group the dancing is the draw, and here the software handles the scenery while the humans keep the job nobody wants automated. For anyone eyeing a career in music or video production, it’s a tidy example of AI working as a set-building tool instead of a stand-in for performers.
The video opens on the group’s dance strength before moving into choreography made specifically for it. Ryuto Kazuhara’s sliding sequence is among the standout moments.
Streaming Now, on CD Soon
Fans haven’t been shy about the result. Posts on Japanese social media have called the song めっちゃかっこいい (“really cool”) and 最高 (“the best”). All six members marked release day with a LINE livestream, swapping stories on VIBE-themed topics.
The physical single is scheduled for 28 October 2026 in three editions. In Japan, the CD + DVD and CD + Blu-ray versions are each listed at ¥3,465 including tax, while the CD only version is listed at ¥1,980 including tax. With the two video bundles priced identically, Blu-ray is the obvious pick of that pair if you own a player, and the CD-only edition is the sensible buy for everyone who wants the music alone.
Whether VIBE ends up meaning as much as AGEHA is something only another ten years can settle, but a group willing to ask the question this publicly has earned a listen. Stream VIBE now, keep an eye on the official GENERATIONS page for anniversary-year news, and follow the group on TikTok to catch the choreography up close. By their own account, the good part is only starting!
Visuals courtesy of GENERATIONS.
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