MANATO

## Hirose Manato  廣(ひろ)瀬(せ)真(まな)人(と)

MANATO promoting BE:FIRST's 4th single

**MANATO** (マナト), birth name **Hirose Manato** (廣瀬真人), is a Japanese singer and dancer under the Japanese management company BMSG as a member of BE:FIRST, a boy group selected by SKY-HI at the end of THE FIRST audition show. He made his debut with the group in November 2021.

Before joining BMSG, Manato trained at Avex Artist Academy Fukuoka and EXPG Fukuoka and was a part of LDH's PROJECT TARO trainee group.

### Early Life

Manato started taking singing and dancing classes at the Avex Artist Academy Fukuoka in 2012, during his fifth year of elementary school.

In 2013, Manato auditioned for the Avex and LDH joint project GLOBAL JAPAN CHALLENGE audition. After winning, he was sent to New York in April 2014 to study the performing arts from a different perspective as a part of PROJECT TARO. However, he left the program after a year.

After coming back to Japan, he attended EXPG Fukuoka until his high school graduation . While they were not in the same class, he knew RYUKI and took part in the same events as him.

In 2018, he participated in the JUNON SUPER BOY contest and made it to the top 30.

### 2021

In 2021, Manato auditioned for SKY-HI's THE FIRST. He passed the 2nd / Quality screening round in Tokyo (conducted in-person) with "366 Nichi" feat. HY by Shimizu Shota (vocal performance) and "RGTO" feat. SALU, H. TEFLON & K. Dabushaion by AKLO (dance performance). He ranked 10th after this round.

In THE FIRST Artisism screening, Manato sang "Mo-Eh-Wa" by Fujii Kaze and was placed in Team C (with Ozawa Naoki, Okubo Towa, Obayashi Kairyu, and Uchino Sota) to perform "BACK TO BACK" by Da-iCE. He ranked 13th after this round and successfully continued on to THE FIRST training camp.

In THE FIRST training camp Creativity screening, Manato was placed in Team A with Leo, Naoki, Sota, and Ten. The song they created in this round is titled "A Life". Manato ranked 5th after this round.

In THE FIRST training camp, Mock Professional screening, Manato was placed in Team "Be Free" with Junon, Leo, Sota, Reiko, and Rui. They performed Be Free, and Manato ranked 3rd after this round.

In THE FIRST training camp VS. Pro Artist screening, Manato performed To The First together with the remaining 10 THE FIRST members. He ranked 8th after this round and was confirmed as one of the 10 finalists of THE FIRST.

After a one month break from THE FIRST training camp, Manato and the other finalists returned to the same location to prepare for the final round. Manato was placed in Team Shining, and performed Shining One with Junon, Shota, Sota, and Ryuhei.

In THE FIRST Creative NEO screening, he teamed up with Shota and Sota to form "ShowMinorSavage". The song they created for this round is "No Cap Navy", with Nanairo Holiday by SKY-HI as the backing track.

On August 13, Manato was chosen to be the third member of BE:FIRST.

On August 16, BE:FIRST released its pre-debut single, Shining One.

On November 3, BE:FIRST released its debut single, Gifted.

### 2022

On September 18 he released New Chapter as a part of BMSG ALLSTARS.

### 2023

In May he was appointed to the "Friends of NBA" initiative by the National Basketball Association.

On September 18, he released The Moon in the WEST as part of BMSG WEST.

## Personal Life

* Family
* Education
* Friendships
* Nicknames
* Name Meaning

Manato has a younger sister

In March 2014, Manato graduated from Fukuoka Atagohama Elementary School .

From April 2014 until March 2015, he studied abroad in New York.

In March 2020, he graduated from Fukuoka Daiichi High School, specializing in the performing arts.

He did not pursue higher education, and instead moved to Tokyo and worked part time to support his career as an artist.

* **SOTA**: he became close to fellow BE:FIRST member SOTA during the THE FIRST training camp, as they were together for every evaluation round.
* **RYOKI**: he started getting close to BE:FIRST member RYOKI through shopping
* **JUNON**: he started getting close to BE:FIRST member JUNON through shopping

* **Manato-kun** (まなとくん): most common nickname used by BMSG artists
* **Manaty** (マナティ): nickname used by fans, given to him by SKY-HI
* **Manatin** (まなてぃん): nickname used by fellow BE:FIRST member SHUNTO

Manato's given name, "真人", means "true" (真) and "person" (人). It can also be read as the word "shinjin" (しんじん) meaning "true man" and to live honestly. "Ma" and "Na" are also the first characters of his parents' names.

## Profile

* Information
* Q&A

* **Birth Name**: Hirose Manato (廣瀬真人)
* **Stage Name**: MANATO (マナト)
* **Nicknames**: Manato-kun (まなとくん), Manaty (マナティ)
* **Birth Date**: April 29, 2001 (2001-04-29) (age 22)
* **Birth Place**: Fukuoka, Japan
* **Blood Type**: A
* **Height**: 173 cm (5 ft 8.1 in)?
* **Western Zodiac**:  Taurus
* **Eastern Zodiac**:  Snake
* **Emoji**: 🐧
* **BMSG Status**:
	+ 2021-08-13: Joined
	+ 2021-08-13: BE:FIRST member
* **BMSG Groups**:
	+ BE:FIRST (2021-present)
* **BMSG Units**:
	+ ShowMinorSavage (2021-present)
	+ BMSG ALLSTARS (2022)
	+ BMSG WEST (2023)

* **Special Skills**: impersonations of people
* **Hobbies**: watching NBA highlights, watching anime, reading manga
* **Looks Up To**: iri
* **Motto**: you should try everything
* **Favorite Artists**: iri, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Future, H.E.R
* **Favorite Movie(s)**: My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday
* **Favorite Food**: yakisoba, matcha (green tea), meat, natto
* **Least Favorite Food**: corn
* **Favorite Color**: gold
* **Favorite scent**: matcha
* **Favorite part of his body**: chest
* **Favorite Tokyo district**: Sangenjaya
* **Favorite Jewelry**: gold jewelry, and striking a balance between thick and thin rings
* **His "song of destiny"**: "LOOP" by SIRUP and "Watashi" by iri, because they led him to discover HIPHOP and R&B.
* **His Boom**: waking up in the morning and looking for an unknown song that he can get into
* **Relaxes when**: drinking matcha latte
* **Healing Moment**: eating shaved ice
* **Most used emoji**: 🙏
* **A country he wants to go to right now**: United States (New York and Los Angeles) and South Korea
* **Something he would do 800 times**: eating double cheeseburgers (without the tomatoes)
* **Something he doesn't want to do, even if he's asked 800 times**: acrobatics
* **Something he would buy if he had 800 yen**: double cheeseburguer combo
* **Most recent compliment that made him happy**: RYOKI told him that he has a high natural healing power.
* **Something that made him feel excited recently**: ROCK IN JAPAN FES. 2022
* **NBA Player he pays attention to**: Zach LaVine
* **Words he wants to shout**: "I want to fly!"
* **What BESTY means to him**: a mirror
* **Best meal he had recently**: samgyeopsal
* **Role of Jewelry**: he wears a coin pendant that gets him fired up
* **Memorable Christmas Memory**: asking for money because he didn't want anything in particular
* **If he could spend Christmas with BE:FIRST**: go see the illuminations and decorate a room with balloons for a party
* **2022 was**: a year where they were able to show their individuality through various experiences

## Discography

*Main article: MANATO/Discography*
* BE:FIRST
* Collaborations
* THE FIRST

* **Digital**
	+ [2021.08.16] Shining One
	+ [2022.07.13] Don't Wake Me Up
	+ [2023.02.13] Boom Boom Back
* **CD**
	+ [2021.11.03] Gifted.
	+ [2022.05.18] Bye-Good-Bye
	+ [2022.08.31] BE:1
	+ [2023.04.26] Smile Again
	+ [2023.08.30] Sarracenia / Salvia
	+ [2023.09.13] Mainstream

* [2022.09.18] BMSG ALLSTARS - New Chapter
* [2023.09.18] BMSG WEST - The Moon in the WEST

During the audition MANATO participated in each of below performance screenings:

* **Creativity**
	+ Team A
	+ Song: "A" Life

* **Professional Trial Stage - Be Free vs Move On**
	+ Team Be Free

* **VS Professional Artist**
	+ Performance of To The First featuring all Top 11 finalists

* **Creativity NEO**
	+ Group name: ShowMinorSavage (SHOTA, MANATO, SOTA)
	+ Song: No Cap Navy

* **Final Screening - Team Shining vs Team One**
	+ Team Shining

## Other Works

* Starring TV Programs
* TV Appearances
* Music Videos
* Modeling

* [2015] TARO / Fuji TV
* [2021] THE FIRST
* [2021] Ano Hi no THE FIRST
* [2021] THE FIRST MOMENT
* [2021-2022] Gifted Days
* [2022] BE:FIRST Road to VIVA LA ROCK 2022
* [2022] ALL ABOUT BMSG
* [2022] BE:FIRST TV
* [2023] D.U.N.K.

- [2023.09.14] Love it! / TBS

*Main article: MANATO/Music Videos*
**Featured**

* [2021] SKY-HI -  ONE MORE DAY feat. REIKO  (cameo)

Collaborations
* [2022] BMSG ALLSTARS - New Chapter
* [2023] ShowMinorSavage - SUPER ICY
* [2023] BMSG WEST - The Moon in the WEST

- [2022.11] FILA Brand Ambassador  (as BE:FIRST)

- [2022.11] Swarvoski Brand Ambassador  (as BE:FIRST)

## Publications

*Main article: MANATO/Publications*
*See also: BE:FIRST/Publications*
* [2022.11.30] ROCKIN'ON JAPAN - January 2023 Issue

## Trivia

* Manato can speak some English because of his year abroad in New York
* Manato can play the guitar
* Manato watches and listens to cyphers at home, he recommends XXL.
* Manato asked to dye his hair purple for Bye-Good-Bye because of SKY-HI's purple hair in THE FIRST TAKE.
* Manato chose a soft ivory gold color for his in-ear monitors because he considers himself a "gold guy". The BE:FIRST logo is in the middle.
* If they could perform overseas, the place Manato wants BE:FIRST to perform in the most is Apollo Theater in New York.
* Manato thinks BE:FIRST's strength lies in that although they all have their own unique points of view, they all fit into a big circle, and there is no blurring between them
* SKY-HI considers Manato to be the backbone of BE:FIRST and the one who truly deserves the title of all-rounder .

## References

1. ↑  https://aaa.avex.jp/result/global\_japan\_challenge/
2. ↑  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0wz7ORWnxM&t=508s
3. ↑  https://mdpr.jp/news/1788376
4. ↑ THE FIRST Audition website
5. ↑ THE FIRST #20
6. ↑  https://twitter.com/manato\_hirose/status/951462595789123584?s=20
7. ↑ https://sscchhaa.com/hirose-first/
8. ↑  Fukuoka Daiichi High School Wikipedia
9. ↑  https://youtu.be/hA6kRg7ziIs?t=876
10. ↑  https://twitter.com/BEFIRSTofficial/status/1456066688789532675?s=20
11. ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 Tokyo Calendar - *BE:FIRSTのMANATO＆RYOKI＆SOTAが魅せた、オンリーワンの個性*
12. ↑  Bandwagon
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 *Harper's Bazaar - BE:FIRST、スワロフスキーのきらめきとともに 2022/11/18*
14. ↑ *The Television - BE:FIRSTのチームワークの秘訣は？「年齢を感じさせないグループ」＜インタビュー＞ 2021/10/07*
15. ↑ Yahoo! Japan *初来日のIVEが「会いたかったです！」BE:FIRST、CRAVITYとそれぞれの色見せた「ネクステ」 2022/08/09*
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2  Yomiuri - 海外に僕らの音楽を　ありがとう言い続けたい…ＢＥ：ＦＩＲＳＴ　視線は世界へ（後編）
17. ↑ [https://www.instagram.com/p/CEtaV8xlCLZ/ Manato's Instagram
18. ↑ BESTY Q&A 2022.03.05 in BMSG [BESTY] App.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1  ELLE
20. ↑ BE:FIRST no SPARK / J-WAVE, 2022.03.28 (Manato & Leo)
21. ↑ THE FIRST MOMENT #1
22. ↑  [Yomiuri -新曲「Ｂｙｅ―Ｇｏｏｄ―Ｂｙｅ」の振り付け練習はみんなで話し合って…ＢＥ：ＦＩＲＳＴ　視線は世界へ（前編)
23. ↑  Nikkei Entertainment - *SKY-HIが語る7人の成長　「彼は完全にBE:FIRSTの『背骨』ですね」 2022/10/20*