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On October 23 ONE OR EIGHT brought their high-energy music to Samsung Hall, Manila, Philippines, with the “ONE OR EIGHT Special SHOW CASE 2026 in ASIA -V8–” concert, presented by SOZO. Composed of MIZUKI, NEO, REIA, RYOTA, SOUMA, TAKERU, TSUBASA and YUGA, the Japanese global group is inspired by “ichi ka bachi ka“, which means “all or nothing”.” His hit song “TOKYO DRIFT” has earned over 200,000 user-generated posts and over 300 million views on TikTok. They released their first EP titled “EN-GÏNE” in September and performed the final theme of the second season of black clover.
Before their first concert in Manila, ONE OR EIGHT participated in a media Q&A segment and talked about their group’s musical identity, tour experiences, and their first time in the Philippines. They also shared the inspiration and challenges behind the group’s motto. “BET ON YOURSELF.”
Note: This interview was translated with an interpreter. Some parts have been edited for clarity.
Host: Thank you all for coming! Let’s start with a question about your first time here in the Philippines. This is your first time performing in Manila, where fans are known to sing along to every lyric and create an unforgettable concert experience. What have you heard from Filipino fans and what do you hope to share with them tonight?
Neo: It’s our first time in Manila and we are very excited. In fact, we had a song with Felip from SB19, called KAWASAKI. He’s a great rapper, a great artist and we feel very honored to have him on our track. So yes, we are very excited to perform in Manila, where he is from.
We are very excited to see our Manila fans, our Filipino fans. We’ve heard a lot of good things about the Philippine fans. They are very enthusiastic, have good energy and love to sing. This is what I personally think about Filipinos. We are very excited to sing our songs with our fans and also, you know, exchange energy with each other.
Host: With the local energy tonight, I hope you enjoy the show, no [just] as a performer, but to see the fans singing with you tonight. So, continuing with the question about your core identity: how would you describe the group’s identity in one word and what would it be?
Tsubasa: In Japanese, the word we have selected is “challenge.” It’s something we really liked from the beginning when we started as a group.
We had to challenge many things to achieve different things and reach greater heights. Experiencing different challenges is not something we should be ashamed or ashamed of. Accepting these challenges and new experiences while having fun… we want to share this feeling with the fans.
Host: Behind the scenes, how do you maintain harmony in a group of eight different personalities?? What makes your bond special?
Souma: Even before we [started] Living together, we were in the same house and even had to go to the same lessons. So we were together from the beginning. Although we have different personalities, we had that energy where we enjoyed…challenging concepts, which we mentioned a while ago.
So before we even face each other, what we see the most is making sure that the fans experience the concept of two challenges that we want to share. All of us enjoy this two-challenge concept, so we want the fans to enjoy it. [our experiences] to challenge greater heights.
Host: So the deep bond definitely shines through your music. Let’s move on to the creative process behind their highly anticipated new releases. What were the most important points you considered when making “EN-GÏNE”? Where did the idea of “TRANSLATING” come from??
Ryota: As you know, a motor is something that you know you push forward; you step on the accelerator. So we want to push and push until [it reaches] the limits themselves.
In our album there are also different types of songs. We try to push different types of possibilities. There are ballads, there are songs where you have fun, but there are [also] songs that we play a lot in our performances. That’s where “TRANSLATING” comes from. Furthermore, each of us has our own concept. Each one has their own “performances” per se. So, instead of translating directly, we want to take advantage of our own possibilities, act and show. [that we match].
When making different types of songs, as you know, there are vocal members and rapper members. So what we experienced was vocal members trying out rapper roles and rapper members trying out vocal roles. So in this [theme]we were able to experience different kinds of… different sides of ourselves.
Host: What song best represents ONE OR EIGHT right now, and if a new listener only had one song to start with, what would you recommend?
Yuga: That would be “TOKYO DRIFT”, because it has that acceleration, that speed, that speed in our performances. And if listeners had a song to start with, what we would recommend, of course, is “TOKYO DRIFT” and, personally, “365.”
Host: How has the group grown and changed since you started and what has been your biggest challenge? How has the tour changed you?
Takeru: The most important thing we have grown in is our experience and ability, as well as our mental strength. It’s been three years since we debuted. We have faced different types of challenges. For example, during performances, there may be a sound error, the microphone does not pick up or sounds do not play. Through these types of experiences we were able to grow. And also, the support of the fans. It connects with our mental strength and we can deliver maximum performance, maximum capacity, to make sure the fans enjoy the show.
Host: Are there any other Filipino or Asian artists you like to work with? What direction do you want to explore next?
Mizuki: There will be many collaborations in the future. But apart from SB19 and VXON, an artist who created a Japanese song. In fact, a while ago we had a TikTok that we collaborated on. Personally, [we hope] we can collaborate on a performance with VXON on a Japanese song, or the other way around, where ONE OR EIGHT can perform the song in English and perform it with VXON; That would be a good possibility moving forward.
we feel [that] There are many possibilities and challenges ahead, but this is something we want to do. For example, the type of challenges or opportunities that we can reflect on, we want to introduce into our [next] songs. Since the way we present ourselves is by doing these challenges and putting them in our songs, we present what ONE OR EIGHT is. For the fans who listen to our songs, this is the best kind of presentation we can do as ONE OR EIGHT.
Host: What message do you have for your Filipino fans and what would you like to promise them as ONE OR EIGHT moves forward?
Resume: As you all know, this is our first time in Manila. It is our first performance and we are very excited because it is the first time we meet our Filipino fans. Looking ahead, what can we promise fans? [is that] We want to be able to make sure fans don’t have any regrets. That they will be happy they chose to come. [see] ONE OR EIGHT. We are really very grateful for the fans coming out and we really want everyone to enjoy watching the show.
Visit the official ONE OR EIGHT website for more information and updates. Special thanks also to Cosplay.ph for organizing this interview.
Assistance and Photography: Krystien Veloso
Cover photo via ONE OR EIGHT website
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