NiziU will appear on the Nippon TV music program “Yoru no Oto -TOKYO MIDNIGHT MUSIC-,” airing in the early hours of July 8 in Japan (late night on July 7), to look back on the six years since their debut.
The special will trace the group’s journey from the “Nizi Project” audition show through their rapid rise, including their NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen appearance just 29 days after their official debut and a successful Tokyo Dome concert roughly two years in. Member MAYA reflected on the pressure of the transition from trainees to professionals, saying that during the audition period fans were cheering them on as they built themselves up from nothing, but after debuting they felt they had to keep growing and evolving as professionals, calling their own expectations “the biggest wall” they faced. NINA said the pace of it all left her in tears at times. The members also discussed their Korean debut and the challenges of adapting to South Korea’s music show format, along with the recently completed hall tour “NiziU Live With U 2025 ‘NEW EMOTION: Face to Face,'” how their mindset has shifted as more girl groups from their generation have emerged, and their hopes for the future.
During the studio segment, NiziU will perform their latest single “Too Bad,” a song themed around shaping one’s own future. The stage was created in collaboration with art director Naoyuki Hashimoto, known for his work on music videos for Awich and Snow Man, giving the performance a more mature look than the group’s typically bright, pop-driven image. The group will also perform a full-length rendition of their 2020 pre-debut track “Make you happy.”
Who is NiziU?
NiziU is a nine-member girl group made up of MAKO, RIO, MAYA, RIKU, MAYUKA, AYAKA, RIMA, MIIHI and NINA. They were formed through “Nizi Project,” an audition series produced jointly by Sony Music and South Korea’s JYP Entertainment that ran from 2019 to 2020. The group pre-debuted in June 2020 with the mini album “Make you happy” before officially debuting in December 2020 with the single “Step and a step.” That same year, NiziU received a Special Award at the 62nd Japan Record Awards and made their first appearance on NHK’s 71st Kohaku Uta Gassen, the network’s annual New Year’s Eve music special. In April 2021 they released the double A-side single “Take a picture / Poppin Shakin,” followed by their first studio album, “U,” that November.
The broadcast airs on Nippon TV on July 7 at 24:34 (effectively early July 8), hosted by Fuma Kikuchi of timelesz and Mei Hata, with narration by CRAZY COCO.
