NiziU, JYP Entertainment's (JYPE) hugely popular Japanese Kpop-style group, is at long last debuting in Korea with "Press Play". In spite of previous appearances in various Kpop settings (detailed below), NiziU hasn't exactly taken off amongst Kpop fans outside of Japan. Even when looking at Twicehub's traffic, NiziU's schedule ranks as one of our least visited calendars, this despite JYPE's groups ranking among the most popular schedules we have. Because of this, one has to wonder how their new undertaking will fare. So why is NiziU targeting the Korean market, and what does this mean for the community?
The road to Korea
A very long time ago in the year 2020, NiziU released a Korean version of their hit pre-debut song, "Make You Happy". Some of us might have assumed at the time that they were going to promote in Korea rather soon, however they stayed away from tackling the Korean market in general for reasons unknown. Some argued that it was due to Japanese-Korean relations, or the girls' lack of skills. Personally I think it was simply a case of being rookies caught up in hectic schedules. Whatever the situation, I mentioned in the opening paragraph that they haven't entirely neglected the Korean market, as they have made multiple appearances in the Kpop industry such as:
Those highly visible activities weren't the only things going on though. Evidence appeared in early 2022 that JYPE had trademarked NiziU in Korea, with the assumption by some that this means NiziU may be debuting in the country soon. However the year came and went without the nonet dancing a single step on the regular M Countdown stage. There was a report at the 11th hour though that confirmed the group was set to debut, only in 2023 instead. And now, some ten months later, NiziU's long journey to Korea is finally over.
Are we Kpop yet?
NiziU has always been Kpop to me, which makes me curious about those who don't consider them to be Kpop. Will those people be convinced by "Press Play"? And what about JYPE's other international girl group, VCHA? Can we expect them to debut in Korea one day as well, or did they technically already do it? The Asiansoul himself hasn't shied away from using Kpop to describe the American girl group. So I wonder if you start a Kpop-style group in a country outside of Korea, then eventually debut them in Korea anyway, were they ever really anything besides Kpop in the first place?