NiZiU is one of those groups that toe the line between kpop and J-pop, being a Japanese girl group under a Korean company, like JYP’s Japanese version of WayV. They mostly release Japanese music, but have done music in Korean too. They have nine members: Mako, Rio, Riku, Maya, Ayaka, Mayuka, Rima, Miihi, and Nina, who were chosen through the survival show NiZi Project.

Here are my credentials: pretty few. NiZiU, like WayV, aren’t talked about much in kpop spaces, so I actually first heard of them through Bang Chan and Felix’s radio show, where Chan recommended a song of theirs that I liked. They’ve been on my list since, and I thought, since they’re having a comeback soon, now would be a good time to give them a try.

As you can see from the title, this is another review where I roped a friend or family member of mine into watching a bunch of music videos (for funzies), and this time it’s my friend Junie, who was very kind to spend a solid hour giving actual good commentary while I was indisposed with fits of giggles. So let’s get into it!

EP #1: Make You Happy

Make You Happy may be the most debut MV to ever debut, starting out with color-coded introductions of each of the members and a delightfully poppy beat with a bit of a spring in its step with these injections of brass and solid percussion. “This is so opening of a slice-of-life anime,” Junie laughed. “They’re just girls, you know?” I feel like every couple of seconds one of us was saying “oh this is so cuteeeee.” I don’t know what it is about being with your friend at 3 am in your dorm room that makes everything adorable and funny, but we really liked this one. As for the song itself, I do wish the chorus went a bit further, because it’s not as distinct from its verses as I think it could be. The instrumental is a bit wacky, and comes in and goes out. It reminds me of a lot of TWICE’s Japanese releases, like Candy Pop. Speaking of TWICE, I did really love how the rap name-dropped other JYP girl groups; I caught TWICE, Miss A, Wonder Girls, and ITZY, though I might have missed more.

“As a person who’s had multiple instances of doing performances on public transportation, they have to have hired these people [on the bus], because literally no one was ever this happy to have a camera crew shoved in their face,” Junie said. They continued, “I really want to think that [that hairstyle] is just bad French braids but…” Unfortunately not. Not the cultural appropriation in 2020, guys, come on. Besides that, though, we really enjoyed it.

From this EP, I enjoyed the synthy background in Boom Boom Boom and the kick of rock in Baby I’m A Star, which was definitely my hidden gem. I liked it on the whole, though it felt like each of the songs was missing that special something that would make them great, instead landing firmly in the “good” category. By the way, this EP is listed in a few places as a “pre-debut mini-album, and honestly, I have no idea what that means, but I just labeled it as #1 to avoid confusion.

Single #1: Step And A Step

Step & A Step is apparently NiZiU’s official debut. I’ll spare you our few minutes of confusion and brief hiatus for Junie’s tea ASMR, except for the line “Future Anna, you did a tea hater proud”, because I’m a bragger until the end, and a tea maniac. It keeps in their poppy sound from the start, from the fast-paced percussion to the bubbly background. The light horns are a nice touch too. I had a similar issue to the first song, which is that the chorus didn’t feel impactful enough, though I appreciated how sprawling it was in comparison to Make You Happy.

However, my love of the lyrics overshadowed all of those issues; from “just believe in yourself” to “you can take a break and just rest,” we were squealing from the sweetness. This is one of those songs that’s really made by the music video; I don’t know if either of us would listen to it without the MV, but we liked it anyone. “We’re like, fully adults sitting here tearing up because she reunited with her friends”, Junie said. No regrets.

From the single, I enjoyed the chanty bridge and final chorus of Joyful, which lives up to its name in spades.

Single #2: Poppin Shakin

“Ooh, okay, so we’re doing shenanigans together,” Junie said as soon as we started watching NiZiU sneak around a carnival at night in Take A Picture. I really liked the choice to begin right out of the gate with the hook, which remedies a lot of the issues I’ve had with their singles in the best. The MV is as cute as ever of course (outfits on fire), but this time the song lives up to it too. The pre-chorus’ build-up is probably one of their best, and the countdown is great too (“Oh we’re counting!” I squealed, like a baby, while Junie laughed). I even didn’t mind the short rap breaks. “I think the others were enjoyable, but—” “I would have this on my playlist,” Junie finished. Also, I may be imagining it, but I loved the mimicking of ferris wheels and other carnival rides in the choreo; it was so clever.

I’ll spare you our squealing and our rambling about which outfits of NiZiU’s we would steal, but safe to say, this one was our favorite so far. “We’ve done three songs so far and we’re at sixteen minutes of recording,” I admitted after we finished Take A Picture. “This is going so well, Junie.”

From the single, I enjoyed the bubbly, roller-skate-ready Poppin’ Shakin’.

Album #1: U

Credit where credit is due, Junie guessed right off the bat that the name “Chopstick” was based off of the simple piano song “Chopsticks”, which the track samples. I loved the intro’s drama and the swirling strings. The pre-chorus gives Take A Picture a run for its money; it’s very strong. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the chorus in total, but there’s no denying that it’s very unique. I think I appreciated the cleverness of this song more than enjoyed it outright the first time, but I could feel it growing on me, especially how it builds on itself with each new rendition of the chorus. I like its madcap energy more every time, though, and it’s my favorite so far.

Besides how unique the song is, the MV is just…so wild. I love pieces of art that don’t take themselves so seriously, and this is a prime example of that. There’s Ayaka just absolutely hammering the piano keys in the background, there’s Nina floating in zero gravity, there’s Rima rapping while playing the sample, and my personal favorite, Mayuka conducting a symphony with actual chopsticks. “I just love how they’re just over here being ridiculous in the background…it’s delightful,” Junie said. “It’s weird as hell,” I said back to them, “but I love it.” I felt like I wanted to clap at the end.

This album is mainly including songs from their past few singles and EP, but from the new songs, I enjoyed the carnivalesque attitude of Festa, the relaxed acoustic guitar and sweet lyrics of 9 Colors (which was Junie’s favorite). My hidden gem was the marching band-influenced, confident I Am, a sound I hope they’ll use in a single sometime soon. I also liked Step & A Step and Poppin’ Shakin’ more the second time around.

It’s a pretty strong collection all in all, and, though it’s a bit unrelated, I really liked the cover art too.

Next time, we’re onto Part 2 (likely of three, because Junie and I are incapable of not rambling). Tschüss!