INI (Japanese boy group)

INI (Japanese: アイエヌアイ) is a Japanese boy band formed through the reality competition show Produce 101 Japan 2. The group is composed of eleven members: Masaya Kimura, Hiromu Takatsuka, Shogo Tajima, Kyosuke Fujimaki, Takumi Ozaki, Hiroto Nishi, Jin Matsuda, Xu Fengfan, Rihito Ikezaki, Yudai Sano and Takeru Goto. Like the winners of the first season of Produce 101 Japan, INI is intended to be a permanent group. The group is managed by Lapone Entertainment, a joint company between Yoshimoto Kogyo and CJ ENM.

They made their debut on November 3, 2021, with the single A.

Name
The group's name, INI, was chosen by Lapone Entertainment among all the suggestions given by the viewers through Produce 101 Japan's official website. The name was announced during the final episode of the show.

The official meaning of the name is "the 11 of us (me/I) who met on Produce 101 Japan Season 2 connect (Network) with you (I)".

Pre-debut: Formation through Produce 101 Japan Season 2
In November 2020, applications for the second season of Produce 101 Japan, the Japanese spin-off of the South Korean Produce 101 franchise, opened. The series began airing in April 2021, with the finale broadcast live on TBS on June 13, where the final 11 members of the group were decided. Unlike other groups made from the Produce 101 series, INI, like their predecessors JO1, are a permanent group.

Prior to their debut, each of the 11 members had varying degrees of experience in the entertainment industry. Kimura and Nishi worked as back-up dancers while Tajima had been a trainee at Cube Entertainment for 2 years prior to his appearance in the show. Ozaki was previously under Avex Management, Fujimaki was active on TikTok and had amassed over 190,000 followers, and Xu was previously a trainee in China.

2021: Debut with A
On September 4, Masaya was selected as the group's leader, and on the 8th, the group's fan club name was announced as "Mini".

Following the end of Produce 101 Japan Season 2, the group flew to South Korea to start preparing for their debut. On September 18, plans for their debut single A were announced, with its release scheduled for November. Teasers for the songs "Rocketeer" and "Brighter" were released and it was announced that the title track would be decided by fan voting. On September 25, it was announced that "Rocketeer" was voted as the single's title track, and on the 26th the music videos for both singles were released.

On October 18, the group's first TV show INI Station began streaming on GyaO!. The show followed the group's 3-month long training programme in South Korea and the recording of their debut single.

On November 3, the group's debut single A was released. It debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon Singles Chart and sold over 500,000 copies in its first week, making it the fifth highest first-week sales record for a debut single of all time. On the 13th and 14th, the group held their first fan meeting at Pia Arena MM in Yokohama with an audience of 24,000 fans.

2022: I, first arena tour, and studio album Awakening
On January 7, the group's first radio show From INI was aired on Tokyo FM and JFN stations. On the 15th, their TV programme INI Road ~Road to Global Expansion~ started airing on Music On! TV and finished after 4 episodes. On February 28, the group filmed the continuation of the programme titled INI Road ~Road to Global Expansion~ #2.

On March 13, teasers for "Call 119" and "We Are" were released. As for first single, the title track for their second single I was voted by fans, and on the 20th, "Call 119" was selected. The music video was also released on the same day. On April 1, the second season of the group's first TV show INI STATION was aired on GyaO!. On the 20th their second single I was released and 500,000 copies were sold within two days, making them the first group in Oricon history to have two consecutive singles sell over 500,000 copies in their first week. On May 18, the group released the song "Yummy!!" for a collaboration with S&B Mazerudake no Spaghetti Sauce.

On July 1, the group broadcast "INI First Anniversary Live" on their official YouTube channel where they announced that they plan to release their third single M and hold the group's first arena tour in four cities across Japan. On August 10, the group held their first exhibition "INI museum" where all members were involved in creating exhibits. It was held at 7 hmv museum venues nationwide. M was released on the 30th and became their third consecutive single to place first on the Oricon SIngles Chart.

On 3 September, INI performed at the WANIMA presents 1CHANCE FESTIVAL 2022 organised by the rock band Wanima at Kumamoto Prefecture's country park. There they performed the song "Hero", which was written by Wanima. It was used as the theme song of the KTV drama "Convenience Store Heroes ~Anata no SOS, Itadakishita!!~" starring member Ozaki, and the song was released for distribution on October 17. On the 18th, Kimura, Tajima, Takatsuka, Fujimaki and Matsuda appeared in the TBS drama I Will Be Your Bloom where they played the role of CHAYNEY, the rival of idol group 8LOOM. On the 23rd, their TV show "INI no Oshigoto desu!" began airing on Nippon TV and Hulu.

On December 14, their first album Awakening was released, which included the title tracks of the singles A, I and M. Nishi and Tajima contributed to writing the lyrics of the title tracks "Spectra" and "Runaway".The album sold 241,000 copies in its first week and reached No. 1 on the Oricon Albums Chart. On the 17th the group started their tour 2022 INI 1st Arena Live Tour [Break The Code] at the at Aichi Sky Expo Hall A in Aichi Prefecture. The group toured five venues in four cities across Japan: Tokyo, Tokoname, Osaka and Fukuoka. A total of 13 shows were held and 120,000 people attended, with an additional show added in Nippon Budokan on January 7 and 8, 2023. Documentary videos of the live tour were sequentially released the group's official YouTube channel from March 15.

2023: Drop That, Tag Me, and second arena tour
On January 19, the group appeared in a commercial for the retail company, with their song "New Day" used as the accompanying music. The song was available from January 30 and a performance video was released on February 6 on the official YouTube channel.

On May 2, Takatsuka was chosen to star in the Japanese dub version of the 2018 Ukrainian animated film The Stolen Princess. On July 17, INI's song "My Story" was written for the film with Takatsuka contrbuting to the lyrics. The film was released on September 22. On May 24, their fourth single "Drop That" was released. It topped both the Oricon and Billboard Japan charts and exceeded 300,000 sales in its first week on Oricon, with Billboard Japan recording 520,000 first-week sales. The single's lead track is "Fanfare", with Fujimaki writing the lyrics for "Let's Escape" and Nishi contributing to the song "Drop".

On June 8, they made their first appearance on Mnet's M Countdown in South Korea, performing the Korean version of "Fanfare", marking their Korean debut. In July, their song "Moment" was used as the theme song for Virtual Adventure King 2023, a virtual event organised by Fuji TV and NTT QONOQ. The song was choreographed by Kimura and was performed for the first time at Mezamashi Live on August 7. It was released for distribution on August 14 and on October 20 it was used in a commercial for Aoyama Tailor's 60th anniversary starring INI. On August 30 their first photo book Chrono was released. It ranked first on Oricon's Weekly Book Ranking.

On September 12, the group sang the OST "Busterz" for Mnet's dance survival show Street Woman Fighter 2. On October 11, their fifth single "Tag Me" was released. It debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon Singles Charts selling 306,000 copies in its first week. They then made their first appearance on SBS' Inkigayo on the 22nd, where they performed the Korean version of "Hana".

On November 4, they embarked on their second arena tour 2023 INI 2nd Arena Live Tour [Ready To Pop!], which started at Ariake Arena, Tokyo, and consisted of 15 shows in seven cities across Japan. On December 21, the final show of the tour was held at Osaka-jo Hall. The tour attracted 130,000 people. On November 27, it was announced that their second studio album Match Up would be released on February 14, 2024.

On December 9 and 15, the group's special programme 1st Live INI was broadcast on TV Asahi, in which the group attempted their first self-produced live show. The programme was also streamed on Telasa, and a video following the process behind the making of the live performance was also available after the show ended.

2024–present: Second album Match Up and The Frame
On February 7, the title track "Legit" was made available for download prior to the release of their second album, with Nishi contributing to the lyrics. On the 12th, the music video was released and their second album Match Up was released on the 14th. The album debuted at the No. 1 on the album charts of both Oricon and Billboard Japan. First-week sales exceeded the previous album on both charts, with Billboard Japan reporting over 300,000 copies sold. On the 24th and 25th, they held their first solo dome concert, INI 2ND ARENA LIVE TOUR [READY TO POP!] IN KYOCERA DOME OSAKA at Kyocera Dome Osaka, attracting 35,000 people for one concert and 70,000 people over two days. This recorded a total of 200,000 attendees for the entire tour.

On March 15, it was announced that their song "Whatever Happens" would be used as the opening theme for the anime Touken Ranbu Kaze -Kyoden Kennuru Honnouji-. The song was released for distribution on 3 April, the day after the first broadcast of the anime.

On April 23, it was announced that the group's sixth single The Frame will be released on June 26 with the title track "Loud". "Loud" was available for pre-release streaming on June 17 and The Frame was released digitally on June 24.

On July 4, the group announced that they will release the track "Break of Dawn" which will act as the theme song for the movie Atashi no! starring Kimura. The movie will be released on November 8.

Members

 * Masaya Kimura (木村 柾哉) – leader
 * Hiromu Takatsuka (髙塚 大夢)
 * Shogo Tajima (田島 将吾)
 * Kyosuke Fujimaki (藤牧 京介)
 * Takumi Ozaki (尾崎 匠海)
 * Hiroto Nishi (西 洸人)
 * Jin Matsuda (松田 迅)
 * Xu Fengfan (許 豊凡)
 * Rihito Ikezaki (池﨑 理人)
 * Yudai Sano (佐野 雄大)
 * Takeru Goto (後藤 威尊)