Me:I

Me:I (ミーアイ) is a Japanese girl group formed through the reality competition show Produce 101 Japan The Girls. The group is composed of eleven members: Momona Kasahara, Rinon Murakami, Ayane Takami, Miu Sakurai, Suzu Yamamoto, Kokona Sasaki, Shizuku Iida, Keiko Shimizu, Ran Ishii, Tsuzumi Ebihara, and Cocoro Kato. Like the previous winners of Produce 101 Japan, Me:I is intended to be a permanent group. Debuted with the single Mirai on April 17, 2024, the group is managed by Lapone Girls, a subsidiary of Lapone Entertainment.

Name
The group's name, "Me:I", means "an idol who is loved by everyone, an idol of the future, moving forward together towards the future". When spoken, it sounds like the Japanese word. The name was revealed in the final episode of Produce 101 Japan The Girls.

2023: Formation through Produce 101 Japan The Girls
Me:I was formed through the reality competition show Produce 101 Japan The Girls, which was aired primarily on the streaming service Lemino from October 5 to December 16, 2023. A total of 14,000 participants auditioned for the show, ranging in age from 15 to 25 and not affiliated with any talent agency. The final 11 trainees were picked by viewers from the original 101 trainees through online voting and announced during a live television broadcast on TBS. Like the previous winners of Produce 101 Japan, there was no intention of restricting the group's activity after its debut.

Several members of Me:I had experience in the entertainment industry before the show. Momona Kasahara was a member of the Hello! Project girl group Angerme from 2016 to 2021. Ran Ishii was a member of the girl group Girls² and appeared in the Japanese drama Secret × Heroine Phantomirage!. Cocoro Kato was a member of the South Korean girl group Cherry Bullet under FNC Entertainment. Miu Sakurai was a contestant on Nizi Project and Girls Planet 999, while Suzu Yamamoto spent six months as a trainee at a South Korean agency.

2024–present: Debut with Mirai
Me:I gave their first performance as a group ahead of debut at the 38th Tokyo Girls Collection 2024 Spring/Summer on March 2, 2024. On April 14, the group concluded their first fan concert, 2024 Me:I Launching Show Me:Iconic, which was held in two cities and attracted approximately 65,000 people. Me:I officially debuted with the single Mirai on April 17, topping the Oricon Singles Chart with over 232,000 copies sold. Its lead track, "Click", peaked at second place on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. On July 1, Lapone announced that Ebihara would be temporarily absent from the group's activities due to "poor health". Me:I is set to release their second single Hi-Five on August 28, 2024.

Members

 * Tsuzumi Ebihara (海老原 鼓)
 * Shizuku Iida (飯田 栞月)
 * Ran Ishii (石井 蘭) – sub-leader
 * Momona Kasahara (笠原 桃奈) – leader
 * Cocoro Kato (加藤 心)
 * Rinon Murakami (村上 璃杏)
 * Miu Sakurai (櫻井 美羽)
 * Kokona Sasaki (佐々木 心菜)
 * Keiko Shimizu (清水 恵子)
 * Ayane Takami (高見 文寧)
 * Suzu Yamamoto (山本 すず)