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Idol Group 9nine Reunites Due to COVID-19 for Online Event
posted on by Alex Mateo
The official website for idol group 9nine announced on Friday that the group will reunite for the first time following its hiatus to offer an online event for fans during the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation. The "9nine online event 2020 ~ONLINE no ON9NINE!~" event will take place on the SHOWROOM live-streaming platform on May 22 at 9:00 p.m. JST.
Three of the four current group members — Uki Satake, Sayaka Nishiwaki, and Hirona Murata (pictured left to right above) — will participate from their homes. The event will include live discussion, performances, and merchandise sales.
The idol group went on hiatus in February 2019 to allow the individual members to take on new challenges separately. The group held one last concert, "9nine one man live 2019 Forever 9nine," at Tokyo's Nakano Sun Plaza in April 2019.
9nine's name comes from the original nine-member lineup at its September 2005 founding, but it gradually grew smaller to its current four members: Satake, Murata, Kanae Yoshii, and Nishiwaki (Perfume member Ayaka Nishiwaki's younger sister). The group made its debut on an independent label in 2006, and then made its debut on a major label in 2007. Actress Umika Kawashima was part of the group's lineup from 2007 to 2016, including during its biggest concert at the Nippon Budōkan stadium in 2014. The group performed overseas in the United States, China, Taiwan, and other countries.
In addition to singing and voice guest roles in Star Driver, the group also performed the ending theme song "White wishes" for the My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun) anime and the theme song "Chikutaku☆2NITE" for the live-action Ranma ½ television special. Other song contributions appeared in Beelzebub, Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, Ultimate Otaku Teacher, and Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary.
Satake starred as the robot QT in Space Dandy, and all four current members sang and appeared in Stan Lee and Studio DEEN's The Reflection superhero anime.
Sources: 9nine's website, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
