New Japan-Korea Girl Group Girls Archives. Blur the Line Between Real and Virtual Idols

A new Japan-Korea girl group is preparing to enter the idol industry with an ambitious concept that will see its five members exist across both the real and virtual worlds.

Girls Archives. is a five-member girl group consisting of YUISA, ENA, SEOYEON, HINARI and SOJEONG. The project brings together South Korean entertainment company HYBE’s Next Entertainment Business division and Japanese music production company INCS toenter, with the group set to make their pre-debut under Universal Music Japan.

Unlike a conventional idol group, each member of Girls Archives. is connected to a virtual character born from their “inner self.”

At the centre of the project is the concept of a “Diary,” a fictional space where the consciousness of each girl is created. Beginning as a blank page, the Diary gradually grows through the memories, experiences and words recorded by its owner.

As these records accumulate, they form an expanding virtual world in which the characters connected to the real members begin to develop their own identities.

Rather than simply serving as digital avatars of the five performers, the virtual characters are intended to exist alongside them, allowing the stories of the real members and their fictional counterparts to develop in parallel.

The project marks the latest attempt to bridge the increasingly connected worlds of music, animation and virtual entertainment.

Girls Archives. brings together HYBE’s experience in developing story-driven intellectual properties with INCS toenter, a Japanese entertainment company closely connected to Japan’s internet and music culture.

The five members also arrive with previous experience in the idol industry.

YUISA, SEOYEON and ENA previously appeared as contestants on the HYBE survival program R U Next?, which ultimately formed the girl group ILLIT.

HINARI previously competed on The Debut: Dream Academy, the international survival program that led to the formation of KATSEYE, while SOJEONG is a former PLEDIS Entertainment trainee.

Girls Archives. will begin their activities with the release of their pre-debut digital single “Reborn” on August 7.

The song has been selected as the theme for the upcoming Netflix anime film The Ribbon Hero, which is based on Osamu Tezuka’s influential manga Princess Knight.

“Reborn” brings together creators from both Japan and South Korea, with the track co-produced by Japanese music creator unit HoneyWorks and South Korean singer-songwriter SHAUN.

A music video inspired by The Ribbon Hero was released ahead of the single in June, offering the first major introduction to the group’s music and wider visual identity.

The connection between Girls Archives. and The Ribbon Hero also provides the group with a significant platform before their official debut. The anime film is scheduled to begin streaming worldwide on Netflix on August 8, one day after the release of “Reborn.”

While virtual idols and fictional music projects have become an increasingly visible part of the Japanese entertainment industry, Girls Archives. takes a different approach by placing its real performers and virtual characters at the centre of the same evolving story.

The result is a group designed to exist beyond conventional music releases and performances, with its members, characters and fictional world developing alongside one another.

With five members already familiar to followers of recent idol survival programs, an anime theme song serving as their first release and an ambitious concept connecting the real and virtual worlds, Girls Archives. are preparing to begin their story before their official debut has even taken place.