NiziU Is Finally Dropping Their First Korean Mini Album After 18 Months Away

NiziU is heading back to the Korean market in a big way: the JYP Entertainment girl group has announced Sour Grapes, their first-ever Korean mini album, dropping on September 28 at 6 p.m. KST. It's the group's first Korean release since the single LOVE LINE in March of last year.

That 18-month gap makes the comeback feel overdue for Korean fans, and the group's track record here gives them every reason to pay attention. NiziU took home music show trophies with both of their previous Korean releases, HEARTRIS in 2023 and LOVE LINE the year after, so the stakes heading into Sour Grapes are real.

A prologue that sets the mood

The first look at the album's world arrived at midnight on the 7th in the form of a prologue film. The short visual uses grapes as its central image, weaving them into something atmospheric and slightly mysterious, a deliberate tonal shift from the group's warmer past releases that's already stirring conversation about what direction the music might take.

The grape imagery in the prologue does a lot of quiet work: sour grapes carries that familiar bittersweet weight, and the moody, sensory direction of the film suggests NiziU is leaning into something more emotionally complex this time around. It's an intriguing setup.

Momentum from both sides of the strait

The Korean announcement comes off the back of a strong year in Japan, where NiziU topped the Oricon weekly chart with their second Japanese EP and successfully wrapped back-to-back arena and dome tour runs. The group has been building steadily since their debut, and Sour Grapes looks like the clearest signal yet that they're ready to consolidate that momentum on both sides of the strait.