| Alt Name: | Who Is Princess?: Girls Group Debut Survival Program |
| Genre: | Reality competition |
| Presenter: | Takanori Nishikawa |
| Opentheme: | "Fun" |
| Theme Music Composer: | Galacktica |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese Korean (spoken) |
| Num Episodes: | 15 |
| Runtime: | 30–40 minutes |
Who Is Princess?: Girls Group Debut Survival Program is a Japanese reality competition show. The series was a joint project between FNC Entertainment Japan and Nippon TV with the intention of creating a Japanese girl group aimed at a global audience. The show was presented by Takanori Nishikawa. The winners of the show debuted as the group Prikil in May 2022.
Who Is Princess? premiered on October 5, 2021, and is available for streaming on Hulu Japan, GyaO!, Weverse, SoftBank VR Square, and iQIYI. An abridged version was serialized on Nippon TV's variety show with live commentary from the show's panelists beginning on October 3, 2021.
Who Is Princess?: Girls Group Debut Survival Program was announced on September 19, 2021.[1] The series was created in cooperation with FNC Entertainment and Nippon TV to create a 5-member Japanese girl group with a "girl crush" concept aimed at a global audience out of 15 contestants. The theme song, "Fun", is composed by Galacktica, and its music video was released on the same day of the announcement, with the dance choreographed by Kiel Tutin.[1] The show was scheduled to broadcast on Hulu Japan, GyaO!, Weverse, SoftBank VR Square, and iQiyi beginning October 5, 2021.[1] An abridged version was serialized on Nippon TV's variety show with live commentary from the show's panelists beginning on October 3, 2021.
The show is hosted by Takanori Nishikawa.[1] The mentors, known as " coaches", consist of Bae Eun-kyoung (dance), (vocal), and Mayuko Kawakita (modeling).
The contestants in Who Is Princess? consist of 15 girls, with a combined average age of 15.6 years.[1]
| Contestant | Region | Age | Dance experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rin | Fukuoka | 13 | 8 years |
| Rinko | Chiba | 14 | 1 year |
| Sena | Tokyo | 13 | 4 years |
| Yuu | Saitama | 17 | 4 years |
| Ran | Saitama | 14 | 2 years |
| Rio | Fukushima | 17 | 11 years |
| Uta | Osaka | 14 | 1 year |
| Nana | Tokyo | 14 | 9 years |
| Yumeko | Tokyo | 18 | 11 years |
| Rinka | Kumamoto | 19 | 2 years |
| Coco | Saitama | 17 | 1 year |
| Honoka | Saitama | 16 | 2 years |
| Nijika | Fukuoka | 16 | 9 years |
| Aina | Osaka | 18 | 13 years |
| Yukino | Kyoto | 14 | 5 years |
The contestants are arranged into two groups: Princess and Challenger. Being a Princess increases chances of debut, while being a Challenger increases risk of elimination.[2]
| Final members of Prikil | |
| Princess | |
| Challenger | |
| Eliminated | |
| Contestant | Evaluation | Mission 1 | Mission 2 | Mission 3 | Mission 4 | Mission 5 | Final Mission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uta | Princess | Challenger | Challenger | Princess | Challenger | Princess | |
| Rinko | Princess | Princess | Princess | Challenger | Princess | Challenger | |
| Rin | Challenger | Princess | Princess | Challenger | Challenger | Princess | |
| Yukino | Challenger | Challenger | Challenger | Challenger | Challenger | Challenger | |
| Nana | Princess | Princess | Princess | Princess | Princess | Challenger | |
| Yumeko | Princess | Princess | Princess | Challenger | Princess | Princess | |
| Honoka | Challenger | Challenger | Princess | Challenger | Princess | Princess | |
| Rio | Princess | Princess | Challenger | Princess | Challenger | Princess | |
| Yuu | Challenger | Challenger | Challenger | Challenger | Princess | Challenger | |
| Nijika | Princess | Princess | Princess | Princess | Princess | Challenger | |
| Ran | Challenger | Challenger | Challenger | Princess | Challenger | colspan="2" | |
| Aina | Challenger | Princess | Challenger | Challenger | Challenger | colspan="2" | |
| Coco | Challenger | Challenger | Princess | Princess | colspan="3" | ||
| Rinka | Princess | Challenger | colspan="5" | ||||
| Sena | Challenger | colspan="6" | |||||
Mission 1 is the Boys Group Dance Battle. In episodes 1 through 3, the contestants were split into two groups, Princess and Challenger, by Bae Eun-kyung, after evaluations for the "Fun" music video.[2] Each group was assigned choreographies from boy band songs.[2] [3] The contestants are then reassigned groups based on the mentors' evaluations, and one Challenger is eliminated from the show.
| Order | Team | Contestant | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Challenger | Coco | "Kick It" (NCT 127) | Challenger |
| Ran | Challenger | |||
| Yuu | Challenger | |||
| Yukino | Challenger | |||
| Aina | Princess | |||
| Sena | ||||
| Honoka | Challenger | |||
| Rin | Princess | |||
| 2 | Princess | Nijika | "Back Door" (Stray Kids) | Princess |
| Rinka | Challenger | |||
| Uta | Challenger | |||
| Nana | Princess | |||
| Yumeko | Princess | |||
| Rio | Princess | |||
| Rinko | Princess | |||
Mission 2 is the Solo Performance Battle. In episodes 4 through 7, each Princess and Challenger must duel in a two-round performance battle consisting of a vocal performance and a dance performance. is introduced as the vocal coach, while Bae Eun-kyoung oversaw the dance performance. The contestants are then reassigned groups based on the mentors, with one Challenger eliminated from the show.[4] [5]
| Order | Contestant | Solo Vocal Battle | Solo Dance Battle | Outcome | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yumeko | "Yonaga Uta" | "Hard Carry" (Got7) | Princess | |
| Uta | Challenger | ||||
| 2 | Rio | "Tada Kimi ni Hare" (Yorushika) | "Sayonara Hitori" (Taemin) | Challenger | |
| Honoka | Princess | ||||
| 3 | Rinko | "Tadashiku Narenai" (Zutomayo) | "Latata" ((G)I-dle) | Princess | |
| Yukino | Challenger | ||||
| 4 | Aina | "Strange Clouds" (B.o.B) | "Hip" (Mamamoo) | Challenger | |
| Coco | Princess | ||||
| 5 | Nijika | "Hana ni Bōrei" (Yorushika) | "I Can't Stop Me" (Twice) | Princess | |
| Rinka | |||||
| 6 | Rin | "24-25" (Iri) | "Not Shy" (Itzy) | Princess | |
| Ran | Challenger | ||||
| 7 | Nana | "" | "Shine" (Pentagon) | Princess | |
| Yuu | Challenger | ||||
Mission 3 is the Popteen Photo Shooting Battle, led by Mayuko Kawakita as the contestants' mentor. The contestants are assigned to pick and coordinate an outfit from 551 items on a theme, with the photo shoot published in the January 2022 issue of the magazine Popteen.[6] [7] When finished, the contestants are then evaluated by Nishikawa, Kawakita, and Popteen models and through a runway show and a photo shoot. Nishikawa announced there will be no eliminations for this mission.[6]
| Order | Contestant | Theme | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honoka | Challenger | |
| 2 | Nana | Princess | |
| 3 | Rinko | Girly | Challenger |
| 4 | Coco | Mature | Princess |
| 5 | Nijika | Princess | |
| 6 | Rin | Mature | Challenger |
| 7 | Yumeko | Mature | Challenger |
| 8 | Ran | Street | Princess |
| 9 | Yukino | Girly | Challenger |
| 10 | Uta | Street | Princess |
| 11 | Aina | Street | Challenger |
| 12 | Rio | Sporty | Princess |
| 13 | Yuu | Sporty | Challenger |
Mission 4 is the J-pop × K-pop Performance Battle, where Princesses and Challengers are shuffled into three teams. Each team is performing a J-pop song with original K-pop dance choreography.[8] One person from the losing team is eliminated.
| Order | Team | Contestant | Song | Battle Outcome | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hanabi | Nana (leader) | "Yoru ni Kakeru" (Yoasobi) | Princess | |
| Nijika | Princess | ||||
| Rinko | Princess | ||||
| Yukino | Challenger | ||||
| 2 | Destiny | Coco | "Pretender" (Official Hige Dandism) | ||
| Rio | Challenger | ||||
| Aina | Challenger | ||||
| Yuu | Princess | ||||
| Honoka | Princess | ||||
| 3 | Uta | "Gurenge" (Lisa) | Challenger | ||
| Ran | Challenger | ||||
| Yumeko (leader) | Princess | ||||
| Rin | Challenger | ||||
Mission 5 is the Semi Final Mission, later renamed the Girls Group Performance Battle, where the Princess and Challenger teams are performing a song from a K-pop girl group.[9] Two Challengers are eliminated from the show.[10]
| Order | Team | Contestant | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Challenger | Yukino | "How You Like That" (Blackpink) | Challenger |
| Uta | Princess | |||
| Rin | Princess | |||
| Ran | ||||
| Rio | Princess | |||
| Aina | ||||
| 2 | Princess | Nana | "Wannabe" (Itzy) | Challenger |
| Nijika | Challenger | |||
| Rinko | Challenger | |||
| Yumeko | Princess | |||
| Honoka | Princess | |||
| Yuu | Challenger | |||
In episodes 13 through 15, the finals were split into two rounds. The teams performed the theme song "Fun" for the first round and "Somebody", an original song by Galacktica, for the second round. Both rounds were judged by Galacktica.
| Team | Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order | Song | Order | Song | |||
| Challenger | Nana | 1 | "Fun" | 1 | "Somebody" | |
| Nijika | ||||||
| Rinko | ||||||
| Yuu | ||||||
| Yukino | ||||||
| Princess | Yumeko | 2 | 2 | |||
| Rio | ||||||
| Honoka | ||||||
| Uta | ||||||
| Rin | ||||||