LIGHTSUM Expands Japan Push With Anime-Inspired Choreography Clip

K-POP girl group LIGHTSUM is leaning into anime aesthetics to boost its Japan debut. The group's agency, Cube Entertainment, shared a new magical girl version of the choreography video for Japanese debut single "Doushite" on the group's official social channels on the 6th.

In the clip, the six members — Sangah, Chowon, Nayoung, Hina, Juhyeon and Yujeong — perform the routine in bright, cartoon-styled outfits and props that recall characters from an animated series. The look is a clear shift from the earlier version of the video, which featured the group in frilled stage outfits.

LIGHTSUM released its Japan debut album "Re:idol" on October 23 and has been in local promotion since. The title track "Doushite" pairs a catchy hook with lyrics that lay out the feelings of a one-sided crush.

The album made an immediate mark on Japanese charts. It debuted at No. 11 on the Oricon Daily Albums ranking and landed on the iTunes Japan all-genre and J-pop album charts as well as Recochoku. "Doushite" reached No. 6 on YouTube Music Japan's daily Shorts trending songs and No. 3 on its daily chart, and it also charted on LINE Music's real-time, daily and weekly new song rankings. A dance challenge video with other artists has been released as well.

The group has backed up the release with on-the-ground activity in Japan. Last month, LIGHTSUM performed at the major Hokkaido music festival "SBI MUSIC CIRCUS HOKKAIDO 2026" and held a release event. Starting on the 5th of this month, the members also began hosting "LIGHTSUM's Re:Radio," a weekly show on FM Osaka that airs Monday evenings.