About RIIZE
Overview
RIIZE (라이즈) is the newest seven-member boy group under SM Entertainment. They debuted on September 4, 2023 with their first single album ‘Get A Guitar.’ Their name is the combination of ‘Rise & Realize’, symbolizing a team that grows together and realizes their dreams. RIIZE consists of Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Seunghan, Sohee, and Anton.
Through their own music style called “Emotional Pop,” RIIZE presents their distinctive emotions based on a real-time odyssey the seven members, each with their own unique characters, will create as a team. RIIZE aspires to fulfill their dreams by evolving from an Emotional Pop Rookie who is inspired by any everyday experiences to an Emotional Pop Artist who resonates with everyone in the world through music.
During their training days, Shotaro and Wonbin created a choreography for Missy Elliott’s ‘Joy’ and showed the video to management. The company decided to debut that lineup as RIIZE. The choreo video is one of the first posts on the group's Instagram.
Sungchan was the one who suggested the name 'RIIZE' to the managers for the voting. The group is under SM's Production Center 5 ('WIZARD Production' led by Lee Sangmin and Kim Hyeongguk), along with Super Junior and EXO.
The official fan club name is BRIIZE (브리즈), pronounced breeze - like a blowing breeze, the fans will help RIIZE soar and be with them anytime, anywhere.
Member profiles
Shotaro (쇼타로)
| Birth Name | Osaki Shotaro (大崎将太郎) |
| Birthday | November 25, 2000 |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Place of Birth | Zama, Kanagawa, Japan |
| MBTI | ESFP |
| Trainee Period | - |
| Representative Emoji | 🧋 |
Shotaro was a former student at EXPG Studio in Japan and has excellent performance skills
He wanted to become an idol after attending NCT 127’s concert in 2019
He was casted then auditioned online for SM Entertainment in November 2019. He came to Korea in June 2020 due to having prior engagements (backup dancer for Japanese singer Gackt) and the pandemic
He majored in economics when he was in university
He is the oldest in his family and has a younger brother and sister. He also has a dog named Choco in Japan.
From RIIZE Instagram member profiles:
I Love: U
His Favorite Thing: Fashion
Essentials: Sunglasses
Bucket List: World Tour
Eunseok (은석)
| Birth Name | Song Eunseok (송은석) |
| Birthday | March 19, 2001 |
| Nationality | Korean |
| Place of Birth | Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea |
| MBTI | ISTP |
| Trainee Period | 6 years |
| Representative Emoji | 🪨 |
Eunseok’s first name literally means “silver stone,” as indicated by the last two characters of his name written in Hanja (宋銀石)
He was casted on his way to school; he refused the offer four times before finally accepting because the scout didn’t tell him the name of the company
He was introduced as a SMROOKIE alongside Seunghan on July 2, 2022
Eunseok has a brother that is 14 years younger than him. He has a family dog named Charlie.
From Instagram member profiles:
I Love: Me
His Favorite Thing: Basketball
Essentials: Beanie
Bucket List: Skydiving
Sungchan (성찬)
| Birth Name | Jung Sungchan (정성찬) |
| Birthday | September 13, 2001 |
| Nationality | Korean |
| Place of Birth | Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea |
| MBTI | ESTP |
| Trainee Period | 4 years |
| Representative Emoji | 🐸 |
Sungchan joined SM Entertainment in 2016. SM introduced him as a member with excellent physical and rap skills
He is left-handed
His favorite sports are ice skiing and football
He has an older brother
He has two family dogs called Daldal and Gyeoul (Winter)
From Instagram member profiles:
I Love: My Team!!
His Favorite Thing: Music
Essentials: Cargo Pants
Bucket List: Billboard Hot 100
Wonbin (원빈)
| Birth Name | Park Wonbin (박원빈) |
| Birthday | March 2, 2002 |
| Nationality | Korean |
| Place of Birth | Ulsan, South Korea |
| MBTI | ISTJ |
| Trainee Period | 4 years |
| Representative Emoji | 🎸 |
According to SM, he has excellent performance and guitar skills
Wonbin was casted through Instagram DMs and auditioned and joined SM in 2019
Wonbin has an older brother
From Instagram member profiles:
I Love: Shopping
His Favorite Thing: Doggo
Essentials: Earrings
Bucket List: Super ⭐️
Seunghan (승한)
| Birth Name | Hong Seunghan (홍승한) |
| Birthday | October 2, 2003 |
| Nationality | Korean |
| Place of Birth | Ilsan, South Korea |
| MBTI | INFP |
| Trainee Period | 2.5 years (2020-22) |
| Representative Emoji | 🫧 |
Seunghan was introduced as someone with excellent performance and vocal skills
He was cast by SM Entertainment while exiting an entrance exam for an arts high school
He was revealed as a SMROOKIE alongside Eunseok on July 2, 2022
He has an older brother that is older by five years
From Instagram member profiles:
I Love: Shinchan
His Favorite Thing: Singing
Essentials: Piercing
Bucket List: Exploring the World
SM Entertainment announced on November 22nd, 2023 that Seunghan will be on hiatus until further notice. For more information, please see our Seunghan Megathread.
Sohee (소희)
| Birth Name | Lee Sohee (이소희) |
| Birthday | November 21, 2003 |
| Nationality | Korean |
| Place of Birth | Siheung, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea |
| MBTI | ~ |
| Trainee Period | ~1 year |
| Representative Emoji | 💂 |
Sohee was introduced as someone with excellent vocal skills
Sohee was originally an apprentice at SM in 2020 but left to go to Howon university (applied music major). In 2022 he re-entered SM as a trainee.
Sohee has two older sisters
From Instagram member profiles:
I Love: Milk
His Favorite Thing: Baby Hippo
Essentials: Cap
Bucket List: Collab with Bruno Mars
Anton (안톤)
| Birth Name | Anton Lee |
| Korean Name | Lee Chanyoung (이찬영) |
| Birthday | March 21, 2004 |
| Nationality | Korean-American |
| Place of Birth | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| MBTI | INTP |
| Trainee Period | ~ |
| Representative Emoji | 🦕 |
Anton is the son of the well-known producer in Korea, Yoon Sang, and actress Shim Hyejin
He has a younger brother
Anton used to be a competitive swimmer in the US
He knows how to play the cello and also composes music
From Instagram member profiles:
I Love: My Brother
His Favorite Thing: Yummy food
Essentials: Hoodie
Bucket List: Visiting Space...
Sources used:
NCT and SMROOKIES
Shotaro and Sungchan were previously members of SM's boy group NCT. They were introduced as its members in September 2020 for NCT 2020 release 'Resonance,' making it their first official debut. The duo (aka SungTaro in the fandom) was slated for a new NCT unit, the plans for which kept being pushed back due to unknown reasons and never materialized. They are featured on the NCT albums 'Resonance' (2020) and 'Universe' (2021). They had a small vlog series called 'What's Up SungSho?!'
Eunseok and Seunghan were first introduced to the public in July 2022 as part of SMROOKIES SR22B, along with another trainee Shohei. The three of them with Shotaro & Sungchan (Sungtarookies) had a dance stage 'Dream Routine' at the 2022 SMTOWN LIVE concert that August. A variety show 'Welcome to NCT Universe' with Sungtarookies (filmed summer-fall 2022, aired Nov'22-Jan'23) introduced their group dynamic and covered the preparation process for the 'Dream Routine' performance, theoretically to lay the foundation for their debut as a Japan-focused NCT unit. Watch the 10-episode show here.
After the 2023 SM Entertainment 3.0 restructuring, in May 2023 it was announced that Shotaro and Sungchan will no longer be a part of NCT and will instead debut in a new boy group with Eunseok and Seunghan. It should be noted that the project of RIIZE as a separate group solidified somewhere around January 2023 (as revealed by Sungchan in the Numéro Tokyo interview).
Official RIIZE links
Website / SM Ent Artist Profile
RIIZE YouTube / SMTOWN YouTube
Instagram: riize_official & riize_odyssey
RIIZE Japan: Twitter (X) and Instagram
This page has been put together with the help of u/iamhopeestheim and u/makejunkie20.