Rainbow Punch

## Fandom

### Official Color(s)

Rainbow Punch is an eight-member boy group from Sprout Creative. They debuted on July 1, 2017 with their first mini album, *Phase One: Stairway of Identity*.

## **History**

### **2016: Pre-debut**

Rainbow Punch was first officially hinted in early 2017, when Ryuto's profile was released in anticipation for his upcoming debut. Although not ever confirmed, it was believed Rainbow Punch was the group he was part of the lineup before there was a change in plans. Additionally, Sprout Creative scouts were seen more frequently in late 2016, which many believe was a search for final members of the group.

### **2017: Debut with *Phase One: Stairway of Identity* and *Identity* series, Itsuki's participation in *Top3***

It was officially confirmed by Sprout Creative in April 2017 when the company released an image of rainbow smoke clouds with the words, "Coming Soon" and announced they would be debuting a new group in the summer.

Later that month, the official Sprout Creative Twitter was found to be following a newly created account @rainbowpunch. Prior to this the account was only following Lat(t)e as Ryuto only has Instagram.

On May 2, Tyler was revealed as the first member. Jun was revealed as the second member on May 5, with Q and Hui both revealed on May 15. Two days later, Shota was revealed as the fifth member of the group. The sixth and seventh members, Seungmin and Itsuki were revealed on May 23. The eighth and final member, Mars, was revealed on May 28. During this time, the group's Twitter followers surpassed Lat(t)e's and overall received a higher reception, indicating the upcoming rookie group could potentially be more successful than their seniors.

Following Mars's reveal, the Twitter account bio changed from "Official Rainbow Punch Twitter" to "The end has been reached. Phase One begins soon." At first fans were confused and thought the group was disbanding, but it was later cleared up that it signified the final number of members. A few days later, the Twitter cover was changed to a photo featuring all eight members.

Throughout June, concept photos, teasers, official tracklist and album cover was revealed through social media. On July 1, the group made their debut with the mini album, *Phase One: Stairway of Identity*, with "Blank Pages" serving as the title track.

On August 5, the group announced a comeback in the fall with *Identity: Red*. An exact release date wasn't given, but during a countdown to Lat(t)e's *Believe:U* launch on a live, Misaki revealed the release date was September 28.

In September 2017, a fan revealed on Twitter there were talks of a few members participating in the upcoming reality show, *Top3*. This was confirmed a month later in October when Itsuki was revealed as an upcoming contestant in the show.

### **2018: Comeback with *Identity: Orange*, Shota's participation in *Star Maker X 101***

During a live in late April, Jun revealed the group may be working on a comeback soon. On May 15, fans noticed Rainbow Punch's social media accounts make changes: the names were changed to "Citrus Punch," the profile pictures changed to an orange, and the cover photos changed to a with fiery background. On May 20, Sprout Creative confirmed the comeback, revealing the album cover and tracklist for *Identity: Orange* the same day. Concept photos were revealed throughout the rest of May and early June, with music video teasers released from June 10-13. The album was released on June 21.

On June 10, Shota was revealed as part of the second set of trainees for the upcoming survival show *Star Maker X 101* by the official Star Maker account. Later that same month, Q and Hui were confirmed as contestants on *Remaster 27.*

## **Discography**

### **Mini Albums**

* *Phase One: Stairway of Identity* (July 2017)
* *Identity: Red* (September 2017)
* *Identity: Orange* (June 2018)

## **Official SNS**

**Twitter:** @rainbowpunch

**B-Live:** @rainbowpunch

**Instagram:** @rainbowpunch

**K-Tube:** @rainbowpunch

## **Trivia**

* Tyler is the only member without a color representation like the other members. There's currently no explanation on why this is the case.
* Itsuki is the only member whose training was mostly virtual.
* Shota was originally the main rapper in the group before a trainee departed the company (later revealed to be Choi Doyoon, a trainee now at Galaxy Entertainment) and he was moved to lead vocal.
* Mars is the only member of the group who doesn't have a roommate.