ILLIT’s new single chosen as opening song for upcoming Japanese romance drama

Girl group ILLIT's upcoming pop-rock "I Got Your Back" will be the opening song for a new Japanese romance drama, announced its agency BeLift Lab on Wednesday. 

The song will serve as a soundtrack for "The Rules of Vacation" (translated), an original series on Japanese streaming platform ABEMA, set to premiere on Monday. The show follows a woman who takes a vacation to escape her exhausting daily routine and falls in love with a mysterious villa caretaker. It will be available globally through Netflix from July 31. 

"I Got Your Back" is the title track from ILLIT's second Japanese single of the same name, set for release on Sunday. Its lyrics describe a friend who stays by your side during hard times.

ILLIT, a five-member group that debuted in 2024, has previously been part of Japanese soundtracks. Most notably, its 2025 song "Almond Chocolate" was used as the theme music for the film "It Takes More Than a Pretty Face to Fall in Love" (2025), charted for an extended run, and won an award at the 67th Japan Record Awards. 

The group is best known for uptempo Dream Pop songs such as "Magnetic" (2024) and "Not Cute Anymore" (2025). It recently released its fourth EP “Mamihlapinatapai,” with the lead track “It’s Me," and is set to perform at the Toyota Arena Tokyo on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday to close out its "Press Start" Japan tour that kicked off in March.

BY LEE JIAN [[email protected]]