Route 0 (ルート・ヨン, Rūto Yon, stylized route φ) was a Japanese-Korean[1]idolgirl group formed by R & C Ltd. in 2002. The group consists of Marina Takahashi and Choi Soo-young.
History
In December 2001, Asayan held the Japanese-Korean Ultra Idol Duo Audition, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo. Out of 15,000 applicants, Marina Takahashi was chosen as the Japanese representative, while Choi Soo-young was chosen as the Korean representative.[1]
Route 0 released "Start" as their first single on April 26, 2002, which was used as the opening theme song to Hamaraja.[2] The song was produced by Ryuichi Kawamura.[3] They also appeared on Oha Suta for a 3-day television feature, as well as exclusive models for the junior fashion brand Chubbygang and the magazine Melon.[4] "Waku Waku It's Love" was released on November 9, 2002, as the ending theme song to Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ for the month of November 2002.[5] On July 23, 2003, Route 0 released "Painting" as their third single, which was the ending theme song to Downtown DX.[6] On the same day, a video single version of "Painting" was also released.[7] After 2003, Route 0 ended activities together.[8] Takahashi retired from entertainment, while Soo-young would later go on to become a member of South Korean girl group Girls' Generation in 2007 and would also become an actress.[8]
