Start with what actually released today
ZEROBASEONE's Japan 2nd EP, Kaiki LOVE (回帰LOVE), is out. The group's Japan official site posted a same-day notice confirming the full EP is now available for streaming and that the music video for the title track, Existence (イグジステンス), has been released. A second notice on the same site says Existence will play as background music on Shibuya Center Street, a small but concrete sign of same-day promotion around the release. The group's own YouTube channel banner independently states the release, and the video itself is posted there now, giving readers a direct link to the actual title track rather than a generic stand-in.
A Korean entertainment outlet, TenAsia, adds a third, independent layer: its report on the promotion schedule — credited to photos supplied by WakeOne — confirmed the August 19 midnight release date more than a month ahead of today, sourced through the group's own agency rather than the Japan-side site alone. That double confirmation, official plus domestic press, matters more than it might look. A single official post can be delayed in updating or briefly wrong; two independent official channels and a Korean outlet agreeing on the same date is a stronger anchor. For a reader checking in today, the useful takeaway is simple: the release is real, it happened on schedule, and the title track has its actual video out now.
THE RELEASE-DAY LAYER
A release that circled back, survived a shock, and still has an open question ahead
These three original illustrations show the article's three-part structure without pretending to document ZEROBASEONE, the EP artwork, or a real event. The first reflects the EP's own 'Circling Back to You' theme, the second reflects the earthquake-delay-to-release resilience story, and the third reflects the still-unwritten lineup question.
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Source: ZEROBASEONE Japan Official Site · Kaiki LOVE 2nd EP release notice · allkpop · ZEROBASEONE delay Japanese album preview after Kyushu earthquake · allkpop · ZB1 members Zhang Hao, Ricky, Gyuvin, Yujin to redebut in new group
The release survived a real disruption, not just a rumor cycle
This EP almost didn't keep its original preview timeline. In late July, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck near Kumamoto City in Japan's Kyushu region, registering the highest seismic intensity level in some areas. The group's agency, WakeOne, announced on July 28 that the album's preview content, originally set for midnight on July 29, would be postponed. The agency's own stated reasoning was direct: given the impact of the earthquake, releasing preview content at that moment did not make sense, and a new preview schedule would follow.
What's notable for this update is what didn't move: the August 19 release date itself was reaffirmed even as the preview was pushed back. That is a useful thing to track in a comeback story, because it shows a schedule that absorbed a real external shock without falling apart. It also means today's release carries a small amount of earned significance beyond the usual EP-drop news cycle — it's a release date that held.
What the Kaiki LOVE promotion actually shows about the lineup
Kaiki LOVE carries the theme "Circling Back to You" and features three tracks: the title song Existence, Aphrodite, and a Japanese version of TOP 5. Ahead of release, allkpop reported that the group released unit and group concept photos on July 11 KST, and named five members as the ones pictured: Sung Han Bin, Kim Ji Woong, Seok Matthew, Kim Tae Rae, and Park Gun Wook. The group's Japan official site's member section for this promotion lists the same five names. The title track also drew attention before release because a member of the Japanese piano trio Omoinotake participated in its production, and the EP had a pre-release music drop on August 10 ahead of the official August 19 release across major streaming platforms.
So the direct, source-backed statement is narrow and specific: this Japan promotion for Kaiki LOVE visibly features five named members, documented by both an official site and independent reporting. That is different from a claim about the size or composition of ZEROBASEONE as a whole, which the next section addresses on its own terms.
The lineup question that this release does not answer
Separately from this EP, allkpop reported in March that four other ZEROBASEONE members — Zhang Hao, Ricky, Kim Gyuvin, and Han Yujin — were reportedly preparing to debut in a new group. A representative from YH Entertainment confirmed at the time that the members were preparing for a debut, while saying further details would come later. Reports at that point pointed to a possible May 26 debut, under the name "AND2BLE," but the agency had not confirmed an official team name or whether those members would continue activities with ZEROBASEONE. That story also noted that ZEROBASEONE, formed on Mnet's Boys Planet in 2023 as a nine-member project group, was approaching the end of its contract period, which is part of why attention on the members' next steps was building.
None of the sources on file resolve that story. No source here states that ZEROBASEONE now has five members, and no source states that the other four members have left the group. What can be said, carefully, is this: the Kaiki LOVE Japan promotion visibly runs with five named members, while the contract and lineup status of the full nine-member group remains a reported, unconfirmed matter as of the sources checked for this update. Holding that gap open, rather than quietly resolving it in either direction, is the more accurate read of what's actually known today.
What to check next
The right follow-up here isn't a guess about where the other four members land. It's a specific kind of source: a new statement from WakeOne, or from ZEROBASEONE's Korea-side representation, that directly addresses the group's contract status or its lineup going forward. Until that appears, the release story and the lineup story should stay in separate columns — one confirmed today, one still open.
For now, what you can act on is the release itself: Kaiki LOVE is out, Existence has a video, and the schedule that produced both of them proved sturdier than the earthquake that briefly threatened it. That's the anchor. Everything about the group's longer-term shape is a question for the next official statement, not for this one.
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Source: ZEROBASEONE official YouTube channel · 'Existence' MV