NiNa are a multinational pop supergroup formed in 1999 and featuring '80s new wave musicians Kate Pierson of American band the B-52's, Mick Karn from the British group Japan, Takemi Shima and Masahide Sakuma from Japanese group the Plastics, as well as Yuki from Japanese '90s J-Pop legends Judy Mary. Pierson and Yuki share vocal duties, Karn plays bass, Sakuma deals with guitar, keyboards, and some bass, and session drummer Steven Wolf completes the musical lineup. Shima is credited as "conceptual and visual agent provocateur" on the album. Through the spring and summer of 1999 the group recorded a self-titled album that was released in late autumn of the same year. NiNa received pre-publicity through the inclusion of two of their songs, Happy Tomorrow and Rest in Peace, as the first and second ending themes of the anime adaptation of the video game series !Arc the Lad. The album sold well, perhaps thanks mostly to the large media profile of co-vocalist Yuki, whose other band at that time, Judy Mary, were at the peak of their popularity.

However, the heavily new wave-biased nature of the lineup, coupled with the musical influence of chief songwriter Sakuma, tied the band in closely with the '80s revivalist "Tokyo New Wave of New Wave" movement that was popular in the indie music scene and that produced Polysics, among others. NiNa were quick to acknowledge this connection by inviting leading Tokyo New Wave of New Wave group Motocompo to open for them on the Tokyo leg of their album release tour. The group never officially split up, but activity ceased soon after the promotional activities for the album were completed, with Yuki returning to Judy Mary for one more album and then launching a solo career. Other members also returned to their own projects with Pierson working again with the B-52's and Karn pursuing his own musical projects. ~ Ian Martin, Rovi