[INTERVIEW] yu&me at Anime Expo 2026

Written by Sky

yu&me is Dreamland Maid Cafe’s official kaigai idol group consisting of four members. Zoyo, Coco, Rina, and Nene took the stage at Anime Expo 2026 during Idol Summer Escape to share their dreams with everyone. We interviewed them after the show to learn more about them.

Q: How did you discover idols or idol culture?

Zoyo: I have known about idol since I was younger because I watched the Aikatsu series in elementary school. Then growing up I got into Love Live!. My first nonfictional idol group that I got into was Niji no Conquistador. Then it grew from there.
Coco: I really like rhythm games and Love Live School Idol Festival, rest in peace, was one of my favorites. Then I got into maid cafes and I saw a lot of people doing covers of idol songs.
Rina: My introduction into idols was doing a lot of dance covers. I mainly knew a lot of the dance portion of idol, then I found out people also do singing at the same time and I thought it was really impressive.
Nene: I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos.

Q:How long have you been performing?

Zoyo: We just had our 6 month anniversary as of recently, but it’s actually our one year anniversary of conceptualization. So one year of doing what we’re doing currently. I was also in two dance cover groups before and I did ballet for many years.
Coco: I was in the orchestra.
Rina: I was a K-Pop and J-Pop dance cover artist for a long time, so my home was the stage.
Nene:I’ve been performing since I was a little kid.

Q: Where did your stage name come from?

Zoyo: I’ve had this name for a long time, especially since I started cosplaying. It’s just what I came up with in the shower at the time.
Coco: When I was a kid, I used to lie and tell people my name was Coco, and I still do it.
Rina: Mainly because a lot of the idols and cover artists have stage names that are usually really easy to remember, I decided to have one too.
Nene: I’m just Nene.

Q: What does the word idol mean to you?

Zoyo: Someone you can look up to, especially someone who sings and dances. I personally look up to J-pop idols, chika idols, especially female Japanese idols.
Coco: Someone with really good stamina.
Rina: For me, it’s mainly dedication. I think being an idol, whether you’re good or bad at something, takes a lot of dedication to be able to perform on stage while also loving what you do.
Nene: I think an idol, outside of the conventional definition, is someone who has a relationship with their audience. It’s like a symbiotic relationship.

Q: What advice would you give to people looking to become an idol and/or improve?

Zoyo: You have to work really hard and you also have to know your limitations. Doing this is not easy, if you want to actually try to become big. If you love doing it, just keep on doing it.
Coco: You have to be able to find a lot of joy and happiness in performing. If the stress of it all tends to get to you and doesn’t feel worth it compared to the happiness you get from it, that dissonance can sometimes show and can hinder your progress. Also if it’s hard to find joy in the logistics, emails, and applications, it can be difficult to be an idol.
Rina: You have to love what you’re doing, because at the end of the day, the audience has to be able to connect with you. Whether they connect to your passion, your talent, or the way you interact, it’s important to enjoy those aspects of it. It’s also a lot of hard work.
Nene: Just do it.

Q: What are the biggest differences being only a maid and being a maid in an idol group?

Zoyo: You don’t have to perform to be a maid, although performing helps you as a maid, especially if you want to stand out. I think being an idol involves more than what a maid does. If you’re solo, you have to handle everything on your own. You’re also accountable for yourself, whereas as a maid, you can rely on the cafe to promote you.
Coco: I think there are a lot of transferable skills. The social aspect is huge because at least for me, going into idol activities, I was trained well for that because of maid cafe experience. Honestly, I really don’t think it’s too dissimilar at all.
Rina: The biggest difference for me is when you’re a maid, you can almost blend in with everybody and work as a unit. But when you’re working as an idol, you have to find a way to be yourself and stand out in your own way, whether that’s aesthetically, through the way you perform or the way you sing, etc. It’s a little different because you have to be willing to put yourself out there.

Q: What was the inspiration for creating yu&me?

Zoyo: We wanted an idol group in our cafe. It felt like the last piece for me, that one little oomph to make the cafe experience even better.
Coco: I wanted more maid related things in my life. I thought an idol group could really elevate that and bring more of it into my life. I wanted to perform more and be with my maid friends more. I also really wanted to be in an idol group that had a symbol in the name.
Rina: It’s something we all really wanted to do. We love our cafe so much that we wanted to bring some of it back with us and share it.
Nene: One of our inspirations is chika idols. I wanted a group that wasn’t like a classic idol group. We got a lot of inspiration from alt idols, so we wanted to bring that appreciation into the kaigai idol community. We’re not all moe, we’re a little crazy, too.

Q: As a group that debuted this year, what are some of your biggest hopes in your upcoming idol journey?

Zoyo: I really want to go to Anime Weekend Atlanta for personal reasons. I also really want to do at least one out-of-state performance. I like creative goals too, so I would like to have more songs, more costumes, and a rotating set list where we can pick songs from a list we already know.
Coco: Japan 2027! Any kind of travel. Performing in Thailand at Japan Expo would be a dream of mine too.
Rina: Japan for sure. Because I do make the choreography in the group, my biggest goal is to make my own piece of art better each time.

yu&me will be releasing their original song on streaming platforms soon. They also have big plans for their anniversary and are working hard behind the scenes, so keep an eye out for all the ways you can support them!