Aespa is great, but their virtual avatar concept NEEDS major work
Вставка
- Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
- Aespa is doing very well these days. They’re SM Entertainment’s prized 4th generation female group. They won a slew of awards for their song “Next Level.” And they were envisioned to be the trendsetter for virtual idol groups in the 4th generation.
However, their virtual avatar concept hasn’t lived up to expectations.
Not only does SM and Aespa barely include the virtual idols in their MVs, nearly all K-pop fans think Aespa is just a 4-member group, with the virtual idols added on. Because the group barely uses their avatars, as well as cram their story in a 4-minute MV, their story is very confusing. Aespa’s marketing is scattered.
Let’s delve into why their virtual avatar concept are holding back the group thus far. One thing is clear so far: Aespa’s virtual idols need major rework.
----------------------------
TIME STAMPS:
0:00 Intro
3:04 Aespa shouldn’t be this hard to explain
5:11 The elevator pitch
6:23 The virtual idols don’t add much
8:33 The virtual idols are barely in the MVs
10:29 How K/DA gets it right
11:54 How Apoki gets it right
12:36 The reason for virtual idols - The SMCU
14:08 Aespa’s story is too hard to explain
15:56 What SM should have done pre-debut
16:19 What should SM do with Aespa now?
----------------------------
JOIN OUR DISCORD:
Wanna talk more K-pop in-depth with me (Jason) and other like-minded folk? Need some new music recommendations? Then join our Discord!
► / discord
----------------------------
✅ SUPPORT POPSORI ON PATREON:
Supporting Popsori is 100% voluntary, as it's awesome you even watch our videos. But if you do support us, we greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
► / popsori
----------------------------
TAGS:
#aespa #virtualidol #avatar
----------------------------
🕮 FREE E-BOOK (SUBSCRIBE TO OUR EMAIL LIST):
Grab our free ebook called "26 K-pop bangers from 2022-2023 for newcomers (and even hardcore fans!):
► www.popsori.com/subscribe/
----------------------------
GRAPHICS CREDITS:
► Particle background between each transition:
www.tubebacks.com
► UA-cam Channel:
goo.gl/aayJRf
----------------------------
MUSIC CREDITS:
► Background music:
/ lakeyinspired
Harris Heller - Streambeats
www.streambeats.com/
----------------------------
🌐 WEBSITE:
► popsori.com
----------------------------
PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA:
► Twitter: / iamjangta
► Instagram: / iamjangta
----------------------------
SOCIAL MEDIA:
► Facebook: / thepopsori
► Twitter: @iamjangta - Розваги
Great video as usual
I'm not sure about Aespa's lore being confusing but I do find it an inconvenience to the enjoyment of their songs and kind of lame.
You mentioned RIOT's League of Legends but they've almost dropped all of their lore aside from their recent Netflix series and few comics. Yes, they've done some in-game events with some story things but, they don't persist; they become irrelevant after a few weeks. Fortunately for RIOT, a strong lore isn't needed for their game anyway. They've also done zilch for their FPS game, Valorant. But you do see them getting into things like TV shows because they need to diversify their business. Lore is coming but it's a completely different business.
So, what I'm getting at is that I agree that Aespa doesn't need their tacked-on lore, and AE stuff to be successful.
Oh, I agree completely that Aespa doesn't need their tacked-on-lore to be successful. They're killing it right now and doing extremely well.
I said this in an earlier comment, but I look at the AE avatars like the lazy person in a high school group. If that group gets an "A" for their group project, the lazy person also gets an "A" as well. In Aespa's case, the group that carried them are the human Aespa members, while the "lazy person" are the avatars that barely show up in MVs.
Sure, the group is still doing incredibly well, but at the expense of their avatars tacked on.
@@Popsori The one song that I've bothered purchasing for myself is "Savage", and the avatars are so poorly implemented.
Also, like you said in the video, the lore lyrics kind of cripple their songs. The bridge of the song goes into showcasing Naevis but it's just such a weak part of the song. The rest of the song is strong enough to where I still listen to it though.
I understand and get your point, but I think for most K-POP fans it’s just a bit of fun. I don’t know anything about their lore, but it’s fun to listen out for the random “KWANGYA” and “FLAT” reference in their song. It’s totally nonsensical but it’s fun, over the top, and camp, and that’s why I like K-POP! And for the people who want to get more invested into the group/concept, the option exists.
Maybe it didn’t work out the way LSM planned with (from my anecdotal experience) most people not engaging with the metaverse/avatar concept much but something must be working considering it’s pretty undeniable from the stats that aespa is the biggest 4th gen girl group. I think considering their stats it’s hard to call this a ‘major problem’. Still, I loved the video!
I do agree with you that for most K-pop fans, it's all about fun. Aespa has some great bangers and if you're not into the lore, hearing them spam "Kwangya" and "Flat" is hilarious. I think it's because I know Korean, plus I had to look up half these "Kwangya" vocab words, it sounds so weird and a bit confused by their virtual idol concept.
I would say that right now, Aespa is doing very well despite their virtual avatar lore. It's not a major problem in affecting sales or stats, sure. But like I said in the video, paraphrased, "just because they're doing well doesn't mean things can be even better."
The best example I can think of is if everyone in the group in a high school group got an "A" on a project, even the lazy person that didn't do any work. The "lazy person" in Aespa's case are the virtual avatars, since they're rarely used at all and confusing to the average fan. Sure, everyone got an "A" in the high school example, but the group would have been just as good, if not better, without the lazy person. Same thing with Aespa, since without their virtual AI lore, the SM writers don't have to worry about fitting it in their songs, promotions, etc. They can just continue to make great bangers and sing about whatever.
I just think they could improve their brand appeal either without the lore -- and be a normal 4th gen K-pop group -- or if they put the lore in a Netflix series or webtoon.
@@Popsori I agree with you. I think the complex concept that Aespa has is unnecessary and doesn't really help them for the most part. It would make it easier for the songwriters and Aespa members if they had a much simpler concept but still an interesting one. You don't want the concept to distract or take away from what really matters which is the music and the dancing.
For sure. I'm also with you that Aespa's complex concept is unnecessary and doesn't add anything to their success. If they had a simpler concept that's easily understood to the average and casual fan, that would be a lot better. I think a lot of the comments we're seeing of "Aespa's lore is easy, maybe it's just you" are from hardcore Aespa and K-pop fans. A lot of them aren't seeing the lore and AI avatars from the average or casual fan's eyes.
Right now, Aespa is succeeding because they're a talented group that looks good, part of a Big 4 company, and has catchy bangers. Basically, the winning formula for most K-pop groups. Right now, if SM took out their confusing virtual AI concept, it wouldn't hurt their future MVs or branding at all. In all honesty, it would probably improve them.
@@Popsori Yes, and the Aespa members would probably thank SM for making things simpler and their life a little easier. I sometimes see Winter subtly rolling her eyes when interviewers bring up questions about the avatars. She's so done with the concept. The girl just wants to sing, dance and perform. Lol
@@brianlittrell797 I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought the Aespa members were checked out when explaining their avatars. Simplifying the avatar concept would make Aespa's lives so much easier.
Like you said to another commenter and I said in the video, Karina said the members are still learning about their own lore constantly. When you have to learn random terms like "Kwangya," "Naevis," and "SYNK" just to have a basic understanding of their lore, that's bad branding imo.
It must be hard for Aespa to explain their story easily enough for the interviewers to understand, since they're not hardcore Aespa or K-pop fans. I agree that the girls just want to sing, dance, and make bangers lol.
Have you take a look at Isegye Idol? They are quite successful at the idea of virtual idols.
Oh, I have not yet. I'll check them out!
The AIs actually got to perform with the real life human members for a show but there was no audience and they were in a room where they can show the AIs easily.
I feel like loona did a way better job if incorporating lore. They lyrics frequently are lore related but in a way that's not distracting. They didn't do it perfectly but I feel like it was easier to enjoy loona as a group with fun visuals and the lore was just someone you can get into if you really wanted. Aespa namedropping their made up lore words all the time makes it harder to ignore and confuses casual listeners
I have a suspicion that SM took inspiration to have a complex story lore and concept for Aespa from Loona. Maybe they are aware of how passionate Loona fans are over Loona's complex story lore. It also seems that they wanted to have 4 members when they saw how successful Blackpink are with just 4 members. Plus in recent times they seem to like small girl groups with Red Velvet being just 5 members. SM seem to like to "steal" or use the work of other people so they like to take things from all corners so to speak and incorporate it into their products. This is just my speculation of course.
You seem to be new to K-pop!
SM is actually one of the first Kpop entertainment(if not the 1st actually),there are the one creating things such as teaser,photocards,dance practice, and many more to Kpop now that every kpop groups is doing the same thing nobody says that they've stolen the idea from SM right?
Loona is not the first group to have a lore it's something that has been present for years before Lonna even debut,same for BLackpink they wasn't the first group to have only 4 members and I don't get your point with red velvet being 5 members group because they debut way before blackpink and so many more but when we like to hate on a Company who's actually trying to make kpop less boring...
Go make some research before commenting on SM. This Agency is called the "BLUE PRINT" of Kpop for a reason!
Well aespa stole a lot of stuffs from a lot of artists, including the photographies, MV concepts, and their AR avatar design are similar to KDA. But their lore aren't the same at all like loona, and debuting 4 member groups aren't the first thing SM did. Red Velvet was a 4 membered groups and there's also a a 4 member SM male group called SM the ballad. But to give SM credits, they compensate arts they stole and work with the original artists instead.
kwangya was thought up when SES was around fool
@@MrRdlv I didn't say Aespa's lore was the same or very similar to Loona's lore. I said that SM may have taken inspiration to have a complex story lore for Aespa after seeing how passionate Loona fans are about their group's complex story lore. The commonality I'm pointing to is the a complex story and concept that both groups have. I have heard from many persons that Red Velvet was intended to be 5 members from the start but Yeri was too young and so they waited several months before adding Yeri.
@@Queen-dl5ju With your level of toxicity I would say that you are the fool. I stated in my comment that what I said is speculation. Not fact.
Aespa is freaking amazing. I love them.
SM burning money tbh
KDA most people didn't know about until Aespa I don't know what u talk about ... when Aespa is more popular ‼️
Uhh.... that's quite false. I hope you're kidding. K/DA became very popular even before Aespa debuted. Hell, as a K-pop fan, you should know who they are, since they have singers from (G)I-DLE (Miyeon and Soyeon).
The group has the backing of a ton gamers, anime fans, and the LOL franchise. It's hard not to know them if you're into pop culture.
As for who's more popular, I don't know. Both are great imo.
@@Popsori maybe because they not from Kpop industry which is most popular in Asia
@@aespakwangya8146 Uhhh... two of their singers are straight from K-pop: (G)I-DILE's Soyeon and Miyeon.
And LOL is huge in Asia. I don't know what you're talking about. I lived in Korea for 8 years and visit every year. They had a huge K/DA concert in Incheon called POP/STARS - Opening Ceremony.
Pretty much everyone in Korea that's into pop culture knows K/DA.
a lot of people got into KPOP cause of KDA.. stop talking ur nonsense u seriously dont know shit
I'm not even fan of the game, League of Legends but I just know K/DA because they invaded all social media platforms way back 2018, I mean they are huuuge
You haven't heard about loona if you think aespa concept is consfusing
Oh yeah, don't get me started with LOONA's story. That's a whole another level of confusing.
Aespa dominated literally ...I don't agree with you on avatar part ...I believe in avatar is part of them so do MYs ✌️
No worries! I respect your opinion; it's all good. I agree that Aespa dominated so much, but the avatars need major rework.
@@Popsori ohk
i think you're completely wrong.. almost everyone knows their lore , they made it easy as hell and everyone refs their lore cause its easy and fun, everyone loves naevis and made memes of it.. .. u think this is hard and talking about convoluted lore that NOBODY understand that u need to watch a 3 hour youtube video explaining obscure shit nobody would pick up on is Loona or dreamcatcher etc.. Aespas lore is in ur face not obscure or convoluted.. its all in the lyrics and miniseries... i really dont get what your saying.. look under any comment section and everyone is in on it, you dont see that with other "lore's"
Also people didn't want the avatars to take up so much time over real .. they are using it sparingly or else there would be backlash.. people were already concerned about it pre-debut.. and i think people are happy with that, this is a ridiculous take
I respect your opinion, but disagree completely with your take. Aespa's lore is quite confusing to the average fan and even veteran K-pop fan. Ask random K-pop fans about what they know about Aespa's lore or virtual avatars and see their answers. If I have to look up all these Aespa terms and most fans don't easily understand Aespa's lore, then it's a major branding and marketing problem.
From UA-cam comments and talking to fans, most people would answer "they're a virtual avatar group" (I don't think this is true either) or "they're an AI group." But most fans would not be able to even understand Aespa's lore, nor explain what it is. From the hundreds of fans I talked to in the US and Korea, they have no clue about Aespa's lore other than "AI avatars."
As for Loona and Dreamcatcther, yes, they too have confusing storylines. I think that all three -- Aespa, Loona, and Dreamcatcher -- are all confusing.
I agree that the Aespa avatars are used sparingly, as they're not a true virtual idol/AI group. But if they're going to barely use them, you either should either ditch the virtual AI concept entirely. Or make a dedicated Netflix or webtoon series to further explain their lore.
Calling them a virtual avatar group with only 1 SMCU explainer video and a couple 3-4 minute MVs explaining their story isn't enough.
@@Popsori I find they lore quite easy to understand maybe it's just you!
It could be just me, but I still think their avatar concept is still confusing.
@@Popsori maybe you're confused because they did a hybrid of AI and real also the metaverse is not exist yet, so their weird terms aren't relatable at all. For me personally, since the metaverse they wanted to make still in building process, the lyrics for their songs are silly and annoying to the point of people questioning their marketing purposes are.
I would say the confusion with hybrid AI/human group lies with SM. Hybrid would mean a 50/50 split of AI and real singers performing together (or even like 60/40 of human to AI singers.) K/DA does this very well in their live performances with a hybrid approach. Yet with Aespa, the split is 95/5 of human to AI performance, so I wouldn't call them a hybrid at all.
As for the lyrics, I think it's because I actually understand and speak Korean that it feels weird to me. I don't think K-pop lyrics need to be incredible or thought-provoking. But they do need to have some sense in them.
Edit: Grammar