Can SM’s new virtual girl group Aespa be a big hit?
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- Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
- SM is back with a new female group called Aespa. But this is not your normal K-pop group, as the group will be half human, half virtual idols. With the eight member group (four humans, four avatars) debuting “Black Mamba” on November 17th, fans can’t wait to see Aespa in action.
Yet, SM founder Lee Soo-man also shocked the K-pop world with Aespa. Virtual idols aren’t really popular in Korea, nor K-pop, but Lee plans to push technology with K-pop.
While I think Lee Soo-man is a musical and business genius, I do have my reservations about Aespa and if it can work in today’s K-pop scene. We’ll break down the pros and cons, how virtual idol groups work, and the group’s potential future.
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TIME STAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:43 Meet Aespa - K-pop’s first virtual group
2:34 Perhaps inspired by Vocaloid and K/DA
4:29 Why Aespa will be very hard to pull off
7:09 The marketing is off
8:19 Are there any positives in Aespa?
9:30 How could Aespa work?
10:19 Wrapping it up
11:08 Now over to you
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I just think Kpop isn’t ready for virtual idols just yet but however I do think that concept would be interesting I just think it’s a bit soon
Well, Nijisanji KR is a thing, despite that they are technically virtual streamers with the occasional (mostly Japanese) singing content.
A K-pop group tried something similar to this but with only one virtual member before, I think their name is Nazca, they were from a label called Starmax Media many Kpop fans think this type of concept is very weird but I think this group would attract many jpop fans that are into things like vocaloid virtual j-idols , hololive but not many Kpop fans but who knows
Yes most likely but than again are those things have completely different sounds from Kpop that’s about the only reason jpop fans wouldn’t like it either don’t get me wrong they are some upbeat vocaloid songs that do remind of kpop but they are only a few most a jpop fan’s like that robotic Like miku has
@@sickchiq7365 yeah that’s true
@@sickchiq7365 oh not mention many animation fans already pointed that the avatars look very cheap that’s could also be another turn off from both sides
@@liu2604 yeah that’s why feel many vocaloid , hololive fans would would probably love the thought or trash it xd
I've said it before but I think SM could just debut aespa with the fantasy-like concept as seen in the teaser photos but of course SM being SM he decided not to do that. I still don't know how I feel about the avatars and all that I'm not sold on it yet maybe after they debut I will be but idk.
I agree with that Austin. If SM just rolled with 4 human members with a fantasy concept, that would have been really cool. Hopefully, "Black Mama" shows us something different, but I'm skeptical for now.
Insanely creepy, these girls are way too young. There’s honestly no other way to look at it for me. I hope they protect their image both reality and virtual because that could easily be tainted.
I find this concept personally distasteful, but with the gaming and anime communities being so huge, it could eventually work. Also, as you pointed out, there would be much less overhead. I've heard a couple of the other big management companies are looking at the concept as well.
I agree Hana. I personally have nothing against virtual idols and actually like Vocaloid and K/DA. Yet, to put out a virtual idol / human idol group without a clear marketing plan and to an audience that thinks it's really weird (aka K-pop fans) is not a good strategy imo.
I think if Lee Soo-man wanted to introduce a new, radical concept like virtual idols in K-pop, there needed to be a slow buildup to introducing the concept, such as more virtual idol only concerts of previous groups, like NCT or Red Velvet, online.
Then after a year or so, Lee Soo-man can introduce Aespa and it wouldn't look as weird.
To be honest, I’m kind of uncomfortable with this concept. For virtual entertainers like “Vocaloid”, “Kizuna AI”, and “K/DA”, it’s not that surprising since they’re (transparently) marketed that way from the beginning. For K-pop artists, we’re just too used to real people. I don’t mind if technology is being utilized for enhancement, but not to the point of replacing real human artists. For a very innovative and influential company, SM Entertainment is notorious for pursuing “robotic perfection.”
K-pop fans are just used to real people. I think for the majority of K-pop fans, the concept of virtual idols is too strange, as the concept doesn't fit here.
@The 48G vault This concept is pretty normalized in “otaku” culture, so K/DA is more or less a crossover between that and K-pop.
@@PinkNintendoDuo87 Agreed with this, as the otaku culture accepts K/DA and the Idolmaster a lot better.
@The 48G vault Indeed, but unfortunately, the Idolmaster KR isn't that popular outside Korean otakus (which there aren't too many in Korea.)
I feel like this concept will only run most kpop away especially the one’s who are used interaction this the only reason I’m not so sure just yet about virtual idols in Kpop
It works well with anime fans/otakus because most fans perfer unrealistic expectations like virtual realities this why why I feel like virtual idols work so well with jpop i wouldn’t be quick to say jpop fan’s might be interested it’s not only the fact idols are virtual some j-fans to them it’s always have alot to do with the music if this group have a very basic stereotypical Kpop sound they might not like it
As much as your presentation of this topic is spot on. Here's my thoughts:
1. K/DA, if we go by J-pop music classifications, is 2.5D idol since that the people behind them are known in official capacity and have performed in-person.
That being said, 22/7 has a television program called 22/7 Keisanchu in which the members and the characters they voice appears side be side. I think Lee Soo-man definitely took notes from there.
I actually had a look at the group and it's pretty much 2.5D idols with a twist that the real and virtual members appear simultaneously at all times.
2. While you are right that Vocaloid and K/DA are major factors in influencing the existence of AESPA, there's another major factor: hololive.
You did mention Virtual UA-camrs with a picture of the earliest artists in the scene, which hololive is an idol group centered around this concept, but it wasn't until late 2019 when the 4th generation of hololive JP debut that the concept become mainstream. The popularity of Hololive EN on September 2020 amplifies this effect.
3. Virtual UA-camrs are riddled with controversies as well.
When Akai Haato and Kiryu Coco, both members of hololive, mentioned Taiwan as part of their viewership report, Chinese fans raged so hard that they were suspended for 3 weeks and having their Chinese branch disbanded within this year.
There's also the drama regarding multiple Kizuna Ai characters. The original voice actor, Nozomi Kasuga was relegated to music video production while a few other voice actors took over the role back in 2019. Viewership has declined to the point that a new company helmed by Nozomi herself was established to take back the character and save the situation.
4. If SM Entertainment really wants to get audiences from the virtual UA-camr crowd, then they are up to an uphill battle.
Hololive is popular for their streaming content and memes that defies the traditional idea of idols. Sniffing your feet on stream is just a mild example. I think SM won't go that far.
It's better for SM to just go for the 2.5D idol with a twist route to capture the 2.5D idol crowd instead.
Maybe you should make a video about the rise of virtual UA-camr as music artists in the future.
Always like hearing your thoughts! Here's my response.
#1 I'm thinking Lee Soo-man took notes from 22/7 Keisanchu as well. You're right that Aespa is more 2.5D idols with their own twist.
#2 I forgot to mention Hololive. Good catch! Hololive just caught on mainstream, as you said. I see it recommended a lot on my UA-cam feed these days.
#3 The controversies I didn't know. Very interesting. I'll have to look into this more.
#4 I agree with this. I think while Lee Soo-man did his research and had a vision with 2.5D idols, I don't think it translates well to a K-pop fandom. I think what he should have done is in 2018-2019, do virtual idol concerts of his other groups first, such as NCT and Red Velvet.
When something radical, such as virtual idols, is introduced, an audience needs time to digest it first. I think SM missed on this.
If they slow-rolled the 2.5D idols, after a year or two of virtual idol concerts, they can introduce Aespa, which wouldn't look as weird to K-pop fans. The way it appeared to K-pop fans is that Lee Soo-man just suddenly dropped a 2.5D mixed human/virtual idol group out of nowhere. Even though he planned for it for the past couple years, K-pop fans weren't ready for this concept yet.
I think I may do the rise of virtual UA-camrs and idols in the future. It's an exciting project, but I would definitely have to do research on it, as I'm still learning myself.
Mind blowing how until this day while not big as the other, japan still the one who become the trend setter, they always coming up with something new there
True. Even though K-pop is the cool music today, Japan has a huge influence on a lot of Asian music.
You know what I, really don't take interest in aespa because I think it would be weird idea giving virtual member chance instead of real human idols but, I look forward to their music because they worked hard
I can respect your take on that. Aespa is definitely hard-working and should be given respect for that.
If they were going to use these virtual idols, I think they need to make look better. The tech looks old in terms of character model look. K/DA had a pretty stylized look that was pretty appealing, but these models look like a downgrade in terms of looks and what can actually be done these days (the hair in particular).
I'm sure this sounded good in the boardroom with people in suits throwing around the words "synergy" and "value-added" and "expanding market share" to justify this, but the actual execution will probably not live up to the concept. Having both the real and CG model together already looks off and is only going to be more cringey. Either the virtual girls will need to look more realistic or the real girls look less realistic. There is just too much clash from a visual standpoint.
As already mentioned by Popsori, there are many practical advantages to a CG idol in that they never get tired, don't need rest, don't need to get paid, and can never be in a scandal, but that is the reason why most won't accept this concept. People won't get attached to the fake, at least not in this context. Also, are these virtual idols just mimicking their real life counterpart? Won't people rather just get to know the flesh and blood person rather than the avatar?
I heard from some Korean netizens and K-pop fans that Aespa's avatars were low quality. Some avatars also had different quality, as some are much better. Like you said, K/DA had a nice, stylized look and the group appealed towards gamers very well.
I think in the SM boardroom, introducing virtual idols and tech into K-pop sounded pretty cool. Yet, the clash of virtual girls with real life idols looks a bit weird, especially to a K-pop audience that's not used to it.
And like you mentioned, people won't accept the virtual idol concept in Korea because they can't get closer to the idol. K-pop fans want that close connection to real life stars.
@@Popsori If you look at the current state of computer graphics and how realistic cgi characters can look, the relative low tech quality of the avatars, as far as I've seen, is bewildering. Maybe the lower quality ones were proof of concept?
I think, in this case, the half-way measure of half real, half-virtual idol groups is just too jarring. Having both together is just going to highlight this every time the real and virtual are seen together. I think it might have been a better idea to have an all virtual idol group. At least the look would be consistent. Maybe you can use performers who look less "conventional," but have excellent voices to voice them. SM might have talent that isn't ready for an in-front-of-the-camera debut, but can voice act which might help later on. Heck, you might get the voice actors to do special concerts without the avatars from time to time.
In Japan, they kind of do this already. For example, there is an anime called Macross Delta in which a idol girl group plays a major part of the story. The voice actresses do real concerts and sing the songs from the show/movies.
To me the key would be not to try to replicate humans with avatars, but try and do something that's impossible for a human to do, something digital that won't compete with humans at all. And would appeal first to the gaming community since they are used to avatars. So the human idols can interact with the other virtual members on social media.
For me, being an Asian music fan, it's very exciting to see this concept. It may attract the attention of gamers and jpop fans who don't like kpop or are unfamiliar.
I just hope that the toxic side of Kpop don't accuse vocaloid or virtual jpop groups of copying aespa.
And currently blinks are throwing hate at one of the members for she "looks like" Lisa 🙄
Ok this concept is way more complex then I thought...idk
You're telling me! I'm still somewhat confused on what SM and Lee Soo-man is trying to accomplish with Aespa.
The fans were expecting something different. Now they got this concept. I don't wanna judge too quickly. I actually wanna stan aespa for the music. I feel like SM already knew about this. The market is oversaturated. He wants Aespa to be so talked about. So he made the concept controversial. I actually wasnt shocked so much about the concept. SM has been hinting this concept since Shining star in 2015. I just hope Aespa's music is good. I stan NCT because i like their music and I think ill stan aespa that way. I don't really care about concepts.
Definitely, I do see SM and Lee Soo-man setting this up so Aespa can be more talked about. I actually don't mind the concept so much, but I do think SM suddenly introducing a half virtual/human idol group without any build up is pretty bad.
I think SM should have used 2018-2019 to do hologram or virtual idol concerts of their other groups, such as NCT and Red Velvet. Then after a two year build up of virtual concerts, he can slowly introduce Aespa in 2020.
The marketing with Aespa needed to be a lot better too. It needed to be crystal clear and not have fans guessing.
With that being said, I do like the 4 human idols so far, I like Giselle's raps in Korean, English, and Japanese, and I do trust Lee Soo-man in the long run. I'm just skeptical so far.
As for concepts, if you don't care for them, that totally works too! I think the focus for you could be the human idols and how they perform. Here's hoping to a good debut with "Black Mamba!"
@@Popsori Yes. I agree. I think how Lee sooman was explaining the concept is misleading. I think this aespa itself has a global appeal. The ai concept were there are virtual counterparts is for them to appeal to a certain community. I hope this turns out well. I heard from other people that these avatars arent just for Aespa only. They are also going to make avatars for other SM artists. I really hope this turns out well and if not i hope SM will drop this concept or maybe improve it.
Actually, if the avatars aren't just for Aespa and SM plans to do them for their other groups, that sounds a lot more appealing. I think SM should give it a year to test out the avatar idea out and see if it works. If it doesn't, they can always ditch the concept and make Aespa a regular K-pop group.
Just as I'm responding to this comment, "Black Mama" just came out. Gonna check it out!
@@Popsori I love that all the members sound good. SM never disapoints when were talking about vocals. I love the song.
Indeed. I'm actually doing a Deep Thoughts video on "Black Mama" now, as the song is... interesting.
I love Aespa so far! I believe that Aespa will use the Virtual Idols similar to KD/A and can use them in other ways like maybe a TV show? Or something of that nature. Do y'all think they will add members too? Leave it to SM to push the industry forward.
I wouldn't be surprised with the pulled an AKB48 or NCT with Aespa
Ashley Too.... That is not a good idea.
It's confusing, and it's going the opposite way of where I want music to go in general. I want the human aspect in the center of any group, and I want those humans to touch me (whether it's with their songs, ideas or their personality). I can watch an anime and be touched as well, but it's because it's a film or a TV series and I'm not sure you can replicate that with avatar kpop idols... It just feels too calculated.... But let's see if he will prove me wrong and this thing becomes successful!
I also hate how this is one step further down the road of making the performers mere cogs in the machines that can be replaced easily (which he has been aiming for for years with his beloved rotation system in groups). And it's even worse in a way: who even needs humans and their failings and imperfections when you can just draw a character to perfection?
I have 2 serious questions:
How will this concept age? Idols get older and ageism is still a thing so what about that.
Even if "innovative". How does this promote the Hallyu wave at all?
I'm thinking with the concept of age, when the human idols get older, the virtual idols stay the same age, since youth is very important in K-pop. SM could also make the virtual idols age with the human idols as well, to make it look like they're all getting older.
As for innovative, I think Lee Soo-man is looking at pushing technology into K-pop (such as NCT and now Aespa). He most likely was motivated by the success of Vocaloid, Kizuna Ai, and K/DA and saw that there's a huge market for virtual idol groups. The problem though is that virtual idols is a very difficult sell for K-pop fans, since most fans think they're weird.
I think that a group with human and distinct virtual members could be interesting, but what makes this uncomfortable to me is the virtual members being representations of the human members and not their own thing.
is hatsune miku even popular at all in korea? i don't think it is
It's not really at all. Some may have seen Hatsune Miku before, but they associate it with it being otaku.
Nice innovation,but the debut song was still boring to me
Nah, nothing new for me, being used to jpop this is so normal so me🤣
Yeah 😭😭
lol indeed. J-pop fans are like "nothing new, move along."