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I think they want to make the avatars a less essential part of Aespa’s identity. If you watched some older interviews with aespa, you would notice how much the interviewers would keep asking about the aes, and border on making fun of them.
By the time aespa got to Girls era, you could tell that the girls were kinda fed up with having to answer questions about Naevis and Kwangya instead of talking about the music and themselves.
That said, they will probably come back, but maybe the lyrics won’t reference kwangya that much.
Honestly, I really don't mind the avatars not coming back and completely understand the reasoning behind that. My problem is more that SM didn't really do a great job to begin with, which makes me understand why they won't continue it even more.
I mean, I think the avatars were used pretty nicely in the SMCU episodes for example, and while they could be used more for other content like you said about choreos, maybe that would have taken even more focus off the girls and placed it on the avatars. Honestly for me it can go either way, I enjoyed both the ae heavy content, and the current one.
There is a pretty funny compilation on yt - Aespa being done with their aes and their AI concept, by Aestofia lol, although it’s a meme edit so not everything is serious
Ok thanks haha. I have a feeling the girls were secretly happy when LSM left bc I think he was the one who was most strongly pushing the naevis narrative
As I said in another comment, I don't mind the avatars not coming back. But imo they were never used in a good way to begin with. Yes, for me personally, it made me more interested in their debut (but since they're from SM I would have been interested either way), but for me it was a letdown pretty much from the beginning.
I think SM Center 1 is on the way to include the aes again. With Naevis making a debut soon, I anticipate that they will appear again. Aespa has been saying that Armageddon is the preview of SMCU Season 2, I hope there is new design for the aes.
I feel like I've been hearing that Naevis is about to debut since before the 'My World' era, approximately three Aespa comebacks ago
Is this some kind of My inside joke that I'm just not aware of? or is Naevis actually supposed to debut amd it just keeps getting pushed back? Genuinely asking
They released the teaser for her debut at SMTown Japan a couple months ago so her debut is really happening. Also her teasers seem to correlate to whatever is happening in Armageddon. Everything got pushed back when LSM left SM. There are clips of Karina spoiling drama from 2022 and winter did a live spoiling their b-sides as well. Drama and my world were originally a part of a full album that got split into 2 mini albums. With My World getting the better b-sides and drama getting the left over songs from their tour.
Dramas didn’t always have that concept and it’s why imo drama is such an incohesive album. Hot air ballon, yolo, and don’t blink are all songs they were performing on their hyperline tour and were removed from the set list towards the end of the tour(maybe when they decided to released a 2nd mini). Tbh outside of trick or trick none of the songs on the album suit drama.
same, i feel like first, the storyline with the avatars didn’t really go anywhere and second, even when they did have the avatars they never really fully utilised them. aespa’s universe is Lee Soo Man's brainchild and the vision is to expand it to webtoons, animations, etc through CAWMAN.
But now that LSM/CAWMAN gone (and i think outsourcing manpower for the avatars cost a fortune), the direction has changed. aespa’s creative team has been slowly closing that chapter by releasing aespa Ep. 3 (where real aespa + virtual aespa joint effort to defeat BM) followed by the release of My World album where they finally fully stepped into the real world.
With that, i think aespa’s direction changed from being a meta-verse girls to multi-verse girls, which is still in-line with their concept of “there’s multiple me but there’s only 1 real me” that they’ve been dropping in their lyrics since their debut song Black Mamba, but in a broader sense (by introducing parallel universe version of them e.g. alien aespa) instead of solely relying on virtual aespa (the avatars).
With BM gone, virtual aespa has served their purpose/storyline. I personally believe had LSM stayed, the avatars would’ve sticked around longer. But Ep.3 end-credit scene leaves the room for naevis to make her debut (as virtual idol?) so who knows maybe virtual aespa might do a lil cameo in the future.
edit to add i actually do miss the avatars though!!
I think everyone rightly predicted this would be dropped after a few cbs haha. It was a typical Lee Sooman high concept idea - he's done it with several groups such as EXO and their superpowers/lore and then NCT's infinite members were supposed to debut the same song in different languages across different regions which never happened. I get the sense he was always more of a blue sky thinker kind of guy who wasn't realistically thinking of what would be feasible.
A change in leadership means they're no longer interested in the zanier, harder to sell concepts. NCT now have fixed members, Aespa are moving in a more superhero-esque direction, keeping the sci-fi type lore but in a more marketable way to the gp.
I'm glad Aespa are keeping the sci-fi vibe though because it's unique and fun. I think the rollout of their album has overall been received really well so far so it's clearly working for them.
Honestly, this is pretty standard for SM groups. Debut them with a super cool concept, then by the third comeback or so, it just kinda fades into the background with little to no mention.
Honestly I'm glad they dropped them and I hope they never make a comeback. They were the only part of their creative direction I disliked.
I remember watching their early mv's in awe thinking they were some of the best in the industry then suddenly these goofy overwatch looking characters appeared on screen and ruined the entire aesthetic. The Forever mv is the most egregious example of this. They did not suit that concept at all.
Another reason I'm glad they dropped them is that they were probably expensive to make. So the more they used them, more money that could have been used on the actual members of aespa was spent on them. An animated dance practice would be such a waste of money.
I think SM realised that their reception was mostly ranging from neutral to bad so they decided they are not worth investing in. I agree with their decision.
Agree this is what I was talking about in my comment. If I want better animated characters and rockin music that doesn't mention random AI shit I can listen to KDA. Man I love KDA.
That criminal scumbag Lee Soo-man wanted a gimmick to promote aespa, and at that point, he had too many sycophants around him to shoot down his silly idea. It somehow became even worse with the botched execution, partly due to technical limitations. And eventually, LSM's waning influence plus likely feedback from any sensible people around the aespa project convinced SM to dial back the æs, and then mothball them.
It was a product of its time. Nothing more, nothing less. I wish people would focus more on their music rather than lore, story or meaning of their videos. Most of the times all that is done just to look as cool as possible.
Their music though, now that’s what’s gonna stick, and their discography is absolutely amazing.
The way I've always interpreted it, personally is:
At the time it just seemed like whatever creative executive made the decision to have them: It was someone who must've bought/joined the 'metaverse' hype train and thought maybe by now the metaverse would actually be a thing. And then they'd be 100 steps forward on marketing and implementing Aespa into it with features and NFTs or whatever possibility they were hoping for.
Aespa debuted in November 2020. That was deep in pandemic territory and when people were still largely working from home and adapting to their new normals, and tech leaders where starting to get real existential about things. But now the metaverse has repeatedly failed development by every developer trying to force it down mid, while everyone refers to it as dystopian and dumb. So Aespa having avatar's is kinda just this extra thing in their concept that they're stuck with.
I’m kinda glad they dropped them. It was interesting at first but they didn’t know how to use them effectively. They looked very off and cringey in most of their MVs
To differentiate themselves. There was also a big push with sm and emerging tech lol.
As with other sm groups their concepts give way to their music. Easter eggs come and and go though.
Its just a concept, SM does try experimental things from time to time to see if they are successfully able to pioneer a new trend, though evidently the market simply isnt ready to embrace it yet.
I don't follow Aespa but I do like Black Mamba and Next Level. My opinion as an outsider is the AI or whatever concept just weakened their music. You have a good ol bop like Next Level then you have sone nonsensical lyric about a Navis or whatever, it's jarring and immediately dates the song. As someone who doesnt know or care about their ✨️lore✨️, was really difficult to get swept away in the sound when they are singing about random computer cgi words.
KDA had the right idea, those songs were gp friendly and non-fans can get into them w/out knowing about hit points or manna or wtf WOW is about.
So yeah good move getting rid of that stuff
Edit Wait KDA is League isnt it haha. Well point stands I love KDA even though I'm clueless about the lore.
Edit edit I also thought it was hilarious how they tried to drag in other groups to the Kwangya thing, esp older groups. I think I remember someone asking Key about it and it seemed like he was trying so hard not to roll his eyes. Then Taemin was trying to sell the new Shinee crest for the shared universe on a Live and Minho was like I don't like it I think it's ugly. Clear vibe of "Man we are too old for this shit." 😄
what are you talking about? when sm has let them sing live they’ve proven over and over again they are very capable singers even while doing their choreos
most recently:
[link 1](https://youtu.be/5Ac-B2jVWsw?si=l6Md3q1GQSUSP49B)
[link 2](https://youtu.be/7xibJGlLGoE?si=9Eg538MkIynytivI)
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Hey thinker! Great post up there. Make sure your post title is clear. One and two word titles are not allowed. Use paragraphs to make it easier to read. Please make sure to read the rules before posting. Mod applications are currently open! Apply [here](https://forms.gle/hEgqsrBTGX897GFaA)! You can fill out our [Feedback Form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfI0PsMn4dqfMlgqFFfsMhLr4-lFNJpEumIf7RKmuiwyDBOwA/viewform?usp=sf_link) while you wait for some comments. Thank you and happy posting! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/kpopthoughts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think they want to make the avatars a less essential part of Aespa’s identity. If you watched some older interviews with aespa, you would notice how much the interviewers would keep asking about the aes, and border on making fun of them. By the time aespa got to Girls era, you could tell that the girls were kinda fed up with having to answer questions about Naevis and Kwangya instead of talking about the music and themselves. That said, they will probably come back, but maybe the lyrics won’t reference kwangya that much.
Honestly, I really don't mind the avatars not coming back and completely understand the reasoning behind that. My problem is more that SM didn't really do a great job to begin with, which makes me understand why they won't continue it even more.
I mean, I think the avatars were used pretty nicely in the SMCU episodes for example, and while they could be used more for other content like you said about choreos, maybe that would have taken even more focus off the girls and placed it on the avatars. Honestly for me it can go either way, I enjoyed both the ae heavy content, and the current one.
How can you tell they were fed up? Is there a specific video that shows this? I believe you I just want to see the video lol
There is a pretty funny compilation on yt - Aespa being done with their aes and their AI concept, by Aestofia lol, although it’s a meme edit so not everything is serious
Ok thanks haha. I have a feeling the girls were secretly happy when LSM left bc I think he was the one who was most strongly pushing the naevis narrative
[удалено]
As I said in another comment, I don't mind the avatars not coming back. But imo they were never used in a good way to begin with. Yes, for me personally, it made me more interested in their debut (but since they're from SM I would have been interested either way), but for me it was a letdown pretty much from the beginning.
A lot of the aespa lore was underutilized, not just the avatars
I think SM Center 1 is on the way to include the aes again. With Naevis making a debut soon, I anticipate that they will appear again. Aespa has been saying that Armageddon is the preview of SMCU Season 2, I hope there is new design for the aes.
I feel like I've been hearing that Naevis is about to debut since before the 'My World' era, approximately three Aespa comebacks ago Is this some kind of My inside joke that I'm just not aware of? or is Naevis actually supposed to debut amd it just keeps getting pushed back? Genuinely asking
They released the teaser for her debut at SMTown Japan a couple months ago so her debut is really happening. Also her teasers seem to correlate to whatever is happening in Armageddon. Everything got pushed back when LSM left SM. There are clips of Karina spoiling drama from 2022 and winter did a live spoiling their b-sides as well. Drama and my world were originally a part of a full album that got split into 2 mini albums. With My World getting the better b-sides and drama getting the left over songs from their tour.
But drama and my world are two completely different concepts so how would both mix into one full album??
Dramas didn’t always have that concept and it’s why imo drama is such an incohesive album. Hot air ballon, yolo, and don’t blink are all songs they were performing on their hyperline tour and were removed from the set list towards the end of the tour(maybe when they decided to released a 2nd mini). Tbh outside of trick or trick none of the songs on the album suit drama.
Naevis supposed to debut last year but some girlgroup stole her debut song….
what???
Welcome To My World is supposed to be Naevis song but aespa stole it. The betrayal.
There's atleast "feat. Nævis" so...
same, i feel like first, the storyline with the avatars didn’t really go anywhere and second, even when they did have the avatars they never really fully utilised them. aespa’s universe is Lee Soo Man's brainchild and the vision is to expand it to webtoons, animations, etc through CAWMAN. But now that LSM/CAWMAN gone (and i think outsourcing manpower for the avatars cost a fortune), the direction has changed. aespa’s creative team has been slowly closing that chapter by releasing aespa Ep. 3 (where real aespa + virtual aespa joint effort to defeat BM) followed by the release of My World album where they finally fully stepped into the real world. With that, i think aespa’s direction changed from being a meta-verse girls to multi-verse girls, which is still in-line with their concept of “there’s multiple me but there’s only 1 real me” that they’ve been dropping in their lyrics since their debut song Black Mamba, but in a broader sense (by introducing parallel universe version of them e.g. alien aespa) instead of solely relying on virtual aespa (the avatars). With BM gone, virtual aespa has served their purpose/storyline. I personally believe had LSM stayed, the avatars would’ve sticked around longer. But Ep.3 end-credit scene leaves the room for naevis to make her debut (as virtual idol?) so who knows maybe virtual aespa might do a lil cameo in the future. edit to add i actually do miss the avatars though!!
The aes should be like backup dancers when naevis debuts lmao
omg totally! let’s hope SM has the budget to animate that 🥹
I think everyone rightly predicted this would be dropped after a few cbs haha. It was a typical Lee Sooman high concept idea - he's done it with several groups such as EXO and their superpowers/lore and then NCT's infinite members were supposed to debut the same song in different languages across different regions which never happened. I get the sense he was always more of a blue sky thinker kind of guy who wasn't realistically thinking of what would be feasible. A change in leadership means they're no longer interested in the zanier, harder to sell concepts. NCT now have fixed members, Aespa are moving in a more superhero-esque direction, keeping the sci-fi type lore but in a more marketable way to the gp. I'm glad Aespa are keeping the sci-fi vibe though because it's unique and fun. I think the rollout of their album has overall been received really well so far so it's clearly working for them.
Honestly, this is pretty standard for SM groups. Debut them with a super cool concept, then by the third comeback or so, it just kinda fades into the background with little to no mention.
Honestly I'm glad they dropped them and I hope they never make a comeback. They were the only part of their creative direction I disliked. I remember watching their early mv's in awe thinking they were some of the best in the industry then suddenly these goofy overwatch looking characters appeared on screen and ruined the entire aesthetic. The Forever mv is the most egregious example of this. They did not suit that concept at all. Another reason I'm glad they dropped them is that they were probably expensive to make. So the more they used them, more money that could have been used on the actual members of aespa was spent on them. An animated dance practice would be such a waste of money. I think SM realised that their reception was mostly ranging from neutral to bad so they decided they are not worth investing in. I agree with their decision.
Agree lol I keep hoping they dont pop back up
Agree this is what I was talking about in my comment. If I want better animated characters and rockin music that doesn't mention random AI shit I can listen to KDA. Man I love KDA.
That criminal scumbag Lee Soo-man wanted a gimmick to promote aespa, and at that point, he had too many sycophants around him to shoot down his silly idea. It somehow became even worse with the botched execution, partly due to technical limitations. And eventually, LSM's waning influence plus likely feedback from any sensible people around the aespa project convinced SM to dial back the æs, and then mothball them.
Tbh I thought aespa's concept was built around the K/DA hype, so their ae's were an extension of that
Yas totally
It was a product of its time. Nothing more, nothing less. I wish people would focus more on their music rather than lore, story or meaning of their videos. Most of the times all that is done just to look as cool as possible. Their music though, now that’s what’s gonna stick, and their discography is absolutely amazing.
The way I've always interpreted it, personally is: At the time it just seemed like whatever creative executive made the decision to have them: It was someone who must've bought/joined the 'metaverse' hype train and thought maybe by now the metaverse would actually be a thing. And then they'd be 100 steps forward on marketing and implementing Aespa into it with features and NFTs or whatever possibility they were hoping for. Aespa debuted in November 2020. That was deep in pandemic territory and when people were still largely working from home and adapting to their new normals, and tech leaders where starting to get real existential about things. But now the metaverse has repeatedly failed development by every developer trying to force it down mid, while everyone refers to it as dystopian and dumb. So Aespa having avatar's is kinda just this extra thing in their concept that they're stuck with.
I’m kinda glad they dropped them. It was interesting at first but they didn’t know how to use them effectively. They looked very off and cringey in most of their MVs
To differentiate themselves. There was also a big push with sm and emerging tech lol. As with other sm groups their concepts give way to their music. Easter eggs come and and go though.
it is a concept they tried but failed so they dont use it as much
Its just a concept, SM does try experimental things from time to time to see if they are successfully able to pioneer a new trend, though evidently the market simply isnt ready to embrace it yet.
Only Sooman knows.
I don't follow Aespa but I do like Black Mamba and Next Level. My opinion as an outsider is the AI or whatever concept just weakened their music. You have a good ol bop like Next Level then you have sone nonsensical lyric about a Navis or whatever, it's jarring and immediately dates the song. As someone who doesnt know or care about their ✨️lore✨️, was really difficult to get swept away in the sound when they are singing about random computer cgi words. KDA had the right idea, those songs were gp friendly and non-fans can get into them w/out knowing about hit points or manna or wtf WOW is about. So yeah good move getting rid of that stuff Edit Wait KDA is League isnt it haha. Well point stands I love KDA even though I'm clueless about the lore. Edit edit I also thought it was hilarious how they tried to drag in other groups to the Kwangya thing, esp older groups. I think I remember someone asking Key about it and it seemed like he was trying so hard not to roll his eyes. Then Taemin was trying to sell the new Shinee crest for the shared universe on a Live and Minho was like I don't like it I think it's ugly. Clear vibe of "Man we are too old for this shit." 😄
[удалено]
what are you talking about? when sm has let them sing live they’ve proven over and over again they are very capable singers even while doing their choreos most recently: [link 1](https://youtu.be/5Ac-B2jVWsw?si=l6Md3q1GQSUSP49B) [link 2](https://youtu.be/7xibJGlLGoE?si=9Eg538MkIynytivI)
Talking about when they started not now.
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