collect

Koeun, Hina and Lami may not be well suited to the aespa image and concept. Based on images and the title track being black mamba, I feel like SM is going something towards girl crush, mystical and sultry, which is not something that seems to match with the image of Koeun, Hina and Lami that we have seen before. They seem to be better suited for a more public friendly image and concept, like red velvet, twice, gfriend etc., something a little less out-there, experimental. I'm not saying that the girls don't have the skills to pull it off but I think they may find it harder to pull off a concept that is not close to their own character and personality.

For that matter, if SM had intended to debut new artistes born after 2000, then Koeun would not have made the cut. Age matters in kpop debuts and to be fair, SM is more flexible on this (reference, Irene and Victoria), especially if the older member will really bring something special to the team. For Lami, I always thought of her as someone will have a career in acting. This is given her acting background. Of course, idols can also act but few idols have the successful careers of actors who only do purely acting. If we look at SM idols who made it as actresses, Yoona is probably the most successful, followed by Joy. Even then, if you compare them to actresses of the similar ages, e.g. park shin hye, kim soo hyun, the type of projects that they get are different. I think being an idol whilst acting and switching to acting after being an idol is not the best path for someone whose interest is acting and not singing/dancing, stage performances.