As the May girl groups' comeback battle has already begun, music officials claimed LE SSERAFIM's "defeat" against aespa for THESE two reasons.

K-Media Highlights How aespa Replaced LE SSERAFIM's New Highest Record in 6 Days

As the month of May started, the K-pop scene is also keeping an eye on multiple girl groups who are set to enter the sizzling comeback battle.

Among them, there are two groups whose battle already began; LE SSERAFIM and aespa. On May 2, the former returned with its first studio album, "UNFORGIVEN," while the latter team unveiled its third mini-album, "MY WORLD."

Ten Asia wrote:

"Both LE SSERAFIM and aespa are representative groups with the 'girl crush' concept in Korea. Both teams have powerful vocals, great visual performance and their main narrative is music set in 'self-love."

ALSO READ: LE SSERAFIM Concepts Are Repetitive? People Debate If Its 'Identity' or 'Inflexibility'

While LE SSERAFIM continued with its concept of exuding "confidence," aespa took out its "weapon" and fight with a "high teen" image.

With their close battle, the media implied that LE SSERAFIM, however, was "defeated" not only in terms of the album but the "embarrassing" result of losing their new record in less than a week.

According to the industry on May 9, LE SSERAFIM's "UNFORGIVEN" sold 1,197,798 copies in six days after its release. On the first day alone, the quintet sold as many as 1.02 million copies. It is the highest record of record sales by K-pop female artists on the first day.

However, they weren't able to enjoy the first place seat that much after aespa dropped its third mini album, and sold 1,372,929 copies in just a day, taking the aforementioned group's best record in just six days.

aespa vs LE SSERAFIM: Which Concept Do K-pop Stans Like More?

Although the result of the match wasn't affected much by the changed concept and album sales, "many in the music industry predict that the competition between LE SSERAFIM and aespa will end with the latter's decisive victory."

The media explained:

"First of all, as can be seen in the initial sales volume, many say that aespa's fan base is bigger. aespa, which debuted in 2020, has relatively more fans, and loyal fans to SM Entertainment also boast a formidable number. On top of that, the high popularity and influence of members representing the group, such as Karina, are also factors that support aespa's relative advantage."

In terms of concept, LE SSERAFIM is also receiving skepticism for their "repeating" concepts in three comebacks, starting with "FEARLESS," "ANTIFRAGILE" and "UNFORGIVEN."

People conveyed that they felt bored with the similar appearance of the quintet every time, hinting that a new musical attempt may be needed.

As the article concluded, the outlet wrote:

"However, initial sales volume and diversity of concepts are not everything. The measure of popularity can change at any time depending on the appearance shown in the course of the activity. It will be a happy May for K-pop fans who can watch both rival groups."

READ MORE: Music Critics Discuss aespa's Future: What Makes Them Different From Other Groups?

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Written by Eunice Dawson.