The aespa Music Video Universe

A condensed summary of my notes on all things aespa!

Note: I work hard on these notes and the corresponding episodes! PLEASE DO NOT SHARE THE INFORMATION IN THESE NOTES WITHOUT CREDITING ME AND MY NEWSLETTER/PODCAST!

These notes are for paying subscribers only, but feel free to share the free-to-access corresponding episodes!

aespa and KWANGYA 101

SMTOWN 2022 Concert Review (which includes another KWANGYA explanation based on the teaser videos that played between acts!)

Key Terms to Remember

aespa: avatar x experience

ae (pronounced “I”): the members’ avatars; their digital alter egos

• From the intro film: “Digital existence is called ae, and there’s an expectation of coexistence with ae in the future”

• Number of people with aes is “growing exponentially”

• Part of the reason some people have not been able to recognize their aes yet: their aes are not “them;” they are the versions of them compiled out of their social media feeds/digital footprints, which can be very different from who they “really” are

• The professor in the intro film: “ae, made up of digital information, [take the forms] of ourselves. The existence of ae transcends the real world and the digital world [emphasis is mine].”

Rekall Time: Time spent getting to know one’s ae

The FLAT: The “resting place” for aes; like the “sleep mode” characters in a computer or video game enter once you log out

SYNK: The way to communicate with ae; a method of messaging ae that is disrupted by the blackouts caused by Black Mamba and others

SYNKOUT: When the ability to SYNK is disrupted on a massive scale; kind of like when the WiFi is down

KWANGYA: The separate world where anything is possible; not quite a dream world, not quite “real;” not necessarily just in their imaginations, but not accessible and visible to everyone like the “real world;” intentionally an ambiguous, mysterious location (although I try my best to explain it in the above podcast episodes!)

Black Mamba: The enemy who seeks to sabotage aespa’s blossoming relationships with their aes

• Black Mamba’s foe seems to be butterflies, prominent not just in aespa videos but other SM Entertainment artists’ videos too

KOSMO: The level above KWANGYA (which I theorize refers to a higher level of subconsciousness; an additional layer of dreaming. Again, I try to explain this more in the above podcast episodes!)

Naevis: Refers to their “novices;” a term of endearment for their aes that is focused not necessarily on the aes but on their inner essences; who the aes are at their core

Key Details in their MVs and Short Film, in Chronological Order