Will SM’s never-before-broken ‘sure win rule’ work this time too?

Interest is focused on the new girl group Hearts To Hearts, who are making a comeback in line with the ‘Sophomore Syndrome’ that is a ‘tradition’ of SM Entertainment(SM)artists.Hearts To Hearts, who debuted in February, is SM’s ‘strategic girl group’ consisting of eight members.

This syndrome, derived from the sophomore jinx, refers to the ‘precedent’ of SM’s new artists who achieved mega hits in their second or third comeback after their official debut.

Girls ‘Generation, a legendary eight-member girl group like Hearts To Hearts, released “Into the New World” followed by “KISSING YOU” and their representative song “GEE”, aespa’s third song after their debut song “Black Mamba” was “Next Level”, Closer Rise released “Get A Guitar” and “Talk Sash” after “Memories”, NCT WISH also rose to the top in the shortest amount of time with their second song “WISH” after “Hands Up”.

Hearts To Hearts made a comeback on the 18th with their second single, “STYLE, “ following their debut song “The Chase.”

As they enter the second round, which can be called the ‘sure victory build-up’ for SM’s new artists, Hearts To Hearts announced that they will be ‘reinterpreting’ the ‘shuffle dance’ that took Korea and the world by storm in the 2010s, in their own style.

Hearts To Hearts has shown off its unique presence as a ‘next-generation trendsetter’ by creating a dance challenge boom through their debut song ‘The Chase’.Several parts of the ‘The Chase’ choreography led trends on various global SNS, and a part of the choreography where they blink their eyes multiple times was even given the nickname ‘magnesium deficiency part’.


SM has another formula for success, along with the ‘rookie sure win build-up’ that is gaining momentum.It is the ‘May regular album expectation theory.’

Espa released their first full-length album ‘Armageddon’ at the end of May last year, and completed ‘the year of Espa’ by achieving double mega hits with the title song of the same name, ‘Armageddon’, following ‘Supernova’.

This year, SM’s May high hopes were valid as well.Last month, Rise released their first full-length album, ‘ODYSSEY’, and entered into a runaway mode toward the ‘Album of the Year’ title.


Reporter Heo Min- mignon@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.