IVE is a top girl group, right behind NewJeans. Their songs have tons of streams, their albums sell. Wonyoung is THE 4th Gen it girl, with Yujin being close to gaining that title as well.
Why do I say that they will be defeated by Le Sserafim? Le Sserafim doesn't have as much popularity as IVE, Chaewon and Sakura aren't nearly as popular as Wonyoung and Yujin. So why? This doesn't really make sense, right? Or does it?
So here is the reason I think that Le Sserafim will defeat IVE:
- They're from HYBE. You can already see how Starships Budget is slowly fading away. Yes, we got 3 MVs, but if you compare them to Kitsch and I Am, they're low quality. Also, they don't get enough ads anymore. Source Music will always have budget, bc they're from HYBE.
- IVE doesn't have a Yunjin. Tons of international fans favor Le Sserafim bc of Yunjin, and her having a "real" personality.
- Korea will get bored of Wonyoung at some point. We already see them favouring Yujin.
- THERE IS NO FAVOURITISM. This is the biggest reason they will defeat IVE. Source Music just needs to do a few things right. They need to promote Sakura in Japan, and BOOM. They need Yunjin to collaborate with American Artists, and BOOM. They need to promote Eunchae as the cute lovely evil Maknae and let her visit variety shows and BOOM. They need to have Kazuha collaborating with Sports brands, branding her as the fit beautiful girl that has abs and is elegant at the same time and BOOM. And for Chaewon, she just needs all of these together, and BOOM.
What about IVE? Korea likes skinny and pretty. Liz is pretty, but is she skinny enough for Korea? No. Rei can rap well, and her personality is funny, but is she skinny or pretty enough? No. Leeseo could be promoted well, but she won't ever reach the level of popularity Eunchae will reach. And Gaeul... Well she is skinny, that could help.
Wonyoung and Yujin though... I don't think that any Le sserafim member will be as popular as them. But together as a group, they can surpass their popularity.
For Koreans, Idols need to have something about their face and body that makes them stand out. Haerin? Cat eyes. Wonyoung? Tall. Kazuha? Abs. That's how their minds work. Leeseo? Baby Tiger? Hmm... Liz? Blonde? Hmmmm... Sakura? Japanese kawaii girl? That kinda works, doesn't it?
Eunchae? Tall, blonde and cute? Yea that could work
Yunjin? Feminist singer girl? Sounds promising.
Getting rid of Garam was actually the best decision they could make.