Do you think Rei would be as popular as Wonyoung and Yujin had she debuted at the same time as them?

Wonyoung ?No

Yujin ? Yes but outside of Korea

Not even close. Ive made her popular. She would be a nobody if she debuted in a random Starship group at the time when Wonyoung and Yujin were promoting as Izone.

Quote from catzi

Why are you pretending that to create trends you don't have to be influential and popular enough lol.

Because you don't.

Quote from vzal

Not even close. Ive made her popular. She would be a nobody if she debuted in a random Starship group at the time when Wonyoung and Yujin were promoting as Izone.

This. Rei was 14 when Wonyoung/Yujin debuted.

As was Wonyoung but difference is Wony finished as first #1 in PD48(which I never watched and never was into Iz*one). If Rei had joined PD48 (which never happened as she only joined SSE in May 2018, probably when all or most participants were finalised) she was still probably too inexperience to have debuted alongside Yujin/Wony in iz*one or anywhere else. So the question of debuting an untrained 14 year old Rei in 2018 is unlikely if not impossible.

Also Rei trained for 3 years under SSE before debuting in IVE, while alongside Yujin and Wonyoung in the last part after izone ended. I have to imagine rei learned lots from Annyeongz including skills they pucked up while in izone, which if rei debuted in 2018 she wouldnt have known without knowing Yujin and Wony (or yujin/wony were too busy to interact with rei during izone active period).

to summarise my pov, rei needed/had 3 years & the benefit of either learning from or just proximity/being next to Annyeongz who already had 2½ years in izone and the concomitant success/exposure, which IVE followed and I can't help but think that Rei benefited from Annyeongz prior success and how to handle it/capitalise on that success/build on it. Rei definitely has her own talents and skills but I think it's too simplistic/wrong to conclude she would have same degree of virality/trendsetting if she debuted 3 years earlier.

Maybe I'm wrong tho, but that's also why I don't really like what ifs in real life(nobody can really prove what would actually have happened in real life; unless you are omniscient and could see multiple universes where the what if happened-I also happen to NOT subscribe to the Schrodinger box theory in real life bur only do so as a thought experiment/idea)

with all due respect to Rei - no

but it doesn't mean she can't carve out her own niche or place within IVE or kpop but she's going to have a tough time of it

also when we say debut at the same time do we mean when IVE debuted in 2021 or when WY and YJ debuted in 2018