Virtual girl group MAVE: makes waves

Virtual girl group MAVE: / Courtesy of Metaverse Entertainment

MAVE:'s 'Pandora' MV draws over 13 million views

By Dong Sun-hwa

Rookie virtual girl group MAVE: is generating buzz, raising expectations that virtual humans can carve out their own niche in the competitive K-pop scene.

Created by Kakao Entertainment and Metaverse Entertainment, MAVE: is made up of four members ― SIU:, ZENA:, MARTY: and TYRA:. Metaverse Entertainment is a subsidiary of game developer Netmarble.

MAVE: ― a short form of “Make New Wave” ― unleashed its first album, “Pandora's Box” on Jan. 25. As of Tuesday afternoon, the music video of its lead single, “Pandora,” has attracted more than 13 million views on YouTube. Another video featuring the group's performance on MBC's “Show! Music Core” also garnered more than a million views a few days after its release, becoming the program's most-viewed clip in January.

According to Kakao, it plans to launch a digital comic titled, “MAVE: Another World” on Feb. 20, which centers on the group and its fictional universe. In their universe, MAVE: members are girls from the future, who accidentally land on the earth as they search for “emotional freedom.” The upcoming webtoon will trace their participation in an audition to become idol trainees.

“MAVE: has been catching the eyes of people worldwide for making a fresh attempt, and we hope our new webtoon can become another hit,” Kakao said in a statement.

A plethora of virtual singers such as Rosy and Yuna have sprung up in the K-pop world over the past few years. But they were not able to rise to instant stardom like MAVE:. The former two were created by content creation group Sidus Studio X and entertainment company Humap Contents, respectively.

As to the reasons behind the quartet's popularity, industry watchers cite the hyper-realistic yet attractive appearances of all its members, attention-grabbing performances equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and members' active interaction with their fans.

Metaverse Entertainment brought life to the members using its own software that enabled them to make 800 different facial expressions in real time, while having big-name K-pop creators work on their album. Maxx Song and Kyler Niko, the composers behind the hit songs of K-pop acts like Monsta X and SEVENTEEN, took part in the creative process of its lead single, and FreeMind, the dance crew that previously worked with IVE and IZ*ONE, crafted its choreography. Just like other K-pop stars, MAVE: members also communicate with their followers on various channels, including the fan community, Discord.

“What makes us stand out from other virtual idol groups is that we will meet our fans on diverse platforms ranging from game to webtoon,” SIU: said in a recent email Q&A.

MARTY: added, “Maybe we can become the first group in the world to perform for more than 100 years.”