Is Apink's Revolution a Really Failure?

On September 26, Apink made a comeback with its new album "Pink Revolution." Have you listened to the title track "Only one"? I like the song, personally. However, the result is below expectations. The song fell spots to round out the top 10 of Melon chart only a week after it was released. The result is quite shocking because Apink has been always considered as one of the most popular kpop girl groups. Many people in the kpop world are now saying that Apink's comeback is a big failure.

As the Apink members said at their comeback showcase, they dreamed of a revolution when they released the album. They wanted to show more mature aspects of themselves, and that's why they didn't choose a common hook song as their title track. Well, I'm convinced by what they said, and it's notable that the 6th-year girl group took a new challenge. That's why I can't say their comeback is just a failure.

However, I can't say Apink's revolution is a big success either. First, I doubt if their "revolution" was a real revolution because the degree of their musical change was not that big. They just showed a predictable change as a pure and innocent girl group. Second, I cannot help but feel that their change is too late. I've already talked about this issue several times, but Apink has stuck to their pure conception since debut and hasn't taken any risk of change until they released "Pink Revolution." It seems like Apink and its agency just began to be aware of a crisis situation that the number of girl groups who are younger and more lovely than Apink is rapidly increasing.

So, Apink is now standing at the parting of the ways of its career. There's no right answer, but one thing is certain that Apink needs to show real revolution next time. Apink is no more a young and fresh rookie girl group. A hopeful thing about Apink's future is that the members are still very pretty and attractive, while they didn't show everything that they have yet.