When an idol debuts in the K-pop industry, they can be easily viewed as these good-looking, talented, and perfect human beings capable of doing anything when the camera starts rolling.

Photo courtesy: @aespa_official/Instagram
But when the lenses are covered and the scripts have run out, are they still the perfect human beings we, the fans, originally thought they would be?

This was what aespa's concert movie tried to subtly convey to the girl group's fans which are also called MYs.

With a running time of 2 hours and 5 minutes, the film tries to humanize the quartet, seemingly "showcasing" their own struggles both as idols and as young adults traversing the entertainment industry.

Just like in their world tour, the movie gave the members their own solo screen time, displaying them as typical normal people seemingly ranting about their hardships in their jobs.

One specific struggle that struck differently was leader Karina's (Yu Jimin) problem with stage fright which she said even got to a point where her hands continuously shook while onstage.

This was somehow an unlikely problem you would hear from someone who literally performs in front of thousands of people for a living, since one would assume that they're used to being in the spotlight.

Meanwhile, members Winter (Kim Minjeong) and Giselle (Aeri Uchinaga) made sure to highlight the fact that who they portray in front of the camera is just a created persona and that their real selves are much simpler than how they are perceived.

Winter compared her onstage persona with her real self, describing the idol Winter as someone who always seems cold and aloof, while Kim Minjeong is someone who loves being playful.

According to Giselle, her persona is someone perceived by their fans as the "hot girl" type who would "reject everyone because she's too good for you" but in reality, Uchinaga Aeri is a "pure and innocent" friend to anyone she meets.

Ningning (Ning Yizhuo), on the other hand, was not that different from her onstage character. However, she focused on how the members became each other's second family during their pre-debut days and how they would unconditionally take care of each other even after their success in the idol industry.

"Even though the members came from different countries and backgrounds, we became a family," Ningning said.

While the movie showed numerous stage performances from their previous world tour, it managed to shed some light on their personal lives, portraying them like normal people who struggle with daily tasks or creating masks for others to see. 

While some might say that the movie was just a mash-up of their stage performances, it definitely connected with their intended audience as their fans flocked to cinemas with their lightsticks on hand.

Winter also managed to explain why their fans are called MYs, saying they "wanted to rouse the comfortable feeling of 'my friend.'"

Since 2020, the girls have been performing onstage as aespa, releasing singles, EPs, albums and appearing as guests in variety shows.

The Philippines has yet to experience a solo concert from aespa but one thing's for sure: they don't have a shortage of fans in the country.