Aespa’s Karina Continues To Get Comparisons To Bang Si Hyuk’s “Creepy” New “Girl Group” Member
![](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-thumb_mega/2024/07/k3.jpg)
On July 3, aespa made their highly anticipated Japanese debut with the song “Hot Mess”.
The girl group kept to their signature sci-fi, techno concept for the debut, with some of their outfits giving Gundam-like aesthetics complete with robot-esque accessories that made the members look even more anime than usual.
aespa wore looks from aqualixunsu custom X Gundam and Lee Woomin aespa second stylist, styling aespa Japanese debut single Hot Mess#aespa#aespaHotMess pic.twitter.com/1sKWT5dpsv
— Maxx (@sweetener2323) July 3, 2024
this is probably the gundams they used for inspo
hi-v (karina)
MBF-02+EW454F (winter)
MBF-P03secondL (ningning)
MBF-02VV (giselle) https://t.co/l8bZ2b1OE2 pic.twitter.com/ScdQsqOn4u— ً (@synkjjk) July 2, 2024
For Karina‘s costume, she was given horn- or ear-like head pieces along with mechanical wings, keeping to a white and purple color scheme.
![p1](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-lg/2024/07/p1-1.jpg)
![k2](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-lg/2024/07/k2.jpg)
While she looked great, some people couldn’t help but notice that the outfit made her look even more like the member of a new “girl group” recently revealed by Bang Si Hyuk: Canary of virtual girl group SYNDI8. The headpiece, in particular, is eerily similar.
![p2](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-lg/2024/07/p2-1.jpg)
Bang Si Hyuk and other HYBE Labels staff already came under fire for allegedly basing the member off of Karina. One reason is their similarity in names: Karina (카리나) and Canary (카나리), which have the same syllables, just in different orders. Canary’s MBTI and height are also the same as the aespa member’s.
![k3](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-lg/2024/07/k3-1.jpg)
![SYNDI8_Canary_profile_card](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-lg/2024/07/SYNDI8_Canary_profile_card.jpg)
The similarities have led to netizens criticizing Bang Si Hyuk for his alleged “disgusting” obsession with Karina. As a whole group, SYNDI8 has also come under fire for various reasons, such as emphasizing the members’ crotches and “disguising” one of the members as a woman when he’s actually a man.
![p4](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-lg/2024/07/p4-1.jpg)
Do you think these similarities are just that — similarities — or is there something more unsettling involved?