Introducing "LOONA 1/3" from LOONA

A "Sub-Unit" is essentially a gathering of a smaller number of performers from the full line-up of the original larger group, and will have separate music releases, and (usually) different concepts and styles from their original unit - not in direct competition from their main unit - which on one hand one could argue be "cannibalising" said group (LOL), or quote simply provide continued awareness and discography in-between the main group's comebacks, IMHO.

The term itself has its roots in the military: "...a unit that is part of a larger unit : a subdivision of a unit In the U.S. Army's case … the smallest subunit is the squad (nine to twelve individuals under a sergeant)." (merriam-webster.com)



And while this is not "unique" in the realm of KPOP, in this specific instance for LOONA - whom themselves were introduced to the public individually first, before forming the final 12-member line-up, BlockBerry Creative would have had introduced a total of three sub-units (comprising all 12 girls split into three units, except somewhat for Yeojin :p), starting with "LOONA 1/3".

The concept of LOONA 1/3 was unique with that regard too, and not a specific straight-up performance group. There had been a concept and story around their existence, as would the other two LOONA sub-units mentioned.

After the introductions of HeeJin, HyunJin, HaSeul, and YeoJin, the sub-unit "LOONA 1/3" was teased, and would include HeeJin, HyunJin, HaSeul and a fourth member: Either YeoJin or the as-yet-revealed 5th member - who turned out to be ViVi - was announced to be apart of the first sub-unit. This would be the only unique situation where a member was announced to be apart of a sub-unit in LOONA before she officially debuted individually.

A "New Project" was announced with a teaser on February 5th, 2017, with a very specific rock-infused background track, interesting deviating expectations from all the girl's debut singles thus far...



The following visual Teaser for "이달의 소녀 1/3" (LOONA 1/3) "???" Was uploaded February 11th, 2017, now with a much lighter and cheerful tone (which reminded me tons of a McDonald's commercial jingle lol).



The concept of "Valentine Girl" was previewed on 13th February, 2017, which revealed "ViVi". The backing track used is "VALENTINE GIRL" (Written and Arranged by MonoTree, who would be responsible for tons of notable and memorable discography from LOONA, IMHO).



"LOONA 1/3" essentially would be a literal "1/3" of the 12 girls in LOONA, 2with YeoJin announced later to represent the "/".

After the reveal of Vivi, before the sub-unit album's debut, BBC had continued to showcase the girls via TCM and Teasers, and one of their hallmarks of promotions: Reality-TV-styled behind-the-scenes ala "LOONA TV", specifically of the group filming IVs and album booklets and promotions in Hong Kong and New Zealand.

Instead of breaking them up to post here, I will post them chronologically as seen in their Playlist on YouTube.











The promotions led to the above featured PREVIEW for LOONA 1/3's Mini Album "Love&Live". The tracks would be (Source):

1) “Into the New Heart” (Guitar by Jungmo of TRAX) – 1:07
2) “지금, 좋아해 (Love & Live)” – 3:26
3) “You and Me Together” – 3:07
4) “Fairy Tale” – 3:07
5) “3월을 기다려 (Valentine Girl)” – 3:10



The first single "지금, 좋아해(Love&Live)" and MV was uploaded on March 13th, 2017, where we witness the performance and story of LOONA 1/3. All the lore and stories of this quartet led to this musical and visual manifestation, that was somewhat familiar to their own individual debuts, but exist totally beside. We remember their looks, their youthful exuberance and the promotions saw all four girls dressed similarly to each other - first as fellow students in the MVs, and subsequently in denim dresses.



What I thoroughly enjoyed from the MV above, was also seeing the "extra behind-the-scenes" footage at the end, and of seeing credits showed for the production of the MV. Having worked for the (local) media industry for nearly a decade (in my "previous life"), I have utmost appreciation for crediting the production crew (and yes, I've always sat thru the enhtire credit rolls at the end of feature films), and to me means a whole lot more than just "flashing of names", IMHO. Moving on...!

We were introduced to the "group uniform" visuality in musical groups, and at the same time the introduction of ViVi as an "android" certainly threw a delightful banner into the gears which everyone had been used to. I had always felt this was a very "anime" thing to do though, and enjoyed this story-twist.





The above featured MV for "You and Me Together" (uploaded March 20, 2017) was designated as "Special MV", and showcased behind-the-scenes of making the "지금, 좋아해(Love&Live)", featuring clever use of footage for a 1:45minuter track!

According to loonatheworld.fandom.com, "You and Me Together" was produced by Artronic Waves for the second time since HeeJin and HyunJin's "I'll Be There".

Featured below is the video for "(LOONA 1/3) 1st Fan Event" (uploaded March 27,2017), and I really like to give a much overdue shoutout to BBC for chronicling these events and milestones, and categorising them in their respective playlists. It makes it so much easier and convenient for fans - both new and old - be able to keep track of our girls and their discography.



The below featured "Choreography Version" of "지금, 좋아해(Love&Live)" was uploaded on April 9th, 2017, reminding folks of the girls' MV release, and as well showcased the efforts - both of the girls and the crew - and their efforts into filming the MV (Steadicam-Op FTW), and subsequently edited into the final MV we witnessed. Also shwocased was what was to be iconic LOONA-dance steps/flourishes/styles - even with 4 girls, their line-work and reveals would lead to an exceedingly impressive 12-member squad! Understandably I am reacting such having had seen and adored the full line-up of the girls thru their own songs and Dance Covers!



The following Teaser for 이달의 소녀 1/3 (LOONA 1/3) “Love&Evil" (Uploaded April 23,2017) suddenly took folks for a decidedly more dramatic turn - from the daylight cutesy bob, to a nighttime of melodramatic longing, and showcased the transference of "LOVE&LIVE" to "LOVE&EVIL".



On April 27, 2017, LOOΠΔ 1/3 had a comeback with a repacked version of their first album, titled "Love & Evil". The "LIVE" in "LOVE&LIVE" was inverted/reversed to spell "EVIL". This aspect of storytelling had begun to unravel the "conceptual" aspect of LOONA, at least in the more overt MV-description, IMHO.

The first single released was "알 수 없는 비밀(Sonatine)", which showcased a different sound and look to our four girls, in a tone that resonated with HaSeul's "Let Me In". The MV was filmed in Hong Kong and Prague, while the album jacket and visuals had the girls dressed in frilly dresses, compared to their earlier "uniform"-esque denim ensembles.



Along with the above video uploaded on their YouTube channel, the video captions/description box was for the first time flooded with text, reproduced below in its entirety...!

"LOOΠΔ 1/3 [Love & Evil]

LOOΠΔ is a K-pop group building its own view of the world.

Six members of LOOΠΔ, HeeJin, HyunJin, HaSeul, YeoJin, ViVi, and JinSoul, have been introduced, and the unit of LOOΠΔ 1/3, composed of HeeJin, HyunJin, HaSeul, and ViVi has been announced to the public so far.

LOOΠΔ 1/3 has released [Love&Live]. Filled with sense of youthful love, ‘Love&Live’ was an album to express their palpitating emotions in the boundaries of contemporary K-pop girl group music of 2017. A month later, LOOΠΔ 1/3 releases [Love&Evil], a inverted version of the album [Love&Live]. As suggested by the word ‘Evil’, which is reversely-spelled word from ‘Live’, [Love&Evil], which was planned beforehand during production, is filled with pain and worries in the process of love, in the opposite characteristics of the prior record.

“Is love something sweet? Or is it something cruel?”

It might be a question too difficult for young girls to answer yet. The title track ‘Sonatine (알 수 없는 비밀)’ takes the encounters of love away towards the adolescence of the girls. While ‘Love&Live (지금, 좋아해)’ was a typical K-pop girl group track with lovely emotions, ‘Sonatine (알 수 없는 비밀)’ mesmerizes the audience with mystical melodies unexpected for a K-pop girl group.

The intro track ‘Love & Evil’ produced by SWEETCH materializes a girl who is lost alone in a dark forest. With the piano played in Accelerando, the girl runs away deeper into the forest.

Four girls then gather to sing a ‘Sonatine’ to cast an arcane spell of love.

The album continues with a newly released track, ‘Rain 51db (비의 목소리 51db)’ which is an homage to the first generation K-pop girl groups, S.E.S and Fin.K.L. It also shows their love towards themselves, trying to revitalize the sentiments of the golden era. Like ViVi’s previous attempt in ‘Everyday I Love You’, LOOΠΔ 1/3 time-travels back to the 90’s, with the question of “what if LOOΠΔ was created in the 90’s?”. They then raise their innocent and pure voices up as if ‘Rain 51db’ is the original soundtrack to an animation film with a storytelling, singing that they have “dreams that they do not wake up from.”

HeeJin meets HyunJin, who goes to the same school in the same grade. HaSeul is a warm friend who is like a mother to YeoJin. ViVi, an android who can’t speak Korean very well introduces JinSoul in Hong Kong. Each member’s character is pronounced vividly.

Is story of love that 1/3 girls tell ‘Love&Live’ or ‘Love&Evil’?

A new member will be announced in May to build up a new view of the world. The girls of May, June, and July will be of another unit.

The girls who are lost in the forest have gathered here. Can they save YeoJin?"




Now, for myself, I do not understand South Korean (except for oft-used phrases and exclamations in tv shows lol), and most times do not peruse the translated lyrics - simply because I am wholly unsure if they are the exact translations, or approximation to cater our understanding - but that said, it was when BBC had chosen to post English text in the video description/captions, that helped engage an English-speaker like myself, and quite literally showed me "this is meant for YOU to understand", for me to feel I "mattered". And I don't care if I am being "overly dramatic" about this LOL

By this time, I figured BBC had either recognized where the girls' fanbase had been or are apart of, or had decided to go towards a more "international" audience for LOONA. I would've loved to be able to interview the folks at BBC for this, and MORE!



As mentioned above, "Love & Evil" (Hangul: "러브 앤 이블") was the repackage of "Love & Live", LOONA 1/3’s debut mini-album, and was released six weeks after "Love & Live". The album contained three new tracks, with “Sonatine” serving as the title track (Info Source).

TRACKLIST:
1) “Love & Evil” – 1:03
2) “알 수 없는 비밀 (Sonatine)” – 3:17
3) “비의 목소리 51db (Rain 51db)” – 3:21
4) “지금, 좋아해 (Love & Live)” – 3:26
5) “You and Me Together” – 3:07
6) “Fairy Tale” – 3:07
7) “3월을 기다려 (Valentine Girl)” – 3:10
HIDDEN TRACKS:
8) “지금, 좋아해 (Love & Live)” Remix (Normal ver.)
9) “You and Me Together” Remix (Limited ver.)



The above-featured MV for "비의 목소리 51db(Rain 51db)" was released as a "treat" for when the "Sonatine" MV reached 300k views. Drenched in 90s' visual reference, with gloriously kitschy karaoke-styled "Laser Discs/LD"-formatting (Yes, I lived thru this period OMG lol), it had been somewhat unnerving (like watching "The Ring" Japanese horror film LOL) and quite frankly I had always been intriguedwith this MV and it's chosen aesthetics, and as the description above mentioned, it literally was a "homage to the first generation K-pop girl groups, S.E.S and Fin.K.L." and no doubt interesting enough for generations of fans who might not have lived thru the era, methinks?



It was with this MV that a nagging thought occured to me, compared to ODD EYE CIRCLE and YYXY ... that LOONA 1/3 represented the "past", of how folks perceived "girl groups", and remembered them to be, and thaty OEC and YYXY represented different aspects of the "timeline", besides the "parallel universe" theory folks have of the LOONAVERSE ... but I'll get to this eventually in a wannabe-LOONAVERSE-post lol

This was to have been the last song & MV release from "LOONA 1/3" (MV uploaded July 6,2017), before the next Girl Of The Month continued to be revealed. CLICK HERE to view my continued features...! The group itself continued to be technically "active" at LOONA Concerts and performances thru the years, before HaSeul went on a hiatus.

During their relatively short time as a Sub-Unit (based on video uploads: Feb 2017 to July 2017), LOONA 1/3 had released two mini albums (otherwise "repackaged"), and essentially three music videos ("four" if you counted "You And Me Together" :p), within a span of 5 months. Featured below are group snaps of their era in 2017, and as well the 3-parter "New Zealand"-story (teased above) with a longer-form than their usual 1-minuter "LOONA TV" episodes, showcasing behind-the-scenes of the girls not performing their songs, and where the viewers and fans get to see and know their colors. Wow, as of this blogpost, these are 4 years old...!





Here's the rest of LOONA 1/3's discography, featuring fanmade videos from the www.

"Into the New Heart" (Guitar by Jungmo of TRAX):

"Fairy Tale":

BONUS Rearranged Version of "Fairy Tale":

"3월을 기다려 (Valentine Girl)":

"지금, 좋아해 (Love & Live)” Remix (Normal ver.)" featuring Cheorry!


There is apparently a MV for "지금, 좋아해 (Love & Live)” Remix (Normal ver.)" featuring Cheorry (who was later revealed as the 8th Girl of the Month), with the below "leaked" MV filmed at LOONA's "Cinema Theory" live audience event (!), and not released "officially" on their channel...


"You and Me Together” Remix (Limited ver.)":




UPDATED: The following Concept Photos were revealed (From June 3-June 6, 2021) in anticipation of LOONA's 4th mini album [&] comeback, scheduled for 2021.6.28 pm6 (KST) Release.

LOONA1:3 AND Reveal 01 tunestalksg LOONA1:3 AND Reveal 02 tunestalksg LOONA1:3 AND Reveals 03 tunestalksg


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