A2O LITE

Removed: A2O LITE is a girl group of nine: Young, Oa, Ayune, Aijing, Himeki, Rada, Xili, Vora and Merci.[2][5] Three are from South Korea, three from China, one from Japan and one from Thailand, and Oa holds both US and Japanese citizenship.[2] When the company introduced them in October 2026 they were between 13 and 17 years old.[4] The group belongs to A2O Entertainment, which Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment, set up in 2024. Lee is credited as the project's key producer, and Yoo Young-jin, a former SM producer known for songs for aespa and NCT, was in charge of the music and the performances.[1][3]

Removed: ## Background

Removed: Lee founded SM in 1995. In 2023, after a dispute over how the company was run, he sold his 14.8 percent stake to HYBE and agreed not to produce music in Korea for three years.[3] During those years he based A2O Entertainment in Singapore and launched A2O MAY, a girl group made up mainly of Chinese members, in 2024.[3] On 8 October 2026 A2O announced its first project for the Korean market: a boy group, A2O SOUL, and a girl group, A2O LITE, debuting together rather than one after the other. The same evening it opened social media channels for both and posted individual trailers for A2O LITE's members.[1]

Removed: ## Debut

Removed: The two groups first performed at a joint showcase, 'Welcome to Soulite From A2O Soul A2O Lite', at KINTEX in Goyang on 12 October 2026, streamed on M2 and Mnet Plus. The singers performed but took no questions from the press.[1][2] The music video for 'NEON' went up at 9:30 pm Korean time that night,[5] and the single reached streaming services at 6 pm on 13 October, alongside A2O SOUL's ['SUPERSTAR'](/trends/superstar-a2o-soul).[1][3]

Removed: Both groups' videos used 4D Gaussian splatting, a technique developed with Samsung Electronics that merges footage from many cameras into one three-dimensional space, so the camera's path can be chosen after filming.[2][3] Lee tied it to the multi-angle camera system he had built at SM for Girls' Generation, SHINee and BoA about 16 years earlier.[3]

Removed: ## The Soulite story

Removed: A2O places both groups in one fictional universe, ACE (A2O Cosmic Epic). It begins on Soulite, a planet whose people can have anything they want. A2O SOUL travel to Earth to look for 'soul', which the company links to happiness, love and passion, while each member of A2O LITE carries a colour formed by her own memories and feelings, and the nine colours mix into new ones.[2] At the launch the company also said members of the two groups could appear in sub-units with changing line-ups.[2]

Removed: ## 'NEON'

Removed: A2O calls the song's style Zalpha pop, after the Zalpha generation: Generation Z and Generation Alpha taken together.[2][4] The lyrics, music and arrangement are credited to Dem Jointz and Yoo Young-jin, and the track runs 3:28.[7] Its hook, 'neon and beyond', opens the song and keeps returning through it. In the 30-second preview Apple Music plays, mymy measured just over half of the song's energy below 60 hertz, the sub-bass range.[8]

Removed: On Melon's hourly TOP100, 'NEON' entered at No. 77 at 10 pm on release night, stood 10th at 9 am the next morning and held No. 2 through the evening. At 11 pm on 14 October, 29 hours after release, it took No. 1 from [SOYEON's 'I'm gonna TOESA'](/trends/im-gonna-toesa-soyeon).[6] No new group's debut song had reached the top that fast since Melon rebuilt the chart in August 2021; the previous mark was three days, set by ALLDAY PROJECT's 'FAMOUS' in June 2025.[6]

Removed: ## Early response

Removed: About 53 hours after it was posted, the official 'NEON' video had 5.57 million views on YouTube, roughly four times the count of A2O SOUL's 'SUPERSTAR' video, which went up in the same minute.[8] Of the 120 comments YouTube ranked highest beneath it, mymy counted 41 that named Lee Soo-man, SM or Yoo Young-jin, and six that named any of the nine members.[8]

Added: A2O LITE is the first girl group A2O Entertainment launched for the Korean market, debuting on the same day as its boy group A2O SOUL.[1] The nine members come from South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand and the United States.[2] Lee Soo-man is credited as the project's key producer, and Yoo Young-jin, a former SM producer, was in charge of its music and performances.[1][3] Its debut single 'NEON' reached No. 1 on Melon's TOP100 chart 29 hours after release, the fastest climb to the top by a new group's debut song since Melon rebuilt the chart in August 2021.[6]

Added: ## Members

Added: The members perform under stage names. A2O gave each one's home country and age when it introduced the line-up on 11 October 2026; the ages below are the ones it gave then.[2][4]

Added: - Young: South Korea, 17

Added: - Oa: United States and Japan (dual citizenship), 13

Added: - Ayune: South Korea, 13

Added: - Aijing: China, 13

Added: - Himeki: Japan, 16

Added: - Rada: Thailand, 15

Added: - Xili: China, 15

Added: - Vora: South Korea, 16

Added: - Merci: China, 15

Added: ## History

Added: Lee Soo-man founded SM Entertainment in 1995. In 2023, after a dispute over how the company was run, he sold his 14.8 percent stake to HYBE and agreed not to produce music in Korea for three years. In that time he set up A2O Entertainment, based in Singapore, and launched A2O MAY, a girl group made up mainly of Chinese members, in 2024.[3]

Added: On 8 October 2026 A2O announced its first project for the Korean market: a boy group, A2O SOUL, and a girl group, A2O LITE, launched together rather than one after the other. The same evening it opened social media channels for both and posted individual trailers for A2O LITE's members.[1]

Added: Both groups first performed on 12 October 2026 at a joint showcase, 'Welcome to Soulite From A2O Soul A2O Lite', held at KINTEX in Goyang and streamed on M2 and Mnet Plus. The members performed but took no questions from the press.[1][2] The 'NEON' music video was released at 9:30 pm Korean time that night,[5] and the single followed on streaming services at 6 pm on 13 October.[1][3]

Added: 'NEON' entered Melon's TOP100 at No. 77 on release night and reached No. 1 at 11 pm on 14 October. The previous fastest debut song by a new group since the August 2021 rebuild, ALLDAY PROJECT's 'FAMOUS', had taken three days in June 2025.[6]

Added: ## Concept

Added: A2O places A2O LITE and A2O SOUL in one shared fictional universe, ACE (A2O Cosmic Epic). It begins on Soulite, a planet whose people can have anything they want. A2O SOUL travel to Earth in search of 'soul', and each member of A2O LITE carries a colour formed by her own memories and feelings; the colours blend into new ones.[2] A2O said members of the two groups could also work in sub-units with changing line-ups.[2]

Added: The company calls the group's music Zalpha pop, after the Zalpha generation: Generation Z and Generation Alpha taken together.[2][4] Both groups' first music videos were filmed with 4D Gaussian splatting, a technique developed with Samsung Electronics that merges footage from many cameras into one three-dimensional space so that camera moves can be chosen after filming.[2][3]

Added: ## Discography

Added: - 'NEON' (digital single, 13 October 2026). Lyrics, music and arrangement: Dem Jointz and Yoo Young-jin. Length 3:28.[7] Peak: No. 1 on the Melon TOP100.[6]

Added: ## Videography

Added: - 'NEON' (12 October 2026), released a day before the single.[5]

Added: ## Related groups

Added: - A2O SOUL: a 15-member boy group from A2O Entertainment that debuted at the same showcase, with the single ['SUPERSTAR'](/trends/superstar-a2o-soul).[2]

Added: - A2O MAY: an A2O Entertainment girl group, made up mainly of Chinese members, launched in 2024.[3]