User:ReVeluv02/sandbox/Black Mamba (SM Culture Universe episode)

"Black Mamba"
SM Culture Universe episode
Episode no.	Episode 1
Directed by	Tae-heung Son Min Heo
Story by	Hyun-kyung Kim Yea-jee Lee Rae-young Heo
Featured music	Yoo Young-jin Yoo Han-jin
Original release date	May 15, 2021 (2021-05-15)

"Black Mamba" is the first episode of the South Korean

Plot

After the opening sequence of Aespa's logo, the episode opens with the "classic" origin story question: "Where did we come from"? The scene transitions to a mysterious animated figure watching various P.O.S appear, allowing æ-æspa to REKALL. Photos of the group with their digital counterparts emerge as the video focuses on the members, spending time with their respective avatars. The first member shown is Giselle, who takes a course on the “æ” alongside her avatar, both of which appear in the lesson content as models in a fashion show. Next is Winter, who bonds with her avatar by playing an action-filled virtual reality shooting game. Ningning, with both æ-Ningning and unknown male avatars, hack into the presentation of a business meeting to showcase their digital drawing of a butterfly. Last and certainly not least, is Karina. She meets with her avatar, swimming to one of the P.O.S located underwater. This is when the digital sphere glitches; the professor’s hologram disappears as does æ-æspa. When Karina resurfaces, æ-Karina returns with a dark aura around her, and Karina’s eyes become black.

Like any Marvel movie, the credits roll and a preview scene appears. The sequence is entirely animated in a comic book style. æ-æspa regroup in the FLAT with the mysterious avatar from the beginning of the film. She calls herself Nævis, “the one who opens doors.” æ-æspa then decides to depart on a journey to reunite with their human forms. Nævis opens a P.O.S into the KWANGYA. The episode ends when Black Mamba charges towards them and the words “Next Level” pop up on the screen.

Production

For SMCU

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Black Mamba"	Son Tae-heung & Heo Min	Kim Hyun-kyung, Lee Yea-jee, & Heo Rae-young	May 15, 2021 (2021-05-15)
Photos of the group with their digital counterparts emerge as the video focuses on the members, spending time with their respective avatars. The first member shown is Giselle, who takes a course on the “æ” alongside her avatar, both of which appear in the lesson content as models in a fashion show. Next is Winter, who bonds with her avatar by playing an action-filled virtual reality shooting game. Ningning, with both æ-Ningning and unknown male avatars, hack into the presentation of a business meeting to showcase their digital drawing of a butterfly. Last and certainly not least, is Karina. She meets with her avatar, swimming to one of the P.O.S located underwater. This is when the digital sphere glitches; the professor’s hologram disappears as does æ-æspa.
2	"Next Level"	Son Tae-heung & 37th Degree	Kim Hyun-kyung, Heo Rae-young, & Lee Yea-jee	June 21, 2022 (2022-06-21)
Aespa went to KWANGYA with the help of nævis to solve the SYNK OUT phenomenon in which the connection with the avatar æ was cut off, and the story of the world was augmented by depicting the story of experiencing Black Mamba's Hallucination Quest.

Release

On May 15, 2021, Aespa released a video showing the story of their worldview on the group's official YouTube channel. The worldview story video marks the beginning of SM Culture Universe (SMCU) and metaverse in which SM Entertainment presents as a "key value and vision" for the future entertainment world. Additionally, it shows the intention to expand the area of ​​entertainment as people know it as a "new area of ​​content" that converges culture and new technology.