LE SSERAFIM’s Sakura Gets Real About The Concerns She Had Over Debuting For A Third Time At Her Age

LE SSERAFIM only recently dropped the trailer for their upcoming documentary, The World Is My Oyster, but it already has fans feeling emotional over the struggles the members faced in order to make their debut, especially Sakura as an “older” idol.

Sakura | @39saku_chan/Instagram

LE SSERAFIM are confirmed to be making their first comeback in October. And it couldn’t look more promising! Last month, American singer Salem Ilese spilled that she was working on an exciting collaboration with the members, proving that LE SSERAFIM’s new album will definitely be worthwhile.

Salem Ilese | @salemilese/Instagram

But while the comeback itself is already being highly anticipated, FEARNOT will now also have the documentary about the group’s creation to look forward to, especially since promises a deep look at how the members came together and what struggles they faced while preparing for their debut.

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One of these struggles was what Sakura had to go through as an idol who had already debuted twice before joining LE SSERAFIM. She first debuted at the age of 12 in the Japanese girl group HKT48. She later achieved K-Pop fame after debuting with IZ*ONE (alongside Chaewon).

IZ*ONE

While Sakura’s experience has been a positive thing for LE SSERAFIM’s youngest member, it has also been a cause of concern for Sakura herself. In the trailer for The World Is My Oyster, Sakura explains that she had to deal with a lot of negativity surrounding her age.

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By general standards, Sakura is very young, of course. But there is increasing worry about the growing number of K-Pop idols who debut as minors, and not just because it poses a risk for those underaged idols. Older idols (who are not actually “old”) such as NCT‘s Johnny have admitted that debuting minors puts considerable pressure on them as well.

Given this apparent shift towards debuting ever-younger idols, it’s no surprise that Sakura was worried about making a third debut at the age of 24. Yet, fans are now coming together to strongly support her. They have not only expressed pride in Sakura’s accomplishments…

we’re so proud of you miyawaki sakura! pic.twitter.com/SwG37wVdXI

— sakura thinker (@sakurathinkr) September 15, 2022

sakura knew that there could possible controversies with her debuting for the third time and yet she didnt want to give up on her dreams ???? i’m so proud of her pic.twitter.com/ZTV7MLEVH2

— zee a fearnot (@sserakkura) September 15, 2022

…but they have emphasized that her age is far from being an issue.

Infact, many K-Pop fans believe that it is time that the K-Pop industry move beyond the practice of debuting minors and normalize the debut of full-grown adults like Sakura or SM Rookies‘ Shohei, a Japanese trainee at SM Entertainment who will be making his debut at the age of 26.

In any case, Sakura has nothing to prove as her talent, hard work, and success speak for themselves.

Read further about the controversy surrounding the debut of “older” idols right here.

The Controversial Aspect Of The K-Pop Industry That Fans Hope SM Rookies’ Shohei Will Change

And check out the trailer for LE SSERAFIM’s documentary on the link below!