Tag: AHOF

I am planning a week in the very near future that will focus solely on the rookies who made their debut this year. AHOF is potentially one of the groups I could cover during this week, but since I have already reviewed their debut single, Rendezvous, I thought I would focus on the groups that I have yet to review on the blog. This does mean I can push on and review Pinocchio, the title track from the group’s second mini-album, The Passage, which dropped last week.

Similar to their debut track, Pinocchio continues AHOF’s venture into the pop-rock soundscape. What I do like about Pinocchio is that it leans more towards the rock side of the genre. I also like that it doesn’t hold back its power and impact, giving us a taste each time the chorus comes into play. I quite like the chorus soars, creating an epic centrepiece for the song, and it does so refreshingly each time the chorus comes into play in Pinocchio. I find this offering to be very generous. In addition to the chorus, I am really digging how Pinocchio introduces rapping into the song during the first verse, giving the song a slight punch. And the vocals throughout Pinocchio are impressive, particularly in the chorus. However, while it sounds like Pinocchio is the perfect song, two minor aspects bug me about the song. The first is the pre-chorus. Usually, songs do something interesting with the pre-choruses, but Pinocchio actually does it the opposite. It just didn’t hit the same as the chorus and verses. And secondly, the transition between the bridge and the final chorus was somewhat abrupt, which caught my attention. However, as I mentioned, they are minor, so I have been able to overlook them and thoroughly enjoy Pinocchio.

Based on the SOOMPI article, Pinocchio reflects the members’ own growth by drawing parallels to Pinocchio’s journey to becoming human. The music video depicts the members coming to terms with their feelings of loneliness and isolation, finding solace in each other as they move forward with their careers. At the midway point, the members are pushed into chaos with abrupt and unexpected events in their lives (i.e., the stage explosion) and lose one another amid the chaos. However, the video shows the members finding each other again and coming together to tackle the unexpected and unknown future events (i.e., the snowstorm). I really like the autumnal colours in the video, which match the season Korea is now in.

The performance was great. I liked the balance between softer (during the verses) and more intense movements (during the chorus). This gave it an artistic vibe, which works well with the song. The dance also has references to Pinocchio (i.e., his long nose and such), which I thought was a neat tie-in with the song’s title and lyrics.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.8/10

Once again, there have been several debuts that I have not yet gotten around to reviewing. I am hoping that I will be able to cover more of them in the coming weeks, but to start things off is a review for the AHOF’s debut single. AHOF, which stands for All-time Hall Of Famer, is a nine-member male group formed through the survival show Universe Legend, consisting of Steven (former member of Luminous), Jeongwoo, Woongki (former member of TO1), Shuaibo, Han, JL (former member of Filipino group Pluus), Juwon, Chih En, and Daisuke. They made their debut on 1 July 2025 with the mini-album, Who We Are, and the single Rendezvous.

To be honest, I didn’t pay too much attention to AHOF when they first debuted. I don’t think it was for a particular reason, but rather I had a bit going on work-wise when Rendezvous dropped. It wasn’t until their song kept on appearing on shuffle, and more specifically the punchiness of the “Hold me back, Hold me back, Lost in a dream and falling fast” line in the bridge, that I started to pay more attention to Rendezvous. In addition to being quite punchy, there is also a slight edginess of that particular line, contrasting with the rest of the track’s pop-rock and dreamy atmosphere (which was a powerful and characteristic aspect of Rendezvous), that really put the song on the map for me. Pleasant melodies within Rendezvous, combined with the instrumental, calls back to 2nd generation KPOP, which was the generation I started to listen to KPOP (and have been here ever since!). There was some nice vocals and rapping throughout the track, though I wished there was something to make them a little more pronounced. Altogether, Rendezvous comes together quite well to produce a song that both puts the group and nostalgia out there. I definitely am looking forward to what comes next for AHOF.

Rendezvous is a song that reflects on what it feels like to start from nothing (or from struggle) to reach one’s dream. In the music video, we see the members experience struggles (isolation, feeling lost or tired, stuck in one place etc.) before coming meeting another member feeling a similar struggle and rejoining the rest of the group. The colour palette chosen during the moments of struggle was rather muted and dark. But once the members became united, there was bright tones in the video’s colour. I also liked how their own logo was used to show them being connected and give them a sense of belonging. And as a newly debut group, this also speaks to their identity as a new group.

I quite like how the stage performance for this comeback develops. For the first portion of the routine, the choreography was more aligned with the pleasant melodies of the song. But it changes gears once we get to the bridge, increasing in intensity and energy. It feels very similar to story that they were portraying in their music video.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.7/10