So SM Entertainment released a couple “video yearbooks” to promote NCT.

(Of course Taeyong is the thumbnail! That guy is so symmetrical his visuals could hurt someone.)

It’s kind of a fun way to introduce the crew, especially since it’s everybody all together, and help people learn names and personalities.

I’ve been trying to identify each of their personas, so this is a great opportunity to see how each member is presented.

Here’s a numbered list because I’m not sure how many of them there are these days:

  1. Taeyong the Most Beautiful Rapper in the World
  2. Jaehuyn the All-American Korean Poetic Beauty
  3. Jungwoo (new)
  4. Winwin the Romantic Angel Prince
  5. Ten the Bond Villain (Dramatic)
  6. Jisung the Bboy (Athletic)
  7. Jaemin (not really new, but might as well be)
  8. Yuta the Mischievous
  9. Haechan the meek lamb schoolboy not the cheeky maknae no sir not a foot out of line
  10. Chenle the Savant (Ingenious?)
  11. Taeil the Inexplicable (Smart but weird, not stable like Professor Doyoung)
  12. Kun (new)
  13. Johnny the Not Sure Why He’s There But He Sure Is Cool
  14. Lucas (new)
  15. Doyoung the Professor (seriously he is prefect for this role it suits him so well)
  16. Renjun, He of the Long Neck. I think they’re trying to push a smart, elegant, classical look with him. He’s such a tranquil person.
  17. Jeno the Lady Killer
  18. Mark who is the best don’t lie to yourself, the most creativest and hardest working

Eighteen, okay! That’s a lot. One more than…Seventeen…

This list is bookended by the two anchors-slash-rappers, Taeyong and Mark. Second and second-to-last is the visual from that leader’s subunit, Jaehyun from 127 and Jeno from Dream. The others kind of weave in and out together, interspersing the newly debuted trainees (Jungwoo, Kun, Lucas) and the guys who had debuted but who subsequently got injured (Jaemin, Ten).

Interesting how Ten still managed to impress a personality upon all of us even when he wasn’t promoting, but Jaemin wasn’t. Jaemin reminds me of people like Lea Michelle who are born and bred in the ~musical theater~ system and who have no personality of their own. To be fair, I think Jaemin had a huge issue with his back and Ten did release a SM Station song fairly recently. But still.

Not sure where they’re going with Haechan’s persona. He was such a troublemaker when he first debuted–the cheeky one–but now they’re trying to brand him as a scholar. My money is still on him for having the most public meltdown, if it comes to it.

SM has been really pushing Mark lately. I don’t mind–he is my bias, after all–but I hope it doesn’t backfire. I want Mark to have a long, successful career.