u/starrystarrycat

It's always nice seeing the friendship of the World Scout trainees and I noticed how Rinka spends the most time hanging out with the girls. With Elena at a park​, with Rira at Osaka, with Hiori/Honoka M/Jayla at Okinawa, with Ayana at Hiroshima, with Honoka M again at a cafe, with Hiori again at a restaurant, and with Aoi at USJ recently. Rinka has an outgoing personality and it's fun how she goes everywhere to keep in touch with everyone.

Btw, belated Happy Birthday to Aoi! She hasn't met up with the other girls after the show, but I'm glad that she celebrated her birthday with Rinka and they had a good time together.

From the start in Dream Academy, Lexie introduced herself as a producer and she talked many times how she loves making music. That's why I've been hoping for Saint Satine/Prelude to get involved in their artistry, especially since Lexie is a producer and Emily is a choreographer. Lexie was indeed mentioned as a producer in the official articles when Prelude was first announced last year and she posted being at the studio with other producers before their group was made. Also, songwriting and producing were included in the category of skills that HxG looked for in the Japanese audition which is unique and rare for kpop survival shows.

When World Scout started, the trainee that caught my attention was Rinka because she mentioned in her profile that she specializes in songwriting/composing and she's studying multiple languages. She mentioned it again in her interview that she's very good at writing and composing songs, and how she will make use of that in the competition. The question was what is their "determination for the audition", the other trainees answered similarly about doing their best, but Rinka was the only trainee who answered it differently that's specific about songwriting. It looks like she auditioned as a songwriter, as if she believed that it was gonna have an integral part of joining the global group instead of the typical kpop group. In Round 1, they didn't show Rinka's singing or dancing, but they only showed her rapping and Son's comment about her was that she's the trainee with "a lot of musical talent", which was also different compared to their comments on the other trainees' performances that's usually just about singing/dancing/star quality. Another interesting fact is, in the initial Japanese casting call for Prelude, the age range was only 15-20 years old, but when the World Scout audition was announced, HxG increased it to 15-24 years old. Rinka was the only trainee who wasn't in the age range before that made it (she was 21 and turned 22 in November before she came to LA). It seems like HxG changed the age limit for Rinka who was also the closest to Lexie's age. Lexie is 2004 while Rinka is 2003 and other kpop companies hasn't been taking 2003-2004 trainees in the recent years since they're already considered old, but I think Rinka was an exemption because she has the songwriting skills. Although, HxG didn't show anything about songwriting and it didn't had a part in World Scout (When the Prelude members introduced their 2 songs that they said they worked on, people thought that they took part in the music production, but it turned out they didn't. Also, when Rinka was brought back in LA she talked again about songwriting, but it was an unreleased footage that wasn't included in the show.)

People thinks that Lexie left the group because HxG changed their concept. Adding an inexperienced minor to their group was obviously a factor that changed their dynamics, aside from the cultural gap and language barrier, there was a bigger disconnect with Lexie who was the oldest member. But the "presented vision" and "future plans" that Lexie mentioned in her letter could also mean "artistic vision" and "creative process". When Prelude was announced, Lexie joining in as the last member was unexpected since she left Dream Academy before and one of the reasons was because she wanted to be a producer. I've always thought that Lexie decided to return to HxG again because they likely made a condition that she can get involved in the music production of their group, but unfortunately, the plans for Saint Satine was changed and the direction they're going in for became different. Lexie was probably led to believed by HxG that she could become a producer, but they switched up on her and she lost her chance to do that in the group. I think this is one of the reasons why Lexie left but people don't really talk about it.

Overall, connecting all these pieces, it could have been better. There's so much missed opportunities and it just turned to waste. HxG is not smart at all and they don't care about artistry. What makes it even more sad is how Lexie joined HxG among the original trainees since 2021, but now she's gone again because they broke her trust. It looks like Saint Satine is turning more like idols who caters to younger​ kpop fans, but hopefully​ Lexie will find her right path where she can express her passion as a creative artist.​​

Since last year, I've been hoping for Saint Satine/Prelude to get involved in their artistry, especially since Lexie is a producer and Emily is a choreographer. This is not just a fan speculation, since Lexie was indeed mentioned as a "producer-songwriter" in the official articles when Prelude was first announced and she posted being at the studio with other producers since late 2024 to early 2025 before their group was made. Also, songwriting and producing were included in the category of skills that HxG looked for in the Japanese audition which is unique and rare for kpop survival shows.

When World Scout started, the trainee that caught my attention was Rinka because she mentioned in her profile that she specializes in songwriting/composing and she's studying multiple languages. She mentioned it again in her interview that she's very good at writing and composing songs, and how she will make use of that in the competition. The question was what is their "determination for the audition", the other girls answered similarly about doing their best, but Rinka was the only trainee who answered it differently that's specific about songwriting. It looks like she auditioned as a songwriter, as if she believed that it was gonna have an integral part of joining the global group instead of the typical kpop group. In Round 1, they didn't show Rinka's singing or dancing, but they only showed her rapping and Son's comment about her was that she's the trainee with "a lot of musical talent", which was also different compared to their comments on the other girls' performances that's usually just about singing/dancing/star quality. Another interesting fact is, in the initial Japanese casting call for Prelude, the age range was only 15-20 years old, but when the World Scout audition was announced, HxG increased it to 15-24 years old. Rinka was the only trainee who wasn't in the age range before that made it (she was 21 and turned 22 in November before she got called back in LA). It seems like HxG changed the age limit for Rinka who was also the closest to Lexie's age. Lexie is 2004 while Rinka is 2003 and other kpop companies hasn't been taking 2003-2004 trainees in the recent years since they're already considered old, but I think Rinka was an exemption because she has the songwriting skills. Although, songwriting didn't really had a part in World Scout (When the Prelude members introduced their 2 songs that they said they worked on, people thought that they took part in making the music production, but it turned out they didn't).

People thinks that Lexie left the group because HxG changed their concept. Adding an inexperienced minor to their group who are all adults was obviously a factor that changed their dynamics, aside from the cultural gap and language barrier, there was a bigger disconnect with Lexie who was the oldest member. HxG has been trying to cater Saint Satine for Sakura and it's understandable why Lexie left. People are only more focused about the aesthetic concept being mature, but the "presented vision" and "future plans" that Lexie mentioned in her letter could also mean "artistic vision" and "creative process". When Prelude was announced, Lexie joining in as the last member was unexpected since she left Dream Academy before and one of the reasons was because she wanted to be a producer (she talked about being a producer many times back then). I've always thought that Lexie decided to return to HxG again because they likely made a condition that she can get involved in the music production of their group, but unfortunately, the plans for Saint Satine was changed and the direction they're going in for became different. Lexie was probably led to believed by HxG, but they switched up on her. I think this is one of the reasons why Lexie left but people don't really talk​ about it.

Overall, connecting all these pieces, it could have been better. So much missed opportunities and it just turned to waste. HxG is not smart at all, they don't care about artistry and they focus more on noise marketing.

I noticed how some fans thinks that this Hybe America audition is for finding a new member to replace Lexie in Saint Satine. But it's not from Hybe. It's from Gem Casting and they posted about it since March. They reposted it again in July. It was originally just for US, but they changed it while mentioning Hybe America. Gem Casting is founded by Karrie Mailey who's a casting agent and worked with Hybe America, but she's probably just using that benefit to get promo for her company and taking advantage to match the timing of Lexie's departure like a marketing strategy.

In fact, this is actually not new. Gem Casting already made this similar auditions back in 2024 and they've been trying to find female talents ever since then. I remember how some people even mistook it and spread rumor that Hybe was going to make an American based global group with Asian members similar to XG. But it turned out, that audition has nothing to do with Hybe at all. Later, Hybe launched their second global girl group with Prelude​ and their Japanese audition for World Scout was different.

Hybe's Japanese audition started in June 2025 and the new girl group Prelude/Saint Satine was announced in August 2025. Hybe "officially" announced this audition in their own account. Unlike to this random audition for Gem Casting, so it's definitely not for Saint Satine. I think this "searching for female superstars" project is not really for Hybe since they never acknowledged it compared to their other auditions for the Ryan Teddler Boy Group, Alan Universe Co-ed Group, Hybe India, etc. There's no confirmation what this female project is for and I don't think Hybe America will immediately create another girl group when Katseye is still new and Saint Satine hasn't even debuted yet.

This is from Rinka's latest Instagram Story. If you have any song requests and questions, go to her account. It looks like she's planning to make a YouTube video. I wonder if she'll talk about World Scout?

Also, Rinka recently dyed her hair to pink color and she looks so good with it.

Emily posted a new ​update and she used the song "Why Should I Be Sad".

(Lyrics)

"And don't you worry about our angels
All the magazines trying to intervene, saying things in the gossip section
They'll get good guidance and be trained well
Don't worry, I'll keep our little secret, but I ask this question

Why should I be sad? Heaven knows
From the stupid freaking things that you do (Stupid freaking things)
Why should I get mad? Feel sad? Who knows?
Just take it all as a sign that we're through (Goodbye)

It's time for me to move along (Goodbye)
It's time for me to get it on (Okay)
I'm tired of singing sad songs (Alright)
It's time for me (Britney, let's go)"

(This is my old notes last year before Emily was announced to debut)

After Dream Academy ended, I continued to follow Emily's career and I discovered many things about her which kept me more interested as a fan. Honestly, since Emily is American, I thought she won't be in another girl group because groups are not common in America unlike in Korea, and I didn't expect that Hybe was planning to create another global group (especially since Katseye was still new). So I easily accepted that Emily won't debut and I was just invested on her solo career. Aside from being a dancer, Emily is also an actress and she's cited as an actress on Google. She had small/extra roles in the movie "The Lazarus Effect" (2015), the series "Fresh Off The Boat" (2015) and "This Is Us" (2021). In 2024, she was the main lead in "O" experimental short film by 30inthemorning and she co-starred in "Homewrecked" visualizer by Adéla (that she also choreographed). Then in 2025, she appeared in Disney's "Shuffle of Love: A Descendants Short Film" and "Vampirina: The Teenage Vampire". (Emily did these projects before re-joining HxG and she was managed by Bloc Talent Agency before.)

In 2024, there was a fancast article that suggested Emily as one of actresses to play for the Britney Spears biopic and Emily replied to a comment saying that it's her dream role. While back in 2021, there was a facebook group post that fancasted Emily as Wednesday Addams. Years before Dream Academy happened, Emily expressed that she hopes to be an actress one day, she loves to act and how she wants to incorporate her dance by performing in TV and film in the future.

Emily has been focusing on dancing after she left Dream Academy, but a part of me was hoping for her to expand her acting career. So when Emily's short film by 30inthemorning was released in August 2024, it made me really happy to see her act again. Also in September 2024, Emily got followed by the veteran actress Amy Adams, which made me so excited and got me theorized that maybe Emily could be working with Amy Adams since she has a production company. Before it in August 9th 2024, Emily posted that she went through an audition (auditions are usually undisclosed but Emily shared this info and she looks super happy). Anyways, these are just my wishful thinking and speculations. I know that Emily is now debuting in a girl group, so it's unlikely that she'll be an actress again.

Ayana and Rinka participated in Girls Planet 999 back in 2021. Rinka didn't really appear in that show before, but we see more of their interactions in World Scout. When Rinka was brought back to LA, Ayana was happy about it since she could spend more time with her, she said that she can finally have a conversation with someone (she's close with) unlike to the other girls who felt like aliens (unfamiliar to her). During their practice, Ayana also said that she learned from Rinka about having a positive mindset.

After the show ended, Rinka posted a video of them from the interim evaluation. Then they both posted their photos when they celebrated Christmas in LA. Recently, Ayana posted new photos of them hanging out together. Their friendship is so sweet, they've known each other for a long time and it would be amazing if they could debut together in a new group.

New post from Rinka's Instagram account 🌺🏝

Rinka and Honoka M visited Jayla's and Hiori's hometown (they're both from Okinawa). Love that they maintained a good friendship even after the show ended. I really hope Hybe is smart enough to keep them and the others for their Japanese girl group, I want to see them debut together.

New post in Rinka's account: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZPixhDSxfL/?igsh=MWh3cnB4Mm1jYnFlZQ==

Rinka's voice stood out to me from the start and she has a unique style that reminded me of anime. She was actually singing an anime song in her audition - "Long Shot", a soundtrack from Re:Zero. Rinka loves animes and she also performed this song before in 2022. Her vocals and range are so amazing, it's​ cool how she can also make her tone deep. She's a​ great vocalist, but it's just a bummer how Hybe didn't really showed Rinka at the start and they only showed 5 seconds of her audition.

I also want to add the lyrics of the song because it gave me goosebumps. Isn't it similar to Rinka's storyline in World Scout? 😭

"This is a fate that brought us here, watch my long shot
Feel like I am falling into the flame of lies
Tell me what do you want from me
Trying not to step back to where I used to belong
Looking for the escape from pain

I will cross my fingers hoping not to be sacrificed
I made a promise to you and your hope
Get in the raid
Get ready for the time to come
Chase after the silhouette that's appearing

Drop down the reason why I'm standing here alone
Maybe it's already too late to regain
Don't let the fire of fate we raised as a symbol go out
Ever again

What if I could right my wrongs and save you from the pain
It's not enough, It's not enough for me to break the rule upon this world

I will never gonna leave you, never wanna lose you
We'll make it in the end
Not backing down for real
I won't trace someone else's life
I know who I am

Blame me if I messed up anything
Take a risk of everything
Justify this cruel world
A cry echoed in an empty sky
It's been swallowed, leaving its shadow behind

I will cross my fingers hoping not to be sacrificed
I made a promise to you and your hope
Get in the raid
Get ready for the time to come
Chase after the silhouette that's appearing

Wake up
Bring back and don't regret to be yourself
It's all you
Doesn't matter if it happens again and again, I am ready
I decided to protect everything because you are here
I will change the tangled future with my own hands
I know what to do

Take this pain away from me
Along with this heart beat
There's no way I can fail
I wish you to see how it goes

Drop down the reason why I'm standing here alone
Maybe it's already too late to regain
Don't let the fire of fate we raised as a symbol go out
Brace yourself, don't forget this is your fate

What if I could right my wrongs and save you from the pain
It's not enough, It's not enough for me to break the rule upon this world

I will never gonna leave you, never wanna lose you
We'll make it in the end
Not backing down for real
I won't trace someone else's life
I know who I am"