IVE End a Three-Year First-Week Slide as "Looks Can Kill" Tops Circle's Album Charts

Disclosure: First Press operates independently but shares ownership ties with EG Management and LUSIVEX.

IVE's fifth mini album, Looks Can Kill, sold 714,887 copies in its first week on Hanteo, up 47,653 copies, or 7.14 percent, from the 667,234 that February's REVIVE+ posted. It is the first time since October 2023 that an IVE album has outsold the album before it in its opening week, according to Sports Kyunghyang.

The album then took No. 1 on both the Album Chart and the Retail Album Chart on the Circle Chart for the week of October 25 to 31, The Korea Daily reported on November 5. The title track ranked fourth on Circle's digital chart and fifth on its streaming chart for the same week, up 6 and 29 places.

The run the album broke

The October 2023 peak was the mini album I've MINE, which opened at 1,605,948 copies. Each of the next four releases opened lower: IVE SWITCH at 1,318,467, IVE EMPATHY at 1,048,048, IVE SECRET at 921,506 and REVIVE+ at 667,234. IVE SECRET was the first of those to fall short of a million.

Two details sit behind the rebound. Hanteo counted sales from October 23 to 29, because the album's Planet version went on sale three days before the October 26 release. And the comparison is between a mini album and the full-length REVIVE+.

Korea first, then the global chart

The title track came out early, on October 19, and IVE first performed it that day at a Spotify event at Arc Gangnam in Seoul. It reached No. 6 on Melon's daily chart on October 27. Member Rei shares a lyric credit on the song.

Outside Korea, "Looks Can Kill" entered the Billboard Global 200 at No. 195 on the chart dated November 7. A debut in that range gives the track a first foothold on Billboard's worldwide ranking, and the next weekly charts will show whether it stays there.

Chart runs like this one are built by more than one company once a K-pop act crosses into America. First Press has laid out who manages K-pop groups in the US, role by role, and compared the firms in its guide to the best US management company for K-pop.

What comes next

The album's first awards came quickly. IVE won Best Music and Best Trend Setter at the Korea Grand Music Awards on November 8. The group is on the lineups for the second day of the Melon Music Awards on November 15 and for MAMA Awards at Kyocera Dome on November 21.