Narutop99: aespa's Winter's collaboration with Naruto's Sakura takes the internet by storm

K-Pop singer Winter of aespa has recently joined hands with the Narutop99 worldwide popularity poll. The collaboration is centered on the character Sakura Haruno, featuring a collage image of the two wearing similar outfits.

aespa is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment, who debuted on November 17, 2020, with the single Black Mamba. The K-pop girl band consists of four members, including Winter, Karina, Giselle, and Ningning.

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Narutop99 surprises fans with an unexpected collaboration between aespa's Winter and the franchise’s popularity poll

First announced in December 2022 at Jump Festa ‘23, the Narutop99 poll is a worldwide popularity poll of the Naruto franchise. The midterm period for voting recently passed, showing some interesting results in the general worldwide categories and the breakdowns by region and country.

As a reward for the character who wins in the popularity poll, they will be the focus of a one-shot manga written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. This has understandably influenced the way fans are voting, with many characters who lacked a backstory in the original series receiving a large number of votes in an effort to see and learn more about them.

This latest collaboration of the popularity poll with K-Pop singer Winter is done in an effort to promote streaming of her songs on Spotify and voting for Sakura Haruno in the Narutop99 poll. Moreover, the hashtag #SAKURAXWINTER was made for those who wanted to share their participation in both activities on social media.

Not so surprisingly, fans of both the fandoms took to Twitter to share their excitement about the collaboration. As they continued voting for Sakura, both the fanbases shared fanarts and edited images of the two while extending their support to the Konoha kunoichi and aespa member.

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Winter’s group, aespa, has risen to international heights of popularity since debuting in November 2020. Less than two years later, the K-Pop quartet was seen performing at 2022's Coachella, a yearly music festival held in California in the United States. On May 12 of the same year, just a few weeks after their Coachella performance, aespa was featured in Time magazine’s Next Generation Leaders list. Later, on May 27, the group was included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30.

Moreover, the group delivered a speech and performed at the United Nations’ High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on July 5. This year saw their fame and achievements continue to grow, which was marked by an announcement as performers at the annual Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City. As it happens, aespa is the first K-Pop group to participate in the festival.

Meanwhile, the Naruto series, which the Narutop99 poll pulls its character selections from, follows an eponymous protagonist who wishes to become his village’s greatest ninja, the Hokage. However, the series tactfully chronicles his 'way of the ninja' journey as it sees a social outcast rise above the ranks and make his dream a reality.

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