f(x)’s Vocal Analysis: Luna

Vocal Range

C#3 ~ D6 (3 Octaves and 1 Semitone)

Supported Range

G3 ~ D5/Eb5

G3 ~ Bb5 (with head voice)

Voice Type

Soprano

Strengths/Achievements

  • Strongest vocalist in f(x)
  • One of the most developed head voices amongst female K-pop vocalists
  • Achieved resonance a number of times from G4 ~ E5 range
  • Able to mix up to A5
  • Able to keep a stable larynx even in her lowest notes
  • Able to project forward her lower register range between B3 ~ G3, occasionally F#3’s and F3’s
  • Consistent with resonance and placement, very good placement on belts
  • Very relaxed and healthy vibrato
  • Head placed studio A5 in mixed voice
  • Big improvement since debut

Points for Improvement

  • Loses consistency on E5’s, and strains anywhere from F5 or above
  • At times tends to get nasal mid-phrases but not in belts
  • Tongue tension and pulling sound back in placement may happen at times
  • Notes below G#3/G3 tend to be very quiet and a bit too airy
  • May present vocal fatigue during a song that requires a lot of belting throughout the whole song
  • Head voice may be resonant but isn’t as often showcased as she could
  • Runs at times may be sloppy and slow
  • Pitch and Intonation are not completely consistently on point
  • Nasality may be present in her head voice
  • Transitions between mix and head show a lack of control in head voice pitch wise

Registers

  • Lower register: at times able to produce well and full notes down to F3 and F#3 but may lose consistency in keeping cord connection down there. Consistently able to produce supported notes from G3 and above, whereas notes below F3 generally become very quiet and breathy.
  • Mixed register: Very well balanced mix, not too much chest and generally bright and yet resonant. Placement is often kept well and opened during belted notes up until D5 and at times Eb5 live, and consistently up until Eb5 in studio. Live and in studio she’s been able to produce resonant E5s but not consistently and anything above E5 has a tense high larynx. Nasality may be present in this register.
  • Upper register: Notes in her head voice are mostly very pure and bright, very well produced without breathiness. She has projection, cord connection and is able to articulate well in this register, but may often confuse mask placement with nasal placement in her head voice. Able to produce resonant and relaxed notes up until Bb5.

Agility

Luna’s voice is a very light soprano voice with a brightness to it. One of her biggest weakness is her lack of vocal agility. Her runs are often slow and sloppy, lacking note precision. She doesn’t often sing R&B nor does runs, but when she tries to add them to a melody they sound slightly off and flat, without fully having a thought-process before hand to plan them out and practice them fully so that they hit every single note precisely. She does not usually show an ability to do runs that are faster than a slow-tempo one, but occasionally is able to precisely separate each single note in her vocal runs, specially in her head voice, such as in “해뜬날“.

Overall analysis

One of the most capable vocalists amongst SM vocalists and in general, the newer generation of female idol groups, Luna is a one of a kind vocalist. Some may argue and put Luna down by saying does not have the prettiest natural tone, but starting off as a dancer turned main vocalist, she’s been able to show great improvement from her debut days till present as a vocalist, which should give her more than enough credit as a professional vocalist. Luna possesses a light bright soprano voice, with a very youthful feminine color to it. It retains a clean sound throughout her range and presenting technical control superior to most other main vocalists.

Luna’s lower range is one that shows an impressive amount of development in comparison to the average female pop vocalist. Most of the time she’s able to keep a stable larynx in her lower range and although breathiness may be present, she’s been able to show more than occasionally that she’s able to keep tone production forward and fullness in tone all the way down to G3 and at times also F#3 and F3 where breathiness may be present but tone isn’t completely lost. Notes below F3 however show a lack of ability to keep the sound full and eventually turn into a very breathy sound. In songs like “아프고 아픈 이름” she shows nicely connected F3’s, but in “천일동안” her F#3’s are quiet and breathy, showing a lack of consistency in that range.

Her mixed register is a very healthy register where she’s able to keep a nicely supported sound throughout without losing the tone and keeping a fulness without the breathiness present. From the time when she debuted until now this register has shown very good improvement, from having been often tense and letting the sound go back into her throat, she’s learned to keep an open full throat, a relaxed tongue and let the sound be placed in her mask and projecting very well with good resonance. She is consistently able to belt and keep resonance up until D5 live, with many good Eb5’s and consistently up until Eb5 in studio. Occasionally she’s able to produce supported and even resonant E5’s live and in studio, but generally loses the stability in her larynx above that, straining anything above E5. However so she’s been able to show a head placed A5 in studio, even if not live. Although she is able to be resonant on her E5’s in “Pinocchio”, in their most recent comeback her “Red Light” E5’s are often tense with a high larynx. The tension in her upper register seems to exist more commonly when the vowel “Aye (애/에)” is included, closing her throat more often than when she has to sing other vowels.

One of the most developed head voices amongst female K-pop vocalists, Luna shows an understanding of placement and cord connection beyond her years when she uses this register. Her head voice is generally very bright and healthy, never really being throaty or constricted. The only fact is that, the only time she’s sung above Bb5 in studio (a C#6 in “종이 심장 Paper Heart”), her throat seems to do the same she does when she gets to E5’s or F5’s in studio, and somewhat become constricted and pushed. Nasality in this register is also a common flaw, where she will switch but let the sound come into her nose too often and not fully resonate with an open throat sound. In the same performance of “해뜰 날” where Luna showcases her resonant Bb5, she also shows occasional nasality when switching into her head voice from her mix. Although more recently, Luna has shown the ability to sing above Bb5 live, the truth still stands that when she does, such as in her C#6 from “편지할게요“, her larynx raises slightly and tension is present in her head voice. On a more recent episode of “Masked Singer”, on Luna’s performance of “슬픈인연” Luna, again, displays her developed head voice by hitting not only Bb5 and F#5, but also C6 and D6 in a section of the song, still showcasing resonance and support in her head voice only as high as Bb5, but an extension up to D6, where her voice thins out and becomes less resonant and supported.

Amongst her weaknesses, Luna’s inability to control her nasality mid-phrase is another one. She often has a lifted soft palate in belted notes, but mid-phrases she often lets the sound go into her nose and become blocked. This was often the case during her earlier years, but more recently has been greatly reduced although it still happens, which hinders the effectiveness of her projection and overall sound. Another one of Luna’s problems is that oftentimes she is relaxed during belted notes, but when she tries to add a little bit of attitude and energy into her singing, her sound becomes slightly tense and muffled because she pushes the sound by tensing up her tongue with a half growl-like sound, instead of simply adding more chest voice and/or volume. That generally happens in her lower mixed range and more commonly in the fourth octave up to C5.

Another flaw is her lack of ability to control her transitions into head voice. Although she’s able to fully connect her registers, at times she might not control her breath well enough and will let the pitch go sharp when she transitions into head voice. However so, her breath support is still very consistent throughout her performances and she possesses a very natural and healthy vibrato. She at times may show vocal fatigue within sections of songs when she is forced to stay in her upper register showing that it still lacks in terms of consistency and strength, although that seems to also be improving over time. Her intonation however only occasionally has flatness, where she is mostly very precise and in tune when singing melodies, showing good control of her breath and vocal cord coordination.

Luna shows an understanding of musicality, which she shows only when she is able to perform slow ballads and pop oriented songs, able to dynamically change songs and interpret them with good technique within her supported range. She has yet to really broaden her horizon in more genres of music, but she’s also been part-taking in musicals which help her grow vocally in the musicality aspect of her singing. Although at times she might make technical mistakes, she’s able to show a control of her voice that adds to the dynamics of her singing very well. She’s shown such improvement in her singing, that’s possibly just a matter of time until she fixes her other minor flaws in consistency and tone production. She is a vocalist with a growing passion for singing and draws inspiration from many divas, who influenced her improvement and musical interest.

Musicianship

Along with vocal agility, musicianship is another area where that part of her technique overlaps and shows weaknesses. Although at times she shows her own color and interpretation of songs without trying to add any specific genre of music into it, meaning no specific rock effects, R&B vocal runs or blues notes, she does have her normal simple pop/ballad alterations in which some notes and rhythms are occasionally changed. However so, she does try at times to add vocal runs which come off sloppy and take away from moments where she could’ve shown more vocal control. Those are occasional nonetheless, making it an area to be worked on but not really a big issue in her normal vocal delivery.

Label (Type of Vocalist)

HV Vocalists: High Head Voice Vocalists

MB Vocalists: Mid-Range Belters

ML Vocalists: Mid-Low Range Vocalists

WR vocalists: Well Rounded Vocalists

Vocal Range Video(s)

Video by: kitsunemale

Video by: 2NE1Bang

Best Vocal Performance(s)

Analyzed by Ahmin (Kitsunemale)

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602 thoughts on “f(x)’s Vocal Analysis: Luna

  1. How was her sustained E5 (I think) in this performance? It seemed pushed and strained but just making sure. It’s at 0:13 of the short clip.

    Thanks again for all the work you put in for this website!

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  2. Did you know that Luna comes from a family of Classical vocal singers? And that she was the only member of her family to not major in Classical music? Maybe the first fact accounts to her good vocals? (:

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    1. If that were the case, her technique would have been really good even from the start of her career but she’s had massive improvement after her debut. I think this could be speculation though, but we can’t be sure.

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  3. Hi. I have a question. Did she able support the A5 in these statement? “However so she’s been able to show a head placed A5 in studio, even if not live.” It is the high note in Jet right? Where she shifts to head voice when performed live.

    Thank you.

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    1. Hi. Please allow me to answer your question. 🙂

      . Luna has better registers than Taeyeon. Yes, they both support G3 in their lower register, but Luna has better projection than Taeyeon. In their mixed register, the belting area of the voice, Luna has support up to Eb5, she even achieved resoance from G4 – E5 range, while Taeyeon has support up to D5, but she is inconsistent in terms of support above C#5/D5, she has resonance around A4 – C#5 range too. In head voice/falsetto, Luna utilizes head voice and has support/resonance up to Bb5, while Taeyeon switches between head voice and falsetto, she has support in her head voice around F5/F#5 range though she lacks openness. Taeyeon has better agility, able to do slow-mid tempo runs without much issues.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. hello i want to ask about luna and taeyeon taeyeon can support to eb4 how about luna i am trying to analzing them with my skils but i am not sure in what terms luna is better tan taeyeon

    Liked by 1 person

    1. hello. Someone answered you previously:
      “Luna has better registers than Taeyeon. Yes, they both support G3 in their lower register, but Luna has better projection than Taeyeon. In their mixed register, the belting area of the voice, Luna has support up to Eb5, she even achieved resoance from G4 – E5 range, while Taeyeon has support up to D5, but she is inconsistent in terms of support above C#5/D5, she has resonance around A4 – C#5 range too. In head voice/falsetto, Luna utilizes head voice and has support/resonance up to Bb5, while Taeyeon switches between head voice and falsetto, she has support in her head voice around F5/F#5 range though she lacks openness. Taeyeon has better agility, able to do slow-mid tempo runs without much issues.”

      Additionally, I suppose you meant to say Eb5 not Eb4, and for this, Taeyeon is not really near having Eb5 as part of her supported range. Sure she has a few supported and resonant Eb5s, but nowhere near enough to say that she can actually handle the note. 🙂 She’s capable of resonance on D5 but above that, as mentioned by Jeff Hernz, she loses the consistency in support. She can consistently produce head voice, falsetto seems to be more of a stylistic choice than inconsistency with HV, but she carries support and (and on a few occasions resonance) til F5/F#5.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. What’s keeping Luna from becoming a “good” vocalist? It seems that all her registers are developed. Comparing Luna to Lina, Luna has a better lower register and her upper register is also better. Lina’s mixed register is only one semitone better. In terms of dynamics, they are around the same. Luna may lack in pitch control, but does that make her not a good vocalist? Or is it because of her occasional nasality?

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    1. Inconsistencies with placement and support, sometimes nasality happens, sometimes she gets throaty on even D5, sometimes she has tongue tension that she really doesn’t need. It’s not all about the specific notes in the supported range, but how each vocalist sings within said supported range. Lina is more consistent than Luna and overall approaches her notes better, aside from her vibrato. So don’t focus on supported range alone.

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  6. Luna has been cast to play “Ich” alongside Ock Joohyun in the musical “Rebecca.” OJH has been in it a while, but Luna’s obviously new and I’m excited they get to sing together! I don’t know if you’re familiar with the musical at all, but the music sounds like it might challenge Luna in some areas she needs improvement still and I’m excited!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. They released a video of a duet she sings! It’s technically a studio version so It’s probably been edited some, but what do you think of it. I’ve not heard Luna try to sing in “musical voice” much, but she sounds like she’s pushing a lot in the first part instead of producing real resonance. And is that her chest voice in her first solo part? Followed by head voice for the duet part? Thanks!

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      1. I wouldn’t say she’s pushing, but I would say she’s trying too hard to produce a more musical-like sound and slightly less pop. But I still hear support, she’s not overly tense. What first solo part?

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      2. Sorry, I can’t reply directly to your question for some reason. By first solo part I meant the beginning of the song where she’s singing alone for like a minute. I’m just trying to learn how to distinguish her chest from her head voice better.

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      3. You mean her chest voice and mixed voice from her head voice? That’s a long portion not to be sure of. She only really went into her head voice like once, from what I remember. 1:02 head voice. 1:14 head voice …that was it.

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    1. It’s not listed in anybody’s voice type anymore. We took it out because specific fachs are just guess work and unnecessary in contemporary singing.

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  7. Hello! 3 of the main cast of Rebecca performed in KBS open concert and I was wondering how did Luna do..

    하루 또 하루. Specifically curious on 2:43 and her overall delivery and resonance.

    And the titular song 레베카. Too bad she didn’t perform it with OJH. Her parts start at 1:15

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    1. She is mixing with a lot of brightness and she is really drowning her out for a lot of it. She sounds pretty good though! 1:25 that C#5 in Rebecca was nice! Yeah this is good, I’m proud of her!

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      1. Didn;t even know that note was an E5(?). On topic of that, she did a yt live where she sang that bit so how was it? Around 0:27

        Also, thanks for answering 🙂

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  8. After hearing that performance…I’m hungrier than ever for another Luna solo album…maybe with fewer dance tracks and more ballads. With no way to describe what I mean by it (no musical background): I love the saucy quality her voice always has in my ears. It’s like a dark roux crumbled into a thick gumbo; her voice sounds ‘nutritious’ to me. lol…sry…to me, that actually means something. Really enjoyed her performance…felt so mature

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    1. She sings plenty of ballads though? Her solo album had 3 dance tracks and 3 slow songs and aside from majority of the f(x) discography, most of the stuff she’s been performing and releasing (especially recently) are slow songs and ballads. You probably just need to look for it?

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  9. So from what I can understand, although she lacks in vocal agility and musicianship, her developed registers, ability to produce resonance and good placement sort of make up for that? Then would it be safe to assume that musicianship and vocal agility aren’t really a fundamental part of being a good technical vocalist? So how much weight does each category carry into making the final judgement of how capable the vocalist is?

    I’m also asking because you answered a question about the difference between Taeyeon and Wendy, and said Taeyeon was ranked a tiny bit higher because of her ability to produce resonance more consistently while Wendy’s is more occasional. Yet the difference between them isn’t very large, so then resonance also doesn’t carry a lot of weight?

    Sorry for the abysmal amount of questions lol
    Thanks in advance 🙂

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    1. Agility is more of an advanced skill and isn’t part of the more basic and fundamental aspects of singing. It’s hard to do it right but it’s embellishments and it’s way beyond the basics. Musicianship isn’t weighed heavily on the rating, musicality can be though because musicality is how a vocalist gives a song life through inflections, dynamics, control and onsets.

      Actually no, Wendy can’t produce period in her mix, period. Taeyeon doesn’t just produce it, it’s much more opened, larger and its consistent. Which is why resonance was a weighing factor.

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      1. Oh? I thought I saw something about occasional resonance in Wendy’s analysis? But I think I understand now, the more basic criteria are weighed more heavily and since agility and musicianship are more advanced, they’re more like a cool cherry on top.

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  10. EMK Musicals released a live recording video of Luna in the same song you analyzed above. She sounds like she’s struggling a lot at the end of the song, but I wonder if that goes back to what you said in the analysis about how she tires in songs that require a lot of belting? I think the sound is better balanced in this version than the other, so she’s easier to hear on her actual lines a bit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPKsVjd2dWY

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    1. 2:20 that C#5 is really nice. 2:40 not bad, well placed. 2:44 she did thin out quite a bit around E5. The struggle may also be trying to belt but not overpower the other singer or trying to match up to her volume, which may be tricky in a duet where you’re singing different parts.

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  11. This isn’t necessarily a question about Luna’s analysis but she recently talked about her experience with vocal nodules in this interview at around 5:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvktrDVCNd8

    She said she got them when she was around 19 years old (which coincides with Pinocchio and Hot Summer era) so I was wondering if that might have had an effect on her ability to hit resonant E5s? It made me curious about how much vocal nodules affects singers’ skills even after being treated.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m not entirely sure but it could be that because of the nodules she must have gone under a period of rest and because of that she lost the muscle coordination, which is why she never got it back.

      Like

  12. Luna sang at another Kim Kwong-Seok concert and performed this: https://twitter.com/SJG0905/status/926809370884677632

    I was wondering what she hit at 0:22? I know the reverb is weird in the fancam but it sounds very resonant to me. Was it? I was also wondering if her nasality mid-phrase that you wrote about has stopped occurring. I feel like I haven’t heard her sound nasal in a long time.

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    1. The quality of the video is way too unclear, there’s too much distortion in the sound to be able to tell the true quality of that note for me at least. I haven’t been listening for nasality recently with her but I haven’t noticed it either.

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  13. Inside their supported range, who has better resonance in the mixed register between Luna and Taeyeon? And between Luna and Jimin in head voice?

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      1. Sorry for the late reply Ahmin, I was traveling. I meant who has a more free and bigger resonance. Thank you!

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      2. Well it depends, Luna’s resonance is brighter, Taeyeon’s is heavier. Heavier resonance usually can be bigger, but the higher they go, Luna is the one who’s freer. So it depends on the range.

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    1. 0:09 a bit of tongue tension, 0:11 the oh vowel made her close on that D5 a bit. 0:14 B4 to C5, very nicely opened and resonant, the D5 right after again a bit closed cause of the Oh vowel. 0:24 Not bad, but she is closing her throat slightly on those D5’s.

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      1. But all of them are supported right ?
        It’s been a long time not to see her improve, I’m afraid that her voice would be worse because in that video she just had to sing D5s . But she didnt produce it well like her previous D5s in the past.

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  14. hello again. luna along with the cast of the Last Kiss Musical performed an open rehearsal press and performed Only Love. here’s a cut footage (since i cant find a full one). anyway, how did she do here? thanks!

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    1. I just realized this is the same song as the one she sang in the clip above (though not from the same event) which Ahmin already viewed. I’m also curious about how she did here, specifically because I feel like she sounds a little more rough in this one (and her throat a little more closed on the D5 too). Do you think it’s a conscious stylistic decision? Or maybe the way she’s projecting her voice to be heard over the accompaniment?

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    2. 0:15 Bb4 resonant then a resonant B4 afterwards. 0:57 first video 0:29 second video, same D5, different videos. These D5’s are much better, a lot freer and more relaxed than how she was singing them in the other video posted recently for her. Overall I hear a bit of tongue tension lingering throughout but the support, openness and placement just even it all out general for me. It’s just a bit of the phrasing that I have a problem with.

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      1. Thank you for this! So I’m hearing good placement and projection with a very clean mix in the fourth octave, around D5 except for the one with the Oh vowel which was very good, she seems to be pushing through fatigue. I hear a slight gritty quality that comes fatigue but she’s doing very well regardless. Her E5’s carry the grit, but are much cleaner than anything above it that just becomes a bright mix with very clear throatiness. F#5, G5 and A5, those were all very throaty but bright because her mixing technique allows her that.

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      2. What do you think about this A5 . Is it better than the old one in Jet?
        I know that those F#5s are strained but look that the runs F#5- G5 -D5 . Is it good ? it’s so glad to hear that because In the past, agility was always seen as one of her big weaknesses.

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    1. I love this song but honestly i think, she didnt sound good there. There was something about her high notes , and her head voice, why was it nasal a lot 😦

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      1. Thank you! ah,yes I did mean 2:31. I was distracted while typing my question,hehe…the song is not even 3:31 minutes long…lol

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  15. In the studio version of Rum Pum Pum Pum by f(x), at 0:49, Luna sings an A3 (the last pum of rum pum pum pum). How did Luna manage the A3? Did she lower her larynx on that note or did she support it? Thank you!

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      1. I’m asking because I feel her tone on that A3 sounds unnatural and pushed (please feel free to correct me). I know Luna can support down to G3 nowadays and, since this song was released in 2013, I’m wondering if she was able to support A3 back then.

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  16. I saw there was a comment talking about how Luna came from a family of classical singers but you thought it was unlikely because then she would have good technique from the beginning instead of improving. Have you seen this video of her with her twin sister (who did end up studing classical music?) Is there a significant difference in theie technique and skill?

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  17. I heard something about Luna not being as strong as she is now when debuting is that true? if it is can anyone tell me the timeline of her improvements and in what aspects?

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