Lovelyz: Once Upon A Time 6th Mini Album (Normal Version) Review

Lovelyz has made their first comeback of 2019 with the release of their sixth mini album, Once Upon A Time! The digital album was released on May 20th while the physical album on May 21st. This mini album has a limited version and a normal version. I blogged about ordering my albums here, the limited version here, and I'll be unboxing the normal version in this post.

There are nine random versions of the normal album, where the cover and CD design may be a group image or an individual member (the cover and CD will always match). Furthermore, the spine of each version is different, and when placed together, it creates a collage of Lovelyz' latest logo. I've never bought duplicate Lovelyz albums, but I'm a sucker for spine designs; this album just wouldn't look complete if I had 1/9 of the full design! I blogged about my strategy for purchasing multiple copies here.

The album is packaged as a paperback book. As it turns out, the cover isn't so random, as the image and spine design are on the exterior packaging of the album. I had ordered four copies of the normal album, but only three have arrived so far. I became too impatient and decided to finish blogging with the three I have. The random album covers are all really pretty. They are all exterior cover slips that can be removed. The slips are matte and the exterior image is from the orange photoshoot, with metallic bronze detailing. 

The spine is also detailed with metallic bronze. I'm really happy to have pulled three consecutive members' covers so far, so that the design on the spine matches up!

The backside has the tracklist and production info, also detailed with metallic bronze. I'll discuss the tracklist more in my unboxing of the limited version.

The inside of the cover slip has another image from the black photoshoot. Pictured are the accompanying CDs.

Removing the cover slip, the album itself is the same across all normal versions. The photobook is a simplistic cream with the metallic bronze design. The back is plain with the production info printed at the bottom. The album is the same size as the normal version of Sanctuary (dimensions are that of most of Lovelyz' other albums (Fall in Lovelyz, Heal, etc.) but this is a bit thinner at 0.3125").

The first page has a pretty pattern that matches the fairy tale theme.

The photobook has 80 pages, excluding the front and back covers. The first half contains photos from the orange photoshoot and begins with a group photo from this shoot.

The song credits and song lyrics are spread throughout the photobook.

There are mostly all individual photos of each member. I really like how many of the pages maximize the photo size, like this two-page spread of Mijoo.

This is such a superior photo of Jisoo!

There are also various page layouts, like using another photo to frame Yein.

I absolutely love these two-page spreads, and especially the photoshoot in general with the bright, yet not clashing, colors.

The second half of the photobook contains photos from the black photoshoot. This is such a beautiful photo of Mijoo, especially with the light shining in!

Contrasting with the bright colors in the orange photoshoot, this photoshoot has more neutral browns and pinks which go well with the girls' black outfits.

There are also random photos of flowers, but they flow well with the overall concept of the photobook.

This bouquet of flowers is really pretty~

For me, this is Sujeong's era! Her fresh haircut suits her so well and she looks amazing in this outfit.

And again, I really love these two-page spreads.

There are three pages at the end of the photobook for the individual member thanks to.

And to wrap up the photobook, a group photo from the black photoshoot.

The very last page contains the album credits. The inside of the back cover houses the CD. The inside flap also has the group's thanks to message.

Here is a closer look at the back cover.

The normal version also comes with one random special letter out of eight, and one random photocard out of eight, placed within the photobook. One copy had both the special letter and photocard placed together, but my other two copies had the special letter and photocard placed in between different pages.

The special letter is matte and just less than 4" by 5.75". All images from the special letters and photocards are from the orange photoshoot.

The backside of the letter has that member's letter.

The photocard is glossy and has the same dimensions and edge roundness as the regular Heal photocards, as well as Infinite's latest releases (Top Seed, 10 Stories, Second Write.., Bye, and A New Journey).

The backside has that member's printed message and sign.

Overall, Woollim was very smart to have so many versions of the normal album, especially with that spine design. I'm thankful that my first three albums are consecutive (Jisoo - Mijoo - Kei); we'll see what I pull for my next album! But overall, I really do love this album; the photoshoots are really gorgeous, the album design is beautiful, the tracks are perfect for spring.