Xdinary Heroes and INI Make M Countdown EP.925 a Must-Watch

Thursday night's M Countdown is shaping up to be one of the more stacked episodes of the spring season. Episode 925, airing on April 23 at 6 PM KST on Mnet, brings together a lineup that includes a confirmed comeback stage, a notable debut, and several of K-pop's most talked-about current acts — all in a single two-hour broadcast. Whether fans tune in live or catch the clips afterward, EP.925 is built around the kind of event-driven moments that make M Countdown essential viewing.

As previewed through M Countdown's official Mnet K-POP YouTube channel, the episode features world premiere performances, comeback stages, and group appearances spanning idol, rock band, and solo artist formats. MODYSSEY — who serve as the episode's preview hosts — have mapped out the lineup as a three-part experience, and the sheer density of first performances packed into a single episode makes this one worth paying close attention to.

Xdinary Heroes Bring Their Comeback to the Music Show Stage

The biggest event performance of EP.925 belongs to Xdinary Heroes, the JYP Entertainment band making their M Countdown comeback appearance in support of their eighth mini-album, DEAD AND. The album and its title track "Voyager" were released on April 17, and the music show debut of the new material has been one of the more anticipated band moments of the spring promotional cycle.

Xdinary Heroes — known by fans as XH — are one of K-pop's most technically accomplished active bands. Their approach integrates rock instrumentation with contemporary production in a way that consistently sets them apart from purely electronic idol acts, and their live performances reflect the full-band format's capacity for dynamic range that studio recordings can only partially capture. "Voyager," the title track, continues the genre-blending approach that has defined the group across their eight mini-album run.

All six members of Xdinary Heroes participated in writing and producing tracks on DEAD AND, which has been part of the group's identity since early in their career. That creative involvement across the full album makes the live debut of this material — where the craft of the songwriting and the energy of the performance come together — one of the most compelling reasons to watch EP.925 from start to finish.

INI, NCT WISH, and &TEAM Round Out a High-Profile Night

INI bring a major debut to EP.925 with a performance marked as their "HOT DEBUT" in the episode preview — a first M Countdown appearance that signals the group's active expansion into Korean music show circuits. INI, formed from the Produce 101 Japan franchise, has built a substantial and organized fanbase across Asia, and their debut on one of K-pop's flagship chart programs is the kind of crossover moment that generates significant attention both in Japan and among Korean K-pop audiences tracking the group's trajectory.

NCT WISH and &TEAM also appear on the EP.925 stage, bringing two of the more globally followed current groups to an episode that is already headlined by multiple premiere moments. Both acts have maintained consistent broadcast activity during their respective promotional periods, and their inclusion alongside debut and comeback stages gives the episode breadth across fan communities and musical styles.

Kim Jae-hwan also makes his M Countdown comeback appearance in EP.925. One of K-pop's most recognized solo vocalists — with a dedicated following built over years of individual releases and concert activity — Kim Jae-hwan's inclusion adds a different register to an episode otherwise dominated by group acts. His return to music show stages is something his fanbase has been anticipating, and EP.925 is where that wait ends.

MODYSSEY, KickFlip, TXT, and More Complete the Lineup

The third segment of EP.925 brings together a group of acts that balance performance styles across the episode's full runtime. MODYSSEY, who serve as the episode's preview hosts through the official YouTube teaser, perform their own stage alongside their host duties — a dual role that reflects the group's growing presence in music broadcast settings.

KickFlip, JYP Entertainment's youngest group, continue their promotional activities for their fourth mini-album My First Kick with a performance described in the preview as "refreshingly energetic." The group has been a consistent presence on music show stages since their April 6 release, and their M Countdown appearance this week gives fans another opportunity to see the live execution of their current title material.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER — better known internationally as TXT — appear as one of the episode's anchor acts, providing the kind of established fanbase and high-production-value performance that gives late-stage lineups their gravitational weight. UNCHILD and CORTIS also appear in debut and first-performance slots, extending the episode's overall mix of established acts and newer entries into K-pop's competitive performance space.

How and When to Watch

M Countdown Episode 925 airs live on Thursday, April 23 at 6 PM KST on Mnet in South Korea. The broadcast is also accessible via Tving's streaming service for viewers who prefer a digital viewing option. Fans outside Korea can follow the episode through Mnet's official YouTube uploads, which typically make key performance clips available in the hours following broadcast.

The full global reach of an episode like EP.925 — with multiple first performances and comeback stages — means that the broadcast generates significant social media activity in real time, with fan accounts across platforms covering moment-by-moment highlights as they air. For viewers who cannot catch the live broadcast, the post-show clip ecosystem makes it easy to follow specific performances in the day that follows.

M Countdown airs every Thursday at 6 PM KST on Mnet, with streaming available on Tving. Episode 925 features world premiere performances from Xdinary Heroes, INI, and other acts making their M Countdown debut in the current promotional cycle.

Why This Episode Stands Out

What makes EP.925 distinctive within the spring broadcast calendar is the concentration of premiere moments in a single episode. Debut performances, comeback stages, and first appearances by groups crossing from one market to another all carry an event quality that standard music show appearances do not — and M Countdown has historically served as one of the preferred platforms for acts choosing where to make those moments public for the first time.

For fans tracking multiple fandoms simultaneously, an episode like this functions as a kind of K-pop crossroads — a single broadcast that touches a range of active communities at once. The efficiency of that concentration is part of what makes a high-density lineup like EP.925 generate disproportionate social media activity relative to a more routine episode. The clips, reactions, and fan edits that flow from an episode like this tend to circulate for days, drawing in viewers who missed the broadcast and introducing new audiences to acts they had not previously followed.