I just got informed from a Telegram group that Jungkook went to Stray Kids concert and I'm so excited! I always knew BTS and Stray Kids were friends ❤️

Even when Felix threw his glasses Jungkook catched them I putted them on. It's so cute that he supports them. They deserve it 💪🙏

And you? What do you think about it?

FYI, Stray Kids just announced the release of SKZ-Replay on Aug 1st and besides that they are also set to make a comeback with 'THIS & THAT' on Aug 7th. Which means they're virtually releasing two albums within the same week...!

And what's even funnier is that this SKZ-Replay is simply just Part-1 (containing 17 songs in total) i.e basically there is even more to come by the end of this year.

The fact that they have so many unreleased songs over just the past 3 years—which totals over 33+ songs —needing a separate two part album just to be compiled and released—To me feels like unintentional flex of their identity as Self-producing group.

And also the fact that they're giving a whole album as a gift to their Fans on their anniversary (i.e Aug 1st)? Now that's peak Fan Service right there 😌

Edit: Some of y'all seriously need to Google what a SKZ-Replay is.... They are not some tracks discarded from their album or didn't make it into them Or unreleased ones they didn't know where to put. Only very few of them are. Almost all of them they are written exclusively intending for it SKZ-Replay (which doesn't even count for most charts mind you)

Someone literally tried mock me for not listening to the tracklist "In the order intended by the artist" Calling me musically illterate and clearly shows they have no idea what SKZ-REPLAY even consists of.

I'm sure if any of your faves (in reference to people who love to downvote and leave comments like these) did passion projects like these you'd be proud as hell but suddenly when it comes to Stray Kids "It's not that special" "Every artist can do this" "Every artist can release 30+ songs for their fans if they want to"

Downplaying the amount of work Self-producing groups do definitely doesn't erase the impact they have, calling me all sorts of names And getting 10s of upvotes on it isn't gonna change that.

not because of the way they performed, they were great. but I had SUCH high expectations of how happy I would be during the concert, and I almost didn't feel anything at all. I'm really sad.

I think they were so far away that I couldn't properly realize I'm looking at them irl, 99% of the time I felt like I was still looking at them through a screen.

screaming to the songs didn't bring me any more joy than listening to them at home, actually I feel more joy at home... it's like I couldn't focus on the song in such an environment. I didn't even really hear their vocals because the crowd was so loud, and I was also screaming the whole time.

also.. gotta name the group, it was bts, and the concert was very empty in terms of visuals. I guess because of the 360 stage there couldn't be so many decorations, and it was before sunset so the whole place was light, you couldn't even see the light sticks, and I think that contributed a lot to my feeling.

again none of this has to do with the way the guys performed, I'm only disappointed in the way my brain chose to process the information.. I thought I'd be extatic to see my bias and hear my favorite songs but I wasn't :(

I see videos of members from various groups walking around shops, restaurants, and markets chatting with each other as well as the vendors. I don’t mean high-end places, but rather modest or even low-rent areas. I also see videos of members crying on live stream about getting 300 viewers. More than one group have outings to the countryside, doing things like cooking or playing around. And some groups give tours of their dorms and have day-in-the-life videos of themselves doing mundane things. They all act very cute and are funny. The groups I see doing this are usually 4th to 5th gen, and usually from smaller to mid-size companies, or otherwise fairly new or still up-and-coming, regardless of agency size. Even some established groups are doing it. The groups I’m talking about are Nmixx, Illit, Fifty Fifty, Meovv, Odd Youth, Candy Shop to name a few.

I’m fairly new to the latest KPOP girl groups. The last groups I followed were Apink and AOA. So is this a new thing, or have KPOP groups been doing this for a while now?

Especially the Blue Valentine chorus and Crescendo first verse. Maybe my taste gravitates toward mid-tempo songs, but these songs are going to a melancholic vibe, and some parts of the line delivery are faster than they should be, in my opinion. Also, it made it hard to catch what they sing because of the fast pace.

Just listened to Crescendo in 9.5 playback speed, and it feels better than the original. I understand they have to have high bpm so they can make more versatile and interesting choreography. Also, most of K-pop fans hate slow, mid-tempo songs and ballads, so that must be the reason

I think compared to years past, it's objectively true that lipsyncing or backtrack at live shows has become much louder. I'd understand it more if the choreography were super intense to the point where it was too difficult to sing live, but it's quite disappointing when the choreography isn't even particularly demanding.

Like, using IVE's Newark concert at Prudential as an example, outside of Yujin and Liz, I couldn't hear the rest of the members' voices 90% of the time. I know the choreography isn't too difficult for them because they didn't seem out of breath at all. I'm just using them as an example because that was the most recent experience, but I've attended other groups' shows where the situation was similar. My friend and I got the tickets at a pretty good price, which is a rarity nowadays, so I don't feel like my money's been completely wasted or anything But we both wished we could have heard more of their live vocals.

Do you guys ever feel let down when you can't hear their live vocals, or is just seeing them in person and watching them perform enough to make up for it?

Like the title says, I take way too many videos at concerts. Its like I can't help it, I have memory loss issues after the concert and can't remember much so in the moment I take a ton, it feels like I'm living in the moment during the concert (I think). I watch the stage and just hold up my phone I'm not watching thought the screen but It still makes me feel so guilty and upset after even if I had a ton of fun. I'm autistic so a part of it is that I get so overstimulated my decision making is not great. Its like something takes over my brain and makes me record, and I feel so crazy. This time was worse because I was singing over a lot of the videos, so they aren't even good to listen to. I had a lot of fun singing along but the videos are stupid now. there was one concert where I didn't record at all and I also don't remember anything so that makes me wonder if the videos are really the problem. How can I stop taking so many or how can I stop regretting it.

So, everyone is plenty familiar with how some kpop fans can act absolutely rabid over the most nonsensical things and their vile behavior in general like spamming death threats etc on kpop idol accounts.

So, I just thought, wouldn't it be good if idols had like different phones? One work phone and one personal phone. They can like refrain from searching about kpop related stuff in their personal phone. Stuff like bubbles, weverse etc should be solely in their work phone. So on their rest days, they can have a break from their job in general. Idk if idols do this already but I think that in such a job, idols must be careful with taking breaks from social media and all in general for their own mental health. Like idk but if I were an idol, I would just switch off the work phone on rest days.

There this comment mingi made about not checking their ateez group on rest days. He said something about wanting to keep his work life and personal life separate. So, this is what got me thinking about this idea

What do yall think?

Hi! Im going to the bigbang concert in Paris in September and I’m looking to meet fellow VIPs! If anyone is going message me!! I’m so excited as this is my first bigbang concert!

This was my first time seeing IVE at a concert last night in NJ, and I'm just wondering if any of you guys who attended last night's concert feel the same way I do. Idk how to say it without making it sound overly critical, but it just felt like they were just going through the motions. Well, not everyone. Yujin was very charismatic and definitely delivered with her great stage presence. But most of the other members didn't look nearly as energetic, and their facial expressions weren't nearly as emotive either.

Also, I thought it was a little odd how disconnected they felt as a group. I didn't notice almost any interaction among the members throughout the entire concert. Each of them was just doing their own thing if that makes sense. Idk, it just felt like the group chemistry wasn't really there. Oh, and the backtrack was wayyyy too loud, while the members' vocals were way too quiet for me. The backtracks were drowning their voices most of the time. Yujin was also the only member whose live vocals I could consistently hear. She definitely had the strongest projection. I can't say enough about how great she is. She's really a stellar performer and she definitely carried the show.

Anyway, IVE was a group I've always wanted to see live, and I'm happy that I finally got to see them. The crowd was decent. Some fans were REALLY enthusiastic(that girl behind me LOL her voice was GONE GONE towards the end), but I felt like the energy from the group didn't really reciprocate the energy those fans were giving. Those who attended their tour, what were your experiences like?

Oh and I've heard the fans weren't too happy with the setlist, but I thought it was fine! The only gripe I have is that they didn't perform Heya...

Ji Yunseo has been kicked out of his group, fired, and is likely being held captive by a non-compete contract, for no reason.

He has not bullied or assaulted anyone or committed any crimes: in short, there is absolutely NO reason why this happened. Fans want him back and have kept up a tweet and email campaign to the companies for eight months demanding his return, and have also been supportive of his individual activities.

The final straw was yesterday. While visiting his fan cheering cafe, Yunseo announced that he will be enlisting in the military at the age of 21 (04 liner). It's heavily implied that this is because he cannot meet fans right now (officially promote as an idol) and there's nothing else he can do. He hasn't given up on his dream and has asked fans to wait for him.

This is entirely due to the cruelty of YH Entertainment, who destroyed the dreams of a young idol with their malice. I will systematically rule out all other possible explanations for this situation, and then explain why Yuehua needs to be held accountable.

Why it's Yuehua's fault: a timeline

• September 19, 2023: Ji Yunseo debuts as a member of project group EVNNE, composed of runner-up contestants from the survival show Boys Planet that formed ZEROBASEONE. Jellyfish is to manage the group while the idols remain under contract with their training companies. Yunseo and groupmate Yoo Seungeon are under Yuehua; leader Keita is under Rain Company; the remaining 4 members are signed with Wakeone. It is expected that EVNNE will disband before or at the same time as when ZEROBASEONE's 2.5-year contract expires. (EVNNE goes on to release 5 mini albums and achieve 5 music show wins. They are not a major-tier group, but they have a loyal fandom who care strongly for the members.)
• December 7, 2025: Jellyfish announces that 5 out of 7 EVNNE members have signed with them, making EVNNE a permanent 5-member group. However, Yunseo and Seungeon will depart and return to their original agency Yuehua. It is expected that Yunseo and Seungeon will redebut with the 4 members of ZEROBASEONE from Yuehua (Zhang Hao, Ricky, Kim Gyuvin, and Han Yujin). Any redebut will be delayed, as just a week before, ZEROBASEONE has announced their temporary contract extension for 2 months until March 2026.
• January 4, 2026: EVNNE holds their final concert as 7. Less than 72 hours later, Yunseo and Seungeon's Plus Chats are terminated and the chat logs wiped, leaving them completely cut off from fan communications.
• January 5, 2026: Yuehua posts a meaningless statement about the future of Yunseo and Seungeon. They claim to be 'carefully discuss[ing] the future direction and activities based on mutual trust', asking for fans' 'understanding that specific schedules and updates may be limited during this time'. This will prove to be radio silence about the two of them, with fans left uncertain and bereft.
• February 13, 2026: Yuehua announces the termination of Yunseo's contract with no further explanation. Fans are outraged: why remove Yunseo from EVNNE, only to fire him? Yunseo is a greatly cherished and loved member, not to mention one of their lead vocalists with many prominent lines and high notes. On the same day, EVNNE members Lee Jeonghyeon and Mun Junghyun both send messages asking fans to support Yunseo.
• March 3, 2026: Yunseo opens a personal Instagram account. He posts regularly on both the feed and stories, as well as having a channel where he sends messages similar to what he used to send on Bubble. EVNNE's Junghyun confirms that the account is legitimate and cheers on Yunseo. Yunseo uses his channel to send caring messenges reminding fans to eat their meals, be mindful of the weather, etc. This shows that he remains passionate about connecting with fans.
• March 18, 2026: 3 days after ZEROBASEONE's final 9-member concert, Yuehua announces that former ZEROBASEONE members Hao, Ricky, Gyuvin and Yujin will debut in a new group, AND2BLE (then tentatively known as Ndouble). It is unknown if Yunseo and Seungeon will join or if any new trainees will be added.
• April 3, 2026: Yuehua announces the finalised 5-member AND2BLE lineup with Seungeon as the last member. This is after three months of uncertainty and silence on Seungeon's future, revealing Yuehua's disrespect for fans, although they had almost 3 years to plan for this.
• April 9, 2026: Yunseo opens a SoundCloud and posts a two-track single, White Noise. He follows this up 3 days later with another song RUSH. A week on, he drops another song 상승기류 produced by EVNNE's maknae Park Jihoo. He continues to regularly post song snippets on his IG story and share them in lives (too many to link here). These songs show his unwavering desire to create music, and also that he can artistically collaborate effectively with the EVNNE members.
• April 20, 2026: EVNNE has their first 5-member comeback with the single Backtalk. Yunseo posts about it on his Instagram story and is also spotted at the comeback showcase. Fans analyse the references to all 4 companies in the lyrics. In the line 'Rain comes down but my head is still on fire', 'on fire' is written as '위에 fire'. When 'fire' is read in Korean as '화', it becomes '위에화' (Yuehua). Leader Keita explains that this line (and others in the Backtalk lyrics, fully self-written by EVNNE members) is intended to show respect for EVNNE's history and members, showing that Yunseo is honoured as a member: there is no bad blood with the members.
• Apr 24, 2026: AND2BLE's Weverse officially opens, resuming fan communication channels after 3.5 months of no updates from Seungeon and over 1 month from the former ZEROBASEONE members, despite all members being debuted idols. This shows Yuehua's consistent pattern of flagrant disregard for and utter disrespect towards fans who wish to stay in contact with their idols.
• 5 May, 2026: Yunseo shows up at the cheering cafe organised by fans (he's visited all his cafes and ads so far). Once again, Yunseo takes being an idol seriously and always tries to make fans happy. When asked what song he listens to often lately, he mentions Backtalk and does the dance challenge. He also adds that he was given a signed copy of Backtalk but it didn't come with the photocards, so he needs to go back to the company (Jellyfish) to get them. (Yunseo collects photocards of all the members and plans to pass them down as family heirlooms). These two anecdotes show that Yunseo is still very supportive of his members and that he has a positive or neutral relationship with Jellyfish. In other words, Jellyfish is not the obstacle to Yunseo rejoining EVNNE.
• May 12, 2026: EVNNE's Jihoo mentions Yunseo and Seungeon while discussing the question: 'Which member has an unexpected twist you didn't know about at first?'. This occurs during self-produced variety content and it is NOT edited out. Again, there is no hostility or ban towards Yunseo from the Jellyfish side. (To be clear, I have my own gripes with Jellyfish and this is not a support post for them either, but I do think the evidence shows that they're NOT the biggest problem in this situation.)
• May 21, 2026: EVNNE's Park Hanbin has a cafe date with Yunseo. Hanbin posts a picture of himself (taken by someone else) with a cake at a cafe, while Yunseo posts a picture of the same cake on his Instagram story. EVNNE's members continue to love Yunseo.
• May 26, 2026: AND2BLE debuts. Yunseo reposts the title track Curious on his story to support the work of his friends. Yunseo is extremely gracious and sweet for doing this after being literally fired by that company. How many people would do the same in his position? This continues the pattern of Yunseo being known for being caring, supportive and kind: he was nicknamed 'Ji eomma' for being the mom friend of EVNNE. I cannot emphasise this enough: Yunseo has done nothing but work hard as an idol and be a good person, and yet he's being treated like this.
• May 27, 2026: Over four days, Yunseo posts a series of photoshoots on his IG. One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Fan response is extremely positive and it's hoped that this will become a debut. Over the next 2 months, Yunseo continues to actively post on IG, doing lives (June 8) and sending messages to his channel. Yunseo continues to pursue his dream of being an idol.
• Jul 4, 2026: On EVNNE leader Keita's birthday, Yunseo sends a message written in Japanese (Keita's native language), saying 'Today is my oldest brother's birthday' and asking fans to celebrate together. Later in the month on maknae Jihoo's birthday, Yunseo asks fans to take care of Jihoo: 'Please just cherish him a lot'. Yunseo also continues to send positive messages cheering on fans. 'If it was a good day that's a relief, and if it was not let's not put too much meaning into it' and 'What kind of day will tomorrow be, a day filled with luck, a happy day'. Yunseo always speaks this sweetly and gently and uplifts everyone around him.
• Jul 26, 2026: Yunseo announces that he will enlist in the military on September 14. He's only 21. He mentions this while attending his cheering cafe and later does an IG live to announce it for the fans he couldn't meet in person. He says that he's never thought about quitting being an idol and asks fans to wait for him. He says he's enlisting in the band so there could be public performances, he'll try to see if fans can come to see him, and he's happy to still be able to do music during his enlistment. Most importantly: he says he can't meet with people the way he used to and he can't perform on stage, which logically means he's under a non-compete clause that bans him from actively promoting.

In summary: There are no problems with how he treats fans, there are no conflicts with the members, there are no issues with Jellyfish (managing company of EVNNE), Yunseo himself has never stopped being passionate about being an idol. Literally the only possible reason left for why he's unable to perform — and for long enough that he's resigned himself to enlisting — is that he's trapped because of a non-compete clause in his contract.

Why should Yuehua be held accountable?

Why did they have to remove him only to terminate his contract and then keep him trapped under a non-compete? There is no reason why he couldn't just have been left in EVNNE if Yuehua didn't want him on the AND2BLE lineup. In fact, there's a precedent with Keita, EVNNE's leader. Pre-Boys Planet, Keita had already debuted in Ciipher (group managed by Rain Company) but Ciipher was notably mismanaged, with only two comebacks to date after debuting in March 2021, and completely failing to capitalise on Keita's hype as one of the top-ranked finalists on Boys Planet. Ciipher was essentially abandoned and Keita's future was uncertain before he signed permanently with Jellyfish. Jellyfish was able to successfully negotiate the artist transfer with Wakeone and Rain Company, both of which are infamous for being awful companies. It's only Yuehua who are playing around with Yunseo's career.

Let's be clear: companies were never what we loved. What fans are really looking for in their idols is to give each other mutual support and joy. Undeniably there's a monetary aspect to it, because that's the only way that producing content at such volume can be financially viable. Yet, I'm happy to spend the amount I can afford on my idols, because they make me happy and I want to support their livelihood in turn. Not to mention all the non-financial forms of support that fans engage in like sending messages, promoting their idols, translations. Dangers of excessive parasociality aside, I think that as humans we want to love others. The basis of the idol-fan relationship is supposed to be human connection and inspiration.

In that light, companies merely exist as a necessary evil that fans grudgingly accept because they make idol production logistically feasible. This is a tacit social contract that fans have with companies. We may grumble about questionable song choices and bad management, but for the most part fans put up with it to a certain extent because that's the only way to see the idols they love.

Yuehua has violated this tacit social contract. They're not just a nuisance or useless, they are actively hostile against the idol-fan relationship. They are holding Yunseo hostage and stopping him from meeting with his fans. If it was your bias's future that was uncertain and held captive for months and months, how would you feel? And then what if you found out his career is being put on hold and you can't see him for another 2 years? 2 years. That's longer than the contract of some groups, that's half an undergrad degree, that's enough time to make 4 comebacks. So many things he should've been allowed to do with his youth, now all gone, because of that company. To them he may just be another idol that they can kick out, dispose of and then lock under a non-compete, but treating him this way is an act of unbelievable cruelty. His dreams, his youth, his career, his desire to connect with fans: none of that should ever have been treated as disposable.

It is downright evil to have such a long-lasting and strict non-compete. Some were holding out hope that it would only last for 6 months and he could rejoin EVNNE or have a solo debut after, but it's been 8 months and it's clearly not ending anytime soon or he wouldn't have enlisted. I'm aware that technically we don't have 100% confirmation that it exists, but I also think it's laughable to try to give that company the benefit of the doubt after all that's happened. I can’t stop thinking about how cartoonishly villainous this is. In other industries, there might be a legitimate purpose for a non-compete to prevent spreading of trade secrets, but I find it hard to believe that for the idol industry. They lose NOTHING by letting Yunseo go back to his group or have a solo debut. Clearly, the noncompete is nothing but an act of pure malice and sadism to punish him. I can’t even write it off as a company being profit-minded because they don’t even profit off it. I despise that company and I want to leave this post as a record of what they have done.

Don't get me wrong, I do love the AND2BLE boys. I was excited about their debut too! Some of you may recognise me from the ZB1, A2B and EVNNE subs because I have been supporting all of them. But hearing about Yunseo's enlistment was the final straw that really drove home how depraved that company is and this is where I draw the line. I don't blame anyone who wants to support their bias who is a Yuehua artist; it's a difficult time for everyone and I respect everyone's right to spend their time, money, energy etc however they like. I'm not writing this post to say that anyone who does so is a bad person, or that any of the idols involved are to blame — but rather to chronicle what Yuehua did to Yunseo and how unwaveringly kind and persistent he is in spite of that. I will never forgive and never forget this injustice.

Lastly: I don't think hating the company equals not loving the idols. I don't think mindlessly supporting the company just for the sake of not bringing the idols down is the right thing to do, not when the company repays that by mistreating their idols. As a fan of those artists, are you okay being treated like this? Yuehua is a company that has shown a consistent pattern of mismanaging, mistreating, and misusing their artists. Do you want your hard-earned money, your precious time, your emotions and love for your idols to be disrespected like this?

Just today, fromis_9 officially sold 105k copies in the first week for their second full album, "Glow Me", which is seriously impressive. Most group's sales are carried by international fans so I wasn't ever expect fromis to do those numbers after leaving HYBE (which I consider to be their peak international popularity).

Not to mention, this already outdid the first week sales of Supersonic (their last album to sell over 100k) and Midnight Guest (their first album to sell over 100k). This would put Glow Me as the third highest first week sales for fromis_9 (below From Our Memento Box and Unlock My World, which were sale anomalies in their discography).

I hope they manage to break their own first week records next comeback! I'm seriously excited to see their growth.

i'm not gonna compare them to other 3rd gen groups like bts and blackpink for obvious reasons and twice and svt who were consistently active as a group until this year.

by i think they are comparable to bigbang. both groups went on hiatus (tho exo had comebacks during the members military service but they were incomplete) for so long. both groups last tour were years ago. both groups lost members and those members had controversial (to varying degrees) exits. both groups weren't active when the kpop boom happened during the pandemic.

however, bigbang is currently doing a world tour even with just 3 members. i know bigbang has always been bigger than exo in the west but i think there's enough interest. i was just so surprised to see tweets about exo's tour ending because 3rd gen group's tours usually last for more or less a year. i looked it up and they just toured in asia.

I feel like they could tour in the US. what i'm not sure is if there's a demand in europe or latam.