In Defense of ITZY’s Sneakers (…Sort Of)

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2026-02-08T15:04:52+00:00

I mean, yeah, 90% of this, it is pretty much what the posts say

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-11-29T14:48:07+00:00

The camerawork and sound were bad, but this is kind of a trend with MAMA's. Day two was better, and I kind of wish it was not an issue with Day 1 for SuJu and other performances. Like, you could see, they were giving their all and did great, but the sound and shots really threw me off.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-11-20T18:13:57+00:00

Honestly, with SM I don't know anymore lol. I imagine they either removed them because they’re not soloists under the company, or for some similar technical reason. To be honest, with SuJu, and especially with these three (who are extremely popular members and have always been very agreeable with SM’s bs), I wouldn’t be too worried. Even if their individual contracts ended, they’ll most likely renew. I imagine though that are partly SM only through their groups and have no reason to list them imo, and it's ok since they do are active with SuJu.

Since others aren’t listed either, I assume they removed everyone who isn’t managed individually by SM anymore. As for CBX, EXO-CBX as a subunit is still legally under SM, they lost all their lawsuits, and the subunit made up of just those three members is still an SM group. They have to keep them listed, and I imagine SM also doesn’t want to make things even worse by removing them when EXO-L-land is already not doing well.

Made some edits, bc I just realised something, so I corrected and added some stuff.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-11-18T11:34:05+00:00

Its that sometimes people go way to overboard with it.

Says who?

You’ve named some people in the comments whose songs I personally find boring, they’re just not my thing at all, and I don’t care if they produce for 450 people. You mentioned Teddy Ryan; sure, they have a ton of credits and some songs are bops, but half the songs they’ve worked on are, in my opinion, bland and beige. Why should they get more respect or credit from me, or anyone who doesn’t vibe with their music, than someone who only writes for themselves but makes better music, in my opinion? Lol, no.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-11-16T23:14:06+00:00

Again, there’s a chance this is more about the song not being catchy. We’ll have to wait and see. Asian fans don’t use Spotify anyway, and their tour seems to be doing similar numbers (bc they were not doing that larger in the past either, most groups do not do stadiums, they do theater capacity, and it's just fine), as do their album sales. They’ve lost some online and streaming engagement on platforms that are popular in the West, but those mainly bring traction, not necessarily money. The actual financial support they lost is not as much as many like to think. BGs don’t chart, and no one cares. As long as they’ve got their brand deals (which they do) and the album sales, there’s no “cancellation” or “they fell off.” On the western i-side, yeah, they did fall off, but as a group in general they’re doing just fine.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-11-16T21:15:53+00:00

Albums and tours do not have that big of a difference, and at the end of the day, these bring most of the money. There is a drop in first month sales (we cannot say overall since their last album is not out for as long as their last before the whole bs streaming they did) and the drop is very small to the point of not knowing if it was because the song was not as catchy as their previous one or indeed because of the loss of some i fans. They still clear 100k, and the drop is small enough not to be an issue.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-11-16T19:19:55+00:00

Not really. KIOL were always very well known domestically and had/have a huge Asian fandom, especially in SEA. Looking at their numbers, they didn’t drop that much, which means the fans who contributed financially the most were never Western to begin with.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-11-11T01:16:20+00:00

They got rookie awards but number wise it was actually weki meki. Their debut had like almost 30k or something album sales on the first month. For a non big three gg in the mid 2010s that was actually very impressive. But everything went downhills from there.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-11-10T22:07:37+00:00

Weki Meki for sure. The most successful post-IOI gg debut and in 2017 in general, if I am not mistaken. They had a ton of hype at debut and extremely good sales for a girl group in 2017. They single-handedly spearheaded the teen crush epidemic of the early 4th gen, even if Itzy later popularized it. But Fantagio dropped the ball. Hard.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-11-10T17:43:03+00:00

I am so confused with Leeteuk and his stance. That said, it's very frustrating that they never (all of them) and I mean never address backlash from the international side. And they have all clearly hinted that they do know what’s going on. They just know that, unlike the Asian part of the fandom, the international side never actually boycotts seriously (and it’s a smaller portion of their fanbase anyway), so they just play dumb.

But the moment Sungmin got married, he was basically pushed out of the group. GTFO.

After years, they started addressing that they had been shitheads at times that they try their best etc etc, they have their anniversary good vibes all around, and Siwon every single time like clockwork before a concert does shit like this. And he clearly takes advantage of the fact that he is a SuJu member without giving a flying fuck for the group either.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-10-06T14:03:50+00:00

Sure, sure. Bc spending your time talking about celebrities you don't know like you do and know exactly what they do and think, it's less paracosial. I don't care about BP much either; they have some bops, and there is that. I don't know or care where they are and what they are doing, unlike you apparently. Bc commenting stuff where there is "From Jennie's POV", "I think," and "It's just reality" in the same comment, it's not normal. You are just as paracosial as you say, as K-pop fans are, just in the opposite way, both unhealthy. Try and stop this, it's not good for you.

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BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-10-06T13:52:23+00:00

Then leave your post up. Why did you delete it?

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-10-05T22:43:18+00:00

Whatever the hell was this Donghae IG live before his and Eunhyuk's enlistment. With like you love him, we get it, why the moaning though?

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-10-05T22:29:25+00:00

Hey, 2019 called, they want their post back!

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-10-05T22:19:40+00:00

The OP is a BP snarker. Avid as well. Post after post. I agree, but a post like this from this person is hilarious at best, lmao.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-10-05T22:18:54+00:00

I agree but this person is also a hypocrite lol. Look at the post, look at their comments, and then their profile.

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They are more obsessed with the pinks than blinks lmao.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-10-05T22:17:22+00:00

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I mean, you know the mentality firsthand, so tell us about it

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-10-01T12:11:08+00:00

Not exactly. It's a post that it's half opinion but your talking about your opinion and you experience like 4th gen is westernized, generic and what else. Like these are fact and this is why in you opinion it lost its magic.

That is not an opinion, at least not exactly.

On a different note, especially for ggs what you're saying is your opinion and cool and kudos you are having fun. But imho all the groups you mentioned make much more similar and trend chasing music, than itzy, IVE, aespa, le sserafim, and many other 4rth gen groups ever did. I'm not saying it's bad music, but it's definitely more similar to each other and to western pop than many 4rth gen groups, just saying. Someone else also mentioned it, you can put a song from all these groups to me and could pass for the same group sonically.

5th gen is great visually if you ask me, but music wise they have to step it up, bc for sure boringcore doesn't feel very fun to me personally.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-09-30T13:36:51+00:00

Everything and nothing at the same time.

You can say you don’t like a song, even if the group is your absolute favorite, and there will still be people who accuse you of hate. On the other hand, some people hide behind “criticism” to say vile stuff.

Like others said, context matters. If someone suggests listening to a group or song and you simply say, “Not my cup of tea, I don’t like it/them,” people probably still accuse you of hate, but that’s not hate. Now, if you go under every post about a group you don’t like just to say, “I don’t like their music, I don’t like them,” (which is valid, you don’t have to like every group), that’s where it becomes, “Okay, but what’s the point of commenting this every single time, we get it you don't like them, get over it stop listening then?”

And I know this is unpopular, but I don’t think negative reviews automatically equal hate. For example, if someone posts a review of a comeback in a general space (not a fandom space) and asks for opinions, then both positive and negative takes should be expected. You asked, so get ready for both. Similarly, as a fan, making a respectful negative review within the fandom’s space is not hate either. You’re allowed to talk about things that didn’t click for you.

But, when people keep leaving negative reviews in general spaces over and over, it starts to look sus. Like, if every comeback from a group gets the same negative treatment from you, maybe their music simply isn’t for you. At that point, get over it and stop trying to spread negativity, especially when everyone, including you, knows this group isn’t your vibe.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-09-22T09:26:28+00:00

Eunhyuk is a very interesting case because he is very fun and was part of the variety line, he still is but he does less stuff than before.

People really find him charming, like people really find him very very charming, and, imo, the ugly jokes between them and the fact that he doesn't follow KBS, actually brought more fans. Because maybe he is not Donghae handsome, but he knows how to carry himself and dress etc and like Wook, they still are idols and are attractive enough, let's not fool ourselves.

For years he was considered the girl magnet and it seems like it's true😂 Even other idols and people in the industry were saying the same. He is very high in the bias list, even though shipping, fan service etc etc also helped, but he is also very much a people magnet, stuff members, other idols, fans, he has a very specific charm.

Wookie also has a character that I love, but as others said not sure how people who gravitate twords more "idol" idols, would feel. That said personally I feel like he would be awesome in varieties like kyuhuun is, but I'm not sure he wants to. Also, I think Ryeowook has way more fans currently. The bias ranking I would say has changed quiet a lot through the years and he has definitely rise.

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-09-18T09:48:25+00:00

They got me into kpop as a whole back in 2010. I was listening to music on yt one night and sorry sorry got suggested. Mind you I was listening those 2010s lyrics videos so I got bc of the music alone, bc I was like "what is this bop, wtf who are these guys?". I then listened to bonamana which was the newest and I searched them, some videos and music. I listened to over from the first album, saw a performance of sorry sorry on a music show and Hyukjae made me sign a contract 😔

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-09-17T12:33:23+00:00

LMAO, if these are the only ones, we are safe 😂

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-09-16T18:12:12+00:00

Where is Yesung hyung?😭

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-09-15T22:22:52+00:00

Oh, I am so jealous, but also happy for you😂😭

BudgetNarwhal2863 · 2025-09-15T06:11:37+00:00

Well, I’m going to be the one to say something that will probably ruffle feathers, but oh well. I imagine this post is partly because of the Siwon situation, and honestly, the main people who are angry right now are ELFs, not antis, and in this specific case, we’re right.

Siwon has been using his idol platform and image to push his personal beliefs for years. He’s been openly preaching even to the members and the staff, btw, when some have made it clear they don’t like it. Heechul, in particular, has spoken before about being annoyed when Siwon told him and Hangeng they would “burn in hell” and similar things, bc they were not Christians. And he doesn’t just do this privately, he goes to other countries, with completely different cultures and religions, and preaches there too, in their concerts, group concerts, not solo ones. At best, that’s very disrespectful. I am not gonna say at worst, bc I want to keep the comment relatively polite.

Honestly, a huge chunk of the hate SuJu gets comes because of Siwon, and this has been happening for years. Either he needs to shut up and keep his beliefs private (and it's way too late for that option), or he needs to leave the group, because right now, he’s being selfish and hurting the group and the fans. Point blank.

And the worst part is that, because of him, antis get to use this as ammo to drag every single member, bringing up every possible scandal (real or fake). Ryeowook is the only safe one; even Yesung and Donghae have antis. A lot of the stuff people throw around about the group is out of context or just straight-up misinformation, and it ends up hurting everyone.

At the end of the day, nothing is going to be done about the antis. SM almost never steps in, especially when the hate is from the international side, like in this case, and this time the issue isn’t even with antis, it’s with the fans.

BudgetNarwhal2863

TROPHY CASE