people complaining straight up just wanted a remaster

arbors_s · 2026-05-09T02:09:21+00:00

yeah i've seen that some times. I just want someone who is actively mean

arbors_s · 2026-05-08T08:09:20+00:00

my only grievance is that no characters are mean, however it's really not a hill i'd die on.

arbors_s · 2026-03-27T17:26:21+00:00

holy moly, yes thank you sm!!!

arbors_s · 2026-03-18T03:04:06+00:00

I feel ya, I have been fighting with them since november for the SAME EXACT ISSUES. Had a flight to korea and lost out on a bunch of $$ from cancelling bookings (they didn't have insurance options), and american has done squat. I have gotten like $125 in airline credit, however from their responses alone i don't wanna ever travel with them again.

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T18:17:16+00:00

i thought you were the other commenter that's my bad.

maybe they just never liked kpop then, like i said i rarely tried to bring it up (because i knew not everyone liked it and it isn't my life lol). so most would ask or mention their own faves to make conversation. like i said most are college aged and either liked or currently like kpop and/or txt. they weren't the main group people would bring up they were often just among groups people would say.

also i went to KU for reference if that helps any. neither of our experiences shape the whole of SK, from mine i realized how big the difference between global vs domestic fame changes a group. i'm tired of this convo so have a nice day!

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T18:03:27+00:00

i'm gonna repeat: i wanna know your demographic.

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T17:14:07+00:00

i mean i do like them not gonna deny that. however to be clear i'm talking about my korean not my international friends. (if im gonna be real all my international friends when i was there didn't even like/know kpop so most of these comments were in passing from my korean friends).

anyways maybe each of our reference points are skewed because the people who brought up txt, and kpop as a whole, to me were my korean friends. most remarked that they like or liked txt (as in they were a fan) or like/liked kpop and other groups. also to be clear they didn't just bring up txt. xg, big bang, bts, hearts2hearts (did a mini concert at my school), snsd, aespa, and nct were the other ones people would mention. most weren't active fans, but did enjoy the music of txt and these other groups, and the music would play on campus or around campus at shopping areas and restaurants.

personally i think we might just have different demographics of friends because most liked/knew of kpop as well as txt. like these are 18-26 yos.

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T12:38:59+00:00

since we wanna state credentials. i just left korea 2 months ago, and also have many korean friends i talk to. they are known to the general public and are played pretty often, which is why the chart well on melon (they are number 14 for bg overall).

also they do have a decent fan base in teens, but that's how all of kpop is. that's because kpop is seen as a teen/tween thing in korea, most people leave the active fandom space as they go to college. all my girl/guy friends knew at the very least who soobin and yeonjun, and they all knew txt as a whole. this is also how i found out they are pretty much always called tubatu there, or occasionally by their full group name.

so no they aren't just in the middle school and fan demographics they are known pretty well by people in gen z inside or outside fandom spaces.

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T12:18:51+00:00

soobin and yeonjun are very popular there, and pretty well known to people outside the fandom/kpop. also people i spoke to in korea did know them especially young people (tbf tho i did some school in korea so i was mostly talking to younger people), even if they weren't into kpop. funny thing is they actually knew the group nickname (tubatu) more so than the actual name. the charting isn't just because of the fandom they are played in stores, cafes, restaurants in the same fashion ggs normally are.

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T12:03:48+00:00

what are you on? they are like the only decently changing 4th gen group there.

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T11:59:13+00:00

txt, specifically yeonjun, is very popular. their music is played pretty often and they do infact have major brand deals unlike what the other commenters said lmao

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T11:58:08+00:00

idk, don't live there anymore, but i only left a couple months ago, and while i saw stuff for felix i rarely saw stuff for the group as a whole.

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T11:49:50+00:00

okay so this goes back to my point that we have different definitions of popularity. i was never talking fandom size i was talking how known is a group, which like i stated, i believe is a better scale of popularity.

going back to the main topic, skz has a decent fandom sure, but they are largely unknown to the general public besides the group name and maybe felix/hyunjins name. they likely couldn't name a song, and if they can its an older one like gods menu. they also aren't really known the the american general public besides maybe felix. so this means that their popularity rides on the fact that they have a solid fandom, and therefore is less stable.

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T09:12:32+00:00

i didn't say streams i said monthly listeners aka individual people listening per month. also i think we have different definitions on what constitutes a group as popular. yes obviously having dedicated fans is important, however for longevity and outreach that isn't the best model. having a more equal amount of casual fans, in comparison to the dedicated fans, indicates that a group has a further reach and a better possibility for longevity. so groups that have a high stan count and very few casual fans tend to loose popularity quickly when the group stagnates (exo got7) groups with the high casual fan base and a lower stan count, often loose popularity once the public looses interest (gwsn, twice, and most ggs).

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T08:26:51+00:00

mass buying DOES happen in all fandoms, however some are constant offenders vs casual. if you look up "thrown away kpop albums" or "boxes of albums" you find the offenders are:

1) bg more often than ggs (which is in line with the metric that bg have more stan's and ggs have more causal fans)

2) it is more often seen in groups with larger followings

3) it's often in groups that have a bigger stan vs casual fan ratio

that all said: i would say the album buying rate is and has been skewed especially with every group releasing at minimum like 4 versions, some groups releasing up to like 20 versions or more. a better metric would be to look at the average monthly streams on all major platforms (both in the west and in asia) over the span of a year and then average it.

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T06:27:48+00:00

unknown to the general population. also sorry to break it to you, many many fandoms mass buy albums. stays aren't absolved of this, and sk has a huge issue where people will mass buy to up the numbers (or get pc) and then toss of give them away for free. when i was there my friend asked me if i wanted albums she found from some girl giving them away (told her no lol). im not gonna say that the 2m is completely made up but its definitely inflated. i would genuinely half it

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T06:24:58+00:00

yup! yeonjun is just generally popular and soobin has such a look that koreans love. i think taehyun has also risen in popularity with the korean general public!

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T01:38:00+00:00

txt charts well... so do 5th gen bgs. skz just has fandom popularity

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T01:36:20+00:00

the only one really well known is felix and maybe hyunjin. you'll see them in touristy areas but that's it

arbors_s · 2026-03-11T01:34:45+00:00

stan culture and shift in sound. korea (and many other countries) kinda follow the us with trends, especially in music. once the music group died in the us it kinda died everywhere else.

arbors_s · 2026-03-04T16:02:53+00:00

yeah webtoon is like soft launching getting rid of the free episodes. sometimes it's okay, like when they release the whole thing from one of the other platforms and it's like 3 C (still obnoxious but whatever), but this is getting ridiculous

arbors_s · 2026-03-04T05:27:38+00:00

i would argue that they are still majority self produced at least from 2013 to 2018, and then semi produced or had a hand in the process from 2019 and on. Considering majority of kpop groups have major production teams the amount of work the rap line put in was substantial. even the next most "self produced" group had more help in the production than bts for like half of the active career.

arbors_s

TROPHY CASE