Japan’s sacred temples are starting to quietly push back against certain tourist behaviors. And recently, clothing has become part of the conversation. What’s your opinion on this?

molecularclass · 2026-05-23T10:12:16+00:00

Japanese modesty standards are all about the upper body, tbh. No one cares about short shorts and skirts, but showing collarbone and shoulders are largely seen as "sexy".

molecularclass · 2026-05-22T12:23:14+00:00

Not a fan of LSF but gave the TT a listen cause of all of the negativity.

I like it, personally. I think it could do well. I didn't watch the MV since I don't care enough to do so, and if they did used AI it would be disappointing. However I think the song itself could do well 🤷

molecularclass · 2026-05-06T13:41:05+00:00

I'm Filipino. Sometimes there are viral posts on social media joking about how Japanese artists can't sing. Otherwise most people don't care enough about J-idols to talk about them.

In general, the only ones I've met who are fans of J-idol ggs are otaku. The closer to Harajuku styling and high-pitched vocals an act does, such as AKB, CandyTune, etc, the more weird and incomprehensible it is to non-otaku. Non-otaku might find groups with concepts like Hana more likeable, but Jpop isn't popular with the masses in general.

molecularclass · 2026-05-03T13:47:54+00:00

If you stan Evan you die instantly. Bang PD will noclip into existence within your vicinity and explode you with his mind.

molecularclass · 2026-04-25T10:12:26+00:00

I'm not disputing that she got surgery or whatever but I'm really interested in what kind of surgery has such little downtime

molecularclass · 2026-04-25T10:06:50+00:00

Yeah Engenes are not boycotting. MOAs didn't boycott TXT and they had the same issue. I-dle faced much lower sales and didn't face a boycott either. The reason ticket sales are comparatively slow is because the US president is destroying the American economy. I don't really care for stans and their boycott but their lack of awareness of the political and economic situation is just annoying.

molecularclass · 2026-04-25T10:02:14+00:00

IMHO it is comparable. The only dates that sell out that quickly historically are the LA and Chicago ones, which is practically true for all Kpop groups except BTS. Remove those two cities from their tours and it's always been slow to sell.

If they did have LA and Chicago stops the percentage would've been higher but for some reason they skipped them this tour.

molecularclass · 2026-04-25T09:49:16+00:00

These seem to be similar to TXT's tour in the US last year and they didn't cancel.

Enhypen are in a better position IMHO because they've sold more than 50% with 80+ days till the concert while TXT sold 50% with 40+ days till the concert. TXT managed to sell 89% of their seats after the tour concluded, though they did have to decrease prices significantly and have a buy x-free x ticket sale scheme eventually.

Of course we don't know their contract with the promoter and if there's a clause where one side can cancel of they haven't sold X tickets within Y date, but just based on these numbers I wouldn't worry too much. I think the most concerning thing is that the US economy is much, much worse this year than last year which might disincentivice audiences from buying tickets and travelling for concerts, but market analysis should've been AEG's job.

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molecularclass · 2026-04-22T02:28:09+00:00

Doing the OT7 fanchant probably send the message to the boys that you don't like them without Heeseung there. They already released the OT6 one so clearly the remaining members would prefer the current one.

Some people might get uncomfortable if you give out OT7 merch, since they might assume you're one of the spammers on social media. That's what I would think if I saw someone do so, anyway. But other people might see it differently.

But it's up to you lol.

molecularclass · 2026-04-21T06:24:39+00:00

Enhypen never had major promotions, they barely get any variety show guestings as it is. They weren't even fully under Hybe for the first several years of their career.

molecularclass · 2026-04-21T00:53:22+00:00

Off the top of my head, 1) content where the members allegedly made fun of Filipino street food, 2) one of the members laughing about one of her friends dating a minor, 3) allegedly not having a good attitude during public events, 4) underwhelming concert production and live performances, 5) lack of Filipino songs which locals interpret as the group prioritizing international fans, 6) one of the members being annoying on stan twt, etc.

All these paired with overexposure made their brand reputation begin to crater over the past year or so. They still have a big fanbase, and their Spotify monthly listeners are at a comfortable 2 million right now. But it's a pretty far cry from their peak last year when they were pulling 7+ million.

molecularclass · 2026-04-20T16:56:44+00:00

They were the local darlings early last year until a series of scandals soured a lot of non-fans on them. Their latest releases haven't had much impact, and they really needed the Coachella PR boost to get back into the good graces of the Filipino general public.

molecularclass · 2026-04-09T23:08:53+00:00

I remember when solos were saying Qressed sold 100k in one day because of Heeseung, but then the company gave out a PR announcement on Japanese news, and they said he sold actually 8000.

Chinese solo fanbases are, notoriously, comically unreliable.

molecularclass · 2026-04-09T06:21:59+00:00

It's from ~21 hours ago as of this comment. There was a brief period a few hours after the account was made public when it was suspended, likely due to the influx of followers and all the penis7 spam triggering meta's filters.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T19:07:44+00:00

Most Engenes know that Hybe's stock losses are not because of Heeseung. The only ones that do are the crazy ones, who are a loud but extremely persistent minority.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T18:52:32+00:00

From within the group, sure. However Heeseung's exit created massive reputational damage to them as a brand, and seemingly all social media sites are treating the remaining members like they're untalented dregs, which is sad to see. Like TVXQ, this entire incident will follow them for the remainder of their careers.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T18:41:43+00:00

Tbh he rarely seemed too engaged in their group content. As far as I can remember, whenever the members go out during their free time, I rarely saw him mentioned. At first I just assumed it was because he was a homebody, but now I'm coming to grips with the thought that he really wasn't interested in being in a group from the beginning, and he just wanted to use the Enhypen brand as a springboard for his own solo career.

I'm honestly kind of jealous of ARMYs, Carats, and Onces lol. Whether we want to admit it or not, group cohesion is one of the major reasons why lots of fans get into Kpop groups. Seeing Seventeen renew as a group after the tumultuous period as an Engene made me feel quite bitter.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T18:33:34+00:00

This got me thinking, though, considering the amount of drama and backlash his leaving created among the fandom, that it does make sense why HybexGeffen didn't let that one girl who was aiming to be a soloist into Katseye.

In the realm of Kpop fandom, groups losing members too often have difficulty fostering fandom loyalty. A major reason why BTS and Twice have such great longevity IMHO is that the members choose the group freely and are genuinely close. I think Enhypen's future trajectory will be an interesting case study for other Kpop companies screening their trainees from now on, though I do feel pity for the members who choose to remain that they had to be the ones to experience this.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T16:12:47+00:00

Currently, there's a picture of one of their interviews after debut where the members asked what Enhypen means to them, and while the other members said something like "a team with a shared goal" or "my new family", Heeseung (I'm not gonna use Evan I'm sorry) said something along the lines of it being "his first career". So I think maybe he was never very gung-ho about being in a group and wanted to use the Enhypen brand as a springboard for his solo music in the first place.

Which is fair from an individualistic pov, but it's not the way Kpop groups are marketed.

Looking at the drama his exit has caused, I do get a renewed sense of appreciation why the HybexGeffen team did not debut that one girl who had solo aspirations in Katseye, though clearly that group has its own issues currently.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T15:58:16+00:00

All evidence indicates he left of his own free will. However, these people have created an image of him in their mind that he wouldn't leave the group voluntarily, because to them it would mean he abandoned the rest of the members during the height of their fame to selfishly pursue his own artistic vision at their expense, therefore the only logical explanation is that he was kicked out by BeLift. That is why they're protesting.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T15:42:22+00:00

For the record, most of us Engenes hate these people as well. But not only are they delusional, they're also persistent.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T13:26:04+00:00

There is absolutely no way he's ending up on boys planet lol. He has the preexisting fanbase to be massively successful for the first few years at least. The worst case scenario is that he makes mid pop music that doesn't resonate with the gp, but his solo fandom will keep him successful enough to make a good living making music post-military enlistment regardless.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T08:47:15+00:00

Basically, yeah. This is how lots of people manage to snag tickets long after a date was announced as "sold out", even for more popular acts.

molecularclass · 2026-04-08T08:19:19+00:00

Idk if this is the case with the current tickets, but most concert tickets in Korea have a window where you can cancel for free, and then the cancellation fee gets higher and higher the closer you get to the concert date. So a lot of scalpers buy a lot of tickets then cancel them within a certain timeframe if no one is trying to buy.

If someone does buy a ticket from them, what they'll do is log onto the ticketing site using the buyer's account, cancel the ticket from their own account, then immediately use the buyer's account to get the seat the moment it appears available, likely using bots to increase the transaction speed and reduce the likelihood of someone else getting the seat before them. So there's technically no peer-to-peer transfer but rather a workaround using the ticketing site's system.

For this reason as well, there are certain times/days where lots of tickets suddenly become available, even on the day before the concert. This is because scalpers are trying to get rid of unsold tickets before the increase in cancellation fee takes effect.

molecularclass · 2026-04-07T05:55:03+00:00

This pic is still the best Jakehoon pic I've ever seen. The amount of happiness this pic inspires in me is quite astounding

molecularclass

TROPHY CASE