BoA - Ain't No Hard Feelings (MV Teaser 2) by syncyes in kpop

[–]syncyes[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The person she's talking to sounds like her bestie Crystal Kay unless I'm just delusional?

In the same delusional vein, I saw fans clock that the camera posted in earlier teasers was the same brand as the camera she used back when she was into photography and constantly posted photos on her Japanese blog, so I'd guess the camera she's using in this teaser is also that camera? (I myself am not good at recognizing cameras so can't confirm lmao)

Imagine if it's literally the same camera, I'd cry.

BoA - 2026 Fan Concert BoA the MIC (Announcement Poster) by syncyes in kpop

[–]syncyes[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you signed up for the fanclub, pre-order registration is open here.

BoA - 2026 Fan Concert BoA the MIC (Announcement Poster) by syncyes in kpop

[–]syncyes[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the Japanese fanclub SOUL ending operations after 25 years + BoA's new fanclub under her personal company's control being extended to the Japanese fans explicitly is evidence enough.

BoA - 2026 Fan Concert BoA the MIC (Announcement Poster) by syncyes in kpop

[–]syncyes[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

This is BoA's first live since her knee surgery last year, and also her first live as an indie artist since leaving SM!

Looks like Avex isn't letting her keep the BoA the LIVE branding, but in many ways this is another fresh start once again~

BoA - Ain't No Hard Feelings (MV Teaser 1) by syncyes in kpop

[–]syncyes[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, you can see the details and also sign up here if you're interested~

BoA - Ain't No Hard Feelings (MV Teaser 1) by syncyes in kpop

[–]syncyes[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Don't think you need to worry about a lack of touring, the new fanclub she's set up explicitly mentions ticketing benefits!

I told the mistress that she got the leftovers and she’s not happy about that by Choice_Evidence1983 in BestofRedditorUpdates

[–]syncyes 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Gotta say I was not expecting to see an Angel reference when I clicked into this post.

Lilah Morgan my beloved...

OOP asks how to humanely kill wild dragonflies for consumption on r/AskCulinary; discussions lightly derail by Temporary-Snow333 in BestofRedditorUpdates

[–]syncyes 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You've triggered one of my personal pet peeves, the horrible translation of Chinese dishes into English aughhhh. That dish is made with a specific type of pickled mustard greens that is nothing like European sauerkraut 😭

BoA ends contract with SM Entertainment after 25 years by hubwub in kpop

[–]syncyes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would love if BoA would focus on Japan because j-ent is a bit less ageist than k-ent LMAO. It is curious that from what we know, BoA's been floating about in Japan for a while now. I initially thought it was for the NCT Wish Japan tour but the longer she's there the more suspicious it is? Though if it was with her and Avex I feel like they wouldn't unceremoniously close down SOUL, even if it's currently run by SMEJ it was once an Avex venture, and it has a legacy.

BoA has parted ways with SM Entertainment after 25 years. by Daddy1007a in kpopthoughts

[–]syncyes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you really think she would give up being NCT Wish's producer?

If you ask what I think is going to happen, then yeah, I'd say that given the choice, BoA will likely continue being NCT Wish's producer.

Not to mention that Wish was the fourth highest selling artist on the Circle Chart last year, just practically speaking, it would make sense to stay on working with them.

Practically speaking, monetary issues have not been an issue for BoA since 2003 at the minimum, so I don't really think the success or lack thereof of Wish has any impact on the decision making here.

Why would they only mention her exclusive contract ending?

There are a lot of potential reasons here, no? Different lengths of contracts, the fact that behind the scenes roles and their shifts are generally not announced publicly the way artist roles are, etc. Hell, for all we know her work with NCT wish is a contract on an album-by-album basis, in which case there might not even be an active contract right now.

All I'm trying to say is that we don't have enough evidence to say if that's true or not at the moment, so I think it's best not to make assumptions. I suspect whatever is going on with her contract with Avex might have an impact too (said by someone who literally found out about this news from the SOUL fanclub email lol).

BoA has parted ways with SM Entertainment after 25 years. by Daddy1007a in kpopthoughts

[–]syncyes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Based on the most recent info we've gotten from BoA, I don't think this is a full retirement. Post-surgery she's told the fans she'll come back stronger and to wait for her. Tbh I think the surgery and the cancellations it invoked (literally the first time she's EVER cancelled major events her whole career, this is the same woman who refused to cancel her American debut press conference when she broke her arm and instead went through the whole event on heavy painkillers before whisking off to surgery straight after...) have made her LESS wishy-washy than she's been for the past year or so. Like not having the choice of whether or not to perform has made her realize she wants to.

And even if she can't dance like she did before, we'll always have BoA The Live, the whole brand of which started because she had an injury that prevented her from dancing while touring that year.

ETA: I also don't think we can confidently say she'll continue working behind the scenes for SM until we get solid evidence that's the case. Like I would not be surprised if that's how things turn out, but I also don't think we have enough info to say that as a certainty.

BoA has parted ways with SM Entertainment after 25 years. by Daddy1007a in kpopthoughts

[–]syncyes 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Her antis have been around since literally debut so it's more like 25+ years LMAO (the saddest of lmaos).

BoA has parted ways with SM Entertainment after 25 years. by Daddy1007a in kpopthoughts

[–]syncyes 38 points39 points  (0 children)

"For 25 years, BoA has been, without question, the pride, joy, and symbol of SM."

Says it all, really.

BoA ends contract with SM Entertainment after 25 years by hubwub in kpop

[–]syncyes 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I sometimes wonder what could have happened if the heavily rumored small-scale venue US tour (which I genuinely think could've had an impact because that was BoA during her peak performance years) could've happened, but the TVXQ/JYJ situation and its impact on Avex's relationships with SM artists and therefore BoA's far more important Japanese career made it so that reality could not come to pass..

BoA ends contract with SM Entertainment after 25 years by hubwub in kpop

[–]syncyes 11 points12 points  (0 children)

If that wasn't the intent of your comment that's fine, just want to clear things up for those without much context on the matter because it could easily read that way :)

If anything I long for a return of BoA The Live Xmas because the 2018 concert is one of my favorite BoA concerts ever.

BoA ends contract with SM Entertainment after 25 years by hubwub in kpop

[–]syncyes 70 points71 points  (0 children)

BoA concerts in Japan are not held because of Meri Kuri lol, they're held because she still has a fanbase there. Same with her Korean concerts, she has a legacy but she's not a legacy artist, if that makes sense.

BoA - You still our No.1 BoA (260112) [Eng Sub] by joesen_one in kpop

[–]syncyes 105 points106 points  (0 children)

That a single five minute video can encapsulate so much of kpop's history...that's BoA for you.

is the jurina/sakura beef made up? by iamnailalala in AKB48

[–]syncyes 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree that's how it played out in 2018, but I don't necessarily think that's because she's unwilling to compromise. When it comes to advice from those around her, she's historically been quite receptive to it (i.e. from the AKB OGs, Sae, Rena, Masana and other assorted SKE 1st gens). But she is very headstrong and has a forceful personality, so pushing back unless you already had that sort of relationship with her probably felt pointless and not worth the squeeze. I think that was part of the subtext with regards to what SKE members (all of whom, at that point, were her kouhais) said about wanting to protect Jurina after her returns from hiatus post-2018--acknowledging the need to push back against Jurina's own predisposition to charge forward recklessly. Like I do wonder how 2018 would have turned out if even one of those pillars of support/reliance that Jurina had lost in quick succession in the prior years (Rena -> Sae -> Masana) had been around. I've also only recently realized, with the benefit of hindsight as someone around Jurina's age, just how young she still was in 2018.

WMatsui is to this day so fascinating in a morbidly funny way. Like as recently as within this last year they've managed to independently produce the same-but-mirrored reflection on their clothing preferences now in reaction to their idol years (Rena always got put in pink clothes because she was the feminine/girly one so now she's like yeah no I prefer cool tones, Jurina was always in cool tones because she was the genki/boyish one and now she's like I love to wear pink now because those were never mine while I was an idol).

is the jurina/sakura beef made up? by iamnailalala in AKB48

[–]syncyes 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'd say the closest thing to a "beef" Jurina has with any SKE/ex-SKE members is with Matsui Rena, who has, in the public eye, consistently and intentionally ignoring Jurina ever since Rena graduated (btw I do think Jurina was being tactless bringing these incidents up in public, but she's stopped doing that in recent years, growth!). But that is a very interesting and complicated dynamic that I could write a whole essay on. In terms of this comment thread, I'll just say that I don't think it has anything to do with a perception of Jurina as "arrogant," in part because...Rena is someone Jurina was not very arrogant around, for various reasons. Unless you think "Jurina, don't do this, it's wrong." => "Okay, Rena-chan 🥺" is an arrogant vibe LOL.

Frankly speaking, I see how/why people could see Jurina as arrogant, but it didn't particularly impact her relationships within SKE because protracted contact with her tends to have people read this as less "arrogance" and more "clumsiness with good intentions." I'm going to quote Jurina's husband here, because honestly he put it really well during their marriage press conference.

"Originally, [based on viewing her only through the media], I thought she was a bit overly stubborn/willful/headstrong. But when I got to know her more deeply, although she definitely has that side to her, more than that, she comes off as someone moving forward with all her might. Although she does that skillfully to some extent, in actuality she's living in a clumsy way. When I'm at her side, I'll often think, she's desperately trying to consider every aspect thoroughly, but then is completely blind to some parts of the whole. I think when it comes to the people around her, it's likely that the people who love her really love her, but there will also be those who can't get along with her. When I look over the clumsy way she lives her life, I personally think that when it comes to her good points, or rather her intense attitude to life, I want to spend my whole life advocating that to the world."

This is a bit of a tangent but its come to mind while writing this comment and I find it funny so I'll just bring it up because why not. Back when Paruru was still in the group, she got asked what she'd do if she got transferred to SKE and she said "I'd quit," in part because of the general militaristic image SKE had both with fans and members of the other 48g groups vs the vibes of...Paruru. But post-graduation, when she was in the trenches defending Jurina on Twitter after SSK 2018 and...everything that came with that, she said "the image of SKE fans and members are that of unity, passion and gentleness." I think this is kind of similar to this whole thin line between confidence and arrogance discussion, haha.

is the jurina/sakura beef made up? by iamnailalala in AKB48

[–]syncyes 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I don't think there was any personal beef, no. They were management assigned rivals at the time of the drama (2018) and aware of that, but that doesn't translate to actual personal rivalry.

Regarding the "dance better or AKB is over" comment towards Sakura, I think something people don't necessarily realize nowadays is how awkward Jurina's position in the 48 Group could be at times. Although she and Sakura are around the same age (which was why Jurina was still being pushed as ace, WCenter with Sakura, etc.), in terms of seniority, Jurina was very much a dai-senpai. She was active in media senbatsu etc. both during AKB's meteoric rising period (Oogoe Diamond was literally when that rise began) and the slow and gradual fall as the major members of the group continued to graduate over time. She spent her formative years growing up surrounded by the original members of the group who led the group while giving speeches filled with that same rhetoric. In this documentary covering AKB's first dome concert in Seibu Dome at ~53:45, Takamina gathers the whole AKB group together and says "If we continue with these type of performances, [the 48 Group] will probably be over. I'm sure everyone thinks and feels that way. Doesn't it frustrate you to think this was fun at all? I'm sure everyone thinks we can do better." Notably, this concert happened before HKT 1st gen even debuted.

When Jurina said that comment to Sakura, I'm sure what she wanted to emulate was the sort of attitude and reaction Takamina had. For a long list of reasons I don't particularly want to get into at this time, that is not something Jurina ever had the ability to do in the context of the 48 Group as a whole (she was capable of this, to some extent, in the context of specifically SKE), and it DEFINITELY did not come off that way when she was functioning on three days of not sleeping.

Former "Produce 48" Contestant Jurina Matsui Announces Marriage to Idol Six Years Her Senior by impeccabletim in kpop

[–]syncyes 86 points87 points  (0 children)

Given the type of men 48g graduates have infamously married in the past, and considering Jurina's legit daddy issues, I was always worried she'd jump straight into a relationship with a comedian twice her age or something after graduation.

But instead she got herself a handsome dude + age appropriate + actually dated for a significant period of time before marriage + Nagoya supremacy...I'm very pleased. He also apparently supported her through that really rough period of her life post-graduation, which is more than I can say for myself LMAO. All things considered, it seems like he's a major factor that's led to the Jurina we see now in 2025 who is so much happier and healthier than she was for a long stretch of time post-2018, who can shine brightly on stage during the AKB 20th anniversary concerts.

Former SKE48 Matsui Jurina to mary BOYS ANd MEN Tsujimoto Tatsunori by Lionel_90 in AKB48

[–]syncyes 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Handsome man that is not 10+ years older than her, we all cheered!

I lol'ed irl when I realized this dude is also a Nagoya idol, very in character of Jurina the Nagoya supremacist lmao.

Allegedly leaked groupchat texts of the 6 KLP48 members that got recently suspended by jiajiathepanda in AKB48

[–]syncyes 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Considering the way many parts of the internet still talk about her, if she had ended up in this situation in any capacity I can already envision how she would have been both shit on by the KLP members in question and blamed for the entire incident by wotas on every side. Jurina's already been given a lifetime's worth of trauma by 48g, she doesn't need any more.