IDK what is it about the group that makes me want to support them. I don't usually follow girl groups but I've been intrigued with ITZY from the start. Probably because I've seen them on Stray Kids two (!!) years ago, they've starred on BTS videos, and they're killin' it. Ryujin has been a very famous trainee on the kpopsphere for a lot of reasons including appearance in BTS highlight reel and Mixnine.

I have to admit, when Dalla Dalla first came out I wasn't having it, but got hooked right after and the song did extremely well on the charts.

Gaon has released their half-year ranking and in download, digital and streaming chart, Dalla Dalla ranked 6th. No other idol groups other than N.Flying, which is a band, made it to the top 10 in any of these lists. Not even artists as big as BTS, at the peak of their popularity with a hit as huge as Boy with Luv. ITZY holds this kind of power. I don't know why the reaction of i-fans on platforms I visit are overwhelmingly negative, while in Korea they are very well-received. I guess I'm just used to it being the other way around.

They can hate all they want, it's never going to change the fact that ITZY is huge and very successful.

Last night, they released ICY MV which is their first comeback ever and I like it right away! I like it so much I watched it a couple of times. Granted, I couldn't tell how the song goes had anyone asked me this morning, lol. But I do remember that the song sounds like a fun jumbled sounds, I love the beat, the moves are slick, and the music video is filled with bright colors and fun outfits. I looove Ryujin's outfit (the colorful jacket) and she looks stunning in pink hair. Yuna is super pretty and her smile is mesmerizing. Lia's voice is awesome. I of course also love Yeji. Chaeryeong's moves are great! I love the music video, I love the concept, I love the girls, I love the song, I just love them despite not knowing that much about them. The music video has been doing good as expected. It's not even 24 hours after its release and it's already on 7M+ views when I see it earlier. Many other groups out there would do anything for this kind of success and popularity.

I get what people are saying about how reading an overwhelmingly negative comment hampers your joy when you're excited about a release. It feels like everyone else seems to hate the song. I went to r/kpop reddit post which has 3.7k upvotes and being granted a platinum, two golds and a silver award but upvote rate was 81%. People are downvoting hard. The comments felt like they're mostly (?) negative, with many dwelling on how the song sounds different and worse from the teaser, or how they can't get into ITZY, or Dalla Dalla, or Zimzalabim by Red Velvet, and people are upvoting those comments while downvoting the ones saying they genuinely like the song. I get it, some type of music you just can't get into like me with NCT's. But I don't go to NCT posts to elaborate on why NCT's music is not for me every time they release anything. Let NCT/ITZY fans enjoy the new release, just like how fans of any other group would.

I'm also curious because unlike their debut, this time they're also releasing a physical album and I need to know how much they will sell to prove my point. All these hate and bashing I'm seeing almost make me want to buy their physical album just because. Almost.

So there were 2 great news from today/yesterday in the KPop world. One, ITZY got their first win, making them the fastest group to ever achieve this feat. Two, it is reported that TXT's debut album reached 100,000 pre-orders in just 3 days.

And yet people's reactions are quite negative for the seemingly happy news.

The argument is about the same, people don't think they deserve it.

With ITZY, a lot of people don't like the debut song and say that if it's any other group coming up with that song, it wouldn't even chart let alone win a music show. THEY'RE ONLY 2 DAYS OLD! IT'S BIG THREE PRIVILEGE! People are saying they can't appreciate the win because this group didn't even have to work hard to get it. They keep comparing with other groups that have been in the industry longer and are never warranted a music show win despite their consistently good releases.

Music show wins don't always correspond to your personal taste, I don't understand why people are complaning. EXO's first win was with Wolf. Nothing is worse than Wolf. Music show wins are based on numbers. ITZY pulled crazy numbers for a rookie group and Dalla Dalla is really high on the charts. We can't deny that they're gaining attention and that many people actually likes them.

With TXT, people say this is just a bunch of ARMY blind-stanning BTS' brother group. ARMYs are contradicting themselves because they keep talking shit about 'Big 3 privilege' and constantly hating on/not supporting of groups from the Big 3. I don't get it. So ... they're saying no-one should pre-order because we don't know anything about this group yet except for their faces? We haven't heard their voices yet, we don't know the kid's ability, skill or talent, and we don't know what their songs are going to sound like. We should stan talent, not pretty faces so if you're pre-ordering you're officially a Big Hit stan. What.

Pre-order is not a new concept, we all pre-order our fave/ult groups all the time without knowing or questioning how the songs in the new album will sound like. Including debut albums. People aren't buying albums for the music, who actually pop the CD in a CD player? Not me. It's a memorabilia.

I say this all the time, but fandom experience is different for each person. It's extremely personal to me. I am following TXT and keeping my eyes closely on them but I don't pre-order their CD, that is a personal decision I make for myself.

If other people decides to be a TXT stan just from the teasers Big Hit had released, it's their personal choice for themselves and I see no problem with it at all. People could be into a group because of their looks, because of their songs, because of their company, because they want to support their debut, because they're BTS' brother group, any and all reasons are valid and personal, really. No reason is too shallow or even wrong. Stanning is about emotional investment and you can not make sense of feelings.

In the end, KPop is an industry with making profit as their main goal. If their marketing strategy works in a way some people doesn't agree with, then they're still winning.

Why can't we just be genuinely happy for these kids?

So they drop the music video.


I was expecting that it'll be a full-on girl crush concept, with the song being heavy with minor tunes. The song is not at all what I expected. It's very.... JYP. There's a lot going on like a bunch of different songs trying to fit in together. Very messy. I know many KPop songs are like that but I just didn't expect that for ITZY.

This reminds me of Stray Kids' My Pace which disappointed me. The sound of their songs is getting further and further away from Hellevator which was the song that made me fell in love with them in the first place. My pace is a messy, happy song (?), I can't describe it but it's very JYP. This JYP sound is the reason I could never get into GOT7. Just not the type of sound I'd prefer to listen.

The music video... there are too many things going on at once, I don't know anymore lol. And what is with that color-changing dog, it's really distracting and confusing.

I love the girls though, they're great! Girls are pretty, styling is on point, performance is awesome. This might just seal it that I can never get into any JYP groups no matter what concept they have. They're not for me.

I just saw the second MV teaser of ITZY and while the performance aspect of it is cool, their pose and formation is great, Yeji looks like she's ready to slay, my overall reaction is... what the hell did I just hear. It sounds like they're yelling out of tune and without any melody at all. Now I'm wondering if it was just an unfortunate part of the song to showcase in the teaser, or they really can't sing and they're more of a performance group. People says this is JYP's answer to BlackPink, but BP actually can sing and they got great songs. Also that wide smile of Yuna they're using on the thumbnail is hella creepy.

This morning when Big Hit tweeted information about TXT's debut, never have I clicked on a link faster than that one but the site went down immediately so I couldn't see what it says for a while. But we got a debut date!!!! March 4!!! They will debut March 4 on MNet with a show called '+omorrow x +ogether Debut Celebration Show' (yeah I still hate the styling of that name lol). And they'll have a debut showcase at Yes24 Live Hall. The album will be called 'The Dream Chapter: Star'. I can't wait to see these adorable kids!

I am also super excited about the girls of ITZY!! I've been loving their concept shown in the teasers, the girls are beautiful, and the song snippet sounds very promising! Monday can't come soon enough.

We're also getting Treasure 13 debut as I wrote in my previous entry.

TXT, ITZY, Treasure 13, all have T in their names, just like I do. This is so fun and exciting!

I also have been loving songs from rookie groups, ATEEZ is doing really well with 'Say My Name' and I LOVE ONEUS' debut song Valkyrie!