IZONE News and Discussion Thread

Hitomi seems to be strongly linked to Woollim. From what I could gather delving deep into South Korean internet..

 

I understand where you're coming from but I'm not sure that's related? I'm only subscribed to Hitomi, and at normal times, she sends 1-3 mails a day (very long ones at that). A few days ago, she said that they've been very busy because they were practising for the concert. They also had to learn completely new songs. I also know that Nako stopped sending mail longer ago and that was related to her grandmother's death.

The right-wing history is related to a costume worn by an HKT48 member at a concert



People blew it out of proportion and said that she sang a song about winning a war, which – as far as I know – isn't true. I can't find anymore where the picture is from though (like what concert) to see what song they were singing.

Aki-P may be a dirtbag but this particular incident is blown out of proportion.

Like I said, I didn't recognise any of the names so I'm not sure about 'one of the biggest labels' – and I'm also not sure how well Yuri would do as a soloist. If she does, I'll be cheering her on of course but yeah.

 

Stone Music (part of CJ E&M) is one of the biggest companies in the Kpop because they are the 2nd biggest distributor behind Kakao(ex Loen), but doesnt really do well as an agency. One thing for sure anyone signed to Stone (or its subsidiaries) will get jobs from CJ (Mnet, TVN etc.)

 

I don't think Stone will produce a new group: Natty went over to Swing, Lee Sian is now at Happyface Ent and Eunyoung is MIA.

I think it's more likely Yuri gets moved over to Swing Ent. (or remains there, since she's already there right now)

 

That was for Takamina's graduation concert, IIRC. The girls probably don't know much about the meaning of the rising sun (much less the meaning it has for South Korea), but Shinobu should have known better.

It's the same with the Yasukuni Shrine. Some girls visit it cause it's an old building and let's take some selfies here but they probably don't know what it means cause Japan is very hush-hush about everything they've done wrong in the past.

 

Is Kim Jaehwan with Swing Entertainment?

Not comment a lot about the concert. But the girls are crying a lot

 

That was truly awful. Haven't known them for too long but I feel empty.. Imagine having watched them from 2018 I'd be mad as F

 

I'm left with a feeling which is not only very sad but also confused and surprised - why stop right now after these concerts? Why no last release in April before what was supposed to be the end date? Is something 'big' about to be announced soon which nobody could have forseen? Or is everything just going to go quiet for a few months until news gradually emerges of the members' new projects?

 

would have been nice for swing to announce it personally instead of us finding out their disbandment from some random article and then watching the girls say farewell when we should have another month with them at least. don't tell us they cease activities on april 29 if they're going to hold the last concert in march tf

 

Honestly this end feels so rushed that I can't help but believe that an extension was planned, that somehow ended up not happening last minute....

Even if just looking at the fact that... SakuNako would've been in the HKT senbatsu had it been planned to be this early.

 

I mean Wanna one and IOI had a lot better endings

 

If you a fan on a message board can plan out a decent and respectful end to the group, why couldn't CJ do it? And you can't even say they've never done it, they did it with both IOI and Wanna One. Why did they do this to IZ*ONE?

 

I think it's because CJ Ent was working under an assumption of an extension.

In my mind it was one of two scenarios.

A) CJ Ent and the agencies were in serious talks of extending the contract.
B) CJ Ent was trying to convince the agencies it'd be more lucrative to extend by showering the girls with activity.

Maybe even both.

The girls had a ton of stuff lined up in the last month or so: Pepsi campaign, Eating Trip #3, AYJ hosting Inkigayo, Photobook, King of Masked Singer and more. It looked like CJ Ent was trying to build up hype rather than wind things down.

CJ was sort of telling the agencies, hey, look at what you could be missing out on.

Then one or more agencies either A) backed out of the deal or B) stuck to their guns and refused to extend.

CJ Ent was holding out hope, but they just could not iron out the details with the agencies. So CJ finally called it quits this week. Time had run out, and they wanted to allow the girls a final chance to say goodbye at the concert.

By this point it was too late to schedule anything more in April. All of their plans were working under the assumption of an extension, and they couldn't pivot in time to allow the girls a graceful exit.

Obviously I'm speculating, but this makes the most sense to me.

IOI and Wannaone both had much better exits. No excuse for CJ to mismanage IZ*ONE's disbandment this badly unless they thought there'd be an extension.

 

ENOZI Cam Ep.92

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Hiichan's radio is either canceled next month or refreshed. Also Eunbi is due to appear on INFINITE Sungkyu's new music video. Things are already moving forward..

 

yes, Swing is one of Stone Music exclusive label

 

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

I can see why making them permanent wouldn’t work out, but considering all the unexpected “down time” they had due to the scandal and then COVID, you’d think they deserve at least a few months extension to end thing’s properly.

 

HKT's single doesn't really prove anything, unfortunately. The single was originally meant to be released in March, so the line-up was determined without Sakura and Nako in mind.

Also, if the single is released in May, then the A-side music video is usually released in April, which means they are recording the songs and music videos right now. Even if rumours are true and Sakura, Nako and Hitomi have gone back to Japan today (Monday, March 15th), then they have to self-isolate for roughly two weeks, which leaves no time for them to participate in the recordings.

It does feel super rushed though. As an original 48G fan, I wasn't very sad about the disbandment news, but I do feel sad about it today. I think it's because I expected another comeback as well (in my mind, it was called "One, The Story" and would finalise the One trilogy) and now I'm left high and dry.

It just feels really unfair that the girls had their final activity as an online concert with no chance at meeting their fans one last time. I don't really feel bad for myself (although I do wish we would've gotten a final mini album), I feel bad for how sudden this must have also been for the girls.

 

This. It's pretty obvious that there was meant to be a double trilogy but for whatever reason CJ epically misjudged the prospects of renewal or something. A logical plan for a group with a specified end would be to have the final single promotion in March with a farewell concert in mid-April. The girls deserved to have final triumphant farewell stages on MCountdown, Music Bank and all the rest of the shows this month and say goodbye to the fans next month but instead they get "K Thanx bye" from the agency and everyone feels a bit left down.

As you infer, the disbandment was pretty inevitable but the way it was handled was incompetent from the management side.