IZONE News and Discussion Thread

Haha I see, thank you

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Honestly I got tired of that 48g vs kpop thing, but I guess it's always been the main reason of all the discussion here.

I mean, it's okay to argue if you think or want for the J-line to stay in Korea or return to Japan, but sometimes there are some arguments that get very elaborated to the point of looking delusional and don't consider the obvious.

For me, the 3 of them never expected to return to Japan, because they weren't aware of this disbandment, their reactions in the last concert say it all. Right now it seems they all want to spend time together, maybe they'll return to Japan, maybe not. But one thing for sure is that they didn't wat to leave IZ*ONE, they didn't want this disbandment. And no, that doesn't mean they forgot about 48G and the members. But they had found a new path for themselves. Isn't AKB the stepping stone for a career in the entertainment industry? Well they had found that career in IZ*ONE.

I wish more people here are aware about how much they loved IZ*ONE and how much the disbandment hurted them.

Now that there's no IZ*ONE anymore, I guess those 3 have too much to think about. I don't think Sakura is the only one who has received an offer from a company. So, if all of them has they should think about if they are willing to follow those dreams in a new k-pop group or to return to their previous lives in 48G. Maybe what they choose to follow is nothing of what I mentioned and that's fine. Because they're humans like all of us, we change our mind as time goes by.

I hope that if we're still discussing about their future, we don't drag arguments about if 48G is better than k-pop and vice versa.

 

It is better for you to read the previous post and the flow of discussion before trying refuting me with something of non issue in the context of discussion. The discussion is about whether management are doing the necessary thing to promote AKB48 to KPop fan post Produce48. Someone cite song like Teacher Teacher and No Way Man as management attempt to attract KPop fan. What I am to say is that Teacher Teacher and No Way Man are not the good attempt to attract the KPop fan since Teacher Teacher is the song about having the relationship with the teacher and No Way Man have an old man in the beginning of the MV. It will not able to attract KPop fan since the are perception among KPop fan that AKB48 is the group that old man stanning young girls. That's all. Whether this perception is true and whether KPop is similar as well is not an issue in the context of discussion.

 

^First things first I wish your English was better or you bothered to edit your posts for spelling and grammar and the like because reading your posts can be a serious chore. If it's not your first language I'll say I can understand that, but you should still be trying harder not to muck it up.

Now to the discussion. The 48s, especially AKB48 have had a reputation as a group of young girls who are only popular with middle aged+ men practically since the main group started. K-pop fans seeing them that way is hardly surprising. And if K-pop fans didn't like songs like Teacher Teacher or No Way Man that's really not the fault of the group. These songs were still J-pop at their core as they very well should be because J-pop has no reason to change into something unrecognizable just to appease K-pop lovers. An injection of some K-pop flair is all well and good, even experimental or evolutionary in its own way, but at the end of the day it'd be foolish to alienate their original country's audience just to try pleasing an audience from another one.

And there's no major reason for J-pop acts on the whole to try being more like K-pop acts. They have the 2nd most successful music market in the world. In the same way that it doesn't matter if they ever make it in the USA, UK, or Canada it doesn't matter if they make it in Korea. This is something I could wait a millennia for K-pop fans to refute and they still wouldn't have a convincing or true argument to the contrary.

PS: K-pop acts being just as risque, unsavory/sketchy may not be directly relevant to the discussion, but it's no less true and is relevant in an indirect way. The K-poppers should look inwards towards the acts they so strongly insist are better than J-pop acts and reflect on how much of their dribble about J-pop acts applies just as much to their beloved K-pop acts.

 

The argument started when someone stated that Produce48 is the best thing that happens to AKB48. This is the original statement.

Spoiler

Produce48 was pretty much the only good decision from AKS in the last 3 years. Get ready for more bad decisions or complete lack of decisions from them in the near future.

It leads to the discussion that Produce48 bring harm to the group. This is the original statement.

Spoiler

I saw more 48G fans turn to Kpop fans after Produce48 than the other way and it surprised me considering I thought 48G fans were aware of the existence of Kpop but it seems many weren't. Along with 3 members getting into the final line-up, quite a lot of the 48G girls who participated end up graduating soon after the show, I think it wouldn't have happened this way if the show didn't happen. Besides I feel like it created a feeling among other 48G members that they wish to be Kpop idols, and made them lose passion for 48G. and with less "relevant" girls in 48G and less fans, it can be one of the reasons why management doesn't try anymore. I don't think the show was made to help 48G. They said it will be a collab between Japan and Korea but it was a lot more focused in Korea, only korean people voted, the group ended up with 1/4 japanese, they barely went to Japan after the first year (this can be because of the pandemic though) etc. etc. in the end it's a Kpop group rather than a real 48G+Kpop collab so it doesn't benefit 48G. I saw many fans of the japanese members who don't know 48G and wish for the girls to stay in Kpop because they're not interested to learn about 48G or about their past... 48G didn't really gain much from all of this, so maybe it was a good decision for the korean agencies and for IZ*ONE members, but not for 48G.

After that it boils down to the discussion of management not taking the advantage from the popularity of Produce48. This is the original statement.

Spoiler

I agree with both of you.

I think Produce did harm AKB48 / 48G because a lot of people found a way into the Kpop zone through Produce 48. Kpop is more accessible to non-Korean speakers than 48G is for non-Japanese speakers, so it makes sense that more 48G fans found Kpop than Kpop fans found 48G.

That being said, AKB48 could have gained fans if they had taken advantage of the increase of attention that followed the involvement with Produce 48. Instead of providing more, though, they provided even less than before. The last Sousenkyo was in 2018. The last Janken Taikai was in 2018. Sasshi graduated in 2019. AKBINGO (the only show that got frequent english subs) stopped in 2019. AKB48's last concert was in 2020. Their last single was released in 2020. It was a two-year-process, but it started at the same time as Produce 48.

I have no idea what they were thinking and why they didn't try to get international fans into AKB48. The only thing they did was make AKB48's music available on Spotify.

Long story short, someone cited song like Teacher Teacher and No Way Man to indicate that management actually trying to take advantage of the popularity of Produce48. These are the original statements.

Spoiler

They tried!
And they tried for real, it wasn't a timid atempt to taste the water.
They released 2 singles in a row that were Teacher ×2 and No Way Man that were very Kpop influenced, the later featuring P48 alumnis.

Spoiler

Also speaking about "have-48G-tried-riding-PD48-fame", yes the management tried. Beside No Way Man and IZ*4648 (which caused some 46G wota went mad -i saw it on Twitter), the management tried pushing Miu and Erii (poor Myao tho)

Hence what I am trying to say is that IF Teacher Teacher and No Way Man is the song to take advantage from the popularity of Produce48, they will never do their job. Hence, this is my major statement.

“TEACHER TEACHER AND NO WAY MAN ARE UNABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE POPULARITY OF PRODUCE48”

If you want to refute me, you either state that

(a) Teacher Teacher and No Way Man are able to take advantage of the popularity of Produce48.

or

(b) Teacher Teacher and No Way Man are being produced not to take advantage of the popularity of Produce48.

Other than this is irrelevant. If your stance is (a) state your reason and if your stance is (b), I agree with you, there is nothing to argue about.

 

Eat-ting Trip 3 Preview:


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

If anything here is a stepping stone, it would be IZ*ONE (and other Produce groups), not only for J-Lines, but for the Koreans as well. IZ*ONE is always temporary, they knew it since the very beginning and they expected exactly just that, only the fact that they needed to halt their 48G activities completely caught them off guard.

 

I'm not crazy about this argument, it comes off as complacent. AKB got successful by being a bit different from idols that came before but now AKB seems to be treading water.

As songs I thought Teacher Teacher and No Way Man were two of the better recent singles, especially Teacher Teacher (but then weenies started complaining about the lyrics)

Jpop acts have short skirts, Kpop acts sway their hips a bit more but really I don't think either are specially risqué, certainly compared to western acts, for example compared to the complete degeneracy of the WAP performance at the grammys then Kpop and Jpop are relatively wholesome!

 

I find it oddly curious how IZ*ONE was 'born' amidst this kpop vs jpop debate and it is 'dying' with the same debate and same talking points...

I just hope all of them find what is best for them and their careers, that's really all I can hope for.

 

No, the stepping stone would not be IZ*ONE but Produce, that's why I was mentioned that some agencies wanted to retire their trainees from the show at the time of the PD controversy. The groups born from the shows never acted as stepping stone.
While it's true that they didn't expected to halt their activities and that they knew at the beginning that IZ*ONE was going to end. None of them were aware of this early disbandment, and with the extension conversations they didn't even expected to disband on April as planned at the beginning.
I mean you have to be blind of you think that they were prepared to leave IZ*ONE after watching the last concert.
Sakura, Nako and Hitomi are not same from 2018 when they left their groups.
If they go back to those, it'll be because that's what they think it's the best for themselves, not because they have obligations in 48G so they have to go back.

And honestly it bothers a little that some people are so insisting about the J-line have to go back to 48G and completely ignore their feelings. I mean they cried a lot in their last concert, because they were extremly saddened. They weren't ready to move on.

 

Like when AKB members cry during their graduation ceremony which they decided by themselves?

 

No one is insisting anything.
We aren't the ones throwing tantrums when they simply attend a concert, rolling out the trucks threaten to boycott companies, cyber-bullying their close friend,... when things don't work in our favour for 48G.

 

Idols allways cry for whatever reason.
Idols cries in goodbye time
Idols cries when they are happy
Idols cries a lot, after all it is a part of their appeal.
The day after, they are over it.
Then there's what we see, and there's the truth.

 

Long time lurker here (ever since Produce48, because this forum is more "unfiltered" than other forums where posters are forced to play nice) but I just wanted to stop by to post and let people view my thoughts coming from the kpop fan side of things on the on-going discussion. As a quick background summary, I was on old casual jpop/jrock fan back in the day (Ayumi Hamasaki, Orange Range, Hikaru Utada, Kana Nishino, etc). Became a huge kpop fan back in 2016 all thanks to a random Youtube video popping up.

Anyways, the way that I see it, Produce48 by itself actually did a good job in providing exposure to AKB48. Prior to P48, I only thought of AKB48 as this unusually large group of young girls that were basically pimped out to older men through gravure magazines and handshake events where they're forced to act like pseudo-girlfriends to their fans. As an older straight man, I have nothing against risque photoshoots. But when it involves underaged girls and is also one of the main selling points, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. However you feel about this, it was just my casual opinion of the group and I'm certain a lot of other people outside of the AKB fanbase around the world felt the same way really. HOWEVER, a lot of that perception changed while watching P48. P48 actually created a space where I was able to see just how personally charming and delightful the AKB48 girls were. It made me emotionally vested into learning more about AKB48, and got me to go watch AKBingo, pulling up all the AKB music videos I could find, and watching any translated AKB-related variety I could get my grubby little hands on. And I'm sure people here noticed the surge of International interest in AKB during the show. So in a vacuum, I think that the show by itself was actually a boon to AKB48 and created a good opportunity for the group to revitalize its image.

The problem though.........was the follow-up. As a kpop fan for several years, I have became used to music which came with high production values and music videos that are expensive and visual spectacles. When IZ*One first debuted in Japan, I was super excited to see what the jpop-side of things would come up with. And while Suki to Iwasetai didn't exactly fulfill my lofty expectations, I still thought it was decently good (not to mention that Gokigen Sayonara was one hell of a banger). However, ever since Buenos Aires and all of the songs afterwards, I just became more and more disillusioned with the music that AKS/Vernalossom produced and eventually lost interest in further going down the AKB hole. To be frank........AKS/Vernalossom's musical production is just subpar (and many International fans share this sentiment). And sometimes it's not even due to the musical composition itself: Beware actually has a pretty fun catchy melody. But something about the mixing of the song and the way that the girls' voices are processed (or lack thereof) just ends up making the song sound unpleasant to my ears while listening through my headphones. And outside of IZ*One, the last song that I actually really liked from AKS was High Tension and that was years ago. And before anybody says this is due to a bias of kpop vs jpop.........it's not. Kenshi Yonezu's Lemon is one of my favorite songs of all time. Reol The Sixth Sense is currently on my repeat playlist along with a bunch of anime-related music. Little Glee Monster has also put out some great music lately. Really my bad perception is limited to AKS/Vernalossom's musical production, and as a modern-day idol fan I need a combination of BOTH good music and good/fun personalities and content for me to become invested in an idol group. I would have even dropped IZ*One itself if their music ended up lacking but thankfully the Korean side of their production managed to release a bunch of amazing title tracks and B-sides, which kept me going as a fan.

All in all, what I'm trying to say is that Produce48 by itself was actually a potentially good thing for AKB48 due to basically serving as an outlet to expand the AKB48 fanbase, specially into a newly-interested International market as well as young domestic kpop fans within Japan itself. If the follow up had been handled better (in several ways) and AKS/Vernalossom had also chosen to modernize their music with a sound and production that's more in-tune with what's currently popular in Japan and worldwide, they could have potentially revitalized public interest in AKB48. However, events just didn't go toward that direction and the Maho scandal by itself also almost single-handedly killed off any potential upswing. So Produce48 thus became a net negative for AKB48 since the positives didn't happen and only the negatives did (as others have mentioned: AKB fans leaving for kpop, losing a strong idol in Sakura, AKB48 idols graduating seemingly prematurely, etc). Although with the "AKB fans leaving" part, you really can't fault Produce48 for that. P48 merely served as a window to different horizons. If AKB48 had retained quality content and quality music, it wouldn't have to worry about losing fans to another music scene to begin with.

Anyways, this is just my opinion as a kpop fan. Take what you want from it.

(Additionally regarding Sakura: While I love how much she has grown as an artist and performer during her exploration into kpop, I do NOT personally want her to stay in Korea (although that decision is really up to her). Her popularity never really managed to take off in Korea itself while at the same time she has had to face anti-Japanese sentiments from knetz. Unlike say the J-line from Twice, it seems like Sakura will always be seen as a foreigner in Korea and never accepted. Korea basically feels like a career dead-end for her. I would much prefer for her to go back to Japan and utilize her existing popularity over there to further her career. However, this itself also leaves me with mixed feelings because, with the current status of AKB48 as a whole and it's less-than-ideal management, it doesn't seem like the proper vehicle that Sakura can utilize to further increase her domestic or International popularity. So I really hope I end up proven wrong in the end)

 

Teaser for '3!4!' by IZ*ONE from the OST album of 'Rewind : Blossom' to be released on 3/26 at 18:00 KST:


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

[Rewind: Blossom] 3!4! Behind the Scenes by IZ*ONE:

if the video does not show watch the video here

Compilation video by MBC of performances on Music Core and at the 2020 MBC Music Festival:

if the video does not show watch the video here

Contents:
00:00 PREVIEW
00:12 La Vie en Rose
03:52 Violeta
07:11 SPACESHIP
10:05 FIESTA
13:43 Pretty
17:04 Secret Story of the Swan
20:21 Sequence
23:37 Panorama
27:42 Across the Universe @2020 MBC Music Festival (Chaewon, Hyojung & Minnie)
30:26 INTRO + Panorama @2020 MBC Music Festival

 

The full MV for 3!4! from the 'Rewind:Blossom' OST has just dropped:


if the video does not show watch the video here

Also an article from Star News in Korea today which confirms that the group will formally disband on 4/29 and the members will return to their agencies:
https://star.mt.co.kr/stview.php?no=2021032616362977839

Papago translation:

EDIT: Cookbang part 2:


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

[UNI-KON] IZ*ONE-DD-DANCE (preview clip):


if the video does not show watch the video here

Eunbi appears in the MV for 'HUSH' by Kim Sung Kyu to be released tomorrow (3/29), here's the teaser for it:


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

The services are closing
The official japanese fanclub will issue content until 04/28, and will close on 05/31
https://fc.izone-official.com/news/detail/304

The private mail app will send content until 04/28, and close on 06/01

The Superstar IZ*ONE game will be closed on 05/31, in app purchase until 04/28

 

ENOZI Cam EP.94:


if the video does not show watch the video here

Cover of Sunwoo Jung-Ah's 'Let's Run Away' by Yuri:


if the video does not show watch the video here

Full version of the MV for 'HUSH' by Kim Sung Kyu in which Eunbi plays his former lover in flashback scenes:


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

This one I'm most upset about. I realise and understand that they won't update private mail after April, but I find it really cruel that we won't be able to view old messages after June. It's gonna take forever to save all the mail in another location...