BigBang’s Still Life was said to actually predict the group’s future?
Trainee A project got canceled even though they have THIS member?
An eleven-year-old is debuting with group mates who are 14 years older than her?
Well, I’ve always thought that 14 is the youngest possible age for a Kpop idol to debut.
But now, a company is literally debuting an 11-year-old?
Has the Kpop industry gone this far?
So on December 21, on Korea’s most popular channel AfreecaTV, the finale of the reality
show “Up2U” was broadcast, and a group with a lineup of 5 members was identified.
However, fans were totally astonished to find out that the youngest member of the group,
Kim Rayul, was born in 2011, meaning she’s only 11 years old and is turning 12 in 2023.
There would be nothing to discuss if she debuted in a kid group like USSO Girl for example,
but Rayul is literally debuting with group mates who are 9 to 14 years older than her,
with the oldest member being born in 1997!
Since then, AfreecaTV faced multiple criticisms after allowing a 2011 liner to even join the
show.
Most K-netizens argue that Kim Rayul is too young to become an idol.
At 11 years old, she’s technically a child and hasn’t fully developed both mental and
physical well-being; therefore, unlike her group mates, she will easily get manipulated
when encountering controversial opinions from netizens, thus likely falling into self-injurious
behavior.
Moreover, Rayul most likely has missed a significant part of her education due to the hectic training
schedule.
She’s basically an elementary school student and still has many things to learn.
In the worst-case scenario, if she doesn't succeed in the industry, she will have limited
career options in the future.
Don’t forget that the Kpop industry is infamous for its merciless nature, once debuting at
a young age, it might be impossible for Rayul to avoid making mistakes, and getting caught
up with controversies, which then would cause negative effects on her mental health for
good.
Talking about the huge age gap, this will also cause many obstacles for the whole group
activities.
In Lesserafim, Eunchae is 9 years younger than Sakura and people are already saying
she’s not supposed to be in the group, because the concept doesn’t fit her.
So, what concept would be suitable for both an 11-year-old and a 25-year-old in this girl
group?
The oldest member Yooya is 14 years older than Rayul, she was born in 1997, and even
some gen 3 idols are younger than her.
Well, if Up To You is determined to let Kim Rayul debut, they’d better give the group
an extremely childish concept, or else concerns about inappropriate song lyrics, offensive
outfits or sensitive choreographies will be raised.
Putting aside those head-aching discussions, can you believe that the departure of Daesung,
Taeyang and T.O.P has actually been foretold in BigBang’s latest MV Still Life?
This is a theory that netizens just discovered after the latest leaving of Daesung.
So in April 2022, after 4 years of hiatus, BigBang returned with the hit single “Still
Life”.
This MV seems to bear a hidden meaning that the members tried to deliver to fans, and
it is heart-wrenching.
In particular, in this scene, the image of these 4 chairs seems to imply the departure
of 4 members including Seungri, T.O.P, Taeyang and Daesung, while in another scene, this
lonely chair with the name of G-Dragon on it, implying he will be the only one remaining
in YG.
Indeed, after Seungri went to jail, TOP left to pursue his space dream, Taeyang signed
with The Black Label, and Daesung just announced his departure, G-Dragon is still in the process
of negotiating with YG Entertainment and has yet to leave.
Well, whether it’s true or not, this is still a very interesting observation of fans.
Maybe through Still Life, BigBang was trying to say a subtle goodbye to fans.
The melody of the song sounds very melancholic, and if you take a deeper look at the lyrics,
you’ll see it’s all about the implications of a breakup.
It’s time for the members to move forward and we cherish every moment of their existence
during those glorious 16 years.
Recently, the K-community was all shaken when BigHit's much-anticipated boy group Trainee
A suddenly announced their discontinuance.
Right after that, all of their social accounts, from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram to Twitter
and Soundcloud, were taken down on December 23.
Many fans couldn’t believe their eyes, but after checking all of Trainee A’s social
media accounts, they had to admit that the future has been closed for Trainee A, as all
of their accounts with millions of subscribers were indeed shut down and all of the content
was no longer accessible to the public.
Accordingly, Yorch has flown back to Thailand, and member Leo, who left the group earlier
due to mental health problems, was also back to Australia.
This news is like a crushing blow for those who've been expecting the group’s debut
the whole year, and also a regretful event for all the members because they are very
talented and put a lot of effort into the debut.
JJ, the member whom netizens spare special regret, was said to have the most outstanding
visual and great dancing skills.
Being a half-blood with both Western and Korean facial features, JJ is said to have one of
the biggest advantages, helping him gain massive interest from both Korean and international
fans.
Before being a trainee of BigHit, JJ used to be a member of the Japanese dance group
AMEZARI RED STARS until December 2020.
There is also some information pointing out that JJ used to back-dance to TVXQ at their
2019 concert in Japan.
Despite being at a young age, he proved his qualified talent when won the first prize
in dance battle competitions many times thanks to his freestyle dance ability, especially
the strength in locking.
“Jaw-dropping” is the only word to describe netizens’ reaction when looking at the long
list of his achieved awards.
Due to that, JJ was predicted to be one of the top gen 4 dancers if he debuted with Trainee
A. However, this once-in-a-thousand-year chance was taken from him for unknown reasons.
Let’s hope that in the future, JJ will get to showcase his skills in another project,
or else this will be the biggest waste of talent in the Kpop industry.
So, what are your thoughts on today’s discussions?