Introducing the morally grey girlgroup concept (or: why Twice, Babymonster and NMIXX flopped)

  • There are many different approaches to creating a deep and interesting character, but these days, both readers and writers have noticed a new trend evolving: the morally grey character

    There have always been characters like this, the ones that are seemingly both good and bad at the same time, those who are called anti-heroes or anti-villains. Popular examples would be Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter. They are bad guys, but at the same time, we are rooting for them for some reason. Why? Because they blur the line between good and bad. People love it because it feels way more natural. Humans make mistakes that could be labelled as bad sometimes, nobody is perfect.

    Everyone can write a "good" or "bad" guy, but finding the in-between is way harder.

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    In K-Pop, we used to have 2 concepts for girl groups. Cute, resembling the "good" characters and girlcrush, resembling the "bad" characters. Over the years, new concepts got popular, but we were always able to divide them into one of the categories (Elegant, Dark and Sexy for example are girlcrush. There are groups like Iz*One that popularised cute-elegant but they are 4th gen). However, a lot changed in 4th gen. Groups like IVE and NewJeans popularised a different approach to K-Pop concepts. In particular IVE manages to balance both the "good" and "bad" side, creating a well-developed "morally grey character". That's the reason those 2 groups are loved so much at the moment.

    They aren't the first girlgroup with this concept though. We saw it happen with Red Velvet, who had a Red "cute" and Velvet "bad" side. However, back then, the concept of "morally grey" girlgroups wasn't as trendy as nowadays.

    Now, let's talk about the groups I mentioned:

    TWICE tried to balance both concepts but the GP wasn't used to them trying out something else, which is why they aren't as popular in SK anymore.

    NMIXX tried to balance the concepts in a different way, creating "mixxpop" songs that had both cute and girlcrush characteristics. However, they didn't manage to find the balance in the way other groups did.

    BABYMONSTER went with the typical girlcrush. They are totally out of trend.

    ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・。 ゚ ꒰ঌ 🪼✦🌊໒꒱ ༘*.゚⋆。 I just wanna continue my pace ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・。 ゚ ꒰ঌ 🪼✦🌊໒꒱ ༘*.゚⋆。

  • Catgirl

    Changed the title of the thread from “Introducing the morally grey girlgroup concept (or: why Twice, babymonster and NMIXX flopped)” to “Introducing the morally grey girlgroup concept (or: why Twice, Babymonster and NMIXX flopped)”.
  • Mmmm. Since you know alot about korean kpop fans. Tell me, why SKZ also sucks in Korea?

    I never said that I know anything abt Korean kpop fans lol.

    Korea hates SKZ bc of the bullying scandal and their noise music

    ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・。 ゚ ꒰ঌ 🪼✦🌊໒꒱ ༘*.゚⋆。 I just wanna continue my pace ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・。 ゚ ꒰ঌ 🪼✦🌊໒꒱ ༘*.゚⋆。

  • Is this cute or girl crush?


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  • Is this cute or girl crush?


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    As I said, "grey" music is very popular in 4th gen. So, it's neither of those two

    ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・。 ゚ ꒰ঌ 🪼✦🌊໒꒱ ༘*.゚⋆。 I just wanna continue my pace ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・。 ゚ ꒰ঌ 🪼✦🌊໒꒱ ༘*.゚⋆。

  • Strong thesis statement. With a little fine tuning here or there, it would be more than acceptable. I can definitely identify the core logic and viewpoint you want to relate to the reader.


    Now you'll need to flesh out that viewpoint with a thorough, comprehensive detailing of the dichotomy between girl group concepts and why the current trend has upended that structure.


    It will need to be at least 1200 words single spaced.


    Have it ready in 12 hours.


    :pepe-joy:

  • I wrote this in a rush and I suck at writing in english anyways lol

    ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・。 ゚ ꒰ঌ 🪼✦🌊໒꒱ ༘*.゚⋆。 I just wanna continue my pace ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・。 ゚ ꒰ঌ 🪼✦🌊໒꒱ ༘*.゚⋆。

  • I feel like NJ is cute/innocent which is why they’re so popular. You can’t listen to songs like Ditto, OMG, and Super Shy and not think it wasn’t sung by a 15/16yr old girl.


    As for Baemon, their problem is, they are just cookie cutter. The music video lacked life and the song was just average. They feel like a bad BP knock off, from a middle tier company. Their debit is something i kept from Cube, not YG.

  • Twice changed their concept on a brink when people were getting tired of their "cute" sound. I remember how people used to drag them and say they are never trying anything new :skull:


    I think change of concept is what ultimately saved twice.

    Exactly this


    GP was gonna throw Twice away no matter what


    At least they reinforced the fandom and get songs they like more this way

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