Will KPop return to the era before APT.? No

Apt. showed how empty the older system of KPop is.

The current system of KPop is showing an increasing dependence upon Japan, while Japanese acts are entering Korea in a now alarming rate.

I heard that Naniwa Danshi, a Johnny's Act (Johnny's uses a different name now but a Johnny's is a Johnny's) will perform in Korea, something quite unprecedented.

It seems more Japanese acts are adding a Korean stop in their tours around Asia.

APT. has exposed that the entire KPop system as we know it is a joke, and cannot be sustained for too long.

Again it is like Kangnam Style, which basically cleaned the 2nd Generation Acts from the board, making the arrival of 3rd Gen complete. APT. is making all 3rd Gen, and a large portion of 4th and 4.5th Gen, irrelevant.

With the blows Hybe is receiving , acts which mostly identify with Hybe (BTS, Le Sserafim, Illit) will probably not recover, while acts with connections out of Korea will do much better.

2025 KPop will either try to adapt, or will regress significantly and settle for local dominance in Asia, as more and more Japanese incursions would undermine KPop's dwindling domestic base further.

Quote from hitomoshi

Yes

APT is one of the most overrated songs

It might be overrated, but it did show the weakness of KPop to the entire world, and how a has been singer collaborating with someone slightly past her peak can completely wreck KPop with a minimal effort.

Quote from superyeah

Okay, Bang Si-Hyuk.

Bang is not in a position to fight since Hybe is on fire from every direction

Quote from Taemin-Identity

Where is that at least one Japanese act overshadowing Kpop acts? I don’t see them, so yeah kpop is fine and safe

Kpop should be scared of Katseye instead! They are an American group and can be a big threat to Kpop acts including Hybe artists

When most kPop groups have at least 1 Japanese now they don't need it

Katseye won't be considered to be part of Kpop

Quote from Owned_by_Irene

It wasn’t a fluke, there’s a massive marketing budget behind it. It was all over TikTok and getting a big push on YouTube

Just like all the kpop songs

But given the cheapo music video, filmed by Mars himself, it seems it was not as heavily promoted as other songs I won't name.