Feeling nostalgic so writing about their career by year with best/worst moments/best songs with some narrative. Long wall of text so if you don't like Twice would definitely ignore.
2015
Debut year. Didn't debut to much pomp, the company weren't doing that great, Sixteen wasn't very successful in SK, LOA was also doing nothing too special on release. At this point RV had already had their debut, SNSD were sort of still around (their international fanbase definitely was), Gfriend were the trendiest GG and seen and touted as the next "ngg" etc so a lot of competition. Didn't know too much about kpop at this point but remember reading up on stuff and seeing all the hate coming their way as being untalented, only having visuals, copying SM with a 9 member gg and the like. As someone that had never followed a kpop group before then but knew the Korean music scene I think that made me slightly more invested. I don't even know why I originally ended up checking their debut mini out, as I didn't like LoA, but their b-sides won me over.
I've mentioned before but my favourite moment from this year was definitely the Sugarman win with this performance (which also remains one of my favorite Twice performances)
When Twice were announced for the show there was so much rubbish from non fans about their talents and how the competition, which was Lovelyz, would embarrass them and that JYPE set them up. But then Twice ended up comfortable winners and there was a lot of egg on faces.
By this point LoA had already become a sleeper hit as they were everywhere trying to promote the song and themselves. This year and the start of 2016 was soured by the flag incident though which was definitely the worst part.
Best song Like a Fool without a doubt. I don't think I follow Twice without it.
2016
At the start of the year all the chat is just about the flag incident. JYPE had invested in China at the time and it was clearly in their future plans in general. JYPE apologised and the video came out, which I still think was an awful decision. But it played its part unintentionally as it got Twice/Tzuyu a lot of attention and sympathy from the SK public. You combine LoA being a sleeper hit with this and there was a lot more anticipation for their first comeback than their debut.
Cheer Up was huge but Gfriend were still going strong at that point and BP had an incredibly successful debut . So it wasn't until TT hit that it felt like the Twice train couldn't be stopped and they were the no.1 gg, as it was another huge hit in SK, sold massively well and then went viral in Japan as well (which had fallen away as a market for kpop in the preceding years). The hate 100% ramped up in the year as literally every fandom, bg's and gg's alike, did not like them and you now couldn't argue against the popularity. They were cleaning up music shows, the charts, the publics attention etc whilst non-fans perceived them to be talentless putting out kids music. So the dominance hurt them even more. But success was probably the best thing from the year, as it gave them a platform to do so much more and there was some level of vindication.
Best song - One in a Million. Actually don't think this is a very strong year for them musically even though it's their most successful year.
2017
First time they had a title I liked in Likey which was therefore my favorite point from the year. Still one of their best title tracks and in general this was one of their best years music wise for me. I remember when Signal came out and underperformed, there was talk about maybe the Twice bubble bursting but then Sana came out with Cheese Kimbap a few days later and took over SK again.
The worst moments were probably due to the crazies. The guy threatening to kill Mina because of the Bambam photo and the Korean nationalists threatening acid attacks because the group made their debut in Japan. All became very public threats and the Mina/Bambam thing especially led to a lot of crap.
Favourite song from the year: Only You
2018
Unless the release later this year is good probably my favourite year in terms of title releases (b-sides a bit hit and miss). I think this was the year we should have had started with solo stuff but instead the group were everywhere touring and performing. Least favourite moment of the year was definitely Jeongyeon crying on vlive about the workload. I remember thinking the group have already accomplished so much, do they still need to be this 100mph but the company did not let up.
Looking back now, this is the last year where we had consistent OT9 performances. Post 2018 a majority of performances have been missing a member or two.
I think the strength of the title tracks from the year were summed up with what is still their best year-end performance for me (and therefore favorite moment):
Favourite song from the year: Be as One
2019:
Arguably the overall best year in terms of releases and the first year we got substantial involvement in b-sides from the members. But outside of that there were too many crappy things in this year that put a dampener on it as they were impossible to ignore. The start of hiatuses and various other issues, too many to list out. Was also the first year we saw the impacts of them being incredibly over-exposed for so long. Best part was definitely the music and the Dome Tour. Those performances at Tokyo Dome are still some of my favorites. First year Twice really showcased through musical releases the variety they posses. Before that, all the abuse about just cute concepts when as fans we saw all the variety they were doing in performances on tour and on shows. Was nice to see it accepted outside of the fandom as well.
Favourite song from the year: Fancy/Girls Like Us.
2020:
Similar to 2019 but the music not as good, variety galore though. 100% no argument can be made against Twice not being able to do other concepts. The worst moment was definitely the entire M&M era. Did not like the song, did not think the mini was as strong as Fancy You/Feel Special and even worse was everything outside it. The incredibly unfair encore fiasco which stemmed from an organised attack on the group, Jeongyeon's fancam missing for a performance which was the first indicator that things were not fully right there. Longest hiatus before a comeback, the return of Mina, the hype was so big and they had set the record for best selling gg album, but then it just ended up being such a troublesome era. I think it's probably the worst Twice era when you take everything into account as it felt like nothing could go right.
Favourite song from the year: Shadow/Handle It. These are probably my favourite moments from the year as well as they are top 10 b-sides for me (out of the 100+ Twice have)
What are other peoples favourite/least favourite moments over the last 6 years?
