[theqoo] ILLIT, SEVENTEEN, QWER SHOWED "COMFORT TO THE YOUTH" ... THEIR MESSAGE RESONATED WITH THE STRUGGLING GENERATION

As the strong and resilient image of "iron taste" (t/n: 쇠맛 = swe-mat, tough & resiliant) dominates, stories of youth offering warm comfort are rising once again.

The groups ILLIT, SEVENTEEN, and the band QWER are receiving positive feedback for embracing the public's emotions and evoking nostalgia through their narratives of "youth drama."

ILLIT released a nearly 9-minute "I'LL LIKE YOU" Brand Film on the HYBE Labels YouTube channel on the 24th. In the video, the members introduce themselves one by one, sharing their own healing stories infused with fantastical elements. For example, they describe wanting to become an eagle to feel free or wishing to go to Mars, depicted through unrealistic animations that evoke a fairytale-like sentiment.

Through this video, ILLIT is telling a story that resembles their own kind of worldview. However, in the current K-pop scene, which mainly focuses on themes related to superpowers or cyberpunk, they uniquely draw on themes of "youth" and "fairytales," capturing the public's attention.

The public has responded positively to ILLIT's brand film, commenting that it embodies "ILLIT's unique innocence, dreaminess, fairytale, and magical girl vibe," and noting, "They're such beautiful youth," and "It feels like a youth film or fairytale, so beautiful."

On the same day, SEVENTEEN also garnered significant responses from the public and fandom with the official photos released ahead of their upcoming mini album, the 12th. One notable photo features all 13 members sitting in a line against the backdrop of fireworks at the beach.

Before their debut on May 26, 2015, SEVENTEEN aired a seven-part series titled "SEVENTEEN Project - Debut Big Plan" starting on May 2 of that month, revealing their preparation process for debut. During this process, they sat together on the sandy beach of Sokcho, saying, "Later, if someone changes, let’s come back here to Sokcho and throw it," and "Let’s make SEVENTEEN a hit; we can do it."

QWER made their comeback on the 23rd with their mini album "Algorithm's Blossom" and the title track "My Name is Malguem." This song, for which Jeon Soyeon, a member and producer of (G)I-DLE, is said to have participated in composing, writing, and arranging, tells the story of the speaker named "Malguem" in a diary format.

Similar to SEVENTEEN's work, QWER's "My Name is Malguem" addresses the theme of healing, resonating with the modern sentiment that people must always appear okay even in difficult situations. Additionally, the music video is directed with a refreshing and clear aesthetic, enhancing its wistful quality. According to fans' interpretations, the music video presents a fairytale-like narrative where the members each represent a different personality.

ILLIT, SEVENTEEN, and QWER are all targeting the public's hearts by evoking people's pain and nostalgia through their unique narratives and music. Industry insiders believe that the resurgence of bands and the group NewJeans has played a significant role in this trend. While groups like BLACKPINK, (G)I-DLE, and aespa have dominated the mainstream with strong narratives of "me" and "us," (t/n: we're the best/I'm the best) the rise of band music has brought attention to the healing narratives of youth. Furthermore, NewJeans has demonstrated that there is public demand for nostalgia, leading to various stories that cater to this demand. Their narratives, which convey comforting messages that it's okay not to pretend to be fine and that it's okay to miss the past, offer solace to today's audience. It will be interesting to see how these stories continue to unfold in the future.

source: https://m.entertain.naver.com/article/312/0000681328

original post: here

1. This combination...

2. Leave SEVENTEEN out of this

3. Remove SEVENTEEN ㅎㅎ

4. Wow...I don't want to be lumped with them

5. This sure sounds like a combination that HYBE loves

6. SEVENTEEN has always been about youth stories, why only post about it randomly now...

7. SEVENTEEN indeed evokes youth, but I don't know about the other 2

8. I've never heard of this combination

9. SEVENTEEN ended up being used here

10. HYBE-yah HYBE-yah