ICYMI IN CASE YOU MISSED IT / OCTOBER 9 - OCTOBER 15

[Polaris_Tae]

OCTOBER 9 - OCTOBER 15

Hello Hallyuplussers and welcome to this week's edition of In Case You Missed It! A weekly article series where we work to bring you all of the past week's news in one easy-to-read format! This week, we saw the announcements of more celebrity marriages, as well as comebacks from both IVE & Hinatazaka 46, along with some more updates related to FIFTY FIFTY's ongoing legal struggle with their agency, ATTRAKT. All of this and so much more in this week's update!

BY POLARIS_TAE

MONDAY:
#1- On Monday, it was announced that five of the currently active PENTAGON members, Yeo One, Yanan, Yuto, Kino & Wooseok had officially terminated their contracts with CUBE Entertainment. They will still remain as members of PENTAGON but will seek management from another agency other than CUBE. The remaining members, who are still signed to the company, had their contracts disrupted due to military service. However, they may follow their fellow members as their contracts begin to expire.



TUESDAY:
#1- YG has another update regarding their upcoming girl group, BABYMONSTER. The company has announced that the group will officially be making their debut this November! Are you excited for this group, or have you lost all faith in the company once their legacy idols began to leave the company in droves?

#2- The upcoming KBS Immortal Songs concert has officially been moved from the MetLife Stadium to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. This comes following criticisms that the company had overestimated the audience for the concert and that MetLife was too big a venue for them to realistically fill. The organisers have announced that everyone who has currently purchased tickets for the MetLife show will have their tickets refunded in full, and there will be an exclusive pre-sale for fans who had previously purchased tickets to the stadium concert. What are your thoughts on the location change? Was it an appropriate action to take?



WEDNESDAY:
#1- LE SSERAFIM has a new release coming out on the 22nd of October! The group will be coming back with a new original Japanese song, 'Dress Code' produced by Japanese singer-songwriter Imase. This single will also feature as the theme song for the new Nippon TV primetime drama, Sexy Tanaka-san. A show about a 40-year-old office worker who has a secret life as a 'sexy belly dancer' and the implications behind her co-worker finding out about her side job. Are you looking forward to this upcoming release or its accompanying drama?

#2- We had a few more contract announcements in the middle of the week! Korean soloist Chungha has officially signed a contract with Jay Park's label, MORE VISION. Meanwhile, Kirin, who is the founder of the label 88BallTown has shared via his personal Instagram that Menoi's contract with the label has officially concluded. We wish them both the best in all of their future endeavours.

#3- Then later in the day, we learned that Cravity's Seongmin would be taking a hiatus from public activities following the illness of his mother. Stating that the idol would be taking a break from the group as his mother was due to undergo a major operation due to an illness. Starship further clarified that Cravity will continue to promote without Seongmin -- as 8-members -- for the time being. Explaining that they had come to the decision after "sufficient discussion with the CRAVITY members and Seongmin that it's best for Seongmin to stay by his mother's side for the time being. Activities after today's announcement will be carried out by 8 members, excluding Seongmin". We wish him, and his mother, our best.



THURSDAY:
#1- This week, we had some new marriage announcements! Royal Pirates frontman, Kim Moonchul took to Instagram to announce that he would be getting married later this month. Also on Instagram, Former Apink member, Hong Yoo-kyung officially shared that she had gotten married. Along with a handwritten letter, the former idol also shared a number of stunning photos from her wedding pictorial. In response to the announcement, her former group member, Eunji took to the comments to congratulate her on her marriage by saying: “Let’s meet up more often after your wedding,” and, “So pretty…” We congratulate her on tying the knot!

#2- SNH48 has a new EP coming out just in time for the groups' annual elections. The group released their Number One EP on the 14th of October. Have you had a chance to listen to it yet?



FRIDAY:
#1- There was no news of note on Friday.



SATURDAY:
#1- On Saturday, SM Entertainment announced that SNSD's Taeyeon would be the next artist on their roster to be making a comeback! The Girls Generation leader will be making her solo comeback with a new album this November. We can't wait!

#2- We had a new update related to the ongoing dispute with FIFTY FIFTY and their label, ATTRAKT. The group members took to their newly established Instagram account in order to release damning information criticizing not just the company, but also the CEO and its employees. Through this personal account, FIFTY FIFTY member, Aran revealed that in January 2023, she had contracted chronic cholangitis with polyps -- which had the possibility of developing into cancer if left untreated -- and the company had blocked her from receiving treatment for the condition until April 2023. While another member, Sio revealed that she had been forced into extreme dieting that had caused her to receive kidney-related issues, and being at risk of needing kidney dialysis if the dieting were to continue. Despite this warning, the company continued to force her into this strict and unsustainable dieting regime. What are your thoughts on their statements, and do you hope that they will be able to resolve their issues sooner rather than later?



SUNDAY:
#1- The female idol individual brand reputation for the month of October has officially been released! This month, BLACKPINK's Jennie took the top slot. While NewJeans Minji & Hanni rounded out the top 3. Did any of your favourite girl group members manage to rank this month?

#2- On the weekend it was reported that Got7 had been in discussions with the family of a deceased fan who was sadly shot and later died of her wounds following the deadly Siam Paragon Shooting in Thailand. The group had reportedly been in discussions with the family where they had offered to help to organise the funeral. According to the local Thai media, Got7's Bambam had contacted the family of the deceased after the news had reached the group members of Got7 and had offered to pay the costs of the funeral. Since this news came to light, the members of Got7 have shown their support for the victim by sending condolence flowers and comforting letters to the victim's family. Following the passing of this fan, the Siam Paragon Shooting has now claimed 3 lives. We thank the group members for their generosity and hope that this kind gesture can help to alleviate the financial burden of her grieving family during such a difficult time.

BY POLARIS_TAE

#1.IVE - BADDIE
IVE came back on Friday with 'Baddie' alongside their EP I'VE MINE. 'Baddie' is a heavy-hitting where the group members showcase their attitude through their vocal performance alongside its cat-themed music video. As someone who has not followed many of the post-IZ*ONE members following the group's disbandment -- aside from casually consuming content from LE SSERAFIM & Lee Chaeyeon from time to time -- I did not know what to expect from this release. My musical knowledge related to IVE begins and ends with 'Love Dive' I did not know what to expect when going in to review this release. However, I was pleasantly surprised with I'VE MINE. Almost all the singles and their b-sides ended up being most of the qualities that I tend to look for with girl group releases. While I felt that 'Baddie' was probably the weakest of the group's three lead singles, and personally enjoyed 'Either Way' the most. I found all but one b-side to my liking. Some favourites include the EDM-influenced 'Holy Moly' with its catchy hook & to a lesser extent, 'Payback which acts as the perfect finale to the groups' newest hit album!




#2. TXT - CHASING THAT FEELING
TXT made their return this week with their latest full-length album, The Name Chapter: Freefall, and its accompanying title track, 'Chase That Feeling'. A pop single that is once again crafted by BigHit in-house producer, Supreme Boi that talks about abandoning their youth in order to chase the feeling. Its accompanying music video is a reality-bending masterpiece that draws concepts from Inception and the mirror dimension from the Doctor Strange series. Through this release, the group has once again broken its 1st-day sales record after it surpassed 1.8 million units sold within the first 24 hours! When it comes to TXT, BigHit has often shown that they are a lot less experimental when it comes to the group's lead singles. Unlike the groups' senior labelmates, BigHit seems to be not as enthusiastic in allowing the group members to have an input into their music in the same way that BTS does. This could be either due to the in-house producers rejecting the group members-produced submissions or any other multitude of reasons. Despite this, however, the group's albums have still oftentimes felt cohesive with each other. Likely due to the way that BigHit structures their groups to have concepts that run over multiple album series, as seen in BTS' Reflection of Youth chapter and TXT's Chapter series of studio albums. Some songs worth highlighting include: 'Deep Down' with its stunning vocal layering and atmospheric setting & the sleeper hits 'Back For More (TXT Ver.)' & 'Blue Spring.' Overall it's a solid addition to the groups' already great discography.




#3. HINATAZAKA46 - YOU GO FROM 0 TO 1
Hinatazaka46 made their return this week with their latest single, 'You Go From 0 To 1' from the group's upcoming 2nd album, Myakuutsu Kanjou which is set to release on the 8th of November. For this release, we see Sasaki Kumi take the centre position. This upcoming album will be the final album and senbatsu of 1st generation member Ushio Sarina and will also be the first official release to feature the participation of the group's 4th generation members. This single is a sweet Jpop release that perfectly showcases the members' stunning vocals while the music video displays the members performing at a shipping port decorated wit various sheer materials in order to provide the perfect backdrop to their stylized group choreography to accompany their vocals. All-in-all, it's a great release to hype us up for their upcoming album, and we can't wait to see what they have in store for us this November!

BY POLARIS_TAE

#1- BTS member Jungkook broke another record this week when he became the 1st Korean soloist to debut multiple songs within the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100. Congrats!

#2- Soloist and former NMIXX member Jini has had a great week this week following the release of her first solo album. The idol's first mini-album, An Iron Hand In A Velvet Glove has surpassed 50K copies sold on Hanteo. Congrats!

BY POLARIS_TAE

Our Hallyu+ Events Team returned this week with an update to our weekly H+ Station Chart. This week, SHINee member Key made it to the top spot. Be sure to check it out to see where all of your favourite songs ranked!

The Translations Team gave us one update this week.

Our Korean Translator janajaytrans gave us lyrics to EVVNE's 'Role Model'. If you're a fan of EVVNE, or just want to show your appreciation to our fantastic translations team, then make sure to let them know in the linked thread above!


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This brings us to the end of another great article for another week, we hope to see you again for more great updates. As a side note, don't forget to check out our recruitment posting if you'd like to join the team in order to help contribute to these articles and we'll see you again next week!





GFX BY @yerm
FEATURED ARTISTS Wooseok (Pentagon), Sasaki Kumi (Hinatazaka46), Beomgyu (TXT), Gaeul (IVE) & O.De​

 

[hatmixx]

#2- Soloist and former NMIXX member Jini has had a great week this week following the release of her first solo album. The idol's first mini-album, An Iron Hand In A Velvet Glove has surpassed 50K copies sold on Hanteo. Congrats!

 

[UMJI MOODS]

Always something that I miss. Thank you.

 

[Bellamy]

Thank you for the updates!

#2. TXT - CHASING THAT FEELING

I really liked this song!

What are your thoughts on their statements, and do you hope that they will be able to resolve their issues sooner rather than later?

Sadly, no matter if it's true or not. Without solid proof, it's just nothing but words. Saying this now on Instagram looks like an attempt to gain sympathy but it isn't working.