Spring Cleaning! What groups and/or fandoms have you fallen in or out of love w/ this year?

[Polaris_Tae]

It's Spring here in Straya, so let's go for something fun!

For music

• BTS is still #1 on my list despite the extended inactivity due to indentured (paid) servitude to the SK government.
• *NEW: I've added ILLIT to the list, while Moka joined my small (but substantial) bias list.
• *NEW: TEAM SHACHI. All of their music is just my style ~
• *OUT: I've dropped a lot of my cpop faves due to line-up changes (SNH48, SING) or simply being disbanded (HJSN101). I still check in on Meixuan when they're gearing up for new releases but constant censorship and govt interference (RIP PD101 on the mainland) has been killing my interest in the industry for a while now.

For anime/gaming

• *NEW: Haikyuu is my new hyper fixation (Gym 3 bros training arc was my favorite moment > the payoff of the training arc with the Karasuno/Shiratorizawa match with Tsukki vs Ushiwaka + that double save from Noya) Kuroo kicked off all my fictional faves to take the #1 spot from Sesshoumaru.
• *NEW: I also added Blue Lock to my list of anime faves. The psychological aspect of this series had me hooked.
• *FREEFALLING: Considering JJK is over, I doubt It'll be at the top of my list like it was over the past two years. Though I'll probs stay as a SuguSato glazer regardless.
• *RE-ENTRY: Bleach. It's 2024 and I'm still a Bleach enjoyer

As for games, I've gone casual on Genshin & HSR due to irl and time constraints. I haven't picked up a story quest since Cyno pt. 1.

 

[choively]

Aespa a little bit... maybe Twice too. Other groups, I'm still neutral about them.

 

[inari]

What a clever concept!

Team Shachi is awesome! Lurkette has some older literature and translations on them!

New: New Jeans! I never got into them, but my heart has softened for them a lot. Since they kinda rose with IVE, I've always had warm feelings with them but I can confidently say I like them more now.
New: Aespa was my favorite for a long time, but they kind of teetered out. They used to be ahead of IVE. With Whiplash, they are definitely back at the top for me. Tied, though. IVE has kept me well fed while Aespa was out of style for me.
OUT: Superkind. The time has come to give up.

 

[Seriously]

New for me is f5ve! And anime as a whole lol

Out? Hmmm I don't think I've dropped anyone/thing this year. But then my scope for entertainment is pretty narrow anyway. Kpop for me these days is like 4 groups total.

 

[RussianRoulette]

- I've been falling out of love with nct a bit this year. I still like the members, WayV will always be near and dear to my heart, but I just haven't been into any of their most recent music. (I think part of it is because it doesn't feel the same without WinWin )
- I've been really deep diving into being obsessed with The Boyz this year, I also think part of the reason why i'm listening to NCT less is because TBZ takes up most of my space.
- I still love Twice, but sort of like NCT I haven't been into their newer group music. I'm hoping I will like their next comeback though.
- I feel like New Jeans is done and dead for me. I like their songs, but with all of the drama going on I really can't support them anymore. (I also want to shout out it's not just them, but between them, hybe, and MHJ i'm just done with all of them.)
- I've been liking Illit this year. Moka is so adorable! I want to adopt and protect her.They are probably one of the only 5th gen groups i'm into really?
- I think as of this year I can officially call myself an Aespa fan now. I've always been a casual fan but they've won me over.
- Kiss of life has also won me over as well.

- I haven't really sat down and watched an anime since Moriarty The Patriot, I really should though (recommendations are appreciated! I've been eyeballing apothecary diaries), though I did get into Project Sekai this year! It's feeding into my Vocaloid nostalgia that i've been feeling lately and two to the voice actors from my previous favorite app game that got discontinued (the english server of A3! Act! Addict! Actors!) is in Project Sekai (Tenma's voice actor voices Misumi which i'm honestly amazed by because they sound so different! and Rui's voice actor also voiced Yuki).

- I've sort of fell out of love with Black Butler a bit this year. I still haven't watched the new anime, but the new anime dropped literally the same time my #1 Best Favorite Boy got killed off in the manga and i've been too busy mourning his death to consume any new Black Butler stuff since it happened.

If anyone would like to recommend me new anime it would be appreciated

 

[Bchip]

I wouldn't say i dropped them, but lately i have not been as excited as used to be with TWICE and ITZY comebacks.
Talk That Talk is TWICE's only good title track since 2020 imo And ITZY either releases a massive BOP (Untouchable) or an extremely weak song (Gold). There's no in-between with them.

And i think i have a soft spot for KEY. His releases have been right up my alley.
And Kiss Of Life won me over with Midas Touch.

 

[BianTwo]

Only K-pop

fromis_9 will always have a special place for me, always my n°1.

Positive/NEW :

• Impressed : Babymonster, especially on stage, obviously a YG group. However their songs are still lacking and the teasers for their upcoming full album aren't looking good. Regardless I checked them more closely this year.
• Surprising : UNIS, I didn't expect much because the members were very young. But it's a SBS group, they likely know what to do, they have money, competent people and more. Despite their young age they are surprisinly good and their songs are pretty nice.
• Early Access : ILL-IT, I watched "R U Next ?" and voted on the show, so I was invested even before the debut and I'll follow their career regardless.
• "Nugu" moderate success : Rescene, "Love Attack" is a great song so the next comeback will have some expectations. And Woni got noticed for her visual. It's not sure if they'll have as much attention next time.

Losing interest/OUT :

• Cignature : Chloe left, Belle/Hyeonju is doing well in UNIS but she won't come back before 2026, the group is struggling and is only being carried by Jeewon and even more since Waterbomb.
• Wooah : since Rollercoaster in 2022 I didn't like any of their new songs and they aren't as active. Their future seems incertain.

 

[Polaris_Tae]

If anyone would like to recommend me new anime it would be appreciated

• DAN DA DAN is peak for me this season so go for that.
• The Elusive Samurai is a Kamakura-era revolution-themed period piece with great potential
• Blue Lock - watch it for the story, the animation leaves much to be desired, but the story is peak
• If you haven't caught the new Trigun series, then I'd also recommend that. The animation in that series is fantastic
• For Chinese animation, Link Click & Heaven Official's Blessing (TGCF) are both great. TGCF is a censored mlm romance-fantasy, while Link Click is a detective-style series where the mc solves crimes by jumping into the past via photographs. TGCF recently dropped their 2nd season at the beginning of the year, while the new Link Click will be dropping later this season
• Then there's some of my old faves like Inuyasha, Bleach (TYBW is back for another cour this season) & Haikyuu

WayV will always be near and dear to my heart, but I just haven't been into any of their most recent music.

I forgot about WayV. My interest in them has been waning slightly as well. Probs a mix between narrowing some of their focus on the KR/JP markets rather than focusing on their main audiences (CHN/SEA/Global) and the Winwin situation.

 

[Seriously]

If anyone would like to recommend me new anime it would be appreciated

I've recently enjoyed Bocchi the Rock!

 

[Stannie]

Out: I was already one foot out door, but over my break, I've made a decision to sell off all my Twice albums and merchs to help me move on for good. They'll always technically be my favorite group (after all, I've loved and followed them for 9 of my good years) and I still check out their releases, but i just dont have any passion for kpop anymore

In: anime. Currently on a break but I've watched an unhealthy amount of anime over past year

Return: dramas and shows.

 

[Stannie]

I've recently enjoyed Bocchi the Rock!

You might enjoy K-ON!! as well if you liked Bocchi the Rock

 

[Seriously]

You might enjoy K-ON!! as well if you liked Bocchi the Rock

It's on my watchlist!

 

[Chomiczewska]

Is getting obsessed with the TV man considered joining a new fandom if I've been fallowing the spin off series since 2021?

 

[Doyochi]

Out: TWICE for me, their most recent songs haven't really been it for me

Fallen in love again: Blackpink, or at least the members. I stopped stanning because when they were a full group, I didn't want to wait a full year for a song that I found meh (AIIYL). But I looooove the members' individual works. Mantra is my daily bop currently!

Is getting obsessed with the TV man considered joining a new fandom if I've been fallowing the spin off series since 2021?

ommgggg a fellow Hazbin stannnn

 

[Ddeona Oneul Bame]

IN: Stray Kids. I was always casually into their music and variety content since like 2019 or whenever Felix was on Pops in Seoul as a host. I've listened to their stuff since God's Menu, but aside from watching meme compilation videos and the occasional performances, I never really followed them extremely closely, like concerts and stuff.

This year, the Nation's Boyfriends, Hyunlix, took over my life

So while I'm waiting for CBX to sue Sooman into the stratosphere, so I'm using this time to add Stray Kids to the list of groups I'm following closely now I usually don't care much for JYP's music but they're the first group since GOT7 I'm into so it's really about time I should be stanning them.

I'm not super into GGs, but surprisingly, Babymonster is the first GG I feel really invested in since Red Velvet. I tend to causally follow YG's GGs, but they're the first one who I've started following actively.


I don't really drop groups, so no one is out for me. I WAS gonna try to at least check out RIIZE's releases and variety every now and then when Seunghan came back, but that's probably not gonna happen anymore

OUT: Superkind. The time has come to give up.

STOP, I REFUSE TO GIVE UP ON THEM

 

[Wensuelrene]

Haven't fallen out of love with anyone, since I only diligently follow 2 K-Pop groups and both are still releasing bops.

The only group I've really gotten in to recently is BUS because of you i shine, though they're a T-Pop group. First boy group I've ever closely followed since a nugu K-pop group ages ago, though. I really just don't follow K-Pop as much as I used to though, and kinda dipped out a few years back. It's not that I have anything against 4th gen groups, none have just stuck out to me and made me want to stan like in the case of BUS.

Spoiler: Gotta give my BUS boys some promo

For anime, I had been a Pokémon stan for years, but started to fall out of it with the Sun and Moon series. I just didn't like the direction of the show so I stopped watching after being a weekly watcher for my whole life, and I had long gotten tired of Ash. Thankfully, the new Pokémon Horizons series has brought me back in with a force. I love the new characters Liko, Roy, and Dot, and enjoy that they're finally doing something different after decades of the same old formula. I really hope this will be a new format for the future.

 

[tokki]

Out:
Kep1er - I think I always knew this on some level, but I realized it even more over the last couple of months that I didn't care for them nearly as much as I thought I did. Music is not my thing at all (aside from a few "cuter" songs which they usually try to steer away from), and the management sucks majorly along with an extremely toxic fandom filled with akgaes. I was really just supporting them for Mashiro and Yeseo's sake. But now that they've "graduated" and re-debuted in MADEIN (a group that I love much more and they actually get to shine in)...bye-bye to Kep1er.

In:
tripleS - I've always enjoyed tripleS but I got really into them this spring as the final members were being revealed (including my bias, Jiyeon). The unit system means that there's always something fun going on or coming up and I like seeing the different member combinations interact. Stream Inner Dance.

ILLIT - I'm not really a proper ILLIT fan (I refuse to use that fandom name, sorry girls) but I liked their debut and their new comeback song is already stuck in my head, so I'll be keeping a casual eye on them for sure. I like their artistic direction a lot, too - right up my alley.

 

[inari]

Out:
Kep1er - I think I always knew this on some level, but I realized it even more over the last couple of months that I didn't care for them nearly as much as I thought I did. Music is not my thing at all (aside from a few "cuter" songs which they usually try to steer away from), and the management sucks majorly along with an extremely toxic fandom filled with akgaes. I was really just supporting them for Mashiro and Yeseo's sake. But now that they've "graduated" and re-debuted in MADEIN (a group that I love much more and they actually get to shine in)...bye-bye to Kep1er.

THAT'S WHAT MADEIN IS???

I commented on the name change thread and didn't even register that??? Or I forgot??? Why does this feel new to me??

 

[Your Biggest Fan]

IN:
KPOP

• XG. I've liked their music, but this year, their releases have been hitting nonstop.
• Aespa. With Supernova, they've grown on me. They're so bratty.
• ILLIT. I love their dreamcore aesthetic, and their music reminds me of 3 gen K-pop.
• Enhypen. They've always been in the back of my mind. I guess they weren't content there 'cause their album is still on heavy rotation.

Other

• (Gaming) Fields of Mistria. I'm obsessed with this game. It's a cozy farming/dating sim with dungeon mechanics as well.
• (Music) Laufey
• (Gaming) Sims 4. I got sucked back in.
• (Manga) Veil. I read some fan translated stuff and now I'm impatiently waiting for the official English translation

OUT:
KPOP

• NewJeans. I don't think I need to say why.
• RIIZE. I don't think I need to say why.
• ITZY. I hoped the OT5 comeback would inject some interest into them. Instead, it left me feeling more unimpressed than before.
• Red Velvet. Their concepts and music after Psycho have feel half-baked.
• TXT. I haven't been into them for a while and have finally decided to stop checking in on them.

Other

• Anime. Just in general there's just too many "must watch shows" and being spoiled for choice, but not with time, none appeal enough to me.

MIDDLE:
KPOP

• IVE
• LeSserafim
• NCT127
• Stray Kidz
• KatsEye
• &TEAM

 

[tokki]

THAT'S WHAT MADEIN IS???

I commented on the name change thread and didn't even register that??? Or I forgot??? Why does this feel new to me??

Yeah, MADEIN is the three girls from LIMELIGHT + Mashiro and Yeseo from Kep1er + Saito Serina and Abe Nagomi from Produce 101 Japan S3! The other 7 Kep1er girls are still active as Kep1er, though, since they renewed their contracts while Mashiro and Yeseo didn't.