I did notice the fatigue, too—but then, I attributed it to having much more energy (and newcomer excitement) with the second and (especially) third generations. I seem to remember much more of the lore surrounding Apink and Red Velvet—and even how fans troll Taemin—than any of the newcomers.
I suppose it's also because as I grew older, I got busier and had more responsibilities (not to mention the fallout from breakup with the ex, who introduced me to K-pop in the first place). I had to "select" a group to follow. It was almost Ive, but "After Like" literally became a trigger for me; I ended up going for Billlie, but I can't even follow them as much, only knowing the broad beats of Moon Sua's hiatus and still not telling Sheon and Suhyeon apart.
Or maybe it's because the K-pop "aesthetic" became too streamlined (I was supposed to say "Westernized" but that was always the case) and I could not tell, say, NewJeans and Illit and Le Sserafim and Fifty Fifty and Rescene and [insert girl group here] apart? All it does is make me yearn back towards the time of Mamamoo and GFriend—and I was a bit disappointed with how identikit their comeback is.
I honestly felt it was because I'm getting older and the fatigue was a sign of the times. But, I am glad that I am not the only one feeling this way. But perhaps, I think it might be because I need some of the newer groups to settle in a bit more and actually develop a lore that fans can really get behind. I think a large part of this has to do with the companies having so much control, when really we just want the artists to get a bit more freedom.
Right? Add to that the nature of nugu group suddenly having these diehard fans who act as if they've known them all their life and say we're sleeping on their favorites when we really haven't had enough time to know them. I can't help but wonder if they're plants or they really just have a looot of time...
I did notice the fatigue, too—but then, I attributed it to having much more energy (and newcomer excitement) with the second and (especially) third generations. I seem to remember much more of the lore surrounding Apink and Red Velvet—and even how fans troll Taemin—than any of the newcomers.
I suppose it's also because as I grew older, I got busier and had more responsibilities (not to mention the fallout from breakup with the ex, who introduced me to K-pop in the first place). I had to "select" a group to follow. It was almost Ive, but "After Like" literally became a trigger for me; I ended up going for Billlie, but I can't even follow them as much, only knowing the broad beats of Moon Sua's hiatus and still not telling Sheon and Suhyeon apart.
Or maybe it's because the K-pop "aesthetic" became too streamlined (I was supposed to say "Westernized" but that was always the case) and I could not tell, say, NewJeans and Illit and Le Sserafim and Fifty Fifty and Rescene and [insert girl group here] apart? All it does is make me yearn back towards the time of Mamamoo and GFriend—and I was a bit disappointed with how identikit their comeback is.
I honestly felt it was because I'm getting older and the fatigue was a sign of the times. But, I am glad that I am not the only one feeling this way. But perhaps, I think it might be because I need some of the newer groups to settle in a bit more and actually develop a lore that fans can really get behind. I think a large part of this has to do with the companies having so much control, when really we just want the artists to get a bit more freedom.
Right? Add to that the nature of nugu group suddenly having these diehard fans who act as if they've known them all their life and say we're sleeping on their favorites when we really haven't had enough time to know them. I can't help but wonder if they're plants or they really just have a looot of time...