The REALITIES of Blank and Friends (kpop term deconstructed) 

And (G)-idle, Soyeon and friends

everglow mia and friends 😭

@@HectorH-Mits not like that anymore

Yea, it's interesting to see what each group looks like now in comparison to the peak moments of those groups being called blank and friends. Like most don't really apply.

HyunA & 4Minute, unfortunately :(

Thanks for the further context regarding G-Idle's situation. It kinda further validates the different perspectives of kpop viewers. Neverland can understand and have seen everything that you have said while causal or GP listeners just kinda hear and see that she's the producer, her stage presence and then line distributions and automatically draw to the Soyeon and friends term.

hmm.. I remember over time it changed from Soyeon and friends to (before the scandal) Soyeon, Minnie, Soojin, and friends 😅 had me like: how are you gonna name half of the groups and still say and friends 🫣 also, a month (or so) ago, I saw it changed again to Soyeon, Minnie, Yuqi, and friends... Like ofc they'd name the producer line just to troll 😂😂

Do you think it still happens to this day? I know they were on that long hiatus but I want to say Ladida era and onwards, it's been pretty quiet with that term being used on Everglow.

@@cloudchungxiao its more quiet recently but still happens unfortunately

Damm, I don't really see it anymore so I wonder what exactly they're seeing

Definitely agree with your first sentence. When you say musical group, are you referring to all groups even beyond Korea? Kinda lost me when you mentioned the societal values though. How does being a morally good person lead to pushing one idol?

ooh i like your thoughts!! just wanted to add elris is a pretty strong case for "_ and friends" too w sohee, and if their popularity is being discussed, i'd be interested in hearing an analysis of bella's villain arc in the preparation footage for mixnine's final evaluation & how that might've affected the group (also the strawberry incident)

Ohh yea, when looking into blank and friends a bit more. Nana's name popped up. Don't really follow Woo!Ah! like that so didn't want to make too much of a comment on them. But when you compare her time with EL7Z UP, are you saying she doesn't shine as much there in comparison to Woo!Ah!? As for Alice, I've kinda heard about them but not really. Kinda similar understanding about the group as Woo!Ah!. Interesting to here that another member got a villian arc during a survival show because Chaejeong who was on Produce 48 was apart of the Boombayah competition where the other team was ripped to shreads by netizens. But yea, will defs add them to the list and see what I get

@@thisisJUSTlikestonewall thank you ^^ oh, may I know more about the strawberry incident? I think I've never heard about that one

@@cloudchungxiao I might say rather than not shining much in EL7Z UP, it's more like the other members also shine almost as bright as her. Whenever I watch Woo!Ah!'s performance, although my bias is Sora, I always find my attention drawn to Nana. Whether she is put at the center or the back, her stage presence is overwhelming. Even when she dances side by side with Wooyeon whose beauty is favored by knetz, Nana will still grab your attention. But when you put Nana in the same formation with, let's say, Hwiseo and Yeeun, you certainly cannot ignore those two's presence. Forgive me for bringing up other names, but I think stayc will be a good example of a group whose every member has similar "star aura" where no one overshadows the others. Might also be because none of the members take the whole ace position like Nana. Yes, Sieun is the main vocalist who might also be their best rapper (more than J and Sumin), but the main dancer is still Isa and knetz always praise both J and Seeun's beauty, often calling them their unofficial visuals. Meanwhile, Nana holds these positions within Woo!Ah!: leader, center, visual, face of the group, main dancer, lead rapper, lead vocalist. This could also be a good discussion btw, should a member who is good in everything be given all the available positions in expense of the other members' chance to shine? Should the company give a certain position to the second best member and not the best one because the best one already holds several positions eventhough they truly excel in everything? Heejin is actually similar to Nana where she was promoted as an ace by BBC back then. But because there are members who can catch attention like Chuu, Hyejoo, Yves, and Kim Lip (back in LOONA) she never overshadowed the others. Even knetz often mention and celebrate Hyunjin due to her visual and personality.

Right, I see what you mean regarding Nana in EL7Z UP and Woo!Ah! Might need to watch more Woo!Ah! performances but I'm assuming she also gets rap lines? It kinda reminds me of Weeekly's Monday who has very similar positions as Nana. I wonder whether those actual aces would do well as a soloist and kinda the reasoning for why they get put into groups instead. But also that is also a good question regarding positions within a group if there are glaring aces who rank high in each position within the same group. Will defs have a look into that.

Happy New Years :) Wait, I never knew Starship tried to initially focus on Yeonjung during the early eras of Cosmic Girls??? But yea, within Post-IOI, I think that was a slight issue in which most of the groups being formed focused primarily on that IOI member (maybe excluding pristin too). But yea, within Cosmic GIrls these days, it's clear that a lot of them have had their chance to shine and have accrued their own fan bases

Thanks for the feedback. I did initially want to add more sections to the video and further break down the more prominent groups who have been labelled blank and friends. However, I thought it might have been better to focus more on a general basis considering the reason for most of the blank and friends that I don't feel are blank and friends have kinda been explained. I mention the fact that other members get other opportunities which indirectly can imply Soyeon but also other idol's lack of variety appearance and then also pre-debut hype which indirectly implies izone, produce and all that. Do you think having a part two to this video where I actually delve into the case by case basis of the more prominent blank and friends group might be better?

Ohh for sure, I think perception is key with recognising this. Like in terms of the Liz's collab, Yujin being all over and Yuqi's popularity in China, sometimes people are so into kpop and the music only that they don't see all these other opportunities received by the other members that make them able to hold their own.

Thanks :)

Ohh for sure. The Post-group interaction seem like the dynamics were impacted. Havent heard too much about Miss A though so not sure about them

All goods :) I've been meaning to implement it but wasn't sure how to efficiently do it. Should be getting onto the older videos too.

Thanks :)

Ohh in what way? Plus how closely do you follow IVE too?

@@cloudchungxiao not doing this - there are plenty of ways how IVE highlights wonny or Yunjin. From promotion to lines to opportunities. If you need a list google it.

Ohh yea, I mean I definitely could see that during their debut era but overtime I feel like things have changed and they've really highlighted most of the other members pretty decently. But guess thats not really seen by you as much

i feel like that term applied to them in their debut era but not anymore

The concept of blank and friends is not kpop relevant only but I meant more the term blank and friends. Not sure how much western music you listen to but we don't necessarily hear people say Beyonce and friends when referring to Destinys Child.

@@cloudchungxiao I agree when referring to musical artist, you don’t really use that because Western musical artist don’t have the same dynamics that K-pop groups have, but I’m referring to like just a term, blank and friends

When you say "term, blank and friends" what do you mean by that? Like the wording or idea of blank and friends or just something completely different?

@@cloudchungxiao I mean that the term ___ and friends inserting the blank with whatever you’re talking about is not only to K-pop and doesn’t originate from there either for an example Mickey and friends could relate to one prominent member of a friend group and the other people

Ahh right yea for sure. The concept of blank and friends is not only kpop specific

Then idk if you know what that is hahaha. I can see how people saw this perception initally but these recent eras have seen a definite change and more recognition with the other members. But I guess you dont really see that? In what way do you still see Wonyoung and friends?

i feel like that term only applied to them in their debut era but not anymore

also weki meki, it seem that many post produce groups use this "tactic"

Pristin was actually pretty alright. Gugugdan and Weki Meki on the other hand though. Not sure about them