Mastodawn

I don't post my views on every new Kpop release I hear, but I will note that neither RESCENE -- Busy Boy nor H1-KEY -- To My First Love has really landed with me.

I have been a keen supporter of RESCENE in the past, so I was thrilled when I saw this unheralded release, but what I heard disappointed me. Perhaps "Busy Boy" will grow on me -- or perhaps not. I was not too happy to read that the release has something to with blockchains, which I associate with crypto awfulness.

"To My First Love" ought to be my cup of tea; it continues the vigorous rock of "Good For You" and this style is perhaps a little musical callback to GFriend's rock sound, to complement the visual references to the GFriend "Rough" MV. Yet it didn't grab me and the chorus evaporated from my memory as soon as the MV finished.

So that's this week's dose of Kpop disappointment. Yet my feelings of anticlimax will be as nothing compared to what some BTS fans* will experience if "Arirang" does not live up to expectations, because those expectations are so much higher and the sense of emotional connection with the group so much deeper than anything I feel about either RESCENE or H1-KEY.

Are BTS fans here in the Fediverse engaging in expectation management? What are your hopes and fears?

* I write "BTS fans" rather than ARMY because I am never quite sure how the latter term works grammatically.

#Kpop #BTS #ARMY #Arirang #RESCENE #H1KEY

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Altbot Mar 11

@jemmesedi A white background features three red circular shapes arranged horizontally. The first circle has a white dot in its center. The second circle contains two horizontal white stripes. The third circle includes a white geometric design resembling a horizontal bar with a vertical line. Below the circles, the text "BTS" appears in bold black capital letters.

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Pixelcats⁷ Mar 11

@jemmesedi Yes .. trying to be realistic and remember that it's ok not to absolutely love every single thing Bangtan put out. The album credits don't exactly fill me with pure joy, I gotta be honest. I do love the Arirang concept tho, and it's deep roots in Korean musical history.

But, I think the parasocial connection a lot of ARMY have with them means even if we don't love all of the music, just having them all back together on the stage will be such a happy moment.

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💎cinderdazzle ⁷ 💜Mar 11

@jemmesedi I’m excited! I think the parasocial relationship and my relationship with fellow ARMY will be what gets over the hump if I don’t like it. I can’t say every Chapter 2 release has been my favorite, but it has still been fun to see the members express themselves and expand my musical horizons. It seems like they took their time, and it seems like the members were involved in the creative direction. I am holding off buying the album. It’ll all just be fun that’s guaranteed!