As most TVXQ and JYJ fans already know, this week was a very happy occasion for Cassiopeia who support the original five member line-up of the group and/or ship Yunjae. It began with the Night Watchman press conference, where Yunho briefly referenced Jaejoong's drama Triangle on MBC, which had the time slot Night Watchman would soon be taking over. He actually didn't say all that much about it, just that he hadn't had much of a chance to watch it yet due to his schedules, but he was pleased that JJ was working hard as an actor. A few sentences, that's all, but for us AKTF fans, those few sentences mean the world. When it comes to talking about their three missing members, Yunho and Changmin just don't do it all that often, and when they do, they do it quite vaguely so that it's hard to get a straight quote from them about it. Understandable: they are the two remaining with SM Entertainment, the company who has made their vendetta against JYJ quite clear. The company would be none too thrilled about them supporting their former members too obviously, and I personally feel the best way for HoMin to protect JYJ is to stay quiet. We saw what happened when EXO had to talk about Kris: a lot of hurtful things were said, and the fans were hurt as a consequence.
But right now, SM Entertainment is determined to shoot themselves in the foot over Kris's lawsuit, f(x)'s cancelled promotions, the fallout of Baekhyun + Taeyeon, and the offensive materials in Red Velvet's debut, so who really cares what they think? Go on and say anything you want, Yunho, it'll probably bolster the SM fandom more than whatever the heck the top execs think they're doing right now.
Anyhoo, the real heart attack moment happened when Jaejoong promptly responded two days later in an interview with Xports News, and his comments were anything but brief. JJ simply does not have the same filter about YH that YH has about him, one of the main reasons it was so easy for fans to pick up on shipping bait between the two of them without having to try. Jaejoong's songs and interview quotes have made one thing clear: for him, "the sorrow of parting lasts long." I know some people interpret that to mean the first love he talked about when giving that quote originally, but I really don't think anything he's written since leaving TVXQ has to do with middle school puppy love, particularly since he's also been quoted saying that he's never written a song about a woman before. If the majority of Jaejoong's sad songs aren't directed towards Yunho and Changmin, and Yunho in particular, then I'm a monkey's uncle.
JJ's comment to Yunho was quite thorough, much more so than Yunho's. Not only did he give him tips on acting in a historical drama, he specifically questioned how he was doing and remembered a time previously when he'd dehydrated during filming and asked him to be careful. The fandom joked that it was almost an essay with an intro, body, and conclusion, and while that might be a bit of an exaggeration, it technically isn't too far off the mark.
Anyone outside the Cassie (AKTF)/Yunjae fandom may not get what this means to us. TVXQ and JYJ clearly can't get back together right now, so what does it matter if they're trading words of encouragement? For the AKTF fandom, the openness of this communication is what's important. A lot of fans who follow the group behind the scenes believe in the occasional evidence that the boys are still meeting each other, but we've never been able to know 100% that they even still talk to each other at all, though if you really love this group, it's hard to believe otherwise. Reaching out to JJ at a media event, even briefly, is a bit of a risk for Yunho as long as he's at SM, since he's supposed to represent the company's stance as a member of SMTOWN. JJ reaching back is more expected, but still very sweet: it shows he has very little hesitation in throwing support to Yunho, and even looking out for him in the way he used to.
To Yunjae fans... well, the majority of us are convinced they've been chatting with each other for much longer than this, but once again, the openness is appreciated, as was the warmth of JJ's response. A lot of us remember him as the person who was the most protective and concerned after Yunho's injuries and particularly the poisoning incident during their DB5K days, and his response was very reminiscent of that. The "Yunho-yah" part was just plain cute.
Who knows what will happen with TVXQ and JYJ, but this at least shut up some of the antis who have been convinced the members hate each other after the split. I'm sure there was a lot of anger at that time, but whenever JYJ says the split was never war on Yunho or Changmin, just SM Ent, I take them at their word. I've seen so many of their videos from before the split and after, and nothing can convince me that those guys could completely hate each other, particularly Yunho and Jaejoong who showed such admirable love over the years, whether you interpret it to be friendly or romantic. I know this may be one flash in the pan interaction, but it gave my heart a lot of peace after praying for these two groups for so long, and though it might be greedy, I hope for more of these steps in the future for both DB5K and Yunjae!
It's been reported that Kris from EXO-M is filing a lawsuit to end his contract with SM Entertainment.
Had this been any other label, I would have been shocked and disappointed, like I was when Nicole and Jiyoung chose to leave KARA. But I'm not shocked. I'm not even angry with Kris for "abandoning" his group in the middle of promotions and at the height of their popularity. This is just another incident in the long list of SM Entertainment having legal issues for mistreating their groups. H.O.T. SES. Shinhwa. Super Junior's Hangeng. My personal heartbreak, JYJ splitting from TVXQ. Maybe the first few times we blamed the members of the group for being difficult, but this has obviously not been the case. Junsu can't make it through TVXQ medleys without crying over missing the group, so many of Jaejoong's songs represent how much the split tore him apart, and the members of SuJu still miss and love Hangeng. These artists clearly didn't want to leave their groups, but couldn't ignore the way they were being treated.
So why does this keep happening? When VIXX's label Jellyfish Entertainment was having issues with the fans, the fans quickly arranged a boycott to wake the label up, and it was effective. But Jellyfish is a smaller label, and VIXX is their only major group. How can we prevent SM from overworking and misusing their artists? Would that involve boycotting TVXQ, SHINee, Super Junior, f(x), EXO, and Girls' Generation? I personally would have a difficult time with that, particularly with TVXQ, because the members of these groups are great and talented individuals, and most were the first K-Pop acts I started supporting. Yunho and Changmin went through a difficult time right along with JYJ, so how can I refuse to support them as individuals just because I disagree with how their label managed them and their former members? But how else do we keep these lawsuits from happening? I'm sick of seeing the groups I love suffering, I hate that people still make Hangeng + JYJ out to be the bad guys for leaving, and I hate that important members have to be separated from their friends because SM Entertainment blacklists them. EXO is the most popular group in Korea right now, and I feel if nothing changes this time around, nothing ever will. I'm saddened by this situation, but what will it take for us fans to make a difference?
I'm sure the Korean fans are just as confused and lost as the rest of us right now. I'm sure even the members of EXO are at a loss considering how sudden Kris's actions were, as well as the fact that they fell right in the middle of "Overdose" promotions. Most of the members have unfollowed him on SNS, and others like Suho have made cryptic comments regarding his decision (then again, SM could be pulling the strings here, too). I can only hope the Korean fans won't turn their back on Kris and will instead consider how to support both him and EXO, which I'm sure the majority will. I also hope the members will choose their words wisely and not continue to hurt each other because of this situation. Kris's timing may not have been ideal, but he is a person and deserves to be treated like one by his management, which is something I am sure his fellow members should be able to understand. The reason fans have been able to hold out hope for a TVXQ reunion so long is that members still continue to support each other in little ways behind the scenes; they most certainly do not hate each other, even though their actions may have hurt one another in the past. I don't want anything more painful to happen to Kris, or to EXO, but as an overseas fan I feel so powerless. What can I do?
I love the Japanese releases of K-pop artists. Maybe it was because I was a J-Pop fan way before K-pop entered my radar, but I like the differences in style that the J-Pop albums bring out. U-Kiss, Girls' Generation, 2PM, SHINee... some of their Japanese albums get played just as often as their Korean counterparts on my Ipod. Some artists, including MYNAME and The Boss, sound so great in Japanese that their J-pop comebacks sometimes mean more to me than their Korean ones do.
Also, I very much appreciate how much the Asian music industry has done to open countries like Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc to each other. Perhaps the fact that they share musical influences is small in the face of politics, but it's still a step in the right direction that Korean groups can debut in Japan and Japanese, Korean, and Chinese bands include members of varying Asian descent.
That being said, there's always been something that has annoyed me a bit about the Japanese Hallyu wave, and that's how soon we've forgotten the sacrifices of the artists that paved the way for this movement. Most groups, male groups especially, enter the K-Pop industry with the expectation that they'll make a Japanese debut eventually. Japan even approaches certain groups and requests that they release material for Japanese fans; some groups have even been asked to debut in Japan before releasing anything in Korea.
Flashback several years ago to when TVXQ made their Japanese debut. SM Entertainment didn't want them to be Hallyu idols; they wanted the group to be J-pop idols, with a completely different sound from their TVXQ releases. And so Tohoshinki was born. The five members were thrust from the height of their Korean career into Japan to start at the bottom. They couldn't speak the language yet, and since they couldn't be true J-pop stars if they appeared with translators, they simply had to forgo reality shows until they could speak with fluidity. Without those promotions, it was difficult to face-off properly against Japanese powerhouses in the male idol industry like SMAP, Arashi, and EXILE.
Of course, we all know Tohoshinki picked up Japanese, and went on to become the first non-Japanese artist in 24 years to hit number one on the Oricon charts multiple times. Their popularity overseas remains to this date, and much of their promoting takes place in Japan rather than Korea. And when it comes to how Tohoshinki is viewed, they did dodge becoming Hallyu stars-- they are very much Japanese idols when promoting as Tohoshinki.
The new Hallyu stars certainly can't be blamed for SM Entertainment's way of positioning Tohoshinki, but I think there's a reason why it hasn't really been repeated again and most idols like U-KISS and FT Island have been allowed to pick up Japanese at their own pace. Though THSK is the exact kind of J-pop star the label wanted, they had to go through some awful experiences emotionally to make that dream happen. Whenever the members talk about their early experience in Japan, it's clear to see they were depressed at the time and on the verge of giving up on themselves after being forced to navigate an industry and country they were entirely unfamiliar with without much in the way of help. When Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu brought their lawsuit against SM, it was also clear to see that they felt the company had overstepped the line in their treatment of the group during their Japanese debut.
These days, groups can have a relatively successful career in Japan knowing only conversational Japanese and taking on the Hallyu style rather than shifting most of the way into J-Pop style. I enjoy the Hallyu wave and all it has to offer, but sometimes I'm filled with sadness that Tohoshinki had to suffer so much in paving the road for the others. I hope when the other Korean idols begin their Japanese careers they remember the challenges of those who came before them!
