Tag: K-Pop

9294* Saga: Return of the Hur Sisters

February 1, 2026

Man, I’d been missing Youngji’s sister Song-yeon, as the Hur Sisters YouTube Channel seemed to be supplanted by Youngji’s own solo channel – which itself ceased updating after that fateful, never-subtitled video with Hyojung and Seulgi, from October 2024. That’s crazy. If I had a YouTube channel, I’d never stop uploading content. NEVER! That video was back when I was desperate for any ‘94 Line content. How things have changed. Anyway, it turns out that Hur Song-yeon was probably just busy, having gotten married in late 2025. It was apparently a star-studded ceremony, though I only saw it through Youngji’s eyes – Jiyoung was there, say. And despite sharing a name with one of the Kara members, Song-yeon is not an idol, but a TV announcer and MC. Ironically, I encountered her again via Oh My Girl, for her appearance with Youngji on Hyojung & Binnie’s Sweet Home. Very funny. And now she’s back, with the most recent upload being a surprisingly melancholy hangout in what I assume is their old apartment? Like, maybe Song-yeon is moving in with her husband, so they’re sending it off? Again, no subtitles. … More 9294* Saga: Return of the Hur Sisters

Everybody Loves Apink

January 11, 2026

Eunji goes big with that “Oh, baby” and I experience something novel in my six years of K-pop fandom: nostalgia? Is that even possible? Their 2026 single “Love Me More” technically falls on the year of their 15th anniversary, but unlike with 2nd-gen contemporaries Girls’ Generation and Kara, Apink never really went away. I will admit that my interest lapsed around the time of Naeun’s departure in 2022, and I later assumed that they were simply nearing their end alongside 3rd-gen contemporaries Mamamoo, Red Velvet, and Oh My Girl. “Love Me More” and its EP Re: Love feels like a grand comeback, then, maybe because it’s so classical? Not only like it could’ve come from the middle of the catalog but because it’s got that throwback feel of the second generation, like ’90s American R&B. To clarify, people who were around and listening to K-pop in the 2010s would’ve known Apink as 2nd gen, but from my perspective, I can’t square Bomi and the gang as colleagues of Taeyeon and Tiffany. We’ve got a couple of liners here, with Chorong and Solar, and then Hayoung, Joy, and Yerin. … More Everybody Loves Apink

My Year in K-Pop: 2025 – Oh My Girl Special

December 17, 2025

Once again, we’ve come to the year-end K-pop recap. To supplement the episode, I’ll be zeroing in on Oh My Girl as a kind of tribute for helping me get through the year. Mentioned briefly in the previous installment, one year ago, I really got hooked in 2025. Oh, and I forgot to mention, as far as the number one song goes: how could you not love the lyrics “cheombeong cheombeong,” or as I’ve come to think of it, “chumba chumba”? … More My Year in K-Pop: 2025 – Oh My Girl Special

Mimi

December 16, 2025

Back by popular demand, “My Year in K-Pop: 2025” has actually been tricky to piece together. Damn that demand! Because I was anchored in this difficult year by Oh My Girl, I wanted to focus on their music in a special edition of the (theoretically) annual episode — a celebration, a thank-you. The plan was to count down their top five songs and, in between, introduce each member. The problem was twofold: one, a personal dissatisfaction with how I discuss idols, an issue I haven’t been able to resolve in six years in part because my enthusiasm had me barreling through any self-doubt. I may be reaching an age where other factors are competing with the enthusiasm, but whatever the case may be, I certainly can’t resolve this in the next few days, this episode being due before year’s end. Second, Oh My Girl is more complicated than I thought. I had two options: try to reconcile a celebratory episode with criticism, or do what I always do and ignore the problems. … More Mimi

The ‘94 Line: War Stories

September 27, 2025

Mijoo. I have to hand it to Mijoo. Seulgi couldn’t get it done, nor Youngji or Hyojung. Well, they did so partially. As covered last time, Seulgi hosted Youngji and Mijoo on her Hi Seulgi YouTube channel, but Hyojung couldn’t make it. Since then, Youngji had Seulgi and Hyojung on her channel but no Mijoo (and no subtitles). At some point, Hyojung managed to gather everyone, but barely filmed it. Now, believe me, I understand. These are highly in-demand people, and the whole thing here is their friendship. When I hang out with my friends (let’s say I have them), I’m not gonna think to record it. Perhaps it takes a special occasion, like a birthday, and who else’s but Mijoo’s? As it turns out, she was responsible for the entire ‘94 Line to begin with. As Youngji puts it in the resulting video on Mijoo’s channel, linked above, she was too lazy to keep meeting up with everyone individually, and had them all get together as a group. And this includes Moonbyul now, as they rechristen the group: 9294*, with the asterisk a reference to “byul” which means “star.” How lovely! … More The ‘94 Line: War Stories

Thrice | KPop Demon Hunters (2025) Review

July 6, 2025

I have a friend who’s a bit of a troll. She wanted to watch KPop Demon Hunters and wanted more, perhaps, for me to watch it. Her logic was sound: “You like K-pop!” to which I noted I also like movies, and that doesn’t mean I’m rushing out to watch F1 this weekend. Nor for that matter, Elio, live-action Lilo & Stitch, or live-action How to Train Your Dragon – really, guys? Three at the same time? Anyway, my logic here is sounder: those movies are for babies. Of course, I’ve enjoyed movies for babies, especially when I was a baby, as well as movies empty of thought or weight. One doesn’t need to approach a work of art or entertainment in the exact same way each time, and we understand this implicitly, setting different expectations based on genre, content rating, and so on. Still, a lot of the criticisms I have for KPop Demon Hunters can be brushed aside with “It’s a kids’ movie,” leaving me in the impossible situation of having watched a movie I wasn’t meant to watch. … More Thrice | KPop Demon Hunters (2025) Review

New Sluggie

March 10, 2025

It’s Seulgi Day, which is typically cause for celebration around these parts. Unfortunately, her lead single “Baby, Not Baby” arrives at the conjunction of two emerging threads: one, my own gradual realization that Red Velvet members don’t really make Red Velvet music when pursuing solo work (made clear by Irene, who does), and two, the promotional build-up to Seulgi’s solo album being kind of a bummer. The very album title, Accidentally On Purpose, makes me a little nauseous. … More New Sluggie

The ’94 Line

September 28, 2024

Something’s happening in the K-pop world. Something big. Or at least, in a tiny pocket of the K-pop world. As I’ve spoken about before, one of my favorite aspects of idoldom is the relationships between idols, both inside and outside their respective groups. … More The ’94 Line