u/AfraidInspection2894

I tried to register for an event in October but face the issue of not having a Japanese phone number or adress is there any way around this?

It was recently annouced that Xnghan&Xoul would be part of The Performance in Tokyo in October. It was also announced that presale/raffles for fanclubs started to today. I tried to enter the raffle on SM JPN website but couldn't do it since I don't live in Japan and don't have a Japanese phone number or address. I was wondering if there was any way around this or if I just can't enter the raffle.

In his recent Weverse live Seunghan (Xnghan&Xoul, ex-RIIZE member) read the question if you could go back 10 years would you still become an idol trainee? And he said yes and then added he no bad memories only tough times but they weren't bad memories. link to clip

His response and view on everything that happened to him is really healthy and inspiring. After everything with the funeral wreaths and death threats that he can still say that he has no bad memories takes a really postive and mature mindset that most people don't have. I know I wish I had a mindset like this but I don't. I fixate on a little things and criticisms that I shouldn't. It's so easy to ruminate on critisms (in his case death threats) and have them ruin things but he doesn't, instead saying he had tough times but no bad memories. There have been other times where he has referenced his time on hiatus and preparing for his solo debut and whenever he does he doesn't talk about it negatively just as different. As an idol especially one who went through something like Seunghan did to be able to not fixate on criticisms and negative experiences is truelly impressive and shows a lot of emotional maturity. In general Seunghan seems to have a really healthy mindset and support system and I hope that doesn't change.

Xnghan&Xoul are about to have their first anniversary. I was hoping see anniversary content and to check out and probably buy some 1st anniversary merch. His debut date is soon (July 31st) and there has been no mention of any anniversary plans or merch yet.

So I was wondering do all SM artists get anniversary merch? Also about how long before the anniversary date are merch details and anniversary plans announced?

I got a package worth about $200 back in early November from South Korea. Earlier today FedEx emailed me saying I own $116 for import duties. I am pretty sure the price is wrong as the tarif should only have been 15% or about $30 but I can't see a break down. Also if I no longer like in the US do I have to pay it?

A trend I have recently noticed is that companies seem to be getting worse at guessing what size venue they should be booking for Kpop acts. Some are booking venues that are too small but many are booking venues that are way too big. This has been seen with countless groups in the US with shows being canceled or prices being drastically dropped but this is also happening in Korea. (The following are all shows I went to but this applies to a lot more as well) I recently went to see ALD1 and the entire 3rd tier of the venue was closed off and the second tier was probably a third empty. They are far from the only group either And2ble has their concerts this weekend and if you check Melon it is probably only half full on all 3 days. I also went to AHOF and the venue which was already really small to begin with was maybe half full. Rookies aren't the only ones having this issues. Last week JNJM closed off 2 sections and still had a bunch of empty seats at their Seoul fancon. On the flip side there are also some groups that were in way to small venues like RIIZE and NCT Wish but even then it is hard to tell since there were so many empty seats due to scalpers buying tickets and not being able to sell them (fuck scalpers).

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I can't say for sure but I wonder if encouraging bulk buying finally catching up with companies and over inflating fan demand. Like companies see a group selling 500,000 copies so they seem big but the only 50,000 different people are buying albums and they are buying in bulk for fansigns and photocards so while still impressive the demand is actually much smaller. And then there are also the people who buy an album but won't go to a concert. So companies plan for 500,000 fans but due to inflated sales there are only actually like 45,000 who want to attend.

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I also think social media plays a roll in the over estimates. Some idols will get super hyped up and talked about online but have very little real-life success. For example Lucas was very popular online and talked about a lot but his solo debut and fan tour flopped badly.

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It's a shame that so many groups end up with empty venues or have to cancel shows but I am not really sure how companies can fix this.

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Geonwoo is currently on hiatus from AlphaDriveOne due to attitude issues. This past weekend ALD1 had a fanmeet in Incheon. I am not a huge fan but I decided to go and had a lot of fun and one thing I noticed is that no one mentioned or even alluded to Geonwoo. If I hadn't seen the articles about him going on hiatus I would not have realize that Geonwoo was a member and that ALD1 is supposed to have 8 members. Scrolling on social media as well whenever I see posts about ALD1 I hardly if ever see him mentioned. I feel like most of the time when a member is hiatus while the company may not mention them fans will but with Geonwoo - nothing. It feels like their Korean fanbase and most of their Asian fanbase are done with Geonwoo and don't want him to rejoin. There is also the matter of if his behavior is as bad as it has been alluded to it could hurt ALD1's ability to get booked and go on nonmnet shows. However it seems like at least in the past WakeOne really wanted him and didn't even want to put him on hiatus. I have also seen some Ifans wanting him back. So I feel like it could either way. Personally I would prefer for him to leave the group as I find his behavior unacceptable plus he has other several other allegations involving his behavior and bullying others.

Lucky draws should not have repeat members. This is a small issue but I got 3 of the same photocards and I'm kind of annoyed. I specifically went to a luckydraw knowing that it was a couple thousand won more expensive than if I went to Myeongdong since I wanted the special photocards.

I went in person to a lucky draw event for BoyNextDoor's new album. I bought a set and one additional album so I had 5 lucky draws. In my mind I think great I will get 5 out of the 6 members and I can buy the 6th later. Instead I got 3 Riwoo photocards. Riwoo is great and all but out of the 5 photocards from the lucky draw 3 are identical. I asked a staff member about this because for other lucky draws I have been to you don't get repeat photocards unless you buy more albums than there are members. The staff response was basically that sucks it must have been loaded wrong if you want to try again you have to buy more. Which makes sense but I just got 3 of the same cards and you said it was probably loaded wrong so I'm not going to buy another album since I might get Riwoo again.

I know that Plave is real people in motion capture suits but I was wondering when they perform at places like music shows and festivals are they back stage in their suits recording live or do they prerecord back at their studio and just turn in the animation to the orangizers?

I went to Weverse con this past weekend. On Saturday I went to Weverse Con (the concert portion) and on Sunday I went to Weverse Con Festival (the festival portion). While there people kept leaving to the point that by the time the both events were over probably close to a half of the people had left.

Like for the concert I would say a 1/3 maybe more of the audience was there for Plave and had Plave lightsticks. Plave went on from around 7:45 to 8:15 and immediately after they finished the majority of Plave fans left. Like by the time BoyNextDoor came on around 9 there were a noticeable number of empty seats like 100s of empty seats. It was very clear that a lot of people had left the event. The same thing happened at the festival on Sunday where fans came for And2ble and then left. Like And2ble performed for 30 minutes and then 100s of fans left not just the standing area but the festival in general.

Obviously people can spend their money how they choose and if they dont want to watch the other artists they don't have to but it just felt kind of wierd? rude? I'm not totally sure but I just found it kind of off. Like you spend ₩150k or ₩165k on a ticket and then immediately left after 30 minutes and didn't watch the other acts (all the acts were incredible and clearly had a lot of work put into them). This was the first festival I have been to so I was wondering is this normal? Do fans normally only stay for one act then leave?