u/cln127

Okay, this is something I’ve been thinking about for a while, and I’m curious if other people feel the same way.
Why do we automatically assume that when a member leaves a group, the group is basically “over” or that everything after that is somehow worse?
Like, obviously, a member leaving can change the group a LOT. Sometimes the chemistry changes, the sound changes, the dynamics feel different, and yeah, it can be hard for fans to adjust. Especially if that member was a big part of the group’s identity.
But at the same time… why do we sometimes act like the group can never recover?
There are groups where members have left and the remaining members actually found a new balance, developed a different sound, or even became more successful afterwards. It doesn’t necessarily mean the member who left wasn’t important. It just means the group evolved.
And honestly, I think fans sometimes get so attached to the original lineup that any change automatically feels like a downgrade.
You’ll see people saying stuff like “the group hasn’t been the same since X left” for YEARS, even when the group is still releasing good music, selling well and clearly has a strong fanbase.
At some point, shouldn’t we accept that a group can have different eras?
The original lineup can be iconic AND the new lineup can still be good. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.
Obviously, there are also cases where a member leaving genuinely hurts the group badly, especially if they were the main vocalist, main producer, leader, etc. So I’m not saying every group magically becomes better after losing members.
But I’m curious:
Do you think K-pop fans are too attached to the “original lineup”?
And are there any groups where you actually think the group became stronger after a member left? 👀
I feel like this could get messy lmao 💀

Quel est l'objectif final de NCT à ce stade ?
J'ai pensé à l'avenir de NCT dernièrement, surtout avec les compositions actuelles étant plus petites et plus séparées qu'avant.
NCT 127 a maintenant 5 membres (7 with🐰🐶 in SM), WayV 5 , NCT DREAM 6 et NCT WISH 6. Avec les membres de plus en plus concentrés sur leurs unités respectives, je commence à me demander quel est le but à long terme de NCT dans son ensemble.
Le concept original de NCT était construit autour d'un nombre illimité de membres et de différentes unités qui pouvaient se développer et interagir entre elles. Mais maintenant, le groupe semble beaucoup plus comme plusieurs groupes séparés sous le nom NCT.
Alors, que pensez-vous de l'objectif final pour NCT ? SM prévoit-il de traiter les unités comme des groupes complètement indépendants, NCT devenant surtout une marque parapluie ? Ou pensez-vous qu'il y a encore un plan plus grand pour NCT dans son ensemble ?
Et personnellement, pensez-vous qu'on verra un autre projet NCT U ou un véritable comeback en groupe complet avec tous les membres restants ? Ou est-ce que cette époque est en quelque sorte terminée ?
J'aimerais vraiment entendre ce que pensent d'autres NCTzens, parce que je ne suis honnêtement pas sûr de la direction que prend NCT maintenant.