Why I've been struggling with kpop lately.

Why is kpop so different... 

Kind of a short post but one of my major anxieties as diagnosed autistic person is randomly waking up and deciding I don't like a certain something anymore. Very specifically: Kpop. I've been liking and hyperfixated about kpop since 2016, although, I got introduced to kpop in 2013. Lately I've been feeling extremely lost because of this. Since the groups I stan and like are super different compared to the latest generation. They're wayyyy older and often have a veryy different aesthetic. I'm scared I'll stop liking kpop especially when I see where it's going. I'm a very sensitive person so these major points add a lot of weight to being a kpop fan.

Popularity increasing 

In elementary school I did talk about liking kpop, I was already weird enough so a lot of people simply didn't bully me due to liking kpop. But talking about it wasn't a very good idea either. I know that in cerounding countries kpop was a more popular thing. I grew up in the Netherlands but my parents are both German and my mom is French. In France for example I remember it being more common to like, especially Exo was popular back in the days. When I got into middle school, I got extremely bullied after I told someone I liked kpop. This was around 2020. I was honestly surprised she knew what Kpop was but I started to realise slowly that it had become more popular. I didn't like it at all, since I'm a very expressive person when it comes to major interests. It was basically impossible to talk about it. 

Now, 6 years later (2026), I feel like the world knows kpop now. It isn't very fun in my opinion. I'm happy for my ult groups, mainly bts, that they get the popularity they deserve. But at the same time, people call every small detail out and get a lot wrong about kpop (good example is kpop demon hunters). Even lore doesn't really exist nowadays and every interviewer has seen atleast 1 major kpop group. Another thing I fuckingggg hate is that newer fandoms shit on albums and fandom wars have become worse than ever.. 

Another example is something I've seen my fandom's joke about : influencers 'liking' kpop for views and using it to gain more people. Like it irritates me. You don't have to know everything about a group and you can always be a baby *insert fandom name*. But please for the love of god don't fake like a group. Or liking kpop for the trend. 

Toxic fandom 

Ofcourse, when I joined tiktok wasn't really a thing yet. You had other social media's like musically but there wasn't that much kpop content on there. I feel like around 2020 kpop started becoming extremely more popular. Especially with groups like Enhypen, P1harmony, Treasure, StayC and Aespa debuting and Bts's songs like Boy with love, Dynamight and butter coming out. A lot more fans, especially on tiktok. But the more years get added since, the younger and the more unmature the fandom has become. Average fan nowadays is around the 13 or if they've watched kpop demon hunters 8. Like Emma, you're 12. No, Straykids's Felix WONT date you. 

I've lately seen people BEING MAD at kpop groups even having the slightest interactions between other groups. Another thing I've been noticing is newer fans getting mad at shipping?? Brother wouldn't have survived Taekook or LisaJimin bruhhh. Or people mad at fanfics because they're inappropriate while the artist self reads them for a laugh. Or people genuinely being sexist. OR people calling kpop males homophobic or racist without any evidence. Or people being mad that a kpop idol said 니가 aka "YOU' IN FUCKING KOREAN BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE THE NWORD. Why are we getting mad brother. Bffr..

Koreaboo becoming a thing

If your not into kpop you might not know where the word 'koreaboo' came from. Koreaboo is originally a website with articles about Korean artists. Although I'm suspecting they're not just an article site but also sasaeng's (which means stalkers) because they always have the most stupid and unreal articles to bring down artists and rumours that obv aren't real. So... koreaboo is someone who is basically asianfishing and wants to be Korean, they often fetishize Koreans and fake being Korean online. Or, what I've also seen, call themselves Rcts which sort of stands for Race change. Obv, if you're white, your white. But the word Koreaboo is thrown around like crazy. Liking Korean culture to the point of learning the language is in NO WAY being a Koreaboo. Even I, myself have been called Koreaboo and funfact I fucking HATE Korea! And I'm really proud being German/French even though I sometimes have an identity crisis because I grew up in a different country than that. My interests when it comes to a country is Thailand. Would I want to live in Thailand and do I like the culture, food and learn the language? Yes. Do I want to be Thai and fake being Thai online? HELL FUCKING NO. I feel like people are incredibly stupid and annoying about liking an asian country. Because if you like England does that make you an 'Englandboo' OFCOURSE NOT. I think with kpop becoming more and more popular a lot more people want to be Korean as if it's a fun country with absolutely not having the high bullying rates and suicide rates. 

Some examples 

Like I said before, not only the fandom is very different but the difference is Aesthetics is insanely different aswell (especially with rich kids becoming kpop idols). My major gen 2 groups have a veryyy difference in Aesthetics and I just know newer gen's will make fun of their aesthics. And with newer gen's I'm talking about trend hoppers. One fun example I have seen over the internet is older groups debuting as losers and newer groups looking extremely fresh. 

Some examples of group's debuting as losers:

Skz is a good example as I think they're one of the last and latest 'loser' groups. Their debut was not extremely low budget since it is Mnet and a survival show. Correct me if I'm wrong. I think Mnet saw the opportunities with them. They're also lucky to have 3acha in the group. I love their concept and lesbian aunt haircut Felix adds the loser ish concept. But skz is also known to make less typical and more 'powerful' music. 

TVXQ aka TBSK orrr Tohoshinki is a group debuted in 2004 and they became more and more popular in 2008-2009 (only to partly disband in 2011). I feel like when we're talking about early losers they are a great example. Fun fact! They have the name Tohoshinki because they focused mainly on Japan and as you might be able to see they took inspiration from early 2000's Japanese host clubs. They also have incredibly much Japanese solo albums. 

Bts is VERY known for their debut era, they were poor guys picked and 1 even got kidnapped on the fucking streets. They had zero money and no more dream (this joke is fucking cringe but i had to sorry). Probably every prop in their first mv is from temu bro. I love how they took inspiration from Hip hop and groups like TVXQ, Big bang and probably MBLAQ. I believe they loved Big bang the most since there's old clips of them dancing and singing their songs.

Big bang originally debut with 5 members but one is uhh.. out of the picture. I might make another blog about extreme scandals specifically this the burning sun one but let's move on. Big bang is like max losers and became quite immediately popular so far I know. The leader aka G dragon (GD) has been a kpop idol his whole life, which I find sad at the same time. They were not low budget at all BUT took inspiration from Hip hop and GD is actually the pioneer of multiple things and normalising 'weird' stuff in Korean culture like dyeing hair. 

Decided to add a girl group: Baby V.O.X. I know you have heard of them. For sure actually. Although no one knows them anymore, their messy scandals are super huge. One in specific is 2 members faking their age. I also believe there was a bullying scandal within the group where certain members bullied each other although that information has never been confirmed to my knowledge. Anyways, super messy and definitely loser aesthetics. They were extremely late 90s inspired aswell.

Why it's completely okay to be a new fan

I have criticised newer fans a bit in this post but I wanna kinda excuse myself because I for sure do NOT hate newer fans. What I dislike is people who trend hop and thus, like kpop. I've been noticing it sooo much lately. It reminds me of fandoms like Squid game or Labubu's but in a different way. I also have interests that go away after a small amount of time. THAT DOES NOT MEAN, you should spent every penny you have on it. Being a new fan to kpop must be amazing. You can read thousands of fan fictions, get to know lore and even inspire outfits cuz that's what I absolutely love about this fandom. Or make your own creations using skills you got!! New fans can for sure alwaysss talk to me and ask me stuff and I'm happy to help you into the fandom or creating a guide. It's amazing that groups get the attention they deserve. Just don't fake being in the fandom for a longer time than you have.

Young fandom 

Small part I wanna mention. As someone who got into kpop at the age of 8 (and got to know it as a 5 yr old), I think there needs to be a bit more attention to the kpop fandom's age. Liking kpdh is okay, and I liked it as well just that I didn't like the animations. But to many kids in a fandom makes kpop annoying aswell because I feel like a lot of times people forget that idols are fucking 30 like hello? I do baby them, BUT they are 30. They can make life decisions. My more concerning part in the younger fandom doesn't have to do with how they act, but rather the media they consume. Kpop groups always have concepts, but, a lot a of them have a more adult themed concept. Taking of shirts etc, or Jay Park ahh, throwing bra's on stage. Did I consume this media at a young age? Yes. But do I think they should? No. I don't really have an argument supporting this opinion. But I hope it's reasonable. I think kpop is suited around the age of 13 and older, not 7. 

Nothing is experimental. 

So, now something I do wanna talk about. Newer groups often have higher budgeting and have a concept at start. Before getting into this I definitely suggest checking out WEI and Kingdom if you want to support a more low budgeted group that deserves attention. I'm gonna use GD for this part. Back in the days balloons with a color were used to show support to groups. Like Shinhwa having Orange (btw I rlly love Shinhwa). But GD was the first to decide to do something different: light sticks. He also made certain things well accepted in kpop like dying hair, while back then you could lose your whole group for such a decision. But lately, everything is accepted and a lot of concepts feel copied from others (this is no reason to sent hate to groups btw!!). Some ideas I would love to see (more): Original korean culture mixed with pop like Arirang's song body to body but that as concept, Vkei concept, Emo concept (but realistic not just black eyeliner). I hope ya'll can understand this part lmao.

Positive aspects

I at the same time loveeee my fandoms getting bigger. More fanfics to read, more Lgbtq acceptance (this sounds weird but if your a kpop fan yk), higher budgeting for MV's and comebacks (sadly overworking artists), albums, more tours and more fans. Another thing is subtitles, fun fact, in 2008-2009 for example on: this archived page they had to translate posts on websites because there often weren't any official translations. Another positive thing is less bullying and more understanding from outside the fandom. 

A few newer groups I'm into and why

When I say newer, I'm talking about new new. So like, the past, let's say, 3 years.

Zerobaseone: I like them for their extreme LGBTQ behaviour. This might sound weird asf. They formed through the survival show Boy planet giving me the opportunity to like them even more and become more emotionally attached. I love their bright concepts and as a fan it feels like I'm growing with them. My bias is Ricky!! Although they might be kinda falling apart since they split (TVXQ ahh situation)

Illit: I love them for achieving and having what New Jeans could've had (sorry not sorry, even if Nwjs will always have a special place in my heart). They had a veryyyy good debut and keep having hits after hits. Also having an easy entry fandom. I just mainly love them for their concept and my bias is Wonhee!!

TWS: very refresing concept with cute songs that are actually fun to listen to and I don't get tired of. Sadly I feel like they're a little bit underrated and their more unpopular songs get barely any deserved attention. I also feel like the fandom is smaller but that's probably not true. TWS feels kinda like a healing group and it has a bit of a sense of nonstalgia. 

Boynextdoor: they actually have that feeling that older groups had. Catchy songs but it's never extremely polished and they feel extremely original. They always have cool MV's and I love their dances probably the most. I love their fandom aswell because there's a lot of cute tutorials of diy crafts out there. Super creative fandom for some reason. 

LNGSHOT4SHO: my favourite group out of all of these. They say and do what they want and have an extremely good Ceo (Jay park). Fandom is a bit young buttt they got that nonsta vibe yk? My bias is Louis because we're both french and he's just funny. "I can smell the controversies a mile away" is genuinely a rude way ppl have described them. Anyways, the members are also open about dating and having ex gf's. We need more groups like them under Jay Park. 

Other new groups that deserve attention: Cortis and Xlov, although I used to stan both I unstanned both for some personal reasons but for Xlov it was the young fandom and babying members which I just.. didn't exactly like (although i love their unisex concept) and for Cortis also their fandom.

Western validation 

When I say western we're talking America, not Europe even if we're western. I feel like kpop companies are constantly searching for western validation such as making the group katseye or that JYP group VCHA (that has become girlset). Lately they're trying to validate America. Having thousands of tours there and often having global auditions. But the attention to Europe and Africa? None. English is becoming part of every album of kpop artists and some groups do barely any promotion outside of America. Seventeen has never had a tour in Europe for example and certain groups within NCT also never. Some appearances on festivals but that's it. While older groups focused a lot on France actually, like using french text in songs (even that wasn't common). America feels more important to companies probably because of Grammies and Billboard charts. Someone actually mentioned that in Europe, Kpop is more like a subculture than in the USA, since it's not mainstream. African fandoms are even self build since access to concerts basically doesn't exist, which I find sad for African fans. 

The tiktok issue

The tiktok issue but more in depth. Maybe if you know me irl, you know that I DONT use tiktok anymore and just sometimes watch edits but thats like once in the 3 months. I made that decision because my fandoms are wayyyy to toxic and I was tired of waking up to fandom wars and hate trains. But my most concerning part of tiktok when it comes to kpop are mutliple things. Albums aren't fully listened to because people genuinely only listen to popular songs. I dont wanna be a 'name more than 3 songs' person but, a lot of songs deserve more recognition and I feel like people just don't give them what they deserve. Song are often ruined after seeing to many people on tiktok use it in videos, like some Illit songs for me. I just don't like certain songs anymore after hearing it daily.

Hate trains are probably the worst in my opinion. One person decides to post how much they hate an album and everyone decides to hate at one album at once. Like Arirang or Straykid's NOEASY era that people absolutely hated for no reason. Not liking an album does not mean you have to hurt fans and artists. People only able to listen to sped up versions irritates me aswell. Yes, there are some sped ups that are gen better than the og song. But still it ruins the song itself.

Must support at all costs. 

I'm gonna be real on this one, I also do this. I've been in depth for an album and I've supported artists that have a little to many controversies like GD. But what I find annoying is that kpop pushes you to spent money. Due to social media and influencers, it feels extremely pushed to buy everything on the market and as an collector that is autistic, this feels incredibly real. I feel the need to collect all photocards under an album and all albums from a comeback. I do need to mention I'm really proud of BTS for not pushing photocards this comeback and having only one set with all 7 members in each album that come with the album not just 1 photocard. Another thing I hate is fans pushing you to vote. No but actually. I'm multi fandom and I can't decide who deserve a vote sometimes. Let me be for once please

Beauty 

This is another reason I don't like younger people engaged in Kpop. Beauty standards are insanely high and actually unrealistic. Examples like Jimin diet (genuinely feel bad for him), Wooyoungism (which is good if it's healthy) and plastic surgeries being normalised. Also idols like Jonho from Ateez being called fat for having muscle (and changbin). Korean beauty more like harmful beauty standards. It also creates a very unrealistic vision of Korea that many Koreaboo's for example have. 

Anyways yes, had to write my frustration out but it's 2 am and I should deffo go to sleep so let me know if you want a part 2 even if I don't have much more to yap and complain about on this part. Thanks for reading goodbye!!