SHINee celebrates their 5th album this week, coming back with 1of1. It's a very competitive time for a comeback with Infinite, Monsta X and Got7 still in the race and BTS coming back next week.

Perfect opportunity for fanwars.

I'm aware that the majority of all fandoms are peaceful and nice people, even supportive. But there are always those who bring a flaw to their community and that is annoying as well as sad and actually counterprodutive.

Let me take Army as an example. 

There are those bragging that BTS will finish SHINee or already did; those who are constantly shading other fandoms and especially pick on Shawols. It is possible if not probable that SHINee will not beat BTS in music shows next week and they only stand a chance to win this weeks awards. I'm aware of that.

But why is that?

I'm an old Shawol and an ancient kpop-veteran. I was introduced to Korean pop-music in 2000 by my husband who is Korean and came to Germany that year.

He was listening to Seo Taiji and Boys who even then weren't active anymore, to Shinhwa and H.O.T. and to many of the old ballad singers.

Many if not most of BTS fangirls weren't even born then.

I've seen kpop develop and experienced the rise and fall of a lot of groups. I was fascinated by DBSK in the original set-up, who were a sensation back then and took kpop to the next level.

And then I came across SHINee. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to them in the beginning and I was even a little annoyed that after the DBSK fiasco, that left so many heartbroken, people said that SHINee was the next DBSK. Which of course they weren't. Thank God they weren't.

They were boys back then, tiny, skinny hatchlings but they had the sweetest, BEST debut song that ever came out of kpop. And that's something that even the experts agree on.

And man have they grown. Although they're still tiny and skinny (if you ever see them in real life you'll be surprised how tiny they actually are and how precious) they have made a development that is almost unrivaled in kpop and they had a lot of odds to go against.

They shared the burden of a scandal-shaken company together with SNSD when SuJu had their own problems and TVXQ was recovering as a duo. Lucifer and Sherlock era were sensational on so many levels. And they not only survived the weirdest fashion-desasters, they made wearing ANYTHING with dignity their trademark.

A group like BTS is hard-working too. Their dancing is outstanding and there are real rappers among them. If they are lacking anything musically it's the vocals, but then again, they're not a vocal group anyway.

I really appreciate what they are and what they have achieved so far. But Army are spoiling it for me. They really are. I used to watch a lot of BTS but since the fandom is so fixated on making them first in everything and keep smashing them into every other fandom's faces, commenting with BTS commercials on every other group's youtube-videos, I more or less stopped. That's a shame really.

Even if BTS wins every single music show next week and the week after, that doesn't mean other groups aren't successful or aren't meaningful and important. It only means that they have the most teenage fans who work down spreadsheets, watch MVs on every accessible device all day long while neglecting their studies and homework, even skipping school.

There are still Shawols who do that too, but not as many. 

Shawols are much older. They might be married like me, have children and probably work. They have SHINee in their hearts, enjoy the exquisite music and watch proudly as the boys grow and grow. But they don't have the time to cheat in voting, which you have to do though, because all other fandoms do. The results in music shows doesn't really mirror the popularity of a group or how many fans there actually are. The best organized fandoms with the youngest fans who have the most time are the most likely to win. Keep that in mind.

I've been to the SHINee World V concerts last month. There were Shawols from all over the world and I wasn't even the oldest one. I've met some really lovely people. Fanchants were deafening and on point but everybody was still well-behaved, polite and friendly. We cheered for Shim Jae Won, Onew's parents and even Lee Soo Man who was there in person, proudly watching his most balanced and well-matched group, which I think has a special place in his heart.

This in my opinion is how kpop works or should work. Long lasting relationships between artists and fans on a warm and lovely basis. 

Army need to learn from older fandoms and they need to learn respect in general.

Your boys are doing great, but they're still uncomfortable in suits and rock the hiphop fashion better. SHINee wear suits, hiphop clothes, rags or women's clothing with class and dignity, because they have been through enough bull already and have the professionality of a veteran group, although they're not much older than their juniors. 

SHINee have no fear of the childish embarrassment of weekly idol, but they also have no fear to meet the Korean President and show her around the Kcon exhibition, because they are intelligent and well-mannered. It's not a coincidence that they chose Minho fot this job in Paris, although there were numerous other renowned groups present.

I was at the Kcon concert in Paris, too. SHINee was one member short, their main vocal was promoting his solo-album at that time. But what can I say? They are professionals and although they were the last group performing, when the audience was already exhausted, they managed to breathe live back into them. And Taemin was the only one who paid the host tribute by singing an ancient French pop-song. 

SHINee is a core-group within kpop. They are important on so many levels and to say that they aren't relevant anymore is just a sign of ignorance. 

I've only seen BTS that one time live in Paris. They were good but similar to what I saw in EXO in the beginning: the stage presence in front of a large unknown audience is still not quite there. F.T. Island, f(x) even Block B were more impressive in my opinion. 

SHINee even with just four members were confident, professional and filled the stage easily. It wasn't their greatest performance ever (actually that night I was most impressed by F.T. Island) but compared to the junior groups, also I.O.I. who were almost three times as many people on stage, SHINee were still one of the strongest acts. 

Whoever believes that youtube-views, melon-streams and thus music-show awards say anything about the meaning and relevance of a group is delusional. Without groups like SNSD, BigBang and SHINee (many others too), kpop would still be just a Korean only phenomenon. 

SHINee have supported many younger groups, Key raising Got7 and Seventeen as junior MCs, giving them a lot of airing time. Jonghyun writing a song for a rival company artist and working on more. Taemin promoting Hot Shot whenever he gets the chance. Onew and Minho supporting other group's members on variety shows, always ready to mention their group's comebacks and activities.

And all of SHINee have been celebrating their juniors at numerous award shows and cheering them on. 

Don't disrespect senior groups and their fandoms. They have paved the way for kpop internationally and still do.

SHINee fighting!