Posted on 21/11/09  

 

 

  I am now 24. I used to be a hardcore H.O.T fan when I was a teenager.
4 years ago at the beginning of my twenties, my uniform was not the only thing I had to discard as I graduated from high school.
Then, because of the views of adults, I discarded them from my heart.

I had to discard my favorite idol group 'H.O.T'.
Nowadays, many say, 'Can't a fan in her twenties like an idol group?'
But four years ago. Or even before then. Idols were the possession of teenagers.
So when I became twenty years old, I had to discard my uniform and 'H.O.T'.


A group that has all the needed star qualities and is the of teenage fandoms...
They bring the unaccustomed words 'Nation's idol' to us by expanding their fanbase throughout the age groups.


That was the first part of an article included in the HanGyeoreh Newspaper.
That was a sentence in an article about TVXQ.

Even four years ago, for a person in his or her twenties to like idols and buy their albums,
For a person stuck within the limitations of a 'working man', who wore army apparel or a suit, to buy idols' albums,
equated to someone buying 'ographic videos' in the presence of teenagers...

On one hand, I feel like the world has gotten better, but on the other hand, I'm also bitter.
If had been born a little later, 'H.O.T', who filled my memories, would not have existed in my teenage life,
but I cannot hide my bitterness.




When they first debuted, they held the title of a group who had as many antis as fans.
They did indeed have as many anti fans as that title implied. But out of all those antis, at least 50% probably became antis, not because of TVXQ,
but because of 'Cassiopeia', aren't I right?

Female celebrities who had the slightest contact with TVXQ were attacked to a level that matched 'terrorism'.
And as 'TVXQ' was created to spread the mass culture to teenagers, there were many low level elementary school fans so
countless mishaps and events must have occurred.

I think that the peak of all of it was when they released their second album.

When they first debuted in 2004, no one could deny the power that they held.
This monopoly was expected as TVXQ, who were dubbed the revival of idol groups, debuted when there were no idol groups active.
(I feel that even if there were other idol groups around at the time, TVXQ would have still won anyway.)

Rookie of the Year Award Grand Slam. And the first artiste after Seotaeji to receive the Rookie of the Year Award and the Main Award in the same year.
I remember that antis and the public in general said harsh things about this.
But I also remember that none of these harsh words were sensible.

That just showed that TVXQ's Anti generation had not opened yet.



And then came their second album in 2005, Rising Sun.

SM says that the fourth album was their best yet, but I believe that TVXQ's most memorable album is their second album.
Although the song's beat was so new and fresh that it could not be understood without watching the performance,
if the performance was seen as well, it easily became their best song.

At the time, it was true that their live skills were not the best, which got them some criticism.
But isn't it true that the reason their Anti generation opened was because they began taking on acting roles and variety shows?

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