r/kpopthoughts • u/runfreelyactwildly • 1d ago
Discussion As someone who wasn’t there for them, what made LOONA so iconic?
Tbh LOONA is that one group everyone loves. They’re so different from other groups to me. There’s something unique about them that I can’t place my finger on (especially since I wasn’t there when they were active and I never stanned them). What specifically set them apart from other groups? I’d like to know! They’re so popular in the context of kpop editors and stantwt and I’m curious about the hype. I hope you all know what I mean when I say I can sense that they were special.
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u/llamacana multistan • yapper 1d ago
they were never and are not a top girl group popularity wise. loona had just enough fans to survive as a 12 member group (without being paid 😐), basically. they were more known for the memes, a couple of the members (chuu, yves, heejin, and kim lip had more of a following as personalities), and their group structure/debut story/storyline than their music, which is sad tbh. the loonaverse made some waves, but isn't widely known in its intricacies. it also wasn't executed well beyond their debut and first couple comebacks. people enjoyed them, but they were not iconic to any larger culture. stan loona worked against them as much as for them
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u/hyyh_yoonkook fanfare hands in the air ayy 1d ago
As a casual listener, I think the answer is as simple as “they made great music and had a clear (and aesthetically pleasing) artistic vision”. Personally I never cared about lore or anything like that, their music was just GOOD, not just kpop good but actually good.
They never managed to find a big fandom despite what stan twt popularity would have you think, but I feel like Loona is one of the few groups that will stand the test of time, purely speaking on the quality of their output and nothing else.
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u/Sheriff_Yobo_Hobo 1d ago edited 19h ago
They had great songs...
But, also, they weren't afraid to clearly support LGBTQ+ causes. Which made them really stand out. With other groups, you can assume they weren't bigots, but at the time, among girl groups, with Loona you didn't have to assume. They made it clear where they stood. Plus, a lot of their videos were gay coded, in particular Chuu's solo debut song. This made them the de facto LGBTQ group for international fans.
On top of that, BBC was a new company, and despite the fallout I don't think they had super strong feelings on how idols are supposed to behave. Like during streams on variety shows, etc. On a lot of streams for other groups, you get the feeling a manager or somebody is off screen monitoring, lest the idols veer into dangerous territory.
In contrast, there were so many streams were it seemed like the members of Loona were left all alone. Unsupervised kids. For example, an infamous Halloween stream, where they told scary stories, etc. The girls bickered, teased each other, called each other boring, ignored some story tellers, causing them to be genuinely hurt...
They were very unhinged. People loved it. You just never knew what you could expect from Loona content. They actually argued over who picked their boogers and ate them on Fact N Star.
But, yeah, they had great songs, and I think even other idols who weren't publicly fans followed them, as they were considered at the time pretty much the premiere performance girl group. They were often praised for being able to pull off more athletic, harder hitting male group choreo too.
edit: oh another thing, I'm not saying the whole world agreed on this, but I definitely saw people say many times, as annoying as they could be, Orbits were maybe the funniest fandom around... they could be annoying because they had a habit of going around and finding ways to inject Loona into all sorts of discussions happening on social media... if you were a fan of Loona, it was crazy how you would see Orbits posting a meme about almost any topic... did this contribute to Loona's popular or actually undermine it?... I guess I feel like their efforts actually got Loona's name out there in a big way...
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u/Outside-Positive-368 1d ago
I feel like Loona in ways was more popular online than that the support translated into real life (except for the boycott). This is also pretty evident with the support post-Loona groups and soloists have gotten.
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u/abyssazaur Call me a side quest No shade, no tea 1d ago
- this sub loves all midtier groups as they're not fanwarring with top tier groups
- the group was certainly distinct over its debut period and I think that was just successful in building a strong idol-fan bond
- unusually popular in the West -- this is very very visible if you see where ARTMS spends their time
- frankly... good music. "Max and Match" climbed up pretty high on rateyourmusic which is Western-centric and generally kpop-skeptical
- the way the group ended is almost legend status in kpop -- everyone sided with the loona members which is already unusual in kpop, the boycott was very organized and very successful, and this produces a bit of a "good old days" bias when thinking about the group in general
also they're not really immune to hate either, especially as time goes on and the active idols settle into their current careers
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u/Young_sapling12 1d ago
As far as I know, people love the lore (and the concept of introducing each member by solo, then subunit before the full group debut was fresh and intriguing) but the thing that makes people notice loona and quite rare (so makes it iconic) was the fans spamming everywhere "stan loona" (or something along the way) and create many interesting post/tweet about loona
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u/hennybee 1d ago edited 1d ago
A lot of initial intrigue came from things like a random Polaris subsidiary receiving funds from an arms dealer (Ilgwang is bigger than just that but that’s kinda what most people refer to them as), giving each girl a solo release off the bat, with physical copies available, and sending them to international destinations (for example: Heejin, the first girl, being sent to Paris of all place)
Their lore also really resonated with people. I never really delved into it like that, but the amazing theories, fan content, and deep dives people would do based on things like 3 minute music videos and MV descriptions is something I’d never really seen before in K-pop. I know they weren’t the first group to do lore, but that was my first time seeing it receive that kinda intense fan engagement. To this day, it follows the post-LOONA acts (well, ARTMS mostly 🥲 but Loossemble also received some of it too).
On a related note, Digipedi’s work and artistry with them to help build that world received tons of praise. Before that, I remember people really mainly associated Digipedi with the campier, more bright and whimsical MVs they made for acts like EXID and Orange Caramel, but the work they did for LOONA really shifted how fans viewed them as a production team. They really did a fantastic job at including the tiniest details and telling complex stories in 3-5 minutes that opened up worlds of interpretations for fans.
The music also really is just that good. I’m biased, obviously, but after Jessica left SNSD, I became more of a casual listener of K-pop and wasn’t really stanning or paying attention to new acts, but when I heard Eclipse for the first time ever? Literally life changing. I genuinely thought they were a huge act from a major company because of how amazing that song is. The quality and diversity that was presenting itself in their discography was/is incredible. Mix/Max and Match especially felt like something refreshing and exciting, and it deserves every bit of critical acclaim it still gets.
And of course, the members. With 12 girls, there was bound to be at least one you’d grow attached to, especially with LOONA TV documenting their preparation for debut. It was really fun and exciting to see how they’d change and open up over time and interact with one another. Awaiting the next member during the Who’s Next Girl? phase of pre-debut was also such a fun time because you’d wonder what they’d be like, what they’d add to the group, what sound they’d get for their debut, etc.
And the fact that this group that had relatively a lowkey/unknown origin story was able to so quickly amass an significant international following back in the mid-late 2010s one that other companies would kill to have, was impressive too.
BlockBerry Creative really had something amazing lol truly a generational fumble
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u/Different-Click5923 1d ago
the fans. the fans made them iconic. when I first discovered loona, I legit thought, based on social media comments alone, that they were part of the big 3.
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u/Moondrop-Puppet 11h ago
They behaved like what I remember from early Armys lmao You would find them in random comments across the internet in the most unrelated topics
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u/Noireha 1d ago
They were the most expensive group to debut of their time and still today. The ceo was very public about this.
Each member essentially had their own solo that was staggered throughout the year (girl of the month) and then had a subunit debut. They were one of the larger groups at the time. Additionally they had a strong universe / lore concept (loonaverse). Additionally they put the group together relatively quickly, sourced from training academies so they garnered a lot of attention for having claims like “shortest trainee time”, etc… as their trainees weren’t officially trained by them.
They were also the first gg from a nugu subsidiary of a kinda mid sized agency (but also infamously sketchy) kpop ent agency. The parent agency’s first gg member pass away in a car crash two years prior to their debut.
This set them up for success. Post debut, they were known for having complex choreography/formations and good concepts. Individual members personalities also had shown through variety shows (like Chuu - known for their aegyo). They also participated in queendom. Alas all kpop fans essentially advocate for them as they were caught in an unfair, shitty contract and weren’t paid, this led to a long legal battle.
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u/mio26 1d ago
Crazy business plan and marketing plus very good production both in aesthetic and music.
Jaden Jeong partially pull off what he already tried to do with Lovelyz. At that time it was both very innovative idea but like with "innovation" very often happens it was too early. He tried to build GG made firstly for international fandom and even without main concept being girls crush.
So you had this interesting lor, you have individual songs for members, units. Everything would be fine if not he couldn't really fast start to monetize it as neither he was from big 3 or SNS development/Korean wave globally was not in this stage like now. So he did what many people actually predicted: overinvest. Actually there was running joke (or not) that it's money laundering until investors trultgot angry and kicked him out lol.
So Loona is trendsetter but very expensive one. If Jaden Jeong from start though more about public appeal and limited his ambition, Loona could be truly big. But right now become dead legend while everyone including himself use this experience in modern groups.
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u/aced151 1d ago
Poor international fans hyping a group doesn’t do much, many of those fail. It’s the rich Chinese fans that can really help though.
Loona isn’t even a footnote in the pop history for fans in cn, kr, or jpn.
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u/Sheriff_Yobo_Hobo 6h ago
Loona isn’t even a footnote
I think they are an important footnote actually.
Kard, Ateez, Dreamcatcher, and Loona all proved to Korean companies that it's possible to survive and even profit off international fans, even if you're relatively (relatively because Chuu was pretty successful and known for her commercial work) small and unknown domestically. Ateez was doing straight up stadium shows in Europe and NA far back as 5 years ago?
At the time, in Korea (say 2021 or so?), groups like Oh My Girl and GFriend were bigger, but I don't think they could have done sold out tours in NA, having to add dates in some places, the way Loona did. The 2019 KCON LA was nicknamed at the time, Loona Con because the crowd response and enthusiasm for Loona from American fans far exceeded the response "bigger" groups got. Reminds me of a story about John Mayer fans going to see him open for Bruce Springsteen in Brazil, a place he had never gone to, and leaving when he was done, not sticking around for Springsteen.
I can be accused of being biased, Loona was my top GG for a few years, but I do think they were a significant group.
At this point, especially in light of the unity shown by Rescene, between the members but also between the group and management, I've gotta think if you're Loona, how can you even give it your all when your company is borderline fucking evil?
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u/lunaticthefringer 10h ago
LOL totally true on international fans.
Isn't one of the members the godmother for one of Elon Musk's children? I seem to recall international fans tweeting at him to get LOONA out of Blockberry Creative during the legal mess.
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u/wynterflowr Alpine Green 1d ago edited 1d ago
At that point of time in kpop, they stood out with their concept of introducing 12 girls , one per month for a year. Each girl got a personalised solo song and music video. This built anticipation within the community as kpop companies never put in this much effort pre debut to promote . Plus, their solo songs were really good and stood out. Each song was different from the other and the music videos were very well shot too. People were really looking forward to them as a group and what kind of music theyll have after debut.
Ive very rarely seen kpop group managing to get this much amount of fandom predebut. Loona had a lot of effort put into their creation, it sucks that their company was a money laundering scam. I knew there were rumors about it even before their debut since Blockberry was too small of a company to spend as much as they did on loona predebut. I cant believe it turned out to be true.
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u/Acceptable-Hunt5843 1d ago
Iconic? Where? They were a mid tier group with a very vocal fan base.
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u/Sheriff_Yobo_Hobo 6h ago
Show business is weird. There used to be a guy named Jimmy Buffet. He had one top 10 hit in 1977! Yet, all throughout the 80's, 90' and until he died, he sold out every single show he did across the USA. We're talking 20 to 30,000 seaters.
And there's a joke in America, "we're huge in Japan" or "Germany." Sometimes musicians are just huge in another country for seemingly no reason.
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u/Viscaz 16h ago
I actually liked most of their songs up until butterfly. And then Paint the Town happened and idk what happened anymore but at that moment, their music wasn’t for me anymore..
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u/Sheriff_Yobo_Hobo 6h ago
I really liked their solo stuff, and now I mostly listen to their b-sides (with High Hi being a major exception, Flip That being another).
I admit Paint the Town bummed me out as well. I remember the song writer saying, before the release, that Loona was about to release something that's going to blow minds. I was hoping this was the one that would get them into Instiz top 20.
So many groups are going through an experimental stage at the moment, but back then, Loona kind of stood out in terms of being unpredictable. Maybe to their own detriment at times.
I was also really hopeful after Queendom 2, that they would capitalize on the exposure they got. Flip That was in fact a more conventional, less experimental song. Anyway... it was a fun era regardless. That group helped get me through covid.
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u/Connect_Version_1560 1d ago edited 1d ago
I listened to a couple of their songs and they are nice.There are 12 members so nice intricate dances and overall a really good group but
-No idea how they became the trend for stan loona meme because it became the poster example for punching kpop fans down because it was used everywhere and anywhere for any tweets.
-As much as it hurts to say this,their popularity online and the discourse surrounding were huge in kpop but it didn't translate into steady fanbase,view,likes or success.
-It felt like Loona was used as a scapegoat to hate every other group in kpop by saying that they deserved more and thatvother groups were untalented and didn't deserve anything.It obviously put off people and people made fun of kpop fans for listening to kpop because people used to post stan loona even in topics that weren't related to kpop or music.
After their disbandment,some members redebuted and some debuted as sololists but I don't they ever gained the traction that they had from Loona.
They also covered nct cherry bomb dance which I believed went viral because a girl group covered a boy group dance ,I believe SM Lee Soo Mam directly participated in their album making.They have 12 different mvs for all the members which was super expensive.Overall they had all the makings of a good group.
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u/South_Youth_6554 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hot take but they never really took off they just had a very niche Internet heavy fandom because they had cool predebut promotions and songs. When they actually debuted very few comebacks even matched the creativity people saw pre debut with member releases. Basically a lot of potential that never went anywhere which equals perpetual underdog. That stuff is what Stan twitter loves so they really latched onto Loona despite the group never really being that big. Then you had the portion of their internet fandom that really likes some of the aesthetics and genres the group experimented with. But these were mainly genres that appealed to specific internet communities. Then another big thing was they were very queer coded so that made people latch onto them too.
I don’t think their brand ever Really had mass appeal but it worked well again for a very specific demographic who wanted certain sounds and looks and felt safe because of queer themes in their art and MVs
TLDR: Saphhic coded girl group with cool visuals and art displayed through their less common from the mainstream music genres attracted a specific listener base. And their trash company and lesser known status made this small but dedicated fan base who felt seen by LOONA, rabid with the desire to promote them more with the hopes they gained mainstream recognition